Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Strategies

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Strategies INTRODUCTION Live birth with healthy child is the ultimate goal of ART cycles. There is a complexity of interlinked events that decides the final outcome of ART. This event can be categorised as, Clinical (stimulation protocol, opu, embryo transfer, pregnancy rate etc), Patient related (age, diseases) and Laboratory (ART Lab- oocyte, sperm, embryo, media, etc). There cannot be any single thumb rule for success in any ART cycle due to numerous variations in each categories. However by setting up Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and interpreting the data statistically we can have a better understanding of our success combinations as well as flaws. In this topic we will restrict our discussion upto laboratory category. ART lab and equipments are designed to mimic intra-uterine/ intra- fallopian tube environment. Thus by giving minimum stress to gametes a better embryo or blastocyst can be achieved which may result in healthy pregnancy. In order to have significant pregnancy rate various studies have been performed keeping in mind variables like, co2, pH, temperature, media etc. To have an insight of entire process majority of KPI are directed towards maintaining the above controls and also the clinical aspect of patient. This KPI gives us entire picture from patient age, stimulation protocols, drugs, opu, gametes, zygotes, embryos as well as record of temperature of work stations, room temperature, humidity, incubators conditions, ph, air quality , infection control policy. Thus KPI makes us more vigilant and observes the pattern of success or failure of our lab. By using our KPI we can have customised settings of our monitors and set protocol for a cycle. This Gametes and embryos are in artificial environment mimicking natural environment a stricter control on ph, temperature, air are perhaps most crucial. It is believed and observed that a compromise in any of this parameters does cause detrimental effect on embryos. Usually laboratories have protocols of checking the incubator settings, media, temperature daily. We do observe success rate to vary routinely. Where a drop in preganacy rate is to be considered more seriously , this makes us ponder over our KPI which should reflect the cause. We have observed many instances but we discuss about three such scenarios which caused damage to our pregnancy rates and KPI helped us. First Scenario- opening incubator door frequently On one occasion we observed more number of patients than usual in a batch of ART, while other KPI parameters were within accepted range. This observation lead to the fact that increased number of patient resulted in increase in number of oocytes.. This means that the load on incubator was much higher than usual. This load can be described by frequent opening of door to make fresh plates , transfer embryos, change media, observe growth, and embryo transfer. We used a conventional front load door incubator. Our KPI did not have a count or time period of incubator door openings, though it was handled to be bare necessity. To establish this assumption few studies observed that, there is a difference in temperature throughout the incubator where front and upper shelf had temperature nearer to 37 c as compared to other locations. Temperature displayed on screen of incubator was just an average. Temperature probe recorded average temperature of inside the incubator and hence KPI recordings were quite stable . However an important study observed that incubator door opened for 5 seconds takes a temperature recovery time of around 20 minutes whereas dishes took 30 minutes to come back to 37c. This can be explained due to cooler air from room entering the incubator and also cold co2 gas being pumped in due to decrease in co2 concentrations. IVF work station also has heating mechanism adjusted to 37 c but even that is average temp. And we do see different tempertaure in different parts of table. Further work station is also cooled by laminar air flow . Studies have proven that prolonged temperature variations impacts fertilisation especially high temperature affects cytokinesis of embryos. However we did not record absolutely mass failed fertilisation or mass embryo arrest .Though the number was less but the embryos progressed to blastocyst formation and also gave pregnancies. This leads to debate of optimal temperature required for embryo culture. Researchers have proved that core body temperature of reproductive axis to be 1c less than 37c. Interestingly a study observed difference in blastocyst formation from culturing the embryos at 36c .however fertilisation rate and implantation rate at both 36 c and 37 c were similar. With the concept of mimicking natural environment it was observed that preovulatory follicle had 2.3c less temperature than 36c. This could explain why even after temperature fluctuation we could still get good blastocyst as well as implantation. Another possible theory is a temperature regulating mechanism in embryo which remains an interesting research. Temperature fluctuations have an impact on pH also . Considering the importance of temperature and as most study design are carried out at 37c and better success rate at this temperature makes us accept cell culture to be at 37c. In order to set things right measures were initiated to reduce the number of patients or oocyte in one incubator. On an average not more than 2/3 patient with 6-8 dishes were kept in an incubator. Open culture system was changed to closed culture. Procedures like Dish equilibration, sperm swim up where carried out in mini incubator rather than routine incubators. Another way of controlling this could be use of embryo scope or using single step media or bench top incubators. But we preferred the older method to be cost effective. Second scenario- pH of media, calibration of instruments. Our KPI includes routine CO2 check by CO2 analyser and they were fairly within accepted range and settings were adjusted depending upon observed value to maintain co2 at 5 % or 6% . this percentage varied according to media manufacturing company like, SAGE needs equilibration at 5 % while vitrolife needs it at 6% . As co2 is used to maintain Ph . Despite being vigilant there was drop in overall blastocyst formation and implantation rate. A study of KPI statistics revealed more or less steady co2 and temperature with no changes in protocols . A detailed study questioned co2 analyser observation and it was found that co2 analyser was not serviced or calibrated over 6 months. Investigations confirmed Co2 analyser reading to be faulty. This scenario explains a lot about calibration of our instrument which are meant to check and control our functioning instruments like incubator.Routinely a calibration tolerance of 0.1 was accepted by us. We were using colourless media( vitrolife) rather than â€Å"pink† media ( phenol) hence changes in ph of media were unnoticed. literature supports ph to be most crucial for gamates. Routinely a ph of media scaling of 7.2-7.4 is accepted for cell culture. ph of media is also very dynamic and influenced by temperature,co2, volume of media. This leads to debate of optimal ph of media. Studies have revealed variable ph,that is alkaline in oviduct and acidic in uterus. Oocytes also showed varied ph from Germinal vesical stage ( 7.04 +/- 0.07) to MII stage ( 6.98 +/- 0.010). while amphibian oocytes shows rise in pH during fertilisation but unseen in humans. This opens a theory of intracellular ph regulatory system to mai ntain optimal Ph as required . This balance of CO2 and HCO3 in media sets the extracellular ph(phe) while intracelluarly (pHi) HCO3/Cl ad Na+/H+ regulatory systems maintain stability in cell. This self regulatory system of embryos seems to maintain the balance inspite of fluctuations and hence we see blastocyst formation and even implantation rates. Oocytes maintain their pHi through combination of follicular fluid, granulose cells. Hence denuded oocyte are more vulnearble and depends only up on pHe of media. Studies observed that raising ph to 7.4 or lowering to 6.8 affected the embryo metabolism where alkalinine media caused more damage. Thus ph around 7.2 seems to be more stabilising. Studies have observed ph irregularities to affect actin, cytoskeletal elements, meiotic spindle, cell apoptosis, mitochondria position in embryo. This problem was addressed by calibrating our co2 analyser every 3 months. Media tubes should be capped off immediately after opening to prevent evaporation which can cause ph fluctuation.KPI included servicing dates of each instruments with due date notifications.† Pink media† was not used considering toxicity of phenol and above all in subsequent cycles pregnancy rates were up with above correction.

Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl Essay -- essays research papers

Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl CHAPTER I   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The conditions of this master-slave relationship are that the slave (Linda) is there to do work for her mistress, or master, which is now her sister' s daughter. Linda is supposed to take care her new owner's five year old daughter, help plant things, take care of any animals and anything else she is told. As a slave, she should also do everything else she is told by her master. â€Å"After a brief period of suspense, the will of my mistress was read, and we learned that she had bequeathed me to her sister's daughter, a child of five years old.† I think that before her former master died and she was sent to her master's sister's daughter, the conditions were different. Linda's master taught her how to read and spell, which was a privilege, because most slaves were not taught how to do this. â€Å"While I was with her, she taught me to read and spell; and for this privilege, which so rarely falls to the lot of a slave, I bless her memory.† Chapter II The author's purpose for including this chapter is to show just how unfairly, and cruelly slaves (she) were treated. People saw the slaves as scapegoats and were blamed for everything. She gives many examples of situations in which someone (one of the masters or mistresses) wasn't happy with something and blamed it on the slave(s), forcing them to deal with the harsh consequences. An example is when the cook sends dinner out to Dr. Flint....

Feasibility Study Essay

This study is developed to provide an entrepreneur with potential investment opportunity in setting up and operating a bar restaurant offering a variety of food and beverages items and accompanied by a quality service to the general public. This feasibility study gives an insight into various aspects of planning, setting up and operating a bar restaurant for the general populace. The study is designed to provide relevant details (including technical) to help entrepreneur in decision making by providing various technical as well as business alternatives. The study also allows flexibility to change various project parameters to suit the needs of an entrepreneur and the target market. Brief Background of the Study A bar restaurant is a food service establishment that serves food, non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises. Bar restaurants provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bar restaurant have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go dancers, or strippers. Bar restaurants which offer entertainment or live music are often referred to as music bars or nightclubs. Many bar restaurants have a happy hour to encourage off-peak guests. Bar restaurants that fill to capacity sometimes implement a cover charge or a minimum purchase requirement during their peak hours. Such barrestaurants often feature entertainment, which may be a live band or a disk jockey playing recorded music. The term â€Å"bar† is derived from the specialized counter on which drinks are served. Guests may sit or stand at the bar and be served by the bartender, or they may sit at tables and be served by cocktail servers. And restaurant caters complete set of meal to a target market, class of market or customers. So when the bar and restaurant were put up together, it has the expertise in serving food and beverages for their guests. The â€Å"back bar† is a set of shelves of glasses and bottles behind that counter. In some establishments, the back bar is elaborately decorated with woodwork, etched glass, mirrors, and lights. A bar restaurant’s owners and managers choose the establishment’s name, dà ©cor, drink menu, lighting, and other elements which they think will attract a certain kind of guests. However, they have only limited influence over who patronizes their establishment. Thus, a bar originally intended for one demographic profile can become popular with another. Objectives of the Study The objective of the feasibility study is primarily to facilitate us as a potential entrepreneurs in project identification for investment or putting up a business such as a bar restaurant. The project feasibility may form the basis of an important investment decision and in order to serve this objective, the document/study covers various aspects of project concept development, start-up, and production, finance and business management. The study will also determine if it is feasible for an entrepreneur to put up a bar restaurant in San Ramon Dinalupihan, Bataan. Market area, site selection, competition and financial analysis are made through observational research, surveys and literature review, and results of the analysis are concluded. Name of the Establishment In order to gain a success in establishing a food and beverage business, one should consider on creating a unique name but so easy to remember by the customers. Nowadays, you can find different establishments of food and beverages. So to be popular, you must be creative on choosing the best name for your business. Why ‘BARkada Lounge’? Barkada is a Tagalog word for friends. Having friend with someone is not that easy, it would take a while before you consider a person as one of your friends. At some point, you cannot consider even your family as a friend of yours, only if, you and her tagged a long for a while and knew each other’s secrets. In ‘BARkada Lounge’, you could bring any of your friends and you could also treat all the employees and staffs as one of your friends. Here, you can celebrate all the important occasions of your life and release the stress and burden that disturb you a lot, just like a friend. Our Logo The glass tankard with a full colourful music bar inside symbolizes for fun, entertainment and beverages. The two ovals shaped around the main logo: the red –which is outside – defines stop in our bar restaurant and; the green – which is inside – defines go and have fun inside. The stars that is about to fly defines everyone is a performer here, either you’re a singer or a dancer. Our Mission To provide a fun and entertaining bar restaurant service with top quality food that will exceed the customer’s expectations. Our Vision To be known in our chosen field and recognized as one of the best establishment providing the best eminence of foods that contribute to the growth of F&B and Hospitality Industry. Site Selection This section deals with the reason for choosing the site, site analysis evaluation, general area evaluation, local area evaluation and the vicinity map. Reason for Choosing the Site A restaurant’s location is as crucial to its success as great food and service. The location of a restaurant is the bridge between your target market and your concept. The most important aspect of site selection is to assure that all factors that could possibly have any bearing on the decision are considered carefully. Selection of a suitable site should come after the restaurateur has gathered the pertinent information and organized, analyzed, and evaluated it. The investigation should be exhaustive and follow a logical process. Decision factors vary in importance depending on the individual and the type of restaurant under consideration. The decision-making process in site selection must include large amount of information assembled and presented in a clear manner. If this is not done, the chance of making a wise choice is very slim. It is necessary to know the growth patterns of neighbourhoods to determine if a particular type of restaurant will be in demand for the foresee able future. The proposed location of ‘BARkada Lounge’ is at San Ramon Dinalupihan, Bataan. Dinalupihan is a first class municipality in the province of Bataan. A wide variety of different establishments such as food chains, grocery stores, mini bar houses, and the like are located in this place where people can find entertainment and relaxation. And as the demands of the increasing and unstable needs and wants of the community, they were much eager to experience a highly adaptive dining and trendy party setting in which you can found in Dinalupihan. Since Dinalupihan is in the middle of the two leading cities in the region III, which is the Olongapo and Balanga, the accessibility to both public and private establishments will definitely make the ‘BARkada Lounge’ easily identified to the public where people can enjoy a cozy atmosphere as well as foods and beverages, whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Site description and evaluation is the initial element in which that of determines the overall physical development of profitable well-planned and visually attractive food and beverage service facilities. Dinalupihan is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. It is the only land-locked municipality of the province. Dinalupihan is located 95 kms. east of Manila and can be reached through the Olongapo-Gapan route via the North Luzon Expressway. The town has a total land area of 4,460.00 hectares representing 6.69% of the total land area of Bataan. It is composed of 46 barangays with a total population of 92,289 people in 14,833 households. Dinalupihan is primarily an agricultural town whose main resources are palay, sugar cane, corn, root crops, legumes and fruits including livestock and poultry. Our proposed site for our future project is located at San Ramon Dinalupihan, Bataan. It is measured as 502 square meters. With this location, we are very confident that the project will be feasible and very effective to our chosen market. The relief varies from level, rolling and hilly to mountainous especially in the south and north-western sections of the area. The terrain of the municipality is gently sloping to undulating particularly the northern portion wherein cultivated lands are located. Between the northern and southern fringes are areas moderately sloping to rolling land with some scattered steep hills. The municipality is drained by numerous rivers and small streams with very few meanders radiating and sloping from the mountain groups down to the sea draining the whole area efficiently. Local Area Evaluation The study of our chosen location’s trading area, traffic, complementary and competing outlets, and vulnerability; parking surroundings, area changes, and cost meet our proposed needs as an entrepreneur. Visibility concerns the ability of potential shoppers to enjoy an unobstructed view of a store or its sign from a number of vantage points.It also considers ease of entrance and exit from the site. Local signage ordinances should be check and it is very useful to use the presence of distinguishing landmarks for an accurate direction of the site. Visibility is extremely important to the quality service food industry and popular-priced bar restaurants, because high visibility allows the consumer more time to change lanes and navigate the entrance to an eatery’s parking lot. The site is undeniably accessible to main arteries as the municipality’s public market going to Capitol Drive on the right side and vice versa. Locationally, accessibility represents the ease with which people move into and out of an area and, more particularly, into and out of a specific location. When determining accessibility, it is necessary to consider major and minor traffic arteries, number of lanes, speed limits, turn signals, turning lanes, curb cuts, and traffic backup, congestion points, and the existence of median strips. The value of a location also depends the accessibility of both public and private modes of transportation, such as customers and suppliers, to and from the site. The ‘BARkada Lounge’ will be very easy for residents and non-residents of the area to find, with the adequacy and potential of vehicular or passenger is unquestionably high, as we go with the flow of the continuous economy growth in the Municipality of Dinalupihan. Through pipe system, the Dinalupihan Water District has the full charge of water supply distribution in the area. The most common source of water is its ground water. Hence, the water supply in the Municipality of Dinalupihan is very sufficient. Major telephone companies servicing the town are Digital Telecommunications (Digitel) and Bayan Telecommunications (BayanTel). Cellular phones are also available through Smart/TalknText, Globe/Touch Mobile, Sun Cellular and Mobiline. Radio Communications Philippines, Inc. (RCPI), provides telegram and telegraph services. Electricity is provided by Peninsula Electric Cooperative (PENELCO). The Dinalupihan Water District serves 19 barangays while other areas use free-flowing pumps and deep wells. The town has a total of 8 banks, 7 schools, 3 hospitals/health facilities, and 4 recreational facilities. Traffic Counts The study consists of data collection, including existing traffic volumes and turning movement counts, projected traffic volumes and the identification of required improvements such as traffic calming devices. This information can be gathered either by an automated tube counter or manually by a County staff which pertains to position personnel who perform traffic counts at intersections, usually during the time in which rush hour arises, to count and record the volume of traffic passing through and turning movements of the vehicles through an intersection. Traffic counts were performed by researchers on the day and hours they predicted that might peak day or hours will occur. The number of vehicles that passed by the site was shown at the table below. ‘BARkada Lounge’ was based on the economic status of these people who will be our future target market as indicated by the type of vehicle they are in.

Reward or punishment Essay

â€Å"The right to life and dignity are the most important of all human rights and this must be demonstrated by the state in everything that it does, including the way it punishes criminals.† – Justice Arthur Chaskalson. The death penalty is considered, â€Å"the legal† punishment for a criminal. Although the death penalty has been used for many years, the thought of it continues to bring shivers down the back of most of society. Even though there has been an abundant of debates whether it should be abolished or not, citizens do not really know the facts behind it. Most of the society assumes that the death penalty is less expensive than life in jail without parole. United States citizens believe that this punishment will eliminate any revenge thoughts and therefore increase public safety. Being a factor of death, it should not be taken as lightly as it has been. Although sentencing the death penalty may seem the proportional punishment to a brutal crime, it is n ot a good alternative, because the cost of execution hurts our economy, it lacks closure for victims, and it violates the U. S. Constitution. Most of society assumes that the death penalty is less expensive than to keep a criminal in jail for life. Little did they know that it actually costs the U.S. less for a criminal to live in prison than to be executed. According to Dellapiana author of â€Å"Should We Put the Death Penalty on the Chopping Block?† not only is there cost for pre-trials, trials and courts but there is â€Å"additional costs amounting to $4.2 Million per death penalty† (Dellapiana 1). It is high priced because â€Å"the consequences or error and procedural unfairness are magnified when life is in the balance; thus, courts have imposed astringent due process protections.† (Dellapiana 1) Being in really tough economic times, wasting all that money on the death penalty seems inappropriate. All that money wasted on murdering someone, could might as well be used somewhere else in a productive manner. Dieter believes and states â€Å"the death penalty in the U.S. is an enormously expensive and wasteful program with no clear benefits. All of the studies on the cost of capital punishment conclude it is much more expensive than asystem with life sentences as the maximum penalty.† (Dieter 2). The money accumulated to be used in the death penalty is desperately needed in other important programs. For example, â€Å"In Florida, the courts have lost 10% of their funding, with another cut expected, as home foreclosures accelerated. Philadelphia is leaving 200 pol ice positions unfilled. In New Hampshire, civil and criminal jury trials were halted for a month to save money; in one county, 77 criminal trials were delayed for up to six months.† (Dieter 12). Clearly showing the United States is greatly affected by the death penalty. By the absence of the money needed for jobs, it has been forced to cut jobs strongly needed to protect society. As it can be seen, all the money spent on the death penalty is crucially affecting the economy. The process of following through the death penalty is lengthy; an entire appeal process can take more than 15 years before executions take place and in some cases it never goes through. â€Å"Sentences or convictions can be reversed, defendants may die of natural causes or suicide, governors occasionally grant clemency, and entire statutes can be overturned by the courts.† (Dieter 28). Meaning, most of the sentences don’t result in an execution, which only consumed an exaggerated amount of money when the process is over. Not only is the appeal high priced, pre-trials and trials only add much more money to the high amount already accumulated. Instead of finding a more appropriate approach, so ciety spends millions of dollars into a system that doesn’t produce results. Although many citizens do believe the death penalty is effective, they also believe the price is worth it. â€Å"This is because life is invaluable; there is no amount of money or prison that could equal it† (Roberts –Cady 3). Taking away their freedom is a way of restraining their moral behavior in society. â€Å"Because the wrongdoers had unfairly gained an extra measure of freedom from moral restraint, the natural way to restore a fair balance is to reduce the protection he ordinarily would have gained through moral restraints on the conduct of others. By treating the wrongdoer in what is ordinarily a forbidden way, we strip away part of the protection that moral restraints on behavior would ordinarily have afforded him. Thus, we remove precisely the sort of advantages he has gained.† (Roberts- Cady 3). A punishment is supposed to make the criminal reflect on their wrongdoing and get them on the right path. But why give the criminal the easy way out. Although many citizens believe in the saying â€Å"an eye for an  eye†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the death penalty does not necessarily bring closure to the victims’ family. â€Å"Because of the extensive constitutional due process requirements in deat h penalty litigation, trials are lengthy, and appeals can go on for decades, for families of victims, there is no closure.†(Dellapiana 5). Life sentencing with no parole is a much faster process and ensures closure to the victims’ family. For most of the victims’ families, the death penalty is a â€Å"punishment that is justified because it is a reward [or an easy way out] for wrongdoing† (Roberts – Cady 2). Not only does it lack closure to the victims’ families but it isn’t morally acceptable. This is because â€Å"if life has unconditional, incomparable worth, then we cannot and should not compare the worth of one person’s life with that of another† (Roberts-Cady 4).Taking the life of the murderer will not be the same as taking the life of the victim. For example, taking the murder’s life by injection can’t be brutally equivalent to taking the life of the victim. Some citizens believe the death penalty as punishment does provide closure. Many families consider this as closure because the murder has been killed. But as Roberts –Cady states â€Å"Taking the murders life cannot be said to be even roughly equivalent to taking the life of the victim.à ¢â‚¬  (Roberts- Cady 4) If it is not equivalent why not let them suffer in prison. Although life is the biggest blessing one could ever have, many criminals prefer death rather than to get life sentenced. So why give them what they prefer? And, who are the judges to decide who deserves to live and who deserves to die? Although many citizens believe the death penalty is a logical punishment, it violates the United States Constitution. The death penalty goes against the Eight Amendment in which it states it â€Å"prohibits the use of cruel and unusual or excessive punishment.† Thus, this amendment protects the criminal from receiving a punishment that can be considered comparable to the pain caused to the victim. The death penalty easily violates this amendment because it is cruel and unusual punishment since the result is death. Not only does it violate the United States Constitution it also violates the Declaration of Independence which says â€Å"All men are created equal†. It also violates this because of the discrimination by the judges and courts. An example is in case DeLuna v. The State of Texas (1986). In this prejudiced case, Carlos DeLuna was an American Hispanic who was put to death even though he was innocent. DeLuna was convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk,  Lopez. Although all assumptions pointed towards DeLuna, he was innocent. DeLuna repeatedly stated his innocence and stated the real killer was Carlos Hernandez. The judge discriminated him for being Hispanic, neglected to listen to his statements, nonetheless he claim ed â€Å"calling Hernandez a â€Å"phantom† and â€Å"figment of DeLuna’s imagination.† After being wrongfully executed, a professor and five of his students opened the case causing questions to rise and evidence to be found. The re-opening of this case showed tampering evidence. Hernandez already had a criminal record for being a repeatedly violent offender and known for slashing women. As the case was ongoing, police tampered the evidence. For example, as the investigation was occurring â€Å"the police said they couldn’t find a â€Å"Carlos Hernandez† [with a criminal record] despite his long rap sheet.† There was also a bloody foot print outside the store which was never processed. The judge was influenced by his ethnicity and appearance. He looked like the criminal, therefore for the judge, he was the criminal. Nor the judge or the court gave DeLuna the opportunity to prove himself innocent. Many people don’t categorize the death penalty as cruel and usual punishment; therefore, it does not violate the Eight Amendment. According to the dictionary, cruelty means causing somebody to feel pain or suffer. The Eight Amendment does not specify if emotion is part of this law. Death penalty should not be used to punish our society. It has been clearly explained how the death penalty is ineffective. A serious impact will continue to be seen throughout the United States economy if the death penalty is not abolished. It would take years for victims’ families to find the peace needed for closure. Death penalty does not only violate the U.S., but it violates The Declaration of Independence as well. As stated, it is proven the death penalty is not a good punishment but an easy way out therefore â€Å"Our country will never gain peace if we are killing our own citizens.†

Identify the Cottonwoods - Trees in the Willow Family

Identify the Cottonwoods - Trees in the Willow Family The common cottonwoods are three species of poplars in the section Aegiros of the genus Populus, native to North America, Europe, and western Asia. They are very similar to and in the same genus as other true poplars and aspens. They also tend to rustle and chitter in a breeze. The Eastern Cottonwood, Populus deltoides, is of the largest North American hardwood trees, although the wood is rather soft. It is a riparian zone tree. It occurs throughout the eastern United States and just into southern Canada. The Black Cottonwood,  Populus balsamifera, grows mostly west of the Rocky Mountains and is the largest Western cottonwood. It is also called Western balsam poplar and California poplar and the leaf has fine teeth, unlike the other cottonwoods. The Fremont Cottonwood, Populus fremontii occurs in California east to Utah and Arizona and south into northwest Mexico; it is similar to Eastern Cottonwood, differing mainly in the leaves having fewer, larger serrations on the leaf  edge  and small differences in the flower and seed pod structure. Quick  Identification Using Leaves, Bark and Flowers Leaves: alternate, triangular, coarsely curved teeth, leafstalks flattened.Bark: yellowish green and smooth on young trees but deeply furrowed in maturity.Flowers: catkins, male-female on separate trees. Quick Winter Identification Using Bark and Location These most common cottonwoods become very large trees (up to 165 feet) and usually occupy wet riparian  areas in the East or seasonally dry creek beds in the West. Mature trees have bark that is thick, grayish-brown, and deeply furrowed with scaly ridges. Young bark is smooth and thin.

Free international trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Free international trade - Essay Example Free international trade has led to maintenance of peace and stability, integration of the global financial systems and growth in the per capita consumption in the national economies (Feenstra, 2004). Free international trade benefits the countries through increased innovation and competition that leads to the reduction in the costs of production and market prices for the products. In this case, the open market practices put pressure on firms to implement innovative manufacturing technologies in order to compete effectively with their foreign counterparts in the same markets (Frederking, 2010). Secondly, free international trade generates more economic growth through encouraging risk-taking by companies and more investments. In this case, American free trade exports support more than 15,000 jobs. In addition, free international trade disseminates capitalist ideals and democratic values since the countries engaged in free trade agreements have a duty to comply with the pre-agreed econ omic rules and standards such as the free movement of labor, protection of intellectual property and cross-border movement of foreign direct investments (Feenstra, 2004). ... The agreement contains provisions that guarantee non-discrimination in the trade of digital products and regulatory efficiency in order to foster increased trade volumes between the two countries. Another milestone in deepening free international trade is the Peru-United States trade promotion agreement of 2007 that seeks to promote private investments between the two countries and eliminate obstacles to free trade. The trade agreement seeks to attract foreign investments, enhance the trade competitiveness and generate more employment (Berg and Lewer, 2007). The USA-South Korea free trade agreement of 2011 encourages increased trade between the two countries through ensuring more than $ 1 billion of US farm exports to South Korea are exempted from customs duties and reducing the previous quotas. South Korea will cut the tariffs on US beef imports and taxes based on engine displacement in order to encourage US car manufacturers to export their cars to the market. at the same time, the US government is expected to provide economic aid to South Korean farmers and support South Korea in the privatization of the public companies in order to increase trade competitiveness between the two countries. According to Bogota, Colombia government waited for long for the free trade agreement with United States and the deal will increase Columbia’s long-term economic growth and increase the exports from $ 17 billion to $ 50 billion within a period of five years (Bogota, 5). In addition, the US government is weighing trade benefits that will result from several proposed free trade agreements with countries such as transatlantic Free trade area with European Union and New Zealand-US trade agreements. In

Europa. Basic Information on the European Union Essay

Europa. Basic Information on the European Union - Essay Example The European Union was formed after the Second World War to promote cooperation on economic grounds amongst the European countries. The idea was that the nations which do business with one another are reliant on each other economically and will consequently avoid clashes and disagreement amongst themselves. In the year 1951, six European nations viz. Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy and Netherlands signed an agreement to unite their industries in the coal and steel sector so that there would not be any difference between them in future. After six years, they made a deal of ‘Treaty of Rome’ by forming the European Economic Community (EEC) with the idea of forming a common single market, the community later came to be recognized as the European Union. The elementary objective of the Treaty of Rome was the formation of a single economic region in Europe based on a universal market. The common market is a phase in the process of international integration which targets to remove all obstructions to intra market trade and plans to merge all the national markets to form a single market which would lead to conditions prevalent in an internal market. The formation of such a market needs liberalisation of business among the Union members and also makes free mobility of certain production factors such as labour, services and necessary capital. It further requires free establishment of business organisations and people in all the regions of the member nations for the purpose of exercising their business and professional activities. (Europa, n.d.). After the Treaty of Rome, the EEC detached all tariffs and duties on the goods which were traded within its territory. However, there were many differences in the requirements of packaging and saf ety measures followed by each Member nation, these disparities in business practices led to problems in selling the same products all over the European Region. The inability to reach the undisputed agreements required to change the scenario prevented the development of the single European market. In the early 1980s, the national economies of the European nations were disjointed, inflexible and very uncompetitive. European Union adopted ‘The Single European Act’ in 1986 under which certain important unanimous decisions could be taken to construct a boundary-less single market by the end of 1992. During this period, the EU formed one common regulation system for all its members and started following the code of joint recognition. In the early years of its formation, the European Union had crossed two major obstacles to the economic incorporation of Europe. They were the formation of custom union where the custom duties were removed, and the development of a general agricu ltural plan which was required for the liberal movement of agricultural products between the members of the European Union