Discuss ‘The Chinese Room’ Argument Essay

In 1980, John Searle began a widespread dispute with his paper, ‘Minds, Brains, and Programmes’ (Searle, 1980). The paper referred to a thought experiment which argued against the possibility that computers can ever have artificial intelligence (AI); in essence a condemnation that machines will ever be able to think. Searle’s argument was based on two key claims. That; â€Å"brains cause minds and syntax doesn’t suffice for semantics† (Searle, 1980, p.417). Syntax in this instance refers to the computer language used to create a programme; a combination of illegible code (to the untrained eye) which provides the basis and commands for the action of a programme running on a computer. Semantics refers to the study of meaning or the understanding behind the use of language. Searle’s claim was that it is the existence of a brain which gives us our minds and the intelligence which we have, and that no combination of programming language is sufficient enough to contribute meaning to the machine and therein for the machine to understand. His claim was that the apparent understanding of a computer is merely more than a set of programmed codes, allowing the machine to extort answers based on available information. He did not deny that computers could be programmed to perform to act as if they understand and have meaning. In fact he quoted; â€Å"the computer is not merely a tool in the study of the mind, rather the appropriately programmed computer really is a mind in the sense that computers given the right programs can be literally said to understand and have other cognitive states† (Searle, 1980, p. 417). Searle’s argument was that we may be able to create machines with ‘weak AI’ – that is, we can programme a machine to behave as if it were thinking, to simulate thought and produce a perceptible understanding, but the claim of ‘strong AI’ (that machines are able to run with syntax and have cognitive states as humans and understand and produce answers based on this cognitive understanding, that it really has (or is) a mind (Chalmers, 1992)) is just not possible. A machine is unable to generate fundamental human mindsets such as intentionality, subjectivity, and comprehension (Ibid, 1992). Searle’s main argument for this notion came from his ‘Chinese room experiment’, for which there has been much deliberation and denunciation from fellow researchers, philosophers and psychologists. This paper aims to analyse the arguments, assess counter augments and propose that John Searle was accurate in his philosophy; that machines will n ever think as humans and that the issue relates more to the simple fact that a computer is neither human nor biological in nature, nor can it ever be. In 1950, Alan Turing proposed a method of examining the intelligibility of a machine to become known as ‘The Turing Test’ (Turing, 1950). It describes an examination of the veracity to which a machine can be deemed intelligent, should it so pass . Searle (1980) argued that the test is fallible, in that a machine without intelligence is able to pass such a test. ‘The Chinese Room’ is Searle’s example of such machine. ‘The Chinese room’ experiment is what is termed by physicists a ‘thought experiment’ (Reynolds and Kates, 1995); such that it is a hypothetical experiment which is not physically performed, often without any intention of the experiment ever being executed. It was proposed by Searle as a way of illustrating his understanding that a machine will never logically be able to possess a mind. Searle (1980) suggests that we envisage ourselves as a monolingual (speaking only one language) English speaker, locked inside a room with a large group of Chinese writing in addition to a second group of Chinese script. We are also presented with a set of rules in English which allow us to connect the initial set of writings, with the second set of script. The set of rules allows you to identify the first and second set of symbols (syntax) purely by their presenting form. Furthermore, we are presented with a third set of Chinese symbols and additional English instructions whi ch makes it feasible for you to associate particular items from the third batch with the preceding two. This commands you consequently to ‘give back’ particular Chinese symbols with particular shapes in response. Searle encourages us to accept that the initial set of writing is a ‘script’ (a natural language processing computational data set); the second set a ‘story’ and the third group ‘questions’. The symbols which are returned are the ‘answers’ and the English instructions are the ‘computer programme’. However, should you be the one inside ‘the Chinese room’ you would not be aware of this. However, Searle suggests that your responses to the questions become so good, that you are impossible to differentiate from a native Chinese speaker; yet you are merely behaving as a computer. Searle argues that whilst in the room and delivering correct answers, he still does not know anything. He cannot speak Chinese yet is able to produce the correct answers without an understanding of the Chinese language. Searle’s thought experiment demonstrated that of ‘weak AI’; that we can indeed programme a machine to behave as if it were thinking and such to simulate thought and hence produce a perceptible understanding, when in fact the machine understands nothing; it is simply following a linear instructional set, for which the answers are already programmed. The machine is not producing intuitive thought; it is providing a programmed answer. Searle was presented with many critical replies to ‘the Chinese room’ experiment, for which he offered a rejoinder; a retort to the replies by looking at the room in a different way to account for such counterarguments presented by researchers in the field of AI. Harnard (1993) supports ‘The Systems Reply’ in refute of the work of Searle. This argues that we are encouraged to focus on the wrong agent; the individual in the room. This implies that the man in the room does not understand Chinese as a single entity, but the system in which he operates (the room), does. However, an evident opposition to such claim is that the system (the room) again has no real way of connecting meaning to the Chinese symbols any more than the individual man did in the first instance. Even if the individual were to internalize (memorise) the entire instructional components, and be removed from the system (room), how would the system compute the answers, if all the computational ability is within the man. Furthermore, the ‘room’ cannot understand Chinese. ‘The Robot Reply’ is due to refutation by Harnard (1989) who argued that meaning is unable to be attached to the ciphers of Chinese writing due to the lack of ‘sensory-motoric’ connection. That is, the symbols are in no way attached to a physical meaning, that which can be ‘seen’ and comprehended. As children, we learn to associate meaning of words by attaching them to physical ‘things’. Harnard argues, that ‘the Chinese room’ lacks this ability to associate meaning to the words, and thus is unable to produce understanding. Yet, Searle’s defence is that if we were to further imagine a computer inside a robot, producing a representation of walking and perceiving, then according to Harnard, the robot would have understanding of other mental states. However, when Searle places the room (with the man inside) inside the robot and allows the symbols to come from a television attached to the robot, he insists that he still does not have understanding; that his computational production is still merely a display of ‘symbol representation’ (Searle, 1980, p.420). Searle also argues that part of ‘The Robot Reply’ is in itself, disputing the fact that human cognition is merely symbol manipulation and as such refutes the opinion of ‘strong AI’, as it is in need of ‘causal relations to the outside world’ (Ibid, p.420). Again, the system simply follows a computational set of rules installed by the programmer and produces linear answers, based upon such rules. There is no spontaneous thought or understanding of the Chinese symbols, it merely matches with that already programmed in the system. ‘The Robot Reply’ is therefore suggestive that programmed structure is enough to be acc ountable for mental processes; for cognition. ‘[this suggests] that some computational structure is sufficient for mentality, and both are therefore futile’ (Chalmers, 1992, p.3). Further to ‘the Robot Reply’, academics from Berkley (Searle, 1980) proposed ‘The Brain Simulator Reply’, in which the notion of exactly what the man represents is questioned. It is hereby proposed that the computer (man in the room) signifies neurons firing at the synapse of a Chinese narrator. It is argued here that we would have to accept that the machine understood the stories. If we did not, we would have to assume that native Chinese speakers also did not understand the stories since at a neuronal level there would be no difference. The opposition clearly defines understanding by the correct firing of neurons, which may well produce the correct responses from the ‘machine’ and a perceived understanding, that is assumed, but the argument remains; does the machine (man) actually understand that which he is producing (answering), or is it again, merely a computational puzzle, solved through logical programming? Searle argues yes. He asks us to imagine a man in the room using water pipes and valves to represent the biological process of neuronal firing at the synapse. The input (English instructions) now informs the man, which valves to turn on and off and thus produce an answer (a set of flowing pipes at the end of the system). Again, Searle argues that neither the man, nor the pipes actually understand Chinese. Yes, they have an answer and yes, the answer is undoubtedly correct, but the elements which produced the answer (the man and the pipes) still do not understand what the answer is; they do not have semantic representation for the output. Here, the representation of the neurons is simply that; a representation. A representation which is unable to account for the higher functioning processes of the brain and the semanticist understanding therein. Further argument suggests a combination of the aforementioned elements known as ‘The Combination Reply’ should allow for ‘intentionality†™ to the system, as proposed by academics at Berkley and Standford (Simon and Eisenstadt, 2002). The idea is such that combining the intelligence of all the replies aforementioned into one system, the system should be able to produce semantic inference from the linear answer produced by the syntax. Again, Searle (1980) is unable to justify such claims, as the sum of all parts does not account for understanding. Not one of the replies was able to validate genuine understanding from the system and as such, the combination of the three counterarguments, will still remain as ambiguous as first presented. Searle quotes; â€Å"if the robot looks and behaves sufficiently like us then we would suppose, until proven otherwise, that it must have mental states like ours that cause and are expressed by its behavior†¦ [i]f we knew independently how to account for its behavior without such assumptions†¦we would not attribute intentionality to it, especially if we knew it had a formal program† (1980, p. 421). Searle’s argument is simple. If we did not know that a comput er produces answers from specifically programmed syntax, then it is plausible to accept that it may have mental states such as ours. The issue however is straightforwardly so, that we do know that the system is a computational set and as such is not a thinking machine any more so than any other computational structure. ‘The Chinese Room’ thought experiment is undoubtedly notorious and controversial in essence. The thought experiment has been refuted and discredited repeatedly, yet perceivably defended by Searle. His own defensive stance has appeared to cause infuriation amongst ‘strong AI’ theorists, resulting in questionable counter attacks, resulting in more of what appears a â€Å"religious diatribe against AI, masquerading as a serious scientific argument† (Hofstadter 1980, p. 433) than a significant opposition. Searle (1980) argues that accurate programming in no instance can ever produce ‘thought’ in the essence of what we understand thought to be; not only the amalgamation of significant numbers of neurons firing, but the underlying predominance which make us what we are, that predominance being consciousness. From a functionalist perspective, with the mind being entwined within the brain and our bodies entangled further, creating a machine which ‘thinks’ as a human is nigh impossible. To do so, would be to create an exact match of what we are, how we are constructed and the properties of substance of which we stand. If successful, we have not created a thinking ‘machine’ but a thinking ‘human’; a human which alas, is not a machine. Searle (1982) argues that it is an undeniable fact that the earth is comprised of particular biological systems, particularly brains which are able to create intellectual phenomena which are encompassed with meaning. Suggesting that a machine is capable of intelligence would therein suggest that a machine would need the computational power equivalent to that of the human mind. Searle (Ibid, 1982, p. 467) states that he has offered an argument which displays that no recognised machine is able ‘by itself’ to ever be capable of generating such semantic powers. It is therefore assumed, that no matter how far science is able to recreate machines with behavioural characteristics of a ‘thinking’ human, it will never be more than a programmed mass of syntax, computed and presented as thought, yet never actually existing as actual thought. References: Chalmers, D. 1992, ‘Subsymbolic Computation and the Chinese Room’, in J. Dinsmore (ed.), The Symbolic and Connectionist Paradigms: Closing the Gap, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Harnad, S. 1989. Minds, machines and Searle. Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, 1, pp.5-25. Harnad, S. 1993. Grounding symbols in the analog [sic] world with neural nets. Think 2(1): 12-78 (Special issue on â€Å"Connectionism versus Symbolism,† D.M.W. Powers & P.A. Flach, eds.). Simon, H.A., & Eisenstadt, S.A., 2002. A Chinese Room that Understands Views into the Chinese room. In: J. Preston * M. Bishop (eds). New essays on Searle and artificial intelligence Oxford: Clarendon, pp. 95-108. Hofstadter, D. 1980. Reductionism and religion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3(3),pp.433–34. Reynolds, G. H., & Kates, D.B. 1995. The second amendment and states’ rights: a thought experiment. William and Mary Law Review, 36, pp.1737-73. Searle, J. 1980. â€Å"Minds, Brains, and Programs.† Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3, pp.417-424. Searle, J. 1982. ‘The Myth of the Computer: An Exchange’, in New York Review of Books 4, pp.459-67.

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Environmental Sciences Essay

In 1990 the Congress nominated the 9515 kmA? Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary ( FKNMS ) as portion of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ‘s ( NOAA ) National Marine Sanctuary Program. The chief end for this appellation was to protect the coral reefs, sea grasses, Rhizophora mangles, and other marine resources of the Florida Keys ( Suman et al, 1999 ) . NOAA was ordered by the Legislation ( P.L. 101-605, A7 ( a ) ( 2 ) ) to develop a temporal and spacial districting scheme as portion of the Sanctuary Management Plan to guarantee resource protection ( Suman, 1997 ) . NOAA coordinated the Draft Management Plan that was focused on be aftering attempts on action programs. The Zoning Action Plan proposed five distinguishable types of zones: Refilling Militias, Sanctuary Preservation Areas ( SPAs ) , Wildlife Management Areas, Special-use Areas, and Existing Management Areas ( NOAA, 1995 ; Bohnsack, 1997 ; Suman et al, 1999 ) . The Replenishment Reserves ( Key Largo, Sambos and Dry Tortugas ) and the SPAs were to be no-take countries, with consumptive utilizations restricted. The SPAs have the end to â€Å" avoid concentrations of utilizations that could ensue in important diminutions in species populations or home ground or to cut down struggles between utilizations † ( NOAA, 1995 ) . Special-Use Areas were besides proposed and were designated for research merely. The Wildlife Management Areas were designated to restrain human entree to bird nesting and feeding countries, every bit good as polo-neck nesting sites ( Suman et al, 1999 ) . In 1996 the concluding Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary ( FKNMS ) Final Management Plan was released, with some changes from the old Draft Plan. The change in the Zoning Action Plan, included merely one little no return modesty ( Western Sambos ) of the three that it originally had proposed ( NOAA, 1996 ) and the postponed of the constitution of the big Dry Tortugas Replenishment Reserve. The name Replenishment Reserve was changed to Ecological Reserve to â€Å" reflect public concerns over the intent of these countries † ( NOAA, 1996 ) . In 2001 the Tortugas Ecological Reserve was implemented ( Figure 1 ) .Figure 1: Florida Keys National Marine SanctuaryWhen the NOAA ‘s bill of exchange direction program was developed, Suman et Al ( 1999 ) and Shivlani & A ; Suman ( 2000 ) did a survey to frogmans ‘s perceptual experiences and attitudes of the direction schemes and ordinances of this program.The Tourism in the Florida KeysIn 1995-96, the tourer trip sum exce eded 3 million and an estimated 31.3 % of the visitants participated in diving or snorkel diving activities. Many of the 80,000 lasting occupants participated in the same activities as the tourers did ( Leeworthy & A ; Wiley 1996 ) . Particular activities, such as the mini-season spiny lobster attract over 30,000 frogmans within a individual hebdomad to the Keys ( Hunt, 1994 ) . The Florida Keys continue to develop its urbanisation due to the demand of people that live, but largely, to the tourers that visit the islands. The roads ( US 1 ) and the Bridgess associating the islands permitted the influx of people to the islands to about 80,000 lasting people ( Smith & A ; Nogle, 2001 ) in add-on to a 2,5 million visitants and seasonal tourers. Tourism – with 76.8 million visitants in 2004 ( a record figure ) , Florida is the top travel finish in the universe. The touristry industry has an economic impact of $ 57 billion on Florida ‘s economic system. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx? tabid=95Historic Economic ImpactEntire Tourism Spending ( Tourism/Recreation Taxable Gross saless ) 1999-2004: 1999 – $ 44.6 billion 2000 – $ 48.5 billion 2001 – $ 48.6 billion 2002 – $ 49.5 billion 2003 – $ 51.5 billion 2004 – $ 57.1 billion 2005 – $ 62.0 billion Entire State Gross saless Tax Grosss from Tourism 1999-2004: 1999 – $ 2.7 billion 2000 – $ 2.9 billion 2001 – $ 2.9 billion 2002 – $ 3.0 billion 2003 – $ 3.0 billion 2004 – $ 3.4 billion 2005 – $ 3.7 billion Number of Persons Directly Employed by Tourism Industry 1999-2004: 1999 – 826,200 2000 – 842,900 2001 – 864,500 2002 – 862,900 2003 – 874,700 2004 – 920,700 2005 – 948,700 hypertext transfer protocol: //media.visitflorida.org/about/research/ 2.5 million tourers yearly – 13.3 million visitor-days yearly – spend US $ 1.2 billion yearly ; – coastal and Marine Waterss support 28.3 million occupations ; and – United States coastal countries are the finish for 180 million yearly. ( Causey, 1998 ) Those 2,5 million visitants cause a large impact in the Keys as it needs Goodall and Stabler ( 1997 ) affirm that touristry induced bounds of acceptable alteration to local environmental conditions can be understood at different degrees. For Collins ( 1999 ) , there are different readings of sustainable touristry that make even harder to find local environmental transporting capacity bounds for touristry activity. Stakeholders values impacts in a different manner ( Van der Duim and Caalders, 2002 ) , so when a program or a extenuation are being done to seek to minimise the impacts that tourists activities may hold and go to to a sustainable development, all the local users have to take part on it. It is besides deserving to look for the tourer ‘s position, because they will be the 1s that will be coming back, divulgating the topographic point and bring forthing capital to it. When we talk about touristry activities ‘ impacts, most of the surveies discuss about their impact in the environment, such as: when frogmans are treading in coral reefs ( Fig. 11a ) , touching the animate beings ( doing them more susceptible to diseases ) , interrupting corals ( i.e. : killing a settlement ) , suspending deposits ( smothering corals and filters animate beings ) or slapping corals with fives during scuba diving or snorkel diving ( Fig. 11b ) ( Hawkins & A ; Roberts, 1992, 1993, 1997 ; Davis & A ; Tisdell, 1995 ; Rouphael & A ; Inglis, 1995 ; Hawkins et al. , 1999 ; Walters & A ; Samways, 2001 ; Krob, 2002 ; Tonioli et al. , 2004 ) ; when people paddle into the reefs while kayaking ( interrupting the corals and touching animate beings ) ; when people feed fish during boating activities ( disequilibrium in nutrient ironss in the ecosystem ) ( Krob, 2002 ; Tonioli, 2003 ) ( Fig. 11c ) ; when the boats anchor on reefs ( aching or killing corals ) ( Fig.11d ) and th row oil and wastewaters ( besides solid rubbish ) ( pollution and lessening in H2O quality ) into the H2O ; and cruise ships environmental impacts such as resuspension of deposits, turbidness, wastewaters, among others ( Lester and Weeden, 2004 ; Murray & A ; Associates, 2005 ) ; among many others environmental impacts.Figure 11: ( a ) Diver treading on coral reefs ; ( B ) A five hitting a coral reef ; ( degree Celsius ) Diver feeding the fish ; ( degree Celsius ) Anchoring on coral reefs.The nature-based touristry in the Keys is wholly depended on the coral reef ‘s quality, as the touristry industry attracts 1000s of recreational leghorns, frogmans, snorkelers, and glass-bottom boat users to the part ( Bhat, 2003 ) . Consequently the Marine militias established there are expected to better the reef environment, peculiarly coral and fish copiousness and diverseness ( Bhat, op. cit ) . In South Florida, tourists spend more $ 1.2 billion, which has a potency of bring forthing $ 2.94 billion in entire end product and $ 1.69 billion in income throughout the regional economic system ( Bhat, op cit ) . As a consequence of increasing demands for entree to the coral reef for recreational and commercial utilizations, this Marine ecosystem has shown marks of unsustainability in the last old ages ( Bhat, op cit ) . If Restoration attempts are non shortly done to diminish the existent rate of debasement, the Florida coral reef is expected to vanish in less than 10-25 old ages ( The New York Times, 1994 ) . This unsustainability is acquiring every clip more seeable and tourers are detecting the environmental debasements and effects causes for quality of life. Subsequently, the touristry rankings ushers began to worsen, mentioning stretches of commercial ocular pollution along stretches of US 1 ( Klinger, 1999 ) . In the face of the dependance of the local economic system on touristry, some local occupants are already oppugning the perceptual experience of promoting touristry growing ( Lynch, 1999d ) . Besides that, the Florida Keys still leads the State in cost of life indices, particularly lodging indices, being Key West the 4th most expensive land and lodging market in the U.S. ( Clark, 2002 ) . This leads to a hard adversity for service sector employees ( Lynch et al. , 1999 ) and to a commercial shifting endeavor from locally owned stores and eating houses to national ironss ( Deford, 1999 ) . Park et Al ( 2002 ) put out that scientists and ecologists should stress the importance to set up nonmarket values of coral reefs which can be used as inputs in measuring the overall cost effectivity of coral reef direction and extenuation plans. The debasement of such environment and the menaces to the H2O quality in the Keys has been a menace to the economic system of the topographic point ( Kruczynski and McManus, 2002 ) . All Keys ‘ stakeholders ( commercial and recreational users of resources, conservationists, scientists, resource directors, occupants and visitants ) agree that the diminution in H2O quality is endangering of import resources. Causey ( 2002 ) believes that the grounds of that diminution could be: the deficiency of fresh H2O come ining the Florida Bay ; foods from domestic effluent via shallow-well ; stormwater overflow incorporating heavy metals, fertilisers, insect powders, and other contaminations ; pollution from marinas and live-aboard vass ; hapless flushing of canals and embayments ; accretion of dead seagrasses and algae along the shoreline ; deposit ; and environmental alterations associated with planetary clime alteration and lifting sea-level. Bing the most obvious causes of decline non-point-source discharges and habitat debasement, the development and overexploitation, and alterations in reef fish populations because of over-fishing ( Keller and Causey, 2005 ) . The touristry activities call for a direction due to the impacts caused by it, with schemes that consider disproportional usage to efficaciously protect the part ‘s environmental resources, sing limited-entry system for honkytonk operators ( Shivlani & A ; Suman, 2000 ) and other users. The direction every bit good should hold the engagement of all stakeholders. There are a batch of struggles between stakeholders, as the Plan for the FKMNS create zones, which in some of them piscaries are non allowed but plunging and snorkeling are, when those last two can besides be impacting to the environmental if the frogmans are non cognizant of saving of the coral reefs, if their boats slop oil and throw rubbish into the ocean. It is a conflicting state of affairs, as there is zones merely for scuba diving and snorkeling with berthing buoys ( forestalling grounding on the reefs ) , but those zones do non hold a bound figure of frogmans that could be in it neither a environmental instructi on with frogmans to do them cognizant of the impacts they may do ( touching the corals, interrupting it, resuspending deposits, etc ) and enforcement to see if the Scuba Diving Operators and Boating activities are esteeming it. In relation to those zones, the major struggles are among fishers and scuba dive operation, as fishers felt extremely alienated from the procedure of zone appellation and displayed a sense of impotence with regard to what they considered to be an effort to except their group from the crop refugia ( Suman et al, 1999 ) . The piscaries in the Keys are divided into commercial, recreational and charter fishing. Most of the commercial piscaries ‘catch is harvest outside the boundaries of the FKNMS ( Milon et al, 1997 ) .GoalThe chief end of this paper is to compare frogmans ‘ perceptual experiences of direction schemes and ordinances in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary presents with their perceptual experiences when the FKNMS was implemented ( comparing the consequences obtained here with the consequences obtained by Suman & A ; Shivlani ( 1998 ) that had interviewed the Diving Operations when the Sanctuary was foremost implemented ) . And besides, through the interv iews, detect how the FKNMS does socioeconomic impact the diving industry in the Florida Keys.MethodologyA graded random sample of the Dive and Snorkel Operators was selected from a list of all known operators/owner in the Florida Keys. After that, a missive was sent to each Dive and Snorkel Operator selected in the sample, informing them about the research that would be realized, and the types of information that would be collected. The missive explained that a research worker would be acquiring in contact with them to set up clip and topographic point for an interview. The interview was based on a study that would inquire societal economic inquiries and besides, information about their cognition, attitudes and perceptual experiences of direction schemes and ordinances in the FKNMS ( The study ‘s inquiries analyzed on this paper are attached in Appendix 1 ) . From all the Dive and Snorkel Operators interviewed until now, there are 60 Operators interviewed, being 32 Operator from the Upper Keys, 9 from the Middle Keys and 19 from the Lower Keys. The end of the survey is to make 70 studies. The present paper will analyse the honkytonk operators ‘ cognition, attitudes and perceptual experiences of direction schemes and ordinances in the FKNMS and its impacts on their economic system. All the inquiries analyzed in this paper about the FKNMS Management have five types of reply: 1 -Strongly agree ; 2 – Reasonably agree ; 3 – Neutral ; 4 – Reasonably disagree ; and 5 – Strongly disagree. And all the societal inquiries about the frogmans profile have options to do the study easier and faster, and besides to ease the information analyzes. The information obtained through the interviews ( studies ) was statistically analyzed through the Excell and the StatMost plan.ConsequencesEconomic InformationAnalyzing the information obtained, it was possible to observe thatTable 1: Divers ‘ Operators Economic Information2004 Average costSuman & A ; Shivlani ( 1998 ) norm cost2004 Sum costSuman & A ; Shivlani ( 1998 ) sum costVessel value35.2431,03 167.792,00 20.441.000,00 11.655.000,00Dive cogwheel value55.675,44 16.885,00 3.173.500,00 1.981.800,00Compressor value31.808,82 1.081.500,00Docking fees15.845,88 6.918,00 538.760,00 283.222,00Interest payments on vas8.916,67 107.000,00Insurance9.582,54 527.040,00Vessel care2.3162,26 12.372,00 1.227.600,00 581.500,00Equipament care3.891,89 2.365,00 144.000,00 176.000,00Rent/costs25.313,04 582.200,00Ad10.363,04 476.700,00Table 2: Trip Expenses from the Divers ‘ OperatorsUpper KeysMiddle KeysLower KeysTrip ExpensesAverage Entire Average Entire Average EntireGas51,8 1451 52,9 528,9 83,8 1424Supplies16,8 420,5 14,1 113 37,9 607Crew98 1470 202,9 1420 161,4 1775Entire $ $ Upper3341,5Entire $ $ Middle2061,9Entire $ $ Lower3806Entire $ $ all Keys = 9209,4Table 3: Number of trips and norm of frogman and snorkeler per trip.Upper KeysMiddle KeysLower KeysNumber of trips Divers/ trip Snorkel./ trip Number of trips Divers/ trip Snorkel./ trip Number of trips Divers/ trip Snorkel./ trip Average 423.6 10.5 8.3 304.4 6.7 8.1 339.8 11.2 9.5Entire13139565437Figure 2: Honkytonk Operators ‘ household income derived from the diving industry.FKNMS Management InformationAll inquiries have options of replies and most of them have the option 1-5, discussed above. However the analyzes were done based on the amount of the inquiries which mean an understanding ( reply 1 plus answer 2 ) or a dissension ( reply 4 plus 5 ) with the inquiry. As good were analyzed replies in which the fishermen were impersonal to the inquiry ( answer 3 ) and besides replies which the fishermen would state â€Å" I do non cognize † for the inquiries made.Figure 3: Honkytonk Operators ‘ replies about FKNMS regulations and ordinances.Figure 4: Honkytonk Operators ‘ replies about FKNMS.Figure 5: Honkytonk Operators ‘ replies about FKNMS.Figure 6: Honkytonk Operators ‘ replies about resources quality.Figure 7: Is the FKNMS responsible for the resources quality?Figure 8: Honkytonk Operators ‘ replies about the c hief intent of the FKNMS zones.Figure 9: Who is the most benefited group from the FKNMS zones?Discussion and DecisionComparing the consequences obtained in this survey with the survey developed by Milon et Al ( 1197 ) , it was possible to observe that even 10 old ages after the execution of the Sanctuary, the fishers still feel the same manner they did ten old ages ago. It is notably the struggles between commercial fishers with recreational fishers and leghorns. And besides, the struggles between recreational and commercial frogmans with the commercial fishers. The SPAs ( Sanctuary Preservation Areas ) that had as chief end the decrease of user struggles have failed to accomplish that. Actually, the struggle seems to hold even increased, as the commercial fishers feel that the regulations and ordinances for the Sanctuary developed by NOAA, were unjust to them. Even though the chief end of the zones is non to increase piscaries, the surveies done by Cox & A ; Gregory ( hypertext transfer protocol: //monroe.ifas.ufl.edu/lobster_conference.htm ) showed that some of the zones are excessively little to wholly protect lobsters from crop. So, with the present size that the zones have, even though the chief end is of the Sanctuary may non be increasing the stocks, how worth is it to maintain them with that size, if it will non be efficient to refill the stocks and has lead to so much users struggles? I am non proposing that those countries should be re-open or neither stating that they should be increased ( to be able to back up the refilling of some species ) , because this would increase even more the users struggles. However, I do believe that if they are to protect and conserve the reefs and its habitant species, nil besides research should be allowed in at that place. If fishers can non travel in it, frogmans should non be allowed. Besides, i f there are zones that merely the frogmans can travel, there should be zones that merely fishermen could travel. That manner it could be scientific compared which countries would be more wedged and every bit good, those could be â€Å" sacrificed † countries. NOAA could besides make rotary motion through the zones through the old ages, still go forthing some closed zones for everyone. When NOAA developed the regulations and ordinances for the Sanctuary they were unjust to the fishers because they closed the countries for their usage, but left it unfastened to the frogmans. If the SCUBA diving activity does non work with environmental instruction, intending non merely verbal instruction, but besides practical instruction ( teachers and dive Masterss plunging with the frogmans, commanding their floatability and learning them to non step on the corals ( treading ) or touching anything ) the activity can be really wedged to the environment, chiefly in countries sensitive such as coral reefs. In the Sanctuary, this â€Å" practical † environmental instruction does non go on and the frogmans can make whatever they want under wateraˆÂ ¦ This is an issue that NOAA shall develop in the Sanctuary. The touristry industry has besides be a job to the fishers, due to the addition of the monetary values in the Keys. It is much more expensive to populate in Keys today than it used to be ten old ages ago. When I talked to some fishers that left the piscaries in the Keys, most of them seemed to hold left it because of the extremely cost of life in the Keys combined with their economic loss in the piscaries ( with the last hurricanes a batch of them lost a batch of traps an could non return to the piscaries or had to get down fishing for person else ) . Some of the fishers would besides correlate the touristry growing with the lessening in H2O quality. Even tough most of them feel that the Sanctuary was non the most responsible for the existent conditions of the resources ; they would besides notice that NOAA should be more concern and turn to the issue of H2O quality. The other issue, besides addressed by the commercial fishermen is the deficiency of enforcement to the recreational fishers and leghorns. Most of those users, harmonizing to the fishers, transgress the regulations most of the clip and stop up non being caught by the governments. Harmonizing to the interviewed fishers, a batch of them truly do non cognize about the regulations and ordinances, and some of them merely pretend that they do non cognize. In both instances, when it happens that they are caught, they are most of clip non penalized as the authorization believes that they did cognize about the regulations and ordinances. This being truth or non, once more, NOAA has the duty to turn to that issue, informing the recreational users about the Torahs, for illustration, giving them explicative booklets about the zones, and so, if they are in the countries where they should non be or if they are transgressing any piscary ordinance, they should be punished. The commercial fishers besides feel that there is a deficiency of information about the regulations and ordinances for themselves every bit good. They said that it is invariably altering and if they are non informed and they do something incorrect, they are punished anyhow. In that instance, NOAA could direct enlightening newssheets updating them about the piscaries regulations and ordinances and this newssheet should be written in English and Spanish, as a high per centum of the Hispanic fishermen do non talk in English. With all this regulations and ordinances that have been input through those old ages, I believe that has been a loss in the societal cultural individuality of the fishermen. The civilization of the Keys Fishermen, the individuality of being a Fisherman is acquiring lost. Now there is all those divisions ( because of certifications ) which they have to option what sort of fishermen will they beaˆÂ ¦ They need to make up one's mind whether they want to catch grouper and center or lobsters or rock pediculosis pubis or pelagic and so onaˆÂ ¦ This may non look to be a job for some directors but merely a consequence of piscaries direction. In my sentiment it is an of import issue, because in somehow they are fring their individualities as fishermen, but it is a job that it is really difficult to turn to, if attempts should every clip more be decreased. As a decision of the present research developed, it was noted that most of the commercial lobster fishers interviewed seemed to be excluded from the determinations ( in any procedure of the Sanctuary ) and experience powerless against the system. That is a large issue as in the dimension that the Keys are right now it is difficult to propose a direction based more on the local community or a co-management based. However, in some manner, the fishermen need to be more participative on the procedure to develop regulations and ordinance. My chief suggestion still would be the closing of the bing zones for everyone and the resettlement of some to specific diving activities, others for commercial piscary and other for recreational piscaries.

Accounting Regulation Essay Essay

Over the years there has been a continual debate over the necessity of accounting regulations. Some people have many reasons favouring accounting regulations such as the belief that accounting conventions are needed in order to allocate and control the economic outcomes of resource allocation and information stipulation in the market. However, others have arguments against the use of accounting regulations, such as regulation leading to oversupply of information as users who don’t bare any cost tend to overstate their needs. Accounting regulation arose shortly after the 1920s, where researchers wanted to classify commonly accepted accounting regulations. Examples of these include the entity assumption and the matching principle. It was in 1946 that the institute of charted accountants in Australia released five recommendations on accounting principles. Then in 1956 following the great depression, numerous recommendations were issued by the Australian society of accountants. Ac counting regulations in financial reporting are seen as â€Å"the imposition of constraints upon the preparation, content and form of external financial reports by bodies (governments, regulatory agencies established by governments, trade and other associations in the private sector, loose industrial groups which pursue collusive activities) other than the preparers of the reports, on the organisations and individuals for which the reports are prepared† (Taylor and Turley, 1986: 1). There are many benefits associated with the implementation of regulations within the market. According to some, accounting regulation is necessary to ensure market efficiency. Market efficiency allows accounting information to be available at just costs. However, in reality markets are imperfect due to factors such as information asymmetry. Without these regulations which permit efficiency, it is believed that markets may fall into disorder. Regulation allows for comparison of reports and accounti ng information, along with a fair control on prices and appropriate resource allocation. See more: Examples of satire in adventures of huckfinn essay Regulation is also seen as an imperative device which encourages accountability and allows for the provision of a wide range and greater amount of data in corporate reports. In the presence of windfall profits, regulations are also considered highly desirable. An example of this would be when a situation occurs where there is an immediate demand and suppliers charger higher than normal and thus generate greater profit. Because of the central aim of accounting standards is to uphold comparability, consistency  and simplicity in the best interests and welfare of users of financial reports and information. Though the years it has been seen that in the absence of accounting regulation, financial statements may not convey the information that people require to make informed decisions in company actions. Because of this, the role of regulation in rasing the quality of information conveyed in financial reports is imperative. This is highlighted by Baxter (1978: 25). He stated that â€Å" standards raise the quality of accounts, make company reports more intelligible and foster comparability; they dispel doubts and – we hope – soon bring harmony of principle. In a world made safe enough by standards, accounting will be plagued by few scandals and our noisy defamers will have to hunt elsewhere for quarry†. The pro regulation perspective considers accounting information as a public good. Once it’s becomes available, there is no cost involved with it use and it can be distributed freely among people. Great emphasis is also placed upon accounting regulations when it comes to the security of information and users of financial information. Regulations allow for less accounting to be inundated with fraudulent organisations producing misleading information. This need for regulations to ensure the business world is a secure place was emphasised by the scandals of the 19th and 20th century. Some believe that regulation is not needed, as they argue th at the markets can choose which accounting principles to demand. They advocate that regulation is unproductive in achieving its main aim of accurate, consistent, reliable and comparable financial reporting, Bromwich (1985). Regulation is sometimes deemed unnecessary using the free market perspective. This perspective considers that â€Å"accounting information should be treated like other goods, and demand and supply forces being allowed to operate to generate an optimal supply of information about an entity. â€Å" Jensen and Meckling, Watts and Zimmerman, Smith and Watts are supporters of this perspective. This perspective considers the absence of regulation to create private incentives to produce accounting information and organisations which do not generate information will be penalised by a higher capital cost. The arguments main concern is that regulation will lead to oversupply of information leading to an optimal supply of information by individuals. It is apparent that there are many views when it comes to the necessity of accounting regulations. There are strong arguments both for and against and all people are entitled  to their own opinions. Although many see regulation as more of a hind rance compared to a beneficial tool, the arguments in support of regulations vastly outweigh the negative outlooks.

Impact of Structural Adjustment of the World Bank Essay

Impact of Structural Adjustment of the World Bank - Essay Example Structural adjustments are measures formulated to facilitate and accelerate economic development in the targeted economies3. According Ahmed and Lipton structural adjustment police are intended to rectify the structural imbalance in the foreign and public balances2. The policies could be initiated internally by the country concerned or external forces such the World Bank and the international monetary fund. The structural adjustments reforms endeavor to reduce and eliminate the various financial distortions, such as overvalued exchange rate, huge monetary deficits and to restrict inefficient public services that hinder fair distribution of the resources in the economy of particular country1. In general, the structural adjustments are intended to minimize or eliminate the balance of payments and the public sector deficits, with an objective of stimulating high economic growth. In addition, the policies aimed at achieving an appropriate structural change capable of sustaining a robust economic growth and a favorable monetary environment in a particular economy3. One of the major characteristics of the structural adjustments is promoting specialization where the targeted economy is influenced to produce commodities â€Å"tradable† in the global market and reducing factors that enhance production of commodities with no or little economic value, especially in the public domain4. Enhancing the flexibility and adaptability of the targeted economy to the changing global economic environment is an important objective of the structural adjustments. This reduces the effects of adverse global economic changes on the economy of a particular country 3. Structural adjustment policies comprise of measures aimed at facilitating short-term economic stability and long-term adjustments.

Palestine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Palestine - Essay Example Under these techniques the Israeli Government restricted the citizenship for population of East Jerusalem; they also demolished the illegal houses. Government limited the city budget, and most of it evacuated the Palestinians who were living at West Bank. Due to these actions of the Government, people of Palestine felt threat to their homes and simultaneously their livings. Government in 2002 established a Separation Wall around East Jerusalem, this Wall separated the relations. People living inside the barrier were forced to be divided and had to disrupt their connections with the people left outside. This caused difficulty for the people of Palestine because many had to end-up their relations, businesses were highly affected, many had to face economic downfall, a lot lost their jobs, transportation problems etc. Before this partition East and West Jerusalem were one .i.e. all the operations were inter-related, and thus after the Partition daily lives of Palestinians is badly affected. The ways to enter or exit the East Jerusalem, there are check-points to pass where the passengers have to face strict inspections. These inspections have become the reason for the development of negative feelings regarding distress and degradation among the people. People avoid passing that passage because it causes disruption in their daily life (Spencer, 76). Restriction of Construction has caused the people of East Jerusalem to remain with their old homes and buildings. This has become a barrier for the businesses .i.e. no more buildings. One major difficulty is that families are expanding and the space is becoming congested. As a result there can be seen an increasing number of migration towards the cities at East, such as Al-Ezariyya and Abu-Dis. People migrate in-order to find peace and quality of life, but due to the restrictions of passing through Wall and strict

The Power of Organizational Vision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Power of Organizational Vision - Essay Example One should also pick a time frame since visioning works best when one goes beyond the present day problems. You should write a draft of the vision, review it, and rewrite it if necessary to ensure it meets the needs of the organization. Moreover, you should seek for input from other individuals that you respect and trust, particularly those who have insight, experience, and expertise that is applicable to your vision (Collins & Pollas, 2011). Lastly, you should share your vision with all individuals who are responsible for implementing it to ensure that they help to achieve the vision. A leader plays a major role in creating a vision for a company. As such, he or she should accept the role of making the firm a place where employees work in unison rather than operating independently. As such, a leader should make sure that the vision is linked to the reality of the firm. A leader should also ensure that the statement of purpose, operating values, and vision are integrated to ensure that they work help to meet the daily operations of the firm (Collins & Pollas, 2011). An example of a compelling vision statement is one by Teach for America which stipulates â€Å"One day, all children in America will get a chance to realize an excellent

Level of Unemployment in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Level of Unemployment in UK - Essay Example This change will lead to a change in standards for living while supporting different needs for individuals. The basic definition of unemployment is when an individual doesn’t have a job and is nonworking. This definition leads the individual into a specific status that defines them as unemployed because they don’t hold a regular job and have inactivity in terms of finding a job. However, there are different measurements that are used for the unemployed because of the level of activity that is defined as well as the conditions in which different individuals are under. When looking at the overall idea of unemployment, it is defined by including anyone who is not performing a series of activities in the labor field or through a job. However, there are different levels that are included in this, specifically which is measured by the frequency in which one is unemployed as well as the basic structure that they rely on to receive monetary needs over a period of time (Brandolini, et al, 153, 2006). The structure of unemployment through the basic definition is defined by measurements that determine the frequency in which an individual is out of a job. This is defined first by an unemployment cell, which is divided by the amount of time one is out of a job as well as the frequency in which this occurs. This is also measured through the region in which one is in, specifically because it provides a comparison in the economic levels and demands for employment. The first measurement is known as seasonal unemployment, in which demands change based on labor intensive markets for each time frame. Most levels of employment that are offered seasonally include outdoor jobs and labor intensive options. The second type of unemployment is frictional, also referred to as demand – deficient unemployment. When the economy begins to emerge, temporary employment becomes available. This

My experience in online class with my favorite assignment, things Essay

My experience in online class with my favorite assignment, things which I could have done better, my strengths and weakness - Essay Example I find online learning very useful as I can manage my time and resources well. During my online class for English 095, I have had a valuable experience of learning my favorite subject and also doing many things which needed my attention. It gave me freedom to learn, less or no disturbances from fellow learners, less home work assignments and I was always attentive as I knew I had little time with my coach online. I appreciate that education system has brought up this concept for learners like myself who want to upgrade without bothering the mundane schedule of work. My favorite assignment: It’s quite difficult to point out one particular assignment out of all that I have done. Still, given a choice I would say one of my favorite among all would be narrative assignment. As the assignment suggests it has to be a story based with opening, plot or body of the story, characters, situation and an ending which pulls the reader more close to my work. I liked this because I had to beco me more visualizing, creative and dramatic so that my story has the hero, heroine, villain and situation which weaved in well for a narrative assignment. This gave me an opportunity to read more books, look situations differently and look out for the phrases or vocabulary which could be explicitly used in my work.

Progress Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Progress Report - Essay Example Most recently, Samsung was forced to pay a huge amount as fine, resulting from the court verdict on Apple’s sue regarding patent infringement. Thus, there arises a highly significant and immediate need to rethink Samsung’s strategies in order to ensure that they do not erroneously imitate others and also that their designs are not copied by other firms. Here, a study is conducted on the patent strategy of Samsung, with the intention to come out with a possible solution for infringement issue. The cost incurred in this process is estimated to be around $1000. It is believed that by completing this research, it will be possible to reduce issues of patent infringement between smart phone makers. At this point, the second phase of the study has been completed. Firstly, the completed work 1-2 is discussed, and then the focus is thrown on future works 3-5. Mainly five stages are formed for the research and there is a prescribed deadline for completing each task. Investigate the extent of patent competition and infringement in the smart phone industry. Based on â€Å"2012 mobile user survey,† under smartphone user preferences category, Apple led the graph by holding account for 38% of user interest and HTC came in second position and Samsung came third with 15% of the market preference (Keynote, 2012, 1). The report indicates the intensity and stiffness of market competition. By analysing â€Å"ITC’s† (International Trade Commission) article â€Å"Smart Phone patent battle,† it is revealed that patent infringement activity is a very common issue in the smartphone industry (Hynes & Sinnott, 2011, 39). Identify the patent related problems Samsung smartphones face with other competing firms as well as the defects of existing patent strategy in the current industrial scenario. Almost all infringement verdicts were taken against Samsung. So it is clear that their patent strategy has some default, recently forcing

Strategic Management of Toyota Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Management of Toyota - Case Study Example The information for this paper will be retrieved from internet databases, online libraries, newspapers, journals, and books. This will ensure that the information is succinct and relates to the strategies of Toyota and all the aspects of strategic management that are in the firm. The key concerns will be the environmental scanning, strategy formulation, levels of strategies, the production levels strategy and the latest developments in strategic management. Environmental scanning is one of the most significant components of the strategic plan of any company. This is because a business does not exist in a vacuum and will often suffer from the effects of its environment. A company like Toyota has set shop in parts of the world and continues with its strategy of expanding so as to provide the whole world with the safest and most responsible means of transport. For this company environmental scanning is one of the most significant environmental global analysis. It involves activities in environmental monitoring, forecast, and assessment. The global environment includes that macro environment, which is made up of industries, markets, companies, clients and competitors. There is also the micro level's environment, which is made up of customers, suppliers, and competitors. In the environmental scanning, the firm mainly concentrates on the macro environment as the microenvironment is best dealt with at the industry or business level analysis. Environmental scanning refers to the study and interpretation of the political, economic, social, technological developments, legal issues and other tends in the business world that are likely to affect the company’s operations. The primary factors, which the firm needs to consider in the environmental scanning are events, expectations, and trends of the different groups that have an interest in the firm’s operations. These issues are mostly the forerunners in a company’s trend break. A trend break, in this ca se, refers to a shift in the value people lay on the business or technological innovation that paradigms a change. A firm like Toyota needs to constantly analyze its business environment so as to keep up with the trends and changes in the market. Trends seem to reoccur and change often, whereas issues in the business environment may either be temporary or permanent (Freeman 2010). The execution of s strategy in any organization goes through three phases, these are diagnosis, formulation and implementation stages. For Toyota strategic management is a continuous process to develop and revise the future-based strategies that allow the organization to continue being in the lead in the car production industry in the world for many years to come. The strategy allows the firm to achieve both its short term and long term objectives.

Chocolate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chocolate - Essay Example One could moreover trace the map of the world as close to what we know today by starting from that time when Ferdinand Columbus, the son of Christopher saw the canoe loaded with cacao beans in 1502 - the first sighting by a European - to that time when the Maya nobles presented chocolate as a gift to the Spanish crown in 1544 - the beginning of the popularization of chocolate, first among the nobility, until they the colonial powers spread the practice of eating and producing chocolate as a beloved food concoction. Location is evidently a starting point for chocolate. It must be noted that for example coffee and chocolate originated only in certain parts of the world, and not in any other location. The same can be said of wine and cheese. And while the seeds or technologies in making them may have been transported to other parts of the world, they're cultivation and production are still limited in certain parts of the world, where they are said to have their origins. Chocolate comes from the cacao tree which has been described as a "difficult tree to grow, uncooperative and moody" (Wolf 4).

Terrorism Act in Canada Essay Example for Free

Terrorism Act in Canada Essay The impact of the Anti-Terrorism Act on the Muslims and Arabs in Canada The Anti-terrorism Act in Canada and its effects on the Muslim and Arabic communities September 11, 2001 marked a catastrophic change not only in American society but in every western state including Canada. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon have had a ripple effect, spreading to the entire world and terrifying thousands of people. Following these attacks, world populations were devastated and governments faced a never-before seen need to make laws governing this new form of terror. Countries like the United States of America, United Kingdom, and Canada have passed anti-terrorism legislations that define â€Å"terrorism† and how to respond and prevent such attacks. Generally speaking, some scholars and ordinary individuals argue that the new anti-terrorism Act in Canada may aim to combat terrorism but it also violates the rights of certain individuals. The new Act gave the authorities especially the police task forces the power to investigate suspect terrorist cases without worrying about the charter of rights and freedoms. This ends with the question of security of state versus the rights of individuals. They argue that the shock and the disbelief that infected the Canadian Government after the September attacks to take a fast and effective legislation to protect the country from a prospective threat, â€Å"pushed the government to implement the Bill C-36 that was turned to be the Anti-terrorism Act in four months only after the September Attacks without thinking about the consequences of this new law. † (Andreychuk) Firstly we should know what is the Bill C-36 or the Anti-Terrorism Act to examine whether or not it affected some minorities in Canada. As stated above, the Bill C-36 was a quick response to the September Attacks in the USA. Bill C-36 was first introduced in the House of Commons by Justice Minister Anne McLellan on 15 October 2001. The Bill defines â€Å"terrorist activity† as an act that is committed â€Å"in whole or in part for a political, religious, or ideological purpose, objective, or cause. † (Mazer). The new Act gave the investigative branch of the police and the CSIS more powers to investigate the very private details of the lives of the suspect terrorists. Also the act put more restrictions on the immigration policies as well as the security measurements in the airports and the borders as well as the seaports during the amending of existing Act like information security Act (Carter). In addition to these new restrictions, the accused person has no right to see or to know the evidence which the government has against him. Even when the Act was amended in 2008, the only person who can see a summary of the evidence is a lawyer who was appointed by the government and he can’t shoe this evidence to the accused. From the practical point of view, the most minorities in Canada to be affected by these new measurements are the Muslim minority in particular and the Arabic minority in general. The inclusion of religion as a motive for ‘terrorist activity’ within the Act may cast a pall over one’s faith. The Muslim and Arab communities of Canada have already expressed that many of their members consider that they have fallen victims to racial or cultural discrimination because of the Act. We can say that the bad luck has accompanied the Muslims in this issue. Currently and unfortunately all the terrorists are coming from an Islamic background like Afghanistan, Pakistan or Chechnya. This forced not only our government but also most of the government in the world to link terrorism to Islam as a religion. The government will not stay silent until a big disaster happens as in the case of September attacks, London attacks as well as Madrid attacks. If we look at the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we may find some sections that have been violated by the new Terrorism Act. Sections eight to fourteen have been extremely infringed after the attacks. Thousands of individuals have been seized in a way that violates the charter. Another shift that happened to our tolerant society is that the supreme court of Canada has shifted the nature of its rulings regarding the infringement of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. â€Å"There has been a clear change of mind, within the Court, regarding the authority of international human rights law, at least where highly sensitive security matters are involved, such as deportation of political refugees suspected of being linked with terrorist organisations. † (Coutu Giroux) The party that argues that the Muslims and Arabs have been affected negatively by the Anti-terrorism Act might prove their argument by comparing it with the American Patriot Act which was the American anti-terrorism act. In the American version of the anti-terrorism legislation it condemned any discrimination against Arab Americans, Muslim Americans and Americans from south Asia and affirmed that â€Å"the concept of individual responsibility for wrongdoing is sacrosanct in American society and applies equally to all religions, racial and ethnic groups†( Roach 72) . If we read our Anti-terrorism Act we won’t find such a clarification. But from a practical point of view, this clarification didn’t immune the Muslims in the USA from profiling but at least it affirmed the principle of equality. On the other hand there is another party that advocates that agrees with the anti-terrorism Act and denies that it is targeting the Muslim and Arabic minorities in Canada. On the other hand, we can’t blame the government for such actions, whether or not that the religion is the driving force to these kinds of attacks. The government is working hard to ensure that the Canadian nation live in a secure and stable climate so that we can maintain our economic supremacy. Also it is working hard to ensure that the history will not blame it for neglecting national security issues like terrorism. From this perspective the government had this kind of response to the September cowardly attacks. The other counter party argue that the Arabic and the Islamic communities are not under persecution or any kind of discrimination according to religion or origin. They argue that these new Anti-terrorism Act is applied on every Canadian citizen whether he is Muslim, Christian, Jewish or any religious background. It is applied on every citizen regardless of his ethnic background whether he is polish, Scottish, Arabic or French. In the airports the safeguards don’t ask the passengers about their religion or ethnic background if they are travelling from Canada but the passengers who are coming to Canada from suspicious countries, that help the terrorist organizations or have this kind of organizations on their lands such as: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the government tends to have more restrictive laws regarding them because they are the most likely individuals to be terrorists. It is important to mention that the government of Canada put three justifications to the new Act when it was introduced. Firstly, the Anti-terrorism act is in compliance with the charter of rights and freedoms. Secondly, the current criminal law is deficient in protecting the national security of Canada from similar attacks to those ones that happened in the US. Finally, the new act enhances the charter values. I’ll go over each one of them briefly. Firstly, the government argued that the criminal law was inefficient in keeping the Canadian territories safe from future terrorist attacks. They argued that the police forces don’t have the required tools to prevent Canada’s own September 11 so there was an urgent necessity to give the police force and the CSIS these tools to do their job to protect our country. Secondly the government argued that the new Act didn’t violate the human rights stated in the charter. The minister of justice stated that â€Å"the act was subject to a very thorough review on Charter ground and that its measures have been designed so they will respect the values of the charter, and, we expect, survive legal challenges† (Roach 75). Thirdly, the government argued that the new Act didn’t not only violate the charter rights but it did enhance these rights as well. The government argued that the new Act embodied new provisions regarding hate crime propaganda against any religious minority in Canada. The government officials were aware of the Tsunami of hate propaganda and crimes that will be resulted after the September attacks against Muslims and Arabic minorities that’s why the new Act was popular and it has been supported by a lot of people who were worried about the hate crimes. Also the Act allowed the deletion of any content on internet that might refer to be hate propaganda against Islam. In same time the government argued that the Act promoted the value of equality between the individuals because the law is applicable to everyone in the country. Finally it is clear that the Anti-terrorism Act or Bill c-36 has been criticized and debated from every level in the society from the ordinary individuals who are saying that the Act violated the rights and freedoms of Muslim and Arabic minorities in Canada, to our government which is defending the new Act. In my personal opinion, the government is free to pass laws and legislations to protect our national security because if any terrorist attack happened, every on in the country will blame the government from not preventing the great loss in lives and money. But it is important to say the government should try to balance those laws with our own freedoms and regulations as long as our national security is protected. In same time, I see that Muslim and Arabic minorities are not affected badly by this law because this law is applied to all Canadians not Muslims only.

Law Heritage of International Law

Law Heritage of International Law International law theorists are largely in agreement when discussing the natural law heritage of International Law. The two were virtually synonymous until the nineteenth century.[1] The conception of International Law as a branch of law is often associated with Hugo Grotius, the celebrated natural law theorist, which is a testament to the undeniable link. This was also due in part to the underdevelopment of international positive law, the relative absence of recognised customary international law and treaties, such as we enjoy today. This void was instead filled by natural law, which had matured over some two millennia. Natural law has often been referred to as philisophia perennis by some scholars.[2] Therefore, the common ground that legal systems share has been cultivated under natural law, and similarly, the common ground for the genesis of an international legal system had also been natural law. By the thirteenth century natural law had reached its zenith with the works of Thomas Aquinas. However, it was not until much later, the middle of the twentieth century to be more precise, until legal positivism became hegemonic. This was a result of post-enlightenment European thought and the rise of thinkers such as Hobbes and Locke who provided fresh insights into philosophy as well as governance. Fresh thought brought with it fresh reaction for and against the work of the naturalistic school of jurisprudence. The criticisms came from within the naturalist tradition due to a divergence from the original lex naturalis, as well as out with from the positivists.[3] At the beginning of the nineteenth century, attempts to successfully establish international law within the positivist framework proved futile. At first it was decisively excluded from the realm of positivist jurisprudence, following which it sought to reclaim it on its own terms. Lon Fuller has appropriately described thi s approach as one of icy rejection and [then] an acceptance in a bone-crushing embrace.[4] The unacceptance of international law by the legal positivists, at least initially, was due to the latters unwavering loyalty to legal positivisms core tenets. Despite numerous attempts by positivists, they were simply dumbfounded at the possibility of an object with so-called juridical character which did not stem from the will of a sovereign. By the start of the twentieth century the tide had well and truly turned in favour of legal positivism. This ushered in a new era on the jurisprudence of international law, which was rather glibly summed up in a 1926 opinion of the Mexico-United States General Claims Commission: The law of nature may have been helpful, some three centuries ago, to build up a new law of nations, and the conception of inalienable rights of men and nations may have exercised a salutary influence, some one hundred and fifty years ago, on the development of modern democracy on both sides of the ocean; but they have failed as durable foundation of either municipal or international law and can not be used in the present day as substitutes for positive municipal law, on the one hand, and for positive international law, as recognised by nations and government through their acts and statements, on the other hand.[5] As the eighteenth century drew to a close, so did the window to what was now a dated philosophy in the field of jurisprudence natural law. This was largely down to a continental shift toward proper science. This new dawn in European civilisation left little room for conjecture and ideas of a capricious nature. In other words, scholarly credibility lay in forming ideas based on a methodology akin to that of the natural sciences. Over a relatively short space of time international law theorists tipped their proverbial hats to natural law for its immense contribution to the field of international law and gave up conjecture for observation, and analysis in place of evaluation. Two of the most important figures in the history of legal positivism were Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and, his compatriot John Austin (1790-1859). Austin is a distinguished and celebrated figure in the positivist tradition because of his innovations in English legal thought. His works have been praised far and wide, and perhaps by none more so than the Cambridge jurist T.A Walker (1862-1935) who pronounced Austins work as the starting point of all English dissertations on legal science.[6] In the hope of extending jurisprudence the same status as that of the natural sciences, Austin was resolute in his stance on the distinction between law and ethics. With said task in mind, Austin provides a succinct account of what defines positive law: The essential difference of a positive law (or the difference that severs it from a law which is not a positive law) may be stated thus. Every positive law, or every law simply and strictly so called, is set by a sovereign person, or a sovereign body of persons, to a member or members of the independent political society wherein that person or body is sovereign or supreme.[7] However, regarding international law, Austin adopts a different tact. In an attempt to offer an explanation to the enigma that is international law, Austin decides to head it under the science of positive morality as opposed to law properly so called. His reasoning stems from international laws apparent unfulfillment of the criteria put forth by legal positivism. Austin believes international law to be materially lacking in the sense that no laws strictly so called emanate from a sovereign to members of an independent political society. Therefore, since there is no sovereign and independent political community which is in turn subject to said sovereign, then international law is not law so properly called.[8] The need for a sovereign in Austins view is largely due to the power it affords the law. He believes the obligatory status conferred upon the law is a result of the possible punishment, by the sovereign, that may befall a wrongdoer in case of disobedience: the prior of which is not bound by any law and is the source of all law properly so called. The notion of all law being dependent on the will of a sovereign state is one that is entirely mismatched to the characterisation of international as a proper legal system. This concept seeks to preclude the very possibility of any form of real governance of international relations amongst sovereign nations. This rather seems a case of square pegs and round holes. It is perhaps the narrow mindedness of attempting to fit international law in an entirely uncompromising mould. This approach fails to connect with the reality of international life. Which is evident in the fact that states continue to respect international law as law; through their acceptance of the rulings in the vast majority of cases, through upholding diplomacy, exercising legal rights and accepting others legal rights as well as signing treaties and regarding themselves and others as being bound by those treaties. An alternative perspective to the absolute expulsion of international law from the positivist arena, is one posited by H.L.A Hart. In his view the rules of international law need only be accepted as standards of conduct and supported with appropriate forms of social pressure to be regarded as obligatory, binding, legal rules.[9] However, since there is no secondary rule which stipulates the criteria of legal validity of rules, their existence depends on whether they are accepted as a rule or not.[10] International law therefore consists of rules which constitute not a system but a set of rules.[11] Albeit this line of reasoning is more accepting of international law as a binding, obligatory force, it does contain a major caveat. Whilst conceding international does indeed exist as law, Hart does not afford it the same status as that of a municipal legal system, which he considers to be more advanced and acceptable to the standards of positivist thought. This presents a dilemma for int ernational lawyers: to accept Harts reductionist methodology or is international law deserving of a more comprehensive designation in the jurisprudential sphere. As discussed previously, international law owes a great deal to natural law for laying the foundation for a system that is now known as international law. However, due to its metaphysical nature it was unable to ground itself as a science properly so called. In the post-enlightenment era, the baton of jurisprudence was passed over to the now favoured legal positivism. This is where we initiate proceedings into the correct classification of international law. Chapter 2: International Law as Law: An Academic Glass Bead Game? The classification of law is a concern of the utmost gravity for the international lawyer, as this has the ability to influence perceptions about the field, which is a hugely significant factor in the reaction it invokes when infringed. Perhaps the most imperative question on the minds of those who doubt international system as a legal system is the quality of it.[12] Too often it is the case that international lawyers adopt an argumentative tact which ultimately proves to be a futile endeavour, because the question remains unanswered.[13] With the introduction of his celebrated work, The Province of Jurisprudence Determined,[14]John Austin has yielded great influence over the jurisprudence of international law: most notably because of the command theory. Austin proposed theory was as follows: law consists of rules which are issued by a sovereign; are defined as commands, coercive orders, or wishes; backed by the threat of imposing an evil in the form of a sanction in case of non-compliance with said command, coercive order, or wish.[15] In Austins view a material condition for a rule to elevate to a law is that it must be issued by a sovereign who is habitually obeyed by the majority of a society and who himselfÂÂ   does not habitually obey another human superior.[16] As is evident, the command theory precludes international law from the ambit of law. According to Austin international law is not sourced from the command of a sovereign but rather it is set by general opinion and enforced by sanctions that equate t o a mere moral duty.[17] Therefore, international law is outside the legal positivist tradition and is reduced to a form of international morality by Austin.[18] As a result of Harts effective repudiation of Austins command theory,[19] which had proven to be a formidable hindrance in recognising international law as law has been largely abandoned. Austin can be considered as the last significant denier of the legal quality of international law and the refutation of one of his most notable theories has provided some much-needed respite to the international law is law camp. However, the debate is still very much alive and kicking as there have always been and still are approaches which neither fully discount international law nor accept it as the finished article for the purposes of international politics. The legal realists such as Georg Schwarzenberger and Hans Joachim Morgenthau, illustrate this well by decreeing it as a reality of the international system but vehemently questioning its ability to kerb power exercised by states.[20] To the same effect, Kenneth Waltzs neo-realist account of international relations entirely omits any part play ed by international law.[21] More recently a fresh challenge has been posed by Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner in their work The Limits of International Law, who argue that a states interests, above all else, is the determinative factor regarding its compliance with international obligations.[22]ÂÂ   Thereby claiming that international law in all its might has little to do with state conduct in the international arena. It can be said that the various ways in which the legal quality of international law is brought into question is not ultimately decided upon the basis of the jurisprudential question of whether international law really is law properly so called. However, such questions do fuel the fire of doubt which lends itself it to strengthening the position of commentators who seek to endorse a more restrictive approach to the international legal order. The benefit of clarifying international laws position through an analytical framework is two-fold: it can help explain the system better, and perhaps rather more importantly, it can aid the international lawyer in correctly identifying and interpreting the law.[23] Thus permitting a seemingly theoretical endeavour to yield practical results. The Significance of Hart in Particular The mere fact that analytical jurisprudence is of great importance in fashioning a well-reasoned answer to our proposed question does not alone merit an exhaustive engagement with Harts concept of international law. However, for a multitude of additional reasons it seems a conducive exercise, not least of all from the perspective of international law, to analyse Harts theory. As previously stated, Hart carried out the repudiation of Austins attempt to diminish international law to mere international morality. Further to this, positivism is considered by commentators on the subject of international law to be one of the most influential theoretical approaches.[24] In the same vein, it seems only natural to examine the works of one who is not only one of the most influential contemporary legal positivists, but also one of the very few legal theorists who was concerned with approaching international law from the perspective of analytical jurisprudence. There is a prevalent belief that the study of positivism within international law has now reached the stage of flogging a dead horse. This notion is somewhat misconceived when Hart is the theorist in question. Whose concept of positivism saw fit to move away from the consideration that one could gauge the validity of a legal system with the will of sovereign states. The late 19th century and early 20th century positivist accounts of international law were essentially voluntarist theories of international law. This is evident in the works of classical positivist such as Georg Jellinek, who viewed the basis for obligations under international law as an act of auto-limitation by states,[25] and Heinrich Triepel, who further developed this voluntarist theory replacing the will of the individual states with the common will of states.[26] This voluntarist approach found its basis on the landmark Lotus decision of the Permanent Court of Justice in which the court held that [i]nternational l aw governs relations between independent States. The rules of law binding upon States therefore emanate from their own free will as expressed in conventions or by usages generally accepted as expressing principles of law.[27] Therefore, positivism not only gives a firm nod of approval toward state sovereignty but also displays a belief in the consensual character of international law: no state can be bound by a rule of international law unless it has explicitly or tacitly consented to it. The historically strong affiliation between legal positivism and voluntarist conceptions of international law has led many scholars to believe that positivism is essentially a voluntarist approach to international law.[28] However this signals a tunnel vision to legal positivism, which in the international law arena does not have to be equated with voluntarism.[29] At the crux of legal positivism, there is an assertion that all legal facts are determined by social facts alone.[30] However, a point of disagreement arises when the question of what those social facts are is posed. For Jellinek and Triepel it was the will of states, for Kelsen it was the Grundnorm,[31] for Hart the rule of recognition. Positivism can be considered a malleable concept of law, as it has the ability to encompass an approach to international law which overcomes the constrictive nuances of voluntarism. Learning from Austins Mistakes: A Critique of the Command Theory Hart believed that the major defect with Austins theory lay in its promulgation of understanding law as a set of rules which had been issued by a sovereign. Based on this contention Hart began his work, by refuting both Austins theory on rules and his proposed theory on sovereignty. Respectively, Hart was unsatisfied with the explanation of labelling all legal rules as coercive orders. Whilst the fact was true that such a theory could provide the basis for understanding certain branches of the law, namely criminal law and delict/tort, it fails to take into consideration power-conferring rules. The latter of which do not encumber individuals, but rather they are utilised in finding and altering legal relations or granting powers to public officials.[32] Hart believes that homogenising power-conferring rules with orders backed by threats has given rise to a misnomer commands which has distorted the difference.[33] An additional concern with this characterisation is that it provides n o explanation for a scenario in which the sovereign can issue law which binds himself.[34] Lastly, Hart states that it would be baseless to suppose that all legal rules can source their origin to a wilful act of a legislator, especially with regards to customary law.[35] The role accorded to a sovereign in Austins theory is highly disputed by Hart. Who finds the concept to be overreaching in the sense that the sovereign issues orders, which are habitually obeyed, and who himself obeys no one else. The issue, as Hart states, arises with respect to the continuity of law. This common ideal cannot be upheld under habitual obedience.[36] That is to say, Austins theory fails to explain the effect of a new lawmakers particular powers because the basis of his theory rests on the normative supposition of habitual obedience, which it is not.ÂÂ   This in turn cannot lend itself to a successful transfer of law making powers to the new legislator. Therefore, Hart posits that past habitual obedience is no guarantee of future habitual obedience to a new sovereign.[37]Further to this, the command theory also neglects to clarify the persistence of law.[38] Which begs the question: if a command by a person who was habitually obeyed is no longer in power, what leg al value does the command retain, if any at all. Hitherto, it is one of the defining features of a legal system that laws passed by a legislator retain their power long after the legislator waives his position. Lastly, the influence granted by Austins theory to the sovereign disregards legal limitations faced by a legislature.[39] Austin suggests that the legislator may only face legal limitations if said legislator is under obligation to another legislator. This has the undesired effect of not only undermining the sovereignty of a legislator but rather removing it altogether due to his subjection to another sovereign.[40] Therefore, removing the possibility of law being understood as the will of a sovereign.[41] Chapter 3: Harts Fresh Start: Law as the Union of Primary and Secondary Rules From the criticism of Austin, Hart forges a fresh approach in the form of primary and secondary rules. The lack of explanation offered by Austin on the subject of power-conferring rules acts as a catalyst for Hart to introduce and explain the difference between primary and secondary rules.[42] At the crux of it, primary rules impose duties on individuals. Whereas secondary rules provide the basis for creating, altering and defining the ambit of primary rules and are more commonly known as power-conferring rules. In his endeavour to demonstrate the requirement of secondary rules, Hart puts forth the example of a primitive society, which although follows certain customary rules, it does not fulfil the requisites for a legal system.[43] The system in such a society will no doubt have rudimentary regulations that facilitate its governance, but it will ultimately lack the power or means to authoritatively alter rules and resolve disputes arising from said rules. In Harts view, such a system would only be able to satisfy a relatively cognate society, and would not be agreeable if replicated on a larger scale.[44] The system of rules would suffer from rigidity in the face of social change as there would be no identifiable way to authoritatively alter them; uncertainty would arise surrounding the effectiveness of rules as there would be no means to monitor their efficiency. To address the issues facing primary rules, Hart proposes a system in which they are accompanied by secondary rules.[45] Harts rule of recognition would mitigate uncertainty and problems in authoritatively identifying primary rules. Further to this, rules of change would make the system more adept by vesting power in an individual or a group of individuals to readily create new primary rules when necessary. Lastly, the rules of adjudication would grant the representative powers to adjudicate authoritatively on possible violations of primary rules, thereby overcoming the inefficiency of a primitive system. The rule of recognition can be described as the defining characteristic of Harts concept of law. He believed it to be at the core of a legal system, as it lends authority to primary rules.[46] In contemporary legal systems, the rule of recognition dictates the precedence afforded to varying criterion.[47] The supreme criterion amongst them, must be one that overarches all other sources of law. Therefore, the rule of recognition, is the ultimate decider in a legal system.[48] Thereby granting it the unique position of not having to source its origins back to any other rule in a legal system, unlike every other criterion which is subject to the rule of recognition. In short, it serves as the standard bearer for every other rule and is perpetual in its existence. In order to establish a workable template for a legal system that amalgamates primary and secondary rules, Hart lays out the foundational aspects for such a system.[49] An elemental criteria according to Hart, is one of general obedience to the primary rules by the citizens. On the other hand, Hart rejects the assumption of secondary rules being obeyed by public officials, to whom they are addressed. This seems an amicable stance, as it would be unintelligible to class their conformity to the rules which confer law making powers on them as obedience or when they fail to conform, as disobedience. Let us consider the example of a judge, who in his duty of identifying and applying a statue, obeys the rule of recognition. It hardly seems an appropriate description of his task. Consequently, the rule of recognition requires unanimous acceptance by public officials according to Hart.[50] Whereas primary rules need only be accepted by the citizens to be considered legally valid, the rule of recognition is reliant on the fact that public officials believe it to be the general standard of legal validity and enact it to that degree.[51] Basic Elements of Harts Concept of International Law On the basis of his general theory Hart develops his concept of international law in Chapter X of The Concept of Law. In this chapter Hart approaches the question whether international law constitutes law or international morality. Only in the last section of Chapter X does Hart ask whether international law is sufficiently analogous to the municipal legal order to be qualified as a legal system. International Law as Law? According to Hart, international law lacks certain features which place it outside the fold of a developed legal system. He believes this ascription to be merited on the basis of; lack of an international legislature, absence of courts with sufficient authority, and the inadequacy of centrally organised sanctions.[52] In his estimation, such shortcomings ultimately consign international law to the position of a simple form of social structure, found in primitive societies.ÂÂ   Thereby giving rise to Harts claim that international law is largely made up of primary rules with little in the way of secondary rules. Hart goes on to examine the consequence of a lack of centralized sanctions, more notably, the effect this has on the classification of international law as law. In his view, not only are there no such sanctions under international law, United Nations Security Council attempts to establish them under Chapter VII of the UN Charter would be an exercise in futility as the veto would prove to be an unsurmountable challenge.[53]On the other hand, Hart does not believe sanctions are the elemental factor in states satisfying their obligations under international law. Such a belief would stem from the command theory obligations being backed by the threat of sanctions in case of disobedience which Hart had already refuted. Similarly, Hart argues that in establishing primary rules which prohibit the free use of force and providing rules for the use of force on official grounds as a sanction, are essential traits for all municipal legal systems. Such a system derives logic from the fact that human beings are based in communities, are of roughly equal strength, and have innumerable opportunities to harm their counterparts, all of which requires an approach that goes beyond relying on mere natural deterrents.[54] On the other hand, the international stage presents a different situation altogether. International acts of aggression are very well documented compared with those that occur on a domestic level between individuals. The possibility of third parties getting involved and the unpredictable nature of war, more often than not, acts as reason enough for states to avoid violence. Moreover, all states are not equal with regards to power and strength.[55] That is to say, sanctions would offer little in the way of acting as a deterrent for powerful states or forcing such states to obey the rules.[56] The absence of sanctions from the international level is of little concern to the legal quality of international law. [1] Sir Fredrick Pollock, Essays in the Law (1922) 63. [2] Philosophia perenis: This term has been used to denote the collective works of, most notably: Aristotle, the stoics, Augustine, the scholastics, and more latterly the neo-scholastics and the neo-thomists, referring to the body of philosophical truths common across ages and civilisations. See Heinrich A. Rommen, The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy (1946: 1998 edition translated by Thomas R. Hanley) 27-2, note 21. [3] Sir Fredrick Pollock remarking on the damage done by some scholars in the Enlightenment period post-Rousseau to natural law: Modern aberrations have led to a widespread belief that the Law of Nature is only a cloak for arbitrary dogmas or fancies. Essays in the Law (1922) 32. [4] Lon L. Fuller, The Morality of Law (1969 revised edition) 232. [5] North American Dredging Company of Texas (USA) v. Mexico, 4 RIAA 26, at 29-30 (1926). [6] T.A Walker, The Science of International Law *1893) 4.

Cholesterol Reducing Effects of Lactobacillus Spp

Cholesterol Reducing Effects of Lactobacillus Spp CHOLESTEROL REDUCING EFFECTS OF Lactobacillus spp. ISOLATED FROM BREAST MILK OF LACTATION MOTHER. SUHANIS NADIA BINTI SALLEH CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background of the study Cholesterol is the precursor of primary bile salts formed in the liver and store as conjugated bile salts in gall bladder to be release in digestive tract. (Corzo Gilliland, 1999). Lipid and cholesterol rich food intake act as the main factor in increasing of heart disease (Anandharaj Sivasankari, 2014). Thus, it is important to reduce cholesterol as prevention to cardiovascular disease. (Yildiz et. al, 2011). Even though pharmaceutical agent or therapy exists for hypercholesterolemia treatments, they are expensive and may produce side effect. (Schuster, 2004). Due to the reason, non pharmaceutical approaches which yield cholesterol reduction were examined and probiotics are one of several approaches that have been used (Anandharaj Sivasankari, 2014). Problem statement 1.3 Research Objective 1.3.1 General objective To investigate the cholesterol reducing property of Lactobacillus spp. isolated from breast milk of lactation mother . 1.3.2Specific objective 1.3.2.1 To isolate Lactobacillus spp. from breast milk of lactation mother. 1.3.2.2 To identify Lactobacillus spp. isolated from breast milk of lactation mother. 1.3.2.3 To determine cholesterol reducing property of Lactobacillus spp. isolated from breast milk of lactation mother. Research hypothesis 1.4.1 Study hypothesis There is significant difference between Lactobacillus spp. isolated from breast milk of different lactation mother on its cholesterol reducing property. 1.4.2 Null hypothesis There is no significant difference between Lactobacillus spp. isolated from breast milk of lactation mother on its cholesterol reducing property. 1.5 Scope and limitation of the study This study focusing on identification of bacteria and its properties and includes molecular technique. The scope of this study involves both phenotypic and genotypic characterization. Some limitations arise in this study. The cholesterol reduction assay which will be done in vitro to mimic the in vivo mechanism may not be totally similar with in vivo environment. 1.6 Significant of study Breast milk is a possible source of Lactobacillus strains but there are only few studies done on isolation of probiotic from human’s milk. (Anandharaj Sivasankari , 2014 ; Martin et al., 2004). The reliability of cholesterol reduction by using probiotics for hypercholesterolemia treatments have gain increase of interest. (Jones et al. 2004 ; Lim et al. 2004). Even so, the findings are more on lactic acid bacteria strains among Western origin subject (Yildiz et al. 2011). Different result may be obtained from other population subject and this study may enhance the finding of probiotic strains that capable in cholesterol assimilation. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY Proposed methodology (Descriptive) Ethical issues Study area The study will be conducted in the final year research laboratory of microbiology section at UiTM Puncak Alam. Most of the experiments will be conducted at the laboratory except for sequencing which will be send away. Sample collection is done outside the study area and will be store in the laboratory storage section. Sample collection Breast milk sample will be collected from volunteers in sterile container. Prior to collection, the breast is clean with sterile water and apply with chlorexidine to remove other normal flora. The sample will be store on ice until delivery to the laboratory. The sample will then stored in -80oC if not directly use or for further use. For storage, the sample will previously transfer into several small vials to avoid multiple freeze and thaw. Isolation of Lactobacillus spp. 1ml of breast milk sample is transfer into 9ml of sterile saline (0.85% sodium chloride). The dilute samples will be plate on Man Ragosa Sharpe, MRS medium. The plate is incubate at 37oC for 24 to 48 hour in anaerobic condition. Identification of Lactobacillus spp. Isolated Lactobacillus spp. will be confirm based on growth on MRS medium, colony morphology, Gram staining, and catalase reaction. The isolated colony will be proceed with subculture to obtain pure culture. Further species identification will be performed by carbohydrate fermentation pattern using API 50 CHL test strip. The result is analyze using API LABTM PLUS software. MRS broth medium containing 20% glycerol is use to preserve the pure cultures and store at -80oC. PCR amplification of 16S rDNA and sequencing Modified method of Smoker and Barnum (1988) will be conducted for DNA isolation. The 16S rDNA will then amplify in thermocycler by 30 cycles which include denaturation at 940C for 30s, annealing at 56oC for 30s and elongation at 720C. The PCR result will be separated on gel electrophoresis to check for the purity and of the amplicon. The amplified rDNA will be purified with PCR purification kit and send for sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis Cholesterol reducing assay Statistical analysis The data will be collected in triplicate and will be analysed by SPSS software. Data will be expressed as mean and standard deviation. One way ANOVA test with significance level p Proposed methodology (Flow chart) 5.0 Expected outcomes For isolation and identification of Lactobacillus spp., various species may be identified. Generally, they are expected to be catalase negative, gram positive, rods or cocci. Results on API 50 CHL will confirm the specific species. In PCR amplification, there will be presence of bands of specific base pair for Lactobacillus spp. after the amplicons separated on the agarose gel. As for cholesterol reducing assay, there will be species which show cholesterol reducing property and the species with the most significant reduction of cholesterol will be identified. 6.0 Financial implications 7.0 Ganntt chart Work plan 2014 (September December) Work plan 2015 (March July) Work plan 2015 (March June)