The need for a consistent nation wide policy to ensure quality early Thesis - 1

The need for a consistent nation wide policy to ensure quality early childhood education to close the achievement gap - Thesis Example This paper therefore proposes a nationwide policy for early childhood care and education reform that is informed by the evidence revealed over the years. Early childhood education and care policies in the US are three dimensional in nature. First, the federal government or state governments may make provision for early childhood care and education either directly or they can offer subsidies or reimbursement relative to partial casts of private education and care. Secondly, state governments may provide child care and/or education to all US children or they may provide support to a specific class of children. Thirdly, the purpose of child care and education may be looked upon as providing for the child’s development or as a means of supporting working parents. In other words, child care and education policies in the US may be seen as either providing a child development service or a support system for working parents (McCartney and Phillips 2006). This part of the paper examines the development of federal legislation and policies relative to early childhood education and early childhood special education by reference to federal legislation from 1965 to the present. The Head Start project is characterized as among President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society’s â€Å"most popular and enduring legacies† (Vinovskis 2005, p. 1). The identification of the â€Å"other America† at the beginning of the 1960s, drew official attention on the fact that approximately one fourth of Americans were decidedly poor and were segregated from â€Å"the mainstream of American culture† (Washington and Bailey 1995, p. 21). Then President John F. Kennedy theorized that preventing poverty among adults necessarily required starting with the child who are receiving welfare on account of parental death, disability, abandonment or parental

The financial feasibility of a capital expenditure. Pevensey Plc Essay

The financial feasibility of a capital expenditure. Pevensey Plc - Essay Example The head of the production department has approved all the short listed machines and now the decision rests with the financial control unit in order to evaluate the financial feasibility of the purchasing decision. Future cash flows have been forecasted and are presented as net cash inflows. The cash outflows comprises of expected repair and maintenance expenditure over the useful life of the asset. Whereas, the cash inflows includes the expected total revenue generated by the machines in the form of sale of the products manufactured by the machine. All the projected cash flows include the impact of expected inflation. The capital expenditure pertaining to the purchase of machine has been decided to be funded through internally generated funds. Therefore, keeping into consideration the limited amount of the funds, the directors of the company must make prudent investment decision so to achieve the most lucrative and appropriate results. The method used in the investment appraisal is determining the Net Present Value (NPV) of each proposal. According to this method, the future expected cash flow, over the time span of the project, are discounted based on the expected discount rate in the economy. As per the treasury department of the company, the cost of capital of the company is 9%, which is used as the discount rate in calculating the NPV of each project. The expected cash flow from each year is multiplied by the discount factor to arrive at the present value at year 0 i.e. at the time of making of the capital expenditure. An investment whose NPV is positive is considered to be a rewarding one, whereas an entity does not venture on an investment where the NPV of the cumulative cash flows is negative. Where the management has to rank the investments, with the objective of giving priority to the most rewarding ones, the investment with the highest NPV must be ranked first. Calculating Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is another method extensively used in the investment appraisals. IRR is a rate where the cost of investment, cash outflow, is equal to the cash inflows. The proposal with the highest IRR is considered to be the most rewarding one. Payback period is another method utilized in investment appraisal which calculates the time taken by the investment to generate enough cash inflows to recover the initial cost of the investment. Investment appraisal through NPV method and IRR method are both very useful in order to financially attractive prospective of any investment decision. A good financial analysis is based on the trade off between these two methods. However, practically the IRR method is used widely in investment appraisal decision. The prime reason behind selecting the IRR method of appraisal is it is comparatively straight forward and can be used without having a prior experience in capital budgeting. NPV method has certain drawbacks and limitations. Different projects must be assesse d at different discount rates because the risk for each project is generally different. The reliability of the NPV based investment appraisal can be as reliable as the discount rate itself. However, in practice, it is very unrealistic to determine different discount rate for different investment proposals. Whereas, IRR uses a single discount rate to evaluate every investment, due to which it is used extensively among the financial analysts. With certain disadvantages, the NPV method comes with several attributes which makes it superior to the IRR method. IRR method of appraisal is for evaluating the financial result of an investment over a short period of time. Moreover, IRR is also ineffective for investments proposals which are a mixture of positive and negative cash flow. For these

Microorganisms: Normal Flora

Microorganisms: Normal Flora The concept of infection in the host- parasite relationship is expressed in the bodys normal flora. Normal flora is a population of micro-organisms that infect the body without causing disease. Some organisms establish a permanent relationship, as E.coli is always found in large intestines of humans; others like streptococci are transient. Symbiotic associations between body and its normal flora exist at different levels. These may be in the form of mutualism or commensalisms. Lactobacillus in human vagina is examples of mutualism. They derive nutrition from vaginal environment and the acid produced by them prevents the overgrowth of other microbes. E. coli exists as a commenssal, though may also sometimes exist in mutualistic association. Normal flora exists on skin oral cavity, upper respiratory tract, latter part of small intestine and the large intestine. In intestines there are Bacteroides, Clostridium (spores), Streptococci, Gram positive rods including Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus and Pseudomonas, E. coli ,Candida albicans. Normal flora undergoes changes in response to internal environment of the body. Typically, when one says I have an infection they mean to say I have a disease, however the latter is not quite so socially acceptable. In fact, we are all infected with a variety of microorganisms throughout our entire lives. Incredibly, our bodies are actually composed of more bacterial cells than human cells; while the human body is made up of about 1013 human cells, we harbor near 1014 bacteria. This group of organisms, traditionally referred to as normal flora (although they are not plants) is composed of a fairly stable set of genera, mostly anaerobes. While each person has a relatively unique set of normal flora, members of the Streptococcus and Bacteroides make up a large percentage of the inhabitants. These organisms contribute to our existence in several ways. These normal flora may: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Help us by competing with pathogens such as Salmonella à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Help us by providing vitamins or eliminating toxins (e.g. Bacteroides) à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Harm us by promoting disease (e.g. dental caries) à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Cause neither help nor harm (e.g. commensals). One of the most important functions of our normal flora is to protect us from highly pathogenic organisms. For example, in a normal (bacterially inhabited animal), about 106 Salmonella must be ingested in order to cause disease. However, when an animal has been maintained in a sterile environment all of its life (a gnotobiotic animal), the same level of disease can be produced by as few as 10 Salmonella. This dramatic difference is simply due to competition (wikiAnswers.com). To a microorganism, the human body seems very much like the planet Earth seems to us. Just like our planet, our bodies contain numerous different environments, ranging from dry deserts (e.g. the forearm) to tropical forests (e.g. the perineum) to extremely hostile regions (e.g. the intestinal tract). Each environment possesses certain advantages and disadvantages and different microorganisms have adapted to certain regions of the body for their particular needs. In developed countries, computers are used in the bedside area for multiple functions, including ordering, checking laboratory and image results, recording patients conditions, and accounting. Moreover, most computer devices, such as keyboards and mice, in many countries are not water-proof and not specially designed for hospital disinfection needs. Therefore, there is a good possibility that computer interface surfaces may serve as reservoirs for nosocomial pathogens. Besides, the rate of hand washing compliance in healthcare institutions is low (~40%), which is presumably related to the contamination of inanimate surfaces of medical equipments and hospital environment with nosocomial pathogens (Boyce JM,Pittet 2002). Studies have shown that the hands or gloves of healthcare workers (HCWs) can be contaminated after touching inanimate objects in patient rooms or after touching environmental surfaces near patients (Bhalla A et al., 2004 ;Hartstein AI et al.,1988).One study reported that microbial contamination of computer interface surfaces was so prevalent that various microorganisms were isolated from more than 50% of the keyboards of hospital computers (R utala WA et al., 2006). The levels of contamination varied with the proximity to the patients, the texture of inanimate surfaces and the frequency of contact. The hospital ward computer is found being less likely to be contaminated than bedside computers (Neely AN et al.,2005). Schultz et al. have reported that 95% of keyboards in close proximity to patient sites had bacterial contamination. However, only 5% of these were pathogens known to be associated with nosocomial transmission (Schultz M et al.,2003). Most previous studies have reported the contamination of computer interface surfaces by potential pathogens such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (Boyce JM et al.,1997;Bures S et al.,2000) and Acinetobacter baumannii (Neely AN et al.,1999), but few have studied the relationship between contamination of the ward computers and clinical isolates in hospitals with improved hand hygiene compliance and during a non-outbreak period. Clinically, A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, and MRSA cause th e most common nosocomial infections and their presence correlates with environmental surface contamination (Engelhart S et al.,2002;Sekiguchi J et al.,2007).We conducted a hospital-based surveillance study of these three important pathogens on computer interface surfaces in different ward settings and then examined the relationship of contaminated computer interface surfaces with the presence of clinical isolates in these wards during a non outbreak period. Skin provides good examples of various microenvironments. Skin regions have been compared to geographic regions of Earth: the desert of the forearm, the cool woods of the scalp, and the tropical forest of the armpit. The composition of the dermal micro flora varies from site to site according to the character of the microenvironment. A different bacterial flora characterizes each of three regions of skin: (1) axilla, perineum, and toe webs; (2) hand, face and trunk; and (3) upper arms and legs. Skin sites with partial occlusion (axilla, perineum, and toe webs) harbor more microorganisms than do less occluded areas (legs, arms, and trunk). These quantitative differences may relate to increased amount of moisture, higher body temperature, and greater concentrations of skin surface lipids. The axilla, perineum, and toe webs are more frequently colonized by Gram-negative bacilli than are drier areas of the skin. The number of bacteria on an individuals skin remains relatively constant; bacterial survival and the extent of colonization probably depend partly on the exposure of skin to a particular environment and partly on the innate and species-specific bactericidal activity in skin. Also, a high degree of specificity is involved in the adherence of bacteria to epithelial surfaces. Not all bacteria attach to skin; staphylococci, which are the major element of the nasal flora, possess a distinct advantage over viridans streptococci in colonizing the nasal mucosa. Conversely, viridans streptococci are not seen in large numbers on the skin or in the nose but dominate the oral flora. The microbiology literature is inconsistent about the density of bacteria on the skin; one reason for this is the variety of methods used to collect skin bacteria. The scrub method yields the highest and most accurate counts for a given skin area. Most microorganisms live in the superficial layers of the stratum corneum and in the upper parts of the hair follicles. Some bacteria, however, reside in the deeper areas of the hair follicles and are beyond the reach of ordinary disinfection procedures. These bacteria are a reservoir for recolonization after the surface bacteria are removed. Staphylococcus epidermidis S. epidermidis is a major inhabitant of the skin, and in some areas it makes up more than 90 percent of the resident aerobic flora. Staphylococcus aureus The nose and perineum are the most common sites for S. aureus colonization, which is present in 10 percent to more than 40 percent of normal adults. S. aureus is prevalent (67 percent) on vulvar skin. Its occurrence in the nasal passages varies with age, being greater in the newborn, less in adults. S. aureus is extremely common (80 to 100 percent) on the skin of patients with certain dermatologic diseases such as atopic dermatitis, but the reason for this finding is unclear. Micrococci Micrococci are not as common as staphylococci and diphtheroids; however, they are frequently present on normal skin. Micrococcus luteus, the predominant species, usually accounts for 20 to 80 percent of the micrococci isolated from the skin. Diphtheroids (Coryneforms) The term diphtheroid denotes a wide range of bacteria belonging to the genus Corynebacterium. Classification of diphtheroids remains unsatisfactory; for convenience, cutaneous diphtheroids have been categorized into the following four groups: lipophilic or nonlipophilic diphtheroids; anaerobic diphtheroids; diphtheroids producing porphyrins (coral red fluorescence when viewed under ultraviolet light); and those that possess some keratinolytic enzymes and are associated with trichomycosis axillaris (infection of axillary hair). Lipophilic diphtheroids are extremely common in the axilla, whereas nonlipophilic strains are found more commonly on glabrous skin. Anaerobic diphtheroids are most common in areas rich in sebaceous glands. Although the name Corynebacterium acnes was originally used to describe skin anaerobic diphtheroids, these are now classified as Propionibacterium acnes and as P. granulosum. P. acnes are seen eight times more frequently than P. granulosum in acne lesions and are probably involved in acne pathogenesis. Children younger than 10 years are rarely colonized with P. acnes. The appearance of this organism on the skin is probably related to the onset of secretion of sebum (a semi-fluid substance composed of fatty acids and epithelial debris secreted from sebaceous glands) at puberty. P. avidum, the third species of cutaneous anaerobic diphtheroids, is rare in acne lesions and is more often isolated from the axilla. Streptococci Streptococci, especially ÃŽÂ ²-hemolytic streptococci, are rarely seen on normal skin. The paucity of ÃŽÂ ²-hemolytic streptococci on the skin is attributed at least in part to the presence of lipids on the skin, as these lipids are lethal to streptococci. Other groups of streptococci, such as ÃŽÂ ±-hemolytic streptococci, exist primarily in the mouth, from where they may, in rare instances, spread to the skin. Gram-Negative Bacilli Gram-negative bacteria make up a small proportion of the skin flora. In view of their extraordinary numbers in the gut and in the natural environment, their scarcity on skin is striking. They are seen in moist intertriginous areas, such as the toe webs and axilla, and not on dry skin. Desiccation is the major factor preventing the multiplication of Gram-negative bacteria on intact skin. Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Escherichia coli, and Proteus specie are predominant Gram-negative organisms found on the skin. Acinetobacter spp also occurs on the skin of normal individuals and, like other Gram-negative bacteria, is more common in the moist intertriginous areas. Nail Flora The microbiology of a normal nail is generally similar to that of the skin. Dust particles and other extraneous materials may get trapped under the nail, depending on what the nail contacts. In addition to resident skin flora, these dust particles may carry fungi and bacilli. Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, and Mucor are the major types of fungi found under the nails. Oral and Upper Respiratory Tract Flora The oral flora is involved in dental caries and periodontal disease, which affect about 80 percent. of the population in the Western world.Anaerobes in the oral flora are responsible for many of the brain, face, and lung infections that are frequently manifested by abscess formation. The pharynx and trachea contain primarily those bacterial genera found in the normal oral cavity (for example, ÃŽÂ ±-and ÃŽÂ ²-hemolytic streptococci); however, anaerobes, staphylococci, neisseriae, diphtheroids, and others are also present. Potentially pathogenic organisms such as Haemophilus, mycoplasmas, and pneumococci may also be found in the pharynx. Anaerobic organisms also are reported frequently. The upper respiratory tract is so often the site of initial colonization by pathogens (Neisseria meningitides, C. diphtheriae, Bordetella pertussis, and many others) and could be considered the first region of attack for such organisms. In contrast, the lower respiratory tract (small bronchi and alveoli) is usually sterile, because particles the size of bacteria do not readily reach it. If bacteria do reach these regions, they encounter host defense mechanisms, such as alveolar macrophages, that are not present in the pharynx. (A) Scanning electron micrograph of a cross-section of rat colonic mucosa. The bar indicates the thick layer of bacteria between the mucosal surface and the lumen (L) (X 262,) (B) Higher magnification of the area indicated by the arrow in Fig. A, showing a mass of bacteria (B) immediately adjacent to colonized intestinal tissue (T), (X2,624.) (Figure from Davis CP: Preservation of bacteria and their microenvironmental association in the rat by freezing. Appl Environ Microbiol 31:310,1976, with permission.) More information is available on the animal than the human micro flora. Research on animals has revealed that unusual filamentous microorganisms attach to ileal epithelial cells and modify host membranes with few or no harmful effects. Microorganisms have been observed in thick layers on gastrointestinal surfaces and in the crypts of Lieberkuhn. Other studies indicate that the immune response can be modulated by the intestinal flora. Studies role of the intestinal flora in biosynthesis of vitamin K and other host-utilizable products, conversion of bile acids (perhaps to cocarcinogens), and ammonia production (which can play a role in hepatic coma) show the dual role of the microbial flora in influencing the health of the host. More basic studies of the human bowel flora are necessary to define their effect on humans (Samuel 1996).Browse on Medical Microbiology à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Depiction of the human body and bacteria that predominate The skin flora are the microorganisms which reside on the skin. Most research has been upon those that reside upon the 2 square meters of human skin. Many of them are bacteria of which there are around 1000 species upon human skin from 19 phyla (Grice et al., 2009;Pappas,2009).The total number of bacteria on an average human has been estimated at 1012 (Todar) .Most are found in the superficial layers of the epidermis and the upper parts of hair follicles. Skin flora are usually non-pathogenic, and either commensals (are not harmful to their host) or mutualistic (offer a benefit). The benefits bacteria can offer include preventing transient pathogenic organisms from colonizing the skin surface, either by competing for nutrients, secreting chemicals against them, or stimulating the skins immune system (Cogen et al., 2008). However, resident microbes can cause skin diseases and enter the blood system creating life threatening diseases particularly in immunosuppressed people (Cogen et al., 2008).Hygiene to control such flora is important in preventing the transmission of antibiotic resistant hospital-acquired infections. A major nonhuman skin flora is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a chytrid and non-hyphal zoosporic fungus that causes chytridiomycosis, infectious disease thought to be responsible for the decline in amphibian populations. Ecology of the 20 sites on the skin studied in the Human Microbiome Project: There are three main ecological areas: moist, dry and sebaceous. Propionibacteria and Staphylococci species were the main species in sebaceous areas. In moist places on the body Corynebacteria together with Staphylococci dominate. In dry areas, there is a mixture of species but b-Proteobacteria and Flavobacteriales are dominant. Ecologically, sebaceous areas had greater species richness than moist and dry one. The areas with least similarity between people in species were the spaces between fingers, the spaces between toes, axillae, and umbilical cord stump. Most similarly were beside the nostril, nares (inside the nostril), and on the back (Grice et al., 2009). Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an example of a mutualistic bacteria that can turn into a pathogen and cause disease: if gains entry into the blood system it can result in inflections in bone, joint, gastrointestinal, and respiratory systems. It can also cause dermatitis. However, Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces antimicrobial substances such as pseudomonic acid that are exploited commercially such as Mupirocin. This works against staphylococcal and streptococcal infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa also produces substances that inhibit the growth of fungus species such as Candida krusei, Candida albicans, Torulopsis glabrata, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus fumigatus (Kerr, 1994).It can also inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori (Krausse et al.,2005). So important is its antimicrobial actions that it has been noted that removing P. aeruginosa from the skin, through use of oral or topical antibiotics, may inversely allow for aberrant yeast colonization and infection (Cogen et al. , 2008). Another aspect of bacteria is the generation of body odor. Sweat is odorless but Propionibacteria in adolescent adult sebaceous glands can turn its amino acids into propionic acid. Staphylococcus epidermidis create the other source of body odor: isovaleric acid (3-methyl butanoic acid) (Ara et al., 2006).In addition to these, people with strong foot odor this is due to Bacillus subtilis (Ara et al., 2006).

Egyptian Mythology: Enviromental Influences :: Ancient Egypt Egyptian History

Egyptian Mythology: Enviromental Influences Religion can be thought of as the recognition by human beings of a superhuman power that controls the universe and everything that is, was, or shall be in it. Each individual human being can consider that the superhuman control power is a deity worthy of being loved; or capable of inspiring awe, obedience, and even fear. The effect of these feelings on individuals can lead to the setting up of a system of worship of the deity; and to the drawing up of a code of beliefs and conduct inspired by their religious faith. As all religions follow this, the Egyptians seem to be unique in their beliefs. The Egyptians did not have a true religion; they had more of a collection of myths and doctrines, which evolved to suit the worshipper's needs. Although many changes were evident in their religion, conflict between new and old concepts did not occur. However, their belief system was much more complex and elaborate than that of any other culture. A clear reason is not given, but we theorize that environmental conditions play a significant role in their authenticity. It is a truism that the activities of people everywhere are influenced by the conditions under which they live, and religious thought is no exception to this. Before the days of mass communication, an Eskimo, living in cold climate, had no experience of any great heat generated by the sun. His idea of hell, therefore, would be a place of extreme cold. On the other hand, a man living in a hot climate can only visualize hell as an even hotter place than any with which he has ever had acquaintance with. The Nile River plays an important part in Egyptian mythology. As the Nile flows northward through Egypt, it creates a narrow ribbon of fertile land in the midst of a great desert. The sharp contrast between the fertility along the Nile and the wasteland of the desert became a basic theme in Egyptian mythology. The Egyptians lived in a river valley, 1200 km long from the Egypt south border at Aswan to the northern boundary on the Mediterranean, bordered in by ancient river terraces. The only fertile land was that watered by the Nile, which flowed through the valley: the rest was desert. Thus, the land in which the Egyptians lived was considered to be "the gift of the river". Every

Water Quality and Contamination

Water Quality and Contamination Abstraction The quality of H2O is indispensable to our ecosystem and all life animals. In this study I will reexamine three experiments in which I performed. The first experiment was of the effects of groundwater taint, the 2nd experiment was H2O intervention procedure and the last was imbibing H2O quality. The intent of first experiment is to demo the effects of when ordinary family points such as oil, acetum and laundry detergent are mixed into our H2O supply and foul our H2O system. The consequences of this experiment were that the H2O became oily, smelly and unserviceable. The intent of the 2nd experiment is to demo how our planet of course filtrates drinkable imbibing H2O. The method used required potting dirt, sand, wood coal and crushed rock to of course filter the H2O. The experiment resulted in drinkable H2O. The last experiment is to prove the quality of regular pat H2O compared to bottled H2O. The trial consequences showed that the quality of tap H2O is equal to, and in some instances were better than, commercialized bottled H2O. The purpose of all three of these experiments is to raise consciousness of the necessity of holding quality H2O supply. Introduction Water is one of the most of import resources on Earth. Water covers about 70 % of the earth’s surface and the human organic structure ranges from 50 to 70 % of the human organic structure. The quality of H2O is really of import to our environment and for our ingestion. We use H2O for many things like irrigation, medical intents and to cleanse. Therefore, the quality of H2O is of import because it plays a critical function in our ecological system. If our planet does non hold acceptable H2O quality it would destruct our flora, ocean population, carnal life and/or human life. The absence of quality H2O in our universe would impact our manner of life and interrupt our ecological system. In this category we conducted many three different H2O experiments. The intent of the experiments was to larn about functional H2O, land H2O, surface H2O, H2O contaminates, H2O intervention and the quality of different imbibing Waterss. The intent of my survey is to raise consciousness to the readers of this survey the importance of quality H2O for our environment. â€Å"Surface H2O quality has increasing importance worldwide and is peculiarly relevant in the semiarid North-central Chile, where agribusiness and excavation activities are enforcing heavy force per unit area on limited H2O resources† ( Espejo & A ; et al. , 2012 ) . One experiment was to larn the effects of groundwater taint. These contaminations are points that we use in our places every twenty-four hours, but we ne'er realize what effects they have on our H2O system once they are assorted in to our H2O supply. Another experiment was conducted to demo the assortment of common pollutants that enter our H2O supply system because of mundane human activity. The experiment used similar processs that wastewater intervention workss use to filtrate and handle and sublimate H2O so that it is drinkable. The intent of the last experiment was to prove the quality of tap H2O compared to two separate name trade name bottled imbibing Waterss. Tap H2O is believed to be merely every bit safe as bottled imbibing H2O. â€Å"Bottled H2O is n't any safer or purer than what comes out of the pat, † says Dr. Sarah Janssen, scientific discipline chap with the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco, which conducted an extended analysis of bottled H2O back in 1999. â€Å" In fact, it ‘s less well-regulated, and you ‘re more likely to cognize what ‘s in tap H2O. † Bottled and tap H2O come from basically the same beginnings: lakes, springs and aquifers, to name a few. In fact, a important fraction of the bottled H2O merchandises on shop shelves are tap H2O — albeit filtered and treated with excess stairss to better taste† ( Conis, 2008 ) . My hypothesis for the effects of groundwater contaminated with oil, acetum and laundry detergent is that the H2O would be oily, smelly and bubbly but that the filtering system would be able to keep the soil contamination. My hypothesis for the H2O intervention experiment is that the intervention procedure in relationship to the natural filtering system would ensue in useable H2O. My hypothesis for the last experiment, proving imbibing H2O quality, is that I believe that tap H2O will hold the most contaminations compared to that of bottled H2O. Materials and Methods The type of stuffs that were used in the effects of groundwater taint experiment consisted of eight beakers in which 100 milliliter of tap H2O was used to make full four of the eight beakers. I numbered each beaker 1 through 8. After make fulling the beakers with H2O, I added 10 milliliter of vegetable oil to beaker # 2, so added 10 milliliter of acetum to beaker # 3 and 10 milliliter of liquid wash detergent to beaker # 4. Beaker # 1 contained merely H2O, no contaminations. After adding the pollutants to beakers 2 through 4, I stirred the contents with a wooden stick to guarantee that the H2O and the pollutant were assorted together good. Each beaker that contained a pollutant, I recorded the odor and or visual aspect of it when assorted with the H2O. Then I placed cheesecloth into a funnel and added 60 milliliter of potting dirt. I poured the contents of beaker # 1 ( apparent H2O ) through the dirt-filled funnel into an empty beaker, beaker # 5, and allow the H2O drain for about 5 proceedingss. I so recorded what I observed from the filtered H2O that was poured into beaker # 5. After entering my findings, I discarded the dirt and cheesecloth from the funnel. Finally, I repeated the old stairss for beakers # 2, # 3 and # 4 ( beaker # 2 was filtered into beaker # 6, beaker # 3 was filtered into beaker # 7 and beaker # 4 was filtered into beaker # 8 ) . In the H2O intervention experiment, I used 100 milliliter of potting dirt, two 250 milliliter beakers, two 100 milliliter beakers, a 100 milliliter graduated cylinder, 40 milliliter of sand, 20 milliliter of activated wood coal, 60 milliliter of crushed rock, one wooden splash stick, alum, a funnel, cheesecloth, bleach, a stop watch and regular pat H2O. Using one of the 250 milliliter beakers, I poured 100 milliliter of dirt and so filled it with mater to the 200 mL grade of the beaker. Then, utilizing the 2nd 250 milliliter beaker, I poured the contents of the first beaker back and Forth about 15 times between the two beakers to blend the solution, making contaminated H2O. Then take about 10 milliliter of the new mixture into a clean 100 milliliter beaker. I used this sample at the terminal of the experiment to compare it to the filtrated H2O. Then I added 10 gms of alum to the 250 milliliter soil-solution, stirring it with the wooden stick for no more than two proceedingss so I all owed the solution to sit for about 15 proceedingss. Meanwhile, I took a piece of cheesecloth and lined the funnel. Then utilizing one of the 100 milliliter beakers, I poured 40 milliliter of sand, 20 milliliter of activated wood coal and 40 milliliter crushed rock into the funnel that is lined with the cheesecloth. I so to indurate the filter, I poured fresh pat H2O through the filter four times ( throwing out the rinse after each fill ) . I allowed the funnel to sit over the beaker for 5 proceedingss to run out. I so poured about 3/4Thursdayof the contaminated H2O into the deposit ( hardened sand/charcoal and crushed rock ) . After about 5 proceedingss of filtering, I added a few beads of bleach to the filtered H2O and stirred it for about a minute utilizing the wooden stick. The concluding experiment, imbibing H2O quality, I used Dasani bottled H2O, Fiji bottled H2O, ammonia trial strips, chloride trial strips, 4 in 1 trial strips, phosphate trial strips, Fe trial strips, three 250 milliliter beakers, a lasting marker, a halt ticker, Parafilm, pipettes, three foil packages of cut downing pulverization and tap H2O. First I labeled each beaker, one as pat H2O, the 2nd as Dasani and the last as Fiji. Then I poured 100 milliliter of each type of H2O into its corresponding beaker. I took an ammonia trial strip, and one at a clip, I placed an ammonium hydroxide strip into the H2O, traveling it up and down for about 30 seconds while doing use the strip does non come out of the H2O. After the 30 seconds, I shook of the extra H2O and leveled the strip with the tablet side up for 30 seconds. After about a minute, I matched the trial strip with one of the colourss from the Color Test Strip Key Chart and recorded my consequences. ( I repeated the exact same stairss for the staying two water-filled beakers and recorded those consequences ) . With the chloride trial strip I wholly immerged the trial strip into the H2O guaranting that each reaction zone of the strip has made contact with the H2O for one second. I shook off the extra H2O and after about a minute compared the strip the Color Test Strip Key Chart and recorded my consequences. ( I repeated the same stairss for the staying H2O filled beakers ) . The 4 in 1 trial strip, I dipped the trial strips ( one at a clip ) into each H2O filled beaker for approximative 5 seconds. Then I shook off the extra H2O, waited about 20 seconds and so matched the consequences with the Color Test Strip Key Chart to the pH. Alkalinity, Cl, and hardness. ( I repeated the same stairss for the staying H2O filled beakers ) . The phosphate trial strip, I dipped it into one of the beaker filled Waterss no more than five seconds. Then, without agitating the extra H2O off, I placed it in a horizontal place for about 45 seconds. Then I compared the consequences to the Color Test Strip Key Chart and recorded my consequences. ( I repeated the same stairss for the staying H2O filled beakers ) . The before I performed the concluding trial, the Fe trial strip, I removed approximative 70 milliliter of the H2O from each beaker go forthing merely 30 milliliters each type of H2O in at that place labeled beakers. I poured the power from the defeated package into the first H2O filled beaker, covered the beaker with the Parafilm and shook it up for approximately 15 seconds. Then I tipped the Fe trial strip ( traveling it about ) into the H2O for about 5 seconds. Then I shook off the extra H2O and waiting about 10 seconds, so matched the trial strip to the Color Test Strip Key Chart and recorded my consequences. ( I repeated the same stairss for the staying H2O filled beakers ) . Consequences The undermentioned tabular arraies were used to document the consequences of the experiments: Experiment 1: Effectss of Groundwater ContaminationTable 1: Water Observations ( Smell, Color, Etc. )BeakerObservations1100 milliliter ( field ) H2O is clear2Water looks oily due to adding the 10mL vegetable oil.3Water appears clear but has an olfactory property due to adding the 10 milliliter acetum4Clear H2O with little bubbles due to adding 10 milliliter of liquid wash detergent5Water is brown with little atoms of soil on the underside6Slightly brown H2O with minimum soil residue on the underside7Discolored H2O with acetum olfactory property and minimum soil residue on the underside of beaker8Very dark brown colored H2O with soil residue on the underside of the beakerExperiment 3: Drinking Water QualityTable 2: Ammonia Test ResultsWater SampleTrial ConsequencesTap Water0Dasani ® Bottled Water0Fiji ® Bottled Water0Table 3: Chloride Test ConsequencesWater SampleTrial ConsequencesTap Water0Dasani ® Bottled Water0Fiji ® Bottled Water0Table 4: 4 in 1 Trial ConsequencesWater Sam plepHEntire AlkalinityEntire ChlorineEntire HardnessTap Water74.0800Dasani ® Bottled Water3000Fiji ® Bottled Water910.000Table 5: Phosphate Test ConsequencesWater SampleTrial ConsequencesTap Water25Dasani ® Bottled Water0Fiji ® Bottled Water100Table 6: Iron Test ResultsWater SampleTrial ConsequencesTap Water0Dasani ® Bottled Water0Fiji ® Bottled Water0The consequences of the first experiment, the effects of groundwater taint ( Table 1 ) , resulted in the contaminations oozing through the filtering system. â€Å"Levels or tendencies in H2O quality that may be hurtful to sensitive H2O utilizations, including imbibing, irrigation, and farm animal lacrimation have been noted with mention to well-established guidelines† ( Quagraine & A ; Adokoh, 2010 ) . The consequences of the 2nd experiment, the H2O intervention procedure ( Table 2 ) , was that the H2O intervention processed appeared to work in the same manner/process that is used by the big H2O filtrating companies. The H2O looked, smelled and visibly appeared drinkable. The consequences of the concluding experiment, the imbibing H2O quality ( Table 3 ) , required testing of tap H2O versus bottled H2O, which determined that tap H2O is equal if non better than bottled H2O. Discussion The first experiment proved my hypothesis incorrect. The H2O was non merely oily, smelly and bubbly it was besides contaminated with soil. The filtering system did non keep parts of the soil from oozing into the H2O system. The 2nd experiment, the H2O intervention procedure, proved my hypothesis right. I expected the filtering intervention procedure, which emulated the procedure of a intervention works, would ensue is useable H2O. The concluding experiment proved my hypothesis incorrect. My outlooks were that tap H2O would hold more contaminations compared to bottled H2O. In fact, tap H2O measured equal if non better than that of bottled H2O. While carry oning the first experiment, I did non recognize that some of our H2O is filtered through a natural procedure. When the H2O is in a watercourse or a lake, the workss and water-creatures around it filters the H2O for us. â€Å"Consider the predicament of wetlands—swamps, fens, fens, bogs, estuaries, and tidal flats. Globally, the universe has lost half of its wetlands, with most of the devastation holding taken topographic point over the past half century. The loss of these productive ecosystems is double harmful to the environment: wetlands non merely shop H2O and conveyance foods, but besides act as natural filters, soaking up and thining pollutants such as N and P from agricultural overflow, heavy metals from excavation and industrial spills, and natural sewerage from human settlements† ( Turk & A ; Bensel, 2011 ) . What impressed me most about these experiments were that tap H2O is merely every bit good, if non better, than expensive bottled H2O. Whether you are a tenant or a householder, you have to pay a monthly measure for the usage of tap H2O. Alternatively of passing 1000s of dollars on bottled H2O it would do more sense to utilize tap H2O because it goes through a really strict filtrating procedure in order to do it drinkable. â€Å"Sales of bottled H2O have increased dramatically in recent old ages, with world-wide gross revenues of more than $ 35 billion, mostly because of the public perceptual experience of pureness and safety and public concern about the quality of pat water† ( Raj, 2005 ) . Tap H2O is required to run into the EPA imbibing H2O criterions. Decision In decision, land H2O taint experiment displayed what happens when our H2O system is contaminated. With points that we use on a day-to-day footing, our system can easy go contaminated if we are non cognizant of what we pour down the drain or pollutants that enter into our oceans. Everyday activities like rinsing down an oil private road, run outing pool H2O, which contains Cl, into the public sewerage and even giving your house pet a bath outside and leting the detergents to come in our H2O supply, which will do injury to our H2O supply. But with todays engineering there are big H2O filtrating corporations. Water treating workss can take contaminated H2O and turn it into drinkable H2O. There are assorted types of trial and needed ordinances that each province must stay by refering public imbibing H2O. So alternatively of purchasing these expensive bottled H2O, we can imbibe tap H2O because it is no different, if non better, than most bottled H2O. â€Å"The ends of environmental stat ute law and associated ordinances are to protect public wellness, natural resources, and ecosystems. In this context, supervising plans should supply seasonably and relevant information so that the regulative community can implement statute law in a cost-efficient and efficient mode. The Safe Drinking Water Act ( SDWA ) of 1974 efforts to guarantee that public H2O systems ( PWS ) supply safe H2O to its consumers. As is the instance with many other federal environmental legislative acts, SDWA monitoring has been implemented in comparatively unvarying manner across the USA† ( Brands, Rajagopal, 2008 ) . Mentions: Trade names, E. , & A ; Rajagopal, R. ( 2008 ) . Economicss of place-based monitoring under the safe imbibing H2O act, portion III: Performance rating of place-based monitoring schemes. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 143 ( 1-3 ) , 103-120. Department of the Interior: hypertext transfer protocol: //dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-9961-2 Conis, E. ( 2008, October 13 ) . Bottled versus pat: Which is safer? The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/13/health/he-nutrition13 Espejo, L. , Kretschmer, N. , Oyarzun, J. , Meza, F. , Nunez, J. , Maturana, H. , Oyarzun, R. , et al. , ( 2012 ) . Application of Water Quality Indices and Analysis of the Surface Water Quality Monitoring Network in Semiarid North-Central Chile. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 184 ( 9 ) , 5571-88. Department of the Interior: hypertext transfer protocol: //dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2363-5 Quagraine, E. K. , & A ; Adokoh, C. K. ( 2010 ) . Assessment of Dry Season Surface, Ground, and Treated Water Quality in the Cape Coast Municipality of Ghana. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 160 ( 1-4 ) , 521-39. Department of the Interior: hypertext transfer protocol: //dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0716-5 Raj, S. D. ( 2005 ) . Bottled Water: How Safe Is It? Water Environment Research, 77 ( 7 ) , 3013-8. Retrieved from hypertext transfer protocol: //search.proquest.com/docview/216066348? accountid=32521 Turk, J. , & A ; Bensel, T. ( 2011 ) . Contemporary Environmental Issues. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc

Case : Trader Joe’s Essay

– What are the key sources of Trader Joe’s competitive advantage? Is their advantage sustainable? Unlike another retail stores, Trader Joe’s aims to provide an extraordinary shopping experience unable to be found anywhere else in the perspectives of the following key sources. Store operations: The Stores are small in old strip malls in suburban locations. There are no self-out checkout lanes so the customers had opportunity to talk to employees. Merchandising: It sold mostly private label goods at reasonable price by stocking fewer items, but more line-ups with dynamic mix compared to typical retail channels. Also, it doesn’t follow trends, but tried to sell new products that customers had not experienced previously. Customers: Trader Joe’s had been targeting clearly and not doing one-way communication. Trader Joe’s really understands the characteristics of customers so it enjoyed a cult-like following. Many customers created Facebook fan pages, wrote cookbooks featuring meals prepared with the firm’s products, and waited in line for hours before a new store opens. The company has made consumers so loyal to it. Marketing: Rather than offering any discount coupons, Trader Joe’s distributed a customer newsletter to provide information on certain products. Trader Joe’s doesn’t have its company-led social media strategy. Instead, the company finds a great deal of content generated by fans of the company. Therefore, credibility of customers has become very high because of such a fan base marketing. People: Trader Joe’s has paid staffs more than they might expect at rival grocers whereas typical grocery stores have cut-off wages of their staff due to its decreased margin under strong competition. Also, the company wants  its employees to become familiar with the company’s products so it provides funds to sample new food. Additionally, the company makes employees not bored about their job by letting employees rotate their jobs not only from day to day, but hour by hour. As the employees are satisfied with company, they always provide best service with customers so customers usually have good experience while shopping. Trader Joe’s will thrive in success for the many years to come because it truly values its consumers. The importance of consumerism is in the â€Å"Frequent Newsletter† and the employees’ dedication to the consumer. Consumers will return to a store in which they feel valued and appreciated. Then, they continue to create a lot of fan sites to have a good impact on brand equity and reputation of Trader Joe’s. I think that there would be virtuous circle on this business for the future.