Effect of Ocean acidification upon ability to genetically adapt in Essay

Effect of Ocean acidification upon ability to genetically adapt in Nereis species - Essay Example This change affects the small marine organisms the most. The decrease in pH affects their physiological processes mainly their metabolic rates and oxygen intake processes. Calcifying species are also affected due to the decrease in CO32- ions, which are used in forming CaCO3. Due to these effects, the species have to adapt to these changes in order to counter the negative effects on their physiology. These changes may be phenotypic for short term or genotypic for long term. This paper investigates the effect of ocean acidity on the genetic makeup of the Nereis species (Australian Biological Resources Study, 2000, p.45). Due to the increase in the ocean water acidity, the marine species have adapted to the change in pH. All the specimens have the same gene expression alterations when exposed to low pH. All the species experience phenotype plasticity when exposed to low pH levels. These effects can be determined by scientific methods. Species from the low pH region of Ischia have adapted to low pH (Armstrong, A. 2013, p593). Six marine species were picked for the research namely; Polychaetes, Nerissuccinea, Nereisdiversicolor, Nereisvirens, Platyneiresdemerilli and Nereiszonata. The worms were collected from different areas. Some samples were from Ischia region, a place with low pH value due to CO2 vents. These samples were exposed to low pH value environments for short time and long-term durations. The control group was set in normal pH environment. The pH value affects energy production processes in the specimens. With differences in pH, the individuals of the Nereis genus undergo some changes in energy production. The samples from the regions of low pH show the least changes, having adapted to low pH levels. All the specimens are affected by extremely low pH levels but the specimens from the vents show the most resilience since they have already adapted to low pH environs. This is because their metabolic activity is always heightened. The responses

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Philosophy - Essay Example Turing’s article discussed the famous Turing test, i.e. the imitation game. A similar take on Turing’s philosophy is John Searle’s Chinese room argument or thought experiment. In this essay, I would like to share something vital that I learned in our discussions in class, as well as something that I learned beyond our class discussions, since the topic was of great value to me. I shall give an overview of Turing and Searle’s philosophy of mind. Afterwards, I shall show how their philosophy is of much value to me, in this present day. For, I do believe that topics such as these are not only valuable inside classrooms but also in the real world, that is, in my life. To begin with, like Turing, the Chinese room argument or thought-experiment, advanced by John Searle (1980), specifically challenges the view of artificial intelligence or what is more commonly known as the computational theory of mind. It challenges the claim that all there is in having a mind i s the implementation of a computer program, and that as a consequence, the mental states of humans are no different in kind from the computational states of a running computer program. The Chinese room argument challenges this claim by showing that, unlike humans, computers do not know what the contents of their computational states (or the symbols they manipulate) are about or represent in the world. What computers only know of these symbols are their shapes and the ways in which they should be combined according to the rules of their programs. The Chinese room argument, in its simple form, goes this way. Imagine a native English speaker who does not understand Chinese is locked in a room with only two outlets. Outside of this room are native Chinese speakers who do not know who or what is inside the room. In one outlet, the Chinese speakers give the person inside the room several manuscripts bearing Chinese symbols and a manual of English instructions for manipulating these Chines e symbols. The person inside the room does not even know that the symbols are Chinese; he only recognizes and individuates the symbols according to their shapes or formal properties. Now imagine that the manual, which the person has immediately mastered, says that if he recognizes certain combinations of symbols in the manuscripts given to him in one outlet, then he should arrange certain combinations of symbols and send them to the persons outside the room through the other outlet. Suppose that what the person inside the room sends to the persons outside the room are correct answers to the questions that the persons outside the room ask him through the manuscripts that they send him. In this case, in so far as the persons outside the room are concerned, the person inside the room understands Chinese. But the fact is the person inside the room does not understand the symbols—he does not even know that they are Chinese; he does not know what they represent; and he simply manip ulates them according to the instructions in the manual. Technically speaking, he does not know the semantics of those symbols; he only knows their syntax. So does that count as intelligence? Similarly, an important thought experiment that is used to defend the views of artificial intelligence is the Turing test as discussed in our previous lessons. It will be recalled that according to this test, if after a series of questions and answers, the human interrogator could not tell, on

Effect of trampling on length of Cranesbill leaves Coursework

Effect of trampling on length of Cranesbill leaves - Coursework Example We make the assumption, for instance, that for a given distance along the transect, the soil and other relevant conditions are similar. Moreover, we can take it that if the data is any good, then standard deviations along any point of data collection along the transect (one meter intervals) should be small. This is to be expected too, given that for every measurement point along the transect there is only one reading for the soil compaction level, and several readings for the leaf length. Therefore, if soil compaction is correlated with the leaf length, then one can assume that the variations in length sizes along any measurement point in the transect should be small, or at least not significant enough to cause worry and doubt as to the validity of the data and of the alternative hypothesis being accepted (Statistics Canada 2011). Indeed, looking at the range of the standard deviation along the different measurement points in the transect, one sees that there is somewhat of a variati on along the measurement points, by a factor of 3 in some measurement points compared to others. There are several ways to interpret this. On the one hand, looking at the standard deviation figures, within the measurement points it is not conclusive that the standard deviation magnitudes are enough to cause worry as to the data validity. On the other hand, one can also investigate that maybe the wide variances in the sample data of leaf lengths within the measurement points may have something to do with the standard deviation being large or small. For example, looking at measurement point 8, or the measurement of leaf lengths at the point of eight meters from the start of the transect, one sees that the standard deviation is unusually large, in fact larger than any other standard deviation figure for the rest of the measurement points. Examining the data for this measurement point, one sees that compared to the other measurement points, there is a wider variation of measurement data for leaf lengths (1.5; 2.8; 2.8; 2.7; 2.3; 2.5). Looking at the measurements of leaf lengths at point 0, where the transect begins, one sees that the variation in measurements is somewhat smaller, or to put it another way, the leaf lengths are closer to each other, or varies less in comparison to measurement point 8 (1, 0.8; 0.8; 0.7; 0.7). This is borne out by the computed standard deviation for this measurement point, which is about a factor of three smaller than the standard deviation for point 8. The point is that within the measurement points, the standard deviation for the measurements vary in magnitude, and in some measurement points quite larger in comparison to the other measurement points. Judging by the standard deviation alone therefore, one comes to suspect whether the correlation between soil compaction and leaf length exists, and if the established correlation is valid. Of this, more will be said with regard to the inherent limitation of the study (Statistics Canada 2011; Wolfram Research 2012) Looking at ambient data, or data that is related to soil quality or pH, soil temperature, and the amount or intensity of the light present, this paper makes the assumption that more study needs to be done to either factor in or discount each of these variables as being correlated or associated with leaf length.

Economics of Money and Banking Short Answer Questions Essay

Economics of Money and Banking Short Answer Questions - Essay Example Floating is done in two major ways. These are the selling of Australian dollar and the buying of other foreign currencies; mostly the United States Dollar. Whenever the Reserve Bank of Australia wants to support the exchange rate against depreciation, the Reserve Bank of Australia sells foreign currency and in return buys Australian dollars. When the needed arises for appreciation to be resisted, the Reserve Bank does the opposite by buying foreign exchange and selling the Australian dollars. This is basically how the reserve bank intervenes in the foreign exchange. The reason behind the intervention described above is basically to ensure that the Australian dollar gets a stronger value in the foreign exchange market. Sustaining the value of the Australian dollar is very important and the need for it cannot be underestimated. This is because on the foreign exchange market and in all other major investment transactions that take place in Australia, the value of the Australian dollar p lays a highly instrumental role in determining the amount of money investors spend in transactions. 2) What are the main objectives of monetary policy in Australia? Explain how monetary policy is implemented in Australia and how changes in monetary policy are transmitted through the economy to affect the overall level of economic activity Monetary policy basically refers to the manipulation of short-term trade conditions; mostly interest rates to help in the realization of domestic policy objectives. This means that monetary policy is put in place to favor the successful implementation of domestic economic policies. In Australia, monetary policy is implemented by the Reserve Bank. The implementation of monetary policy is done through a number of ways in several countries. In Australia however, the major monetary implementation is done by managing interest rate in such a way that it responses to international monetary pressure and shock. This