Thursday, October 31, 2019

Labor productivity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Labor productivity - Essay Example Having a team spirit among the laborers also cannot be overlooked. The desire to play and win as a team and not as an individual is an important aspect of labor productivity. When workers have the urge to play and conquer as a team, they feel more obligated to fulfill their end of the task so as not to let the other team players down. Teamwork will lead to the realization of the maximum potential in each of the laborers (West, 2012). With regard to teamwork, individuals can work at improving their inter-personal skills, which will enable them to associate in a healthy manner with their fellow employees. Having a well structured and properly functioning organizational structure also considerably contributes to the maximization of labor productivity (Steffan, 2008). A well organized structure in an organization will ensure that there are policies that have been set in place to look into the concerns and matters raised by laborers. In settings where such structures do not exist, it might be of an individual’s concern to propose to the management to come up with a structure that seeks to address their needs. Family matters are also a factor to consider, acknowledging that it influences labor productivity to a noticeable extent. Workers in any given organization who experience a supportive family life are capable of producing more at work due to presence of motivation. On the other hand, individuals who experience a stressful family life will not be able to fully exploit their potential at work, thus reducing the overall labor productivity. Hence, at the individual level, one can work at building healthy family life in order to be able to be fully productive. Lastly, there is the factor of capital formation and it has a positive influence on labor productivity. For example, the transfer of individual’s savings into a business venture in the form of shares will lead to earning of the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Picasso and the Camera Exhibition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Picasso and the Camera Exhibition - Essay Example The essay "Picasso and the Camera Exhibition" explores the exhibition called "Picasso and the Camera". Gagosian gallery provides a one of a kind experience. Art can be expressed in many forms including paints and sculptures. The uniqueness of Picasso in utilizing the camera to express art in completely new dimensions has made his collection one of a kind at the Gagosian collection. The message and inspirations remain the same but the nature of execution remains unique. The collections will be the center of discussion through the paper and focus will be on how it transformed the manner in which individuals interpret art. The collection provides an aspect of cultural coexistence. The exhibition accounts various aspects of culture both locally and internationally. The aim of the exhibition was to provide a picture of the earth from various angles. Culture is an essential component in art and various forms of entertainment. When one focused on the ‘Picasso and the Camera’ ex hibition the unique aspect is that the photographer focused more on the cultures that are perceived new to his immediate surroundings. Promotion of cultures is what art is all about, nature shapes individuals but culture absorbs and nurture people to attain certain goals and societal expectations. ‘Picasso and the Camera’ exhibition is an example of what culture may provide. The artwork has provided room for many individual from different parts of the world to assemble and share the multicultural exhibitions experience.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Desulfurization Simulated Gasoil

Desulfurization Simulated Gasoil Desulfurization Simulated Gasoil by Polyoxometalate/H2O2/Ionic Liquid System Arouna Dolo, Yu-Hui Luo, Wen-Wen Ma, Xin-Xin Lu, Yan Xu, Kaiwen Ma, Nah Traorà ©, Hong Zhang Abstract The Keggin-type catalysts (Q)3+nPW12-nVnO40 (n= 1-3) were synthesized by ionic exchange for oil extraction/catalytic oxidation desulfurization (ECODS) of DBT, BT and 4,6-DMDBT. The samples were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectra analysis. The experimental results indicated that (STA)6PW9V3 exhibits superior catalytic activity and durability with about 99.14% desulfurization rate from the 500 ppm model oil within 1 h at 40 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, and no obviously decrease in its catalytic performance was observed after five consecutive ECODS recycles with about 98% recovery rate. Therefore, the Keggin-type material is a promising and efficient catalyst for the catalytic oxidation desulfurization of diesel fuel. Keywords: Catalysts, Polyvanadotungstates, Extraction/oxidation desulfurization, Ionic liquid, Keggin-type polyoxometalates 1. Introduction The combustion of hydrocarbon generates gaseous contaminants, such as SOx and NOx species, which lead to environmental hazards, including acid rain, air contamination and ozone consumption [1]. Hydrodesulfurization (HDS), a standard refining technology, is very efficient in removal of thiols, sulfides and disulfides. However, it is less effective when dealing with refractory sulfur compounds such as benzothiophene (BT), dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) [2]. This attracts noteworthy efforts to explore an efficient approach for sulfur removal from oil, including extractive desulfurization (EDS), oxidative desulfurization (ODS), biodesulfurization (BDS) and absorptive desulfurization (ADS) or their combination. Among them, extractive/catalytic oxidative desulfurization (ECODS) has emerged as an intriguing approach due to its superior desulfurization activity, selectivity and stability [3]. Various catalysts, such as commercially available molybdic compound [4], phosphotungstic acid,[5] peroxotungsten complex [6] and polymolybdates [7] have demonstrated good efficiency with ECODS. However, phase-transfer limitation across the interface and lack of adaptive reaction environment in the hydrophobic ILs are the main drawbacks in these systems. The Keggin-type containing-vanadium POMs PMo12-nVnO40(3+n)- and PW12-nVnO40(3+n)− have demonstrated to be an effective and robust catalyst for various oxidation reactions, including ketones, aldehydes, alcohols and sulfur under mild conditions [8, 9]. However, few reports on the catalytic oxidative desulfurization by PW12-nVnO40(3+n)− encapsulated with organic alkyl chains have been reported. In this work, we used Keggin-type containing-vanadium POMs H3+nPW12-nVnO40 (n= 1-3) grafted with a series of alkyl chains, including stearyltrimethylammonium bromide (STA ·Br), hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br), and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DDA ·Br) as catalysts, [Bmim]PF6 as extractant solvent in the presence of H2O2 as oxidant for desulfurization. The results show that, among the synthesized catalysts (STA)6PW9V3 exhibited superior activity. Reaction parameters, such as the influence of vanadium structure, oil/catalyst mass ratio and H2O2 dosage on the desulfurization were investigated. From our experiments, it suggests that the higher number of vanadium-substituted to the catalyst results the better catalytic activity. 2. Experimental 2.1. Materials preparation Synthesis of H4PW11VO40 (PW11V), H5PW10V2O40 (PW10V2) and K6PW9V3O40 (PW9V3): PW11V , PW10V2 and PW9V3 were synthesized as reported in the literature [11, 12]. Surfactant-Encapsulated POMs (SEPs) were synthesized via ionic exchange of method of PW12-nVn and surfactants (STAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br, HDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br and DDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢B), respectively. PW12-nVn were dissolved in water, whereas surfactants were dissolved in alcohol. The two solutions were mixed, filtered, washed with water and ethanol before drying for 24 h to obtain the final products. All catalysts used in this work were characterized according to the reported literatures. 2.2. ECODS for oil model Synthesis of ionic liquid and model oil: Ionic liquid [Bmim]PF6 was synthesized as mentioned in the literature [10]. The ECODS was conducted via initially mixing model oil with [Bmim]PF6 inside two-necked round-bottomed flask immersed in water bath at various temperature 40, 50 and 60  °C, respectively. The ECODS commenced after addition of H2O2 30 wt. % into the (STA)6PW9V3 under stirring for 3h. Intermediate samples were collected at different reaction times from 10 min to 160 min. The remained sulfur-containing compounds in model oil after the reaction were analyzed by GC. 2.3. Characterization FT-IR spectra were measured on a Mattson Alpha-Centauri spectrometer in the range of 4000-400 cm-1. Thermogravimetric analysis was performed on Perkin-Elmer Thermal Analyzer under nitrogen atmosphere at heating of 5  °C/min till 600  °C. UV absorption was measured with Cary 500 UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. 3. Results and discussion The ECODS was tested in comparison with other desulfurization systems, such as the extraction, the chemical oxidation and the catalytic oxidation (Table 1). Interestingly, the ECODS system was superior to others desulfurization systems. This is due to the persistence of catalyst with IL and oxidant in the same reaction somehow stimulates legend effect, which stabilizes the oxidant and subsequently enhances activity. In addition, the high oil-model solubility in ionic liquid results in less binding energy of adsorbents on the system, thus contributing to a much higher sulfur removal. Three different surfactants were used to synthesize (Q)6PW9V3, (Q)6PW10V2 and (Q)6PW11V (Q = STAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br, HDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br and DDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br) to investigate the influence of surfactant alkyl-chain length on the catalytic performance. As shown in Fig. 1, the efficiency of DBT removal in ECODS are about 99.14%, 95% and 81% by using (STA)6PW9V3, (HDA)6PW9V3 and (DDA)6PW9V3 as catalysts, correspondingly. In contrast, surfactant-encapsulated POMs (Q)5PW10V2 and (Q) are slightly less efficient than (STA)6PW9V3. Fig 2 shows the removal of DBT at 40, 50 and 60  ºC, respectively. The results show that removal of DBT via ECODS increases with temperature rising. After 10 minutes for the ECODS reaction, the DBT removal efficiency was 38.47% at 40  °C, while 80.36% at 60  °C. Also, the DBT removal efficiency became stable for all three temperatures after an hour. These results depict the superior catalytic activity at 60  °C. However, the excessive higher temperature will lead to thermal decomposition of H2O2, thus low desulfurization efficiency [14]. As a result, although the catalytic effect is sluggish at 40  °C, which took around 1 h to remove about 99% of sulfur, it is economically preferred due to low energy cost and higher H2O2 stability. In addition, the durability of (STA)6PW9V3 was investigated on DBT removal for five interval cycles. The results show that, the catalyst keeps around 98 % of its activity after consecutive 5 cycles (Fig S8). Furthermore, the catalyst, (STA)6PW9V3 , reserved all its characteristic peaks without significant shift after the durability test (Fig S9). The ECODS capability of DBT, BT, 4,6-DMDBT were evaluated using (STA)6PW9V3 as catalyst. The achieved desulfurization efficiency were about 99.14%, 91.09% and 71.06% for DBT, 4,6-DMDBT and BT at 40  ºC within 1 h, respectively, as shown in Fig 3. The data reflects the superior ECODS efficiency of DBT compared to 4,6-DMDBT and BT resulting from distinct electron density of BT (5.739), DBT (5.758) and 4,6-DMDBT (5.760) [15]. Thereby, high electron density eases up sulfur removal and vice versa. However, 4,6-DMBT is the exception due to the persistence of two methyl groups in carbon chain, which cause steric hindrance [16]. 4. Conclusion In summary, the Keggin-type organic-inorganic framework catalysts, (Q)6PW11V, (Q)6PW10V2, (Q)6PW9V3 [Q=C18H37N(CH3)3 (STA), C16H42N(CH3)3 (HDA], C12H3N(CH3)3 (DDA)], were synthesized by ionic exchange approach for oil extraction/catalytic oxidation desulfurization. Their desulfurization efficiencies were investigated by varing reactants concentration and reaction parameters. Intriguingly, (STA)6PW9V3 with longer carbon chain and higher V content exhibits superior catalytic activity compared to its counterparts. The ECODS presents better performance compared to others systems. Furthermore, (STA)6PW9V3 exhibits a drastic durability. From the experiment, it maintained catalytic activity with 98% recovery rate after five consecutive ECODS cycles. Acknowledgment We gratefully acknowledge financial support by the NSF of China (21271038, 21071027), the China High-Tech Development 863 Program (2007AA03Z218) and analysis and testing foundation of Northeast Normal University. References [1] R. Martinez-Palou, R. Luque, Applications of ionic liquids in the removal of contaminants from refinery feedstocks: an industrial perspective, Energy Environ. Sci. 7 (2014) 2414-2447. [2] W. Jiang, W. Zhu, Y. Chang, Y. Chao, S. Yin, H. Liu, F. Zhu, H. Li, Ionic liquid extraction and catalytic oxidative desulfurization of fuels using dialkylpiperidinium tetrachloroferrates catalysts, Chem. Eng. J. 250 (2014) 48-54. [3] S. Ribeiro, A.D.S. Barbosa, A.C. Gomes, M. Pillinger, I.S. Gonà §alves, L. Cunha-Silva, S.S. Balula, Catalytic oxidative desulfurization systems based on Keggin phosphotungstate and metal-organic framework MIL-101, Fuel Process. Technol. 116 (2013) 350-357. [4] W. Zhu, H. Li, X. Jiang, Y. Yan, J. Lu, L. He, J. Xia, Commercially available molybdic compound-catalyzed ultra-deep desulfurization of fuels in ionic liquids, Green Chem. 10 (2008) 641-646. [5] H. Li, L. He, J. Lu, W. Zhu, X. Jiang, Y. Wang, Y. Yan, Deep Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuels Catalyzed by Phosphotungstic Acid in Ionic Liquids at Room Temperature, Energy Fuels 23 (2009) 1354-1357. [6] X. Jiang, H. Li, W. Zhu, L. He, H. Shu, J. Lu, Deep desulfurization of fuels catalyzed by surfactant-type decatungstates using H2O2 as oxidant, Fuel 88 (2009) 431-436. [7] L. He, H. Li, W. Zhu, J. Guo, X. Jiang, J. Lu, Y. Yan, Deep Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuels Using Peroxophosphomolybdate Catalysts in Ionic Liquids, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 47 (2008) 6890-6895. [8] W. Guo, Z. Luo, H. Lv, C.L. Hill, Aerobic Oxidation of Formaldehyde Catalyzed by Polyvanadotungstates, ACS Catal. 4 (2014) 1154-1161. [9] Y. Liu, S. Liu, S. Liu, D. Liang, S. Li, Q. Tang, X. Wang, J. Miao, Z. Shi, Z. Zheng, Facile Synthesis of a Nanocrystalline Metal–Organic Framework Impregnated with a Phosphovanadomolybdate and Its Remarkable Catalytic Performance in Ultradeep Oxidative Desulfurization, ChemCatChem 5 (2013) 3086-3091. [10] S. Carda–Broch, A. Berthod, D.W. Armstrong, Solvent properties of the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ionic liquid, Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 375 (2003) 191-199. [11] P.J. Domaille, G. Herva, A. Taza, Vanadium(V) Substituted Dodecatungstophosphates, Inorganic Syntheses, New York: John Wiley Sons; 1990, p 96-104. [12] G.A. Tsigdinos, C.J. Hallada, Molybdovanadophosphoric acids and their salts. I. Investigation of methods of preparation and characterization, Inorg. Chem. 7 (1968) 437-441. [13] M. Akimoto, H. Ikeda, A. Okabe, E. Echigoya, 12-Heteropolymolybdates as catalysts for vapor-phase oxidative dehydrogenation of isobutyric acid: 3. Molybdotungstophosphoric and molybdovanadophosphoric acids, J. Catal. 89 (1984) 196-208. [14] D. Fang, Q. Wang, Y. Liu, L. Xia, S. Zang, High-Efficient Oxidation–Extraction Desulfurization Process by Ionic Liquid 1-Butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium Trifluoroacetic Acid, Energy Fuels 28 (2014) 6677-6682. [15] Z. Jiang, H. LÃÅ", Y. Zhang, C. Li, Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuel Oils, Chin. J. Catal. 32 (2011) 707-715. [16] M. Zhang, W. Zhu, S. Xun, H. Li, Q. Gu, Z. Zhao, Q. Wang, Deep oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene with POM-based hybrid materials in ionic liquids, Chem. Eng. J. 220 (2013) 328-336. Highlights A series of Keggin-type catalyst was successfully synthesized; The influence factors for catalytic oxidation desulfurization were discussed in detail; As synthesized catalyst exhibited superior catalytic activity and durability. Figure captions Fig. 1 Influence of surfactant alkyl-chain length on the catalytic oxidation of DBT. Reaction conditions: 5 mL model oil (S content = 500 ppm); time = 1 h; T = 40  °C; H2O2 = 64  µL, [Bmim]PF6 = 1 mL. Fig. 2 Influence of temperature on the removal of DBT. Reaction conditions: 5 mL model oil (S content = 500 ppm); (STA)6PW9V3 = 3.5 mg; time=3 h; H2O2 = 64  µL, [Bmim]PF6 = 1 mL. Fig. 3 Influence of different sulfur-containing compounds. Reaction conditions: 5 mL model oil; S content (BT, DBT and 4,6-DMDBT was 250, 500 and 250 ppm respectively); (STA)6PW9V3 = 3.5 mg; time = 3 h; T = 40  °C; H2O2 = 64  µL; [Bmim]PF6 = 1mL. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Tables Table 1 Influence of different desulfurization systems on removal of DBT Reaction conditions: 5 mL model oil (S content=500 ppm); t=1 h; T =40  °C; H2O2= 64  µL, catalyst = 3.5 mg, [Bmim]PF6=1 mL 1

Friday, October 25, 2019

The two Duffy poems I have chosen to compare the way she presents Essay

The two Duffy poems I have chosen to compare the way she presents the speaker’s relationship with the person she is speaking to are Havisham and Elvis Twin Sister. Havisham is in a form of a monologue. Choose two Duffy Poems. Compare the way she presents the speaker’s relationship with the person she is speaking to (or about) Most of Carol Ann Duffy’s poems are about love, but that does not always mean that they contain positive connotations. Some contain positive where as quite a few of them have negative. The two Duffy poems I have chosen to compare the way she presents the speaker’s relationship with the person she is speaking to are ‘Havisham’ and ‘Elvis’ Twin Sister’. ‘Havisham’ is in a form of a monologue. She begins by telling the reader the cause of her troubles. She states ‘beloved sweetheart bastard’ which is an oxymoron meaning an apparent contradiction for example loving hate. She uses words to describe her bitter and angry tone such as ‘bastard’, ‘strangle’, ‘Nooooo’ and also ‘bang’. Duffy has used these words to make the readers aware of the ange...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Pacific Northwest Settling Establishments Essay

Contact at trading posts had originally introduced the Native Americans to Christianity. The British Protestants and French-Canadian trappers who were mostly of Catholic faith did this. The trappers were impressed by Native religion and didn’t see any problem between Christianity and Native religion. Fur companies usually encouraged their men to get Native American wives and marry into the tribes to make trade relationships stronger. The Whitman established their mission with the Cayuse at Waiilatpu near Walla Walla. Spalding was assigned to convert the Nez Perce people and founded a mission at Lapwai, Idaho. This was one of the most successful missions. In 1838, two Catholic priests, Fathers Blanchet and Modesta Demers arrived at Fort Walla Walla to imagine the possibilities of beginning a Catholic mission in the area. According to historians the Roman Catholic missionaries were much more successful with the Native Americans. The Native Americans were convinced of the Missionaries tactics and customs from a few different ways. One of the ways that was used was that they didn’t promote immigration into the area. Their customs in church were interesting to the Native Americans and helped to encourage practicing their beliefs as well as the fact that mission sites were extensive. To help convert they didn’t emphasize changing the Native Americans’ culture, but instead promoted theirs to make the Natives want to change. Instead of requiring Native Americans to live on or close to the Missions, they traveled alongside with them. In some ways the Missionaries used reverse physiology to convince the Native Americans that their practices were better. The significance of having the missionaries approach and try to chance the Native Americans was very significant. If it weren’t significant, the Native Americans that were opposing Christianity wouldn’t have acted so forcefully, and so many conflicts would not have arose. To all Native Americans, the significance was of great impact whether thought to be positive or negative. It was also of great significance to the coarse of history. If the Missionary Era never occurred, things might be a lot different as far as religion goes for the 21st century.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Faith in Humanity

Faith in Humanity Essay Faith in humanity is when a person has a belief that humans cannot do something so terrible, like burning people in mass ovens, because they are humane. This belief was used against the Jews, as well as the public, in the time of the Holocaust for Hitler’s benefit to pull a blind over their eyes in early stages of the Holocaust. There are many examples of faith in humanity from what was presented during this unit as well as belief of faith in humanity in modern day Thailand.Faith in humanity was a practice that crippled the Jews into believing that the Nazis couldn’t, and wouldn’t, shoot mass numbers of people into mass graves. In Night, by Ellie Wiesel, the author talks about a person who disappears and comes back with injuries. The person tells a sad tale about his misfortunes in his disappearing. He tells of foreigners having to offer up their necks to the Nazis so that they may shoot it, little babies being torn from their mothers†™ arms, being tossed up into the air and shot down, as if they were just target practice and not actually living beings.In Night, also the author talks about being at the concentration camp and seeing the mass grave pile, patiently waiting in a heap for the incinerator, but at first, in the dark, he couldn’t and chose not to believe it because he didn’t think, even after the horrific cattle ride where an old woman was viciously beaten by fellow prisoners because she wouldn’t shut up, that that anyone could burn bodies that had been gassed or shot. He had a massive amount of faith in the Nazis’ hearts and consciences. The book Night and the book The Book Thief were both laced with faith in humanity.The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, has many forms of Faith in humanity intertwined through the pages. In the book, Liesel, the main character, has faith in the Nazis but when her family turns out to be storing a Jew, she hears stories that compromise her original faith. The Jew, Max Vandenburg, tells her stories of his family in hiding, some gruesome tales about when he was captured, what he saw when he was hiding within the shadows of an abandoned warehouse, and what forced him to hide. Her faith in the Nazis dwindled but she still went to Hitler Youth where she was subjected to the lies that she had put her faith in.She heard that all Jews that were not in hiding were deported and forced into horrible conditions when she got home but had to keep the picture of an innocent, oblivious German girl who goes along with the plan and keeps her faith in humanity. As well as Liesel, the main character in The Book Thief, and the Germans in the time of Holocaust, the Thai people also have a massive amount of faith in humanity in their own kind. The people in Thailand are, unless it has been committed near them, oblivious to the practice of sex and human trafficking.Many young girls every year are taken from their families and cities to be s old into slavery and bondage without knowledge of the public. The Thais have faith in the other Thais, so much that on the outside of the Reclining Buddha statue, there is a sign that says, â€Å"Warning: Not Thai Bandits and Pick Pockets around. † Thais are unknowingly giving up the younger generation of girls because they are hidden behind a curtain of faith in the wrong thing, humanity. Faith in Humanity is, and has been, practiced all over in the world. From the Holocaust to Thailand, modern day, it reins true, we cannot imagine life where anyone could be so cruel.