Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Definition of Bivalve

A bivalve is an animal that has two hinged shells, which are called valves. All bivalves are mollusks.  Examples of bivalves are clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops. Bivalves are found in both freshwater and marine environments.   Characteristics of Bivalves There are about 10,000 species of bivalves.Bivalves range in size from less than a millimeter to close to 5 feet (e.g., the giant clam). A bivalves shell is formed of calcium carbonate that is secreted from the bivalves  mantle, which is the soft wall of the animals body. The shell grows as the organism inside gets bigger. Not all bivalves have externally visible shells - some are small, some are not even visible. Shipworms are a bivalve that doesnt have a very visible shell - their shell is made up of two valves at the worms anterior (back) end. Bivalves have a foot, but not an obvious head. They also dont have a radula or jaws. Some bivalves move around (e.g., scallops), some burrow  into the sediment (e.g., clams)  or even rocks, and some attach to hard substrates (e.g, mussels). Smallest and Largest Bivalves The smallest bivalve is thought to be the saltwater clam  Condylonucula maya. This species has a shell that is less than a millimeter in size. The largest bivalve is the giant clam. The valves of the clam may be over 4 feet long, and the clam itself may weigh over 500 pounds.    Bivalve Classification Bivalves are found in the  Phylum Mollusca, Class Bivalvia. Where Are Bivalves Found? Marine bivalves are found around the world, from polar regions to tropical waters and from shallow tide pools to deep-sea hydrothermal vents.   Feeding - Them and You Many bivalves feed by filter feeding, in which they draw water over their gills, and tiny organisms collect in the organisms gill mucus. The also breathe by drawing fresh oxygen from the water as it passes over their gills. When you eat a shelled bivalve, youre eating the body or a muscle inside.  When youre eating a scallop, for example, youre eating the adductor muscle. The adductor muscle is a round, meaty muscle that the scallop uses to open and close its shell. Reproduction Some bivalves have separate sexes, some are hermaphroditic (have male and female sex organs). In most cases, reproduction is sexual with external fertilization. The embryos develop in the water column and go through a larval stage before eventually developing their shell.   Human Uses Bivalves are some of the most important seafood species. Oysters, scallops, mussels, and clams are popular selections at just about every seafood restaurant. According to NOAA, the commercial value of bivalve harvests in 2011 was over $1 billion, just in the U.S.   This harvest weighed over 153 million pounds.   Bivalves are organisms particularly vulnerable to climate change and ocean acidification. Increasing acidity in the ocean is affecting the ability for bivalves to effectively build their calcium carbonate shells.   Bivalve Used in a Sentence The blue mussel is a bivalve - it has two equally-sized, hinged shells that fit together and enclose the animals soft body. References and Further Information Geller, J. B. 2007. Bivalves.  In  Encyclopedia of Tidepools and Rocky Shores. University of California Press, p. 95-102.Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Condylonucula maya D.R. Moore, 1977. Accessed December 30, 2015.Lindberg, D.R. 2007. Molluscs, Overview.  In  Encyclopedia of Tidepools and Rocky Shores. University of California Press, p. 374-376.Martinez, Andrew J. 2003.  Marine Life of the North Atlantic. Aqua Quest Publications, Inc.: New York.NOAA, National Ocean Service. What Is a Bivalve Mollusk?  Accessed December 30, 2015.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Animal Experimentation Should Be Carried Out At All Essay

Tra Son Do Eng 1A Professor Haviland Date: 11/23/2016 Research paper first draft Animal Experimentation Humanity has a long history of experimentations on animals, especially in the medical and cosmetic field. â€Å"Each year, 26 million animals in the United States are used for animal testing† (United States Department of Agriculture). Many people argue that humanity would not be where it is today if people did not rely on animal testing. However, many other people believe that animal experimentation is not necessary and leads to the suffering and death of millions of animals. People on both sides debate whether animal testing should be carried out at all. Nevertheless, despite the belief that animal testing is beneficial, testing animals is actually immoral and should be abandoned. First, several people voice their opinions that animal experimentation is beneficial to humans. For a long time, scientists have used animals to test medical treatment to verify the toxicity of new medications or the safety of a product that will be used on people. They think that it is unethical and illegal to expose human patients to new medicines without being confident that they are likely to benefit and not be seriously harmed. According to Professor Bateson, president of the Zoological Society of London, the only alternative is to use the most suitable animal to study a particular disease or function. Scientists need to know how the human body works for the benefit of humankind; therefore, asShow MoreRelatedArgumentative Essay On Animal Testing859 Words   |  4 Pagesuse non-human test subjects by medical research institutions. Animals used for experimentation can provide extremely important information due to their physical and genetic similarities to humans. The tradeoff to furthering the field of medical science is that often times these experiments result in pain, suffering, and death of the test subjects. This raises serious ethical and moral questions about the use of animal experimentation. It is a matter of serious debate as to whether the use of livingRead MoreAnimal Testing Should Be Banned848 Words   |  4 Pages As a society we have failed to notice, it’s everywhere. The animal testing footprint. Aeroguard, Chapstick, Michael Kors, Palmolive and Dettol: these common household brands all have the dark footprints of animal experimentation embedded into it. Each year over 6.5 million animals are brutally tested, killed or harmed in Australia and New Zealand, for many brands across the nation. You may think that Animal Testing has nothing to do with you but the real truth is, it does. It’s unavoidable toRead MoreEssay about The Ethics and Limitations of Animal Research 1550 Words   |  7 Pages The moral status of animals is an issue of much debate in Science. According to The Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy nowadays, it would have been impossible for science and medicine to develop so without animal research (â€Å"The Use of Non-Human Animals in Research†, 2004). Nevertheless, do the human medical benefits really justify the animal suffering in animal research? If so, what should are the possible considerations and limitations related to the matter? It appears to be a challengeRead MoreThe Annual Yulin Dog Meat Eating Festival1018 Words   |  5 Pagespopular topic of discussion for Animal Rights Activists in the last few months. This festival consists of thousands of dogs ... be[ing] butchered, beaten to death, skinned alive and eaten, every June, a tradition that has happened for many years ( STOP THE YULIN, 2014). This petition on Change.org has raised over 4,355,743 signatures as of today, even though the festival for this year has already occu rred. This type of support is monumental, but what about the animals that are tested on in UnitedRead MoreEssay about Animal Testing Should Be Outlawed1110 Words   |  5 Pagesto Biology Online, animal experimentation is defined as the use of animals in experiments and development projects usually to determine toxicity, dosing and efficacy of test drugs before proceeding to human clinical trials. Animal experimentation has been going on since ancient Greece when Aristotle and Hippocrates first made their model of the human body based on what they had observed through animal dissection. Then, Romans used animals to do more psychological tests on animals like pigs, monkeysRead MoreArguments Against Animal Testing1157 Words   |  5 PagesWhat comes to mind when thinking about animal experimentation? Thoughts of innocent, lovable animals being stabbed with sharp needles? Well, that is not exactly the case, as animal experimentation plays a very important role in human health today . However, the idea of animals testing has become quite a controversial topic. Over the past few decades, there has been an extensive debate over the use of animals in medical and product testing. The majority of people seem to think that it is an unnecessaryRead MoreAnimals In Experimentation. This Essay Will Explore The1684 Words   |  7 Pages Animals in Experimentation This essay will explore the benefit of animals being used in biomedical research, the actions implemented to protect animal welfare as well as other viable options to minimize harm to animals. Science experiments using animals have created a foundation for advances in biomedical sciences. Animals used in medical sciences can be traced back to 384-322 BCE in Greek writings of Aristotle followed by Erasistratus, 304-358 BCE (Dey). Some of the most rudimentary knowledgeRead MoreThis Essay Will Explore The Benefit Of Animals Being Used1681 Words   |  7 Pagesbenefit of animals being used in biomedical research, the actions implemented to protect animal welfare as well as other viable options to minimize harm to animals. Science experiments using animals have created a foundation for advances in biomedical sciences. Animals used in medical sciences can be traced back to 384-322 BCE in Greek writings of Aristotle followed by Erasistratus, 304-358 BCE (Dey). Some of the most rudimentary knowledge known to man now was found through animal experimentation. SuchRead MoreIs Animal Testing Justified?3683 Words   |  15 PagesIntroduction Whether animal experimentation is justified or not has been undecided for many decades. Many years back, the debate was carried out by animal rights groups which were led by the Cambridge University to get rid of its plan for a primate research in 2004. Since this debate, many supporters have become more confident in speaking out what they believe and getting their points across to people. In this written report, I will be including both sides of the argument which enable me toRead MoreAnimal Experimentation And Biomedical Ethics Essay1738 Words   |  7 PagesAnimal activists and scientists experience ongoing conflict between animal experimentation and biomedical ethics. Animal testing is one of the oldest methods of experimentation. In the 1980s, the animal rights movement and the argument surrounding the ethics came under fire. As a result of this movement, the experimental procedures became public, giving more incentive to the activists and momentum to their cause. The ethics of animal experimentation come into question in everything from beauty products

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Why do we care so much Free Essays

Introduction. People generally search for positive feedback pertaining to the self, in order to maintain a positive self-image. People also generally do not seek external feedback that accurately reflects their self-image, but rather a fair looking glass that displays positive images of the self, which serve to protect their personal self-esteem. We will write a custom essay sample on Why do we care so much? or any similar topic only for you Order Now (Brehm, Cassin, Fein, 5th ed. 1998) Definition. Along these lines, Tesser’s self-evaluation maintenance model states that the performance of others in our social environments can affect our self-evaluations, (Taylor Brown, 1988). When a person we are close to performs well on a task, what will determine whether we will react positively or negatively to that behavior? Factors. There are three (3) influential factors that lead to having positive or negative thoughts on others successes when dealing with the self. They are crucial in understanding the idea of self-esteem maintenance. The factors are Performance, Closeness, and Importance. Performance is the most straight forward, and states that one will make decisions about their feelings towards others, based on how well that person performed on the same task that another has already completed. lecture 2/13/03) This is made by a measurement of some sort. In this case, Satoka got a higher grade then Steve and Sarah on the exam. This caused Steve to show feelings of jealousy towards Satoka, however Sarah, having gotten the same grade as Steve, was indifferent due to other factors. Closeness is a little trickier to deal with. It has to do with the relationship between the two people in question. If they are closely related, one would begin to hypothesize that they would be happy for each other’s successes. That is not what the data suggests. Steve, Satoka and Sarah, in the given problem, are all very close friends. The data suggests that this close bond will cause some tension and perhaps establish competition that could lead to envy and discomfort toward Satoka. (lecture 1/13/03) The last of the three factors is Importance. This is a crucial factor because, if the task in question is not that important to one’s self-concept or maintenance of high self esteem, then the individual simply won’t care enough to let it have any affect on him/herself. (lecture 1/13/03) Steve and Satoka in this example, are both aspiring psychology majors, which is the item that makes this factor so significant, and makes this exam score so important to their self concept. They have established some kind of subconscious competition. Knowing that Satoka has done better then him on the exam, could cause Steve to feel threatened. Satoka might now be a better candidate to be a psych. Major because of his superior performance on the exam. This exam however is not of crucial importance to Sarah’s concept of the self, because she is not in a field relating to psychology. Thus, she has an apposite reaction to the exam score, and Satoka, Processes. Based on the prior description of the factors, and how they relate to Steve and Sarah’s reaction in this situation, one can further infer processes to account for their reactions.. The first process is called comparison. The comparison process states that if another person who is close to you, on a task that is of importance to you, out performs you, you will show resentment, or feel badly. (lecture 1/13/03) The second process is Reflection. As it’s name suggests, this is when you reflect on someone else’s success, and you feel good about yourself, because they performed well. This is the process that Sarah is exemplifying. Recovery. There are three things that Steve can do, (one in relation with each of the factors) in order to relieve himself of this burden of negative feelings towards Satoka. (lecture 1/13/03) The first is that he can change his performance on the task, (do better on the exam) and that will lead to a better feeling when comparing with Satoka’s high score. Another thing he can do is change how close he is with Sataoka, meaning, he would distance himself in the friendship to help save positive self-esteem. Lastly, he could change the amount of emphasis or importance that he places on the exam. One solution would be to change majors. (lecture 1/13/03) Conclusion. The idea of self-concept maintenance is one that the average person deals with in a typical day during the course of his/her interaction with friends and strangers. If the population is all more aware of why we feel the way we do about certain things, it might be possible to prevent a lot of the negative hostility that is harbored for one another in certain situations, especially jealousy among friends. How to cite Why do we care so much?, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Data Analytics and Risk of Fraud †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Data Analytics and Risk of Fraud. Answer: Introduction: Audit of the entity may be defined as an independent examination of the books of accounts of an entity, whether profit making or not, small or big, government or private, prepared by the management. It is using accounting policies and procedures and making use of the estimates and judgements with the view to express and opinion on the financials, whether it is showing the correct view and has been prepared on an unbiased basis. This activity post the closing of the books gives a reasonable assurance to both the internal and external users of the financial statements, a certainty and confidence on the figures quoted. Auditors may use diverse procedures during the audit of an entity depending on the nature of the entity like for a manufacturing concern, emphasis would be on the production areas, sales, purchases of raw material, for a software entity, the emphasis would be on the manpower costs and subcontracting costs, etc. For this, they may use both the substantive and compliance au dit procedures, besides checking compliance with the regulatory and reporting norms prescribed by Accounting board and IFRS committee. Substantive audit procedures include the checking the recording of the incomes and expenses in the books with the respective evidences, invoices, bills, delivery challans, whether they are properly dated and signed and stamped, whether appropriate tax has been calculate and paid on it. Furthermore, it also includes within it ambit the verification of the assets and liabilities recorded in the statement of affairs. This includes checking the basis on which respective assets have been recorded, the basis on which the provision is accounted for, etc. This is mainly performed with the objective of determining and confirming that whatever has been recorded in the books materially exists and a false representation or the window dressing has not been done. In case any discrepancies are noted upfront, these are brought to the notice of the management and pro per justification is asked for. All the substantive audit procedures are done with the methods including inspection of books of accounts and calculations, observation of the records, external confirmation to be taken from the debtors, creditors, banks, etc., inquiry from the external parties, recalculation and reperformance of significant adjustments, etc. All these substantive procedures are mainly aimed at getting the comfortability on the five basic assertions i.e., completeness, rights, existence, valuation and existence of the assets and liabilities(DeZoort Harrison 2016). If the materiality of the errors is found to be more, the auditor has to increase the extent of the audit procedures and apply further checking through the use of analytical audit procedures which generally include analysis of key financial ratios, comparison of the actual from the expected and the budgeted figures, variance analysis, etc . Besides this, the auditor also takes note of the internal control existing in the organisation, if it is strongly built, then the risk would be low and hence the level of checking required would be less. Similarly, if the internal control processes and test of designs are adequately built in the organisation, then automatically the risks would be low and hence the level of checking would be low. All this helps the auditor to plan the audit and to determine the nature, extent and timing of the audit(Sonu, Ahn Choi 2017). In the case study, DIPL is a printing press, which is being subject to audit by Stewart and Kathy, the newly appointed auditors of the company. The company has undergone many changes with respect to the change in the accounting policies and internal IT system, which again was implemented without much testing and validation by the management, therefore the need to do the extended verification and checking arises so that they can give the reasonable assurance about the financials to its users. We have done the ratio analysis based on the information given for the last three financial years to check the status of liquidity, asset management, debt management and solvency, etc(Raiborn, Butler Martin 2016). Observations from Ratio Analysis: From the above analysis, it can be inferred that both the current and the liquid ratio are well below the industry trends of 2 1 respectively. However, it has somehow reached the figure of 1.5 in current ratio in the last financial year which was required to be maintained as per the loan terms for the loan taken from BDO Finance Ltd. The debt equity ratio here has increased almost thrice from 41% to 113%, which shows that the company iis now focusing on meetng its financing needs from the outside sources rather than own souces, However, in road to this, the ratio has exceeded the limit of maximum 1 as was asked to do by the loan financing company. Both the critical asset management ratios, i.e., the receivables cycle and the inventory turnover cycle have shown a drastic increase by approximately 50%, which shows that the company has lost control in maintaining its lag period and collections as a result of which these have increased. In profitability ratios, all the three ratios show that the companys profitability has remained more or less constant over the 3 years indicating there is no growth, i.e., stagnancy in the company. (Jones 2017). Risk identification and mitigation is an important part of nay audit. It is very important that auditor must verify all the records properly so that any kind of risk can be mitigated. It is important on part of the management to support the auditor in all these cases. Three types of risk are a part of the overall auditing process. The first type of risk is inherent risk. Inherent risk in cases where even if the management establishes control, it is not in its hand. This risk does not occur in the general day-to-day activities. These risks cannot be eliminated from the system, they can only be reduced. The second type of risk is the control risk, which occurs when the management has not installed that proper internal control measures, it occurs because of lack of proper management. The management can be held responsible for any kind of damage that might occur because of the same. The last major type of risk is the detection risk which happens when the management, accountant or the aud itors fails to identify the errors and flaws in the accounting books and system. The auditor can be held responsible for the same, and it occurs due to lack of professional scepticism on his part(Grenier 2017). The case study of DIPL has many risk factors, the major amongst which are two. First, the company is changing the routine transactions and methods that are used in the course of accounting. The company is adopting new methods without any proper research. It is highly possible that it will lead to misstatement in the books of account of the company. Here, the company has calculated the depreciation using 20 years useful life of the assets as compared to the industry where the useful life has been assumed to be 30 years. It is also changing the method of valuation of the inventories(Knechel Salterio 2016). All these might lead to over or undervaluation of the accounts and affect the overall functioning of the company. Thus, it is the duty of the company that proper disclosures are given in the books of account, the auditor must check the validity of the same and then make an opinion. It will help in reduction of the overall risk factor that might be involved. The major inherent risk t hat the company is suffering with is the installation of the new IT system without proper planning, testing and control. The company is undertaking the same, without conducting nay reconciliation or research. It might affect the overall productivity of the company. The books might be over or dune valued because of the same. It is thus important that before applying such changes, the management of the company must take expert opinion from outsiders, must judge the overall profitability of the system and then take a decision on the same. The auditor must verify the records properly so that any chances of material misstatement are reduced and the company is able to show the true view of its financials(DeZoort Harrison 2016). Fraud is generally entered into for the profitability puposes by any of the employee or management of the company in order to make the profist by window dressing the books of acounts. Often there are certain personal motives involved behind taking such actions. It is important that while conducting audit, the auditor must apply all kind of procedures so that fraud risk factor can be easily identified and mitigated by the company. This is the most important work of an auditor and it is very necessary that the management of the company provide full support to the auditor. In the given case study of DIPL, there are many fraud risk factor which indicates that there may be material misstatement. Some of them are identifiable and can be mitigated. The major one of them is non segregation of duties amongst the management. Single person handles all the major departments, if that person defalcates the accounts. It will be very difficult for the management to ascertain the same. In this case, we can see that a single personnel has been given all the responsibilities of invoicing, collection, verify the payment, manging all the ledger accounts and reconciliation of the accounts at the end of the period. Moreover the entire cash department which is one of the critical resouces is being handled by a single person in the organisation is there is no control over it. Thus, what is important that the company properly segregate the work, so that proper authority and responsibility can be established? The auditor must see to it that the boos of the company and checked weekly and surprise checks must be undertaken to judge the sincerity of the employees. If any of the employees is found guilty, he must be restricted form the work. Proper it security locks and control system moist be there so that any somewhat mis-happening can be easily avoided(Fay Negangard 2017). The second fraud risk factor might be present in the installation of the new It system; the management of the company installed the same without taking any precautions. The management may themselves be directly responsible for all this as there might be personal hidden motives behind all this such that no one is able to track the frauds, if any, amidst all this. It is thus important as an auditor to gets all the necessary information regarding the new system and reconcile the overall cost and profit. In such a case, it becomes immensely significant that nothing is undervalued or overvalued. The management must take expert opinion, pre installation cost and the management must properly segregate post installation result. It is not only the responsibility but the control mechanism which must be set and practiced by both the company as well as the auditors to have a surprise audit and continuous tracking of the major financials to avoid any fraud by the employees of the company. All thi s will lead to paving the way for quality audit and follow up procedures and clean books of accounts.(Bae 2017) References Bae, SH 2017, 'The Association Between Corporate Tax Avoidance And Audit Efforts: Evidence From Korea', Journal of Applied Business Research, vol 33, no. 1, pp. 153-172. DeZoort, FT Harrison, PD 2016, 'Understanding Auditors sense of Responsibility for detecting fraud within organization', Journal of Business Ethics, pp. 1-18. Fay, R Negangard, EM 2017, 'Manual journal entry testing : Data analytics and the risk of fraud', Journal of Accounting Education, vol 38, pp. 37-49. Grenier, J 2017, 'Encouraging Professional Skepticism in the Industry Specialization Era', Journal of Business Ethics, vol 142, no. 2, pp. 241-256. Jones, P 2017, Statistical Sampling and Risk Analysis in Auditing, Routledge, NY. Knechel, WB Salterio, SE 2016, Auditing:Assurance and Risk, 4th edn, Routledge, New York. Raiborn, C, Butler, JB Martin, K 2016, 'The internal audit function: A prerequisite for Good Governance', Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, vol 28, no. 2, pp. 10-21. Sonu, CH, Ahn, H Choi, A 2017, 'Audit fee pressure and audit risk: evidence from the financial crisis of 2008', Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting Economics , vol 24, no. 1-2, pp. 127-144.