Tobacco Horror Show Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tobacco Horror Show - Essay Example Throughout the article, an attempt has been made to conclude which of the means, literal or visual, is most effective when it comes to delivering ‘the right’ information. The question is, what is more important, the tobacco companies business that will be affected or public health that is always put on the line due to their tobacco production and products? The answer is simple and in my opinion, a smoker needs to be conveyed a message, in a way, that it actually delivers neutralized related aspects such as bad lungs, cancerous cause, short breath, addiction and eventually a shorter span of life. Moreover, a literal message might not have the same effect as compared to the one that is visually displayed as it can be adequate for the smoker to develop the right understanding. The motive should be to educate smokers and to help them overcome the smoking practice or addiction. Displaying images that depict the internal and overall destruction of a human body will make a smok er think twice. Works cited Fish, Stanley. "The Tobacco Horror Show."Â  New York Times. 14 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. . The Age of the Superfluous Worker America’s survival in the global economy today is questioned as the unemployment ratio has consistently climbed, as observed. As the situation worsens the estimated jobless ratio has now hiked to almost 15% of the overall work force. These statistics include the type that has now given up their search for work, the superfluous workers. These issues, when combined, severely contribute to the ever-increasing surplus pool. If present-day capitalism continues to eliminate a greater number of jobs as compared to what it creates, soon, along with the addition to surplus labor, majority of workers will eventually turn into superfluous workers. If a considerable proportion is continued to be expelled from within the American work force, soon America will transform into a disturbed society. This age has rightly been named ‘ the age of the superfluous worker’. Where there are less job opportunities for every American citizen, most of them transform into superfluous workers. According to my point of view, government needs to focus more on creating jobs and providing earning opportunities to its own people. If unemployment continues to climb heights, the youth is estimated to reach the ‘surplus state’ at an early age. If out-sourcing offices to lower waged countries continues, an ongoing addition to superfluous workers is never likely to halt. Other than the government concentrating more on creating jobs, employers also need to play a considerable role. They need to understand the fact that if they continue to outsource businesses, soon a time will come when the nation’s youth will be mentally challenged. Works cited Fish, Stanley. "The Age of the Superfluous Worker."Â  The New York Times. 14 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. . Moving Beyond Civil Rights Initially, civil rights mad e America a united and fair nation yet in the present, civil rights have failed to bring about any changes in the lives of many minorities, women and the unemployed. Due to the initial successful implementation of civil rights laws, Americans perceive every issue of social injustice

Is a new Walmart a good thing for a community Essay

Is a new Walmart a good thing for a community - Essay Example on, the company serves towards the betterment of the community by providing jobs and ensuring environmental sustainability in its operational processes. To ensure environmental sustainability, Walmart has abandoned the sale of deodorant sticks in cardboard boxes and made use of the concept of greener buildings to establish its stores. The company also engages in Corporate Social Responsibility on a regular basis (Goetz, n.d.). Despite such advantages to the community, Walmart is engaged in a number of problems such as exploitation of labor, which is treated as a negative attribute from the perspective of the community. Moreover, in Walmart, there exists discrimination of worker in terms of gender and age. The company has an increased level of unemployment leading to higher rates of poverty and lower welfare spending. Furthermore, Walmart erodes business centers situated in downtown, which can be considered another factor behind the neglect of the community. Despite promoting environmental sustainability, Walmart itself is engaged in increased environmental degradation, against the communal perspective. In South America, fish farms located across the nation and have led to a rise in obesity rates by 2.4% points for which Walmart is responsible (Goetz, n.d.). Considering the advantages of the company and its comparison with the disadvantages, it can be identified that the company has adopted different measu res based on which the company is able to perform operations with environment consciousness and sustainability. In this context, Walmart can be considered as a good thing for the

Colonisation of Perennial Ryegrass by Endophytic Bacteria

Colonisation of Perennial Ryegrass by Endophytic Bacteria 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Preparation of culture media Nutrient agar (NA) – NA (Oxoid, Basingstoke, Hants, UK) was prepared by weighing out 28g of nutrient agar powder and dissolving in 1L of deionised H2O, by warming on a hot plate. This was autoclaved at 121 °C and 15psi for 15 minutes. The medium was then aseptically dispensed in sterile petri dishes and allowed to solidify. Sucrose glutamate agar (SGA) – SGA was prepared by dissolving 20g of sucrose, 2g of glutamate, 15g of agar bacteriological (Agar No.1) and 1g of K2HPO4 in 1L deionised H2O. This was autoclaved as outline above. The medium was allowed to cool to approximately 60 °C at which 5ml of MgSO4 and 1ml of kanamycin was aseptically added to the medium using a Nalgene Syringe Filters. The medium was then poured into petri dishes and allowed to solidify. Nematode growth medium (NGM) – 1L of NGM was prepared by dissolving 3g of NaCl, 17g of agar, and 2.5g of peptone in 975ml of deionised H2O in a Duran bottle. This was autoclaved as outline above. The media was allowed to cool for 15 minutes at which 1ml of 1M CaCl2, 1ml of 5mg/ml cholesterol in ethanol, 1ml of 1M MgSO4 and 25ml of 1M KPO4 buffer were added aseptically in a Duran bottle. The bottle was swirled to ensure the medium was mixed properly and then aseptically dispensed in sterile petri dishes and allowed to solidify. 2.2. Culturing entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) 9cm filter paper was placed in sterile petri dish and 1ml of stock nematode suspension was pipetted onto filter paper. Five live Galleria mellonella (wax moths) were placed onto petri dish and sealed with parafilm (Figure 1). The dish were kept in a dark and observed daily for the insect mortality. Once the G. mellonella were dead they were transferred to white traps. Figure 1 Galleria (wax moth) baiting technique. 2.3. Preparation of white traps White traps (White, 1927) were prepared which the lid of a small petri dish (35x10mm) was placed on top of the base and placed in a clear tub, this was then covered with filter paper. 30ml of water was added to the plastic container just to allow absorbing through the filter paper. The dead G. mellonella was placed on the moist filter paper and it was covered and placed in dark for 7 to 14 days (Figure 2). The white traps were observed daily for emergence of infective juveniles (IJs) by using stereoscope (Figure 3). Whenever the water around the stage became densely concentrated with nematodes, the water was decanted into a container and replaced with another 30ml of deionised H2O. The nematodes were stored at 4 °C in 25ml of distilled water until needed for use. Figure 2 – Galleria larvae on white trap. Figure 3 – Galleria larvae under stereoscope (20X). 2.4. Culturing Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) on NGM (Couillault. C, 2002) A stock culture of C. elegans was cultures from a previous stock of C. elegans. In a laminar air flow, the plate was divided into equal sections. A sterilized scalpel was used to cut sections from the stock culture to the centre of a fresh NGM plate (Figure 4). The plates were sealed using a strip of parafilm and stored at room temperature or inside incubator at 21 °C for 3 days. The petri plates were observed regularly using stereoscope (Figure 5). Figure 4 – Culturing C. elegans on NGM (Chunking method). Figure 5 – Observation of C. elegans under stereoscope (20X). 2.5. Culturing of bacterial endophytes The endophytic bacterial strains used in this study were provided by IT Carlow stock collection and have been labelled with gfp (green fluorescent protein). The Pseudomonas strains used were F113, L321 and L228. 1L of Nutrient broth (NB) was prepared and 10ml was pipetted into Mc Cartney bottles and autoclaved. The Pseudomonas strains of L321gfp, L228gfp, and F113gfp were inoculated aseptically using a wire loop and incubated at 30 °C for 24hours in an orbital shaker incubator. The gfp strains in the nutrient broth were then streaked onto fresh non contaminated nutrient agar and SGA in duplicate for each of bacterial strains, using the quadrant streaking method. All plates were covered with parafilm, labelled and incubated at 30 °C for 24hours. A gram stain, catalase test, oxidase test, and observation of morphological characterisation were carried out for the Pseudomonas strains of L321gfp, L228gfp, and F113gfp. 2.6. Quantification of nematodes S. feltiae and C. elegans The stock suspension of nematodes was divided into 50ml samples. 100 µl of the infective juvenile suspension of each sample was pipetted using micropipette onto a counting tray and tally counter was used to count for nematodes under stereoscope (Figure 6). Once they were counted, the sample was discarded and washed with deionised H2O. This was repeated 10 times and the average number of nematodes was calculated. Figure 6 – Counting chamber containing suspension of nematodes. 2.7. Preparation of soil samples 2500g of soil was autoclaved as outlined in section 2.1. The soil was dried in an oven at 55 °C for 24 hours. The soil samples were prepared by weighing out 90g into plastic cups (Figure 7) and temporarily covered with tin foil to prevent any contamination. Figure 7 – Each plastic cup contains 90g of soil. 2.8. Preparation for Sodium alginate beads (Bashan, 2002) The microbeads stock suspension were prepared by dissolving 10g of Sodium alginate in 500ml of deionised H2O , 10g of Calcium Chloride in 500ml of deionised H2O, and 5g of powdered skimmed milk in 50ml of deionised H2O. All components were autoclaved separately and the skimmed milk was autoclaved only for 10 minutes. The working solution was prepared from the stock solutions as follows; 5ml of skimmed milk, 15ml of sodium alginate and 5ml inoculum. The components of the working solution were poured into a sterile petri dish and mixed using a sterile rod. Parafilm was used to plug the spout of 20ml syringe, the alginate mixture and grass seeds were subsequently added. The parafilm was then removed and a sterile rod was used to ensure the coated seeds dropped out individually, into a beaker containing Calcium Chloride on a magnetic stirring plate (Figure 8). The beads were washed at least three times with sterile distilled water and stored in a sealed petri dished until needed for use. Figure 8 – Beaker containing Calcium Chloride on a magnetic stirring plate. 2.9. Isolation of bacterial endophytes from alginate beads (Bashan, Y and Levanony, 1989) In order to isolate and enumerate bacterial endophytes from microbeads seed coating. Six alginate beads containing individual bacterium were dissolved in 10ml of 0.25M Potassium Phosphate buffer in a test tube and incubated at 30 °C for 24 hours. The bead was then shaken on a vortex for 5 minutes to break down the alginate. Using a serial dilution method, 1ml of bead samples containing bacteria was serially diluted in 9ml of sterile ringers from 10-1 to 10-10 (Figure 9); this was carried out onto SGA in triplicate and incubated at 30 °C for 24 hours. Figure 9 – Most probable number (MPN) method/Serial dilution method. 2.10. Isolation of bacterial endophytes from plants (Keogh, E, 2009) Each plant was removed from pots and excess soil was removed. Three samples were taken from each plant (stem, root, and rhizosphere). The stems and roots were surface sterilised with 1% of sodium hydrochloride and washed twice with sterile water. The stems and roots were cut with sterile scalpel and crushed with a pestle and mortar in 5ml of Ringers solution. 100 µl of suspension was added to 900 µl of sterile Ringers in 2.5ml microfuge tubes. The serial dilutions were carried out and the resulting dilutions of 30 µl were then pipetted onto SGA in triplicate and incubated at 30 °C for 24 hours. 3. Results 3.1. Characterisation of bacterial endophytes The classical approach to bacteria identification involves preliminary microscopic examination of the gram-stained preparation for its categorisation which would later form the basis for the selection of biochemical test to be performed to test their identity. Table (Table 1) and figures (Figure 10(a) to (f)) below shows the characterisation for each strain of endophyte. Figure 10 – Characterisation of bacterial endophytes. (a) Culture plate observation for F113. (b) Microscopy examination for F113. (c) Culture plate observation for L228. (d) Microscopy visualisation for L228. (e) Culture plate observation for L321. (f) Microscopy examination for L321. 3.2. Counting of nematodes S. feltiae and C. elegans The number of nematodes was counted per well in four weeks’ time (Table 2) and a chart (Figure 11) was produced comparing the S. feltiae and C. elegans. This was repeated 10 times and the average number of nematodes was calculated. Table 2 – Quantification of nematodes. Figure 11- Comparison between No. of IJ/100 µl with the time of S. feltiae and C. elegans. 3.3. Soil samples inoculation In order to make sure the soil samples free from contamination, the serial dilutions were carried out and the resulting dilutions of 30 µl were then pipetted onto SGA in triplicate and incubated at 30 °C for 24 hours (Figure 12). The results indicated no growth in the soil samples. Figure 12 – No growth in the soil samples. 3.4. Isolation of bacterial endophytes from alginate beads In order to isolate bacterial endophytes from alginate seed coating, the beads were plated onto SGA and incubated at 30 °C for 24 hours. The results indicated that fluorescent which present of green colour pigment (Figure 13). Figure 13 – SGA changed to green colour. 3.5. Colonisation and enumeration of endophytic bacterial within plant tissues Inoculated perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) was allowed to grow for 4 weeks (Figure 14) before sampling took place. Total bacterial population of gfp expressing were determined for each of the tissues examined. Endophytic bacteria are considered to be those isolated from the internal tissues of surface sterilised plants. However, it is difficult to determine whether an organism is truly endophytic or merely a survivor of the surface sterilisation process. To ensure that the sterilisation processes were adequate, the sterilised tissues were pressed against the surface of a sterile SGA plate and samples of the third water rinsing were also plated onto SGA plates (Figure 15). Bacterial counts (Figure 16 and 17) on these plates were always between 10-1 to 10-4 CFUs per ml (Table 3 and 4), which was considered to be a good indication that the surface was successfully sterilised. However, under epifluorescent microscopy, the gfp expressing from inoculated plants. Pseudomonas species str ain L321 was detected only in the rhizosphere and the interior root tissues of inoculated plant (Figure 18(a) and (b)). Figure 14 Lolium perenne was allowed to grow. Figure 15 – Bacterial count on SGA plates Table 3 –Plate counts on Pseudomonas strain of L321. Figure 16 – Bacterial counts between S. feltiae and C. elegans. Table 4 – Plate counts on Pseudomonas strain of F113. Figure 17 – Bacterial counts between S. feltiae and C. elegans. Figure 18 – Visualisation under epifluorescent microscope. (a) L321gfp bacteria (400X). (b) L321gfp bacteria (100X). 4. Discussion Bacterial colonisation of the internal tissues of plants has been described in almost all plant species examined so far. Although many of these bacteria are phytopathogenic, a considerable number have also been found that colonise the plant without causing disease. Such bacteria are referred to as bacterial endophytes. Colonisation may take place at the local tissue level or throughout the plant, with bacterial colonies and biofilms residing latently in the intercellular spaces and inside the vascular tissues. This project describes the isolation, identification and colonisation efficiency of perennial ryegrass by gfp labelled bacterial endophytes. Furthermore, this study has shown the successful colonisation of perennial ryegrass by three endophytic bacterial strains under controlled conditions. The Pseudomonas strains, L321 demonstrated efficient colonisation resulting in high population numbers within the plant tissues. This experiment shows that the L321 bacteria endophyte worked successfully with the C. elegans to increase the plant colonisation. In this project, L228 was discarded due to the lawns were very poor and did not fluorescence very well so the experiment carried out only with L321 and F113. During the characterisation of bacteria endophytes, the results were obtained which the genus Pseudomonas appeared in Gram negative bacilli motile by polar flagella. In addition, in catalase test shows positive formed the bubbles when comes into contact with Hydrogen Peroxide. On the other hand, the results show that they are oxidase producing which will be oxidised to deep purple colour. Also, when nematodes had been put on plates and timescale had begun it was noticed that some plates start to dry out which may be due to the media drying out so to overcome this this, the plates have to seal with parafilm to prevent from dry out. Furthermore, other notice when the plates rinsed with water, I noticed crystals formed in the media and this may be due to the tem perature problem. Generally in the experiment there is no physical quantity can be measured with perfect certainty; there are always errors in any measurement. For example, the systematic errors are due to poorly calibrated instrument; observational for example, errors in judgment of an observer when reading the scale of a measuring device to the smallest division. 5. Conclusion In conclusion, this study has shown the successful colonisation of perennial ryegrass by three endophytic bacterial strains under controlled conditions. The Pseudomonas strains, L321 demonstrated efficient colonisation resulting in high population numbers within the plant tissues. Hence, none of the introduced strains showed any signs of pathogenicity towards their host plant and others tested. Many studies have shown that the colonisation levels in field trials are less successful than those in laboratory trials. This is probably due to increased microbial competition and less favourable environmental conditions. Therefore, additional long-term field trials need to be carried out in order to gain a better understanding of the colonisation pattern and population dynamics of endophytic bacteria in the perennial ryegrass. If time permitted future work would include, the carrying out of plant biomass which is a time consuming method that involves drying of cells and to perform by weighi ng the dry and fresh weight of each plant. 6. References Brown, R.H. and Kerry, B.R. (1987). Principles and Practice of Nematode Control in  Crops. Academic Press, Sydney. 447 pp. Evans, D., Trudgill, D.L. and Webster, J.M. (1993). Plant Parasitic Nematodes in  Temperate Agriculture. CAB International, Wallingford. 648 pp.   Luc, M., Sikora, R.A. and Bridge, J. (2005). Plant Parasitic Nematodes in Subtropical  and Tropical Agriculture, 2nd edn. CAB International, Wallingford. 871 pp. Mai, W.F. and Mullin, P.G. (1996). Plant Parasitic Nematodes. A Pictorial Key to  Genera, 5th edn. Comstock, London and Cornell University, Ithaca. 276 pp. Ahmad, F., Ahmad, I., Khan, M.S. 2008. Screening of free-living rhizospheric bacteria for their multiple plant growth promoting activities. Microbiol. Res. 163, 173-181. Barraquio W L, Ladha J K, Watanabe I. Isolation and identification of a N2 fixing Pseudomonas associated with wetland rice. Can J Microbiol. 1983;29:867–873.

Eye movements are a reflection of cognitive processes Essay -- Psychol

Introduction The mind is an intriguing element of the human life not only because of its complexity and capability but mostly because of its opacity. How does psychology begin to understand something so obscure and complex? Evidently, by observing and measuring the product of the cognitive processes that occurs through an interaction between the external and internal world. The term ‘cognitive processes’ is a rather collective term referring to a range of mental processes such as perceiving, thinking, speaking, acting, planning and imagining (Ward, 2006). The processes themselves are immensely difficult to measure directly, if possible at all. However, one may gain insight into these mental processes through observing the covert products, such as haemodynamic and electrophysiological changes and the overt products, such as behaviour, accuracy, response times and eye movements. The scope of this essay is to review the evidence that demonstrates exactly how eye movements reflect cognitive processes. Due to the vastness of the topic, this essay will focus on only one of the aforementioned cognitive processes. There has been much attention and extensive literature and reviews regarding eye movements as a tool for understanding the processes of reading, visual perception, visual search and attention (e.g., Rayner, 1998; Liversedge and Findlay, 2 000; Schutz, Braun and Gegenfurtner, 2011). All the mentioned research fields involve measuring eye movements while view some form of visual stimulus, this dissertation will explore a more aberrant field, evidence will be based on literature relating to eye movements when sensory visual input is absent, during visual mental imagery. While reviewing the literature basic themes relating eye m... ...nformation processing: 20 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 372-422. Schutz, A.C., Braun, D.I., & Gegenfurtner, K.R. (2011). Eye movements and perception: A selective review. Journal of Vision, 5, 1-30. Shallice,T. (1988). From neuropsychology to mental structure. New York: Cambridge University Press. Sima, J.F., Lindner, M., Schultheis, H., & Barkowsky, T. (2010). Eye movements reflect reasoning with mental images but not with mental models in orientation knowledge tasks. Spatial Cognition, 10, 248-261. Spivey, M.J., & Geng, J.J. (2001). Oculomotor mechanisms activated by imagery and memory: eye movements to absent objects. Psychological Research, 65, 235-241. Ward, J. (2006). The students guide to cognitive neuroscience. New York: Psychology Press. Watson, J.B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviourist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 158-177.

Nature is such a beautiful place Essay

Life is getting hard and expensive as the years are passing by. The prices on food, and other utility prices are going up. People have school, work and a family to look out for and do not have the time to enjoy the simple things in life that earth has to offer which is nature. In the essay of â€Å"An entrance to the Woods† Wendell Berry. He admits to living such a fast paste of life that is hard to come back down to the ground and enjoy what is in front of him. People pass by things so quickly and don’t pay attention that they fail to appreciate them. Once a person slows down, they could see what surrounds them. Nature is a good way to find yourself because it is easy to escape from the influence society has. Nature has away of taking away the things that are stressing us and giving away a chance to become refreshed. â€Å" In the middle of the afternoon I left off being busy at work, and drove sixty or seventy miles an hour, hardly aware of the country I was passing through, because on the freeway one does not have to be. The landscape has been subdued so that one may drive over it as seventy miles per hour without any concession whatsoever to one’s whereabouts. One might as well be flying. Though one is Kentucky one is not experien cing Kentucky. One is experiencing the highway, which might be in nearly any hill country east of the Mississippi.† (Berry, 88) During berry’s time in the woods, he writes â€Å"A man enters and leaves the world naked. And it is only naked–or nearly so that he can enter and leave the wilderness. If he walks, that is; and if he doesn’t walk it can hardly be said that he has entered. He can bring only what he can carry– the little that it takes to replace for a few hours or a few days an animal’s fur and teeth and claws and functioning instincts. And comparison to the usual traveler with his dependence on machines and highways and restaurant and motels–on the economy and the government, in short–the man who walks into the wilderness is naked indeed. He leaves behind his work, his household, his duties, his comforts–even, if he comes alone, his words. He  immerses himself in what he is not. It a kind of death.† (Berry, 90) We came to this world naked, and that is how we should enter and leave the wilderness. If we walk using our feet and explore the wilderness that’s how we can say that we entered the wilderness. The little that we bring to survive, it is gone in a few hours or days. An animal uses its fur, teeth and animal instincts to survive versus a traveler that needs machines, highways and restaurants and motels. To be in the wilderness one has to leave behind the work, the household, duties and comforts and even his words. One has get out of its comfort zone, and use your own abilities to survive the wilderness. It is like taking a risk of death. Wendell Berry own experience where he is up and left civilization. The work setting to enter a nature environment devoted to being self efficient on nature. Berry loved and respected nature, he wanted to develop his appreciation further, as he wanted it to evolve and understand for it. He wanted to know how nature worked, and learn it’s reason for being. Berry’s goal was met through this act and it was gratifying experience to escape from moderation and become organic. Berry realizes the purpose of the trip, but the connection to nature cannot replace to connection to man. In the essay of â€Å" Why I went to the woods† by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau tried to produce his own crops, to live from the labor of his own hands, and to get rid of all the complicating things that distracted him from life’s true meaning by living in the woods. †Thoreau wanted time to read, write, and think. He wanted to make time for nature. And he wanted to test himself, to see just how much he could simplify his life, to determine how much time he could save to do what he really wanted to do with every minute of everyday†( Thoreau, 700) Thoreau mentions that he wants to live a deliberately life. To live deliberately means to take care and think of everything that you do in life, and not to do anything just for the heck of it. Everything that we do has to have a purpose and a meaning, and that is not a waste of time. â€Å"slow down rather than to speed up, to saver a few things fully rather than sample many things fleeting, and have time to decide what, in the long run of his short  life, matters most and why.† (Thoreau, 700) â€Å" I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essentials fact of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not live I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to proactive resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner and reduce it to its lowest terms, and if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it and publish its meanness to the world, or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.† ( Thoreau, 701) By living in the woods he will be living a simple life away from civilization and to see his strength and weakness. By not being accustomed to that type of lifestyle he might die. When all hope is gone he realizes there are many things he have not tried. The simplest things in life could be and mean much more. Life is precious.

Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere

June 20-21 is a very important day for our planet and its relationship with the sun. June 20-21 is one of two solstices, days when the rays of the sun directly strike one of the two tropical latitude lines. June 21 marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and simultaneously heralds the beginning of winter in the southern hemisphere. In 2014, the summer solstice occurs and summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere on Friday, June 21 at 6:51 a.m. EDT, which is 10:51Â  UTC. The earth spins around its axis, an imaginary line going right through the planet between the north and south poles. The axis is tilted somewhat off the plane of the earths revolution around the sun. The tilt of the axis is 23.5 degrees; thanks to this tilt, we enjoy the four seasons. For several months of the year, one half of the earth receives more direct rays of the sun than the other half. When the axis tilts towards the sun, as it does between June and September, it is summer in the northern hemisphere but winter in the southern hemisphere. Alternatively, when the axis points away from the sun from December to March, the southern hemisphere enjoys the direct rays of the sun during their summer months. June 21 is called the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and simultaneously the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. Around December 21 the solstices are reversed and winter begins in the northern hemisphere. On June 21, there are 24 hours of daylight north of the Arctic Circle (66.5Â ° north of the equator) and 24 hours of darkness south of the Antarctic Circle (66.5Â ° south of the equator). The suns rays are directly overhead along the Tropic of Cancer (the latitude line at 23.5Â ° north, passing through Mexico, Saharan Africa, and India) on June 21. The Reason for Seasons Without the tilt of the earths axis, we would have no seasons. The suns rays would be directly overhead of the equator all year long. Only a slight change would occur as the earth makes its slightly elliptical orbit around the sun. The earth is furthest from the sun about July 3; this point is known as the aphelion and the earth is 94,555,000 miles away from the sun. The perihelion takes place about January 4 when the earth is a mere 91,445,000 miles from the sun. When summer occurs in a hemisphere, it is due to that hemisphere receiving more direct rays of the sun than the opposite hemisphere where it is winter. In winter, the suns energy hits the earth at oblique angles and is thus less concentrated. During spring and fall, the earths axis is pointing sideways so both hemispheres have moderate weather and the rays of the sun are directly overhead the equator. Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5Â ° latitude south) there really are no seasons as the sun is never very low in the sky so it stays warm and humid (tropical) year-round. Only those people in the upper latitudes north and south of the tropics experience seasons.

The General Perception Of CEO Compensation Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 1984 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Its general perception that CEOs compensation is very high and in recent years significant attention has been given to rising pay level of chief executive officer. Lot of researches has been done to explore the determinants of executive compensation. In most of studies positive relation between pay and performance has been investigated. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The General Perception Of CEO Compensation Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Shareholder desire maximization of their wealth and wish that the board of directors should design compensation system which motives senior executives to make policies that maximizes shareholders wealth. Stockholders returns are closely associated with accounting profitability in long run, so usually compensation system depends upon maximizing accounting profits. In most large companies managers are not owners, they are support to work in away that in the best interest of the shareholders who are owners. Agency theory argues that executives only goal is not the same as of wealth .executives other may include control, power and increase in their compensation level. In order to achieve their other goals they might avoid attractive but risky investments because they worried more about their safety of jobs than healthier and attractive profit. These problems arise because managers who are hired as agent of principals (owners) have their personal interest. Theses conflicts between p rincipals and agents are called agency problems. 1.1 THE COMPONENTS OF CEO PAY 1.1.1 Base Salaries Base salary is the standard yearly pay of the executive. Base salaries for chief executive officers are usually pre calculated through competitive benchmarking, even though job evaluation is also used to determine executive pay in organizations as well. Normally executives base salaries are frequently influenced by the judgment of the compensation committee consisting companys board of directors. The committee actually analyzes the gathered information from salary surveys usually from same or similar industry and then reach a conclusion to set the executive compensation. There can also be some other factors while determining executive compensation such as size of the organization in terms of employees, assets and revenues and whether the company is making healthier profits or going into losses. 1.1.2 Annual Bonus Plans Annual bonus plan is a variable pay usually fluctuating and tied to the performance of the organization. The main objective of executive bonus compensation is to motivate senior executives in order to get maximization of shareholders wealth, which is ultimately the main goal of organizations. Shareholders are basically owners and investors of the company but they not participate in management and day to day operations. Executives are decision makers of the operations of the firm hence they manage the business on the behalf of shareholders and get their remuneration and reward for their expertise and services they provide to the firm. According to agency theory executives only goal is not the same as of the shareholders that is the maximization of the wealth of shareholders; their other goals include power, Control ad increase in their personal compensation. Therefore, to bend the executives motive and decision making in the best favor of share holders, some flavor of bonus compo nent in added to executives compensative. Given below are five basic types of executive bonus compensation plans. 1.1.2.1 Stock Options Stock Options provide the executive with the right to buy company stock at a fixed price at some future date. Compensative is determined by difference between exercise price and option price of the stock (Initial and selling price of the stock).It means an executive will only be able to receive the bonus in the case when share prices increase. If the share price goes down than the option price, then the options become valueless. The shortcoming of the stock options is that rise and fall in share prices do not explain all dimensions of executives performance .It is not widely practiced in Pakistan. 1.1.2.2 Restricted Stocks The rational of the restricted stock is to promote longer executive tenure. In restricted stock executives or employees are given certain number of company share and they are prohibited from selling those shares for a period pre defined, it means they cannot sell those shares before a certain defined time period. If an employee or executive having restricted stock leaves the company on his own wish before date pre defined date the shares are forfeited. Thats how the restricted stocks are used to promote the longer tenure of executives, which is ultimately beneficial for the firm and shareholders in the sense that there will be consistency in the strategies and policies and executives remain with the firm for the longer period of time. The shortcoming of the restricted stock is that there is no downside risk to executive who always get profits like other shareholders. 1.1.2.3 Golden Handcuffs Golden handcuffs can be either a restricted stock in which the stock compensation is delayed until resting time provisions are fulfilled or to a bonus income that is series of annual or semi annul installments . It may also involve paying an executive any amount at the retirement time or any other predefined age. Compensation is forfeited in a case where executive resigns or is fired before time. The rational of golden handcuffs is to offer an incentive to executive to keep him with the firm. Short coming of this bonus plan is that it may promote risk a verse decision making due to downside risk borne by executive. Executives are considered to be valuable by the firms and most of the firms take great care of them. Executives are very much aware and use to cost cutting techniques and existing strategies that are formulated by them. When executives and changed, new comers bring in a lot of discontinuity in current strategy .Thus golden handcuffs are congruent with long term strate gies plans. Firms may adopt golden handcuffs when stability of executives or management is crucial to firms growth. 1.1.2.4 Golden Parachutes The rationale of golden parachutes is to talented executives with the firm. Golden parachutes involves compensative an executive with substantial amount if he retires, is fired or quiets the job. It means executive have right to get the bonus if they loose their position due to resignation, retirement firing or takeover. The shortcoming of the golden parachute is that it is rewarded regarded regardless of success or failure that means whether the wealth is created for shareholders or not. The difference between golden handcuff is paid in series of annual installments while in the case of golden parachute payment of bonus is made at the time of retirement, firing, takeovers or resignation. 1.1.2.5 Cash Its the type of bonus compensation paid in cash usually quarterly or annually based on accounting performance measures such as return on assets, earning per share, net income, return on equity. This type of bonus plan is introduced to offset limitation of market based measures of performance and to compensative on the basis of accounting measures of performance. There are some factors that are beyond the control of managements that causes firms share prices low despite really good performance by executives. In the above cases deserving executives are not paid bonus compensation due to undervalued share price. So cash compensation plan corrects that issue by compensating an executive on the basis of internally measured performance. Lot of criticism has been made on compensating an executive on the basis of accounting measures as there are flaws in accounting system and argue that these figures do not represent actual managerial performance and they believe that compensation shoul d be given on the basis of financial or market based measures which truly represents executives performance and maximizes share holders value 1.1.3 Executive Benefits and Perquisites As there is a huge difference between pay level of executives and low level employees, same way benefits provided by company to executives also vary from those of lower level employees. Executives receive many benefits like life insurance, pension plans and health insurance. Executives perquisites Perks are unique services and benefits provided by firms to executives. It includes membership in clubs; company maintained automobiles, executive dinning room special reserved parking, company aircraft use, physical exam, financial counseling, home security, sports tickets and many more. 1.2 WHO SETS CEO PAY CEOs are the policy makers in the organizations. There is a question that if chief executive officers are leaders and head the organization who formulate rules and regulations then do they set their own pay level themselves and who decides that whether they should be given bonus or not, if yes then how much? If we go through the controversial issue of chief executive officer compensation we will come to know that there is a strong perception that chief executive officers sets their own salaries, but usually this is not the real case. Normally chief executive officers compensation is set outsiders (Board of directors) who are very much aware about the conflicts between stockholders and managers (executives) and luterests of both parties. But we san not reject the fact that top level executives exert some influence on Board of Directors in setting their compensation (Both Base Salary and Bonuses). Usually committee of two or more than two outside directories is formed to set the d ay level of CEOs in most of the countries. The committee conducts market studies in the same industry and set the pay level. Then those recommendations about pay level are sent to human resource department and top level manages for approval ad revision before being presented to Full Board of Directors to Final Approval. 1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Considerable attention has been given to high and rising pay levels of chief executive officers. Critics argue that chief executive officers compensation is very high and it reduces the value creation of stock holders who are actual owners of the firm. They believe that compensation level should be accordance with the performance of the firm and senior executives pay level should be set in a way that motivates them to make strategies that are in the best interest of shareholders. So, there is a need of precise relationship between chief executive officers compensation and those variables that can play a significant role in determining the executive compensation. The variables used in this study and their justification have been discussed in greater detail in chapter 3. 1.4 OBJECTIVE As mentioned above, abundant research has been carried out to find out the determinants of chief executive officers compensation but there is a lack of precise investigation to analyze the determinants of chief executive officers in Pakistan. In this way the objective of this study is to investigate or evaluate the relationship among the chief executive officers compensation, performance and size of the firm. For this purpose accounting based measures such as return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), Income before tax etc will be used as predictors while CEO compensation (Both cash and non cash) will be used as dependent variable to find out the impact of predictors on CEO compensation in Banking industry of Pakistan. 1.5 RESEARCH SCOPE/LIMITATIONS The scope of this study is to analyze impact of size and performance of the firm on chief executive officers compensation. Few limitations of this study has been given below. This research would just restrict to secondary data and no primary data will be used. The access of data would be restricted to public information and all organizations do not share their information. As data is collected from annual repots so annual reports are only available for last few years (Normally 4-5 years) on the websites of the organizations. 1.6 THESIS STRUCTURE The report is systematized as follows. Chapter (1) contains introduction of the thesis, which includes the statement of problem, scope and limitations, objective and some of the theoretical perspective regarding the executive compensation. In chapter 2 relevant literatures would be discussed. In chapter (3) methodology will be described that constitutes the data and justify the choice of the variables used in our analysis sample, technique and also estimate model used in analysis. In chapter (4) results would be analyzed after the data processing. Chapter (5) will conclude the thesis and will contain discussion and recommendations.