Leadership versus management in healthcare Coursework

Leadership versus management in healthcare - Coursework Example Management is a process that involves the determination of objectives using human, financial, and physical resources. Managers must make sure that they adopt an appropriate approach of combining all these resources to achieve organizational goals (Shortell & Kaluzny, 2006). Other authors have categorized the roles of a manager as informational, interpersonal, and decisional. In summary, management involves functions such as planning, organizing, evaluating, budgeting, and controlling. On the other hand, leadership involves influencing followers so that they can get on the right track or direction. Therefore, leaders must define strategies and visions for an organization. Therefore, leadership is defined by visions, ideologies, and direction that must be used to influence the followers. The objectives of leaders are to inspire and motivate followers so that they can achieve an identified goal. In the view of many authors, leadership is both goals oriented, and highly inspirational. Cu rrently, there are many leadership theories that describe how leaders use different strategies to influence their followers. In the healthcare sector, both leaders and managers play a critical role. The purpose of many healthcare institutions is to promote the healthcare status of the community while delivering quality services. Leadership serves to define the visions and goals of each healthcare institution. On the other hand, the managers serve to organize all the employees, teams within the healthcare system.

My Mother, My Hero Essay Example for Free

My Mother, My Hero Essay When I was about ten years old, I watched an episode of Sesame Street that provided valuable lesson about who mothers are to their children. I would like to start this narrative with that story. A little girl got lost in the park and was crying hysterically. She caught the attention of a security officer nearby. The officer approached the child and tried to calm her. He asked her who she was with and the child said she was with her mother. They were crossing the street and there were so many people. She got confused and she thought she was following her mother but later found out that it was another woman. The child continued to cry remembering her mother who would be worried by then. The officer asked the little girl to describe her mother. She said her mother is â€Å"the most wonderful woman in the whole world†. So the security officer looked for the beautiful women and presented them to her, but the child kept crying and insisted that her mother is â€Å"the most wonderful woman in the whole world†. After many attempts to find a beautiful lady fitting the child’s description, a plump, old woman who looked very worried rushed to the child and embraced her tight. The child was so happy and told the officer that the lady is her mother. The child, relieved to be in her mother’s arms again, said to the officer, â€Å"This is my mother; she is the most wonderful woman in the whole world†. It was only then that the officer realized what the child meant. When a woman finds herself pregnant, she is transformed into a selfless individual, one who would put the child’s interest first above her own. It is like bearing a child fulfills her womanhood and in her child’s eyes, she literally is the most wonderful woman. Some women had to stop working because they need to personally take care of their babies. Some had to change their lifestyle to favor the needs of the child. Some had to find a new place that is ideal for the child to grow up. Some women simply do not dream of anything else but to be good mothers to their children. To bring the child in one’s womb for nine months is a lot of sacrifice. To feed the baby from one’s breast until the baby is old enough is a lot more sacrifice. To care, protect and guide the baby until he grows and becomes an adult is a lifetime sacrifice for a mother. Mothers are heroes and the world is lucky to have them. So is my mother and she is my hero. I may not be able to remember all the wonderful things my mother has done to me; it could make a long list and keep adding to it for as long as we both live. If ever I was not conscious of how she brought me in her womb for nine long enduring months, I could have certainly felt it and carried the feeling with me as I grew up. I was told that I was a perfectly healthy baby when I was born. My family especially my mother was so proud of me. She probably did not realize that if I was born good looking and very healthy, it was because she took care of her own health and successfully nurtured me in her own body. I breathed in her breath, I ate what she ate and I lived in her; we were literally one during the most crucial time of my life. Aside from making it happen, she paved the way for me to grow in her healthily and safely. Like many perfectly healthy children, I was told that I was breastfed for two years. My memory does not help me enough to make me remember how it felt to be breastfed by my mother. But as I look at her now, I see a beautiful woman who was so blessed to provide the nutrition to keep her baby alive. Every drop of milk that I took from her was a result of all her efforts to keep herself clean and nutritious. She must have eaten plenty of vegetables and avoided dirty food. She must have taken vitamins that would give her milk the nutrients that my body would need. She must have sacrificed being awake when I was hungry and set aside what she was doing whenever I cried and asked for food. I would have been so gratifying if I could remember how it was; being carried by my mother and making me feed from her breast. Simply knowing it makes me feel the intensity of her love, and I treasure this knowledge. I am happy to remember instances when my mother brought me to the grocery store and bought me some candy bars and chocolates. I felt my eyes feast on the colors that I saw at the store. The feeling of security that I was with my mother added to the enjoyment I had. The feeling was like that most of the time. I felt that with my mother, I am safe. Nothing wrong can happen to me and she will give me everything. I did not have to ask, she knew when I needed something. When she bought me candy bars and chocolates in the grocery store made me very happy. But it was not just the candy bars and chocolates, or the trip at the grocery store that made me feel so good, it was because they were given by my mother. Since my childhood, simply looking at my mother sent me good feelings. There was a time when I was running in a building, I don’t remember where it was, but it was a building with stairs and I was running recklessly. My mother was right behind me but I somehow made a wrong step and fell about three or four steps on the stairs going down. My immediate reaction was shock. I then felt a mixture of pain in my body and embarrassment because I attracted the attention of the other children playing there. It was instinct that I looked for my mother and looked at her eyes. She was rushing towards me to give me the comfort that I needed. I remember crying and embracing my mother, asking her to caress me and tell me that everything was alright. It was also the comfort that assures me that it is not that embarrassing and nobody will laugh at me. That alone made me feel better and I knew that my mother was the best person who could do that for me. She was really my hero. I may be older now and stronger. I have learned many lessons in life as I gained experiences with all my mother’s love and guidance. She may not be physically present, following me in all my activities, but she continues to be my guardian. Whatever I have become is owed much to my mother. For my mother, she may not have been conscious of the magnitude of the sacrifices she has made, just for me. Because every time she did something for me, her eyes would glow and I knew that she has always been so happy to do those things for me. I guess it is the magic of a mother’s love that makes a child whole. She is my hero and I will be grateful to her for being my mother for the rest of my life.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase in Plant Response to Drought

Alcohol Dehydrogenase in Plant Response to Drought 1. Introduction Plant growth and productivity is adversely affected by natures wrath in the form of various abiotic and biotic stress factors (e.g. salinity, low temperature, drought, and flooding heat, oxidative stress and heavy metal toxicity). All these stress factors are a menace for plants and prevent them from reaching their full genetic potential and limit the crop productivity worldwide. Abiotic stress is the principal cause of crop failure, decrease average yields for most major crops by more than 50% (Bray, 2000) and causes losses worth hundreds of million dollars each year. In fact these stresses, threaten the sustainability of agricultural industry (Shilpi, 2005). Environmental degradation and climate change have become severe global problems because of the explosive population increases and industrialization in developing countries. To solve this problem, one of the keys is plant biotechnology based on physiology of crop, plant biochemistry, genomics and transgenic technology. This is becoming more and more important for molecular breeding of crops that can tolerate droughts. For this technology, we need to understand plant responses to drought stress at the molecular level. For agricultural and environmental sustainability, it is important to breed or genetically engineer crops with improved stress tolerance. The identification of key genes and that gene can be used directly for engineering transgenic crops with improved drought tolerance. Although a number of candidate genes have been identified in recent years, only very few have been tested in functional assays for a beneficial effect on drought tolerance. In order to assess gene function directly in plant suffering from abiotic stress caused by the drought, proved to be useful. Analysing the functions of these genes is critical for understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing plant stress response and tolerance, ultimately leading to enhancement of stress tolerance in crops through genetic manipulation. In this study, this will be used for overexpression of genes as well as for induced gene silencing, by using GATEWAY technology. A comprehensive investigation of Adh and Pdc induction and the determination of ethanol production during stress treatments would provide valuable information on how ethanol involved in the response to limited water condition. 2. Literature review 2.1. What is stress? Stress in physical terms is defined as mechanical force per unit area applied to an object. In response to the applied stress, an object undergoes a change in the dimension. Biological term is difficult to define in the plant stress. A biological condition, which may be stress for one plant may be optimum for another plant. The most practical definition of a biological stress is an adverse force or a condition, which inhibits the normal functioning and well being of a biological system such as plants (Jones et al., 1989 ) 2.2. Stress signalling pathways The stress is first perceived by the receptors present on the membrane of the plant cells , the signal is then transduced downstream and this results in the generation of second messengers including calcium, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inositol phosphates. These second messengers, further modulate the intracellular calcium level. This Ca2+ level is sensed by calcium binding proteins, Ca2+ sensors. These sensory proteins then interact with their respective interacting partners often initiating a phosphorylation cascade and target the major stress responsive genes or the transcription factors controlling these genes. The products of these stress genes ultimately lead to plant adaptation and help the plant to survive the unfavourable conditions. Thus, plant responds to stresses as individual cells and synergistically as a whole organism. Stress induced changes in gene expression in turn may participate in the generation of hormones like ABA, salicylic acid and ethylene. The various stress responsive genes can be broadly categorized as early and late induced genes. Early genes are induced within minutes of stress signal perception and often express transiently. In contrast, most of the other genes, which are activated by stress more slowly, i.e. after hours of stress perception are included in the late induced category. These genes include the major stress responsive genes such as RD (responsive to dehydration)/ KIN (cold induced)/COR (cold responsive), which encodes and modulate the LEA-like proteins (late embryogenesis abundant), antioxidants, membrane stabilizing proteins and synthesis of osmoly tes. 2.3. Drought stress Among all abiotic stresses, drought is one of the most serious problems for sustainable agriculture worldwide. The adverse effect of drought stress is reductions in yield as reported in crops such as rice (Oryza sativa) (Brevedan and Egli, 2003), wheat (Triticum aestivum) (Cabuslay et al., 2002), soybean (Glycine max) (Kirigwi et al., 2004), and chickpea (Cicer aerietum) (Khanna-Chopra and Khanna-Chopra, 2004). The adaptive responses to drought must be coordinated at the molecular, cellular, and whole-plant levels. These conditions induce dehydration of plant cells, which may trigger physiological, biochemical and molecular responses against such stresses (Shinozaki and Yamaguchi, 1996). Water deficit is a complex of responses, which depends upon severity and duration of the stress, plant genotype, developmental stage, and environmental factors providing the stress. Yield losses due to drought are highly variable in nature depending on the stress timing, intensity, and duration. Although, different plant species have variable thresholds for stress tolerance, and some of them can successfully tolerate severe stresses and still complete their life cycles, most cultivated crop plant species are highly sensitive and either die or suffer from productivity loss after they are exposed to long periods of stress. It has been estimated that two-thirds of the yield potential of major crops are routinely lost due to unfavourable growing environments ( Shilpi, 2005 ). Plants have evolved a number of strategies to severe drought. These include escape strategies such as avoidance (flowering, deep rooting, enhanced water uptake efficiency, or reduced water loss) as well as tolerance mechanisms. Reduced shoot growth and increased root development could result in increased water absorption and reduced transpiration, thereby maintaining plant tissue water status. In addition to such avoidance mechanisms, plant responses to water shortages can involve changes in biochemical pathways and expression of genes encoding proteins that contribute to drought adaptation. The proteins could be enzymes involved in the synthesis of osmolytes, antioxidants, or hormones such as ABA and others. Such changes can bring about drought tolerance, whereby plants continue to function at the low water potentials caused by water deficit (Hall, 1993). A central response to water deficit is often increased synthesis of ABA, which in turn induces a range of developmental (avoidanc e) and physiological or biochemical (tolerance) mechanisms. There is an ongoing debate as to whether the exploitation of avoidance or tolerance mechanisms should be the focus of plant breeding programmes. However, it appears likely that the exploitation of tolerance mechanisms may be more promising for the stabilization of crop yield under severe drought conditions (Araus et al, 2002). An assortment of genes with diverse functions are induced or repressed by these drought stresses (Bartels and Sunkar, 2005; Yamaguchi and Shinozaki, 2005). Drought tolerance has been shown to be a highly complex trait, regulated expression of multiple genes that may be induced during drought stress and thus more difficult to control and engineer. Plant engineering strategies for abiotic stress tolerance rely on the expression of genes that are involved in signaling and regulatory pathways (Seki and Shinozaki, 2003) or genes that encode proteins conferring stress tolerance (Wang, 2004) or enzymes present in pathways leading to the synthesis of functional and structural metabolites. Current efforts to improve plant stress tolerance by genetic transformation have resulted in several important achievements; however, the genetically complex mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance make the task extremely difficult. 2.3.1 Physiological and biochemical responses of drought Physiological and biochemical changes at the cellular level that are associated with drought stress include turgor loss, changes in membrane fluidity and composition, changes in solute concentration, and protein and protein-lipid interactions (Chaves et al,2003) . Other physiological effects of drought on plants are the reduction in vegetative growth, in particular shoot growth. Leaf growth is generally more sensitive than the root growth. Reduced leaf expansion is beneficial to plants under water deficit condition, as less leaf area is exposed resulting in reduced transpiration. Many mature plants, for example cotton subjected to drought respond by accelerating senescence and abscission of the older leaves. This process is also known as leaf area adjustment. Regarding root, the relative root growth may undergo enhancement, which facilitates the capacity of the root system to extract more water from deeper soil layers. Plant tissues can maintain turgor during drought by avoiding dehydration, tolerating dehydration or both (Kramer,1995). These forms of stress resistance are controlled by developmental and morphological traits such as root thickness, the ability of roots to penetrate compacted soil layers, and root depth and mass (Pathan, 2004). By contrast, adaptive traits, such as osmotic adjustment and dehydration tolerance, arise in response to water deficit . Reduction of photosynthetic activity, accumulation of organic acids and osmolytes, and changes in carbohydrate metabolism, are typical physiological and biochemical responses to stress. Synthesis of osmoprotectants, osmolytes or compatible solutes is one of the mechanisms of adaptation to water deficit. These molecules, which act as osmotic balancing agents, are accumulated in plant cells in response to drought stress and are subsequently degraded after stress relief (Tabaeizadeh ,1998). 2.3.2 Molecular responses Studies on the molecular responses to water deficit have identified multiple changes in gene expression. Functions for many of these genà ¨ products have been predicted from the deduced amino acid sequence of the genes. Genes expressed during stress are anticipated to promote cellular tolerance of dehydration through protective functions in the cytoplasm, alteration of cellular water potentia1 to promote water uptake, control of ion accumulation, and further regulation of gene expression. Expression of a gene during stress does not guarantee that a gene product promotes the ability of the plant to survive stress. The expression of some genes may result from injury or damage that occurred during stress. Other genes may be induced, but their expression does not alter stress tolerance. Yet others are required for stress tolerance and the accumulation of these gene products is an adaptive response. Complex regulatory and signaling processes, most of which are not understood, control the expression of genes during water deficit. In addition to induction by stress, the expression of water-deficit-associated genes is controlled with respect to tissue, organ, and developmental stage and may be expressed independently of the stress conditions. The regulation of specific processes will also depend upon the experimental conditions of stress application. Stress conditions that are applied in the laboratory may not accurately represent those that occur in the field. Frequently, laboratory stresses are rapid and severe, whereas stress in the field often develops over an extended period of time ( Radin, 1993). These differences must also be evaluated when studying the adaptive value of certain responses. The function of the gene products and the mechanisms of gene expression are intertwined, and both must be understood to fully comprehend the molecular response to water deficit. 2.4. Function of water-stress inducible genes Genes induced during water-stress conditions are thought to function not only in protecting cells from water deficit by the production of important metabolic proteins but also in the regulation of genes for signal transduction in the water-stress response . Thus, these gene products are classified into two groups. The first group includes proteins that probably function in stress tolerance: water channel proteins involved in the movement of water through membranes, the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of various osmoprotectants (sugars, Pro, and Gly-betaine), proteins that may protect macromolecules and membranes (LEA protein, osmotin, antifreeze protein, chaperon, and mRNA binding proteins), proteases for protein turn over (thiol proteases, Clp protease, and ubiquitin), the detoxification enzymes (glutathione S-transferase, soluble epoxide hydrolase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and ascorbate peroxidase). Some of the stress-inducible genes that encode proteins, such as a key enzyme for Pro biosynthesis, were over expressed in transgenic plants to produce a stress tolerant phenotype of the plants; this indicates that the gene products really function in stress tolerance ( Shinozaki ,1996 ). The second group contains protein factors involved in further regulation of signal transduction and gene expression that probably function in stress response: Most of the regulatory proteins are involved in signal transduction. Now it becomes more important to elucidate the role of these regulatory proteins for further understanding of plant responses to water deficit. Many transcription factor genes were stress inducible, and various transcriptional regulatory mechanisms may function in regulating drought, cold, or high salinity stress signal transduction pathways. These transcription factors could govern expression of stress-inducible genes either cooperatively or independently, and may constitute gene networks in Arabidopsis ( Pathan.2004 ), 2.5. Model plant for studying the drought tolerant Arabidopsis thaliana is a small weed in the mustard family. It has been a convenient for studies in classical genetics for over forty years ( Redei,1975). This flowering plant also has a genome size and genomic organization that recommend it for certain experiments in molecular genetics and it is coming to be widely used as a model organism in plant molecular genetics, development, physiology, and biochemistry. Arabidopsis thaliana provides an excellent experimental plant system for molecular genetics because of its remarkably small genome size and short life cycle. Arabidopsis thaliana, a genetic model plant, has been extensively used for unravelling the molecular basis of stress tolerance. Arabidopsis also proved to be extremely important for assessing functions for individual stress associated genes due to the availability of knock-out mutants and its amenability for genetic transformation. It has been collected or reported in many different regions and climates, ranging from high elevations in the tropics to the cold climate of northern Scandinavia and including locations in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America (Kirchheim,1981). Arabidopsis has the smallest known genome among the higher plants. The reasons for a small genome include little repetitive DNA and, in some cases, simpler gene families. Leutwiler et al. (1984) reported that the haploid genome from Arabidopsis (n = 5 chromosomes) contains only roughly 70,000 kilobase pairs (kb). The contrast of the Arabidopsis genome with that of other plants frequently used in molecular genetic work is striking: tobacco, for example, has a haploid nuclear genome of 1,600,000 kb; the pea haploid genome is 4,500,000 kb; and the wheat haploid genome is 5,900,000 kb . The significance of this small DNA content for molecular genetics is that a genomic library of Arabidopsis chromosomal fragments is easy to make, and simple and economical to screen. It is thus rapid and inexpensive to repeatedly screen Arabidopsis genomic libraries. In addition to its remarkably low content of nuclear DNA, Arabidopsis has a genomic organization that makes it uniquely suited to certain ty pes of molecular cloning experiments. All of the properties of the plant small, short generation time, high seed set, ease of growth, self- or cross-fertilization at willmake Arabidopsis a convenient subject for studies in classical genetics. 2.6. Drought related gene Alcohol dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase are enzyme whose activity has been observed in numerous higher plants including Arabidopsis, maize, pearl millet, sunflower, wheat, and pea (Gottlieb, 1982). In a number of plants, different ADH genes are expressed in various organs, at specific times during development, or in re-sponse to environmental signals. High levels of ADH activity are found in dry seeds and in anaerobically treated seeds (Freeling, 1973. Banuett-Bourrillon .1979), roots (Freeling .1973), and shoots (App, 1958). During periods of anaerobic stress, the enzyme is presumably required by plants for NADH metabolism, via reduction of acetaldehyde to ethanol. With respect to secondary metabolites, ADH is involved in the inter conversion of volatile compounds such as aldehydes and alcohols (Bicsak et al., 1982; Molina et al., 1986; Longhurst et al., 1990). The ethanolic fermentation pathway branches off the main glycolytic pathway at pyruvate. In the first step, pyruvate is the substrate of pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), yielding CO2 and acetaldehyde. Subsequently, acetaldehyde is reduced to ethanol with the concomitant oxidation of NADH to NAD+ by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Although PDC and ADH gene induction has been demonstrated, ethanol and acetaldehyde production as a result of stress treatment has only been reported for red pine (Pinus resinosa) and birch (Betula spp.) seedlings exposed to sulfur dioxide, water deficiency, freezing, and ozone(Kimmerer and Kozolowski. 1982). Many plants contain more than one ADH gene (Gottlieb, 1982 ), resulting in the expression of different ADH proteins (i.e. ADH isozymes, often designated ADH 1, ADH2, etc. ). The most extensive study of maize Adh genes, AdhI and Adh2, have been cloned and sequenced. The coding sequences of these genes are 82% homologous, interrupted by nine identically positioned introns that differ in sequence and length. The expression of the Arabidopsis Adh gene (Chang and Meyerowitz, 1986; Dolferus et al., 1990) has many features in common with maize Adhl gene (Walker et al., 1987). The two genes have comparable developmental expression pattens, and both have tissue-specific responses to hypoxic stress. In both maize and Arabidopsis, the gene is expressed in seeds, roots, and pollen grains, whereas green aerial plant parts are devoid of detectable levels of ADH activity. In both species, hypoxic induction of the gene occurs in cells of the root system (reviewed by Freeling and Bennett, 1985; Dolferus and Jacobs, 1991; Okimoto et al., 1980;). ADH is induced anaerobically in Arabidopsis (Dolferus, 1985) as in maize. ADH is also induced in both maize root and Arabidopsis callus by the synthetic auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (Dolferus,1985. Feeling, 1973). Several approaches have been undertaken to assess the functional role of Adh in development, stress response, and metabolite synthesis. The expression of the alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene is known to be regulated developmentally and to be induced by environmental stresses (Christie et al., 1991; Bucher et al., 1995). Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) plays a key enzymatic function in the response to anaerobic conditions in plants (Sachs, Subbaiah, and Saab 1996). A new and exciting aspect of ethanolic fermentation is the suggested involvement in stress signaling and response to environmental stresses other than low oxygen (Tadege et al., 1999). Furthermore, specific analysis of the ADH gene from rice (Oryza sativa), maize, and Arabidopsis showed ADH to be induced by cold (Christie et al., 1991), wounding (Kato-Noguchi, 2001), dehydration (Dolferus et al., 1994), and the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA; de Bruxelles et al., 1996), in line with the observation from the micro-array experim ents. In Arabidopsis thaliana, Adh overexpression improved the tolerance of hairy roots to low oxygen conditions and was effective in improving root growth (Dennis et al., 2000; Shiao et al., 2002). However, it had no effect on flooding survival (Ismond et al., 2003). Adh over expression in tomato has been shown to modify the balance between Cà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬  , Adh overexpression in tomato aldehydes and alcohols in ripe fruits (Speirs et al., 1998). Grapevine plants overexpressing Adh displayed a lower sucrose content, a higher degree of polymerization of proanthocyanidins, and a generally increased content of volatile compounds, mainly in carotenoid- and shikimate-derived volatiles (Catherine et al., 2006).

Marijuana Helps in Medicine :: for use of cannabis

Cannabis Sativa (marijuana) has been thought to be an illegal and very harmful drug for many years. But as you read this report you will learn that marijuana has been around for many years (most years legal) and isn't as harmful as some people may think. Marijuana has been used for many things in the past, including medicine, hemp rope, crude cloth and enjoyment. Now it is mainly used as a narcotic. Marijuana is an illegal weed that grows up to eighteen feet tall with little or no cultivation. The plant has many branches that extend with large, hairy, pointed leaves with saw tooth edges. Marijuana grows wild all over the world and in some states and countries it's legal. Cloth and rope are made from the stem which contains a tough fiber called "hence." The mind-altering drug in marijuana is called "Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannibinol," or THC. The mildest form of marijuana contains between zero to three percent of THC. Most of the THC is contained in the resign, which is secreted around the flowers, seeds, and topmast leaves. Until recently it was thought that only the female plant contained the drug. But it is now known that both the female and the male plants contain THC. THC stays in the body for about 28 days. Marijuana can be prepared many different ways therefore it has many different ways of entering the body. When smoked the THC goes into the lungs, directly into the bloodstream and to every cell in your body. The effects depend upon the level of potency and how much is consumed. The main effects of smoking are: the heart rate may increase from 80 beats to 150 beats a minute, the bronchial tubes enlarge and become relaxed allowing extra oxygen to enter the body, giving a "High" like feeling. There are no immediate physiological effects. The feeling usually lasts from one to three hours. Marijuana can also be ingested as a drink, cakes, brownies or many other foods. When consumed in foods the effects start after one half-hour and last from three to four hours. The potency of Marijuana has increased at least ten times or 275% since the 1960's. Marijuana can be measured by it's "therapeutic ratio," (the difference between the size of the dose needed for the desired effect and the! size that produces poisoning). The therapeutic ratio in marijuana has yet to be found. The negative long term effects of heavy marijuana use are, possible lung cancer, heart attacks in juveniles, strokes in people under forty, and it depletes the brain of serotonin and the user may lose his sense of well being or may become depressed.

Panama Canal Expansion

Expansion of the Panama Canal & Heartland Barge The Panama Canal enables the ships sailing from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean (and vice versa) to save time and fuel by avoiding the travel around the tip of South America. The savings in time equal half of the time previously taken by ships to do the same. The size of ships that are used in shipping containers has drastically increased due to the container revolution.To enable the new and bigger ships such as Maersk Triple E Class to pass through and to increase the toll that is collected on every ship, the Panama Canal Authority has decided to undertake the expansion of the Panama canal. This event has impacted world trade and companies all over the world. As of now, the New Panamax ships with drafts of 45 ft delivering containers from Asia to the east coast of the US cannot pass through the Panama canal and therefore dock at the ports of Los Angeles and Seattle on the west coast and transfer their containers to railroad com panies to transport the goods to the east coast.But when the expected expansion commences in 2015, some of these ships would be using the canal to directly reach the east coast of the US To get a piece of this action, several ports on the east coast have undergone upgrade and increased their depth to at least 50 ft to allow the New Panamax ships to reach their container port facilities. Although the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) itself has indicated that deepening isn’t expected to increase the volume of container traffic coming through ports, the reality is that not deepening could cost the port a significant amount of volume, relegating it to â€Å"lower tier† port status.New Panamax vessels today make up 16% of the world’s container fleet, but account for 45% of the fleet’s capacity,†Ã‚  By 2030, new Panamax vessels will account for 62% of the capacity of the world's container fleet. The potential transportation cost saving of using new P anamax size vessels to ship agricultural products to Asia, through the Panama Canal may lead to an increase in grain traffic on the Mississippi River for export at Gulf ports. The shipping draft on the lower Mississippi River has enabled operations to 45 feet.However, this requires constant monitoring due to seasonal changes in siltation loads from flooding and deposits. This prompts the need for maintenance dredging to attain operational drafts. But the limitations on the USACE's federal allocated resources is limiting their capacity to properly maintain the 12,000 miles of waterways and 240 locks in the US. Heartland Barge (HB) highly values the ability to match the volume of goods flowing upstream of the Mississippi river system, with the volume of goods flowing downstream, thereby minimizing empty back haul movements.The goods moving downstream are grains mostly Soybean and Corn headed for China and other Asian countries. The goods moving upstream are fertilizers, petroleum prod ucts, aggregates namely stone and sand, and road salt for the Midwest coming from salt mines on an island in Louisiana that is not accessible by truck or rail. With the new Panamax vessels, the opportunities for HB will be varied, such as increased loadings per vessel, the potential for larger vessel sizes to be used, decreased canal transit time, and the potential for lower transport costs overall.HB owns 275 covered and open hopper barges, most of them manufactured post 2004 making its fleet relatively younger than the average barge in the US, and has three lines of business. Investment in newer and bigger barges will give HB a competitive advantage in its Barge line services business. Most barges in the US are above 25 years old and therefore the potential demand for new barge is high. The return on barge investment is 10-12% and has considerable tax benefits, making it an attractive investment option for individuals and companies, where they buy barges as an asset and let HB tak e care of the Barge Management.The Leasing and Sales division would benefit from the sales of new barges and helping investors buy or lease the barges. The Marine Consulting division will see a rise in business as more businesses would want to take advantage of HB's end to end solutions for barge transport. Hiring MBAs as consultants and training them would give HB leverage when the demand for HB's consulting division increases in the near future. Railroads cannot economically compete with barges on many counts.Barge transport costs 40-80 cents a bushel of grain whereas railroads cost an average of $1. 2 a bushel. The rail system does not have unlimited capacity on the network, which results in competitive pressure to operate over finite capacity. Because grain moves are more seasonal, railroads prefer to move consistently transported goods to better allocate resources. The heavier rail cars for transporting big sized containers can often operate over the lighter capacity rails but only at significantly slower speeds.The threat of transit tolls in the Panama canal increasing 47% over the toll structure of the past 5 years can be countered by loading a vessel to a 45 ft draft, compared to the 39. 5 ft draft of the current Panamax vessels. The river navigation system is old and aging, and for improvement projects that have been authorized, funding has not been appropriated. Improvements needed include dredging, highly efficient cranes, improving barge loading berths, automated gates, applied tracking of equipment through optical character recognition and GPS.Waterways Council Inc. is an organization lobbying the government for these reforms through the WRDA – Water Resource Development and RIVER – Reinvest in Vital Economic Rivers and Water bodies Acts. HB should support this organization in its efforts. References: http://waterwayscouncil. org/key-issues/improve-system-reliability-through-infrastructure-maintenance/ http://waterwayscouncil. org/la test-news/improve-reliability-news/harbor-deepening-what-happens-now/ http://www. usace. army. il/Media/NewsReleases/tabid/203/Article/2000/us-army-corps-of-engineers-releases-the-us-port-and-inland-waterways-modernizat. aspx http://southeastfarmpress. com/soybeans/panama-canal-expansion-could-boost-us-soybean-industry http://www. unitedsoybean. org/wp-content/uploads/Panama-Canal-Expansion-Impact-on-US-Agriculture. pdf http://www. npr. org/2013/01/10/168950808/mississippi-blues-when-the-river-doesnt-run http://www. engineeringnews. co. za/article/panama-canal-expansion-reaches-halfway-mark-as-waterway-bids-to-sustain-position-as-key-trade-gateway-2013-03-15

Being a Carpenter

The topic on which this paper will be is carpentry. This paper will include many facts of carpentry, and ways to become a carpenter. This paper will also inform how much the earnings are in your region/area. These writings will also include what a carpenter is and does. In addition, the paper includes the working conditions and hours of a carpenter. The focus will be on the career of a carpenter and the three ways to obtain necessary training. Being a carpenter entails several work activities. Some of the common work activities are controlling machines and processors. One of the things a carpenter also does is study blue prints. Another thing carpenters do is layout, measure, and cut wood. Carpenters do all of their work with their hands. Carpenters also repair and inspect damaged parts of buildings and structures. If you’re a carpenter you need to perform activities that use your whole body and your imagination. Carpenters also need to be able to teach others and estimate sizes. Polishing and finishing wood is also a skill carpenters should have (â€Å"Carpenters†). Therefore these are most of the things that a carpenter does. A carpenter faces very tough work conditions. Some of these working conditions include mostly working outdoors or indoors without air conditioning or heat. These working conditions are also very cramped and you are always exposed to chemical fumes and solvents. When you’re a carpenter you will also always be exposed to high places by climbing up ladders to roofs of houses which you’re fixing. Carpenters are exposed to loud noises which can be annoying and uncomfortable. If your measurements are not exact, someone may become injured. Carpenters may get back, arms, or leg problems due to repeating the same physical activity repeatedly. They also need to work more days and more hours in the summer when the weather is good. One bad thing about carpenters is that they usually need to work weekends in order to meet deadlines. You always need to work at several different job sites and it may be for several months (â€Å"Carpenters†). Even though these are very challenging working conditions it will pay off in the long run. A carpenter needs many skills and abilities. While being a carpenter you need to communicate by listening to others and asking questions. You must also be able to use math and science to solve a problem. You need to be very alert to notice when someone is doing something incorrectly and you need to be able to determine people’s strengths and weaknesses. Carpenters need to be able to estimate cost and time of a job (â€Å"Carpenters†). In conclusion, a person must possess these skills to be a carpenter. Wages of carpenter’s vary depending on several factors. Factors include the number of hours carpenters spend on the job. Carpenters can earn $48,550 to $78,710 in Hawaii with the median salary at $65,830. Across the rest of the United States carpenters can earn $30,410 To $53,580 yearly, with the median salary at $39,470 (â€Å"Carpenters†). Thus, these are all the benefits and wages which carpenters receive when working full time. There is much needed training to be a carpenter starting in high school is very important in preparation for the field of carpentry. Some courses to take in high school can be blueprint reading and carpentry. Some other classes include construction, drafting, and wood working. Wood working would be excellent because carpenters always work with wood as their job. Physical Education is also a very important class to take because you need to be in shape and be able to lift at least seventy pounds. Carpenters who want to start their own business should take some classes including the following entrepreneurship, accounting, and business. You must be at least seven-teen with a high school degree or G. E. D. and you must pass an industry test (â€Å"Carpenters†). Thus if you can complete this training you can be a carpenter. There are many colleges that offer courses to become a carpenter. Some of these colleges are; New England Institute of Technology, University of Hawaii: Honolulu Community College, and Hudson Valley Community College. These schools offer the programs to become a carpenter. The first college is named Hudson Valley Community College; which is located in Troy, New York. Troy is a small city of about 50,000 to 249,999 people in it. The entrance requirements are thirty-dollars for an application and a high school degree or equivalence. The tuition cost will differ since most schools are cheaper for residents of that state. The cost for in-state tuition is $3,978, and the tuition for an out-of-state student will be $10,778. The other costs to factor in though are books, supplies, and dorms. The books and supplies will come out to about $550 and an estimated $300 for personal expenses. Dormitories are also an additional $6,300. The director of admissions Mary Bauer can be contacted at the number (877)325-4822 or faxed at the number (518)629-4576 and the address of the school is 80 Vandenburgh Avenue Troy, NY 12180 (â€Å"Hudson Valley Community College†). This is one of the schools that can help someone become a carpenter. The next school is called New England Institute of Technology. This college is a regionally accredited co-ed two year technical college, which is located in New England. The only requirements are twenty-five dollars for an application, a high school degree or equivalence, and an interview. The tuition fee is $18,815 for in and out-of-state students. It is an estimated $1,280 for books and supplies and it is $7,135 for a room or dormitory. A fact about this campus is that it is it is eighty-three percent men and seventeen percent woman. Mark Blondin, the Director of Admissions can be called at (401)467-7744 or located at 2500 Post Road Warkick, RI. (â€Å"New England Institute of Technology†). This school will also help you become a carpenter. The last school is University of Hawaii: Honolulu Community College. Honolulu Community College is located in Honolulu, Hawaii; it is a large urban setting of over 500,000 people. The requirements to get in the college are twenty-five dollars for an application and you do not even need a high school diploma. The tuition for this school is $2,670, the books are $773, and a room is $7,447. Some cool facts about this college are that you can join various clubs and it is close to a beach. The admissions counselor; Funai Grace who is located at 874 Dillingham Boulevard Honolulu, HI 96817 or you can call her at (808)845-9129. (â€Å"University of Hawaii: Honolulu Community College†). So, this college is a cheaper school and it’s close to the beach. In conclusion, this paper included many facts of carpentry, and ways to become a carpenter. This paper also included some interesting facts and costs of schools. The paper also included some things about what is like to be a carpenter, what you need to do, and how to become an actual carpenter.