Spiders in Space on Skylab 3

Spiders in Space on Skylab 3 Anita and Arabella, two female cross spiders (Araneus diadematus) went into orbit in 1973 for the Skylab 3 space station. Like the STS-107 experiment, the Skylab experiment was a student project. Judy Miles, from Lexington, Massachusetts, wanted to know if spiders could spin webs in near-weightlessness. The experiment was set up so that a spider, released by an astronaut (Owen Garriot) into a box similar to a window frame, would be able to build a web. A camera was positioned to take photos and videos of the webs and spider activities. Three days before the launch, each spider was fed a house fly. They were provided with a water-soaked sponge in their storage vials. The launch took place on July 28, 1973. Both Arabella and Anita needed some time to adapt to near-weightlessness. Neither spider, kept in holding vials, voluntarily entered the experiment cage. Both Arabella and Anita made what has been described as erratic swimming motions upon ejection into the experiment cage. After a day in the spider box, Arabella produced her first rudimentary web in a corner of the frame. The next day, she produced a complete web. These results prompted the crewmembers to extend the initial protocol. They fed the spiders bits of rare filet mignon and provided additional water (note: A. diadematus can survive up to three weeks without food if an adequate water supply is available.) On August 13th, half of Arabellas web was removed, to prompt her to build another. Although she ingested the remainder of the web, she did not build a new one. The spider was provided with water and proceeded to build a new web. This second complete web was more symmetrical than the first full web. Both spiders died during the mission. They both showed evidence of dehydration. When the returned web samples were examined, it was determined that the thread spun in flight was finer than that spun preflight. Although the web patterns made in orbit were not significantly different from those that were built on Earth (aside from a possible unusual distribution of radial angles), there were differences in the characteristics of the thread. In addition to being thinner overall, the silk spun in orbit exhibited variations in thickness, where it was thin in some places and thick in others (on Earth it has a uniform width). The start and stop nature of the silk appeared to be an adaptation of the spider to control the elasticity of the silk and resulting web. Spiders in Space Since Skylab After the Skylab experiment, Space Technology and Research Students (STARS) conducted a study on spiders planned for STS-93 and STS-107. This was an Australian experiment designed and conducted by students from Glen Waverley Secondary College to test the reaction garden orb weaver spiders to near-weightlessness. Unfortunately, STS-107 was the ill-fated, catastrophic launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia. CSI-01 started on ISS Expedition 14 and was completed on ISS Expedition 15. CSI-02 was performed on ISS Expeditions 15 through 17. The International Space Station (ISS) conducted two well-publicized experiments on spiders . The first investigation was Commercial Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert Number 3 or CSI-03. CSI-03 launched to the ISS on the Space Shuttle Endeavour on November 14, 2008. The habitat included two orb weaver spiders (Larinioides patagiatus or genus Metepeira), which students could view from Earth to compare the feeding and web-building of the spiders in space against those housed in classrooms. The orb weaver species were selected based on the symmetrical webs they weave on Earth. The spiders appeared to thrive in near-weightlessness. The second experiment to house spiders on the ISS was CSI-05. The goal of the spider experiment was to examine the changes in web construction over time (45 days). Again, students had the opportunity to compare the activities of spiders in space with those in classrooms. CSI-05 used golden orb weaver spiders (Nephila claviceps), which produce golden yellow silk and different webs from the orb weavers on CSI-03. Again, the spiders constructed webs and also successfully caught fruit flies as prey. Golden orb weaver spiders were selected for CSI-05. Joe Raedle / Getty Images Sources Witt, P. N., M. B. Scarboro, D. B. Peakall, and R. Gause. (1977) Spider web-building in outer space: Evaluation of records from the Skylab spider experiment. Am. J. Arachnol. 4:115.

Im a Caregiver How Do I Have Time to Write

Im a Caregiver How Do I Have Time to Write Sixty-five million (29 percent of) Americans are caregivers, spending an average of 20 hours a week caring for a loved one. Perhaps you’re one of them. The demands are often so great, you wonder how you can ever have time to write. I’ve been a caregiver since 1984 when my husband retired at the age of 48 after a massive heart attack. I also helped care for my stepdad and elderly uncle until their deaths, and am now helping my widowed sister who’s losing her eyesight. During that time I’ve published nine books, along with articles and short stories. Here are some hints that may help a writing caregiver: 1. Write when you can. Seldom can caregiver writers rely on having a whole day to write. But if possible, get up 15 minutes earlier or stay up 15 minutes later. Fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, adds up to sixty-five hours a year - and thats a lot of extra time to write. Write when your loved one is taking a nap. Use the time you spend waiting in line at the supermarket to read the titles on magazine covers to see what type of articles they use on a regular basis. Watch and listen to the people around you. (This is a good idea in a doctors office too.) Don’t complain if you don’t have time to write. I moaned about this fact after my husband had an especiallybad year healthwise, and I sensed a quiet voice within saying, â€Å"Someday you’ll have all the time you want, and you won’t want it.† 2. Write where you can. I’ve written and edited in doctors’ offices. The ICU my husband was in over Christmas one year had a built-in desk in the corner, giving me a place to work. If you can find a family member or friend to relieve you one or two hours a week, take your laptop to the public library or a near 3. Write any way you can. Flying out-of-state to care for my mother after her cancer surgery, I handwrote three short stories on the plane, typing them up when I got to my hometown. When I returned home eight weeks later, I found checks waiting. Up until that time I felt I had to be at my keyboard to write. 4. Write what you can. Use your caregiver experiences as springboards for short stories, articles, or books. I wrote one article titled â€Å"Living with a Disabled Husband† (later re-titled â€Å"When Your Golden Years Aren’t Golden†) which has sold a number of times in religious and secular publications. My book The Freedom of Letting Go contains a chapter on letting go of health issues that includes caregiver stories, and I’m now working on a book for caregivers. Sharing your experiences and what you’ve learned through caregiving can help a lot of readers as they know that you’ve been there, done that. 5. Take notes. If you simply cannot find the time to write, at least jot down ideas and outlines. Then when those precious free moments appear, you won’t find yourself staring at a blank screen. Being a caregiver doesn’t mean you have to give up writing which can lead to resentment. It just means you use your time wisely. Taking time to do what you feel called to do and what you enjoy doing will make you a more loving caregiver - and a more insightful writer.

Im a Caregiver How Do I Have Time to Write

Im a Caregiver How Do I Have Time to Write Sixty-five million (29 percent of) Americans are caregivers, spending an average of 20 hours a week caring for a loved one. Perhaps you’re one of them. The demands are often so great, you wonder how you can ever have time to write. I’ve been a caregiver since 1984 when my husband retired at the age of 48 after a massive heart attack. I also helped care for my stepdad and elderly uncle until their deaths, and am now helping my widowed sister who’s losing her eyesight. During that time I’ve published nine books, along with articles and short stories. Here are some hints that may help a writing caregiver: 1. Write when you can. Seldom can caregiver writers rely on having a whole day to write. But if possible, get up 15 minutes earlier or stay up 15 minutes later. Fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, adds up to sixty-five hours a year - and thats a lot of extra time to write. Write when your loved one is taking a nap. Use the time you spend waiting in line at the supermarket to read the titles on magazine covers to see what type of articles they use on a regular basis. Watch and listen to the people around you. (This is a good idea in a doctors office too.) Don’t complain if you don’t have time to write. I moaned about this fact after my husband had an especiallybad year healthwise, and I sensed a quiet voice within saying, â€Å"Someday you’ll have all the time you want, and you won’t want it.† 2. Write where you can. I’ve written and edited in doctors’ offices. The ICU my husband was in over Christmas one year had a built-in desk in the corner, giving me a place to work. If you can find a family member or friend to relieve you one or two hours a week, take your laptop to the public library or a near 3. Write any way you can. Flying out-of-state to care for my mother after her cancer surgery, I handwrote three short stories on the plane, typing them up when I got to my hometown. When I returned home eight weeks later, I found checks waiting. Up until that time I felt I had to be at my keyboard to write. 4. Write what you can. Use your caregiver experiences as springboards for short stories, articles, or books. I wrote one article titled â€Å"Living with a Disabled Husband† (later re-titled â€Å"When Your Golden Years Aren’t Golden†) which has sold a number of times in religious and secular publications. My book The Freedom of Letting Go contains a chapter on letting go of health issues that includes caregiver stories, and I’m now working on a book for caregivers. Sharing your experiences and what you’ve learned through caregiving can help a lot of readers as they know that you’ve been there, done that. 5. Take notes. If you simply cannot find the time to write, at least jot down ideas and outlines. Then when those precious free moments appear, you won’t find yourself staring at a blank screen. Being a caregiver doesn’t mean you have to give up writing which can lead to resentment. It just means you use your time wisely. Taking time to do what you feel called to do and what you enjoy doing will make you a more loving caregiver - and a more insightful writer.

Im a Caregiver How Do I Have Time to Write

Im a Caregiver How Do I Have Time to Write Sixty-five million (29 percent of) Americans are caregivers, spending an average of 20 hours a week caring for a loved one. Perhaps you’re one of them. The demands are often so great, you wonder how you can ever have time to write. I’ve been a caregiver since 1984 when my husband retired at the age of 48 after a massive heart attack. I also helped care for my stepdad and elderly uncle until their deaths, and am now helping my widowed sister who’s losing her eyesight. During that time I’ve published nine books, along with articles and short stories. Here are some hints that may help a writing caregiver: 1. Write when you can. Seldom can caregiver writers rely on having a whole day to write. But if possible, get up 15 minutes earlier or stay up 15 minutes later. Fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, adds up to sixty-five hours a year - and thats a lot of extra time to write. Write when your loved one is taking a nap. Use the time you spend waiting in line at the supermarket to read the titles on magazine covers to see what type of articles they use on a regular basis. Watch and listen to the people around you. (This is a good idea in a doctors office too.) Don’t complain if you don’t have time to write. I moaned about this fact after my husband had an especiallybad year healthwise, and I sensed a quiet voice within saying, â€Å"Someday you’ll have all the time you want, and you won’t want it.† 2. Write where you can. I’ve written and edited in doctors’ offices. The ICU my husband was in over Christmas one year had a built-in desk in the corner, giving me a place to work. If you can find a family member or friend to relieve you one or two hours a week, take your laptop to the public library or a near 3. Write any way you can. Flying out-of-state to care for my mother after her cancer surgery, I handwrote three short stories on the plane, typing them up when I got to my hometown. When I returned home eight weeks later, I found checks waiting. Up until that time I felt I had to be at my keyboard to write. 4. Write what you can. Use your caregiver experiences as springboards for short stories, articles, or books. I wrote one article titled â€Å"Living with a Disabled Husband† (later re-titled â€Å"When Your Golden Years Aren’t Golden†) which has sold a number of times in religious and secular publications. My book The Freedom of Letting Go contains a chapter on letting go of health issues that includes caregiver stories, and I’m now working on a book for caregivers. Sharing your experiences and what you’ve learned through caregiving can help a lot of readers as they know that you’ve been there, done that. 5. Take notes. If you simply cannot find the time to write, at least jot down ideas and outlines. Then when those precious free moments appear, you won’t find yourself staring at a blank screen. Being a caregiver doesn’t mean you have to give up writing which can lead to resentment. It just means you use your time wisely. Taking time to do what you feel called to do and what you enjoy doing will make you a more loving caregiver - and a more insightful writer.

Government intervention in the market for raisins Assignment

Government intervention in the market for raisins - Assignment Example Producers of specialty crops like raisin in California structured themselves into marketing associations. This essay paper will look into the broad subject relating with marketing orders, and narrow down into marketing order for raisins in the US. Discussion In 1949, following twenty years of ceaseless agitation, discouragement, bitter struggle, pools, forced combinations and raisin exchanges, raisin growers from California voted to come up with a federal marketing order based on the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1937. Critical components of this marketing order have brought a number of economic impacts, a program of price discrimination and a program of supply control. The Agriculture Secretary, in line with the provisions of the law, issues and carries out amendments on the same from time to time. Such orders are intended to regulate handling of specified agricultural commodities in line with the legal framework in place (Clary 23). A board that consists of growers and packers, cal led Raisin Administrative Committee (RAC) is bestowed with the mandate of watching over the marketing order. RAC is a federal marketing order which is led by packers, 47 growers and a public member. This authority is directly supervised by the United States Department of Agriculture which was established in 1949 due to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. ... isin growers have brought complaint regarding Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 which empowers government to confiscate some portion of the yearly raisin crop, the initiative which, for instance, saw 47% being confiscated in 2003 and 30% in 2004. Farmers who don’t cooperate in surrendering their raisins are penalized. The amount that should be surrendered to the government is based on the annual production volume and other factors like production by competing countries. Taxpayers are not left out in analysis of the potential effects of this surrender. The surrender minimizes the available share of raisin supply which in return causes the consumers of the product to buy it at higher prices. RAC does not pay any consideration to farmers upon expropriations. Actually much of the raisin is given away and others sold for export at low prices. It is only after it has covered its costs that the remaining profits, if any, are given to the farmers. Farmers who disregard this marketing order are fined. Raisin is not the only fruit that is federally regulated. In total, close to thirty products are subject to the ‘marketing orders’, overseeing of which is conducted by the Department of Agriculture. In other products like milk, the system of Federal Milk Marketing Order does set the lowest prices for milk and milk products. Farmers, if they were given an opportunity, would vote in abolishment of the marketing order rule. It is plain that the pronouncements of this rule have economically affected them. It is rational to produce more and reap more from the same but if the rule denies farmers of reaping what they have produced and unfairly handing the same to government, which is seen as wasteful decision (Agriculture.). On the other hand, farmers can still vote for

Organisational strategy and decision making Essay

Organisational strategy and decision making - Essay Example It has also been observed that the company had set certain strategic directions for future, such as enlarging business in growing economies and empowering its competitive positioning among others. In order to mitigate the strategic issues and successfully attain the strategic directions for future, certain recommendations comprising both short and long-term have been provided. These include adopting, as well as utilising, the strategy of cost leadership and making substantial investments, especially in developing the performances of the entire workforce. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Internal Audit–Strengths and Weaknesses 5 Strengths 5 Weaknesses 5 External Audit – Opportunities and Threats 6 Opportunities 6 Threats 6 Discussion 7 Evaluation 9 Conclusion 11 Recommendations 12 References 14 Introduction Strategies are fundamentally described as the ways that a particular organisation selects to compete with its key business market competitors or to comply with the requirements of the customers. In this similar context, organisational strategies are often defined as a pattern of effective policies, decisions, performances or programmes that support an organisation to accomplish its predetermined business goals and most significantly to attain significant competitive position over the major business market contenders (Rothwell, 1998). It has been apparently observed that the organisational strategies adopted as well as implemented by the organisations affect their decision-making procedures by a significant level. This is owing to the reason that the organisations deeply rely upon formulating effective strategies for the purpose of controlling as well as coordinating the information flow amid different parties such as the employees, stakeholders, investors and the customers (Fairholm, 2009). Tesco PLC is regarded as one of the biggest retailers in the entire globe which performs its business functions in 14 nations. The company employs nearly 5, 00,000 personnel and serves significant portion of customers every week (Tesco, 2013). The visions of the company are to attain utmost value from the customers that it serves and also the communities where it operates its different operational functions. Moreover, the other major vision of the company is to flourish itself as a pioneering as well as a modern company and grow its business in every region throughout the globe (Tesco, 2013). In this discussion, the internal audit of Tesco in the form of strengths as well as weaknesses and the external audit in the form of opportunities along with threats will be taken into concern. Moreover, a comprehensive analysis about the different strategic directions of the company will also be portrayed in the discussion. Internal Audit–Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths One of the major strengths of Tesco is that it is a leading organisation in the business market of the United Kingdom and is known as one of the best retail ch ains across the globe. Moreover, the other strengths of the company are strong brand recognition, increased business reputation and deliverance of superior quality products in accordance with meeting the requirements of the customers. In addition, the execution of e-retailing activities while conducting business is also regarded as the other crucial strength of the company. In this similar context, the company has acquired success due to its formulation

The First Female Prime Minister of Canada :: essays research papers

Kim Campbell, Canada's first female Prime Minister, rose quickly in her political standings reaching, what she would find to be the height of her career only seven years after entering politics. It appeared like the loss of the 1993 election and the all around destruction of the Progressive Conservative party was completely Kim Campbell’s fault however actually was a joint effort by Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell. Kim Campbell rose so quickly in her political status that she did not have the experience that most of the others MPs had at her level. The Tories were finishing their second term in power and the people of Canada were displeased with Brain Mulroney by the time of his resignation. Kim Campbell was voted in as Prime Minister by her party and was not elected by the people of Canada. During the 1993 election Kim Campbell had an American company make a commercial that mocked Liberal party leader Jean Chrà ©tien’s physical disability. Kim Campbell’s first entered politics in 1986. She first won a provincial seat in Vancouver and in 1988 she won her bid for the House of Commons. She had many good ideas, one of them being the USA-Canada Free Trade Agreement. This part of her campaign was recognized by Brian Mulroney who was the current Prime Minister. In 1989 Mulroney appointed Kim Campbell to the position of Minister of State for Indian and Northern Affairs. Later, in 1990 she was appointed Minister of Justice and a year later became the Minister of Defence. Just two years after becoming Minister of Defence and 7 years after entering politics, she ran for leader of the Progressive Conservative party and became Brian Mulroney's successor. Kim Campbell inexperience in the world of politics gave her a huge disadvantage when things started to go wrong. Brain Mulroney and the Tories had been in power for two terms, a total of 9 years. The Canadians had become tired of Brian Mulroney and his Progressive Conservative government, so when it w as announced that he would resign most Canadians were happy to see him go. However his resignation did mean the end of the Progressive Conservatives power in Canada. Canadians unhappy with what the Progressive Conservatives had done chose to elect an other party. When Brain Mulroney resigned there was, in place of a federal election, a leadership convention. The Tories just had to elect a new leader who would then become the Prime Minister.