The Rachel Wade Murder Trial Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rachel Wade Murder Trial - Research Paper Example The prosecutors of the trial were legal representatives for the state of Florida, as well as for the parents and family of Sarah Ludemann. Assistant State Attorney Lisset Hanewicz spoke on the behalf of the victim (Judd, 2010). The defense was Rachel Wade and and her defense attorney, Jay Hebert. The jury of six also played a role - perhaps one of the largest roles - in the trial. Finally, no court situation would be complete without the presiding judge, Joseph A. Bulone. There were two witnesses present during the time of the murder, and they were also present for the trial. Jilica Smith had been in the vehicle with Sarah Ludemann when the girl had driven over to Rachel Wade’s house in the early morning of April 15. Janet Camacho, the sister of the boy in the love triangle, had also been present during the altercation. She had attacked and subdued Rachel Wade after Wade had stabbed Ludemann (Thalji, 2010). Another friend of Sarah Ludemann, Ashley Lovelady, though not present for the incident of April 15, was able to act as a witness for the behavior that had been displayed by both girls in the months prior to the murder of Ludemann. As the arguments between Rachel Wade and Sarah Ludemann had been lengthy and done most commonly over the Internet or cell phones, evidence against the prosecution and defense was great since most of these arguments had been saved or were easily accessible. Furthermore, the testimonies given by witnesses were able to further confirm that there had been difficulties between Rachel Wade and Sarah Ludemann. Most of the evidence that had been gathered had benefitted both sides of the trial. Since both girls had been fighting against each other for the past year, the evidence found was capable of speaking for and against both of the girls. Neither of the girls had roles of innocence in the year of fighting that had gone

Assignment for Multimedia and Internet Development Essay

Assignment for Multimedia and Internet Development - Essay Example It is my concept to produce a simple yet interesting website that does not need fancy colors to decorate on. My motto is "matter over manner". It is better to have meaningful yet simple website than to have a very decorative but lousy website. The software that I used was Macromedia Dreamweaver. To be able to have an interactive design, I made Macromedia Flash Buttons that act as my navigation buttons. The navigation buttons that I have made are placed on the left side. This left pane is placed permanently that whenever you click the navigation bars, it will never move. I also included a time and date pane with an updated time that shows seconds. For more interactive design, I included QuickTime applications that will play the music videos that I got from the internet. I coded it properly with right positions in the website so that it will not be disturbing to look at if people will view my website. I also put a banner that shows the logo and the wonderful picture of my favorite band , U2. For the photographs, the software that I used was PhotoShow. On the over-all design, I put graphic interchange format or GIF pictures so that there will be lots of animation. At the end of the page, I made a "Contact Us" pane so that if ever m website will be posted, people will be able to reach me through direct link. Also it will be a big help that I put it because I may be able to receive feedback. It is very important in communication the element of feedback because through feedback, there will be a continues flow of communication. In simple terms, there will be interaction. I think when crating a website, we should give such panes because there will be interactive communication among us and the viewers. Also in that reason, the viewers may enjoy viewing our websites. Storyboard U2 Homepage I. Index or Home Page A. Website Banner (U2 Logo and Picture) B. Left Unmovable Pane 1. Navigation Bars (Macromedia Flash Buttons) a. Home b. Gallery c. Album d. Songs e. Videos f. Contact Us C. Content 1. U2 Biography (Heading 1) a. Content b. Photograph of U2 with photo swapping c. Content d. Photograph of U2 e. Names of the band Members (Heading 2) II. Gallery A. PhotoShow application III. Album A. Photo Album (Heading 1) B. Photographs with scroll functions IV. Songs A. U2 Song (Heading 1) B. Animated GIF's C. Song Clips 1. With or Without You (mp3) 2. I still haven't Found What I am Looking For (mp3) 3. Where the Street have No Name (mp3) V. Videos A. U2 Video Clips (Heading 1) B. Animated GIF C. QuickTime Supported Logo D. Video Clips a. One b. Desire c. Vertigo d. With or Without You VI. Contact Us A. Thank you for visiting our site (Heading 2) B. Contact Us (Heading 1) C. Animated GIF D. Fill-in Space E. Buttons 1. Submit 2. Clear Website Review The main emphasis of the website is my fondness of the band U2. I decided to choose the software Macromedia Dreamweaver so that I can incorporate Macromedia Flash Applications. My goal here is to make an evaluative and persuasive website that will entail my viewer's interest in knowing me. By using Macromedia application, the task was not that hard to perform but of course, there are certain incapacities that I may not be able to do. There is also alternative software applications is doing this website but I guess, the most valuable would be

Development of Sediment Reference Sample for Toxicity Tests

Development of Sediment Reference Sample for Toxicity Tests Development of sediment reference sample for toxicity testing using Microtox Solid Phase test and Metal Fractionation using single extractions Abstract Chemical characterisation of pollutants using fractionation techniques and bioassays are useful monitoring tools for sediment quality assessment. However, a common criticism of sediment bioassays is the lack of an appropriate reference sediment sample which sample sediment toxicity can be comparatively assessed. In this study an approach of obtaining a reference sediment sample by cleaning the sediment samples with metals was tested. Metal fractionation was carried out by applying single extraction techniques modified from a sequential extraction scheme proposed by Tessier et al (1979). The total metal concentrations were characterised using nitric acid digestion. The sediment samples before and after the extractions were analysed using the Microtox Solid Phase Test (SPT). Comparison of total metal concentration with various sediment quality guidelines suggests that the sediments are polluted due to higher concentrations of Cu , Ni , Pb , Cd and Zn. The fractionation studies reveal t hat metals are contained mainly within Fe-Mn Oxide phase.The comparison of the results of the SPT with various sediment classification methods suggests that the sediments are moderately toxic to non toxic. However, the results of changes in the toxicity of sediment residues obtained after each extraction compared to unprocessed sediment toxicity results are not statistically significant. But the comparison of toxicity results of sediment residues obtained after HNO3 and NaOAc digestion with the toxicity value of replicate1 of unprocessed sediment suggests a marginal decrease in the toxicity of sediments while the comparison of toxicity values of MgCl2 , NH2OH.HCl, HNO3+H2O2 indicates an increase in the toxicity of sediment residued. The comparison of toxicity values of all sediment residues with that of replicate2 of unprocessed sediment indicates an increase in the toxicity of the sediments after extractions. Get wisdom, get understanding. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding (Proverbs 4: 5,7). Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8: 32). CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background: With the growing interest in the rules that govern the fate of pollutants in urban environments, the sediments of urban rivers pose a particularly challenging scientific problem as many persistent contaminants (e.g. metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs)) tend to concentrate in river bed sediments. Therefore, the assessment of sediment quality is recognised as a critical step in understanding the risks associated with man made pollution in the riverine system (De Miguel et al , 2005). Depending upon the conditions in the river, pollutants bound to sediment may become bioavailable and impose toxicity on aquatic organisms. Chemical analysis alone is not adequate to explain effects of chemicals present in the sediment (Beg and Ali, 2008) as they do not prove that adverse effects are occurring (Luoma et al , 1995) , thus for optimal characterization and assessment of pollution , issues concerning both concentration and toxicity should be addressed (Mowat et al , 2001). Therefore, because of the need to establish a cause -effect relationship between the concentration of pollutants and consequent environmental damage and to measure the possible synergistic effect of complex mixture of chemicals(Girotti et al , 2008), Microbial toxicity tests based on bacteria have been widely used in environmental toxicity screening due to the similarity of complex biochemical function in bacteria and higher organisms (Mowat et al , 2001) .Among the bioassays solid phase tests are useful and widely used as test organisms are exposed to whole sediments which include water soluble and non polar substances and thus offer a high relative realism for toxicity assessment of sediments. However, sediment toxicity tests require reference sediment exclusive of contaminant with similar physico chemical characteristics as the test sediments (Guzzella , 1998). The microtox test based on bacterial bioluminescence which uses V. Fischeri bacteria as test organism represent one of the most suitable test for sediment toxicity assessment as it can be used on extracts as well as directly to the sediment (solid phase test) ( Calace et al , 2005). As it is now widely recognised that the total concentrations of Heavy Metals indicate the extent of contamination, but they provide little information about the forms in which Heavy Metals are present, or about their potential for mobility and bioavailability in the environment (Lake et al , 1987) , knowledge on metal speciation in the sedimentary environment may be of more importance for hazard assessment than the total metal concentrations( Farkas et al , 2007). For this reason, sequential extraction procedures are commonly applied because they provide information about the fractionation of metals in the different lattices of the sediments and other solid samples (Margui et al , 2004). It is against this background that an investigation into establishing a reference sediment sample for solid phase bioassays was undertaken in relation to Microtox solid phase test utilising single extractions of metal fractions using -same conditions and procedures described in the sequential extraction procedure mentioned in Tessier et al 1979 . Aims and Objectives: The main aim of the study is to assess whether the approach of cleaning the sediment with metals using single extraction steps of sequential extraction is an appropriate alternative to develop a sediment reference sample or not. In order to obtain a reference sample exclusive of metals, the following procedure was adopted: Each extraction step described in the Tessier scheme was applied to separate aliquots of sediment samples using the same extraction conditions and chemicals described in the scheme (see section 3.8 for details). After the extraction step washed and dried residue sediment samples were analysed for toxicity using the Microtox solid phase test. A reduction in the toxicity could be expected as the metals were removed using chemicals. Microtox solid phase test was also conducted on unprocessed sediment so that a relative comparison between toxicity measurements could be made. The objectives of the investigation are summarised as follows : To characterise the sediments for total bio available metal concentration for eight heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu,Fe,Mn,Zn,Pb,Ni) using nitric acid digestion method. To characterise various fractions of metals as described in the Tessier Scheme using single extraction procedures. To determine the level of toxicity associated with unprocessed and processed sediment sample using the Microtox solid phase test. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Urban River Sediments and Pollution: Urban rivers have been linked with water quality issues since the nineteenth century when it was usual practice to discharge untreated domestic and industrial waste into water courses. Since then the situation has been improved due to e.g. the management curtailment of pollution at sewage treatment plants. However, because of high population densities in urban areas due to variety of sources of pollution the degradation of urban rivers is still important today (Goodwin et al , 2003). When released into the river environment many anthropogenic chemicals bind or adsorb on to particulate matter and depending upon river morphology and hydrological conditions such particulate matter along with associated contaminants can settle out along the water course and become part of the bottom sediments(Vigano et al , 2003). Thus , sediments are considered as repositories for physical and biological debris and for many pollutants (Calmano et al , 1996). Further more , under various physical , biological and chemical conditions (e.g. aqueous solubility ,pH, redox , affinity for sediment organic carbon , grain size of sediments , sediment mineral constituents and quantity of acid volatile sulfides) these contaminants may become bioavailable and result in a toxic impact on aquatic biota(Ingersoll et al , 1995). Nowdays, escalating evidence of environmental degradation have been confirmed where water quality guidelines for contaminants are not surpassed but, still organisms in or near the sediments are adversely affected (Ingersoll et al , 1995). Thus, with a vision to protecting aquatic biota, improving water quality and managing problems of resuspension and the land deposition of dredged materials, sediment quality assessment has been a crucial scientific and legislative issue in recent years. ( Calmano et al 1996 ; Nipper et al 1998). 2.2 Water Framework Directive (WFD) : The European Unions(EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD) which came in effect on 22 December 2000, is one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation and is likely to transform the way water quality is being monitored within all member states ( Allan et al , 2006). The main objective of the Directive is to improve, protect and prevent further deterioration of water quality across Europe and it aims to achieve and ensure good quality status of all water bodies throughout Europe by 2015. Thus the necessity of addressing water quality issues associated with urban rivers has been increased within Member States(Goodwin et a, 2003). Under the WFD , three modes of monitoring strategies are specified and at each strategy level chemical monitoring , biological/ecological assessment , physico-chemical and hydro morphological tools have been covered to assess the water quality status of the body(Allan et al,2006). In the WFD, EU commission places emphasis on establishing quality standards related to the concentrations of priority substances and substances which may cause harm in water , sediment or biota . (Crane , 2003). 2.3 Sediment and Pollutants Sources in Urban Rivers : Urban river system is much more complex in its sediments and pollutant sources. Sediments may be released into urban rivers due to erosion of land surface through variety of physical and chemical processes, the rapid run off from impervious surfaces, routing through drainage network, retention tanks and winter gritting roads (Goodwin et al, 2003). These sediments may contain or associated with pollutants such as hydrocarbons , garden and animal wastes , fertilisers , pesticides , oils , detergents , deicing chemicals , street litter (Hall, 1984 ; Chapman, 1996) and trace and heavy metals (Collins et al, 2007). Moreover, Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) events also augment the pollutant and sediment load due to its own contaminant load and the erosion and wash out of in-sewer sediments (Fierros et al , 2002). Due to the wide variety of sources and river dynamics there exist a wide spatial and temporal variation in the properties of sediments. 2.4 River Sediment Composition and dynamics : River sediments are mainly composed of mineral particles originated from the parent rocks due to erosion process, particulate organic matter adsorbed on mineral particles or particle sized organic matter which originates from plant detritus and animal debris, adsorbed nutrients and toxic inorganic and organic pollutants (Chapman , 1996). However , with respect to their behaviour in nature , sediments can be classified in two distinctively different groups a) fine sediments with particles smaller than 50m (i.e silt and clay) and b) coarse sediments with size exceeding 50m ( i.e. sands and gravels) (Salomons et al , 1984). The erosion, transportation and deposition of sediment is a function of river flow velocity, particle size, water content of the material (Chapman , 1996) , channel structure and degree of turbulence(Goodwin et al , 2003). Under certain hydraulic conditions sediments can be transported in suspension or by traction along the bottom which is often called Bed Load. The suspension mechanism initiates the movement of fine particles while the Bed Load causes the movement of coarse particles (Chapman , 1996). More over, within urban catchments rapid runoff and CSO events trigger river flow events with short peak times and high peak flows which step up transport of sediments and associated pollutants (Goodwin et al , 2003). 2.5 Sediment Quality Assessment: Historically, the assessment of sediment quality has often been limited to chemical characterisation. It helps to classify what are the contaminants and what is their concentrations(McCauley et al , 2000) and it provides information about the condition of sediments and processes within them(Wolska et al , 2007). However, quantifying contaminant concentration alone can not provide enough information to evaluate adequately potential adverse effects, possible interaction among chemicals or the time dependent availability of these materials to aquatic organisms ( Ingersoll et al , 1995) because it is impractical to analyze all the compounds and their synergistic/antagonistic effects contributing to toxicity(Plaza et al , 2005). As the bioavailability of pollutants to aquatic biota and their effects on the biota is the key concern in sediment risk assessment , ecotoxicological testing (bioassays) of sediments which study the toxic effects of sediment contaminants on living organisms ( e.g . fish , plants , bacteria , algae) has been extensively used ( Rand et al , 1995). Thus, to understand the fate of pollutants in sediments and their impacts on aquatic biota , a tiered biological and chemical assessment methods have been implemented (Calmano et al , 1996) . The sediment quality triad methodology, one of the most widely used tiered approach based on weight of evidence combines 1) Identification and quantification of contaminants (i.e. chemical analyses ) , 2) Measurement and quantification of Toxicity based on bioassays (toxicity tests) and 3) Evaluation of in situ biological effects(e.g. Benthic community structure) (Calmano et al , 1996 ; McCauley et al , 2000 ). Principal advantages are that it can be used for any sediment type (Calmano et al ,1996) and as both biological and chemical components are used , environmental significance of contaminated sediments is addressed (McCauley et al , 2000). However the cause -effect relations are not always identified due to the synergistic/antagonistic effects of chemicals causing toxicity in sediments (Calmano et al , 1996 ; McCauley et al , 2000) . Furthermore, the assessment is very site specific and does not allow empirical calculations of chemical specific guidelines ( Mc Cauley , 2000). 2.6 Metals in Urban Sediments and Sources : Metals are natural components of biosphere (Luoma , 1983) and they are introduced in to the aquatic environment through many lithogenic and anthropogenic sources(Zhou et al , 2008). Chemical leaching of bedrocks , water drainage basins and run off from banks are considered as the major lithogenic sources of metals (Zhou et al , 2008) while emissions from industrial processes ( e.g. mining , smelting , finishing , plating , paint an dye manufaturing) (Rand et al , 1995) and through urban sewage, house hold effluents, drainage water, business effluents , atmospheric deposition and traffic related emissions transported with storm water (Karvelas et al , 2003) are the major anthropogenic sources of metals in the aquatic environment. Upon discharge to the aquatic environment metals are partitioned between solid and liquid phase (Luoma , 1983) and eventually as a result of settling metals associated with solid phase accumulate in bottom sediments(Farkas et al , 2007).Thus , sediments are m ain sink of metals in aquatic environment(Morillo et al , 2002). A comparison of typical concentration of metals in urban river sediments is presented in the Table 2.1. Table 2.1 : Concentration of metals in urban river sediments(g/g) (reproduced from De Miguel et al , 2005) Cr Cu Fe(%) Mn Ni Pb Zn River Henares, Spain (97-180) (7-270) (0.8-3.16) (150-445) (11-128) (17-1280) River Seine , France 84 2.91 162 429 River Sowe , UK 47.9 164 411 786 Semarang , Indonesia (12.3-448) (5.2-2666) (53.7-1257) Danube River, Austria 43.5 53.9 187 Tiber river , Italy (18.2-54.2) (13.3-45.5) (3.6-33.5) (12.4-43.1) (53.4-417.6) River Po, Italy (118-223) (45.2-179.9) (4.5-5.2) (355-1159) (99-237) (39.3-71.8) (127-519) River Sherbourne 38 71 2.9 481 19 118 196 River Manzanares (18-1260 (11-347) (1.9-9.1) (305-1276) (5-47) (42-371) (70-591) In brackets : minimum- maximum values ; in italic :arithmatic mean values 2.7 Toxic metals and their forms in sediments : Although some metals are essential micronutrients (e.g. Mn, Fe, Cu,Zn) , almost all metals are toxic to aquatic organisms and human health if exposure levels are sufficiently high (Luoma , 1983). Among the toxic metals cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, zinc, mercury and arsenic are of prime importance due to their association with anthropogenic inputs. Under different physical, biological or chemical conditions the toxicity of metals in sediments is a matter of bio availability (Jennett et al ,1980). Thus in order to estimate the bio availability of metals and their potential toxicity it is desirable not only to determine the total concentration but also the different chemical forms or ways of binding between metals and sediments(Albores et al , 2000). In sediments depending upon various physical, chemical and biological conditions , metals partitioned into different chemical forms associated with a variety of organic and inorganic phases (Farkas et al , 2007).In river sediments metal can be bound to various compartments e.g. adsorbed onto clay surfaces or iron and manganese oxy hydroxides, present in lattice of secondary minerals such as carbonates, sulphates or oxides, occluded within amorphous material such as iron and manganese oxyhydroxides, complexed with organic matter or lattice of primary minerals such as silicates (Gismera et al , 2004). Due to natural and anthropogenic environmental changes these associations can be altered and metals can become more or less bio available or mobilized within different phases. These influential factors include pH, temperature , redox potential , organic matter decomposition , leaching and ion exchange processes and microbial activity(Filgueiras et al ,2002). Thus in relation to their mobi lity and bioavailability, in order of decreasing interest the major metal fractions are : 1) Exchangeable ,2) Bound to carbonates , 3) Bound to Fe-Mn Oxides , 4) Bound to organic matter and 5) Residual . 2.7.1 Exchangeable Metals : In this fraction , weakly adsorbed metals retained on the solid surface by relatively weak electrostatic forces that can be released by ion exchange processes in the sediment are included(Filgueiras et al , 2002). These metals are considered the most available form of metals present in the sediments (Morrison , 1985). 2.7.2 Metals Bound to Carbonates : Metals in this fractions are co-precipitated with carbonates which exist as cement and coating (Morrison , 1985) and this phase can be an important adsorbent for metals in the absence of organic matter and Fe-Mn oxides (Filgueiras et al , 2002). 2.7.3 Metals bound to Fe-Mn Oxides : Metals in this fraction are associated with Iron and Manganese oxides which exist as nodules , concretion and cement between particles or simply as a coating on particles. Iron and Manganese oxides are considered as excellent scavengers of metals and are thermodynamically unstable under anoxic conditions (Tessier et al , 1979). 2.7.4 Metals bound to organic matter : In this fractions metals associated with various forms of organic materials such as living organisms, plant and animal detritus or coatings on mineral particles are included. This fraction is considered to be less mobile due to their associations with humic substances of higher molecular weights(Filgueiras et al , 2002). 2.8 Sequential Extractions : A sequential extraction procedure (SEP) also known as sequential extraction scheme (SES) can be used to determine above mentioned binding fractions of metals in the sediment. In this process, given sediment sample is subjected to a series of increasingly strong , phase specific reagents under controlled condition which extract our metals from the particular physic-chemical phase of interest(Bird et al , 2005). Depending upon target fractions, a wide variety of chemical extractants can be used (see fig.2.1) and thus in the literature various sequential extraction schemes are available which differ in the use of extractant, target phase and the order of attack to separate particular form of metals. The majority of the schemes are variants of a scheme proposed by Tessier et al (1979). Many researchers have reported difficulties in comparing the results of SES due to their wide variation in the use of chemicals and target phase. Thus, in an effort to harmonize the different methodologies and to make the comparison of results easier , Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) proposed a three step extraction procedure along with a reference sediment material to certify the protocol (Mossop and Davidson , 2003). 2.9 Advantages and problems of sequential extractions : The application of sequential extraction techniques , though time consuming provide valuable information about the origin , mode of occurrence, biological and physic-chemical availability , mobilisation and transport of metals within the sedimentary matrices(Tokalioglu et al , 2000).However, since their initial development, sequential extraction schemes have been criticized for the lack of selectivity of reagents, issues of re adsorption and redistribution of metals solubilised during extraction and changes in speciation due to sample pre- treatment and its general methodology ( Gleyzes et al , 2002). In the sequential extraction scheme, the reagents are expected to attack only the target phase without solubilising the other phases. However, it has been found that the reagents are not selective and may affect other phases also. Thus the sequential extractions are termed as operationally defined fractionation techniques. This lack of selectivity may cause re-adsoprtion and re distribution of metals among the target phases. Moreover, incomplete dissolution of some phases and changes in pH may also lead toward re adsorption and redistribution problems (Gleyzes et al, 2002). Various researchers have reported the problem of re adsorption and redistribution for many sequential extractions for each phase. Despite these limitations sequential extractions are widely accepted for metal fractionation in sediment samples to assess the mobility and bioavailability of metals . 2.10 Single Extractions : To reduce lengthy procedures and thus making sequential extractions a part of routine analysis, various alternatives(e.g. microwave heating and ultrasonic shaking) to conventional extraction procedures have been employed (Albores et al , 2000). One of the alternatives to reduce the lengthy and laborious sequential process is to use single extractions. In single extractions the same reagents and operating conditions as the sequential extractions are applied to different sub- sample (Albores et al ,2000) and, except for first step , the metal concentrations in each individual step can be obtained by subtracting the results obtained in two successive steps(Filgueiras et al , 2002). Initially this technique was suggested by Tack et al (1996) in which first three steps mentioned in Tessiers Scheme were extracted simultaneously while, for organic matter bound metals, it was suggested that the sample should be extracted first for reducing metals and should then be re treated with hydrogen p eroxide step to remove organic matter and thus release metals bound to this phase. 2.11 Bioassays : A useful monitoring tool Bioassays measure changes in physiology and behaviour of living organisms resulting from stress induced by biological or chemical toxic compounds which can cause disruption of e.g. metabolism. Thus, bioassays help to establish cause / effect relationship between the concentrations of pollutants and consequent environmental damage (Girrotti et al , 2008). Historically fish and macro invertabrates bioassays are the first in the series of toxicity bioassays involving animals. As these bioassays were found useful in assessing the acute toxicity of chemicals and effluents and often predicted their effects of aquatic biota and habitat, they have been extensively used in the screening of chemicals and regulatory compliance monitoring (Blaise et al , 1998). However , these conventional bioassays require longer test duration along with additional time(e.g. acclimatisation) for preparations of the test (Ribo and Kaiser , 1987). Moreover toxicity was found a trophic level property and thus it was realized that protection of aquatic resources could not be ensured by conducting bioassays solely at macro organism level (Rand et al , 1995). Therefore an urgent requirement of cost effective , multi trophic and faster bioassays was strongly felt which led to development of micro scale testing procedures involving bacteria , protozoa , micro algae and micro invertabrate (Blaise et al , 1998). Distinct advantages of microbial testing procedures include :1) ease of handling ,2 ) short testing time , 2) reproducibility of results (Mowat et al , 2001) and 4) cost effectiveness (Wadhia and Thompson , 2007). 2.12 Sediment Toxicity Tests : As Van Beelen (2003) stated, toxicity is not a substance property only , but it is the c

Revenue Management and Pricing Essay

Springfield Nor’easters was a new Class A minor league baseball team, which would start the first season in June 2009. The marketing director, Larry Buckingham, had to design the price scheme for the new season. Springfield was the third largest city in Massachusetts with 55,338 residents and around 60% of the households were families with children below 18. However, Springfield offered few spectator opportunities for sports fans, the only way to attend a professional baseball game is to drive to other cities. Springfield Nor’easters, the first professional baseball team in the region, will compete in one of the 19 regional leagues under Minor League Baseball (MiLB). Each of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) was affiliated with minor league teams and they funded players’ salaries as well as bat and ball expenses, while minor league teams were responsible for uniform expenses, league dues, office and travel expenses, etc. Nor’easters’ financial goal for the first year is break even and their income will come from tickets sales, concession sales and sponsors from local institutions and organizations. To design his tickets offers, Buckingham found that it’s important to both analyze the remaining data from a survey done in 2005 by League Sports Association and conduct a more detailed survey specific to the local market. Buckingham then figured out that his primary research objectives were to know how many people would come to the games and how much to charge them, and he made several observations while interviewing some counterparts of other minor league teams. First off, he needed to price seats on par with competition such as movies, bowling and other sporting events. Secondly, it’s important to have a well-designed mix of season tickets, group sales and individual tickets. Thirdly, he should consider promoting group sales with special promotions. Last but not least, concessions were critically important with at least a 39% profit margin. Buckingham kept three criteria in mind while designing the survey questions: maximum information yield for management decisions, question clarity for respondents, and ease of data analysis. He decided to conduct this survey by  mailing 10,000 postcards that would direct recipients to a website where they could complete a questionnaire and then get entered into a drawing. The online questionnaire was pretested three times and several questions were changed afterwards according to the feedback. The mailing list for the postcard was drawn from two sources. One half was taken from Springfield census tracts of households with income above the poverty level and the other was obtained from the mailing lists of four sports-related organizations in Springfield. Ultimately, 625 responses were tabulated. Luckily, Buckingham found that the sample respondent characteristics were fairly representative of the Springfield market. Buckingham knew that his real goal was to maximize not only ticket income but also concessions. He wanted to make sure the prices of different packages were set appropriately. Also, while calculating the concession sales, he was told to note that attendance would drop from around 100% (individual game) to 97% (5-game), 95% (20-game), 90% (38-game). With these things in mind, Buckingham started to analyze the survey data and calculated the optimal prices. We found that the actual pricing policy is much more complicated, there are a wide variety of seats, and more games (full season = 70 games). To have a more-close-to-situation price for comparison, we exclude the special and upscale tickets. Then average the rest’s ticket price (â€Å"Diamond Boxes†, â€Å"Field Boxes†, â€Å"Dugout Boxes†, and â€Å"General Admission†), and come up with a result of $9.25 per game. To sum up, our proposed price ($10/game) is slightly higher than the actual price, and the reasons are as followed. 　　First, in the actual stadium, there are some high-class club and seat that will compensate for other cheaper tickets. Second, there may be more advertisement, sponsorship, and special event revenue which haven’t been counted in the case. Third, the actual stadium may have more seats (ex. grass seating), so the ticket price can be lower ours. Lastly, however, global recession may be a cause, but we do not consider it to take a great part. Though the ticket price per NBA game actually increases through years, taking into account the improving but still sluggish economy in 2012 and the difference in popularity, it’s not likely that Springfield Cardinals is able to set price high.

Lord of the flies by Willam Golding

Lord of the flies refers to the story of a group of English boys marooned on a tropical island after their plane was shot down during a war. But the book’s exploration of the idea of human evil is to some extent based on Golding’s experience with the violence and savagery of human beings during World War II. Lord of the flies dramatizes a fundamental human struggle: the conflict between the impulse to obey rules, behave morally, and act lawfully and impulse to seek brute power   over others, act selfishly, behave in a way that will gratify one’s own desires, scorn moral rules, and indulge in violence. The first set of impulses might be thought of as the â€Å"civilizing instinct†, which encourages people to work together toward common goal and behave peacefully; the second set of impulse might be thought of as the â€Å"barbarizing instinct†, or the instinct toward savagery, which urges people to rebel against civilization and instead seek anarchy, chaos, despotism, and violence. The Lord of the flies shows the great struggle of the boys to rescue from the horizon. The children made a group and started doing work to attract the attention of the passing ships. They elected their own leader and started finding their way to rescue from that place and chose Ralph as their leader. Ralph elected Jack as the leader of the hunters. Ralph, Jack and Simon set off on an expedition to explore the island. When they returned from hunting, Ralph declared that they must light a signal fire to attract the attention of passing ships. The boys began to do so; they started using the lens from Piggy’s eyeglasses to ignite dead wood. They were very innocent and do not know the importance of the work and were interested in playing more than igniting fire. So because of their insincerity towards work the fire quickly ignites the forest. And the fire becomes out of control. One of the youngest boys disappears from the group and they think that he has presumably burned to death. All the boys started enjoying themselves without grownups except Jack and Ralph. After some time Ralph and Piggy see the ship passing by the horizon. But when ship passes signal fire burned out; it had been a hunter’s responsibility to maintain it. After that Ralph accosts Jack, but the hunter has just returned to his first hunt, and all the boys were uncontrolled and excited and start dancing. When Piggy criticizes Jack because of his insincere deed, Jack hits him. It was really a problem to keep the single fire lit so the boys become afraid. Ralph and Jack both do not liked each other, they wanted a separate group. Jack was violent in nature so he declared himself the leader of new tribe and the group of the boys divided in two parts. They all had lost their innocence and civilization. Ralph was civilized and wanted every one to live in civilized manner but most of the other boys went into bloodlust and barbarism. The sight of hunters chanting and dancing was baffling and distasteful to him. The first hand knowledge of the evil that existed with in all human beings was tragic for Ralph. But this knowledge also enabled him to cast down the Lord of the Flies at the end of the novel. His story ends semi-tragically although he was rescued and returned to civilization, when he saw the naval officer, he wept with the burden of his knowledge about humanity. All the children adopted barbarism and lost innocence and civilization. They took care of the small children. Children of Lord of the Flies did a great effort to rescue from the horizon and tackled the situation very tactfully.   In the novel children tried to free themselves from the power of others by doing different kind of deeds and Jack tried to snatch away the powers of the Ralph. Reference Sir, Golding, William. (1997). Lord of the flies. New York: RIVERHEAD.

Americ An Interesting And Different Perspective On...

American Democracy: From Tocqueville to Town Halls to Twitter by Andrew J. Perrin offers an interesting and different perspective on American democracy. The ideas in the book are engaging and easy to grasp. Perrin uses the idea of a ladder to represent his idea of democracy throughout the book, and makes a compelling argument for the use of it. Perrin, a sociologist, offers an argument for a sociological perspective on the American democratic system. He offers a step-by-step explanation of the democratic ladder, and how we should think about democracy. This book is worthy of recommendation because it inspires us to reconsider our own roles as citizens and members of the democratic system. According to Perrin, democracy cannot be boiled†¦show more content†¦This is usually represented through opinion polls and media. However, Perrin asks us the simple question of whether or not the public actually has preferences that the government can listen to. Sometimes it is not easy to understand what the public want because the public might not know so themselves. For example, many people agree that abortion should be legalized, however many disagree on the way we get to that point, the solution. Some think that there should be some restrictions, while others believe there should be no restrictions at all. These preferences can be measured through mediators. Mediators are the different institutions and technologies that help deliver preferences up and down the democratic ladder. Presidents are known to use public opinion polls to understand what the majority of the people want, and then the president can decide to listen or not. This works as a vertical line; preferences go up and down the democratic ladder. There is also the horizontal way where opinions go between publics. People can discuss opinions with each other by using the media. This way people can shape other peoples mind. The horizontal and vertical lines are how publics form through institutions and technologies, and then how they affect public policy. Public policy is the outcome of preferences created through the process of representation. Many Americans believe that public policy should completely represent their own views.

The Vaccination Of A Vaccine - 1586 Words

Every day, someone is saved because of a vaccination. A vaccine is a preventive drug that uses a small ratio of a dead or weakened virus and is designed to improve a person’s immunity and chances of survival. A vaccine is administered in one of three ways: (1) via syringe and needle injected into a muscle, (2) a nasal spray though the sinus canals, or (3) a liquid that is ingested via mouth. If a person is getting a polio vaccine, for example, then the vaccine would be made up of the the weakened or dead virus of polio and administered as mentioned above. The body then reacts to the virus creating an antibody to be produced and used by your immune system; the antibody’s job is to identify and neutralize the virus if the body is ever exposed to again. While no vaccine is 100% effective, most routine childhood vaccinations are approximately 85% to 95% effective (CDC). This means that if two people were introduced to a virus, and one person received a vaccination against the virus as a child and the other person did not, there would be a 5% chance the vaccinated person would contract the virus while the person that did not take the vaccine would have close to a 100% guarantee of becoming infected. One of the many vaccines people routinely get is the influenza vaccine or flu shot. With flu season quickly approaching, it is paramount that people are receiving this vaccine, especially those that are immunocompromised or have weakened/immature immune systems. The CDC has currentShow MoreRelatedVaccination Research : Vaccines And Vaccines1316 Words   |  6 PagesVaccination Research In colonial America in the 1700’s the smallpox virus was spreading throughout the population, and killing as many of half of the people who were contracting the virus. 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