Jellyfish Venom :: Jellyfish Marine Life Essays

Jellyfish Venom Almost anyone who has ever spent time near or in an ocean has been warned about being stung by jellyfish. Jellyfish have been ascribed a reputation as dangerous, often lethal animals. The exact actions of jellyfish toxins are not well understood, and the true danger presented by jellyfish is often exaggerated. This paper will attempt to answer several questions about jellyfish and venom. It will discuss what toxins make up jellyfish venom and the method in which these toxins are delivered. The effects of jellyfish venom on the human body will be discussed, including the possible action of these toxins at a cellular level. Finally, first aid and treatments for jellyfish envenomations will be described. Background The marine creatures commonly known as jellyfish are members of the phylum Cnidaria. Of the four classes of cnidarians, jellyfish come from both the Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa classes. Most jellyfish are schphozoids, while the Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia physalis) is a hydroid. As cnidarians, jellyfish possess two tissue types: endoderm and ectoderm, in addition to a single cell layer of jelly-like mesoglea between the endoderm and the ectoderm (Russell 21). Jellyfish exhibit radial symmetry and have tentacles with stinging cells known as cnidocytes. They range in size from a few millimeters up to a bell size of two meters across, with tentacles up to thirty-six meters long. Typically less than five percent of a jellyfish’s body is "solid organic material" (Halstead, Poisonous 96-97). Jellyfish have reproductive cycles that involve a sessile polyp and a free-living medusa state. The polyp is asexual, while the medusa is sexual (Williamson et al. 121). P. physalis actually consist of colonies of many small organisms. A single Man-of-War contains both polyp and medusal stage organisms, with several different types of polyps and medusae in a colony (Halstead, Poisonous 94-95) Jellyfish populations exhibit seasonality in their choice of habitats. Most jellyfish prefer temperate and warm water. P. physalis prefer open waters and move with the wind, tide, and currents. Scyphozoas are found in all seas of the world. These jellyfish prefer shallow water such as bays and estuaries but also inhabit open ocean (Halstead, Poisonous 94-97). They usually live in the warm or temperate waters favored by coral (Halstead, Poisonous 115). Jellyfish are most abundant in coastal areas during warm summer months, but are present along the shore at other times of year (Halstead, Poisonous 97). Likewise, in Australia, the largest numbers of jellyfish are found along shores during the summer months of November through April, with peak numbers occurring in December.

Group Roles Essay

We take on many roles throughout the day and while most of these tie into our social status, personal duties, expectations and our behaviors they are only one of the few roles we learn about in time. Social roles are used to predict the way an individual acts in a situation and there is a belief that they are the result of a situation. When working in groups, roles exists that are not related to our personality or a result of our behavior. A superior can give them to us or unknowingly we may adopt them. This we have all been doing since youth but most of the time we are so absorbed into the roles we have taken on that we rarely take time to think about them. They have become as automatic as breathing to majority of the workforce. Roles are not to be confused with personality. Dr. Meredith Belbin a researcher and management theorist regards them as clusters of characteristics, of which psychological preference is but one dimension.[1] By understanding theses definitions we can gain a knowledge, that when combined with certain practice exercises, will enable us to see roles working can drastically increase a team’s effectiveness and overall well-being. When developing an understanding of these roles, it is important to keep in mind that your role can change from task to task. In addition, one individual can have traits belonging to several roles just as much as several individuals can share certain roles that. A manager’s responsibility will be the task of making sure that the team is not heavy in more areas then others. GROUP ROLES INCLUDING DEFINITIONS Leader or Facilitator: An individual who enables groups and organizations to work more effectively; to collaborate and achieve synergy.[1] has excellent interpersonal skills, being able to communicate effectively with team members through good listening, verbal and non-verbal communication. This person does not need to have to be an expert but have knowledge of the tasks concept. Shaper: Initiator Energizer The Shaper is a dynamic, outgoing member of the team; they are often argumentative, provocative, they push the group towards agreement and decision-making, keen to remove barriers and embrace challenges.[1] Completer-Finisher Recorder They are never at ease until they have have checked every detail and made sure that everything has been done and nothing overlooked. It is not that they are overly or irritatingly fussy: their obsession is an expression of anxiety. They have a great capacity for follow-through and attention to detail. They are unlikely to start anything that they cannot finish. They are not assertive members of the team, but they maintain a permanent sense of urgency, which they communicate to others to galvanize them into activity [2] Resource Investigator: The Resource Investigator is a strong communicator, good at negotiating with people outside the team and gathering external information and resources. Resource Investigators are curious and sociable in their nature they are open to new ideas and ways of accomplishing tasks. [2] Plant: The Plant is innovative and will suggest new and creative ways of problem solving within the team.. Sometimes the ideas of the Plant may be impracticable due to their highly creative nature – they may ignore known constraints when developing their ideas. Plants are often introverts who may have poor communication skills; they are loners and enjoy working away from the rest of the group. [1] Monitor Evaluator Elaborator Monitor Evaluators are fair and logical observers and judges of what is going on in the team. Since they are good at detaching themselves from bias, they are often the ones to see all available options with the greatest clarity and impartiality. They take a broad view when problem solving, and by moving slowly and analytically, will usually come to the right decision. However, they can become very critical, damping enthusiasm for anything without logical grounds, and they have a hard time inspiring themselves or others to be passionate about their work. As mentioned earlier, there are many definitions and several methods, which have caused some confusion to say the least. Some Information that warrants further discussion regards the sharing of roles as well as multiple roles in a group. I was unable to find any mention of a role that would compromise a group if more and then one person took its position. One thing I did learn that was interesting is an importance in having multiple leaders/facilitators They do not have to posses all the traits of a great or good leader but help in â€Å"moving the company forward† This is a little vague but I still find it interesting and makes sense if you look our Government processes. I am looking at the roles and with understanding of them now I have not found any papers discussing groups missing some of these roles I would imagine there are definitely times that pieces are missing and they would result in negative team traits. Its proven that one person can manage many roles that doesn’t mean that just because one is short that anyone can absorb the responsibility. I find that even though I logically want o put the roles in an order I know look best or we sound I know it’s impossible because when I look at the characteristics of the roles they all have very defined strengths and in some areas it’s absolutely impossible to be strong at more than one thing. I could at least start with the leader but if there’s no completer or evaluator then the task won’t ever leave the leaders hands. Roles that I have participated in are all of the above generally leaning towards leadership if I have knowledge of the task, enough to ask questions and give answers. When I am not interested in the outcome or the object of the task I will usually take on the roles of monitor and the plant stands out to me as well. One that I know I am not interested in ever being in would be the â€Å"Finisher† That is a no brainer for me because without some pushing I will usually not finish the task and be ok with it. 99% of the time I am the leader and it’s usually by choice because nobody steps up or I am volunteered for it and sometimes that’s fun but I don’t always enjoy it, mainly because it becomes expected of me and it has to always be something big and consuming. At work, I am outspoken, enthusiastic, and very driven, when I am home, I tend to take on the roles of plant, monitor, and shaper. There is no problem staying far away from the role of a leader after work. I will and have taken on leadership roles usually when there is more confusion then I can handle. I am finding it  interesting that I choose the roles at home that are somewhat opposite of what I venture into at work. Discussing types of roles, filling roles and understanding the use of roles brings us to situation of underlying issues that can cause conflict. There are several models for roles in groups. These models have differences in definitions, role titles, and amount of roles. There are many arguments on the amount of roles needed to make an effective team; one thing that I have noticed to be universal is the amount of people needed to make an effective team. Managing a logistics company, I learned this fact first hand. We had an open floor for sales and operations, and then we separated the group into two departments, sales being one, carrier management the other; then again, we separated them into teams again for our regions. Together we all worked as a whole and communicated information back and forth all day. Sometimes it was like an amazing tennis match and sometimes it was like the other side just never got there . We were having many issues with one of our sub groups performing to task and another sub group would clean things up if they could. We analyzed the groups and kept asking what made the others work but not this one†¦ the carrier team had five sections with four desks in each section since it fit better that way. All the desks were full except one group had three people this being the problem group. We had factored that in the beginning though and had only delegated them a fair amount of work. We ended up blaming it on poor communication and lack of drive. The problem did not get any better and then we had another member of a team of four go on leave for six weeks. Two weeks later that team began having issues just like the other team of three and then we noticed the similarity between the two. Three people in a group could not perform the tasks as a whole. To make sure we were right we moved people around and made two new teams of three. We sadly realized that the group of three would fall apart because two people always formed an alliance against one every time. This brings me back to the universal number required for a team to work effectively has been noted to be four. By Dr Belbin from that point forward we never allowed a group to fall below the standard four employees for more than a day period . References Management Teams INTL. (n.d.). Team Roles . Retrieved from Teamopoly: http://www.teamopoly.com/cf.htm Wikepedia Team Role Inventories . (2009). Retrieved from Wikepedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Role_Inventories

History of Women Running for President

The history of women running for president in the United States spans 140 years, but only in the last five years has a female candidate been taken seriously as a viable contender or come within reach of a major party nomination. Victoria Woodhull — Wall Streets First Female Broker The first woman to run for President of the United States was something of an anomaly since women did not yet have the right to vote — and wouldnt earn it for another 50 years. In 1870, 31-year-old Victoria Woodhull had already made a name for herself as Wall Streets first female stockbroker when she announced she would run for President in the New York Herald. According to her 1871 campaign bio written by fellow reformer Thomas Tilton, she did so mainly for the purpose of drawing public attention to the claims of woman to political equality with man. Concurrent with her presidential campaign, Woodhull also published a weekly newspaper, rose to prominence as a leading voice in the suffrage movement and launched a successful speaking career. Nominated by the Equal Rights Party to serve as their candidate, she went up against the incumbent Ulysses S. Grant and Democratic nominee Horace Greeley in the 1872 election. Unfortunately, Woodhull spent Election Eve behind bars, charged with using the U.S. mails to utter obscene publication, namely to distribute her newspapers exposà © of the infidelities of prominent clergyman Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and the indiscretions of Luther Challis, a stockbroker who allegedly seduced adolescent girls. Woodhull triumphed over the charges against her but lost her presidential bid. Belva Lockwood — First Female Attorney to Argue Before Supreme Court Described by the U.S. National Archives as the first woman to run a full-fledged campaign for the presidency of the United States, Belva Lockwood possessed an impressive list of credentials when she ran for president in 1884. Widowed at age 22 with a 3-year-old, she put herself through college, earned a law degree, became the first woman admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court and the first female attorney to argue a case before the nations high court. She ran for president to promote womens suffrage, telling reporters that although she couldnt vote, nothing in the Constitution prohibited a man from voting for her. Nearly 5,000 did. Undaunted by her loss, she ran again in 1888. Margaret Chase Smith — First Woman Elected to House and Senate The first woman to have her name put in for nomination for the presidency by a major political party did not envision a career in politics as a young woman. Margaret Chase had worked as a teacher, telephone operator, office manager for a woolen mill and newspaper staffer before she met and married local politician Clyde Harold Smith at age 32. Six years later he was elected to Congress and she managed his Washington office and worked on behalf of the Maine GOP. When he died of a heart condition in April 1940, Margaret Chase Smith won the special election to fill out his term and was re-elected to the House of Representatives, then was elected to the Senate in 1948 — the first female Senator elected on her own merits (not a widow/not previously appointed) and the first woman to serve in both chambers. She announced her presidential campaign in January 1964, saying, â€Å"I have few illusions and no money, but I’m staying for the finish.† According to the Women in Congress website, At the 1964 Republican Convention, she became the first woman to have her name put in for nomination for the presidency by a major political party. Receiving the support of just 27 delegates and losing the nomination to Senate colleague Barry Goldwater, it was a symbolic achievement. Shirley Chisholm — First Black Woman to Run for President Eight years later Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) launched her presidential campaign for the Democratic nomination on January 27, 1972, becoming the first African American woman to do so. Although she was as committed as any major party male candidate, her run — like Chase Smiths nomination — was largely seen as symbolic. Chisholm did not identify herself as the candidate of the womens movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. Instead, she saw herself as the candidate of the people of America and acknowledged my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history. It was a new era in more ways than one, and Chisholms use of that word may have been deliberate. Her campaign paralleled an increasing push for passage of the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) initially introduced in 1923 but newly invigorated by the growing womens movement. As a presidential candidate, Chisholm took a bold new approach that rejected tired and glib cliches and sought to bring a voice to the disenfranchised. In operating outside the rules of the old boys club of career politicians, Chisholm did not have the backing of the Democratic party or its most prominent liberals. Yet 151 votes were cast for her at the 1972 Democratic National Convention. Hillary Clinton — Most Successful Female Candidate The most well-known and successful female presidential candidate to date has been Hillary Clinton. The former First Lady and junior Senator from New York announced she was running for President on January 20, 2007, and entered the race as the frontrunner for the 2008 nomination — a position she held until Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) wrested it from her in late 2007/early 2008. Clintons candidacy stands in marked contrast to earlier bids for the White House by accomplished women who were prominent and respected but who had little chance of winning. Michelle Bachmann — First Female GOP Frontrunner By the time Michele Bachmann announced her intent to run for president in the 2012 election cycle, her campaign was neither farfetched nor a novelty thanks to this longstanding sisterhood of female candidates who had previously paved the way. In fact, the only female candidate in the GOP field took an early lead after winning the Iowa Straw Poll in August 2011. Yet Bachmann barely acknowledged the contributions of her political foremothers and seemed reluctant to publicly credit them with laying the foundation that made her own candidacy possible. Only when her campaign was in its final days did she acknowledge the need to elect strong women to positions of power and influence. Sources Kullmann, Susan. Legal Contender: Victoria C. Woodhull. The Womens Quarterly (Fall 1988), pp. 16-1, reprinted at Feministgeek.com.Margaret Chase Smith. Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, Women in Congress, 1917–2006. U.S. Government Printing Office, 2007. Retrieved January 10, 2012.Norgren, Jill. Belva Lockwood: Blazing the Trail for Women in Law. Prologue Magazine, Spring 2005, Vol. 37, No. 1 at www. archives.gov.Tilton, Theodore. Victoria C. Woodhull, A Biographical Sketch. The Golden Age, Tract No. 3, 1871. victoria-woodhull.com. Retrieved 10 January 2012. first woman to run for US President.