Animal Studies and School Project Ideas

Animal research is important for understanding various biological processes in animals, humans included. Scientists study animals in order to learn ways for improving their agricultural health, our methods of wildlife preservation, and even the potential for human companionship. These studies also take advantage of certain animal and human similarities to discover new methods for improving human health. Learning From Animals Researching animals to improve human health is possible because animal behavior experiments study disease development and transmission as well as animal viruses. Both of these fields of study help researchers to understand how disease interacts between and within animals. We can also learn about humans by observing normal and abnormal behavior in non-human animals, or behavioral studies. The following animal project ideas help to introduce animal behavioral study in many different species. Be sure to get permission from your instructor before beginning any animal science projects or behavioral experiments, as some science fairs prohibit these. Select a single species of animal to study from each subset, if not specified, for best results. Amphibian and Fish Project Ideas Does temperature affect tadpole growth?Do water pH levels affect tadpole growth?Does water temperature affect amphibian respiration?Does magnetism affect limb regeneration in newts?Does water temperature affect fish color?Does the size of a population of fish affect individual growth?Does music affect fish activity?Does the amount of light affect fish activity? Bird Project Ideas What species of plants attract hummingbirds?How does temperature affect bird migration patterns?What factors increase egg production?Do different bird species prefer different colors of birdseed?Do birds prefer to eat in a group or alone?Do birds prefer one type of habitat over another?How does deforestation affect bird nesting?How do birds interact with manmade structures?Can birds be taught to sing a certain tune? Insect Project Ideas How does temperature affect the growth of butterflies?How does light affect ants?Do different colors attract or repel insects?How does air pollution affect insects?How do insects adapt to pesticides?Do magnetic fields affect insects?Does soil acidity affect insects?Do insects prefer the food of a certain color?Do insects behave differently in populations of different sizes?What factors cause crickets to chirp more often?What substances do mosquitoes find attractive or repellent? Mammal Project Ideas Does light variation affect mammal sleep habits?Do cats or dogs have better night vision?Does music affect an animals mood?Do bird sounds affect cat behavior?Which mammal sense has the greatest effect on short-term memory?Does dog saliva have antimicrobial properties?Does colored water affect mammal drinking habits?What factors influence how many hours a cat sleeps in a day? Science Experiments and Models Performing science experiments and constructing models are fun and exciting ways to learn about science and supplement studies. Try making a model of the lungs or a DNA model using candy for these animal experiments.

Definition and Examples of Subjunctive Mood in English

In English grammar, the subjunctive is the mood of a verb expressing wishes, stipulating demands, or making statements contrary to fact.  Etymologically, the word subjunctive is from the  Latin, subjoin, bind, subordinate.  Pronunciation:  sub-JUNG-tif  mood The present subjunctive is the bare form of a verb (that is, a verb with no ending). It does not show agreement with its subject. (Example: I strongly recommend that he retire.) Two patterns of the present subjunctive are generally recognized: Formulaic SubjunctiveMandative Subjunctive The only distinctive form of the past subjunctive is the word were. It is used with singular subjects in conditional sentences and with the subordinating conjunctions as if and as though. (Example: I love him as if he were my son.) Guidelines for Using the Subjunctive The subjunctive may be used in the following circumstances in formal writing. Contrary-to-fact clauses beginning with if:If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?(Abraham Lincoln)Contrary-to-fact clauses expressing a wish:At that moment, I had the most desperate wish that she were dead.(Harrison Ford as Rusty Sabich in Presumed Innocent, 1990)That clauses after verbs such as ask, demand, insist, propose, request, and suggest:I demand that he leave at once.Statements of necessity:Its necessary that she be in the room with you.Certain fixed expressions:as it were, be that as it may be, far be it from me, heaven forbid, if need be, so be it, suffice it to say Additional Examples and Observations I wouldnt bring up Paris if I were you. Its poor salesmanship.(Humphrey Bogart as Rick in Casablanca, 1942)Even the dog, an animal used to bizarre surroundings, developed a strange, off-register look, as if he were badly printed in overlapping colors.(S.J. Perelman, quoted by Roy Blount, Jr., in Alphabet Juice, 2008)Well sir, all I can say is if I were a bell, Id be ringing!(Frank Loesser, If I Were a Bell. Guys and Dolls, 1950)If music be the food of love, play on.(William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night)The public be damned.(William Henry Vanderbilt, Oct. 8, 1882)If I see one more shirttail flapping while Im captain of this ship, woe betide the sailor; woe betide the OOD; and woe betide the morale officer. I kid you not.(Humphrey Bogart as Lt. Commander Philip Francis Queeg in The Caine Mutiny, 1954)If there were a death penalty for corporations, Enron may have earned it.In the night he awoke and held her tight as though she were all of life and it was being taken away from him.(Robert Jordan in For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, 1940) The Were-Subjunctive (Irrealis Were) Teachers call this by a formidable word, subjunctive, meaning lacking in reality. What it refers to is actually the Fairy Tale Syndrome. If I were a rich man, could be such a mood. It refers to something that is not possible. If the possibility exists, the sentence would read: If I was a rich man. (Val Dumond, Grammar for Grownups. HarperCollins, 1993)Unlike the mandative subjunctive, the were-subjunctive in counterfactual if-clauses is a recessive feature of standard written English. It is not being replaced by a modal but, instead, by indicative was. Would be instead of were in counterfactual if-clauses is still largely confined to informal, spoken English. It is meeting with strong prescriptive reaction, especially in the US. One side-effect of this, so to speak, is hypercorrect use of were in non-counterfactuals. (Geoffrey Leech, Marianne Hundt, Christian Mair, and Nicholas Smith, Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study. Cambridge University Press, 2012) Advice As with the misuse of whom instead of who, . . . using the subjunctive wrongly is worse than not using it all, and will make you look pompous and silly. (David Marsh and Amelia Hodsdon, Guardian Style, 3rd ed. Guardian Books, 2010)The subjunctive mood is in its death throes, and the best thing to do is put it out of its misery as soon as possible. (Somerset Maugham, A Writers Notebook, 1949) The Lighter Side of Subjunctives Detective Sergeant Lewis: All that stonework, must take months to do the pointing.Chief Inspector Morse: Youre not a bloody mason, are you?Detective Sergeant Lewis: No such luck. I might have been a Chief Inspector by now if I was.Chief Inspector Morse: Were, Lewis, if you were. Youll never get on if you cant master your subjunctives. Keep touching your forelock, we may be back in Oxford before lunch.Detective Sergeant Lewis: Shouldnt that be might?(Kevin Whately and John Thaw in Ghost in the Machine. Inspector Morse, 1987)Dancer: [reading a book titled English Grammar and Usage] Julie, you take this whole business about the subjunctive. I dont know.Julian: All right, Dancer, all right. Whats so difficult about the subjunctive?Dancer: Well, you take this, for instance: If I was you. You know? Thats all wrong. It says here, If I were you. How far can you go with this speech stuff?Julian: It sets you up, Dancer. It sets you up. Remember that. How many characters do you know hang around street corners can say, If I were you? How many, huh?Dancer: If I were you. If I were you.(Eli Wallach and Robert Keith in The Lineup, 1958)

The Legal Recognition Of Same Sex Marriage - 925 Words

In this paper I will discuss marriage and its legal, social, and symbolic benefits. I will discuss the major arguments for the legal recognition of same-sex marriage and will mention the newest policy of same-sex marriage in the State of Oklahoma. I will give a historical analysis of marriage and family policy in the United States and summarize the information I found on freedomtomarry.org. I will conclude with my analysis of legal marriage for committed same-sex couples. There are over 1,000 federal benefits for married persons in the United States. Some of which are: â€Å"visitation rights and can make medical decisions, unless otherwise specified in a living will, benefits for federal employees -- many of which are also offered by private employers -- such as sick leave, bereavement leave, days off for the birth of a child, pension and retirement benefits, family health insurance plans, some property and inheritance rights, even in the absence of a will, the ability to create life insurance trusts, tax benefits, such as being able to give tax free gifts to a spouse and to file joint tax returns (Silverman, 1998-2014).† These benefits are made for those who conform to a standard ideal of marriage in the United States. They also hurt those who do not. Maybe this was society’s way of keeping those in the minority group suppressed. 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Finance Earnings and Desire of Shareholders

Question: Discuss about theFinancefor Earnings and Desire of Shareholders. Answer: Stating the Factors that Might Influence Payment of Dividend: The main factors that might influence payment of dividend are magnitude of earnings, desire of shareholders, nature of industry, liquidity position, future requirements business risk and agency cost. These factors mainly affect the dividend payment policy of the company, which might help in generating demand among potential investors. Liu, Uchida Yang (2014) mentioned that companies with the consistent dividend payout are able to inflate their share price and generate high capital from IPO sale. On the contrary, Hernndez Junca (2015) argued that after the dividend payment, short-term traders mainly exit their position, which nominally reduces share price of the company. In addition, increasing profitability and general reserves mainly increase the expectations of the investor for higher dividends, which in turn inflates its share price. Moreover, investors for making an adequate investment decision mainly use the dividend payout ratio or yield. Commenting on Joe Smolinski's Suggestion for Not Paying the Dividend: Joe Smolinkskis main comment was that if it aint broke we should not fix it. This phrase mainly referred to the deteriorating divined policy of the company. The company should only take action if its dividend policy backlashes and hinders its growth prospects. Due to non-payment of dividends, the company share price has mainly fallen from $25 to $2 and is currently trading at $8. The past dividends are mainly used in the Gordon growth model by high-end investors, which depict the actual share price value of the company. The investors are not able to detect the actual value of companies share price that does not pay any dividend by using the dividend discount model. Li, He Tang (2014) argued that non-dividend payment companies have less debt accumulation as the dividend amount is reinvested in the company for improving its growth and generate higher return. Providing Relevant Explanation and Critically Evaluating the Jim Baker's Argument: From the case study, it could be evaluated that the company has been operating with shareholders money for 4 year and have not paid any dividend, which has drastically reduced its share price from $25 to $2. This drastic decline in share price value is due to the non-payment of dividends, which have decreased the interest of investors in the company. LUO WU (2016) mentioned that long-term investors mainly choose companies that provide consistent dividends, which might help in depicting financial stability and generate return from its investment. On the contrary, Coetzee de (2014) argued that short-term investors mainly evaluate the price movement and does not relate to the dividend policy of the company. The share price will suffer if the company does not pay the dividends this year as its shown promising returns and has been declining the demands of the investors. The non-payment of dividends could reduce the interest of the current investor and generate a massive sale of shares, which might negatively affect the current share price of the company. Pension funds, insurance companies and mutual funds investor hold 43% of the total shares of the company, which mainly relies on dividends. Thus, non-payment of dividends might instigate a major sell signal for the institutional investors and share price of the company might suffer in near future (De Mpinda 2013). Commenting on the Dividend Payment Debate Stated in New Wave Corporation: The company has been generating goods profits after the IPO issues but the directors of the company instead of providing dividends retained the profit for reinvestment in the business. However, the reinvestment decision of the directors was mainly fruitful during the troubles time that was faced by the company. This reinvestment policy mainly reduced the debt accumulation, which might have conducted during the economic downturn. Currently the share price of the company has declined from its previous high of $25, due to the unexpected downturn in the economy. However, the share price of the company increased from $2 to $8 but was not able to touch its previous high due to its no dividend policy. Viviers, Firer Muller (2013) mentioned that adaptation of no dividend policy mainly reduces its fiction in attracting long-term potential investors, which might provide the required capital to the company for achieving the targeted goals. On the contrary, Kao Chen (2013) argued that currentl y companies mainly use the debt accumulation strategy, which allows them to get extra exemption from tax and improve their profit retention capacity. Particular Amount Retained earnings 1,000,000 Cash 250,000 Total cash available 1,250,000 Investment needed 1,000,000 Cash balance 250,000 Cash retention 150,000 Dividend paid 100,000 Dividend per share 0.1 Table 1: Stating the dividend per share (Source: As mentioned in the case study) Bob McKay mainly commented on using the residual dividend policy method, which might help in supporting the companys capital structure requirements and improve its dividend yield. The table 1 could effectively depict the residual dividend policy, which might be used for improving the dividend yield of the company. Balachandran, Krishnamurti, Theobald Vidanapathirana (2012) argued that residual dividend policy portrays unstable dividend payment structure, which increase the risk of investment for investors. In this context, Giugale Nguyen (2014) further stated that investors mainly ignore companies with unstable dividend policy, which negatively affects its share price valuation. Particular Amount Retained earnings 1,000,000 Cash 250,000 Total cash available 1,250,000 Investment needed 1,000,000 Cash balance 250,000 Cash retention 150,000 Amount used for share buy back 100,000 Current share price 8 Number of share buy back 12,500 Table 2: Stating the number of shares bought back (Source: As mentioned in the case study) However, Edwin mainly stated that stock repurchase could be conducted after fulfilling the investment needs of the company. Companies to improve their overall EPS and project a healthy investment opportunity to the investors mainly use stock repurchase method (Liu, Uchida Yang 2014). The method could only help the company to repurchase 12500 shares in the current price, which might not help in creating the required demand for its stocks. On the contrary, Hernndez Junca (2015) criticises that stock repurchase does not help if the company invests in own stocks and cannot generate income from other source. After the evaluation of New Wave Corporation income and balance sheet statement, it could be found that the company has made adequate income this fiscal year. However, the investment of 1,000,000 is mainly needed and the retained income is 1,000,000. The company has not paid any kind of dividend to its shareholders after generating higher income from shareholders money. Thus, declaration of dividends could be helpful in generating interest of investors and boosts companies overall share price. Coetzee de (2014) mentioned that continuity in dividend declaration mainly allows companies to attract high-end investors, which might help in improving both share price and investment capital. The main reason behind the payment of dividends is the high-retained income and cash availability achieved by the company. Generally, there are five different type of dividend payment policy, which is adopted by the company. These dividend payment policies are effectively depicted as follows. Regular Stock Dividends: This type of dividend policy is mainly used by companies who needs the dividend amount to boosts its capital structure. The companies mainly provide stock dividends, which might reduce EPS of the company and hamper investors perception (Giugale Nguyen 2014). The stock dividends policy hampers the share value and investment capital, which might be generated from capital market. Regular Extra Dividends: The extra divined are only provided by companies that follow a stable dividend policy. The companies mainly pay extra dividends when there is an excess income attained during the fiscal year. These types of dividends are mainly used to companies to instigate demand among potential investors and increase their share price (Balachandran, Krishnamurti, Theobald Vidanapathirana 2012). No Immediate Dividends: This type dividend policy mainly adopted by the companies that are new and have huge capital needs. The dividend amount is mainly reinvested in the business for improving its capital structure. However, the company needs to pay bonuses in form of stocks, which might increase the dividend amount (Kao Chen 2013). Stable Dividends: The stable dividend policy is mainly adopted by the firms, which provide fixed income to its shareholders regardless of the fluctuation in its income. The primary focus of the company is to maintain the dividend rate, which might help in accumulating high end investors (Viviers, Firer Muller 2013). Irregular or Residual Dividend: Companies to support its capital structure needs mainly use irregular or residual dividend policy. This policy mainly uses the retained income for supporting its investment needs and the balance amount is paid to the shareholders. Li, He Tang (2014) mentioned that irregular dividend policy allows companies to reduce the investment expenditure, which might incur during the expansion process. New Wave Corporation could effectively use the residual or irregular dividend policy, which was depicted by Bob McKay. This policy could effectively help the company by supporting the capital expenditure needs during the expansion or capital restructuring process. Furthermore, high cash dividend could also be paid during the non-investment years, which could help investors maintain high level of interest in the company. Reference: Balachandran, B., Krishnamurti, C., Theobald, M., Vidanapathirana, B. (2012). Dividend reductions, the timing of dividend payments and information content.Journal of Corporate Finance,18(5), 1232-1247. Coetzee, M. S., de Wet, J. (2014). Dividend Tax, Dividend Payments and Share Values: A South African Perspective.Corporate Ownership Control,11(3), 242252. De Wet, J., Mpinda, M. (2013). The impact of dividend payments on shareholders' wealth: evidence from the Vector Error Correction Model.De Wet, JH vH. Mpinda, M, 1451-1465. Giugale, M., Nguyen, N. T. V. (2014). Money to the People: Estimates of the Potential Scale of Direct Dividend Payments in Africa.Center for Global Development, Policy Paper,43. Hernndez, C., Junca, M. (2015). Optimal dividend payments under a time of ruin constraint: Exponential claims.Insurance: Mathematics and Economics,65, 136-142. Kao, L., Chen, A. (2013). How product market competition affects dividend payments in a weak investor protection economy: Evidence from Taiwan.Pacific-Basin Finance Journal,25, 21-39. Li, W. X., He, T. T., Tang, G. Y. (2014). Ultimate control, expropriation and dividend payments: a reputation management perspective.Journal of General Management,40(2). Liu, C., Uchida, K., Yang, Y. (2014). Controlling shareholder, split-share structure reform and cash dividend payments in China.International Review of Economics Finance,29, 339-357. LUO, Q., WU, Z. (2016). Agency Problem between Controlling and Minority Shareholders and Corporate Cash Dividend.Journal of Management,3, 010. Viviers, S., Firer, C., Muller, C. (2013). A review of the dividend payments of South African listed companies during the period 1977-2011.Management Dynamics,22(4), 2.