The Anatomy Of Corn

The Anatomy Of Corn If you are reading this, corn has touched your life in some way. We eat corn, animals eat corn, cars eat corn (well, it can be used as a biofuel), and we even can eat corn out of a container made from corn (think: bioplastics). It is projected that the U.S. corn yield will reach over 14 billion bushels. However, what do you know about the corn plant itself? Did you, for example, know that corn is a grass and not a vegetable? The Seed: The Beginnings Of The Corn Plant Look at a corn cob - you will see the seeds! The kernels that you eat can also be used as the seed source to start new plants. Dont worry; the corn kernels that you eat wont grow in your stomach. Specific corn plants are set aside to provide seed. Corn Growth Stages The corn plants growth stages are broken down into vegetative and reproductive stages. The vegetative growth stages are VE (emergence of the plant), V1 (first fully expanded leaf), V2 (second fully expanded leaf), etc. up to however many leaves appear. The last stage is called VT, referring to when the tassel fully emerges.The reproductive stages are noted as R1 through R6. R1 refers to when the corn silks are first visible outside the husks and pollination occurs. (This process will be explained more fully later in the article.) During the other stages, the kernels are developing. At the final (R6) stage, the kernels have reached their maximum dry weight. Seedlings are dependent on kernel reserves up until about the V3 leaf stage when they become dependent on the roots to take up nutrients. Corn Roots Corn plants are unusual in that they have two distinct sets of roots: regular roots, called seminal roots; and nodal roots, which are above the seminal roots and develop from the plant nodes. The seminal root system includes the plants radicle (the first root emerging from the seed). These roots are responsible for taking up water and nutrients, and for anchoring the plant.The second root system, the nodal roots, is formed about an inch or so below the soil surface, but above the seminal roots. The nodal roots are formed at the base of the coleoptile, which is the primary stem that emerges from the ground. The nodal roots are visible by the V2 stage of development. The seminal roots are important to the survival of the seedling, and damage can delay emergence and stunt development. This is because the corn plant depends on the nutrients present in the seed until the nodal roots are developed. As soon as the coleoptile emerges from the soil, the seminal roots cease to grow. Nodal roots that form above the ground are called brace roots, but they function similarly to the nodal roots below the ground. Sometimes brace roots actually penetrate the soil and take up water and nutrients. These roots may be needed for water uptake in some cases, as the crown of a young corn plant is only about 3/4 below the soil surface! Therefore, corn can be vulnerable to dry soil conditions as they dont have a deep root system. Corn Stalk And Leaves Corn grows on a single stem called a stalk. Stalks can grow up to ten feet tall. The plants leaves emerge from the stalk. A single corn stalk can hold between 16 and 22 leaves. The leaves wrap around the stalk, rather than having a stem. The part of the leaf that wraps around the stem is called the node. Corn Reproductive Structures: The Tassel, Flowers, and Ears The tassel and the corn ears are responsible for reproduction and formation of the corn kernels. The tassel is the male part of the plant, which emerges from the top of the plant after all of the leaves have developed. Many male flowers are on the tassel. The male flowers release pollen grains which contain the male reproductive cells. The female flowers develop into the corns ears, which contain the kernels. The ears contain the female eggs, which sit on the corn cob. Silks - long strands of silky material - grow from each egg and emerge from the top of the ear. Pollination occurs when pollen is carried from the tassels to the exposed silks on the ear of corn, which is the female flower on the plant. The male reproductive cell goes down to the female egg contained within the ear and fertilizes it. Each strand of fertilized silk develops into a kernel. The kernels are arranged on the cob in 16 rows. Each ear of corn averages about 800 kernels. And, as you learned in the first section of this article, each kernel can potentially become a new plant!

Overwhelmed Heres a Great Way to Take Control of Your Job Search

Overwhelmed Heres a Great Way to Take Control of Your Job Search I have a confession to make: I am not naturally an organized person. If left to my own devices, I generally do whatever comes into my head to do at the moment. I am easily sidetracked and have a tendency to think I can do everything without regard to priorities. Sound familiar? If so, and if you are a job seeker, you might be experiencing some overwhelm as you conduct your search. Thankfully, there are tools available that can help. To tackle my lack of focus, for example, I have chosen to participate in a business coaching group where I am forced to create priorities and follow them- at least to some extent! You might benefit from some prioritization tools as well. Let’s say you decide to research companies you might want to work for. First, you’ll read my blog from last week, Top 5 Web Sites for Your Job Search Over the Holidays, and start listing companies that interest you. What’s next? The answer is not Apply to all the jobs and accept the first one that will take me. The answer isn’t even, Do extensive research on the 50 companies on my list. Instead, take some time to prioritize. First, make a list of your top 20-30 companies based on your research. Then get clear about what’s important to you so you can gather further information on the companies that best meet your requirements. Factors to consider: Job Function/Title Industry Commute Salary Benefits Opportunity for Growth Travel Company Reputation Size of Company Products I Resonate With Pick 5-6 of these items that are most important to you and score each of the companies in your list from 1-5 (1 = bad/low, 5 = good/high) on how they match up on each factor. You can make a simple chart to do this: Â   Factor #1 Factor #2 Factor #3 Factor #4 Factor #5 Factor #6 Total Company #1 Company #2 Company #3 Company #4 Look at the total scores and rank the companies from highest to lowest. Then start your information gathering, such as finding contact people at the organizations, with the highest-scoring companies. Concentrate on finding the hiring managers at those top companies and start to discover what challenges the companies are facing and how you can add value. Once you know your first choice, second choice, third choice, etc. you will be in a much stronger position as you approach the companies. You will know what you want so you can focus on that, rather than let the job market dictate your search. And you will reduce overwhelm by taking things one step at a time in a clear, organized way. Do you have methods you use to stay focused in your job search? Please share in the comments! Category:Job SearchBy Brenda BernsteinJanuary 27, 2014

Marketing Management Master Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Management Master - Assignment Example Secondly, the customers might not be as knowledgeable as the ones who were there for the larger boats. This means that the company has to educate the buyers on how to use their boats in addition to giving them appropriate maintenance and handling tips. All this would mean that the company has to handle the entire marketing setup in a different way compared what they were doing earlier. 1. Products that are made by the company are positioned as a niche product. This positioning has to be altered in order to ensure that the company does not lose out on their turnover. The company has to cultivate and build relationship with buyers of the smaller boats. 2. On analysing the pricing position of the product, it is clear that the company might have to sell larger numbers to reach the same turnover that they were doing earlier. This can be realised only if the company decides to sell these boats through a distributor network. 4. The company has to have a clear public communication program that would enable the company to reach the buyers and the targeted clients. This promotion is required in order to ensure that the product gains on the market. This overall strategy will be strengthened by the positive aspects that are already present with the company. These are typically, the brand of the company that would help it to realise the market much more easily. Secondly, there is also a technological supremacy that would help the company to market much better than the rest of the competition. However, it needs to look at the new set of customers differently and also approach them in a different method. In order to realise the overall objectives listed above the following three jobs need to be executed. 1. Appropriate stocking of the finished boats should be present for immediate selling. 2. Since the company has to sell larger numbers, they need to deal through a set of distributors. 3. Competition has to be studied well and continuously monitored to fix an appropriate pricing policy and customer satisfaction policies. These three objectives are discussed in detail below. Promotional Strategy The company has to ensure that the 'right' quantity of boats and yachts are maintained in stock. This will enable the company to dispatch or supply boats on demand and meet the customer requirements immediately. The stocks have to be planned in contrast to the original pull style production system that they had. They need to move over to the push style system that would expect the company to

African-American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

African-American History - Essay Example Larsen, in her novel attempts to sketch out the Reconstruction Era through the portrayal of the two different, light skinned American African Women, Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield. Clare and Irene were childhood friends who get together after a long time sharing their bitter experiences of being born as Negroes, denied of basic rights, try to find out comfort and consolation each other. Clare and Irene were born in mixed ancestries with light skinned complexion which later adversely affecting the free flow of their life and arise the question of existence in them. The novel raises many questions on various themes like identity crisis, race, lies, sexuality and jealousy. While reading through the novel, the readers understand that the novel obviously reflecting the views of the young African Americans who are wedged with their light skinned complexion and are searching for their lost identity. The era of Reconstruction was notable for the imminent changes it brought out in the percep tions of people, especially their perception to slavery and black people. The novel mainly focuses on the ‘passing’ of the members of one class to that of the other by the illusion that this ‘pass’ will bring tremendous changes to their life and social status. The story of the novel moves on through two female characters—Clare Kendy and Irene Redfield. The novel begins with Irene reading the letter of her childhood friend, Clare. The reading of the letter enables the readers to understand the character of Clare, when Irene recollects thus; â€Å"There had been, even in those days, nothing sacrificial in Clare Kendry’s idea of life, no allegiance beyond her own immediate desire (Larsen 2).† These words clearly express the attitude of the African American people who were totally dejected and depressed after the Civil War. Irene adds that Clare was selfish, and cold, and hard. But even then she had kept with her a strange capacity of transforming warmth and

Fact of Blackness by Frantz Fanon :: personal response essay

â€Å"The Fact of Blackness† by Frantz Fanon   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article was an eye opener. After Fanon got away from the huge mind boggling words, I kind of felt for an extremely short second what it actually felt to be a black man. I myself am a unique mixture of races and I was fortunate to have grown up in such a way that I experienced my two main cultures vividly. I can laugh with George Lopez, and feel the pain, anguish, and laughter that are associated with a Mexican American heritage. The same goes for Larry the Cable Guy, I can laugh at what he says in his stand comedy routine, because I can relate with my Anglo culture. Going back to how Fanon explains his anguish of being labeled, it’s understandable, I’ve been there, but unlike Fanon, I learned to how to run with racial comments. However, I’m not black and cannot relate to his culture, or how bad for his time it must have been for an average black male.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I start with saying blah. I cannot in my mind imagine what it was for Fanon growing up, but he never embraces love for who his is. The racial slurs and dehumanization is in my opinion not reason enough to write hatred for what you are born into. Not once does he state philosophy on why it’s ok to be what he is. Instead he places himself into an â€Å"infernal circle† that he is embraced by white people in spite that he is black, but when he has an enemy they claim that it is so not because he is a black man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My own experiences tell me that every bit of what he says is true. I work at an inner city Walgreen’s, and I’m told to watch certain people because they look suspicious, when in fact the only crime they commit is being a minority. I’m sometimes told to not spend too much time on a Mexican customer, because they don’t contribute enough money to our store, and to focus on our money crazed white customers, who never get questioned opening up products. I used to get stopped In Walgreen’s when I was a freshman in High School. I had to leave my back pack at the door and only one of my companions could come with me at a time. However, I would see plain as day, white students walking in the store at leisure with their book bags on.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest Final Scene Essay

In the final scene of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Chief Bromden is the main character. The only two characters in this scene are Bromden and McMurphy, and even though McMurphy would be considered the main character of the entire film, Bromden is the main character of this scene because he has the strongest desire. In fact, in this one scene, Bromden has many desires that to him, are life or death. Initially, after hearing rumours of McMurphy’s escape, when McMurphy returns to his bed, Bromden thinks that he has returned in order to escape with him. At this point, Bromden’s desire is simply to escape the ward. He then realizes that McMurphy has not returned to escape, but that he has actually been lobotomized. When he sees this, he smothers McMurphy to death, knowing that McMurphy would not want to live like this, or have the others see him in this state. At this point in the scene, Bromden’s desire is to protect McMurphy’s pride. Once he fulfills this, he returns to his initial desire, as well as what used to be McMurphy’s desire to escape. He achieves this by using McMurphy’s escape plan; lifting the impossibly heavy hydrotherapy console and throwing it through the window. In doing this, Bromden not only achieves his own desire, but also completes the goal that McMurphy was unable to complete. Throughout the movie, Chief Bromden’s status quo is that he is inactive and lacks opinions and feelings. All of the other patients at the hospital think he is â€Å"deaf and dumb†. McMurphy is the only one to later discover that Bromden is neither deaf, nor mute. Before the tension in the final scene takes place, Bromden seems too passive and nonchalant to escape on his own, and he definitely seems much too harmless to murder anyone. In this scene, Bromden is forced to change when he sees that McMurphy has been lobotomized. His respect for McMurphy, and despair that he has been lobotomized and is no longer the powerful leader he used to be initiates the change in Bromden. Wanting McMurphy to die with honour, and having others remember him the way he was, Bromden finds the power to smother McMurphy to death. After McMurphy is dead, Bromden still has the initial desire of escaping. Before, he had been waiting for McMurphy to escape with him, because McMurphy was more intrepid and gallant than Bromden, and would be able to lead him. Now that McMurphy is unable to escape with him, Bromden is forced to find the courage to escape on his own. In this scene, the stakes are very high for Bromden. If he does not escape, he will have to live miserably in the mental institution for the rest of his life. The stakes are raised when he discovers that McMurphy has been lobotomized. Now, he takes on the responsibility to do what he knew McMurphy would want him to do- not allow him to live and be seen as a lobotomized vegetable. If Bromden does not succeed in killing McMurphy, Bromden will feel like he has let down and humiliated McMurphy. Once Bromden has smothered McMurphy, the stakes are once again raised as now not only does he have to escape because he doesn’t want to live in the hospital for the rest of his life, but he also has to leave because he has just murdered McMurphy, even though he did so out of respect. If he does not escape right away, he most likely will get in trouble for the murder of McMurphy (and probably get lobotomized himself) , he will have to spend his life in the miserable existence of the institution, and he will not have fulfilled McMurphy’s and his own desire to escape. The main conflict that takes place in this scene is the fact that Bromden has such a strong desire to escape with McMurphy, but when McMurphy is no longer able to escape, it becomes much more difficult to Bromden. The audience fears that upon discovering that McMurphy has been lobotomized, he will not be assertive enough to escape on his own. Until it is confirmed that McMurphy has been lobotomized, the audi ence hopes that the two of them will successfully escape together, but when it becomes clear that this will not happen, the audience wonders how Bromden will deal with this. He resolves the conflict by finding the courage to escape on his own. Another conflict in this scene is the fact that McMurphy, who is the most outspoken and powerful patient in the ward has been lobotomized. The fact that he basically no longer has a mind of his own not only gets in the way of Bromden’s desire, but will also destroy any optimism and faith that any of the other patients have. This is also a conflict for Bromden because he knows that McMurphy would be miserable if the old him were to see the lobotomized him, and Bromden does not want McMurphy to be shamed. Bromden deals with this conflict by killing McMurphy, that way none of the other patients will see him in this state, and McMurphy will not have to live this way for any longer. The main twist in this scene comes when McMurphy returns. Bromden is relieved because he thinks that McMurphy has returned to escape with him, but instead he has been lobotomized and no longer has any desire to escape. This comes as a shock to both Bromden, because it is the opposite of what he has expected, and also to the audience, because seeing McMurphy in the state of being lobotomized completely contrasts the character of McMurphy that the audience has come to know. The technique of juxtaposition makes this twist extremely effective. McMurphy is a character who is always active, energetic, powerful, and lively. He prides himself on his non-alignment, so the audience knows that to McMurphy, receiving a lobotomy is the worst thing that could possibly happen to him. Another technique used to make this twist so powerful is the uncertainty of both Bromden and the audience. First, when the other patients talk about how McMurphy has escaped, both Bromden and the audience believe that this plausibly occurred. When McMurphy is seen returning, acting lifeless, by now we know how manipulative and calculating McMurphy is, so the audience is unsure of whether McMurphy has actually been lobotomized, or if he is just pretending to be obedient so he can return, and then escape. We do not know for sure that McMurphy has actually been lobotomized until Bromden discovers the scars on his head. This provides a real shock because up until now, both Bromden and the audience was pretty sure that McMurphy was just faking it and the two of them would end up escaping together. A secondary twist in this scene is when Bromden suffocates McMurphy. Although Bromden did this with the best intention for McMurphy, it is still surprising to the audience, because no one could’ve pictured Bromden killing anyone, especially McMurphy who he has so much respect for. As mentioned above, Bromden has many strong desires throughout this scene. His main desire is to escape the ward. His secondary desire is to make sure that McMurphy dies with honour and does not have to live being the opposite of the lively, outspoken person he once was. He fulfills both of these desires, and even though he is unable to escape with McMurphy, which was his original intention, he still is able to escape on his own, and free himself from the mental institution. McMurphy, on the other hand, does not have much desire in this scene. Throughout the film, McMurphy has more desire than any other character; he wants to be in charge, he doesn’t want to do work, he wants to help and lead the other patients in the ward, he is a hedonist, who wants to please himself, and ultimately, his main desire is to escape. Despite all of this, by the last scene, he has been lobotomized, and therefore all of his desire has been drained. He is now a vegetable, who is unable to and has no will to escape with Bromden. His lack of desire makes Bromden’s desire even stronger, because McMurphy was the most passionate patient of them all, but now he is basically brain dead. This ignites Bromden’s desire to put an end to McMurphy’s now meaningless life, and it further motivates his desire to escape the hospital, because he sees how it is able to drain even the most passionate and spirited person.

The History of the Freedom Riders Movement

In 1961, men and women from throughout the nation arrived in Washington, D.C., to end Jim Crow laws  on interstate travel by embarking on what were called â€Å"Freedom Rides.† On such rides, racially mixed activists traveled together throughout the Deep South—ignoring signs marked â€Å"For Whites† and â€Å"For Colored† in buses and bus terminals. The riders endured beatings and arson attempts from white supremacist mobs, but their struggles paid off when segregationist policies on interstate bus and rail lines were struck down. Despite these achievements, the Freedom Riders aren’t the household names like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., but they are civil rights heroes nonetheless. Both Parks and King would be heralded as heroes for their roles in ending segregated bus seating  in Montgomery, Ala.   How They Started In the 1960 case Boynton v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional. Yet segregation on interstate bus and rail lines in the South persisted. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a civil rights group, sent seven blacks and six whites on two public buses headed for the South on May 4, 1961. The goal: to test the Supreme Court ruling on segregated interstate travel in the former Confederate states. For two weeks, the activists planned to flout Jim Crow laws by sitting on the front of buses and in â€Å"whites only† waiting rooms in bus terminals. â€Å"Boarding that Greyhound bus to travel to the Deep South, I felt good. I felt happy,† Rep. John Lewis recalled during a May 2011  appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Then a seminary student, Lewis would go on to become a U.S. congressman from Georgia. During the first few days of their trip, the mixed-race group of activists traveled largely without incident. They didn’t have security and didn’t need it—yet. But on May 12, Lewis, another black Freedom Rider and a white Freedom Rider named Albert Bigelow, were beaten when they tried to enter a whites-only waiting area Rock Hill, South Carolina. After arriving in Atlanta on May 13, they attended a reception hosted by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But the celebration took on a decidedly ominous tone when King alerted them that the Ku Klux Klan was organizing against them in Alabama. Despite King’s warning, the Freedom Riders did not change their course. As expected, when they reached Alabama, their journey took a turn for the worse. A Perilous Journey On the outskirts of Anniston, Alabama, members of a white supremacist mob showed just what they thought about the Freedom Riders by bashing in their bus and slashing its tires. To boot, the Alabama Klansmen set the bus on fire and blocked the exits to trap the Freedom Riders inside. It wasn’t until the bus’ fuel tank exploded that the mob dispersed and the Freedom Riders were able to escape. After a similar mob attacked the Freedom Riders in Birmingham, the U.S. Justice Department stepped in and evacuated the activists to their destination of New Orleans, averting more potential injury. The Second Wave Due to the amount of violence inflicted on Freedom Riders, the leaders of CORE were faced either with abandoning the Freedom Rides or continuing to send activists into harm’s way. Ultimately, CORE officials decided to send more volunteers on the rides. Diane Nash, an activist who helped to organize Freedom Rides, explained  to Oprah Winfrey: â€Å"It was clear to me that if we allowed the Freedom Ride to stop at that point, just after so much violence had been inflicted, the message would have been sent that all you have to do to stop a nonviolent campaign is inflict massive violence.† On the second wave of rides, activists journeyed from Birmingham to Montgomery, Alabama in relative peace. Once the activists reached Montgomery, though, a mob of more than 1,000 attacked them. Later, in Mississippi, Freedom Riders were arrested for entering a whites-only waiting room in a Jackson bus terminal. For this act of defiance, authorities arrested the Freedom Riders, housing them in one of Mississippi’s most notorious correctional facilities—Parchman State Prison Farm. â€Å"The reputation of Parchman is that it’s a place that a lot of people get sent ... and don’t come back,† former Freedom Rider Carol Ruth told Winfrey. During the summer of 1961, 300 Freedom Riders were imprisoned there. Inspiration Then and Now The struggles of the Freedom Riders garnered nationwide publicity. Rather than intimidate other activists, however, the brutality the riders encountered inspired others to take up the cause. Before long, dozens of Americans were volunteering to travel on Freedom Rides. In the end, an estimated 436 people took such rides. The efforts of the Freedom Riders were finally rewarded when the Interstate Commerce Commission decided on Sept. 22, 1961, to ban segregation in interstate travel. Today, the contributions the Freedom Riders made to civil rights are the subject of a PBS documentary called Freedom Riders. In 2011, 40 students commemorated the Freedom Rides of 50 years before by boarding buses that retraced the journey of the first set of Freedom Riders.