Blue Nile, Inc. Essay

Vision and Mission â€Å"Blue Nile’s vision is to educate its customer base so that customers can make an informed, confident decision no matter what event they are celebrating. It wants to make the entire diamond-buying process easy and hassle-free. In addition, an important part of Blue Nile’s vision as CEO Diane Irvine said in a recent webinar with Kaihan Krippendorf, is for the company to be seen as the â€Å"smart† way to buy diamonds, while saving 20%-40% more than one would in the typical jewelry store.† (Hoffman, 2010, p.1). Objectives The objective of the case study of Blue Nile is to evaluate and study their current business strategy. Internal and external analysis are used to identify the weak points or aspects of their current strategy. Other courses of action will be identified to improve the implementation of Blue Nile’s strategy. Alternatives will be recommended to increase the brand name for Blue Nile. External and Internal Analysis Porter’s Five Forces Model Rivalry among Competing Sellers. Rivalry among competing sellers is the strongest among the five sources of Porter’s Model. There are many competitors in today’s diamond market. This makes the rivalry between Blue Nile and its competitor’s high. There are small mom and pop shops, the larger retain stores like Tiffany and Co. and DeBeers. Blue Nile is faced with other online competitors like themselves as well as websites such as EBay and Amazon. The competition is extremely intense to gain customer base. With all the competition each company must be able to offer their customer something they cannot find with any of the others. Bargaining Power of Buyers. The Bargaining power of the buyer is high in the diamond purchasing world. The bargaining power for the buyer with Blue Nile is medium because customers are able to see the price of their desired purchase  and shop around to find a better price or deal. Switching cost for the customer is virtually none existen t because they can switch to another company if they do not like the price, customer service, or other things associated with their purchase. The benefit Blue Nile has over the bargaining power of the buyer is they have prices set below their competitors with the same great quality. Bargaining Power of Suppliers. There are only a limited number of suppliers for Blue Nile to choose from, making the bargaining power of the supplier high. Blue Nile must depend on their suppliers to deliver their products in a timely manner in order to provide timely delivery to their customers. Suppliers are able to dictate their prices to Blue Nile because of the limited amount of suppliers. Blue Nile cannot accept prices from one supplier that supplier can easily find another company to sell to. Threat of Substitute Products. There is a threat of substitute product for Blue Nile. The threat falls into the medium category because other substitutes do exist. Some substitutes are diamonique, cubic zirconia, or other artificially made diamonds. Some people will choose a substitute as they cannot afford to purchase and expensive diamond. Even though the quality is not the same as a real diamond many people still choose the substitute. Threats of New Entrants. There is an increase of new entrants as it is now easier than ever before to enter the diamond market. In the past the startup cost was extremely high making the entrance of new companies low. It is easier for new entrants today because the availability of the internet to reach customers. Also, the startup is low in online business. SWOT Analysis Blue Nile has a strong position in the market because they have continued to gain confidence with their consumer. Being the largest online dealer in the world helps them to maintain their position in the market. Unfortunately, Blue Nile is facing threats and weaknesses that can deteriorate their market position. The increasing competition from other companies as well as their weak brand recognition are a major cause for concern. Strengths Blue Nile is the leader in online jewelry making. They have a unique selling position as they were the first company to allow an individual to customize their diamond engagement ring. Customers are able to choose and design their own ring with options such as clarity, size and the shape of the diamond. Customers can also choose from many settings for their engagement ring. Customer service is a priority to Blue Nile. They offer their customers a personalized experience to build customer confidence. Many options are made available to their customers through their website. Customers can choose from toll-free calls, live-chat, or email as a means to contact customer service. Convenient billing and insurance options are other ways that Blue Nile strives to provide excellent service to their customers. Customers are offered a bill me later option as well as a 30-day money back guarantee. All orders are shipped to their customer fully insured to build customer confidence in Blue Nile. With as many as forty suppliers Blue Nile has the capability to maintain a unique supply chain model. They maintain strong relationships with their suppliers. Their diamonds are offered for direct sale from their cutters. This allows Blue Nile to purchase stones at a lower cost than the competition because they avoid the mark-up from third-parties. Their virtual online inventory permits them to have limited inventory on hand, therefore decreasing their carrying cost. Weaknesses Blue Nile does not have a physical store which takes away from the experience of touching and seeing the actual engagement ring that will be purchased. A diamond engagement ring is a large investment. When customers purchase a diamond online they are taking a risk at purchasing a diamond without being able to examine or actually touch their ring. This risk causes the purchase prices to be lower than those purchased in a physical store. Customers are more comfortable purchasing a more expensive ring from brand name stores like Tiffany and Co. Customers are also more confident in their online purchase with Tiffany and Co. because they have a physical store and the popularity of the Tiffany and Co. brand name. Although Blue Nile is continuing to grow and their business model appears to  be strong they still need to increase awareness of their brand name. The lack of brand awareness gives other competitors such as Tiffany and Co an advantage over Blue Nile. They need to create more ways to bring recognition to their brand name. Customers will not feel secure purchasing a large purchase from a brand they do not recognize. Increasing their brand name will give Blue Nile an increase in sales as well as increased customer confidence. Opportunities Sales for Blue Nile mostly focus on diamond engagement rings. Men are mostly the target for purchases of engagement rings. Blue Nile can increase their sales and their target market by branching out into other jewelry products. A broader product base can open up their target market to woman also. Branching out with a physical store front can also increase Blue Nile’s sales and brand recognition. Having a chain of physical stores will give those customers an opportunity to purchase from Blue Nile who otherwise would not purchase because of the risk of making this type of purchase online. Sales would increase because customers tend to spend more per purchase when visiting a physical store as it reduces the perceived risk of the customer. Globalization is a huge opportunity for Blue Nile. This would open up a vast amount of sales and will expand their brand name by offering their products internationally. The international market is an attractive opportunity for Blue Nile to broaden their customer base. Competitors such as Tiffany and Co have already tapped into the international market so for Blue Nile to remain competitive they must seek to globalize their business. Currently only thirteen percent of sales are from the international market. Threats The increasing cost of diamonds is having an impact on profitability for Blue Nile. They have a virtual inventory, meaning they purchase their diamonds at the current spot rate. When the price of diamonds is increasing this puts Blue Nile at a disadvantage because most competitors will have  purchased their diamonds at a much lower price because they have them in their current inventory. In order to keep prices competitive Blue Nile most likely will absorb the cost of the increase in the diamonds. Blue Nile’s main threat is the competition of other companies such as Tiffany and Co and DeBeers. Tiffany and Co. is the biggest threat to Blue Nile as they are famous for their diamond engagement rings, making their target market mostly men. The famous brand of Tiffany and Co makes it a very desirable choice for those men seeking to purchase an engagement ring. Many of Blue Nile’s competitors also offer many of the same benefits as a purchase from Blue Nile. Customer service, experts to assist in the purchase, and return policies offering customer satisfaction have become a norm among most competitors. Many other online jewelry companies are entering the market for online jewelry purchases. They should continue to monitor the new companies entering the market. The threat of new entrants is an area that they must continually be aware of because letting their guard down could cause them to lose market. Because of these threats, Blue Nile must continue to strive to rise above the competition. Problem Identification Given that Blue Nile has competitor’s that threaten to capture the customer base, what can Blue Nile do to capture additional customer base?  Given that Blue Nile needs to increase sales and tap into a different market, what can Blue Nile do to increase sales and brand awareness? Solutions To attract additional customer base Blue Nile should create additional products to attract the female customer base. Blue Nile should offer bracelets,necklaces, and other items that would broaden their customer base. As of now mostly younger men have the need to purchase an engagement ring. By offering additional products their customer base could grow to also include older men as well as females. Opening up their market to this additional customer base can increase their sales significantly. In order to increase sales and brand awareness Blue Nile should look at two solutions. The first is to open a chain of brick and mortar stores as  customers tend to enjoy the hands on experience of purchasing expensive jewelry from a physical store. Customers tend to spend more per purchase at a physical location. This would increase both sales and brand awareness. Expanding their merchandise line in other countries would also increase their customer base. Blue Nile should use their same strategy of providing diamond jewelry to the international markets. References Wheelen, T., Hunger, J., Hoffman, A., & Bamford, C. (2014). Blue Nile, Inc. Case Study 10. In Strategic Management and Business Policy (14th ed., pp. 10.1-10.16). Boston: Pearson.

Mendus unconditional love

â€Å"l promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you. † That is a line from a traditional wedding vow that two people who love each other say on their wedding day. Susan Emends believes that a marriage vow Is â€Å"a present intention to do something permanently, where that is distinct from having a permanent intention. † (Emends, p. 238) Emends believes that marriage vows are unconditional, she doesn't think that marriage Is unconditional however. She doesn't think marriage is unconditional because It can end In divorce. People say they fall out of love, cheat, or think their significant other changed.Emends says that If you think that a person has changed and that makes you â€Å"fall out of love† then you never truly loved them. She also thinks that once you make the commitment In marriage vows, you should remain married even If you feel Like you fell out of love. One reason that Emends believes marriage vows are unconditional Is because there Is no time limit on it. When you get married you do not decide that after so many ears you are going to get divorced, instead you plan to be happily in love for the rest of your lives. Throughout our lives we change and mature and because of the vow you made to be together forever, there will be change.If your significant other changes you should remain married because you love each other. Another reason Emends believes marriage vows are unconditional is because you do not make â€Å"terms and conditions†. When you marry someone and promise to love and honor you do not say â€Å"so long as you don't.. (Emends, p. 238) When you love someone you love them for who they are, you wouldn't tell them â€Å"l will love you if you.. – If there were conditions then we would not be able to distinguish the difference between â€Å"respect or admiration for the principles of another and the sort of unconditional commitment to him which the marriage vow involves. (Emends, p. 238) Loving someone is an honorable and cherish able thing. When you love someone you just want to spend time with them and not tell them who to be. If there s any question whether you love your significant other or like characteristics about then you will begin to make conditions and if that happens you should not marry one another. Emends unconditional love By Madison each other say on their wedding day. Susan Emends believes that a marriage vow is vows are unconditional, she doesn't think that marriage is unconditional however. She doesn't think marriage is unconditional because it can end in divorce.People say if you think that a person has changed and that makes you â€Å"fall out of love† then you ever truly loved them. She also thinks that once you make the commitment in marriage vows, you should remain married even if you feel like you fell out of love. One reason that Emends believes marriage vows are unconditional is because there is no ti me limit on it. When you get married you do not decide that after so many you.. † If there were conditions then we would not be able to distinguish the someone you Just want to spend time with them and not tell them who to be. If there

Conformity and Rebellion

Conforming to societal norms can have many benefits. There are 3 different types of conformity; the first Is compliance; this Is the act of conforming to the larger majority In public while privately retaining one's personal beliefs. This can be seen In George Rowel's â€Å"Shooting an Elephant†: â€Å"The crowd would laugh at me†¦ L did not want to shoot the elephant. † In this short story Orwell is pressured by his society to shoot the elephant. Orwell did not want to shoot the elephant it was no longer causing any harm but to not shoot the elephant Orwell old be seen as a bad individual to his society.In this case one's personal beliefs must be taken back, if not the group of Indians would see Orwell as an evil person. This variety is often seen amongst adults complying with the rules and regulations of a job when they do not necessarily agree with its policies. This allows for the individual to maintain his or her own sense of individuality while still gaining whatever needs are afforded to them by adhering to the norms expected of them. The second form of conforming is called identification. This is the act of informing to someone admired or dollied by the individual. This can be done to mimic that of a celebrity or other iconic figure.Teenagers often conform as a way to make friends. By wearing a certain brand of clothing they are choosing to identify themselves with any others who wear that style or brand. This variety is most often seen amongst groups of the similar age. The third type is called initialization. This Is the act of fully adhering and believing in certain norms both publicly In society as well as individually to themselves. Initialization can be seen is Faulkner â€Å"A Rose or Emily: â€Å"l have received a paper, yes†¦ ‘ have no taxes In Jefferson. † In the town of Jefferson Emily never had to pay taxes until the town had changed Its norms.This variety Is most often seen amongst groups of similar rel igious beliefs or ethnic background. This allows for an Individual's full acceptance Into their chosen group. Conforming to the crowd Is actually physiologically programmed In to our brains. Studies show that the anterior Insularly cortex; the part of the human brain that controls social emotions and self-awareness as well as anterior Cingular cortex; the art of the brain that helps In error detection, have both been shown to Increase In activity when a subjects answer to a question is correct but dissenting from those of his or her peers.Though conforming to societal norms may grant individuals such things as social acceptance and inclusion, it also sometimes robs adhering persons of their feeling of individuality and private freedom. As sun tanner are also tense won seek to Aviva compliance Walt skeletal norms or to rebel against them. Societal rebellion is the act of rebelling against the norms expected. This is very often seen in younger generations. Rebelling from societal norm s is a way of giving up the privileges and acceptance associated complying with them in order to fully maintain ones independence and individuality from society.Societal rebellion is a double edged sword, where as it can be used passively as a way to move towards noble cause. For example the peaceful protests by Mahatma Gandhi as well as the sass Montgomery bus boycott. Both of these rebellions were against societal norms yet both were peaceful and nonviolent. Conversely societal rebellion can also be any act of violence or anarchy. Murders and all other acts of Eileen crimes can be perceived as social rebellion because obeying the law is also seen as a societal norm.Therefore by committing a crime, you are in turn disobeying a societal norm. Conformity and rebellion are both tools humans use to interact with society, whether it is conforming to initiate and maintain friendships, or it be rebelling in order to maintain ones individuality, or even to try to change the structure of so ciety itself. Conforming or rebelling is two sides of the same coin, but both are needed to establish ones presence and function in society.

Marketing Plan Project Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing Plan Project - Research Proposal Example There is a huge need for this kind of product among the people. The following study will provide some information and will develop a marketing plan for this developed product. Economic Environment and Competitive Environment Analysis US are one of the strongest, leading and developed economies in the world. The recent global recession in the year 2007-08 and the European financial crisis in the year2008-09 have affected the economic situation of the country. Most importantly, this economic downturn has affected the social and economic life cycle of a country. The per capita income of people has gone down due to this recession. Moreover, this unfavorable economic situation of the country has impacted negatively on the economic growth of the country. Currently, it is feasible that, the disposable income of people has gone down comparing to the pre era of global recession. Now-a-days, people are trying to save more rather than consuming. Several economic policies such as high tax rate, limited government expenditure has affected the economic situation of the country very badly. Looking into these factors, it can be said that, the country is still suffering from the impact of economic downturn. In terms of competitive environment, the success of the product depends upon the product attribute, price range of the products and existing rivalry in the operating market place. Depending upon these things, it can be said that, the product has several competitive advantages. First of all, this type of business market is still uncovered and untapped. Therefore, there is a huge opportunity for the brand to capitalize on the potential market opportunity. On the other hand, it can be said that, this kind of product will be very effective in the daily life of people. In terms of pricing, it can be said that, this product is affordable for the people of all kind of income group, such as lower middle, middle, upper middle and upper class. The low price range of the products is ad dressing that; people can afford this product without any hesitation. Lastly, in terms of competitors, it can be said that lack of competitors and due to untapped market the product can achieve huge competitive advantage and market share. It will help them to increase the target customer base. Data on the Market The organization can target a huge area of market place, as it is discussed earlier that, the specific market segment is still untapped. Moreover, according to a survey, it has been found out that, more than 75% people, including all kind of market segment it is feasible that, there has been already a need for this product. According to the respondents, it is feasible that, major of them are unhappy as they could not able to use 100% of a beauty cosmetic product or a tooth paste. Therefore, it has evidenced that, there are huge demand for the product. In terms of age it is feasible that, there is a need for the product among the people aged between 12 and 65. Moreover, in te rms of income group, it has been feasible that, people whose household income is more than 15,000 US dollar are the major target group of this product. In terms of gender of people, the products are seemed to be popular among the household female respondents comparing to other male respondents. The median income of the maximum

Homework 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Homework 5 - Essay Example The main aim of getting enlightened is to gain confidence in extricating themselves from minority, a public should enlighten itself hence have its freedom since in each society there is always a few independent thinkers, who are beyond the yoke of minority and embraced a spirit of rational valuing of one’s own worth which summons everyone to think of their own. Individual who by themselves are unable to be enlightened cannot be able to redeem the society from the yoke of minority which only deals with being dependent. For enlightenment to take place, freedom to make public use of one’s reason in all matters, this implies that one can argue as much as possible but obey due to the limits that exist with freedom. a person should obey the laid down procedures and process but also should be allowed to make remarks about the errors and also putting them before his public for appraisal. Though slowly, the society is becoming enlightened due to emergence of many scholars. Teachers and clergymen in schools and religious institutions who encourage people to be rationale thinkers, we cannot comfortably say that we are in an enlightenment age but we can conclude that wee are in an age of enlightenment. Kant states that were are in the genuine age of criticism where he explains that the power of judgment should no longer be put off with illusory knowledge and demands that reasons to be taken on a new difficult task which is called self-knowledge which shall be a way of instituting a court of justice, where the reason may secure its rightful claims while dismissing all its own eternal and unchangeable laws. In addition, the decision about the possibility or impossibility of a metaphysics in general and the determination of its sources which is mainly determined by the principles. for a critique to be complete it should have comprehensive system which should require derivative concepts to be present, however it cannot be pre-estimated in a

The Battle of the Bulge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Battle of the Bulge - Essay Example It had the aims of annexing and capturing France, Luxemburg and Belgium. The major front through which the encroachment was made included the Ardennes Forest. The aims were to take the enemy by surprise. Since the Germans had a knack of taking the rivals by surprise and gifted with the Blitzkrieg and other war instruments, the aims were to repeat the heroics that they had done so in the first phase of the Second World War when it overtook the minnows of the war in no time. Over two hundred and fifty thousand troops were engaged in this battle by the German high command and the point was clear, it had been done to break the sequence of frustration pouring events that had recently taken place in the course of Second World War. The battle had its repercussions upon the Western powers, United States of America and Germany. Each was deeply moved through the battle, it is therefore termed as one of the most critical points of war in those days of the entire episode of Second World War. The significance of this battle was the fact that the Western powers and their allies were caught completely off guard, they had little expected this and had no war insight of this one coming, as a result the impact fell upon the number of casualties suffered and other major losses incurred in the entire events that unfolded in this particular battle. United States also suffered damages in this particular battle. The battle had a direct impact on the German side as well. Having invested heavy in to this expedition, the Germans had to compromise on other fronts and in other battles in order to compensate for the manpower and the financial funds and armaments that were made for this particular endeavor undertaken. The main target was the American army’s 106 Division (Spiller, p 79). It did not enjoy great expertise or experience of such critical moments and it thereby failed to provide and deliver the heroics that were expected of

School Uniforms are Necessary in Todays World Essay

School Uniforms are Necessary in Todays World - Essay Example School Uniforms are Necessary in Today’s World There is a long history of the use of uniforms in school, most coming from the private sector until recent years, all of which demonstrate these benefits do exist. While most of the uniform policies used in public schools include relatively general restrictions, such as navy or khaki pants and solid color shirts with collars without brand name requirements or specific, school-related insignia required, there has still been a great opposition to these policies by people who mistakenly insist that school uniform policies somehow restrict a child’s ability to express him or herself. Examining the history of the use of school uniforms in public schools in this country reveals that requiring school uniforms provides a number of advantages that outweigh any arguments against them. The idea of requiring students to wear uniforms is nothing new and has been used for at least a century to help foster a sense of academia and respect for oneself within the school setting. When President Clinton said â€Å"I believe we should give strong support to school districts that decide to require young students to wear school uniforms†, he had based his opinion on a history of school uniforms having a calming effect on students. In England, school uniforms had been used for years both to distinguish those children who were part of the lower classes, attending schools that provided their uniform clothing for them, and to distinguish those children who were of the decidedly upper class as a badge of honor and social placement.

Strategic Marketing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Discussion unit 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Foundations of Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Consequences Of An Older Population Research Paper

Consequences Of An Older Population - Research Paper Example Consequences of an Older Population Diverse studies have been undertaken to closely monitor factors that influence living conditions of a population. With vast developments that have been achieved over the past centuries, medical breakthroughs and improved nutrition, concurrent with other innovative products and services have resulted in an increasing percentage of aging population worldwide. The study conducted by the collaborative agencies on aging under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services revealed that most significant increases in the number of people aged 65 and above were identified in developing nations where the percentage increase is projected to reach 140% by the year 2030 (US DHHS, n.d, 2). It has been the natural desire of humans to live a productive and rewarding life for a long time. However, despite the obvious benefits of a long life, there are consequences that should be evaluated in the light of its impact from various perspectives. In this regard, the current study aims to would proffer pertinent issues on the consequences of an older population. ... Medicaid, Medicare, Disability, Welfare and Supplemental Security Income, and The Older Americans Act). Options that could be helpful in relieving this potential burden, in terms of increased taxes, Social Security reform, and reduction in assistance would also be discussed. Finally, from the information gathered from scholarly sources, the paper would propose viable and validated measures to address the significant onus of an aging population. Causes of an Increasing Aging Population The study conducted by Schrier (n.d.) identified a significant cause for the aging population being â€Å"the long-term historical decline in the fertility of the population. In other words, the falling birth rate is responsible for fewer children in the population, and this, in turn, means that the older age groups will form a larger share† (Schrier, n.d, 3). This was supported by the discourse entitled Demographics of an Aging Population provided a clear explanation for the rationale for popula tion age structures in both mortality and fertility transformations, known as demographic transitions (Demographics, n.d). It was reported that the decline in rates of mortality were contributed by improved medical breakthroughs, immunizations, personal hygiene and public focus on health and cleanliness of the environment, that enabled people to survive from various diseases. On the other hand, fertility rates declined due to an interplay of economic and social factors. The need to generate more income for the family led to women joining the work force thereby leaving lesser time for child bearing and rearing, especially in developed countries. Trends in Global Aging The US DHHS (n.d.) have revealed trends in global aging, to wit: (1) â€Å"the overall

Social grade Essay Example for Free

Social grade Essay After analysing my market research, I have concluded that the social grade of the local area is (B) Lower Management, and the average pay is between   25000 and 35000. The majority of the people do shop locally, the main reason being that the local shops cater for their needs. This shows that there would be a place for me in this local area because there arent any specialised Internet cafes, aimed at social group B. The majority of people surveyed fit into this group, so it makes sense to primarily aim for them, and then the skilled non-manual workers. Planning restrictions Planning restrictions are used to restrict where a business can build or start up. If the government rejects then it would be against the law for the company to build there. Planning restrictions help to protect beautiful nature from being destroyed. They also stop factories from opening near homes. Planning restrictions also help bring businesses into areas where there is high unemployment. From research into local planning restrictions, I have found out that I must get permission for any ballads placed by me near my shop, shutters, extra building at the rear of shop and any structural work. I do not need to worry about the replacement of doors and windows, as my business is a non-listed building. Social effects of my shop Social costs are the costs that the rest of the area must pay because of where a business or factory is situated. There can also be social benefits which means what is gained by the local area from placing a business there. The social costs as a result of where I place my business are increase in litter and my result in local competition closing down. The social benefits from placing my business are that people shop locally, creates one or two extra jobs and helps the local economy. Evaluation The place that I have chosen has more advantages than disadvantages. This is because my shop will be right next to a main road which will allow people to see any promotions, and they will be drawn to the area by a Sainsburys Local. There is also a bus stop a few metres away from my shop which will make it easy to get to my shop. Another major advantage is that there is a bank nearby that has a cash point meaning it is easy to withdraw cash. There is also a college very near to my internet so there is a good chance students will come and chat with friends etc. However, the disadvantage is that there are likely to be computers in the college so it would be more likely they would use it rather than paying for the use of a computer and internet. There are some disadvantages; primarily, there is no dedicated car park, and there are parking restrictions. The main parking restrictions are that there is no parking on certain points between 6pm and 8pm Monday-Friday. The planning restrictions in the local area are not very strict so this will help if I want to make changes to my, business. There are more benefits than costs, the only ones being litter and closing of competition. The major benefit of me placing my shop in the chosen area is that there would be a good chance of more people coming into the local area that would help other local shops. How will I set the price? The price must be right, as people will have to buy large numbers to make profit. The price you charge depends on what you are trying to do. I am selling pastries, tea, coffee etc as well as providing an internet service so I will have a low prices in order to attract a lot of customers and to see if my business will succeed. It is different for me as I dont sell things (apart from pastries, coffee, tea etc) to make a profit; I provide a computer service as my main way of making a profit. My price My price will be as low as possible, so that I can attract the largest amount of customers. I will also have some goods such as pastries, coffee; tea etc at is at high prices because they are unique. I am aiming at social group B. How to price? This is very important, as I must decide how to price the use of the Internet and how to price the food and drinks. Hour based pricing will be the most suitable way to charge the use of the computer and the Internet. The food and drinks will be charged at high price seeing that the social grade of this local area is group B and most of the local area earn i 25000+ so they will be more likely to spend more money. From my first plan, I know my place, my pricing structure and what group I am targeting. After evaluating my first action plan, I have found that I need to cover areas that I missed in my previous plan. . I will be selling food and drink, so each and every product must have a good strong brand that makes it recognisable to people. A very strong brand is Coke a Cola brand, As the colours, shape of cans, and lettering tell the buyer what the product is. The characteristics of the brand come from the products physical features of the product. This means the taste and the shape of the product. The manufacturer through adverts and packaging creates these. What is the aim of advertising? The aims of advertising are to inform people about the Internet cafi , create an image, increase sales, compete with other shops and introduce new products into the market. The aims of my advertising will be to increase sales, compete with other shops and to create an image. Informative advertising Currently, the biggest spender on this form of advertising is the government. This advertising is used to pass on information to the public. The passing on of this information is very important in any advert. Persuasive advertising Their adverts try to persuade the viewer that their products are much better then the competition. Their goal is to attract people to buy their products. There are different types of pervasive advertising. They could be adverts that show a famous person using the product or adverts that compare one product with another. Public relations Public relations are the department that tries to promote the company and shows the good side of the company to the public. Advertising agencies Advertising is a very expensive business; to make sure that the money is well spent they will hire a company to do it right. For an advertising campaign to be successful it must reach the right audience, be attractive and appealing and make the money that the audience cost back in sales. Control over advertising In an advert you cant just put anything in it, there are certain rules. There is a code of practice inside the advertising industry that you must obey. The trade description act, which means that the advert must mean what it, says. I plan to use informative advertising, as I want to inform people of the benefits of buying from my shop. What types of media are there for advertising? There are many different types of advertising, each has advantages, and disadvantages: Television This is a very powerful media to use to get your message across. The advert that is produced will be seen by millions. The time at which your advert is shown effects who see it. If your product is for children then you would show your advert during childrens programmes. You must also take into account the number of people watching, as this will effect the cost. To produce an advert you must take into consideration how many adverts can you afford, as there would be no point in only being able to run your advert once and when will it be shown and is the advert its self correct? The advantages are that television reaches a large audience throughout the country and the adverts can make the product look much better than in print. The disadvantages are that it is extremely expensive. Radio This method of advertising is very similar as television adverting, but it is cheaper and sound is used instead of visual images. In a radio advert a theme tune is used. The disadvantages are that people may switch station when the advert comes on, if there is poor reception then the listener may miss the advert. The advantages are cheaper than television, large audiences can be reached, this type of advertising is very good for local shops and the advert can be repeated many times.

Theories of Consciousness: History, AI and Animals

Theories of Consciousness: History, AI and Animals Consciousness Andrew P Allen History and Philosophy People can mean various things when they talk about â€Å"consciousness†. At a simple level, one can mean awareness of one’s world or one’s internal drives (e.g. thirst). A more complex form of consciousness is awareness of one’s own awareness, the consciousness that allows people to psychologise about themselves. Approaching the concept from a different angle, â€Å"consciousness† sometimes means the sense of what it is like to be someone or have a particular experience. Although we may have a sense of what an experience is like, it is very difficult to describe exactly what the experience is like (c.f. Ned Block, 1990, for an interesting discussion). A key issue within philosophy of mind is the â€Å"mind-body problem†: can a physical body produce a subjective, apparently non-physical mind, and if so, how? Materialists take the position that the mind is the product of the brain, while dualists hold that body and mind are not the same thing. The position of dualism is typically associated with Rà ©nà © Descartes, who suggested that mind and body are two different types of matter (see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/#HisDua for a discussion). In attempting to explain how the brain produces awareness, neuroscientists would tend towards materialism. Regarding brain and consciousness, Place (1956/1990) has drawn an analogy with clouds and the droplets of water that form them. Although a cloud observed at a distance and droplets of water observed close-up seem very different, the many droplets of water nonetheless make up the cloud. So it (perhaps) is with the brain and consciousness; the firing of a neuron may seem very different from a mental image of a new car, but there is no reason to say that this mental image cannot consist of nothing more than the action of many neurons. Daniel Dennett has criticized what he calls the â€Å"Cartesian theatre†; a given place in the brain where sensations, memory traces etc. are combined to form consciousness. There is a danger of positing a neural â€Å"homunculus† (a â€Å"little man† in the head) which observes the various non-conscious parts of the brain and turns them into conscious experience. It does at least seem evasive to propose a single part of the brain is responsible for turning sensations from unconscious information processing to conscious experience without specifying the process whereby such a change occurs. Dennett is setting a high bar for the neural correlate of consciousness (see below); you have to give a full explanation of how the process of consciousness is brought about by the brain without suggesting that some brain area just acts in a conscious way. If we accept that the brain (and the rest of the body?) produces consciousness, then we have to reject dualism (Edelman, 2003), or at least a strong version thereof. Edelman points out that consciousness has a wide range of interesting properties (e.g. it feels unitary, so it seems it requires the binding of multiple sources of sensory information). He suggests that evolutionary pressure would favour cognitive structures which could integrate information from multiple sources. Consciousness in the brain Given that consciousness is stopped when the activity of some regions is stopped, it seems fair to assume that the brain may be responsible for consciousness. However, the question remains: how do these brain regions lead to the conscious experience (Churchland, 2012)? Crick and Koch (1998) highlight some of the key issues. At any time, the brain is doing a lot of things, but only some of these things appear in our consciousness. Is there anything special about the neurons involved in consciousness and their type of firing? What about the connections between them? There has been some interest in finding a so-called neural correlate of consciousness. Edelman (2003) takes the approach of looking at connections. He posits â€Å"re-entry† as a process which could account for how functionally distinct parts of the brain co-ordinate their activities to produce a combined output. It involves recursive signalling over multiple pathways which are used simultaneously. He suggests that this process allows for the binding of outputs from different brain areas to form an integrated sense of experience. Edelman suggests the thalamocortical system as â€Å"a dynamic core† for consciousness. The thalamic intralaminar nuclei (ILN) may play a particularly important role in consciousness; it projects axons widely to all cortical areas, and small lesions to the ILN are associated with significant loss of awareness (Bogen, 1997). Note that the ILN may be necessary but not sufficient for consciousness; it is through its interaction with corticol regions that it could produce something like consciousness. The thalamocortical system conta ins functionally distinct sub-parts which may act semi-independently, while also being able to integrate information between themselves. By suggesting that consciousness could be brought about by brain processes and their interaction, Edelman’s idea may avoid falling into the trap of the Cartesian theatre. Attention and consciousness At first, it might seem like attention and consciousness might be the same thing; when we attend to something, we are conscious of it, and when we are conscious of something, we are attending to it, right? However, it has been argued that you can have either consciousness or attention without having the other (Koch and Tsuchiya, 2007). They cite work which uses interocular suppression (i.e. presenting different images to each eye in order to reduce perception of some/all of these images) to present both a nude image and a meaningless scramble of its pixels, while simultaneously rendering the nude image invisible to consciousness. Nonetheless, heterosexual participants attend to nude images of the opposite sex more than scrambled control images (Jiang et al., 2006). Hence, attention without consciousness! Another example of attention without consciousness is blindsight, where patients with damage to the primary visual cortex can report properties of visual stimuli above chance level, but without awareness of having seen anything (Weiskrantz, 1997). Subliminal presentation of stimuli can be processed by brain areas associated with emotional processing, such as the amygdala (Naccache et al., 2005). I’m less convinced by Koch and Tsuchiya’s argument that one can have consciousness without attention. Their argument seems to be based on limiting their point to top-down attention processes. For example, they suggest that one can make out the gist of an image after a very brief presentation. Of course, there may be little top-down processing going on here, and 30 ms may be too short a time to talk about â€Å"sustained attention†, but after all, one has to orient to the image in order to perceive it. Perhaps you may see it otherwise Are non-humans conscious? Trying to define consciousness at a brain level may be even more difficult when it comes to non-human animals. This question is also important for the ethical consideration of neuroscientists who work with animals. If one is to work with a particular species, one should at least try to be aware of its capacity for suffering. Panksepp (2005) argues that affect is largely produced by processes concentrated in subcortical, limbic regions in the mammalian brain. He defines consciousness as brain states which are associated with feeling or experience. He distinguishes raw, primary-process consciousness from secondary consciousness, which can relate to how external events relate to internal states, and tertiary consciousness, which is basically meta-cognition. Panksepp attacks what he seems to perceive as a wilful ignorance of the affective experience by neuroscientists working with animals, and criticises those who suppose that all consciousness is dependent upon the advanced linguistic and reasoning skills possessed by humans. However, the fact is acknowledged that outward behaviour may give a misleading impression of internal affective states. Nonetheless, he defends an internal affective life in animals, citing evidence of differing vocalisations of rats in response to environments associated with pleasurable/unpleasant drugs (Burgdorf, Knutson, Panksepp, Ikemoto, 2001a, 2001b), as well as neural mechanisms underlying desire for certain drugs which are similar to those in humans. Given similar subcortical machinery in other mammalian life, such research may give insight into the affective life of humans. However, studying consciousness in animals can be tricky; although anaesthesia is often used in certain techniques, if one wishes to study consciousness then any form of anaesthesia or sedation may bias results (Crick Koch, 1998). The work of Gallup (1970) used a simple behavioural test to examine self-awareness in chimpanzees. A mirror was inserted in their environment. Although the animals initially responded socially to it, they began to groom in response to it. When they were marked with a red dot in their sleep they used the mirror to try to clean the dot off. However, this level of performance was not evident in other primates. However, the so-called â€Å"hard problem of consciousness† (what is it really like?) may be insoluble. Thomas Nagel (1974) famously used animal life as an illustration of how difficult it is to grasp qualia (i.e. the subjective feeling of what something is like) by asking the question â€Å"what is like to be a bat?† Aside from bringing up again the issue of knowing others’ minds, the comparison here is stronger because it shifts from trying to second-guess the thoughts of fellow humans to trying to imagine the thoughts and feelings of a strange species. The implication is that, even if we were to understand all the neural processes tied up with the bat’s nervous system which bring about consciousness, we would still not be able to fully imagine what it is like to be a bat. Artificial intelligence and models of altered consciousness Although a large proportion of neuroscience involves backwards engineering of the brain (i.e. taking something which has already been engineered by evolution and trying to tease apart its structure and function), artificial intelligence, by engineering intelligent systems, can also be used to observe if a particular account of how the brain works actually produces a comparable output when you run it through a computer program (if the program doesn’t produce the same output as the â€Å"natural† brain, this may pose a problem for your theory, or vice versa). (Note this process of back-propagation is somewhat reminiscent of Edelman’s idea of re-entry). Takeno has found that the robot can distinguish between its own image in a mirror from either a second robot or another robot which follows the test robot’s instructions. The robot is equipped with LED lights allowing it to demonstrate distinct responses to its own mirrored behavior compared to that of another robot, including another robot engaging in the same behaviour (Takiguchi, Mizunaga, Takeno, 2013). See the following brief video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK0M02aKXLE A neural network was used to model how the excessive loss of synapses during adolescence could lead to auditory hallucinations reported in schizophrenia (Hoffman McGlashen, 1997). Pruning was carried out in a â€Å"Darwinian† fashion by removing neural units which were less well-connected to other units, in addition to modelling cell death which could be associated with excessive loss of neurons. Excessive loss of neural units produced a model of hallucination whereby words were coming up as perceived at the output layer of the network even when words were not being entered at the input layer. Although the authors admit that such models are vastly simplified models of the real thing, by reproducing (modeled) phenomena visible in the world (in this case, auditory hallucinations), they allow one to study such phenomena by testing if the mechanisms one hypothesizes explain such phenomena (in this case, excessive loss of neurons involved in working memory) actually produce the ph enomenon under investigation. Interestingly, the neurons pruned were modeled on corticocortical connections rather than thalamocortical connections (the type suggested by Edelman to play a key role in producing conscious experience itself). Consciousness: a clinical case A vegetative state is where a patient shows no overt signs of awareness, even though they are visibly awake. However, the idea that people in a persistent vegetative state lack consciousness has been challenged by recent research. Patients in a minimally conscious state or persistent vegetative state have been instructed to perform mental imagery tasks while undergoing fMRI (Monti et al., 2010). The tasks used are associated with activity in the parahippocampal gyrus and the supplementary motor area; areas which are associated with actually carrying out the activity. A minority of the participants showed activity in response to the tasks similar to healthy controls. However, bearing in mind that information can be processed without conscious awareness (as alluded to in the discussion of attention and consciousness), is it possible that this brain activity may have emerged automatically, without the patients having any conscious awareness of the scene described to them by the research ers? Such an interpretation is challenged by the following finding: a number of healthy controls and 1 patient were asked questions, and instructed to think of one mental image if the answer was â€Å"yes† and a different mental image if the answer was â€Å"no†. The patient showed signs of being able to complete this task. The fact that the participants could control what was imagined suggests that they may have been aware of their own awareness. Adrian Owen talks about these issues at the following link: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxUWO-Adrian-Owen-The-Quest-f Embodiment The idea that the brain is, or at least is very much like, a computer is quite popular. Indeed, computers themselves have increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence. Of course, a lot of the information we process is not purely symbolic for us; it is viscerally linked to our bodily states and physiological drives, and thus embodied. Returning to the question of what it is like to be a bat, we can consider the brain of this animal and how it works, but even if we could understand all brain functions of the bat, there would still be other differences between our species. For example, bats have wings which they can use to fly. What is it really like at a subjective level to do this? If we were to both given the chance to experience this kind of flight, your answer to this question could be completely different from mine, and yet perhaps we would both be right about our own experience. References Block, N. (1990). Inverted Earth. Philosophical Perspectives, 4, 53-79. Bogen, J.E. (1997). Some neurophysiologic aspects of consciousness. Seminars in Neurology, 17(2), 95-103. Burgdorf, J., Knutson, B., Panksepp, J., Ikemoto, S. (2001a). Nucleus accumbens amphetamine microinjections unconditionally elicit 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats. Behavioral Neuroscience, 115, 940–944. Burgdorf, J., Knutson, B., Panksepp, J., Shippenberg, T. (2001b). Evaluation of rat ultrasonic vocalizations as predictors of the conditioned aversive eà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ects of drugs. Psychopharmacology, 155, 35–42. Churchland, P.M., (2012). Consciousness, in: Gregory, R.L. (Ed.), The Oxford companion to the mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Crich, F., Koch, C. (1998). Consciousness and neuroscience. Cerebral Cortex, 8, 97-107. Edelman, G. (2003). Naturalizing consciousness: A theoretical framework. PNAS, 100(9), 5520-5524. Gallup, G. 91970). Chimpanzees: Self-recognition. Science, 167(3914), 85-87. Hoffman, R.E., McGlashen, T.H. (1997). Synaptic elimination, neurodevelopment, and the mechanism of hallucinated â€Å"voices† in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 1683-1689. Jiang, Y., Costello, P., Fang, F., Huang, M., He, S., (2006). A gender- and sexual orientation-dependent spatial attentional effect of invisible images. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103, 17048-17052. Koch, C., Tsuchiya, N., (2007). Attention and consciousness: two distinct brain processes. Trends in cognitive sciences 11, 16-22. Monti, M.M., Vanhaudenhuyse, A., Coleman, M.R., Boly, M., Pickard, J.D., Tshibanda, L., Owen, A.M., Laureys, S., (2010). Willful modulation of brain activity in disorders of consciousness. New England Journal of Medicine 362, 579-589. Naccache, L., Gaillard, R., Adam, C., Hasboun, D., Clà ©menceau, S., Baulac, M., Dehaene, S., Cohen, L., (2005). A direct intracranial record of emotions evoked by subliminal words. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102, 7713-7717. Nagel, T. (1974). What is it like to be a bat? Philosophical Review, 83, 435-450. Panksepp, J. (2005). Affective consciousness: core emotional feelings in animals and humans. Consciousness and cognition. Place, U.T., (1956/1990). Is consciousness a brain process?, in: Lycan, W.G. (Ed.), Mind and cognition: An anthology. Blackwell, Malden, Massachusetts, pp. 14-19. Takiguchi, T., Mizunaga, A., Takeno, J. (2013). A study of self-awareness in robots. International Journal of Machine Consciousness, 5, 142. Weiskrantz, L. (1997). Consciousness lost and found. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Database Migration and Architecture: Bee Colony Optimization Database Migration and Architecture: Bee Colony Optimization Abstract: It is compulsory for two servers to be compatible if you have to either import or export the data. All the servers have unique protocol service through which they communicate. It is not possible for a server to directly transmit or receive the data from any other server. A live example is the developed codes at different platforms like JAVA, Visual Studio and others. This task becomes more sophisticated when it comes to communication of data along with its architecture. This paper focused their work in migrating the data from one server to another with the use of XAML protocol in which three servers have been included to migrate the data. The first server is the server from where the data has to be migrated, the second server is the server where data is fetched to be migrated and the third server is the server where data has to be migrated. The entire work has been performed using Development tool visual studio 2010 with data base connectivity with SQL SERVER 05. In this pa per we are proposing a technique for migration of the platform architecture along with the data with perfect accuracy to another cloud platform using Simple Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) concept will take a lot of effort due to the sophisticated architecture of a system protocol. This may lead to a new era in the cloud computing. Keywords: BCO, Data Migration, XAML, SQL SERVER 05. INTRODUCTION: Cloud computing is an Internet based computing technology, where the word ‘cloud’ means Internet and ‘computing’ refers to services that can accessed directly over the internet. Cloud provider maintains the cloud data server or cluster that is collection of computer to provide computing services on a large scale. For providing both software services as well as management services this scale can be used. Any device like PCs’, tablets, smartphones, etc. personal can provide access to cloud computing services, as these devices can connect to the internet. This is because the technology infrastructure of cloud computing is not based on consumer premises. Cloud computing comes in various forms, shapes, and sizes as there is variety of cloud formations [1]. Cloud Computing can be also described as type of application and platform. Platform means to supply the servers or machines; machine can be virtual or physical. Machines can be configure and reconfigure. Type of application depends on the demand of its user, various resources are available over the internet through cloud computing. Resources come in forms – hardware and software resources can be used in scalable and flexible manner. Also the costs can be reduced. There are mainly three aspects of cloud computing: Iaas (Infrastructure as a Service) – number crunching, data storage and management services (computer servers). SaaS (Software as a Service) – ‘web based’ applications (like Gmail). PaaS (Platform as a Service) – essentially an operating system in the cloud like Google AppEngine [2]. Data migration the term ‘migration’ is the process of moving from one location to another. In the process of Data migration, the data is transferred between various computer systems, storage types, or formats. To achieve an automated migration, data migration is usually performed programmatically. To give an efficient data migration method, data is mapped to the new system from the previous old system providing a design by data loading and data extraction. Programmatic data migration consists of many steps but it mostly includes data extraction in which the data from the old system writes to the current system [3]. In migration, to improve the quality of data, eliminate the redundancy or invalid information, manual and automated data cleaning is mostly done. Before deploying to the new system, various migration steps like designing, extraction, loading, cleaning and verification are mostly repeated for many applications whether of high or moderate complexity. Four major types of data migration: Application migration Database migration Storage migration Business process migration BEE COLONY OPTIMIZATION (BCO): The bee colony optimization (BCO) has been recently introduced as new approach in the field of Swarm Intelligence. There is a colony of honey bees that can extend their selves over the long distances. To exploit large number of food bees extend itself in multiple directions at the same time. The artificial bees represent the agents, which collectively solves complex problems. The algorithm BCO is inspired by the original behavior of the bees’ in nature. By creating colony of artificial bees, BCO can successfully used to solve complex problems. The behavior of the artificial bees is partially similar to the behavior of bees’ in nature and partially dissimilar to the behavior of bees’ in nature. The BCO algorithm is basically, based on population. The population of the artificial bees searches for the valid solution in the population. An artificial bee solves complex problems and described as agents. One solution is generated to the every problem by the artificial bees [4]. Bee colony optimization consists of two phases: A) Forward pass: In forward pass, search space is explored by every artificial bee, also obtains a new solution and improves the solution and then bees’ again go back to the nest. B) Backward pass: After bees’ go back to the nest they shared the solutions of various information. RELATED WORK Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche et.al (2012) explain the working over the cloud platforms for the last few decades. According to him the general migration issue raises when your data is not secure at the one platform. Now the issue comes that whether we can transfer the data with the architecture from one end to another. He proposed that if we can use the TCP/IP technique to find out at which server the data is going to be migrated and if we can configure it to the server from where the data has to be migrated can make a difference into the migration but he did not talk about how an existing architecture allows the second server to be configured into itself [5]. Diva Agawam talks about the server compatibility, according to them as a basic network the PC equipments had been over, with the popularization of technology of embedded system and the internet. Traditional Ethernet fields are infiltrated from embedded equipments . Besides PC, there are several embedded equipments as nodes present. User can easily refer the correlative information if he has the web server accessing permission. The administrator can easily manage and validate the equipments but accessing it over IP, is a great challenge [6]. R.SUCHITRA said that in cloud environment, there is necessity of Server consolidation of virtual machines for cost cutting and energy conservation. With live migration server consolidation can be achieved of virtual machines. For Server Consolidation, we propose a been packing algorithm which is modified to reduce the instantiation of new servers and to avoid the migrations that are not necessary. The algorithm is simulated using multiple test cases and using java. For live migration of virtual machines, ideas are taken from the decreasing strategy of First Fit algorithm [7]. Jayson Tom Hilter talks about the SOAP proto calling in his words. SOAP is a messaging framework, based on XML. Over the internet for exchanging formatted data, SOAP is specially designed. It can be understand with the example of sending the complete documents and using reply and request messages or. It is not affected with the different operating system, programming languages, or platform of distributed computing. A more efficient way was needed to explain the messages and how these messages are communicated. The WSDL (Web Services Description Language) is a specific form of an XML Schema, implemented by Microsoft and IBM for defining the XML message, its operation, and its protocol mapping of a web service used during SOAP or other XML protocol [8]. Qura-Tul-Ain Khan, Said Nasser â€Å"talks that cloud computing is a computing platform which is present in large data center. To deliver cloud computing resources various problems occurs like privacy issues, security, and access, regulations, reliability, electricity and other issues. In every field cloud computing is able to address the servers to fulfill their wide range of needs [9]. RESULTS The proposed architecture migration system has been implemented using VSUAL STUDIO 2010. The performance of various database migration and architecture migration system is analyzed and discussed. Two servers minimum are involved in the data migration. To migrate the architecture system by using XAML language pattern avoiding the time delay of the data migration and ensuring the security analysis of the data getting migrated. The purpose of this work is justified when the data along with the architecture is migrated to another platform. To attain the goal, a mid level XAML architecture would be drawn which would show the compatibility with both the server. In the process, the middle server would first analyze the architecture of the first server from where the data has to be migrated and would generate the XAML for it. As XAML is one of the most light weight language and it is supported by all other platforms also, it would be easier for the second server to adapt the language. The mi ddle server would do amendments in the local XAML according to the architecture which has to be migrated to the next sever. Once the second XAML is generated, it would use the TCP IP protocol service along with the SQL Query injector to transfer the XAML from one end to another and would migrate the architecture completely. The successful migration of the architecture is examined by various parameters. Three parameters are used: Accuracy Reliability Error rate Accuracy: Accuracy is the proximity of measurement results. Here we describe the accuracy in terms of percentage. Percentage ranges from 0-100. Here we attain the highest accuracy that means data is migrated successfully [10]. (1) where, TN is the number of true negative cases FP is the number of false positive cases FN is the number of false negative cases TP is the number of true positive cases Fig.(a) Accuracy graph As shown in the above graph, maximum accuracy is attained i.e, 95% and more than this. In this proposed model for migration accuracy achieves best results. Reliability: Reliability is the ability of a component or a system to perform the tasks successfully for a given time under provided conditions. It is the Consistency and validity of test results determined through statistical methods after repeated trials without degradation or failure [11]. (2) Where, R(t) = reliability e = exponential (2.178) ÊÅ ½ = failure time m = mtbf (mean time between failures) t = time Fig. (b) Reliability graph As shown in above graph, maximum accuracy is attained i.e, 93% and more than this. In this proposed model for migration reliability achieves best results. Error Rate: An Error rate is a deviation from accuracy or correctness. A mistake is an error caused by a fault: the fault being misjudgment, carelessness, or forgetfulness [12]. (3) where, , (energy per bit to noise power spectral density ratio) or, Es/ (energy per modulation symbol to noise density). Fig.(c) Error Rate graph As shown in above graph, minimum error rate is attained i.e, 5%. In this proposed model for migration error rate is very less. As mentioned above the three parameters are evaluated from the proposed work. Accuracy, Reliability and Error rate, all three parameters achieves best results. Table I: Accuracy, Reliability and error rate values (in %) calculated from different data’s schemas that are migrated. Fig. (d) Graph represents above table values per number of time execution The above figure has two axis x-axis represents the number of time the execution takes place and y-axis represents the percentage of all three parameters. CONCLUSION This research has a great scope in reducing the load over the server to provide the optimized result. In this work done till now, it successfully migrates the generated architecture and its data to another server. Here proposed a new approach based on Bee Colony Optimization (BCO) technique and Go Daddy server. The transfer accuracy is almost 90-95 percent. For successful migration XAML is used, as XAML is one of the most light weight language and it is supported by all other platforms also, it would be easier for the second server to adapt the language. Error rate is very less, so the proposed approach works well in migration. In future, this approach can be applied to the system with more than two servers in the migration. The current system does not evaluate any computation time for the evaluation that how much time has been elapsed in the transfer. So in future time elapsed in transferring the data taken into consideration. Also, the transfer of the data is limited i.e. in the generation of the architecture system; you cannot generate more than a fixed number of columns. Reactive Arthritis: Causes, Features and Treatments Reactive Arthritis: Causes, Features and Treatments Reactive arthritis Minor changes. References reduced. 64.58 Reactive Arthritis Ramesh M Bhat M and Rochelle C Monteiro Introduction Reactive arthritis (ReA) is defined as an episode of peripheral arthritis of more than one 1-month duration occurring in association with conjunctivitis and urethritis and/or cervicitis. It is triggered by an infection, most often in the gastrointestinal or urogenital tract. It is also known as Reiter’s syndrome, Feissinger– Leroy’s disease, Brodie’s syndrome and conjunctivo-urethro-synovial syndrome. The term ReA Reactive arthritis was originally introduced to define a sterile joint inflammation during and after an infection elsewhere in the body. The definition was later modified since nucleic acids and bacterial antigens were found in the inflamed joints. ² Etiology  Aetiology Reactive arthritis (ReA) follows an infection in the urogenital tract (venereal form) or gastrointestinal tract (dysenteric form). The venereal form follows recent sexual contact, whereas the dysentricdysenteric form is associated with a wide variety of intestinal pathogens and non-specific diarrhoeal illnesses. The most common organisms implicated are as follows: Post Post-dysenteric form: Salmonella (different serotypes), Yersinia tuberculosis, Shigella flexneri, Shigella S. sonnei, and Campylobacter jejuni. These organisms are found to be HLA HLAB27– dependent. Hence, Individuals individuals with HLA-B27 positivity are strongly predisposed to develop the disease. Post Post-venereal form: Chlamydia trachomatis. Some newer organisms have been implicated recently in causation of reactive arthritisReA, namely Chlamydia C. pneumonia, Mycoplasma hominis, Mycoplasma M. fermentans, Neisseria Gonorrhoeagonorrhoeae, Borrelia burgdorferi, Clostridium difficile, ÃŽ ²-haemolytic streptococci, Propionibacterium acnes, EscherischiaEscherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori, Calmette CalmetteGuerin bacillus, Brucella abortus, Leptospira , Bartonella, Tropheyreyma whippeli, Gardnerella vaginalis, Giardia lamblia. ³ Drugs are generally not implicated in the aetiology of reactive arthritisReA;, however, a single case of Lithium lithium precipitating pre-existing ReA1: Kindly check for clarity>aOKctive arthritis has been described.à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ´ Pathobiology The prevalence of ReAactive arthritis is estimated to be 0.1% worldwide. The disease mainly affects people in the 2nd 4thsecond to fourth decade of life. The Infection infection occurs 1–4 weeks following genitourinary infection, with a male–female ratio of 9:1. The Enteric enteric type has an equal incidence in both males and females.à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ¶ Systemic Featuresfeatures The disease primarily affects the joints, eyesà ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ·, the skin and genitalia. Rarely, patients present with cardiac, renal, and neural abnormalities. Arthritis Articular manifestations are most commonly of an acute, non-destructive oligoarthritis usually affecting the large joints of the lower limbs which persists for 4–5 months. ‘Sausage digit’ or diffuse swelling of an entire toe/finger occurs in 16% of patients. Enthesitis is another characteristic feature of patients with ReA. It is defined as an inflammation of the ligaments and tendons at their site of insertion into the bone. Patients may also develop heel pain and achilles Achilles tendonitis. Sacroiliitis is another distinctive feature of the disease which results in a low back pain.8-10 Urethritis ReAactive arthritis usually follows 1–3 weeks after an episode of urethritis. Urethritis may occur even in post postdysenteric cases. The non nonspecific urethritis presents with mild non-purulent urethral discharge. Haemorrhagic cystitis and prostatitis may develop in a few patients. In females, it manifests as cervicitis associated with cervical discharge. Rarely, bleeding and abdominal pain may occur.à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ µ Mucocutaneous lesions Keratoderma blennorrhagica or Pustulosis pustulosis palmoplantaris is a specific cutaneous lesion in ReA. Patients present with pustules over the palms and soles which are gradually covered with thick horny crusts. Lesions may coalesce. Psoriasiform lesions are also common (Fig. 58.1). The biopsy of of skin lesions with acanthosis and epidermal neutrophilia (Fig. 58.2) Circinate balanitis is a painless geographic dermatitis occurring over the glans penis (Fig. 58.31). In addition, small, shallow ulcers are seen over the glans and urethral meatus and also over the oral cavity. Nail changes are a common finding and include subungual hyperkeratosis, onycholysis, ridging and nail shedding.10,11 Visceral lesions Visceral involvements mainly include the cardiac, renal and neural systems. Cardiovascular manifestations present as conduction delays and aortic disease. Proteinuria, microhaematuria, aseptic pyuria, and rarely, glomerulonephritis occur when the renal system is involved. Transient neurologic dysfunction such as cranial or peripheral nerve palsies have been described in some patients.10 The disease is usually self selflimiting. The joint manifestations regress completely within a few months (3–5 months). Enthesopathy, balanitis and psoriatic lesions may persist even after joint inflammation has subsided. Recurrences are common. Some patients develop chronic polyarthritis, usually HLA HLAB27– positive individuals.12 Ocular Featuresfeatures Bilateral mucopurulent conjunctivitis is the most common ocular manifestation of ReA that occurs in more than 50% of patients. It is one of the important components of the triad of the disease. Occasionally, the conjunctivitis may be purulent but remains transient, mild and associated with a sterile discharge. It subsides within 1–4 weeks. Acute anterior uveititsuveitis may be found in about one-fifth of cases, especially in those who are positive for HLA-B27.7 Other ocular complications of ReA include keratitis, corneal ulcer with or without hypopyon, episcleritis, scleritis, papilloedema, retinal oedema, retinal vasculitis and retrobulbar neuritis. ¹Ã‚ ³ Vision is usually impaired from corneal scar or recurrent chronic uveitis causing secondary glaucoma, complicated cataract or cystoids macular oedema. ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ ´ Diagnosis Laboratory findings in ReA are non-specific and do not usually provide a conclusive diagnosis regarding the aetiology. Prognosis Individuals who are HLA HLAB27– positive have a more severe disease form. Male gender and a positive family history for spondyloarthropathies, ankylosing spondylitis and recurrent episodes of arthritis are indicators of a bad prognosis.9 Treatment Patient education has plays a major role in patients with ReAactive arthritis. The chronic relapsing nature of the disease should be explained to the patients for better compliance with therapeutic modalities. Conjunctivitis is usually self-limiting. A slit slitlamp examination is necessary to rule out uveitis, which if present has to be managed with topical corticosteroids, cycloplaegics and mydriatics. Keratoderma blenorrhagicablennorrhagica is treated using topical steroids and keratolytics. Low potency topical steroids are used in circinate balanitis.10 Non Nonsteroidal anti antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID’s) are highly effective in pain management in patients with ReAactive arthritis. Intra Intraarticular steroids are advocated in oligo/monoarticular disease. The use of systemic steroids has been discouraged except in severe cases where short courses may be given.15 Antibiotics are useful in the post postvenereal form of ReAactive arthritis. Their role in the post postdysenteric form remains controversial. Commonly used antibiotics include erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and doxycycline.11 In patients who fail to respond to the above mentioned conventional therapy, a more aggressive therapeutic approach is needed. This includes Disease disease modifying anti antirheumatic drugs (DMARD’s). References 1. Fisk PK. Reiter’s disease. British Med J 1982; 284:3. 132. Kingsley G, Sieper J. Third international International workshop Workshop on Reactive arthritis Arthritis, 23–-26 September, 1995, Berlin : An overview. Ann Rheum Dis 55:564–570. 143. Kiss S, LetkoE, Qamruddin S, et al, Long-term progression, prognosis and treatment of patients with recurrent ocular manifestations of Reiter’s syndrome. Ophthalmology 2003;110::1764–1769. 154. Schumacher HR Jr., Reactive arthritis. Rheum Dis Clin North Am 1998; 24:261–-273. Early Years Care and Education: History and Policies Early Years Care and Education: History and Policies This essay explores the range of early year settings that are involved in the care and education of young children, and discuss the roles and responsibilities of the professionals who work at these settings. Two critical incidents will be focused upon with the use of a Personal Reflection Diary, which has been taken throughout Practical Placements. The diary will emphasize the roles and responsibilities of the professionals that are key within the setting. The essay will also evaluate the curricula appropriate to the setting that were visited during placement and compare it to another practice setting. The essay will finish with a personal statement defining what has been learnt from the experiences. First, the history of care and education of young children will be reflected upon. Next, there will be a discussion on social care and health care legislation which is affiliated to the support of childrens health and safety (historical to present day). A Reflective Account will follow, which will consider two incidents which identifies the roles of the professionals who work in various settings. Subsequently, the author will define the importance of reflective practice. Finally, conclusions will be drawn as to whether the objectives have been met. History of care and education- Education sector first started and when did children become important? Pre 1870 there was no organised system of education. Instead children were sent out to work to earn money for their families. Some children attended schools run by charities and churches or Dame schools run by women for young children. There were fee paying schools for those rich enough to afford them or the wealthier children were taught at home by governesses. In the social legislation of this period education did not become a real priority until the year of the first Education Act, 1870. The 1870 Education Act also known as the Forster Act, that we have the real birth of the modern system of education in England. This not only gave rise to a national system of state education but also assured the existence of a dual system voluntary denominational schools and nondenominational state schools. The act required the establishment of elementary schools nationwide. These were not to replace or duplicate what already existed but supplement those already run by the churches, private individuals and guilds. Elementary education became effectively free with the passing of the 1891 Education Act. The1870 Forster Education Act set up mass primary education (education for everyone). It was introduced because the government was worried that the working class was becoming revolutionary and also because it was thought that Britains economy was falling behind the rest of the world. The education received therefore a strong emphasis on obedience to authority. The Victorians soon realised the importance to read and write. Passage of the Education Act of 1870 was an important event because the act established compulsory elementary schools for all children from the age of 5. All children had to attend school until they were 10 years old. Education Legislation (historical to present day). By 1880 many new schools had been set up by the boards. This made it possible for the 1880 Education Act to make school attendance compulsory for all children up to the age of ten. The school boards were abolished under the 1902 Education Act. In their place Local Educational Authorities (LEAs) were created to organize funding, employ teachers and allocate school places. Under the 1918 Education Act school became obligatory for all children up to the age of 14. The Act was conceived by the liberal MP Herbert Fisher (1865-1940). Other features of the Act included the provision of additional services in schools, such as medical inspections, nurseries and provision for pupils with special needs. During the 1920s and 1930s Sir Henry Hadow (1859-1937) chaired a consultative committee that was responsible for several important reports on education in England. In 1926, a report entitled The Education of the Adolescent looked at primary education in detail for the first time. It prioritized activity and experience, rather than rote learning and discussed, for the first time, the specific needs of children with learning difficulties. The report also made the important recommendation of limiting class sizes to a maximum of thirty children. In 1931, another report was published: The Primary School was influenced by the educational ideas of Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget and advocated a style of teaching based on childrens interests. The 1944 Education Act saw the introduction of the tripartite system. Devised by Conservative MP Rab Butler (1902-1982), the Act introduced three different types of school: Grammar schools for the more academic pupil, Secondary Modern schools for a more practical, non-academic style of education and Technical schools for specialist practical education. Pupils were allocated to a particular type of school by taking an examination called the 11- Plus, which was also introduced under the Act. Secondary education now became free for all and the school-leaving age rose to 15. Comprehensive schooling was recommended in a document issued by the Labor Government in 1965 called the Circular 10/65. The system was developed in contrast to the tripartite system and was instead intended to suit pupils of all abilities. The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England) into Primary Education. The report was called Children and their Primary Schools and was named after the chair of the Council, Lady Bridget Plowden (1910-2000). It observed that new skills were needed in society, stating that, the qualities needed in a modern economy extend far beyond skills such as accurate spelling and arithmetic. They include greater curiosity and adaptability, a high level of aspiration, and others which are difficult to measure. (The Plowden Report: Children and their Primary Schools, London: Her Majestys Stationery Office, 1967.) The Education Act 1973 stated that schools leaving age was raised to 16. The National Curriculum was introduced in the 1988 Education Act. It made all education the same for state-funded schools, ensuring that all pupils had access to a basic level of education. A selection of subjects was made compulsory including maths, English, science and some form of religious education. It also introduced sex education for the first time. Pupils were divided into Key Stages, depending on their age, Key Stage 1 for pupils aged 5-7, Key Stage 2 for pupils aged 7-11, Key Stage 3 for pupils aged 11-14 and Key Stage 4 for pupils aged 14-16. The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) was introduced to replace O-levels and the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE). In 1996, the Conservative government introduced the first stage of a Nursery Voucher scheme. The Voucher scheme allowed parents to use vouchers worth up to  £1,100 per child for up to three terms of part-time education for their 4-year-old children, in any form of preschool provision. However, in 1997, the incoming Labour Government abolished the voucher scheme and made its own plans for the development of early years services. The government provided direct funding to preschool institutions for part-time places for 4-year-old children and an increasing number of part-time places for 3-year-old children. Around 1999, the government introduced a Foundation Stage of early learning, which is a new stage of education for children age 3 to the end of their reception year when they will be 5. The Labour government revealed plans to introduce City Academies in 2002 as part of a five-year plan to improve education. City Academies are designed to improve inner city education by building new schools, introducing new technology and changing the ethos of schools. The scheme is controversial since schools will only get academy status if they raise  £2 million from private funds. Various types of early years education provisions There are a number of various types of early years education settings that can offer the free entitlement: day nurseries, private nursery schools, maintained nursery schools and nursery classes attached to primary schools, preschools and playgroups, primary school reception classes, where schools operate an early admission policy to admit four year olds, accredited child minders who are part of networks approved to deliver early education and Sure Start Childrens Centers. Theorists who may have impacted upon early years provision. The first infant school was opened by Robert Owen (1771-1858), utopian radical socialist reformer-mill owner who had set up crà ¨ches for the children of his workers as well as housing and health facilities. Pestalozzi (1745-1827) attracted the attention of some education reformers. Pestalozzian schools attempted to recognise the specific requirements of young children. Also very influential was the kindergarten movement, Froebel (1782-1852). First opened in England in 1851 Froebels vision was to educate the whole child. Outdoor activities played a signiFIcant part, but his vision was of the children as plants in the garden of the school flowering and blossoming under the correct care and attention as you would care for a plant. Gradually though the more precise nature of Froebels pedagogy and philosophies got taken over by a wider emphasis on play combined with domestic tasks as defined by the theories of psychologists. Stanley Hall (1884-1924) and John Dewey (1859-1952) Also these kindergartens were also rescuers of the children of the urban poor so the teachers became more like social workers. Another significant figure was Maria Montessori (1870-1952). Her work came to be seen as more a preserve of middle class private nurseries but originally she worked with deprived children of Naples and aimed to develop cognitive physical linguistic social and self care skills through carefully structured play activities and equipment. Advocate of natural materials wooden blocks sandpaper letters. She thought that too many brightly coloured toys and pictures could over stimulate. Children were taught to concentrate on one activity the put it away and move on to the next one. Margaret McMillan (1860-1931), was a Christian socialist and was regarded as the originator of Nursery School concept. Opened an open air nursery school in London in 1913 focus on sense training and health of the young child. Sand water clay and paint free cooked meals fresh air covered area so the children could be outside as much as possible. Roles of professionals that work in early years Then Early Years Practitioners (EYP) will be trained to often work as part of the team of skilled and committed people working with children in early years settings or wider childrens services. Take responsibility for leading and managing play, care and learning. Have a secure and up-to-date knowledge and understanding of early years practice with children from birth to five; and be skilled and effective practitioners. In addition to this, EYP will have an important role in leading and supporting other staff by helping them to develop and improve their practice, establish and maintain positive relationships with Children and communicate and work in partnership with families, carers and other professionals. Social care and health care legislation which is affiliated to the support of childrens health and safety (historical to present day) Range of health care settings in early years. There are many types of social and health care in early years for example Health clinics, residential care, home visiting scheme, children centres, paediatric services. Health and social care professionals, for example: Health visitors, GPs, midwives, childrens centre staff, social workers and mental health services.

Biological Importance Of Water And Lipids

Biological Importance Of Water And Lipids Water is arguably the most essential building block of life; it is the most abundant molecule in cells, whole organisms, and on Earth. Every single organism contains water, typically forming 70 95% of the mass of a cell; a typical human being is compromised of 60% water. Without water, life cannot exist. Water also provides an environment for the organisms that need it to live, as three quarters of the Earth are covered in water. Water is an excellent solvent in general, including polar molecules (eg. glycerol and sugars) and ions. This is because the water molecules are attracted to, collect around, and separate/dissociate the atoms from each other (as the forces of attraction between the negatively charged part of the water molecule and positively charged sodium cation is greater than the forces of attraction between the sodium and chloride ions). Once a chemical is free in its solution, it is then free to roam about and react with other chemicals most processes in organisms are done via this way in solution. In stark contrast, non-polar molecules such as lipids are insoluble in water; when surrounded by water, they tend to be pushed together, as the water molecules become attracted to each other. This is extremely important in reactions such as hydrophobic interactions in protein structure (reactions where atoms dissociate from each other) and in membrane structure, as it increases the stability of these structures. Some molecules have strong intramolecular forces, and do not dissociate in water; however, some do have charged regions on their surface, which result in attracting a layer of water around the molecules. These regions attract water molecules, which are surrounding and are weakly bound to the molecule and cannot move away from its surface this is known as a colloidal suspension. This helps create a concentration gradient for the process of osmosis, as it would for example, assist in drawing water into the blood vessels. Because water is such an effective solvent, it can transport essential substances necessary for the functioning of cells/whole organisms eg. glucose, amino acids, fats, vitamins, respiratory gases etc. Similarly, metabolic reactions (catalysed by enzymes) occur in solution. So, the charged nature of a water molecule means it can act as a solvent, an essential property to living organisms. Water is the transport medium in the blood, in the lymphatic, excretory and digestive systems of animals, and in the vascular tissues of plants. When minerals are absorbed by plants from the soil across root hairs, the minerals are in an aqueous solution of water. The water based movement of sugars, amino acids and hormones (eg. in phloem) and transpiration stream are also in solution. All the transport fluids used in animals like cytoplasm, blood, plasma and tissue fluid are water based. Essential metabolites dissolve completely in water, like glucose, amino acids, minerals and vitamins. Larger molecules like proteins are transported as colloids (molecules which are weakly bound to water molecules). Water being essential to the transportation of necessary substances correlates strongly to water being an excellent solvent, as it is mostly through solution that these substances can get to where they are required. However, water does have other properties which make it suitable for tra nsportation; the low viscosity of water also enables it to flow easily through tubes eg. xylem vessels. Water is a polar molecule, in which it has both positively and negatively charged areas; water consists of two positively charged hydrogen atoms and one negatively charged oxygen atom. As a result of this polarity, opposite (one positive hydrogen atom, one negative oxygen atom) water molecules are attracted to each other and a hydrogen bond is formed. The individual hydrogen bonds are weak, but collectively they make water a very stable medium eg. it remains a liquid over a wide range of temperatures. This property is vital to sustain life in all living organisms. Water is effective as a temperature regulator; its high specific heat capacity (it takes 4.2 Joules of energy to raise one gram of water by 1Â °C it takes a lot of heat energy to significantly raise the temperature of water) allows it to act as a buffer, a necessity in endothermic organisms that need to maintain a constant body temperature in order to fulfil its enzyme potential, and therefore regulate metabolism. The high amount of hydrogen bonds in water also makes it difficult for water molecules to evaporate; when they eventually do, a high amount of energy is released, which in turn acts as a cooling mechanism; this is crucial to life, as internal body temperature needs to be maintained at a constant temperature, any fluctuations can result in a breakdown of essential processes. It must be reinforced that water is a polar molecule, which means it remains a liquid over a wide temperature range, which is good for metabolism and to ensure that aquatic animals in the ocean do not freeze. Water actually has a high, latent heat of fusion from solid to liquid; it requires 300 Joules per gram of ice to melt water, which means that water stays liquid. This is vital for cell cytoplasm, which is made of a high percentage of water: once frozen, a cell would be damaged beyond repair. The freezing point of water is also lowered by solutes, as the soluble molecules disrupt the hydrogen bonds, making the water freeze at a lower temperature and easier to melt into ice. There are many solutes in cytoplasm, ensuring the water will not freeze until well below 0Â °C, protecting the cells. As water cools, its density increases, and the hydrogen bonds between the water molecules take on a more latticed formation (as ice). However, ice floats on the surface of water: this must mean that it must have a lower density than water. Water is at its most dense at 4Â °C; this is because it is at this temperature that the bonds are closest together. When water freezes, the lattice arr angement of its structure loosens slightly, and it will float on the surface. Thereby, the layer of ice would insulate the water below, maintaining its temperature of 4Â °C and aquatic life can continue. Water is useful in sexual reproduction, and is used by animals that use this to create offspring. Water brings male and female gametes together in the process of fertilisation, and in mammals, the foetus develops in a water filled amniotic sac, which provides both physical and thermal stability. Bryophytes (scientific terms for land plants) release antherozoids (male gametes in plants) in moist conditions, which then use flagella to swim to oospheres by chemotaxis; chemotaxis is the phenomenon in which bodily cells, bacteria, and other single-cell/multi-cellular organism can direct their movements according to certain chemicals in their environment. Lipids constitute an essential component of a cell, and has tremendous biological importance. Triglycerides are a major group of lipids formed by the combination of three fatty acid molecules with one glycerol molecule and are the main source of energy in animals. One gram of lipid on oxidation release 9.3 kilocalories of heat however, the same amount of carbohydrate only release 4.5 kilocalories in comparison. These are found in adipose tissue (occupying around 90% of the cell volume), which consists of fat cells designed for constant synthesis and decomposition of triglycerides by the enzyme lipase to produce high-caloric energy. A lot of migratory birds depend on their stored energy to fuel their long distance flights. ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) can be produced when fatty acids are oxidised. Triglycerides can be easily stored as they are insoluble in water, meaning they will not dissolve in anything but chloroform, ethanol and ether. This is due to the long hydrocarbon tails of the fatty acids (consists of a chain of carbon atoms combined with hydrogen). Unlike polar water molecules, the fatty acid tails have no uneven distribution of electrical charge therefore, triglycerides will not mix freely with water molecules. An animal cell membrane is a flexible lipid bilayer. The lipid molecules (mostly phospholipids) that make up the membrane have a polar, hydrophilic head and two hydrophobic hydrocarbon tails. When the lipids are immersed in an aqueous solution, the lipids rapidly bury the tails together, and leave the hydrophilic heads exposed. This is therefore a very useful membrane, as it can easily automatically repair itself if torn. There are three different major types of lipid molecules: phospholipids, cholesterol, and glycolipids. Different membranes have different ratios of the three lipids. A special feature about these lipid membranes is the presence of different proteins on the surface, used for different functions such as cell surface receptors, enzymes, surface antigens, and transporters. Many of the membrane-associated proteins have hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. The hydrophilic regions are used to help anchor the protein inside of the cell membrane; some proteins extend across the lipid bilayer, others cross the bilayer several times. Lipids are an excellent energy reserve, as they are very rich in carbon-hydrogen bonds, even more so than in carbohydrates. A given mass of lipid would thereby yield more energy on oxidation than the same mass of carbohydrate (it has a higher calorific value). Fat is stored in a number of places in the human body, especially just below the dermis of the skin and around the kidneys. Below the skin, it acts as an insulator against the loss of heat. Blubber is an example of a lipid found in sea mammals (eg. whales), which functions in both providing insulation and buoyancy. The myelin sheath is a dielectric material that is made up of approximately 80% lipid and 20% protein, and forms an insulating layer around the axon, as well as increasing the speed of impulses, due to there being gaps in the myelin sheath (nodes of Ranvier). Fat serves as a protective cushion and provides structural support to help prevent injury to vital organs, such as the heart, liver, kidneys, and spleen. In the lungs, surfactants are an example of a lipid barrier. Surfactants reduce tension, as without it, the wet surfaces of the alveoli in our lungs would stick together, and the lungs would not be able to expand, thus rendering breathing impossible. Fat insulates the body from heat loss and extreme temperature changes; simultaneously, fat deposits under the skin may be metabolized to generate heat in response to lower skin temperatures. Lipids can also act as a metabolic source of water; when oxidised in respiration they are converted to carbon dioxide and water the water could be important in dry habitats eg. the desert kangaroo rat never drinks water, instead surviving on its metabolic water from its fat intake. Sources: Water = http://www.williamhoward.cumbria.sch.uk/intranet/Science/KS5/Abiology/Factsheets/factsheets1-72/Bio%20Press%20Factsheets/30%20water%20page%201.pdf, Biology 1 textbook