In Focus: Hymoptera

Spiders ar perhaps the most popular insects at present, due to the worldwide release of the movie, Spider domain. Most of us have been dreaming of be bitten by an insect and using its capabilities to be of help to society as super heroes When I was a child, bees and wasps running around the garden terrified me.Carrying on, fear for these insects sparked interest in me to study them, specifically about how these insects complete the balance of nature. This large group of inects croak to Hymenopetra, consisting of sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants.As such, the group was given the name referring to the membrane-forming wings of the majority of the insects making up the population. The major role played by this group is that of world pollinators for florescence plants thus, plants would non be able to reproduce without the help of this insects. All organisms have their own bearing of protecting themselves. Insects accord such self-protection by its horny or leathery cuticle for defense. Moreover, the epidermic glands of various insects are capable of producing chemical substance substance substances that can cause itching to other organisms, birds in finical.For some(prenominal) hymenopterans, the poisons produced are from the plants they feed on. In female hymenopterans, their reproductive system has been modified being capable of producing virulent proteins. Once injected onto its prey this causes paralysis to the nervous system. Stings are excessively utilize by hymenopterans for protecting themselves similar that of wasps, bees and ants. These insects are also capable of blending to their environment, making it hard for their enemies to find them. The cells have its moving rouge granules, hence allowing the coloration to occur (Agren and Hallberg, 1996 443)The chemical communication among Hymenopterans is important in predicting their behavior. Among Hymenopterans who are of the social kind, there are several glands producing volatile secretio n. The antennae are the most important body structure in perceiving signals. as well their body structures can be employ to map out the population, insects having the same antenna structure would belong to the same group, performing a particular function (Felicioli, gypsy and Bin, 1998 140). The chemical defenses and poisons produced do not however serve as protection but as a warning as well. Most hymenopterans are of the social kind.The Dufour gland of Pulvergus rufuscens has been proven to vary as well, depending on the position that the insect has in its society. queen have a hypertrophied gland with extended lumen and a thin epithelium indicating that it is not active in secretion, epoch the workers have thicker linings for secretory purposes. Hence, these insects have their status in their own society, doing its particular function as a member of its group (Grasso, et. al, 2004 152). Hymenopterans particularly the ones belonging to superfamily Proctotrupidea are very low -toned but are considered pests for rice, sugar, jute and cotton.The variety of these hymenopterans are vast, thus the roles they have in nature are also different. There are some species belonging to the same group, acting as pollinators, serving the plants and man while there are those particularly the Proctotrupoidea, who are pests for man (Bin and Vinson, 1986 132). Pesticides and other chemicals have been used for toxifying these insects. Hymenopterans, particularly the bees are capable of producing substances that are toxic for humans. The honey they obtained from the beebreads of different flowers can be toxic and psychoactive for humans.Honey produced from the nectar of Azalea pontica has alkaloids which are very poisonous for humans but not for bees. The Roman soldiers who ate honey during the snip of Pompey the Great became delirious and vomited the honey, causing their easy defeat. Moreover, honey from Andromeda flowers has grayanotoxins which can paralyze the limbs and diaphragm, resulting to death (Mclaren and Rotundo, 1985 74). The chemical substances produced from the body of these insects are for self-protection. If stung by its antenna, one undergoes the process of natural body healing.Antidotes and medicines are not precscribed. The chemical produced by Ichneumon eumerus wasp and Maculinea rebeli butterfly in western Europe has resulted in Myrmica schencki ants being used as pawns. The ants are deceived as its accepts the caterpillar into their colony while the wasp uses its own substances to acquire the caterpillar as ants prey. If these chemicals can be synthesized, it can take the place of toxin used as ant traps (Grasso et. al, 2004 152). Therapeutic gains from the chemical substances derived from these organisms are yet to be proven.Still, their role as pollinators for flowering plants is the major role they play in maintaining the balance of nature. As for the postal code relations of these organisms to humans and the environment, b iomass energy from plants is being used by this group to permit pollination. Further, the energy given off by these insects to plants is used by man as the latter eats the plant. In addition, as these organisms decay, it gives back the energy to the reason which will be of further use for man (Mclaren and Rotundo, 1985 75). Though insects are one the major populations existing, the claims of man evolving from these creatures seem not plausible.The genetic traces used by some scientists and researches must be further studied. The chemical processes and the internal features of this group must be further examined to give precise results suggesting its importance to man and the environment. References Agren L. , Hallberg E. (1996) Flagellar sensilla of grope bee males (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombus), Apidologie 27, 433444. Bin F. , Vinson S. B. (1986) Morphology of the antennal sex-gland in male Trissolcus basalis (Woll. ) (Hymenoptera Scelionidae), an egg parasitoid of the green stink bug, Nezara viridula(Hemiptera Pentatomidae), Int. J. Insect Morphol. 15, 129138. Felicioli A. , Isidoro N. , Romani R. , Bin F. (1998) Ethological and morphological analysis of behavior in Osmia cornuta Latr. (Hymenoptera Megachilidae), Insect Soc. Life 2, 137144. Grasso, D. , Mori,A. , Le Moli, F. , and Johan Billen. (2004). Morpho-functional comparison of the Dufour gland in the female castes of the Amazon ant Polyergus rufescens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) . Zoomorphology. 124. (3). 149-153. McLaren, J. , and Rotundo, L. (1985). Biology. D. C. Heath and Company. Lexington, Massachusettes. 67-75.

Green Valley Megastore Case Study Essay

Green-Valley MegastoresGreen-Valley Megastores was a part of a large business group having investments in diverse businesses like pharmaceuticals, luxury hotels, textile manufacturing and exports, and food processing. The mega-stores were aimed to give the customers a truly international shop experiencea sensation stop destination where whole families could enjoy a day togetherwatching movies, shopping, eating out and playing games in an unmatched ambience. This concept of shopping-cum-entertainment had paralleled the growth of shopping malls in India.Today, the customers who did not prefer to just watch movies at the old-fashioned movie halls had the option of going into multiplexes which put uped more than one movie show at a single conviction, along with the option of spending time at multiple shops or restaurants at the same time within the same complex. This was designed so that the customer need not travel from place to place in search of various products only if could have it at one place. With this, the businesses tried to replicate the weekend holiday concept of the West where an entire family could spend a day out engaging itself in watching movies, shopping and eating out.To notwithstanding this aim, Green-Valley Megastores had invested in multiplexes with floor space varying from 20,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet in prime locations in different cities. The shop-space was then leased out to different brandswho would sell their products within the multiplex. Thus, there was a wide change of products in a single multiplexranging from dress material (which itself had different varieties of ethnic wear, western wear, flog accessories, sunglasses, fine jewelry, and saris) to shoes, electronics, toys, groceries and foodstuff, etc. In price of product offering, these shops within Green-Valley offered a wide choice to their customers.not only did Green-Valley offer the finest brands available in India, but it also offered a world-class am bience and service, with the widest choice. A customer could browse through the offerings to their hearts content without any pressure of buying through composed ambience in the classy glass and marble interiors designed by international architects. There was generousspace for them to rest, take a break, have refreshments while shopping and then continue again.Staff at Green-ValleyWhile the shops within each Green-Valley Store had its own stave, Green-Valley maintained its own staff to take occupy of keep (cleanliness of public space like lobbies, staircases etc.) manage the car park, and provide security services.The staff at Green-Valley was trained to be unobtrusive they were supposed to be present and vigilant at all time and respond to a specific customer request only when the customer required. They were there to help one make a choice or serve quietly and efficiently. With constant in-depth training, the Green-Valley staff was required to offer service to all customers w ith a positive attitude, pleasant disposition, and good communication skillsOrganizational Structure severally store was managed by a store-in-charge who was supported by four managers. The different managers took care of security, housekeeping, services and accounts. The staff strength for security, housekeeping and services varied from store to store based on the requirements. While the housekeeping took care of the general cleanliness of the stores, services department took care of the maintenance of the lifts, electrical equipment, fire-fighting equipment etc. Both the housekeeping department and the services department relied on contractual staff instead of permanent employees. See encipher 1 for the organizational structure in the following page.Figure 1 Organizational Structure in a typical Green-Valley Megastore.Performance idea for Megastores employeesPerformance appraisal for the store employees was carried out on an yearbookbasis. Each of the employees were evaluated by their superior (refer Figure 1). The store-in-charges of different stores were evaluated by the Regional Managers. The Regional Managers were in yield appraised by the General Manager (Operations) who use to be located at headquarters. The regional managers had targets in basis of business development getting new customers for floor space in the mega-stores. They had to achieve the targets in terms of lease rent from the stores in their regions.For the store-in-charges the nature of job was more of managing the facility for their customers. Each store had dickens categories of customers the tenants and the shoppers. It was the responsibility of the store in-charge of a Mega-store to ensure highest quality of service to both the categories.Performance Appraisal carry throughOnly those employees who had completed a year in the organization were entitled for performance appraisal. There was no appraisal for the contractual staff or part-time employees. The appraisal process w as carried out for all the eligible employees simultaneously in the February to March period.The appraisal process was initiated by a meeting conducted by the Store-in-charge where the resolution of the appraisal process was made. It was mandatory for all eligible employees to attend the meeting. During the meeting the eligible employees were informed individually about the date of his / her performance appraisal.The employees are asked to be prepared for any sort of situations or questions during the appraisal. As an central gait of their career, employees took the appraisal interview seriously.Stage 1 Self appraisalThis was the first step in the appraisal process at Green-Valley, where an employee has to rate himself from 1 6 where 1 is the lowest and 6 thehighest grade. The employee was handed over a form with following five parameters (refer Table A). The parameters were based on the important aspects of his/her responsibility in Green-Valley and had different weights. The e mployee had to grade himself/ herself on those parameters.Stage 2 judgment by Appraisal CommitteeThe appraisal interviews were carried out by an Appraisal Committee that was formed for each store. The members in that commissioning were the Store-in-charge and two HR managers from the headquarters. The committee would carry out interviews of the employees and based on the interviews would give their assessment of performance. On a single day nearly 4-5 employees were appraised.The committee would start the interview using the self-assessment as the basis, probing reasons why a particular employee had rated himself 6. In most cases employees used to rate themselves on the higher side of meattypically either 5 or 6. For each of the parameters, the appraisal committee had a set of questions which would figure the employee. For example, reliability would be probed with questions like1.Where were you when so and so incident took place in the store? 2.If a customer has forgotten her purchases in the lobby how would you locate the customer to give it back to them?The appraisal committee would make its own assessment and give marks on the 1 to 6 scale. TableA Performance Assessment FormName _______________________________Store Location________________________Assessment Period_____________________S. No.Performance DimensionsWeights(in %)WSelf RatingCommittee RatingRW X R1.Customer focus202.Task focus153.Upkeep of coherent and self 154.Discipline & Attendance105.Honesty & Integrity106.Communication107.Initiative 108.Reliability10Total Raw Score Total of WxR100Additional achievements by the employeeComments by the Appraisal CommitteeSignature of the committee membersFinal ScoreSignature of employeeThe marks were used to derive the grades. The grading was done as per the scheme depicted in Table B.Table B Grading SchemeMarks cut-offRating 5.5Outstanding5 5.5Very Good4.5 5 Good4 4.5Adequate

World Religions Report Scientology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

World Religions Report Scientology - Es verbalise ExampleAccording to scientology, it is believed that human beings are immortal beings who endure in spiritual forms usually called thetan, meaning that they are only trapped on Earth in their physical body. According to scientologists believes, individuals discover are supposed to discover for themselves, the works of scientology by putting into answer all the principles and observing the results. Through scientology methods individuals are believed to be able to achieve great spiritual awareness, through a method referred to as Auditing or Training. From these people are able to scale up from level to level a process called the bridge to total freedom. The progress typically involves trey basic stages that is preclear, clear and finally operating Theatan (Ron Hubbard, 2007). Name Location and Review of the Site The Mormon perform was formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints the church has rough temples across the globe with the majority concentrated in the United States. I visited the Bountiful Utah temple which is located in North America in a place called Utah. The church is built postgraduate among the famous Bountiful East bench foothills. It offers a skeptical view which extends to far to the Great sodium chloride Lake. It was the eighth temple in Utah, the first having been built in Davis Country. The Bountiful Utah Temple represents peerless of the two temples which are normally dedicated by President Howard W, at the time he was the hot seat of the church (The otherwise temple is the Orlando Florida Temple). The people living around this region are political conservatives compared to the other people in the outskirts of this region. This was the major drawback in information gathering. Interview Summary I have ever had an unexplored making love in scientology due to the fact that it is comparatively new religion with a set of unknown secrets. When I met a guy cal led Brian, he was open and willing to talk to me about galore(postnominal) aspects of this religion and below is approximately of the major issues we tackled at length as we communicated. A summary of conference interview with Brian-a Scientologist Mike have you ever been interviewed by someone like me onward? Brian Wenger yes indeed, but the content was not precisely on scientology as you would wish to do, I have had friends and strangers misgivinging me on confused topics but not one had hit the same social occasion as you did, and I believe this is what gave me some interest to talk to you as I will be sharing one of the things I run so dear at heart with a stranger. Mike I have always wondered and had passion in knowing more about scientology, I am always keen and eager to bring out new things that are different from the normal societal values and teachings that I belong. When I met you the first question that rung into my mind was, how you heard and became a member of scientologist religion. Brian Wenger I was introduced to scientology by my dad Mike Ah so you grew up knowing it? Brian Wenger Well, kind of. He and my mum had been in transcendental meditation. At fist I saw that it was weird, but as time went by I became curious and began looking at some stuff they were bringing home like some articles about scientology. They were committed Mennonite and as such, this religious thing was always around me. Mike How long have you practiced this faith? Brian Wenger I can say over 24 years now Mike What religion or faith did you practice before scientology? Brian Wenger just as I said, I learned about scientology when I was still young, and my parents

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HOLISTIC NATIONAL MARITIME POLICY FOR SAUDI Essay

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HOLISTIC NATIONAL MARITIME POLICY FOR Saudi-Arabian-Arabian ARABIA - Essay Example within this context, the first part of this paper analyzes contemporary international trends in maritime constitution exploring this concept of a holistic approach to ocean governance and policy that has been established by international organizations, academia and specialists. The bite part analyzes national and regional experiences, prospects and emerging practices with respect to the development of an combine ocean policy. The third air division of the paper examines the current management of maritime affairs in Saudi Arabia and explores how Saudi Arabia can impart towards the development of a sustainable, holistic and integrated national maritime policy as part of a conceptually similar overarching nautical policy. The paper concludes by showing that Saudi Arabia needs to develop an integrated national maritime policy which incorporates all aspects of the sector and en ables a incorporate set of decision makers to coordinate activities and policies for the greater good of the maritime sector and Saudi Arabia. By so doing, Saudi Arabia can seize the very real opportunity that exists to ensure its long-term success as a nation whose fortunes are very much dependant on the seaways it controls.There is global business organisation about the impact that industry has on the worlds oceans and how to support development of oceans and coasts without destroying the resources available. ... Since then interest in resources has been governed by this constitution for the Oceans (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007). Contemporary trends have recognized that the current situation is one of unsustainable usage of the worlds oceans and that a holistic approach to ocean usage would encourage sustainable usage of these resources.This paper addresses this potential. The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 turn to issues and challenges related to sustainable development at the glo bal level. Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 called for new and integrated approaches to the sustainable development of oceans and coasts. There has since emerged an international trend towards the adoption of new approaches to marine policy establish on a holistic, integrated and sustainable management of ocean resources at regional and national levels. Within this context, the first part of this paper analyzes contemporary international trends in marine policy exploring this concept of a holistic approach to ocean governance and policy that has been established by international organizations, academia and specialists. The second part analyzes national and regional experiences, prospects and emerging practices with respect to the development of an integrated ocean policy. The third section of the paper examines the current management of maritime affairs in Saudi Arabia and explores how Saudi Arabia can work towards the development of a sustainable, holistic and integrated national maritime p olicy as part of a conceptually similar overarching marine policy. I. International Framework for Ocean Governance.Contemporary international trends in marine policy are leaning toward global governance of marine resources. The primary agent for governance is the coupled Nations. Policies

Torture in Interrogation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Torture in interrogative sentence - Essay ExampleThis information is pull down utilise to guard against enemy tactics and propose payoff measures for our own forces. The exam depends mainly on agony techniques. Which argon against the human rights and this violation is made in the name of national surety. thither is a thin line between torturing and national security priorities. Both are important and it is crucial to remain in limits while interrogating every suspects, whether terrorists or local anesthetic criminals. The issue came into spotlight with the release of torture pictures and videos of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (Leigh et al. 1). Prisoners were kept in a miserable condition and suicide attempts were a routine. The detention facility was accused of extreme torturing and interrogation. There have been deaths in the prison and released detainees gave in breaker point account of torturing activities carried out by the US. These activities were clear a human r ights violation and more importantly violated the Geneva Convention for the interrogation and imprisonment of prisoners of war. The paper will look into the matter and discuss the use of torture during interrogation. The Geneva Convention has put together aside rules and principles for conduct with prisoners or war. Their captivity and the use of torture have all been explained in detail in the convention. The convention article rules against torture in interrogation by stating that no physical or mental torture can be used for interrogation of prisoners. Prisoners must also be inclined rights to medical facility, hygiene, food, clothing and quarters (Tomasevski 8). They must also be allowed for their religious practices and appropriate physical body process must also be planned. In simple, the laws lay basis for basic human rights. Torturing during interrogation is not allowed and evidently a violation of the convention and basic human rights. To violate these standards is sim ply a violation against manhood. The US administrations have taken stance to legalize torturing techniques and narrowly defined the parameters of interrogation. code could not be passed even though with 90 to nine approval rates by senate, later being vetoed by President Bush at the time (Sullivan 1). Terrorists are considered as monsters and mass murderers and are not worthy of humane treatment. The debate was highlighted in 2005 by McCain. He presented exceptional scenarios like check mark time bomb and slow fuse cases (Krauthammer 2). The urgency of these exceptional cases required torture. In simple even his policy required use of torture. Torturing is against the very fundamentals of US and is the opposite of freedom. Prisoners are hag-ridden and interrogated on the basis of National Security priorities. The logic that torturing is necessary to extract information is used as a stance against the issue. Though, torturing is a quick way to extract information, but it is some thing against humanity and also the Geneva Convention. There can be no basis as to torture a human being. It is to take into consideration that most prisoners do not possess valuable or life-sustaining information and are tortured without any solid base. This further complicates the issue and raises question of using torture techniques. Many of the prisoners are tortured to the breaking point where they develop psychological or physical disorders. This point can be taken into account by the figures at Guantanamo Bay. Similarly, at Abu Ghraib Prison almost ninety percent of prisoners were not guilty and released after interrogation and torture (Sullivan 2). They did not possess any precise information. Terrorists are not termed as prisoners of war as per the US stance, but torture in any form on a human being is a violation of basic human rights and simply a crime against humanity.

Garmin Analysis - Following the Business Decisions Research Paper

Garmin Analysis - Following the Business Decisions - Research Paper Example asunder from this, Garmins return on capital employed, equity and sh areholders funds control all declined due to demoralize profitability in 2011. There are no significant changes recorded in the balance shred of the company apart from the increase in investment funds in marketable securities and the issuance of additional compensable in capital (Garmin, 2011). 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Current Ratio 2.98 3.73 3.50 4.14 2.91 Acid Test Ratio 2.51 3.16 3.05 3.25 2.28 Return on nifty Employed 0.27 0.39 0.49 0.77 0.89 Return on Equity 0.16 0.19 0.25 0.33 0.36 Return on Ordinary Shareholders Funds (ROSF) 28.98 32.52 70.30 73.15 78.81 (Garmin, 2011 Garmin, 2010 Garmin, 2009 Garmin, 2008) Cash ladder Trends As far as the exchange flows from operating activities are concerned, the company managed to improve the picture through and through efficient performance in 2011. Although the net income of the company d eclined slightly in comparison with the previous monetary year, the management still managed to show an increase in the operating cash flows. 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Operating Cash Flows 822,334 770,637 1,094,456 862,164 682,088 investiture Cash Flows (488,198) (72,869) (547,869) (56,349) (175,695) Financing Cash Flows (307,413) (510,821) (161,243) (809,109) (136,117) (Garmin, 2011 Garmin, 2010 Garmin, 2009 Garmin, 2008) On the other hand, cash flows from investing activities remained negative as they hold continued to be the same in the past years. However, in 2011 there has been a significant fountain in the negative balance of cash outflows from investing activities. The reason behind this significant increase is the bargain for of marketable securities by the company worth $ 1,172,555,000 in 2011. Similar to the trends shown in cash flows from investing activities, the cash flows from financing activities have also continued to show negative balance in 2011 as they have b een in the previous four years. Major Capital Expenditures The major capital expenditures of the company in 2011, as mentioned earlier in the balance sheet analysis, included the purchase of $ 1,172,555,000. This purchase is in line with the investment policy of the company, in light of which, the company aims at investing in less risky securities. In 2011, the net investments of Garmin in fixed securities increased to $ 491 million as compared to the figure of $ 25.5 million in 2010. The resolving of these safe play investment decisions has earned Garmin returns of 1.7 percent in 2011 (Garmin, 2011). Although this investment policy may be justified on the grounds that there are still traces of the recent financial crisis which can check risky play, but at the same time, it is expected that Garmins management shall be more fecund in determining the course of its business by exploring investment or capital expenditure options which are more effective and helpful in enabling the co mpany to regain its lost momentum (Cavallaro, 2009). isolated from this, the company acquired several business entities, which is appreciable since it will allow the company to stretch its market heading further. The recently acquired business entities include NAVIGON AG, TriTronics Inc. and two other worldwide distributing companies. Although the company has faced fierce controversy from other brands and has faced threatening anticipations of market share loss due to the popularity gained by smart

IKEA marketing concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

IKEA grocery storeing concept - show ExampleThe consumer lacks consideration, but the cost of production is considered. It is favorable for goods sold to highly sophisticated customers. (Hilstrich 2000 page 12).The benefits of value-based determine are the ability to set prices that are likely to attract buyers because of the market consideration. The major challenge for this burn down is the extensive need of advertisement to sell the brand name to customers for them to accept its benefits. The profit margin is alike extremely low, and it is not easily accounted for entirely. It can also alienate some customers who purchase based on pricing. (Hilstrich 2000 page 24). Cost based pricing benefits ranges from the high profit margins by goal setting by the high society. The greatest drawback is the high pricing that may exceed the consumer threshold, which leads to a struggle in the generation of affluent volumes for the market. It also ignores the image of the product to consume rs and thus lower profit per sale than would otherwise be realized.The IKEA union uses the value based pricing strategy in the pricing of its products. This is the best pricing strategy that the play along uses to provide the home products to its customers. A nonprofit oriented company provides the goods to the market at somehow consumer kind prices. The company also enjoys a large market and is being exempted from taxation due to consumer consideration during pricing. During the companys establishment, they used the penetrating pricing strategy by offering lower prices for their products in identify to attract the market. This set out made them accrue a larger market around the world. Their production cost were also low because they used the prisoners as their source of labor. With time, they gained momentum in business but act offering their products at lower prices. They were exempted from taxation due to this undertaking. They did not mostly use the skimming approach thoug h they were a significant competitor in the market. To attract other companies into the market, they used the skimming approach, which later on lowers the prices due to step-upd supply in the market. The companys aim is to provide the household products to the market at lower prices. They are exempted from taxation and the profits accrued are shared to the owner at a constant rate. Economic recession forces it to increase the prices as well as the other competitors increase their prices. The economy approach also gets used because the costs of marketing and product promotion are low. The price notations at different times of the year by using offers are common in the company. The condition pricing consideration shows that the company determines its prices in relation to the price elasticity of demand. Therefore, an increase in the prices of its products does not decrease the demand of its products. The increase in prices is so low and thus it has a little motion on the demand. Q uestion 2 on scattering Hilstrich, 2000 states that vertical marketing is a form of distribution from the producer to the wholesaler, then to the retailer and to the consumer with the aim of targeting a given industrial niche. This is carried out by cerebrate businesses that take part in the provision of a given specialized needs. Horizontal marketing is a form of distribution channel whereby many organizations, which are at the same level, join for capitalizing on