Do Corporate Incentive Programs Pay Thesis Proposal

Do Corporate Incentive Programs Pay - Thesis Proposal Example According to a survey conducted by Incentive Federation in 2005, organizations implement incentive programs with aim to: boost morale; show concern for workers; generate leads; improve customer service; improve quality and productivity; foster teamwork (Incentive Performance Center, 2008). Of these, increase in workers’ productivity and efficiency is an important corollary of the corporate incentive programs. A Russell Index study on publicly held stocks of Fortune magazine’s list of â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work For† observed that since 1998, these companies have returned to the investors five times that they could have earned by a broader market index, such as the S&P 500 (Incentive Performance Center, 2008). This undoubtedly exemplifies the relationship between â€Å"best places to work for† and return on investment (ROI) viewed from the stand point of investors. But does the same relationship hold good for productivity and efficiency; more important ly in organisations that are outside the gambit of Fortune magazine’s list of 100 best companies to work for; though, the researcher personally believes it to be. Further, does â€Å"best-place-to-work-for† include corporate incentive? Therefore, it becomes necessary to empirically verify that corporate incentive programs invariably do have a strong positive correlation with workers’ productivity and overall organisational efficiency.... This undoubtedly exemplifies the relationship between â€Å"best places to work for† and return on investment (ROI) viewed from the stand point of investors. But does the same relationship hold good for productivity and efficiency; more importantly in organisations that are outside the gambit of Fortune magazine’s list of 100 best companies to work for; though, the researcher personally believes it to be. Further, does â€Å"best-place-to-work-for† include corporate incentive? Therefore, it becomes necessary to empirically verify that corporate incentive programs invariably do have a strong positive correlation with workers’ productivity and overall organisational efficiency. In other words, do corporate incentive programs work well in enhancing workers’ productivity and organizational efficiency? It also becomes necessary to understand about the elements that are contained in the recipe of â€Å"best-place-to-work-for† and their interrelatio nships; and how they are correlated? Literature Review In pursuit of this research question, it is intended that a thorough understanding of the current conditions in the field of study is made so that besides being familiar with the studies undertaken so far and current thinking on relevant issues, the researcher is also aware of the general problems and opportunities existing in this field of research. Nonetheless, the necessity of identifying the key gears of this study and developing sufficient insight on how they work cannot be overestimated. The researcher identified a three-component assembly for this research: (1) corporate incentives, (2) workers’ productivity, and (3) organisational

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Reflection - Essay Example According to Fairman (2012), well trained nurses are the need of an hour for the industry to play its due role in the betterment of the society, because world population is increasing. On the other side, death rate is decreasing; so, when we take this into account, the net impact is growing number of patients in the medical facilities. The humanity requires well equipped medical staff to meet the future healthcare needs; I am looking forward to become an asset to my field, by training in the best way for the future. I need to become a highly competent medical professional, who could help people in healing. In the process of patient recovery, medication alone is not sufficient; I should also be able to demonstrate compassion towards those who are suffering. In this way, patients will realize that they are important and their will to live will increase significantly, however, this compassion will have to be kept within the limits of professionalism. In the future of nursing, my ability to lead, will be the most crucial attribute in my career (Fights, 2012), because at that time, technology will eliminate unnecessary jobs. As a result, every individual will be placed strategically in various departments of the hospital; so, everyone will enjoy certain degree of job autonomy, but in parallel responsibility will also mount significantly. English nursing association launched a training program for their nurses, to foster skills that are needed in the future. This particular program includes training of leadership in a practical scenario, multitasking and modern life saving techniques and medication (Brearley, 2012). This program also focuses on giving medical staff higher degree of job autonomy, which cannot be done, without decentralization of the authority within healthcare organizations. However, the role of nursing staff is going to be extremely significant in the coming days, because doctors will

ARTEMIS DESIGNER JEWELLERY AND GIFTS ASPIRATION TO BE FULLY ONLINE Essay

ARTEMIS DESIGNER JEWELLERY AND GIFTS ASPIRATION TO BE FULLY ONLINE - Essay Example The business is family-owned and it is run by a mother and daughter team named Catherine Amesbury and Carrie Mullan. Artemis has a supply of various collections of gifts and jewellery for various occasions. Products available in the shop range from fashion handbags to hand crafted pottery to decorative lights to small token gifts to decorations and stylized soaps. Other supplies available in the business are silver jewellery, which customers choose and can customize to meet their taste. Also known as, the home of Catherine Amesbury Contemporary Jewellery, the business is a mixed model of both the traditional form of business and e-commerce. This means that the customer can either visit the shop physically or access the services of the business online. The customer can browse, request for modifications and buy products through an internet-enabled system on their website or visit their physical store and ask for the same services. Advantages of E-commerce over Traditional Business An E -commerce form of business can offer numerous advantages both to a business and to its customers1. The first advantage is that the costs involved in opening and running a fully online business are lower than the costs involved in starting and managing a traditional business. ... According to Goel (2012), one can sell his/her products at any time of the day with a single click of the mouse. As a result, more customers are likely to visit the website and make their purchases at the convenience of their time without having time constraint2. The other advantage of an online business over a traditional business is that the enterprise will command a larger market share because of being able to have a worldwide market. As Goel (2012) asserts, because of the internet, a business will have global visibility, which makes it network with other businesses and consumers of their products. This will increase its market share, in addition to augmented economies of scale3. A larger market share will mean more sales hence more profits to a business compared to the ones realized in a traditional business set up. According to Botha, Bothma, and Geldenhuys (2004), an online business is not limited by geographic barriers, which characterize brick and mortar businesses. Customers from any part of the world can access the products that a business has unlike in traditional businesses where only the customers at a given geographical zone can access it. Therefore, customers from all over the world will be able to see the company’s products increasing the customer base of the business. This will increase the overall sales made by the enterprise leading to larger profits. All that a customer needs to do is to search for companies that have a given product, and with proper use of Search Engine Optimization, the business will have many visitors adding unto the list of potential buyers from across the globe4. The cost and time used to process orders is significantly reduced with e-commerce because manual

Television and Childhood Obesity Essay Example for Free

Television and Childhood Obesity Essay Childhood obesity has become a national dilemma. Recent studies have shown several causes for this public health epidemic. The evidence between childhood obesity and children’s excessive amount of time in front of the television has done nothing but increase each year. How long do children watch television each day. Does the media target children television? What are the health risks involved with childhood obesity? Childhood obesity continues to increase dramatically as the young viewers are victimized by television. Television Associated With Childhood Obesity During a recent study at UCLA School of Public Health, Sarah Anderson stated â€Å"The association between television viewing and childhood obesity is directly related to children’s exposure to commercials that advertise unhealthy foods. † (Anderson. S 2010) Researchers Frederick J. Zimmerman and Janice F. Bell conducted a study that involved 3,563 children, ages ranged from infants to 12-year-olds. Primary caregivers reported children’s activities and television viewing during the week. Studies had shown that commercial viewing had a significant affect with a higher BMI. According to Zimmerman and Bell, â€Å"steering children away from commercial television may be effective in reducing childhood obesity, given that food is the most commonly advertised product on children’s television and the fact that almost 90 percent of children begin watching television regularly before the age of 2† (Zimmerman, F. and Bell, J. 1997). Nevertheless, researchers have indeed discovered the link between television and childhood obesity as it continues to rise. Since 1980 the percentage of child obesity has more than tripled in the United States. Identifying childhood obesity can be done in various ways. One warning sign is acanthosis nigricans, a skin condition in which the darkening or thickening of the skin folds that can appear on the back of the neck, armpit or groin area. Acanthosis nigricans happens to children of all races. This skin condition is caused by insulin resistance in the body. In addition to visually identifying obesity in children, Pediatricians are measuring the BMI (body mass index) in children of all ges. A Pilot Program to identify obesity in children was performed by Ramona M. Kwapiszewski, DO, and Alex Lee Wallace. During the process Kwapiszewski stated â€Å"Our first challenge was to define obesity. We chose to use the BMI because it has been recognized by the National Institute of Health as a reasonable and accurate tool for detecting obesity in children younger than 18 years. † Kwapiszewski also proceeded to define the BMI as â€Å"the BMI represents the ratio of weight to height squared, and the definition of obesity in children varies based on age and gender. Generally speaking, the television itself does not cause obesity in children; it is how television viewing affects your child. According to the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) children who view more than four hours of television each day are likelier to be overweight. Children who view violence on television tend to be more aggressive and at the same time the child fears the outside world. Characters on television also portray smoking, drinking, risky behaviors, and racial stereotypes as cool. Most of all, too much screen time perpetuates obesity in children as physical activities decrease. Associations of Television Content type and Child Obesity Research has proven that different content types have different affects on obesity. â€Å"Television might lead to obesity through 3 primary pathways: by displacing time that would otherwise be spent in physical activity; by promoting eating while viewing which may foster both lower quality and higher quantity food intake; and by exposing children to food advertising, which adversely affects their diets† stated by Zimmerman PhD, F and Bell PhD, MN, MPH, J.  Studies have shown that as the number of hours children view television increases, so does their body fat. Evidence shows Amy B. Jordan, PhD during one of her investigations â€Å"the causal relationship comes from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which have linked reduction of television and other screen media use to decreased BMI, waist circumference, and triceps skin fold thickness in elementary school-age children. † Jordan PhD, A. On the contrary, the media has found a way to target children. During children programming more 30 second advertisements are viewed. None of which have nutritional value. In 2007 the Kaiser Family Foundation performed a study and found that several of ads kids see 34% for candy and snacks, 28% for cereal, 10% for fast food, 4% for dairy products, and 1% for fruit juices. The number of food ads children view each year is phenomenal. Children from ages 2-7 view more than 4,000 food ads per year. Children between the ages of 8-12 see more than 7,000 food ads per year. Nevertheless, more than 95% of the food ads were high in fat, sugar and sodium. Most of all, the media has found a way to target young viewers. Childhood obesity has a variety of health risks. An article from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) included several consequences of childhood obesity. The CDC stated â€Å"Obese children are more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In one study, 70% of obese children had at least one CVD risk factor, and 39% had two or more. Increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. Breathing problems, such as sleep apnea, and asthma. Joint problems, and musculoskeletal discomfort. Fatty liver disease, gallstones, and gastro-esophageal reflux (i. e. , heartburn). Obese children and adolescents have a greater risk of social and psychological problems, such as discrimination and poor self-esteem, which can continue into adulthood. † (CDC 2011) In this situation, it is important to increase activity and provide children with a well balanced diet. Strategies for Combating Childhood Obesity No doubt it is extremely important to combat childhood obesity. It is equally important to do so in a positive manner. Recently Amy B. Jordan PhD discovered an article written by an expert panel on children, television viewing, and weight. These are the five most promising strategies they believe will combat the negative effects of media use on children’s weight. â€Å"They are: 1. Eliminate TV from children’s bedrooms. Eliminating bedroom media use may reduce overall screen time and may help to limit nighttime media use that may interfere with children’s healthy sleep. 2. Encourage mindful viewing by monitoring screen media, budgeting TV time, and fostering media literacy. The committee encourages parents to collaborate with children on establishing appropriate amounts of screen media use and sharing and discussing the content to which children are exposed. 3. Turn off the TV while eating. Disconnecting food from TV viewing may increase awareness of food consumption, while also increasing family communication, and decreasing total TV watching time. 4. Use school-based curricula to reduce children’s screen time. The panel noted that schools are an excellent forum for efficiently and effectively reaching a large number of youth with a focused curriculum. 5. Provide training for health care professionals to counsel on reducing children’s media use. The panel recommends training and support for pediatricians and others on issues related to reducing children’s use of media. † In addition to implementing those five steps, it is also important to encourage healthy eating habits. To do so, start off by cutting down on fatty foods and start eating foods low in fat or fat free. Also, cut down on sugar and sodium intake and be sure to provide your child with a well balanced diet that includes fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein, and grains. Teaching children healthy eating habits when they are young will teach them a healthy eating style when they are adults. Conclusion The association between television and childhood obesity is directly related to the amount of television a child watches, television content type, inactivity, and unhealthy eating habits. Monitoring the amount of television a child watches and encouraging healthy eating habits along with plenty of exercise will help in maintaining a healthy weight. Help decrease the number in childhood obesity and do not let children be victimized by television.

Study on Nutritional Status of School Children

Study on Nutritional Status of School Children A STUDY ON NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN RURAL, SEMI URBAN AND URBAN AREAS OF CHENNAI. INTRODUCTION: The health and nutritional status of children is an index of national investment in the development of its future manpower. According to World Health Organization, protein energy malnutrition refers to â€Å"imbalance between the supply of protein and energy and the body’s demand for them to ensure optimal growth and function. This imbalance includes both inadequate and excessive energy intake; the former leading to malnutrition in the form of wasting, stunting and underweight, and the latter resulting in overweight and obesity†. The consequences of child malnutrition are enormous and are intertwined with the development of society. Malnutrition affects the child’s physical and cognitive growth and increases the susceptibility to infections and severity of diseases while having adverse implications on income and economic growth indirectly. According to UNICEF data, 90% of developing world’s undernourished live in Asia and Africa while 40% of the world’s malnourished live in India. The 2013 Global Hunger Index Report ranked India 16th, which represents the serious hunger situation. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data indicates that 43% of children under 5 years of age are underweight and 2% of them are overweight. In India, we face a double jeopardy of malnutrition i.e., children from urban areas are affected with problems of over-nutrition while those from rural area suffer from effects of under-nutrition. The long term consequences of malnutrition on a child-turned-adult are issues of deep concern. Under-nutrition impairs the child’s immune system and weakens the defenses against other diseases. Whereas over-nutrition contributes to childhood obesity and leads to the early onset of hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, coronary heart diseases, orthopedic disorder and other respiratory diseases. School age is the active phase of childhood growth. Poor nutritional status in children leads to high absenteeism and early school dropouts thereby affecting the literacy rate of the country apart from affecting health status of the children. On the other hand, increasing lifestyle changes in urban areas has led to the emergence of over-nutrition and childhood obesity. To evaluate this changing trend and to determine the burden of malnutrition, we attempted to do a cross sectional study to assess the nutritional status of school children (11-14years old). OBJECTIVES: To determine the nutritional status of children based on their BMI and waist hip ratio and its relation to various factors like gender, area of residence and socio-economic status. METHODOLOGY: After being approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee of Stanley Medical College, a cross sectional descriptive study was carried out in the year 2011 over a period of 3 months from June to September involving 300 children in the age group of 11 to 14 years. Three schools were selected one each in rural area, semi urban area urban area. 100 children from each school were selected as subjects for the study. Data regarding the subjects’ socioeconomic background, religion, dwelling place, three day diet recall and type and duration of physical activities per day. Also their anthropometric measurements including height, weight, circumference of waist and hip were recorded. We have recorded body weight to the nearest 0.1 kg using a standard balance scale with subjects barefoot. Height of the children from the floor to the highest point on the head was recorded when the subject was facing directly ahead, barefoot, feet together, arms by the sides. Heels, buttocks and upper bac k were made to be in contact with the wall when the measurement was made. The height was recorded and rounded off to the nearest 1 cm. BMI (weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres) of the children were calculated. The waist circumference was measured at the level of umbilicus. The hip circumference was measured at the widest part of the buttocks. Waist hip ratios were calculated. Data was analyzed at the end of 3 months. RESULTS: Based on the statistical analysis done at the end of the data collection, the following results were obtained. Out of the 300 students assessed in the study, 55% of them were boys and 45% were girls; 39.67% belonged to age 11, 14.67% belonged to age 12, 19.33% belonged to age 13 and 26.33% belonged to age 14. Based on socio-economic status, 1.67% belonged to class 1, 17% belonged to class 2, 38% belonged to class 3, 42.67% belonged to class 4 and 0.67% belonged to class 5. On assessing the 300 children for BMI, 67.33% were found to be underweight, of which 29.67% were from rural areas; 6% were found to be overweight or obese, of which 4.67% were from urban areas. The percentage of under-weight children was 65% in semi urban area and 48% in urban area in contrast to 89% in rural area. TABLE 1. Relation between BMI, Waist Hip Ratio and Area of residence Of the 100 children assessed in rural area, only one was found to be overweight and no one was obese. Among the 100 children assessed in the semi urban area, 3 were overweight. Whereas in urban area, 7 children of the 100 were overweight and another 7 were found to be obese. Thus, in urban area, almost 14% of the children were either obese or overweight. This percentage is significantly higher than the 1% and 3% found in rural and semi urban areas. The percentage of the children who were categorized as normal according to their BMI was only 10% in rural but 32% and 38% in semi-urban and urban areas respectively (Figure 1). Figure 1. According to the data obtained, waist hip ratio of the children was also calculated. It is found that 20% of children in rural area and 32% of children in urban area fall under high-risk category of waist hip ratio. Waist Hip ratio more than 1 in boys and 0.85 in girls indicates an increased risk of metabolic complications. Though the frequency of high risk W:H ratio is higher among children from urban areas than that of rural areas, the difference was not statistically significant. The prevalence of underweight was 69.09% among boys and 65.19% among girls. This difference is not statistically significant indicating that there is no evidence of gender inequality in this study (Table 2). TABLE 2. Relation of gender and socio-economic status over BMI Socio-economic status of each child was assessed based on modified Kuppusamy’s scale. The prevalence of underweight children was 84.62% among socio-economic status class 45 and only 54.12% among socio-economic status class 1,2 3. It is evident that there is a significant statistical difference in the prevalence of underweight children in Class 45 as compared to Class 1, 2 3 ( Table 2). Figure 3. The children were also asked about their choice of games and sports. And it was found that nearly 45% of the boys and girls in rural area were involved in games requiring severe physical activity. The mean playtime of children from rural area was 1.6 hours/day. In semi-urban area, only 25% of the boys and girls were involved in games requiring severe physical activity whereas the percentage was only around 15% in urban area. The mean playtime of children from semi-urban and urban areas were 1.6 hours/day and 1.1 hours/day respectively. The three day diet history obtained from the children was analyzed and the average amount of calorie intake per day was calculated for all. The mean calorie consumption of the children, irrespective of their area of residence, was 1333 kcal. The mean calorie intake of children in rural area was found to be 991.7 kcal. The calorie consumption was found to be lesser when compared to the mean calorie intake in semi urban and rural areas, which were 1461.7 kcal and 1545.7 kcal respectively (Figure 4). It was also found that the irregularity in taking meals was the greatest among the children in urban area. Figure 4. DISCUSSION: A healthy child becomes a healthy adult. Of the various factors which determine the health of the child, nutrition plays the most vital role. Low body weight is unhealthy and harmful in the way it has dire consequences on both physical and psychological well-being of a child. Decreased level of thinking, impaired concentration, irritable mood and heightened obsessiveness, while contributing to the psychological effects of malnutrition, undermines the academic performance of a child and leads to the development of a socially withdrawn child. On the other hand, malnutrition has a profound impact on immune system by weakening the defenses and aggravating the effects of infections. Infections contribute to malnutrition by a variety of mechanisms including anorexia and impaired absorption of nutrients. This shows that enteric infection begets malnutrition and malnutrition begets more infections. According to World Bank statistics, Child malnutrition is responsible for 22 percent of India’s burden of disease and contributes to an estimated adult productivity loss of 1.4% of gross domestic product (GDP). It has been estimated to play a role in about half of all child deaths and more than half of child deaths from major diseases, such as malaria, diarrhea, measles and pneumonia. Recent trends in India suggest that there has been a dramatic fall of severe underweight prevalence in urban areas (by 26%) compared to rural areas though the decline in underweight prevalence was considered inadequate according to UNICEF. Our cross-sectional study shows that boys are more likely to be stunted and underweight than girls though there was no significant gender inequality because of limited sample size. Our study determined the point prevalence of underweight children in relation to various factors like gender, age, area of residence and socio economic status while data from various studies indicated that decline in the prevalence of under-nutrition was lesser in girls compared to boys and lesser in scheduled caste scheduled tribe as compared to other castes. Children with normal BMI constitute only 10% in rural areas while 38% of them had normal BMI in urban area. The collected data signify that under-nutrition is the burning problem in rural areas whereas urban areas suffer from the double jeopardy of malnutrition. It showed that mean height and weight of boys and girls was lower than the CDC 2000 standards in all age groups. The prevalence of underweight and stunting was highest among the age group of 11 to 13 years whereas wasting was more prevalent in the age group of 5 to 7 years. In this study, under-nutrition was found to be significantly more prevalent in girls than in boys. Data from our study says that probability of a child being undernourished is higher in rural area than in urban area. A study found that the prevalence of stunting was observed to be 52.3% and severe stunting was 25.1%. The determinants of this study included father’s occupation and income rather than the educational and occupational status of mother in the patriarchal society. In a multivariate study done in Brazil, stunting was found to be significantly associated with low economic income, inadequate protein intake and polyparasitism, especially Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichura. Evidences suggest that cell mediated immunity is depressed in malnutrition thereby increasing the duration and severity of infections with increasing degrees of malnutrition. The most common infection related deaths due to malnutrition were diarrhea and acute respiratory infections. Infant feeding practices and mother’s education status form the major determinants of Protein Energy Malnutrition. Better feeding practices were found to reduce the prevalence of stunting by 30%. Exclusive breastfeeding and partial breastfeeding were found to be more protective when compared to no breastfeeding. The median relative risk of death from diarrhea fell from 25 in no breastfeeding to 8.6 in exclusive or partial breastfeeding highlighting the paramount importance of breastfe eding in the prevention of malnutrition. Hence, it is necessary to cut down the causal factors of malnutrition before the child attains the age of 3 years. Better feeding practices, health awareness, sanitation, sustained availability of nutritious foods for all sections of people and enhanced access to healthcare services are essential steps to attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Failure to invest in combating nutrition can have adverse impacts on potential economic growth. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, launched on 2nd October 1975, is India’s unique programme to improve the nutritional status of children by providing supplementary nutrition, pre-school education, immunization and health education for pregnant and nursing mothers. Though ICDS is successful in many ways, decline in undernutrition in India is slower when compared with other developing countries because ICDS Scheme’s mainly focusses on food supplementation rather than health education and children aged 3-6 yea rs rather than younger children (0-3 years). Our study reiterates the trends of malnutrition in relation to various factors and also highlights the need for differential approach in urban and rural areas to combat malnutrition. CONCLUSION: This cross-sectional study was undertaken to study the nutritional status of children aged 11-14 years and its relation to various factors like gender, area of residence and socio-economic status. This study also attempted to collect data on the amount of calories consumed per day, frequency and regularity of taking meals and level of physical activity in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. According to our study, 67.33% were underweight and 6% were overweight or obese. The prevalence of under-weight was found to be significantly higher in rural area(89%) than in urban area(48%) while urban area takes the upper hand in the prevalence of over-weight children. Our study also estimated that a child from rural area consumes an average of 991.7 kcal while calorie consumption of a child from urban area is much higher, averaging to 1545.7 kcal. Children belonging to socio-economic status Class 45, according to modified Kuppusamy’s scale, were more deprived of nutrients than the children of upper and middle class. Nutritional status was also found to be slightly poorer in boys than that of girls. The data collected also indicated that the mean calorie consumption of children in rural area was 991.7 kcal when compared to 1461.7 kcal in semi-urban and 1565.7 in urban area. However, the mean playtime of children in urban area was 1.1 hours/day with most of the children opting to play video games in their playtime whereas the mean playtime of a child was 1.6 hours/day in rural area. This data highlights a relative increase in calorie consumption in urban area with increase in sedentary lifestyle thereby setting a stage for the development of childhood obesity. Hence, we conclude our study re-emphasizing the various determinants of malnutrition and highlighting the changing trend in the nutritional status of children in urban, semi-urban and rural area.

The Holy Bible :: essays research papers

Our Children Children are the offspring born to a husband and wife in marriage relationship. To the Hebrews, children were considered gifts from God, and to be childless was considered a reproach; 'And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men'; (Luke 1:25). Jesus clearly expressed his love and respect for the children; 'And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me'; (Mark 9:36-37). How far have we strayed from the will of God? How many of us can would give anything close to the above definition if asked to define children. The culture is all around us but it should not be all in us. If our children were gifts from God in which we are to have an expressed love and respect, how would we raise our gifts? How many gifts would we ask of the Lord? Would we Plan our lives with as few gifts as possible so that we could spend more time building careers and acquiring worldly gain? Would we say when confronted with the culture's attitude on rejecting God's gifts, I would not reject God's gift but it is a personal choice? Who of us would say to those receiving a gift from God, I would cherish the gift from God but for I respect the rights of others? When the rights of other fly in the face of what God has said we must stand on the word of God and if need be take up our cross. Standing for righteousness will put us at odds with the culture. Being lights of Holiness in the darkness of this culture is exactly what Jesus was revealing when He spoke to the disciples; 'And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me'; (Luke 9:23).

The Hill Reaction and Light Wattage

Wabash College| The Effects of Light Wattage on the Rate of the Hill Reaction| | | Mark Stoops| 11/29/2012| | Introduction: In the Hill Reaction lab we will be measuring the rate of photosynthesis in light dependent reactions. The goal is to measure the change of absorbance of 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCIP) and examine the rate of the photosynthetic reactions using this data. The Hill Reaction can be used to study photosynthesis because we can directly measure the rate of the reaction of photosynthesis using DCIP.The Hill Reaction is defined as the photo reduction of an electron acceptor by the hydrogen ions from water, which then produce oxygen. In naturally occurring reactions NADP+ is the final electron acceptor. In the Hill Reaction we will be using 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCIP) as an electron acceptor instead of NADP+. DCIP is blue in its oxidized state and is colorless in its reduced form. This change in color can be utilized. As the photosynthetic reaction proceeds the DCIP will become increasing transparent. This reduction in blue color leads to change in absorbance and can be measured by the spectrophotometer in lab.Using the Hill Reaction, we hypothesized that the amount of light,(change in wattage) affects the rate of change of absorbance of DCIP in solution. In order to test our hypothesis we set up the experiment with three different strengths of light (15W, 60W, 120W), as well as a light free, negative control. Each run was conducted for ten minutes under similar conditions with a difference in wattage being the only variable. The negative control was conducted with no light to see how the reaction would proceed with no external influences. Having a control allows us to have a baseline of comparison for our three lighted runs.Due to the fact that light dependent reactions use light, we can predict that an increase in the amount of light will increase the rate of reaction of photosynthesis, thus lowering the absorbance. We can also predi ct that our control will have no change in absorption after a ten minute period without light. Method: To begin the Hill Reaction we first isolated the chloroplasts. This was done by placing the pieces of leaves into a mortar with 15ml of ice cold NaCl-buffer. The mixture was then ground for two minutes. After grinding the leaves we filtered the solution through 8 layers of cheesecloth.The juice was rung out and the solution put into a 15ml centrifuge tube. The solution was than centrifuged for one minute at 400xg. Then we decanted the supernatant into another clean, chilled centrifuge tube and spun it at 1000xg for 5 minutes. After the centrifuge process, we decanted the supernatant and suspended the pellet in 7ml of ice cold Nacl. This solution was kept on ice the entire time of experiment. To begin our runs we made a warm water bath for our solutions, then prepared the solutions shown in Figure 1 below. | NaCl buffer| DCIP| DI H2O| Chloroplats (on ice)| Blank| 3. 5 ml| -| 1. 0ml| 0. 5 ml|Control | 3. 5 ml| 0. 5ml| 0. 5ml| 0. 5 ml| Reaction 15W| 3. 5 ml| 0. 5ml| 0. 5ml| 0. 5 ml| Reaction 60W| 3. 5 ml| 0. 5ml| 0. 5ml| 0. 5 ml| Reaction 120W| 3. 5 ml| 0. 5ml| 0. 5ml| 0. 5 ml| Figure 1. Experimental solutions to be prepared in lab. The blank solution was used to zero our spectrophotometer. To zero our spectrophotometer, we used the instructions provided at the spectrophotometer. To prepare the control, we added all solutions shown above and then wrapped it in two layers of aluminum foil to completely block any sources of light. After 10 minutes the control absorbance was tested to provide a negative control.We prepared the 15W, 60W, and 120W reaction tubes immediately before each respective run to avoid light pollution. The procedure we used to test each solution was to prepare the tube and place it 25cm from the source of light. Then, turn on the light and leave it on for a minute. Then at the minute mark the light was turned off and the clock stopped. The tub e was placed in the spectrophotometer and a reading was taken. Then the tube was returned to the water bath, the light turned on, and the clock started. We followed this procedure for ten times for a total of 10 minutes for each solution.The only difference between runs was the changing of bulb wattage. Results: How does the amount of light affect the rate of reaction of photosynthesis and therefore absorbance of the DCIP solution? The data shown in Figure 2 is the results of three reaction runs and a negative control run. The time in minutes is shown on the left and the percent absorbance of the 15W, 60W, 120W, and negative control run are provided in the subsequent columns. Time (minutes)| 15W %A| 60W %A| 120W %A| Negative control| 0| 1. 1| 0. 99| 0. 89| | 1| 1. 09| 0. 945| 0. 716| | 2| 1. 08| 0. 9| 0. 55| | 3| 1. 8| 0. 815| 0. 422| | 4| 1. 07| 0. 772| 0. 322| | 5| 1. 06| 0. 702| 0. 237| | 6| 1. 07| 0. 638| 0. 176| | 7| 1. 055| 0. 578| 0. 125| | 8| 1. 05| 0. 53| 0. 088| | 9| 1. 03 5| 0. 464| 0. 064| | 10| 1. 025| 0. 408| 0. 032| 1. 11| Figure 2. Data values for absorbance of DCIP solutions on a one minute basis. Also shown is the negative control with absorbance taken at 10 minutes. Figure 3 shows us a visual of the data in Figure 2. Figure 3. Time in minutes versus % absorbance of 15W, 60W, 120W, and negative control runs. Figure 4. The effect of bulb wattage on rate of absorbance. Discussion:Our results for our data runs show a common theme which is, the amount of light does have an effect on the rate of photosynthetic reaction. We can see by looking at the data in Figure 2 and depicted in Figure 3 that the amount of light has a direct influence on the rate of absorbance. The 15W run has a very small decline ending with a change in absorbance of only 7. 5%. The 60W bulb shows a change in absorbance of 58. 2%, and the 120W shows a change of 85. 8%, with a final absorption of almost 0. As shown in Figure 4, the rates of change of the 15W, 60W, and 120W runs a re 0. 75%, 5. 8%, and 13. 06 % absorbance/minute respectively.These results show that the higher the wattage, the faster DCIP turns clear, and the faster photosynthesis proceeds. Although the total change and rate of change of the 120W bulb are greatest, the reaction slows down towards the end of the run, as shown in Figure 3. This slowing of the reaction means that the amount of DCIP in its reduced state is very high, and can no longer accept electrons. This corresponds to Figure 3 because the absorbance is 3. 2% at the end. Which show a very low level of DCIP in the oxidized state. If the DCIP is no longer oxidized it can’t accept electrons which is a vital step in the light dependent reaction.Therefore we expect to observe a slowing of the reaction, and this is seen in Figure 3. The positive and negative controls give us a reference to compare our results to. In our case the 60W run is our positive control and is used in our data runs as a part of our data. It shows a line ar decline in absorbance providing a solid point of reference for a normally functioning system. The negative control provides a reference to a non-functioning Hill Reaction. The negative control shows a system without light and shows that the system will not react without sunlight. It also provides a base for 100% absorbance for each run.In conclusion our data does support our hypothesis and our prediction. As shown in the results, a change in the amount of light will produce a change in rate of the photosynthetic reaction. We predicted that a higher wattage will increase the rate. This was indeed shown in figure 2, with the 120W bulb showing the highest rate of reaction, and the 15W bulb with the slowest rate of synthetic reaction. Also we predicted that the negative control would show no reaction without light. This was supported as shown in Figure 2 with no change in absorption over the 10 min period.To test if the slowing of the reaction is due to a shortage of oxidized DCIP in solution, and not from high wattage, I would run each experiment again for a longer period of time. By doing this it would allow each run to reach a lower absorption. At this low absorption we would expect the rate to slow down due to the lack of oxidized DCIP. If this were true, each wattage would show the same slowing effect at low absorption. If the slowing of the reaction is not observed, the change would be due to a different reason such as a high wattage reducing DCIP’s functionality over time. References: Biology 111 Lab Manual. 2012