Experiment to investigate the effect of different antibiotics on the bacteria Bacillus subtilis:

Experiment to investigate the effect of different antibiotics on the bacteria Bacillus subtilis: Aim: To see which antibiotic (Chloramphenicol, Erythromycin, Fusidic Acid, Oxacillin, Novobiocin, Penicillin, Streptomyan and Tetracycline) reacting with the Bacillus subtilis has the largest zone of inhibition in mm (+/- 0.5mm) and so which has the biggest effect on the bacteria. Introduction: Gram -positive bacteria are bacteria that are dark blue or violet when gram staining. Gram-positive organisms are able to keep the crystal violet stain because of a high amount of peptidoglycan in the cell wall. This makes up about 90% of the thick, more than 20 layers of peptidoglycan together. Gram-positive organisms normally do not have the outer membrane, whereas Gram-negative organisms do. Gram-positive bacteria include many well -known genera like Streptococcus and Bacillus. Most pathogenic bacteria in humans are Gram-positive organisms and these are used to manufacture antibiotics. Bacillus subtilis, also known as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus is a Gram- positive bacterium, which is mostly found in soil. Bacillus subtilis is not a human pathogen and it can contaminate food but rarely causes food poisoning. Bacillus subtilis spores can survive the extreme heat during cooking and Bacillus subtilis is responsible for causing a sticky, stringy consistency in spoiled bread

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  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Biology
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Biology: Lab report Germination

Biology Lab Report Seed Germination By: John Abarshi (Figure One: Cress Seed Germination) Introduction This term, we embarked upon our first biology experiment. Recently, in class, we have been learning about plant reproduction. Amongst the vast amount of information pertaining to the topic of plant reproduction is germination. Germination is the process of sprouting, whereby seeds or spores sprout or emerge and begin to grow. [1] [2] When a seed is germinating, certain factors affect its germination. It was our task to come up with two variables that could influence seed germination and to investigate this. After much contemplation and consideration, I managed to pinprick what factors I would like to investigate. I will thus investigate if altering the light and temperature of the cress seeds' environment will affect the germination. Research Question How do light and temperature affect the germination of a cress seed? Hypothesis If cress seeds are placed in a dark environment, then their germination will be negatively affected compared to cress seeds grown in a normal light environment because seeds If cress seeds are placed in an environment with excessive exposure to light, then their germination will be positively affected compared to cress seeds grown in a normal light environment because seeds If cress seeds are placed in a cold environment, then their

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  • Subject: Biology
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Describe and explain how the improvement in transport over the last 50 years has increased the global interactions between countries.

Describe and explain how the improvement in transport over the last 50 years has increased the global interactions between countries (10 marks) Transportation is one of the main influences of the development of global interactions between countries. Over the years, transportation allows urban areas to expand, permit regional economic development and overcome the effect of distance -further developing universal communication. There are many forms of transport -road, rail, ocean, air and pipelines. In this essay, by comparing both ocean and air transportation and analysing the various advantages, we can see how the improvements in transport over the last 50 years has increased the global interactions between countries. First of all, although water transportation is considered to be quite expensive, however, it is fairly at a reasonable price as ocean shipping is able to bear more cargos than other forms of transport. The higher capacity enables more goods to be shipped at once which further improves trading activities, making it faster and more efficient. Besides that, free ports are available now in certain countries which attract more imports that can be manufactured into goods that are than exported without having to pay duties or tax. This allows more trading activities to take place without having to fuss over taxes and other additional payments. Moreover, more imports

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  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Geography
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Kobe and pakistan earthquake essay

The 1995 Kobe Earthquake and The 2005 Pakistan Earthquake A huge earthquake took place in Japan at 5:46am, on January 17th 1995. The earthquake had a local magnitude of 7.2, and lasted for about 20 seconds. The epic-center of this earthquake was less than 20km below Awaji-shima, an island near the city of Kobe, a port city. The earthquake occurred between convergent plate boundaries, the Eurasian Plate and Philippines Plate, and as a result of the collision of these two plates the pressure built up and then suddenly got released, and the Earthquake shockwaves traveled to Kobe. The Hanshin earthquake caused about 5,100 deaths, mostly in Kobe. Highways, roads, homes, railroads, ports and other infrastructures were destroyed, also trains on minor lines were derailed. Main water ways bursted and there were fires evolving everywhere. These caused disruption of traffic, affects on economy, water suspension, and disrupted heat and gas areas around Kobe. However, what caused such a severe damage of the city of one of the most highest earthquake-prepared countrys, was that the city of Kobe is close by water, therefore is on soft land. Secondly, the focus was relatively shallow. Engineering was another reason. A huge amount of the houses in Kobe were built before the development of strict seismic codes (1981). They had old wooden frames, heavy clay tiled roofs, and were closely

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  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Geography
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Calculating the specific heat of a metal

The Specific Heat of a Metal I. Purpose: to determine the specific heat of a substance. II. Materials: > 50-mL beaker > 250-mL beaker > 400-mL beaker > 100-mL graduated cylinder > Large test tube > Glass stirring rod > Utility clamp > Ring stand > Ring support > Hot plate > Electric balance > Plastic foam cup > Thermometer > Lead shot > Distilled water III. Procedure: . 250 mL of water was heated in a 400-mL beaker until it was boiling gently. 2. While the water was heating, the mass of a clean, dry 50-mL beaker was determined and recorded. Between 80 g and 120 g of lead shot was then added to the beaker and their combined mass was measured and recorded. 3. The lead shot was then transferred to a large, dry test tube. The utility clamp was used to suspend the test tube in the boiling water; the lead shot was below the level of the water in the beaker. The test tube was then left in the boiling for 10 minutes. 4. While the lead shot was heating, 100 mL of distilled water was measured I na graduated cylinder. The water was poured into a plastic foam cup that was placed in a 250-mL beaker for support. 5. The temperature of the water in the plastic cup and the water in the boiling bath was measured. 6. The test tube was removed from the boiling water and quickly poured into the water-filled plastic foam cup. A thermometer and a glass stirring rod were

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  • Subject: Chemistry
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Pourquoi zola compare-t-il ses personnages a des betes humaines?

Pourquoi Zola Compare-t-il Ses Personnages A Des Bêtes Humaines? Émile Zola - un écrivain du ixième siècle et pionnier du Naturalisme - a reçu beaucoup de critique pendant sa carrière littéraire à cause de son écriture innovatrice. Dans son œuvre Thérèse Raquin il décrit avec une précision méticuleuse un "dame violent" d'adultère, du meurtre et du suicide. Selon Zola, qui déclare dans la préface de la deuxième édition de Thérèse Raquin, "pas un des pudiques journalistes qui ont rougi en lisant Thérèse Raquin lui paraît avoir compris ce roman". Mon but pour cette dissertation est d'essayer de comprendre ce roman, c'est-à-dire je vais considérer pourquoi Zola a comparé ses personnages à des bêtes humaines en employant une approche scientifique et pourquoi il a voulu étudier les tempéraments au lieu des caractères. En fait le Naturalisme, c'est un genre de la littérature selon laquelle on essaye de considérer les êtres humaines comme des objets pour pouvoir aller plus loin que simplement les observer (comme dans la plupart de la littérature) mais les étudier. Dans Thérèse Raquin Zola a traité ses personnages plutôt comme des produits chimiques dans une réaction - avec des propriétés prédéterminées qui vont toujours réagir de la même façon (souvent violent) - et non comme des vraies êtres humaines. Zola a donné aux amants

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  • Subject: Languages
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LEDCs are more vulnerable to hazard events than MEDCs. Discuss.

"LEDCs are more vulnerable to hazard events than MEDCs. Discuss." Natural hazard events occur all throughout the world and subject many people to negative impacts, however in different degrees due to certain factors which depend on the countries affected themselves. Impacts of such hazard events can be classified into three categories, namely social, economic and environmental impacts. These impacts can vary spatially or temporally - depending on the area subjected as well as the span of time the disaster lasts for, affecting assessment of vulnerability. Vulnerability is defined as the conditions that increase the susceptibility of a community to a hazard or to the impacts of a hazard event. Deciding whether some impacts are greater than others in terms of vulnerability is difficult due to this variation, however the extent of impact is often influenced by the wealth of the area which the hazard event is subjected upon - LEDCS are less economically developed, and usually have little capital to start off with, leaving even less on the technology that is often more readily available in MEDCs, the more economically developed countries, making the population in the former already more vulnerable than the latter. However, this does not prevent hazards from occurring in MEDCs and the monetary status of a country cannot influence the magnitude or frequencies of hazard events, two

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The effect of temperature on amylase activity

Kiu Yi, IP 13M The effect of temperature on amylase activity Introduction The purpose of this experiment is to investigate if temperature will affect the amount of starch broken down as enzyme activity can change by different temperature. This is because as temperature rises the rate of chemical reactions increases due to the temperature increases the rate of the molecules' motion. More interactions will be existed between an enzyme and its substrate. The enzyme used in this lab exercise is amylase, which is commonly found in saliva and germinating seeds, catalyzes the breakdown of starch. It also reacts quickly when heat is present during the process of it reaction. However, if the temperature is higher than the optimum point, enzymes can be denatured and they can no longer bind to a substrate and catalyze reactions. My hypothesis is therefore the amylase activity would increase as the temperature rise, until a certain high temperature at which the amylase would denature and be non-functional. In this experiment, I will observe the activity of amylase by using iodine as iodine reacts with starch to form a dark brown/purple color. After adding in iodine, when amylase breaking down starch, less and less starch will be present and the color of this solution will become lighter and lighter. Equipments • 0.1% Amylase 0.5 ml • 1% Starch 5ml • 10 Test tubes and

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Tropical Rainforest Case Study

Sasha Zouev IB, 16/11/05 Tropical Rainforest Case Study, Amazonia Introduction Tropical rainforest, temperate coniferous and deciduous woodland forests are the three main categories of forest type. Tropical rainforests are considered a much richer species that the other two, and temperate vegetation is one that grows fastest. The rainforest ecosystem is very weak and easily unbalanced, making this type of forest more "permanently destroyed" than the other two. The importance of tropical rainforests lies within the fact that they are the earth's richest source of life as they play a vital part in the earth's natural cycles of soil, water and air through the process of photosynthesis. In this case study we will be looking closely at the tropical rainforest in the Amazonia region of South America. Where is this Rainforest? The term, Amazon rainforest, is used to basically talk about the moist and broadleaved region of what is known as the Amazon Basin, which is around 7 million km squared and covers areas of mainly Brazil, Colombia, Peru and many more South American countries. This rainforest accounts for around 50% of the world's remaining rainforests. Amazonian rainforests contain the biggest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest that there is to be found. It is the world's greatest natural resource - the most powerful and bio-actively diverse

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Examine the causes and the effects of biodiversity loss in the Tropical Rainforests

Examine the causes and the effects of biodiversity loss in the TRF Biodiversity can be defined as the variety of all forms of life on earth (plants, animals and micro-organisms). The tropics are the richest areas for biodiversity as tropical rain forests contain over 50% of the worlds species in just 7% of the worlds land. They account for 80% of the world's insects and 90% of its primates. Even though biodiversity benefits us humans in countless ways we tend to be oblivious to this fact and instead, the biodiversity on earth is gradually diminishing. There are many reasons for the loss of biodiversity and the most prominent include Globalization & Cattle Ranching, Hydroelectric Power (HEP), Migration and Logging. Similar to how there are numerous causes for the loss of biodiversity, these causes also have many drastic effects. As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, globalization and cattle ranching is one of the major causes for the loss of biodiversity. Globalization can be defined as the world coming together for trading purposes. This contributes to the loss of biodiversity as globalization is directly linked with deforestation. For instances, huge global corporations like McDonalds own countless amounts of cattle which are often located in deforested areas. In addition to this, much forest land in the Brazilian Amazon is also deforested in order to enable the

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  • Subject: Geography
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