Diffusion Essays - Membrane Biology, Cell Biology,

Diffusion 1. a) Bulk movement is the overall movement of a fluid. The molecules all move in the same direction. Diffusion however is the random movement of molecules which usually results in a fairly even distribution. In other words the movement is not guaranteed to move in one direction but the probability that it will move in the lower gradient is greater. Osmosis is similar to diffusion but is differentiated by the membrane's behavior. The cell membrane does allow water to move from higher to lower concentrations but does not allow solutes do that. b) Water potential is the capacity of water to move to a from a region where there is high water potential to low water potential. This action happens without the affect of outside forces. When outside actions due occur and they give water a high potential energy than the water will move to the region where less potential energy is. Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure required to stop water the movement of water. This is a method of measurement. The osmotic potential is the measure of tendency of water to move through a membrane which contains a solution. This occurs when a cell does not allow a hypertonic solution to leave the cell membrane. The cell begins to increase with water but the cell membrane can not release the solution and thus the water potential within the cell increases. This causes the water to no longer enter the cell. c) Hypotonic is less solute to a certain amount of water. Hypertonic is more solute to a certain amount of water. Isotonic is the equal amount of solutes in two different solutions. d) Endocytosis is the inward bulge causes by incoming molecules. Exocytosis is the expelling of a material outside a cell. e) Phagocytosis is the process where the cell obtains solid matter. This is different from the pinocytosis where the cell obtains liquid matter. These both are endocytic processes. Receptor-mediated endocytosis is the process where there are interactions between a material and receptor sites on the cell. In this process the cell accepts the material if it matches with the receptor sites. f) Coated pits are areas which peripheral proteins indent the membrane. This is where the vesicles for certain materials are formed. The vesicle which is formed is called the coated vesicle. g) Plasmodesmata are the links which hold two adjacent cells together. Gap junctions are the channels which allow materials to flow between cells. 2. The concentration gradient is the difference in the density of a material from one region to another region. The concentration gradient affects diffusion by allowing the substance to flow from high concentration to low concentration. The concentration gradient affects osmosis by the same manner it does in diffusion. The cell does not allow the solution to exit the cell when water is entering. This keeps the solution in the cell making the concentration high and thus no further penetration of water. 4. Diffusion is more rapid in gases because they are less dense than liquids. They repel each other more resulting in faster diffusion. Diffusion is greater at higher temperatures because of the greater kinetic energy among the molecules. They push each other more making them less dense. 5. The concentration of the solute is 1%. This happens because a 1% sugar solution is isotonic with that of the 1% sugar solution in the tubes. The 2% sugar solution was increased because the substance was hypertonic. The membrane did not allow the hypertonic solution to exit because the pressure from the hypotonic solution was forcing water in. This later reached an equilibrium when the hypertonic solution was gaining water potential and the water stopped rising. The vice versa happened in the distilled water solution.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Free Online Research Papers Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in 1712. The death of his mother and the abandonment of his father brought about adult circumstances in his young life. Critical thinking maybe something he learned through his encounters in his informal education with Plutarch and Calvinist Sermons. He believed that civilization was the catalyst to the lack of natural freedom. Also he believed that all humans were born with the same liberties and that these liberties were taken away by social inequalities. Though his philosophies are arguably revolutionary for the times, the question still remains; is Rousseau legitimately considered to be part of the Enlightenment movement? Perhaps the single most important Enlightenment writer was the philosopher-novelist-composer-music theorist-language theorist. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), who is important not merely for his ideas (which generally recycled older Enlightenment ideas) but for his passionate rhetoric, which enflamed a generation and beyond. The central problem he confronted most of his life he sums up in the first sentence of his most famous work, The Social Contract:† Man is born free but everywhere is in chains. Rousseau was considered part of the Enlightenment. Some even have regarded him as the most important individual found during the Enlightenment. His ideas were extremely radical for his time and somewhat continue to be radical in modern times. Some may even compare him to the more modern Karl Marx. Most of Rousseau’s works were based around the idea that humans were born with liberties and slowly overtime these liberties are stripped away. Rousseau also believed that civilization has taken away our natural freedoms. He argued the price of civilization is human freedom and human individuality . Even if each man could alienate himself, he could not alienate his children: they are born free; their liberty belongs to them, and no one buy they has the right to dispose of it. Rousseau tried to break out of the Enlightenment mold by having his essay Discourse on the Sciences and Arts published in 1751. He won an essay contest with this entry because of its radical material. He dis counted everything that the encyclopedist had strived to obtain. He stated that the sciences and the arts were the heart of the demise of society. However, this seemed to further his popularity among the group that he was trying to distinguish himself from. His theories were so far ahead of his time that men such as Voltaire balked at him and his efforts. Rousseau believed that people that held power often abused that power. He suggested that nobles and kings abused their power and that they were not absolute. In order for a king to have power the people had to allow him that power not God as many had thought in times before. Abuses of power can, of course, threaten the very life of the state. When the government- properly responsible only for carrying out the general will- takes upon itself the sovereign responsibility of establishing legal requirements for the people, the social contract has been broken. For Rousseau, then, the establishment of a government is always provisional and temporary, subject to the continual review by its citizens. Since the legitimacy of the social contract depends upon the unanimous consent of all the governed, the sovereign general will is fully expressed only in an assembly of the entire population. Even the effort to establish a representative legislative body is an illusion, according to Rousseau, since only each for all can determine the general. The Social Contract preached against people staying in the â€Å"main stream.† Man is born free; and everywhere he is still in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they. Rousseau states many times in all of his works that he is against a moncharial society unless it is ruling people that are not able to make up their own minds, however, he believes that most can make their own decisions. Each man, in giving himself to all, gives himself to nobody. This particular set of quotes further establishes his role of the thinking of educated people in the enlightenment period. He wanted society to catch up and realize that they did not have to be miserable in the way they were being governed. The enlightenment period embodies thoughts of pushing towards a new way of thinking and Rousseau was the front man for this movement whether or not he wanted to be. Rousseau did not want to be a part of the enlightenment in fact he mocked ever ything that these men were working for, ironically when one is learning about this period his name is by far one of the most recognized. Rousseau fought for the right of the people. He believed that if man put the general will of the people first that everyone would lead a much happier life. Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will, and, in our corporate capacity, we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole. He believed that without an absolute sovereign people would be much more responsive and there would also be less corruption within the government if there was more than one person running the show so to speak. This formula shows us that the act of association comprises a mutual undertaking between the public and the individuals. And that each individual, in making a contract, as we may say, with himself, is bound in a double capacity; as a member of the State to the Sovereign. But the maxim of civil right, that no one is bound by undertakings made to himself, does not apply in this case; for there is a great difference between incurring an obligation to yourself and incurring one to a whole of which you form a part. He argued that the King did his job just because he had to; which in Rousseau’s mind was a horrible calamity because if one is forced to do a task or does not know what the people think of his decision or know how exactly how his decision will affect those who are under his rule he should be considered an ineffective ruler. Those that live and see what is affecting their area should be able to make the decisions of what is going to happen to their families and possessions. This way of thinking almost completely eliminates a monarchal situation. In all Rousseau may not have considered himself a part of the Enlightenment movement, however, he was very much a huge contender to the times. His beliefs were so advanced many did not appreciate them until a few years after his death. His beliefs affect American lives on a daily basis, his political beliefs and teaching are deeply rooted in our Declaration of Independence. He was a man that was way before his time. His writings help support the fact that he was a leader in the movement. One cannot be considered revolutionary and not be apart of the movement that is going on during that specific time period. Rousseau was a revolutionary man! Research Papers on Jean-Jacques RousseauBringing Democracy to AfricaCapital PunishmentQuebec and CanadaComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite Religion

Enzyme Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Enzyme Activity - Essay Example This helps in enhancing the lively activities of the living beings. The free radical formation is an important cause in causing and increasing a disease. The enzymes that act as scavengers and remove ROS can help in preventive methods of some critical diseases. The investigations regarding the enzymes that are critical for the bacterial existence provide information about physiology of microbes. The understanding of cell metabolism, evolution of bacteria and the interactions between bacterium and host can be enhanced. With this information it is possible to explain the mechanisms that regulate the organism and to find out the proteins that are necessary of existence of the cell. According to Brendan Burns, George Mendz and Stuart Hazell in the case of CAA the resonances arising from -CH and -CH2 groups of the aspartate moiety have chemical shifts and coupling constants different from those of the amino acid aspartate. Thus, it was possible to make an unambiguous assignment of CAA.2 The investigations in other enzymes lack this type of identification in case of complex activities. Regarding the results related to the study of enzymes in H Pylori the NMR method will give good results when combined with radio active tracer analysis and spectrophotometry. The activity of the enzyme in the development of H pylori is useful in developing therapeutic drugs as it was found essential for existence and growth of H Pylori. The above activity was related to the enzyme investigation regarding the existence of disease causing bacteria. There are number of enzymes with varying activities. Some enzymes even effect the skeletal in animals (as well as in human beings). These activities are studied to solve the problems regarding the muscle problems. After the structure (skeleton) of the human body the muscle is the thing, which contributes strength and movement for it. The enzymes, which affect the fibre and the muscle, play an important role in developing methods to increase or preserve the efficiency of the muscle fibre. There are 3 types of fibres according to P. D. Gollnick, R.B. Armstrong, C.W.Saubertiv, K. Piehl, and B. Stalin (1972). These fibres are interconvertibility depends on the training given. The training proved to increase red muscle at the expense of white muscle. This means that the enzyme activity was changed due to training as the enzymes acting in the existence of red and white muscles are different. FIG. 1. Serial sections from vastus lateralis muscle stained for DPNH-diaphorase (lop) and rnyosin ATPase (boltom) from four sub- jects. A and B: untrained middle-aged subject (BA). Note relatively large fibers and light DPNH-diaphorase stain in both FT and

Strategic Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Strategic Marketing Management - Essay Example Brief History Samsung electronics is one of the Asian technology firms which have been able to capture a good market in the global market. The firm is a part of the Samsung conglomerate that provides a number of services and products. The firm has been able to establish a large enough market niche, overcoming global giants such as Apple, BlackBerry and Nokia. In terms of its Smartphone sales, Samsung has been able to provide a strong competition in the global market, and this has enabled the firm to be able to increase its sales and revenues. However, although Samsung has been able to capture a big market share on the global market, the firm has not been able to capture the Canadian market where its main competitor, Blackberry, has a stronghold on the market. This is critical because the Canadian market is a particularly good one given the fact that the market is a high end market, with numerous potential customers. Goals To be the market leader Samsung intends to be the market leade r in consumer electronics. ... It also aspires to be able to deliver the best most innovative products especially in the smart phone industry. Increase a cream of the market customer base (price skimming) In the technology industry, price skimming is the best way for firms to get their research and development costs returned as soon as possible. Price skimming refers to the firm being able to sell of a new innovative product and a considerably high price to those people who are can to pay more to be the first to use the product (Baker and Hart 2008). Once this happens, the firm recovers its research and development costs which were incurred in developing that product. The firm can now sell the product to the lower market at a lower price. Since Samsung has a global market, the Canadian market could be the best market to act as its high profile market. Although the market for Samsung is a global one, it fails to have a market stronghold in market areas where the firm can use the market for price skimming. This is b ecause of a number o reasons. First one is the fact that the main markets where Samsung has a stronghold on the market cannot be used for effective price skimming. Black Berry has a stronghold in all the high profile markets, and this makes it possible for Black Berry to use price skimming. This ability also makes it possible for Black Berry to be able to invest properly without worrying about its research and development costs (Martin 2013). If Samsung is able to increase its market share in the Canadian market, it will also be able to do effective price scheming and thus positively affect its research and development process. Fig. 1.0 showing the market share of the main Smartphone brands. Note that Samsung is the only experiencing growth. Increase customer base Apart from having a

Costco Wholesale in 2012 Essay Example for Free

Costco Wholesale in 2012 Essay Costco is one of United States’ largest retailers, serving over 3600 variants of convenience products at excellent quality with competent prices. Founded in 1983, Costco quickly expanded in its operations to over 598 stores worldwide. One of the unique selling propositions of Costco is the fact that they offer very low prices as compared to their competitors without requiring to compromise quality. This paper will analyze Costco’s key success factors in terms of its strategic management. Business Model Costco’s business model is simple and straightforward; they offer high quality products at affordable rates. The centerpiece of Costco’s model entails high sales volume and rapid inventory turnover. Costco enjoys high inventory turnover which means that they don’t need to stock a particular good for long period of time. Also, before they need to pay the suppliers, they are able to sell it. Which means, they are able to pay suppliers with the cash derived from sales, leading to low working capital. This shows significance in financial health and good financial management. This kind of business model is appealing for several reasons; low prices can generate high number of customers, indicates healthy operations, encourage rapid turnover, decrease warehouse costs and many more. However, in order to keep up with this business model, Costco needs to continually maintain overhead costs, which will be discussed further into the paper. Strategy Costco’s low pricing strategy highly depends upon several factors. In terms of pricing, they offer bargain products at low prices. Their earnings highly come from membership fees, over which members can join in an annual subscription and enjoy promotional rates as members. Even though Costco enjoys less profit margins, they have high number of annual members and earn their profit by membership revenues. In terms of product, their Kirkland Signature is also of good quality as a representation of their brand. They are also ready to experience loss of sales by customers who do not want to purchase in larger quantities. Treasure-hunt merchandising is also a smart  method to continually renew their product lines to encourage members to purchase the item right away in fear of not having them available at the next visit. Jim Sinegal and Core Values as CEO Jim Sinegal shows good examples of leadership as a CEO. He conducts an open-door policy which makes him accessible to staff, thereby increasing employee motivation. Jim also conducts regular store visits as opposed to working at a desk, which shows his willingness to step down to the field to help improve the store. The business environment is made to be causal and unpretentious, so employees feel sense of belonging and are often committed to the organization, in benefit of themselves and the company. Low employee turnover shows the compatibility of the employees and the company, which means that the corporate culture can be maintained or enhanced. Financial Perspective We have come to understand that Costco achieves much of their revenue from membership renewals. Observing the financial data, we see that Costco’s membership fees if four times over from 2000 up to 2011. This signifies their proficiency in making member packages attractive. Their actions in prioritizing members have been successful as we see that members are continually signing up. Therefore, membership is encouraged to be sustained. However, we see that sales also increase significantly over the years, almost 3 times over. Therefore, we can conclude that despite having less marketing activities, Costco is able to attract customers by emphasizing on price efficiency. Their working capital ration (current assets minus current liabilities) is kept at a low level due to high inventory turnover. Competitive Advantage over Competitors A key competitive advantage owned by Costco over its competitors is, without a doubt, their low prices. Although they do not invest much in store layout, store ambiance, labor and marketing, they have low overhead costs which contributes to being able to keep prices low. Also, they offer a wide array of product categories from food products to gasoline, although within a product category, they offer less brands than usual retailers (Llopis, 2011). Strategic Weaknesses in Comparison to Competitors The fact that Costco carries only 3600 selections of merchandises could potentially be a major flaw in their strategy. Generally, other stores carry over 10.000 selections. Customers may initially feel the thrill of shopping at cheap prices at Costco but could eventually dislike the lack of choices in terms of brands and may choose to shop at stores with larger varieties. Secondly, Costco spend less for advertisements and rely on word-of-mouth and certain campaigns. However, their competitors, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club spend much more on advertisements. Presently, Costco’s financial conditions show steady results in sales but the power of marketing is such that customers may choose to shop elsewhere for various reasons. It is also important to note that customers’ switching costs (from Costco to another) is relatively low. Compensations Policies Costco offers attractive compensations as compared to their competitors. The employee benefits covers all aspects such as fixed wages, health benefits, medicinal discounts, eligibility for company profits, counseling services and many more. At a quick glance, we notice that Costco spends much on compensation, despite the comparatively lower amount of labor, due to the vast varieties of compensations. In my opinion, it shows good corporate culture to take care of employees. In most companies, CEOs are the first ones to be rewarded with sky-high numbers. It is different in the case with Costco, where CEOs are paid enough without failing to reward employees appropriately. Conclusions and Recommendations Although from a management and operation point of view, Costco is doing everything to a tee, there are several recommendations provided to further improve its performance: Increase product lines to above 3600 in order to compete in terms of product choice with their competitors, especially after understanding that customers’ switching costs are low. Costco already has a big advantage in terms of prices and can do wonders when they also hold product advantage. Prepare some funds for marketing. Branding and brand awareness are two of the most important factors for warehouses to remain sustainable in the market to be seen as reliant. With more marketing, Costco can retain top-of-mind positioning as the â€Å"place to shop† in customers’ mindsets. Maintain membership fees at a fair rate. Currently, Costco’s membership fees are higher compared to their competitors. They can maintain their fees at this level only if they can provide more attractive member benefits to their customers compared to their competitors. Reference: Llopis, G. (2011, January 31). The Costco Factor: To Win The Business Game, You Need to Change How You Think. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2011/01/31/the-costco-factor-to-win-the-business-game-you-need-to-change-how-you-think/

Of Mice and Men :: essays research papers

The title of the book is Of Mice and Men. The author is John Steinbeck. It was published by the Penguin Group in New York, New York. The copyright date is 1965. Of Mice and Men is a novel about two men, one named George and one named Lennie. George somewhat takes care of Lennie. As the book opens they are walking along the bank of the Salinas River. They are one the way to a nearby ranch to sign on as barley bucks. Slow-minded Lennie had cost them their previous job. They are trying to earn money so they will be able to own their own ranch someday. Lennie has an obsession with petting small animals especially rabbits. George tells Lennie that he if he gets in any trouble he wont be able to tend the rabbits at the farm. George uses this as a bribe to keep Lennie out of trouble. Once they were hired, both George and Lennie went right to work. Later, as they waited for lunch to be served, Curley walked in, the ranch owner's son. He was there to look over the new men. After Curley had gone, Candy, the bunkhouse swamper, warned them about the young man. A former prizefighter, Curley tried to show how much of a man he was by picking on others. He was also an insecure husband, he became insanely jealous of anyone who even got near his wife. Seeming to sense that Curley would bring them trouble, Lennie now became agitated and nervous about the job, but with no money to fall back on, the pair was forced to continue working at the ranch in order to make enough money for their dream farm. On the third day at the ranch Lennie was in the farm playing with a puppy that Slim, another worker at the ranch, had given him. The rest of the men were in town. While he was in the barn Curley’s wife walked in. She began to show him how soft her hair was because he seemed to like the soft feel of the dog. He began to touch her hair and he couldn’t let go. She began to struggle and soon after she suffocated and died. After he realizd she was dead he panicked. He covered her body with some hay and then ran and hid in the brush like George had told him to do if he got in any trouble.

A fear of democracy runs throughout liberalism Essay

The relationship between Liberalism and democracy can summed up by Winston Churchill’s famous remark, â€Å"†¦democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms†¦Ã¢â‚¬  A fear of democracy does runs throughout 19th centrury liberals due to many reasons, one of them being their fear of collective power. On the other hand by the 20th century Democracy became more accepted in liberalism and the fear of democracy no longer remained. Plato and Aristotle viewed democracy as a â€Å"chaotic rule of masses at the expense of wisdom and property†. Nineteenth century liberals agreed with this idea as they saw democracy as dangerous and feared it. They were concerned that democracy could threaten individual liberty. Democracy is necessarily collectivist, in that it places political authority in the hands of the people who are not a single entity but are turned into a collection of individuals or groups. This contradicts the liberal principle of individuality and atomistic society. Therefore this might lead in the interests of individual citizens being ignored. In society people have different opinions and opposing interests often resulting to political instability and conflict. The democratic solution to this conflict is the application of the majority rule; the principle that the will of the majority should prevail over that of the minority. Mill feared the unintended consequences of the rule of masses. Therefore nineteenth century liberals feared the negative repercussions of democracy such as the tyranny of the majority as the principle of the majority rule can result into the suppression of individual freedom and minority rights. Majoritarianism can not only ignore the interests of the minority but it can also create a culture of dull conformism, where people according to Mill become â€Å"transformed into mere industrious sheep as they defer to the judgments of the majority based on the unfounded assumption that the majority is always right.† Therefore Mill is trying to say that democracy supresses originality and individuality. However nineteenth century liberals have expressed reservations about democracy not just because of the danger of majority rule but also because of the composition of the majority in modern industrial societies. The liberal theory of utilitarianism and equality led to an abundance for the  few but subsistence for the many and while in theory it is happiness that is maximised, in practice it is wealth. Therefore if society is deeply divided, majoritarianism would expose the rich to a tyranny of the poor. J.S Mill believed that political wisdom is unequally distributed and largely related to education. The uneducated poor are more likely to act according to narrow class interests so for them to have the majority would be disastrous. Mill argued that the educated can use their wisdom and experience for the good of others. Therefore he believed elected politicians should speak for themselves rather than reflect the views of their electors and suggested a system of plural voting that would deprive the illiterate from power . This argument shows a view against representative government which is a key feature of democracy. Fears of tyranny of majority by the uneducated poor as a result of the arrival of mass democracy which result into the destruction of a civilized society and moral order are also expressed by Gasset. As well as this liberals feared excessive democracy because democratic systems that widen access to political influence tend to be characterized by growth in interventionism and the problem of over-government. Such intervention may weaken the efficiency of market capitalism and therefore contradict early liberals belief that the market should be free from government interference. As a result excessive democracy may disadvantage the mass of citizens in the long run. By the twentieth century, however, many liberals had come to see democracy as a virtue. Democracy broadens and deepens popular participation. According to Mill the most important advantage of democracy is that it promotes the highest and most harmonious development of human capacities. It is true to say that democracy stimulates civil participation in the political decision-making process creating a better-informed and politically sophisticated citizenry. Consequently Rousseau and Mill claimed that in the absence of democracy ignorance and brutality will prevail. Modern liberals have come to understand that democracy has educational benefits as citizens enhance their understanding and achieve a higher level of personal development. Democracy therefore takes a developmental form in the twentieth century. In addition democracy defends freedom by allowing citizens to protect themselves against tyrannical governments and unpopular policies. In the seventeenth century classical liberals such as Locke argued that voting rights should be extended to the propertied who could then defend their natural rights against government. Jeremy Bentham and James Mill , nineteenth century liberals developed the notion of democracy as a form of protection for the individual into a case of universal suffrage. This meant that individuals would vote to defend their interests and that is the only way of promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number. However as time went by Locke’s theory of protective democracy has been transformed into a developmental view of democracy. For example a greater sympathy for universal suffrage is shown by James’s Mill son John who argues for the empowerment of women and against the plight of workers, showing he had moved from a protective to a developmental view of democracy. Since the twentieth century liberal theories about democracy have tended to focus less on consent and participation and more on the need for consensus in society. Pluralist theorists have argued that organized groups not individuals play the most important role in the politics of increasing complex modern societies which are characterized by competition amongst rival interests. Therefore democracy has the benefit that, in giving a political voice to all competing groups and interests in society it binds them to the political system and tends to promote consensus thereby maintaining balance and political stability within modern societies. Therefore in conclusion nineteenth century liberals mostly feared democracy but as time went by liberals of the twentieth century came to recognize its benefits .Even though there are conflicting ideas within liberalism and democracy, the liberal acceptance of universal suffrage, the key feature of democracy, has led to an acceptance to all the elements of democracy including majority rule and representative government. This is because liberals were able to create solutions to prevent the extremes of democracy .This can be seen with the example of majoritarianism when the liberal element of checks and balances prevents the tyranny of the majority.