Effects of technology Essay

Technology is the specific scope of idea in which it reflects the overall application of knowledge towards the development of society (Bilton, 2007). In this aspect, greater improvements in the people’s way of life are the considerations involved in order to measure the effect of technology. Today, computers are among the most influential products of technology that have already changed the way people do their tasks. To evaluate the scale of such change, the realization that almost everything on this planet runs with the help of computers is a good aspect to consider. The most essential goal in fabricating computers was to help in the data process techniques to simplify the task of using them for everyday life. Since its inception in the middle of the 20th century, the social structures of the world population has already changed. The integration of computers to almost every type of tasks has made it much easier for people to complete responsibilities that would otherwise require enormous effort and time resources. An example on how computers have changed the society may be seen in the aspect of communications. Previously, the terms like internet, chat and video conferencing have no meaning. However, today’s computer technology has provided the essential convenience of communicating with another person from across any parts of the globe. A simple click on a web browser and sending an electronic letter is very much possible. It has provided greater channels for communications in a way that ease of use is not compromised. One more feature of computers, which modified the way society does things, is their capability of integrating with almost any other pre-existing devices. Today, television sets, cameras, bank machines, grocery scanners and vehicles are using devices that were primarily fabricated with the use of computers. Because of its capability to run tests for data management, it has been very easy for product manufacturers to see opportunities for technical improvements. Computers are now considered the basic platform that enables newer devices to run. Integrated circuits in all electronic devices are utilizing he same scope of computer based technology (Wikipedia, 2007). Lastly, computers are becoming the â€Å"multiplier† devices in which other patterned ideas will be introduced. Because of the scale of presence computers has in today’s society, a simple modification procedure to improve a product or service can cause greater developments for other segments of the public. Just like what happened in the business sector wherein almost all financial transactions are now done electronically. From a simple idea of using computers as a mean to collect money figures, it has developed into aspects no one has ever imagined before; internet banking, fund transfer-monitoring, calculations of stocks and online purchasing are no all possible with computer technology. Realizing the effect of technology in the lives of the people permits the society to consider developing more opportunities. With the significant social changes brought about by computer technology, people have been equipped to face the challenges of the future.

Scrooge’s Change in ‘a Christmas Carol’

In the novel A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is a man who is portrayed as very cold hearted, â€Å"the cold within him froze his features†. He always kept attention to himself and never cared about anyone else. The whole town knew him as a bad man, even â€Å"the blindmen’s dogs knew him†¦ and would tug their owners into corners away from him†. Jacob Marley was his partner in life, and even though their relationship was for business only, he was Scrooge’s only friend. In regret from his own life, Marley and the Three Ghosts of Christmas change Scrooge’s attitude towards life.Jacob Marley was much like Scrooge in his life. He also was cold hearted and only cared about money. In his death, he learnt that it was too late for him to change, but he wanted to give Scrooge the opportunity to become a better person. Marley came to Scrooge to warn him about how he regretted not helping people or being kind. Marley now wanted to help people in life, but he wore â€Å"the chain (he) forged in life†. Marley’s visit startled Scrooge, but he still brushed off the warning and thought that Marley was a dream.Jacob Marley regrets not doing all the things he could have in life, but Scrooge is yet to realise why he needs to change. The first ghost that is sent by Marley is the ghost of Christmas past. The ghost takes Scrooge back in time to where Scrooge was born and raised. At the sight of the village, Scrooge softens and is excited for a moment before returning to his old personality. A change is shown at this point because Scrooge reflects on the good past life he had. Scrooge is shown a scene from when he was a boy, left alone at Christmas whilst everyone else was celebrating.It shows how Scrooge is imagining friends because he is so lonely. After seeing himself Scrooge he regrets not paying attention to the people he’s seen celebrating Christmas. â€Å"There was a boy singing a Christmas carol at my door last night, I would have liked to have given him something, that’s all†. This shows that even though Scrooge hasn’t realized that he is changing, he is starting to become more aware of the things he’s done wrong, and of the community. Scrooge is then shown the time when he was an apprentice, under the employment of Mr. Fezziwig.Fezziwig was a jolly old man, who always respected his workers and cared for them, unlike Scrooge. This scene gives Scrooge the lesson to be kinder to his apprentice Bob Cratchit. The ghost shows Scrooge the annual Christmas parties that Fezziwig held, where rooms were filled with laughter and joy, reminding Scrooge that he had a fun and joyous life in the past. â€Å"The happiness (he) gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune. † The ghost of Christmas Past changes Scrooge by making him aware of his past life, and the kindness he once showed.Scrooge is visited by a second spirit, the ghost of Christmas present. The spirit transports Scrooge around the city, showing him scenes of festivity and also deprivation that were happening as they watched. He shows Scrooge the Cratchit household and how happy they are despite being poor, for the second time Scrooge realises how he has abused his power as an employer. Tiny Tim is introduced, he is one of Bob Cratchit’s younger children. Tiny Tim walks with a crutch as he has an incurable illness. The spirit shares a vision of Tiny Tim's crutch, carefully preserved by the fireplace.Scrooge asks if Tim will die. The Ghost first states that â€Å"If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die†. Scrooge reflects back to his past unkind comments towards two charitable solicitors against him. Scrooge suggests â€Å"had better do it, and decrease the surplus population† (about the poor children of London), Scrooge is disgusted at his own words and is concerned for Tiny Tim and his family. Bob Cratchit and his family all gather round and make a toast to scrooge, even though they know he is disrespectful and â€Å"the ogre of the family†, they still thank Scrooge.The guests of Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, also toast to Scrooge despite his cruelty. The ghost of Christmas Present, changes Scrooge by making him feel obliged to help the poor of London, and the ghost makes him aware of what people think of him. The last and the most fearsome of the phantoms visit Scrooge, the ghost of Christmas yet to come. He takes Scrooge to the future to show Scrooge what happens after Scrooge’s death. People question what happened to the deceased Scrooge, but most of the people yawn and don’t have any interest in what happened. They are interested in his money and possessions.He was â€Å"alone by himself. † This shows that when Scrooge dies he will not be missed and people will not have a care or interest. Three wealthy men remark that his funeral will be cheap,† if anyone comes at allâ⠂¬ . He is taken to his house where a poor family is stealing belongings, and an unmasked figure lies on the bed. The ghost starts unmasking the figure but Scrooge tells him to stop, as he fears the figure is him. The ghost takes him to the graveyard where his â€Å"neglected grave† lay. With a connection to death, Scrooge is taken to the Cratchit’s home where the atmosphere is sad and depressing.The family is all upset over the passing of Tiny Tim. Scrooge wishes he was able to help Bob Cratchit more by raising his money to provide the right treatment for Tiny Tim. Scrooge vows to change and help people for the better. The three ghosts and Jacob Marley, change Scrooge for the better. Their visits made Scrooge aware of his wrong-doing. They showed him what others were like in good spirits, and what would happen in the future if he didn’t change. Scrooge realized how he could change and â€Å"he was better than his word†. The ghosts made Scrooge a better person.

American Pageant-13th Edition: Dbq 1

In 1606, hundreds of settlers embarked on a journey from England to the Virginia colony, in search of wealth and treasure. Although they experienced much destitution early on in their journey, they were able to transform their colony with the use of the indentured servants and slaves by basing their economy around tobacco. With tobacco, they were able to create an industry in which the colonists would depend on socially and economically. The journey for the new colonist was brutal. They were crammed onto ships, so communicable diseases spread very easily. There was little food, so many of them died of starvation. When they finally arrived, they were introduced to even more diseases. On top of starvation, and chronic diseases, some died in wars. The most common cause of death for the new colonist was famine. Some of the colonists said that there were never any Englishmen left in a foreign country in such misery as their newly discovered Virginia. After they reached Virginia, they were given contracts with various people who had already settled there. With the use of tobacco, they transformed their economy. The demand for tobacco products in Europe was increasing, and the Virginians knew it. The tobacco rush soon swept over Virginia. The father of the tobacco industry, John Rolfe, became an economic savior in 1612, when he perfected methods of raising and curing the pungent weed. The colonists now focused most of their attention, concentration, and energy on planting this demanded crop. They had created one of the first products to be marketed with name-brand advertising. The industry had now built the economic foundation for the colony of Virginia. However, intense tobacco farming depleted the rich Virginia soil. The vile weed would soon ruin the soil and eventually make it unfit for planting in subsequent years. Due to the barren lands after planting, there became an increased demand for large-acre plantations. When more tobacco was planted to fill the needs of the Europeans, there also became a need for more labor. A massive workforce was now needed to work the new tobacco plantations and this demand would soon be fulfilled with the use of forced laborers and indentured servants. The colonists now faced the problem of a greater need for labor. However, families procreated too slowly, the Native Americans died too quickly from disease, and slaves were too expensive. At the time, England had an abundance of displaced farmers in search of long term employment. These laborers, known as â€Å"indentured servants,† willingly rented out their work. They signed binding contracts to their masters, to work for a number of years to pay their passage. Approximately fifteen hundred indentured servants were coming from England, Scotland, and Ireland every year. These settlers also changed the colony of Virginia socially. When they first arrived, the population of Virginia was basically zero, excluding the Native Americans. Within 71 years, there were approximately two thousand black slaves and six thousand Christian indentured servants. The population had also reached forty thousand people. The tobacco plant was the main reason for the successful changes in the Virginia colony. The profit from the plant was the reason for the economically, and the increased population of the workers was the reason socially. Without the tobacco plant, there would have been such a significant change in the new Virginia colony.

Business Administration Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Administration - Personal Statement Example The emphasis on the religious and cultural upbringing of a child in my culture is considered as more important than any other aspect of life and as such I believe I was raised as a child who is going to contribute positively towards making others’ lives easier and fulfilling. I passed my Bachelors in Health Administration in 2009 from California State University, Sacramento with an overall GPA of 3.5/4 with degree honor of Cum Laude. Apart from that I also passed Associates of Science and Medical Assistant Certification. This indicates my overall zeal and commitment to continuously upgrade my level of education standards and achieve better education to improve my chances of getting ahead in my career at relatively swift pace. What this also indicates is the fact that my educational credentials are good enough to give me confidence to pursue a higher degree and improve my chances to obtain better career position in the future and this degree will serve as a foundation for me to set foot on a career that is not only self fulfilling and lucrative but also allow individuals to serve the humanity in appropriate manner and remain in touch with the life. I am currently working at Mercy San Juan Medical Center as Patient Registration Rep and my core duties include ensuring that complete and timely information on Insurance is achieved and collecting demographics and financial information about the patients. My current job is therefore relatively administrative in nature as I am supposed to take care of the most critical aspects of hospital management that is maintaining of financial records of the patients and ensure that the timely and accurate information is collected for serving our patients in more appropriate manner. My earlier experience includes working as ER Assistant at Woodland Memorial Hospital, Communications Operator at Mercy General Hospital, Â ­Medical Assistant

Impacts Globalization on the E-Commerce Assignment

Impacts Globalization on the E-Commerce - Assignment Example Globalization has thereby evolved overtime posing a significant impact on geographical scope, cross-national intensity, and local and national economy (â€Å"Globalization 101†.) As a businessman in the U.S, I have been able to enter the market of China by establishing three online stores to operate there. The aim of international integration with China is to expand my online store business that already exists in New York City. The stores consist of several unique items starting from furniture, mattresses and table linens to a variety of cosmetics. Other services include a vast selection of excellent clothing for both men and women of high-quality brands such as epic threads, style and co, and American Rag. In addition, they offer various collections of world’s top boutiques with high-quality labels such as Calvin Klein, DKNY, Hugo Boss, Donna Karan, and Giorgio Armani. However, although several customers walk in the stores for purchasing of products, most of them are limited by distance and, therefore, rely on online purchase methods which are highly dependent on the internet system. Improvement in telecommunication networks and increased use of the i nternet are two main globalization features which have, therefore, contributed to my success in the market (Dua 244). One of the major impacts of globalization on the online stores is the enhancement of e-commerce. E-commerce is the purchasing and selling of goods and services by customers and businesses through an electronic medium, in the absence of any paper documents (Lakshmi).Through e-commerce, it has become easier for the stores to carry out product display, ordering procedures, and payment and delivery procedures. Customers accessing the stores’ website are able to view the lists of goods offered, the location of the stores, and the catalog on each product.  

American and Canadian Industry Today Research Paper

American and Canadian Industry Today - Research Paper Example While the recent economic recess across the globe affected the United States financial sector to a great extent and consequently, also affected the American industries, Canada on the other hand, has proved to be promising and capable enough to continue with its industrial progress. However, in the post economic recess era, while the US industries are showing the potential to retain their lost glory, collaboration and mutual support between both nations, in terms of resources and technologies have proved to be positive. The boon of globalization has provided both nations with scope to support each other so that the process of survival becomes easier in the highly competitive business scenario. While respective industrial prosperity of both Canada and US is dependent on export and import between these two nations, financial cooperation between United States and Canada has not shown much positivism since last few years. However, with the intention to make the situation better in terms of respective financial assistance in February 2010, Prime Minister of Canada Stifen Harper and President of the United States Barack Obama made cooperative deal which focused on exploring avenues of free trade among the two countries and for the public works the reciprocity in gove rnment procurement programs. It is quite clear from governmental policies of both these nations that they are providing a greater deal of importance over the aspect of mutual coexistence in terms of trade and financial assistance, compared to earlier times. It has been realized by either of the nations that the process of mutual cooperation is continued, it will be quite challenging for them to retain position of their industries in the highly competitive market. The United States of America is known as the high ranked nation is all the prospective. Who’s GDP is one of the highest among the developed nations ( $ 14.266 trillion

Importance of Good Communication Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 22

Importance of Good Communication Skills - Essay Example Huge tasks were easily achieved through team work proper cooperation amongst individuals. Lack of teamwork resulted into a series of disagreements and the struggle for superiority which slowed down progress. In addition to the two lessons I have mentioned above, I also learnt on the importance of proper leadership skills especially for the managers of the organization. Poor leadership skills, such as lack of rules and regulations in the organization can sink down an organization like it attempted to in this organization. Personally, I have added value to my organization through learning the foreign language Spanish for 60 hours in three months, hence enabling me to communicate effectively with Spanish speaking clients. Many Spanish speakers therefore feel a sense of belonging to the organization (Tovey, 1998). My professional development as a sales agent through the learning of Spanish has spiraled me to higher levels. I was, six months ago appointed to be the regional supervisor for sales agent for six states with a major on the states populated with Mexicans, with a salary that is twice what I got as a sales agent. Besides my organization and my clients gaining from my development, my family has also gained. This is because, my monthly income has improved, and I can afford a better house, and a better school for my children. To identify my learning and professional needs, I look at the needs of the clients and the organization at large. For example I identified the need to study Spanish to communicate with the increasing number of clients of Mexican Origin. In the next one year, I seek to advance my skills in the sales industry by acquiring a Masters degree in Sales and Marketing. Secondly, I would also like to develop my team functioning skills by enrolling for classes with the human resource department.

I, Too Poem Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I, Too Poem Analysis - Essay Example What the author spoke the black man listened because that is what the black man was going through at that time. The poem is also written in the present tense. The form of the poem is that of a free verse. It is written in five stanzas. The sentences are short but that should not fool you. They convey are very strong message. There is a very strong conversational fluidity in the sentences. The shortness of the stanzas and the sentences shows brevity of the poem and how the author was hitting the nail right on the head. He spoke plainly but portrayed the frustration of the black man in a short, precise but to the point manner. This shows the seriousness of the matter at that time that did not require to be written in long sentences to be put across. The short sentences allows the author to use very optimistic language not show despair at his current state but show optimism for a better future The author uses the metaphor ‘the darker brother’. This is used to refer to the black Americans at the time of slavery. They were not considered equals with the white and they would be treated inhumanely just because of the color of their skin. The author further goes ahead and says he will grow beautiful. This does not mean beautiful in appearance. He meant that he would be intelligent, creative and wise with a better personality just like the white man if granted the same opportunity. The author says ‘The black man goes on, laughs, eats his dinner and grows strong’. This means that as much as they were oppressed they still hoped that they would be better and much stronger in the future. The black man was bidding on time as one of his saviors because it is only with time that he will achieve the equality he longed for. They were living their lives and growing tough to prepare them for the black uprising that will come. The author goes ahead and uses an assertive language at the time when they were not even allowed to speak. He say ‘they will

Change And Change Management At Sony Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Change And Change Management At Sony - Essay Example Sony, an electronics company as indicated in the case underwent very many changes due to the retrogression in economic strength it was experiencing. Two categories of change occur in the company; people related changes and organization related changes. The first change that occurred at the company was the drop in the value of the company share from a high of $150 to a very low value of $25. The drop in the value of the shares of any company is a clear indication that the real value of the company had gone down. In this case, the drop was a very high of 83%. An urgent action was desperately needed here to rescind the situation given that the drop took just three years. The second change was that one of breaking from the norm (cultural change). In 2005, a non-Japanese took over the leadership of the company. This was a change from the normal norm in which only Japanese top management had been in control. Having been in charge of the American unit, he had the record of integration of al l units and creative coherence for a better progression in the country. This was important in that the record was the change that was required in the country and the world as a whole. More change came in after the executive; Howard Stringer took over the top management of the company (leadership change). With the company facing stiff competition from the other companies in the industry; Samsung and Apple, the first change that inevitably followed was streamlining of the company into five production groups. There was need to specialize in electronics, television, DVD recorders, digital imaging and the portable audio. This was stimulated by the fact that some of the companies competing Sony were moving away from the CRO televisions and adapting flat screen television sets. Apple was embracing the killer iPhone which had so many properties that it was almost full taking over the market. Every change was coming with the resultant consequences which were dubbed change in themselves. Elev en plants were closed and 10,000 employees were laid off. According to Cordrey (2010), such a step is taken to remain with the most effective personnel in operation. When he joined the company, Stringer found out that the decision making process was autonomous across all the units. The autonomy, he found out was creating internal strife and imbalance. This autonomy was inclusive of the key decisions of the company. On this, the change he made was that of centralizing all decision making processes in the company. Over the product lines, the decision was to make it possible for easier decision making processes to take place. His goal was to make SONY products to operate seamlessly with one another in the communication. To save on the cost spend on research and development, the new executive had to eliminate product redundancies which had been adopted by the seamless networking of the company products. The change realized here is in the mode of spending in which there was need to reduc e the expenditure on such unnecessary items like the extended research that was being done (structural change). Sony products had worked miracles over the years and they were still doing fine until the simplicity of the other company products came to the market. This change was brought about as a result of the realization that the customers were not just interested in the complex Sony products but were also interested in the ability to operate the products. The overall outlook of the items at Sony needed to change and this is seen in the simplicity of the Apple products that force the general thought at Sony to change (technological change). The last plan that happened at the company was that leading to the

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Taxation - Essay Example Back in 2002, the government introduced new reforms on company cars. The company car tax reform encourages people to buy of choose cars with lower levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Purposely, the reforms are aimed at tackling changes in climate and greenhouse gas emissions. Also, it also encourages manufacturers to introduce greener cars. As a result, businesses should evaluate their current fleet arrangements and especially those that emit carbon in order to minimize costs. The Government also aims at increasing its revenue (Melville 2012). It has already estimated additional cumulative tax revenue of c?3bn over five years if changes come to effect. The changes will affect three categories of people. To begin with, employers purchasing or leasing cars that are made available to their staffs for business and personal use. Then, employees provided for with a company car and fuel for private use. Changes on cars with private fuel benefits took effect as from April 2012 while ch anges on capital allowance and lease rental restriction consequences will take effect from April 2013 a. Changes on company car tax rates In the motoring industry, the government has announced for a further three tax years up to 2016/17. In years 2014/15, the appropriate percentage of a company car's price which is subject to tax will go up by 1% point compared to the previous years for those cars which emit more than 75g/km of CO2, to a maximum of 35% and by two percentage points, to a maximum of 37 per cent in both years 2015/16 and years 2016/17 (Melville 2012). In year 2015/2016, the special rates that exist for zero emission and ultra low carbon cars will be changed to 13% while in years 2016/17, the rate will be set to 15%. As from April 2016, supplement for diesel cars which is 3% will be removed. For company cars made available for private use, the government announced that specific security enhancements will be excluded as accessories for the purpose of calculating cash equ ivalent benefit. This change is already being applied as it took effect from 6 April 2011. b. Changes on Private fuel benefit As from April 2012, the multiplier for calculating the cash equivalent free fuel benefit on company cars provided to employees has been increased from ?18,800 to ?20,200. In addition, a further increase to this multiplier has been proposed by the government for 2013-14 by 2% above the rate of inflation. c. Changes on Capital allowances and lease rental restriction According to HMRC, first year capital allowance on the car expenditure which is usually 100% has its period extended by the government to April 2015. On the other hand, the threshold on emissions will decrease from 110g/km to 95g/km starting April 2013. Also, as from April 2013, the threshold for expenditure on cars to fall into the main pool which is 18% per annum, rather than the special rate pool of 8% per annum decreases from 160g/km to 130g/km. On lease rentals for cars with over 130g/km emissi ons, tax relief available to employers is restricted at 15%. On lease rentals for cars with over 130g/km emissions, tax relief available to employers is restricted at 15% (Melville 2012). d. Changes on Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) As from April 201

Quality of Life for the Patient and Family Essay Example for Free

Quality of Life for the Patient and Family Essay Quality of life has a different meaning for everyone. Many personal thoughts and feelings can come into play when caring for others during the end stages of life. However as a nurse and caregiver, these opinions must be put aside at this significant time. For some health care providers, we may feel that keeping the patient comfortable and having them surrounded by family is most important. However, for the patient, personal culture, lifestyle and value for one self as well as a sense of independence in handling this time alone is most imperative. Therefor a nurse must consider the individuals past experiences, present lifestyle and personal hopes in which they choose to live in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns at this stage. One must meet not only the physical needs of the patient but the psychosocial demands in this sensitive time of need. Seeking aggressive medical treatment vs. palliative care is something that is very personal and differs from individual to individual. Nurses’ opinions and suggestions of the â€Å"best care† should not be voiced to the patient or family, even if asked directly. For Mrs. Thomas, time also plays an important role. She is young and may have many other worries than those of an older age experience in preparing for end of life. A nurse must consider what areas of life are important to her and what is the relative importance of each of these areas. Personal perception that counting on family support is huge, but may not be possible in Mrs. Thomas’ situation as her children live out of town. STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE The nurse should look at several strategies that directly impact the patient as well as the family. Quality of life not only looks at the health status  the patient but those directly involved in the care of the patient. This encompasses a broader set of planning including finances, housing, and employment. This will have a direct impact on the entire family. Three important strategies that are helpful to relieve overall stress and promote optimal coping skills include: 1) patient awareness of disease process, 2) available support from healthcare providers and 3) addressing physical as well as the psychosocial needs of the patient. Healthcare professionals must be prepared and speak directly with the patient and family when it is determined best to the physician’s ability, that the identified disease of breast cancer will cause death. Advance planning and preparation may be helpful in dying well if Mrs. Thomas is more aware about her status of disease. Physicians and nurses must change the plan of aggressive medical treatments of curing the disease of breast cancer and concentrate providing support and a comfortable well being of the deteriorating disease process. This in turn should provide a plan of care for relief of pain, contentment to the patient and focus on the overall whole being of quality of life. The homecare team can include doctors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, and clergy as well as trained volunteers. Most team members provide on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to deliver support. The patient and family should feel the comfort in calling these resources at anytime. The nurse must remind Mrs. Thomas and her husband that they are not â€Å"bothering† any team member by asking for assistance. The team must always work together and communicate the patient’s goals for end-of-life care. It is important for all to realize this is very individualized for each patient and family member. Each individual strategy should include caring for the whole person physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. It important for the team to develop strengths based perspectives of psychosocial interventions and listen to what the patient and family have to say to enable them to cope better. In doing so, the team must also communicate on each encounter with Mrs. Thomas and family as well as each other to assure that her and the husband’s needs are being met. HOLISTIC CARE A holistic nursing care plan in valuable in delivering care to the entire person in supporting the physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social and  environmental needs. With this approach, nursing care needs to move away from viewing Mrs. Thomas as merely a diagnosis and treating her as a whole person. Nursing goals should be to develop immediate trust with the patient and family, provide comfort, supportive care, and symptom management. This can be achieved by effective communication and providing a calm, relaxed setting for Mrs. Thomas. Allowing her to speak openly and honestly about her feelings and emotions of grief, physical complaints such as pain, nausea, and difficulty sleeping is a good way to start to develop a trusting nurse/patient relationship. As a nurse, one must be supportive and be willing to listen openly. Once Mrs. Thomas begins to express these types of things, the nurse must review and evaluate every visit to improve specific concerns with her. More importantly, healthcare providers must display an openness to hear new concerns and prioritize the needs of the patient and family. FUNCTIONAL ABILITY Assessments to maintain the self functional ability for Mrs. Thomas should include creating a plan to achieve realistic goals and allow self care as long as possible. This in turn can give control back to Mrs. Thomas, help raise confidence and value her quality of life. Mrs. Thomas’ physical, social and environmental conditions should also be considered to help her care for herself. Discussing the 24/7 availability of visits from registered nurses and social workers, involving family and friends or volunteers that can help with running errands and meal preparation for adequate dietary intake, and discussing appropriate medical equipment to assist with ADLs such as performing personal hygiene can prove to be helpful. PROVIDING ADDITIONAL CARE When self-care is no longer possible, the importance of more frequent nurse and/or social worker visits, and interaction of clergy is valuable. In addition, further involvement of additional family, friends, home health aides or volunteers to assist not only with running errands, meal preparation and assistance with ADLs but being present in the home for longer periods to care directly for Mrs. Thomas becomes more imperative. The nurse can assist in making sure appropriate DME equipment is in the home. In  addition, this turns out to be a time when additional emotional support is of great concern for Mr. Thomas. CHRONIC DEPRESSION Mr. Thomas already suffers from chronic depression and now has to endure immense and continuous stress to care for his wife with advanced breast cancer. Over time this takes a toll his health, ability to work, finances, and their own personal and family needs. Involvement of not only the nurse, but also social worker and bereavement counselor can help Mr. Thomas tremendously. Encouraging him to take his medications will help both him and his wife. Also, reassurance that it is okay to want quiet time and allowing others to help to care for his wife should be verbalized to him in a caring manner. Taking some of the financial worries away from Mr. Thomas may help as well. The social worker can discuss resources that are of no cost from community volunteer organizations and review the reimbursement of covered services from the insurance organization at the beginning and in ongoing care of his wife. Sharing the right information with the patient’s family is very important and can assist in better coping. Again, the home care team must offer an environment that provides the openness to hear all concerns and overall needs of not only the patient but also her family.

Person essay Essay Example for Free

Person essay Essay The Most Important Person in my Life We all have someone that is really important to us, someone that has influenced us in our lifetime at some time or another and thanks to that person we are the person we are today. In my case that someone is my mother. My mother is really important to me because thanks to her I exist today, she gave me life .My mother is my best friend, my confident, she is the person that I trust the most in my life . I consider my mother as the most important person in my life because she has always been there for me, gave me all the things that I needed to keep going following my dreams. She is such of a good mother. I love my mother, even though we fight sometimes, I can’t live without her, she is my role model. My mother is a hardworking, supportive, friendly and caring person. My mother is a beautiful woman. She is the youngest of six siblings, she is forty years old. She has light brown skin and is about five feet six inches and 160 pounds. She has black short curly hair, which sometimes she straightens, but she usually keeps it curly. Her eyes are dark brown, like coffee. She has beautiful white teeth which shine when she smiles. On her face she has some freckles. Her eyebrows are black and she likes to shape them square .She also has her ear pierced. My mother wears jeans and blouses most of the time, she is very simple . On Sunday night you would see my mother sitting on the sofa watching T.V. When you first see my mother you will think that she is shy or isn’t a friendly person because of her character, but after you talk to her and know her well you will notice that she is a lovely person, funny, and nice person. On a Saturday morning you would see my mother getting ready to go the church, she usually wears long dress, or a long skirt with jacket, and she is very elegant. My mother is a hardworking woman. She has always worked in order to bring money to our house and to give my little brother and me a better life. She also work hard at home, she always makes sure that everything is okay in our house, she likes to have everything organized. I remember that when I was ten years old , my father moved to the United States in order to find a better way of life, leaving my mother , my brother and me in our country ,the Dominican Republic. After my father left home my mother had to do both roles, be the man and woman. She learned how to fix things at home, so she didn’t have to call someone else to do it. At  first when my father arrived here in the USA he didn’t have a job, so at that moment my mother was the only one that was working and bringing money to our house, but it wasn’t enough to support us. My mother was working in a company, but she didn’t receive a good pay, that’s why she decided to have two jobs. It wasn’t easy for my mother having two jobs, plus she had to do everything at home. I remember that she woke up every day early in the morning in order to prepare something to eat for my little brother and me, and then she had to get ready to work at her first job. After m y mother finished a job, she had to go to the other one, and then when she really ended up working she used to go home to help my brother and me with our homework. I don’t know how she was able to do so many things at the same time, but she did .She always tried to give us a good life. Nowadays, I see my mother, and I feel very proud of her. She taught me that nothing is easy in life that we have to work hard to get the things that we want. Sometimes I feel tired because I work and study at the same time , and sometimes I think that I can’t continue doing this and then I think about my mother, how hard she used to work and never gave up. She is my inspiration and role model. My mother is such a hardworking woman, this is one the qualities that I most admire about her. How nice it is having someone that supports you in every decision that you make in life. No matter what, every time that I need my mother’s support, she is always there for me. Most of the time when I have to make an important decision in my life, I talk to my mother before doing it. I remember that when I started working and studying at the same time, I felt like it was too much for me , because I was working and studying full time. At that moment I did not what to do because I really needed a job to help my mother to pay the bills , but I also wanted to continues my studies in order to have a better life. So one day I decided to talk to my mother about my situation. â€Å"Mommy I feel that working full and being a full time student is too much for me.† â€Å"So, what do you want to do?† She asked me. â€Å"I am thinking to leave my Job.† I replied. â€Å"Dawilsa whatever you think that is the best for you or you want to do, I support you.† She said. After I talked to my mother, I decided to just cut some hours in my job and work part time, so in that way  I would have more time to study, and do my homework on time. Thanks to my mother’s support I got good grades, and I felt most comfortable. I also remember that when I was about twelve years old my dream was to become a famous and professional dancer. So since I knew that my mother supports me in any decision that I make in life I talked to her about it. â€Å"Mom Do you know what is my biggest dream in life?† I asked her. â€Å"Yes, to become a famous dancer has always been your dream.† She replied. â€Å"Mom, Can I go to the dancer school that is in my school?† I insisted. â€Å"Sure, you can go to the dancer school anytime, that’s your dream and I support you. â€Å"She replied. After I talked to my mother I was jumping of happiness because she said yes. Few days later I started taking dance class. I felt so happy because one my dreams was starting to become true. I took one year of class on that dancer school , and then I had to leave it because I was too busy on school with my homework and did have enough time to go the dancer school .So since education comes first I decided to leave the dancer school. My mother is my support, she is like my right hand. My mother is very friendly. My mother has always been friendly with everybody, that’s why she knows a lot of people. It’s nice to be a friendly person because you have a lot of friends and you are also appreciated by other people. When I was a kid I didn’t like to go to the supermarket with my mother because she always found someone that she knew and then stop to talk with that person for a while. Even though I don’t like when I am with my mother and she stops to talk to everybody, it is always good to meet people from everywhere. I remember that one day before coming here I needed a paper from high school in order to be able to register in college, so my mother and I went to the school’s office. When we went and told the secretary what we needed she told us that to get that paper done would take a while. I really needed it right away because I was coming to the USA the day after. After a few minutes talking with the secretary, the manager arrived and since my mother knew him he came and helped us with the paper. Thanks to my mother I learned to be a friendly person and everywhere that I go I know many people. Being friendly is one the qualities that I most like about my mother. It helps to know people. Caring is part of my mother’s personality. It’s like she was born with this quality. My mother always takes care of my  father, my little brother and me. She is always asking me how I am doing in school or in my job. I remember few years ago, I was in the hospital because I was really sick .I stayed at the hospital for a whole week. My mother took vacation from her job because she wanted to stay with me, taking care of me, and making sure that I had everything that need. At that moment my mother showed me that she really care about me and how important I was to her. My mother is always up to me when I need an advice .When I am sad I go to see her and she gives me a hug and good advices and makes me feel much better. When I am sick she gives me medicine and everything that I need to get better .My mother is such blessing in my life. She is always ready to pour out her unconditional caring love to me and those around her. Being hardworking, supportive, friendly and caring are only a few of the attributes that I have learned from my mother. She taught me how to get things in life ,to keep going, it doesn’t matter what happens and never to give up .But ,one the most important things she taught me is how to be a good person. I love my mother, and I am more than proud to say that she is my mother. She has been a huge influence in my life, I will never finish paying and thanking my mother for all the things that she has done for me. Mommy, you are my role model.

Effect of Synthesis Temperature on Nickel-Cobalt Hydroxides

Effect of Synthesis Temperature on Nickel-Cobalt Hydroxides Effect of synthesis temperature on the morphology and pseudocapacitive behavior of Nickel-Cobalt layered double hydroxides Li-Ming Lua, Shan-Shan Xua, Rui-Qi Fenga, Zhan-Bing He b, Tie-Zhen Rena* and Teresa J. Bandoszc a School of Chemical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130 China b State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China c Department of Chemistry and Biochemistryà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’The City college of New York, 160 Convent Ave., New York, NY 10031. * Corresponding author. Tel. +86 22 60204909. Email:[emailprotected] Abstract   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   A facile one-step method for preparing nickel/cobalt layered double hydroxides (Ni/Co LDH) in a mixture of NH4Cl/NaOH solutions in the temperature range 45-85 oC is introduced. Ni/Co LDH consists of ultrathin nanosheets of various thicknesses assembled into porous nanostructures/microspheres. The mixed solution provides OH, whose amount depends on the temperature, for reactions with Ni2+/Co2+ leading to the formation of hydroxides. The sample prepared at 70  °C shows the highest capacitance of 1142 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1.That capacitance decreases about 15 % to 970 F g-1 at a high current density of 10 A g-1. The temperature effect on the arrangement of microsphere is apparent and Ni/Co LDH prepared at 70 oC has the most defectless texture (microspheres). The asymmetrical supercapacitor consisting of this sample as an anode and an activated carbon (AC) as a cathode works in a broad potential window from 0 to 1.6 V. The energy density of the Ni/Co of such a system reaches 58.13 Wh kg-1 at the power density of 160 W kg-1 owing to the intersectional nanosheets and unrestricted accessibility of electrolyte to the reaction centers. Even at a high discharge current density of 2 A g-1, the energy density still remains at 45.78 Wh kg-1 with a power density of 1600 W kg-1. Keywords: mild temperature, layered double hydroxides, energy density, asymmetric supercapacitors. 1. Introduction Nowadays, the development of efficient supercapacitors with high energy density is of paramount importance [1, 2]. Generally, supercapacitors can be classified into electrochemical double layer capacitors and pseudocapacitors [3]. In theory, pseudocapacitors exhibit a higher capacitance and energy density than the double layer capacitors. The latter stores electrical charge mainly at the electrode/electrolyte interface. However, the energy stored in supercapacitors is about 10 times smaller than that in batteries. This severely limits their applications where a high power density is required [4]. Therefore, there is a need to develop and to explore the advanced performance electrode materials for their applications in energy storage devices. Layered double hydroxides (LDH), especially Ni/Co LDH compounds, are considered as materials of promising properties when applied in supercapacitors [5-7]. In their structure Co2+ can be oxidized to conductive CoOOH during redox reactions resulting in the improvement in conductivity of electrode materials [5]. For instance, Ni/Co LDHs hollow microspheres obtained in SiO2 templates exhibited the specific capacitance of 2171 F g-1 at the current density of 1 A g-1 [6]. Another examples are ultrathin NiCo-based LDH prepared at 120  °C, which displayed remarkable specific capacitance of 1537 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 [5]. It is important to mention that Ni/Co LDH referred as hydrotalcite-like compounds allow the intercalation of negatively charged anions within the interlayer space [7, 8]. This is expected to enhance the capacitive performance. Thus Lee et al. synthesized ÃŽÂ ±-Ni(OH)2 through exchange of intercalated dodecyl sulfate anions by smaller anions (Cl, NO3, OAc and SO42-). They found that larger anions hindered the mobility of OH ions toward the surface of Ni(OH)2 sheets and Cl intercalated Ni(OH)2 exhibited excellent capacitance. Especially, the Cl ions located in the interlayer space were found as increasing its hydration level and thus enhanced the facile exchange and transport of OH ions [9]. Hu et al. reported the effect of intercalated anions on the size of an interlayer spacing, morphologies, and capacitive performance of four different ÃŽÂ ±-cobalt hydroxides. Their results showed the Cl intercalated sample as the one of the marked capacitance. The good performance was linked to its high proton affinity [10]. In this work, we introduce a wet chemical approach to prepare Cl intercalated Ni/Co LDH. The synthesis is done below 85 °C, which is the lower temperature than those reported in other hydrothermal methods [11, 12]. In designing the method, it was expected that OH ions from the solution of NH4Cl/NaOH will reacts with Ni2+/Co2+ to generate Ni/Co LDH. An important aspect is that the amount of the released OH ions should be affected by the temperature. Thus the synthesis temperature is a factor, which we expect to govern the nanosheets assembling process and thus the final morphology of the materials. The effect of that morphology on capacitive behavior is investigated. 2. Experimental 2.1 Preparation of Ni/Co-LDH microspheres All reagents were of analytical grade and were used without further purification. In a typical synthesis process, 3.75 mmol of Co(NO3)2 ·6H2O and 3.75 mol of Ni(NO3)2 6H2O were dissolved in 20 ml of water to form a pink solution (Solution A). 40 mmol of NH4Cl was added in 0.076 mol L-1 NaOH (180 mL) to form a transparent solution (Solution B); Then, the solution A was poured into 180 ml of the solution B with the final pH value of 9, in which the metal hydroxide mixtures were obtained. After stirring for 5 minutes, the solution was sealed in a glass bottle and transferred into an oven kept at a predetermined temperature (40, 55, 70 and 85  °C) for 15h. After cooled at room temperature, the obtained Ni/Co-LDH samples were washed with ethanol and water several times and dried in an oven at 60  °C for 12 h. The samples are referred to as Ni/Co LDH-x (x represents the reaction temperature of either 40, 55, 70 or 85  °C). 2.2 Characterization methods X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were measured on a Bruker D8 Advance diffractometer operated at 40 kV and 40 mA, Cu KÃŽÂ ± radiation source (ÃŽÂ »Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‹â€  0.154 nm) was used. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) experiments were carried out on Bruker Vector 22 infrared spectroscopy in the range of 400 to 4000 cm-1with KBr tablets. Scanning electron microscopy studies (SEM) were performed on JSM-6490LV field emission scanning electron microscope. The sample was dispersed on the conductive tape fixed on the aluminum support. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis was performed on a FEI Tecnai G20 microscope at 200 keV. The elemental analysis of as-prepared powder carried out using X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF, CIT-3000SL). 2.3 Electrochemical tests To evaluate the electrochemical performance of the synthesized materials, thee Ni/Co LDH samples were mixed with acetylene black and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in a mass ratio of 75:20:5. Homogeneous pastes obtained in ethanol were coated on a nickel foam substrate. The coated nickel foam was then pressed at 10 MPa and the obtained plate was used as a working electrode after dried at 60  °C for 12 h. The cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance (EIS) of the as-obtained samples were carried out on a IM6 ZENNIUM electrochemical workstation in a three-electrode cell. The mass of working electrode was about 8 mg. The capacitance was measured in 6M KOH electrolyte using a platinum wire as a counter electrode and Ag/AgCl as a reference electrode. EIS tests were conducted in a frequency range from 100 kHz to 10 mHz with alternating current oscillation of 5 mV. The electrochemical performance of an asymmetric supercapacitor was invest igated in a two-electrode cell of coin-type (CR2025), in which the prepared materials were used as a positive electrode and activated carbon- as a negative electrode. The experiments were carried out on the Land-CT2001A battery system in the potential range from 0 to 1.6 V. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1. Characterization of materials The typical powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns provide the information on the degree of crystallinity and the crystal structure of the Ni/Co LDH materials (Figure 1a) The distinct characteristic diffraction peaks on XRD patterns at 2ÃŽÂ ¸ 11.1, 22.2, 33.4 and 38.5 are indexed as (003), (006), (009) and (015) plane reflections of the hydrotalcite-like LDH phase, respectively [11, 13]. Increasing the reaction temperature leads to a slight increase in the intensity of the diffraction peaks. According to the Bragg equation, the calculated interlayer space of Ni/Co LDH is 0.79 nm. Ma et al. reported that the layered transitional metal hydroxides nanocones displayed a variety of interlayer space sizes depending on the kind of intercalated ions [12]. The values were 0.8 nm for NO3, 0.92 nm for ClO4, and 0.79 nm for Cl. Our results suggest that Cl ions are present in the interlayer space of the synthesized ÃŽÂ ±-phase compounds. FT-IR spectra of all samples are presented in Figure 1b. The broad band at about 3449 cm-1 is characteristic of the stretching vibration of hydroxyl groups hydrogen-bond to H2O [1]. The band at about 1630 cm-1 represents the bending mode of water molecules [10]. For all samples, three bands at 1476, 1349 and 854 cm-1 are linked to the typical features of carbonate ions [14]. Their presence is linked to the reactivity of hydroxides with atmospheric CO2. Bands below 800 cm-1represent stretching modes of metal-oxygen in the hydrotalcite-like lattice [1]. The band at about 649 cm-1 is assigned to Ni-OH bending. The absorption band at around 514 cm-1 represents the Co-O stretching vibrations [15]. The results indicate that the synthesized materials are nickel and cobalt layered double hydroxides. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the morphologies of the obtained Ni/Co LDH materials prepared at different temperatures. Figure 2a shows a typical SEM image of Ni/Co LDH-40. There microspheres with a size around 3 ÃŽÂ ¼m and a small amount of aggregated nanosheets is visible (Fig. 2a inset). The micro-spherical particles consist of numerous interconnected nanosheets with thickness of about 30 nm. The morphology of Ni/Co LDH-55 presented in Figure 2b resembles that of Ni/Co LDH-40. The nanosheets with thickness around 20 nm are gathered in 3-D arrangements (Fig. 2b inset). When the reaction temperature increases to 70  °C, the microspheres of sample Ni/Co LDH-70 become well defined,defectless and uniform (Fig. 2c). Their size distribution is narrow with maximum at 3 ÃŽÂ ¼m. The detailed features of Ni/Co LDH-70 are shown in the Figure 2c (inset) where high-quality 3D flower-like microspheres are visible. The thickness of the nanosheets is about 15 nm. Wh en the Ni/Co LDH material was prepared at 85  °C, the microspheres are not well-defined and some debris are visible (Fig. 2d). The spherical particles have a loose structure and some collapsed nanosheets overlay each other to construct larger sheets. Enlargement of the flower-like microsphere indicates that the nanosheets are interconnected and well-organized in three dimension (Fig. 2d inset). The thickness of nanosheets increases slightly when the temperature increases from 70  °C to 85  °C.    In order to confirm the defectless microsphere/nanosheet morphology of Ni/Co LDH-70 sample, its internal structure has been further investigated by TEM. Figure 3a shows that the microsphere is assembled from nanosheets and the diameter of the microsphere is around 3 ÃŽÂ ¼m. The internal structure of microsphere is spacious and the nanosheets are the aggregates of even thinner layers. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectra were recorded for all samples. On the spectra, three marked peaks at 6.93, 7.48 and 8.26 KeV are identified as Co KÃŽÂ ±, Ni KÃŽÂ ± and Ni KÃŽÂ ², respectively. This supports the co-existence of Ni and Co elements in all samples. Moreover, a peak at about 2.62 KeV is assigned as Cl KÃŽÂ ±, which originates from the interlayer anion Cl. It is interesting that the Ni/Co ratio of the as-obtained samples increased gradually with an increase in the temperature. This may be linked to the differences to the solubility constants of hydroxides (Ksp(Co(OH)2 )>Ksp(Ni(OH)2)) and to the effect of temperature on that solubility [11].    The results obtained suggest that the reaction temperature plays a crucial role in the formation of microspheres. The nucleation of Co(OH)2/Ni(OH)2 took places upon the addition of metal ions to the NH4Cl/NaOH solution. In such a system the involvement of OH in the formation of metal hydroxides competes with the formation of ammonia (NH4Cl+ NaOH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢NH4+ + OH + NaCl à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢NH3 + H2O, Co2+ + OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Co(OH)2, Ni2++ OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ni(OH)2). This affects the amount of OH reacting with metal ions. The size of nanosheets/hydroxide units increases with an increasing temperature owing to more energy provided to the system. This leads to a gradual increase in the sizes of microspheres built of these nanosheets. Even though the temperature range of the alkaline solution was not very broad and between 40 and 85  °C, 70  °C was found as the only temperature resulting in the uniform and defectless microspheres. Lower temperature of the system has an adverse effect on the formation of microspheres, likely due to the thicker nanosheets than those formed at 70 oC. On the other hand, higher temperature likely leads to collapsing of the formed microspheres [16]. 3.2 Electrochemical tests To evaluate the electrochemical performance of the synthesized materials, the cycling voltammetry (CV) curves were measured for Ni/Co LDH materials at a scan rate of 5 mv s-1 in 6M KOH aqueous solution (Fig. 4a). It is clearly seen that all curves exhibit a pair of redox peaks. An anodic peak is around 0.45 V and a cathodic peak- at about 0.2 V. They represent typical features of Faradaic pseudocapacitance representing the following reactions [6, 17]. Ni(OH)2 + OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬  NiOOH +H2O +e-  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (1) Co(OH)2 + OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬  CoOOH+H2O+e-  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (2) CoOOH+OH à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬  CoO2+H2O+e-  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (3) The shapes of the CV curves indicate that Ni/Co LDH-70 has the highest specific capacitance [18]. To further investigate the capacitive behavior of our electroactive materials, the galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) measurements were performed in a three-electrode system and the specific capacitance (Cs) was calculated from the following equation (4): (4) Where I is a constant discharge current (A), Άt is discharge time (s), ΆV is the potential difference, m is the mass of active material. The GCD measurements in a potential window of 0-0.5 V are recorded at a current density of 1 A g-1 (Fig. 4b). The results show that the discharge time of Ni/Co LDH-70 is much longer than those of other electrodes. Based on the GCD curves, the specific capacitance was calculated. The values are 777, 608, 114,2 and 1017 F g-1 for Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55, Ni/Co LDH-70, and Ni/Co LDH-85, respectively. Wang et al. [19] prepared Ni/Co nanoplates using a surfactant assisted method. The rough nanoplates of an increased surface area displayed the specific capacitance of 311 F g-1, which was 2.3 times higher than that of smooth-surfaced Ni/Co nanoplates. It was concluded that creating more interspaces or a larger area can improve an electrochemical performance [19, 20]. Amongst our samples, Ni/Co LDH-70 with three dimensional defectless microspheres exhibits the highest capacitance. This texture promotes the electrolyte access to the more active centers than those available to electrolyte i n more defected microspheres of the samples synthesized at other temperatures. Since Ni/Co LDH-70 exhibits the best performance, its CV curves were measured at the scan rates 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 mV s-1 (Figure 4c). The shape of the CV curves remains almost unchanged with an increase in the scan rate, suggesting a quick CV response with fast potential sweep and promising capability for energy storage [21]. In addition, all CV curves present a well-defined reduction and oxidation peaks with a slight shift in both cathodic and anodic peak potentials with an increasing scan rate. This suggests that an ion diffusion rate limits the redox reaction [22]. GCD curves of Ni/Co LDH-70 at different current densities (Fig.4d) show two visible voltage plateaus in the charge and discharge parts of the plots. More importantly, the GCD curves of Ni/Co LDH-70 are highly symmetrical at various current densities, indicating fast and good electrochemical reversibility of the Faradaic redox reactions. The capacitance of Ni/Co LDH-70 calculated from the GCD curves at the current densities of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10 A g-1are 1142, 1130, 1098, 1081, 1053, 994, and 970 F g-1, respectively. The capacitance values gradually decrease with increasing current densities from 0.5 to 10 A g-1, owing to the fast electron transfer [23]. Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55 and Ni/Co LDH-85 exhibit the capacitance of 777, 608 and 1017 F g-1, respectively. It is important to mention that the specific capacitance of Ni/Co LDH-70 is 970 F g-1 at a high current density of 10 A g-1, and it consists of 84.9% of that at 0.5 A g-1. For Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55 and Ni/Co LDH-85 , the corresponding values are at 610, 392 and 812 F g-1 representing the capacitance retentions of 78.5%, 64.5% and 79.8%, respectively. Such differences in the electrochemical performance can be explained by the morphology differences between the samples. As discussed above, the Ni/Co LDH-70 sample consists of uniform three dimensional microspheres built of nanosheets with the interspaces between them. These spaces increase the electrolyte access to the surface of the active materials. Thus the interconnected thin nonosheets in defectless microspheres provide more active sites for reactions with the electrons, which leads to the high capacitance [24, 25]. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement is one of the fundamental methods to examine the electrochemical behavior of electrode materials. The Nyquist plots for the Ni/Co LDH materials in a frequency range of 100 kHz to10 mHz are displayed in Figure 5a. All the impedance spectra of the Ni-Co LDH materials are very similar to each other with a small semicircle at high-frequency and an inclined line at low-frequency [26]. The point intersecting with the real axis (Z) at the high frequency represents the internal resistance, which includes the total resistances of intrinsic resistance of active materials, electrolyte resistance. and the contact resistance at electrolyte/electrode interface (Fig. 5a inset) [27]. This value is almost the same for all electrodes. The semicircle at the high frequency corresponds to the charge transfer resistance (Rct) [28]. At low frequencies, the liner part shows the Warburg impedance resulting from the ion diffusion resistance of the elect rolyte in the active material [21]. Ni/Co LDH-70 exhibits the smallest semicircle diameter, which suggests the minimum charge transfer resistance and maximal electrochemical conductivity. The straight line at low frequencies range is close to Z axis. This suggests that the capacitive performance is not only related to the diffusion process but double layer can also form [21, 29]. The effective ions diffusion and electron transfer of the Ni/Co LDH-70 electrode can be linked to the well-organized three dimensional and defectless micropheres [30]. For the evaluation of the feasibility of practical application of our materials, we constructed the asymmetric supercapacitors with Ni/Co LDH-70 as a positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as a negative electrode in 6 M KOH solution. The charge-discharge measurements of the Ni/Co LDH-70 were carried out at the current density range from 0.2 to 2 A g-1 with an operating potential from 0 to 1.6 V (Fig. 5b). All curves show the symmetric-like shape, indicating the high electrochemical reversibility of the process. In addition, Ni/Co LDH-70 displays a small voltage drop at the beginning of the discharge process due to the internal resistance [31]. The values of specific capacitance of Ni/Co LDH-70 calculated from the galvanostatic charge -discharge curves are 163.5, 151, 137, 133 and 129 F g-1 at current densities of 0.2, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 A g-1, respectively. And 78.7% of the capacitance is retained when the current density increases from 0.2 to 2 A g-1. For comparison, the specif ic capacitances of all supercapacitors tested are collected in Table 2. The supercapacitors of Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55 and Ni/Co LDH-85 show the specific capacitance of only 109, 86 and 150 F g-1 at 0.2 A g-1. They still keep 84, 62 and 117 F g-1 at 2 A g-1, respectively. The capacitances of Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55 and Ni/Co LDH-85 maintain at 77.2%, 72.3% and 78.2%, respectively, when the current density increases from 0.2 to 2 A g-1. Based on those specific capacitance values, the energy and power densities of supercapacitors were further calculated ( and )[32]. Figure 5c shows that the energy densities decrease gradually with the increase in the power densities for all cells. At the same power density, the energy density of Ni/Co LDH-70 is much higher than those of other cells, which means that the Ni/Co LDH-70 cell has superior performance in terms of both energy and power density. The energy density of the Ni/Co LDH-70 is 58.13 Wh kg-1 at the power density of 160 W kg-1. Even at a high discharge current of 2 A g-1, the energy density still remains at 45.78 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 1600 W kg-1. Compared to other samples, the asymmetric supercapacitor of Ni/Co LDH-70 exhibits a significant improvement in both power density and energy density. This may be due to its broad potential window of 0-1.6 V and the high specific capacitance. The well-defined three dimensional microspheres of Ni/Co LDH-70 lead to the excellent energy-power combination. The results are comparable with those reported in the literature [5, 6]. For instance, Li et al. reported a new synthetic method for preparation of 16 nm-ultrathin NiCo-based layered double hydroxides (LDH) in an ethylene glycol solution. Their assembled asymmetric capacitor exhibited an energy density of 33.7 Wh kg-1 at power density of 551 W kg-1 with a 1.5 V operating voltage [5]. Tang et al. synthesized nickel cobalt double hydroxide nanoflowers with various Ni/Co ratios using a simple hydrothermal process at 120  °C. Their asymmetric supercapcitor exhibited 19.4 Wh kg-1 at 80.5 W kg-1, and even 20.6 Wh kg-1 at 3.93 kW kg-1 [6]. Cycling stability is a prime factor for evaluating the practical performance of asymmetric supercapacitors. Figure 5d collects the capacity for 2000 cycles of charge-discharge measurements between 0 and 1.6 V at a current density of 1 A g-1 in a two-electrode system. The capacitances of all Ni/Co LDH remains almost unchanged. With an increasing cycle number, the interfacial contact between the active material and a nickel foam may deteriorate, owing to the volume change of the active material during charge-discharge process. This might lead to a higher ohmic resistance of the asymmetric supercapacitors [33]. The calculated capacitances from GCD curve retain about 84.7%, 88.4%, 92.2% and 91.5% of their original capacitances after 2000 cycles for Ni/Co LDH-40, Ni/Co LDH-55, Ni/Co LDH-70 and Ni/Co LDH-85, respectively. The asymmetric supercapacitor of the Ni/Co LDH-70 shows a better cycling stability than those reported for other supercapacitors consisting of Ni/Co hydroxides [5, 6]. 4. Conclusions Ni/Co LDH of diverse morphologies determined by different particle sizes and thicknesses of nanosheets have been successfully prepared at various reaction temperatures in NH4Cl/NaOH mixture. Apparently the temperate affects the amount of OH and the kinetic of its release. Both those factors govern the morphology of assemabled Ni/Co LDH. The synthesized materials showed differences in their electrochemical performance. The Ni/Co LDH-70 (prepared at 70 °C) consists of uniform, defectless and well-defined microspheres with diameters around 3 ÃŽÂ ¼m. These 3-D microspheres are constructed from interconnected ultrathin nanosheets. Such an arrangement provides the space accessible to electrolyte and enables an efficient utilization of active centers. It also results in a high stability of the electrode upon cycling. Ni/Co LDH-70 shows the highest capacitance of 1142 F g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 and the value is still at 970 F g-1 at a high current density of 10A g-1, which is 84.9% of that at 0.5A g-1. The asymmetrical Ni/Co LDH-70 // activated carbon (AC) supercapacitor was tested in two-electrode system with a wide potential window of 0-1.6V. The results show that highest energy density of the Ni/Co LDH-70 reaching 58.13 Wh kg-1 at the power density of 160 W kg-1. Even at a high discharge current of 2 A g-1, the energy density still remains at 45.78 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 1600 W kg-1. Acknowledgement This work was supported by China Scholar Council, the Scientific Research Foundation for the returned overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry and Hebei Provincial Key Lab of Green Chemical Technology High Efficient Energy Saving, School of Chemical Engineering Technology, Hebei University of Technology and Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), Nankai University. References [1] T. Yan, Z.J. Li, R.Y. Li, Q. Ning, H. Kong, Y.L. Niu, J.K. Liu, Nickel-cobalt double hydroxides microspheres with hollow interior and hedgehog-like exterior structures for supercapacitors, Journal of Materials Chemistry, 22 (2012) 23587-23592. [2] H.N. Ma, J. He, D.B. Xiong, J.S. Wu, Q.Q. Li, V. Dravid, Y.F. Zhao, Nickel Cobalt Hydroxide @Reduced Graphene Oxide Hybrid Nanolayers for High Performance Asymmetric Supercapacitors with Remarkable Cycling Stability, Acs Applied Materials Interfaces, 8 (2016) 1992-2000. [3] W.P. Sun, X.H. Rui, M. Ulaganathan, S. Madhavi, Q.Y. Yan, Few-layered Ni(OH)(2) nanosheets for high-performance supercapacitors, Journal of Power Sources, 295 (2015) 323-328. [4] T. Yan, H.Y. Zhu, R.Y. Li, Z.J. Li, J.K. Liu, G.L. Wang, Z.Q. Gu, Microwave synthesis of nickel/cobalt double hydroxide ultrathin flowerclusters with three-dimensional structures for high-performance supercapacitors, Electrochimica Acta, 111 (2013) 71-79. [5] R. Li, Z. Hu, X. Shao, P. Cheng, S. Li, W. Yu, W. Lin, D. Yuan, Large Scale Synthesis of NiCo Layered Double Hydroxides for Superior Asymmetric Electrochemical Capacitor, Scitific Report, 6 (2016) 18737. [6] Y. Tang, Y. Liu, S. Yu, W. Guo, S. Mu, H. Wang, Y. Zhao, L. Hou, Y. Fan, F. Gao, Template-free hydrothermal synthesis of nickel cobalt hydroxide nanoflowers with high performance for asymmetric supercapacitor, Electrochimica Acta, 161 (2015) 279-289. [7] B. Mavis, M. Akinc, Three-component layer double hydroxides by urea precipitation: structural stability and electrochemistry, Journal of Power Sources, 134 (2004) 308-317. [8] T. Hibino, H. Ohya, Synthesis of crystalline layered double hydroxides: Precipitation by using urea hydrolysis and subsequent hydrothermal reactions in aqueous solutions, Applied Clay Science 45 (2009) 123-132. [9] J.W. Lee, J.M. Ko, J.-D. Kim, Hierarchical Microspheres Based on alpha-Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets Intercalated with Different Anions: Synthesis, Anion Exchange, and Effect of Intercalated Anions on Electrochemical Capacitance, J Phys Chem C, 115 (2011) 19445-19454. [10] Z.A. Hu, Y.L. Xie, Y.X. Wang, L.J. Xie, G.R. Fu, X.Q. Jin, Z.Y. Zhang, Y.Y. Yang, H.Y. Wu, Synthesis of alpha-Cobalt Hydroxides with Different Intercalated Anions and Effects of Intercalated Anions on Their Morphology, Basal Plane Spacing, and Capacitive Property, J Phys Chem C, 113 (2009) 12502-12508. [11] H. Chen, L. Hu, M. Chen, Y. Yan, L. Wu, Nickel- Cobalt Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets for High- performance Supercapacitor Electrode Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, 24 (2014) 934-942. [12] X. Liu, R. Ma, Y. Bando, T. Sasaki, A General Strategy to Layered Transition-Metal Hydroxide Nanocones: Tuning the Composition for High Electrochemical Performance, Advanced Materials, 24 (2012) 2148-2153. [13] J. Huang, T. Lei, X. Wei, X. Liu, T. Liu, D. Cao, J. Yin, G. Wang, Effect of Al-doped beta-Ni(OH)(2) nanosheets on electrochemical behaviors for high performance supercapacitor application, Journal of Power Sources, 232 (2013) 370-375. [14] M. Li, K.Y. Ma, J.P. Cheng, D.H. Lv, X.B. Zhang, Nickel-cobalt hydroxide nanoflakes conformal coating on carbon nanotubes as a supercapacitiv

Blindness and Sight - Sight Versus Insight in Oedipus the King (Oedipus

Sight Versus Insight in Oedipus the King      Ã‚  Ã‚   "Anyone who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eye are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light,which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees anyone whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter life, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess light. And he will count the other one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity the other" (Plato, The Republic)    The paradoxical coexistence of blindness and insight is portrayed in Sophocles' Oedipus the King, in which Oedipus experiences a devastating yet redeeming realization that the "vision" he possesses is nothing but false pride and blindness. Suffering a complete reversal, Oedipus nevertheless maintains the fortitude to actively develop and endure intense suffering in order to attain extraordinary insight; deliberately grasping the kairos, Oedipus experiences a double bewilderment of the eye - both a physical blindness and, more ignificantly, a spiritual enlightenment, resulting from his "[h]aving turned from darkness to the day [to be] dazzled by excess light (Plato, The Republic).    "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23).    Oedipus' "eyes are bad" and the dayli... ...ham: University Press of America, Inc: 1996. Hamilton,   Edith "The Collected Dialogues of Plato"   , Eds. Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns, 526-574. New York: Pantheon Books, 1961. Ignatius Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1966. Knox, Bernard. Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin, 1984. Regal, Charles. Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. New York: Twayne, 1993. Sophocles. "Oedipus the King" Classics in World Literature. Ed by Wood, Kerry et. Al. Glenview, IL: Scott-Foresman, 1989. Marra, James L., Zelnick, Stephen C., and Mattson, Mark T.  Ã‚   IH 51 Source Book: Plato,   The Republic, pp. 77-106. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa, 1998. Plato. The Republic. Trans. Desmond Lee. 1955. 2nd ed. London: Penguin, 1987.

Cryptographic Protocols for Electronic Voting Essay -- Technology Elec

Cryptographic Protocols for Electronic Voting After some preliminary research into the subject of electronic voting [BARL2003], it became apparent that there may be reason to mistrust current electronic voting systems. Further, as I studied a variety of voting systems, I realized I had little confidence that any of them (even paper ballots) would be guaranteed to produce a perfectly accurate tally. In my previous paper [BARL2003], I suggested the following definition: "An accurate voting system counts all valid votes with minimal processing error such that the intent of eligible voters is reflected in the final tally." I believe it is important for a voting system to (a) minimize error, (b) count all valid votes, and (c) preserve the intent of eligible voters in the final tally. At least in theory, I believe that today's electronic voting systems are capable of counting votes with minimal processing error. Assuming that all parties involved in the process of creating an electronic voting machine perform ethically, and that enough time, money, and effort is expended to do the job correctly, it should be possible to create a system that processes each entry that was received by the system. However, even making those assumptions, it is not quite that simple. There may be many reasons that a valid entry is not received by the system. For example, voters may be confused by the systems and may not enter their selections into the machine they way they intended. The system may "crash" before reporting its results. An eligible voter may be denied access to voting machines during the election interval . As far as I have been able to determine, the process for deciding the validity of a vote is subject to interpret... .../www.notablesoftware.com/Papers/1002evot.pdf [MERC2003] Mercuri, Rebecca. Website on "Electronic Voting" last updated September 1, 2003. http://www.notablesoftware.com/evote.html [PFIT1996] Pfitzmann, Birgit. Digital Signature Schemes: General Framework and Fail-Stop Signatures; Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1996. [PITT2003] Pitt, William Rivers. "Electronic Voting: What You Need to Know," Interview with Rebecca Mercuri, Barbara Simons, and David Dill, October 20, 2003. http://truthout.org/docs_03/102003A.shtml [RaRaNa] Ray, Indrajit and Ray, Indrakshi and Narasimhamurthi, Natarajan. "An Anonymous Electronic Voting Protocol for Voting Over the Internet." (Date of publication unknown.) http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/471417.html [SCHN1996] Schneier, Bruce. Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C; John Wiley & Sons, New York 1996.

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land †Can We Learn From the Past ? Essay examp

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land – Can We Learn From the Past ? And he is not likely to know what is To be done unless he lives in what is not merely the present, but the present moment of the past, unless he is conscious, not of what is dead, but what is already living. --T.S. Eliot, "Tradition and the Individual Talent" When read for the first time, The Waste Land appears to be a concoction of sorts, a disjointed poem. Lines are written in different languages, narrators change, and the scenes seem disconnected, except for the repeated references to the desert and death. When read over again, however, the pieces become coherent. The Waste Land is categorized as a poem, but exhibited visually, it appears to be a literary collage. And when standing back and viewing the collage from afar, a common theme soon emerges. Eliot collects aspects from different cultures or what he calls cultural memories. These assembled memories depict a lifeless world, in which the barrenness of these scenes speak of a wasted condition. He concentrates on women, including examples of violence committed against them and the women's subsequent lack of response to this violence, to show how apathetic the world is. But The Waste Land is not a social commentary on the plight of women. Rather, the women's non-reaction to the viole nce against them becomes a metaphor for the impotence of the human race to respond to pain. Violence recurs throughout time, and as Eliot points to in his essay "Tradition and Individual Talent" in the epigraph, we can break this cycle of violence and move ahead only by learning from the past and applying this knowledge to the present. Form often follows function in poetry, and in this case, Eliot uses this notion whe... ...ing these fragments, he saw how asleep he used to be: I have heard the key Turn in the door once and turn once only We think of the key, each in his prison, Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison (412-415) These memories become his "key" to awken the rest of us who are still pretending. The reader is left with two choices at the end of the poem. S/he can either forget about the poem, and go back to living in a waste land, or s/he can stop repressing pain and feeling and leave the waste land. Eliot ends the poem with a man (maybe himself?) sitting on a shore, "[f]ishing, with the arid plain behind me" and asking, "Shall I at least set my lands in order?" (425-36) The man here, by facing his pain, has left the waste land, and is able to move ahead. Work Cited [1] Plato, Republic, in Great Diaologues of Plato (Mentor: New York, 1984), 313.

Multicultural Matrix and Analysis Worksheet Essay

What is the group’s history in the United States? What is the group’s population in the United States? What are some attitudes and customs people of this group may practice? What is something you admire about this group’s people, lifestyle, or society? 1. Native Americans Native American tribes has a very unique history in North America all their own. That history has been passed down through generations of people and some only exists in archeological remains. Recently, their history has become popularized with the accounts of WWII and the part that Native Americans played. For instance, there where Navajo Code Talkers, which used their native language to transmit messages back and forth that could not be de-coded by the Germans. They have also made a movie about this called Wind Talkers. Native Americans have been running for government offices gaining representation and political power within the government. With the advent some Native Americans using reservations for entertainment such as casinos and outdoor resorts; the tribes have made substantial gains in financial and political power. The Native Americans were the first indigenous people in America before the â€Å"white man† came. But now they only comprise 1% of the current population. Native Americans have managed to increase their numbers in recent years but have nowhere near the population size prior to the westward expansion of the US. â€Å"While there are similarities between tribal heritage and traditions, Native American culture varies from nation to nation. Furthermore, the culture of Native Americans living on reservations differs greatly from Native Americans who do not to live on reservations.† (Pluralism Project at  Harvard University, 2011) The native American way of life is marked with the adherence to tradition. The tribal system has many aspects of benefit for the members of this group. Such things as fairness, communal assistance, and justice based upon equivalent measures of punishment and mercy. 2. Caucasian Americans Caucasian Americans comprise a large group including Italians, Irish, English and other distinct cultures. This mixture of different groups would become the basis for the formation of the United States. The early European settlers quickly meshed forming the unique identity of the American colonies. This group beyond all other would be most directly responsible for the separation from English rule and the formation of the US. Caucasian Americans comprise 75% of the American population. Caucasian Americans have many groups and diverse backgrounds. Many of these maintain heritage and identify themselves independently such as Irish Americans. However, Caucasian Americans have also assimilated into the American Culture so much that often their heritage becomes muddled and confused. Caucasian Americans have had some very famous people that have contributed. Inventions, books, art, different clothing styles for many eras, music like country, and provided the primary language to American culture. Caucasian Americans have successfully meshed their many diverse groups in order to create a single culture that is unique to the US. 3. Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders cover a vast range of different cultural groups and nationalities within the Pacific Ocean area from Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia. Polynesia is grouping of several islands that form a triangle to include the Easter Islands, Hawaii, and New Zealand. Melanesia consists of Papau New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu. Micronesia has eight different territories that include Diribate, Guam, and the Marshal Islands. European explorers, found this little Polynesian Islands were found on travels during the 17 and 18th centuries by French and English ships. Soon they were laying claims to this small islands. Sadly, the population of true Pacific Islanders has been compromised because of disease the European settlers brought with them. Today there are very few  purely Pacific Islanders left in the world. Pacific Islanders population is a tenuous area of study because of the mixing of racial lines. Often the Pacific Island Population is lumped with Asian Americans. Pacific Islanders alone comprise less than .1% of the total US population. The Pacific Islanders are very family oriented and will always fight for one another. An interesting fact about them is that in Tahiti both men and woman will wear flowers behind their ear, one behind the left means that they are spoken for and behind the right they are single. Pacific Islander culture promotes a lifestyle based honor and nobility. Music and dance is deeply understood in the Pacific Islander way of life. So much is the case, that music and dance are actually a means of communication. Pacific Islanders have maintained their roots and language but as a group they struggle against decreasing population size. Pacific Islanders have added to the American Culture through dance, art language, and lifestyle. Hawaii has a culture unlike most of the United States and is considered one of the greatest places to live due to its relaxed atmosphere. 4. African Americans Unlike other groups in the United States, the African Americans ancestors were shipped to this country as slaves from Africa and other countries. African Americans have also had the unfortunate reality of having to struggle to attain every aspect of equality. This problem persists even today. African Americans have also given rise to some of the most prolific leaders and thinkers concerning civil rights and equality. As a direct result of fighting inequality, civil rights leaders have helped to change the course of American History. Some of these figures include: Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King just to name a few. These are just some of the more famous African American civil rights leaders and thinkers. There is no doubt that African Americans have through adversity altered the viewpoints of Americans and reshaped law. African Americans today makeup about 14% of the current population in the United States. This statistic has been holding steady for since the 1990’s. African Americans have unique culture in that they have been separated from their land of origin. As a result of this separation African Americans have developed a culture that is  unique to them. Their culture involves independent forms of music (rap, blues, soul) art, and storytelling. African Americans are a strong group of people who have managed to overcome hundreds of years of adversity. Although there are still many problems in the US today concerning prejudice and racism, African Americans have managed to continue to make advances. 5. Hispanic Americans The Spanish explores were the start of the Hispanic American group. They settled lands that we know today as the states of California and Florida. They also claimed the states that are present-day Utah, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico which were claimed by Mexico before the United States claimed them later. Hispanic is a term created by the U.S. federal government in the early 1970s to broadly categorize the Spanish speaking groups of Americans. Hispanics are the largest growing group in the US and many have been here since before the US was even a country. Hispanics and Latinos contribute more than 48.4 million of the total population in the current United States. The Hispanic groups living in America share the common cultural ideology of the â€Å"family unit†. This creates a family concept where you have grandparents, parents, and children all living together in the same house. In most Hispanic groups aiding family is an expectation that must be lived up to. Hispanic culture has also transformed and increased the American Culture in way so obvious that they are often unnoticed. For example, Hispanic foods are everywhere, Spanish and Mexican architecture are prevalent throughout the south and western US. The Spanish language is rapidly making the US a bilingual country. The culture of varying Hispanic groups has added to the unique culture of the US. Food, music, and language are rapidly taken in by Americans. One cannot help but love the Hispanic culture as it has become an American staple including such people and things: Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Antony Bandaros, Cinco de Mayo, and many other people and events. 6. Asian Americans The first wave of immigration began in the 1840’s, with Chinese workers immigrating and migrating to the West. There were also other Asian immigrants Japanese, Koreans, and Filipinos you could find this people traveling to Hawaii at first. But they were persecuted more in Hawaii then other states and were not granted citizenship. During the 1860’s these groups were even barred from entering the US. After World War II, conditions for Asian Americans began to improve. In the 70’s and 80’s the Southeast Asian immigration increased because of the Vietnam War. There is currently around 15.5 million U.S. Asian or Asian decent currently in the Untied States. Asian Americans are very nationalistic in that they are very proud of their heritage and maintain their traditions. This has presented challenges in that second-generation immigrants sometimes struggle with trying to balance tradition with the American culture. Asian Americans have a rich and long history that predates most of the known groups by thousands of years. The three main Eastern philosophies: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism comprise the largest religions in the world. The beliefs from this religions have built paternally oriented, families that are highly structured, and also hierarchical. Asian Americans are one of the most profound groups that make the United States a culturally rich place. The different groups of Asian Americans have settled into enclaves and created communities that maintain their heritage. There is almost not major city in the US that does not boast a China Town or some form of Asian Area. Part II: Analysis The United States is a diverse nation built on the concept of the ‘melting pot’. While this ideology is pleasant and sounds good in theory it is however not completely true. In reality, the US is more of a collection of different groups. The reality of the US is that it is a pluralistic society maintaining many diverse groups that hold their heritage (Harvard Pluralism Project, 2011). Underpinning this pluralism is an American identity that is highly unique but difficult to assimilate into. Each of the different groups such as Asian Americans, Caucasian Americans, African Americans,  etc†¦Each form the unique culture of America by adding their diversity to the pool of characteristics attributed to culture. For instance, Asian Americans brought their foods and art to America and thus was absorbed into the mainstream. There are no cities in America lacking a Chinese restaurant and many Americans have Asian style furniture or art. As well, Hispanic Americans added to the culture of America through food and events such as Cinco De Mayo. Spanish architecture is prevalent throughout the Southern and Western US. The assimilation process of foreign cultures is often met with intense resistance. Within the Caucasian group Irish and Italian Americans were some of the most persecuted immigrants (Fischer, 1989). These groups have successfully assimilated today but other groups have continued to meet resistance. For instance, African Americans have met with decades of intolerance and racial violence. One major factor that cannot be overlooked is the fact that groups whom share racial distinctions such as skin color often have the hardest time assimilating into the American culture. African Americans and Asians have met with intense resistance and stereotyping. African Americans in particular have been the victims of vicious stereotyping which depicts them as being subhuman or evil. Yet despite these stereotypes having no truth to them have persisted. Worse yet the blatant prejudice and discrimination of the early part of the century has diminished in light of a silent racism or institutional racis m. This unspoken prejudice is built into the fabric of society and can often only be revealed through statistics. For instance, African Americans are completely overrepresented in the justice system; especially the juvenile justice system. African American juveniles are three times as likely to be sent to correctional facilities which Caucasians are often given probation for committing the same crime. In this way the stereotypes and prejudice are built into the systems of law and institutions and are used to continue oppressing certain groups. The problem is systemic of race and racial lines. Although using race as a form of taxonomy has been proven to be scientifically unsound the practice continues today. In the US because the dominant group is Caucasian this sets the standard for racial assimilation. All of the Caucasian groups have managed to assimilate with relative ease suffering a generation or two of prejudice often associated with economics. For instance, Irish Americans and Italian Americans both faced opposition form the American culture  because they began working and the mainstrea m population viewed this as a threat to their livelihood. This division of race has its roots in the slave era of the United States. Growing abolitionist movements would seek to end slavery but would at the same time stoke the fires of prejudice. Southerners would justify slavery by claiming racial superiority over African Americans. Even in the aftermath of the Civil War this hatred would continue to grow in the form of Jim Crow laws and outright violence. So bad was the violence against black that President Grant dispatched the Army to crush the Ku Klux Klan’s first uprising. However the clan would rise to more times across the next 70 years (Newman, 2002). The resulting racial prejudice which seems to prevail in the US is that groups who are similar to the Caucasian culture often meet with less resistance to assimilation than those groups who are dissimilar resulting from racial features such as skin color. No group has met with the resistance to assimilation more so than African Americans. Hispanic Americans are comprised of many different groups having different racial features and they are not always not easily distinguished in the way that African Americans are. The American culture, although rich with the many diverse features of other cultures is still problematic. Race a cultural differences continue to be major problems. But the country has come a long way from the days of old laws and segregation and we seem to continue acquiring and growing into a more tolerance and diverse country. Part III: Sources References: Fischer, D. H. (1989). Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. The Pluralism Project at Harvard University (2011) Retrieved from http://pluralism.org/ Newman, Richard S. The Transformation of American Abolitionism: Fighting Slavery in the Early Republic. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002. US Census (2010). Current Population Reports. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p20-540.pdf

Fast Food Contain Harmful Food Additives Essay

In America, fast food chains are a significant symbol of the American traditional food trends which expand widely and grow fast all over the world. Thus, a large number of Americans eat fast food as their daily diet. However, these tasty fast foods are highly processed foods which are filled with plenty of chemicals, additives and preservatives. By adding these additives and artificial flavorings into fast foods, so the food is attractive and also tasty. Fast food companies, like McDonald, attract customers’ attention by using various advertisements to make their products look good and also selling these delicious foods at low prices. Many people do not realize the negative side of those unhealthy and processed fast food meals that contain lots of unsafe additives, which can lead to bad health effects and shorter life. For instance, all the burgers and beverages that people consume in the fast food restaurant are risky to people’s health because of food additives. According to Fast Food Nation, â€Å"Without this flavor industry, today’s fast food industry could not exist† (Schlosser 120). It is significant that artificial flavor is one essential element which use in the fast food industry and helps to operate fast food business successfully and permanently. After World War II, a vast flavor industry invented processed food that was popular and widely used by American. The flavor additives create more demand since it benefits both consumer and businessman in some ways. For example, most food additives are cheap and functional so that companies are willing to buy and add it into food to reduce the cost of product and gain more business benefit. Because of the low cost, the company is able to lower the price of fast food in order to appeal more customers to buy. As a result, many customers choose to consume more fast food in order to save money; Fast food companies added various chemical flavors and manufactured coloring additives into diverse foods and beverages. Chicken McNugget is one of the popular foods serviced in the McDonald meal. The fair outward appearance, crispy skin and tender meat of Chicken McNuggets are a big part of what makes people feel more enjoyable to eat it. The chicken nugget is not simply a piece of fried chicken but more than that. So what is really in the chicken nuggets in McDonald? To answer this question, we might look at the great amount of ingredients of chicken nuggets. It is surprising to see that there are not only chicken but numerous other components which are almost unfamiliar with us, such as sodium aluminum phosphate, TBHQ and bleaching wheat flour. Basically, this small piece of Chicken McNugget only has 50% of what is called the real chicken, and chemical and additives make up the other half. Many additional additives are used in Chicken McNuggets’ ingredient now, and I would show only a few of the most common ones here. First of all, sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium acid pyrophosphate are the primary components of a baking power as chemical leavening agents. They are food additives that are mostly and widely used in food industry for many baked products. It accelerates food to yeast faster in order to save time, as well as affects the final texture, flavor and moisture of food. (Longe P43) Sodium aluminum phosphate is released slowly during the fermentation period, which â€Å"enhancing the properties of the formula ingredients†. (Leavening Agents) â€Å"Sodium acid pyrophosphate is also a slower reacting acid and is used in refrigerated biscuit dough recipe. † (Longe P45) As a result, the product will have a crispy taste and fine texture. Likewise, McDonald Company adds these chemical materials into Chicken McNugget to make it taste better. However, both of these agents are harmful to people’s health. For instance, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate is a toxic drug that could cause people’s mental problem, such as memory loss, and confusion. A direct possible consequence of eating these additive-containing foods frequently may lead to Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis. Second, â€Å"the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is TBHQ, which is an anti-oxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget for keeping its shelf time longer. (Pollan P113) Moreover, TBHQ helps the food to â€Å"maintain its freshness, minimize nutritional losses in edible oils, and preserve the present color of iron and metal complexes†. (Shree Additives) Obviously, the effective functions of TBHQ makes fast food industry often use this artificial additive in thousand food products. Chicken McNuggets are just one of the fast foods that contain TBHQ. The result from consuming processing foods with TBHQ can lightly cause â€Å"nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse. (Pollan P114) It can even lead to death if you ingest too much fast food with TBHQ. Last but not least, McNuggets also contain bleaching wheat flour which is one of the ingredients often used in McNugget and other productions. As we know, flour is used to improve the gluten baking quality. The food industry adds flour bleaching agent in order to make the product appear whiter and fresher. Also, the function of this agent is to maintain the foods’ stability, food color and improve the structure forming capacity, allowing the product produce higher proportions of gluten and sugar. Flour Bleaching Agent) During the bleaching processing, most nutrients are destroyed and removed from the grain, and then produce amounts of alloxan. â€Å"The fact of alloxan is a product of the decomposition of uric acid which is used to produce diabetes in healthy experimental animals, so as to help researchers to study diabetes treatments in the lab. † (The Little-Known Secrets about Bleaching Flour†¦ ) It turns out that the nutritional value of food has been lost and we are actually eating the sugar what cause us fat and led to diabetes. According to recent research, alloxan is also a poison which may lead to the country’s diabetes epidemic and other chronic diseases in America. Even though this bleaching agent has a great impact on food industry, we still cannot neglect the negative effect of this additive. Base on the ingredients in McNugget I mentioned above, it would be easy to think that McNugget as final product has been processed through many chemical mechanics and scientific methods which change the actual â€Å"meaning† of the chicken nugget. In other words, it is hard to tell how much actual chicken goes into a real nugget. We have such tasty chicken nuggets available for us anytime because of these food additives. These nasty ingredients and harmful chemicals make people fat and cause serious illness or even death. Imagine how much chemicals and additives are contained in a little piece of Chicken McNugget that could easily endanger people’s health. So I wonder if other fast foods may contain the same dangerous or more harmful additives in its ingredient which lead to more health problems. In conclusion, fast food chains play a vital role in the U. S’s health problems, people should to be up in arms with our government in order to fight against these hazardous chemicals to be used in fast food restaurants. Fast foods are rich in food additives that can badly affect people’s health as it cause cancer, nervous system damage, birth defects, and much more. From my point view, I think that we should avoid the fast food, and especially the overconsumption of fast food, in order to pursue a healthy life style.