Animals and the Myriad Ways They Can Kill or Heal Us Essay - 1

Animals and the Myriad Ways They Can Kill or Heal Us - Essay Example With treatments of this manner, it is fascinating therefore to learn how medical scientists have managed to turn the deadly poisonous venoms to medicine for treating various ailments in human beings. What then is poison or venom? Though used interchangeable, warns Dr. Vernon (2012, 1, paragraph 2) the two are different in meaning and are distinguished from one another in the method of delivery. Poison, he writes, is absorbed, ingested or inhaled while venom is injected. This resonates with Gibbons et al. (1990, 273) argument who define venom as a toxin produced in certain glands of one animal and mechanically transmitted by biting or stinging. This provides the hypothesis that all venoms are poisonous, but a poison is not necessarily venom. The King cobra is an example of a venomous snake and provides a perfect specimen for this study. Allow me to introduce to you the deadliest snake in the world; The King Cobra, also known as ophiophagus hannah or the snake eater. Named so because o f its dietary habit of preying on its ‘kin’s’ (feeds on fellow snakes). ... It has a broad and flattened head with the neck having a narrow hood which can be extended when threatened (WildScreen, 2013, 1, paragraph 2) .A single bite of this snake can easily kill a human. Worse still, a full- grown Asian elephant can die within a time limit of 3 hours if bitten on the trunk by this dangerous snake. In addition to the above features, most snakes normally produce a hissing sound in response to threat; however, this cannot be said of the King Cobra which makes a distinctive growl emanating from the throat and deepens as it grows. Dangerous as it is, this snake species is harvested for its meat, skin and bile which are used in traditional medicine (WildScreen, 2013, 1, paragraph 12). What type of Venom does the King cobra posses and how does it work? There are three different types of venoms namely; Hemotoxic, (attacks the cardiovascular system), Cytotoxic (targets specific muscle groups) and Neurotoxic (attacks the brain and the nervous system) venoms. Some snak es combine the venom types while others carry specific form of venom (WiseGeek, 2013, 1, paragraph 2). Ophiophagous hannah is one such which exhibits a combination of the three, but is predominantly Neurotoxic venom (Dr.venom, 2010, 1, paragraph 2). In the same line of reasoning, Corporation (2004, 273, paragraph 2) provides corroborating information which marries with that of WiseGreek. He posits that neurotoxins attack the nervous system, preventing the impulses from controlling the muscles thus paralyzing the victim. He adds that snake venoms are formed from enzymes, which are protein in nature. More so, different snake species have different cocktail of venoms which either work individually or in groups to achieve the desired end; neurotoxins, myotoxins and hemotoxins. Most

Accounting decision making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Accounting decision making - Essay Example In addition, an explanation to support the variation in the contribution margin of the five services is provided and possible resource constraints faced by the firm is provided. Firms adopt different dividend policies which are in line with their goals. Dividend payment is preferred by shareholders since that is their source of reward for contributing equity capital. The article states that dividend payment is simply a transfer of value within the firm. That is, the movement of value already owned by the shareholders to shareholders. Therefore, there is no level of dividend payment that contributes to value creation. The statement is true for the reason that dividend payment does not increase the firm’s ability to increase the economic benefits. In other words, a firm cannot increase its cash flow generating ability by paying dividends. However, the payment of cash dividends has a positive impact on the value of a firm (market value). The market value of a firm (market capitalization) is determined by multiplying the outstanding shares of a firm with the current share price. It has been observed that the payment of cash dividends by firms increases the market value of companies. The increase is brought about as follows: when a firm pays cash dividends, more shareholders, who prefer certain payments, are attracted (Frankfurter, Wood & Wansley, 2003, pp. 91). The demand of shares of that company increases, thus increasing the share price. Consequently, the market value of the firm increases. There are two theories of dividend payment which supports the influence of cash dividend on the market value of the firm. That is, the bird-in-hand theory and information signalling dividend payment theory (Hunting & Paulsen 2013). The bird-in-hand, dividend payment theory states that stockholders prefer certainty due to their aversion towards risk. Dividend payments are more assured as compared