Analysis of Home Safety of the Elderly Living in City and Rural Areas

Analysis of Home Safety of the Elderly Living in City and Rural Areas 1. Absract Physiological changes and chronic diseases arising during aging process increase risk of accident of the elderly, especially the elderly living alone at their homes. Home accidents are the most commonly health problem in the elderly. This study was carried out to describe home safety of the elderly living in a city or rural area using a home safety checklist. 512 living in Turkey (330 in city; 182 in rural area) were evaluated via face-to-face interview using a home safety checklist during a period between December and March in 2007. In addition to sociodemographics, a questionnaire including home characteristics and life style of participants was applied. To describe home safety level, Home Safety Checklist was used. 2-Introduction Aging, which is a part of life and a nonrecoverable process. Developments in the field of tecnology,health and nutrition increasing life expectancy in the general population has led to an increased incidence of elderly population. Especially in industrialized countries, this increase is faster. The increase in elderly population by bringing with it social problems, particularly affecting the family structure of the elderly living alone is cause Depending on the time during the aging process in human organism, physical, physiological and psychological changes are emerging. Decrease with aging occur in the physical abilities, to continue their activities of daily living and home-related poses an obstacle to the execution of work. Physiological changes and the age of progress emerged due to chronic diseases, especially those living alone at home often face with the risk of accidents . An important part of the problems faced by the elderly home accidents constituted. Physiological changes and dementia as well as some chronic diseases, norooftalmalojik findings, progressive hearing loss, posture, balance and gait disturbances and sensory changes, has led to increased risk of accidents. The elderly, the most important preventive safety applications, one of the age-related physiological deficiency in developing corrective to troubleshoot instruments (hearing aid, glasses, etc.. ) Usage as a domestic accident may lead to removal of conditions must be determined. Therefore, in recent years in elderly home safety and home safety inspection and control increased the importance of the list. In this context, is widely used in the field of health inspection and control lists, and application tools are the most important ergonomic evaluation. 3-Explict Statemnet Of The Study Objective Including Operational Definition: This study used a home safety check list and the elderly living at home in our country, the security situation in the house and emerged with aging in terms of accident risks in order to examine the status of housing are planned. Sample Groups: Sample 1:The elderly who is living in the city Sample 2:The elderly who is living in the rural areas Variables: Age This variables;the elderly who is living in the city Gender and the rural areas used to investigate the Education demograhic datas. Marriage Status Occupational Status House type This variables; the elderly who is living in the city Private roomsand the rural areas was used to examine the status of Domestic Availabilitytheir home. Satisfaction: Financial Status: Living Arrengement: This variables;the elderly who is living in the city and the Leisure Activities rural areas was used to examine the their life style. Security Score p: is degree of freedom: In statistics, the number of degrees of freedom is the number of values in the final calculation of a statistic that are free to vary 4-Methodology Section: This descriptive type of study,we selected 512 elder people with random sampling method. 30 of 512 elder person which we select in the city and 182 of 512 which we collect in the rurely areas among december to march 2007 in 7 geographical regions of Turkey in Denizli, Izmir, Ayd? n, Antalya, Mersin, Ankara, Konya, Istanbul, Diyarbakir, Trabzon, Sinop and Zonguldak provinces. In collection of data, as well as demographic information, household status and forms of life questionnaire stating where questions were administered. To determine the level of home security developed by the National Security Council, consisting of 65 questions, Home Security Checklist is used. National Security Council, the score at 1-7 in the perfect home for safety aspects, between 8-14 scores well; 15 and on the scores were assessed as dangerous. A questionnaire containing sociodemographic and National Security Council with the elderly living at home with the method to be verbatim comments will be reviewed their homes Pamukkale University School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation was completed by senior students. Chi-square test was used for evaluating data. 5-Data Analysis Section Pearson's chi-square (? ) test is the best-known of several chi square test – statistical procedures whose results are evaluated by reference to the chi square distrubition. Its properties were first investigated by Karl Pearson. In contexts where it is important to make a distinction between the test statistic and its distribution, names similar to Pearson ? -squared test or statistic are used. It tests a null hypothesis stating that the frequency distrubition of certain events ob served in a sample is consistent with a particular theoretical distribution. The events considered must be mutually exclusive and have total probability 1. A common case for this is where the events each cover an outcome of a categorial variable. A simple example is the hypothesis that an ordinary six-sided dia is â€Å"fair†, i. e. , all six outcomes are equally likely to occur. Pearson's chi-square is the original and most widely-used chi-square test. Definition Pearson's chi-square is used to assess two types of comparison: tests of goodness of fit and tests of independence. A test of goodness of fit establishes whether or not an observed frequency distrubition differs from a theoretical distribution. A test of independence assesses whether paired observations on two variables, expressed in a contingency tables, are independent of each other – for example, whether people from different regions differ in the frequency with which they report that they support a political candidate. The first step in the chi-square test is to calculate the chi-square statistics. In order to avoid ambiguity, the value of the test-statistic is denoted by X2 rather than ? 2: this also serves as a reminder that the distribution of the test statistic is not exactly that of a chi-square random variable. However some authors do use the ? 2 notation for the test statistic. An exact test which does not rely on using the approximate ? 2 distribution is Fisher’s exact test ,this is significantly more accurate in evaluating the significance level of the test, especially with small numbers of observation. The chi-square statistic is calculated by finding the difference between each observed and theoretical frequency for each possible outcome, squaring them, dividing each by the theoretical frequency, and taking the sum of the results. A second important part of determining the test statistic is to define the degrees of freedom of the test: this is essentially the number of observed frequencies adjusted for the effect of using some of those observations to define the â€Å"theoretical frequencies†. Results: 11. 2% of the elderly living in the city , 14. 4% of the elderly living in rural areas whose age is 80 and over age in the range TABLE 1:Examination of demografic data for elderly people living in the city and in rural areas Variables | CITY | RURAL | | | | | |Age | | | |65-69 age | | | |70-79 age | | | |; 80 age | | | | | | | |Gender | | | | | n % | n % | | | | | | |171 51. 8 |78 42. 8 | | |122 36. 9 |78 42. | | |37 11. 2 |26 14. 3 | |Woman | 189 57. 3 |107 58. 8 | |Man |141 42. 7 |45 41. 2 | |EDUCATION | | | |Literacy does not know | 19. 1 19. 1 |61 33. | |Literate | | | |Primary School |37. 3 37. 3 |82 45. 1 | | |10. 3 10. 3 |9 4. 9 | |  Middle School |16. 7 16. 7 |16 8. 8 | | | | | |High school |9. 1 9. 1 |9 4. | |University |7. 6 7. 6 |5 2. 7 | |Marriage Status | | | |Single | 43 13 |18 9. 9 | |Married |249 75. 5 |150 82. 4 | | |38 11. 5 |14 7. | |  Divorced | | | |Occupational Status | | | | | | | |  Works |294 89 |154 84. 6 | | |36 11 |28 15. 4 | |Not working / Retired | | | TABLE 2: An analysis of the homes of elderly living in rural areas and in the city Variables | CITY | RURAL | | | | | | | |House type | | | | | | n % | n % | p | | | | | | |Detached | 128 36. 8 | 157 96. 3 | | | | | | | |  Apartment |202 61. 2 |25 13. 7 |0. 001 | | | | | | |Private rooms | | | | |Yes | 211 63. 9 |98 53. 8 | | |No |41 12. 4 |46 25. 3 | | |Have shared |78 33. 9 |38 20. 9 |0. 001 | |Domestic availability | | | | |Good | 218 66. 1 |106 58. | | |Bad |112 33. 9 |76 42. 7 |0. 05 | |Satisfaction | | | | |Satisfied | 233 71 |107 58. 8 | | | | | | | |  Not satisfied |97 29. 4 |75 41. 2 |0. 07 | | | | | | |Financial Situation | | | | |Self-sufficie nt | 257 77. 9 |109 59. 9 | | | | | | | |  Children looking |56 17 |52 28. 6 |0. 0001 | | |17 5. 1 |1 11. 5 | | |  Relatives looking | | | | Table 3 The examination of the life style of elderly living in rural areas and in the city |Variables | CITY | RURAL | | | | | | | |Living arrangement | | | | | | | | | |  Single | | | | | | | | |  With his wife | | | | | | | | | |  With relatives | | | | |Leisure activities | | | | | | n % | n % | p | | | | | | | | | | | | |59 17. 9 |30 16. 5 | | | | | |0. 5 | | |196 59. 4 |112 61. 5 | | | |75 22. 7 |40 22 | | | | | | | |  Participation is | 130 39. 4 | 48 26. 4 | | | |200 60. 6 |134 73. 4 |0. 03 | |  Accession No | | | | | | | | | |Security score | | | | |Excellent | 7 2. 1 | 0. 5 | | |  Ã‚  Well |76 23. 0 |27 14. 8 |0. 027 | |  Bad |247 74. 9 |154 84. 6 | | The information about situation of old peoples houses are presented in Table 2. About %59,4 percent of old people living in cities, and %61,5 percent of old people living in rural areas stated that they live with their husbands/wifes together. When results of Home Security and Control list are inspected; mean number of old people living in cities is 20. 61 ±8. 18, while mean number of old people living in rural areas is 25,16 ±9,59. About %74,9 percentage of houses of people living in cities are detected bad in security criterion, %23 are considered good and %2,1 are perfect. In rural areas however, %84,6 are detected bad, %14,8 are good and %0,5 are perfect. (Table 3) Debate: Every year, many old people get injured by an accident in their own houses, or near it. Most of injuries are caused by preventable dangers. Using house security and control list with regular periods, gives chance to value condition again, which leads possibility to make those dangers and risks obsolote. In our study, old people living in city and rural areas are found similiar by means of age and gender. This result shows that,HSCL results are not affected this two factors. Educational status of these two groups were examined, the higher the educational level of those living in cities and thus are better home security scores were observed. In our study, 86. 3% of those living in rural areas' reputation continued living in their houses   and 53. 8%of living in rural areas whose have a special room ,we have been identified. Proportion of people living in houses in the city (38. 8%) lower than those living in rural areas, although the cities have the people in the private room rate is higher (69. 9%). We think that it is significant to consider this situation, while arranging house by means of security. According to home safety checklist,reaching domestic usability for both elderly groups have similiar charecteristics,the average score was not effective on. However, a higher proportion of elderly living in rural areas in the (41. 2%) stated that they are not satisfied with our home security-related problems that indicate a large size. 40. 1% of those living in rural areas in need of financial support to someone else, in protection from danger at home to prevent the necessary ergonomic regulations is an important financial problem. In our study, we have control in the city (74. 9%) and of the houses in rural areas (84. %) a large proportion of unsafe and risky as to fall hazard was observed. For those living in the city, to live in the apartment, the financial situation is good to be home and satisfied with the condition are important factors in domestic security. For old people li ving in rural areas however, having poor education, living in a private house and being financially dependent raises the security score, and leads danger for security of people. Our results are also compatible with literature The surver used in our study, includes the different characteristics of house and different activities made in house, which allows to evaluate and be prepared against accident risks under each sub-topic. For old people living in rural areas however, having poor education, living in a private house and being financially dependent raises the security score, and leads danger for security of people. Our results are also compatible with literature . The surver used in our study, includes the different characteristics of house and different activities made in house, which allows to evaluate and be prepared against accident risks under each sub-topic. (1,2) %74. 9 percent of people living in cities and %86 percent of people living in rural areas have bad security score, which shows they are unprotected agains various accidents and falls. Those risks are similiar, both for old people living in apartments and private houses. Of each chapter house in terms of accident risk assessment and risk profile will reveal its relation with problems which occur with aging also are thought to be investigated. Moreover, determining the injury accident record form is important for audit and control systems. In light of all these records and data will be at home with ergonomic regulations reduce the risk of accidents increasing aging, the elderly and more healthy life with a higher level of quality of life can continue to take appropriate measures are required. 6-Ethical Consideration and Limitations: While we are doing a research on the elderly to learn their life,we respect their private life. So, we take care of shouldn’t be revealed their names and other personel information. 7-Research Results and Recommendations: In line with the results of our study, home security, the importance of quality of life is emphasized once again. Ergonomic and architectural creation of suitable habitat many risk eliminating the factors, will reduce the risk of injury. In this context, the health staff by producing a joint project with the architects of the houses in the community who live a healthy life, suitable for all individuals, especially the elderly are thought to be present. Also in this issue of local government, civil society organizations and government to develop policies and strategic plans are required. 8-Reference: www. korhek. org http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pearson's_chi-square_test

Gerontology and Social Exchange Theory Essay

Introduction The fundamental biological problem that all theories of aging seek to explain was stated very elegantly in 1957 by Williams when he wrote, â€Å"It is indeed remarkable that after a seemingly miraculous feat of morphogenesis, a complex metazoan should be unable to perform the much simpler task of merely maintaining what is already formed.† The difficulty in attempting to establish an understanding of aging is that it is not a single physiological process. It is multifaceted and hierarchical in its expression with subtle changes occurring simultaneously at the molecular, cellular, tissue and organ levels. The variety of characterizes many species, particularly humans, and the complexity of environmental interactions results in an enormous phenotypic variability being associated with aging. This variability is frequently confounded by the symptoms of underlying pathology and invariably increases between individuals with aging. First Transformation of Theory The beginning of social gerontology began as general perspectives on aging rather than as actual scientific theories. Prior to 1961, social gerontology attempted to explain how individuals adjusted to aging from role and activity perspectives. Growing old was seen as an inevitable process that led to the development of problems an individual experienced overtime. It wasn’t until 1961, with the development of disengagement theory, that there was an actual theory being used as a basis for scientific research. A basic assumption of the theory was that all societies have to transfer power from an aging population to a younger one. Disengagement attempted to explain this process of power transfer and complimented gerotrancendence, another theory from what is considered to be the first transformation of theory. Gerotrancendence follows the beliefs of Jung and Erikson that as a person ages, they withdraw from the external world to an internal world focused on spirituality, wisdom, se lf-acceptance and purpose. Both disengagement and gerotrancendence theories attempted to explain what social gerontologists thought aging should be. They did not try to develop a universal theory to explain the variety of experiences of people as they age (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). In the case of disengagement, this withdrawal from power was  believed to be a universal experience that transcended gender and culture. Death was inevitable; decline in abilities was probably. It was only natural that others would have lowered expectations for aging individuals. In the case of gerotrancendence, this withdrawal resulted from an individual not achieving ego identity. An individual would either attain this ego identity, a positive regard for their life, or withdraw as a symptom of despair (Andrus Gerontology Center; University of Southern California, 2005) A third theory of the time period was continuity theory, which postulated that â€Å"individuals tend to maintain a consistent pattern of behavior as they age, substituting similar types of roles for lost ones and keeping typical ways of adapting to the environment† (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011, p. 319). Individual satisfaction was dependent on how consistent a person was able to maintain the same patterns of behavior. Though attempting to challenge previous theories based on activity and disengagement perspectives, it also did not address any personality differences among aging individuals, nor did it address any political, social, historical or cultural influences on the experience of aging (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). It is interesting to note that though continuity theory attempted to challenge the activity theory, it was similar to the activity perspective that that was a positive relationship between social roles and life satisfaction (Howe, 1987). Alternative Theoretical Perspectives Alternative theories based on a symbolic interaction perspective were developed to address external issues affecting aging while also attempting to connect the disparate theories of activity and disengagement. Symbolic interaction perspective is based on the premise that as an individual interacts with his environment; his experiences of aging are shaped by these interactions. Three of these alternative theories are: age stratification theory, social exchange theory, and the political economy of aging. There are many similarities and differences between these theories. Age stratification and political economy theories are based on the belief that as people age, the differences in their aging experience is significantly influenced by stratification. Age stratification acknowledges the differences experienced by those sharing a similar history. Similarities among life events and societal changes experienced by these historical  cohorts affect these individuals in similar ways. In contrast, political economy theory rejects all previous theories and posits that differences between individual experiences of aging are determined by social class. Socioeconomic and political factors determine the disparity between different groups in an aging population. Social exchange theory is based on an economic cost-benefit model of social interaction. It could be said that there is a similarity between social exchange and political economy in that disparities experienced are social in nature. Whereas in social exchange theory, an individual is thought to be able to influence or change one’s environment as one adapts, political economy believes that inequalities are built into the political system. Political economy critiques the current system which lulls the individual into believing one has to adapt to circumstances, rather than changing society’s structural inequalities. Of the alternative theories, social exchange is the only one to address the influence of culture on the experience of aging. Social exchange theory believes that people interact with those whom they believe the rewards outweigh the costs of the relationship (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). Though social exchange theory acknowledges that though a person may no longer have the same economic value when older, that the older individual possesses other non-materialistic assets such as wisdom, love, and time for service. As our society modernized, these assets have been overlooked by a culture that now places importance on efficiency and productivity (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). The Second Transformation The second transformation was developed in the early 1980’s. This transformation includes the following approaches: social phenomenology, social constructivism, and social constructionism. Both of which discuss the influence of social perceptions, rather than actual facts. Social phenomenology is an interpretative approach to an individual’s social life on a day to day basis. The purpose is to gain a better understanding of the aging process and how it is influenced by social definitions and social structures. This approach can be a very helpful guide when gaining understanding of an individual’s social life, depending on how the information is obtained. The outcomes for this approach will be solely based on the interpretations of the individual (s) obtaining this information. Not  everyone has the same social definition and or social structures, which could result in numerous interpretations (Hooyman& Kiyak, 2011). Social Constructionism and Social Constructiv ism are both phenomenological approaches that focus on social phenomena development, but are very different. Social constructionism is the sociological perspective and focuses on the social contexts and structural development. This approach would view how an individual structures their life which shapes their old age experiences. Social constructivism is interpreting the meaning of an individual’s social context, psychologically. From this approach the researchers want to know more information on why a person chooses a specific context and how an individual does decide a specific social context (Hooyman& Kiyak, 2011). Critical Theory and Feminist Perspectives are also influenced by phenomenology. Critical theory refers to the biomedical model of aging, but focuses on structural and institution factors. This theory is suggesting that those (older people) participating in research studies should be allowed to come up with the questions they are requested to answer. For instance, research conducted regarding retirement would recommend a series of questions complied by other retirees (Hooyman& Kiyak, 2011). The Feminist Theory concludes that age related research outcomes involve inequalities against wom en. This theory suggests that women haven’t been included in research studies as they should be. It’s even been stated that men have been favored over women. Due to these inequalities all other theories of aging are insufficient. These inequalities also include gender with race, social class, sexual orientation, and disabilities, all of which aren’t discussed as much as they should be (Hooyman& Kiyak, 2011). These theories are all based on assumptions, rather than actual facts. The text states, â€Å"To positivist, phenomenological theories may seem impossible to test and closer to assumptions about meanings than propositions that can be proved or disprove† (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011, p. 326).Society has a huge impact on our perceptions of life, which aren’t consistent and change over time. A huge factor of perception is that it’s not necessarily reality and lacks proven facts. If the information being evaluated isn’t consistent, lacks factual information, and is based on assumptions it shouldn’t be used for practice, but could be a beneficial guiding tool (Hooyman& Kiyak, 2011). Postmodernist Theory Postmodernist theory represents a decisive break with modernity or a positivist scientific approach to an â€Å"objective† truth (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011, p. 331). Postmodernism focuses on how our world appears today, rather than focusing on how an individual wishes for the world to be seen. Postmodernist theory reviews the whole of a person’s experiences during their life time and examines the body not from a biological standpoint, but rather by everyday social and cultural practices built overtime to construct the identity of the individual. The individual will physically change overtime, but their essential identity develops based on achievements and future goals. An area that continues to develop in postmodernist theory focuses on biomedical technology that can provide options for reconstructing failing body parts to slow the process of aging. Postmodernist and social constructivist theories share the link of knowledge as a socially constructed element and each indivi dual’s social life events create who they are. This diversity of perspectives alerts social gerontologists to be concerned with the connections between scientific inquiry and the social milieu at particular influential points in time (Putney, Alley, & Bengston, 2005, p. 95). Both areas focus on an individual’s construct based on a cultural framework of customs, traditions, and beliefs. Social constructionism and postmodernist take into account how individual experiences alter an individual’s aging process allowing the person to develop their own reality. Each area stresses the importance of the individual’s social framework to help sustain their self-worth as they age. In contrast to political economy of aging, postmodernists focus on the well-being of an individual not from a social class or political standing, but from their life experiences. Structural factors of gender, sexual orientation, functional ability, race, age and class can have negative effects that limit an individual’s later opportunities. According to Hooyman & Kiyak (2011), these structural factors—often institutionalized and reinforced by public policy—limit the opportunities and choices of later life, resulting in cumulative disadvantages in o ld age, which are further exacerbated by retirement (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011, p. 323). These differences force aging individuals to change themselves and their lifestyles to fit income, health and physical care policy constraints forced  on them. Increased reduction in public health and social services creates a barrier for individuals to affectively age and receive proper care. Postmodernist theory follows the same framework of individual aging. It develops with the individual to meet their needs on a personal level and takes into consideration what the body and mind have both gone through as they have aged. According to Powell (2011), older people are usually ‘fixed’ to roles without resources which does not do justice to the richness of their individual experiences and multi-facets of their personalities (Powell, 2001, p. 6). Postmodernism clearly focuses on the importance of an individual’s ability to develop overtime through experience and uses biomedicine to provide options for maintaining an individual’s physical body. This provides a solid framework for aging that meets the needs of an individual from both physical and mental capacities. Conclusion While these are the dominant theories, many other theories are in varying stages of development. In addition, theories are constantly being tested and modified as new data from aging research emerges. It is only in the last half-century that researchers have begun to focus their attention on older adults as a population worthy of special consideration. While earlier theories of aging were few in number, narrowly focused, and generally negative, recent theories have emerged that establish aging as a multidimensional process. These theories view aging as characterized by positive as well as negative qualities and are more interactive in nature. They emphasize the interaction of biological, physical, and social factors in each individual’s age trajectory, and attempt to explain how older adults can minimize the negative and maximize the positive aspects of aging, in order to more fully enjoy the increased life span that comes with living in the 21st century. References Andrus Gerontology Center; University of Southern California. (2005). The Psychology of Aging: Lecture Part II. Retrieved from http://gero.usc.edu/AgeWorks/core_courses/gero500_core/psychology_lect/index_a.htm Hooyman, N. R., & Kiyak, H. A. (2011). Social Gerontology, ninth edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Howe, C. Z. (1987). Selected Social Gerontology Theories and Older Adult Leisure Involvement: A Review of the

Venus de Willendorf vs. Barbie

Venus de Willendorf is a statuette that first appeared during the Upper Paleolithic period. The exaggerated carvings of the body parts were how the artists of that time viewed women, fat and fertile. History often takes from the past to reinvent the future. Today’s society has the Barbie doll. Ruth Handler created it in 1959. Its long legs and slim figure has been worship by so many, that real women have undergone intense cosmetic surgeries to resemble the doll. Both figurines have gained notoriety based on the representation of women of their era, displayed their own meaning of beauty and cultures’ perception of it. Venus de Willendorf Venus de Willendorf, also known as the Woman of Willendorf, is a type of art statuette that was discovered sum 25,000 years ago. It was discovered in 1908 by the banks of the Danube River near the town of Willendorf in Austria during diggings led by Josef Szombathy. The statuette was carved from a rare oolitic (stone eggs) limestone using a flint tool. This particular type of stone was not available in the area it was located in, thus concluding the statuette was not created locally. Standing 4 3/8 inches (11. 1 centimeters) tall, the figurine is noticeably rounded. It displays obese and voluptuous women’s body parts. It has large pendulous breast as well as a large middle section, thighs, and a pronounced posterior. Her arms are thin and rested high on her breast. There is a braided pattern around the top of the head. Some archeologists identify it as the hair while others say it is a woven hat. The vulva is very detailed, which led scholars to believe the original sculptor had some knowledge about human anatomy. The statuette does not have feet, so it cannot stand on its own. In addition, it does not have facial features, which is consistent with others figures from that era there were found. The large breasts and abdomen along with the detailed nature of the vulva have caused people to believe the Venus is indeed a fertility symbol. The people who carved this statuette lived in a stone-age environment. Fatness and fertility was highly desirable during that time. The Venus was said to have a structure of sexually charged swollen shapes, an epitome of abundant fertility and of eternal sex. She was the woman of all women. For Paleolithic people, accentuating the parts that dealt with reproduction mattered most in the figurines, which is why the breasts and pelvic area were exaggerated most, unlike the buttocks. The artist’s goal was to draw the most attention to those parts. During this era, food was scare so obesity was unlikely. This led artists to believe the sculptor worked from a model, creating a body worth ritualization. Mattel ® Barbie Over the years, Barbie, or Barbie doll, has become a household name for many American families, as well as throughout the world. So, where the idea of Barbie derive? While watching her young daughter play with paper dolls, Ruth Handler noticed she was using her infant like dolls to play adult roles. She shared the idea of creating an adult doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of Mattel, who was less than impressed. After coming across a German toy doll called Bild Lilli during her stay in Europe, Handler was determined to make her idea a reality. In March 1959, Barbie, named after Handler’s daughter, Barbara, was born. Barbie stands a slender 11 ? tall, with long legs, perky breasts, high buttocks, flat stomach, barely there hips, and thighs, displaying an exaggerated hourglass figure. She has long thin arms and her feet are created for wearing high heels. She has long flowing hair with a slender face, long neck, high cheekbone, slanted big blue eyes, and comes wearing make-up. There has been much criticism over Barbie’s size. If her measurements were created in human form, the woman would be 5 feet, 9 inches, measuring 36-18-33, a figure impossible to have or achieve naturally. This known fact created a lot of controversy amongst consumers and anorexia groups. Studies show the average size of an American woman is a size 14, the exact opposite of Barbie. Barbie displays the â€Å"ideal† look of modern culture. Paleolithic Culture vs. Modern Culture. The Paleolithic era is the earliest period of human development that began roughly 2 million years ago. There are three successive divisions of the Paleolithic era: Lower, Middle, and Upper. The most notable feature of that time was evolution of the human species, which went from looking like an ape to more humanlike features, which was a very slow process. The Upper Paleolithic era is known for its increased creations of art and ornaments. One of the most famous Venus figurines to come from that era was the Venus of Willendorf. Barbie has allowed little girls to be more feminine and display etiquette. While some consumers see this as a great thing, naysayers believe it hinders, causing them not to want to play outside, get dirty, and depend on men to do the hard work. At the same time, Barbie has displayed women can have any kind of job. She has more than eighty jobs. In addition to being a model and fashion designer, Career Barbie has been a veterinarian, firefighter, astronaut, nurse, and politician. Because Barbie comes with so many accessories, parents believe it may give little girls a shallow mindset that materialistic items are what matter most. During the Paleolithic culture, men were the workers and women took care of home. Barbie has over eighty jobs, thus showing gender equality among careers. In today’s world, women make up a larger percent of employed individuals. Although the figurines display very different characteristics, both are considered beautiful and desirable within their respective cultures. The Venus was a representation of the women of their time and Barbie is a representation of the ideal woman, according to critics. The main differences between both figurines are their sizes and the eras they were discovered or created. The Venus is naked, much like the women of the Stone Age while Barbie comes with hundreds of accessories and clothes. In Often times, history repeats itself and it shows in the creations of these statuettes. Effects on how Society Views Women The Venus de Willendorf as always maintain her size and exaggerated features, for the meaning behind them is unparalleled. Throughout the decades, Barbie has evolved, taking on a more diverse look to appeal to different nationalities, such Native American, African American, Hispanic, Oriental, and more. While the color and some facial features are altered to resemble the people of each ethnicity, one thing has remained the same and that is her unrealistic size. Theories about the usability of the Venus figurines were said to involve religion while other observers saw it as a sex toy for men. As for Barbie, she has always been the definition of beauty, what little girls and some adult women aspire to look like. In today’s culture, thinner women are considered better looking than full-figured women, thus creating a void between women because of their sizes. This has been an ongoing stereotype for quite some time. It has even led to bullying throughout our schools. Critiques feel instead of displaying Barbie in the thinnest form, she should be created in different sizes, showing that beauty does not define your size. Conclusion The Venue of Willendorf, commonly known to some as Nude Woman, is on display at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. She sits in a glass case and the only thing that allows it to show is the light illuminated from above. The case is places within what looks to be a resemblance of a temple that reads, Venus von Willendorf. Despite the controversies surrounding the perception of Barbie, it continues to be the world’s bestselling doll. The collection of Barbie includes Vintage Barbie, Pop Culture Barbie, Holiday Barbie, Malibu Barbie, and the list goes on. Barbie’s appearance has changed over the years, with the exception of her body shape, of course. It is how we identify her. The same goes for the Venus and her exaggerated curves. Both figures had played a pivotal role in how people of their time view a beautiful woman. Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors. The sooner we accept this notion, the more we can build up confidence in little girls who will someone day grow to become women.ReferencesGerber, R. (2009). Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her. HarperCollins. McElvaine, R. S. (2000). Eve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History. McGraw-Hill. Rogers, M. F. (1999). Barbie Culture. SAGE Publications.Sayre, Henry M. (2012). Discovering the Humanities, 3rd Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions. Enger, Crissi. (n.d.). Types of Barbie. eH ow. Retrieved April 11, 2013 from http://www.ehow.com/facts_5491736_types-barbie.html Witcombe, Christopher. (n.d.).The Venus of Willendorf. Art History Resources. Retrieved from March 12, 2013 from http://arthistoryresources.net/willendorf/willendorfwoman.html

Perceptual Learning for Speech Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Perceptual Learning for Speech - Research Paper Example owever, it provides the easier means of making assessment on the comparative assessment the talkers independent and the talker dependence adaptation to foreign accent speech. From a practical point of view, it would also suggest that exposure to individuals of multiple talkers to foreign accent would have a higher chance of being more effective in the enhancement of the speech communication among the natives and the non-native speakers. The results also demonstrated that the polish accented talker exposed a note-worthy limit on adaptation of listeners on speech of the foreign accent such as Chinese-accented English, and that it promoted some level of perpetual flexibility, which facilitated the recognition of some other foreign accent. This however is a gap that it is believed that some other researches need to exhaustively considers. This include whether exposure to a particular accent would be used for generalization to other typical accents such as the Spanish-accented English. Studies that attempted to reveal the efficacy of a high-variability perspective to phonemes of non natives was clearly matched with the fact that there was a need for the exposure of multiple talkers to the adaptation with the Chinese-accented English. In the study, it was also found out that the study with single talker of a Chinese accented English, regardless of the fact that the talker baseline level of intelligibility of sentence was not enough to present recognition accurately. These findings had some contrast with Weil (2001) that indicated that a single Marathi accented English talker. The difference between this study and the previous study is that this study

Concerto genre Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Concerto genre - Term Paper Example For the purposes of this genre study, I seek to research and discuss concerto genre. Particularly, I will work on piano concerto by Frantz Liszt. Frantz was renowned for his exemplary virtuosic skills with the piano. Many people still claim that his level of perfection with the piano matched Paganini with his violin. I really like his piano concerto No. 1, which was done in E-flat major. The concerto can listen on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KggSgpm8XuY. I would really love and welcome anyone who would help me deconstruct and analyze this concerto. I have listened to it several times and compared the concerto with others with the same artist. I wish to compare Frantz Liszt’s piano concerto No. 1 with one of the latest piano artists named John Ireland. His music can be found on http://www.rhapsody.com/artist/alan-rowlands/album/john-ireland-piano-music. After listening to the two set of music, I found some similarities albeit not much. Any assistance on comparison would be v ery welcome.Response to Post Number 2I like your approach since it is almost similar to mine. We are both exploring piano artists although yours focuses on sonata while mine focusses on concertos. Certainly, Robert Schumann did complicated pieces of sonatas. Although you have not yet generated a rhapsody URL for both artists, your link for Robert Schumann works and is good for both his history and music as well. Perhaps you should explain more about how his elements of insanity are reflected in his music.

Deduction vs. Induction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Deduction vs. Induction - Essay Example On the other hand, an inductive argument is an argument in which the premises are expected to support the conclusion such that if the premises were to be true (which is an assumption of the arguer), it is merely improbable that the conclusion could be false in that case. Therefore, instead of there being a necessary connection between premises and conclusion, as there is in the case of the deductive argument, the connection between premises and conclusion in the inductive argument is probabilistic. In the example given, it is possible for the conclusion to be false, even if all three of the premises are true. In other words, it is possible for an argument that lacks deductive validity to be inductively valid. For instance, perhaps Newton lost his taste for tea after being struck on the head with an apple, which, according to the story, he was drinking on that occasion. Although inductive inferences may be uncertain, they are probable. That is, it is very probable that Isaac Newton liked tea. However, it is not certain based solely from the evidence given in P1-P3. Moreover, unlike deductive arguments, inductive inferences give us more information than what is contained in the premises. Careful use of inductive arguments is necessary for any field of research outside of those that rely on basic truths and assumptions. In the argument given, both of the premises are true. Consequently, it is simply not possible for the conclusion to be false. If the deductive argument has all true premises, and a false conclusion, then an error has been made and the argument lacks deductive validity. Conversely, one cannot accept the truth of the premises without accepting the truth of the conclusion. The relationship between the premises and the inference is that the conclusion cannot be false if the premises are true. Even if the premises might not actually be true, the relationship between the premises and the conclusion does not change, and even if the evidence for the

Presentist History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Presentist History - Essay Example Even those who were already born during this period may not remember much about it. Despite this, it is clear that Americans cannot escape the foundational legacy left by the Great. At the very least, it is known that during that period, times were really bad because the Great depression is the standard by which economists, historians and journalists measure most of other potentially bad times that followed. Liberal and Conservative economists still argue over the cause of the depression but the fact remains that it happened and in the process scarred the lives of millions of Americans while at the same time changed the course of United States politics. The parallels between the Economic Crisis of 2008 and the Great Depression have been subject to many comments. The current economic crisis is believed by some economists to be as bad as the Great Depression but this point highly disputable. As economists and historians continue with their debates, the effects of the 2008 recession are still felt all around the globe. Introduction Depressions lead to large and persistent declines in economic activities of a nation. They feature a major crime whereby an economy is leveled. There are always a number suspects who possibly contributed to the depression. The most fascinating aspect of depressions is that they manage to remain a mystery. They are mysterious when looked at from the perspective of standard economics. This is so particularly in countries that are highly developed such as the United States, Britain, Australia that ideally should not have them because of their relatively efficient institutions and well functioning economies.1 This then begs the question as to what makes such economies go bad. This paper will assess the features of crises and depressions, with a focus on the Great Depression and the recent economic recession of 2008. Though these crises initially occurred in the United States, their magnitude was felt all over the world. In the United States , the effects of the systemic crisis are easily seen due to the recent political, economic, and ideological developments. Output and employment levels in the U.S. gradually fell at a great speed that had never been seen for many decades with the situation getting worse to a point that forced the government to introduce bailout plans to rescue some of the economic sectors. General Motors and Citigroup which were two of the largest corporations in the US, one a symbol of the manufacturing prowess of the US and the other the largest bank became insolvent. Policies that had previously been effective in overcoming past financial recessions and crises such as institutional bailouts and expansionary monetary policies were not capable in stemming the 2008 crisis.2 Comparisons: The Similarities It is important to note that in terms of real economic decline as measured by unemployment, real GDP or Industrial Production, the Great Recession was relatively minor. In the period between 1929 and 1933, the real GDP of the US fell by close to 30 percent. On the other hand, between 2007 and 2009 the real GDP fell by slightly over 5 percent. In 1933, unemployment in the U.S. peaked at 25 percent whereas in 2009 it was slightly above 10 percent.3 The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics places the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent as of March 2012.4 Though this rate is still high, it cannot be compared to the rate that prevailed during the 1930s. Secondly,

Pathophysiology exams questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pathophysiology exams questions - Assignment Example 2. Stenosis is an abnormal narrowing of the blood vessels. Stenosis is accompanied by unusual blood sounds resulting from the narrow blood vessels. Regurgitation or incompetence is a condition where the left atrium during systole becomes incompetent in functioning. Prolapsed is a condition where the valves of the heart fall out of place. This is caused by the displacement of the left valve during the systole because of the thickening of the mitral valve prolapsed. 3. Asbestosis is a general term given to heart disease resulting from a person inhaling too much dust. It is a chronic pneumoconiosis disease, which affects the parenchymal tissues of the lungs making the lungs to undergo slow and repetitive fibrosis. Straight, thin amphiboles asbestos fibers penetrate deeply into the lungs alveoli thereby interacting with blood, oxygen and carbon dioxide. The interaction of the amphiboles leads to the provocation of body’s immune system leading to rejection of defensive cells known as macrophages, which are responsible for destroying the fibers. Amphiboles also stimulate fibroblast cells of the lungs to lay continuously on the alveoli walls leading to thickening of the walls thus preventing or reducing the process of breathing which can lead to heart failure. 4. Clubbing results from people experiencing chronic low blood oxygen levels. The fingertips enlarge and nails appear extremely curved from front to back. The bulbous swelling gives the fingers a club shape. The normal angle of the finger changes from 160Â º to 180Â º due to this disease mostly associated with people with heart disease. Adults experience this disease because of liver disorders, gastrointestinal disorders pulmonary disorders and heart diseases. 5. Sleep apnea is a condition in which one pauses in breathing while asleep. Narcolepsy is a condition, which usually attacks people of ages 15-30 years, and it encompasses excessive sleepiness and regular daytime sleep attacks. Cataplexy

Research proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research proposal - Essay Example Similarly, it will look at all the setbacks of a micro business when the particular steps are not accomplished. For instance, a micro business should ensure all the customer relationship managers keep close business relationships with their customers (Fjermestad and Romano, 2006:9). This will prepare the managers to ensure they are serving the customers according to their needs. With satisfied customers, it is most likely that the business will thrive in execution of its duties. However, in most cases, managers that are haphazard in their duties will repel customers. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the micro business to consider this factor. Literature Review Customer relationship management depicts the model that is used in micro business to interact with the customers that are allied to the business. Similarly, it also depicts preparation for interactions with the potential customers that are likely to transact businesses with the business in the near future. Therefore, t he management should be prepared to deal with these customers in the best way possible. To begin with, there is a need to use technology in organizing the activities of the business, which includes use of sophisticated technology in dealing with customers (Fjermestad and Romano, 2006:19). ... With such preparation, the business will serve customers in the best manner possible. As such, customers will not waste their time while waiting to be served. Similarly, the business should be well prepared in sales and marketing. Sales and marketing starts with the incumbent customers and extends to other customers that do not have any information relating to the business. Therefore, the customer service relationship management will have to engage other creative measures in reaching out to other customers in the region. Without such activities, the business is likely to record dismal performance (Winter, Zhao and Aier, 2010:353). In addition to this, there is a need for technical support. This is an aspect that deals with technical and complex issues while dealing with customers. Some customers have technical sues that are not solved without technical support. This will lead to satisfactory delivery of services. This research will use numerous methods in evaluating the customer rela tions management in the micro business. First, it will highlight the technology that is used in customer services (Khosrowpour, 2006:16). Since technology is a vital factor, gathering ample information on this factor will be instrumental in the research. Secondly, the research will reflect on the activities the firm uses in strengthening customer relations. This includes CRM systems used as call centers, CRM representatives that are present in the field, CRM used in telemarketing, CRM systems in the field controlled by managers, CRM systems used for marketing and CRM systems to service customers and clients (Krishnamurthy, 2006:120). Research objectives Research objectives are deemed to highlight on the effectiveness and efficiency of the CRM. If CRM is hell-bent on these objectives,

Cultural differences and Expectancy Violations Theory Essay

Cultural differences and Expectancy Violations Theory - Essay Example However, Judee Burgoon's Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT), with its emphasis on positive and negative valence, is perhaps the most appropriate theory available to explain and account for cultural differences as they relate to our understanding of communication. Burgoon's EVT does not root itself in specific cultural transgressions and therefore does not limit itself in its effort to measure perceived positive and negative reactions to the unspoken message. Some emotions and traits can be readily transferred universally across different cultures. Aggression, happiness, laughter and fear are generally recognized around the world. However, some actions and messages are interpreted differently by various cultures with unique social traditions. Eye contact, movement, and posture all have symbolic meaning unique to various cultures. Touching is a symbol that has wide-ranging and varied meaning in different settings. By understanding the meaning of touching to a given culture, EVT can evaluate its impact and measure the positive or negative effect it may have. As with touching, other actions also demand a thorough knowledge of the cultural significance of the action.

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Project Management - Essay Example The provided analysis critically assesses the most important issues of the project especially in the planning and development phase and the way they should be approached and dealt. The general recommendations include: 1. Developing a detailed project documentation especially in the areas of the specification and the expected quality for the product deliverables; 2. Developing detailed risk mitigation strategies especially for mitigating the inherent risks; and 3. Developing a specific communication and reporting procedures which will ease the coordination of the activities and will favour fast reaction in risky situations; Table of Contents Project Background 3 Project Concept and Strategy 4 Project Scope 5 Project team and structure 7 Project management plan 8 Project schedule 10 Project budget 13 Project control and monitoring 13 Outline project risk register 15 Conclusion and Recommendations 16 References and Bibliography 17 List of Tables Table 1 Training Themes Table 2.Project C ost Table 3. Project Responsibility Matrix Table 4. Risk Register Outline List of Figures Figure 1. Project life Cycle Figure 2.Work Breakdown Structure Figure 3. Project Organisation Figure 4. Gantt Chart Project Background Big Ideas Ltd plans to organize a one day training event in project management, with a specific focus on the MS Project use and the Critical Path Analysis (CPA) as a planning technique. Big Idea has no project management experience in managing events of such caliber which is why several companies with expertise in project management have been approached for providing an offer and a solution of how the event should be managed. The Project management Ltd (PML) offer is provided in the following sections. Project Concept and Strategy PMBOK and PRINCE2 are standard project methodologies used by many PM practitioners across the world. The both methodologies recommend that the projects begin with a project initiation phase in which a clear identification of customer, in this case the owner’s requirements is made (PMI 2008, OGS 2005). In the case of Big Idea’s project, PM practitioners as Field and Keller (2007:8-15) and Gardiner (2005) and in line with the PM standards, recommend preparing a Feasibility study or a Business Case in the terminology used in Prince2 PM approach (OGC 2005). The Business Case is a standard tool in project management which aims at investigating the financial, technical and managerial implications of the identified solution for accomplishing client’s requirements. The Business Case enables the Management team to make a decision on the future development of the project , its objectives and scope (Field and Keller 2007: 25-40). The outputs of the project initiation phase are: (1) an Appointed Project Manager and a (2) Project Initiation Document (PID). In the process of the initial project development and the definition of the project objectives, the project practitioners as Turner (2009) and Kerzner (2009) recommend an identification of two set of factors for measuring the project success. The first set is made out of the success criteria, or the dependent variables by which the successful outcome of the project will be assessed: time, cost and quality. The second set are the success factors or the independent variables which will influence the successful achievement of the success c

Human Genome Project Essay Example for Free

Human Genome Project Essay One of the most challenging questions that have been left unanswered to this date is that regarding human evolution and geography. From the sociological point of view, it has long been known that specific populations can be differentiated from each other based on their religious backgrounds. On the other hand, forensic science employs language in grouping human population. In the field of human genetics, there is currently credible information that facilitates the understanding of how the entire human population evolved through time. The recent completion of the Human Genome Project resulted in the generation of the actual deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence of a human cell, with the hope that every disease could be associated to a particular gene in the sequence. Alongside this discovery, other genetic features have been uncovered in the DNA sequence, including small nucleotide polymorphisms which serve as signatures to specific biological phenomenon. In Olson’s chapter entitled â€Å"God’s people: A genetic history of the Jews,† the evolution of this population was described in terms of selection, environmental factors, adaptation and migration (Olson 107). The chapter supported this description with reports generated from haplotype reconstruction and tracing of Aaron’s Y chromosome. Through DNA sequencing analyses, it is now possible to reconstruct the origins and migrations of specific populations based on the presence or absence of genetic markers in the human genome sequence. The most interesting part of the chapter is that genetic changes in the Samaritan population can be correlated to their historical account, including the time when these individuals were under persecution by the Roman government. This historical event resulted in a significant decrease in their population size. In response to the change in population size, the Samaritans underwent what is genetically termed inbreeding, which is simply the action of consanguinity. Despite common notions that consanguinity results in serious health risks, this population survived through thousands of years. One major observation among the Samaritans is that these individuals physically appear similar and this is mainly due to inbreeding. Interestingly, the expected medical diseases that are commonly brought about by intermarriages did not develop in the next generations and this may be due to the selection against these defective genotypes. Another process that could be associated with this scenario is the bottleneck effect, which selectively retains the beneficial genes to the next generation. Today, it has been estimated that approximately 13 million Jews are living in the Middle East. The contemporary Jews are technically grouped into Ashkenazi or non-Ashkenazi, based on their ancestry through regions around Europe. These individuals are a good population to follow in terms of genetic history, since this population carries a natural history of migration and evolution through time. The non-Ashkenazi Jews are considered as the highly migratory subpopulation, resulting in a diverse culture. On the other hand, the Ashkenazi Jews generally remained in the same region, thus preserving their genetic makeup. This geographical history thus resulted in the identification of specific genetic mutations and diseases that are inherently observed among members of this population. The chapter also attempted to describe the effect of founding mutations, which are initial mutations that have occurred early in time during the migratory and settling era of the population. The subsequent generations of this population resulted in the presence of the same diseases and mutations, the most possible explanation for this is that these formerly de novo mutations have been fixed in the genome sequence of the offspring. It should be understood that genetic mutations occur in germ cells, as well as in somatic cells, and these have the propensity to be passed on to the next generation through the genetic laws of independent assortment and segregation. The analysis of sequences derived from mitochondrial DNA have also revealed that the founder mutations reported among the Jews were transmitted through a matrilineal route (Behar 2062). Using mitochondrial DNA tracking, genetic analysis can generate estimations of the time of fixation of a specific genetic mutation in this population. The continuous geographical changes of the members of this population further exert its impact on the genetic fixation and phenotypic frequencies of these mutations, resulting in the current genetic conditions of this group. The genetic pool of the Jews thus reflects a microenvironment wherein genetic changes, alongside environmental effects and migration could be correlated with each other. There is still great debate with regards to the genetic history of the Jews. As Olson has indeed mentioned in his writing, all human beings are similar in the genetics aspect and being a Jew is simply based on how an individual feels about himself. This maybe true, yet in time there will still be more information that will be gathered from genetic assays on different populations around the world. The current information that has been established is that there are three founding mutations that have been identified in the Jews and each mutation reflects the origin or migratory pattern of each subgroup. However, the exact direction or genetic drift of each migratory pattern still needs to be further investigated. There is a need for a comprehensive genotyping of more individuals of each human population in order to fully understand the historical, as well as geographical account of human evolution and speciation. Each existing population must have been derived from an original group of individuals that existed in time. 2. The article entitled, â€Å"Jewish legacy inscribed on genes† authored by Karen Kaplan describes the account of Gregory Cochran regarding the genes of Jewish individuals (Kaplan 3). One of his claims is that Ashkenazi Jews are more prone to serious medical disorders due to the common mutations that afflict this specific population. One of the highly publicized medical disorders that commonly occur among Ashkenazi Jews is Tay-Sachs disease, a neurological childhood condition that leaves an individual disabled and complications result in difficulty of these individual’s to lead normal lives. Another common genetic disorder affecting Jews is Canavan disease, which involves the deterioration of the brain tissues, resulting in both morbidity and mortality in young Ashkenazi Jewish children. Niemann-Pick disease is another serious medical condition that is often reported among this specific human population and this disease is associated with the significant accumulation of fats in the particular organs such as the brain. Unfortunately, these aforementioned medical disorders result in mortality of an Ashkenazi Jew at a very young age. Another medical disorder that occurs frequently among Ashkenazi Jews is torsion dystonia, which is a movement disorder that involves changes in the tissue consistency of the brain. The accumulation of plaques in the brain results in the involuntary jerking and twisting of parts or even the entire body of the afflicted individual. Cochran claims that these common medical disorders affect Ashkenazi Jews in particular through a specific genetic makeup that still has yet to be uncovered. It is also of interest to know that these common disorders are of neurological origin, which means that the central nervous system of an individual is affected. Thus, these disorders can either affect the brain, the spinal cord, or any of the smaller neural cells that are connected or associated with the nervous system. In order for the public to better understand his claim, Cochran even compared this association to that of sickle cell anemia, which is a severe blood disorder that is commonly observed among African Americans. This genetic blood disorder results in the difficulty to transport oxygen to the rest of the parts of the body, as the red blood cells are distorted in shape, from the normal ovoid shape to that similar to a sickle. Comprehensive scientific research has established that a specific mutation is responsible for the generation of a sickle cell-shaped red blood cell, which in turn is commonly present in individuals of African American descent. Another claim of Gregory Cochran is that despite such serious medical disorders that commonly affect Ashkenazi Jews, a positive observation is also significantly present in this human population. Cochran claimed that Ashkenazi Jews are highly intelligent, as shown by intelligence quotient (IQ) scores of children of this ethnicity. He thus proposed that the predisposition of Ashkenazi Jews to mutations in gene associated with brain conditions also results in a high level of intelligence. Kaplan’s article further supports Cochran’s claim of intelligence and gene mutations with the historical accounts of how Jews lives through the centuries. The activities mainly involved migration, trading and other forms of business, all of which were highly successful. Kaplan supported Cochran’s claim by saying that these business transactions can only survive if the individuals involved were highly intelligent and since most of the activities were led by Ashkenazi Jews, then it is also likely that the intelligence â€Å"phenomenon† may have existed early on. Unfortunately, the claims of Cochran still need to be tested on a large population of Ashkenazi Jews before this can be proven and accepted. As Kaplan accounts in her Los Angeles Times article, the report of Cochran was an outright reject in the first journal that he and his collaborator, Harpending, submitted to. However, another journal that supports theories without substantial experimental evidence, Journal of Biosocial Science, published their claim. The claim of high intelligence among Ashkenazi Jews needs to undergo comprehensive investigation first before it can be fully accepted in the field of science. Similar to the genetic establishment of the neurological diseases that commonly affect Ashkenazi Jews, this claim was further strengthened after several years of scientific research in genetic laboratories. Patients positively diagnosed with the neurological disease were checked with regards to other clinical features. In addition, their DNA was extracted and the specific genes responsible for generating the disease were sequenced. In case a DNA mutation was identified in the genes, these were compared to other patients’ DNA sequences. Any other common features among thousands of patients were correlated and compared, thus resulting in what has now been established as a predisposition of the disease in this human population. It is thus important that the same meticulous type of investigation be conducted with regards to intelligence. However, the search for the answer to this claim may be more difficult because intelligence has been established to be influence by several factors. Scientists and psychologists have earlier established that the multi-factorial origin of intelligence makes any effort in tracing the source of intelligence to be ultimately difficult. Intelligence can not simply be generated through the genes because environmental factors can also affect an individual’s condition, including his mental state. There are a number of twin studies that have been conducted for several decades that employ the procedure of separating each of the twins are bringing each individual up in a different environment. Since the genetic makeup of twins is entirely the same, then any claims on intelligence genes can be validated in such experimental conditions. Unfortunately, twin studies have proven that a child who was brought up in an environment filled with violence and anger tend to be poorly developed in intelligence. On the other hand, the twin sibling who was raised in an environment that was filled with love and support grew up into a very intelligent and mature individual. It is thus difficult to prove Cochran’s claim that Ashkenazi Jews are far more intelligent than other human populations, because there are so many factors to consider before one can claim that a specific entity influences that state of thinking. Another issue that would emanate from such claim is that other cultures and ethnicities would perceive such proposal as a form of discrimination or indifference to other human populations. Claiming or even proving that a certain human population is highly intelligent does not help in the global cooperation between countries. In addition, the establishment of this claim will not save lives, just like the other efforts that employ genetic technologies in screening for specific mutations that would tie a particular phenotype to a particular genetic sequence. Proving the high levels of intelligence among Ashkenazi Jews will only spark anger and outrage from other cultures. It is thus good that Cochran feels that there is no need to prove his claim through the use of experimental evidence. It would also be safe and for the best of the rest of the world to leave Cochran along with his claim and let other people speculate on his unsupported claim. The application of genetic analysis on human population has been regarded as a novel and revolutionary addition to the methods in studying human evolution and speciation. The information that can be generated by this technology can be very sensitive and effective, yet there is still a need to employ human intervention and compassion with regards to which specific questions need to be addressed. Genetic analysis in connection to medical disorders can be very helpful in diagnostics and treatment, as well as for saving lives, but genetic screening other social factors such as intelligence will only spark bias among individuals around the world. Works Cited Behar, D. M., Metspalu, E. , Kivisild, T. , Rosset, S. , Tzur, S. , Hadid, Y. , Yudkovsky, G. , Rosengarten, D. , Pereira, L. , Amorim, A. , Kutuev, I. , Gurwitz, D. , Bonne-Tamir, B. , Villems, R. and Skorecki, K. â€Å"Counting the Founders: The Matrilineal Genetic Ancestry of the Jewish Diaspora. † PLoS ONE 3 (2008): 2062-2087. Kaplan, K. â€Å"Jewish Legacy Inscribed on Genes? † Los Angeles Times 18 April 2009. Olson, S. Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins. San Francisco: Harcourt Publishers, 2003.

SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE SUSTAINABILITY MONITORING SYSTEM

SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE SUSTAINABILITY MONITORING SYSTEM Introduction This paper describes about a monitoring system that monitors the sustainability of a business. It is very important for all businesses to measure their sustainability periodically from the people, planet and profit perspective to make the business operations more effective. Business monitoring system does the job of doctors where they use the medical monitoring systems to diagnose problems that cause hindrance to the sustainability of patients. The difference is that medical monitoring system monitors the health of patients while business monitoring system monitors the operations of a business activity. Proper monitoring of business can help to reduce risk by making proper decisions at proper time. Every business will have certain obligations to the people associated with it and also towards the nature. The economic aspect is also equally important. The triple bottom line or the three pillars people/social, planet/environmental and profit/economic are briefly discussed in the report. The paper also identifies and discusses the sustainability indicators of the leading energy and petrochemical company, the Royal Dutch Shell. Dimensions People, Planet and profit also called as the triple bottom line captures the essence of sustainability by measuring the impact of an organisations activities on the world. Variation in companys profitability and share holders value and its social, human and environmental capital is reflected by the triple bottom line (Savitz, A.W Weber, K, 2006). There is no universally accepted definition for triple bottom line but a positive triple bottom line indicates that the business operates in an effective manner. The figure shows the dimensions as three spheres of sustainability. People: The social impacts of the company are easier to measure when compared to the economic and environmental. Employee satisfaction, their health and safety, impacts on local community and consumers are the main factors to be monitored to ensure the social sustainability. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) identifies four core social performance indicators. They are: Labour Practices: Employment, Health and Safety, Management relations, Diversity, Training Education. Human Rights: Freedom of association, strategy and management, non-discrimination, collective bargaining. Safety: Community, Bribery corruption, political contributions. Product responsibility: Products services, Customer health safety, Respect for privacy. It is a challenge for all the organisations to be socially accountable even though the customers expect the businesses to be so. Polls conducted on corporate social responsibility found 45% of 25,000 respondents believing that higher ethical standards should be set by the companies and thus help to build a better society. 40% of them even opined to punish the companies which are not socially responsible (Miller, E, 2010). Profit: The economic dimension of sustainability concerns about the impact of the organisation on its stake holders economic circumstances. This dimension focuses on improving the economic status of stake holders rather than the financial status of the company itself. The financial indicators are considered to be the sub set of economic indicators as it focuses primarily on the profitability of the organisation for informing the stake holders and management (Slater, A, 2004). The economic performance indicators identified by the GRI are: Sales, Profit, Return on investment Tax paid Monetary flows Jobs created The economic indicators identified by the GRI divides the stake holders in to five major groups and figure the economic impact on them. The groups and the major factors that indicate their economic status are as follows: Customers: The monetary flow is indicated by the net sales and geographic break down of markets. Suppliers: The monetary flow is indicated by the cost of all goods, materials and services purchased. Employees: Total payroll and benefits that include wages, pension, redundancy payment etc indicates the monetary flow. Providers of capital: Increase or decrease of the retained earnings at the end of the period indicates the monetary flow. Public sector: Total sum of taxes and the factors such as donations to community, civil societies etc are the indicators. Planet: The ecological sustainability focuses more on meeting the needs of present generation without affecting the possibilities of future generation to meet their needs (Inge de Groot, 2001). It is important for all the organisations to give special care for nature by preventing the hazards caused to all living organisms by its activities. Companies should integrate the care for environment in to its business. This dimension considers the impact of companys activity on the environment. The environmental performance indicators considered by the GRI are: Materials: Volume of materials used and the percentage of recycled materials Energy: Direct and indirect energy consumption by the primary energy source, energy saved due to conservation, steps taken to reduce energy requirement by promoting renewable energy based products and also the steps taken to reduce indirect energy consumption. Water: Total water withdrawal and the percentage of volume of water recycled and reused. Biodiversity: Size and location of land owned near the protected areas of high biodiversity, Strategies for managing impacts on biodiversity etc. Emissions, Effluents and waste: Direct and indirect green house gas emissions and the initiatives to reduce it, emissions of ozone depleting substances, total volume of spills. Transport: The environmental impacts of transporting goods and materials used for the organisations operations and transporting the members of workplace. Company Description Royal Dutch Shell is an energy and petrochemical company operating globally which has its headquarter at Hague, The Netherlands. It is currently the global leader in oil and gas industry and also seeks to reinforce its position in order to provide a competitive return to their share holders while helping to meet the global energy demand. The company values honesty, integrity and respect for people, that forms the basis of their general principles. The company was established in the year 1907 by the oil export company named Shell and Royal Dutch, the petroleum company. The company expanded to Europe, Africa and America in the early twentieth century and excelled, as the mass production of cars has opened up a vast market. Many Shell operations closed down during the First World War, but after the Second World War, in the years 1950s and 1960s there was a dramatic increase in its oil output and sales. In 1980s, the company explored solutions for many environmental concerns by installing new technologies and launched new products. In July 2005, the parent companies Royal Dutch and Shell unified to form Royal Dutch Shell. According to the Fortune magazine, Shell has been ranked at second place in the year 2010 among the top 500 companies in the world and first among the oil companies followed by Exxon Mobil and BP, in terms of revenue. Rank Company Revenue($ Million) 1 Wall-Mart 408,214 2 Royal Dutch Shell 285,129 3 Exxon Mobil 284,650 4 BP 246,138 Shell operates in more than 90 countries in the world having around 101,000 employees working with it. It produces almost 3.1 million barrels of gas and oil everyday and has sold 145 billion litres of fuel. It runs more than 35 refineries and chemical plants. As a part of sustainable development, it has spent $2 billion on Carbon dioxide and renewable energy technologies over the last couple of years. $13 billion has been spent with locally owned companies in low and middle income countries in the year 2009. $132 billion has also been spent in the same year on social investment program. Indicators for the company This part of the paper explores the indicators used by the company to measure its performance and thus analyse the sustainability. The key indicators falling under each of the dimensions are listed below. Socio-Cultural: Human Rights: Shell has categorized the human rights into five layers. All the layers are shown below. Source: (The Shell Report, 2001, P.13) The inner layers identify the companys duty towards the staff, security and local communities, whereas the outer layer identifies the duty towards the government and also support the international codes. The company has designed a Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSE) to protect its employees from harmful activities. Shell also supports the ILO declaration of principles and rights at work. Shell has played a major role in the development of voluntary principles on security and human rights. The company has come up with a new social management unit which identifies and promotes good practise and operations in communities. The company is also guided by the UN Global Compact, OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises and Global Sullivan principles while investing in foreign countries. Diversity: The company has a systematic approach to manage its diversity. Shell believes that it will earn more respect if it attracts people from various backgrounds and experience. As a result, it will help the company maintain good relationship with others and help in competing in assorted cultures and markets. Security: Security involves the protection of the employees and safeguarding the shareholders investment. The company abides by the law and order which is at par with the international law enforcement standards. Armed security is used when there is any legal issue or when there is no alternative to manage the risk. There is security group that protects the employees, property and information. Health Safety: The company has a systematic approach to manage HSE. The company must follow all the Group HSE Policy and Procedures. Shell uses a parameter called Total Reportable Occupational Illness Frequency which monitors the health performance of all the employees. The year 2009 recorded the lowest mortality and injury rate for Shell. Source: (The Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Report, 2009, P.35) ENVIRONMENTAL: Shell is always in search for new ways to reduce its harmful impact on the environment. It has come up with new substances that would cause less harm to the nature. The year 2001 was a disappointing year because it failed to meet the target and could not perform up to the mark. There was also an increase in gas flaring and oil spills which caused more harm to the environment. Climate Change: Climate change is one of the biggest challenges faced by the society today. To overcome this challenge, Shell is taking initiatives in building up an energy system for future that would reduce environmental risks. It has come up with 6 pathways that will reduce carbon-dioxide and help in achieving low-carbon energy for future. The six pathways are: Increase the efficiency of all the operations. Establish a substantial capability in CO2 capture and storage (CCS). Continue to research and develop technologies that increase efficiency and reduce emissions in hydrocarbon production. Develop low-CO2 sources of energy, including natural gas and low-CO2 fuels. Manage energy demands by growing the market for products and services that help customers to use less energy and emit less CO2. Work with governments and advocate the need for more effective CO2 regulation. Shell is now moving over to bio fuels, emphasizing more on the sustainability of the first generation bio fuels. It is an indication of the evolution of bio fuels which will help in reduction of CO2 gas in the near future. Green House Gas Emission: Shell is taking steps in inventing new technologies to improve energy efficiencies by reducing the green house gas emissions. It has been noted in the year 2009 that, the direct Green House gas emission from the facilities operated by the company were 67 million tonnes on a Carbon dioxide equivalent basis which is lower than in 2008 by 11%. Water: The World Health Organisation has stated that one out of three people doesnt get water to meet their needs. Shell uses advanced technologies to reduce the usage of fresh water though they cannot stop water usage for certain refining processes. Shells operations used around 198 million cubic meters of water in the year 2009 which is significantly lesser than the amount of water used in the previous year. The new technologies implemented by shell focuses on using recycled water instead of fresh water. Biodiversity: The company also operates in some areas which has the risk of harming the biodiversity. Shell considers protecting the ecosystem as an important factor and hence before starting any project, the company carries out analysis and tests that identify and measure the impact of the risk to biodiversity and develop strategies and procedures to minimize these risks. Ozone Depletion Substance: Halocarbons like Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) are released into the air which causes depletion in the ozone layer. In order to help in saving the environment, Shell has stopped the manufacturing of ozone depleting substances. Spills: In spite of having the procedures and systems to indicate and prevent oil spills, they do occur due to operational failure or accidents. Shell has spilled around 1,300 tonnes of oil last year which is recorded as the lowest till date. The company has suffered massive loss when a hurricane struck the Gulf of Mexico, fracturing all the pipelines. Source: (The Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Report, 2009, P.36) Source: (The Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Report, 2009, P.34) Economic: Shell is a group of energy and petrochemical companies that aims to meet the energy needs of the society which are environmentally, economically and socially feasible. The company generates substantial revenue for the government. $9.2 billion has been paid in corporate taxes in the year 2009. $80 billion in excise duties and sales tax has also been collected on behalf of government on the fuels and other products transported or sold. In 2009, the income of the company was $12.7 billion and returned $10.5 to its shareholders. The company also spent $1.1 billion on research and development. Their net capital investment of $28.9 billion would help their business to maintain sustainable in future. By December 2009, the production of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exceeded a total of 1 million barrels of oil. Shell came up with a new Mono-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) unit in Singapore which proved to be a key milestone for Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex that will be in action by mid 2010. The unit will provide a supply of 750,000 tonnes of MEG per year to the Asian Market. Shell has also started with two LNG projects called Pearl GTL which is the worlds largest gas-to-liquid plant and Qatargas 4. Pearl GTL will deliver 140,000 barrels a day of clean diesel and kerosene and 120,000 barrels a day of natural gas. Qatargas 4 will help in converting 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas into Liquefied Natural Gas. The companys financial, operational and sustainable aspects have been evaluated by certain key indicators and a score card has been set up by the company depending up on those. It can be noticed from the score card that Shell has a better sustainable development performance in 2009 compared to the previous year. Source: (The Royal Dutch Shell Sustainability Report, 2009, P.9) Conclusion The social, economic and environmental dimensions of Royal Dutch Shell have been monitored by using the relevant indicators. By analysing the figures mentioned in the report, it can be noticed that there is a consistent improvement every year in most of the areas of the company. If the social dimension is considered, the company has given more priority to the health and safety of the workers. It can be noted from the social data that the lowest injury rate is recorded in 2009 and there has been a significant reduction in the injury rate every year. $132 million has been spent by Shell on social investment, especially for projects on community development. It can be suggested that, the company should conduct a periodic survey regarding the problems faced by their workers to make their operations more employee friendly and effective. All companies especially oil companies should give major attention in protecting the nature. Recent oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico by B.P has caused huge loss for the company and also destroyed the natural resources and aquatic life. Shell has implemented new technologies to protect the ecosystem by preventing the hazardous impacts caused by their operations. It can be seen from the environmental data mentioned in the report that the company has taken steps to improve the energy efficiency, and the green house gas emission is recorded to be reducing every year. They have limited the usage of fresh water for their operations and also technologies for using recycled water have been implemented. The company should focus on preventing oil spills even though the amount of oil spilled was recorded to be lowest in the year 2009. From the graphs, it can be figured out that there is no consistency in the steps taken to reduce oil spills as it went high in 2008 compared to the previous years and again came down in the year 2009. Shell should take measures to employ new technologies to stop spills and invest more on it. The economic indicators of the company indicate that shell has made and continues to make good profits for its share holders. There is a greater transparency in the payments made by the company to the government and they have generated ample revenue for the government. The company has also invested a good amount of money for maintaining a sustainable business development in future. A significant amount has been spent on research and development. The annual income of the company and its return to share holders indicates that the Shell is economically stable. By monitoring all the performances of the company it can be concluded that Royal Dutch Shell moves in the right track of sustainable development by giving equal importance to people, planet and profit dimensions.

Rafflesia Species in Malaysia Identification

Rafflesia Species in Malaysia Identification INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND STUDY There are a number of unique plant types in the world which are on the brink of extinction, or are so extremely limited in range. For example the beautiful palms such as the Talipot Palm (Corypha elata), Johannis teysmannia in Sarawak and Malaya, and also Livistona in West Sumatra. The largest flower in the world, Rafflesia arnoldii and related species, are going to vanish unless more nature reserves are created for such remarkable plants in Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and the Philippines. Rafflesia is a genus of flowering plants that is made up of 23 known species. The best known of these species is Rafflesia arboldii which has the distinction of being the worlds largest flower, reaching a diameter of about three feet. The genus Rafflesia gets its name from Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of the British colony of Singapore (Walter et al., 1998). Rafflesia is a unique plant because of its dimensions unlike other flowers. This circumstance makes it widely known. It is also become an icon for conservation especially of the rain forest area. The rarity creates interest among nature lovers, tourists and the general public. The fact that some species may be in the brink of extinction alarms conservation groups. Its little-known biology and reproductive ecology spurs the interest of botanists and ecologist (Nais, 2004). Rafflesia is also thought to be one of the rarest of all plant genera which is only found in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT Malaysia is very fortunate for being one of the habitats of Rafflesia. But unfortunately, all of the known species of Rafflesia are threatened or endangered. In Malaysia the Rafflesia is only a Totally Protected Plant by law in Sarawak. In Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia it is only safeguarded by laws when found in protected areas like National or State Parks. In 2002, 44 out of the 83 Rafflesia flowers found in Sabah were outside of designated conservation places (Sabah Travel Guide, 2004). Eight out of the 23 known species of Rafflesia can be found in Malaysia, most of them in the jungles on the island of Borneo. Some species of Rafflesia are endemic species. That means these species are native and can be found only in that location. For example, Rafflesia tengku-adlinii seems to be endemic to Sabah only while Rafflesia tuan-mudae endemic to Sarawak only. Because the Rafflesia is only found in specific areas and its locations often difficult to reach, and because it only blooms for a very short time, its life cycle or the methods of pollination and seed dispersal is very unclear. This makes the appropriate methods to conserve it quite difficult to be found. Other than that, in Peninsular Malaysia flower buds are still sold as traditional medicine. The buds are seen as a sign of fertility, and are given to help mothers recover after birth. The over collection of these buds has not helped with conservation efforts but further drastically reduced the number of Rafflesia in the wild, accentuating the problem the alarmingly fast transformation of jungles into palm oil plantation creates (Sabah Travel Guide, 2004). The Rafflesia is a delicate plant that relies on an intact environment and as such is naturally extremely vulnerable to deforestation and development. Conservation must be done to protect this species from extinct. The expert system may help the user to identify the Rafflesia species in Malaysia. By using an expert system, the user may gather information about approaches to conserve the Rafflesia. 1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES There are some purposes for this research. The main objectives of this research are: to identify the Rafflesia species in Malaysia based on their physical characteristics. to develop an expert system which help the public to recognize the Rafflesia species in Malaysia. to verify system performance in order to make it applicable to the real world. 1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY The scope of this research is mainly about the Rafflesia flower and the approaches to conserve it. This research also about the system named an expert system which using Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. The system is the tool or mechanism which contains all collected information, recommendation and opinion from many expertises and also results from so many researches done. The target users of this system are tourists, publics, nature lovers and also those who interested in conserving the Rafflesia plant. The system that will be developed will provide the public about the Rafflesia species in Malaysia as well as the approaches to conserve the Rafflesia. By using an expert system, it would easier the public to access about this endangered plant. 1.5 THESIS ORGANIZATION This thesis consist of five chapters; introduction, literature review, methodology, results and discussion and conclusion. Chapter 2 is about literature review. This chapter includes the Rafflesia characteristics, the diversity and habitat of Rafflesia, identification of Rafflesia species as well as treats and conservation of Rafflesia. Introduction of expert system also included in this chapter. Expert systems typically have three basic components; a knowledge base, an inference engine and user interface. Chapter 3 is about methodology. This chapter contains the development stage of expert system for Rafflesia species identification. There are five stages in developing an expert system which are task analysis, knowledge acquisition process, prototype development, expansion and refinement and lastly verification and validation. Chapter 4 is about the result and discussion. This chapter consists of the architecture of the system and also the flow in the developing system process. This research is using an IF-THEN rule in form of asking question to the user. Chapter 5 is about the conclusion. This chapter consists of conclusion for overall of this research. It includes the expert system technology, the prototype development of expert system and the recommendation to make the system move effective and also ways to improve it. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION The Rafflesia is one of the most magnificent flowers ever known to the botanical world. It is such a big flower with odd appearance, exceptional, rare and also mysterious. It is also immense scientific and public interest. Rafflesia in bloom has been described as simply awesome (Nais, 2001). This chapter will discuss about Rafflesia characteristics, diversity, habitat, species identification as well as treats and conservation of Rafflesia. 2.2 RAFFLESIA CHARACTERISTICS In general, Rafflesia flowers consist of five leathery petals that are orange in colour and mottled with cream-coloured warts (Attenborough, 1995). The flower also has no leaves, stem or roots. The dramatic Rafflesia flowers are the largest single flowers in the world; the leathery petals can reach over 90 centimetres across (Attenborough, 1995). Rafflesia is a parasite that depends completely upon its host which supplies nutrients and water to the flower. These host plants are vines of Tetrastigma spp., and the Rafflesia plant is itself not visible until the reproduction stage when flowers first bud through the woody vine and then open into the magnificent spectacle that is world-renowned today (Nais, 2001). Most flowers in the genus give off and smell of rotting flesh, hence the local called it the corpse flower. When in bloom, the flower displays its five fleshy petals or so called perigone lobes. The diameter of the various species of Rafflesia flower ranges from approximately 20 cm to a record diameter of 106.7 cm (Meijer, 1985). Other than that, the unique part of this giant flower is the flowers can take up to ten months to develop from the first visible bud to the open bloom, which may last from 5 to 7 days only. Currently 17 species of Rafflesia are recognised and these mainly differ in the morphology of their flowers (Nais, 2001). There is a deep well in the centre of the flower containing a central raised disc raised that supports many vertical spines (Attenborough, 1995). The sexual organs are located beneath the rim of the disk, and male and female flowers are separate (Attenborough, 1995). 2.3 RAFFLESIA DIVERSITY There are 23 completely known species and 4 incompletely known species of Rafflesia as recognized by Meijer on 1997. Table 3.1 shows the known species of Rafflesia and Table 3.2 shows the unknown species of Rafflesia as recognized by Meijer on 1997. 2.4 RAFFLESIA HABITAT Rafflesia is restricted to the western part of the phytogeographical region of Malesia, which is known as the Sunda shelf (Nais, 2001). The region is floristically distinct, with a clear boundary from surrounding region (Steenis, 1950). Table 2.3 shows the genus distribution in their landmass location. Number in parentheses denotes the number of Rafflesia species present in each area. Book of Rafflesia Magnificent Flower of Sabah by Kamarudin Mat Saleh (1991) A total of 23 names of Rafflesia species have been published between 1821 and 1988 (index Kewensis, 1994). Six of the names are now considered synonyms, and a further four have inadequate type material and are treated as insufficiently known species (Meijer, 1997). The western most extension of Rafflesia is Acheh District, Sumatra, followed by the Ranong Province in Thailand, about 5 km from the Myanmar border (Meijer Elliot, 1990; Banziger, 1991; Elliot, 1991; Banziger et al., 1993). The eastern limit is Mount Apo Timur and at Gunung Dadum in Eastern Sabah (Nais, 2001). The northern most limits are at Mount Makiling, Los Banos Province, on Luzon Island in the Philippnes (Madulid Agoo, 1996), and the southern limit is the province of Java, Indonesia. The distribution of Rafflesias genus is shown in Figure 2.1. 2.5 IDENTIFICATION OF RAFFLESIA SPECIES The first description of the morphology of Rafflesia was made by Robert Brown (1821, 1835), who provided a detailed and meticulous description and illustrations of the male and female flowers of Rafflesia arnoldii (Nais, 2001). The taxonomy of Rafflesia is based entirely on the floral morphology (form and structure) of the flower with most emphasis on the outer appearance. The current species delimitation of Rafflesia is based on eight major characters. These eight variable characters are listed below (Nais, 2001) and the radial section of Rafflesia flower drawn by Yong Ket Hyun, after Meijer 1985 are shown in Figure 2.2. Size (diameter of open flowers varies from 15 cm in R. manillana to nearly 1 m in R. arnoldii); Diameter of the diaphragm aperture (ranging form 3-9 cm in R. micropylora, to about 20 cm in R. arnoldii); Number of disk processes (from none in R. rochussenii to 20-60 in R. arnoldii); Size and number of white spots (called blots, specks or warts) on the perigone lobes and diaphragm (from few to large in R. hasseltii to numerous and small in R. arnoldii); Number and size of the windows on the inside or lower surface of the diaphragm (3-5 rings of round spots in R. micropylora, seven rings of round spots in R. kerrii, or five rings of elongate oval spots in R. pricei) Number of anthers (from about 15 in R. manillana to 40 in R. arnoldii); Structure and length of ramenta, and position of their occurrence (from short and more or less postulate in R. manillana to up to 12 mm long in R. micropylora; in R. schadenbergiana, ramenta occur on the undersite of the diaphragm; ramenta in various species may have apices branched or unbranched, swollen or crateriform); and Number of annuli at the base of the perigone tube and column, all species has either 1 or 2 (for example, 2 in R. pricei). In this research, the focus is on the Rafflesia species in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia only. There are eight species of Rafflesia can be found around Malaysia which is four species (R. azlanii, R. cantleyi, R. hasseltii and R. kerrii) located in Peninsular Malaysia, three species (R. tengku-adlinii, R. keithi and R. pricei) can be found in Sabah and four species (R. tuan-mudae, R. pricei and R. keithii) in Sarawak. 2.5.1 Rafflesia cantleyi Solms-Laubach Rafflesia cantleyi was named after M. Cantley, curator of the Singapore Botanic Gardens in 1880 to 1886, who collected the type specimen in 1881. This species was described by H. Graft Solms-Laubach based on a collection made by M. Cantley in 1881. Rafflesia cantleyi has open flower dimension from 30 to 55 cm in diameter. Its perigone lobes are up to 14 cm long and 18 cm wide. It has 6 to 8 whitish warts in radial and lateral directions, about 10 in the basal row. The diaphragm opening is 4 to 8 cm across and rounded shape or sometimes angular. It has 5 concentric rings of oval white blots. Its ramenta is 2 cm long in upper type while middle and lower type is 10 to 12 mm longs, or sometimes branched, almost all with swollen apices. Its number of anthers is from 20 to 25 and this species can be found in Peninsular Malaysia only (Perak, Kedah, Perlis, Selangor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Tioman Island). Figure 2.3 shows the picture of Rafflesia cantleyi. 2.5.2 Rafflesia hasseltii Suringar Rafflesia hasseltii was described by Suringer in 1879 from discovery in Central Sumatra. R. hasseltii has an open flower dimension from 35 to 50 cm in diameter. It has 10 to 13 cm long and 14 to 17 cm wide of perigone lobes. It has whitish-pinkish blots across and large size of blots ranging from 5 x 3 to 10 x 1 cm. The clear contrast of snow white blots on bright brick-red background easily distinguishes this species from others. Its window is whitish or pale yellowish with a dark brown zone near the rim and the compound ramenta near the attachment point of the diaphragm gradually become white blots (window) on the lower part of the diaphragm. The R. hasseltii ramentas upper type is toadstool-like compound ramenta which gradually becoming the white blots of the windows. While for middle and lower type is generally linear with swollen apices. The number of anthers is 20 and this species can be found in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo and its altitudinal distribution is from 4 00 to 600 m. Figure 2.4 shows the picture of Rafflesia hasseltii. 2.5.3 Rafflesia keithii Meijer Rafflesia keithii was named after Harry G. Keith, the former Conservator of Forests in British North Borneo or nowadays called Sabah, Malaysia. This species was described by Willem Meijer in 1984. Rafflesia keithii has an open flower dimension from 80 to 94 cm in diameter. The perigone lobes are 10 to 12 cm across at the median of the lobes but sometimes it has six-lobed. Its colour is numerous white warts with dense, more or less of the same sizes. The diaphragm opening is normally 5 concentric of white warts in about 40 radial rows, each surrounded by a dark red-brown margin. Its window has 5 to 6 rings of large, white blots, those nearer to the rim merging. The ramenta for upper type is 5 to 6 mm long which often fascicled (in bundles) middle and for lower type is solitary and only some with a swollen head. Rafflesia keithii always has 40 numbers of anthers. This species can be found only in Borneo with 250 to 940 m of altitudinal distribution. Figure 2.5 shows the picture of Raff lesia keithii. 2.5.4 Rafflesia kerrii Meijer Rafflesia kerrii was named after A.F.G. Kerr, Thailands first Government Botanist, who collected the specimen from which the specimen was described. This species was described by Willem Meijer in 1984. Rafflesia kerrii has an open flower dimension of 50 to 70 cm in diameter. It has 13 to 20 cm long and 19 to 24 cm wide of perigone lobes. Its colour is dull red with brownish tinge and have numerous and scattered warts with 3 to 4 mm space between them. The size of warts for R. kerrii is the smallest compared to other species. The diaphragm opening ia about 12 to 17 cm across and have upper face with 3 to 4 concentric rings of white spots surrounded by a dark red margin. The characteristics for its window are bright white in colour with roundish to elliptic blots and up to 10 mm of diameter. This species of Rafflesia has ramenta that mostly unbranched and only slightly swollen at apex. Its anthers consist of about 26 to 31. The distribution of Rafflesia kerrii is surrounding Thailand a nd Peninsular Malaysia which at attitude from 500 to 1000 m. Figure 2.6 shows the picture of Rafflesia kerrii. 2.5.5 Rafflesia pricei Meijer Rafflesia pricei was named after William Price, a honourary plant collector for the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, who collected this species along the trail to the Mamut Copper Mine. This species of Rafflesia was described by Willem Meijer in 1984. Rafflesia pricei can only be found in Sabah only. It has 16 to 45 cm of opening flower dimension. It has 40 to 80 raised whitish spots (warts) surrounded by brick-red background. The spots range from 1 to 4 cm in length and the surface is minutely rugolose giving a matted appearance while the red background is densely papillose (Beaman at al., 1988). The diaphragm opening is about 5 to 6 cm in diameter and the diaphragm has 4 to 5 irregular rings of white spots smaller than those of the perigone lobes, surrounded by brick-red areas that grade into the cream-white background, the inner edge has a narrow white margin with a continuous reddish-brown area just outside the white rim (Beaman et al., 1988). The R. pricei has 4 to 5 concentric rings of large white window panes or blots and contracting with the bright red background. The interior of the perigone tube from the base of the tube to the lower edge of the diaphragm is lines with wine-red ramenta. The upper type (near the diaphragms opening) is about 2 to 6 long while middle type (near the insertion of the perigone lobes) is about 4 to 6 cm long and the lower type (near the base of the perigone tube) is about 6 to 7 mm long. The number of anthers for R. pricei is 20. Figure 2.6 shows the picture of Rafflesia pricei. 2.5.6 Rafflesia tengku-adlinii Mat Salleh Latiff Rafflesia tengku-adlini was named after Tengku Datuk (Dr.) Adlin Tengku Zainal Abidin, a keen naturalist and conservationist in Sabah who facilitated the documentation of the species after its recovery. This species was described by Kamarudin Mat Salleh and A. Latiff Mohamed from a specimen collected at Mount Trus Madi, Sabah in the year of 1989. R. tengku-adlinii is endemic species to Sabah only at altitude 610 to 800 m. Its opening flower dimension is about 20 to 25 cm diameter while its perigone lobes are 7 to 12 cm long and 12 to 16 cm wide. The colour of R. tengku-adlinii is bright to dull orange throughout with warts throughout the upper surface except near the diaphragm opening. The diaphragm opening is up to 12.5 cm wide and about 3 cm in diameter. It has no windows and the lower diaphragm covered with ramenta. The ramenta occurs right up to the opening of the diaphragm with 3 to 5 cm long, apices swollen, upper, middle and lower types all have fine bristles. The number of an thers for this species is 20. Figure 2.8 shows the picture of Rafflesia tengku-adlinii. 2.5.7 Rafflesia tuan-mudae Beccari Rafflesia tuan-mudae was named after Mr. Carlo (Charles) Brooke Tuan Muda of Sarawak. This species wasfirst collected from Mount Pueh, Sarawak, from which specimen the species was described by Beccari in 1868. Rafflesia tuan-mudae also is an endemic species. It only can be found in Sarawak. The opening flower dimension can reach from 44 to 92 cm in diameter. The numbers of perigone lobes is usually 5, sometimes 6 (at Gunung Gading National Park, Sarawak (personal observation), or even 7 (in Cagar Alam Gunung Raya Pasi (Zuhud et al., 1998). The colour of R. tuan-mudae is much like R. keithii, but it only has 5 to 8 warts across the median. The diaphragm opening is from 15 to 18 cm and the number of anthers is unknown. Figure 2.9 shows the picture of Rafflesia tuan-mudae. 2.5.8 Rafflesia azlanii Latiff M. Wong Rafflesia azlanii is endemic species to Peninsular Malaysia only at altitude 150 to 400 m. Its opening flower dimension is about 38 to 50 cm diameter while its perigone lobes are 9.5 to 10.5 cm long and 12 to 14.5 cm wide. The colour and pattern of R. azlanii is large and continuous (not all like R. hasseltii) whitish warts with brick-red background. The diaphragm opening is from 4.7 to 5.5 cm in diameter. During an early stage of blooming, the open diaphragm is about 7 cm and when the flower bloom fully, the open diaphragm become wider up to 18 cm. The flowers window is large whitish scattered of warts. The ramenta for upper type is 6 mm long while for lower type is 4 mm long. The number of anthers for this species is unknown. Figure 2.10 shows the picture of Rafflesia azlanii. 2.6 THREATS AND CONSERVATION Rafflesia is one of the most threatened and also one of the rarest plants in the world. The existence of this prodigious flower is precarious and it will eventually become extinct without active conservation efforts. 2.6.1 Threats Rafflesia are inherently rare as a result of a number of factors of their life cycle; they have a double habitat specialisation, as they can only successfully parasitise particular species and these species in turn are found only in specific habitats (Nais, 2001). In addition to this factor, there is an extremely unbalanced sex ratio in the Rafflesia flowers observed, with many more male than female flowers (Nais, 2001). Flower buds have a high level of mortality and only 10 to 18 percent go on to bloom, these only lasting for a few days; the chances of a male and female flower being in bloom at the same time in a close enough vicinity to be pollinated is therefore extremely slim (Nais, 2001). In addition to these inherent factors, there is widespread habitat destruction within much of the rain forested area of Southeast Asia and Rafflesia buds are also collected for traditional medicine to treat fertility problems, in parts of their range. 2.6.2 Conservation The tropical rain forest is the most threatened environment and has experienced the greatest loss of species during our lifetime (Lucas Synge, 1981). Human disturbance is one of the factors that result great loss of this natural habitats and species. Under the present circumstances, Rafflesia appears to be one of the genera approaching extinction (Nais, 2001). Therefore, the tropical rain forest and all their inhabitants must be the main focus in conservation efforts. 2.6.3 Conservation Status of Rafflesia The World Conservation Union, IUCN (1984, 1988, and 1997) established five main categories to highlight the conservation status of species: Extinct (no longer known to exist in the wild) Endangered (species that have a high likelihood of becoming extinct in the near future) Vulnerable (species that may become endangered in the near future because populations are decreasing in size throughout the range) Rare (species that have small total numbers of individuals, often due to limited geographical ranges or low population densities) Insufficiently known (species that probably belong in one of the preceding categories but are not sufficiently known to be assigned to a specific category). The conservation status of Rafflesia can only be reliably assessed by acquiring and analyzing extensive field data of each species. These data include the distribution and the characteristics of sites, rarity and reproductive ecology. The conservation status of all Rafflesia species based on current knowledge which is from published account recognized by IUCN (1997), present analysis using the WCMC/IUCN classification of Conservation Status and present analysis using the IUCNs new Categories of Conservation Status are shown in Table 2.4. 2.6.4 Approaches to Conserve Rafflesia There are two approaches can be taken according to Nais (2001). One of the approaches and also the best conservation approach for any species is in situ (or on site) conservation which mean leaving it to grow wild in its original habitat. In situ conservation is usually more effective than other approaches because natural condition often impossible to duplicate artificially. In situ conservation strategy of Rafflesia involves: i) Protection inside established Conservation Areas One of the major problem to conserve the Rafflesia is because so many tourist eager to pay homepage to existing Rafflesia sites, cause massive trampling, even to level where some populations are trampled to extinction. The mechanisms to control over-visitation are inadequate, and the infrastructure to minimize its impact is not well developed. One way to avoid trampling is by constructing boardwalks or walkways over Rafflesia population. In addition, Rafflesia sites outside conservation areas need to be made available for tourists, thus reducing the pressure for population within conservation areas (Nais, 2001). ii) Designating New Conservation Areas It may not be possible to make each Rafflesia site become conservation areas. A more plausible strategy is to synergize the Rafflesia cause with other issues, such as the protection of forests for water catchment, total habitat and biodiversity conservation, and also for nature tourism development (Nais, 2001). This may allow larger area to be conserved to protect their habitat and also their population. iii) Protection of Sites in other Areas Many Rafflsia locations are outside the protected areas which within the land belong to the indigenous community. Cooperation from the landlords is very important in order to conserve the Rafflesia. By doing opening sites for tourism is one viable conservation solution and apart from that, it also can generate income for the landowners. The second approach is by doing ex situ conservation. Ex situ conservation (sometimes referred to as off-site conservation) is the conservation of plants away from their natural occurrence [Given (1994) cited in Nais (2001)]. This approach includes conserving whole plants or plants in botanical garden and gene banks, as well as using laboratory techniques such as tissues culture for their propagation and preservation. Bringing Rafflesia into cultivation has always been appealing. Its cultivation would important not only for its conservation, but also as an important step towards utilization of the plants for ecotourism purposes (Nais, 2001). Prior to the success by Nais et al. (in press, 2000), many researchers had unsuccessfully tried various methods and techniques of ex situ propagation of Rafflesia. These attempts have included efforts to grow Rafflesia by way of seed insertion into host plants and the translocating of Tetrastigma plants with Rafflesia buds (Nais, 1997; Nais Wilcock, 1999). Similar cattempts conducted by various other people have also not been successful, for example: seed germination, tissues culture of Rafflesia and grafting of infected host plants into uninfected ones (Ghazally, 1991; Latif Mat-Salleh, 1991; Zuhud et al., 1998). These failures have initially led some researchers to believe that ex situ cultivation possibly may never be a viable option for the conservation of Rafflesia species (Meijer, 1997) until Nais et al. achieve successful in 1999. 2.7 EXPERT SYSTEM AS A SOLUTION Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that is principally concerned with using computational models to understand how humans think (Tanimoto, 1987). Major research areas include expert systems, search methods, knowledge representation, logical and probabilistic reasoning, learning, natural language understanding, vision, and robotics (Cohen and Feigenbaum, 1982). The most successful application of Artificial Intelligence so far is the development of Decision Support System (DSS), particularly expert system, which is a computer program that act as a consultant or advisor to decision makers (Generation5, 2005). According to Turban Aronson (2001), an expert system is a system that uses human knowledge captured in a computer to solve problems that ordinarily require human expertise, or, a computer program that can solve problems in a specific area of knowledge (the problem domain) as well as a human expert (OKeefe et al., 1987), or, that automates tasks that are normally performed by specially trained or talented people (Shannon et al., 1985). Usually when an organization having problem to solve and have to make critical decision, they often turn to consultants or experts seeking for advice. These experts or consultants have specific knowledge and experience in the problem area. They are aware of alternative solutions, chances of success, and costs that the organization may incur if the problem is not solved. Experts can diagnose problems correctly and solve them satisfactorily within a reasonable time frame.However, human experts are expensive, and they may not be readily available. Expert systems are an attempt to mimic human experts (Turban, Rainer, Potter, 2001). The expert system begins by asking questions about the problem to be solved. When the needed information has been gathered (inputted by user), the system offers suggestions about how the problem can be solved (McEneaney, 1992). According to Wentworth (1993), expert systems differ from conventional programs in the way they store and use information. In a conventional program, the operations never vary as the programmer predetermines them. The conventional program contains precisely defined logical formulas and data, and if any data element is missing, the program will not run. The expert system, like the human expert, contains heuristic information and can function with incomplete information. 2.7.1 Components of Expert System An expert system is typically composed of at least three primary components. These are the inference engine, the knowledge base, and the working memory (Wikibooks, 2010). An expert system, also known as knowledge-based system, uses the knowledge and experience of experts to solve problems in a reasonable period of time. Human experts solve problems by using their factual knowledge and reasoning ability. In the other hand, an expert system uses its knowledge base and inference engine to perform a similar task. Figure 2.1 shows the main components in an expert system. The knowledge base supplies specific facts and rules regarding a domain, while the inference engine offers the reasoning ability that allows the expert system to make conclusions. The user interface is the medium between the expert system and the user. An expert is someone who has the ability to achieve a specific task efficiently by using his or her skills, experience, and knowledge in a specific domain. 2.7.1.1 Knowledge Base Expert systems are based on human knowledge and reasoning patterns (Wikibooks, 2010). The knowledge base an expert uses is what he learned at school, from colleagues, and from years of experience. The more experience he has, the larger his store of knowledge. Knowledge allows him to interpret the information in his databases to advantage in diagnosis, design, and analysis (Edward and Robert, 1993). This knowledge must be extracted from a human expert by a specialized knowledge engineer. Knowledge engineers ask the expert questions about his knowledge and his reasoning processes, and attempts to translate that into Rafflesia Species in Malaysia Identification Rafflesia Species in Malaysia Identification INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND STUDY There are a number of unique plant types in the world which are on the brink of extinction, or are so extremely limited in range. For example the beautiful palms such as the Talipot Palm (Corypha elata), Johannis teysmannia in Sarawak and Malaya, and also Livistona in West Sumatra. The largest flower in the world, Rafflesia arnoldii and related species, are going to vanish unless more nature reserves are created for such remarkable plants in Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and the Philippines. Rafflesia is a genus of flowering plants that is made up of 23 known species. The best known of these species is Rafflesia arboldii which has the distinction of being the worlds largest flower, reaching a diameter of about three feet. The genus Rafflesia gets its name from Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of the British colony of Singapore (Walter et al., 1998). Rafflesia is a unique plant because of its dimensions unlike other flowers. This circumstance makes it widely known. It is also become an icon for conservation especially of the rain forest area. The rarity creates interest among nature lovers, tourists and the general public. The fact that some species may be in the brink of extinction alarms conservation groups. Its little-known biology and reproductive ecology spurs the interest of botanists and ecologist (Nais, 2004). Rafflesia is also thought to be one of the rarest of all plant genera which is only found in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT Malaysia is very fortunate for being one of the habitats of Rafflesia. But unfortunately, all of the known species of Rafflesia are threatened or endangered. In Malaysia the Rafflesia is only a Totally Protected Plant by law in Sarawak. In Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia it is only safeguarded by laws when found in protected areas like National or State Parks. In 2002, 44 out of the 83 Rafflesia flowers found in Sabah were outside of designated conservation places (Sabah Travel Guide, 2004). Eight out of the 23 known species of Rafflesia can be found in Malaysia, most of them in the jungles on the island of Borneo. Some species of Rafflesia are endemic species. That means these species are native and can be found only in that location. For example, Rafflesia tengku-adlinii seems to be endemic to Sabah only while Rafflesia tuan-mudae endemic to Sarawak only. Because the Rafflesia is only found in specific areas and its locations often difficult to reach, and because it only blooms for a very short time, its life cycle or the methods of pollination and seed dispersal is very unclear. This makes the appropriate methods to conserve it quite difficult to be found. Other than that, in Peninsular Malaysia flower buds are still sold as traditional medicine. The buds are seen as a sign of fertility, and are given to help mothers recover after birth. The over collection of these buds has not helped with conservation efforts but further drastically reduced the number of Rafflesia in the wild, accentuating the problem the alarmingly fast transformation of jungles into palm oil plantation creates (Sabah Travel Guide, 2004). The Rafflesia is a delicate plant that relies on an intact environment and as such is naturally extremely vulnerable to deforestation and development. Conservation must be done to protect this species from extinct. The expert system may help the user to identify the Rafflesia species in Malaysia. By using an expert system, the user may gather information about approaches to conserve the Rafflesia. 1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES There are some purposes for this research. The main objectives of this research are: to identify the Rafflesia species in Malaysia based on their physical characteristics. to develop an expert system which help the public to recognize the Rafflesia species in Malaysia. to verify system performance in order to make it applicable to the real world. 1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY The scope of this research is mainly about the Rafflesia flower and the approaches to conserve it. This research also about the system named an expert system which using Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. The system is the tool or mechanism which contains all collected information, recommendation and opinion from many expertises and also results from so many researches done. The target users of this system are tourists, publics, nature lovers and also those who interested in conserving the Rafflesia plant. The system that will be developed will provide the public about the Rafflesia species in Malaysia as well as the approaches to conserve the Rafflesia. By using an expert system, it would easier the public to access about this endangered plant. 1.5 THESIS ORGANIZATION This thesis consist of five chapters; introduction, literature review, methodology, results and discussion and conclusion. Chapter 2 is about literature review. This chapter includes the Rafflesia characteristics, the diversity and habitat of Rafflesia, identification of Rafflesia species as well as treats and conservation of Rafflesia. Introduction of expert system also included in this chapter. Expert systems typically have three basic components; a knowledge base, an inference engine and user interface. Chapter 3 is about methodology. This chapter contains the development stage of expert system for Rafflesia species identification. There are five stages in developing an expert system which are task analysis, knowledge acquisition process, prototype development, expansion and refinement and lastly verification and validation. Chapter 4 is about the result and discussion. This chapter consists of the architecture of the system and also the flow in the developing system process. This research is using an IF-THEN rule in form of asking question to the user. Chapter 5 is about the conclusion. This chapter consists of conclusion for overall of this research. It includes the expert system technology, the prototype development of expert system and the recommendation to make the system move effective and also ways to improve it. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION The Rafflesia is one of the most magnificent flowers ever known to the botanical world. It is such a big flower with odd appearance, exceptional, rare and also mysterious. It is also immense scientific and public interest. Rafflesia in bloom has been described as simply awesome (Nais, 2001). This chapter will discuss about Rafflesia characteristics, diversity, habitat, species identification as well as treats and conservation of Rafflesia. 2.2 RAFFLESIA CHARACTERISTICS In general, Rafflesia flowers consist of five leathery petals that are orange in colour and mottled with cream-coloured warts (Attenborough, 1995). The flower also has no leaves, stem or roots. The dramatic Rafflesia flowers are the largest single flowers in the world; the leathery petals can reach over 90 centimetres across (Attenborough, 1995). Rafflesia is a parasite that depends completely upon its host which supplies nutrients and water to the flower. These host plants are vines of Tetrastigma spp., and the Rafflesia plant is itself not visible until the reproduction stage when flowers first bud through the woody vine and then open into the magnificent spectacle that is world-renowned today (Nais, 2001). Most flowers in the genus give off and smell of rotting flesh, hence the local called it the corpse flower. When in bloom, the flower displays its five fleshy petals or so called perigone lobes. The diameter of the various species of Rafflesia flower ranges from approximately 20 cm to a record diameter of 106.7 cm (Meijer, 1985). Other than that, the unique part of this giant flower is the flowers can take up to ten months to develop from the first visible bud to the open bloom, which may last from 5 to 7 days only. Currently 17 species of Rafflesia are recognised and these mainly differ in the morphology of their flowers (Nais, 2001). There is a deep well in the centre of the flower containing a central raised disc raised that supports many vertical spines (Attenborough, 1995). The sexual organs are located beneath the rim of the disk, and male and female flowers are separate (Attenborough, 1995). 2.3 RAFFLESIA DIVERSITY There are 23 completely known species and 4 incompletely known species of Rafflesia as recognized by Meijer on 1997. Table 3.1 shows the known species of Rafflesia and Table 3.2 shows the unknown species of Rafflesia as recognized by Meijer on 1997. 2.4 RAFFLESIA HABITAT Rafflesia is restricted to the western part of the phytogeographical region of Malesia, which is known as the Sunda shelf (Nais, 2001). The region is floristically distinct, with a clear boundary from surrounding region (Steenis, 1950). Table 2.3 shows the genus distribution in their landmass location. Number in parentheses denotes the number of Rafflesia species present in each area. Book of Rafflesia Magnificent Flower of Sabah by Kamarudin Mat Saleh (1991) A total of 23 names of Rafflesia species have been published between 1821 and 1988 (index Kewensis, 1994). Six of the names are now considered synonyms, and a further four have inadequate type material and are treated as insufficiently known species (Meijer, 1997). The western most extension of Rafflesia is Acheh District, Sumatra, followed by the Ranong Province in Thailand, about 5 km from the Myanmar border (Meijer Elliot, 1990; Banziger, 1991; Elliot, 1991; Banziger et al., 1993). The eastern limit is Mount Apo Timur and at Gunung Dadum in Eastern Sabah (Nais, 2001). The northern most limits are at Mount Makiling, Los Banos Province, on Luzon Island in the Philippnes (Madulid Agoo, 1996), and the southern limit is the province of Java, Indonesia. The distribution of Rafflesias genus is shown in Figure 2.1. 2.5 IDENTIFICATION OF RAFFLESIA SPECIES The first description of the morphology of Rafflesia was made by Robert Brown (1821, 1835), who provided a detailed and meticulous description and illustrations of the male and female flowers of Rafflesia arnoldii (Nais, 2001). The taxonomy of Rafflesia is based entirely on the floral morphology (form and structure) of the flower with most emphasis on the outer appearance. The current species delimitation of Rafflesia is based on eight major characters. These eight variable characters are listed below (Nais, 2001) and the radial section of Rafflesia flower drawn by Yong Ket Hyun, after Meijer 1985 are shown in Figure 2.2. Size (diameter of open flowers varies from 15 cm in R. manillana to nearly 1 m in R. arnoldii); Diameter of the diaphragm aperture (ranging form 3-9 cm in R. micropylora, to about 20 cm in R. arnoldii); Number of disk processes (from none in R. rochussenii to 20-60 in R. arnoldii); Size and number of white spots (called blots, specks or warts) on the perigone lobes and diaphragm (from few to large in R. hasseltii to numerous and small in R. arnoldii); Number and size of the windows on the inside or lower surface of the diaphragm (3-5 rings of round spots in R. micropylora, seven rings of round spots in R. kerrii, or five rings of elongate oval spots in R. pricei) Number of anthers (from about 15 in R. manillana to 40 in R. arnoldii); Structure and length of ramenta, and position of their occurrence (from short and more or less postulate in R. manillana to up to 12 mm long in R. micropylora; in R. schadenbergiana, ramenta occur on the undersite of the diaphragm; ramenta in various species may have apices branched or unbranched, swollen or crateriform); and Number of annuli at the base of the perigone tube and column, all species has either 1 or 2 (for example, 2 in R. pricei). In this research, the focus is on the Rafflesia species in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia only. There are eight species of Rafflesia can be found around Malaysia which is four species (R. azlanii, R. cantleyi, R. hasseltii and R. kerrii) located in Peninsular Malaysia, three species (R. tengku-adlinii, R. keithi and R. pricei) can be found in Sabah and four species (R. tuan-mudae, R. pricei and R. keithii) in Sarawak. 2.5.1 Rafflesia cantleyi Solms-Laubach Rafflesia cantleyi was named after M. Cantley, curator of the Singapore Botanic Gardens in 1880 to 1886, who collected the type specimen in 1881. This species was described by H. Graft Solms-Laubach based on a collection made by M. Cantley in 1881. Rafflesia cantleyi has open flower dimension from 30 to 55 cm in diameter. Its perigone lobes are up to 14 cm long and 18 cm wide. It has 6 to 8 whitish warts in radial and lateral directions, about 10 in the basal row. The diaphragm opening is 4 to 8 cm across and rounded shape or sometimes angular. It has 5 concentric rings of oval white blots. Its ramenta is 2 cm long in upper type while middle and lower type is 10 to 12 mm longs, or sometimes branched, almost all with swollen apices. Its number of anthers is from 20 to 25 and this species can be found in Peninsular Malaysia only (Perak, Kedah, Perlis, Selangor, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Tioman Island). Figure 2.3 shows the picture of Rafflesia cantleyi. 2.5.2 Rafflesia hasseltii Suringar Rafflesia hasseltii was described by Suringer in 1879 from discovery in Central Sumatra. R. hasseltii has an open flower dimension from 35 to 50 cm in diameter. It has 10 to 13 cm long and 14 to 17 cm wide of perigone lobes. It has whitish-pinkish blots across and large size of blots ranging from 5 x 3 to 10 x 1 cm. The clear contrast of snow white blots on bright brick-red background easily distinguishes this species from others. Its window is whitish or pale yellowish with a dark brown zone near the rim and the compound ramenta near the attachment point of the diaphragm gradually become white blots (window) on the lower part of the diaphragm. The R. hasseltii ramentas upper type is toadstool-like compound ramenta which gradually becoming the white blots of the windows. While for middle and lower type is generally linear with swollen apices. The number of anthers is 20 and this species can be found in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo and its altitudinal distribution is from 4 00 to 600 m. Figure 2.4 shows the picture of Rafflesia hasseltii. 2.5.3 Rafflesia keithii Meijer Rafflesia keithii was named after Harry G. Keith, the former Conservator of Forests in British North Borneo or nowadays called Sabah, Malaysia. This species was described by Willem Meijer in 1984. Rafflesia keithii has an open flower dimension from 80 to 94 cm in diameter. The perigone lobes are 10 to 12 cm across at the median of the lobes but sometimes it has six-lobed. Its colour is numerous white warts with dense, more or less of the same sizes. The diaphragm opening is normally 5 concentric of white warts in about 40 radial rows, each surrounded by a dark red-brown margin. Its window has 5 to 6 rings of large, white blots, those nearer to the rim merging. The ramenta for upper type is 5 to 6 mm long which often fascicled (in bundles) middle and for lower type is solitary and only some with a swollen head. Rafflesia keithii always has 40 numbers of anthers. This species can be found only in Borneo with 250 to 940 m of altitudinal distribution. Figure 2.5 shows the picture of Raff lesia keithii. 2.5.4 Rafflesia kerrii Meijer Rafflesia kerrii was named after A.F.G. Kerr, Thailands first Government Botanist, who collected the specimen from which the specimen was described. This species was described by Willem Meijer in 1984. Rafflesia kerrii has an open flower dimension of 50 to 70 cm in diameter. It has 13 to 20 cm long and 19 to 24 cm wide of perigone lobes. Its colour is dull red with brownish tinge and have numerous and scattered warts with 3 to 4 mm space between them. The size of warts for R. kerrii is the smallest compared to other species. The diaphragm opening ia about 12 to 17 cm across and have upper face with 3 to 4 concentric rings of white spots surrounded by a dark red margin. The characteristics for its window are bright white in colour with roundish to elliptic blots and up to 10 mm of diameter. This species of Rafflesia has ramenta that mostly unbranched and only slightly swollen at apex. Its anthers consist of about 26 to 31. The distribution of Rafflesia kerrii is surrounding Thailand a nd Peninsular Malaysia which at attitude from 500 to 1000 m. Figure 2.6 shows the picture of Rafflesia kerrii. 2.5.5 Rafflesia pricei Meijer Rafflesia pricei was named after William Price, a honourary plant collector for the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, who collected this species along the trail to the Mamut Copper Mine. This species of Rafflesia was described by Willem Meijer in 1984. Rafflesia pricei can only be found in Sabah only. It has 16 to 45 cm of opening flower dimension. It has 40 to 80 raised whitish spots (warts) surrounded by brick-red background. The spots range from 1 to 4 cm in length and the surface is minutely rugolose giving a matted appearance while the red background is densely papillose (Beaman at al., 1988). The diaphragm opening is about 5 to 6 cm in diameter and the diaphragm has 4 to 5 irregular rings of white spots smaller than those of the perigone lobes, surrounded by brick-red areas that grade into the cream-white background, the inner edge has a narrow white margin with a continuous reddish-brown area just outside the white rim (Beaman et al., 1988). The R. pricei has 4 to 5 concentric rings of large white window panes or blots and contracting with the bright red background. The interior of the perigone tube from the base of the tube to the lower edge of the diaphragm is lines with wine-red ramenta. The upper type (near the diaphragms opening) is about 2 to 6 long while middle type (near the insertion of the perigone lobes) is about 4 to 6 cm long and the lower type (near the base of the perigone tube) is about 6 to 7 mm long. The number of anthers for R. pricei is 20. Figure 2.6 shows the picture of Rafflesia pricei. 2.5.6 Rafflesia tengku-adlinii Mat Salleh Latiff Rafflesia tengku-adlini was named after Tengku Datuk (Dr.) Adlin Tengku Zainal Abidin, a keen naturalist and conservationist in Sabah who facilitated the documentation of the species after its recovery. This species was described by Kamarudin Mat Salleh and A. Latiff Mohamed from a specimen collected at Mount Trus Madi, Sabah in the year of 1989. R. tengku-adlinii is endemic species to Sabah only at altitude 610 to 800 m. Its opening flower dimension is about 20 to 25 cm diameter while its perigone lobes are 7 to 12 cm long and 12 to 16 cm wide. The colour of R. tengku-adlinii is bright to dull orange throughout with warts throughout the upper surface except near the diaphragm opening. The diaphragm opening is up to 12.5 cm wide and about 3 cm in diameter. It has no windows and the lower diaphragm covered with ramenta. The ramenta occurs right up to the opening of the diaphragm with 3 to 5 cm long, apices swollen, upper, middle and lower types all have fine bristles. The number of an thers for this species is 20. Figure 2.8 shows the picture of Rafflesia tengku-adlinii. 2.5.7 Rafflesia tuan-mudae Beccari Rafflesia tuan-mudae was named after Mr. Carlo (Charles) Brooke Tuan Muda of Sarawak. This species wasfirst collected from Mount Pueh, Sarawak, from which specimen the species was described by Beccari in 1868. Rafflesia tuan-mudae also is an endemic species. It only can be found in Sarawak. The opening flower dimension can reach from 44 to 92 cm in diameter. The numbers of perigone lobes is usually 5, sometimes 6 (at Gunung Gading National Park, Sarawak (personal observation), or even 7 (in Cagar Alam Gunung Raya Pasi (Zuhud et al., 1998). The colour of R. tuan-mudae is much like R. keithii, but it only has 5 to 8 warts across the median. The diaphragm opening is from 15 to 18 cm and the number of anthers is unknown. Figure 2.9 shows the picture of Rafflesia tuan-mudae. 2.5.8 Rafflesia azlanii Latiff M. Wong Rafflesia azlanii is endemic species to Peninsular Malaysia only at altitude 150 to 400 m. Its opening flower dimension is about 38 to 50 cm diameter while its perigone lobes are 9.5 to 10.5 cm long and 12 to 14.5 cm wide. The colour and pattern of R. azlanii is large and continuous (not all like R. hasseltii) whitish warts with brick-red background. The diaphragm opening is from 4.7 to 5.5 cm in diameter. During an early stage of blooming, the open diaphragm is about 7 cm and when the flower bloom fully, the open diaphragm become wider up to 18 cm. The flowers window is large whitish scattered of warts. The ramenta for upper type is 6 mm long while for lower type is 4 mm long. The number of anthers for this species is unknown. Figure 2.10 shows the picture of Rafflesia azlanii. 2.6 THREATS AND CONSERVATION Rafflesia is one of the most threatened and also one of the rarest plants in the world. The existence of this prodigious flower is precarious and it will eventually become extinct without active conservation efforts. 2.6.1 Threats Rafflesia are inherently rare as a result of a number of factors of their life cycle; they have a double habitat specialisation, as they can only successfully parasitise particular species and these species in turn are found only in specific habitats (Nais, 2001). In addition to this factor, there is an extremely unbalanced sex ratio in the Rafflesia flowers observed, with many more male than female flowers (Nais, 2001). Flower buds have a high level of mortality and only 10 to 18 percent go on to bloom, these only lasting for a few days; the chances of a male and female flower being in bloom at the same time in a close enough vicinity to be pollinated is therefore extremely slim (Nais, 2001). In addition to these inherent factors, there is widespread habitat destruction within much of the rain forested area of Southeast Asia and Rafflesia buds are also collected for traditional medicine to treat fertility problems, in parts of their range. 2.6.2 Conservation The tropical rain forest is the most threatened environment and has experienced the greatest loss of species during our lifetime (Lucas Synge, 1981). Human disturbance is one of the factors that result great loss of this natural habitats and species. Under the present circumstances, Rafflesia appears to be one of the genera approaching extinction (Nais, 2001). Therefore, the tropical rain forest and all their inhabitants must be the main focus in conservation efforts. 2.6.3 Conservation Status of Rafflesia The World Conservation Union, IUCN (1984, 1988, and 1997) established five main categories to highlight the conservation status of species: Extinct (no longer known to exist in the wild) Endangered (species that have a high likelihood of becoming extinct in the near future) Vulnerable (species that may become endangered in the near future because populations are decreasing in size throughout the range) Rare (species that have small total numbers of individuals, often due to limited geographical ranges or low population densities) Insufficiently known (species that probably belong in one of the preceding categories but are not sufficiently known to be assigned to a specific category). The conservation status of Rafflesia can only be reliably assessed by acquiring and analyzing extensive field data of each species. These data include the distribution and the characteristics of sites, rarity and reproductive ecology. The conservation status of all Rafflesia species based on current knowledge which is from published account recognized by IUCN (1997), present analysis using the WCMC/IUCN classification of Conservation Status and present analysis using the IUCNs new Categories of Conservation Status are shown in Table 2.4. 2.6.4 Approaches to Conserve Rafflesia There are two approaches can be taken according to Nais (2001). One of the approaches and also the best conservation approach for any species is in situ (or on site) conservation which mean leaving it to grow wild in its original habitat. In situ conservation is usually more effective than other approaches because natural condition often impossible to duplicate artificially. In situ conservation strategy of Rafflesia involves: i) Protection inside established Conservation Areas One of the major problem to conserve the Rafflesia is because so many tourist eager to pay homepage to existing Rafflesia sites, cause massive trampling, even to level where some populations are trampled to extinction. The mechanisms to control over-visitation are inadequate, and the infrastructure to minimize its impact is not well developed. One way to avoid trampling is by constructing boardwalks or walkways over Rafflesia population. In addition, Rafflesia sites outside conservation areas need to be made available for tourists, thus reducing the pressure for population within conservation areas (Nais, 2001). ii) Designating New Conservation Areas It may not be possible to make each Rafflesia site become conservation areas. A more plausible strategy is to synergize the Rafflesia cause with other issues, such as the protection of forests for water catchment, total habitat and biodiversity conservation, and also for nature tourism development (Nais, 2001). This may allow larger area to be conserved to protect their habitat and also their population. iii) Protection of Sites in other Areas Many Rafflsia locations are outside the protected areas which within the land belong to the indigenous community. Cooperation from the landlords is very important in order to conserve the Rafflesia. By doing opening sites for tourism is one viable conservation solution and apart from that, it also can generate income for the landowners. The second approach is by doing ex situ conservation. Ex situ conservation (sometimes referred to as off-site conservation) is the conservation of plants away from their natural occurrence [Given (1994) cited in Nais (2001)]. This approach includes conserving whole plants or plants in botanical garden and gene banks, as well as using laboratory techniques such as tissues culture for their propagation and preservation. Bringing Rafflesia into cultivation has always been appealing. Its cultivation would important not only for its conservation, but also as an important step towards utilization of the plants for ecotourism purposes (Nais, 2001). Prior to the success by Nais et al. (in press, 2000), many researchers had unsuccessfully tried various methods and techniques of ex situ propagation of Rafflesia. These attempts have included efforts to grow Rafflesia by way of seed insertion into host plants and the translocating of Tetrastigma plants with Rafflesia buds (Nais, 1997; Nais Wilcock, 1999). Similar cattempts conducted by various other people have also not been successful, for example: seed germination, tissues culture of Rafflesia and grafting of infected host plants into uninfected ones (Ghazally, 1991; Latif Mat-Salleh, 1991; Zuhud et al., 1998). These failures have initially led some researchers to believe that ex situ cultivation possibly may never be a viable option for the conservation of Rafflesia species (Meijer, 1997) until Nais et al. achieve successful in 1999. 2.7 EXPERT SYSTEM AS A SOLUTION Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that is principally concerned with using computational models to understand how humans think (Tanimoto, 1987). Major research areas include expert systems, search methods, knowledge representation, logical and probabilistic reasoning, learning, natural language understanding, vision, and robotics (Cohen and Feigenbaum, 1982). The most successful application of Artificial Intelligence so far is the development of Decision Support System (DSS), particularly expert system, which is a computer program that act as a consultant or advisor to decision makers (Generation5, 2005). According to Turban Aronson (2001), an expert system is a system that uses human knowledge captured in a computer to solve problems that ordinarily require human expertise, or, a computer program that can solve problems in a specific area of knowledge (the problem domain) as well as a human expert (OKeefe et al., 1987), or, that automates tasks that are normally performed by specially trained or talented people (Shannon et al., 1985). Usually when an organization having problem to solve and have to make critical decision, they often turn to consultants or experts seeking for advice. These experts or consultants have specific knowledge and experience in the problem area. They are aware of alternative solutions, chances of success, and costs that the organization may incur if the problem is not solved. Experts can diagnose problems correctly and solve them satisfactorily within a reasonable time frame.However, human experts are expensive, and they may not be readily available. Expert systems are an attempt to mimic human experts (Turban, Rainer, Potter, 2001). The expert system begins by asking questions about the problem to be solved. When the needed information has been gathered (inputted by user), the system offers suggestions about how the problem can be solved (McEneaney, 1992). According to Wentworth (1993), expert systems differ from conventional programs in the way they store and use information. In a conventional program, the operations never vary as the programmer predetermines them. The conventional program contains precisely defined logical formulas and data, and if any data element is missing, the program will not run. The expert system, like the human expert, contains heuristic information and can function with incomplete information. 2.7.1 Components of Expert System An expert system is typically composed of at least three primary components. These are the inference engine, the knowledge base, and the working memory (Wikibooks, 2010). An expert system, also known as knowledge-based system, uses the knowledge and experience of experts to solve problems in a reasonable period of time. Human experts solve problems by using their factual knowledge and reasoning ability. In the other hand, an expert system uses its knowledge base and inference engine to perform a similar task. Figure 2.1 shows the main components in an expert system. The knowledge base supplies specific facts and rules regarding a domain, while the inference engine offers the reasoning ability that allows the expert system to make conclusions. The user interface is the medium between the expert system and the user. An expert is someone who has the ability to achieve a specific task efficiently by using his or her skills, experience, and knowledge in a specific domain. 2.7.1.1 Knowledge Base Expert systems are based on human knowledge and reasoning patterns (Wikibooks, 2010). The knowledge base an expert uses is what he learned at school, from colleagues, and from years of experience. The more experience he has, the larger his store of knowledge. Knowledge allows him to interpret the information in his databases to advantage in diagnosis, design, and analysis (Edward and Robert, 1993). This knowledge must be extracted from a human expert by a specialized knowledge engineer. Knowledge engineers ask the expert questions about his knowledge and his reasoning processes, and attempts to translate that into