Thursday, October 31, 2019

Social Networking Sites Negatively Effect Adults through the Windows Research Paper

Social Networking Sites Negatively Effect Adults through the Windows of Privacy, Productivity, and Health - Research Paper Example This will drastically cut the incidents where their information is stolen or used without their permission (Collins 2008) C) The effect on productivity and overall performance is significant. Many workers have been found wasting their time while surfing and using these social networks. Numerous steps have been taken to curb its use on the internet (Das & Sahoo 2011) D) Psychological and behavioral changes due to the excessive use of Social networking sites have been observed and the most prominent one is the addiction to it. Also many people have been found to become reclusive from the society and more prone to interacting through these websites (Mackey 2009) 3. In summation, the excessive use of these social networking websites has affected many users considerably. The effects of its usage are on both on the body and mind. Social networking sites negatively affect adults through the windows of privacy, productivity, and health The rapid adoption of the social network services has re sulted in numerous researches and surveys being conducted to understand its effects on the personal and social behavior of a person. Also its excessive use has resulted in many adults facing issues of privacy and breach of security when it comes to their information. Many social network service companies are now offering better and improved services that include reading comics, playing games, and better communications with your connections and many other features, which has resulted in a negative influence on the productivity of the individuals. Many offices worldwide are simply banning Facebook and other famous social networking websites on their premises so that the employees should focus on their work. One of the most detrimental effects of social networks that have been observed is on the health of the users. It has been now attributed to psychological and behavioral changes in many users and is considered to be a health hazard in case of excessive use. This paper will try to ev aluate whether social networking sites have a negative influence and impact on the privacy, productivity and the health of many adult users (Boyd & Ellison 2007). Since their inception Social network services have changed or revolutionized the way we communicate on the internet. People who start using social network services will initially do so for many reasons, but the basic motivation is to start communicating and sustaining relationships. A social network service can be defined as a service that assists people to create their own profile on the internet which they can either make public or semi public. Apart from this, the social network service will also allow users to connect with people they know or share the same interests with. The social network services serve as a platform on which people can view and find new connections and also view their friends and family connections making it transverse and interconnected (Boyd & Ellison 2007). Social networks have been widely criti cized for privacy concerns. When a person creates their page or account on a social network, they are required to fill in some information for their public profile. But there are great variations in the level of privacy offered by numerous social networks.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Macroeconomic Position of Iceland as of 2006 Essay

Macroeconomic Position of Iceland as of 2006 - Essay Example This essay provides a thorough economic analysis of the economic developments in the Icelandic economy in the year of 2006. Ii is shown in the essay, that the national economy depended heavily on the fishing industry, which provided more than 60% of total export earnings and employs 12% of the work force. Iceland’s economy had been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade and new developments in software production, biotechnology, and financial services were taking place. The tourism sector was also expanding, with trends in eco-tourism such as whale watching, hiking, and nature tours growing steadily. As Iceland had focused on leveling its financial landscape and opening its markets, it had created an imbalance in the economy. The resulting volatility threatened a return to the previous days of economic overheating. The employment numbers were good, but any disruption of current output woull change that immediately. Inflation, driven by overheating real estate and investment markets, was growing. These issues had to be resolved immediately. Through prudent monetary policy, inflation could be tamed. By implementing wise fiscal policy, expenses and debt could be reduced. In terms of fiscal policy, Iceland needed to adjust its approach so that the monetary policy could be adequately supported without resorting to continued and severe hikes in the interest rate. Simply, this meant tightening its budget maintenance, reducing its debt, and enhancing the environment for investment

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Using Thin Layer Chromatography To Monitor Reactions Environmental Sciences Essay

Using Thin Layer Chromatography To Monitor Reactions Environmental Sciences Essay Thin layer chromatography (TLC) is a very useful technique for monitoring reactions. It can also be used to determine the proper solvent system for performing separations using column chromatography. TLC stationary phases are usually alumina or silica. They are polar for standard experiments or non-polar for reverse phase chromatography. The mobile phase is a solvent whose polarity is chosen by the person conducting the experiment. In most laboratory work standard phase silica plates are used. Different compounds will travel different distances up the plate depending on the polarity of the components of the mixture. The more polar compounds will be more attracted to the polar silica gel and travel shorter distances on the plate. Mon-polar substances will spend more time in the mobile phase and as a result will travel larger distances on the plate. The measure of the distance a compound travels is called the retention factor (Rf ) value. The retention factor, or Rf, is defined as the distance traveled by the compound divided by the distance traveled by the solvent. For example, if a compound travels 2.1 cm and the solvent front travels 2.8 cm, the Rf is 0.75: The Rf for a compound is a constant from one experiment to the next only if the chromatography conditions below are also constant: solvent system adsorbent thickness of the adsorbent amount of material spotted temperature Since these factors are difficult to keep constant from experiment to experiment, relative Rf values are generally considered. Relative Rf means that the values are reported relative to a standard, or it means that you compare the Rf values of compounds run on the same plate at the same time. 1.1 Thin Layer Chromatography There have been a numbered of important milestones in the evolution of chromatography in the last 100 years. Each of these milestones has signalled the start of an important branch of chromatography. Some examples of these are; partition chromatography (1941), gas chromatography (1951-1952), high performance liquid chromatography (mid- 1960s), capillary electrophoresis (1980) and capillary electrochromatography (past decade). In all the chromatographic techniques mentioned, separation is carried out in a column. However, it is also possible to carry out separations on a planar surface. Two examples of this are paper chromatography (1944) and thin-layer chromatography (1937-1938). Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) replaced paper chromatography as the most popular, routine chromatographic technique. TLC was first used in 1937 to 1938 by Nikolai A. Izmailov and Maria S. Shraiber at the Institute of Experimental Pharmacy of the State University of Kharkov. At the time Izmailov was the head of the institute and Shraiber was his graduate student. They were searching for a method for the rapid analysis of galenic pharmaceutical preparations (plant extracts). As classical column chromatography would have taken too much time they felt that if the absorbent would be prepared in the form of a thin-layer on a glass plate. They believed that it would behave like a column but the characterization time would be much shorter. They coated microscope slides with a suspension of various adsorbents (calcium, magnesium and aluminium oxides). They deposited one drop of the sample solution on this layer and added one drop of the same solvent used in a column to develop separation. The test was a success as the separated sample components appeared as concentric rings that fluoresced in various colour s under a UV lamp. They showed that the sequence of the concentric multicoloured rings on the plate would have been identical to the sequence of coloured rings obtained on a normal chromatographic column. They called this technique spot chromatography and the result on the microscope slides ultrachromatograms. The paper on this experiment was published in a Russian pharmaceutical journal that was practically unknown outside the then Soviet Union. Its abstract was included in a Russian review journal and through it in chemical Abstracts. It was then read by M. OL. Crowe of the New York State Department of Health. He then adapted the technique for his own use. Crowe prepared the adsorbent layer in a Petri dish, added a drop of the sample solution in the centre and then added the developing solvent dropwise until sufficient separation was obtained. In 1947 T.I. Williams described a further improvement of the method of Izmailov and Shraiber in his textbook on chromatography. He prepared the adsorbent-coated glass plates in the form of a sandwich. The adsorbent layer was covered by 2 glass plates and had a small hole which the sample drops could be applied through. Meinhard and Hall made the next major step in the development of TLC at the University of Wisconsin. They used corn starch, which acted as a binder, to hold the coating on the glass plate and added a small amount of Celite powder to the adsorbent particles to improve the consistency of the layer. They called this surface chromatography. They used it to separate inorganic ions. Modern TLC started 50 years ago with the work Department of Agriculture Fruit and Vegetable laboratory in Southern California. He investigated the flavour components of the juices of citrus fruits. However, he stated that very large volumes had to be processed because the amount of flavour material was extremely small. Another problem was in finding an analytical method for the investigation of the juice concentrate composition. He followed the method of Meinhard and Hall that he read in Chemical Abstracts. However, instead of adding just a drop of the developing solvent he developed the plates as in paper chromatography. The plates were developed in a closed chamber and one side was dipped into the solvent. The solvent then ascended through the plate by capillary action. It carried with it the sample components and they were separated as a result. The experiments carried out were published and are considered the start of modern TLC. Egon Stahl was responsible for TLC becoming a universally accepted technique. He was also the first to use the term thin-layer chromatography to characterize the technique. This choice of name was almost immediately accepted. Stahl investigated various essential oils and obtained good results using adsorbent-coated glass plates. However, neither the method nor the adsorbent to be used had been optimized. Also, the adsorbents had to be modified and treated before they could be used for the coating of plates. Stahl started investigating the operational parameters and the adsorbent preparations. In the spring of 1958 his efforts were fulfilled as the necessary basic instrumentation, made by Desaga and silica gel G according to Stahl for TLC, made by E. Merck were both introduced at the international Achema exhibition of chemical equipment in Frankfurt. Stahl also published an article outlining the use of the system and a wide range of applications. Because of this standardized method TLC became a widely used laboratory technique. He also went on to publish a TLC handbook in 1962. Although TLC had a wide application it was still thought to be a qualitative technique for the analysis of simple mixtures. As a result advances were directed toward improving the technique. Instrumentation which permitted more precise spotting of the sample onto the plates and the quantitative evaluation of the separated spots was developed. Faster analysis and higher separation power was also achieved. As a result of the higher performance ability the name was change to high-performance TLC (HPTLC) by R.E. Kaiser, who was instrumental in its development. The particle size and range of the adsorbent was the main difference between TLC and HPTLC. The silica gel for TLC had broad particle sizes of 10-60 µm with an average of 20 µm whereas HPTLC has an average of only 5 µm. the HPTLC plates were also smaller in comparison with TLC plates, 10 x 10cm and 20 x 20cm respectively. The improved method and design allowed reduction in the diameter of the starting spots. These improvements lowered the analysis time and increased the efficiency. Problems arose with flow rate which Kaiser overcame by applying pressure to the TLC plate. This in turn led to forced-flow TLC. Due to the constant condensation-evaporation process associated with developing TLC plates in developing chambers problems can be encountered because of the changing velocity of the mobile phase. To overcome this forced-flow TLC (FFTLC) was developed by Tyihà ¡k, Mincsovics and Kalà ¡sz. In this method the spotted plates (dry) are placed into a pressurized development chamber. The stationary-phase layer is tightly covered and sealed on its side by an elastic membrane and pressurized by an inert gas or water filling up the cushion above the layer. The mobile phase is delivered via a pump at a constant velocity through a slit in the membrane to the stationary phase. There are various configurations which can be handled using this method. TLC is a very simple technique. As a result very little instrumentation is needed. Application of samples to the stationary-phase is carried out using a micropipette or syringe. The developing chambers are simple glass structures. Detection is carried out by visual inspection or made visible by spraying the plate with reagent. Also, a wide variety of precoated plates are available so coating equipment isnt needed. In more advanced systems the samples may be spotted by automated loading devices (dosimeters). This allows the application of small and uniform sample spots. More sophisticated developing chambers are also available (FFTLC). The plates can be scanned by densitometers and quantitatively analysed using absorbance or fluorescence measurements. Chromatograms with peaks of the individual separated spots recorded against the length of the plate are produced with such analyses. Their area is also a proportion to the amount present. More complex systems can also be created by combining TLC systems with other systems such as mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared. 1.2 Ink Analysis Ink analysis is a very important forensic procedure. It can reveal useful information about questioned document. Modern inks contain many substances which are aimed at improving the ink. The most important component of the ink is the colouring material. It comes in the form of a dye, pigment or a combination of both. Dyes are soluble in the liquid body of the ink, also known as the vehicle. Pigments are finely ground multi-molecular granules that are insoluble in the vehicle. The vehicles composition affects the flowing and drying characteristics of the ink and can consist of oils, solvents and resins. 1.3 Chromatography Studies Djozan et al developed a new and fast method for the differentiation of inks on a questioned document. They designed specific image analysis software for evaluating thin layer chromatograms. They sampled forty-one blue ballpoint pens which were purchased from their local markets in Iran (Table 1). They first wrote a circle of diameter 5 mm uniformly by pen on a paper. One fourth of this was then punched out for extraction. They carried out extraction in 1 ml glass tubes and added 0.1 ml of methanol. This was then vigorously shaken for 1 min. the ink component was then fully dissolved in methanol. The supernatant methanoic solutions were then used to spot the TLC plates. A blank sample of paper with equal dimensions was also treated in the same way. Table 1. List of blue ballpoint pens studied List of blue ballpoint pens studied 1 Cello pyramid 0.7 mm fine TC ball 2 OBA 3 AIHAO 4 Bic 01 5 Cenator 6 PARKER 7 A.T.CROSS FINE 8 Pelikan STICK 918 9 Marvy SB-10 1.0 mm 10 Bic 02 11 PIANO crystal 12 My pen 2001 PENS High Quality Bluce CE 13 AIBA 14 STAEDTLER Stick 430M A IRAN 15 Reynolds Medium 048 France 16 EIFEL Elegance 17 CASPIAN STICK 2001 M 18 STABILO liner 308 19 FABER-CASTELL 1.0 mm Medium (transparent) 20 BIC 08 21 Bocheng A-100 22 SCHNEIDER TOPS 505 M Germany 23 FIBER-CASTELL 1.0 mm Medium 24 MILAN PI 1 mm 25 Reform 26 PAPER = MATE FLEXGRIP ultra MED 27 PARKER UK 28 CANDID-DINI 2853 29 STABILO-galaxy 818 M 30 No name 31 No name 32 Zebra Rubber 101 33 SANFORD SAGA 34 Bensia 35 Girls 36 EUROPEN 37 PARS swiss Refill 606 38 STAEDTLER stick 430 M TBRITAIN 39 Lus HF 500 40 No name 41 STABILO bill 508 TLC analysis was carried out on Merck (Darmstadt, Germany) 20 cm x 20 cm silica gel 60 TLC plates without fluorescent indicator. The plates were activated at 60  °C for 20 min and immediately spotted after cooling in a desiccator. The plates were developed in a developing chamber. The mobile phase used was: ethyl acetate/ absolute ethanol/ distilled water (70:35:30, v/v/v). Chromatographic development of the plates was carried out at room temperature for 40 min. All mobile phases were prepared daily with analytical grade chemicals. Enough was prepared to supply the tank for each run. The plates were air-dried after development. The separated compounds were visible on the plate by their natural colour and the plates were scanned into a computer using an office scanner. An IBM compatible PC (Pentium IV) with a 2.6 GHz microprocessor, 256 MB random access memory (RAM) and a hard disk with 40 GB capacity for external storage was used for processing the colour images. The computer was equipped with an on-board graphic card (NviDiA Geforce 7300LE) and a scanner (CanoScan 4200F) was connected to the computer for scanning (300 dpi) TLC plates as digital images. The images were saved as bmp files. Matlab (Version 6.5, The Math Works, Inc.) was used to write a new program to process the previously saved images. Previous studies indicated that Pyridine is the solvent used with ballpoint pen inks. Djozan et al preformed extraction with different solvents using various extraction modes. These modes were immersion of paper into solvent and simple agitation for 1 min, ultra-sound assisted extraction and micro-wave assistance extraction. The results showed that the immersion of paper into methanol or pyridine and simple agitation resulted in complete extraction of the inks from paper (Table 2). Table 2. List of solvents used for extraction of ink components from paper Solvent Solubility of ink colours Ethyl acetate Ethanol Acetic acid Acetone Butanol 1,2-Dichloroethane Butyl acetate Tetrachloroethane Acetyl acetate Cyclohexane Methanol Pyridine Slightly Slightly Slightly Slightly Slightly Slightly Slightly Slightly Slightly Slightly Soluble Soluble No improvement was found using ultra-sound or micro-wave assisted extraction. Methanol was chosen as the extraction solvent due to the safety of the solvent. The selection of the plate was down to the fact that silica gel plates provided the best resolution of dye spots. They selected five mobile phases (Table 3) and found that ethyl acetate/ absolute ethanol/ distilled water (70:35:30, v/v/v) was effective in separating nearly all the dye mixtures. The spot capacity obtained was more than 15. Table 3. Different solvent systems used to develop plate Solvent System Ratio Spot capacity Butanol:ethanol:H2O Ethyl acetate:cyclohexane:methanol:NH3 Ethyl acetate:Butanol:NH3 Ethyl acetate:ethanol:H2O Toluene:acetone:ethanol:NH3 50:15:10 70:15:10:5 60:35:5 70:35:30 30:60:7:2 9 5 10 15 5 Fig. 1. Typical TLC results of 10 different ink samples (Djozan et al, 2008) Fig. 1. shows a typical chromatogram that they achieved in their experiment. To confirm complete separation of all components in the studied sample, two-dimensional (2D) TLC was carried out using various solvent systems. The results proved that the one-dimensional (1D) TLC is able to provide sufficient separation. The first stage carried out was colour image normalization. A function of the input images was computed that is invariant to confounding scene properties but was discriminative with respect to desired scene information. The calculation is as follows: Stage 2 is to compute a colour image profile. The intensity profile of an image is the set intensity values taken from regularly spaced points along a line segment in an image the intensity values are interpolated for points that dont fall on the centre pixel they computed an intensity profile for r, g and b images along the line passing through the centre of the image on the chromatographic development straight of each ink spot. Fig. 2. RGB characteristic of an ink after TLC (Djozan et al, 2008) In stage 3 the colour image profiles were correlated. The intensity profiles were considered as sequences and the normalized cross-correlation of sequences were computed. Cross-correlation is a measure of similarity of two signals. It is used to find features in an unknown signal and compared to a known signal. It is calculated as follows for discrete functions: Eq. (1) For image-processing applications in which the brightness of the images can be due to lighting and exposure conditions, the images can be first normalized. It is calculated as follows: Eq. (2) Stage 4 involved computing image similarity. The weighted mean of and were computed as follows: Eq. (3) The ability of the method to differentiate between various blue ballpoint pens was evaluated by comparing the similarity of different inks according to Eq. (3). Fig. 3. Screen shot of Matlab software running (Djozan et al, 2008) Fig. 4. All possible combination of comparing inks with TLC-IA (Djozan et al, 2008) In 2006 Liu et al published a paper on the classification of black gel pen inks by ion-pairing high-performance liquid chromatography. They stated that black gel inks usually contain several dye components. These components all have different colours and are mixed together proportionally to give the black colour. They used reverse-phase ion-pairing high performance chromatography (RP-IP-HPLC). It was done in such a manner as the dyes couldnt be reversed on the C18 column due to their high polarities. The maximum UV absorption bands of the black gel pen inks obtained were between 500 and 700 nm. The wavelength of the detector was set to 580 nm as most of the dyes had a maximum UV adsorption near 580 nm. They investigated the influence of both volatile and non-volatile ion-pairing reagents on the HPLC analysis of black gel pen ink dyes. All the reagents had different alkyl chain, ammonium acetate, triethylamine (TEA), tributylamine (TBA), dihexylamine (DHA) and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBABr). The results revealed that the dyes were nearly not retained using ammonium acetate or TEA as the ion-pairing reagent. Using TBABr, TBA and DHA as the ion-pairing reagent, individually, the dyes were separated. TBABr was selected as the ion-pairing reagent as the retention times were shorter than the others and sharper peaks were obtained. They also investigated the buffer solution concentrations and the effect of pH on the separation. The optimum result was: 40 mmol/L TBABr buffer solution (pH 7) with acetonitrile as the organic modifier for IP-HPLC analysis and an identical proportion of the buffer and acetonitrile (v/v = 40:60) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. these optimum conditions were used to separate 50 dye-based black gel pen inks by IP-HPLC. Liu et al carried out another study on ion-pairing HPLC in 2006. This time, however, they studied the degradation of blue gel pen dyes and also used electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. They used ion-pairing reversed phase liquid chromatography as the inorganic compounds they were analysing have weak retention on the ordinary reversed stationary phases when separating on HPLC. This is due to their high polarities. The UV detector was set at 580 nm for the analysis as most dyes have a normal maximum absorption near 580 nm. The UV absorptions of the fluorescence whitening reagents in paper are usually below 500 nm and they had no interference for the detection of the gel pen dyes at 580 nm. Fig. 5. Chromatograms of blue gel pen inks using different ion pairing reagents (Liu et al, 2006) The tested various mobile phases: eluent A: eluent B (acetonitrile) = 50:50 (v/v); eluent A was the buffer of ion pairing reagent with concentration of 40 mmol Là ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 (pH 7.0), and the ion pairing reagent was (a) ammonium acetate, (b) TEA acetate, (d) TBA acetate, (e) DHA acetate and (f) TBABr, respectively. (c) Ammonium carbonate as eluent A (40 mmol Là ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1, pH 9.5) and eluent A:eluent B (acetonitrile) = 50:50 (v/v). they found that 10 mmol-1 TBA acetate (pH 7.0) was suitable ion-pairing agent for the purpose and ink samples stored in different conditions were analyzed by IP-HPLC. Significant changes of ink composition were observed. The noticed that the natural aged inks had the similar but weaker degradation trend than the light aged inks. They used HPLC-MS/MS with ammonium carbonate as ion-pairing reagent to obtain the information of the light aged inks and their photodegradation mechanism. In 1994, Varshney et al analysed ink from typed script of electronic typewriters by HPTLC. They used script from seven electronic typewriters. They used the resultant Rf values and in-situ visible spectra of each resolved band of all the chromatograms indicated that the same chemical composition is being used in six typewriter ribbon inks. However, the seventh one is completely different. Fig. 6. Wavelength maxima values of in-situ visible spectrum bands of electronic typewriter scripts (Varshney et al, 1994) Fig. 6. shows the densitograms obtained after scanning and integration of the chromatograms of tracks of individual typewriters and blank paper. The seven electronic typewriter inks could be categorised into two groups after analysis. The first group resolved the sample to four bands including the base. The second group did not resolve the samples at all with the solvent systems used. Several varieties of blue ballpoint pen inks were analysed by HPLC and IR spectroscopy by Kher et al in 2006. The chromatographic data extracted at four wavelengths (254, 279, 370 and 400 nm) was analyzed individually and at a combination of these wavelengths by the soft independent modeling of class analogies (SIMCA) technique. They used principal components analysis (PCA) to estimate the separation between the pen samples. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) measured the probability with which an observation could be assigned to a pen class. The best resolution was obtained by HPLC using data from all four wavelengths together, differentiating 96.4% pen pairs successfully using PCA and 97.9% pen samples by LDA. PCA separated 60.7% of the pen pairs and LDA provided a correct classification of 62.5% of the pens analyzed by IR. They stated that HPLC coupled with chemometrics provided a better discrimination of ballpoint pen inks compared to IR. Kher et al effectively combined LDA and PCA to classify the HPLC and IR data. PCA gives a general idea of how different a given pair of pens is, whereas LDA can quantify the predictive ability of a generated classification model. The two techniques of PCA and LDA were shown to be complimentary to each other. The PCA and LDA results indicated that although IR cannot differentiate between all classes of pen inks, it can still provide a reasonable discrimination, which can be enhanced further by improving the quality of the spectra. The analysis of such an enhanced IR data with chemometric analyses would provide a valuable non-destructive tool for forensic analyses. Raman Spectroscopy Studies Mazzella and Buzini used Raman spectroscopy to analyse blue gel pen inks in 2004. They sampled 55 blue gel pens. They first separated them into two groups using a preliminary solubility test in methanol. They discovered that 36 were pigmented inks, which arent soluble in methanol, and 19 were dye-based inks, which are soluble in methanol. They applied Raman spectroscopy to the 36 pigmented blue gel inks. Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive technique. Spectra were first obtained using the 514.5 nm argon ion laser which proved the observation of 4 different groups. They then used the 830 nm NIR diode laser and divided the inks into three groups. They then combined the two lasers and a separation into 5 groups was obtained. They then attempted to identify the pigments contained in the gel by comparison to standard pigments. Two main pigments were detected in the analysed samples: PB15 and PV23. PB 15 is pigment blue 15 and belongs to the class of phthalocyanines. PV23 is the pigment violet 23 and belongs to the class oxazines. The argon laser allowed the detection of a mixture of PB 15 and PV 23. This was a better result than using the NIR diode laser. The results showed that the same gel pen ink (same model and brand) from different geographical locations showed the same Raman spectra. However, it was stated that the Raman technique obtained low discriminating values. 2. Materials and Method 2.1 Materials: Blue ballpoint pens Merck silica gel 60 TLC plates (20 cm x 20 cm) Methanol Ethyl acetate Ethanol (absolute) Paper Dessicator Developing chamber Puncher Glass tubes (0.1 ml) Capillary tubes 2.2 Experimental 13 blue ball-point pens (Table 1) were bought from a number of different shops in the town. A circle with a diameter of 5mm was written by the pen on paper. One fourth of it was punched out for extraction. The samples are placed in 1 ml glass tubes. 0.1ml of methanol was added and vigorously shaken for 1 min. The ink component was fully dissolved in methanol. The supernatant methanoic solutions were used for spot application on TLC plate. A blank of paper only is also treated as was a control which was a permanent marker. TLC analyses were preformed using Alugram 20 cm x 10 cm silica gel/UV plates (Macherey-Nagel). The plates were activated at 60 °C for 20 min and immediately after, cooled in a desiccator, and spotted. The plates were developed in a horizontal developing chamber. The solvent system included: ethyl acetate/absolute ethanol/ distilled water (70:35:30, v/v/v). Development was preformed at room temperature for 40 min. All mobile phases were prepared daily. After develo pment the plates were air-dried. All 13 different pens were tested in triplicate. Retention factors were calculated using the results from the plates and photographs taken using a digital camera were loaded onto the computer and analysed using image analysis software. Table 1: List of pens analysed Number Description 1 No Brand (blue) 2 Pilot G-207 3 BIC ReAction 4 BIC Medium (Bought in Tesco) 5 BIC Medium (Bought in Dunnes) 6 No Brand (Purple) 7 Staedtler Stick 430M 8 Roller Pen 9 Papermate 1.2M 10 Scripto Stick Pen 11 Papermate Write Bros. 12 Comfort Touch 13 No Brand (Tesco Click Pen) 3. Results and Discussion Before carrying out the experiment it needed to be researched. This research pointed out the importance of the correct solvent to remove the ink from the document. Djozan et al used methanol as their choice of solvent after considering other solvents (Table 2). They stated that Pyridine was the reported solvent used with ball-point pen inks. However, they carried out extractions with different solvents using various extraction modes. They realised that immersion of the paper into methanol with agitation resulted in complete extraction of the inks from the paper. Methanol was also chosen because of its safety. Table 2: List of solvents used for the extraction of ink components from paper Solvent Solubility of ink colours Ethyl acetate Slightly Ethanol Slightly Acetic Acid Slightly Acetone Slightly Butanol Slightly 1,2-Dichloroethane Slightly Butyl acetate Slightly Tetrachloroethane Slightly Acethyl acetate Slightly Cyclohexan Slightly Methanol Soluble Oyridine Soluble Different concentrations of the solvent system (Table 3) were analysed to see which gave the greater separation. It was found that the concentration given by Djozan et al, (ethyl acetate, ethanol, and water (70:35:30, v/v/v)) gave the best results. The Alugram silica Gell/UV plates were also found to work better than the suggested, Merck silica gel 60, plates without fluorescent indicator. Table 3: Concentrations of solvent system investigated Number Solvent system 1 ethyl acetate, ethanol, water (70:35:30, v/v/v) 2 ethyl acetate, ethanol, water (70:30:35, v/v/v) 3 ethyl acetate, ethanol, water (70:25:40, v/v/v) 4 ethyl acetate, ethanol, water (70:40:25, v/v/v) Table 4: Retention factors for all separated components pen spot 1 spot 2 spot 3 spot 4 spot 5 Solvent RF1 RF2 RF3 RF4 RF5 1.1 70 73 0.958904 1.2 70 73 0.958904 1.2 70 73 0.958904 2.1 62 69 73 0.849315 81.24194 2.2 62 69 73 0.849315 81.24194 2.3 62 69 73 0.849315 81.24194 3.1 57 60 62 70 0.814286

Friday, October 25, 2019

Free Awakening Essays: Romanticism :: Chopin Awakening Essays

Romanticism in The Awakening Even though it was written in the Victorian era, Kate Chopin's The Awakening has several romantic qualities, especially with the main character, as she struggles between society's obligations and her own desires. Chopin writes about a woman who continues to reject the society around her, a notion too radical for Chopin's peers. Edna Pontellier has the traditional role of both wife and mother, but deep down she wants something more, difficult to do in the restricted Victorian society. The typical Victorian woman maintained her sphere which deemed "women's personal lives center around home, husband, and children." (Victorian Women, p. 118). Women were supposed to happily accept this position in the home, and be satisfied. It never satisfied Edna, who always seemed out of place when with other women. She was a wife and a mother, but not the typical Victorian wife and mother. With regards to her children, "Their absence was sort of relief...It seemed to free her of a responsibility which she blindly assumed and for which Fate had not fitted her" (p. 18). Already she is revealing ideas uncommon in the Victorian era. She tries to maintain her roles, but it is very difficult for her. As the story progresses, Edna focuses on her desires rather than what her husband wants. She refuses to participate in the traditional role given to her as a woman. The romantic notion of individualism comes out as Edna decides to go out on a Tuesday afternoon rather than receive visitors. When her husband finds out, he is extremely upset. "'I should think that you'd understand by this time that people don't do such things; we've got to observe les convenances if we ever expect to get on and keep up with the procession'" (p. 51). Edna disregards her husbands appeal to conform and continues to do what she wants. Victorian society was not ready for a novel whose main character disregards the norm for her own happiness. The rejection Chopin received was mainly due to Edna's rejection of the traditions and the adultery aspect of the novel. Edna, caught up in a loveless marriage, resorts to adultery to keep herself satisfied. Edna follows her heart rather than reason when she pursues Robert Lebrun. In revealing her love for Robert, her romantic passion is expressed. "'I love you,' she whispered, 'only you; no one but you.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Analysis of Listener’s Wooden Heart

He says he built his own heart out of wood, and placed it inside himself (the iron ship), as he sails through the struggles in life (blood red seals and finds his place in life. He's not letting the struggles in life (waves) destroy his hopes and dreams. He says he believes in both anchors and saviors a line apart, so I'm assuming they are synonymous. His life is falling apart, but he still believes in whatever anchor is in his life, while he's â€Å"sinking†. When he says he is pulling the rotten wood out of his heart, he means he's letting go of the emotional baggage in his heart, so he can pursue his reams. We are all made out of shipwrecks, every single aboard washed and bound like crooked teeth on these rocky shores† That line is saying that we are all the person we are today because of our mistakes, and we're all barely making it through life by ourselves. At this point in the poem, he starts referring to a community making it through together, rather than sailing through life Just by himself. The line â€Å"we only have what we remember†, that repeats several times throughout the poem, states that if we didn't have what we remember, we would Just repeat the mistakes that we Dade in our past. L am the barely living son of a woman and man who barely made It. † this line is basically repeating the very first line of the poem: â€Å"We're all born to broken people on their most honest day of living. †If we hold on tight we'll hold each other together, and not Just some fools rushing to die in our sleep† they need to go through this together, because they can't do this alone. â€Å"All these machines will rust I promise, but we'll still be electric, shocking each other back to life. † Waves can take down a ship, but water can't destroy electricity. Their ship may sink, but if they're electric, they can live through the storm. â€Å"Because our church is made out of shipwrecks, from every hull these rocks have cla imed. † A church is a congregation. A place where you can find other people to hold on to, and do life with.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

IT Outsourcing Essay

Today’s market place continues to shrink due to computer technologies and communication being at the speed of light. This makes the act of doing business on a large scale not only possible but expected. An organization needs implementation of outsource strategy to happen on every level within the company structure in order to function. Many factors contribute to a company’s success or failure. Company is defined by more than just its product or service and the price at which this product or service is sold in the market place. An effective organization has much strength in its favor to remain competitive. Factors such as: flexibility, creativity, openness to use of technology and innovations, communication across the organization and talented employees are a must for competitive advantage. It is an organization’s ability to adjust to changing times that creates a foundation for the public to admire. How an organization continues to reflect such a persona is entirely contingent on so many factors but really it comes down to vision and action. Integrity is crucial. Upholding the company’s value system and word to the public remains a key facet for success. Building any strategy or campaign on this premise presents the best possible and true corporate image to the public and allows for a great amount of trust to form. Building character and trust is very important within the financial world but also the retail forum of health products because there has been a backlash due to corporate lack of governance and scandal but also telecommunications is much like a double-edged sword. With the wrong image, comes poor press and lack of a first impression. It can make or break the situation. In this respect, outsourcing can be a complex game. In order to better understand customers, it is important one understands how marketing works. This means not only having knowledge of traditional methods but also knowing the fundamentals of e-marketing and e-commerce. Today’s Internet is a triumph for human ingenuity and spontaneous order. In some parts it embodies leading edge technology like Asynchronous Transfer Mode but really it is the use of new technologies combined with older ones that makes the Internet so fascinating and vital to business. Specifically the Internet ends distance limitations and it empowers individuals in important new ways to create new enterprise (Gasman, 2005, p. 2). The Internet is relatively vast in its freedom. Unlike the traditional telephone, the Internet is not charged by the mile or any distance. This brings people together. Retailers see the Internet as a marketing tool they can use to target a smaller, regional niche market. One must understand it is in the best interests of companies to make the e-retailing transitions because of the fact that most shopping now happens online. This is due to the increase in e-commerce and instant need for convenience. E-commerce makes purchasing easier and faster. It fits into the lifestyle of today’s 24/7 world where people do not have the time to shop at the mall or pay bills by writing out checks. Statement of the Problem The subject of IT outsourcing and e-business strategy in China’s pharmaceutical industry, its frameworks, convenience and also problems or implications were assessed in this research. As a result of this study, this research presented preliminary findings related to IT outsourcing in China. This leads us to looking at how e-strategy and use of the Internet to facilitate outsourcing has created a whole industry of service for the consumer or in other words, e-services. This required a look at different models to assess strategy and analysis a company’s role in the market. Purpose of the Study The overall purpose of this paper and study is to investigate the role of IT outsourcing within a Chinese drug company. This lead to further study of its use within the health industry in China. As growing importance in an organization’s competitive advantage and globalization makes an Internet presence an expectation, the right marketing strategy becomes all the more important in a company overall strategy but it also equals power. An organization needs careful research prior to investment but also needs to strategize and ponder if the consumer is worth the profit. This paper will look at how a proactive strategic analysis allows an organization knowledge of the market in order to build a lasting presence and customer relationships. This paper will also explore the implications of outsourcing. Review of Related Literature Information Technology is a powerful means that helps organizations meet the challenges of a competitive market environment and enable the firms to stay ahead of the competition. The information revolution is exerting substantial effects on the structure and functions of organizations. From the beginning of the computing era various studies have been made that predicted several positive effects ensuing from the implementation of information technology (IT) (Cash & Konsynski, 1986). Many cases have been published, as well as articles in the professional press, which predicted a net increase in business results of companies that invested more in IT (Buday, 1986). However, during the little more than 10 years of this research line, contradictory results have been found From the 1970s to 1980s, those companies that invested more in IT suffered a relative setback in the work factor productivity indexes. This paper will discuss the relationship between IT and competitive advantage in following content. We believe that IT is necessary to improve competitive position of the organization. Many business professionals point to the use and deployment of IT as a point of weakness, not a point of strength in their organizations. They think that the reason for this is often that IT is being driven from a technical perspective, not from a business perspective. This phenomenon exists because many businesspeople think that the IT is too complicated, too expensive, too risky and too changeable. They would not like to spend time on understanding the complex information technology management. Most businesspeople only understand how specific technologies affect their ability to do their specific jobs. Poorly understand IT initiatives often end in failure. The previous literatures reveal that IT brings huge impact on careers and information technology has impacted many jobs such as IT has replaced human labor and many organizations no longer pay people to simply oversee others and pass along information. The business benefits that are derived from the strategic use of technology are significant, but they are accompanied by risks that must be addressed. The failure to address IT vulnerabilities within their own organizations and throughout the supply chain can have devastating consequences for business operations. China and Outsourcing To this day, the country of China remains an enigma, isolated from the Western world and shrouded in mystery conceptualized by the Communist Red. Its culture both ancient and modern fascinates one on many levels mainly because it is so completely foreign. Aspects of their way of life, customs and lifestyle elements mirror the Communist doctrines and the absence of pure freedom seems sad to Westerners. Still slowly China is opening its doors to the West. There is a changing tide, a force at work. It is the advent of globalization, mass communication and new technologies that changed the atmosphere of China. The world is forever shrinking due to the marketplace is growing at the speed of light and commerce taking place over new mediums. This makes possibility happen. People from every nation have yearned to participate in this explosion. The Chinese have been no exception. They have reached a point in their history where they must not only hold on to their cultural identity but also embrace change from outside. This has been the only way to take advantage of globalization and create a new persona for China. Still the seed of change had to grow from somewhere. This transformation did not happen over night. It can be difficult and frustrating for one to understand yet try to respect. It is out of understanding what one fears that one can be a catalyst for change. Only then can the barriers come down. Much of the emergence of globalization can be attributed to the world economy. China has made steps of change within recent years and as a result found itself at the forefront of economic explosion. At this time the Chinese economy is growing at the rate of ten percent a year, faster than any other country in the world (Richardson, 2005, p. 1). As a result, the region of the Pacific Rim and more specifically South East Asia is considered an emerging market, one that many international corporations are focused on gaining a competitive advantage. This industry of health food and vitamins is no exception. Due to vast changes in available technologies, it is expected and imperative that all companies have an Internet presence or utilize a global e-strategy that involves their business practices to evolve into e-commerce. Two Models This project utilizes two models to analyze IT outsourcing. The models are as follows: (1) Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis theory and (2) SWOT. These two models and others like them assist management and strategists in understanding a company’s standing within the market place. By assessing a company’s strengths and weaknesses or forces at work within a market or organization, one can have a better idea of which areas need attention. Force Field Analysis Theory  Field theories really took the basic form of the fluid mechanics developed in the eighteenth century, in which equations linked a â€Å"flow† or potential for transmitted force to spatial coordinates, but applied this form to situations where no fluid could be found; examples are motion induced by gravity, electricity, or magnetism. I will follow general use and employ the term â€Å"field theory† to denote only those theories that do not involve a clearly existent substantial medium. Lewin’s field theory provides â€Å"a method for â€Å"analyzing causal relations and of building scientific constructs† (p. 01) on several psychosocial concepts involving human actions, emotions, and personality. These psychosocial concepts include human frustration, levels of aspiration, marginality, punishment and reward, and social identity. Lewin’s field theory is built on two constructs (a) human behavior is derived from a combination of mutually interdependent co-existing facts in the life space of individuals, and (b) these coexisting facts have the characteristics of a â€Å"dynamic field,† because â€Å"any part of the field depends on every other part of the field† (p. 87). Using the analogy of â€Å"phase space† in physics, which represents a multitude of factors that might influence events in open systems, Lewin articulated the importance of â€Å"psychological space† in real life. Lewin reasoned that an individual’s life space, including one’s personal characteristics and environmental influences, is an inherent part of the individual’s total situation–momentary and general life situation as perceived by the individua l. He argued that the total situations or fields are more important in studying group behavior because at any given time, individual human behavior, is not only derived from, but is also likely to change, due to the individual’s perception of current situations based on their past cultural orientation, race, status, and experience. To account for such complexities and interdependence of the internal and external factors affecting individuals, Lewin advocated a middle course. By applying these field theory principles to groups in given situations, Lewin observed that it is possible to glean general patterns, underlying relationships, and structural characteristics that can be transposed to other real-world situations. As an example of the field theory principle, Lewin (1997c) advocated the use of a psychological approach to understanding fields that influence individuals and noted that a teacher can never succeed in giving proper guidance to a student if she or he does not learn to understand the psychological world in which that individual student lived. This objective description in psychology actually means describing a situation in its totality–a sum total of facts which makes up that individual. SWOT Assessment It is important to determine the impact a strategy will have on the operations and activities of an organization. The objective is to utilize present technologies and future innovations to plan the future of a company. It is important to allow a flexible framework for strategy to interact within the environment. Further the objective is to gain understanding of the surroundings and behaviors under which they are operating. The key is to create an excellent strategy in which to include within the organizational culture. It is best management remains informed of potential challenges and SWOT allows for clarity. IT Infrastructure and the Practice of Outsourcing As the act of doing business becomes more innovative due to new technologies and high levels of communication, it is surprising that doing business become more complicated and expensive. Is it the factor of elevated expectation and competition from global markets, it is a lack of understanding your own organisation and its cores? Angelo Mozilo believes that outsourcing creates room for improved focus upon core values and it is with the implementation of high speed communication and data systems that enables people to better interact with each other (2002, par. 3). It allows for context to be processed outside the core, only to return when needed. Outsourcing is much like a double-edged sword, it can be seen as a negative as much as a positive. Many believe that it is stealing from American jobs to use cheaper labour sources in countries like India. Timothy Smith surmises that outsourcing has three functions in making organisations more efficient, effective and reduces costs. â€Å"Outsourcing enables organisations to reallocate resources† (Smith 2001, par. 3). This in turn allows the organisation to spend less time on those tasks, saves it money in labour and location by changing focus from survival to enhancing competitive advantage. An organisation can only do this when it becomes people focused. Truly what IT outsourcing does for the business to supplier to the customer relationship is create a new business process that isolates pieces of IT by restructuring the entire segment of the customer’s business. This includes value added improvements in the organisational logic of processes, implementation of best-in-class technology, extensive management and employee training as well as adoption of best practices in the vendor’s field of experience. This may sound like a lot of both monetary and human resource investment but over the long run such implementation will allow the organisation to focus on core rather than context. It goes to show what many successful CEOs would say, â€Å"don’t sweat the small stuff† and this motto will take you to the next level of continual learning and success. Exporting organisations are also seeking ways to lower costs while increasing customer service. A relatively new approach is supply chain management (SCM). Supply chain management differs from traditional materials and manufacturing control in several ways (Burn & Hackney, 2003). First, SCM views the supply chain as a single process. Second, SCM requires strategic decision-making due to its impact on overall costs and market share. Third, supply chain management regards inventories as a mechanism of last resort. Finally, it requires an integrated approach to systems. Integration results in reduced inventory and significant cost benefits (Trunick, 2005). The success of SCM usually involves implementation of an information management system. Still the model is evolving to include new innovations being used as tools. The Amorphous type of chain changes as the company introduces new strategies. This type of model best reflects the continuous flow of ideas and possibilities within the e-commerce construct or Internet medium specifically. It helps anticipate future occurrences. This aids a company’s tracking of Internet use especially when applied to advertising and promotions, as it is known â€Å"the number of businesses utilising the Internet for e-business purposes was significantly low at 28% though an further 33% were actively considering the implementation† (Ritchie & Brindley, 2002, p. 2). The function of procurement within the logistics process is moving to a new plane of sophistication due to new technologies to make the job simpler. Much of it is moving to the platform of the Internet to maximise efficiency and productivity. E-Procurement is now moving from easy-to-automate tasks like invoicing generations to more complex concerns such a E-marketplace implementation, operation and electronic collaboration. Literature suggests that currently focus in on technologies that support E-procurement of direct goods that are mission critical. Also because raw materials that go into production of the finished product many account for â€Å"80 percent of a company’s expenses, the saving derived from implementing E-procurement is compelling† (Thierauf & Hoctor 2003, p. 250). In other words, E-procurement technology offers lower purchase prices to faster fulfilment cycles as well as lower administrative overhead to better control. As a result, companies realise broad, measurable benefits from the implementation of E-procurement. Companies stand to gain even more impressive results from coming generations of the technology that includes connecting to trading exchange with their own industries. This also enables a customer better informed purchases as a company learns to manage production on a daily basis. This means the capability for the supply chain to extend beyond customers and suppliers improves. This also improves the ability for the company to communicate with the customer and the supplier. This leads to new ideas and knowledge about the process as companies and suppliers work in a join environment. Sometimes organisations look to outsourcing inventory as a way to cut costs and speed up the process. GHL will find that by using the Internet as e-strategy that they can achieve multitasking on new levels, allowing for many lines of communication as once. The Internet will allow GHL to tap into a bigger supply base to ensure dependable supply and backup sources. This in turn will reduce the amount it takes to secure shipment of new products. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are particularly valuable in new product introduction because it acts as a means of sharing information. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are software packages that attempt to integrate the information flow within a company, solving the problem of incompatibility between systems and operating practices. The ERP system will streamline the GHL’s data flows and provide management with direct access to a wealth of real-time information. This is facilitated by the used of database technologies which will link applications together and pass relevant data between them as necessary. Any new information added to one of the system updates the other systems automatically, thus creating complete integration between them (Soh, 2002 and Grandt, 2005). Directory services and middle ware are used in order to connect the applications and provide an infrastructure for users to communicate with each other and connect to the sources of information. There are many benefits and drawbacks to using this method of data transportation. It is important to analyse rather not this will be good fit for a company like GHL. â€Å"A key difficulty is that departments distrust the information provided by another department, be it via an information system or some other mechanism. Therefore checking and cleaning the data should be made an integral part of the implementation† (Bonner, 2002, par. 5). If ERP is integrated with the organisation’s decision-making structure, ERP can begin to deliver business benefits, impacting data delivery levels. Still its success can only be measured by the attitude of the user.