Learn About the Sirenians

Learn About the Sirenians Sirenians (Sirenia), also known as sea cows, are a group of mammals that includes dugongs and manatees. There are four species of sirenians alive today, three species of manatees and one species of dugong. A fifth species of sirenian, the Stellars sea cow, became extinct in the 18th century due to over-hunting by humans. The Stellars sea cow was the largest member of the sirenians and was once abundant throughout the North Pacific. Identifying a Sirenian Sirenians are large, slow-moving, aquatic mammals that live in shallow marine and freshwater habitats in tropical and subtropical regions. Their preferred habitats include swamps, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal waters. Sirenians are well-adapted for an aquatic lifestyle, with an elongated, torpedo-shaped body, two paddle-like front flippers, and a broad, flat tail. In manatees, the tail is spoon-shaped and in the dugong, the tail is V-shaped. Sirenians have, over the course of their evolution, all but lost their hind limbs. Their hind limbs are vestigial and are tiny bones embedded in their body wall. Their skin is gray-brown. Adult sirenians grow to lengths of between 2.8 and 3.5 meters and weights of between 400 and 1,500 kg. All sirenians are herbivores. Their diet varies from species to species but includes a variety of aquatic vegetation such as seagrass, algae, mangrove leaves, and palm fruit that falls into the water. Manatees have evolved a unique tooth arrangement due to their diet (which involves the grinding of a lot of coarse vegetation). They only have molars that are replaced continuously. New teeth grown in at the back of the jaw and older teeth move forward until they reach the front of the jaw where they fall out. Dugongs have a slightly different arrangement of teeth in the jaw but like manatees, teeth are continuously replaced throughout their life. Male dugongs develop tusks when they reach maturity. The first sirenians evolved about 50 million years ago, during the Middle Eocene Epoch. Ancient sirenians are thought to have originated in the New World. As many as 50 species of fossil sirenians have been identified. The closest living relative to sirenians are the elephants. The primary predators of sirenians are humans. Hunting has played a major role in the decline of many populations (and in the extinction of the Stellars sea cow). But human activity such as fishing, and habitat destruction can also indirectly threaten sirenian populations. Other predators of sirenians include crocodiles, tiger sharks, killer whales, and jaguars. Key Characteristics The key characteristics of sirenians include: large aquatic herbivoresstreamlined body, no dorsal fintwo front flippers and no hind legsflat, paddle-shaped tailcontinuous tooth growth and replacement of molars Classification Sirenians are classified within the following taxonomic hierarchy: Animals Chordates Vertebrates Tetrapods Amniotes Mammals Sirenians Sirenians are divided into the following taxonomic groups: Dugongs (Dugongidae) - There is one species of dugong alive today. The dugong (Dugong dugong) inhabits coastal marine waters of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. The dugong has a V-shaped (fluked) tail and males grow tusks.Manatees (Trichechidae) - There are three species of manatees alive today. Members of this group are usually solitary animals (except for mothers with their young). Manatees prefer freshwater aquatic habitats and coastal saltwater marshes. Their distribution includes the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon Basin, and parts of West Africa such as the Senegal River, Kwanza River, and Niger River.

Dancing Ghost Halloween Science Magic Trick

Dancing Ghost Halloween Science Magic Trick This Halloween, make a paper ghost dance in the air, as if by magic! This is a simple and educational holiday science project. Dancing Ghost Materials Light-weight paper works best for this project, such as tissue paper, paper towels, toilet paper or printer paper. paperscissorsballoon Make the Ghost Dance! Cut a ghost shape out of the paper. If you cant cut out a ghost or draw one freehand, search Google images for paper ghost cut-out and print a pattern.Blow up the balloon and tie it off.Rub the balloon on dry hair.Slowly edge the balloon toward the paper ghost. You can make the ghost move in response to the balloon and even make it dance in the air. How It Works When you rub a balloon on your hair, some of the electrons from your hair move over to the balloon, producing a charge of static electricity. The electrons have a negative charge. They are attracted to objects that have a positive electrical charge, like paper. Even though static electricity is invisible, it is powerful enough to draw the paper toward it. When the paper and balloon come into contact, the charge is neutralized and the paper falls back down. More Projects More Halloween Science ProjectsScience Halloween Jack-o-LanternsBend Water With Static ElectricityWater Into Blood Science Trick

Gay in the military Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gay in the military - Essay Example There has been a long history of the gays serving in the army and there have been many political reforms associated with this issue. It has been observed that the confidence or tempo of the military is not affected by the gays serving in the armed forces. The U.S. military prohibited the homosexuals to serve in army in 1916 in the Articles of War. However, a full-fledged ban was enforced in the World War II. After this historical ban, recruits were properly analyzed and observed for signs of homosexuality before being selected for the Army, Navy and Selective Service System. An estimated 4,000 gays who applied were rejected due to their sexual orientation. Lesbians were mostly accepted because asking women about their sexual orientation also violated the standards of behavior and conduct. During 1992, the presidential campaign â€Å"Don’t ask, don’t tell† was initiated by Bill Clinton and claimed to lift this ban. However, this campaign was opposed severely by senior military personals and also the American public. When the attempts failed, the Congress passed a law that gays could serve in army as long as they kept quiet about their sexual orientation. The campaign formally known as the Military Eligibility Act of 1993 was not completely followed and investigations about the homosexuality were still carried out by the military recruitment services. Since 1994, 12,000 gays were dismissed (Webley 2010). The history of gays in the military indicates that many sincere efforts were put up by the politicians to lift this ban. However these efforts were always encountered with opposition not only by the military services but also by the American public. When the issues like increasing the size of the armed forces was put forward by President Bush in 2007, the issue of gays serving in military was brought up again in the form of a heated argument. The policy â€Å"Don’t ask, don’t tell† is a huge

Film Evaluation Reports Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Film Evaluation Reports - Movie Review Example While there is a tendency to see such films as lesser forms of film, they can and should be appreciated for the way in which they show how cultures can take a lighter view of themselves and of their mythologies. Films that use silliness as a basis for their entertainment are often making light of aspects of society in order to shed a light on how serious human beings sometimes take themselves. Woochi (2009) is first set 500 years in the past, a story of mythologies and human politics creating a set up for the events that will take place in the present. The film begins with a story of goblins who steal an item called the Pipe of the Prophecy, the piece having powers that should not get into the wrong hands. The flute is used by the one god to keep the others, each representing the lunar calendar year. Three demi-gods are trying involved in trying to keep the flute from the goblins, or demons, but when they fail, they ask the help of the Taoist Wizards who are able to retrieved the flu te. However, the Master wizard’s apprentice, who is a bit self important and has a huge pride problem, is accused of a murder and he takes the flute and sets himself into a painted manuscript to hide. When it is discovered that both he and the flute are in the manuscript, one of the wizards, Hwadom, goes into the manuscript, only to realize that once he is near the flute, he himself is one of the demons. This is a secret to those demons who take human form. They forget that they are demons until they are near the flute. Through a series of coincidences, the flute is torn into three pieces, thus preventing Hwadom from getting the flute and putting it back together. In modern day Seoul, the goblins start once again causing mischief and the three demigods decide to set Woochi free in order to stop the problem. The goblins, disguised as humans, are outside of any current means to stop them, so setting Woochi, who has some of the same knowledge of the Taoist wizards from 500 years previous, seems the best way to handle the problem. They convince Woochi to help them, and all of them being in modern day Korea leads to a great deal of humor based upon the conflict of how people of another time would deal with modern day life. 2.) What does the film reveal about the personality and interests of the filmmaker? What does the film reveal about the attitude of the filmmaker toward his subject? Explain fully. The film engages myth in order to set up its conflicts and to find ways in which to express human hopes and fears through personifications. The nature of the lunar calendar creatures is to personify specific aspects of the dark side of humanity, thus discussing the human existence through this type of literary study. In creating supernatural elements, the real world is reflected in such a way as to create a sectional discussion of different emotional parts of being human. Mythology often isolates aspects of human existence so that those elements can be explored through a less complex examination. This is often the case with humor as well. Humor allows for a piece of literature to more closely examine a part of human life by isolating a part of it and looking at it from various, unusual perspectives. In this film, the concepts of drinking, bumbling, and sexuality are looked at from the perspective of outsiders looking in, as the time variance creates an ‘alien’ atmosphere for the main characters. Using aspects of

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Notorious gang approaches a man with a red shirt and beats him to death for sleeping with the wrong woman. The man wronged the gang first, but the gang overreacted by beating him to death, who is at fault? Luckily, we have laws created by the Legislature to protect us and guide us in such situations, laws the president at that time agreed upon and that are interpreted by the judicial system. This is known as the system of checks and balances, introduced by our nation’s forefathers in attempt to balance the power in this new country. Though it was obviously necessary back then, it is still necessary today in this very age. The system of checks and balances plays a major role when our forefathers were writing the constitution as they were making sure no one area of government had too much power of the others. Using checks and balances, our forefathers made sure each one of the three branches of government can limit the powers of the others. It is a cycle that often begins when the legislative branch introduces a bill. Then the bill heads off to the executive branch, where the President decides whether he (or yet to be she) believes that the bill is good for the country. If the bill seems good for the country, the President signs the bill, and it becomes a law. It is called a veto when the President doesn’t sign the bill. However, if ⅔ of the legislature votes to pass the bill, the legislative branch can override the executive veto, and the bill will then become a law. Once a law is in place, it is up to the judicial branch to interpret said law and determine, through cases, whether or no t the law is constitutional. If a citizen of the United States believes a law is unfair, a lawsuit can be filed. Lawyers will argue for and ag... ...very nationality found was included, as well as an equal number of male and female). Our country needs this system now in this very age not only to satisfy the 22% of students that know what the system is, but in order to make sure our politicians do not acquire so much influence and/or power that they can control this beautiful, diverse, and wondrously helping nation where the people who live in it can follow their dreams until the end of their lives. The system of checks and balances are necessary today just as they are necessary back when they were written by the forefathers of our nation. The judicial branch interprets laws made from bills signed by the President who receives those bills from the Legislature. And so the victims of crimes are in luck. Crimes such as the murder of an man by a gang for sleeping with the wrong woman may then be brought to justice.

Ethics of Offshoring Novo Nordisk

Critical issued of the appropriateness of conducting clinical trials in emerging countries has arisen over years. Being a leading company in biopharmaceutical industry, Novo Nordisk faces the critiques of whether it is justice to offshoring their clinical trials in developing economies. With the consistency of ethical principles brought up by Novo Nordisk, the company would be able to move their trials into emerging economies with the best interest for stakeholders. I will also propose ideas to Mr, Dejgaard for possible approach to media as well as the practices that Novo Nordisk could have changed over time at the end. Conducting Clinical Trials in Emerging Economies With Utilitarian approach, every party has different perspectives in the outcome of an action. In this case, we have shareholders, employees, customers, supply chain, government and local communities, with secondary stakeholders of media, special interest groups and NGOs. For customers, government and local communities, they emphasize more on the proof of efficacy and safety of medical products. While shareholders, employees, supply chain care more of the profitability as a whole in general. As a result, Novo Nordisk will be better off maximizing its profits while holding their ethical justice for conducting clinical trials in emerging countries. Economic Aspect As the Nobel prize winner, Milton Friedman pointed out that making profit will be the first priority for business to fulfill social responsibility, Novo Nordisk has every right to maximize its best interest for its stakeholders include shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, governments and local communities. From financial performance stand point, conducting clinical trials in emerging economies benefits Novo Nordisk from saving costs, accessing to larger demographic participant, obeying less strict rules applied, and establishing efficacy in different environmental onditions. Ethical Aspect On the other hand, firms should consider the corporate social responsibility brought by the society. Firms definitely need to incorporate their highest moral standards to build trust and reputation for themselves in order to better off in long run. Novo Nordisk always follows the regulation from Helsinki Declaration with other international ethical guidelines. They made sure that the inte rest and well-being of the trial subject should always transcend over the interest of science, society and commerce. Decision Principles Even though I think conducting clinical trials in emerging economies is beneficial to the firm, Novo Nordisk should still follow below guidelines for this major decision to protect its own reputation and serve the best interest for every stakeholder: †¢ Execute clinical trials when the internal organization is well established and external environment is proper regulated in emerging countries. †¢ Conduct placebo clinical trials when they are scientifically and ethically justified. †¢ Ensure the human rights of the participants in emerging countries associated with the predictable risks Responses to The Media I understand that Mr. Dejaard holds a high ethical stands, and is not interested in misleading the public or ethical dissembling in the response. It is also important to clear up the actions Novo Nordisk has taken for the past years and give public a clear picture of how the firm is operating. If a journalist is inviting for an interview, Mr. Dejaard should present himself into the public and response to the inquiry people have, otherwise, absence will only show irresponsible image that he might try to escape from the issue. Medical Ethics I will suggest Mr. Dejaard to pull out historical data indicating that the random checks investigated from Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American and European authorities have never identified ethical problems in clinical trials in emerging economies. Second, assert the ethic codes from their company will help the publics to receive the image of Novo Nordisk has complied with the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association. Ethical Business Media might inquiry the fairness of conducting placebo experiment in emerging countries by Novo Nordisk based on the industry trends in recent time. Mr. Dejaard could response to them that Novo Nordisk usually stay away from placebo trials, and only used in phase 1 trials which only healthy volunteers participated. Also, Novo Nordisk framed new business ethics policy in 2005 with generally accepted high standards while training managers and employees attending workshops and offering e-learning policy. To better respond to the media, Mr. Dejaard could also indicate that Novo Nordisk will try to implement some new action plan that could benefit stakeholders as a whole in order to minimize ethical conflicts. I suggest the following action plan for Novo Nordisk to benefit them in long run. Action Plan Enhance Auditing System To build trust for the stakeholder for Novo Nordisk, I believe the firm should develop a more solid auditing system. Instead auditing 10% of all trials, Novo Nordisk should increase the rate up to 50% or more. From a public view, 10% of investigating in all trials is not sufficient enough to prove that the trials are ethical conducted. With the increasing number of trials being audited and investigated, the quality of the clinical trials could be better controlled. Build up Placebo Experiment Standard In the â€Å"Clinical Trials: Novo Nordisk’s Position,† it pointed out that placebo will only be used as comparator when scientifically and ethical justified. It is quite unclear for public to know what would be an appropriate placebo experiment for Novo Nordisk to conduct while proven therapy is available. It is important to insiders to identify whether or not conducting placebo experiment under certain circumstances will have any additional risk and irreversible harm.

Fox Hunting Should Be Banned Essay - 1504 Words

Fox hunting is one form of hunting. It is a pursuit of a wild fox with a pack of hounds, which are specially bred and trained for the sole purpose of fox hunting, and are followed by hunters who usually ride on horses. When the hounds pick up the scent of a fox, they will follow it until the fox evades them, goes to ground, or is overtaken and killed by the hounds. This form of hunting is exercised in several countries around the world, but this essay will concentrate on fox hunting in the United Kingdom. It has been practiced in Britain for around 300 years, with its popularity at its height in the late 19th century. The debate concerning fox hunting has heated up in the past few years. Those who support the hunt are driven by a†¦show more content†¦An opposing view is that the fox is not a serious threat to agriculture, and should not be considered as a vermin. According to the League Against Cruel Sports the foxes actually help farmers by eating small animals, such as rabbits, rats and voles, which are considered to be pests on arable land. In addition, foxes are territorial animals, which means that once a fox is killed another soon moves into its place from a surrounding area. Left to control their population naturally the number of foxes would be controlled by scarcity of food, whereas when used fox hunting for controlling the populations, it only serves to lessen the amount of the animals temporarily, for more foxes to take advantage of the increase in food thus breeding again. Furthermore, foxes do not cause significant loss or damage in livestock. For example the League Against Cruel Sports, an organization strongly against fox hunting, mentions a Y ork University study that states that only a minimal amount of 0.4% of lambs are killed by foxes, and of other livestock the percentage is extremely low as well. According to the study foxes are not a significant danger to livestock. Supporters of fox hunting present the opinion that foxes do not suffer from stress or pain as a result of the hunt. According to them, hunting with hounds allows the foxes to be killed immediately by one nip to the back of the fox’s neck, as the dogs are significantly larger than theShow MoreRelatedThe Debate on the Banning of Boxing Essay1070 Words   |  5 Pagesviews of the sport. Before any boxer participates in boxing, he or she knows the risks involved, whether or not they box is their choice, no one forced them they do it of thier own accord, it is a question of individual choice. We should also consider that boxing is a well paid source of employment for boxers and provides many other jobs as well. Secondly it has in resent years caused less deaths than show jumping, which is a non-contact sport. 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This activity disrupts natural animal population dynamics and has contributed to the extinction of animal species all over the world, including the Tasmanian tiger and the great auk.(1,2) Although less than 5 percent of the U.S. population hunts, hunting is permitted in many wildlife refuges, national forests, and state parks and on otherRead More Protecting the Great Barrier Reef Dugong Essay3750 Words   |  15 PagesPrecise population estimates improves as the survey intensity and survey area increases. The cost factor for aerial survey limits the survey intensity and the survey area. Without good knowledge of the population size, precautionary management measures should be taken to minimize the harvest of dugong populations by indigenous peoples (Dietz, 1992). LIFESPAN AND REPRODUCTION The average life span of the dugong is 73 years. They reach sexual maturity from age 9-10 though 17-years. (Stephen, 1973)