The korean conflict Essay Example for Free

The korean conflict Essay The Korean conflict had a number of factors that contributed to it. One of the factors although it is not the major one could be the size of Korea as a country which is small in the middle of large countries such as Russia, China and Japan. Because of this fact, each surrounding country wanted to take over Korea to be under their territory, something which Korea had trouble in dealing with. Most of the time, she could find herself under the control of the neighbors like China which controlled her at intervals for over 1000 years. The major cause of the conflict came into play when Japan took control of Korea just like the other neighboring countries had done. They ruled Korea from 1904 until the end of the World War II when the Soviet Union and the United States of America joined forces to drive Japanese out of the Korean territory. They agreed that after the Soviet Union was to rule in the north with the United States taking the Southern Korean. The 38 parallel was to make the dividing line between the North and the South Korea. The two countries ruled for a period of two years after which they both left Korea. The North which was under the Soviet Union leadership was left with a communist government while the south which was under the leadership of the US, a democratic government was left behind . Because of the need for unity between the north and the south, problems started. There were two governments in place: one formed by the southern people which was a democratic government and the other one was a communist government. The northern government formed the democratic people’s republic of Korea which was headed by Kim II Sung as a prime minister and the southern government was led by Syngman Rhee who was their president. The north wanted Korea unified as a communist state with the south advocating for a democratic state. Elections were held to form a single government between the North and the south and were supposed to be supervised by the UN to ensure that they were fair. Elections were held, of which the South was declared to have been undertaken in a free and fair way but the Northern region’s elections could not be accepted because the UN supervisors could not be allowed into the North by the Soviets who were present. As a result, they were declared unacceptable. This led to formation of the separate states. Disputes started to emerge between the two sides with each side becoming more aggressive . The United States pulled out its soldiers from the south from 40,000 who were there to only 500 soldiers and limited the number of weapons they were sending to the region. This was partly because of the fear of the southern president attacking the North and also because of the policy that had been passed in the US concerning Asia (NSC 48/2) . Because of the power that the Soviet and China had developed through military advancement such that by 1949 they already had a nuclear bomb, the US opted for a different way of resolving the conflict other than war . In 1950, the troops from North Korea launched a surprise attack on the south. The UN intervened and called an emergency meeting on the same day but the meeting was boycotted by the Russian security delegation because the UN had recognized Chiang Kai-Shek’s government as the official government in Taiwan and ignored Mao’s communist rule in Beijing. At the meeting, it was claimed by the US that North Korea had interfered with world peace by attacking South Korea. America wanted North Korean troops to back off from the 38 parallel, a view that was supported by nine out of the eleven member countries. On 27th of June 1950, the US suggested that the UN should use force to get the North Korean troops out of the south because of them boycotting the Security Council . The UN formulated its plans in which 16 member states were to provide troops under the joint command of the UN which could support the South Korean army. The UN troops were under the command of an American General MacArthur. The UN troops launched an attack against the North Korean troops in September of 1950 and managed to effectively cut North Korean army into two and managed to push them out of the south. They continued advancing to the North Korean territory despite the warnings from China. This led to an attack on the UN troops by China between 1950 and 1951 managing to push back the UN forces. MacArthur was sucked by President Truman after they had clashed generating the war into a stalemate between the UN and China. They agreed on a ceasefire at Panmunjon in 1953 which still exists to date . The reasons that brought about conflicts between the North and South Korea were not justified. This was not North Korean verses South Korean war but instead it was a war between the US and the Soviet Union. It was the battle for supremacy between the US and the Soviet Union that fueled the conflicts between the two regions. In the first place, they are the ones who brought differences between the north and the south by first dividing them and instilling in them different forms of governance. Because of the effects that the war could have on the people of both the South and North Korea, the Northern troops could have desisted from entering the southern territory. From the start, it was evident that because of the differences that existed between the two, forming a unity government could do them more harm than good hence they should have continued with the separate governments they had formed . The cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union was more or less the same as the Korean conflict because it was still the struggle for supremacy between the Soviet Union and the US led to these wars. It was because of President Woodrow Wilson’s commitment to liberal internationalism that was aimed at promoting democracy together with free enterprise that conflicted with the Soviet Unions’ world wide class revolution which was aimed at bringing a socialist future that triggered the cold war. Differing economic interests between the two is also thought to have brought about the conflict. The US was out to create a new currency stabilizing scheme which the Soviet Union was opposed to because it was based on American capitalism. The issue of military superiority also had a hand in the conflict. The Soviet Union was the second most powerful and the US felt threatened by it. Therefore, it was keen on increasing its military capacity. The two came face to face in their fight for supremacy and had to deal with one another . Looking at the factors that led to the Korean conflict and those that contributed to the cold war, it is evident that the driving force between the two was the battle for supremacy between the Soviet Union and the US. These battles had significant effects to both states. It led to an expensive arms race which involved development of nuclear weapons, brought about alliances between states for and against each of the two and also had economic implications. They also led to propaganda wars and created a military and bureaucracy complex. It was not healthy for both of them and the world at large because of the tensions that it brought with them. Therefore, it is important for measures to be put in place to ensure that there is sovereignty among countries to avoid conflicts. BIBLIOGRAPHY Burton Ira Kaufman. The Korean conflict. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. 1999. Robert Buzzanco, â€Å"What Happened to the New Left? Toward a Radical Reading of American Foreign Relations† Diplomatic History, Vol 23 No 4 Fall, 1999, pp. 575-607 Roger George Stoven. Korean conflict: negotiation vs. armed settlement. Minnesota: Mankato State College, 1972. Mahavir Prasad Srivastava. The Korean conflict: search for unification. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India (1982). Melvyn P Lefler. A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration and the Cold War (Stanford, 1992). Vladislav Zubok and Constantine Pleshakov, Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War: from Stalin to Khrushchev (Cambridge, MA, 1996)

The Reputation of Alton Towers

The Reputation of Alton Towers Introduction Over the last decade, there has been a drastic change in the way in which consumers communicate with brands (Giannini, 2011). Instead of one-way communication in which companies present unsolicited information about brands and products through advertisements and promotion messages in the market place, they seek information when they are ready to participate in a dialogue and become part of a mutually beneficial community comprising of marketers and consumers (Giannini, 2011). Public relations is the field which emphasises the importance of two way brand relationship using both traditional and new media channels (Butterick, 2011). This essay focuses upon how Alton Towers Resorts can use the aspects of public relations as part of its marketing efforts to recover its damaged reputation which has caused it a significant loss in revenue due to the crash of Smiler roller-coaster in 2015. Significance of Trust Developing trust with the consumers contributes towards sustaining a needed market share and profitability in the long term (Giannini, 2011). Enhanced consumer trust in brands also contributes towards generating greater consumer satisfaction market place (Giannini, 2011). Alton Towers, which is the UKs most favourite and number one theme park (BBC, 2015), has enjoyed good consumer trust for years. Alton Towers has always taken the health and safety of its guests very seriously and consequently it has the best health and safety records among all the theme parks in the UK (Layton, 2015). All its rides are subject to thorough safety assessments undertaken by specialist maintenance engineers in line with strict procedures (Layton, 2015). The company also undertakes training of its employees and conducts regular health and safety audits (Layton, 2015). It has an excellent first aid care service and an on-site responder team trained by West Midlands Ambulance Service (Layton, 2015). Result antly, the company delivers 12.6 million individual rides every season (Layton, 2015). However, the reputation of Alton Towers following the accident of its Smiler roller-coaster ride in June 2015 has been damaged significantly. The accident resulted in several people being seriously injured and led to the temporary closure of the theme park (BBC, 2015). The accident had an adverse effect on its trading at the beginning of an important summer season (Schram, 2015). The company estimated that its half-year profit is expected to drop between 43%-54% from last years  £87m to  £40m- £50m this year (Schram, 2015). The suspension of market activity across all the other visitors attractions owned by Merlin the owner of Alton Towers also had a strong negative impact on the sales (Schram, 2015). Public Relations Strategy In order to recover the damaged reputation of the brand, Alton Towers needs to deploy a public relations campaign to engage with the public rather than run a marketing campaign. Public relations campaign enable organisations to respond to a business challenges such as the one faced by Alton Towers in the aftermath of Smiler roller-coaster accident rather than simply produce favourable media coverage. Smith (2013) asserts that public relations theories primarily identify a four-phase process for devising and implementing a public relations campaign. Public relations theorists have summarised these as: (1) the RACE acronym (research, actions, communication and evaluation); (2) the ROPE acronym (research, objectives, planning, and evaluation); (3) and the RAISE acronym (research, action, implementation, strategy, evaluation) (Kendall, 1997; Hendrix and Hayes, 2010). All these theories revolve around the basic four-phase model which involves (1) analysing the environment, (2) identific ation of audiences and objectives, (3) development of a strategic approach and (4) development of the implementation plan (Smith, 2013). Smith (2013) has combined all these theories to offer a comprehensive strategic planning framework for public relations campaign comprising of the above four basic phases. It is as follows: Formative Research Analysing the situation Analysing the organisation Analysing the publics Strategy Establishing goals and objectives Formulating action and response strategies Developing the message strategy Tactics Selecting communication tactics Implementing the strategic plans Evaluating Research Evaluating the strategic plan (Smith, 2013 p.16) Formative Research In the above, the background of the company and the situation and its impact upon the image of the brand and its revenue has briefly analysed. Therefore, it is now imperative to analyse the publics or the stakeholders that are to be affected by the public relations campaign. The identification of the publics will enable the marketers to select a suitable channel of media to best engage the audience (Baines, et al. 2007). Publics are defined as a group of people having a common interest and values in a particular situation (Reddi, 2009). In public relations, publics are a group of persons, especially one that is interested in or affected by an action or an idea of an organisation (Reddi, 2009 p. 68). In this instance, publics comprise of all the active audience who are connected, however loosely, by some common concern which has consequences for Alton Towers (Hallahan, 2000; Reddi, 2009). Public relations theorists have identified a basic set of publics or stakeholders which are applicable to most organisations. For instance, Baines, et al (2007) have identified the following groups of publics: Employees Potential Employees Suppliers of goods Distributors Customers Financial markets Opinion leaders and formers The community Other publics Reddi (2009) has identified some additional groups as: Media public International public Friedman (2006) further adds the following stakeholders: Competitors Government, regulators and policy makers From these groups of publics, the main focus of Alton Towers public relations campaign should be the external stakeholders from the general population, such as the (1) community, (2) customers (individuals, companies, schools, etc.), (3) media public, (4) financial markets (including investors) (5) opinion leaders and formers (5) other publics such as those affected by the accident, and (6) government and policy makers. The reason behind this selection is that apart from the recent Smiler roller-coaster accident, Alton Towers has one of the best track record of ensuring safety and health which is presumably well recognised by the internal stakeholders such as employees, distributors, suppliers, etc. The current challenge pertains to regain the trust of external public within the wider population, which has been distorted by the increased focus of commentators on a single incident. In order to make the campaign most effective, Alton Towers should prioritise its publics if in case it is faced by the constraints of budgets and resources. Prioritising the public can help a company to run an effective campaign even within a tight budget (Baines, et al. 2007). The publics of Alton Towers can be prioritised through the power/interest matrix. Strategy The second phase of the public relations campaign relates to formulating objectives, actions and message strategy. Pople and Turnbull, (2012), state that effective objectives should be SMART that is, specific, measurable, achievable, resourced and time-based. Furthermore, these objectives can be cognitive, affective and/or conative (Lantos, 2010). Cognitive objectives are those that relate to creating awareness about something and encourage people to think. Affective objectives are those that shape the attitude, opinion or feeling of the publics about an issue. Conative objectives encourage the audiences to act in a certain way (Lantos, 2010) (see figure 1). Figure 1 (Source: Lantos, 2010 p. 503) In order to overcome the challenge pertaining to the reputation of Alton Towers, the company can combine a set of cognitive, affective and conative SMART objectives for its public relations campaign. These are as follows: To enhance the awareness of the health and safety measures undertaken by the company in the UK by May 2016 to achieve a 50% growth in sales in the following summer season This is a cognitive objective aimed at encouraging the target audience to be assured that a trip to Alton Towers is safe and that the company takes every measure humanly possible to avert any untoward incident Rebuild the trust of public in thrill rides at visitors attractions and theme. Change the attitude of at least 100,000 members of the publics by May, 2016. This is an affective objective aimed at regaining the trust of skeptical people in thrill rides and its safety standards at Alton Towers. To generate the positive feedback of at least 100,000 people about the support provided by Alton Towers to those affected and physically impaired by incidents at Alton Towers and built an Alton Towers Cares image in the eyes of public. This is a conative objective which will encourage the public to provide their feedback over different forms of social media regarding Alton Towers pledges to support those affected by its rides. The message strategy of Alton Towers should be to convey that it is most committed to ensuring safety and health of its guests and that is does not leave any stone unturned in this regard. Acknowledging that accidents do occur in even in the safest environments, the company is very sympathetic towards those affected by its operations in case of any untoward incident. Tactics Once the objectives, actions and message strategy has been finalised, the next step is to determine the tactics through which the public relations campaign will contact and convince the target audiences. This entails choosing the most appropriate channel of communication through which to contact each of the target public (Gregory, 2010). Gregory (2010) asserts that the set of tactics used in any public relations campaign should engage the right number of public and get the desired message across to them in a reasonable cost. Out of the many tactics identified in the literature, the ones related to media relations , customer relations, community relations, and government relations are most suitable to the current campaign. Media Relations Marketing communications literature identifies several tactics for communicating a brands message to its target audience. Within these tactics, the ones related to media relations include press and video releases (Fill, 2011). Alton Towers should prepare and distribute a press/video release showcasing the preparations it makes for safety and health, training provided to its staff in this regard and the readiness of the company to overcome any untoward incidences to establish that the resort is a safe place for visitors. This tactic will cover the cognitive aspect of Alton Towers public relations campaign. The company can also inform the general public through media regarding its pledges for the support of the affected people. Customer Relations For managing customer relations, Alton Towers can utilise marketing communication tactics such as advertising, internet, social networks, new letters, direct mail, and media relations tactics (Fill, 2011). Advertisements: Celebrities endorsement Alton Towers can engage with celebrities and opinion leaders to visit the resort and project their endorsement through advertisements over television and social media to make consumers feel that a trip to Alton Towers is safe for themselves and their families. Social Media Alton Towers can arrange for celebrities and opinion leaders to post their photos of visits to the resort over social media. This tactic will cover the affective aspect of Alton Towers public relations campaign. Community Relations For community relations, direct involvement is the most effective marketing communication tactics (Fill, 2011). Direct Involvement Alton Towers can invite groups from local communities such as companies, schools and institutions to visit the resort and directly observe its commitment to safety and health. It is important to engage these groups to regain their trust in Alton Towers safety measures because these group are often conduct risks assessments before making any bookings at resorts such as Alton Towers. Government Relations Messages can be communicated to governments through official publications such as background material, literature and group briefings (Fill, 2011). Alton Towers can publish reports and literature about its safety procedures and measures to avert incidents; publish inquiry reports to ascertain the causes on any incidents for any concerned government department and regulatory bodies to ensure transparency for its operations and compliance with industry standards. Evaluation The last phase of the public relations campaign relates to evaluation of the strategies and tactics employed in the campaign to determine whether the stated objectives have been achieved (Michaelson and Stacks, 2011; Smith, 2013). The provisions of the SMART objectives have already provided measures to assess the success of the strategies and tactics. The success of this current public relations campaign will be measured against the achievement of a 50% growth in sales in the upcoming summer season in the year 2016; a positive change in attitude of at least 100,000 visitors towards thrill rides during the same period, and receiving at least 100,000 positive feedback for the companys support efforts for the affected people over various forms of social media. Conclusion The above public relations campaign can be effective in rebuilding the companys damaged reputations in the eyes of public following the accident of Smiler roller-coaster ride in June 2015. This public relations campaign can work hand in glove with Alton Towers marketing efforts to regain its lost market share and levels of profitability. References Baines, P., Egan, J and Jefkins, F. (2007) Public Relations. Oxford: Routledge. BBC (2015). Alton Towers rollercoaster crash causes Merlin profit warning. Available from  http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33672357 Butterick, K (2011). Introducing Public Relations: Theory and Practice. London:Sage. Fill, C. (2011) Essentials of Marketing Communications, Harlow: FT Prentice Hall Friedman, A.L. and Miles, S. (2006). Stakeholders: Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press Giannini, G. (2011). Marketing Public Relations. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley. Gregory, A. (2013). Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns: A Strategic Approach. London: Kogan Page Publisher Hallahan, K. (2000) Inactive Publics: The Forgotten Publics in Public Relations. Public Relations Review 26(4): 499-515 Hendrix, J. and Hayes, D. (2010). Public relations cases (8Th ed.). Belmont: Thomson Learning. Kendall, R. (1997). Public Relations Campaign Strategies. New York: Addison-Wesley. Lantos, G (2010). Consumer Behavior in Action. New York: M E Sharpe Layton, J (2015). Thirty accidents at Alton Towers in three years, figures reveal. Birmingham Mail. Available from  http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/thirty-accidents-alton-towers-three-9397443 Michaelson, D and Stacks, D. (2011). Standardization in public relations measurement and evaluation. Public Relations Journal, 5, 7-8. Pople, A. and Turnbull, S. (2012). Advertising and Public Relations. Pearson, Harlow. Reddi, N. (2009). Effective Public Relations and Media Strategy. New Dehli: PHI Learning. Schram, B (2015). Alton Towers crash: Smiler ride accident dents Merlins sales. International Business Times. Available from  http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/alton-towers-crash-smiler-ride-accident-dents-merlins-sales-1520075 Smith, R. (2013). Strategic Planning for Public Relations. New York: Routledge

Isolation And Observation Of Bacteria Using Pure Culture Methods Biology Essay

Isolation And Observation Of Bacteria Using Pure Culture Methods Biology Essay INTRODUCTION Bacteria are found everywhere (Campbell Reece, 2005). They have the ability to colonize almost all habitats which means they come in wide varieties of forms. Understanding bacterial structure can therefore make it possible to understand their functions and survival. For example, just by studying the capsule layer of bacteria, one can get an idea of the pathogenicity of the bacteria. But they grow among diverse and mixed populations, where it is impossible to study a single species of bacteria. Thus it is necessary that the pure culture of bacterial colonies be obtained for studying. Pure culture is defined as a mass or group of cells arising from the same parent cell. Pure culture techniques, such as streak plate, pour plate and spread plate, isolate bacterial colonies from mixtures so that colonies comprising of the identical organisms can be studied. Isolation of pure culture is vital for characterizing a single species of bacteria ­ otherwise presence of contaminants can lead t o inaccurate observations (Prescott et al., 2005) Then the isolated bacterial colonies undergo incubation at 370C for 24 hours for all the three plates, after which, a colony can be selected and isolated again to obtain pure cultures. Another step in the experiment is to perform a differential staining method known as Gram staining, which mainly differentiates the bacteria into two categories: Gram positive and Gram negative based on their cell wall structures (Campbell and Reece, 2005). The species of bacteria present in the given broth culture were Escherichia Coli, Staphylococcus Aureus and Bacillus Cereus. The appearances of these bacteria known in theory state that Escherichia Coli are Gram negative and rod-shaped; Bacillus Cereus are Gram positive and rod-shaped while Staphylococcus Aureus are Gram positive and cocci. So the experiment was carried out to see if it was possible to obtain pure cultures from mixed broth by applying streak, spread and pour plate techniques. AIMS The main objectives of this experiment were to understand the purpose, principles and techniques of Gram staining as well as the isolation of pure cultures. The experiment further aimed to compare the different isolation techniques, namely streak plate, spread plate and pour plate in terms of producing pure cultures, and also compare the morphological features of three types of bacteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS The procedure was carried out according to the instructions stated in the pages 32-36 of the Microbiology lab manual (MIC2011, Class Notes, 2011). RESULTS (combined with Morning Lab, Bench 1, Group A3) The entire experiment was carried out in three different sessions. Session 1 A broth culture, labelled as Culture 2, was provided and it was known to contain a mixture of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus. Sample from the broth culture was heat-fixed and then gram stained for observation under the light microscope. Three different types of bacteria were seen and their identifiable characteristics were matched with the three kinds of bacteria known to be present in the mixture. Table 1 Observation of Culture 2 (the broth culture) and characterisation of the types of bacteria seen under the microscope Species Cellular Morphology Type of Bacteria Gram Stain Shape Arrangement Type 1 (Gram +ve) Purple Coccus Cluster Staphylococcus aureus Type 2 (Gram -ve) Pink Rod (shorter) Single/Pair Escherichia coli Type 3 (Gram +ve) Purple Rod (longer) Chain Bacillus cereus After the presence of all three types of bacteria was confirmed, loopfuls from the broth culture were taken in order to prepare pure cultures using three isolation techniques streak plate, spread plate and pour plate. Once the three isolation plates were ready, they were incubated overnight at 37 °C for the next session. Session 2 After overnight incubation at 37 °C, the colonies which formed on the streak, spread and pour plate were observed under the microscope to see the distribution and the morphology of bacterial colonies. These isolation techniques helped determine which bacteria were responsible for the colony morphology. Table 2 Distribution and observation of bacterial colonies present in streak plate, spread plate and pour plate, after one-day incubation at 37 °C Appearance of Bacterial Colonies Streak Plate Spread Plate Pour Plate Distribution Primary inoculum and initial streaks were overlapping while the final streaks were distinct and separate Overlapping and could not be differentiated Overlapping and could not be differentiated Density High Higher Highest Location Few large colonies present on the surface of the agar Overlapping colonies present on the surface of the agar Distributed on the agar surface as well as within the agar medium Other Features Various features were noted among different colonies Opaque, irregular, smooth and flat White and opaque Since distinct and well-isolated colonies were not found from the spread plate and pour plate techniques, selection of distinct and clear colonies of all three types of bacteria were made from the streak plate and observed under the microscope. Table 3 Morphology of the bacterial colonies Appearance Colony 1 Colony 2 Colony 3 Shape Circular Circular Irregular Size Small Medium Large Surface Smooth and glistening Smooth and glistening Rough and dull Elevation Flat Convex Raised Color Pale yellow Yellow White Edge Undulating Smooth Undulating Opacity Opaque Transparent Opaque Identity Staphylococcus aureus Escherichia coli Bacillus cereus Session 3 The isolated colonies were incubated overnight at 37 °C and inoculated onto new nutrient agar (NA) plates, after which pure plates of each type of bacteria were prepared and Gram stained followed by the observation of single colonies of bacteria under the microscope. Table 4 Observation of cellular and colonial morphology Type of Bacteria Colony Morphology Cellular Morphology Gram Stain Shape Arrange-ment Other Features Staphylococcus aureus Smallest in size; circular; flat; smooth surface and undulating edges; pale yellow and opaque (Gram +ve) Purple Coccus Cluster Pure culture was extracted. No contamination. Escherichia coli Medium in size; circular; convex; smooth surface and edges; yellow and transparent (Gram -ve) Pink Rod (shorter) Single/ Pair Pure culture was extracted. No contamination. Bacillus cereus Largest in size; irregular; raised; rough surface and undulating edges; white and opaque (Gram +ve) Purple Rod (longer) Chain Pure culture was extracted. No contamination. DISCUSSION (1) As seen in the table-4 of results, Bacillus cereus had the largest colony with irregular shape, raised elevation, rough and dull surface, undulating edges, opaque and white in colour. They are Gram positive and rod-shaped, which are arranged in chains. The moderate-sized colony was the Escherichia coli with a circular shape, convex elevation, smooth and glistening surface, smooth edges, transparent and yellow in colour. They are Gram negative and are seen under the microscope as short rod-shaped structures existing in pairs or single cells. The smallest of all colonies belonged to the Staphylococcus aureus, with a circular shape, smooth and glistening surface, undulating edges, opaque in pale yellow in colour. They are Gram positive cocci arranged in grape-like clusters and they do not form spores (Mahon et al., 2007). The cellular morphology of bacteria was observed by Gram staining while the colony morphology was seen using streak plate technique. The morphology of each bacterium observed in the pure cultures matched with those in the original mixture, but the colony size in pure culture was much bigger than those in mixed culture. The probable reason for this is that multiple bacterial colonies experience competition for nutrients while colonies in pure culture had sufficient food and space. No contamination was found and individual bacterial colonies were separated on an agar surface. (2) Among the three techniques used, streak plate is the most efficient way to produce well-isolated colonies, or in other words, pure colonies. In streak plate technique, the microorganisms containing many viable cells, were directly plated. However, in order for the technique to work well, there must be large populations of the organism in the original mixture (Sumbali and Mehrotra, 2009). Otherwise, the final streaks result in less or no colonies because in the streak plate method, the bacterial suspension is diluted more and more as it proceeds from the primary inoculums towards the latter streaks. Streak plate is a cost-effective and rapid-active method for separating bacteria in mixed cultures of high density and can also be repeated for achieving the desired purity. For these reasons, streak plate technique is widely used in laboratories (Pommerville, 2010). One disadvantage of streak plate is that the risk of contamination is higher since the plate is exposed to air for sever al times (Sumbali and Mehrotra, 2009). For more diluted populations, spread plate and pour plate are considered since they are easy to locate colonies among low density of evenly distributed populations (Willey et al., 2011). Serial dilutions reduce the microbial population (Willey et al., 2011). For spread plate, 0.1 ml of the bacterial suspension was taken from 10-2 dilution and spread over the agar whereas for pour plate, 1 ml of the suspension was taken from the 10-2 dilution. Although spread plate can separate a bacterial colony and it is more aseptic than streak plate, it is not feasible for isolating colonies from a mixture because the method is time-consuming and the colonies are not easily differentiated. However streak plate can be used to count microbial populations (Prescott et al., 2005). Similarly, pour plates are also used for counting microbial populations. Although it has the least risk of contamination, the process is time-consuming and the colonies are hard to dis tinguish or count since the colonies also grow inside the agar, for which this technique is not used to isolated colonies from a mixture. Pour plate is used for isolating and counting anaerobic bacteria since these microbes cannot survive in atmospheric levels of oxygen and are therefore only found within the agar and not on the surface of the agar (Hogg, 2005). (3) Gelatin is colourless, brittle and translucent medium (Willey et al., 2011). In this experiment, agar was used as the culture medium. Agar is preferred over gelatin for making solid media because of several reasons. First of all, unlike gelatine, agar contains complex polysaccharides that cannot be nutritionally digested or degraded by most microorganisms to form precipitates, since the incubation temperature of agar is about 20 °C, which is below the optimum temperature of most organisms and this enables the agar to remain solid when microorganisms are growing on it (Hogg, 2005). Secondly, agar sets firmly and strongly, providing a stable culture medium (Willey et al., 2011). Moreover, agar has a wide range of pH from 5 to 8 and also solidifies below 40 °C, for which liquid agar can be poured over the temperature sensitive nutrients without damaging them. Furthermore, the melting point of solid agar is above 100 °C and therefore can be used to culture thermophiles (Bauman, 2006). Finally, agar, being porous, can also show motility of the bacteria (Prescott et al., 2005). (4) Unlike bacterial colonies with heavy growth, the well-separated colonies do not have shortage of food or space, which prevents over-crowding and competition for resources and thus the bacterial growth rate is higher, for which they appear larger. Growth rate of bacterial cells in well-separated areas is further enhanced by the higher diffusion rate of the oxygen uptake by the cells and releasing of toxic metabolites out of the cell (Willey et al., 2011). On the other hand, bacteria in areas of high growth face competition for food and space for which their growth rate as well as survival rate is lower. This is probably the reason why Staphylococcus aureus, grew initially, but then stopped. In this experiment, once the bacteria were isolated, they were Gram stained and checked to ensure that no contamination had taken place and that each colony had single species of bacteria. (5a) An individual colony might contain more than one type of bacterium due to contamination. Common reasons for contamination are improper sterilization of inoculating loop or absence of aseptic techniques or sometimes even under sterilized environments. Contaminants are also present in the extracellular slime layer of bacteria and also in those bacteria which are joined in a network of chains. Another reason for not having the same type of bacterium in a colony, although very rare, is mutation and this results in the presence of multiple mutant strains of bacteria being present in a single colony (Pommerville, 2010). (5b) Bacteria reproduce asexually by a process called binary fission where a parent cell divides into and subsequent divisions take place. In this way, a colony can arise from multip le cells of same or different species of bacteria which are deposited together on a solid medium and this is how a colony may not always have the same parent cell. Even when bacteria exist in clusters, not necessarily are they from a single parent cell (Hogg, 2005). (6) Passing the dried smear through the Bunsen flame is known as heat fixing. By doing so, the microorganisms are killed and attached firmly to the slide due to the coagulation of the proteins; otherwise they would wash off with the stains. Heat fixing also alters the structure of the microorganisms, preserving the general morphology, so that they become permeable to stains (Sumbali and Mehrotra, 2009). (7) A whole colony would result in a thick smear, which not only appear overlapping and crowded under the microscope, but also prevent the diffusion of the dyes across the cell, for which the alcohol would not be able to effectively decolorize the cells, causing majority of the cells to be stained purple. Also different types of bacterial cells have different staining methods which may get confusing. Therefore, it would get very difficult to identify individual cells. (8) There is no association between bacterial cell shape and reaction to Gram stain. Gram staining depends on the thickness of the bacterial cell wall which is composed of peptidoglycan. Peptidoglycan consists of abundant teichoic acid, a thin layer of periplasmic space and a peptide interbridge (Prescott et al., 2005). Both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria come in various shapes. For instance, Staphylococcus aureus (coccus-shaped) and Bacillus cereus (rod-shaped) are both Gram positive. (9) The bacterial cell wall structure determines its Gram stain reaction. Bacterial cell walls are composed of peptidoglycan which maintain rigidity and shape of the bacterial cell and also give protection from osmotic lyses (Prescott et al., 2005). However, in Gram positive bacteria, 90% of the cell wall is made up of peptidoglycan, for which the cell walls in Gram positive bacteria is thicker than in Gram negative bacteria where the peptidoglycan content is only 5 to 20%. The decolourisation depends on the peptidoglycan content in the cell wall and therefore determines whether the cell will be Gram stained or not. Upon addition of alcohol, the pores of the thick peptidoglycan layers shrink in the cell wall of Gram positive bacteria, which results in dehydration of the layer and retaining of the stain, for which they appear purple under the microscope. As for Gram negative bacteria, the alcohol wash opens the pores of the peptidoglycan layer and the stain is not retained in the pept idoglycan layer (Prescott et al., 2005). (10) The step which is very crucial in determining the outcome of Gram staining is the decolourisation with alcohol. The cell wall structure of Gram positive bacteria allows the crystal-violet iodine dye complex (CV-I complex) to be retained within the thick peptidoglycan layer when alcohol is added. On the contrary, the cell wall structure of Gram negative bacteria allows the CV-I complex to be removed from the peptidoglycan layer upon addition of alcohol. It is for the decolourization step that the Gram negative bacteria appear pink when counterstained with Safranin and Gram positive ones appear purple, otherwise CV-I complex would be present in both types of bacteria and both would be seen purple under the microscope. (11) Nonetheless every step in Gram staining is necessary to obtain the correct result. If any of the steps is eliminated, the results can change and are misleading. The table below shows the various outcomes when the steps in Gram staining are changed. Table 5 Results from altered steps in the Gram staining process: A B C D Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive) Pink Pink Dark purple Dark purple Escherichia coli (Gram negative) Pink Pink Dark purple Colourless Bacillus cereus (Gram positive) Pink Pink Dark purple Dark purple When crystal violet wash is eliminated in step A, none of the cells will get the purple colour and thus all cells are stained pink when washed with Fuchsin. In step B, when the iodine wash is eliminated, the CV-I complex does not form and the crystal violet molecules are not large enough to be retained in the peptidoglycan. Thus they are washed off with the water and alcohol, for which even the Gram positive cells appear pink. In step C, with the elimination of alcohol wash, decolourization is not done, for which all cells, including the Gram negative one where the CV-I complex masks the pink colour, are stained purple (Willey et al., 2011). When Fuchsin wash is eliminated in step D, no change is brought on the Gram positive cells, but the Gram negative cells appear colourless, the reason being that after washing off the crystal violet with alcohol, no counterstain is added to the Gram negative cells (Willey et al., 2011). A limitation in this experiment is not performing the Gram stain when the species of bacteria were identified on the streak plate and again streaked on the nutrient agar plates. The bacterial species were of taken based on their colony morphology. However a Gram stain could have confirmed if the colonies comprised of the expected bacteria or not. CONCLUSION It was mandatory that aseptic techniques be followed when experimenting with microorganisms. Compared to spread plate and pour plate techniques, streak plate was found to be the most efficient and also the easiest way to isolate bacterial colonies. Pure cultures of three types of bacteria that were obtained included Staphylococcus aureus (rod-shaped and Gram positive), Bacillus cereus (cocci-shaped and Gram positive) and Escherichia coli (rod-shaped and Gram negative). Other than that, importance of heat fixing and Gram staining was understood. Gram staining proved to be a very good method for observing the bacterial cellular features and hence, differences between Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria were clarified. It was also understood that reaction of a bacterial cell to the Gram stain is determined by the decolourization step.

China Rise: A race to the top or bottom and the impact on the world’s p

Chinas rise: A race to the top or bottom and the impact on the world’s players Introduction Chinas open reform period is characterized as one without a blueprint but by ‘groping for stones to cross the river’, based on an incremental, gradualist approach to reformation. China is still a developing country, with pockets of industrialized regions. While China relishes in the fruits of its labour, there is an increasing disparity between the urban and rural areas due to this disequilibrium of development. China’s presence on the world stage has drastically increased and has left many researchers perplexed about the consequences of its rise. There exists a plethora of studies, debating whether Chinas current path is one that is headed to the top, or whether China is at the precipice of its development with looming declines in the near future, plagued by weak institutional reforms. While there are many features that characterize Chinas direction, this paper will primarily analyze Chinas wages and regional disparities and how this as impacted the world. The Effects of Chinas Wage Increases Chinas cheap labour has been a prominent economic advantage since opening its market. However, according to government published data, average annual real wages have tripled from 1997 to 2007 from 3,285 to 24,932 Yuan. The Institute of Population and Labour Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), reported that the rural surplus labour is decreasing to a level that continued industrialization cannot be supported cheaply (Cai, 2007). Additionally there has been increasing reports about China losing its appeal as a manufacturing base for exports (Yang, Chen, Monarch, 2010). Chinas US foreign direct investments (FDI) have ... ...has by no means leveled. Conclusion Explanation for Chinas rise is one that is usually polarized between profound optimism and an impending doomsday tale for the global economy. The research suggests that China’s rise embodies characteristics of both a race to the top and bottom. Additionally, as examined in this paper its integration has varying effects across regions. However both scenarios are not solely dependent on China but how countries like the United States adjust. Aborting the transition due to fear by introducing trade barriers will not beneficial economically in the long run due to an already interdependent relationship between China and the world. China’s transition is a path-dependent based journey unfolding in the present, therefore an analysis on Chinas rise is speculative at best, but serves as a looking glass to capitalism, Chinese style.

The Free Appropriate Public Education Law Essay -- civil rights, specia

FAPE , also known as Free Appropriate Public Education is a law that was passed in during the 1970s, a time in which civil rights for all people were being pushed. FAPE states that special education services and general education services are to be delivered without charge of the family, but of that of the public expense. It is important to recognize that the services should be mandated given by public education and if is is unavailable private services can be provided (Gartin, Murdick & Fowler, p. 54, 2003) Least Restrictive Environment is the principle that to the greatest extent, as pssible and appropriate, students with and without disabilities should be educated in the same setting. This law was passed with 5 key principles. These principles include that placement decisions should have considered general education placement with additional services, in the child’s best interest and individualized, the teachers are aware of the student’s disability and IEP, the services should vary and several should be available, and finally documentation is impotant, especially including rationale for decision making. An IEP, Individualized Education Plan, is the entire plan for an individual student that is going to have any special education services. The plan includes details like short-term and long-term goals, levels of achievement, transition services, assessments, and steps in order to achieve the specific goals that have been determined. The importance of an IEP for a student with a disability is that they are individualized based upon the student’s needs, based upon the work and meeting between parents, educators, skills trainers and more. It is crucial and federally required that that an IEP be reviewed in a metting annually i... ...). Integration of dynamic assessment and instructional conversations to promote development and improve assessment in the language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 17(3), 303-322. doi:10.1177/1362168813482934 Hawaii State Board of Education. (2014). Chapter 60 Provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education for a Student with a Disability. Retrieved from http://www.hawaiiboe.net/AdminRules/Pages/AdminRule60.aspx Murdick, N. L., Gartin, B. L., & Fowler, G. A. (2013). Special education law. Pearson Higher Ed. Pikulski, J. J. (1990). Informal Reading Inventories. Reading Teacher, 43(7), 514-516. Scattone, D., Raggio, D. J., & May, W. (2011). COMPARISON OF THE VINELAND ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR SCALES, SECOND EDITION, AND THE BAYLEY SCALES OF INFANT AND TODDLER DEVELOPMENT, THIRD EDITION. Psychological Reports, 109(2), 626-634. doi:10.2466/03.10.PR0.109.5.626-634

Self Evaluation for Decision Making

From: Kayayetta Dukes To: Lana Lincoln Subject: Self Evaluation January 17th 2012 Dear Mrs. Lincoln, Here is my yearly self-evaluation report about the managerial decisions I have made regarding the restaurant’s employee retention issues we face. As we have previously discussed at meetings our employee retention ratio to turnover is fairly poor for a restaurant. I think many establishments face this challenge of retaining good employees and there are several reasons that are to blame for the high ratio. I feel if we didn’t implement these criteria it would snowball and grow into bigger problems so it seemed a no brainer to waste no time in starting this makeover. I’ve come up with a game plan to drastically reduce our turnover rate so we can focus on other issues that warrant our attention in the process of making the restaurant number 1 in all aspects possible. Our major issue at the restaurant is that our employee retention rate is around 15% which leaves our turnover rate at an out of control 85%. With most of our employees being constantly replaced its hard for our staff to have a sense of cohesion, team pride, and stability. My criteria with this challenge was to create a sense of loyalty with the staff, make them feel like they are a part of a big family; show them that this job can be a long-term career and that we want to promote from within. Weighing these criteria helps me figure which are most important in reaching our overall goal of reducing our turnover rate. The numeric value of 5 will count as most vital in accomplishing our goal and 1 will represent the criteria that can be put on the back burner until the 5’s are implemented and in force. Communicate managements’ goal to promote from within 5 * Reward full-time and part-time employees for length of service 1 * Team-building exercises once a month 1 * Create an employee suggestion box 5 * Revamp scheduling to create more convenience 5 Although I feel strongly about my above solutions I’ve created a few alternatives that could possibly work just as well. My first alternative idea would be to mandate training classes for al l employees. This plan would include training on customer service skills, teamwork strategies, and personal growth. Another alternative would be to mandate employee events to reward good service and promote togetherness. My final solution would be to crack down on the team with serious consequences for being late, missing shifts, or receiving customer complaints. This method would consist of writing repeat offenders up and firing them after so many to show we want to employ and keep worthy employees and we will not tolerate less. To rate these alternatives I used a score of 10 for the best and a 5 for the ones that I have reservations about. * Mandated training classes for all employees. 10 Mandated after work employee events to promote team cohesion. 5 * Rid the restaurant of employees who aren’t doing a good job. 5 I carefully considered these alternatives before making the optimal decision of sticking with the original plan plus including the first alternative to have a fail proof way of getting a serious hold on our retention rate. I did encounter problems completing the challenge thoug h. This included resistance from employees who were reluctant with accepting change. Also we had issues with scheduling for additional trainings and after work events to work on team cohesion. I overcame these hurdles by making the trainings available more days to accomidate more employees without conflict, we created the suggestion box and also are now taking a majority vote for the monthly reward meeting in which we will have an open forum about issues that have risen in the previous month as well as to cover progress and future expectations. In conclusion, this project has been widely successful in just these few short months. Our team is working more cohesively and taking teamwork to a whole other level. The suggestion box has been filling up and we have been addressing concerns of our employees which have made them feel their opinion is not only important but wanted. This in return is creating more loyal enthusiastic and eager workers whom are giving great customer service to our guests. I hope you are as satisfied as I am in the team and see the overall difference and growth. Sincerely Floor Manager Kay Dukes Reference: Bazerman, M. H. , & Moore, D. A. (2010). Judgment in Managerial decision making (6th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care, Children and Young People Unit 11 Essay

Poverty can have a huge impact on a Young Persons life. A family living on a low –income or benefits might not be able to provide for their children as they would like or as is necessary. Accommodation may be poor and inadequate, with not enough space or functioning essential home items. Money may not be available to pay the energy bills. The children’s dietary needs may be affected by low income. The local community in low-income areas may be impoverished. This may lead to a higher crime rate, vandalism of local amenities, reducing the Young Person access to local parks and playgrounds and affecting them being able to play outside of the house at leisure time. The prospects of a lack of continued higher education after school and fulfilling employment in impoverished areas could affect the Young Persons outlook on life causing fear and insecurities and a lack of motivation. In some research carried out by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2007 into the impact of poverty on young children’s experience of school, the key points found from interviewing 220 children aged Four to Eleven as well as parents and teachers were The level of disadvantage they face determines how most children experience school. Poorer children in the study accepted that they were not going to get the same quality of schooling, or the same outcomes, as better-off children. Children and parents identified the main costs of school as uniform (including shoes), lunches and school trips. Children in disadvantaged schools were very aware of all the costs and of the difficulties parents faced in finding as little as 50 pence or a pound for school events. The experiences of school for children from poorer families were narrower and less rich. For example, children in disadvantaged schools had limited access to music, art and out-of-school activities that children in advantaged schools generally took for granted. Boys as young as nine in disadvantaged schools were disenchanted with school and starting to disengage. They are being particularly failed by the education system due to the interaction of: educational disadvantage faced by children growing up in poverty; the difficulties faced by teachers in disadvantaged schools; and differences in the ways that boys and girls are socialised. Social Issues – Divorce introduces a massive change into the life of a child no matter what the age. Witnessing the loss of love between parents, having parents break their marriage commitment, adjusting to going back and forth between two different households, and the daily absence of one parent while living with the other, all create a challenging new family circumstance in which to live. In the personal history of the boy or girl, parental divorce is a life-changing event. Life that follows is significantly changed from how it was before. For the young child, divorce affects the trust of the parents who can now behave in an extremely undependable way due to their own problems and life changing circumstances. This can produce anxiety, aggression and rebellious behaviours in a child. Cultural – I have chosen to look at one aspect of Culture and that is Religion and it’s positive effects on young people. Religious practice is usually done in a  group context and thus involves social relationships. These relationships can provide friendship and social support in times of emotional needs. Religious participation can have beneficial psychological effects. Religion can improve psychological health through increased self-esteem, producing a sense of belonging to the immediate religious group and an interconnection with the world, which is so lacking in modern times, and can help a young person to find meaning in life. Family participation is typical in religious activities, as distinct from other groups that family members may individually participate in (e.g., sports clubs, after school clubs, book clubs) that tend to separate people by age, sex, and personal interest. Thus, if the whole family practices the same religion, religious activities can serve to strengthen ties among family members. 3. 2.3 The choices young people make can have immediate and long-term effects on their lives. As adults and support staff we have to ensure we empower young people to make the right decisions. Children and young people can be seen as experts in their own lives; they often know what it feels like to be in their situation and to have had their personal experiences. Children and young people know something different to adults. It has ben said that adults follow paths, children explore. Treating children and young people as experts in their own lives means showing respect for what they say or communicate. This is not to say that children and young people always know what is in their best interests and they often want adults to help them make important decisions. Sometimes it is the role of adults (parents, family and professionals) to set boundaries and to identify the best course of action. Yet this needs to be done with children and young people who may know best how they feel. Some of the choices young people face making are – academic, career pathway and lifestyle choices i.e. smoking, drinking and drug taking. Children and young people with disabilities may need parents and support staff to make decisions for them if they are unable to due to their conditions. This always needs to be done in the best interests of the child and within international and local law and guidelines. Learning outcome 2 – Understand how practitioners can make a positive difference in the outcomes for children and young people 1. 2. Every child is an individual with individual needs and their own potential that they should be encouraged to develop. As support staff we should try to get to know the young people we are caring for as best as is possible to be able to achieve this. Sometimes the positive outcomes for a young person are seemingly small, but because of varying disabilities these small steps can be massive. One of the young people I am supporting has many issues with diet. I recently through much hard work encouraged him to try a new food. This addition to his diet is the first new foodstuff he has eaten in Three years. We should be constantly striving to help our young people to be all they can be through the person centered approach to caring. With the help of the multi-disciplinary team working holistically each young person can actuate to the best of their abilities. Each young person has their own care plan, which is constantly updated through the feed back from all staff supporting that YP. These care plans are in place so each member of staff is aware of the specific needs of the individual. The person centered approach to care means we are supporting and treating the individual and not the disability.