What are the expectations and perceptions of the role of a supply Dissertation

What are the expectations and perceptions of the role of a supply teaching assistant - Dissertation Example In collaboration with the â€Å"Every Child Matters† agenda launched in United Kingdom; the emerging trend of utilizing multi agency approach in a school setting has led to the involvement of a range of specialized support staff, other than teachers, who work with children. Employed either by schools or â€Å"Local Educational Authorities†, teaching assistants or â€Å"TAs† offer a variety of services depending on their level of expertise for meeting educational, pastoral and social needs of children in a class room environment (Westcott, 2008).This research will help to envisage the altering nature of classroom support system in United Kingdom and how well teaching assistants are coping with these pedagogical arrangements. It will primarily discuss the makeshift in UK school systems regarding the increase in number of teaching assistants after the implementation of â€Å"work force reform† that was initiated to transform the primary and secondary learning patterns thus lessening work load of teachers (Estyn, 2007). With coming years issues concerned with role definition of teaching assistant resurfaced. Nature of work became more inclined to submerge the teacher and support staff boundaries. Sometimes TAs faces neglect in a school setting. It may happen that they succumb to the subordination of head teachers without honing their job related skills (Ebersold, 2003, p.103). This research will be focused on determining the underlying challenges faced by supply teachers as they try to substitute various responsibilities that were once considered the â€Å"sole remit of the teacher† (Fraser & Meadows, 2008, p.351). Research questions that will be sought in this study include: Whether the impact of improper guidance by senior teachers deviate the career direction of supply assistants? Other than support provisons, do teaching assistants play any significant role in curriculum development? What is the level of ambiguity or role conf usion faced by teaching assistants in a school setting? Is the training offered to TAs sufficient for their professional development? What is the future potential of teaching assistants in UK schools? 3) Please give a short description of the methodological approach that you intent to take in this research, the research methods you will use and the data you wish to gather. [200 words] The research approach for this study will mostly be qualitative. For secondary data, relevant literature will be studied to gain insights about the perceptions of role disposition of supply teachers as held by parents, teachers and children. Contemporary research work as well as the work done by previous school practitioners will be considered for making generalized analysis of the chosen topic. For carrying out this study reviews of parents and children will be gathered to know the perception they hold with respect to the teaching assistant working in the school environment. Primary tools of data coll ection will comprise of questionnaire survey and interviews with parents and school faculty. Participant observation technique will be employed to judge the behavior of students in presence of a teaching assistant. As a research sample, three schools will be selected on random basis in the locality of Manchester offering both primary and secondary education. Target audience for the participant observation will be 30 students from age group 5-12 years. Their movements and gestures will be recorded while the class is being controlled by the supply learning assistant.

Improving service productivity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Improving service productivity - Essay Example So, a higher ratio indicates higher productivity. Compared to manufacturing industries, it is much difficult to measure productivity in services industries, especially those that are enabled by Information Technology. (Saari, 2006) Yet, management gurus have identified a few proven techniques for improving service productivity, which are discussed below. One way of improving service productivity is by applying operations-driven strategies. This entails reducing costs and wastage of resources, setting production capacities to meet demands, computerizing mechanical or routine tasks, upgrading systems to latest standards, re-training employees to adapt to upgraded systems, expanding the range of tasks that an employee can perform, redesigning service process where applicable, etc. All of these improvements in operations will lead to overall improvement in service productivity. (www.slideshare.net, 2011) There is another approach to increasing service productivity, which is via Customer- driven strategies. The first component of these strategie is to â€Å"change the timing of customer demand†. The rationale is that â€Å"by shifting demand away from peaks, managers can make better use of firm's productive assets and provide better service†. (www.slideshare.net, 2011) Similarly, involving customers in the production process is also helpful.

Enzyme Kinetics: Lactate Dehydrogenase

Enzyme Kinetics: Lactate Dehydrogenase Question: What scientific question was this part of the practical designed to address? What is the effect of heat stability on two isoforms of the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH1 and LDH5) after pre-incubation (heat inactivation) of the enzyme samples at different temperatures? Approach: Outline and explain the experimental approach that was used to address the question. In order to determine the effect of the heat inactivation on LDH1 and LDH5, a colorimetric assay was carried out using different reaction mixtures prepared with LDH1 and LDH5. 16 test tubes were prepared each with a specific volume of LDH1 or LDH5. The same concentration of substrate solution containing lactate and NAD+ was added into each of the 16 tubes except for two tubes with the blank solution. Each of the enzyme samples were pre-incubated at 37 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡, 44 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡, 50 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡, 54 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡, 58 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡, 62 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡ and 66 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡. The reaction mixtures had to be mixed, incubated for 37 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡ and allowed to cool. This gives the lactate dehydrogenase enough time to work on the substrates under an optimum temperature. The lactate dehydrogenase catalyzes a reversible reaction by converting lactate and NAD+ to pyruvate, NADH and H+ or from pyruvate to lactate. The overall effect of the enzyme is that it transfers a hydride ion from lactate to NAD+ or from NADH to pyruvate. (Zhadin N et al 2008). The NADH produced in the LDH catalysed reaction has absorption properties (wavelength) that are greater than that of NAD+ which makes it useful for this experiment. When the colour reagent is added to the reaction solutions, NADH was used to form formazon (blue) according to the principle: Lactate + NAD+ → Pyruvate + NADH + H+ NADH + Phenazine methosulphate + H+ → NAD++ Reduced phenazine methosulphate. Reduced phenazine methosulphate + Tetrazolium → Formazan + Phenazine Methosulphate.The extent to which the enzymes have been heat inactivated will be reflected on the intensity of the formazon produced. The formazon was measured at 520nm in the spectrophotometer against the blank solutions for LDH1 and LDH5. The results obtained allowed us to compare how effective the LDH1 and LDH5 is at different pre-incubation temperatures and helps us to study the heat stability of the isoenzymes. Data: In figure 1 the absorbance begins to decline after around 44  °C in both enzyme isoforms. It is evident LDH5 has a higher absorbance than LDH1 at relatively low temperatures, but at 49 °C there is an overlap between the isoenzymes and after this point LDH5 continues to have a lower absorbance reading than LDH1. This shows the enzyme is losing effectiveness at catalysing the conversion reaction at temperatures higher than 44 °C suggesting this may be the enzyme’s optimum temperature at which it is most effective. With LDH1 there is a steady decrease in the enzyme activity of around 20-30% from 44 °C to 58 °C. After 58 °C there is a sharp drop in the effectiveness of the enzyme by around 60%. The decline may be due to the active site of the enzyme being denatured with exposure to the high pre-incubation temperature. The LDH5 begins with an increasing enzyme activity from 37 °C to 44 °C and after 44 °C there is a greater drop in enzyme activity of around 80%. The sharp drop in enzyme activity occurs much quicker in LDH5 than in LDH1 (figure 2), because there is a rapid loss of effectiveness when the temperature is raised above 50 °C. LDH5 also loses function at a lower temperature compared to LDH1; it becomes inefficient at 58 °C, where the curve remains consistent with a very low enzyme activity (0.31-0.62%). In addition, the LDH1 isoform demonstrates half maximal activity at 11.4 °C greater than that of LDH5 illustrating LDH1 is more tolerant to increasing temperatures. The results have shown that LDH5 has low heat stability and becomes inefficient at a lower temperature than LDH1. Discussion/Conclusions: The lactate dehydrogenase is characterised by its isoenzymes that are tetramers. The tetramers are made up of four monomers; H4 (heart) or M4 (muscle). The monomers are formed by a polypeptide chain of amino acids which consists of an active site. When there is lactate and NAD+ present in the solution, the peptide loop in lactate dehydrogenase blocks the access to the binding site after the substrates have bound; this aids the transition state of the reaction. The difference in heat stability between the two isoenzymes in the experiment can be due to the amino acid sequence of M and H subunits. The amino acid composition of M and H subunits consist of the same amino acids, however the difference is that they have varying numbers of each amino acid. LDH1 has a greater composition of valine, aspartic acid and methionine residues in comparison to LDH5 (Goldberg E.1972).The higher the methionine content in LDH1 means there is more sulphur atoms capable of forming strong covalent disulphide bridges, which can be why LDH1 is more heat stable as more energy is required to denature the isozyme compared to LDH5. Heat inactivation of the isoenzymes can affect the protein structure of lactate dehydrogenase. To form the primary structure, the -COOH group of one amino acid combines with the -NH of another to form a peptide bond. Within proteins there are regions that are arranged into alpha helices and beta pleated sheets. The bonds that hold these together are hydrogen bonds between lone pairs of oxygen and a hydrogen atom. The alpha helix is when the polypeptide is in a spiral form allowing more hydrogen bonds to form between the residues. Similarly, the beta pleated sheet consists of polypeptide chains running parallel or anti-parallel to each other. The way the polypeptide chain is arranged allows more hydrogen bonds to be formed. The two secondary structures fold up differently to form a 3D shape. There are various bonds that holds this shape together: ionic interactions between -COOH and -NH2 groups of different amino acids, hydrogen bonds between the side chains, van der Waals forces wher e fluctuating dipole in one of the groups of the amino acid can create a dipole in another which is used to keep the folded structure together, hydrophobic and disulphide bridges. A quaternary structure is formed by interaction of several polypeptide chains/subunits (LDH1 consists of 4 H subunits). In conclusion, the heat inactivation can interfere with the different interactions between the amino acids that make up the protein structures. The heat inactivation has shown to provide enough energy to overcome some of the covalent bonds to denature the enzymes. Since LDH1 is found to have a negative charge it may be associated with many ionic interactions which needs more heat energy is needed to overcome the strong bonds, hence why it takes a greater temperature (66 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡) for LDH1 to lose enzyme activity. The strong bonds holding the LDH1 together means the enzyme is not destroyed at 60 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡ however LDH5 is destroyed which is evident by its inability to function adequately after 55 °Ãƒ Ã‚ ¡. Experiment 2: Question: What scientific question was this part of the practical designed to address? How to study the kinetic parameter of different LDH isoenzymes by finding the Vmax and Km values for LDH1 and LDH5. Approach: Outline and explain the experimental approach that was used to address the question. To study the kinetic parameters of different LDH isoenzymes, the experimental procedure and principles where exactly the same when the reaction mixtures were prepared before. However, the LDH isoenzymes were added to different concentrations of substrate solutions and the temperature was constant. A coloured complex is formed using the mechanism in the previous experiment which produces blue formazon. The absorbance of the formazon was measured using the spectrophotometer; the absorbance measured indicates the enzyme activity. The results from this experiment will help to understand the effect of varying substrate concentration has on the enzyme activity and compare this between the two isoenzymes. To determine the Vmax and Km values more accurately the Lineweaver-Burk-plot is used. Data: Table of results for LDH1 and LDH5 LDH1: LDH5: y = 6.2734x + 0.9242 y = 27.641x + 0.1673 Table of results for Vmax and Km in both isoenzymes. Discussion/Conclusions: As the substrate concentration is increased, the formation of the product will also rise but there is a point at which increasing the substrate concentration any further will become a limiting factor. The concentration at which this occurs is greater than 80mM which may decrease the enzyme activity in both LDH1 and LDH5. Since Km and Vmax is greater in LDH5 indicating the affinity of LDH5 for its substrate is much lower so a greater substrate concentration is needed to reach Vmax. The high Vmax for LDH5 means the saturated lactate dehydrogenase is converting more of the substrates into its products at high substrate concentrations. As a result LDH1 will be a more ideal isoenzyme than LDH5. In this experiment we observed the catalysis of lactate dehydrogenase from lactate to pyruvate. The pyruvate produced has the ability to enter the mitochondria, where pyruvate dehydrogenase links the glycolysis metabolic reaction to the citric acid cycle. In a process of pyruvate decarboxylation, the pyruvate is converted into acetyl-CoA, which releases energy by converting NAD+ to NADH and H+. Pyruvate has the potential to either enter the mitochondria to become acetyl-CoA or become lactate. The Cori cycle is involved in the conversion of lactate to pyruvate. When lactate is produced in the muscle, it is released into the bloodstream and transported to the liver. In the liver the lactate is first converted to pyruvate by lactate dehydrogenase and pyruvate is converted to glucose through gluconeogeneis. Lactate dehydrogenase becomes activated when there is a high concentration of its substrates, NAD+ and lactate. For instance when the skeletal muscle containing LDH5 have high demands for energy this means the large production of NADH and pyruvate from high substrate levels will not be metabolised by pyruvate dehydrogenase. The LDH5 (M form) is more specialised to convert pyruvate to lactate and ideal for anaerobic activities. Whereas the LDH1 form is more favourable for the conversion of lactate to pyruvate, LDH1 is predominantly found in the heart where there is an aerobic environment. This means despite increasing the substrate concentration, the LDH5 may not become as efficient in converting lactate to pyruvate as LDH1. The results reflect this as LDH1 has a generally greater enzyme activity with an increasing substrate solution compared to LDH5 (see table of results). In conclusion, the results obtained from the analysis of data on excel may not be highly accurate since most of the values have been rounded and it does not take into account any possible practical or human errors. Based on the charge of the two isoenzymes, a gel electrophoresis could have been done to calculate Vmax and Km. Bibliography: Goldberg E. (1972) Amino acid composition and properties of crystalline lactate dehydrogenase X from mouse testes. J. Biol. Chem. 247(7) pp 2046. Zhadin N, Gulotta M and Callender R. (2008) Probing the Role of Dynamics in Hydride Transfer Catalyzed by Lactate Dehydrogenase. Biophysical Journal. 95(4), pp 1975.

Perceiving the Flavor of Fat :: Obesity Health Essays

Perceiving the Flavor of Fat When we crave our favorite foods and snacks, those tasty visions in our heads don't usually resemble that of a large, juicy carrot stick or a sumptuous rice cake. We want fat. It's delicious, it's filling, and it just makes everything taste better. It can also make you considerably overweight, not to mention the heart disease and other complications that can result if dietary fat is not consumed in moderation. The appealing taste of fat may very well attribute for the fact that one in three Americans is overweight ("FDA Approves,"1996). Is there anything that can be done about this terrible problem that affects us all? Many researchers say there is. You can either choose to face the facts and simply steer clear of the nasty culprit, or you can fool your taste buds into perceiving the taste of fat without the real stuff ever actually passing your lips. However, before discussing these options, let's talk a little more about fat itself and some of the things it's responsible for. With the large percentage of Americans that are overweight today, it's no surprise that so many physicians are continually recommending diet changes to their patients. However, the majority of these doctors say that the largest barrier keeping Americans from changing their diets is food taste preference (Soltesz, Price, Johnson, & Telljohan, 1994). The patients don't want to switch to a high-fiber low-fat diet because low-fat high-fiber foods don't taste as good as high-fat low-fiber foods. A big bowl of bran flakes just doesn't have the same calming, pleasurable effects as a big bowl of Blue Bell ice cream. Of course, large individual differences must be acknowledged. Some people may actually prefer the taste of bland foods. In fact, one study done on anorexic individuals found that these people actually disliked the taste of foods rich in fat (Simon, Bellisle, Monneuse, Samuel-Lajeunesse, et. al. 1993). Much of what we now know about fat and its effects comes from studies done on mice and rats. For example, Rockwood (1990) found that adult rats and developing rats prefer a diet with a relatively high level of fat. In addition to showing that animals as well as humans prefer the taste of fat, there also appears to be a link between fat consumption and behavior. Hilakivi-Clarke, Cho, and Onsjafe (1996) uncovered some startling evidence suggesting that a high-fat diet may induce aggressive behavior in male mice and rats.

Air Carriers

Air carriers compete through cost leadership, differentiation and horizontal integration. Adoption of deregulation policies around the world led to opportunities for entry of new players. However, since existing large air carriers have decades of first mover advantage, the air transportation industry became segmented into two general groups, the traditional carriers comprised of flag and luxury air carriers and low-cost carriers differentiation by price and cost structures.Competition occurred on two levels, between traditional and low-cost carriers and among the air carriers belonging to these segments. Traditional airlines commonly compete based on differentiation of service quality, brand equity, and provision of additional value to consumers. Low-cost airlines compete based on cost leadership by developing pricing policies and cost structures that allow the provision of basic services at the lowest possible price. (Costa et al., 2002)Although, low cost carriers targeted a specifi c market, the low cost market, this meant a pull from the existing market of traditional airlines because of an alternative low cost option.Traditional airlines responded to this by engaging in horizontal integration by buying out low cost airlines as well as engaging in strategic alliance and consolidation strategies ranging from intensive ‘hub and spoke’ networks and code sharing to mergers and acquisitions intended to fill in the service gaps of low cost airlines and keep their market.These constitute exclusionary practices by exploiting industry practices such as overcapacity to dominate national routes and make it difficult for new entrants to use the same routes that goes against the competitive expectations from deregulation.Anti-trust regulations emerged in many jurisdictions to monitor and regulate practices that end up stifling competition. Monopolistic or quasi-monopolistic alliances and consolidation are subject to regulation necessary to ensure competition that balances the interests of various stakeholders. (Kleymann & Seristo, 2004)This led to the implementation of competitive strategies maximizing options within regulatory limits.How does the speed in air carriers impact inventory levels of firms using air transportation? and how the speed advantage relates to the choice of modes when choosing between air carriage and other modes of freight and passenger transport?The speed of air carriers impacts inventory levels of business firms using air transportation services because air carriers become a party in the logistics and supply chain partners of business firms (Thompson & Strickland, 2003).The air transportation industry plays a key role in many industries such as manufacturing and retail serving international markets and the tourism industry that all rely on the service quality and speed of air carriers to meet consumer expectations.In the case of manufacturing and retail companies, one goal is to maintain a fast rate of inventory turnover, which means product delivery to consumers the soonest possible time after production leaving only sufficient inventory in the warehouse to meet sudden upward shifts in demand and minimizing unnecessary costs.A fast inventory turnover then translates to growth in sales and profit and even a sustainable market. (Baldwin et al., 2000) However, to ensure a fast inventory turnover, the air carriers engaged by business firms should be fast enough to meet the period of delivery to all its consumers around the world.As such, speed advantages in an important consideration in the decision of business firms in preferring a mode of transportation to another. With advancements in technology in other modes of transportation, air, land and sea transportation have become substitutes. Bullet trains can offer comparative speeds as air carriers and sea vessels have always been the traditional mode of transportation.Air carriers need to differentiate its transportation services relative to t he other modes of transportation gain a competitive advantage and influence the decision of passengers and cargo owners to prefer air carriers.Since speed is a factor for passengers and cargo owners, this should be cultivated by air carriers as an advantage by developing aviation technology, maintaining their air carriers regularly,   continuing training of staff,   and coordinating with air transportation authorities and airports to support its speed advantage. (Doganis, 2001)ReferencesBaldwin, C., Dyer, H., & Fites, D. (2000). Harvard business review on managing the value chain. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Costa, P. R., Harned, D. S., & Lundquist, J. T. (2002). Rethinking the aviation industry: New strategies could help the business recover-but will also put more pressure on established players. The McKinsey Quarterly, 2, 88-100.Doganis, R. (2001). The airline business in the twenty-first century. London: Routledge.Kleymann, B., Seristo, H. (2004). Managing strat egic airline alliances. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.Thompson, A. A., & Strickland, A. J. (2003). Strategic management (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Standard Deviation and Cumulative Frequency

Statistics-1 1. One thousand candidates sit an examination. The distribution of marks is shown in the following grouped frequency table. Marks|1–10|11–20|21–30|31–40|41–50|51–60|61–70|71–80|81–90|91–100| Number of candidates|15|50|100|170|260|220|90|45|30|20| (a)Copy and complete the following table, which presents the above data as a cumulative frequency distribution. (3) Mark|? 10|? 20|? 30|? 40|? 50|? 60|? 70|? 80|? 90|? 100| Number of candidates|15|65|||||905|||| b)Draw a cumulative frequency graph of the distribution, using a scale of 1 cm for 100 candidates on the vertical axis and 1 cm for 10 marks on the horizontal axis. (5) (c)Use your graph to answer parts (i)–(iii) below, (i)Find an estimate for the median score. (2) (ii)Candidates who scored less than 35 were required to retake the examination. How many candidates had to retake? (3) (iii)The highest-scoring 15% of candidates were awarded a distin ction. Find the mark above which a distinction was awarded. (3) Total 16 marks) 2. At a conference of 100 mathematicians there are 72 men and 28 women. The men have a mean height of 1. 79 m and the women have a mean height of 1. 62 m. Find the mean height of the 100 mathematicians. (Total 4 marks) 3. The mean of the population x1, x2, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. , x25 is m. Given that = 300 and = 625, find (a)the value of m; (b)the standard deviation of the population. (Total 4 marks) 4. A supermarket records the amount of money d spent by customers in their store during a busy period.The results are as follows: Money in $ (d)|0–20|20–40|40–60|60–80|80–100|100–120|120–140| Number of customers (n)|24|16|22|40|18|10|4| (a)Find an estimate for the mean amount of money spent by the customers, giving your answer to the nearest dollar ($). (2) (b)Copy and complete the following cumulative frequency table and use it to draw a cumulative frequency graph . Use a scale of 2 cm to represent $20 on the horizontal axis, and 2 cm to represent 20 customers on the vertical axis. (5) Money in $ (d)|