A human-made disaster Essays

A human-made disaster Essays A human-made disaster Essay A human-made disaster Essay The Aral Sea, a mammoth body of water which is located on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, former parts of the Soviet Union and now the Commonwealth of Independent States, was once the fourth largest sea in the entire planet. The two major rivers that feed it are Amudarya and Syrdarya (darya meaning river). But the Aral Sea has been shrinking for over four decades. Now, it is only the eleventh largest sea on our planet. This disaster, like many others, is caused by man, but on a much larger scale.It began when the U.S.S.R, determined to conquer the mountainous, desert terrain around the Aral Sea, came up an ingenious scheme. Moscow ordered water to be diverted from Amudarya and Syrdarya in large amounts to irrigate the cotton fields in the Central Asian desert. The plan worked. Where nothing had ever grown, now grew millions of tons of white gold. The economy was boosted and nature had been tamed yet again. However, this excessive use of water meant that by the time the water reached the Aral Sea, it was reduced to barely a trickle of water, polluted by harmful chemicals. Over the next years, this resulted in the shrinking of the Aral Sea. Recently, the sea began vanishing faster than ever expected.Now, one-time sea-side towns are stranded in the middle of a salty desert. The climate is getting warmer and warmer because of the reduced cooling affect of the sea. There is little rain, but there is a lot of stagnant water. The atmosphere has been poisoned by salts and deadly chemicals. Sandstorms sweep the land carrying with them poisonous salts and other dangerous chemicals. There arent any fish in the Sea: they were slaughtered by the chemicals released. There was also an island which was once a Soviet bio-weapon facility. The harmful waste dumped on this island is currently being cleaned as part of an international project.These are tough times for people living in the regions around the Aral Sea. There are far too limited fishing opportunities, much to the fishermens despair who are now escaping this region. There is little water, clean enough for hygiene and to drink. There are premature births and more miscarriages as a result of a polluted atmosphere. Diseases, such as typhoid, are on the increase. More and more people are becoming unemployed as, not only the fishing, but canning industry suffers as well.Even now, Uzbekistan is one of the largest exporters of cotton in the world. Although, this advantage is only limited as it is only a matter of time as the income from cotton decreases, striking a blow at both nations economies, while income from fishing has already become sparse and unemployment is on the rise.The question at this time is how to undo another of our blunders. The answers proposed are that the quality of irrigation canals be improved and desalination plants be built on the Aral Sea. Another set of ideas are charging farmers to use water and planting cotton that requires less water. But these ideas will require money, which these nations do not possess.In conclusion, Aral Sea is another one of the numerous human-made disasters, but on a much larger magnitude. We should learn from this mistake and keep them in mind as we move on to attain new feats. We also need to take action on the issues of the future NOW, such as the global warming crisis which will affect the whole world and on a lot larger scale than the Aral Sea. Or else, like in this case, it might be too late.

How to Conduct Yourself at Work

How to Conduct Yourself at Work Workplace success relies on much more than simply fulfilling the requirements of your job description. â€Å"Professionalism,† is a valuable trait, and its basic tenets can be applied to any job in any field. If you want to truly excel not just in your job, but also as a contributing member of your organizational culture, make these 10 simple practices part of your personal conduct code. 1. Punctuality PowerArriving on time to work and for meetings demonstrates commitment to your job. Chronic lateness, meanwhile, is a blatant show of disrespect for your coworkers, superiors and entire organization. Keep an eye on the clock both at the start of the day and during your lunch break to make sure you arrive and return on time.2. Keep It PositiveBad days. Everyone has them. But bringing your bad attitude into work not only reflects poorly on you but also accomplishes nothing. Resist the urge to take out your bad feelings on others and instead commit to check your attitude at the doo r. Focus your energy on the positives: what can you do to make a bad situation better?3. Dress for the Job You WantYou may have heard the expression, â€Å"Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have.† Even if you’re happy in your job it’s still important to look your best. This doesn’t necessarily mean wearing a suit, but it does mean looking neat, clean and well-groomed at all times. Practice good hygiene and avoid overly casual wardrobe pieces, such as shorts and flip flops.4. Lend a HandThe stereotypical â€Å"dog eat dog† office environment has been replaced by cultures which value collaboration beyond all else. If your coworker needs help with a project, offer to pitch in. Remember that the accomplishments of your colleagues also reflect well on you and your entire organization.5. Listen UpJust as you should be willing to share your knowledge and talents with your coworkers, you should be equally receptive to the contributions of oth ers. The expression â€Å"many hands make light work,† holds true in the workplace for those willing to accept the assistance of others.6. Give Up on GossipNo one expects you to like all of your coworkers, but sharing your negative opinions and personal gossip interferes with productivity. This doesn’t just pertain to talking about others, but also to talking about yourself. Being friendly with your coworkers is one thing but chronically airing your dirty laundry over the water cooler is unprofessional.7. Learn From Your MistakesIn life, no one is immune from mistakes. It’s inevitable that workplace mistakes will occur, but acknowledging your errors, making your best effort to correct them, and learning along the way can help you recover and avoid future falters.8. Stay in ControlWhen coworkers are exasperating and deadlines are intense, work can be a stressful place. Keep your temper in check during challenging situations. If you can’t control your emoti ons, walk away until you’re in a calmer state of mind.9. Understand Office EtiquetteDo you text during meetings? Leave dirty dishes in the communal kitchen? These office no-nos are disrespectful and can interfere with how you’re perceived by others. Pay careful attention to office etiquette and make sure your behavior is in line with expectations.10. Honor Your CommitmentsProcrastination is a fact or life, but in the workplace it can lead to frustration between colleagues. Follow through on your responsibilities and your coworkers will view you as reliable. Conversely, show appreciation to coworkers who do the same.11. R.E.S.P.E.C.T.Independent of level or title, every person in your workplace deserves to be treated with respect. The more respected team members feel, the better you’ll be able to communicate and collaborate for optimal results.The best part of these 10 rules of office conduct? They’re simple to execute and yet offer big rewards. For more i nformation on the 21st century job market or to sign up for job match alert visit TheJobNetwork.

RES675, Version 2 - Written Assignment #1 Essay

RES675, Version 2 - Written Assignment #1 - Essay Example Each part is weighed against generally accepted methods for preparing research articles. The review concludes with the author’s thoughts about the research methods depicted in the two articles, citing appropriateness of the methods as well as limitations. Research is the cornerstone of any science. It refers to the systematic and purpose-driven process of attempting to gain knowledge about something. Research processes are often documented in journals, which describes the reason for the research, how the research was conducted and the results of the research or study made. This paper looks into two researches conducted and reviews the documented research process contained in the journal article published by the researchers. The first research article presents research done with postcards and looks into its usage as a souvenir, collectible or a means of communication from 1985 until 1920. The research was conducted by Bjarne Rogan, professor of ethnology and culture history at the University of Oslo, Norway. His article on his postcard research was published in the Cultural Analysis journal in 2005. The article describes the researcher’s purpose for conducting the research using present day postcard collections from the period mentioned above. The researcher wanted to look into other aspects of postcards aside from their picture side where more scholarly researched had been focused on. Reviews of previously published articles and literature on postcards are also used by the researcher in order to determine the reasons for the postcard’s popularity during its time, as well as to trace the development of postcards and the evolution of its design during the period. The second research article presents research regarding consumption of energy drink among college students. The research was conducted by Brenda Malinauskas, Victor Aeby, Reginald Overton, Tracy Aeby, and Kimberly Heidal, all professors at East Carolina University

Technical Description of the Process of Sleep Essay

Technical Description of the Process of Sleep - Essay Example Other equipment used in support with EEG, is one that measures eye movements that is called electrooculogram or EOG. The Electromyogram (EMG) on the other hand measures the muscle tension under the chin of a subject. As stated in Sleep-Information about Sleep, the practice in studying sleep pattern is EEGs, EOGs, and EMGs are recorded simultaneously on a continuous moving chart paper. This then determines the activities of three aspects – the muscle activity, the brain activity, and eye movements. The NREM sleep and REM sleep occurs in a cyclic manner during sleep state (Sleep, Sleep Disorders, and Biological Rhythms. They interchangeably happen to an individual during his sleep. Sleep starts with periods of NREM and then REM. NREM state has four different stages as determined by the frequency and amplitude (brain wave’s magnitude of periodic variation) of the brain activity. The first NREM stage is characterized by very light sleep. NREM Stage 2 has special brain waves called sleep spindles (burst of brain activity visible on an EEG) and K-complexes (brief high-voltage peak in EEG as defined by Wikipedia.org). Stage 3 and 4 of NREM is described by slow brain waves and in Stage 4 of NREM, it is hard to wake the person up. NREM stage 4 is deep sleep and cannot easily be awakened by external factors. During NREM, the muscle activity remains active and body function is the same with the waking state. The difference is that there is no eye movement.

Effect of Temperature on Membrane Permeability Beetroot

Effect of Temperature on Membrane Permeability Beetroot In this investigation I shall find out the relationship between the amounts of leakage of beetroot pigment into water under various range of temperatures. Furthermore, I will also investigate if there is a correlation between absorbency and temperature. Hypothesis Since the temperatures are high, it is possible that the phospholipids in the cell membrane will move faster. This will inevitably result in the membrane becoming for permeable. Therefore, I predict that, there will be a positive relationship between permeability and temperature. I also predict that there will be a positive correlation between the two variables, which means as the temperature increases the absorbency will inevitably increase. Null Hypothesis There will be no relationship between the rise in temperature and the amount of beetroot pigment leaking into the water. To give me a visual perception of my obtained results compared to that of the two other groups, I will represent the results in a form of a scatter diagram/graph. I will use the Spearman Rank Statistical test to carry out a statistical analysis of my results. This will allow me to establish a significant relationship between the two sets of data, which are the temperature and the absorbency. To work out the significant relationship I will be using the following formula: Rц¢ = 1 6 ∑D ² N = no. of pairs of measurements that I have, which is 7. n (n ² 1) Rц¢ = 1 6 x 2 n (n ² 1) Rц¢ = 1 6 x 2 7 (7 ² 1) Rц¢ = 1 12 336 Rц¢ = 0.96 I have been provided with a table, which indicates that for every n value there is a critical value. For 7 pairs of measurements the critical value is 0.79. If Rц¢ is greater than or equal to the critical value indicated in the table, than there is a significant relationship between my sets of data. Rs = 0.96 > 0.79. This indicates that there is a correlation between temperature and the absorbency. I also know that I have a positive correlation, as 0.96 is a positive value. I also need to work carry out a Spearmans rank test using my average value of absorbency, which includes my own set of results as well as the two other pooled results. Rs from my average value of absorbency is identical to the previous Rs. This clearly means that I have successfully managed to support the fact that there is a positive correlation between absorbency and temperature. Therefore, I can discard my Null Hypothesis, which states otherwise. The first graph, which is a scatter diagram of pool results, displays my results alongside with two other students. By carefully comparing the graph I have noticed that all the results indicate the same pattern of a positive correlation. However, I have noticed that one set of results had produced an anomalies result. Therefore, I intend to discuss possible limitation and problems, which may have caused this. The graph as well as the statistical analysis both indicates that my prediction was correct, and as a result of this I can discard my null hypothesis. Scientific Knowledge In the cells of a beetroot plant, substances called anthocyanin, which are common plant pigments, is contained within the plasma membrane. This substance is a glycosides that is water-soluble with some of the sugar groups removed. The red/purple color of the organism is produced from the anthocyanin, which in turn contains a positive charge distributed over the chemical ring system. A damaged beetroot cell with a broken membrane would initiate the anthocyanin bleeding out of the cell like a dye. This aspect could be used to test the conditions that affect the integrity of the cell membrane. The cell membrane in a beetroot plant is made up of a phospholipids bi-layer, which forms a fluid mosaic structure. If the temperature were increased the cell membrane would gain high kinetic energy and vibrate vigorously, causing the phospholipids bi-layer to break, which in turn would increase the size of the pores. As a result, when the temperature continues to raise the plasma membrane of the beetroot cell will rupture. This due to the fact that the phospholipids bi-layer, which forms the cell membrane, is made of proteins, and as the kinetic theory states; with increased temperature molecules in the protein will receive high energy and vibrate vigorously. For that reason, above the optimum temperature, the bonds holding the protein structure together will be broken, thus the proteins are denatured. This means at higher temperatures more of the pigment or anthocyanin would leak out, in turn increasing the rate of diffusion. As a result I have decided to find out the temperature v ariable and use the colour change, caused by the anthocyanin as the independent variable. The results, which I received, seem to support this fact, in that as the temperature increased the percentage transmission of light read by the colorimeter decreased. Evaluation of Evidence The graph produced from my results seem to illustrate the same trend as the two pooled results, which is that there is a direct proportionality between the increase in temperature and the absorbance. This indicates that my results were somewhat reliable. Throughout the experiment I used a syringe for measuring volume, which consequently would have increased precision, as this assured the measurements used were to the nearest millimetre. Moreover, I also used a stopwatch, which ensured that the time in which I allowed each set of beetroot discs to be heated in water was kept constant. I also used the same cork borer to cut out each beetroot cylinder, which indicates that all the beetroot cylinder should have been more or less identical to each other.

Principles of Heat Treating of Steels :: essays papers

Principles of Heat Treating of Steels Principles of Heat Treating of Steels A steel is usually defined as an alloy of iron and carbon with the content between a few hundreds of a percent up to about 2 wt%. Other alloying elements can amount in total to about 5 wt% in low-alloy steels and higher in more highly alloyed steels such as tool steels and stainless steels. Steels can exhibit a wide variety of properties depending on composition as well as the phases and microconstituents present, which in turn depend on the heat treatment. The Fe-C Phase Diagram The basis for the understanding of the heat treatment of steels is the Fe-C phase diagram. Because it is well explained in earlier volumes of Metals Handbook and in many elementary textbooks, the stable iron-graphite diagram and the metastable Fe-Fe3 C diagram. The stable condition usually takes a very long time to develop, especially in the low-temperature and low-carbon range, and therefore the metastable diagram is of more interest. The Fe-C diagram shows which phases are to be expected at equilibrium for different combinations of carbon concentration and temperature. We distinguish at the low-carbon and ferrite, which can at most dissolve 0.028 wt% C at 727 oC and austenite which can dissolve 2.11 wt% C at 1148 oC. At the carbon-rich side we find cementite. Of less interest, except for highly alloyed steels, is the d-ferrite existing at the highest temperatures. Between the single-phase fields are found regions with mixtures of two phases, such as ferrite + cementite, austenite + cementite, and ferrite + austenite. At the highest temperatures, the liquid phase field can be found and below this are the two phase fields liquid + austenite, liquid + cementite, and liquid + d-ferrite. In heat treating of steels the liquid phase is always avoided. Some important boundaries at single-phase fields have been given special names. These include: the carbon content at which the minimum austenite temperature is attained is called the eutectoid carbon content. The ferrite-cementite phase mixture of this composition formed during cooling has a characteristic appearance and is called pearlite and can be treated as a microstructural entity or microconstituent. It is an aggregate of alternating ferrite and cementite particles dispersed with a ferrite matrix after extended holding close to A1. The Fe-C diagram is of experimental origin. The knowledge of the thermodynamic principles and modern thermodynamic data now permits very accurate calculations of this diagram.

Business Management Essay

What different persuasive approaches would you use on the following audiences: a boss, a peer, a challenging person, or an open-minded person? I believe the approaches will and must differ if you want to be successful. Persuasion is meant to win others over, not to defeat them. Therefore, it is important to be able to see the topic from different angles in order to anticipate the reaction others have to a proposal. Since individuals in each of the roles you have listed are typically going to have their own biases and priorities, the message approach needs to be tailored to best win them over. Boss: this is who is prominent in a department or organization to accomplish company goals and objectives. Therefore, the approach should be to establish how your proposal ties in with the accomplishment of those goals .Peer – any persuasions that work on you should work on your peer, since you share similar viewpoints and roles. Typically persuasion between peers can be less structured and more informal since you already have shared experience. Challenging person – the most difficult spectators, the key here is preparati on. The challenging person is typically trying to poke holes and arguing against your ideas. The approach you need to take is think through all the possible objections that could be raised against your suggestion. Then develop and prepare the counter-arguments. If you’ve done your work thoroughly, you can win over the challenging person by demonstrating how you’ve thought through and come up with solutions for all possible flaws in your argument. Open-minded – this audience needs preparation as well, but from a different perspective than the challenging. Instead of trying to anticipate every possible objection and how to mitigate it, the open-minded approach is to lay out the facts in a rational manner that persuades to what you want to accomplish. With a focus on logic, an open-minded person will be persuaded. †¢ Consider the list titled â€Å"In Depth: Critical Thinking, The Long Version† in Ch.1 of Critical Thinking. What do you consider to be the most important points? Why do you think this? I would consider the following to be the most important points: Distinguish between rational claims and emotional ones, separate fact from opinion, recognize logical flaws in the argument, and spot deception and holes in the arguments of others. I think these points are the most  important when it comes to decisive whether or not a claim is true. If I can distinct fact from opinion this will help one to determine the relevant information in a claim. Recognizing flaws and spotting deception and holes in the argument of others will further allow me to use proper reasoning when interpreting a claim and deciding whether or not it is valid, sound, or both. There are many critical think skills that a person needs to develop in order to become shrewder. These skills applied to everyday decisions and they can be also be applied to world-wide issues. Every day we talk to somebody or read the local newspaper, we are using critical thinking skills. †¢ What is the difference between persuasion and manipulation? How do arguments and language affect the difference? Persuasion is leading someone in a certain way. For example, logical argument might be more persuasive than screaming fits, the smell of chocolate cake might persuade you to eat it. So it is neutral. Manipulation is getting a person to do something for your purposes. You could use logic to persuade someone that something was right, hence manipulating them into doing something you want them to do. †¢ What keys or tips can raise suspicion about the validity of arguments, presented verbally and in writing? The validity of the argument can raise suspicion if the source is an unknown source. When presented verbally the validity of the argument can also raise suspicion with the origination of the source and if the person verbally expressing the information will change the information in anyway.