The positives and negatives of Mold

The positives and negatives of Mold When you hear the word mold, what comes to mind? Is it something green, fuzzy, and squishy? Do you immediately want to throw it away? Do you run screaming from the room or duck and hide? If you are a scientist, you will look more closely. You will look at mold in a different way, through different eyes. Mold is a whole new world to explore. It is important to understand what mold is, its harmful effects and its possible benefits. What is mold? In the American Heritage Dictionary, mold is any of various fungous growths often causing disintegration of organic matter. Molds are classified as part of the kingdom fungi (Ammirati, par. 6). They fall into the divisions Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota and Zygomycota (Ammirati, para. 6). Molds are microscopic fungi that live on plant or animal matter (USDA, par. 1). They are made up of multiple cells and can sometimes be seen with the naked eye (USDA, par. 2). Unlike other plants, mold has no chlorophyll, but rather it lives on food or decaying matter (Ammirati, par. 1). When mold appears on food, it can be greenish in color, or white and cotton-like in appearance. Mold has at least three parts which include the root threads, which invade the food it lives on; the stalk, which rises above the food, and the spores which form at the ends of the stalks which give the mold its color (USDA, par. 2). Mold develops from spores, which when they are dry, float through the air until they find suitable conditions to start the growth cycle again. (USDA, par. 8). When a mold spore lands on damp food, it swells and begins to grow by producing tiny hyphae (threads). The hyphae form a tangled mass called a mycelium, which in turn produces aerial pyphae called stolons. Rootlike structures known as rhizoids anchor stolons in the food (Ammirati, par. 3). This is what allows the mold to stay on the food. By the time the mold appears to the eye on the surface of food, it has already penetrated into the food. Therefore, most molds are threadlike spores (USDA, par. 1). Mold is found in virtually every environment. It is found inside and outside. It is found throughout the year (USDA, par. 7). Mold grows in warm humid conditions. Outside, these may be shady damp areas where leaves and other materials are decomposing (USDA, par. 7). Mold can also grow in refrigerators because they can tolerant sugars and salts better than most other food invaders (USDA par. 15). There are different kinds of molds including blue molds which grow on breads, green molds which grow on cheese and water molds which live in water and soil (Ammirati, par. 2). Mold does not need light to grow but each kind of mold needs certain materials for growth (Pascoe 7). Mold is the only plant that does not have roots, leaves, flowers, or seeds (Pascoe 7). How is mold harmful? It is probably not surprising to learn that mold is potentially harmful. However, it may surprise one to learn that mold has been linked to types of cancer. Molds can cause problems as common as allergic reactions and respiratory problems (USDA, par. 5). Some another diseases that mold can cause are athletes foot, and ringworm in people, and various blights in plants (Pascoe 7). Some more serious if not treated diseases that mold can cause are dangerous forms of pneumonia and it can infect the lungs (Pascoe 17). Mold sometimes contains a poisonous substance called mycotoxins that can make you sick (USDA, par. 5). Mycotoxins are found primarily in grain and nut crops (USDA, par. 10). They are also found in celery, grape juice, apples, and other produce (USDA, par. 10). According to one source, as much as twenty-five percent (25%) of the worlds food crops are affected by mycotoxins (USDA, par. 10). Some mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin, can cause cancer. Mold is not something to mess arou nd with. How is mold beneficial? Despite its ugly appearance and potentially hazardous effects, mold can offer some great benefits. First of all, mold can be beneficial to the gardener. Leaf mold greatly improves the structure and water-holding capacity of soil. It also creates the perfect conditions for the community of beneficial organisms that dwell in your soil (Galloway, par.1). Leaf mold can hold up to 500 times its own weight in water which helps plants to retain moisture during the summer or dry season (Galloway, par.8). In a recent study they found that garden soil amended with leaf mold had a twenty percent(20%) lower bulk density than soil to which leaf mold was not added (Galloway, par.9). It also fertilizes soil by breaking down the dead organisms and waste material (Ammirati, par. 5). In the early 1900s, scientists had began working to develop drugs that could destroy microbes, but the substances that came out where either ineffective or dangerous (Cupp, par. 29). However, one day Penicillin which is made from Penicillium mold was invented (Ammirati, par. 5). Penicillium mold is green-gray color (Pascoe 29). It was invented accidentally by Sir Alexander Fleming, a British bacteriologist, in 1928 (Dauben, par. 38). His laboratory was in London (Souza 49). He noticed one day that a bit of mold of the genus Penicillium had contaminated a laboratory dish containing bacteria. All the bacteria had been killed around the mold (Dauben, par. 38). Therefore, mold would ultimately be used for a variety of medical problems. Not until the end of World War II (1939-45) was there enough of penicillium available to treat large numbers of patients (Souza 50). Another thing that mold is good for is eating. People may think why and who would eat mold? Some molds are used to make certain kinds of cheese. For example: Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola, and Stilton (USDA, par. 14). The most recent discover is the new mechanism in the reproductive cycle of certain species of mold. This mechanism protects the organism from genetic abnormalities by silencing unmatched genes during meiosis (sexual reproduction). It is to help target unwanted genes such as the HIV Virus, and other serious diseases (ScienceDaily, Par. 1). Another thing that molds are useful for is it plays an important and helpful role in the cycle of life. The molds help breakdown the dead plants and animal material then it returns useful nutrients to the soil (Pascoe 6). Aspergillus blown mold doesnt help save lives but it is often used to produce that citric acid that gives some candies and soft drinks a lemony flavor, as well as to make soy sauce and a Japanese alcoholic drink called sake (Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein, and Robert Silverstein 47-48). The study of mold is not for the weak stomach. The greenish color and resulting decay of the food does not make it a very appealing subject to most. However, learning about mold, what it is, how it can be harmful and how it is beneficial can be rewarding. Mold has an interesting way of finding foods different from most other plant life. They also have a strange way of traveling, basically catching a ride, on breezes and air currents. The most disturbing things about mold is how sick it can make someone, but we mustnt forget there are benefits that have been found using mold in research to treat some types serious diseases. However, as I learned from my research, mold has its good and bad characteristics.

Reading Books Essay

Reading a book is one of the best forms of entertainment a person can have. Books can take you places to a time and lifestyle that you will never visit or experience. I remember the old show called â€Å"Reading Rainbow† and it lyrics were gave a very interesting take on books they went like this: â€Å"I can twice as high take a look, it’s in a book A Reading Rainbow, I can go anywhere, Friends to know and ways to grow, Reading Rainbow, I can be anything take a look it’s in a book.† Those lyrics are so true. Reading a book you can read about how life was in the 1700’s up until our generation today. I could be a detective who solves a famous mystery or I could be the killer trying to get away. I can learn to speak another language. There are so many things and topics in reading a book that can change your appearance, your political viewpoints, and change your attitude. Some say that books might become obsolete because movies are made from these books and you can watch the movies in two hours. Watching the movies a person feels that you can get the plot and conclusion of the book in two hours. This is true but for example if it is true life story the movie are going to change some parts of the books to make it more enjoyable, whereas the book is going to give you every detail the author wants you to have. Books gives people a conversation piece just like a movie but the only difference is books can join the world. Movies can’t be seen in some countries but a book can be read. So like the Reading Rainbow says â€Å"take a look it’s in a book†. So in conclusion reading a book is the best form of entertainment. Stephanie C. Williams November 20, 2010

Corporate Social Responsibility - Fashion Retailing in Europe - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1298 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Fashion Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Corporate Social Responsibility Fashion Retailing in Europe       Contents Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility Introduction While retailers of Fast Moving Consumer Goods are the prevailing segment of the worldwide retail economy, fashion merchandise retailers are more worldwide in their scope and they have appreciated industry driving net overall revenues. In the meantime as open enthusiasm for corporate citizenship has developed so a considerable lot of fashion great retailers have seen their supply binds subjected to discriminating political and media examination and in a few ways they have progressively turned into general society face of retailing, discussions for the future. Case in point, has contended that while the fashion business brings numerous profits to regular lives over the globe and that it goes past basic garments to express character, make prosperity, grasp imagination and join worldwide groups it likewise has a negative side, portrayed best case scenario by industrial facilities misusing specialists, producing disposable fashion, squandering assets and empowering unsustainable util ization. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In a comparative vein de Brito et.alà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Marisa P. de Brito, 2007) recommends the fashion retail production network is especially touchy to sustainability à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"in that the creation methodology makes concentrated utilization of compound items and characteristic assets, creating a high natural effect. With that as a main priority this contextual study offers an exploratory analysis of the Corporate Social Responsibility (C S R) issues at present being openly tended to by the worlds driving fashion products retailers and it incorporates a brief prologue to CSR, a brief thumbnail portrayal of the fashion merchandise industry, points of interest of the system for enquiry, a depiction of the CSR issues presently being openly tended to by the main ten retailers and offers some discriminating reflections on the CSR plans being sought after by retailers. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Corporate Social Responsibility Fashion Retailing in Europe" essay for you Create order Corporate Social Responsibility In straightforward terms CSR is concerned with the relationship in the middle of organizations and the social orders with which they interface. While Piercy and Lane recommend that exact meaning of corporate social obligation is dangerous a scope of definitions has been advertised. Werner and Chandler, for instance, characterize CSR as a perspective of the organization and its part in the public arena that expect an obligation among firms to seek after objectives notwithstanding benefit amplification and an obligation among an associations partners to consider the firm responsible for its activities (Estelle van Tonder). Godfrey and Hatch recommend that CSR is established in the thought that organizations have commitments to society that develop past negligible benefit making exercises while for Brown and Dacin Corporate social obligation affiliations mirror the associations status and exercises regarding its apparent societal commitments. Although CSR has without a doubt increased expanding energy over the business group amid the previous decade it is vital to perceive that the basic idea has a long history. Hopkins and Crowe, for instance, recommend that there has dependably been a strain in the middle of business and social objectives and they refer to the force of the art organizations in the Middle Ages, the slave exchange and the battles to enhance living and working conditions in Britains quickly developing towns and urban areas amid the nineteenth century, as realistic samples of these pressures. Sadler has contended that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the meaning of the capacities of the enterprise with connection to more extensive social and moral, obligations started to happen in the focuses of entrepreneur improvement in the nineteenth century (Staudt, 2014). The three predominant hypotheses that have been utilized to examine and clarify CSR have been briefly outlined by Moir. Partner hypothesis recommends that it bodes well for organizations to comprehend the needs and yearnings of all their partners be they financial specialists, governments, representatives, communities, customers or suppliers and that these needs and goals ought to be reflected in corporate procedure. Social Contracts hypothesis attests that organizations may seek after CSR not since it is to their greatest advantage but since it is the way society anticipates that organizations will work. Authenticity hypothesis focuses on that society gifts energy to organizations and it anticipates that they will utilize such power as a part of a dependable way (british-assessment, 2011). The business case for CSR is seen to concentrate on an extensive variety of potential benefits. These incorporate enhanced budgetary execution and benefit; diminished working expenses; long haul manageability for organizations and their representatives; expanded staff responsibility and association; improved ability to advance; great relations with governments and groups; better hazard and eme rgency administration; upgraded notoriety and brand esteem; and the advancement of closer connections with clients and more noteworthy consciousness of their needs and desires. In the meantime there are the individuals who might champion the body of evidence against organizations incorporating CSR into their center business. Such contentions may take after Friedmann in insisting that there is unparalleled one social obligation of business-to utilize its assets and draw in as a part of exercises intended to build its benefits so long as it stays inside the standards of the amusement, which is to say participates in open and free rivalry without trickery or extortion. Henderson has contended that developing business responsibility to CSR is profoundly defective in that it lies on a mixed up perspective of issues whats more (Alessia Dà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Amato, 2009), occasions and its general selection by business would lessen welfare and undermine the business sector economy. For the mo st part Kitchin contends that CSR is so slender it couldnt be possible connect with administration consideration, excessively expansive and unquantifiable, making it impossible to be considered important by the monetary group and sufficiently wooly to be abused by scoundrels and pioneers. The Fashion Industry The fashion business is a standout amongst the most imperative segments of the world economy. The worldwide attire and extravagance merchandise business sector created an expected $1, 334 billion in 2008 (CO., 2009)yet from various perspectives fashion goes past offering apparel and footwear to shield the wearer from the components, it is additionally, and maybe all the more critically, a method for social statement and a way people structure and convey their personality. While garments retailing frequently is by all accounts general society face of fashion the business is much more extensive and incorporates apparel, footwear and frill and grasps the characteristic materials and engineered filaments from which they are created and also and assembling, dispersion and advertising. The fashion business is wildly focused and quick moving and is driven by creative outlines, the high power/forceful advancement of architect brands and media scope of fashion models and big name ways of life and shoppers requests for access to apparently always showing signs of change new fashions. Fashion products therefore regularly have a short timeframe of realistic usability and a great part of the business is described by the requirement for fashioners, makers and retailers to meet tight creation and circulation plans. The fashion industry is both mind boggling and various however it can maybe be helpfully separated into five sections specifically haute couture; the extravagance market; moderate extravagance showcase; the mass market; and markdown brands. Haute couture is the most extravagant and select end of the business keeping in mind the extravagance fragment is maybe most effortlessly characterized similar to a venture down in both quality and costs it targets affluent clients. The moderate extravagance business sector looks to target optimistic clients who wish to buy items that duplicate elegant styles yet are offered to more focused costs, while mass business client s are arranged to yield selectiveness for value while the markdown division cooks for value touchy clients. Despite the fact that the overwhelmingly larger part of design products are still obtained in customary shops and stores the volume of retail deals by means of electronic trade and versatile retailing is becoming quickly and advertising and person to person communication is assuming an expanding part in showcasing and advancement.