Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Management report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management report - Essay Example The approach of this research has been kept unbiased and elaborate, keeping in mind to study the past trends and the current scenarios of the industry in question and to get get a crystal clear litmus result of whether the company would benefit from such an association. Browsing through the trends and the financial records of UIS and other companies, it was found out that there was little chance of falling prey to default and that the company would likely benefit from such a trade. United Industrial Services is one of the most well known firm in its industry winning loyalties in different partners. Till date the issue of import and export has become more and more important since the advent of globalisation. Too many debates have been held, too many groups formed to cater to this need. Ergo, it is no wonder that UIS is found to be of utmost importance and its decisions, crucial. This research basically deals with the question of international trade. Must UIS indulge in such a trait? Would it be of any advantage to it? Is it an attempt to increase profits or a tragedy that would result in the vice versa. To get an unbiased and reliable view of this, history of the trends had to be read. What did international trade stand for? What were its economical, political or environmental impacts? What, if it could, UIS end up affecting other of its competitors. For this, an intense study was conducted in an attempt to look at both sides of the coin and getting a better picture. The research produced remarkable results for just as it was expected not only was the firm greatly enjoying an increase in profits and revenue, it was also ending up growing as a company. There were little chances of default, thus making it less risky. The costs reduced, profits increased. This paper indicates the reasons for international trading and brief history of

Monday, October 28, 2019

Motivation Plan. About my mentor Essay Example for Free

Motivation Plan. About my mentor Essay Tangie Stevenson works for Medicredit Corporation, which is a Management and Recovery Agency, better known as The Outsource Group. This agency is a third party collection agency which a third-party collection agency is as agency that was not a party to the original contract between a creditor first-party and a debtor second-party. In most cases, a third-party collection agency is used once internal first-party collection efforts have been considered unsuccessful. First-party collection agency usually lasts for a period of months before the debt is turned over to a third-party collection agency. A creditor assigns accounts to a third-party collection agency for a fee. The fee differs depending on a wide variety of factors ranging from the collection agency that the creditor chooses to work with, to the number and type of accounts that will be submitted on a routine basis. The fee can be as simple as a flat fee per account submitted or a performance percentage fee on each amount that is collected. In some cases, it may be a combination of both. It is dependent upon the relationship that is agreed upon. As a collections manager Tangie oversee’s all activities related to the company’s credit and collections. She is responsible for formulating, implementing, and maintaining credit and collections policies, monitoring collections and past due accounts, reporting on the activities of the accounts receivable department, and ensuring timely collection of customer accounts receivables. She also provides training, direction, and evaluation of credit and collections employees. In addition to overseeing the collection department staff, she tracks customer feedback through the review of incoming letters, emails, and phone calls and the analytical data collected through outside reporting agencies. She also identifies errors or glitches in collection procedures and recommends solutions to increase collections on delinquent accounts while ensuring customer satisfaction and retention. The Plan I have established a plan to keep the employees in Tangie’s department motivated and satisfied. Keeping employees motivated and satisfied are important elements of not only getting the most out of your employees, but also in retaining your best employees. The best employees are always in high demand, and will change companies if they are not kept motivated and satisfied at work. It doesn’t matter what you build, invent or sell; your organization can’t move forward without people. CEOs, company founders and managers the world over know that keeping the teams beneath them moving forward together in harmony means the difference between winning and dying. The plan that can be applied to Tangie’s department that would increase the motivation, satisfaction and performance would be to first, have the team members build ownership among themselves. They must feel as if they own the place and not just work here. Once of the principles of self-managed teams is to organize around a whole service or product. One way to inspire this feeling is to have each of the members become familiar with what the other members are doing, allowing them to bring their ideas for improvement to the table and have input in the entire process. If the roles are too specialized, have each of the members of the team exchange responsibilities often. This all makes them feel like â€Å"it’s mine†, and most people, when it’s theirs, really don’t want to fail. Next, you must trust the employees to leave their comfort zones. This means to allow them to do more than one specific task, it will allow them to grow and become more confident in their abilities while making them feel more valuable to the organization. Even though as a manager it may feel like allowing individuals to try new things presents a risk to productivity or places workers outside of their established place, it heads off other issues. The bigger risk is having people get burnt out or bored. Then, is to keep the team informed; business leaders have a clearer perspective on the bigger picture than their employees do. It’s really important to tell subordinates what’s going on. What a manager may take for common knowledge about how things are going or what challenges are down the road, employees should be informed of. Spreading the intel lets everyone in on the lay of the land and at the same time strengthens the feeling among workers that they are an important asset to the organization. Then, is the fact that your employees are adults so treat them as such. This is also important when it comes to motivation and satisfaction in the organization. Employees need to be dealt with in a respectable manner. In any organization there is going to be bad news. It could have to do with the individual or the company as a whole but just remember to treat employees accordingly. As a manager, if you choose to keep people in the dark about trying times or issues, the fallout could be more serious than the issue itself. When people are left out, they tend to make things up. An important part of the plan is to remember that money matters, but not as much as you think. Compensation packages are a big deal when employees are hired, but once hired the motivation tends to go downhill. The motivation then comes from things like the challenge of the work, the purpose of the work, the opportunity to learn, and the opportunity to contribute. Last, is to reward and recognize employees if they’ve done something truly outstanding. Instead of telling others that your employees are doing such a great job, take the time to bring a specific person into your office or write an email or note along with that person’s paycheck to let him know that his work is truly outstanding. Rewarding them with small gifts like tickets to a movie, a gift certificate to a grocery store or even highly wish for tickets to a sports game is a good reward. Reward employees with time off, you will be astounded to see how quickly your employees get to work when you offer to let them leave a little early or if you give them the option of coming to work a little late the next day. Reference Forbes. (2013). 7 Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy (And Working Really Hard). Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2013/09/08/7-ways-to-keep-your-employees-happy-and-working-really-hard/

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Odysseus’ Search for Purpose in Homers Odyssey Essay -- Odyssey essay

Odysseus’ Search for Purpose in The Odyssey   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As a wayfarer in life, The Odyssey focuses on life’s greater purpose through the fulfillment of destiny, perseverance, and loyalty. These three themes recur continuously throughout Odysseus’ journey, molding life’s greater vision. Odysseus comes to understand his purpose in life by remaining true to these major themes as he faces and conquers each obstacle in his journey. The overarching theme of The Odyssey is the belief that man cannot escape the destiny which has been preordained for him by the gods. Destiny plays a vital role in the survival of Odysseus throughout his adventures. As Odysseus languishes on the island of Calypso, Hermes commands her to free Odysseus in order for the will of Zeus to be carried out, "This is the man whom Zeus now bids you send away, and quickly too, for it is not ordained that he shall perish far from friends; it is his lot to see his friends once more and reach his high roofed house and native land" (47). It is evident that Zeus does not want his predetermined plans for Odysseus to be altered by any being, mortal or god, and will not allow anything to stand in the way of the destiny he has set out for Odysseus. Although no mortal can escape his destiny, it is the more heroic mortals that attract the attention for (better or worse) of the gods. Odysseus’ bravery in battle fascinated the gods, causing them to take a special interest in him. During Odysseus’ trip to the underworld, he meets with Hercules who relates to the special notice that the gods have taken in Odysseus, " high-born son of Laertes, ready Odysseus, so you, poor man, work out a cruel task such as I once endured when in the sunlight, I was the son of Kronian Zeus, yet I... ...he heroic figure in Greek literature by living out the destiny that the gods set out for him. Works Cited and Consulted Bloom, Harold ,   Homer's Odyssey: Edited and with an Introduction, NY, Chelsea House 1988 Crane, Gregory , Calypso: Backgrounds and Conventions of the Odyssey,   Frankfurt, Athenaeum 1988 Griffin, Jasper, Homer: The Odyssey   Cambridge UP 1987 Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988 Murnaghan, Sheila,   Disguise and Recognition in the Odyssey, Princeton UP 1987 Peradotto, John , Man in the Middle Voice: Name and Narration in the Odyssey, Princeton UP 1990 Thalmann, William G., The Odyssey : an epic of return. New York : Twayne Publishers. PA4167 .T45 1992 Tracy, Stephen V., The story of the Odyssey. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1990.   PA4167 .T7 1990

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Maternal Behaviors and Their Effect on the Unborn Child Essay

Pregnancy can be one of the most magical times in a woman’s life. There is nothing quite like taking care of the little person that is growing in the womb, and knowing that everything you do is going to have some kind of effect on that little person. For a vast majority of women, pregnancy is a magical time, one filled with awe and wonder. Pregnant women tend to take better care of themselves, making sure that they are providing the best environment for their growing child. Some women, however, do just the opposite and do not take care of themselves and thus harm the unborn child in their womb. There are several things that can have an adverse effect on the growing child. One of them is the mother’s nutrition. This is an easily adjustable factor, but one that some women don’t actually think about. When a woman becomes pregnant, according to www.americanpregnancy.org, she needs to consume roughly 300 more calories than normal in order to have a healthy pregnancy (http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/pregnancynutrition.html). This will provide the extra nutrition that the fetus needs. If a mother does not consume enough calories, she is putting her child at risk of being malnourished. A poorly nourished infant is more likely to get sick, as they do not have the ability to fight off illness as well as a properly nourished child. There is also a possibility that undernourishment can have an impact on the mental development of a child (Feldman, 329). Proper nourishment is vital to proper development both in the womb and once the child is born. Another behavior that can have an adverse effect on the growing child is alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Alcohol is a teratogen, which is known to be harmful to human development (http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/alcohol.html). Consuming alcohol during pregnancy can cause the unborn child to have fetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS. This condition causes the child to be of below-average intelligence, have facial deformities, and growth delays (Feldman, 309). According to www.marchofdimes.com, alcohol can also cause the baby to have sucking and sleeping problems, behavior problems, and speech and language delays (http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/alcohol_indepth.html). Even if a mother doesn’t drink every day, even a small amount of alcohol can have adverse effects. Fetal alcohol effects is another condition that a child can develop. With FAE, the child may have some, but not all the symptoms of FAS (Feldman, 329). When my husband and I were foster parents, it was suspected that our foster son had FAE. He did not have growth delays, necessarily, as he was the average size of a child his age, but he did have some intellectual delays, speech problems, and some behavioral issues. Over all, he was a wonderful child, he just needed some extra care and attention in certain areas to compensate for the places he lacked. Drug use is also a behavior that can cause adverse effects on an unborn child. According to www.marchofdimes.com, about 4% of women use illegal drugs during their pregnancy. These include marijuana, ecstasy, heroin, and other amphetamines. To me, that is a staggering number of women. There are many problems that a child faces if the mother used drugs during pregnancy. Premature birth and withdrawal seem to be the most common. There is also the possibility of birth defects, such as heart defects and cleft palates. The symptoms and long term effects of drug use vary depending on the type of drug that the mother used. Some drugs are by far worse than others, but all of them carry a risk. All of the drugs tend to carry a risk of learning disabilities, behavioral issues, and attention problems. There are even some legal drugs, things that you can buy over the counter that can have an adverse effect on an unborn child (Feldman, 329). Aspirin is one such drug. Using aspirin, because of its blood thinning properties, can harm the child and cause excessive bleeding during childbirth (http://drugs.about.com/lw/Health-Medicine/Womens-Health/Medications-to-Avoid-During-Pregnancy.htm). It would be advisable to consult with your doctor before taking any kind of medication while pregnant because any of them can have an adverse effect on the baby during different stages of pregnancy. I know for me personally, I don’t like taking anything other than my prenatal vitamins during pregnancy, because I’m fearful of what effect it could have on my child. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I almost refused to take Tylenol when I had a headache, because I was afraid it would do some harm. I’ve not been quite that way with my son, but I still avoid most medicines because I don’t want to risk doing any harm. Pregnancy is nothing short of a miracle, and should be treated as such. Providing a healthy environment for the baby to grow is of utmost importance, especially for the well-being of that child. Anything and everything that a mother does during her pregnancy has an effect on her unborn child. Getting proper nutrition and not using or abusing drugs or alcohol will help the mother have a healthy pregnancy and thus a healthy child. References: Feldman, Robert S. (2011) Essentials of Understanding Psychology, 9th Edition http://drugs.about.com/lw/Health-Medicine/Womens-Health/Medications-to-Avoid-During-Pregnancy.htm http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/alcohol_illicitdrug.html http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/pregnancynutrition.html

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Blacks in the Criminal Justice System Essay

All I wanted to do was pop down to the all night chemist and get some medicine for my wife. Should have been a job that took ten minutes at the most but here I am sitting in my car a good thirty minutes later waiting for this young police officer to decide if he wants to prosecute me for something or not. Should have known better than to drive my mother-in-law’s car I suppose. I should have bought my own; but there you go. Her car was behind mine, she didn’t have a problem with me taking it, she gave me the keys for goodness sake. But no way should a young black male be driving a posh Mercedes around at night on his own. No I would have been ignored perhaps if I had been driving the old ford compact. But then no I would have still been picked up, after all it is gone ten pm and this is a â€Å"nice† area. No copper on this beat would understand that I was actually only about 200 yards from home. But that’s not how things are done around here, are they? No, this copper thinks I have stolen the car, you can just tell by the amount of time he is spending on that radio of his. Doesn’t matter that I have already given him my license and registration for the car; doesn’t matter that I have given him my home phone number so he can speak to my mother-in-law herself. Nope you can just tell from the way this guy is looking at me that he is planning to arrest me for something tonight, he is just having trouble working out what for. Oh well, I guess I am about to find out what he wants now, here he comes again. Oh yes officer of course I will get out of the car – do I mind being searched, what difference does it make if I do. Can he look in the car, well I am not going to stop him, I know what happens to young blacks who â€Å"resist† during a pull-over. Pop the trunk, yes, stand aside, well yes to that as well. I wonder how he is going to turn two bags of flour and some sugar into a criminal offence – â€Å"carrying an illegal substance† perhaps? After all sugar is supposed to be bad for you. Honestly this copper, doesn’t he realize that I know exactly what he is doing and why – doesn’t he know that I know that if my skin color was different that he would not have even pulled me over in the first place. After all I wasn’t speeding, I know there is nothing wrong with the car, there was no way I could be considered â€Å"acting in a suspicious manner†, my only crime – my face doesn’t fit that of a Mercedes owner. Funny thing is that I deal with cases just like this one everyday in my profession. Oh yes, I didn’t mention to the policeman that I am a lawyer. Didn’t want to aggravate him any more than necessary. I am an educated Black man, â€Å"made my moma proud† I did. Went to college and everything and yes I work full time. That is how I am able to afford to live in this posh neighborhood. That’s how come I can provide for my wife, our new baby and even my mother-in-law. I am a hard working, law abiding, family orientated young black man. But to this police officer I am just trouble with a capital â€Å"T†. Finally, what, I can go now officer? Oh thank you so much officer, I really appreciate it and yes sir I will go home directly. After all I have only been trying to do that for the last thirty minutes. My wife will be worried that I have been gone for so long, the mother-in-law will think I have crashed her new car. What is really ironic is that when we moved into this area we didn’t ever stop to consider that maybe the color of our skin would influence the way we would be treated. We just wanted somewhere safe for our children to grow up. I work, I pay my taxes and I try and help others. We go to Church regularly and want to teach our kids to be decent human beings. But how am I ever going to explain to my own kids that prejudice will follow you no matter where you go in life. In this country the American dream might be achievable for some people, but not if you are male, young and black. In this country being young and black means you look like a criminal, especially to white police officers. Part Two: White police officer pulling over African American male in late model Mercedes. It is just typical, you know. I had just stopped and bought myself a hot dog and some fresh coffee and wouldn’t you know it, I see a young black male cruising past driving a late model Mercedes if you can believe it. Those cars are worth what, $60 – $70,000, and I guess this guy just thought he was so lucky when he had â€Å"acquired† it. Okay you know and I know that this car is going to be stolen, but innocent until proven guilty and all that, it is my duty nonetheless to find out where this thug, I beg your pardon, young man is going in this posh car. Who knows maybe he runs an all night valet service and is just dropping off the car to its owner. Actually come to think about it I am fairly sure that I saw this car earlier this evening, that’s right, some older white woman was driving it. I think I saw it parked outside that posh looking place just around the corner. I know that some new people had just moved in there, well tonight is their lucky night. Caught a guy red-handed with the stolen car and it will only take a few minutes to let the owners know it has been recovered. Hey, I haven’t even heard a bulletin about the car being missing yet – well that’s the police force for you. Fast, efficient and ready to recover items you didn’t even know were missing. You can’t get any better service than that. The driver seems polite enough. Had to approach the car really slowly, because although I had only seen the driver, his mates could have been laying down in the back seat. Heard an officer was killed just last week when he pulled up what he thought was one person and there were three more thugs hidden from view. Can’t be too careful, especially when he went for his license and registration in the glove box. Gave me a bit of a fright when he leaned over to get the stuff, but there was no way I was going to let that show. No way, I am just going to take these documents back and sit in my car for a minute to let my nerves calm down. Let him think I am on my radio, checking him out really good. Well isn’t that strange? No criminal record, no warrants outstanding for this young thug. Address given doesn’t match the one on the license, but he claims he has just moved into the area. Claims too that the car is his mother-in-laws, like that is right. What woman with a surname like â€Å"Gladstone-Price† would have a son-in-law that was obviously a thug and Black as well, that guy must have thought I was an idiot. Dispatch reckons there will be a slight delay trying the phone number that the driver gave for the owner of the car, so while I am waiting I will just go and take another look at the car and driver – let this guy know who is in charge around here. Nothing like a good frisk and a car search to let these criminals know that police authority was not something to be mucked about with, especially in this neighborhood. What a strange night. Gave the guy and the car a good going over but didn’t find anything illegal. Then dispatch calls and tells me that the guy is in the clear and that the owner is a Mrs. Gladstone-Price, and that yes she had loaned her car to her son-in-law, Quincey Parks. What was even more astounding is that apparently this Parks is a lawyer and that he and his wife have just moved to that posh house around the corner. No telling what that will do to the local house prices. Still no need to apologize or anything, he’s a lawyer, he should know what to expect. I’m sure if I did a check on his family half of his brothers would be serving time and the other half probably should be. Time to head off and get another hot dog and some coffee. That guy Parks did mention something about police harassment, but hey he should be more understanding than anybody. If he doesn’t like drawing attention to himself he should never have bought his new house, and he should have stayed with his own people. That’s the problem with Blacks today – give them rights and all of a sudden they go moving into your neighborhood. Well if he thinks he is going to be asked to join the residents association he is in for a bit of a shock, we don’t welcome his kind around here.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

To Kill A Mockingbird (by Harper Lee) essay about Jem and Scouts relationship with Boo Radley

To Kill A Mockingbird (by Harper Lee) essay about Jem and Scouts relationship with Boo Radley Jem + Scouts Relationship with Boo RadleyJem and Scout have quite a strange relationship with Boo Radley. Jem and Scout are very interested in the life of Boo Radley and because of Boo leaving gifts in the knot hole I think that Boo is interested in the life of Jem and Scout too.Jem and Scout often get into trouble because of their active imaginations. They always play games about Boo even though this is frowned on by Atticus. Jem thinks that Boo 'was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats that he could catch, that's why his hands were blood stained. There was also a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time'. This description is obviously inaccurate.Scout is scared of Boo.chewing gums Espaà ±ol: chiclà © Ù Ã˜ §Ã˜ ±Ã˜ ³Ã›Å': Ø ¢Ã˜ ¯Ã˜ §Ã¯ ¿ ½...This is shown because every time Jem and Dill want to do something involving Boo she alwa ys says that she's 'gonna tell Atticus' because she is scared. She never does though because she wants to keep the respect of Dill and Jem.Dill, Scout and Jems imaginations run wild when they play the 'Radley game'. I think that their descriptions in the game are very inaccurate - Boo is probably a normal person and they should not judge him.Boo might actually be a kind and generous person because he left Jem and Scout a few gifts in the pot hole. These gifts were - two chewing gums, two 'indian head' pennies, a ball of grey twine, soap with two images carved in them, a pocket watch and an aluminium knife. Mr Radley (Boo's father) filled up the pot hole though, much to Jem and Scouts...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on Accounting and Auditing Processes

Aretha Allen Accounting and Auditing Processes Revenue Recognition Policies The purpose of this paper is to compare the revenue recognition policies of two companies in the search, detection, navigation, guidance, and aeronautical systems industry. The two companies I have selected are Aero sonic Corporation, and Esco Electronics Company. Esco Electronics Company is engaged in the design, manufacture, sale and support of engineered products. These products are used principally in filtration/fluid flow applications, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, and electric utility communications and control systems. The filtration/fluid flow and EMC testing products are supplied to a broad base of industrial and commercial customers worldwide. At the present time, electric utility communications systems are marketed primarily to customers in North America. The four primary industry segments of Esco are Filtration/Fluid Flow, Test, Communications, and other. In order for Esco to conform with generally accepted accounting principles, management must make careful estimates in preparing the financial statements. These estimates are for anticipated contract costs and revenues earned during the life of the contract. These amounts affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities on the company’s financial statements. Actual results could differ from these numbers. Revenues are recognized on commercial sales when products are shipped or when services are performed. Revenue on production contracts are recorded when specific contract terms are fulfilled. These amounts are determined either by the units of production or delivery methods. Revenues from cost reimbursement contracts are recorded as costs are incurred, plus fees earned. Revenue under long-term contracts in which the previous two methods are inappropriate, the percentage-of-completion method is used. Revenue under engineering contracts are generally recognize... Free Essays on Accounting and Auditing Processes Free Essays on Accounting and Auditing Processes Aretha Allen Accounting and Auditing Processes Revenue Recognition Policies The purpose of this paper is to compare the revenue recognition policies of two companies in the search, detection, navigation, guidance, and aeronautical systems industry. The two companies I have selected are Aero sonic Corporation, and Esco Electronics Company. Esco Electronics Company is engaged in the design, manufacture, sale and support of engineered products. These products are used principally in filtration/fluid flow applications, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, and electric utility communications and control systems. The filtration/fluid flow and EMC testing products are supplied to a broad base of industrial and commercial customers worldwide. At the present time, electric utility communications systems are marketed primarily to customers in North America. The four primary industry segments of Esco are Filtration/Fluid Flow, Test, Communications, and other. In order for Esco to conform with generally accepted accounting principles, management must make careful estimates in preparing the financial statements. These estimates are for anticipated contract costs and revenues earned during the life of the contract. These amounts affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities on the company’s financial statements. Actual results could differ from these numbers. Revenues are recognized on commercial sales when products are shipped or when services are performed. Revenue on production contracts are recorded when specific contract terms are fulfilled. These amounts are determined either by the units of production or delivery methods. Revenues from cost reimbursement contracts are recorded as costs are incurred, plus fees earned. Revenue under long-term contracts in which the previous two methods are inappropriate, the percentage-of-completion method is used. Revenue under engineering contracts are generally recognize...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

265+ Forceful Verbs to Turn You Into a Literary Tyrannosaurus

265+ Forceful Verbs to Turn You Into a Literary Tyrannosaurus 265+ Forceful Verbs to Turn You Into a Literary Tyrannosaurus Writing is a storytelling medium. Every sentence is an opportunity to tell a part of that story, elaborating on the plot, characters, atmosphere - whatever. This also means that every time the author writes a sentence like, â€Å"Harry opened the door,† they are missing out on a key opportunity to tell us more. What if Harry â€Å"jimmied the door,† or â€Å"threw the door open†?   By using forceful verbs, we get a better sense of what’s happening without many extra words.Why should you use forceful verbs?A lot of the time, it simply comes down to using evocative verbs: doing words that not only tell us what is happening but how it is being done as well. But wait! you say, isn’t that what adverbs are for?Adverbs: who needs them?Adverbs, by definition, are modifiers that writers can use to describe an action:He walked slowlyShe ate voraciouslyThey sleep lightlyThe thing is, more often than not, you can pick a forceful verb that makes the adverb re dundant:He saunteredShe gobbledThey dozedApart from simply being economical with words and avoiding purple prose, however, there are plenty of sound reasons to choose stronger verbs. So, it had come to this: paying his bills by crying for a stock photo. (Photo by  Tom Pumford)â€Å"Show, don’t tell† was made for writing about emotion. If ever you feel the urge to write, â€Å"He was very sad,† then please power down your computer and take a nap. Nobody needs to read that. Instead of telling us how a character feels, show them doing something that reveals this emotion. Why not start by checking out these evocative verbs:BeamBroodCovetCraveFazeFretFrownGlowerHowlScowlSobStareSwoonWailYowlShining verbsâ€Å"Don’t tell me the moon is shining,† Chekhov once wrote. â€Å"Show me the glint of the light on broken glass.† As a tip of the great Russian dramatist and short story maestro, we’ll finish up with some more alternatives for shining.FlickerGleamGlistenGlitterGlowShimmerSizzleSparkleTwinkleWell-chosen, powerful verbs are the secret weapons in a wordsmith’s holster. Always remember that using a bog-standard, overused verb is a missed opportunity. Make every word count, and give your readers something they can get lost in.Have we missed out on your favorite forceful verb? Let us know in the comments below!

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Peter Bogatyrev Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Peter Bogatyrev - Essay Example Central Points of Readings Peter Bogatyrev (1971) has wrote a monograph describing the relationship between traditional dresses with certain characteristics of people wearing that, Place of the Wearer Bogatyrev described 28 costume districts on the basis of which people belonging to particular area can be recognized. Further he has illustrated two examples: Man from Pozlovice would wear two velvet bands round his hat and two carmine ribbons with green one between them while man from Biskupice would wear only one velvet band and a red ribbon. Social Class of wearer Bogatyrev described that occupation and social class of a person in traditional wearing can be identified with his wearing. E.g. magistrate wears boot, peasants wear black or coarse white breeches etc. Marital Status of Wearer: Mutinee-Novorany district unmarried man wore hats and narrow rims and red and white ribbons while married men would widen the rim and wear a broad gold band. The paper further describes that the deno tive â€Å"languages of dresses† no longer existing in the modern age apart from the uniforms wore by people in particular industry. For instance uniform of cabin crew of particular airline, uniforms of military and police and others. These uniforms also indicate the level of employment like uniform of officer will be different from the other crew member or uniform of pilot will be different. There are various factors of uniform indicating various things. Factors like fabric, color, types of garments and others indicate the origin of the company.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Research report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research report - Assignment Example Participants strategically disclose private information so as to create connections with others that further have impacts on their relationships. The individuals who are highly connected through social media view this as normal parts of the day to day life. The study explains the concept of cyber stalking in greater theoretical depth and uses qualitative data to examine the practice and effects of individuals surveying each other using social media sites. The study also monitors the theory of social media in promoting and facilitating stalking in the modern society. On the last section of the study, I focus on examples of discourse to show how cyber stalking is carried out in the day to day life. What motivates people to engage in it and the impacts on participants? The qualitative data of this research study draws from the use of social media and modern technologies like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The quotes in this paper are representatives of the attitudes and the practices among the participants in technologically mediated social lives and using social media to monitor others. During the study, three hundred undergraduate students were interviewed during a preliminary examination of causes of broken relationships. Ninety percent of the responses were emotions, unwanted courting that lead to termination of relationships thus extending to cyber stalking. Most of them upload photos and videos of other people making cyber stalking occur in both non-consensual and sexual fashions, and this leads to invasion of the individual’s privacy. They encroach on the private, virtual space or other peoples timeline on social media leading to sexual harassment. It is an unwelcome form of Cyberstalking as it resembles sexual harassment undertaken in a clandestine way (Easttom, & Taylor, 2011). It is clear that social crime is reciprocal. People post content with high expectations that others will view it. Some go to an extent of

British Democracy and Iraq War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

British Democracy and Iraq War - Essay Example They also argued that there was need to liberate the Iraq people from the oppressive regime which was not democratic and was abusing the human rights of its citizens (Armstrong, Farrell, & Maiguashca, 2005). Democratic norms are in most cases not perceived to be relevant to the foreign and international policies of a country. However, in the consideration of the democracy framework of various governments a number of critical questions arise. The first one is about respect of the international law by a country, basing on the fact that such a government cannot easily acquire the democratic tribute in regard to the rule of law locally if it is capable of violating the rule of law in a foreign country. The international law is much vaguer compared to the domestic one, but majority of the international lawyers are in agreement that Iraq's invasion by both the United States of America and Britain was a blatant breach on the charter of the United Nations. The charter is very clear and stipulates that armed forces can only be used in a case of self defense or when the United Nations Security Council explicitly authorizes use of such force (Vickers, 2004). Tony Blair in attacking Iraq had complete disregard of the United Nation's charter in fact, his speech in 1999 whi... ve failed to implement them and hence country's like Britain and the United States of America, have to bear some burden like invading Iraq since they have a sense of world responsibility. In this case he was actually implying that his government had the right to invade a sovereign government like that of Iraq and thus participate in enforcing the resolutions of the United Nations. The British government was in this case very biased as it even chose the resolutions to enforce and which ones to leave out, which by any standards cannot be viewed as respecting international rule of law (Allawi, 2007). The British government argued that it was not important to wait the United Nations to pass resolutions that would explicitly authorize the use of force in Iraq as this could mean taking a back seat and watch as a humanitarian crisis takes center stage in Iraq as it happened in Kosovo. By basing their argument on the Kosovo humanitarian catastrophe the British government justified the removal by force of the Iraq's undemocratic regime, arguing that the Iraq government was actually violating human rights of its citizens (Beck, Grande, & Cronin, 2007). The second question evolves around Britain's consistency on its quest to support human rights and democracy in foreign countries. When the human rights and democracy are used as base of justifying morality of a government's policies then consistency is considered to be a vital factor. Such arguments when applied selectively loose meaning and the weight they ought to carry. Although, largely believed that the more powerful and democratic countries can support human rights and democracy on foreign countries, they cannot achieve their objectives by use of force, since that would in fact, mean violation of the same human rights

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Concepts - Essay Example The references that will be used are from Zen studies and its philosophical concepts, and also the famed work of Japan’s famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Zen is the Japanese name of schools that belong to Mahayana Buddhism. Zen emphasizes the role of sitting meditation in pursuing enlightenment for the benefit of others, thus emphasizing compassion. Though considered simply a practice by most of its Western practitioners, Zen is in fact nothing less than a school of Buddhism; thus, it can even be considered a religion. It was only during the last century or so that Zen began to be viewed by Westerners as a philosophy, a way of life, a part of work, an art form, among others. Satori is a Zen philosophical term for reaching enlightenment. The word literally means "to understand." To emphasize further, it refers to "deep" or lasting enlightenment. Satori can be found in all life experiences for it is wrapped in all daily activities. Hence, the goal is to unwrap the meaning behind each moment in able to attain satori. Ross (1960) posited that the â€Å"awakening of Zen is satori, and the satori of Zen is recognizing the real noumenon of a person, his original feature, not necessarily recognizing the real substance of various acts† (p.45). The Zen Buddhist experience commonly recognizes enlightenment as a transitory thing in life, which is similar to the English term epiphany, and satori is the realization of a state of such epiphany as enlightenment. Since all things are regarded as transitory according to Zen philosophy, the transitory nature of satori is not limiting. On the contrary, such epiphany has a tremendous effect on Western philosophical u nderstanding of enlightenment. The transitory nature of satori owes much to the influences of Taoism on Chan Buddhism in China, from which the Japanese Zen came from. Taoism is a mystical philosophy that emphasizes the purity and importance of the moment. This emphasis on the importance of

Sales and ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sales and ethics - Essay Example Ethics in sales entail earning the trust of customers through disclosing all information pertaining to the goods and services. The trust should be based on honesty, commitment and credibility of the product information. Some of the unethical sales advertisements or promotions include wild claims that are misleading or unsubstantiated claims on the product suitability and benefits to the consumer (Pride and Ferrell 105). Ethics in sales require marketers to disclose the safety of the product information, the reasons for change in the ingredients, the additional benefits of the product and reasons for price differentiation (Pride and Ferrell 105). The sales person should ensure products are distributed in channels that offer maximum customer value and reduce the price of the goods. The marketer should provide channels that customers can use to make complaints on defective products and mechanisms of dealing with customer dissatisfaction (Pride and Ferrell 106). The marketers should also promote practices that safeguard the customer right to choice, and that are compliant to existing legal framework such as the duty to safeguard customer confidentiality and privacy of information. The economic price should reflect the beneficial use of the product and the costs of producing and offering the product for sale (Pride and Ferrell 106). Ethics comprise of the values that guide an individual in differentiating what is wrong or right. Ethics in sales requires marketers to desist from engaging in activities that are morally wrong and that may cause harm to the consumer such as misleading advertising, and unfair pricing. The marketers should also comply with the legal framework on consumer confidentiality and privacy and ensures that customers attain value for their use of the product or

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Concepts - Essay Example The references that will be used are from Zen studies and its philosophical concepts, and also the famed work of Japan’s famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. Zen is the Japanese name of schools that belong to Mahayana Buddhism. Zen emphasizes the role of sitting meditation in pursuing enlightenment for the benefit of others, thus emphasizing compassion. Though considered simply a practice by most of its Western practitioners, Zen is in fact nothing less than a school of Buddhism; thus, it can even be considered a religion. It was only during the last century or so that Zen began to be viewed by Westerners as a philosophy, a way of life, a part of work, an art form, among others. Satori is a Zen philosophical term for reaching enlightenment. The word literally means "to understand." To emphasize further, it refers to "deep" or lasting enlightenment. Satori can be found in all life experiences for it is wrapped in all daily activities. Hence, the goal is to unwrap the meaning behind each moment in able to attain satori. Ross (1960) posited that the â€Å"awakening of Zen is satori, and the satori of Zen is recognizing the real noumenon of a person, his original feature, not necessarily recognizing the real substance of various acts† (p.45). The Zen Buddhist experience commonly recognizes enlightenment as a transitory thing in life, which is similar to the English term epiphany, and satori is the realization of a state of such epiphany as enlightenment. Since all things are regarded as transitory according to Zen philosophy, the transitory nature of satori is not limiting. On the contrary, such epiphany has a tremendous effect on Western philosophical u nderstanding of enlightenment. The transitory nature of satori owes much to the influences of Taoism on Chan Buddhism in China, from which the Japanese Zen came from. Taoism is a mystical philosophy that emphasizes the purity and importance of the moment. This emphasis on the importance of

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Health communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Health communication - Essay Example I can achieve greater success in the team through hard work to overcome the stress. I prefer feeling to thinking. The main reason for this is the need to maintain interpersonal relationships with other people. I always choose personal concerns about the welfare of others over impersonal facts and objective principle because it considers the points-of-view of persons involved in a situation. ‘Feeling’ enables one to maintain harmony and consider people’s values, unlike ‘thinking’, which requires the application of principles. Based on the article, the higher prevalence of â€Å"feeling† individuals in nursing is because of the need for harmony in the workplace. Those with a preference for ‘thinking’ endure less stress than those with a preference for ‘feeling’ (Nash, 2011). Nursing requires one to advocate for human-centered values that are in line with the way that people react and feel. It enables one to make individual exceptions for individual cases, as opposed to thinking, which requires one to stand firm to outlined principles and hold firm to policies. I agree with Anthony Espinoza that one can handle stress perfectly, depending on the situation. In addition, stress reduces a person’s level of focus, and it may hinder teamwork activities that require coordination of efforts. Feelings often override thinking because of the need to maintain interpersonal relationships. For instance, a nurse should be caring to patients, and they often achieve this through a display of feelings, despite the stress they endure in their long and exhausting work hours. I agree with Angela Bregstrom that a multitude of stress from different places is difficult to handle. For instance, if one experiences stress at the workplace, it is only right that they should not experience stress at home or at school. The ability of stress to arise from virtually all sectors makes it a variable that requires utmost attention before its

Monday, October 14, 2019

Legalize Marijuana Essay Example for Free

Legalize Marijuana Essay Marijuana has been vilified in America over the past 70+ years. Despite its many practical uses, medicinal and industrial, our Federal government insists on maintaining the status quo that the growth, possession and use of marijuana is criminal despite the evidence that the legalization of marijuana would have a positive influence on America. In this paper I will discuss the history of marijuana, the industrial uses of hemp, the prohibition of marijuana, the economic impact prohibition has on America, the effects of marijuana use on the mind and the body, marijuana for medical use, and how legalization of marijuana would have a positive influence on America. Although I support the legalization of marijuana I do not support the legalization of other Schedule I drugs, therefore this paper is not about the legalization of all drugs. Marijuana, as most people commonly know it, is really a plant called hemp, or cannabis sativa. There are other plants called hemp, but cannabis hemp is the most useful of these plants. Hemp is any durable plant used since prehistory for many purposes, and cannabis is the most durable of the hemp plants. The cannabis plant also produces three very important products that other plants do not, seed, pulp, and medicine. The cannabis sativa plant grows as weed and cultivated plant all over the world in a variety of climates and soils. Marijuana has been used throughout history; in 6000 B.C. cannabis seeds were used as food in China; in 4000 B.C. the Chinese used textiles made of hemp; the first recorded use of cannabis as medicine in China was in 2727 B.C.; and in 1500 B.C. the Chinese cultivated Cannabis for food and fiber. This time line goes on and on right through today. It is thought that hemp was first brought to the New World in 1545 by the Spanish; it was introduced in Jamestown by the English in 1611 where it became a major commercial crop alongside tobacco and was grown as a source of fiber. Our forefathers grew hemp; in fact it was the principal crop at Mount Vernon and it was a secondary crop at Monticello. There are recorded notes made by George Washington regarding the cultivation and harvesting of hemp. These hemp crops of course were grown for industrial use only and there is no indication that our forefathers were using their crops recreationally. Today the hemp grown for industrial purposes have extremely low levels of THC Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol delta 9-THC, the active component in cannabis therefore it is impossible to get high from such hemp grown for industrial use. During the Colonial Era Americans were legally bound to grow hemp. During the Second World War the federal government subsidized hemp and US farmers grew about a million acres of hemp as part of that program. Hemp is extraordinary in its diversity. There are over 25,000 different uses for the hemp plant. Because of how quickly hemp can be cultivated it is the Earth’s number one biomass resource. Hemp’s uses include but are certainly not limited to fuel; food, hemp seeds provide an incredible source of protein-not only for people but for birds who seek out hemp seeds which have been mixed with other seeds; paper; textiles, for example canvas, paper, cloth, rope; paint; detergent; varnish; oil; in; medicine; and building materials. Almost any product that can be made from wood, cotton, or petroleum including plastics can be made from hemp. In fact, hemp plastics are biodegradable. Besides its diversity, the practicality of utilizing hemp to its fullest potential is clear. Trees take from 50 to 100 years to grow; hemp’s growth cycle is 120 days. It is estimated that if the hemp pulp paper process reported by the USDA in 1916 were legal today it would soon replace 70% of all wood paper products. Despite all of its proven uses, all of which are beneficial to the planet Earth, the growth of industrial hemp in the United States remains a criminal act thanks to the robotic ravings of our federal government. President and founder of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Glenn Levant Hemp is marijuana. Philip Perry, special agent in charge of the DEAs Rocky Mountain Division ignorantly states, (Levant 1) the effort to decriminalize hemp is no more than a shallow ruse being advanced by those who seek to legalize marijuana. It should be noted that the selling hemp products are not illegal and in fact the U.S. hemp-products industry does about $125 million in retail sales a year. Although most states had local laws prohibiting marijuana use and possession, it wasn’t until 1937 that the federal government passed the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act. Interestingly, the congressional hearings on marijuana prohibition lasted all of two hours in direct contrast to most congressional hearings on new laws which last for days and days. There were exactly three bodies of testimonies testifying at these hearings. The first was Commissioner Harry Anslinger, the newly named commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics who happened to be appointed by his uncle-in-law, Andrew Mellon, who was the Secretary of the United States Treasury. Commissioner Anslinger testified on the government’s behalf. Not surprisingly he was working from a text which he had not written himself but which had been written for him by a New Orleans District Attorney. Reading directly from this text Commissioner Anslinger told the Congressmen at the hearings, Marihuana is an addictive drug which produces in its user’s insanity, criminality, and death. That was the Commissioner’s brilliantly insightful government testimony to support the marijuana prohibition. The second bodies of testimony to testify at this congressional hearing were industrial spokesmen. The first of these spokesmen was, believe it or not, a man representing the rope industry. This industry representative testified that it was cheaper to import from the Far East the hemp needed to make ropes and therefore the United States no longer needed to grow any more hemp to make rope. Five years later, in 1942, the United States was cut off from its sources of hemp in the Far East and, since we needed a lot of hemp to outfit our ships with rope for World War II, the Federal Government went into the business of growing hemp on gigantic farms throughout the Midwest and the South. The paint and varnish spokesmen didn’t seem to care either which way. The only industrial spokesperson who objected to the Marijuana Tax Act at all was the birdseed representative who sang the praises of hemp seeds for the birds’ coats. Based on this objection the birdseed industry got an exemption from the Marijuana Tax Act for denatured seeds. â€Å"The third body of testimony was two representatives of the medical field. The first testimony came from a pharmacologist who claimed that he had injected the active ingredient in marihuana into the brains of 300 dogs, two of which died. When asked by the Congressmen if he choose dogs for the similarity of their reactions to that of humans the answer of the Pharmacologist was, I wouldnt know, I am not a dog psychologist. The active ingredient in marijuana was first synthesized in a laboratory in Holland after World War II therefore it is unknown to this day what this pharmacologist injected into the dogs. The second testimony on behalf of the medical field came from the Chief Counsel to the American Medical Association, Dr. William C. Woodward. Dr. Woodward was the hearing to testify at the request of the American Medical Association. His exact quote to the congressmen was, The American Medical Association knows of no evidence that marihuana is a dangerous drug. to which one of the Congressmen said, Doctor, if you cant say something good about what we are trying to do, why dont you go home? Remember, this testimony came from the Chief Counsel of the esteemed American Medical Association. It should be no surprise that the bill passed. The act did not itself criminalize the possession or usage of marijuana but instead levied a tax of approximately one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in marijuana. The penalty provisions for violators of the proper procedures could result in a fine of up to $2000 and five years imprisonment. The intended result and indeed, the result of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act was to effectively make it too risky for anyone to deal in the substance. During the war years the Bureau chose to concentrate on opiates and abandoned responsibility for most marijuana law enforcement to the states. In the post-war years, however, there was found to be a significant increase in narcotic drug abuse and the public began to be concerned with the spread of narcotic addiction, particularly among young persons. Congressional furor was aroused by the assertion that the use of marihuana inevitably led to the use of these harder drugs, particularly heroin. In 1951 Congress passed the Boggs Act, increasing penalties for all drug violators. It was at this time, for the first time in federal drug legislation, that marijuana and the narcotic drugs were lumped together, since the Act provided uniform penalties for the Narcotic Drugs Import and Export Act Boggs Act, ibid. and the Marihuana Tax Act. The states followed the federal lead. Then, in 1956, Congress passed the Narcotic Control Act, escalating the penalties still further. Once again the individual states followed suit. The current Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 is a consolidation of numerous previous laws regulating the manufacture and distribution of narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids, and chemicals used in the illicit production of controlled substances. The CSA places all substances that are regulated under existing federal law into one of five schedules. This placement is based upon the substances medicinal value, harmfulness, and potential for abuse or addiction. Schedule I am reserved for the most dangerous drugs that have no recognized medical use, and, of course, is the current classification of marijuana. Public opinion on the medical value of marijuana has been sharply divided. Some dismiss medical marijuana as a hoax that exploits our natural compassion for the sick; others claim it is a uniquely soothing medicine that has been withheld from patients through regulations based on false claims. Proponents of both views cite scientific evidence to support their views and have expressed those views at the ballot box in recent state elections. In January 1997, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) asked the Institute of Medicine to conduct a review of the scientific evidence to assess the potential health benefits and risks of marijuana and its constituent cannabinoids. That review began in August 1997 and culminates with the report Marijuana and Medicine, Assessing the Science Base from the Institute of Medicine. This study was supported under Contract No. DC7C02 from the Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy. This report summarizes and analyzes what is known about the medical use of marijuana; it emphasizes evidence-based medicine derived from knowledge and experience informed by rigorous scientific analysis, as opposed to belief-based medicine derived from judgment, intuition, and beliefs untested by rigorous science. After their nearly two-year review, the investigators affirmed Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation. Except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range tolerated for other medications. However, the authors noted that cannabis inhalation would be advantageous in the treatment of some diseases, and that marijuanas short- term medical benefits outweigh any smoking-related harms for some patients. A most comprehensive and informative report on this subject is, The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition by Jeffrey A. Miron, Visiting Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Harvard University, which was published in June, 2005. This paper concludes. Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of legal regulation would save approximately $7.7 billion in government expenditures on prohibition enforcement $2.4 billion at the federal level and $5.3 billion at the state and local levels. Revenue from taxation of marijuana sales would range from $2.4 billion per year if marijuana were taxed like ordinary consumer goods to $6.2 billion if it were taxed like alcohol or tobacco. These impacts are considerable, according to the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. For example, $14 billion in annual combined annual savings and revenues would cover the securing of all loose nukes in the former Soviet Union estimated by former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb at $30 billion in less than three years. Just one years savings would cover the full cost of anti-terrorism port security measures required by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. The Coast Guard has estimated these costs, covering 3,150 port facilities and 9,200 vessels, at $7.3 billion total. A further comprehensive study which reports and analyzes national arrest data between 1995 and 2002 is, Crimes of Indiscretion, Marijuana Arrests in the United States, compiled by Jon Gettman, PhD, published by The NORML Foundation in 2005. There are many reasons for marijuana wanting to be legal. It isn’t just the stoners and illegal distributers that want it, but also the people that use it for medicinal use. In my perspective that’s the reasoning for the bill not being passed. Just people seeing that one word marijuana, they take one look and think it’s just a group of pot heads that want to be able to smoke it legally. It can help many people probably everyone in the world if you think about it properly. Works Cited 1. Cruz, Veronica. â€Å"Gunmen Get Medical Pot from Home on NE Side†. Arizona Daily Star. 20 March, 2012: A1 A5. 2. Kurwa, Nishat. â€Å"Federal Agents Bust Marijuana School ‘Oaksterdam.’’’ NPR. NPR, 03 Apr. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. http://www.npr.org/2012/04/03/149937087/federal-agents-bust-marijuana-school-oaksterdam. 3. Legalizing Marijuana. Legalizing Marijuana. Web. 09 May 2012. http://www.uri.edu/personal/atro6990/. 4. Legalization of Marijuana. Legalize Marijuana, Legal Weed, Marijuana Facts. Web. 09 May 2012. http://legalizationofmarijuana.com/. 5. Schlosser, Eric. Reefer Madness, TheAtlantic: 1994. 6. â€Å"Up In Smoke.† The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. http://www.economist.com/node/21552609.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Tissue Culture Studies In Pecan Biology Essay

Tissue Culture Studies In Pecan Biology Essay In the words of Paek and Read (2007), modern biotechnology owes much to its roots derived from plant tissue culture and micropropagation. Gottileb Haberlandt (1902) is referred to as the Father of Tissue Culture, is often cited as the origin and emergence of plant tissue culture and its subsequent application. Plant tissue culture techniques have become a fundamental tool for studying and solving basic and applied problems pertaining to agriculture, industry, environment and health in plant biotechnology. These techniques have greater impetus in the field of propagation (Islam, 1996). Plant tissue culture is multi-dimensional field that offers excellent prospects for plant improvement and crop productivity (Jain, 2001). Since the establishment of cultivation of plants, mankind is looking for methods that aids in the mass multiplication of plants using minimum quantity of propagules. The ultimate result of their enquiry leads to the development of tissue culture techniques. Woody plan ts having economic significance are generally propagated by seeds. Propagation of plants through tissue culture has become an essential and popular technique to reproduce crops that are otherwise difficult to propagate conventionally by seed and/or vegetative means. Pecan is a hardwood tree species of great economic importance for its nut fruits and usually propagated through seeds. Grafting and budding are the other conventional methods of propagating Pecan. Due to several limitations in conventional propagation methods certain relatively newer tissue culture techniques were developed for tree improvements. Different plant parts such as apical meristem, nodal explants, cotyledons or leaf explants were used for micropropagation of woody trees. For multiple shoot induction cotyledonary nodal explants have been used in tree propagation (Das et al., 1996; Pradhan et al., 1998; Das et al., 1999; Purohit et al., 2002; Walia et al., 2003). Genetic variations during callus cultures and mic ropropagation of trees have also been reported (Gupta and Varshney, 1999). Some molecular markers such as RAPD and AFLP has been also been used to detect genetic variations among in vitro clones (Gangopadhyay et al., 2003). In vitro studies for Pecan improvement throughout the world are generally scanty. Tissue culture techniques have been developed for several tree crops, but previous efforts with Pecan have shown that it is difficult to propagate by in vitro methods (Wood, 1982). These techniques have been used in Pecan mainly for the purpose of clonal propagation. Despite the fact that it is also found in Northern areas of Pakistan (Abbotabad). So far, nothing has been done for its growth and multiplication in Pakistan. There is to-date a short-fall in Pecan nuts and its products throughout the world because of the lack of rapid micropropagation methods for this tree species and disease attack during the last two decades. Various aspects of research on Pecan includes; studies on propagation (Smith et al., 1974), seed germination and dormancy (Dimalla and Van Staden, 1977), micropropagation (Hansen and Lazarte, 1984), seed maturation and germination (Wood, 1984), somatic embryogenesis (Rodriguez and Wetzstein, 1988), adventitious regeneration (Long et al., 1995), cell suspension cultures (Burns and Wetzstein, 1997), Manganese deficiency (Smith and Cheary, 2001), effect of Zinc supply on growth and nutrient uptake (Kim et al., 2002a), effect of nitrogen form and nutrient uptake (Kim et al., 2002b), forcing shoot tips and epicormic/ latent buds (Preece and Read, 2003). In this section a brief review of work is given in a manner so as to highlight the current status of the research work in Pecan tissue culture. 2.1.1 Micropropagation Micropropagation is the art and science of plant multiplication in vitro (McCown and McCown, 1999). As a concept, micropropagation was first presented to the scientific community in 1960 by Morel producing virus-free Cymbidiums. Micropropagation is a sophisticated technique for the rapid and large-scale propagation of many tree species. It has a great commercial potential due to extremely high speed of multiplication, the high plant quality and the ability to produce disease-free plants. Micropropagation has been applied to several woody tree species (Bonga and Von Aderkas, 1992). Generally, woody plants are recalcitrant to in vitro regeneration (McCown, 2000). The pertinency of micropropagation for woody trees has been confirmed feasible since the aspects of the system have established that trees produced by this method are similar to those produced by traditional methods (Lineberger, 1980). Furthermore, Lineberger (1980) however, described that the major impact of plant tissue cult ure will not be felt in the area of micropropagation, however in the area of controlled manipulations of plants at the cellular level. Many workers have reported propagation of Pecan through conventional methods (Smith et al., 1974; Brutsch et al., 1977). However these methods suffer several limitations thus provide few propagules from selected individuals (Tiwari et al., 2002). Several efforts at Pecan tissue culture were reported by Smith (1977) and Knox (1980) but neither was successful in establishing plants in soil. However, Knox obtained few shoots and plantlets when inverted nodal cuttings were used in vitro which upon transplanting did not survive. Later, Knox and Smith (1981) successfully proliferated in vitro axillary shoots of Pecan using seedling explants. Success was limited to the formation of callus with only few shoots and root formation. Major drawbacks to clonally propagate Pecan are the poor rooting and their survival rate after transplanting to greenhouse (Brutsch et al., 1976). In 1982, Wood successfully induced shoot proliferation in axillary buds of nodal explants and reported that synthetic hormones with combination of 4.0 mg/ litre BA and 1.0 mg/ litre IBA were most effective for shoot proliferation. Gibberellic Acid (GA3) at 3.0 mg/ litre plus 0.1 mg/ litre. BA also enhanced shoot elongation although he was unable to subculture shoots and rooting was not achieved. In another work performed by Hansen and Lazarte (1982) shoots were proliferated from juvenile Pecan in vitro and limited success was reported in terms of rooting. Hansen and Lazarte (1984) obtained single node cuttings from 2-month-old Pecan seedlings and induced bud break to from multiple shoots on liquid WPM and 2 % glucose supplemented with 3.0 mg/ litre 6-Benzylamino purine (BA). The shoots developed in vitro adventitious roots and showed vigorous root system with profuse lateral branching from primary roots on transferring to soil after soaking in 10 mg/ litre IBA for 8 days. Corte-Olivares and co-workers (1990a) reported a procedure for propagating Pecan using explants from adult trees. They collected nodal explant material during two consecutive seasons from grafted Western Schley trees. Specific trees representing the vegetative phase, partially bearing phase and fully bearing phase were identified and three collections of axillary buds were made from them each year. Buds were cultured on Dunstan and Short (1977) basal medium supplemented with 0.51 mM ascorbic acid and 4.4 Â µM BA. They found severe contamination problem which resulted in the data that was not amenable to statistical analysis in five of six collections of explants. Even so, in one of these five collections, shoot development and multiplication was observed during second and third culture passages from transitional tree while in four collections from juvenile tree explants. Amenable data found in one or six collections where explants of all three-donor tree phase responded with shoot m ultiplication. The results of this preliminary study indicated that selected adult phenol types had a potential for clonally micropropagating Pecan. 2.1.2 Somatic Embryogenesis Somatic embryogenesis has been known in tissue cultures of a wide range of higher plants, including both angiosperms and gymnosperms (Halperin, 1995). Somatic embryogenesis is a valuable tool of interest in plant biotechnology for its potential applications in clonal propagation, genetic transformation and studies involving embryo development. In addition, somatic embryogenesis is also used for regenerating transgenic trees. It involves the development of somatic cells into embryos, which proceeds through a sequence of morphological stages that resembles zygotic embryogenesis (Dodeman et al., 1997; Dong and Dunstan, 1999). It has been reported in several temperate and tropical tree species (Gain and Gupta, 2005). It is reported that many species of tropical fruit trees could produce somatic embryos in tissue culture (Litz, 1985). In another study, temperate fruit species including apple, sweet cherry, grapes, guava etc. have also been reported to produce somatic embryos (Tisserat et al., 1979; Ammirato, 1983; Rai et al., 2007). A successful somatic embryogenesis has been reported in members of the Pecan (Carya illinoensis) family (Juglandaceae), i.e., Juglans nigra, Juglans hindsii using immature zygotic embryo explants (Tulecke and McGranahan, 1985). However, the application of somatic embryogenesis for the improvement of Pecan is still limited as a result of problems with low initiation frequencies, maintenance of embryogenic cell lines and low conversion rates. Somatic embryogenesis is best known as an alternative pathway to propagate Pecan via methods of tissue culture mainly due to high multiplication rates, formation of organized root and shoot axes and feasibility of mechanization. A number of studies have focused on Pecan somatic embryogenesis and conversion to complete plantlets (Merkle et al., 1987; Wetzstein et al., 1988; 1989; 1990; Corte-Olivares et al., 1990b and Yates and Reilly, 1990). Somatic embryogenesis has been used for induced regeneration from in vitro tissue culture, occurring indirectly from callus, cell suspension, or protoplast culture or directly from cells of an organized structure such as stem segment or zygotic embryo (Williams and Maheswaran, 1986). They also described the fundamental homologies between direct and indirect somatic embryogenesis and between single cell and multiple cell initiation. The observed pattern of morphogenesis depends whether a group of cells establish and maintain coordinated behavior a nd influenced by factors, which affect intercellular communication. McGranahan et al., (1987) obtained genetic transformation using somatic embryogenic cultures in Juglans. Wetzstein et al., (1996) suggested that somatic embryogenesis has the potential for propagating Pecan rootstocks and useful in introducing genes of commercial interest. Merkle et al., (1987) induced somatic embryogenesis from immature zygotic embryos of Pecan cultivars Stuart and Desirable, within one month following transfer from modified WPM with 2.0mg/litre 2, 4-D and 0.25 mg/litre BA in the light to hormone-free medium in the dark but with low embryogenic frequency. Wetzstein and co-workers (1988) however, improved the embryogenic frequency up to 40 % for some explants sampling stages of Pecan. In another study, Wetzstein and co-workers (1989) examined the effect of cultivars, sampling date, tree source of explants and duration on conditioning medium for the optimum production of somatic embryos in two cvs. (Stuart and Desirable) of Pecan. Significant variations in embryogenic response were observed in both the cultivars. A short term exposure to 2, 4-D was shown to be quite adequate for embryogenesis in Pecan. Immature zygotic embryos collected in a developmental stage of rapid cotyledon expansion showed highest embryogenic response, i.e., 54.7 % in Desirable and 85.2 % in Stuart. No signification effect of duration on conditioning medium on embryogenic response was observed in both the cultivars. In Stuart, effect of different trees as explant sources was not significant but found significant in Desirable. However, plant regeneration and transplantation remained a limiting factor. Later, Corte-Olivares and co-workers (1990b) reported the induction of somatic embryogenesis in two cultivars (Western Schley and Wichita) with low developmental frequencies into complete plantlets. Growth regulators with different combinations had a significant effect on induction of embryogenic callus. They proved that medium containing 2, 4-D was most effective for the induction of embryogenesis. The individual shoots isolated from shoot multiplication cultures were rooted with 49 % frequency upon culture for 4 weeks on BDS (Dunstan and Short) medium containing 14.8Â µM IBA. Their results indicated the potential to successfully obtain complete plants from Pecan somatic embryos. Studies of Yates and Reilly (1990) on relation of cultivars response on somatic embryogenesis and subsequent plant development revealed that explants of micropylar region when removed from fruits in the liquid endosperm stage were more embryogenic than the intact ovules. Medium containing auxin alone or auxin and cytokinins produced more somatic embryos than medium containing cytokinin alone. Furthermore, Wetzstein et al., (1990) examined effects of zygotic embryo explanting time and auxin type on somatic embryogenesis during conditioning in Pecan (Carya illinoensis). Maximum embryogenesis was observed after 15 weeks post pollination. Percent somatic embryogenesis and embryo form was significantly affected by auxin type and concentration but not the embryogenic efficiency. MS medium proved to be better than WPM for embryo germination. In another interesting study, Mathews and Wetzstein (1993) established new methods to increase plant regeneration by repetitive secondary embryos formation which can efficiently produce large number of clonal plants suitable for establishment in greenhouse. Silver nitrate (29.43 Â µM) incorporation to WPM and application of 6-benzylaminopurine (100 Â µM) on shoot apices increased maximum shoot regeneration frequency with average frequency (20 %) of plantlet conversion up to a maximum of 71 % in cv. Mahan. Later, 70 80 % of the regenerated plants attained hardening stage and > 99 % of hardened plants were established successfully in the greenhouse. Later, Rodriguez and Wetzstein (1994) investigated callus production, embryo formation and embryo morphology in Pecan. Explants were cultured for one week on WPM with either NAA or 2, 4-D at a concentration of 2, 6 or 12 mg/litre and then subcultured on fresh basal medium. The best auxin treatment was 6 mg/l NAA in the induction medium, with 100 % somatic embryogenesis in cv. Stuart. Somatic embryos induced by NAA were shown to have relatively normal morphology than those induced by 2, 4-D. They reported that somatic embryo morphology affects plantlet conversion and NAA proved to be a superior auxin than 2, 4-D for the production of somatic embryos and their subsequent conversion to plants. In 1998, Rodriguez and Wetzstein critically compared morphological and histological aspects of Pecan somatic embryos induced on media with NAA or 2, 4-D. The media containing NAA or 2, 4-D has shown significant differences in the timing and pattern of initiation and development of somatic embryos. Embryos derived from callus cultures on NAA had normal morphology while those derived from cultures on 2, 4-D had higher incidences of abnormalities. Their study strongly revealed the multicelluar origin of embryos in contrast to earlier studies of somatic embryogenesis where embryos were defined as having single-cell origin (Street and Withers, 1974). Yates and Wood (1989) demonstrated organogenesis from immature embryonic axes in vitro in Pecan. Highest number of normal plants was produced from medium containing IBA, BA and kinetin at 0.5, 4.4 and 9.3 Â µM respectively. Shoots only were produced on a medium containing cytokinins only and rooting was observed on medium with no cytokinins. In cv. Desirable greatest number of axillary shoots were elongated from embryo axes on a medium containing cytokinin only, but both with auxin and cytokinins foe cv. Stuart. Later, Obeidy and Smith (1993), investigated organogenesis from mature Pecan cotyledons and embryonic axes. Embryonic axes at cotyledonary nodes formed 85 % microshoots and 30 % were rooted on an auxin-free medium after pre-culture in a medium with 20 Â µM IBA. Adventitious buds emerged on callus surface previously produced on medium containing TDZ (25 Â µM) from cotyledonary nodes and radicals. Kumar and Sharma (2005) induced somatic embryos from cotyledon explants of Walnut and Pecan. They cryopreserved these somatic embryos using non-toxic cryoprotectants, i.e., DMSO, glycerol and ethylene glycol and evaluated their survival percentage. Maximum survival percentage was observed with 5 % DMSO, 1.5 % glycerol and 3% ethylene glycol pre-treatment. In contrast, higher sucrose levels decreased survival rate and the embryos became necrotic. However, sucrose-desiccated somatic embryos pretreated with cryoprotectants survived better after one day in the liquid nitrogen. Somatic embryogenesis can be applied for efficient plant regeneration systems. It may also be utilized for introducing the genes of interest. Molecular markers can be used as a means of evaluating genetic stability of plants regenerated through tissue culture. Somatic embryos exhibit morphological features similar to zygotic embryos. Abnormal developments, however, frequently been observed and genetic fidelity of embryos is unknown. Therefore, the genetic fidelity of culture must be evaluated before somatic embryogenesis can be exploited. In such an interesting research work, Vendrame et al., (1999) evaluated the applicability of using AFLP analysis to assess the genetic variability in somatic embryos of Pecan (Carya illinoensis) and compared between and within embryogenic culture lines. They revealed that individual embryos derived from the same culture line exhibited high similarity and could be grouped together. However, within a culture line some embryo-to-embryo differences were also observed. They concluded that AFLP can be used as a reproducible technique to check the genetic variation among Pecan somatic embryo cultures. Larkin and Scowcroft (1981) were the first who designated variations in tissue-culture-derived plants as somaclonal variations. Somaclonal variations were also detected in Peach regenerates when developed from two different embryo callus cultures using RAPD (Hashmi et al., 1997). They suggested that genetic changes occurred during tissue culture. Brown et al., (1993) were also successful in genetically distinguishing among wheat suspension culture lines and also among regenerated plants through RAPD. Several studies have been reported to the use of molecular markers in understanding the Pecan genome. The genetic diversity of Pecan populations through isozyme system has been demonstrated by Marquard 1987, 1991; Marquard, et al., 1995; Ruter et al., 2000, 2001). Conner and Wood (2001) employed RAPDs for the identification of Pecan cultivars and estimate their genetic relatedness. The molecular evaluation of Pecan trees regenerated from somatic embryogenic cultures was carried out by Vendrame et al., (2000) using AFLPs. Grauke, et al., (2001) reported mean 2C genomic size of Pecan to be approximately 1.7 pg. Later, in another study, Grauke et al., (2003) evaluated simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for the genetic study of Pecan. Crespel et al., (2002) stated that molecular markers are valuable in perennial crops for the construction of linkage maps. Molecular linkage maps are successfully employed in many crops for directed germplasm improvement (Pearl et al., 2004). Recently, mo lecular linkage maps of several tree fruit and nut crops have also been produced, including Pear (Yamamoto et al., 2002), Apricot (Lambert et al., 2004) and Walnut (Fjellstrom and Parfitt, 1994). In such another interesting work, Beedanagari et al., (2005) reported a first genetic linkage map of Pecan using RAPD and AFLP markers. These maps are an important first step towards the detection of genes controlling horticulturally important characters such as nut size, maturity date, kernel quality and disease resistant (Conner, 1999). To initiate further work on Pecan, somatic embryogenesis has also been attempted by using cell suspension cultures. Regenerable suspension cultures established an attractive tool for the production of clonal plants and in studies involving genetic transformation. Previously, repetitive somatic embryogenesis was first reported in Pecan (Merkle et al., 1987) on solidified medium. Later, a number of research workers have improved the quantity (Wetzstein et al., 1989; Yates and Reilly, 1990) and quality (Wetzstein et al., 1990) of the somatic embryos through modified culture media and conditions. Though many improvement of the cultured media, not any previous report represented the development of somatic embryos in liquid medium. In liquid suspensions, synchronized development of the embryogenic cultures was one of the major advantage over the solidified cultures. In tissue cultures of Pecan, stable embryogenic suspensions have been developed by Burns and Wetzstein (1994). They induced pre-globular stage embryo masses on hormone-free liquid suspension cultures of Pecan to develop into somatic embryos on semi-solid medium. Effect of modified solid medium (various combinations of ABA, Maltose, casein hydrolysate and filter paper overlays) treatments on somatic embryo storage reserve accumulation was investigated. Embryos analyzed for triglycerides and protein contents showed significant reserve deposition for some treatments but associated with undesirable deterioration in embryo morphology. The treatment that enhances the reserve accumulation was identified promoting plant recovery from suspension-derived Pecan somatic embryos. Later, in another interesting work, Burns and Wetzstein (1997) developed a method for the establishment and proliferation of developmentally stable, embryogenic Pecan suspension cultures, presenting a major improvement in embryogenic tissue culture in Juglandaceae. The established suspension cultures consisted of a mixture of pre-globular, globular stage embryo aggregates and freely suspended globular embryos. Their studies revealed that cultures were repetitively embryogenic and proliferated in growth-regulator-free medium. Repetitive embryogenic cultures have also been reported in Juglans regia (Tulecke and McGranahan, 1985) and Juglans nigra (Neuman et al., 1993; Preece et al., 1995), related members of the family Juglandaceae. 2.1.4 Adventitious Regeneration Adventitious regeneration means the production of adventitious shoots and buds from tissue other than axillary buds, e.g., the cotyledonary explants. The most common explants for adventitious regeneration of woody plants are cotyledons. They may either be from mature or immature seeds and leaf tissue from in vitro cultures. Although adventitious regeneration is generally undesirable for clonal micropropagation, it can represent an excellent opportunity to regenerate plants from various tissues. Also the propagation rates can be much higher than axillary shoot formation (Chun, 1993). Adventitious shoot formation can also be used for overcoming reproductive barrier caused by sterile male/ female plants (Kantia and Kothari, 2002). Conventional propagation techniques for woody fruit species are slow and possess several difficulties due to long generation cycles and high level of heterozygosity (Sriskandarajah, et al., 1994). There is a need to develop in vitro methods that could be available to speed up the breeding process for crop improvement. Many woody plant species resisted the establishment of an efficient system for regenerating plantlets due to genetically driven in vitro recalcitrance (McCown, 2000; Shing et al., 2002). However, in vitro adventitious regeneration has been achieved from various plants of several woody tree species (Maggon and Singh, 1996; Nagori and Purohit, 2004). It was reported that under identical conditions the shoot regeneration percentage varied depending on the source and type of explants used (Gentile et al., 2002; Grant and Hammatt, 2000). A higher percentage of shoot regeneration was attained from juvenile leaf explants as compared to adult leaves in Prunus dulcis (Miguel et al., 1996). Regeneration has also been achieved from the leaves of apricot (Burgos and Alburquerque, 2003), black cherry (Hammatt and Grant, 1998) and sweet cherry (Matt and Jehle, 2005). Regeneration of adventitious shoots has been reported from immature cotyledons of Peach (Yan and Zhou, 2002) and Almond (Ainsley et al., 2001). In addition, regeneration using mature cotyledons has been reported for Peach (Pooler and Scorza, 1995), ornamental cherries (Hokanson and Pooler, 2000) and sweet cherry (Canli and Tian, 2008). Regeneration through adventitious shoot formation was achieved in Feronia limonia using hypocotyls segments by Singhvi (1997). In vitro studies for Pecan improvement throughout the world are scanty. However, adventitious regeneration was reported in some members of the family Juglandaceae, e.g., Juglans nigra (Neuman et al., 1993) and Juglans regia (Chvojka and Reslova, 1987). This phenomenon may be of particular significance for extremely recalcitrant woody plant species such as Pecan also. Long et al., (1995) reported an unexpected observation that was the production of adventitious shoots from the cotyledonary explants of Juglans nigra, placed on WPM medium containing 2, 4-D and TDZ. Obeidy and Smith (1993) showed similar adventitious buds arising from callus cultures of mature Pecan (Carya illinoensis) embryonic tissues. Their shoots were regenerated from explants placed on MS medium with 25 Â µM TDZ. Later, in the experimental work of Neuman et al., (1993), no shoot organogenesis were recorded when immature cotyledonary explants were placed on WPM medium containing 2, 4-D and TDZ. However, Preece observed shoot organogenesis in Juglans nigra (unpublished data) from cotyledonary explants placed on WPM medium containing 2, 4-D and TDZ. Adventitious shoots were readily multiplied through axillary shoot proliferation. Biotechnology utilizing adventitious regeneration may also present a new opportunity for the improvement of woody plant species. 2.1.5 Novel Micropropagation Methods Previous tissue culture work involved micropropagation of cuttings obtained from seedlings or buds of trees grown under field conditions. The rooting of these shoots is slow or they may not be rooted as well. On the other hand, contamination was another major constraint encountered when these shoots are used for in vitro cultures. Shoots taken from outdoor usually have microbes in tiny cracks of bark, not removed through disinfestations causing in vitro contamination of cultures (Preece and Read, 2003). Therefore, some other relatively newer techniques have been developed that utilizes the parts of the plants (branch tips and/ or stem segments) during dormant season and force new growths in a greenhouse environment. These techniques, such as shoot forcing as well as forcing epicormic buds may provide a breakthrough in the micropropagation of woody plants as well as for herbaceous species. These forcing techniques also have the potential for commercial propagation of plants. Research has been conducted on shoot forcing for years but much focus was on shoot tip harvested from trees and shrubs during the dormant season (Read and Yang, 1991). For softwood shoot forcing, shoot tips of specific length (20-25 cm long) were cut, surface disinfested and placed in a solution containing 8- hydroxyquinoline citrate (8-HQC) and different growth regulators (Yang and Read, 1992, 1993). On the other hand, large branches (40 cm long) excised from juvenile portions of the trees and shrubs can also be used to force softwood shoots on a greenhouse media (Harmer, 1988; Cameron and Sani, 1994, Henry and Preece, 1997a, b). No forcing solution is used in this technique. These forced softwood shoots can be rooted as stem cuttings (Henry and Preece, 1997a). Softwood shoots can also be utilized as explants source for in vitro studies and micropropagation (Preece, 2003). Clonal propagation is achieved by culturing nodal explants taken from in vitro seedlings or form field-grown adult trees. Hence, for in vitro establishment of softwood shoots, there is a need to obtain explants with minimum of contamination. Read and Yang, (1988, 1989) disinfested the shoot tips treating with a solution of 0.78 % NaOCl containing Tween-20. Shoot tips were forced by placing in a forcing solution containing BA and GA3. They reported that the use of GA3 favored bud break and consequently increases multiple shoot production under in vitro conditions. Read and Yang (1991) later, forced softwood shoots from privet (Ligustrum vulgaris) and arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum) and tested different growth regulators in forcing solution for rooting of softwood cuttings. They reported that IBA increased number of roots per cuttings for both plants while root length increased only in Privet. On the other hand, GA3 decreased number of roots per cutting as well as reduced root length. Similarly, in another study, Read and Yang (1992) reported the influence of pre-forcing treatment on bud break and shoot elongation of lilac, Privet and Vanhoutte spirea. Their results revealed that pre-forcing treatments increased the percent bud break by 20 % and shoots were elongated 3.0 mm greater as compared to control. However, pre-treatment effect differed with the plant species. In 1993, Yang and Read forced Vanhoutte spirea stems in forcing solution containing 8-hydroxyquinoline citrate (8-HQC), 2 % sucrose with different levels of BA and GA3 to observe their effects on in vitro cultures. They revealed that LS (Linsmaier and Skoog, 1965) medium supplemented with 5 Â µM BAP or 5 Â µM BAP + 1 or 5 Â µM IAA was found to be superior for the shoot forcing in Vanhoutte spirea. BAP addition to forcing solution enhanced shoot proliferation while GA3 reduces shoot establishment in vitro. Large stem segments having epicormic (dormant, latent or suppressed) buds cut during the dormant season can also be forced by placing in a suitable glasshouse medium. Large numbers of epicormic buds are present on stems of several woody tree species. Softwood shoots developed from epicormic buds on large stem segments can be used as stem cuttings in nursery industry (Cameron and Sani, 1994; Henry and Preece, 1997b). Henry and Preece, (1997a) investigated the production of softwood shoots and their subsequent rooting from maple species. The percentage of softwood shoot production varied considerably within the species and clones of genus Acer. However, greater (59 %) number of softwood shoots was rooted in red maple as compare to either in sugar (15 %) or Japanese maple (26 %). Furthermore, Henry and Preece, (1997b) studied the influence of length and diameter of large stem segments on the production of softwood shoots from epicormic buds of selected species of genus Acer. They concluded that both stem length and diameter influenced the production of softwood shoots. Their study revealed that stem segments ranging from 30 40 cm long with 5.2 7.6 diameters were best for the softwood shoot production. Preece et al., (2002) developed a system for the production of softwood cuttings during the dormant season. It provides a longer growing season to force and root softwood segments in mid to late winter during the year of propagation for plant growth, hence, advantageous over traditional propagation methods. They suggested that intermittent mist provides the most effective forcing environment. Juvenility seems to be an important factor and it is easier to propagate plants in the juvenile growth stage than the adult phase. Similarly, microshoots originated from adult black walnut were hard to root than that of juvenile origin (Heile

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Chinese Culture Exposed in the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee :: Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee

Chinese Culture Exposed in the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee In by reading the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, I gained a perspective of the people and culture of China. This book showed the analysis of Chinese saw and the background of Chinese history. Judge Dee, during the Tang Dynasty, was a well-known statesman and a magistrate to a town called Chang-Ping. He was known to be a famous detective, in which he could solve all crimes. In the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, he is faced with three murders, which develop throughout the book. First of the three murders was the murder of the two silk merchants. Second was the sudden death of a young husband, and thirdly was the poisoning of a bride in her nuptial chamber. As Judge Dee begins solving the crimes, the story unfolds slowly and shows the reader the history of China. In the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, Judge Dee lived in the Tang dynasty. During this period, one can see how the Chinese authoritative views were strict, the laws and punishment which were enforced, and what the outlook on the Chinese society was. Authority had a strong hold on their community and the people in the town also confined in them to help them and solve crimes. The community also knew what the consequences of causing a crime was and that indeed it was wrong to omit a crime. Judge Dee and with the help of his associates, begins solving the crime through much observation and Judge Dee was very clever. He used methods and tools such as, going undercover, using underground sources, interrogation, and forensic science to solve his problems. It isn’t much different today on how we solve crime in the western world. We can see the Asian influence in solving crime matters when Judge Dee uses religion, ghosts, and dreams to solve his crimes. Bad luck and superstition such as were also believed. If the dead weren’t buried properly the Chinese felt that the dead wouldn’t let the family rest or sleep in peace. In the end of the book you could see that the use of torture and the methods of execution are more extreme than the western culture. Judge Dee went to an ancient graveyard to consults the spirit of the dead.

Friday, October 11, 2019

To what extent does Soyinka present Jeroboam and his gullible congregation firstly as victims of social forces

To what extent does Soyinka present Jeroboam and his gullible congregation firstly as victims of social forces and secondly, as victims of their own greed and opportunism in The Trials of Brother Jero? â€Å"Human life cannot be represented in a fully or truthful manner without taking account of the pressures brought to bear upon the individual by his milieu, by the particularity of social situation and historical circumstance† John Cruickshank (1969) I have chosen the quote above as a starting point for my essay because I believe that Africa as a continent has seen such extremes of political and social upheaval that to overlook the importance of history, and its affects down the evolutionary scale on the people of Africa, in African literature and particularly in Soyinka's The Trials of Brother Jero would be very wrong. But how far can you make allowances for greed, selfishness and opportunism (which almost every character in the play attributes to) under the assumption that they are just products of the greed, selfishness and opportunism inflicted on the people when colonisation reared its ugly head? by the same token I feel that it is easy for an audience or reader of a play to put characters good or bad points purely down to their ‘character'. When a play write presents you with characters that are so easy to interpret then you have to ask yourself, why? Jero is a prophet, â€Å"by birth and inclination† and this is indeed the first thing we learn about him. The way Soyinka presents him to us is initially set out in the stage directions where Jero is described as â€Å"suave†. Jero's opening line â€Å"I am a prophet†, I feel, encourages the audience to think that maybe a real prophet would be more modest. Jero's direct speech to the audience employs a traditional African style of address that forces an audience to actively analyse Jero's speeches. That said Soyinka does not make it difficult for us to see that Jero is far from being a religious man as he informs us of his betrayal of his previous master for his own personal gain. So why would Soyinka use such a style of address if he did not want to us to analyse something more in the apparent openness of his characters speech? I feel that Soyinka has used this literary tool in order to encourage an audience not to see the truth in the characters (as this is very easy to see) but to think about why they have come to be the way they are. G. N. Ofor (1991) in his essay entitled The Urban Novel: A Historical Experience tells us about social realities of the time prior to colonisation: â€Å"African villagers were noted for their homogeneity and were guided by traditional beliefs and values. Members of the community were very closely bound together and the primacy of the community over the individual was emphasised† I think it is very important that G. N. Ofor chooses to specify that this state was what Africa was like before colonisation as this suggests that things have changed because of colonisation. Certainly in The Trials of Brother Jero the people are guided by traditional beliefs with the characters attending church regularly and Jero being something of an advisor (certainly to Chume anyway) but Jero himself is not guided by the hope of enlightenment or saviour after death, nor is he compelled to help people for the sake of being a kind and generous person. Everything he does, in some way, contributes to his own personal gain, gain of money or respect or personal favours. In the quotation below which is an excerpt from the play Jero finds out that Chume's wife is in fact also his creditor who he has been trying to avoid, and so allows him finally to beat her despite forbidding him not to up until this point. Jero says â€Å"he wants to beat his wife, but I won't let him. If I do, he will become contented, and then that's another of my flock gone for ever. Jero: Ah. That is the only way. But er†¦ I wonder really what the will of god would be in this matter. After all, Christ himself was not averse to using the whip when occasion demanded it. Chume (eagerly. ): No. He did not hesitate. Jero: In that case, since, brother Chume, your wife seems such a wicked, wilful sinner, I think†¦ Chume: Yes, Holy One†¦? Jero: You must take her home tonight†¦ Chume: Yes†¦ Jero: And beat her. You could easily conclude from this that Jero is presented as a victim of his own opportunism or that Jero is an opportunist, I suppose that to consider a character as a victim of anything suggests that we cannot or do not blame them for it; that, from a humanitarian point of view we can empathise with Jero's course of action. But Soyinka does not present to us any signal that Jero has suffered any sort of moral dilemma as he recurrently exploits his congregation. So we need to consider the social forces that might shape the attitudes of the characters in The Trials of Brother Jero The ideological view points detailed in the quotation by G. N. Ofer. Do not apply to the character Jero so Maybe Soyinka chooses not to present Jero in this idyllic image as a remark against such opinions saying that he does not agree that Colonisation is a reason that people in Africa have become more of a capitalist nation like in European society and is making the point that the image of Africans as a tight knit, un-selfish communism never completely existed. In the same essay I quoted from earlier and on the subject of the effects of colonisation, G. N. Ofer goes on to say that: Factors like taxation, a common portable currency, the desire for European goods, the need and the opportunity to make profits contributed immensely to the historic shift from a subsistence economy to a monetary economy. This loosened the co-operative ties binding the individual to his clan and lineage members. † If you read the above quote with reference to Soyinka's character Jero you could certainly see how, perhaps, Soyinka's character Jeroboam is presented as a victim of this new found ethic, catalysed by the influence of Africa's capitalist colonisers. In fact in Soyinka's own words, from an essay entitled from a common backcloth: A reassessment of the African literary Image he writes of â€Å"the European observer† that: â€Å"He still fights a rearguard today. It has grown subtler. Accommodation is his new weapon, not dictation† Soyinka (1988) Accommodation of the African continent or of the minds of the African masses perchance? Chume is another of Soyinka's main characters in the play, an un-educated, naive, gullible, hen-pecked man who relies completely on the ‘help' he gets from Jero. Looking at the play it is easy perceive that Soyinka has presented Chume as a victim. In the excerpt I have quoted below we can see how Chume goes to see brother Jero, desperate to find help for the mental torture he suffers by his nagging wife, Amope; Chume: My life is hell†¦ Jero: Forgive him, father, forgive him. Chume: This woman will kill me†¦ Jero: Forgive him, father, forgive him. Chume: Only this morning I†¦ Jero: Forgive him, father, forgive him. Chume: All the way on my bicycle†¦ Jero: Forgive†¦ Chume: And not a word of thanks†¦ Jero: Out Ashtoreth. Out Baal†¦ Chume: All she gave me was abuse, abuse, abuse†¦ All Chume wants is for Jero to allow him to beat her, just once, but Jero keeps him hanging on saying it is not the will of god. All Chume wants out of life is to have a peaceful relationship with his wife and to gain a better job. Chume is actually under a great deal of pressure to conform to the expectations of his wife and his peer. Amope says â€Å"A chief messenger in the local Government Office – do you call that work? Your old schools friends are now ministers, riding in long cars†¦ † while Jero mocks Chume for his â€Å"animal jabber† he goes on to say that he is â€Å"too crude, but then that is to my advantage. It means he would never set himself up as my equal. † you could argue that any characters desire for monetary gain or a materialistic attitude to life could be seen as a direct effect of the colonisation of Africa. As I have shown in earlier quotations and as I have read so far, it would seem that many of the people who write about the state of the African infrastructure have the opinion that colonisation has been a destructive factor because it imposed the materialistic, dog eat dog attitude of Europe. Many writers believe that the effect of Europe has caused a lack of solidarity between the African masses. It would seem, also that there have been many literary works which satirise this idea, Claude Wauthier (1978) in The literature and thought of modern Africa writes; The tone is just as sarcastic about Europe in the long free-verse poem by the Ugandan Okot p'Bitek, song of Lawino, the bitter-sweet lament of a black woman who is reproached by her husband for being illiterate and not knowing European social manners: My husband pours scorn On black people He behaves like a hen That eats its own eggs. Bearing this in mind it seems as though Soyinka has presented Chume as a victim of the social forces imposed by those around him. He fits perfectly into Eustace Palmer's view (quoted by G. N. Ofor in The essay The urban novel: a Historical Experience) of; â€Å"The rural innocent†¦ who is ignorant of the qualities needed to survive in the hot-house that is the city and who is quite often inadequately equipped, as far as education is concerned, to qualify for the lucrative jobs the city offers. † Palmer (1979) It is interesting to include that G. N. Ofor remarks on the above quote with: â€Å"However it is pertinent to note that without the creation of towns/cities by the colonial administration, there would have been no urban novel. † As for Chume's own greed and opportunism, I think it would be difficult for anyone to argue that a person could be said to be greedy for wanting to live harmoniously with their wife/husband or to want equality. All we know of the rest of brother Jero's congregation is the few people he mentions that he has convinced will become prime ministers of certain states, there is a woman who badly wants children and Jero tell us that the most popular of his prophesies is to tell people they will live until they are 80. As Jero says â€Å"if it doesn't come true, that man doesn't find out until he's on the other side. The last character we meet in the play is ‘member', who aptly becomes a member of Brother Jero's congregation by the end of the play. Jero, at first, attempts to speak to him by pretending he has prophesised the meeting between them. Shockingly the member turns away saying â€Å"Go and practise your fraudulences on another person of greater gullibility† and so for a second it seems as though there may be at least one character that will not fall for the charms of Brother Jeroboam – this is not the case. All it takes is for Jero to say what he wants to hear and he is hooked. Jero tempts him by saying â€Å"And at a desk, in a large gilt room, great men of the land awaited your decision. Emissaries of foreign nations hung on your word. And on the door leading into your office I read the words, minister for war†¦ † Asking god or brother Jero to help people become ministers or heads of state or merely to have a better job or more money seems to go against the true usages of religion, Which I had understood to be performing the will of God (of whichever denomination) and keeping unity between all the people within the culture. It seems to me that Soyinka may be trying to show that while every member of Jero's congregation is manipulated by him they themselves are not completely innocent in their reasons for their faith. Mineke Schipper (1982) in Oral Literature and Total Theatre says; â€Å"In traditional society the religious system determines the cultural unity of the people. Life forces bind man to his past, his present and his future and determine his relationships with gods, spirits, nature and natural phenomena. The unity tends to break down where western influence increases. † It is interesting that the subject of western influence is again considered to be the destructive factor in the lack of unity between the African people. The quotation above suggests that western influences have even meant a breaking down of the unity that religion brings. After having looked at The Trials of Brother Jero, and having discussed the idea of victimisation I can only conclude that human beings, from whatever culture or walk of life, all desire the same basic things – money and material possessions, respect, power and equality (though not necessarily in that order). The idea that has cropped up so often in my essay, that the social forces which work upon the individual and the nation as a whole are a direct effect of colonisation, is probably the most interesting point of all. You can indeed find reasoning within the text to assume that Soyinka may have intended for this theme to become apparent, whether or not you regard any of the characters as victims or even if you regard them as victims and perpetrators together at the same time. Below I have included a quotation from S. E. Ogude in his essay African Literature and the Burden of History: Some Reflections in which he talks about another African playwright, Chinua Achebe (1975) Saying: â€Å"He also reveals the weaknesses of the traditional society and the ease with which European capitalism and religion supported by gun powder and cannon balls successfully challenged the dominance of traditional culture. † If this is indeed true then it is a terrible, terrible shame.