The House of Mirth Essay Example for Free

The House of Mirth Essay Lily Bart is simultaneously a product and a victim of the society she was born into. She cannot choose between two possible ways of living: to hunt for wealth or long for love and understanding. She was taught that her goal of life was to find a wealthy man and become his wife. She can choose only among those who either have no social status (Rosedale), are married (Trenor), are boring and not interesting for her (Gryce), or have no money (Selden). 2. As the story progresses we understand that money is not everything in this upper class of society the main character belongs to. One must behave a certain way, be friends with certain people and have a free admission to certain houses. Everybody watches each other and then discusses the details with the rest of elite. This is the society where everybody will struggle to death, step over others, use and abuse others but to get what one wants. We see how Lily’s friends treat her and this is not the way how friends treat each other. It is not allowed to meet with a man unless you have a chaperone. If a women is married, she has to be discreet, besides women must be more precise in their appearance than men. 3. One social group I know (my parents belong to it) has ist â€Å"unwritten rules†, too. Among these are: not to stare people and not to point to people; not to ask for favor; to drive an expensive car; not to be late. There are also rules about dressing up like: not to wear jeans if its not casual day to work and not to ask womans age. 4. While reading the book I felt really sorry for people who lived at that time when they could not be free but had to live the way the society has determined for them. I felt quite happy for the present and for myself that modern rules are not that terrible, although some of them are worse that in the past. I also felt sorry for the girl herself: being all alone among people who just use and abuse you, knowing that your only fate is to try to please a wealthy man whom you do not necessarily like but whom you need in order to live a normal life. Bibliography: 1. Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. New American Library; Reprint edition (February 1, 2000).

Summary On Luxurious Watch In India Marketing Essay

Summary On Luxurious Watch In India Marketing Essay Good times are predicted and as well as seen for the watch industry in India, where the consumers going unmindful of their prices. Due to the emergence of a powerful middle class in India will keep the countrys economy on an upswing. If industry experts are to be believed then the country holds a very huge potential market for the luxurious watch, where earlier the market was dominated by only HMT and Allwyn brands. The industry currently is holding $195 million despite the fact that the penetration of watches is the lowest when compared globally and this resulting the other global companies to settle up there base in India where the average growth rate can be predicted to be around 20 25 percent per year, total size of the market for luxirous watch is estimated to be 600 cr which plans to stick to high tagline and is ready to witness a whopping 1.40 lakh families spending on such brands by 2010 as compared to 2000 families in 2002. The top brands in luxurious watch segment are the Swiss, Rado, Tagheuar, Casio, Cartier, Rolex, Omega and others. The government has control over the international brand price and there is severe price competition. Porters 5 force model Industry Analysis Intense Rivalry: This is where rivalry exists among competitors of the same industry to an extent where pressure is put on one another and limits each others profit potential. Luxurious watch industry in India is highly competitive as there are various numbers of different players fighting among themselves. The key players of Indian market are following : Titan HMT Timex The new entrants in to the watch industry are the Swiss, Rolex, Omega, and Rado where Omega is dominating the industry by 27 percentages. Due to the new entrants, the market share for the key players has lowered. The top 5players currently holding 15percentage of market share. The industry is very attractive for the new companies to come and therefore growth prospectuses are quite high. The main reason for the intense industry rivalry is due to entry barriers that are quite low. Swiss and Rolex have created big brands over the year. Bargain power of Buyers: Due to changing trend in the market, people have high preference of buying unpredictably. Consumers have been provided a wide scope on selecting on their choice along with the niche market that adds up an advantage to the consumer. As the market prices are not sensitive that is, it does not show the effect when there is change in stock exchange. Moreover, due to the uniqness in the product there is relatively low brand switching. Bargain Power of Suppliers: For an industry, achieving loyalty of customers is difficult, companies within the industry are having, and developing innovative products that fulfil customer needs in order to achieve the loyalty. Since there are number of companies with in the same industry, it has made tough for the suppliers to whom to work and supply. Threat of substitute: having an alternative product with lower price but with better quality and performance explains the concept of threat of substitute. For the watch industry, the threat of substitute is very high since most of us can access to mobile phones, handled computing devices, which are capable of providing correct timings as well for different countries without having to access other mobile phones. Since the growth rate of the market is rising slowly, there is the threat where the population considered to be, as middle class prefer to own watch, which are cheap, and does show time. Threat of New Entrants : threat of new entrants in the watch industry is quite low as India is growing at a slow space and since there is growing number of finance companies coming up to finance, more and more international brands coming in and settling down and establishing themselves. In the situation when a new entrant enters in the market, change major determinants of the market environment, determinants such as market shares, prices, customer loyalty. Entrants as Omega and Rolex consider the market as challenging because of the existing companies have closer relationships with the customers and most importantly have to consider the brand switching from one company to another. Pestle Analysis for the industry Political factors: Stability of government is not well settled and hence requires better stability though it is not highly affected. However, there are cases when instability causes a foreign company or a brand to enter the market. Due to excessive advertisement where family concern has to be taken, in some case it is not done and hence intervenes of the political issues. Moreover, since political issues are involved there are threatening to the investors who had to invest in foreign advertisements. Since most of the materials to build are imported which attracts huge amount of Excise Duty on Manufacturing Retail Price instead of the manufacturing. Due to which most of the luxurious watch are literally out of reach to those who wanted to at least own. Economic Stability : When talking about India, there are various number of taxes like, Excise duty (State and central), Custom duty, Profession tax, Service tax, Income tax, Royalty, Larcenous fees, hazardous substance handling and other charges to be paid which makes the total amount to be around 40 45 percentage of the actual cost. During the recession time, where Asian countries were least affected, where rising incomes in the emerging market which have led to the new categories of buyers. Though huge numbers of taxes are involved, there are still potential opportunities for ultra expensive watch manufactures to set up their base in India. Social Culture: association with the luxury items and having self-esteems and creating a social status of a person creates more demand for having a luxurious product; in this case, it is the luxurious watch. Culture is developing themselves to own a luxury watch in order to full fill their self esteem and also stand out of crowd, this attracting more number of investors to invest into the foreign brands. Technology: Here technology plays an extensive role where conversion of analogue to digital waterproof watches which have created a huge market for the developers to have more innovative watches. Environmental factor: this factor does not affect much of the watch industry, unless if its summer time where over heating of new technologies in watch are noticed and its very rare. The Structural drivers leading to the growth of industry The cost globalisation: this factor gives potential for competitive advantage since some of the international luxurious watch companies, which deal in large volume standardized production required for optimum economics of scale and find the electric components required manufacturing and other parts regarding the watch are easily available with less cost factor. Labour cost in India is quite cheaper than other countries because highly skilled but low cost staffs are available. The drivers to the growth of watch industry are due to the Economic factor, Social factors, Demographic factors which play an extensive role to motivate the consumers to buy which includes occupation, education level of a person, lifestyle of a person, and the main one is the Psychological attributes like attitude, value system which influences people to buying behaviour. Since nature of having a luxurious item is perceived by an individual is a status symbol in a society and displays the wealth or the income are related to conspicuous consumption, which is a socio economic phenomenon. There is an also increase trend in market globalisation where customer needs and preferences are becoming more similar. As markets globalize, those operating in such markets become global customers and may search suppliers who may operate on global basis. Other drivers are globalization of government policies and globalization of competition where most of the international brands find themselves less competitive in India as most of the international brands are not available in all parts of India and government policies have encouraged free trade markets between nations. Industry Life cycle If experts are to be believed then it has said watch industry entered in the market in late 1969 and since then it has been growing drastically. When compared with Switzerland which possesses close to 100percentage of the luxury market value which represents 45percentage of the market value and hence making them the world leaders. India is too coming up with the luxurious watch. However, not entire part of the country holds up the luxurious department stores but do have in majority ones. The watch industry in India is slowly moving from the shakeout stage to the maturity stage. Shake out stage is the second level of stage in industry where new industries are emerged and competitors start to realise business opportunities in the emerging industry whereas maturity stage is where efficiencies of the dominant business model give these organisations competitive advantage over competition (Kotler, 2003). The competition is very aggressive because of many competitors and product substitutes . Market Scenarios Intervene of new technologies, which is causing decline in usage of watches. Due to the involvement of mobile industry, the watch industry is being saturated. The product seems to be in a decline stage especially when seen in Europe where sales having dropped down to 20 % 30 % and globally fell off to 22.4 of percentage. The top leaders Swiss manufactures fell by 22.4% worldwide (Federation of Swiss watch industry). People have this perception when there exists a mobile handy, which could show numerous country timings then why an expensive watch that only shows limited country timings have. Another anticipated market scenario is that there would be no change in the growth rate of the industry, which would probably mean that the industry would not have any diversification and there will be no further expansion of the industry in the market. If profits decline for the watch industry, then it would probably take longer to recover. Another reason to be worried of in future is that the lifestyle and environment factors of younger generation where they prefer to have trendy look kind of product and at the same time the particular trend would be either outdated or faded in the industry and the main important factor is that the limited. Source of getting gems and liquid metals to manufacture watch would mean reduction or decline in growth of manufacturing. The main scenario which could be a problematic in future is the growth of luxurious watch brands in India, where the country is still considered to be as developing country and poverty still exists and due to this number of people who belong to the medium class average income earners would probably have a second thought of getting a luxurious watch which they could feel if mobile exists then why to go for a high end watch. As the industry is not in to that much of advertising about a particular brand or even if a new brand that comes into the market, people have no idea what a particular brand might represent as. In addition, for those who know little about a brand, only prefer a niche segment that is where the Tag Heuer as the brand ambassador of this brand happens to be a popular superstar. Since the growth in India is around 10 15 percentage annually, it is considered to be as the lowest in the market when compared globally.

Rab7a and CMT2b Essay -- Biology, Proteins, Cells

Rab7a and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 2b The aim of this essay is to review recent research into the Rab7a gene mutations and the mechanistic causes of Charcot Marie Tooth disease type 2b. It will ascertain if there is a clear forerunner in terms of theory of pathology due to Rab7a mutations. Any specific potential treatments for CMT2b that have been discovered will also be investigated Rab7a is a gene that provides the instructions to make the protein Rab7. Rab7 is one of over sixty Rab proteins identified within mammalian cells, all of which belong to the Ras superfamily. All Rab proteins are involved with the endo/exocytic, secretory pathways and each one associates with its own specific membranes and organelles, although it may share a membrane with another Rab protein. Rab7 has been discovered to function in the late endosomes, lysosomes and the autophagosomes. Like all Rabs, Rab7 is a monomeric GTPase that cycles from an active, GTP-associated, membrane-bound state to a GDP-associated state that is found in the cytosol as part of a complex with the soluble Rab GDP-dissociation inhibitor (GDI). To activate Rab7, a membrane bound guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) is needed. Once the Rab7 has gained a GTP at the loss of GDP and become anchored into a plasma membrane by a hydrophobic lipid anchor, two ‘switch’ regions conformationally change to allow recruitment and binding of other effector proteins that assist with vesicle transport, membrane tethering and fusion. See figure 1. Hydrolysis of GTP is accelerated by GTPase-activating factors (GAPs), and membrane insertion and extraction is partially coupled to nucleotide exchange (Grosshans et al, 2006) ... ...hin the cell may be particularly pronounced in the longer neurites of the extremities, providing support for Spinosa et al’s (2008) previous suggestion that CMT2b mutations affect the longer neurons due to the increased distance that molecules have to travel compared to other neurons. Valproic acid has been found to stimulate neurite growth in the presence of CMT2b-associated Rab7 mutants through Erk. Valproic acid (VPA) is a short-branched fatty acid, a mood stabiliser it is normally used to treat bi-polar disorder, and as an anticonvulsant (Manji et al, 2001 IN: Yamauchi et al, 2010). Yamauchi et al in 2006/2007 reported that VPA promoted neurite growth through the c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathways in mouse neuroblastoma cells. In 2010, Yamauchi et al studied the effect of VPA in a neuropathy model, again in mouse neuroblastoma cells (N1E-115 cells)

jOHN :: essays research papers

Love is the greatest gift we can ever hope to give or receive. Love is the one thing that can overcome so many of the difficult times that we are faced with in life. Love is so powerful - it can turn frowns into smiles. It can help mend the most broken heart. It can even turn all of the ugliness in the world into the most beautiful portrait we could ever have the pleasure to behold. Such a monumental task - of course... it could be. But only if we try to do it alone. Instead, if each of us, in our own small way contributed just a little - together, the task can become the reality we're reaching for. As potent as what love can be, it can only work it's magic if we choose to allow it to. For that to come to pass we must let go of the other emotions that can get in love's way. How is that - you may wonder? Consider the thought that... Anger - It's normal, but holding on to it indefinitely isn't really necessary. Let it go... Forgiveness is so much better for the soul than holding on to a grudge. Not only will the person you're angry at be happier but so will you. Harshness - Harsh words take just as much effort and energy as kind ones do. Why not consider your choice of words before you speak them and choose gentler ones to get your point across. Impatience - Aren't we all guilty of this at one time or another? Keep reminding yourself of the old saying - "Patience is a virtue" - who wouldn't want to be a little more virtuous? (Webster describes "virtuous" as being of moral quality or excellence) Envy - We all know the saying here - "The grass is not always greener on the other side". Take that to heart and concentrate on "fertilizing" and "watering" your own to get it just as "green" as your neighbors' "lawn". You may wind up being the one envied instead. Mistakes - We all make them! So when someone else does, forgive them as you hope others would do for you. Allow them to be "only human" and consider the fact that they didn't mean any harm by it. Did you, when you made one? Revenge - Someone always gets hurt by this one - and not always the one you expect to.

The Metamorphosis of Grendel :: Grendel Essays

The Metamorphosis of Grendel The majority of John Gardner's Grendel revolves around a monster-like character named Grendel. The reader is allowed access to Grendel's subconscious and inner monologue, giving one the sense of a very close relationship with the main character. This tends to beguile one into sympathizing with him and thinking of him as a protagonist because historically in literature the main character of a novel has always been the "good guy." However, he proves himself to be very much the anti-hero in the novel many times over. Grendel's social contact with the world is extremely limited, but his persona is greatly influenced by each brief encounter with another character. The first major influential character Grendel encounters is The Shaper, a blind old wise man. The first mention of him is in Chapter 1 when Grendel is attacking Herorot. While all the town's men, women and children are frozen in awe and horror, The Shaper is able to think quickly and jump out the window of the building he was in and run away. Grendel admires him for his ability to think and act quickly, as well as for possessing vast knowledge he can only dream of ever acquiring. Grendel wishes he had the mind of the Shaper and begins to feel jealous, so he subconsciously tries to become more like him. The Shaper's songs teach Grendel a lot about the humans in the surrounding regions and how they think and live. Everyone loves and respects him, which makes Grendel want to be like him even more. As he realizes the Shaper's popularity and goodness, he begins to realize why people don't like him. Grendel spends a lot of time thinking and realizes the flaws in his ch aracter, subconsciously deciding that he doesn't really care if the humans hate him because he isn't a human and doesn't have to live by the same standards or expectations as they do. He was born a monster, and as a monster he has a job to do: to "frustrate all established order" and terrorize the humans. In Chapter 5, we meet the Dragon for the first time. Prior to seeing the Dragon, Grendel's mother was the only thing he had seen that was more powerful than him.

Textron Inc and Cessna 172

Textron Inc is a very critical company in the aeronautical industry, with operations in aircraft industry and finance all over the globe. The company runs its operations in four segments namely Cessna, Bell, Finance and Industrial. The Bell segment has the responsibility of manufacturing and supplying helicopters, tilt-rotor aircrafts and the other helicopter accessories like spare parts plus it offers services for commercial purposes and military applications.Bell segment also manufactures other products like precision weapons for use in both airborne and ground based surveillance systems, missile control, intelligence software, armored vehicles and turrets, and other machinery used in defense systems, aerospace and aviation industry. Cessna segment is charged with the responsibility of manufacturing the common aviation aircrafts like the single engine turboprops, business jets, and single engine piston aircraft plus offering the after sell services.The industrial segment is concern ed with making designs and manufacturing the blow molded systems and others blow molded accessories mainly for the automobile operations and manufacturing. It supplies camshafts for automobile industry and metal fuel fillers; it also supplies plastic containers for use in the industrial sector, laboratories and for domestic use. Blow molded fuel apparatus are for the land vehicles and watercraft use.Other products include hydraulics, industrial pumps, polymer machinery, and instruments for use in electrical industry, combustion engines and other related equipment. The financial segment finances the aircraft industry, offers asset based loans, distributes finance; finances golf, resort and structure capital. Textron supplies its products via distributors and sales representatives. Strategic Management Textron Inc was established in 1923 with the first operations in providence in Rhode Island.Strategic management in any business or other organizations describes the art of planning the operations and other performances at the highest possible level. This is the responsibilities of the company’s management and should focus on establishing a foundation and organization structure that will be executed by the collective effort of every individual employee of the company (Pearse & Robinson 2000). Textron Inc has a unique management strategy that covers the core aspects of management i. e.Business objectives, means of achieving the objectives and the resources required to make it happen. The company’s mission statement â€Å"to be the world leading provider of professional tool group by manufacturing high quality innovative products as required by client-driven blueprint and integrated supply chain superiority† explains its objective apart from making profits (Pearse & Robinson 2000). Corporate Management The management of the Textron Inc is very effective and committed to implementing their policies so as to meet the company as well as individual objectives.Currently, the organization is managed by a chairman who is also the president and the (CEO) chief executive officer. The president heads the management committee, international advisory council and the transformational management team. Currently Lewis B Campbell is the President of Textron inc. the strategic management plan is executed by allocation of several roles and taking responsibilities as well as working as a team.The president has revolutionized the performance of Textron Inc by reshaping its product portfolio, changing the operational goals and has managed to bring together the venture-wise synergies and thus achieving larger operation effectiveness (Fayerweather 2007). Textron Inc has a senior several vice presidents who take care of different roles as it will be shown in the text. The first vice president is the senior vice president for Textron Inc international and marketing operation.He is charged with the responsibility of research and execution internati onal devolvement opportunities for the company plus carrying out functional leadership sales and marketing on the international market. He is also a member of the transformational leadership team (Fayerweather 2007). The executive vice president and principal innovation officer is responsible for implementing and supervising the global technology center based in India; overseeing the engineering processes, information technology systems, Textron six sigma and establishing and executing proper distribution/integrated supply chains.Executive vice president is also a member of the Textron’s transformational leadership team as well as the management committee, which is a clear indication of teamwork and collective responsibility (Pearse & Robinson 2000). Corporate management in itself is a profession and needs someone to oversee the operations so that the management does not override their roles and the vice president business ethics and corporate secretary is responsible for all these (Pearse & Robinson 2000). He takes care of all the corporate secretarial roles and supervises compliance.The Executive vice president administration and prime human resources official is one of the vice presidents working for Textron inc and is responsible for supervising the international human resource operations, corporate real estate, offer administrative services and manages the company’s aviation department and community affairs. The executive vice president administration and human resources is a member of the management committee and transformational management team (Pearse & Robinson 2000).The vice president and chief information officer; this is one of the top management posts that are critical to Textron Inc and covers even the Textron’s information services. It is the responsibility of the vice president to guide the daily operations of the Textron information services (TIS); carrying out management duties of TIS as the executive, supervising the bus iness units plus working together with chief information officers (CIO’s); he is responsible for outsourcing relationships, supervising Textron’s information Management council as well as carry out the management role over Textron information technology (Fayerweather 2007).The financial segment of Textron is managed by its own president who is also the chief operating officer of Textron financial corporation (TFC). TFC is diversification strategy into the commercial sector and it’s a financial company with main operations in aircraft finance, resort finance, golf finance and other field described earlier under finance segment of Textron Inc (Fayerweather 2007). The president carries out the managerial roles supervising all the operations of TFC and serves as a member of Textron transformational leadership team.The vice president of mergers and acquisitions is in charge of supervising developmental activities and manage the venture expansion projects that include acquisitions, mergers and strategic partnerships and serves on Textron’s enterprise – wide Finance Council (Fayerweather 2007). The executive vice president and chief operation officer is in charge of supervising the manufacturing process in business units including the functioning of the corporation’s information technology, global sourcing duties and the six sigma.He also chairs the company’s Operating Committee and also a member of Management Committee and Transformational management Team. The vice president strategy and business development for Textron Inc has an obligation to work in collaboration with the senior management across the venture to create and implement business units plus coming up with corporate strategies for development, expansion, profitability and increasing return on investment (Pearse & Robinson 2000). The vice president here is also the corporate officer and a member of transformational leadership team.The vice president and de puty general counsel of Textron takes responsibility of corporate legal staff with key obligations of supervising all legal matters except court cases including mergers and acquisitions, compliance, anti-trust, corporate finance, government contracts and intellectual property (Textron 2009). The vice president Textron audit services reports to the audit committee of board of directors about all the internal audits in which he supervises their activities and also risk management process. The industrial segment is managed by a president and is divide in to four; E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Jacobsen and Kautex.All these divisions are run by presidents who are members of transformational leadership team. The Textron’s executive vice president supervises the strategic development, corporate functions; oversees international relationship and investor relations. Actually the management team of Textron is large with every segment having a president and several vice presidents; the following is a brief look at the remaining executive team members; vice president Textron six sigma is responsible for implementation of the project six sigma including Cessna Aircraft, E-Z-GO, and Bell helicopters (Fayerweather 2007).The vice president and treasure supervises the financial activities of the company, the international treasury dealings, and other related responsibilities. The Bell helicopters are managed by a president who is the chief executive officer and works closely with the executive vice president. This VP also takes the role of a general counsel. The vice president takes care of ethical and compliance issues as well as the safety and environmental operations. Cessna Aircraft Company is managed by a president who is the CEO (Fayerweather 2007). The vice president has the obligation to supervise global tax function.Kautex has a president who is also the CEO and a member of the transformational leadership team. Textron Systems Corporation is managed by the executive vice p resident and has eight business units, vice president investors relations who is also the company’s corporate officer is responsible for issuing the strategies and delivering financial presentation to investment and business community around the globe(Textron 2009). Jacobsen is managed by independent president who is also the CEO, he also responsible for the all operations in the golf, sports and ground care and equipment manufacture.The senior vice president and corporate controller report to the executive vice president (the chief financial official), and take the responsibility of supervising internal and external financial and accounting reports, plans and analyses. He is also responsible for spearheading transformations in financial activities (Textron 2009). The company has a board of directors committed to providing the strategic management supervision and international investment point of view while at the same time maintaining rigorous management principles on behalf on the investors.The Strategy The management of Textron is committed to fulfilling the objective of the company and to achieve its mission. The most crucial strategy is the enterprise management; this includes construction, organizing and leveraging world class performance abilities through a model based on customers’ design and requirements and processes (Textron 2009). The company is expanding by mergers and acquisitions, the major one being the acquisition of Cessna aircrafts. Product portfolio and portfolio management is another aspect critical to future successes.It includes identification, selection and acquisition of the correct mix for the businesses so as to attain the maximal performance through the ability of the management team (Textron 2009). In order to attain these, Textron aims to make clients successful, attract and develop talent plus implementing world class operations in production and through innovations. The major feature already in place include implem enting the correct supply chain technique, development of new technology like six sigma project and offering shared services. ConclusionTextron Inc is an international business merger that operates in four segments and manages other auxiliary business units that include Cessna aircraft, golf equipments, and Bell helicopters. Being a large conglomerate, Textron has seen the expansion of Cessna with innovations making it the largest aviation company on the planet. The major factor contributing to these successes is the creation of world class competencies. Textron is a multi-industry venture with very talented management that has maintained the correct mix of ventures.The company is currently improving its capability to acquire and incorporate other ventures to enhance competencies and improve shareholder value. References Fayerweather J. (2007). Management of International Operations. Text and Cases. McGraw – Hill. New York Pearse J. A & Robinson R. B (2000). Strategic Managem ent. Formulation, Implementation and Control. Irwin/McGraw – Hill. New York Textron Inc (2009) About Textron. NYSE (TXT) retrieved on 17th January 2009 from http://www. textron. com/about/company/vision_and_strategy/index.

Exemplar

INVESTIGATING THE ECOLOGICAL NICHE OF THE CRAB USING A FAIR TEST INTRODUCTION: The ecological niche of the crab Hemigrapsus edwardsi. The crab is a member of the Crustacea phylum and is in the family Grapsidae. This crab species is found only in New Zealand on rocky shores. The rocky shore, where the crabs studied in this investigation were found is quite exposed. There is a large rock platform that provides small crevices and small rocks which help to protect them from wave action and predators. There are also sea lettuce, and other algae growing on parts of the rocks.The crab has many adaptations that allow it to live on the rocky shore including: †¢ grey/black colour for camouflage †¢ food detection structures (antennae on its head and hairs on the mouth parts to sense chemicals in the sea water) †¢ 4 pairs of legs with muscles that allow it to move sideways, as well as forwards and backwards †¢ behavioural adaptations such as scuttling under rocks when the tid e goes out or to avoid predators †¢ freezing when being attacked (we noticed this when we touched some of them on their backs). This might confuse predators. †¢ gills for gas exchange.The rock pools provide a micro-climate where the temperature and salinity of the water will change, depending on the weather. If it was a really hot day, the rock pools will get warmer, more water will evaporate and the salinity will increase. The crab would have to be adapted to cope with these changes in salinity, otherwise, as the concentration of salt in the water around it changes, it will gain or loose mass due to osmosis. Through the process of osmoregulation, the crab is able to maintain a constant water balance in its body, but to do so requires energy and this could be measured by an increase in the respiration rate.This is what I am going to investigate. Aim: To determine whether the respiratory rate of the crab changes in different salinities. Hypothesis: The respiratory rate of t he crab will increase as the salinity changes away from â€Å"normal† salinity. METHOD Thirty crabs of similar size, were collected from the rocky shore. The salinity was varied by diluting the 200% conc. seawater provided in to five different concentrations. The volume of the solutions was 200mL each. The concentrations were 150%, 125%, 100%, 75%, 50% conc. Water with 100% concentration is equivalent to the concentration of normal seawater.Sixty-five mL of the 150% solution was poured into a petri dish. The petri dish had a thin layer of stones in the base to recreate the natural environment of the crabs. One crab was put into this petri dish and left for five minutes to allow them to adjust to the conditions. The petri dishes were floated on a water bath which was set at 180C. The water bath was placed in the room where the light intensity was the same for all petri dishes. An indirect method of estimating respiration was used. This was to count the number of currents seen on the surface of the water.I assumed that a higher number of currents indicated a higher respiration rate. A little bit of carmine red was sprinkled onto the solution in the petri dish in order to see the movement of water more clearly. The crabs were left in the petri dishes for five minutes before counting the respiratory currents. The respiratory currents were counted for 30 seconds. This amount was doubled to give the rate per minute. 5 more trials with different crabs were done at each concentration. Each time a fresh 65 mL of solution was added. The results were recorded and the rates per minute were averaged.This process was repeated for the 4 remaining concentrations and the results for these were averaged. Results: Average respiratory rate of the crab in different concentrations of seawater. | |% concentration of the water (100% = normal sea water) | | |50 |75 |100 |125 |150 | |Average number of respiratory | | | | | | |currents per minute |7. 2 |6. 75 |6. 00 |7. 50 |12. 4 2 | Average respiratory rate of the crab in different seawater concentrations. Statistical analysis of results: The graph of the results suggests that there is a significant relationship between the concentration of the seawater and the respiratory rate of the crabs. This is confirmed by the r2 value of 0. 9642, which indicates that 96% of the variation in the results is explained by the change in seawater concentration. Conclusion:The respiratory rate of the crab, as measured by respiratory currents, increased when the concentration of the seawater either increased or decreased from the 100% conc. (normal seawater). Discussion: This investigation was carried out to determine whether respiratory rates of the crab increased as the salinity was changed from normal levels. The crab is a euryhaline organism that lives on the rocky shore, often in rock pools. Because of the tidal movements of water, the salinity of the crab’s environment fluctuates. To maintain homeostasis, the cr ab osmoregulates.This means it actively controls the salinity levels inside its body. As the seawater concentration increased or decreased from the concentration of normal seawater (100% conc. ) the respiration rate increased. This is because the crab is most comfortable at the concentration of normal seawater. As osmoregulation involves the active transport of ions, it requires energy to adjust to higher or lower seawater concentrations than 100% seawater. As the salinity of the crab’s environment increases or decreases from the salinity of normal seawater it requires more energy in order to osmoregulate.So in order to obtain that energy, it needs more oxygen and its respiration rate increases. This is necessary for the crab as it must deal with a range of salinity as the tidal pools dry out. If the concentration of the water is greater than that of the crab’s internal environment, it will go through osmosis. Although the crab has an exoskeleton, water can still leave its body through the space around its joints and gills. Evaluation: Initially I found that there were several problems with my investigation.The most significant one was that the crabs were out of their natural environment which made them more fidgety. Some of mine even attempted to escape from the petri dishes during the trials. This clearly shows that they were unsettled and perhaps not responding as they usually would. If they decided to stay inside the petri dish, they stayed close to the edge and moved away from the movement of people around them. I moved my investigation to a more secluded position and screened them off with a cover so that were not able to see what was around them.I also lined the petri dish with a thin layer of stones to attempt to somewhat recreate the natural environment. This change made the crabs calmer and produced a more natural response. The counting of actual respiration itself was difficult as it was a humid day and the carmine red seemed to be con gealing before being placed in the water. Perhaps in humid conditions chalk dust or very fine sand would have been more suitable but these were not available where I was carrying out the investigation.Where the crabs were sampled from may have biased the outcome of the results as the position in the tidal zone might influence the levels of salinity that they were accustomed to. Most of my animals appeared to be female, this may also have biased my results. Further investigations would need to be carried out to determine if sex or original location influences crab respiration rate. Despite these limitations my results show that the increase in respiratory rates can be explained by the changing concentration of the seawater. ———————–INTRODUCTION ECOLOGICAL NICHE AIM HYPOTHESIS Explains aspects of the ecological niche that are related to the investigation. Hypothesis linked to ecological niche. VARIABLE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE CONTRO LLED VARIABLE DEPENDENT VARIABLE Controlled variables A valid range of the Independent variable Controlled variables Dependent variables Sufficient data PROCESSED DATA [pic] STATISTICAL ANALYSIS CONCLUSION Sufficient data that is appropriately and accurately processed to show relevant pattern. (raw data is in log book) Workable method outlinedSufficient data that is appropriately and accurately processed to show relevant pattern. (raw data is in log book) Statistical analysis of the validity of the conclusion A valid conclusion that is justified by the data and relates to the hypothesis DISCUSSION EVALUATION Critical evaluation through analysis of the validity of the investigation Critical evaluation – limitations discussed and changes made to the method justified in relation to validity of investigation Discussion of results related to niche Significance of findings in relation to the ecological niche