Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Research Proposal (300 words) and Lietrature Review (2200 words) Essay

Research Proposal (300 words) and Lietrature Review (2200 words) - Essay Example All of those perspective leaders, those with the most ambition will likely take the power. If the population is not educated they will not be able to differentiate among the perspective leaders, in order to choose those most likely to support the needs of the populace. Equally important is a free and open press, including all other mass media, such as radio and television and even the Internet. It is absolutely necessary that the populace have access to a free and open press in order to be able to follow and understand the news of what is going on within and without the country. Having access to what leaders do and what other countries do and what is going on in the world allows the populace to choose the direction in which they wish their country to go in this way they can choose the leaders that they believe will take them in that direction. Of course both of these are absolutely dependent upon a free and open and fairly honest system of election. Otherwise the people have no choic e at all. There has been a great deal of research done on the media over the past century, most of it during the past half-century. So one might say well why do we need to research the media then? The answer to this is that the media is constantly changing. Two things make major changes in media: technology and sociology. Technological changes, such as the advent of the Internet, accessibility of radio and television broadcast signals and the attendant lowering of costs for receivers, all make the media more accessible to the public and to those who would use the media to communicate with or influence the public. Sociological changes may be based in political changes, such as changes in the government or even the form of government, or changes in the dynamic culture of the society. Economic changes can influence both of these. Likewise, political and sociological changes can have powerful effects upon economical changes. In essence, a democracy, and most other forms of

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Synthesis of New Coordination Polymers or MOFs

Synthesis of New Coordination Polymers or MOFs 1.1 Design Principles Coordination polymers also known as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) or metal-coordination networks are compounds constructed from organic ligands and metal ions connected through coordination bonds and other weak chemical bonds which can extend infinitely into one two or three dimensions [1-3]. The arrangement of the components in coordination polymers mostly exists only in solid state which results from coordination interactions and weaker forces forming a smaller molecular units and growth occurs through self-assembly processes to give the final overall structure (Fig. 1) [4]. There are four different kinds of building blocks of which coordination polymers are built; ligands, metal ions or clusters, counter anions and solvent molecules. Metal ions which are called nodes or connectors and ligands which act as linkers are the main components [7]. They are the starting reagents which form the principal framework of the coordination polymer. The important characteristics of connectors and linkers are the number and orientation of their binding sites. Transition-metal ions are the most widely used connectors in the construction of coordination polymers. The choice of the metal and its oxidation state will determine the coordination geometries, which can be linear, T- or Y-shaped, tetrahedral, square-planar, square-pyramidal, trigonal-bipyramidal, octahedral, trigonal-prismatic, pentagonal-bipyramidal, and the corresponding distorted forms. Lanthanide ions are less used because of the high coordination number and variability coordination environment. However, th e large coordination numbers from 7 to 10 and the polyhedral coordination geometry of the lanthanide ions will create new and unusual network topologies. In addition, coordinatively unsaturated lanthanide ion centers can be generated by the removal of coordinated solvent molecules. The vacant sites could be utilized in chemical adsorption, heterogeneous catalysis, and sensors [8,9]. Multidentate carboxylate functionalities provide rigid frameworks due to their ability to chelate metal ions and lock in to M-O-C clusters, which are referred as secondary building units (SBUs). Instead of employing one transition metal ion at a network vertex, SBUs can produce extended frameworks of high structural stability. Metal-complex connectors have the advantage of controlling the bond angles and restricting the number of coordination sites; sites for no use can be blocked by chelating or macrocyclic ligands directly bound to a metal connector, and therefore, leave specific sites free for linkers [25,10,11]. Linkers are categorized in to three: inorganic, organic, and organic-inorganic hybrid types. Halides (F, Cl, Br, and I) are the smallest and simplest of all linkers. CN and SCN have similar bridging ability to halides [12,13]. Typical organic ligands are shown in Fig. 2 consisting of neutral, anionic and cationic organic ligands. The organic ligands act as bridging organic groups between the metal ions. Most famous neutral ligands are pyrazine (pyz) and 4,4’-bpy [15-18]. An example of a coordination polymer with the 4,4’-bpy ligand is illustrated in Fig. 3. Recent efforts have been devoted to utilization of long bridging ligands with appropriate spacers [20-25]. Among the anionic organic ligands di-,[26-28] tri-,[26, 29-32] tetra-,[33,34] and hexacarboxylate [35,36] molecules are representative anionic linkers. Coordination polymers having nonsymmetric anionic ligands described as pyridine-X-COO (X=spacer) have been exhaustively studied [37]. 1,4-Dihydroxy-2,5-benzoquinone and its derivatives provide a variety of frameworks, in which they act as linear linkers [38]. Coordination polymers with cationic organic ligands are very rare, which is naturally a result of their very low coordination power for cationic metal ions [39–43]. Developed were novel cationic ligands based on N-aryl pyridinium and viologen derivatives and were successfully employed [39–41]. Counter ions are present in the coordination frameworks when neutral bridging ligands are used as linkers to keep the neutrality in the overall charge. Furthermore, other roles such as coordination and hydrogen bonding linker, guest for vacant spaces in the solid state are expected, eventually resulting in overall structure regulation. Solvent molecules are used not only for reaction media, but also the regulation of framework topology. It may co-crystallize, increasing the number of possible weak interactions in the final solid state packing, and can also act as guest molecules in the vacant space between polymer construct [7]. Synthesis Many new coordination polymers or MOFs have been synthesized in the last few years; however, their methods of preparation and synthesis were quite similar. Most of them are synthesized by employing a so called â€Å"modular synthesis†, in which a mixture of metal precursors and appropriate ligands are combined under mild conditions to provide a crystalline porous network [26]. In most of the resulting materials the solvent used during synthesis is removed by applying vacuum, heat, or exchange with volatile molecules, resulting in large pore volume and large surface area accessible to guest molecules. Synthetic methods such as solvothermal synthesis (conventional approach), microwave synthesis [45], sonication synthesis [46], mechanochemical synthesis [47], and solid start synthesis [48] have been developed. Despite the simplicity of the synthesis, there are several challenges in the preparation of new materials related to the optimization of the reaction conditions that lead t o the desired MOF, in high yield and crystallinity. The following parameters can influence MOFs’ optimization and synthesis: temperature, solvent compositions, reaction times, reagent ratios, reagent concentrations, and pH of the co-solvent solution [44]. Accordingly, any change in any of these parameters can result in large number of network connectivities, many of which are nonporous and have adverse effect on the gas storage and separation applications. Therefore, large numbers of reactions trails are required to discover the new desired MOFs in which the reaction parameters are systematically varied. As a result high throughput technologies have been employed for the synthesis of new MOFs in the recent years [49,50]. 1.2.1 Solvothermal Synthesis Solvothermal methods have been confirmed to be among the most effective and convenient routes under relatively mild conditions, in particular for the crystal growth of coordination polymers [50-52]. Solvothermal reactions are carried out in closed vessels under autogenous pressure above the boiling point of the solvent. In most cases, high-boiling organic solvents have been used for solvothermal reactions. The most commonly used being dimethyl formamide, diethyl formamide, acetonitrile, acetone, ethanol, and methanol etc. Mixtures of solvents have also been used to tune the solution polarity and the kinetics of solvent-ligand exchange, effecting enhanced crystal growth. Solvothermal reactions can be carried out in different temperature ranges, depending on the requirement of the reaction [53]. When water is used as the solvent, the reactions are referred to as hydrothermal. The hydrothermal method has been used successfully for the synthesis of an enormous number of inorganic compoun ds and inorganic organic hybrid materials [54]. Due to their unique advantageous properties such as high thermal stability, air and moisture non-sensitivity, non-volatility, low reactivity, and templating and charge balancing ability of ionic liquids, they can be chosen as solvothermal reaction media. Solvothermal synthesis in ionic liquids is specifically referred to as ionothermal synthesis [55]. The coordination polymer [Cu(I)(bpp)]BF4 [bpp = 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane] [56] was prepared by solvothermal reaction using the ionic liquid [bmim][BF4] (bmim = 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium). The synthesis methods employed for different structures of coordination polymers (MOFs) and their key findings are listed in Table 1. 1.2.2 Microwave-assisted synthesis Microwave-assisted synthesis has attracted much attention as it provides a very rapid method for the synthesis of MOFs and has been used extensively to produce nanosize metal oxides [59]. Such processes involve heating a solution with microwaves for a period of about an hour to produce nanosized crystals. The microwave-assisted synthesis has been termed ‘microwave-assisted solvothermal synthesis’ for the preparation of MOFs. Microwave-assisted processes generally produce the same qualities of crystals as those obtained by the regular solvothermal processes, but much quicker [60-64]. The first coordination polymer reported to be synthesized by microwave synthesis was Cr-MIL-100 [65]. The compound was synthesized in 4 h at 220 oC with 44% yield, which is comparable with that of conventional hydrothermal synthesis (220 oC and 4 days). The author expanded this method to synthesis of Cr-MIL-101 at 210 oC in less than 60 min, and reported similar physicochemical and textural properties compared with the standard material synthesized using the conventional electrical heating method [66]. Another coordination polymer, MOF-5, was also synthesized by applying microwave irradiation: increase in microwave irradiation time, power level, and concentration of the substrates beyond an optimal condition led to a reduction in synthesis time at the expense of crystal quality [67]. Microwave-assisted heating was found to be the method of choice to rapidly synthesize HKUST-1 crystals in the range of 10-20 ÃŽ ¼m in high yields (~90%) within 1 h [68]. Fe-MIL-53 [69], Fe-MIL-101-NH2 [7 0], IRMOF-3 (H2BDC-NH2) [71], and ZIF-8 (HMeIm) [72] were also synthesized using microwave-assisted synthesis method. 1.2.3 Sonochemical Synthesis Sonochemical methods can also achieve a reduction in crystallization time and significantly smaller particles size than those by the conventional solvothermal synthesis by homogeneous and accelerated nucleation [73,74]. A substrate solution mixture for a given MOF structure is introduced to a horn-type Pyrex reactor fitted to a sonicator bar with an adjustable power output without external cooling. After sonication, formation and collapse of bubbles will be formed in the solution which produces very high local temperatures (~5,000 K) and pressures (~1,000 bar) [74,75], and results in extremely fast heating and cooling rates (>1010 K/s) producing fine crystallites [76]. High-quality MOF-5 crystals in the 5-25ÃŽ ¼m range were obtained within 30min by sonochemical synthesis using NMP (1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) as the solvent [77]. Detailed characterization and comparison with a conventionally synthesized sample showed almost identical physical properties. HKUST-1 was also prepared using DMF/EtOH/H2O mixed-solution in an ultrasonic bath [78]. High-quality Mg-MOF-74 crystals (1,640m2/g BET surface area) with particle size of ca. 0.6 ÃŽ ¼m were successfully synthesized in 1 h by a sonochemical method after triethylamine (TEA) was added as a deprotonating agent. Interestingly, mesopores were formed, probably due to the competitive binding of TEA to Mg2+ ions [79]. ZIF-8 was prepared recently by a sonochemical method under the pH-adjusted synthesis conditions using NaOH and TEA [80]. Inexpensive industrial grade DMF was employed as a solvent. A small amount of TEA as a deprotonating agent was necessary to obtain ZIF-8 crystals when the resulting solution was subjected to an ultrasonic treatment for 1 h at a 60% power level. 1.2.4 Electrochemical Synthesis The electrochemical synthesis is based on metal ions continuously supplied through anodic dissolution as a metal source instead of metal salts, which react with the dissolved linker molecules and a conducting salt in the reaction medium. The metal deposition on the cathode is avoided by employing protic solvents, but in the process H2 is generated [81]. The electrochemical route is also possible to run a continuous process to obtain a higher solids content compared to normal batch reactions [76]. The first electrochemical synthesis of MOFs was reported in 2005 by researchers at BASF [82] for HKUST-1. Bulk copper plates are used as the anodes in an electrochemical cell with the H3BTC dissolved in methanol as solvent and a copper cathode. During a period of 150 min at a voltage of 12-19V and a currency of 1.3 A, a greenish blue precipitate was formed. After activation, a dark blue colored powder having surface area of 1,820m2/g was obtained. This work was further used in the ZIFs syntheses [81,83]. Recently, HKUST-1, ZIF-8, Al-MIL-100, Al-MIL-53, and Al- MIL-53-NH2 were synthesized via anodic dissolution in an electrochemical cell [84]. The synthesis parameters such as solvent, electrolyte, voltage-current density, and temperature on the synthesis yield and textural properties of the MOFs obtained, was investigated and the produced MOF structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction, gas adsorption, atomic force microscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. 1.2.5 Mechanochemical Synthesis Mechanochemical synthesis involves breakage of intramolecular bonds mechanically followed by a chemical transformation [80]. Synthesis of porous MOF by mechanochemical reaction was reported first in 2006 [89]. Mechanochemical reactions can occur at room temperature under solvent-free conditions, which has an advantage in avoiding organic solvents [90]. Quantitative yields of small MOF particles can be obtained in short reaction times, normally in the range of 10-60min. Mostly, metal oxides were found to be preferred than metal salts as a starting material, which results in water as the only side product [80]. The critical contribution of moisture in mechanochemical synthesis of pillared type MOFs was recently reported by Kitagawa group [91]. Liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) involves addition of small amounts of solvents which can lead to acceleration of mechanochemical reactions due to an increase of mobility of the reactants on the molecular level [92,93]. The liquid can also work as a structure-directing agent. However, mechanochemical synthesis is limited to specific MOF types only and large amount of product is difficult to obtain. While a mechanochemical reaction between H3BTC and copper acetate produces HKUST-1, reaction using copper formate resulted in a previously unknown phase, potentially due to templating effects of the different acid byproducts formed [93]. Recently, a mechanochemical approach was also applied for ZIF synthesis using combinations of ZnO and imidazole (HIm), 2-methylimidazole (HMeIm), and 2-ethylimidazole (HEtIm) as the starting material within 30-60min reaction time [94].

Friday, October 25, 2019

A Comparison of the Heat and Cold Imagery Used in Woman at Point Zero a

A Comparison of the Heat and Cold Imagery Used in Woman at Point Zero and Thousand Cranes In the books Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, and Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata, both authors use various forms of imagery that reoccur throughout the works. These images are used not to be taken for their literal meanings, but instead to portray a deeper sense or feeling that may occur several times in the book. One type of imagery that both Saadawi and Kawabata use in their works is heat and cold imagery. In the works, Woman at Point Zero and Thousand Cranes, Nawal El Saadawi and Yasunari Kawabata each use heat and cold imagery to portray the same feelings of love and fear and /or the lack thereof. In both works, the authors use heat and cold imagery in order to portray the presence and/or lack of love in three different forms. These three forms of love that are illustrated through the use of heat and cold imagery are protection, comfort, and intimacy. Heat and cold imagery is used repeatedly in both works to provide a feeling of love in the form of protection and security, usually having the presence of heat or warmth representing a feeling of protection and security, and the absence of heat representing a lack of security or protection. In the following lines from Kawabata’s Thousand Cranes, it is a memory of Mrs. Ota that provides Kikuji a sense of security during a conversation with Fumiko: â€Å"Mrs. Ota’s warmth came over him like warm water. She had gently surrendered everything he remembered, and he had felt secure† (Kawabata 36). In Woman at Point Zero, Saadawi uses the warmth of Firdaus’ uncle’s arms as an image for love in the form of protection in the following lines: â€Å"During the cold winter night, I curled up in my uncle’s arms like a baby in its womb. We drew warmth from our closeness† (Saadawi 21). This passage provides an even greater sense of protection through Saadawi’s use of the simile, â€Å"like a baby in its womb† (21). The second form of love expressed through the use of heat and cold imagery in both works is comfort. In Woman at Point Zero, heat is used in order to provide comfort to Firdaus who is â€Å"shivering with cold† and â€Å"soaked in rain† (63). The third and final form of love expressed through the use of heat and cold imagery in Thousand Cranes and Woman at Point Zero is that of intimate relations. It is f... ...ng used simultaneously with the cold imagery. Both in the beginning of the book when she first sits down to speak with Firdaus and when she is about to get up, Saadawi refers to there being a â€Å"coldness which did not reach my body†, and says, â€Å"It was the cold of the sea in a dream. I swam through its waters. I was naked and knew not how to swim. But I neither felt its cold, nor drowned in its waters† (107). Perhaps after analyzing these two matching passages, one could make a claim that we must first humble ourselves in order to become insensitive to the coldness of this world. In the end, whether it is protection, comfort, intimacy, uneasiness, or death that Nawal El Saadawi and Yasunari Kawabata are portraying through their usage of heat and cold imagery in Woman at Point Zero and Thousand Cranes, we can easily see that both authors use heat and cold imagery as the dominant reoccurring literary device to portray feelings of love and fear and/or the lack thereof. Bibliography Kawabata, Yasunari. Thousand Cranes. Trans. Edward G. Seidensticker. Vintage Books: New York, 1996. Saadawi, Nawal El. Woman at Point Zero. Trans. Sherif Hetata. Zed Books: London, 1983.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Reading books which are related to real events Essay

Reading books which are related to real events, real people, and established facts brings about more knowledge, information and news. It is beneficial to learn how the knowledge is available. People have to read these books for studying, research, improving their brainstorm, or being about their career fields. However, reading other books leads people to get advantage as well. In my opinion, I strongly disagree with this idea. I am going to explain my reasons. Firstly, there are various kinds of books that are useful for enhancing thinking strength. It is not only text books but also fictional books such as detective fictions. For instance, Conan, which is regarded as a Japanese criminal-issued investigation comic, is widespread reading of both children and adults in Thailand. It may help readers to stimulate their powerful thought. If they observe and analyze scenario, they may find something that seems wrong in scenes so as to find out who is the criminal. Besides, the strategy planning books are also advantage to people’s thinking. These books describe how the way to success is and influence them to attempt to get their aim. Secondly, some kinds of books make people relax and entertain. People have to do their work or responsibilities almost every day and it may be hard and stressful to do well. They sometimes need the funny books such as novels or comics that help them to release their tension and cause their amusement and enjoyment although these books are less benefit to gain knowledge. Additionally, reading only a real event or fact book may have effect on children to be extremely bored and they should be deemed reading fictional books necessary in order that they will not neglect and will be interested in reading books upholding their imaginations. They should not be restricted reading only at text books. There are many other books which can be used as materials for students beyond the class of study. It gives rise to be creative and encourage their literacy. To illustrate, Harry Potter, which is a fantasy novel, has a great number of alphabet and seven series so far, but there have been a lot of children from all over the places reading this novel. Moreover, some of the readers use their free time for writing  fan-fictions of Harry Potter, which are stories coming from their imaginations on the other side of the main story. In conclusion, Reading books that are about not only real people, real events and established facts is more significant for people to improve their thinking power, to relax and entertain themselves in their leisure time. Furthermore, it is essential for children to arouse their imaginations, writing and reading abilities.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Case Study Analysis Paper Essay

In this case study I am going to analyze what went wrong in a particular situation for one company. The new hire Carl Robins, seems as if he went in over his head maybe due to the fact that he is the newest recruiter. It looks like he may have tried to prove himself to his peers. It also seems as if Carl himself was not properly trained as to knowing, understanding and taking the proper steps when it comes to recruiting new hires. It seems as if the company does not take recruiting very seriously or else I think that the company might enforce policies and rules when it comes to recruitment. See more: how to write an analysis paper on an article examples Things such as applications should have been properly filled out before and orientation was ever scheduled, applications are a basic requirement when it comes to applying for any job. Through basic communication the training manuals should be checked, changed, and updated frequently according to how often the company is recruiting new hires and last but not the least if the company had properly communicated that the conference room was blocked for maintenance Carl would have and should have known in advance through proper communication from upper management giving him the chance to properly schedule any training sessions. If Carl had been properly trained on these issues he may not have panicked in this situation asking himself â€Å"what am I going to do†. Although it appears to be a lack of training in this case, Carl still had maybe 15 day in advance to at least start checking on things after he got the call from Monica he could have started on the project right then. Instead he procrastinated because he thought he had it under control, again going back to what I think was a lack of training on the company’s behalf. If properly trained he might have had a backup plan and immediately knew what to do if he found himself in such a situation as I am going to nalyze in this paper. Background When a company is hiring new people I am sure we would all like to think that, ok I am hiring an adult he/she will and should know what to do if ever crunched in any bad situation. That cannot and should not be assumed. Proper training is vital for any company. The training of employees is important an d crucial for any company, simply because it majorly contributes to the success or failure of the company. Training is important for managers, current employees and new employees. Although, employees may argue that training is a waste of time it is important to stay on top of everything and always remain prepared for any situation. Continually training and updating within a company is important because it keeps employees up to date on many things such as the use of new technology, technology is forever evolving. Training is an opportunity to introduce and implement new company policies, rule and regulations. Training creates and offers a safe working environment for all employees and managers. It also creates opportunities for personal growth, promotional opportunities and overall a healthy work environment. Furthermore, training is the key ingredient to a company staying on the edge when it comes to its competition. For example; while serving in the United States Air Force we trained on everything. Nothing is too complicated or to irrelevant to train on. After analyzing this case study I thought on what if we did not train as hard and often as we did. We would be jeopardizing this country and it would impact us in very negative way. Everyone plays their part in training from those on the battlefield, those back on station, and even down to those cooking in the kitchens. More specifically, I worked in the Group Control Center for my group. My job was to relay all critical information to 6 squadrons control centers during real world exercise scenarios. At the group level we conducted weekly briefings and inspections of all equipment to ensure readiness for any situation. For a while I thought what is the point of all this training and on the same thing, I thought it was redundant and I already had it under my belt. When we finally had an exercise all the training that I thought was redundant came back to me and helped me to relay the important and vital information. An exercise scenario is presented as if it was real world happening, and there was a ton of pressure. If I was not properly drilled and trained I might have cracked under the pressure such as Carl did in his situation. Key Problems In this case study, the key problems and issues are what seems to be a lack of training and communication on both the managers and employees part. Carl Robins the new hire been at his job six months, although he successfully recruited fifteen new recruits somewhere along the lines he lost what he thought he had under control. He later found that applications were incomplete and not finished. Applications are a basic and general part of applying to a job. If you can’t complete the application process then I believe you should not move any further beyond the application process. He also found that transcripts were not submitted on file. If the company requires that transcripts be submitted that again should be properly communicated to new recruits and also new employees. Also Carl didn’t know that the training room would be blocked and scheduled for maintenance this is another basic but crucial mix up that contributes the success of this project. Carl also had an opportunity to ask Monica any questions when she gave him a call to check on where things were. Although she called to check on the process there were still some things that the company failed to communicate to new employees. Alternatives Alternatives in this situation could be that if managers implement a weekly or monthly training and update meeting or online refresher courses to complete this might have helped Carl to properly think his way out of the situation verses panic. This also gives employees a chance to stay refreshed and on the edge ready for competitors. Another alternative could be that if managers implement a new hire shadow program that way the company will always have communication going within the company. During those six months Carl could have possibly had a co-worker that he felt comfortable enough to ask a question. Maybe he did not ask Monica because he did not want her to question his ability to get the job done. Proposed Solution I propose that ABC, Inc. implement a monthly online training course for the new campus recruits and all other employees in general. Rather it is on new policies and regulations and changes or just to refresh employees on current situations. I would also recommend that ABC, Inc. foster more communication within the company. Little things like knowing the scheduling of the training room is important to when it comes to the success of a project. In conclusion I recommend that ABC, Inc. revise and update the company’s new hire program. Rather it is in house for the new campus recruiter or for the newly recruited hires. The company definitely needs to tighten up the application process. Furthermore, ABC, Inc. should change the way things are communicated within the company. Basic communication is essential for a company to succeed. Proper and effective communication is the basic functions to properly and successfully manage a company. Effective employee training is important to the success of any business. Also proper training programs provide benefits for employees and the company, but only if they are carefully planned and properly implemented. A clear understanding of policies, job functions, and goals will eventually turn into increased motivation of employees, their morale and productivity and increased profits for the company. Training is a means to a specific end, keeping goals in mind during the development and implementation stages of your training program will assist in creating a clearly defined and effective program.