GORE TEX Essay Example for Free

GORE TEX Essay Gore-Tex is a multinational textile company. It was first founded by Bill and Vieve Gore as W.L. Gore Associates in 1958. The company started with serving the electronic products market. In 1969, Bob Gore independently discovered expanded polytetrafluoroethylene and introduced in the market as Gore-Tex. In today’s date Gore-Tex is more focused on electronics, fabrics, industrial and medical products. It is a company that keeps on sustain its business with innovative design and improving the quality and service by understanding customer’s need and requirement. It is one of the 200 largest privately held U.S. companies. It has also been awarded as 21st best place to work in overall â€Å"100 best companies to work for in United States† in 2013. As it is a multinational company it has revenue of $ 3 billion and overall 10,000 employees working for the company all over the world. (Gore, 2013) As we look into the company they function in a very unique way. They follow the inversion of traditional management principal through which there are no manager, bosses and fixed assigned job. They only have leaders that they have to follow as per their wish and contribute their knowledge and skills to make the project successful. At Gore-Tex people are free to come up with their own ideas and innovation. As there is no position hierarchy they are all fair to each other. They also encourage each other to grow in knowledge and responsibility as they believe growth within the staff member will help in the growth of a company. Gore-Tex Company once has hired outsider to work on project which had a negative impact on the company, they had to bring their existing staff member from other branch to help them improve. When associates are hired, they are guided by sponsor, growing understanding of opportunities and team’s goal. This all happens in an environment that combines freedom w ith cooperation and autonomy with synergy. (Gore, 2013) So, Building trust and organizing team work with the  employees is the one of the key success factor of the company. Leader at Gore-Tex â€Å"Leadership is a process whereby an individual influence’s a group of individual to achieve a common goal’’ (Northouse, 2013). At Gore-Tex Company there is fairness among all the leaders and associates. The leaders in Gore-Tex consult with other associates within the company before undertaking any action that would impact the company’s reputation. They have different types of leader some are leaders of project, some are team leader. When an individual survey was done at Gore 50% of the associates said they are leaders. Leaders at Gore are followers as well. They believe to be a leader you need to be a follower as well. Leaders can’t be leader without having any followers. As a leader when they come up with their innovative design they share with the associates and convince them to follow them. The leader can only influence people to follow them if they have earned respect with their knowledge and skills. The company believes that one should be able to convince other associates if they want to come up a leader. In other word they should earn their position as a leader. Being a leader in Gore-Tex is hard as compared to other organisation. In other companies they have their positional power as a leader. When it comes to Gore-Tex they should be able to convince their follower to maintain their position (Hamel, 2010). We can see there is a very high level of trust within the leader and associates in the organization. As today they may be the leader but tomorrow they will another leader. The leader of the team is also elected from the team member itself. The leader is not chosen to command the team members, but to act as the representative of the team and to create coordination among them to achieve goal. Leaders in Gore-Tex are seemed to be transformational leadership as they are energetic, enthusiastic and passionate and they seemed to be concerned about the growth of their team members. (Cherry, 2013) They are also emergent leaders as they are emerged with respect to the respond they get from group of employees that work in Gore-Tex. â€Å"When others perceive an individual as the most influential member of group or an organization, regardless of the individual’s title, the person is exhibiting emergent leadership†. (Northhouse, 2013) As we looked into the case study we can identify that company operates in a very distinctive way. There are no  managers or bosses in the company but only leaders and associates. When an independent survey was done 50 % of Gore’s associates said that they all are leaders. In Gore Individual employee become leader by convincing other associates about their ideas. They create their own idea and share among the associates and the people who believe in the idea will support and follow them. There are different types of leadership styles and theories like Transactional and Transformational. When we look into transactional leaders there are usually rewarding and punishment. Although the performance is based on the followers, both leaders and associates maintain their relation as give and take. When someone performs well then they will be rewarded and if they are not performing properly they will be punished. (Cherry, 2013) â€Å"Transformational leadership is the process whereby a person engages with others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and mora lity in the leaders and the followers†.(Downton, 1973) The concept of Transformational leader was introduced by James Burns, he explained Transformational leader are those who come up with their own creative ideas and innovation which will help to lead the top level management of an organization to achieve similar goal. It is also a process that changes, transforms people, concerns with emotion, values ethics, standard and long-term goal (Northouse, 2013). As in Gore-Tex there is no layer of positioning among the staff members. They have different team and the team are led by team members. They all show the characteristics of transformational leadership. They come up with their own ideas and strategy which they put among their associates and convince them to follow. Not only ideas, but the contribution or effort they put will help them to show the direction through which they can achieve goal. Comparing with the case study we can see that Gore-Tex influence there associates to come up with their idea and lead the group. Unlike in other company, associates in Gore-Tex do what is beneficial for the overall company. There is no pressure or fixed job assigned to the associates. So, they have to be leader when they come with their own innovative ideas. There is high level of trust among the employees within the company, which will help the leader to convince their follower. It is also said to be a leader you need to be a follower as well. We can also see when an associate come with a new idea, they share with everyone so that other employee interested in the idea will support and contribute. As a leader in Gore-Tex you should understand that their job is to unite team member and organize them to accomplish the objective. As we look into the Managerial Grid it helps us to give the idea about how leaders will help an organization to achieve its goal. This model is based on two factors that are â€Å"Concern for production† and â€Å"Concern for the people†. This theory was introduced by Blake Mouton, where they stated that leaders are likely to be successful if there is a balance between concern for people and the common objective. It can also be taken as a graphical plot where leader should evaluate the importance of task and the employees. As shown in the above figure leader’s behaviour are separated in two dimension, concern of the production fall in x-axis and concern of people falls in y-axis. It helps us to show the different leadership style followed by the leaders. The managerial grid also helps us to rate the leaders according to their orientation towards the production and the people. The leaders who values the importance of their team and is also focused in the personal growth of their team members while moving forward towards the objective belongs to the concern for people. Similarly, the leaders who are more focused towards achieving the concrete objective falls in concern for the production. There are different types of leadership style shown by the Managerial Grid. They are as follows: 1) Country club leadership (1,9) :- In this leadership style, leaders are usually focused in the maintaining their relationship with their people. They are more concerned about the creating a friendly and pleasant working environment. In this leadership style the outcome level of production in low. 2) Produce or perish leadership (9,1):- In this leadership style, leaders basically focused on their work to be completed. There are less bother about the employees need and their personal development. Their main target is to achieve the objective. In this style the production will be high and the concern for the people will be less. 3) Impoverished leadership (1,1):- In this type of leadership, leader is neither much interested in maintaining relationship with people nor concerned about the production. This type of leadership style will lead towards less production and low satisfactory level of their people. It is likely to result in failure or dissatisfaction. 4) Middle of the Road Leadership (5,5):- In this leadership style, leader tries to balance both the relation with employees and production. These kinds of leaders are average performers as they tries to maintain and compromise both the concerning factors. 5) Team leadership (9,9):- The leaders are highly focused on maintaining both the production and satisfaction level of the people. This type of leadership will lead towards high production and satisfaction level. These leaders are also successful leader as they balances the both concerning factors to the maximum level. This kind of leadership will helps organization to achieve its objective. When we look into the case study we can see that leaders in Gore-Tex are highly focused in maintaining the outcome of production and the relation of their fellow employees. They also have a strong relationship between the company and the associates. The member of the team is also focused towards reaching their target. The team leader will balance everything thing in a very high level. They will increase the production as well as help their people in the personal growth. As we know the (9,9) managerial grid explains that the employees understand the value of the organizations objective and is determined to achieve it. So, these characteristics can prove that, leaders in Gore-Tex belong to the (9,9) Team management where leaders are highly concern about the production and their people. Motivation at Gore-Tex â€Å"Getting the best from people, achieving results through individuals and teams, maintaining consistent high performance, inspiring oneself and other into action is known as motivation† (Adair, 2004) In Gore-Tex motivation has been another key factor for the success of their business. They motivate their staff members by encouraging them to work in their own interested areas. The associates are allowed to choose their own work field. If you work at Gore-Tex you are not paid for your work but for the contribution you have made towards the project. In Gore-Tex the associates will evaluate the contribution made by their colleagues and hence the earning is determined. This will lead to self-motivation where all the associates will be satisfied and there won’t be any discrimination. If Gore-Tex makes more profit than the company’s expectancy, it is divided among the leader and the associate though which can motivate staff member to be more focused towards their work. Another motivating factor at Gore-Tex is there is no restriction for anything. The information freely flows within the organization and anyone can directly contact anyone and get what they needed to be successful. (Hamel, 2010)Bill Gore was influenced by the theory of Douglas McGregor, â€Å"The Human Side of Enterprise†. It explained the theory X as the traditional view of direction and control and theory Y as the integration of individual and organizational goals. (Hamel, 2010) Douglas McGregor has developed the above theory X and theory Y based from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In this theory he explains that management should be aware of this given factors to motivate their employees. Both the theories have factors that belong to human behaviour, but if the management choose the theory Y rather than theory X then they will have a better result. (Adair,2004) This theory simply explains the human behaviour at their work place and towards their organization. Theory X:- Theory X explains that the human behaviour will try to ignore the work and will try to negotiate as much as possible. The reason for them to dislike or avoid the work is because they are controlled, pressurized, directed or used them to provide the adequate effort towards the organizational goal. As the employee is not willing to take the responsibility, a close supervision is required in form of supervisors and manager. When manager and supervisors take their action they mostly use directive style. In this way the employee will lose their working ambition. Theory Y:- This theory explains that supervision, punishment, control are not only the factors that will make people to add effort in their work to achieve the organizational goal. If people are committed to the work then they will be give their best without anyone supervision. It also says that average employee will not only accept the responsibility but they will look for more responsibilities. The people have their own style of creativity and understanding. Organization should be able to use people the creativity, skills as a means of resource and solve their problem. According to the case study, In Gore-Tex they are free to choose and work in their interested areas. There is no specific job assigned by their leader it’s only the contribution they make towards their work. They don’t have any form of close supervision to control them. There are only leaders and they help to guide them in moving forward towards their goal. The Gore-Tex follows theory Y as their motivating factor. People in Gore-Tex are highly motivated as there is independence in work and the environment within the company helps them to be responsible and to seek more responsibility. Groups, Teams and Team leaders at Gore-Tex â€Å"A group of individual who are united to achieve a common objective that is too large to achieve by single individual is known as team† (Boller, 2005). Team work is required in each and every business organisation. In Gore-Tex Team work Play a vital role in functioning and operating of the business. The team member in Gore-Tex plans own way of functioning, objectives and plans to achieve the goal. The team members are the ones who elect their leader. Although leaders will help them to facilitate the achievement of objective, the team member will have the knowledge of the product they are working on. In Gore- the team members will decide the earning of the colleagues according to the contribution they have made towards the project. If an employee is interested in a project and feels like they can contribute, the team members will discuss the commitment and decide their involvement in new team. The team members directly communicate between themselves easily and are aware of the changes happening in the company. Gore-Tex is a team based, Flat Lattice Organization where all team members are equally responsible to help each other to gain the objective. (Gore, 2013) Team work has always played a vital role in each and every organization. Team works helps the work to be more efficient, convenient, faster and easier. It also helps the work level to be divided among all the team members so that an individual alone will not be pressurized. An effective team work will lead an organization towards its goal. Now-a-days each and every organization is focused in creating effective teams. Teams are usually build with respect, trust, understanding and similar goals. A team can only be effective if each and every member of team contributes equally. There are different types of team according to its nature. They are as follows: 1) Functional teams 2) Cross functional teams 3) Self-directed teams 1) Functional teams: These are the teams that work on particular department with the vertical layers. These are the team that has a manager and his fellowship of a particular sector. For example, a team working on a marketing sector consists of a manager and the staff members who will be focused in marketing department only. Basically it is a layer of staff members from different hierarchy functioning together in particular sector to achieve a goal. 2) Cross-functional teams: The expertise of different department but will come and work together as a team to achieve the organization goal are known as Cross-functional team. The cross functional team are usually temporary. They have specialized skills and experience. They are bought together to achieve or complete a particular task. 3) Self-directed teams:- These are the team that works without any supervision. These team take relative action themselves to solve day to day problems. These team members also have access to information that helps them in making decision, operating day to day function and improving their operation. When we compare the different types of team with the case study we can see that the teams in Gore-Tex fall into self-managing team. They team member in Gore-Tex are self-responsible for the functioning and operating of the business. They don’t need any supervision and they are also allowed to access to all the information. The teams in Gore-Tex are also independent as they have greater flexibility. In Gore-Tex the team member has better response for their work done. It will help to increase more commitment towards their work and organization. We can also see that associates in Gore-Tex are self-motivated and they don’t depend on anyone. Recommendation Conclusion:- From the above study we can see that in Gore-Tex leaders are using transformational leadership style to lead their people. They have been successful in motivating their staff to meet the company’s objective. Although we can see that in Gore-Tex they don’t assign any particular work for their associates the company is still doing well. They believe there should be trust and understanding between the team members. The leader leading the team should be admired by their followers. The leaders also influence and help their associate in their personal development. The team members are self-motivated and help each other to function properly. We can also acknowledge that Gore-Tex has a very distinctive working environment. Although they are successful in running their business they should still maintain some rules and regulation within the organization. They should also create a hierarchy level because money is not only the motivating factor. Employee can get motivated by their job position. As there is no seniority level in the company and if they hire a new staff member they might have misunderstanding which may lead to divided teams within the organization. As Gore-Tex is multinational company and they have branches in different part of the world. So, they should adjust their company’s policy putting diversity factors in account. They should at least have a department head that should be responsible for running day- to day operation. Gore-Tex doesn’t assign any task to their associates which may lead into missing of the task that was supposed to be competed. As in Gore-Tex people get paid according to amount of contribution they make towards their work. This sometime may be demotivating as the associates may not be satisfied with the  money they received for they contribution they made to complete the task. In overall, Gore-Tex should have a layer of hierarchy. They should also maintain some regulation which should be followed by all the associates. They should also introduce some professionalism such as formal communication in their organization. They use transformational leadership which might not work in each and every situation. As they are free to choose their task, associates who doesn’t like challenges will always choose easier task. So, the task level should be equally divided. References:- Gore-Tex company information available at www. gore.co.uk Gore-Tex leadership Style available at www.gore.co.uk Peter G. Northouse, (2013) leadership: theory and practice. 6th edition, California; Sega publications Neil Thomas Ed, (2004) The John Adair handbook of Management and leadership. Thorogood Garry Hamel, (2010) Innovation Democracy: W.L Gore’s original management model available at www.managementexchange.com Kendra Cherry,(2013) transformational leaders available at www.psychology.about.com Leadership image available at www.google.co.uk

Global Geographical Features Essay Example for Free

Global Geographical Features Essay Throughout global history civilizations have been developed and destroyed. This is due to geographical features surrounding the nation or region. The geographical features can benefit a region, but it may also be the source of a catastrophic event. These geographical features include mountains, oceans, and volcanoes and so on. A geographical feature that has had both positive and negative effects on a nation or region would be ocean. An ocean like the Pacific Ocean can be able to provide a region with seafood to help a civilization developed with a surplus of food. An ocean could also allow a region to create a trade route between other regions, this can be proven true because the Atlantic Ocean was used throughout history as a major trade route from Europe to North America. A negative effect of an ocean would be that a nation can be more susceptible to tsunamis. For example eastern Asia could be more easily open to this because there are a lot of archipelagoes that are surrounded by a lot of water. This would destroy all of the land close to the ocean, which would leave you without shelter and crops. This would eventually lead to starvation which may cause people to migrate over to a safer place. Geographical features have been part of history, and have made the world what it is today. These features could even provide protection for a civilization that is trying to develop. This is way before a civilization actually settles they make sure of how they will use their new surroundings.

Application Of Molecular Genetics To Crops

Application Of Molecular Genetics To Crops The science of biotechnology is likely to be to the first half of the 21st century what the computer was to the second half of the 20th century. Its implications are profound, its potential benefits massive. Britain is well placed to keep our lead in Europe. I want to make it clear: we dont intend to let our leadership fall behind and are prepared to back that commitment with investment. are the words of Tony Blair at the European Bioscience Conference (November 2000) (cited in Francesca Tencalla, 2005), which is the best way to present my positive answer towards the question. The molecular genetics positively impacts the plant breeding paradigm. Introduction: Centuries ago, the science was unknown to the farmers but the present agricultural scenario is changing its traditional frame of conventional breeding to the most recent and modernized frame of molecular plant breeding. Today, the world agriculture is facing great challenges on four fronts visually, Production, Population, Pollution, and Politics. Also, the change in climate (global warming) is the next major challenge for the crops, as unlike animals they can not move from one place to another. The prospects for feeding humanity as we are in 21st century often are portrayed in a daunting light to keep pace with the population growth. As we are told that worlds population has been growing faster than crop production, since the early 1980s and is expected to be 8 billion in next or two decades. At this point, we need to think in-depth about the opportunities to meet these challenges and to improve the crop production at a subsequent rate. Are the agronomic practices merely going to pl ay the key role or the refined crop protection measures will be the major part of increase in crop production, at this junction of scientific development? No other than, molecular genetics and the application of molecular techniques to enhance the efficiency of plant breeding, will play the crucial role in crop improvement, is a promise to the next generations (Ben Miflin, 2000). At the turn of the 20th century, the discovery of principles of natural selection and hybridization by Darwin and the rediscovery of Mendelian genetics served as the basis for plant breeding and genetics. In the same way, tremendous increase in crop yields in the 21st century has been powered by the development of plant biotechnology, -omics era of molecular biology, and molecular genetics. The recent techniques of molecular genetics are emerging continuously to overcome the demand of growing population (Moose et al., 2008). The chief objective of molecular genetics is to enhance crop production and crop produce usefulness by genetic modification of crop plants; this is precisely what plant breeding has been doing from the day prehistoric man began to domesticate the orphan (wild) species. The molecular genetic techniques aim to give traditional breeding a technological boost, says Jorge Dubcovsky, a wheat molecular geneticist from University of California, whose group is presently working on Marker Assisted selection in wheat for 23 separate traits, conferring resistance to insect-pests, fungi and viruses. His enthusiastic claim is that this research could offer the wings for crop improvement to plant breeding what jet engine has brought to air travel. Basic Terms: Plant Breeding is an art as well as science of improving genetic makeup of plants in relation to their economic use (Paul et al., 2006; Singh B.D., 2003). Molecular genetics refers to the study of molecules, our genes, their structure and functions at molecular level. Also studies the transfer of genes from one generation to the next. It employs the principles of genetics and methods of molecular biology (NCBI, Wikipedia). Recently, Crop improvement is the science of value addition to the existing crop species by using the technique, which marries conventional plant breeding with molecular biology, to get theatrical gains in yield (Austin R.B., 1986). Hundred years of Genetics: (From domestication to transformation) Plant breeding deals with the aspect of crop production. In early days, plant breeding was mainly based on skills and the abilities of the breeder involved in the programme. But as the genetic engineering and the tools of molecular genetics were elucidated, breeding methods and programmes were designed in their light. Plant breeding began with the domestication, when primitive men cultivated the first crop for the benefit of mankind. Thereafter, the process of exploiting the crops for improvement of their commercial values has a long history in itself. As early as 700 B.C., Babylonians and Assyrians performed artificial pollination in date palm. Then, the first artificial hybrid named Fairchilds mule produced by Thomas Fairchild by crossing carnation with sweet William in 1717. These provide the clear evidence of plant breeding exist as an art before the discovery of Mendelian genetics. In 1900, the rediscovery of Gregor John Mendels paper provided the foundation for the vast knowledge of genetics for crop improvement. A noteworthy development resulted from the discoveries of G.H. Shull on inbreeding in maize (Zea mays), led to the production of hybrid varieties in maize, sorghum, cotton, rice and several other crops. Green Revolution, one of the greatest achievements in the modern plant breeding has been the introduction of dwarf gene in cereals, particularly in wheat (Triticum aestivum) and rice (Oryza sativa), (Borlaug, 2000). In 1960, Allozymes the first biochemical genetic markers were on hand. The next decade provided new tools to geneticists of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and Southern blotting. Taq polymerase was found in 1980 and shortly Polymerase chain reaction was developed, which is now routinely used in plant breeding research. The recently developed technology is single nucleotide polymorphic markers based on high density DNA arrays, a technique known as Gene Chips (Rodomiro Ortiz, 1998). In 1980, the era of biotechnology began with the successful production of the first transgenic plant using Agrobacterium (Moose and Mumm, 2008). The methods of crop improvement have changed dramatically through last 25 years. The continued exploitation of biotechnology and the integration of genomic tools in crop improvement widen the plant breeding research. The novel genetic approaches like next generation sequencing (NGS), high-throughput marker genotyping, advanced-backcross QTL analysis, introgression libraries (ILs), multi-parent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) population, can be harnessed to recognize the genetic variations within the crop species and between cultivated and wild species (Varshney et al., 2009). The seeds of molecular genetics are immensely sprouting and sooner will grow into a self-sufficient fruitful plant to alleviate the world hunger. Application and Impact of Molecular Genetics on Crop Improvement: The Father of Green Revolution, Dr. Norman Borlaug said in an interview: Biotechnology helps farmers produce higher yields on less land. This is a very environmentally favorable benefit. He justified his statement by giving the fact that the worlds grain output in 1950 was 692 million tonnes. After forty years or so later, the worlds farmers sown the crops in about the same acreage of land but they harvested 1.9 billion tonnes that counts the 170% increase in global production. To get this increased production in 1999 using the same conventional breeding, farmers would have needed an additional land of 1.8 billion hectares, instead of using 600 million as used in 1950 (www.actionbioscience.org). Opportunely, plant breeding research is at an arena where there are remarkable advances being made at molecular levels and these endow with opportunities to augment the molecular technologies available for crop improvement as outlined below. Distant hybridization: With the advancement of molecular genetics, it is now possible to transfer genes between distantly related plants. Now genes can be transferred interspecific and intergeneric. Recombinant DNA technology can be amplified to transfer the desirable genes from lower level organisms. For example, Progenies derived from rice (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica) plants pollinated by Oenothera biennis exhibited numerous morphological and developmental traits. Results from amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis showed that several rice lines contained extensive genetic variations, which included disappearance of rice parental bands and/or appearance of novel bands (Chu Xiu Chang et al., 2007). Recombinant DNA technology: There are two methods for crop improvement using r-DNA technology namely, direct and indirect methods. The direct method involves the introduction of novel gene(s) to crops by transformation outside the constraints of sexual crossing. Whereas, the indirect method involves the improving crops by the development of molecular markers (Miflin, CIHEAM). These methods have their specific significance in plant breeding so, are discussed as under. Molecular Markers for crop improvement: Molecular marker refers to the easily detectable marker linked to a desirable trait. The plant breeding analyses like, early generation selection, enrichment of complex F1 generation, choice of donor parent in backcrossing, recovery of recurrent parent genotype in backcrossing, linkage block analysis and selection, exploit molecular markers as a valuable tool. Application of molecular markers in plant breeding includes Germplasm characterization/fingerprinting, determining seed purity, systematic sampling of Germplasm, and phylogenetic analysis. Molecular markers played a key role in replacing bioassays (Varshney et al., 2008). Crop plants exhibit 20-50,000 genes, out of which only few are of our interest in crop improvement. Conventional linkage maps are based on these genes of interest which have distinct morphological effect. But there are limitations in such maps as they cannot map out the genes governing quantitative traits, are time consuming and tedious. Therefore, emphases were made to focus on molecular markers for linkage mapping. There are many types of molecular markers visually isozymes, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), cleaved amplified polymorphic sites (CAPS), simple sequence repeats (SSR), amplified length fragment polymorphism (AFLP), and the latest includes single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and single feature polymorphism (SFP), (Bertrand C. Y Collard and David J Mackill, 2008; Varshney et al., 2006). Out of these, SSR or microsatellite is the most widely used marker in major cereal crops (Bertrand C. Y Collard and David J Mackill, 2008). The SNP and DArT (diversity array technology) markers are other high-throughput markers, which can be used to prepare the whole genome map even without the availability of sequence data for the crop (Varshney et al., 2006). In recent years, noteworthy and stimulating progress has been made in marker assisted technology and the development of markers linked to the gene of interest. Some important achievements are given in table 1. Molecular Assisted Selection (MAS): MAS (figure 1) speed ups and makes conventional breeding easier as herein, linked molecular markers are used for indirect selection of desirable traits that were difficult to select earlier in seedling stage (Anushri Varshney et al., 2004). Jonathan et al., 1998, while performing their research on Musa found that due to its triploid nature, the highly relevant generation and the precise linkage maps is not usually attainable. So, to generate linkage map, they first generated traditional linkage map based on diploid relatives and extrapolation to the polyploidy crop and then did polyploidy mapping based on single dose markers in population derived from crosses between tetraploid and diploid genotypes. Thus, it became possible to generate the linkage map of current Musa, which is an allotetraploid. Bioinformatics: Bioinformatics is often overlooked side of molecular marker strategies. As we know that molecular technologies produces a large number of data, with great chances of error introduction during handling and interpretation. The correct accreditation of data is necessary for getting the precise results after a long run of experiments, so for maintaining that huge amount of data bioinformatics enabled such software that provide accurate results and are available through World Wide Web (Simmonds et al., 1999). Quantitative trait Loci (QTL): The most interesting use of molecular markers is the efficient selection of traits. They also made it possible to select polygenic traits controlled by QTLs, by the use of molecular markers like RFLPs and isozymes. Interesting work has been done on QTL by Tanksley et al., on tomatoes, Stuber et al., on maize, McCough and Doerge on rice and Bradshaw et al. on potatoes. The future research can be made in improving the disease resistance in cereal crops (Simmonds et al., 1999). Development of nodules in cereals: Leguminous plants have root nodules that contain nitrogen fixing bacteria known as Rhizobium. These bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen in root nodules in the form of nitrates. If this gene can be transferred or active root nodules can be developed in cereal crops like wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, pearl millet, barley etc. thus, the reliability of crops on chemical fertilizers would be reduced leading to a significant reduction in cost of production as well as environmental pollution. The introduction of symbiotic biological nitrogen fixation into the major non-legume crops of the world would be one of the most significant contributions that biotechnology could make to agricultural sustainability. With this objective, Edward C. Cocking et al., studied the interaction of rhizobia with the root systems of cereals. They have already confirmed that some naturally occurring rhizobia, such as Parasponia species those isolated from root nodules of non-legume and Aeschynomene from stem nodules of tropical legume species, are able to enter the root systems of maize, rice and wheat by crack entry means the part of plant where lateral roots emerge through the root cortex, so it results to the both inter and intra cellular penetration of rhizobiain, particularly in the cortex of emerging lateral roots. In the recent study, they have interacted oxygen tolerant Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571 (kindly donated by Dr J K Ladha, IRRI) isolated from stem nodules of the tropical legume Sesbania rostrata with the root systems of rice and wheat. We have found that intracellular invasion of cells of the cortex of roots of both rice (IR42 and Lemont) and wheat (Wembley) results in plants that are active in nitrogen fixation as determined using acetylene reduction assays (Edward C. Cocking et al.). The Plants for future: (Development of transgenic plants) Transgenic plant is the product of genetic engineering, with artificially inserted foreign gene (Adina Breiman and Esra Galun, 1997). The most important tool in plant biotechnology is the transgenic plant production. This technique requires the study of chromosome at molecular levels, genome sequencing and the identification, selection and then insertion of gene of interest form same species in modified form, or related wild species, unrelated species, genus, across kingdom or from microbes (bacteria, virus, fungi). The successful commercialization of first transgenic crop in 1996 is the remarkable achievement in plant breeding and biotechnology. In 2008, globally both the number of countries (25 countries are GM growers) as well as the number of farmers (13.3 million farmers) growing transgenic crops in 125 million hectares of land, has increased significantly (Table-2), (ISAAA web pages). This technology boosts yields, reduce pesticide usage, increase fertilizer efficiency, enhance disease, drought, pest, resistances to various crops. Recently, Sugarbeet RR herbicide resistant variety is grown in USA, gives significant positive results. Another milestone of transgenic breeding is GOLDEN RICE: genetically modified rice that contain bets carotene which can produce vitamin-A, once consumed (Potrykus, 2001). The production of golden rice presents a second green revolution, where certain countries will become the sole producers of major money making crop. It is believed that this would be the most dominating science in future that will play the most crucial role in the crop improvement and can satisfy the growing world hunger. Future prospects: We already have genetically modified crops for various interesting traits, which are developed so far generally involve only the addition of a single gene. Looking to the future, its unclear whether complex traits, which are thought to involve multiple genes, will be amenable to manipulation through genetic engineering (Jonathan Knight, 2003). All these techniques are costly and the research in public sectors is less due to lack of funds. There is the thrust of evolving the more precise, accelerating and cheaper molecular methods that can revolutionized the world agriculture. DNA chip technology and user friendly marker system are the evolving trends in future. For sustainable and self sufficient agriculture, we need carry out continuous efforts in positive direction. There should be the willingness to accept the research and research products globally, politically and socially as well. Then only we can expect second green revolution. Conclusion: We are at the stage of broad and rapid era of science development in all the fields. Time is ripe for the second green revolution which would not only concentrate on increased productivity but also on value added traits to reduce cost of production, pollution dangers and improved quality. Rapid development of plant biotechnology, particularly molecular genetics will serve as the basis for the second green revolution. To speed up the production process economically, to fulfill the aspirations of huge populace, to achieve diversification and adding value to the primary produce so as to make agriculture enterprise farmers as well as environmental friendly. Advanced technologies are expected to materialize many of our expectations in the 21st century. On the other hand, if we arrogantly enjoy the past but ignore the new challenges, or underestimates our capabilities and feel afraid of innovations like GM crops, it is possible that we miss the good opportunities, as said in this Chinese p roverb, Ninety miles is only the half way of a hundred-mile journey. Confucius once said: The passage of time is just like the flow of the river, which goes on day and night, forever. The past glories are the momentum for our new journey; the journey of science, journey of development, journey towards the state of self reliance, while the lessons from the past may teach us to be smarter. We need molecular genetics to make historic contributions to the rejuvenation of the plant breeding and thus the agriculture.

Winning one for ourselves :: essays research papers

Winning One for Ourselves   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Just like the several years before, soccer season started on an early July day during what seemed to be the hottest time of the day. Only something was different this year, the moral was a little low, and everyone noticed it. The previous season, the supposed golden team that the coach had put so much faith into, had failed; losing in the first round of sectional play. The low moral was most evident in the coaching staff, especially in the head coach.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Head coach Larry Sahm was particularly distraught. He has never coached a High School team that went on to win sectionals and he truly believed that the last season would be his year. As the practices went on, it became more and more obvious that he really didn’t expect much from his team this year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The practices dragged on through the dead heat of the summer. The team worked hard, eventhough we were well aware that not even their own coach had faith in them. This lack of faith sucked every bit of fun out of that practices that always seemed to be there in the years before. The players were losing confidence in themselves and each other. The tension within the team was thick. Everyone was becoming frustrated and no one wanted to be there.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Then to add to the dismay of the team, Coach Sahm called a small meeting with all the seniors shortly before the first game. â€Å"Everyone knows that you guys are nowhere near as good as the team we had last year,† said Sahm, â€Å"but you all can do me a favor and help prepare the younger kids for next year.† This made the situation much worse. Not only did our coach have no faith in us, but he also thought that we were only good for giving his younger players experience so he can have a successful season next year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the attitude we had, I was not surpised that we had a very dismal regular season. To say we had a losing season doesn’t even do it justice. We were simply horrible. Everything we tried to do went wrong, and the worst part was that nobody cared. No one expected much out of us, so when they didn’t get anything they weren’t surprised.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We just weren’t the team we were last year. All of our hopes and dreams had left with the graduating seniors of last year.

What Dogs Need :: Papers

What Dogs Need People and animals need the same things to be happy and healthy. Just like you, your dog needs food, water, shelter, grooming, health care, and love. Puppy eating.Below shows things, which help dogs to stay happy and healthy! Water For Your Dog ------------------ Your dog needs at least 2 dishes filled with fresh water everyday. One should be in the house and the other should be outside. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The water should always be kept clean, cool and fresh. If the water gets dirty or warm during the day, your dog would be very happy to get a cool refill. A dog in his doghouse.Did you know that your dog's water would freeze in the winter when it is very cold? It will also get too warm in hot, summer weather. If the water is too warm, it cannot cool your dog's body. Here are some special tips to help keep your dog safe and happy in hot and cold weather. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Shelter For Your Dog -------------------- People and animals need shelter from the harsh elements of weather. Wild animals go to their den or cave to escape the hot sun and cold rain. A shelter provides safety from other animals that might cause them harm. A shelter is a safe area to call home. A dog without a fenced yard or enclosed patio is a dog that is not safe. Dogs that are allowed to run loose will eventually become lost, stolen or hit by a car. This is not a safe situation for your dog and it is against the law. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In many families, dogs do live outside. That's okay as long as they have shelter outside from the bad weather. A special doghouse is good; access to a garage is fine, as long as there are no dangers for the dog to find. A bed inside of the doghouse or garage would be as welcome as flowers in springtime. ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Garlic: A Taste for Health :: Botany

Garlic: A Taste for Health Culinary garlic is one of the most medically studied herbs today. it has been cultivated since the Neolithic period around 10,000 BC. This bulb has flavored the food of hunters and nomads after the discovery of its intensively robust flavor. The summarians (2600 BC-2100 BC) were actively practicing the healing powers of garlic, and some believe the summarians to have introduced garlic to China, from where it later spread to Japan and Korea. However, some taxonomists believe garlic to be endemic to China. Records have indicated that the medicinal respect for garlic was not fully appreciated in regions of India, China, as well as in southern Europe. The summarians had been using garlic for some time before others caught on to its medicinal success. Many cultures have remedied various ailments with this potent herb. The Egyptians, documented on a papyrus dating back to 1500 BC, prescribed garlic for 22 diseases (1). And according to the 5th century Greek historian Herodotus, the Egyptians had carved an inscription into the great pyramid of King Khufu (Cheops) detailing the amount of garlic, onions, and radishes eaten by the slaves during the twenty-year building period. Egyptians slaves caused the first ever-recorded strike when a ration of garlic did not turn up on time (1). The slaves ate garlic to increase their stamina and to maintain their over-all health. Cloves of garlic have been found in the tomb of Tutankamen who ruled Egypt until 1338 BC. And the Egyptians were not the only ones to worship garlic. According to Theophrastus, ancient Greeks offered garlic on piles of stones at crossroads as a supper for Hecate, god of the underworld. The Bible has even mentioned the Israelites, delivered out of bondage by Moses, complaining of their food and wishing for the same things they had been eating while they were slaves: "Oh, that we had some of the delicious fish we enjoyed so much in Egypt, and the wonderful cucumbers and melons, leeks, onions, and garlic!" (Numbers 11:5, The Living Bible; 2). This pungent herb is also mentioned in the literature of other great kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (2). Garlic can be found medically prescribed in ancient texts as far back as 1550 BC (1). Garlic was always an ingredient in potions thought to cure external and internal disease (1). The ancient Greeks and Romans used the herb from anything like repelling scorpions to curing bladder infections.

HCS/466 Facility Planning I Essay

Strategic Planning is an essential first step in the development of a result-base accountability system,† (Schilder, 2013, p. 1). In strategic planning an organization must know their goals, missions, and how to reach them. Health care facilities are in huge demand for the elderly and for people who lives in low-income communities. A person who receives good quality health care services can prevent the spread of contagious diseases. This paper will describe the need of the community, population it is serving, and a brief description of the facility. Franklin C. Fetter Family Health Center (FCFFHC) is an outpatient clinic and has served the communities, and the surrounded rural areas since 1975. This health center is greatly needed in the rural and low-income communities because the people could not get to their local hospital. Therefore, the people in those communities were not getting the necessary medical health care needed. Dr. Franklin C. Fetter, the Dean of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, and founder, provided culturally sensitive comprehensive primary health and home care services to children, and adults as part of a demonstration grant under the Medical University in 1968, (FCFFHC, 2013). The center offers support to the community by sponsoring health awareness campaigns, health fairs, and through their media. The most important need that the elderly community needed was a Home Health Department (FCFFHC, 2013). This department provides services to home bound people who cannot travel to see the doctor. Home Health have a staff of one medical doctor, physician assistant, and a nurse practitioner. According to Roberta Porterfield RN, and Home Health Manger, â€Å"The object of home health staff is to assist patients in need of intermittent skilled nursing care to arrive at a stable level of health through treatment, while teaching and involving the patients’ family,† (Porterfield, FCFFHC, 2013, p.1). The medical facility operates eight primary health sites for the residents of Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, and Dorchester counties. The centers hours are Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. â€Å"Franklin C. Fetter mission is to provide quality, affordable, culturally sensitive comprehensive primary health and home care services to families throughout their community and surrounding areas,† (FCFFHC, 2013, p. 1). , ‘ Franklin C. Fetter Center’s services includes: (FCFFHC, 2013) Prenatal Care Infant and Adolescent Care Adult and Geriatric Care Behavioral Health Breast Examinations Cervical Cancer Screening Skilled Home Health Service Prenatal Care (OB/GYN) EPSDT/ Immunizations Family Planning The health center offers many more services to the local community (FCFFHC, 2013). The population that FCFFHC provide medical care services to is 19,325 of rural and low-income people. The Health Center serve people of all ages from newborns to adults. Patients with insurance are require to present their insurance card before he or she receive services. Patients are expect to pay the co-payment or co-insurance. Patients without insurance at 100% of poverty level are require to pay a minimum of $30. Patients who pay for his or her services are require to pay, according to the sliding fee of $40, $50, or $60. The Health Centers’ sources of revenue are generated from: Fees-for-Service, Medicare, Medicaid, Private Insurance, and Grant Funds (FCFFHC, 2013). The newest facility was built in the spring, 2013. The center is in Yonges Island, South Carolina. This is a rural and remote area with mostly elderly people with little or no income. A health care facility existed where the new site is but had to be torn down because it needed severe repair. It is a one story brick building. The clinic has a patient registration that is adjacent to the Medical Records department. The Admitting front desk consisted of two receptions who check in the patient to see his or her provider. The appointment clerk is next to the Front desk. The appointment receptionists are the people who schedules everyone appointment and cancel a no show appointment. The Pharmacy is behind the Front desk personnel. The pharmacy provides the patients with low cost medicine based on a sliding fee. The nursing department and the physician’s office are behind the â€Å"DO NOT ENTER† sign. The health clinic have a total of seven adult examination room, and four pediatric rooms. The lab is behind the nursing station in the back of the facility. The medical center have a staff of 35 people. Building new health care centers in low income and rural areas will have a huge influence on families in the community. Getting good quality health care services are essential to the everyday living. It would make the people in the community feel as if someone cares about him or her. When a community is left with nowhere to get any medical services, they tend to deal with whatever health issues he or she may have. Not possessing access to medical care can sometimes lead to terminal illness and maybe death. Families would be able get the medical services that he or she needed for his or her family. References Franklin C. Fetter Family Health Care Center, Inc.: Home Retrieved from http://www.fcfetter.com Schilder, D. (2013). Strategic Planning Process; Steps in Developing Strategic Planning. Retrieved from http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/strategic-planning-proc..