The Identification of Bambusa Sp

The identification of Bamboo using various PCR and Sequencing Techniques Abstract Often the incorrect bamboo species is sold to unsuspecting customers at shops. This can have a disastrous effect on their garden. Three separate and unknown Bamboo leaf samples were taken and were required to be distinguished genetically from one another. Using ITS-PCR DNA amplification techniques, the ITS region DNA was amplified and used in PCR-RFLP and RAPD PCR in order to determine the genetic identity of each sample. Sequencing was performed, and results allowed us to distinguish between samples (to a certain extent. ) Introduction Bamboos are a group of woody perennial green plants (Wikipedia et al. 2006) that are found in many parts of the world. There are 91 genera and about 1,000 species of bamboo (Wikipedia et al. 2006). They are found in diverse climates, from cold mountains to hot tropical regions. Bamboo is a highly desirable plant grown for many reasons in plantations and gardens around the world. Many reasons it is grown are that it is a beautiful ornamental plant with unique properties. Bamboo is also an extremely strong plant that is light; it is used in many building applications for floorboards, and is also often used in furniture making. There are a number of taller growing species that are effective at blocking out the eyes of pepping toms and nosy neighbors. There are two main forms of bamboo, each form describing the way in which the bamboo itself spreads. These are known as â€Å"clumping† (monopodial) and â€Å"running† (sympodial) forms. (Wikipedia et al. 2006) Clumping bamboo species tend to spread underground slowly. Running bamboo species are highly variable in their tendency to spread; this is related to both the species and the soil and climate conditions. Some can send out runners several metres a year, while others can stay in the same general area for long periods. If neglected, they can be invasive over time and can cause problems by moving into adjacent areas. The reputation of bamboo as being highly invasive is often exaggerated, and situations where it has taken over large areas is often the result of years of untended or neglected plantings. Many invasive bamboo species are often sold, unsuspectingly to people, who plant them without realizing this. The result of this is the complete takeover of ones garden. Some species of bamboo can grow at a tremendous rate, some at over 36inches (90cm) a day, providing it is provided with ideal conditions (OneEarth, 2006). Plant Biosecurity breaches often occur when bamboo plants are imported with incorrect or false labeling, often in an attempt to bring illegal ornamental species in to the country for indoor use. This ‘black market’ operation is a serious threat to native species of plants, and, if a threatening sympodial bamboo species is imported and planted in place of a monopodial (which is preferred, as they do not spread), serious damage to native forests and grasslands can occur (NGIA, 2006). Some of the techniques that can be used to identify to a species level are PCR-ITS, RAPD, and PCR-RFLP. These will be used to identify our unknown samples of bamboo. Aim To identify, to a species level, using nucleotide analysis and sequencing techniques, three unknown samples of bamboo. Materials For DNA extraction 3 Unknown Bamboo Samples (Leaves) Mortar and Pestle Liquid Nitrogen Quiagen ‘Dneasy’ DNA Extraction Kit Centrifuge tubes Pipettes and Tips Ice and Esky Quantification of DNA Well Combs (10uL) Wells UV Transilluminator Agarose Tris Borate EDTA Ethidium Bromide Loading Dye Centrifuge Tubes Gel Tank (To run agarose gel electrophoresis) Pipettes and Tips For ITS based PCR 5uL of extracted DNA 5x Reaction buffer MilliQ (Ultra Pure Water) DNTP’s (dATP, dGTP, dCTP, dTTP) PCR Machine MgCl2 Centrifuge Tubes Pipettes and Tips For RAPD-PCR ITS-PCR DNA product 5x Reaction buffer MilliQ (Ultra Pure Water) MgCl2 Primers OPM-01 and OPM-17 Wells Well Combs (10uL) UV Transilluminator Agarose Tris Borate EDTA Ethidium Bromide Loading Dye Centrifuge Tubes Gel Tank (To run agarose gel electrophoresis) Pipettes and Tips For ITS-RFLP ITS-PCR DNA product Enzymes Hha1 and Rsa1 Buffer Red (Rsa1) Buffer C (Hha1) MilliQ (Ultra Pure Water) Wells Well Combs (10uL) UV Transilluminator Agarose Tris Borate EDTA Ethidium Bromide Loading Dye Centrifuge Tubes Gel Tank (To run agarose gel electrophoresis) Pipettes and Tips Methods DNA Extraction and Purification – Quiagen Dneasy Kit ITS-RFLP ITS Region is a particular sequence of DNA which is present in all organisms. It is a region, in between each common sequence, contains DNA that is highly conserved and unique amongst a particular species, and is thus not used to translate into proteins. Enzymes are used to restrict or cut the DNA at certain points. The location of the cuts depends on nucleotide sequence that the enzyme recognizes. The number of nucleotides in sequence determines size of the restricted piece of DNA in base pairs (BP). ITS-PCR This is done to amplify the ITS region DNA which is highly conserved and unique to each individual species Primers ITS 1 and ITS 4 are used because the ITS region (18s, 5. 8s and 28s regions) are common in all organisms. The region in between the 18s and 28s is the region that is highly conserved and unique to any given species. Added to Master Mix (containing buffer solution) PCR’d ITS Region DNA is amplified out RAPD RAPD Primers OPM-01 and OPM-17 are added to the ITS-PCR DNA product and where are given a genetic fingerprint of the DNA. HOW, WHEN, WHAT, WHERE, WHO? What was done? Sufficient detail for repetition by others Results (facts only) (2) HOW, WHEN, WHAT, WHERE? What was found? Presentation of results as simply and clearly as possible Figures to present data and concepts clearly and concisely (a picture is worth 1000 words) Types of figures: photographs, drawings, tables, graphs Numerical data as tables or graphs (graphs preferred) Text to point out trends (not repeat information in figures) Discussion (3) WHY, WHAT, WHO? What does it mean? Interpretation of results relative to the hypothesis or aim Comparison with work of others References (6) WHO? List of all references cited in text http://www. bonsai-bci. com/species/bamboo. html Sabrina Caine Last modified accessed 01/06/06 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Bamboo wikipedia last modified 27/05/06 accessed 01/06/06 http://www. 1earth. com. au/collect/wicker_furniture. html last modified 27/05/06 accessed 01/06/06 1Earth Antiques and Appraisals http://www. ngia. co. nz/news/507bamboo. php Nursing and Garden Industry Association (NGIA) Wellington, New Zealand Accessed 01/06/06 Updated

My Vision Of The Future

My vision of the future in education is one where the learning commons, inhabited by forward-thinking, ever-learning teacher-librarians, is the centre of the universe in a school: the go-to for students, teachers, and parents as they navigate an increasingly tech-heavy world where â€Å"21st century† and â€Å"personalized† learning increasingly replace outmoded forms of schooling. I personally do not have a particular attachment to â€Å"traditional† education for a variety of reasons.One reason is that our education system is not really all that traditional. Why? Because in the whole scheme of things, the modern education system has been a short-term experiment (a mere blip of human time at around 150 years or less) based on the latter days of a historical era known as the Industrial Age. For eons before this, humans tended to rely on watching, doing, apprenticeships, and interactions with a variety of members of the community.With modern digital tools, we can go back to learning in these ways, but vastly improving upon them by expanding the definition of community to include people, places, and information far beyond our physical reach, and to allow for greater individualization, creativity, and collaboration than ever before possible. Others, however, might feel rather attached to education as it currently is.If this is because the thought of doing otherwise is overwhelming, this resource is for you: it is a basic primer on how teacher-librarians and learning commons can assist teachers in modernizing the classroom. Please either hover over the â€Å"My Vision of the Future† tab and select to read and view sections of this presentation, or simply follow the link at the bottom of each page, such as this one: As technology advances, its educational applications have evolved as well.

Information security authentication program for Moonshine Mining Essay

Moonshine mining deals with the mining business related to diamond, sapphire, gold etc. Moonshine mining maintains all its intellectual properties and other important documents in 3 internal servers in Perth head office. This information is very confidential to the moon shining. This information should be available only to the internal moon shining employees and other authorized personnel’s. Moonshine has identified the potential risk for the information assets through the risk assessment procedure. To overcome these risks, proper authentication and other security procedures must be implemented in the organization. Each and every method has its own disadvantages and advantages, the proper investigation and study must be performed to choose the best fit method for the organization. Introduction Computer security must be an integral part of the organization. Computer Security is the protection afforded to an automated information system in order to attain the applicable objectives of preserving the integrity, availability and confidentiality of information system resources. Through the selection and application of appropriate safeguards, security helps the organization’s mission by protecting its physical and financial resources, reputation, legal position, employees, and other tangible and intangible assets (NIST 2006). Many organizations are spending millions of dollars in computer security. Computer security policies and goals should be inline with the organization mission and policies. Computer security should be very cost effective. Specialized teams must be formed in the organization for monitoring and controlling the computer security policies and procedures. Basic Security policies should be followed in Moonshine Company Computer security policies must be accessible by everyone in the organization. Each and every single personnel in the organization is responsible for implementing and maintaining the computer security. User support must be provided for solving various problems related to computer security. Help desks are needed to be created for this type of support. Additional support can be any helpline and online chat. Software support should be available in the organization. Various restrictions are needed to be imposed on the usage of several kind of software in the organization. Licensed and authenticated software are recommended for trouble free working environment. Backup plan should be implemented and followed carefully for restoration if disaster or unrecoverable errors caused. Media should be properly maintained and periodic assessments are to be needed. Login information should be kept secret and several log records are to be assed for detecting unauthorized user access. Basic security features like firewall, antivirus software are to be made ready in the system. Integrity checks and other checks are to be performed frequently. Documentation and maintenance are the important activities needed to be done regarding computer security. Authentication Authentication is very important for maintaining the computer security. Each and every personnel must be authenticated for accessing the information resources. There are many types of authentication methods. It can be broadly classified into two categories, Biometric authentication and Non Biometric authentication. The authentication must be implemented with the proper security algorithm to avoid intrusions. Many authentication schemes are developed over the years. Several hashing and other schemes are combined to make the better authentication protocol. Privacy through Biometric Authentication It is based on identifying the person based on their personal and behavioral traits. There are several biometric authentication methods like finger print recognition, face recognition, iris recognition. Some the distinct advantages of biometric method are users need not required to remember password/codes, permanent characteristics and ease of use. Finger print authentication: Finger print authentication is the basic biometric authentication method. The patterns available on ridges and valleys of person’s finger are unique for every individual (Harris D. 2000). Several algorithms are available in the market to uniquely identify the persons based on the patterns. The finger print authentication can be implemented in moon mining company with a very small amount of investment. The cost of installing devices and other software required for finger print authentication would be very minimal when compared to other biometric authentication methods. When compared to non biometric methods the database size would be litter larger for biometrics methods. Since the numbers of users in the moon mining company is very less the biometrics method can be easily implemented without any trouble. Finger print authentication method is not very much suitable for moon shine mining company because in the mining company the person works with lot of dusts and smoke. Some readers might not recognize the dirty and dusted hands. Since it is a mining company persons may have some cuts in their hand so the readers may not work properly in those situations. Most of the time users might wear gloves in their hand, they might feel uneasy to remove for each and every time for the authentication. Face recognition Face recognition is another basic biometric authentication method. In this method, the persons face is captured using camera or infrared waves and it is authenticated with the existing database. The spatial geometry in the face is analyzed to uniquely identify the face. The face can be easily recognizes with change of facial expressions or change of hair style etc. The advantages of face recognition it is the contact free process. The database should be maintained with facial information of the users. The change in the face is very minimal. The moon mining company can prefer this method of authentication. The cost of implementation is also not so high. Some of the disadvantages include detecting the face mask and low light environment (Vijayan 2009). Since it is a mining company it would operate in low light areas, so proper methods must be chosen to avoid low light environment problems. People from some ethnic groups and nationalities won’t expose the face to outer world. In those situations the face recognition it is not possible to implement. Iris Recognition Iris recognition is one of the latest methods of biometric authentication. The colored area that surrounds pupil is used for the identification of the persons (Daouk 2006). Every people have unique color pattern. It is also a non contact method of authentication. The cost of implementation is little high when compared to other methods. It is very fast and robust. The latest iris technologies are very powerful in recognizing the patterns even though they are covered with the contact lenses and glasses. Iris based authentication is recommended if the moon mining company wants high end solution for the biometric authentication and ready for little high investment. Digital Signatures A digital signature is an automated method of verifying our usual handwritten signatures. The various features like speed, pressure, nodes etc are verified for authentication. This method is based on behavioral aspect of the person. It is simple method for authentication. It has many disadvantages like it can be imitated by others easily; signature is tending to change slowly by time. It’s not so safe to go with this type of authentication method. Privacy through Non Biometric Authentication The non biometric method for authentication is very common in the organization. It is simple and easy to implement. No extra infrastructure is required to implement these authentication methods. It is very cost effective method. RFID Authentication method The privacy can be provided by ensuring the proper authentication mechanism in practice. Several authentication protocols are used in existence systems. The authentication will be performed in the readers and authentication parameters and value are stored in the RFID tags. The RFID readers would be available in each and every computers of the moon shining company. One of the common practices is store common password in all the RFID tags to be used. Whenever the tag is read if the password matches the other processing is done else the tag would be neglected. Another method for authentication is to assign store all the RFID tags unique number in database, when the tag is detected the number is cross checked with the database for authentication. Despite the numerous benefits of RFID systems, it has few pitfalls and some common problems. The main security threat in the RFID system is the privacy security breaches. All the information is stored in the RFID tags. The RFID tags can also be read by others who have the RFID readers. The data can be read and modified in the tags by any one using the RFID readers (Moscatiell 2007). The RFID systems may be collapsed if several RFID tags are processed together. The RFID tags can communicate only to one RFID reader at instance. If two RFID readers are accessing a single tag, there may be a junk or collapse in the system. Other Radio signal interference can violate some of the properties of the RFID systems. Some other security threats also exist for the RFID systems. Device Based Authentication: In this device based authentication, some special secure devices are used to generate the passcodes. These passcodes are verified for authorizing the persons. One of the famous devices is RSA based secureId device. It uses public key encryption for generating the passcode. Each and every user will have a small hand held device to generate the passcodes. These passcode are verified using the security algorithms for authentication. This method of authentication is also suggested for moon mining company. Conclusion All the organization should follow the tight computer security principles and policies. The basic security features must be installed in each and every computer system in the organization. All the users must be educated about the computer security principles and various threat regarding. The company can also go for the third parties for implementation and maintenance of computer security in the organization. This would help the organization to have the better security. Dedicated teams must be available for performing and monitoring all the computer security activities. The organization will be in trouble if the computer security practices are not followed in the organization.

Case Study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Case Study - Research Paper Example County, Western Walsh County, Grand Forks, Pembina, Cass County and Williams among the counties and areas that have already received flood warnings from National Weather Service in 2010 (NWS Report, 2010). Indeed, the â€Å"heavy winter snowstorms in 1997 led to massive spring flooding along the Red River thereby resulting in migration and displacement of more than ten per cent (10%) citizens† in North Dakota. This not only hampered the economic growth because of a sudden seize in business activities but also disrupted the society at large. It is worthwhile to mention that the financial burden had to be absorbed by US government, which initiated the move to ensure settlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Dakota with the assistance of International welfare agencies, Non-governmental and Inter governmental organizations. Some of the examples of flood related agencies include Red Cross, The Salvation Army, FEMA, North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, National Weather Service and others etc (Edward, 2000). It must be highlighted that North Dakota has already observed severe storms and flooding in March 2009 followed by recent flooding in March and April 2010 that in turn have increased vulnerability of residents of this state. In fact, residents of affected counties and areas are left with no other option but to migrate to safer places. This paper is an attempt to highlight the impact of natural disasters specifically on Cass County of North Dakota state. The paper will then throw light over the argument that vulnerability seems to be decreasing in Cass County because the experts have measured risk of only 1.4 out 10 in this particular area. In addition, the paper will also discuss any possible economic effects of flooding on Cass County and draw conclusions after analyzing the latest available information and facts. Finally, the paper will end up with a prediction about Cass County’s vulnerability and its future that will be supported by

Financial Statement Analysis & Security Valuation Essay

Financial Statement Analysis & Security Valuation - Essay Example The Morrison plc relies on the viable, competitive benefits and the corporate picture or image regards for improvement the strategic requirements. The financial analysis will make use of Reformulation, ratio, valuation using AOP and FCF model (including sensitivity and WACC calculation) to help in creating a meaningful summary of information based on financial statement of the company. The exhibited big difference between cost of goods sold (CGS) to sales and selling, general and administrative expense to sales indicates that Morrison Plc classify their costs based on the major expense category differently. The unexpected dividend changes normally results to the signaling effects and wealth-transfer. The transfer of the wealth between the debt holders and the equity holders in the market depends on the unexpected changes in the market; hence, the wealth transfers in the market (Fabozzi & Grant 2000, 87). The signaling effect is the change in the stock prices in the market with the unexpected change in the dividend. The unexpected increase in dividend will normally signal the decrease in the price of the stock in the market. The dividend is a significant determinant of the operation in the market because it determines the future earnings of the managers in the market. The higher dividend implies that the managers are reducing the agency problems between them and th eir shareholders; hence, they will be able to involve the shareholders in the increase of stock price (MacMinn, 2005, p. 20). The dividend policy determines the payment of which the business will pay to its shareholders. It determines whether the business will be paying the fraction of the profit to the shareholders, or they will be keeping the whole profit in the business (Baker & Kolb 2009). The dividend policy determines the image the firm will be able to uphold in the market especially to the investors. The market

Strategic Management Critically evaluate the contribution the paper Literature review

Strategic Management Critically evaluate the contribution the paper makes to the knowledge base on strategic management in org - Literature review Example Research findings reveal that specific and challenging, but achievable, goals are firmly connected to task performance and motivation but only a few are studied concerning the value of goal setting to complex organisations. According to Bassett (1993), studies on goal setting have usually included small teams of workers or large organisations. One of the current studies on the applicability of goal setting theory to complex organisations, and which is the focus of this critical review, is Francesco Ceresia’s A Model of Goal-Dynamics in Technology-based Organisations. The author uses four major theoretical paradigms, namely, (1) goal setting, (2) management by objective practices (MbO), (3) workers’ motivation, and (4) organisational performance. The objective of the study is to create a systems dynamics (SD) model that will demonstrate the relationships between goal setting processes, product sales dynamics, workers’ motivation or commitment, and managing of the processes of goal setting. The researcher uses an imaginary Commercial Department (Alpha s.r.l.) to illustrate the reliability and validity of its causal loop diagram, or SD model in determining the correlation among the four theoretical paradigms aforementioned. ... A General Review of the Theoretical Perspectives in Ceresia’s Study In order to accurately, critically analyse Ceresia’s study, it is important to discuss first the different theoretical perspectives that have influenced the development of the study’s objectives and focus. These theories elaborate the fundamental principles that guide the product sales and organizational performance of Beta s.r.l. Since each of these perspectives embodies some relevant assumptions concerning the appropriate structure for systems dynamics, employee, and management, an idea of the principles underlying them is highly useful. Goal Setting for Task Performance Goal setting generate more improved outcomes than failure to set goals. Nevertheless, the explanations are multifaceted. Difficult goals and several controllers and intermediaries should be established before better task performance occurs (Katzell & Yankelovich 1975). However, performance is not a fixed term. Furthermore, perf ormance is not the goal in itself. Sooner or later, workers should be rewarded or recognised for efficient performance if the organisation wants them to stay dedicated to their task and to the organisation, as well (Sengupta 2006). Employee satisfaction is linked to dedication and commitment. If goals are difficult, the enabling controllers are existent, and the intermediaries are functioning, task performance will be efficient and productive on any component the goal identifies as vital, such as quality, quantity, and so on (Curtis 1994). Three fundamental forms of ‘specific’ outcome measures can be applied to assess task performance in the work setting. These three are used in Ceresia’s study (Meyers, Riccucci & Lurie 2001): (1) units of

Domestic Terrorism History Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domestic Terrorism History - Term Paper Example The terror acts carried out include violent demonstrations destroying property, using any weapon that harms life especially use of grenades, poisonous gases, machine guns and others. Domestic terrorism can have gross effects on a nation as those carrying out the attacks are living among the people they want to attack. A government should be aware of the possible risk of terrorism from within and take the necessary precautions. The American government is wary of domestic terrorism more than any nation. The government comprises of several states coming together to form one hierarchical ruler -ship. The issue of mixed race also increases the chances of occurrence of domestic terrorism as one race rises against the other (Hewitt, 2003). Different religions all demanding a voice exist .Human right activists are very assertive and can stage demonstrations to air their grievances or influence one group of people against the other. With all these possible risks of terror from within, the int elligence unit has a responsibility of ensuring that the people enjoy security and peace. Domestic terrorism therefore still poses a great threat to America’s security. In the recent past, several cases of domestic attacks appear in police reports. There was the case of a man who tried to harm people in a large building with poisonous gas. Luckily, police arrested before he could execute his mission. A different case in record was when a group of people broke windows of democratic offices expressing their dissatisfaction with the services they offered. These people demanded more from them. Reported also are several other cases of people plotting out attacks and making orders for materials for use in such attacks. Other Americans reported to oppose some military activities staged a protest. According to Cleto (1999), other reports of domestic violence are cases whereby scientists face accusations of engaging in bio-terrorism either intentionally or accidentally. In such cases, chemical toxins or harmful biological materials are released into the environment, harming human or the environment. These scientists compromise on the rules of bio-security and therefore leak material. In other cases, potential terrorists gain entry into laboratories and access hazardous material. According to the rules of bio-security, such material should be inaccessible. This type of terrorism can cause gross negative effects on the environment and on man. Scientists are educated on the procedures or ensuring responsibility. In addition, they should be more aware of the people gaining entry into research laboratories. The research laboratories are fitted with a tight security system to minimize entry of unauthorized personnel. Despite all these prevention measures, bioterrorism poses a risk of harm in America. After America managed to defeat al-Qaeda, a new form of domestic terrorism evolved. Members of this group have been attempting to buy Americans, train them, and supply th em with weapons. These Americans can therefore plot terror attacks in their own country with little suspicion. Non-patriotic Americans can agree to an agreement of this type and therefore pose a threat to society. A terror attack of this type is risky as it is not easy to identify such individuals. Another form of domestic terrorism occurs when the military are involved in extra-judicial killings. In this case, the military that is supposed to protect the people harms the people. Cases like these may occur