Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Cultural attitudes-Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Cultural attitudes-Mice and Men Essay The following essay looks at the cultural attitudes and values expressed by the members of the ranch and society in Of mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and how important it is to the main themes of the novella. The book was first published in nineteen thirty seven and is set during the great depression. Steinbeck based the story as his own experience as a bindle stiff. When looking at the relationship between men and women in the story, women are ignored. Curleys wife is generally ignored, throughout the story. Curley and his wife spend most of the time looking for each other as several points in the novel, Curleys wife asks Have you seen Curley? and vice versa for Curley. We are also able to see that the relationship between Curley and his wife isnt a particularly a romantic and loving one as in many parts of the story we are able to see friction between the two; a prime example of this being when Curleys wife angrily and furiously replies to a order from Curley by saying You dont own me!. Conveying to us how women were looked down upon during the time of the novella. Throughout the story, as a in a male perspective Curleys wife would seem flirtatious among the men and seeming sexual and persuading the men into having a relationship with her. However, in the view of a female reader she would be simply trying to make friends and more as an attempt to socialize rather than an attempt to flirt as Curleys wife is lonely. As Curleys wife herself states how lonely she feels on page 122 while in dialog with Lennie moments prior to her death : I get lonely. I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. Howd you like not to talk to anybody? We are thus able to understand how men would treat their wives, with no respect or dignity. The irony of the marriage of Curley and his wife is that they go looking for each other almost all the time and there is so many disputes in their relationship.Moreover,it also shows how lonely she is and also gives us an idea how women were generally treated during that period of time and also how ignored and isolated they were from society. On page 124 Curleys wife explains how she almost realized her dream of being a Hollywood actress.She said she met a guy, an was in the pitchersSays I was a natural. Soons he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it. Throughout the story Curleys wife wears a cotton red dress and wears make up due to her aspirations of being a Hollywood actress.In reality Curleys wife cant achieve that much desired goal and most likely is never going to get there. Most importantly, Curleys Wife is unable to meet her targets and achieve her ambitions simply because she is married to Curley. All she can do is just fantasize. The fact that she has to only just stay at home, cook, clean and go to bed with Curley is prevents her from reaching her potentially achievable dreams. This telling us that there was a lot of sexism involved in this period of time against women. Men could go out earn and do really whatever they like while women/wives had to stay at home and provide the men/husbands with their needs. Mens attitudes towards women were selfish. Curleys wife in the whole novella has to proper name in which she is referred to. She is just referred to in the book and other characters as Curleys wife and not a name; she has no identity in the novella. Women have no identity during this period of time, the fact the Curleys wife has no name to be referred to really displays the ignorance and unawareness towards Women. When examining possession and money in the novella, it is clear the Boss of the ranch who holds the glory of wealth. The fact that he owns the ranch and has earned the wealth and business position he is in right now is due to his own hard work.The irony with his son Curley, is that on the hierarchy of power he would be placed second highest behind his father; he has not earned or not done anything in order to earn the power,money or respect. He is just inheriting it, he is the only person in the novella to achieve success in this effortless manner. Attitudes towards money were that if you had inherited wealth, that you would still have it regardless whether you deserved it or not. In the novella there is hardly any respect towards the elderly. Candy who is the oldest worker on the ranch and has lost one hand has only his dog as his companion, his dog is a parellel to him., they were both regarded as useless and redundant on the busy ranch. Carlson shows the disregard for him when he intends to kill Candys dog. Candy pleads with him and says Ive had him since he was a pup. Throughout the argument between Candy and Carlson regarding Candys dog,Candy constantly expresses how much he wants the dog and how badly he wants to keep him by mentioning No,I couldnt do that. I had im too long. Candy has no real power in this situation due to his power on the ranch,his injured arm and old age.The fact the Carlson had in a matter of moments without even consideration taken away Candys only love and is only hope in his life shows the utter disregard and carelessness towards the elderly. Racism is seen in the novella as well. Crooks, who is the only African American is discriminated in many ways. He is referred to by his disability with the name: Crooks, due to his crooked back. Another term he is referred to is nigger due to his ethnicity, nigger which using the term nowadays could be a punishable offence. Crooks is separated from the rest of the ranch, he is made by the others to live in his own room.As a result this causes him to feel lonely as he mentions that A gut neades somebody to be near him and A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. The irony with Crooks that although he is discriminated, he is the only work member on the ranch to have his own privacy. Furthermore, despite his discrimination,

Monday, January 20, 2020

Authorial Comments in Ike Oguine A Squatters Tale :: Squatters Tale Essays

Authorial Comments in A Squatter’s Tale According to Charles Bohner and Dean Dougherty authorial comment is: An explanatory remark obviously put into the narration by the author. Authorial commentary tells us what to think instead of showing us. (1212) Authorial comment, as clearly defined above, is an artistic device used by authors to paint a vivid picture of a point they are trying to make. This gives the reader of a text the opportunity to deduce the point. Comments made in literary works such as fictional novels usually guide the reader into thinking in a certain way, which depending on the level of understanding of the reader can have various analyses. But in order for authors to prevent their being misunderstood by their readers, the use of authorial comment is added in their works. It is interesting to see how Ike Oguine uses authorial comments in A Squatter’s Tale to drive points home. His placement of the the comments and the depth of those comments add a lot of creativity to this literal work of art. Although he uses other artistic devices such as sarcastic humor and symbolism, the qualities of these devices are enhanced by authorial comments as exemplified by the following analyses. In the beginning, Obi has just arrived in the United States in pursuit of the American dream. Upon arrival at the airport though, Obi realizes that â€Å" America turns your world upside down† (Oguine 15). In fact, this is true to the majority of characters in the text, as well as, real immigrants who enter the country. The truth in this statement is usually realized once an individual arrives in the country. Most people have hopes of coming and making enough money to go back to their homeland and establish themselves, but once the disappointment of having no one to rely on and reality of coping with the standard of living in the country hit them, they lose hope of going back home in the next couple of years. Some give up their dreams totally and try to live out in their children. The author realistically portrays this in his text with Obi. At first, Obi is a big shot in Nigeria, but once he arrives into this country, his life is clearly turned upside down starting with Hook, his friend, not picking him up at the airport.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

3-Dimensional Carbon Nanotube for Li-Ion Battery Anode

3 Dimensional Carbon Nanotube for Li-Ion Battery Anode (Journal of Power Sources 219 (2012) 364-370) Chiwon Kang1†¡, Indranil Lahiri1†¡, Rangasamy Baskaran2, Won-Gi Kim2, Yang-Kook Sun2, Wonbong Choi1, 3* Nanomaterials and Device Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Florida International University; 10555 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33174, USA 2Department of Energy Engineering, Hanyang University; 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, Korea 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of North Texas; North Texas Discovery Park 3940 North Elm St. Suite E-132, Denton, TX 76207, USACorresponding Author *Email: [email  protected] edu Author Contributions †¡These authors contributed equally. Abstract Carbon nanotubes, in different forms and architectures, have demonstrated good promise as electrode material for Li-ion batteries, owing to large surface area, shorter Li-conduction distance and high electrical conductiv ity. However, practical application of such Li-ion batteries demands higher volumetric capacity, which is otherwise low for most nanomaterials, used as electrodes.In order to address this urgent issue, we have developed a novel 3-dimensional (3D) anode, based on multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), for Li-ion batteries. The unique 3D design of the electrode allowed much higher solid loading of active anode material, MWCNTs in this case and resulted in more amount of Li+ ion intake in comparison to those of conventional 2D Cu current collector. Though one such 3D anode was demonstrated to offer 50% higher capacity, compared to its 2D counterpart, its ability to deliver much higher capacity, by geometrical modification, is presented.Furthermore, deposition of amorphous Si (a-Si) layer on the 3D electrode (a-Si/MWCNTs hybrid structure) offered enhancement in electrochemical response. Correlation between electrochemical performances and structural properties of the 3D anodes highlights the possible charge transfer mechanism. Graphical abstract Keywords Li-ion batteries, carbon nanotubes, 3D Cu current collector, anode materials, amorphous Si, a-Si/MWCNTs composite 1. IntroductionLi-ion batteries (LIB) has been widely used as one of the most important energy storage devices in diverse applications such as green electric vehicles (EV), portable electronics and power tools, since it is commercialized by Sony in 1991 [1]. The commercial cell is assembled by carbonaceous anode, separator and a Li containing layered structure cathode (e. g. LiCoO2). In terms of carbonaceous anodes, graphite and soft or poorly ordered carbons (e. g. mesocarbon microbeads or spherical graphite, microcarbon fiber) have been employed.The reasons behind their commercial prominence contain the relatively low cost of carbon, the excellent mechanical sustainability for lithium insertion and desertion (having minimum volume change ) and their formation of a protective surface film with many elec trolytes [2-4]. Nevertheless, fully intercalated highly crystalline graphites have relatively lower specific capacity (372 mAhg-1, the stoichiometric formulae of LiC6) and cannot meet the demands of next generation LIB with respect to high specific capacity and volumetric capacity. To address these issues, other elemental compounds have been explored such as Al, Si, Ge and Sn [5].Among those elements, Si is known to have highest theoretical specific capacity (4,200 mAhg-1), however huge volume expansion/contraction (300–400%) during lithiation/delithiation brings about pulverization, resulting in capacity fading in a high number of cycles. To overcome such inherit limitations of bulk electrode materials, worldwide research groups have intensively focused on novel and suitable nanomaterials such as silicon nanotubes [6], silicon nanowires [7], nano sized transitional metal oxides [8-10], graphene [11] and carbon nanotubes 12-14]. Out of the many nanomaterials available, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted great attention for anode materials due to their high surface area, short diffusion length of Li+ ions and high electrical conductivity [15]. Past researches including from our group have demonstrated outstanding performance of MWCNT based binder-free anodes in terms of high specific capacity, excellent rate capability and extremely or nil capacity degradation during long cycle operation [16-17].However, carbon nano materials are known as low-density materials, which results in low volumetric capacity and low volumetric energy/power density. Therefore higher solid loading of MWCNTs as active materials is one of the most significant issues to be realized in practice. Very recently, it argued that nanotube based active materials have a critical shortcoming in terms of their very low weight per unit electrode area [18].Thus, their gravimetric energy density may not give a realistic picture to commercial application. The critical limitation may lead to s cale-up issues for their potential application in the development of EV. To counter this issue, we propose a new geometry of 3D Cu current collectors, which can play a crucial role in creating higher surface area to accommodate more solid loading of MWCNTs on the uniformly arrayed patterns in the 3D structure, leading to higher specific capacity and C-rate capability.Until now, efforts have been dedicated to employ a number of 3D structured current collectors including carbon papers [19], a self-assembled 3D bicontinuous nanoarchitecture [20], aluminum nanorods [21], and nanoporous nickel [22]. The previous research proved that a self-assembled 3D bicontinuous nanoarchitecture could be one of the ideal electrode architectures in order to realize not only high volume fraction of nanostructured electrolytically active materials (NiOOH/Nickel and MnO2 cathodes) but also their efficient ion and electron transport [20].In addition, ALD coated TiO2 anodes on 3D aluminum nanorod current co llectors showed the 10 times increase in their theoretical area and total capacity (0. 0112 mAhcm-2), compared to those resulted from the same anodes on 2D flat aluminum plate and high rate capability (the capacity ratios at 10 C/0. 5 C and 20 C/0. 5 C of the 3D anode were 0. 4 and 0. 35, respectively. ) [21]. Currently, the diverse types of hybrid anode structures have been designed and synthesized in order to expect the synergetic combination of two different types of nanomaterials for the igher electrochemical performances. As one of the most preferable combinations, MWCNTs/Si hybrid structure can be chosen due to the better mechanical accommodation of MWCNTs of the large volume expansion/constriction of Si during lithiation/delithiation process and the higher bonding strength between MWCNTs and Si. There were some selected reports on MWCNTs/Si composite structures, employing either SiH4 CVD method [23] or sputter deposition [24]. In this study, we present a novel concept 3D anod e system, comprising of MWCNTs directly grown on 3D Cu mesh using catalytic thermal CVD method [25].Electrochemical performances of this 3D anode structure are compared with those of MWCNTs directly grown on 2D Cu foil. Furthermore, enhanced electrochemical properties of a-Si/MWCNTs hybrid structure, synthesized on 3D Cu mesh using a two step process of CVD and sputtering deposition, are presented. Morphology and structure of as-grown MWCNTs and a-Si/MWCNTs hybrid anode structures and their role in the electrochemical performance are discussed. 2. Experimental A Cu mesh (TWP Inc. with average dimensions of 50  µm thickness and 65  µm hole size was prepared. In parallel, a 50  µm thick pure Cu foil (Nimrod Hall Copper, 99. 9% purity) was also employed. Both types of samples were used as substrates for depositing Ti (underlayer)/Ni (catalyst) thin film through a RF and DC magnetron sputtering system. These Ti/Ni thin film deposited samples were cut to 14 mm diameter disc shape f or 2032 button cell assembly, before inserting into a thermal CVD system for direct MWCNT growth.During CVD, samples were heated very rapidly, under an inert Ar gas environment, to the growth temperature of 750 °C, and MWCNT growth began with flow of a mixture of ethylene (C2H4) and hydrogen (H2) gas (1:2 volume ratio) in the chamber. After 50 minutes of growth, the samples were cooled to room temperature within the furnace under an Ar gas envelope. Amorphous Si (a-Si) was deposited further on the as-grown MWCNT samples using the sputtering system with the incorporation of Ti adhesion layer in order to enhance bonding strength between a-Si and MWCNTs.Weights of samples were measured before and after CVD growth to exactly identify weights of the active materials (i. e. MWCNTs and a-Si thin layer). Morphology and structural properties of the prepared anode structures were carefully investigated using field emission scanning electron microscopes (FESEM) (JEOL, JSM-7000F), an energy d ispersive spectroscope (EDS) (Thermo Electron Corporation, NORAN System SIX), a Raman spectrometer (Ar+ laser with ? = 514 nm, 33 mW power) and a field emission transmission electron microscope (FETEM) (FEI, TECHNAI F20).Electrochemical performance for these anodic materials was conducted in a typical coin cell (half cell). The cells were assembled in a CR2032 press. The complete cell assembly was carried out in an argon glovebox under extremely low levels of oxygen and humidity (both individually

Saturday, January 4, 2020

A Research Study On Drug Testing - 2147 Words

When Pharmaceutical companies are trying to develop a new drug they begin the process of a clinical trial. A clinical trial in drug testing is when researchers test a new drug on live participants and record information such as side effects and results. Recently, pharmaceutical companies are trying to increase their profits so they have been outsourcing. Outsourcing is when clinical trials go to a clinical research organization (CRO), which are big businesses. One crucial step in a clinical trial is informed consent. The participants must know they are part of a research study, the possible risks, and outcomes. This information should be presented in a manor in which the individual can understand. However, after watching the videos this crucial step is sometimes overlooked or not taken seriously during overseas drug testing. Often times testing is done overseas in areas that are over populated and have a large gap between the wealthy and the poor. When researchers are conducting the trial they have been known to just completely skip over this step or they give individuals the information on the clinical trial but the participants are illiterate and unable to understand any part of it. This is seen as unethical practice. Ethically, all participants are required to know they are part of a clinical trial and they need to know all risks and outcomes projected before participating. When government officials were interviewed about the clinical trials they stated that theShow MoreRelatedPros And Cons Of Animal Research1529 Words   |  7 PagesEveryone has benefited from the use of animal research in one way or another. My sister was diagnosed with asthma when born and without the help of animal research asthma would still be incurable. Experiencing this history with my sister I went into this research with a large bias for animal research. 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