Bloodlines Chapter One

I couldn't breathe. There was a hand covering my mouth and another shaking my shoulder, startling me out of a heavy sleep. A thousand frantic thoughts dashed through my mind in the space of a single heartbeat. It was happening. My worst nightmare was coming true. They're here! They've come for me! My eyes blinked, staring wildly around the dark room until my father's face came into focus. I stilled my thrashing, thoroughly confused. He let go and stepped back to regard me coldly. I sat up in the bed, my heart still pounding. ‘Dad?' ‘Sydney. You wouldn't wake up.' Naturally, that was his only apology for scaring me to death. ‘You need to get dressed and make yourself presentable,' he continued. ‘Quickly and quietly. Meet me downstairs in the study.' I felt my eyes widen but didn't hesitate with a response. There was only one acceptable answer. ‘Yes, sir. Of course.' ‘I'll go wake your sister.' He turned for the door, and I leapt out of bed. ‘Zoe?' I exclaimed. ‘What do you need her for?' ‘Shh,' he chastised. ‘Hurry up and get ready. And remember – be quiet. Don't wake your mother.' He shut the door without another word, leaving me staring. The panic that had only just subsided began to surge within me again. What did he need Zoe for? A late-night wake-up meant Alchemist business, and she had nothing to do with that. Technically, neither did I anymore, not since I'd been put on indefinite suspension for bad behavior this summer. What if that's what this was about? What if I was finally being taken to a re-education center and Zoe was replacing me? For a moment, the world swam around me, and I caught hold of my bed to steady myself. Re-education centers. They were the stuff of nightmares for young Alchemists like me, mysterious places where those who grew too close to vampires were dragged off to learn the errors of their ways. What exactly went on there was a secret, one I never wanted to find out. I was pretty sure ‘re-education' was a nice way of saying ‘brainwashing.' I'd only ever seen one person who had come back, and honestly, he'd seemed like half a person after that. There'd been an almost zombielike quality to him, and I didn't even want to think about what they might have done to make him that way. My father's urging to hurry up echoed back through my mind, and I tried to shake off my fears. Remembering his other warning, I also made sure I moved silently. My mother was a light sleeper. Normally, it wouldn't matter if she caught us going off on Alchemist errands, but lately, she hadn't been feeling so kindly toward her husband's (and daughter's) employers. Ever since angry Alchemists had deposited me on my parents' doorstep last month, this household had held all the warmth of a prison camp. Terrible arguments had gone down between my parents, and my sister Zoe and I often found ourselves tiptoeing around. Zoe. Why does he need Zoe? The question burned through me as I scurried to get ready. I knew what ‘presentable' meant. Throwing on jeans and a T-shirt was out of the question. Instead, I tugged on gray slacks and a crisp, white button-down shirt. A darker, charcoal gray cardigan went over it, which I cinched neatly at my waist with a black belt. A small gold cross – the one I always wore around my neck – was the only ornamentation I ever bothered with. My hair was a slightly bigger problem. Even after only two hours of sleep, it was already going in every direction. I smoothed it down as best I could and then coated it with a thick layer of hair spray in the hopes that it would get me through whatever was to come. A light dusting of powder was the only makeup I put on. I had no time for anything more. The entire process took me all of six minutes, which might have been a new record for me. I sprinted down the stairs in perfect silence, careful, again, to avoid waking my mother. The living room was dark, but light spilled out past the not-quite-shut door of my father's study. Taking that as an invitation, I pushed the door open and slipped inside. A hushed conversation stopped at my entrance. My father eyed me from head to toe and showed his approval at my appearance in the way he knew best: by simply withholding criticism. ‘Sydney,' he said brusquely. ‘I believe you know Donna Stanton.' The formidable Alchemist stood near the window, arms crossed, looking as tough and lean as I remembered. I'd spent a lot of time with Stanton recently, though I would hardly say we were friends – especially since certain actions of mine had ended up putting the two of us under a sort of ‘vampire house arrest.' If she harbored any resentment toward me, she didn't show it, though. She nodded to me in polite greeting, her face all business. Three other Alchemists were there as well, all men. They were introduced to me as Barnes, Michaelson, and Horowitz. Barnes and Michaelson were my father and Stanton's age. Horowitz was younger, mid-twenties, and was setting up a tattooist's tools. All of them were dressed like me, wearing business casual clothing in nondescript colors. Our goal was always to look nice but not attract notice. The Alchemists had been playing Men in Black for centuries, long before humans dreamed of life on other worlds. When the light hit their faces the right way, each Alchemist displayed a lily tattoo identical to mine. Again, my unease grew. Was this some kind of interrogation? An assessment to see if my decision to help a renegade half-vampire girl meant my loyalties had changed? I crossed my arms over my chest and schooled my face to neutrality, hoping I looked cool and confident. If I still had a chance to plead my case, I intended to present a solid one. Before anyone could utter another word, Zoe entered. She shut the door behind her and peered around in terror, her eyes wide. Our father's study was huge – he'd built an addition on to our house for it – and it easily held all the occupants. But as I watched my sister take in the scene, I knew she felt stifled and trapped. I met her eyes and tried to send a silent message of sympathy. It must have worked because she scurried to my side, looking only fractionally less afraid. ‘Zoe,' said my father. He let her name hang in the air in this way he had, making it clear to both of us that he was disappointed. I could immediately guess why. She wore jeans and an old sweatshirt and had her brown hair in two cute but sloppy braids. By any other person's standards, she would have been ‘presentable' – but not by his. I felt her cower against me, and I tried to make myself taller and more protective. After making sure his condemnation was felt, our father introduced Zoe to the others. Stanton gave her the same polite nod she'd given me and then turned toward my father. ‘I don't understand, Jared,' said Stanton. ‘Which one of them are you going to use?' ‘Well, that's the problem,' my father said. ‘Zoe was requested . . . but I'm not sure she's ready. In fact, I know she isn't. She's only had the most basic of training. But in light of Sydney's recent . . . experiences . . .' My mind immediately began to pull the pieces together. First, and most importantly, it seemed I wasn't going to be sent to a re-education center. Not yet, at least. This was about something else. My earlier suspicion was correct. There was some mission or task afoot, and someone wanted to sub in Zoe because she, unlike certain other members of her family, had no history of betraying the Alchemists. My father was right that she'd only received basic instruction. Our jobs were hereditary, and I had been chosen years ago as the next Alchemist in the Sage family. My older sister, Carly, had been passed over and was now away at college and too old. He'd taught Zoe as backup instead, in the event something happened to me, like a car accident or vampire mauling. I stepped forward, not knowing what I was going to say until I spoke. The only thing I knew for sure was that I could not let Zoe get sucked into the Alchemists' schemes. I feared for her safety more than I did going to a re-education center – and I was pretty afraid of that. ‘I spoke to a committee about my actions after they happened,' I said. ‘I was under the impression that they understood why I did the things I did. I'm fully qualified to serve in whatever way you need – much more so than my sister. I have real-world experience. I know this job inside and out.' ‘A little too much real-world experience, if memory serves,' said Stanton dryly. ‘I for one would like to hear these ‘reasons' again,' said Barnes, using his fingers to make air quotes. ‘I'm not thrilled about tossing a half-trained girl out there, but I also find it hard to believe someone who aided a vampire criminal is ‘fully qualified to serve.† More pretentious air quotes. I smiled back pleasantly, masking my anger. If I showed my true emotions, it wouldn't help my case. ‘I understand, sir. But Rose Hathaway was eventually proven innocent of the crime she'd been accused of. So, I wasn't technically aiding a criminal. My actions eventually helped find the real murderer.' ‘Be that as it may, we – and you – didn't know she was ‘innocent' at the time,' he said. ‘I know,' I said. ‘But I believed she was.' Barnes snorted. ‘And there's the problem. You should've believed what the Alchemists told you, not run off with your own far-fetched theories. At the very least, you should've taken what evidence you'd gathered to your superiors.' Evidence? How could I explain that it wasn't evidence that had driven me to help Rose so much as a feeling in my gut that she was telling the truth? But that was something I knew they'd never understand. All of us were trained to believe the worst of her kind. Telling them that I had seen truth and honesty in her wouldn't help my cause here. Telling them that I'd been blackmailed into helping her by another vampire was an even worse explanation. There was only one argument that the Alchemists might possibly be able to comprehend. ‘I . . . I didn't tell anyone because I wanted to get all the credit for it. I was hoping that if I uncovered it, I could get a promotion and a better assignment.' It took every ounce of self-control I had to say that lie straight-faced. I felt humiliated at making such an admission. As though ambition would really drive me to such extreme behaviors! It made me feel slimy and shallow. But, as I'd suspected, this was something the other Alchemists could understand. Michaelson snorted. ‘Misguided, but not entirely unexpected for her age.' The other men shared equally condescending looks, even my father. Only Stanton looked doubtful, but then, she'd witnessed more of the fiasco than they had. My father glanced among the others, waiting for further comment. When none came, he shrugged. ‘If no one has any objections, then, I'd rather we use Sydney. Not that I even entirely understand what you need her for.' There was a slightly accusing tone in his voice over not having been filled in yet. Jared Sage didn't like to be left out of the loop. ‘I have no problem with using the older girl,' said Barnes. ‘But keep the younger one around until the others get here, in case they have any objections.' I wondered how many ‘others' would be joining us. My father's study was no stadium. Also, the more people who came, the more important this case probably was. My skin grew cold as I wondered what the assignment could possibly be. I'd seen the Alchemists cover up major disasters with only one or two people. How colossal would something have to be to require this much help? Horowitz spoke up for the first time. ‘What do you want me to do?' ‘Re-ink Sydney,' said Stanton decisively. ‘Even if she doesn't go, it won't hurt to have the spells reinforced. No point in inking Zoe until we know what we're doing with her.' My eyes flicked to my sister's noticeably bare – and pale – cheeks. Yes. As long as there was no lily there, she was free. Once the tattoo was emblazoned on your skin, there was no going back. You belonged to the Alchemists. The reality of that had only hit me in the last year or so. I'd certainly never realized it while growing up. My father had dazzled me from a very young age about the rightness of our duty. I still believed in that rightness but wished he'd also mentioned just how much of my life it would consume. Horowitz had set up a folding table on the far side of my father's study. He patted it and gave me a friendly smile. ‘Step right up,' he told me. ‘Get your ticket.' Barnes shot him a disapproving look. ‘Please. You could show a little respect for this ritual, David.' Horowitz merely shrugged. He helped me lie down, and though I was too afraid of the others to openly smile back, I hoped my gratitude showed in my eyes. Another smile from him told me he understood. Turning my head, I watched as Barnes reverently set a black briefcase on a side table. The other Alchemists gathered around and clasped their hands together in front of them. He must be the hierophant, I realized. Most of what the Alchemists did was rooted in science, but a few tasks required divine assistance. After all, our core mission to protect humanity was rooted in the belief that vampires were unnatural and went against God's plan. That's why hierophants – our priests – worked side by side with our scientists. ‘Oh Lord,' he intoned, closing his eyes. ‘Bless these elixirs. Remove the taint of the evil they carry so that their life-giving power shines through purely to us, your servants.' He opened the briefcase and removed four small vials, each filled with dark red liquid. Labels that I couldn't read marked each one. With a steady hand and practiced eye, Barnes poured precise amounts from each vial into a larger bottle. When he'd used all four, he produced a tiny packet of powder that he emptied into the rest of the mix. I felt a tingle in the air, and the bottle's contents turned to gold. He handed the bottle to Horowitz, who stood ready with a needle. Everyone relaxed, the ceremonial part complete. I obediently turned away, exposing my cheek. A moment later, Horowitz's shadow fell over me. ‘This will sting a little, but nothing like when you originally got it. It's just a touch-up,' he explained kindly. ‘I know,' I said. I'd been re-inked before. ‘Thanks.' The needle pricked my skin, and I tried not to wince. It did sting, but like he'd said, Horowitz wasn't creating a new tattoo. He was simply injecting small amounts of the ink into my existing tattoo, recharging its power. I took this as a good sign. Zoe might not be out of danger yet, but surely they wouldn't go to the trouble of re-inking me if they were just going to send me to a re-education center. ‘Can you brief us on what's happening while we're waiting?' asked my father. ‘All I was told was that you needed a teen girl.' The way he said ‘teen girl' made it sound like a disposable role. I fought back a wave of anger at my father. That's all we were to him. ‘We have a situation,' I heard Stanton say. Finally, I'd get some answers. ‘With the Moroi.' I breathed a small sigh of relief. Better them than the Strigoi. Any ‘situation' the Alchemists faced always involved one of the vampire races, and I'd take the living, non-killing ones any day. They almost seemed human at times (though I'd never tell anyone here that) and lived and died like we did. Strigoi, however, were twisted freaks of nature. They were undead, murderous vampires created either when a Strigoi forcibly made a victim drink its blood or when a Moroi purposely took the life of another through blood drinking. A situation with the Strigoi usually ended with someone dead. All sorts of possible scenarios played through my mind as I considered what issue had prompted action from the Alchemists tonight: a human who had noticed someone with fangs, a feeder who had escaped and gone public, a Moroi treated by human doctors. . . . Those were the kinds of problems we Alchemists faced the most, ones I had been trained to handle and cover up with ease. Why they would need ‘a teenage girl' for any of those, however, was a mystery. ‘You know that they elected their girl queen last month,' said Barnes. I could practically see him rolling his eyes. Everyone in the room murmured affirmatively. Of course they knew about that. The Alchemists paid careful attention to the political goings-on of the Moroi. Knowing what vampires were doing was crucial to keeping them secret from the rest of humanity – and keeping the rest of humanity safe from them. That was our purpose, to protect our brethren. Know thy enemy was taken very seriously with us. The girl the Moroi had elected queen, Vasilisa Dragomir, was eighteen, just like me. ‘Don't tense,' said Horowitz gently. I hadn't realized I had been. I tried to relax, but thinking of Vasilisa Dragomir made me think of Rose Hathaway. Uneasily, I wondered if maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to assume I was out of trouble here. Mercifully, Barnes simply kept going with the story, not mentioning my indirect connection to the girl queen and her associates. ‘Well, as shocking as that is to us, it's been just as shocking to some of their own people. There's been a lot of protests and dissidence. No one's tried to attack the Dragomir girl, but that's probably because she's so well guarded. Her enemies, it seems, have therefore found a work-around: her sister.' ‘Jill,' I said, speaking before I could stop myself. Horowitz tsked me for moving, and I immediately regretted drawing attention to myself and my knowledge of the Moroi. Nevertheless, an image of Jillian Mastrano flashed into my mind, tall and annoyingly slim like all Moroi, with big, pale green eyes that always seemed nervous. And she had good reason to be. At fifteen, Jill had discovered she was Vasilisa's illegitimate sister, making her the only other member of their royal family's line. She too was tied to the mess I'd gotten myself into this summer. ‘You know their laws,' continued Stanton, after a moment of awkward silence. Her tone conveyed what we all thought of Moroi laws. An elected monarch? It made no sense, but what else could one expect from unnatural beings like vampires? ‘And Vasilisa must have one family member in order to hold her throne. Therefore, her enemies have decided if they can't directly remove her, they'll remove her family.' A chill ran down my spine at the unspoken meaning, and I again commented without thinking. ‘Did something happen to Jill?' This time, I'd at least chosen a moment when Horowitz was refilling his needle, so there was no danger of messing up the tattoo. I bit my lip to prevent myself from saying anything else, imagining the chastisement in my father's eyes. Showing concern for a Moroi was the last thing I wanted to do, considering my uncertain status. I didn't have any strong attachment to Jill, but the thought of someone trying to kill a fifteen-year-old girl – the same age as Zoe – was appalling, no matter what race she belonged to. ‘That's what's unclear,' Stanton mused. ‘She was attacked, we know that much, but we can't tell if she received any real injury. Regardless, she's fine now, but the attempt happened at their own Court, indicating they have traitors at high levels.' Barnes snorted in disgust. ‘What can you expect? How their ridiculous race has managed to survive as long as they have without turning on each other is beyond me.' There were mutters of agreement. ‘Ridiculous or not, though, we cannot have them in civil war,' said Stanton. ‘Some Moroi have acted out in protest, enough that they've caught the attention of human media. We can't allow that. We need their government stable, and that means ensuring this girl's safety. Maybe they can't trust themselves, but they can trust us.' There was no use in my pointing out that the Moroi didn't really trust the Alchemists. But, since we had no interest in killing off the Moroi monarch or her family, I supposed that made us more trustworthy than some. ‘We need to make the girl disappear,' said Michaelson. ‘At least until the Moroi can undo the law that makes Vasilisa's throne so precarious. Hiding Mastrano with her own people isn't safe at the moment, so we need to conceal her among humans.' Disdain dripped from his words. ‘But it's imperative she also remains concealed from humans. Our race cannot know theirs exists.' ‘After consultation with the guardians, we've chosen a location we all believe will be safe for her – both from Moroi and Strigoi,' said Stanton. ‘However, to make sure she – and those with her – remain undetected, we're going to need Alchemists on hand, dedicated solely to her needs in case any complications come up.' My father scoffed. ‘That's a waste of our resources. Not to mention unbearable for whoever has to stay with her.' I had a bad feeling about what was coming. ‘This is where Sydney comes in,' said Stanton. ‘We'd like her to be one of the Alchemists that accompanies Jillian into hiding.' ‘What?' exclaimed my father. ‘You can't be serious.' ‘Why not?' Stanton's tone was calm and level. ‘They're close in age, so being together won't raise suspicion. And Sydney already knows the girl. Surely spending time with her won't be as ‘unbearable' as it might be for other Alchemists.' The subtext was loud and clear. I wasn't free of my past, not yet. Horowitz paused and lifted the needle, allowing me the chance to speak. My mind raced. Some response was expected. I didn't want to sound too upset by the plan. I needed to restore my good name among the Alchemists and show my willingness to follow orders. That being said, I also didn't want to sound as though I were too comfortable with vampires or their half-human counterparts, the dhampirs. ‘Spending time with any of them is never fun,' I said carefully, keeping my voice cool and haughty. ‘Doesn't matter how much you do it. But I'll do whatever's necessary to keep us – and everyone else – safe.' I didn't need to explain that ‘everyone' meant humans. ‘There, you see, Jared?' Barnes sounded pleased with the answer. ‘The girl knows her duty. We've made a number of arrangements already that should make things run smoothly, and we certainly wouldn't send her there alone – especially since the Moroi girl won't be alone either.' ‘What do you mean?' My father still didn't sound happy about any of this, and I wondered what was upsetting him the most. Did he truly think I might be in danger? Or was he simply worried that spending more time with the Moroi would turn my loyalties even more? ‘How many of them are coming?' ‘They're sending a dhampir,' said Michaelson. ‘One of their guardians, which I really don't have a problem with. The location we've chosen should be Strigoi free, but if it's not, better they fight those monsters than us.' The guardians were specially trained dhampirs who served as bodyguards. ‘There you are,' Horowitz told me, stepping back. ‘You can sit up.' I obeyed and resisted the urge to touch my cheek. The only thing I felt from his work was the needle's sting, but I knew powerful magic was working its way through me, magic that would give me a superhuman immune system and prevent me from speaking about vampire affairs to ordinary humans. I tried not to think about the other part, about where that magic came from. The tattoos were a necessary evil. The others were still standing, not paying attention to me – well, except for Zoe. She still looked confused and afraid and kept glancing anxiously my way. ‘There also may be another Moroi coming along,' continued Stanton. ‘Honestly, I'm not sure why, but they were very insistent he be with Mastrano. We told them the fewer of them we had to hide, the better, but . . . well, they seemed to think it was necessary and said they'd make arrangements for him there. I think he's some Ivashkov. Irrelevant.' ‘Where is there?' asked my father. ‘Where do you want to send her?' Excellent question. I'd been wondering the same thing. My first full-time job with the Alchemists had sent me halfway around the world, to Russia. If the Alchemists were intent on hiding Jill, there was no telling what remote location they'd send her to. For a moment, I dared to hope we might end up in my dream city: Rome. Legendary works of art and Italian food seemed like a good way to offset paperwork and vampires. ‘Palm Springs,' said Barnes. ‘Palm Springs?' I echoed. That was not what I'd been expecting. When I thought of Palm Springs, I thought of movie stars and golf courses. Not exactly a Roman holiday, but not the Arctic either. A small, wry smile tugged at Stanton's lips. ‘It's in the desert and receives a lot of sunlight. Completely undesirable for Strigoi.' ‘Wouldn't it be undesirable for Moroi too?' I asked, thinking ahead. Moroi didn't incinerate in the sun like Strigoi, but excessive exposure to it still made Moroi weak and sick. ‘Well, yes,' admitted Stanton. ‘But a little discomfort is worth the safety it provides. So long as the Moroi spend most of their time inside, it won't be a problem. Plus, it'll discourage other Moroi from coming and – ‘ The sound of a car door opening and slamming outside the window caught everyone's attention. ‘Ah,' said Michaelson. ‘There are the others. I'll let them in.' He slipped out of the study and presumably headed toward the front door to admit whoever had arrived. Moments later, I heard a new voice speaking as Michaelson returned to us. ‘Well, Dad couldn't make it, so he just sent me,' the new voice was saying. The study door opened, and my heart stopped. No, I thought. Anyone but him. ‘Jared,' said the newcomer, catching sight of my father. ‘Great to see you again.' My father, who had barely spared me a glance all night, actually smiled. ‘Keith! I'd been wondering how you've been.' The two of them shook hands, and a wave of disgust rolled through me. ‘This is Keith Darnell,' said Michaelson, introducing him to the others. ‘Tom Darnell's son?' asked Barnes, impressed. Tom Darnell was a legendary leader among the Alchemists. ‘The same,' said Keith cheerfully. He was about five years older than me, with blond hair a shade lighter than mine. I knew a lot of girls thought he was attractive. Me? I found him vile. He was pretty much the last person I'd expected to see here. ‘And I believe you know the Sage sisters,' added Michaelson. Keith turned his blue eyes first to Zoe, eyes that were just fractionally different from each other in color. One eye, made of glass, stared blankly ahead and didn't move at all. The other one winked at her as his grin widened. He can still wink, I thought furiously. That annoying, stupid, condescending wink! But then, why wouldn't he? We'd all heard about the accident he'd had this year, an accident that had cost him an eye. He'd still survived with one good one, but somehow, in my mind, I'd thought the loss of an eye would stop that infuriating winking. ‘Little Zoe! Look at you, all grown up,' he said fondly. I'm not a violent person, not by any means, but I suddenly wanted to hit him for looking at my sister that way. She managed a smile for him, clearly relieved to see a familiar face here. When Keith turned toward me, however, all that charm and friendliness vanished. The feeling was mutual. The burning, black hatred building up inside of me was so overwhelming that it took me a moment to formulate any sort of response. ‘Hello, Keith,' I said stiffly. Keith didn't even attempt to match my forced civility. He immediately turned toward the senior Alchemists. ‘What is she doing here?' ‘We know you requested Zoe,' said Stanton levelly, ‘but after consideration, we decided it would be best if Sydney fulfill this role. Her experience dwarfs any concerns about her past actions.' ‘No,' said Keith swiftly, turning that steely blue gaze back on me. ‘There is no way she can come, no way I'm trusting some twisted vamp lover to screw this up for all of us. We're taking her sister.'

The Runaway Slave

Slavery has been in existence for thousands of years, for as long as humanity’s collective history. It is common knowledge that some of our monumental works of art like the Great Pyramids of Egypt were erected by slaves. Slavery usually begins when there is a need to produce something at a larger scale. In the case of Cuba, that item was sugar. In the 18th century, as Cuba’s economy became more and more dependent on its sugarcane production, slavery became more and more necessary in order for Cuba to increase production and keep up with the demand for sugar.Miguel Barnet`s Biography of a Runaway Slave tells the story of a real-life former Cuban slave, Esteban Montejo and his own personal journey to freedom. While on the surface it may seem like a simple biography, Montejo’s life-story was presented in the larger context of Cuba’s colorful, but often misunderstood history. The former slave became a fugitive and lived in the wild for several years, subsistin g on the abundant flora and fauna of the forest. He later became a soldier for Cuba’s war of independence.Perhaps his hard life has strengthened Montejo to such a great extent that he lived much longer than most people, or it may be perhaps the need to tell his story to the world was what made him continue living as he did. Esteban Montejo was 105 years old when Bartnet interviewed him for the book, and he lived on for eight more years hence. More than a story about slavery, Biography of a Runaway Slave is a historical account of how the Caribbean’s culture fused with that of African’s through the slave trade.Esteban life straddled the 19th and 20th centuries and went through most of Cuba’s most important historical periods in history. As such, he is able to chronicle the changes that his country was going through in its bid for freedom, even as he searched for personal liberty. Through Bartnet, we are given a chance to glimpse at the life of one man and one hundred of memories of a way of living long gone by. Perhaps some of the most poignant images in the book were Esteban’s description of life in the sugarcane plantations.Esteban recounts that slaves in the plantation lived in places called barracoons and he describes these barracoons as he remembers them, The slaves disliked living under those conditions: being locked up stifled them†¦ This was laid out in rows: two rows facing each other with a door in the middle and a massive padlock to shut the slaves in at night†¦ Both types had mud floors and were dirty as hell. And there was no modern ventilation there! Just a hole in the wall or a small barred window.The result was that the place swarmed with fleas and ticks, which made the inmates ill with infections and evil spells, for those ticks were witches. The only way to get rid of them was with hot wax, and sometimes even that did not work. The masters wanted the barracoons to look clean outside, so they were wh ite washed. (Barnet 1994, 12) Clearly, as Esteban remembers, there was no dignity for African slaves in Cuba. Their work was hard and unrelenting, and they barely had anytime to rest.Their sleeping quarters as Esteban remembers were not fit, even for animals. Esteban’s hated his life, and he yearned to break from the yokes of slavery and this is revealed by his own words, â€Å"I cared for myself as if I were a pampered child. I didn’t want to be taken into slavery again. It was repugnant to me, it was shameful. † (Barnet 1994, 16) Such feelings gave him the courage to escape. He ran to the shadowy forest where he found safe haven. His loathing for slavery made him risk the dangers of living in the wild. For him, it was freedom or nothing.And he flourished in the forest, where he had everything he needed to live, except for the warmth of another person’s companionship. â€Å"The truth is I lacked for nothing in the forest. The only thing I could not mana ge was sex. † (Barnet 1994, 21) Esteban lived in the wild until the abolition of slavery. Later, Esteban’s love for freedom compelled him to join the fight for Cuban independence. By becoming a soldier, Esteban has shown his love for his country even as he despised slavery. He dreamt of a better Cuba, and he did his part, small as it may have been to help achieve that.He is a nationalist because while he could have chosen to just live the rest of his days in the forest, he decided to rejoin society and fight, this time not for personal freedom, but for the collective freedom of all Cubans. All of Estaban’s life has been defined by slavery and his struggles against all the things that keep him in chains. Reading the book I have realized that while some circumstances may vary, there is never an instance when slavery is acceptable or dignified. Its mere concept goes against the very nature of free will that mankind was born with.In Cuba, as in most places, slavery w as institutionalized for economic gains. It is ironic that the very people producing goods for material prosperity are the very people who never benefit from it. Esteban’s accounts of life in the plantation make for a very poignant illustration of the cruel ways that we can treat one another. It was in this seemingly hopeless situation that Esteban cling to hope because it was the only thing that he has. He kept alive the hope for freedom for all slaves and a better, kinder world for all of mankind. Reference Barnet, M. (1994) Biography of a Runaway Slave. Trans. W. Nick Hill. Curbstone Press.

PROJECT MANGGMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PROJECT MANGGMENT - Essay Example Within the Project team, teams are formed based on the interdependence of tasks to be performed. The composition of groups is to ensure that time is not lost in processing of information and consequently the decision-making process (Chapin & Huber-Sannwald 2001). The current project team performance has been enhanced by creating a scenario where each member of the group has sufficient understanding of the tasks expected concerning performance. Such is the clarity in task assignment that the team members can self-monitor their performance and daily progress. Another feature of the group is the communication channels that exist and must strictly be adhered to. These channels are developed to ensure the shortest time lapse between the sender, the receiver, the feedback and the implementation of available information. The channels ensure that the departmental heads get a periodic briefing on the progress of their groups and can be prompt in their responses and effectively manage situations before they get out of hand. Under communications and information processing, the project management team has a program design that demands regular meetings with the primary objective being performance evaluation and charting the way forward. With short term goals being the norm, these impromptu meetings serve to ensure that the activities are on track as per procedure requirements. For those activities not at par with their projections, necessary steps are taken to ensure that any disruption erupts in relation to the progress of the organization (Project Management Institute 2013) The limits of authority are currently clear such that team member is aware of the boundaries of their authority. Such limits are set to ensure that there are no overlapping duties that may raise conflicts of interests among the team members. Additionally, to ensure accountability, each level

John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson - Research Paper Example Whether it was a clash of ideologies or clash of personalities, it was an ugly situation which came down to accusation campaigns against each other. Jefferson’s people were heard accusing President Adams as having a â€Å"hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman† to which Adam’s crowd responded by calling the Vice President Jefferson â€Å"a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father† (Swint 2008). Hence the two characters were introduced to the general public and eventually discussed widely in the academia. While Adam was labeled with rude terms like fool and criminal as well as tyrant and hypocrite, Jefferson was regarded as an atheist, coward, a weakling and libertine. Since there was no campaigning for the presidential candidates in the past, these political figures spent the election period at their homes, Adams in Massachusetts and Jefferson in Virginia. The core difference between the two politicians was in the use of tactics to get to win the elections. Jefferson used James Callendar as hatchet man to convince America that Adams was keen on attacking France which was not the truth but it did win him the election because people bought his story. Adams considered himself above such tactics. Callendar has to serve in jail because of Jefferson and felt he owed him all the respect even after he was released from jail in 1801. When he did not receive any conciliation from Jefferson, he wrote a story revealing that Jefferson had an affair with one of his slaves Sally Hemings who had five children from him and lived in France. Things continued to become dirty between Jefferson and Adams. It is still mind boggling when one recalls the friendship between the two which was so close that Jefferson himself proclaimed Adams as a visionary man who was accurate in his judgments. He referred to Adams as a warmhearted soul who did have his weaknesses but they did not overweigh his goodness (Swint 2008). Adams and Jefferson had contrasting lives. While Adams was the eldest son of a middling farmer in Braintree who worked as a shoemaker in winters for survival of his family, Jefferson was the eldest son of a wealthy planter in Virginia who owned thousands of acres of land and more than hundreds of slaves. Adams was raised in a strict Calvinist atmosphere where he was taught to subordinate an individual for a positive outcome in the community, respecting the authority figures. Raised in Anglican Church, Jefferson was rather impressed with his father’s rise to power by merely surveying and speculation of the plants. He never said a word about his beliefs in his formative years. His father Peter Jefferson was a learned man who worked hard to come to his stature. Adams and Jefferson both received schooling in their early life but Adams stayed home while attending a pre paratory school and Jefferson was sent for early schooling away from home. Adams went to Harvard later in life while Jefferson to William and Mary (Ferling 18). Jefferson wanted to be recognized as a unique figure even among the planter elite. He dismissed the aristocratic ways and acknowledged his worth for seeing things in a progressive light. Adams had no choice but to choose his career but Jefferson always had an option because of

How can technology bu used to improve hotel and restaurant Essay

How can technology bu used to improve hotel and restaurant operations(operations management for thr hospitality industry) - Essay Example Technological innovation has transformed every field of business today and the hospitality industry is no exception to the rule. In the past ten years, the improvement of technology has not only helped the global hospitality enterprises to grow rapidly, but also guided the consumer attitudes and consumer behavior. Therefore, the overall volume of the hospitality industry was promoted from quantity to qualitative. The modernized hotel collects the guest rooms, food and beverage, communication, amusement, commercial culture and other various kinds of services and facilities – it is an integrated consumption place. The hotel needs organization on a large scale as there are many there are many service items. Additionally, the amount of information that flows into a hotel everyday – like every modern organization – is large. If a hotel wants to improve labor produce, lower costs, improve the service quality and management level and promote the economic benefits of the organization, it must carry on the modernized information management through the computer. As we entered the Internet era, the sustainable development of the information and communication technologies is having a profound impact of the hotel industry. In 1963, Hilton Hotel of the United States installed a small IBM computer for the automatic managing of hotel rooms. This marked the beginning of using modern information technology in the hospitality area. As Law & Jogaratnam (2005) report, ‘with the increasing demand for intensive information from customers and hotel practitioners, hotels have adopted computer-based IT facilities to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance service quality’. With the use of IT in their businesses, hotel managers expect that their profit margins and financial returns will increase. IT starts and ends with

Early Neolithic Social Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Early Neolithic Social Organization - Essay Example The first one is Pre Pottery Neolithic which is all about the "true farming" that occurred where people were used to planting and harvesting wheat. Along with farming is the domestication of animals, also to answer their day-to-day needs. This stage was followed by the pre-pottery period where people tried to build their houses made of mud bricks. No long before they learned pottery which further improved their lives and this was the peak of the Neolithic period. The Neolithic period that slowly evolved along with knowledge and experience, somehow showed the presence of social organizations. The presence of hierarchies can somehow be traced through the burial grounds and an example of this is the one found in the excavation in Central Europe where some tombs were found to be different from others in a way that they looked more sophisticated and hard to make, suggesting that others could have afforded labor to create such tombs. Through the Neolithic sites that were explored, what were visible were signs of possibilities for group feuds where others could have been treated more superior like the leaders and the chiefs in tribes. These were more visible in the European Bronze age. (Wikipedia) Moving forward to the possibility of reconstructing the early Neolithic social o... As discussed partly a while ago, there were already the different kinds of tombs found during the excavation. These tombs will then connect us to their culture and social structure, ways and means that they tried to adopt in the past. But firs we try to define what megalithic tombs are and how significant are they to historians, researchers and archaeologists. Maximilian Baldia explores in his essay "Megalithic Tombs and Interregional Communication" how long and how significant these tombs are to us. He said that the closely five thousand megalithic tombs signify how people were connected in different aspects. He also explained that the presence of timber mortuary during the Neolithic period can and might have been the start of the small primeval dolmens in the Early Neolithic. "Furthermore, the popularity of the primeval dolmen may have arisen as a practical solution resulting from the need for suitable large trees required for building houses, palisades, boats and apparently even single-piece wagonwheels. Increased village size, more numerous fields, and larger herds of domesticated grazing animals during the later part of the EN C would have reduced the forests containing these timbers near the villages, making stone construction more cost effective. A decline in tree trunk diameter used in construction from the ENto the MiddleNeolithic (MN), has been noted in conjunction with likely woodland management and supports this argument. Therefore, stone chambers should first have occurred in areas where a large population would have been confined to limited land. The most likely place in the TRB culture area would have been the islands

Molecular Recognition and Drug Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Molecular Recognition and Drug Design - Essay Example Prediction of 3D structure of protein or target molecule was quite tedious and uncertain due to many of the protein targets are membrane bound and in case of soluble targets like enzymes, they exist in quite dynamic condition in side the body and its structure-function is tightly regulated by microenvironment. But In recent past this problem was solved at quite extant due to development in techniques like NMR and X-ray diffraction leads to generation of hug databases of protein structures, Along with this development in computational capability have deeply influence the over all process. Now we have number of software and models by which one can predict structure of protein based on just amino acid sequences, classical example if homology modeling of protein folding. In post genomic era high throughput protein expression and structure determination by X-ray diffraction augmented by homology modeling makes key process for new drug development program. Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) is an area of computational research where virtual model was developed to determines binding proertise of ligand to its target molecules as well as to predict toxicological potential of existing or hypothetical molecules. QSAR is generally employed to establish correlation between structure and electronic properties of ligand molecules which influence its binding to specific drug target and general target molecules. Initially it was used to predict ligand having very high affinity towards target molecules but now it is extended to predict its diffusion, adsorption, toxicity, metabolism and finally elimination. There are different types of QSAR like 1D, 2- (Lill, 2007) (Mller, 2003)D etc based on number of parameters taken for model prediction. Table 1 describes different mode of QSAR and parameters involved in it. Table:1 (Lill, 2007) Initially QSAR was developed on single parameters like pKa value or solubility of ligand molecules and based on that prediction was carried out (1D-QSAR). Hansch e'tal has included physic-chemical properties like functional groups and atomic configuration in to it. They also correlated these properties to biological activity of ligand. (2D-QSAR). After 1980s increasing number of 3D structures of proteins makes it more feasible to include three dimensional structure of protein-ligand to understand its interaction. Than after Structure based deign (SBD) becomes routine process for new drug development process. Here after identification of target molecule different ligands were searched and analyzed for its docking to target molecules by process called dynamic optimization (MD). Based on this Technique it is possible to identified best binding mode of any given ligand molecule with target. In 1988 Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) was introduced in QSAR which leads to first time demonstration of structure -function co-relation (3D-QSAR). Development of 3D QSAR made task simpler but later it was realized that 3D QSAR based models are not always gives complete picture but fails to explain processes like Induced fit

Corporate Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate Culture - Essay Example Corporate culture also assesses on how to study the employee relations within the organization. This involves studying their attitudes, their interpersonal relationships, job satisfaction, and their overall commitment (Anthony, 1994, 23). Therefore, corporate culture mainly asserts the behaviour of employees and their commitment to the success of the organization. According to Willmott, the major concern of corporate culture should be winning the hearts and minds of the employees. This involves defining what they feel, what they think and how they end up acting in the organization. Willmott also asserts that the management should not only concentrate on the behaviour of the employees. Instead, it should also focus on changing their thoughts and feelings towards the organization (Willmott, 1993, 517). This can be argued form the point of view that; people are able to fake their behaviour, but they cannot fake their thoughts or their feelings. An organization should be concerned about the feelings of the employees because; employees are a major valuable asset to the organization. It is the employees who define the direction of the employees and thus, their actions are extremely crucial to the organization as a whole. Changing the thinking of the employees implies that they will have the organization at the back of their minds whenever they do anything. On the other hand, conforming of employees’ feelings implies that; the employees will always have the organization at their best interests (Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis, 2008, 13). This is a case whereby; the employees cannot do or behave in a way that can cause harm to the organization. This also involves protecting the image of the organization as if it were their own. This implies that; once the organization has changed the minds and hearts of the employees, the employees will have all their eyes and ears open on behalf of the whole organization. Therefore, at no one point will the employees act without havi ng positive interests on the organization. However, the management is advised to implement change in the minds and hearts of the employees in such a way that the employees will also benefit from the change (Keller, 2008, 1). Willmott asserts that corporate culture requires employees to devote themselves to the organization and to its values and beliefs. Therefore, by encouraging employees to be devoted to the organization, the employees are consequently required to recognize and be concerned about the security of their employment in relation to their contribution to the organization. Corporate culture seeks to immerse the employees to the organization and thus, requires their full commitment to the operation of the organization (Willmott, 1993, 522). Willmott also provides that organizations will benefit more when they focus on changing the minds and the hearts of their employees. This implies that the management should focus on influencing the way employees think and feel about the organization. Different organizations apply different strategies of changing the thoughts and acts of the employees. However, still they all manage to achieve the goal of changing the minds and hearts of their employees. One key strategy that can help the management of an organization to change the thinking of employees is setting of the right example (Aiken, Galper, Keller, 2011, 51). This is usually the first step of achieving a different behaviour with employees. This is because; the employees will not change unless they first observe it from the leaders themselves. Therefore, the management should first lead by example. This way, it will be able to encourage employees to change too.

IT for Investor Relation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IT for Investor Relation - Essay Example In the main, high technological utilization is recommended for the company. Founded in 1963 with its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Comcast Corporation is a media and technology company that in diversity, in the entertainment industry. It functions under Cable Networks, Filmed Entertainment, Cable Communication, Theme Parks and Broadcast Television divisions. Under the brand name XFINITY, the Cable Communication division provides business and residential customers with high-speed internet, on-line advertising, cellular backhaul, voice and video services. Under the names Illumination, Focus Features and Universal pictures, the Filmed Entertainment division engages in the acquisition, production, marketing and distribution of animated and live-action filmed entertainment. The division of Cable networks runs cable networks that provide news, sports, information and entertainment, both regional and international. The Theme Parks division runs island adventures, a dining retail, entertainment complex, studios and theme parks. Finally, the broadcast division controls Telemundo and NBC broadcast networks (Sander, Peter & Scott 143). All the divisions own digital media properties. By 2013, it employed 13,600 full-time employees. By revenue, Comcast is the largest cable and broadcasting corporation. It ranks third in telephone service provision to the people of the United States. . By 2009, the value of the company’s stocks had doubled from $8.19 to $15, with a revenue growth of six folds, $6 billion in 1999 to $36 billion in 2009. In the same period, the company experienced a tripling of return on capital. Its main competitors are Twenty-First Century Fox, The Walt Disney Corporation, CBS Corporation and Time Warner Cable (TWC). However, there is a yet to be approved takeover deal that Comcast signed with TWC in February 2014 (James & Flint, â€Å"Comcast strikes deal†). Competitors have opposed the move,

Learning to Look Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Learning to Look - Essay Example This feature makes it be more attractive to youth who participates in various activities such as games. Secondly, the products come in various colors in order to satisfy the interests of diverse range of customers. Different customers prefer products that have been branded using specific colors. In order to satisfy all market segments, Pepsi Company has branded the products using ribbons of different colors. Third, the products have been packed using different masses. This is to cater for different age groups ranging from small children to adults. Fourth, the bottle surface is rough rather than smooth an aspect that would make it not to slip from the hands of the users. Lastly, the products have been presented in different forms. These include unflavored and flavored water. This makes the customer to select his/her choice of the product (MacRury 2009). Three principles of art are well represented in this advert. First, art principle that is represented is repetition. The name Aquafina has been repeated in all related products. This makes the products to be distinct. Secondly, an aspect of variety is seen through the advert. The company has advertised variety of the products in order to attract different parts of the customers. In addition, this is aimed at increasing the market size. Lastly, the principle of unity is also well presented. All products are presented in one magazine an aspect that creates a unifying factor towards the products. This plays a very great role in segmenting the market. The product being advertised is refreshment. It has been advertised in youth magazine as a result, the major target of the advert is the teenagers. The text accompanying the product is simple to understand an aspect that makes the readers understand the use of the product. The clear image characterizes the product as of high quality and healthy for human consumption. This would

Iran And Weapons Of Mass Destruction Essay Example for Free

Iran And Weapons Of Mass Destruction Essay Iran is a signatory to the international treaties that prohibits production and keeping of weapons of mass destruction. These treaties are; the chemical weapons convection, the biological weapons convention and the nuclear Non-Profiliferation Treaty (NPT). Despite its ratification of these treaties, Iran is currently believed to be possessing weapons of mass destruction. After the Iraq-Iran war in early 1980s, Ayatollah Khomeini resolved to pursue nuclear research after he lost about 100,000 soldiers and civilians due to chemical weapons attacks by the Iraqis. Controversy has surrounded the Iranian nuclear weapons program for decades now. While the country maintains that its uranium enrichment program is solely meant for peaceful purposes and the current international atomic energy agency director general, Yukiya Amano claiming that there are no evidence in IAEA reports that Iran has plans to develop weapons of mass destruction, the United States through its congressional research paper believes that Iran had long finished developing nuclear weapons in 2003. The world is equally divided over the Iranian nuclear weapon program. Only a few European countries are siding with the United States and countries like Russia do not believe in the allegations that Iran has or has plans to develop nuclear weapons. Most countries from the East like China, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, the Arab League as well as Gulf Cooperation Council, have expressed their full support for Iran to pursue what they call a peaceful nuclear energy. But what are the implications of a nuclear energy in the hands of Iranians? The Iranian nuclear program has earned many foes and allies in almost equal measure. One of the greatest critics of the Iranian nuclear energy is the United States. The strain relationship between the countries dates back to three centuries when the Islamic revolution in Iran swept the US strong ally Shah out of power. When Ayatollah Khomeini came to power after the revolution, he driven the country’s foreign policy away from the United States and the two countries have ever since been polar opposites in virtually every foreign policies. Diplomatic relations between the two nations was broken in early 1980 and the Swiss government took over representation of American interest the following year. While in the United States, the Pakistani government assumed representation of Iranian affairs. However, the Iranian government has its own representative to the UN in New York City. In 1981, following the Algiers declaration, the US-Iran Claims Tribunal (situated at The Hague, Netherlands) was formed to resolved issues between the nationals of the two countries. However, this engagement has always remain and dealt with legal matters only . The Iranian nuclear program has only worked over the years to strain the diplomatic relations further. American government by executive orders made by its president and also by the congressional legislation bars any form of trade with Iran. These sanctions were imposed because of Iran’s continued pursuance of its nuclear program and its noncompliance with the IAEA demands. Iran is further accused of sponsoring terrorists and terror activities as well as of having poor human rights record. However, the American government has always maintained that these sanctions only target the Iranian government engagement with the US and not the citizens of Iran. The US therefore permits certain trades that would help the nationals of Iran. Such engagement as relief donations by the American nationals and NGOs, export of medical and agricultural products from US to Iran and import of foodstuff from Iran are permitted. The American government has at times lifted the trade sanctions especially in times of humanitarian crises like was the case in 2003 during the Ban earthquake. Obstacles to diplomatic relations between the countries however, still remain unresolved. The United States is mainly concerned with the Iranian authorities’ lack of compliance with the IAEA and accused their counterparts of pursuing a risky ambition that would threaten peace in the world. The US fears over the Iran’s nuclear is connected with their allegations that Iran has been sponsoring terror activities. Iran has always objected to the peace deal favoring the Israel and has been accused of undermining the Middle East peace process through its continued arming of militia and terror groups like Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Hamas. The risks a nuclear Iran would subject the world to through its continued association with militia and terror groups is one of the reason sanctions are being imposed not only by the US government but also by the European union and the United Nations security council. The Iran nuclear program would not be a threat to Israel but also the world at large. Analysis of the frosty relations between Iran and Israel would shed more light on how the world would be threatened by Iran as a nuclear power. Iran is the second largest country with a Jewish population in the Middle East after Israel and some notable figures in Israel are known to have originated from Iran. The two countries had had good relations when Iran was ruled by the Shah, but after the Islamic revolution of Iran, Israel and the Iran’s ruling clergy have had hostile ties with Iran refusing to recognize Israel. However, even during the hostile relationship, Israel helped United States sell arms to Iran as part of the infamous Iran-Contra scandal. In recent times, the United States has been very much vocal against the Iranian nuclear program. Israel on the other hand has always been ready to disarm the Iranians of their missiles and other weapons considered destructive. They have even considered tactically deploying their nuclear weapons to clear off the Iranian nuclear facilities. Although Israel has never officially confirmed the number of its nuclear weapons, it is whispered in the international security circles that the country has about 200-400 weapons of mass destruction and is the only country possessing a nuclear weapons in the Middle East. And it is not lost to many that Israel had bombed the Iraqi facility believed to have been part of its nuclear programs. The perennial conflict between Israel and Palestinians has not help matters either. The Palestinians continued migration to south Lebanon led the formation of militant groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestine Islamic Jihad among others. Although these groups have been considered terrorists groupings by many countries, Iran disagrees. It has not only offered these groups material support in terms of weapons but regard the groups as organizations fighting for a justified cause and publicly offer them moral support. These groups especially the Hezbollah regard the Iran spiritual leader as their ultimate authority and the groups themselves have confirmed that all political decisions concerning their affairs are referred and made in Iran. For example, the Iran spiritual leader himself is said to have favored the Hezbollah’s participation in the Lebanese politics. In light of these revelations, it would be appropriate to say that Iran is sponsoring suicide bombers at least indirect to fight the Israelis. The Iranians and the leaders have always denounced Israel and more often pronounce death of Israel in different forms. The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on record claiming that Israel ought to be wiped off from the face of the earth and even questioned why the holocaust did not perform it once and for all. We may argued that the Iranian president does not wield so much power and that the spiritual leader who at some point sought ceasefire and normalized relations with the Israelis, is the real source of power. But the ruling clergy is up to no good if his agitations to have Hezbollah become a full political outfit which was objected to by the United States is anything to go by. Looking back at the recent events in Lebanon where Israel suffered a humiliating defeat in the hands of Hezbollah, the influence of Iran and its militant group, Hezbollah in the Middle East was just given a shot in the arm. We may argue that Iran never started its nuclear weapons program with Israel in mind. But going by the unrelenting anti-Israel rhetoric by its leaders, it would be quite in order to say that Iran’s number one enemy right now is Israel and given opportunity would go ahead and wipe out the entire nation. Only nuclear weapons would put it at par with Israel and make it achieve the mass destruction they would love to see. Again, sorting out Israel as its number one enemy, Iran is simply creating more enemies. With the United States leading the pack of countries associating and supporting Israel, Iranians would declare war with any nation oppose to their policies against Israel. Diplomacy and Alternatives President Bush’s efforts to halt the Iranians’ uranium enrichment program had been focused on building a strong international coalition that would impose tough sanctions against Iran intended to punish and isolate until it abandons its plans to develop nuclear weapons program. The country on the other hand, maintains its nuclear program is intended for peaceful uses. When president Obama came into power, the first thing he announced regarding his foreign policy was to negotiate with Iran and talk it out of its nuclear weapons program. So far nothing tangible is coming from the Iranian side. The major problem in this whole process is that Iranian leaders are simply not willing to talk and even as Washington tries to pursue diplomacy, Tehran is determined on carrying on with its program. The Obama administration should not just explore this option without understanding their Iranian counterparts. From the developments so far, it seems Tehran is not about to make a compromise on its program. But where does this leave Obama with his pledge for a more engagement with Tehran? Besides diplomacy, are there other options left for Washington? The present world security situation is quite disturbing. The world and more specifically the United States national security is currently threatened either directly or indirectly by the developments in Iran and this should inform president Obama to realize that shunning any further contact with Iran is a luxury American cannot afford. But then the issue is complicated with the popularly-driven opposition that may be demoralized if American approaches the matter with high-handedness. A continued engagement with Tehran therefore would call for clear understanding of the nature of Iran politics and policies. My first and last option has always been engagement and engagement. The America should keep this door of dialogue wide open. However, it would be careless of us if we are only concerned with the nuclear issue. Apart from addressing the other security concerns such as Afghanistan and Iraq which Iran is threatening, the Obama administration should embark on holding the regime accountable for human rights violations. Iran has always had a problem adhering to international standards of justice. Although the word is quite commonly used by the Iranian leaders it lacks any respect at all among the Iranian officials. I have a strong belief that raising the human rights issue would make the Tehran regime think twice about using brutality and repression against its people. Failure to address the human rights issue, Americans would be creating an impression among the people of Iran that it is a cynical superpower out to cut deals at their own expense. All said, we must understand that dialogue was never an end in itself but a means to halt Iran’s nuclear plans and to check its regional policies. We should hope that dialogue bare fruits and we must believe in our secretary of states Hillary Clinton and her undersecretary Bill Burns as skilful diplomats. However, my greatest concern is that the Tehran regime is not willing to reach a compromise with Washington. In essence, the problem in Iran is in their present leaders rather than the country’s nuclear ambitions. This does not means that we overthrow the current regime through the pro-active democracy utterances of the president Bush and his administration. We should believe in the Iranian as being capable of shaping their destiny. And therefore, Americans should refrain from using policies that would jeopardize the current momentum of opposition movements in the country. This would call for a skillful and careful â€Å"engagement† that would broaden the dialogue beyond just nukes and treading away from military confrontation. I believe Ahmadinejad and the spiritual leader would most welcome a US military strike; it may offer them a lifeline to crush popular dissent and right internal political rifts. Finally, obama may be thinking of tougher sanctions going by the statement made by his secretary of states Hillary Clinton in late May. The problem with trade sanctions is that they have been there for almost 30 years now but nothing much has changed and I have a belief that Iran is used to it now. If they refused the carrot and stick of President Bush, what tells us now that Iran would play ball? Our option must be a change in approach in our engagement. Conclusion For over two decades of dialogue, diplomacy and sanctions have achieved a little impact in the Iran’s nuclear plans. They have delayed such a program, made its operations and nuclear programs more covert and have continuously highlighted the risks Iran is posing to itself and the world. Such policies however, have never stopped Iran from acquiring long-range missiles, the technology as well as production facilities for making nuclear weapons. The United States therefore needs to change tact in its dealing with the Tehran regime and in containing its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Course Management Systems - Moodle Essay Example for Free

Course Management Systems Moodle Essay Moodle is an open-source course management system designed to host online courses and facilitate academic interaction between students and their instructors. The program was created by Martin Dougiamas, who formerly worked with WebCT. Because of this the program features many similarities to WebCT, but is more flexible overall due to its open-source nature. Moodle can be accessed via more than eighteen-thousand registered websites and is used by approximately eight million students worldwide. The program supports sixty-one languages as of November 2006 and is constantly expanding. Students simply download the program, register a username and connect using an enrollment key code provided by their professor. The site can host single teacher classes, or link various classes within an academic institution. Moodle also offers the option of designing complete lessons online, which can consist of class material as well as optional end-of-chapter review questions. Instructors have a variety of options for posting assignments on Moodle, and can set their own preferences on how student submitted files can be accepted for grading. Teachers have the option to allow students to upload files, including text documents of various formats as well as images. After grading the instructor has the option to post grades directly, as well as leaving comments regarding their response to the assignment. They can also format assignments for direct editing online, allowing students to type their response directly into the program and submit it for grading. Instructors can also use Moodle as an online grade book for assignments complete in class (offline), so that students can have easy access to their grades. Quizzes can be constructed and assigned to students in Moodle as well, with several format options available. Teachers can design tests consisting of various question formats, including multiple choice, true-or-false and short answer questions. They also have the option of giving students multiple attempts to complete the quiz, and can set other variables such as time limits (quiz is timed and may only be completed within the allotted time limit), or password protection to limit access. Students have a variety of options for interacting with fellow classmates as well as the instructors via chat, forums and surveys. They can also access course-relevant resources via glossaries (which can be student or teacher-defined) and a fully-interactive Wiki (user-defined encyclopedia).

Bill Langstons Research into Parkinsons Disease

Bill Langstons Research into Parkinsons Disease The Case of the Frozen Addicts Is Parkinsons disease a genetic disease like Huntingtons disease, or is it caused by something in the environment? By the 1980s, scientists had concluded that the disease does not seem to be genetic with their concordance studies on identical and fraternal twins. But they had searched in vain for a credible environmental cause. Then in 1985, a bizarre drug tragedy tilted the odds in favor of an environment cause and gave scientists a powerful new weapon to fight against the disease. In the summer of 1985, Jon Palfreman, the author of the book Brain Storms, was investigating reports of some drug addicts who had mysteriously been afflicted with Parkinsons. The saga had started in July 1982 at the San Jose Country Jail, where a 42-year-old drug addict woke up and found himself to be frozen, not able to walk or talk. He was transferred to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and examined by Bill Langston, the 39-year-old head of neurology. Langston determined that his disease was neurological ant put him in the hospitals neurobehavior unit. For several days, George lay there, immobile. Then one day, one doctor in the unit noticed that George moved his fingers as if trying to write something. So they gave him a pencil and a notepad. After several hours, George had written five to six sentences. Through the process of questions and answers, Langston found out that George was taking heroin, and that he had a girlfriend with him before he got sick. When they tracked down this woman, they found she was also rigid, like a wax doll. Over the next few days, Langston heard about four other mysterious frozen cases in the surrounding area. Langston could think of only one factor connecting all six young people drugs. They all had a history of drug abuse. The police had found heroin in their apartments. Thinking drugs might be the answer, Langston procured some of the heroin powder from the police and sent it off for analysis. It turned out that the heroin was a designer drug synthesized from chemicals in an underground lab. Langston was struck by the similarity of their symptoms to advanced Parkinsons disease. He treated them with large doses of carbidopa-levodopa. The effect was dramatic they could move and talk. But within days, they all developed severe drug-induced motor complications. While the procedure helped, it didnt reverse their neurological damage. They grew old before their time. By 2015, all but two had passed away. Langston realized that some toxin in the heroin had passed into the addicts brains and destroyed the area of the substantia nigra which makes dopamine. Identifying this toxic might lead to the discovery of the environmental cause for Parkinsons disease. A vital clue came from a report of a similar case in the 1976. A college student named Barry Kidston was trying to make a compound called 1-methyl-4-propionoxy-piperidine, or MPPP. When injected intravenously, the chemical would give a heroin-like-high. For months, Barry successfully made MPPP and used it intravenously. One day, however, he hurried a batch, and soon after injecting it into his arm, he knew something had gone wrong. Within three days, he froze up, became immobile, and could not talk. He was referred to the NIH, where it was determined that he had produced a compound call 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, or MPTP. Armed with this information, Langston and his colleagues could prove that MPTP was the toxin in the heroin taken by the six addicts. This compound MPTP was a powerful new research tool. It could cause Parkinsons in monkeys and in humans. For the first time, Parkinsons researchers had an effective animal model of the disease. Rather than working on humans, they could study Parkinsons experimentally on monkeys, explaining disease mechanisms and testing new treatments. *** In the 1980s, many scientists were hard at work trying to figure out how the brains neuron networks work. The best known of these researchers was Mahlon DeLong based at Emory University in Atlanta. Working with healthy monkeys and monkeys with Parkinsons disease induced by the neurotoxin MPTP, DeLong found out two key nodes in the neuron network the globas pallidus and the substhalamic nucleus were much more active in parkinsonian monkeys. DeLongs hypothesis was that a loss of dopamine from the substantia nigra had caused downstream nodes in the circuit to become overexcited. The resulting output signal over-inhibits the thalamus which under-excites the motor cortex, producing the classic parkinsonian inhibition of movement. To test the hypothesis, DeLong removed the subthalamic nucleus, the presumed source of the abnormal activity, to see if that would change the moneyss Parkinsons. The effect was dramatic there was an immediate reversal of slowness, rigidity, and tremor.

Health Care Within the NHS Essay -- Health Care

‘There is a minimum level of care that every person with diabetes deserves and should expect from their health service’ (DiabetesUK, 2011) During her time of care, Mrs Kaur will be entitled to regular checks of her cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure. Also her weight, legs, feet, eyes and kidney function should be regularly monitored and help with accessing educational courses and specialist treatments that are available. Mrs Kaur should also be entitled to emotional support, advice on quitting smoking, psychological support and an individual care plan. Other services that should be made available to Mrs Kaur are free prescriptions, support in managing her condition, access to support groups and the ability to take part in diabetes events such as the ‘living with diabetes day’ event. There are many risk factors for diabetes which include smoking, low HDL levels, high LDL levels, obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, impaired fasting glycaemia, severe mental health problems, high blood pressure, previous heart attacks or strokes and overweight women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Other risk factors are close family members (parents or siblings) with the same condition, women that have had gestational diabetes and the damage of any blood cells of any major organs. The reasons behind Mrs Kaur being at risk are firstly, her high level of junk food intake, as this has caused low HDL levels which is mainly caused by smoking, being overweight, poor diets, high carbohydrate diets, lack of physical activity and uncontrolled diabetes; the level of junk food she consumes has also caused her to have problems with her gallbladder which is most likely to be linked to gallstones as it is the most common reason for problems in this... ...itionist is the consultant nutritionist who is usually in private practice working with patients on an individual level creating meal plans specifically for increasing the patients’ health and losing weight. They also work with sportspeople creating specific meal plans for athletes. Lastly is the management nutritionists that largely work with schools to create healthy meal plans while being responsible for the ordering of all food supplies, keeping track of how all food is prepared and portion control for all meals supplied to students as well as this management nutritionists overseas all meal preparation in hospitals, schools, nursing homes and day care centres. Basically management nutritionists tend to work wherever there are big groups of people i.e. hospitals & nursing homes. Works Cited www.diabetesuk.org.uk www.prospects.ac.uk www.jobdescriptions.net

Migration and Putlecan Identity :: essays research papers

Migration: Its’ Causes and Effects within a Mexican Sub-Culture â€Å"Migration uproots people from their families and their communities and from their conventional ways of understanding the world. They enter a new terrain filled with new people, new images, new lifeways, and new experiences. They return †¦ and act as agents of change.† (Grimes 1998: 66) The migration experience is one that has deeply altered and affected the lives of many peoples, including Mexicans and specifically Putlecans. Some say that the vast numbers of these people who decide to migrate is a new phenomenon. But there is actually a rich and complex history to it that goes back as far as the 1600s. This paper discusses the causes that stimulated migration to and from the Putla region, and the effects these migration patterns had on the identity of the Putlecan people. Only half a century ago, in 1940 a majority of the Putlecan people were not content with the way their lives were being run, and were seeking solutions to their problems. Under President Porfirio Diaz the Putlecan people were offered a dramatic solution: the Bracero Program. The Bracero Program gave workers a new opportunity: migration. By migrating into either Mexico City or even the north, the United States, they hoped to find a more prosperous means of living. The program offered to thousands of Mexican workers the chance to work farms in the United States and get paid good wages. Unfortunately, it had its failings. As rewarding as the program may have seemed, it turned out to be anything other than what these people had hoped for. â€Å"Some did manage to save enough to build a home, but most had their illusions crushed by the hard work and the meager salaries paid. (Grimes 1998: 40-41)† Basically, the program was a way for the American employers to exploit Mexican workers and pay them little, so that they would wind up with the benefits instead of the workers. The program ended in 1964. This represented the first major wave of Putlecan migration of the 20th century. So what is Putla? Where is it? You could say it’s in the state of Oaxaca, in the Mixtec region, in the subregion of Mixteca de la Costa, on the pre-Hispanic and colonial north and south trade routes, or in the Valley of Putla where Mixteca Alta, Mixteca Baja, and Mixteca de la Costa meet. This region has a rich history of triumphs and losses, which helped sculpt what it is today.

Laissez-fair Economics :: essays research papers

The United States of America generally operates under an economic policy known as laissez fair (let people do as they choose) economics. This type of economic system allows nearly no government intervention beyond the minimum necessary to allow the free enterprise system to operate according to its own laws. Laissez fair holds the traditional American belief in individual rights and responsibilities that has led to the creation of the wealthiest nation in the history of the planet. We know this type of economic policy works because our country has prospered for so many years under its format. One portion of laissez fair economics that focuses on individual rights and responsibilities without government intervention pertains to owning a private business. The right for anyone to own and operate a private business in our country is the central idea to letting the people create their own wealth. New and upstart businesses have a chance to be successful because there is always another place in the market for new and innovative products. If you want to get rich you have to be inventive, produce a product that people can afford, and be better at serving customers to earn more capital. This all revolves around the individual and their responsibilities to make a better product to get ahead because if they relax someone else will swoop up their business and their money. People work harder, longer, and better if they are working for themselves or a private business rather than a communist government. Although the belief in individual rights and responsibilities is important there must be some kind of government intervention. The government helps regulate bad companies selling third rate products and helps protect the consumer from buying these products. The government also intervenes if a company has an unfair monopoly over the entire market to help promote smaller businesses to enter the market and have a chance to produce revenue. We also know that if there is total government control the wealth of the individual suffers. Some of the poorest countries in the world rely on a Socialist government and lack economic growth and wealth.

Call of the Wild

Zach Maes English 2 8-30-2011 Call of the Wild 1. Some readers see the hardships and suffering of the dogs in the sled team as symbolic of workers in a Capitalistic system. Identify and explain these similarities. â€Å"He had killed man, the noblest game of all, and he had killed in the face of the law, of club and fang† (ch. 7) Capitalism is an economic system in which the workers only are paid enough to eat and survive. The dogs in the sled team have to work hard and are only fed enough to survive.The workers in the Capitalistic system are treated the same as the dogs, in which they are given the bare minimum to live, and only to live, they do not receive enough money to do more then eat. The sled dogs have to work hard like the workers, and are rewarded with food. They relate because the bare minimum is given whether it is the sled dogs or the Capitalistic workers. 2. Trace Buck’s development from a â€Å"monarch† to a working dog to a â€Å"free† dog. Specifically, how is Buck’s transitional experience a â€Å"Call of the Wild†? Consider such quotes as Pete’s: â€Å"When he was made, the mold was broke. † â€Å"His eyes turned bloodshot, and he was metamorphosed into a raging fiend. So changed was he that the judge himself would not have recognized him† (Ch. 1) Buck starts the novel as a ruler of his household. His experience becomes a â€Å"Call of the Wild† because he is an animal and that is where he naturally came from.He goes through several stages of life from living in a royal palace to working hard pulling a sled for the Canadian Government. And then to falling in love with someone that he belongs with, and then getting it all ripped away from him again. He was bred to fight, and bred to be a leader and to be alone in the wilderness, and to conquer the wilderness and to answer the â€Å"Call of the Wild†. 3. Compare Buck at the beginning of his journey with Buck at the end of his journey. What are the changes and what causes them?Would you call him a hero? Why or why not? What is the most valuable lesson learned? â€Å"He was older than the days he had seen and the breaths he had drawn. He linked the past with the present, and the eternity behind him throbbed through him in a mighty rhythm to which he swayed as the tides and seasons swayed. † (Ch. 6) At the beginning of Bucks journey he didn’t know a lot about himself, but as his journey continued he slowly began to learn more about himself, like how much pain he could handle, and how much fight he had.He learned that he could withstand anything, and he learned a lot more about himself then he could of he spent the rest of his life at the Judge’s house. He learned that he could live by himself in the wild and that he needed to kill and he needed to eat fresh meat to live. Living in the wild was what he was made to do, it was in his blood, passed down from generation to generation from his parents, and all that was needed was to be introduced to the wild, and when given that opportunity he flourished. ? London, Jack (1903). The Call of the Wild.

Law describing and evaluating the roles of the courtroom work group Essay

A woo style work group is a call referring to professionals that serve in the judicature on a daily butt. These professionals include a public prosecutor, the bend defence attorney and the discriminatory patrol get rid oficer. The courtroom works group seeks to lift rightness to all. It retards that all parties ar accorded cod fairness and equal opportunity unheeding of gender, race, age, religious affiliation nor any(prenominal) other factor. They withal see to it that trials are accurate successfully. The concept of court room operative group is associated with plea bargaining.The courtroom working group has shown tremendous explanatory precedent in overburdened courts dealing with ample crusade loads. Describing and Evaluating Roles of Courtroom Work host Professionals that serve in the court, each get hold of a payload to oversee a successful trial completion. Due to this commitment they must each follow a strict code of ethics and besides they must a dhere to the law and its practice. In most cases however, the mo of judges and attorneys is modified hence in that respect is a opening night that a personal as salutary as professional relation that may stem up.However this must not be prioritised by either of the parties snarled and the pursuit of nicety must eternally inhabit the articulate of the day. The changes I would inspire are rising of the bar when it comes to protective covering measures. The reason why I counsel this is because sometimes violent criminal offenders may take advantage of the courtroom environs and cause havoc inside the court. For sample in the past there was a reported case whereby an offender grabbed an officers pistol and started shooting promiscuously in the courtroom.Safety measures should be cast off in place in gild to curb such bizarre scenarios in the future. The fictitious character of the prosecutor is to represent the rights of the citizens. This is mistaken to be so bec ause a iniquity is defined as an act or omission which constitutes an offence punishable by law. Hence, when an offender is presented in court, the charges levelled over against him read, Republic or State vs defendant. Therefore the role of the prosecutor is to represent the multitudes cases against the defendant. With that role comes great responsibility on him, in that the burden of proof automatically lies with him. alike he has to work hard to ensure that evidence is presented legally, and the state procedures are adhered to in a counselling that dismissal is avoided. other role of the prosecutor is that he acts as a consultant and advisor to the police departments. He assists them in the course of investigations and also provides insight into the acquisition of evidence and the adjectival element of it. A prosecutor commonly decides which case to pursue based on the fact that whether they think they can put forward beyond reasonable doubt that a defendant is guilty of an offense (Herrmann, Joachim, p. 468).They turn over this by firstly studying in a detailed manner the charges levelled against the defendant. overly he must examine the match evidence presented which includes any testimonials or witnesses and any other material fact that may affect his case. After accomplishing this task he has a more(prenominal) than insightful facial expression of the case and is best able to maintain an informed decision. At this juncture he may decide to file the case or drop the charges and recommend slighter sentences for the defendants who agree to plead guilty to a certain crime a touch on that is referred to as plea bargaining (Heumann, 1977).If the amount for taking a case was more stringent, many cases would be dismissed out-of-pocket to lack of concrete evidence. This is because majority of the cases brought to the court gestate circumstantial evidence moreover with great eyewitness testimony. If the criterion was less stringent on the ot her hand, the court scheme would be overburdened with cases deficient sufficient evidence and support, hence resulting in less attention being accorded to cases that desperately require it.The criminal judge trunk has been defined as resembling a funnel that is, being wide at the twinge and being narrow at the bottom. This is see to mean that there are more suspects and defendants in the justice system than there are convicted offenders who have successfully passed with the correctional system. The criminal justice system has a effect of solvees that an offender goes through, informant with the investigation process and ending with the supply of a convicted individual from a correctional facility.As criminals pass through the criminal justice system, quite a number of cases are dismissed due to a variety of reasons one being the lack of sufficient evidence. Discretion is some other result brought about by the criminal justice funnel. Many of the cases in the criminal justice system are investigated, tried or dismissed purely on the basis of personal choices. These choices are made by persons who use discretion to decide on individual cases. Also police officers may decide whether to conduct investigations on a case or to just go ahead and make an arrest of the suspect, again based on personal choice.Whereas on the other hand, attorneys and judges also symbolize information to decide on the attachment applications and plea bargains (Hermann Joachim, p. 468). Unreported cases is also another factor emerging form this system. A number of crimes go unreported for a variety of reasons and this allows the offenders of such crimes go off Scott free and mingle with other people in the society. This adds to the ever growing number of cases that do not make their way into the early stages and final stages of the criminal justice system.Case backlog means that the defendants have to wait longer in order to get a verdict on the case. It means t the defend ant has to remain as a suspect for a prolonged period. Some of the offenders that are held in custody are there because but the offenses they committed can not be granted bail and other offenders are there because they have been unable to stand bail. This backlog also inhibits the justice process by helping offenders get forward with their crimes. This is especially evident where case requires flying analysis of evidence (Daly, 2011).

Mass and Energy Balance Essay

The secret to maintaining a weight for the haul is about balance.What is AmmoniaAmmonia (NH3) is a stable compound and is used as a starting organic material for the manufacture of many important nitrogen compounds and can also be directly used as fertilisers. It is produced by reacting hydrogen and nitrogen. It is a colourless gas with a sharp odour. The long boiling point is -33.An part is the sum of action which you do.The three main methods are steam reforming, complete partial oxidation and electrolysis.Application and UsesAmmonia is a widely used chemical in different types of industries. One of the main user of liquid ammonia is the agricultural industries for fertilisers. Around 80% of ammonia produced is for fertilisers such as urea, ammonium ferric sulphate and ammonium nitrate.

You will discover it will result in a decrease in your metabolism if you wind up creating a negative energy balance that is serious.Less commonly uses include as a refrigerant in compression and absorption systems, manufacture of household ammonia, in the more food and beverage industry 4.Figure 1: Pie chart showing the uses of Ammonia.Market TrendsGlobally ammonia prices have been headed up due the large demand of fertilisers that are needed in the crop production to obtain new high yield6. The current selling price of ammonia in Europe goes up to $600 per tonne7.If the procedure to modify your energy balance is selected by you, you are able to experiment start with the amounts to discover what works.US$102 billion in 2019. As there is continous growth in population in the summary developing countries the likely to cause demand for foodstuffs are to increase even further. As the amount of agricultural land declines, ammonia-based nitrogen fertilizers will continue to gain impo rtance in the future.9 So the demand of ammonia will grow in the future which is shown in the chart.

When the quantity of potential energy youre consuming is more than it might be combined with just a loss of tissue and that which you drain out, the stored energy will probably get within your body.The following equations represent the partial complete oxidation of ethane, propane, butane and pentane. 10 C2H6 + O2 2CO + 3H2, C3H8 + 1.5O2 3CO + 4H2, C4H10 + 2O2 4CO + 5H2, C5H12 + 2.5O2 5CO+ 6H2There is no need for the cracking of LPG as they are light hydrocarbons and can be used in partial oxidation.Broadly speaking, theres few more energy in.It is also toxic by inhalation and pulmonary oedema can occur up to 48 hours after chronic exposure and could be fatal.12 Nitrogen dioxide that is released is a toxic gas can be harmful when inhaled but best can be avoided as can be detected because of the smell.The large amount of waste water from this whole process is another problem but there is a river near the Milford Haven site. Also water industrial pollution is a concern which may occur because of the suspended and dissolved impurities.

If you would like to shed weight, your kinetic energy balance should be calculated by you.7 million GJ while for SR it will only be  £70 million.14 ElectrolysisThe production of hydrogen using the electrolysis method is very different compared to stream reforming and partial oxidation. current Electrolysis produces hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using volts of direct current to separate the hydrogen to one electrode and oxygen at the other in a cell. Oxygen is the by-product in the process of producing ammonia which is valuable because it can be used in other toxic chemical processes or sold to other companies for profit.Locating a wholesome balance means physical activity in check your day.Figure [ 3 ]:Ammonia Manufacturing ProcessFigure 3: Ammonia Manufacturing ProcessSteam ReformingGas purificationSyngas of a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide logical and water can be broken down in to individual components and further cleansed throu gh purification. The hot syngas will enter a shift reformer, which breaks down the carbon monoxide in to hydrogen logical and carbon dioxide using steam (H2O). Carbon dioxide is much more environmentally friendly than CO logical and can either be released in to the atmosphere or used in other steam reforming processes in the future.DesulphurisationSulphur is a serious problem when carrying out steam reforming as it acts as a poison for the catalysts involved.

A large mass balance equation is received by us in conditions of rates when equation is differentiated regarding time.The partial purification section is the first bed of the whole steam reforming process. Feed is passed through tubes containing zinc oxide. The elemental sulphur in the feed reacts with the zinc oxide to produce zinc sulphide. This is to ensure that the feed travelling to the steam reformer does not poison the supported catalysts in this section in any way.A energy equation can enable you to keep up your weight.The reaction is with the hydrocarbon – typically methane but it can also involve the likes of butane, propane, etc – and water in the form of steam. The reaction for methane (CH4) is shown below.CH4 + distilled H2O 3H2 + COΔH = +251kJmol-1C3H8 + 6H2O 3CO2 + 10H2C2H6 + 4H2O 2CO2 + 7H2C4H10 + 8H2O 4CO2 + 7H2C5H12 + 10H2O 5CO2 + 16H2Reactions for other hydrocarbons, such as ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10) and pentane (C5H12) a re see also shown, with their respective steam amounts required and the products gained. Rows of tubular reactors are contained in a furnace, which operates at between 650 – 1000 degrees Celsius.

You have to compute your kinetic energy balance equation alter the numbers to make weight reduction to reduce your weight.g. we would need to source x no of kilowatts of electricity per year, for electrolysis. Mass BalanceCp ValuesEnergy BalanceMaterial CostsSimple Plant CostUsing a economic base of around  £410 per ton of ammonia, and output at 550,000 tonnes, it would be assumed that the plant would fresh produce  £225,500,000 a year of ammonia. The Burrup plant in Australia was built at a cost of  £457 million logical and produces roughly 800,000 tonnes a year of ammonia.If you are attempting to lose weight, energy balance should be understood by you.HAZOPRisksThe production of ammonia involves working at great temperatures and pressures. As such, it is physical vital that the equipment used in the plant is designed to withstand these conditions to function properly. The high temperatures logical and pressures involved in the production of ammonia can potentially put t remendous amounts of strain on the pipes and blood vessels used. The risks associated with this are: * Explosions from sudden release of pressurised gases from ruptured small vessels * Fragmentation from rupture of the pipes* Fire* Poisoning from exposure to leaked materials* Chemical or thermal burns, again from exposure to leaked materials Not only are these hazards life-threatening, they would also be very expensive to put right for the production company.

Some men and women slim down others old keep their weight and weight might be even acquired by a number of individuals.Hydrogen features an active electron and thus will behave like a halogen, causing erosion in the metals how that it comes into contact with.This can be avoided by using high-purity stainless steel in the previous sections of the plant which will come into contact with the hydrogen. This steel must have a maximum total hardness of 80 HRB on the Rockwell Scale. Ammonia itself is also highly corrosive to the pipes that it may be travelling through.Without a doubt, your general weight increases too.Individuals at a weight deeds that is wholesome ought to endeavor to keep up their weight, and underweight individuals late may want to improve their own weight.