Newari Social and Cultural Connections to the Weather and Climate :: Nepal Religion Culture Essays Papers

Newari Social and Cultural Connections to the Weather and Climate The Newari people incorporate different aspects of the weather and climate of Kathmandu Valley into their daily lives. One of the most prevalent ways the weather and climate affects their lives is through religious practices and beliefs. The Newari people, who practice Buddhism and Hinduism, are very religious and traditional people, and not a month goes by that there isn't some special festival that is being celebrated by them. Three of these important festivals revolve around the role climate and weather play in the lives of the people. Gunla Dharma, which is celebrated during a month from the middle of August to the middle of September, is a holy Buddhist month. During Gunla Dharma, the people are required to visit a number of monasteries, shrines and other prayer courtyards. This festival takes place during the monsoon season, which would generally be a hindrance to the people, but they are mandated to make these pilgrimages no matter what the weather is and how hard it might be raining. Gathan Mugah is another festival that takes place in August, and is based off of Nepal's monsoon season. Since the farmers are very busy working the fields and tending crops during the rainy season, they often donÕt have the time to clean their homes or even bathe. During Gathan Mugah, which is known as the festival of cleaning, everyone in Kathmandu Valley cleans out their homes from corner to corner, fumigates the houses by burning incense to get rid of insects, does their laundry, bathes, and throws out the old toys of children. The most important festival of the year is also one that deals mainly with the weather and climate of Kathmandu Valley. Yanya Punhi is the festival of Indra, who is the god of rain and heaven. He is worshipped for bearing good weather on Kathmandu Valley and, subsequently, providing a good crop for the people. Each of these festivals is attributed to the weather of Nepal, and is extremely important to the culture of t he Newari people. The Newari peopleÕs adaptation to the weather and climate of Nepal is also obvious in their food and clothing choices.

Moral Values Essay

The fabric of any society is held together by the standards of morality that we maintain and practice. Values are our personal set of beliefs about what is important, unimportant, right, wrong, good and bad. When we are confronted by choices, options, or moral dilemmas, the decisions we make will indicate what values we hold. Human values give worthiness and respect to life. The foundation of human values are based on  · Dignity of human life  · Respect and consideration for the â€Å"other†  · The importance of integrity and service  · An attitude of non-violence  · The individual and collective quest for peace and happiness. In other words, values are a kind of a map in our minds of how things are or should be. Values are only our perception of the principles of nature that govern our lives or the universe, and not these principles themselves. People think that there should be a specific set of principles protecting and governing all human beings. However, others b elieve that values can be accepted in one culture and rejected in another culture. This idea is based on the belief that moral principles differ across cultures. Our moral values are our beliefs about what is important in life. Some values refer to how one should act (be honest, altruistic, self-disciplined) while other values refer to what one wants to accomplish or obtain in life (a lot of money, fame, a family, friendships, world peace). Because a person cannot â€Å"have it all† or â€Å"be all things,† priorities must be set and choices made. Setting your priorities often leads to value conflicts. We may want to be successful in your career, but we may also want a more relaxing lifestyle and more time to spend with friends and family. Here, the value of success may come into conflict with the value of family. Some examples of moral values are: integrity, respect, caring, justice, civic virtue, and openness. Anyway I am worried about the fact that our society is in moral decline. Morality is a very broad and complicated topic due to the fact that it is based primarily on individual opinions. Moral values constantly change with the generations. However, most people would agree that today’s moral values are more tolerant of behaviour that, a generation ago, would have been considered obscene and immoral. For example, sex on television is accepted by today’s public as normal, but until the 1980s one could hardly say the  word â€Å"sex† on television without being condemned. Yes, our society is currently in a rapid decline of moral values. Judging by current statistics, all that once was immoral is now considered moral. It seems as though people have lost their conscience and are now controlled by their surroundings. The majority of youth all over the world know very little about Moral Values. Very often the behaviour of children in society proves that moral values are hardly even a subject of importance. Today, the violence and crimes often occur when a troubled teen or a fragile child cannot handle the pressure and stress of reality. The influential factor of violence spreads so easily; a child finds this influence simply by turning the television set on. In fact, any news channel unfortunately shows the actions of teenagers committing the violent act of murder without any remorse. All of this animosity and chaos within children begin with not knowing the difference between the right and the wrong. But something should be done. The positive influence of religion, education, and peers greatly effect a child’s manner and behaviour. Traditional values and important lessons from these sources certainly help a child to understand the distinction between right and wrong choices in life. An important value for children to be aware of is the benefit of religion. The church teaches children to accept the existence of a being higher than man and gives a child the possibility to learn the moral values the way the Bible presents them. By understanding the responsibility of choice making, young people learn to think about the consequences or aftermath of their decision. Religion serves as a foundation for knowing the difference between the right and the wrong. The involvement of religion better prepares children for certain difficulties in life. The value of education is an important tool that induces the growth of young people to a more sophisticated level. Education builds knowledge and integrity into the minds of children. School also guides children away from trouble; with essays and math problems, a child has no time for trouble. Parents must emphasize the importance of education to their children. Education strengthens the capabilities of the youth. A child becomes a better individual when he experiences the goodness of church, education, and  friendship; that is the relevancy of values and lessons. In order for the nation to minimize crime, the children of this generation must reevaluate their choices and responsibilities in life. They also need the assistance of parents and teachers for guidance through the tough reality of today’s decision making. The aim should be to produce morally viable, responsible individuals and not scholars. Sadly today the virtues like honesty, integrity and respect are considered old fashioned. There has been gradual erosion in these values. The growing crime rate among the children in the developed nations is a good instance of lack of moral values. Whenever and wherever preference is given to materialism over moral values, it leads to total chaos. No one can be at peace, be it an individual, a community, a nation, or the whole world. Moral education is not something that can be imposed on someone from outside; rather it is a way of life. Fast changing society has its special problem – old social structures go away and replaced by new ones. Hence the old moral values get into the clash with the new ones, and this is not a clash of different social groups, this is a clash inside one person. Market based society, which by its nature breaks boundaries between individuals, creating more opportunities, creates moral problems. As a result – there are two sets of contradicting moral values in the person’s mind and there is no balance. These are the examples – changing relationship between sexes, between employer and employee leading to the internal conflict of moral values. It is matter of great concern and regret that today upbringing means providing good food, clothes and luxuries of life only. Moral values are no longer an integral part of a child’s rearing up. Some years back, grand parents provided moral education to grand children in the form of bedtime stories. But with the advent of nuclear families, moral education has become the responsibility of the educational institutions. But it should be the responsibility of the parents to bring out the best and divine in their child. There is no more powerful creature for a child than parents. The system of learning and adaptation to the life and society in particular is based on hungry absorption by kids of behavioural patterns and ideas from parents. Parents share subconsciously and freely with their kids all they know up to the point, when kids get problems. Actually it is very hard to limit voluntarily parental control, even harder to find the right balance. At least subconsciously, adults perceive their kids as a continuation of themselves. This perception produces protective and controlling behaviour, which kids need to survive and learn. However there is an important kid’s need which adults do not perceive – the need to learn how to make decisions and the need to make them. I mean real decisions, which carry serious consequences, decisions which adults make all the time, which no adult can avoid, and which adults do not want to avoid, because they are the essence of the life. Drugs and crime endanger the survival potential of youth and parents as well as educators. They endanger children’s future and threaten the very fabric of society. Drugs inevitably lead to ruined lives. Harmful actions and criminal behaviour bring unhappiness, and not just for the victim but the perpetrator as well. In today’s world, teaching youth the difference between right and wrong is not just a good idea, it is a vital action that directly relates to the survival potential and happiness of children and society. As an educator and one who truly cares about the well-being and future of our children parents really have an opportunity to help young people steer away and stay away from lives of drugs and crime. A little reflection will show that most of great men were great because they were more humane than the rest of us. With total chaos and dwindling moral values, and a mad rush for material comforts, it has become clear that it is only moral education that can bring solace to the otherwise tormented soul.

Impact of Radio in Law Enforcement Essay

I believe the largest impact on policing has been made by the simple invention of the two way radio which has in turn been expanded upon with cell phone and mobile internet capabilities. I had read this in textbooks concerning the evolution of policing, but reading this article certainly helped to confirm it. The advent of the car and of two-way wireless communications systems brought about what it called an â€Å"incident-driven† policing strategy that relied on random patrol and rapid response in radio-equipped patrol cars to prevent crime. However, research conducted in the latter part of the century on the impact of this strategy found it to be too costly in terms of the actual number of officers and vehicles that an agency would have to deploy to have a meaningful impact. Research also found that adopting this strategy contributed to the social distancing of the police from the community, with its consequent negative effect on an agency’s ability to not only prevent and detect crime but also on its ability to enforce the law and to maintain order. While the ability to communicate instantly over long distances is certainly a boon when it comes to coordinating efforts to detain criminals on the run, it has damaged the relationship the police have with the public. Crime typically happens in such a small window it is often rare that a police officer arrives in time to prevent its commission or at the very least its escalation. Not only that, the addition of the accessibility of the internet can make it painfully obvious the difference of the level of effort in some communities as opposed to others. Either way, it seems to be losing battles for law enforcement as budgets are cut yet more is asked of them while at the same time embellishment of negative incidents makes it more difficult for them to perform their duties in an increasingly more sensitive public environment. Being that funding is based on the surrounding areas and their ability to generate taxes, it seems we are on an inevitable course that will see justice served only to those with the means to fund its pursuit.

Manager Essays

Manager Essays Manager Essay Manager Essay Volkswagens U. S. subsidiary has launched a new pro-cess for allocating scarce IT budgets across a portfolio of project requests, in an effort to align IT activities better with corporate strategy. Now that they have used the process for the first time, though, and arrived at a list of approved projects, no one seems happy with the outcome. This case provides an opportunity to discuss the difficult governance issues that arise in making IT investment decisions. As you read the case, consider these questions: What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen? Are the criticisms Justified? Is it an improvement over the old process? Who controls the budgets from which IT prohects are funded at Volkswagen of America? Who should control these budgets? How should Matulovic respond to his fellow executives who are calling to ask him for special treatment outside the new priority management system? Dr. Uwe Matulovic, chief information officer (CIO) of Volkswagen of America (VWoA), placed the telephone in its cradle and leaned back in his chair, replaying the Just- completed conversation with one of his peers from the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). The call, Matulovic mused, had been similar to three others he had participated n that week, each with a different ELT member. The results of a new prioritization process†a list of IT projects that would be funded in 2004†had been unveiled only a few days earlier. But already a storm was gathering. The phone calls from other executives had common themes. All the callers had expressed concern that high priorities for their areas of the company had not been funded. Some had repeated views expressed during the prioritization process by people who worked for them about supposed categorization mistakes that penalized Copyright 2005, 2007 President and Fellows of Harvard College. Harvard Business School Case 606-003. Professor Robert D. Austin, Dr. Warren Ritchie, and Greggory Garrett prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective management. Certain details have been disguised. Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business School. their business units. And each of the calls had concluded with an informal request to insert an unfunded project (or two) into the IT departments work plans. We dont have to reopen the process, the most recent caller had said, but perhaps spare capacity might be applied to make some progress on this project in 2004†weve one this before, and it would mean a lot to our area and to the companys growth plans. The 10 business units that made up MOA had proposed more than 40 projects, with funding requirements totaling $210 million (US). A budget of only $60 million (an amount capped by Volkswagen Group (VWAG), the parent company of MOA) made some degree of disappointment inevitable. But the intensity of pushback against the new process was surprising. The ELT had endorsed the idea of improving upon the old way these decisions were made, via unstructured debate explicit and link projects and the core business processes they impacted with MOA corporate goals. An orderly, rational process would replace what, in the past, had sometimes been haphazard. But now, questions were being raised about whether the new process was right for MOA. 50 Module Three IT Leadership EXHIBIT 1 The Himalayas Chart Some business units had seen none of their projects funded. Whispers throughout the company suggested that the process was too theoretical and noted that IT infrastructure projects had been treated separately, not forced through the same process, which many considered unfair. As Matulovic peered through the window into an overcas t sky, he wondered whether he should order exceptions to the rocess. If a project was small and Just below the line of funded projects, maybe IT should figure out a way to get it done. Or maybe he should stand his ground and defend the new process. Matulovic did not work for the other members of the ELT, but he did have to work with them. Whatever he decided could certainly affect working relationships, so he would need to consider his options carefully. Backgrowid †Volkswagen of America Ferdinand Porsche designed the first Volkswagen automobiles during the 1930s in Germany. The original vehicles, targeted at the mass market (Volkswagen means, iterally, peoples car), were intended to transport a family of five at highway speeds, use modest amounts of fuel, and remain within financial reach of most people. The companys signature platform by the late 1940s was the Beetle, which, with its rounded styling and reliable air-cooled engine, became internationally popular. For about 20 years, sales of the Beetle hurtled skyward, propelling the companys total worldwide vehicle sales past a million in 1955 and toa high point in 1969. Although popularity of the Beetle declined throughout the 1970s and its importation was discontinued in the United States, late in that decade, production of Beetles in Latin America continued into the 1990s. It remains the best-selling car of all time. After peaking in the late 1960s, the pattern of sales for the North American subsidiary of Volkswagen settled into a trying cycle of ups and downs that became known, due to its Jagged contours, as the Himalayas Chart (see Exhibit 1). Other marketing nameplates have sold more units, but these nameplates were not the same vehicle in different geographies, nor did they retain as much consistency in core design as the classic Beetle.

Beowulf vs grendel Essays - Beowulf, English-language Films, Geats

Beowulf vs. Grendel The epic poem, Beowulf, is infused with the forces of darkness and the forces of light, heaven and hell. These forces symbolize the forces of good and evil, between two of the main characters, Beowulf, and his rival, Grendel. Grendel's watery lair is dark, and he only hunts at night? darkness. The heroic warriors halls were they rejoice is illuminated? light. These two examples are just one of the many differences portrayed in the epic. Along with differences, there are also similarities. For example, during Beowulf?s and Grendel?s fight scene, the characters appear to be the reincarnation of ancient Mithraic twins, Cautes and Cautopates, who represent life and death. Grendel and Beowulf are completely different beings, when one detail brings out a comparable change in the other. Grendel is a descendant of Cain and a man-eater who is feared by the Danes. Living with his mother at the bottom of a foul lake, which hence his name, ?grenja? meaning ?to bellow,? or ?bottom of a body of water.? Grendel comes out at night, leaving his watery den in search for food. His prey, drunken warriors who slumber in Hrothgar?s golden halls, slaughtering them as they sleep, and then dragging their bloody corpse back to his lair for a feast of his own. Legendary warrior from Geatland and Edgetho?s son, Beowulf, is human, but seems super-human, having the strength of thirty men. Beowulf is also a monster in some ways, but not in the sense as Grendel. Beowulf arrives at King Hrothgar?s kingdom with thirteen of his warriors, to assist King Hrothgar with Grendel, with King Hrothgar accepting Beowulfs pledge to kill Grendel. Beowulf plans to rest at King Hrothgar?s castle, and wait for Grendels arrival. Later that night, Grendel comes to the castle, devours some of the men, and then confronted by Beowulf. Grendel is immune to human weapons, so Beowulf confronts Grendel with his bare hands, and with his super-human strength, rips off Grendel?s arm. Grendel?s death and his evil nature are directly connected with darkness. The connection between evil and darkness are repetitive throughout the text, and is strongest with the physical description of Grendel?s den, where his dead corpse rests. As hell receives Grendel?s body, a sense of peace and relief is present. Beowulf?s primal desire for blood and violence and his tales of his killings do no differ much from Grendel?s bloody night massacres at Herot. Beowulf and Grendel neither need weapons to fight, Grendel being immune to man-made weapons, bewitched blades, and can not be wounded by them, but Beowulf, human, defeats Grendel without the aid of man-made weapons. This elevates Beowulf above the human standards, revealing more monstrous qualities. Beowulf and Grendel not only contradict each other, but they also compliment each other. They both symbolize heaven and hell, light and dark, life and death with each characteristic they each hold. Both characters take on ?non-human? attributes, Grendel being a monstrous being and Beowulf having superhuman abilities.

Are males and females motivated differenlty in PE Essay

Are males and females motivated differenlty in PE - Essay Example The participants were asked to answer a questionnaire to establish the gender differences in the motivation of students to participate in sports. The author, Nathalie Koivula, used a seven-point scale very similar to the one used by this author in the questionnaire created for this study. The author also discussed relevant research and studies previously conducted by other researchers. Koivuli (1999) concluded hr findings after explaining the results by stating that: The findings of the present study suggest that gender and gender-based processing correlate with the reasons given for participation in sports, some of which have been demonstrated in the present study, as well as earlier ones, to correlate with both frequency and the amount of time spent participating. It is therefore of interest to include these variables when generating and elaborating theoretical models to explain sport behavior. This article is useful to this study in that gender differences with regards to motivation is discussed in detail. This author was able to glean important points that was explained in the discussion section of this dissertation. It is important to note that although Koivuli had different results than this author, a point of comparison was made and an improvement in the motivation for participating in PE classes was seen as a result. Student Motivation in Physical Education: Breaking Down Barriers; Student Motivation in Physical Education Typically Declines after the Early Years. Why? and What Can Be Done about It? By Claire M. Mowling et al. This article discusses student motivation with regards to participation in Physical Education classes. The author delves into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how they present a problem with regards to students not being encouraged that much to participate actively in PE classes. The author then proceed to outline methods on how to bring down the barriers and improvements that can be made in order to address the issue

Argumentative Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Argumentative - Research Paper Example This essay will argue in support of the points and concerns raised by the author by citing evidence from credible scholarly sources. It was anti-Semitism and fervent nationalism that consolidated government control of German, Italian and Chinese populations respectively in the bygone era. In today’s geo-political situation, terrorism is the most discussed issue in public discourse. Ever since the September 11, 2001 attacks on America, it has been a major pre-occupation of American diplomatic and military efforts. Since the United States is the leader of the prevailing uni-polar world, terrorism now has implications for all countries associated with it. In the context of the ongoing War on Terror, the concept of Islamist jihad is seen as the ideological springboard for the numerous suicide attacks witnessed recently. As a measure to retaliate and prevent terror attacks, America and its allies have initiated several counter-terror operations in perceived geo-political hotspots. To complement these efforts, the scale and scope of counter-intelligence operations are also upped. (Mcgrath, 2004, p.147) But the term counter-intelligence darkly reminds the reader of the CoIntelPro regime of the Cold War period, where the state abused its power to keep a check on citizen freedoms. Curbing civil liberties under whatever guise is seldom a progressive move, as examples from past and present clearly show: â€Å"Tyrants place populations under surveillance because that is a prime means of control. The Gestapo, the NKVD, the KGB, the Stasi, and the Chinese Politburo all requisitioned private data such as medical, banking, and library records; now, with the Internet, Chinese authorities track citizens’ computer use. One reason dictators demand access to such private data is that this scrutiny breaks down citizens’ sense of being able to act freely against those in power†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wolf, Chapter 5, p.81) While counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence operations might have legitimate causes in certain exceptional cases, today it has come to represent hegemony and power. The record of the United States, especially under eight year reign of George W. Bush speaks ill of the notion of counter-intelligence. Interrogators working on the War on Terror project have resorted to such dehumanizing tactics such as solitary confinement in nudity in order to elicit intelligence information from suspects. Interrogators were learnt to have imposed nudity as a way of inducing ‘learned helplessness’ – which is akin to the psychological subjugation of American public to the domination and control by the elite business and political class. The Obama administration continued this tactic with Pfc. Bradley Manning. Whistle-blowers are being held naked in solitary confinement, â€Å"while our political establishment, a complicit media, and a professional class of lawyers and behavioral scientists attempt to veil American atrocities . Current targeted assassinations of American citizens, landmines, torture, and military tribunals sadly converge with the Bush-Cheney era policy of war and  counter-terrorism.† (Glazier, 2009, p.957) The dangers of indirect censorship and control articulated by Noami Wolf are easier to understand when we study the implications of recent legislations. For example, under George W. Bush's reign, the Foreign Intelligence

Mechanical Measurements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mechanical Measurements - Essay Example This technique is also sensitive to extreme temperatures because it affects the transition of the luminescent molecules (Mantel 2005). The PSP material is also used to develop coat for self adhesive tape and decals. This approach is preferable as it’s quick and easy during experimentation. It’s also reduces the time consumed for surface preparation as well as cost minimization (Mantel 2005). Pressure sensitive paint technique is also used in wind tunnels for pressure management. Due to the ability of this technique to provide field management, it produces global surface maps with better resolutions. Producing high quality global surface maps however requires a clear understanding of the e internal mechanisms of the technique as well as the functions, properties and experimental setup (Sullivan & Liu 2004). This technique has been found to be easier, more accurate faster and cost effective as compared to the use of pressure ports and computational fluid dynamics for exte rnal pressure management. ... mage illustrates the parts of the pressure sensitive paint device The pressure sensitive paint is made up of luminescent molecules that are distributed in an oxygen permeable polymer binder. When the PSP is exposed to ultraviolet rays, it causes the luminescent molecules to gain a higher energy state. In this state the molecules can decay is several ways such as shifting the energy to the polymer binder, conflicting with the oxygen molecules on the PSP surface and discharging the light (Mantel 2005). The luminescent molecules are sensitive to oxygen molecules therefore when they collide with the oxygen molecules, they react to produce light. The produced light is inversely proportional to the amount of oxygen molecules available on the surface. Most of the collisions between the luminescent molecules and oxygen occur when the PSP is under a lot of pressure, therefore the amount of light emitted is inversely proportional to the pressure on the surface. Hence the pressure on the surfac e is easily calculated from the amount of light emitted. However, the challenge with the luminescent molecules transferring the energy to the polymer binder is that the energy transfer requires increase in temperature therefore causing the temperature on the PSP surface to rise (Mantel 2005). This affects the ability of the luminescent molecules to react with oxygen and could lead to release of inaccurate results. The effects of the temperature rise are slight because in most cases the temperature rises by a few degrees. The use of PSP could also be challenging because of the nature of experiments and high level of sensitivity. Fig 2 schematic diagram of pressure-sensitive paint measurement system The  Moire?  technique  for  stress/strain  analysis The moire technique is used to determine

Quantitative Determination of Atrazine

Quantitative Determination of Atrazine The objective of this study is to develop a simple and economic spectrophotometric method for the quantitative determination of atrazine. This method is based on the complexation of atrazine derivatization (dechlorinated atrazine [DA]) with a mixture of formaldehyde and ketone compound, as described by Mannich reaction. The complex was determined by UV-Vis absorption measurement and the ketone compound used was the uranine due to its high coefficient absorption. The UV spectrum of the complex shows maxima of absorption at 207 nm and at 227 nm. An internal standard was used to quantify the atrazine. There is a good linearity between the absorbance and the concentration in the range of 0.1 10 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 of atrazine. The recovery value was 97 % and the limit of detection was 0.01 µg.mL-1. Real samples collected from irrigation local area were analyzed using this method and the estimated concentration of atrazine found in the mentioned river is 0.29  ± 0.011 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1. Keywords: Atrazine, dechlorination by zero valent iron, Mannich reaction, Spectrophotometer, quantification, internal standard, real samples measurements. Introduction Atrazine are widely used in agriculture, and their heavy use has resulted in the environmental pollution. Their persistent presence had been a serious problem, especially in surface and ground water systems. Atrazine herbicides were often used especially in Europe and the United States (1, 2), as important atrazine and simazine have been greatly used in maize cultivation and forestry. Their solubility in soil is low, and then can migrate along the food chains, and their intense use and presence in the environment have created a health threat to human beings. Recently, they have been considered as a group to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (3). The European Union Drinking Water Directive sets official regulations on the maximum admissible concentrations in drinking water as 0.1 mg.L-1 for an individual herbicide and 0.5 mg L-1 for total pesticides (4) whereas in surface water the alert and alarm threshold values are typically 1 and 3 mg.L-1 (5). Hence, the development of sensitive a nd economic analytical methods is very crucial for screening the presence and amounts of atrazine and preventing toxicological risks. In general, gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are the techniques popularly used for the determination of atrazine and simazine (6-9). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), amperometric immunosensor, and adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination were developed for the analysis of atrazine and simazine, (10-13). In general, these techniques are expensive and involve time-consuming separation steps. These methods are unsuitable for field testing, for continuous monitoring or for screening high numbers of samples as required in mapping pesticide pollution in time and space. The objective of this work is to analyse the atrazine by a economic and rapid method. The proposed method in this work is based on the dechlorination of atrazine [DA] by zero valent iron powder (ZVIP), according to the reference fourteen (14) and using the [ DA] obtained in the Mannich reaction in order to give rise a by product having an extinction coefficient absorption more intense than atrazine compound. Materials and methods Chemicals and reagents All chemicals and solvents used were of analytical grade or of a higher grade when available. Formaldehyde, hydrochloric acid were purchased from Fisher, (MA, USA). Atrazine was purchased from Rodel-dehein, zero valent iron powder (350 mesh) was purchased from Sigma Aldrich Ultra pure water was prepared using a multi-Q filter system (Millipore, MA, USA). Instruments The UV absorption measurements were performed on a Shimadzu UV- 1650 PC. With 10 mm quartz cells were used for spectrophotometric measurements. The pH values are measured using METTLER TOLEDO pH-meter. Standard Solutions Stock solution of atrazine was prepared into a volumetric flask at a concentration of 10 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1, 10 mL of this solution were mixed with 20 mL of acidified di-ionized water (pH = 4) and transferred into a flask of 100 mL. 2.5 g of zero valent iron powder were also added into the flask and shacked for 15 minutes. A complete dechlorinatation of atrazine must be achieved according to the previous work (14). This solution was in the Mannich reaction. Calibration Curves Samples for analysis were prepared by mixing uranine , formaldehyde and dechlorinated atrazine solutions. De-ionized water was transferred into each sample to reach a final volume of 10 mL. Calibration curves were built for quantitative measurements using the samples prepared according the table 1. Composition of samples used to build regression curve of the absorbance of the complex obtained by Mannich reaction and atrazine dechlorinated [DA] Internal standard curve addition and Recovery Atrazine dechlorinated was added as an internal standard for the calibration of the measurement, according to the method described in (Muel and Lacroix, 1960; Rima, Lamotte and Joussot-Dubien, 1982) (16, 17). Determination of the pH was done using a Mettler Toledo (OH, USA) pH-meter. Samples for analysis were prepared by mixing 0.5 ml of uranine (10 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1), 1mL of pure formaldehyde and different volumes of dechlorinated atrazine stock solutions diluted to [0.75 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1] (1-1.5 -2- 2.5 and 3 mL). De-ionized water was transferred to each sample to reach a final volume of 5 mL. Table 2 describes the preparation of the standard curve. Recovery experiments were performed by standard addition method: 0.15 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 of Atrazine dechlorinated was added to samples and percentage of recovery (R%) was calculated as follows: R% = [(Cr-Cf)/Cr] 100 Cr = Real concentration of atrazine in the fortified samples Cf = Concentration of atrazine obtained by the internal standard addition curve River water analysis The water analyzed was collected from River in the north of Lebanon.[agricultural area] 100mL of the polluted water were treated by zero valent iron powder according to the protocol mentioned above. The samples were fortified by solutions of dechlorinated atrazine having an initial concentration of 0.75 ÃŽ ¼g.ml-1 in order to build the internal standard curve. Table 3 summarizes the volumes of different solutions used in the mixtures. Results and Discussion Mechanism of the dechlorination of atrazine Most halogenated hydrocarbons, RX, can be reduced by iron metal. The overall reaction (Equation 1) results in dehalogenation of RX. Three general pathways by which this process may occur have been proposed (Matheson and tratnyek,) (18). The first involves direct reaction of the metal surface, in which case equation (A) alone adequately represents the pathway of reduction. The other two possible pathways do not involve the metal surface directly. Instead, Fe2+ and H2, which are products of corrosion by water, serve as the reductants that are directly responsible for dehalogenation of RX equation B and C. Fe0 + RX + H+ ↔ Fe2+ + RH + X- A 2Fe2+ + RX + H+ ↔ 2Fe3+ + RH + X- B H2 + RX ↔ RH + H+ + X- C More specifically the atrazine can be written as RX ( X = Cl ). With zero valent iron powder in the acidic aqueous solution the chlorine can be replaced by the hydrogen. According the following reaction: Effect of the dechlorination of atrazine on its extinction coefficient absorption. UV absorption spectra of atrazine in aqueous solution (1.5ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1) were recorded and compared to the spectra of the by-product obtained by the treatment of atrazine as shown in figure 1. Atrazine was dechlorination by zero valent iron powder according to the method described by Matheson, L.J et al (18). The extinction coefficient of the atrazine at the 220 nm (maximum of absorption) was estimated the value of 35200 M-1.L; whereas the extinction coefficient of the dechlorinated atrazine which give a maximum at 210 nm was found equal to 169000 M-1.L. Figure 1. The experimental observations revealed that by the removal of the chlorine atoms an hyperchromic and hypsochromic effects were observed. An increasing of the extinction coefficient and a blue shift from 220 nm to 210 nm of the maximum of absorption were detected. According to the table 4 , the proton that accompanies the formation of the free amine in Equilibrium 1 is available to protonate other reactants in the solution (Equilibria 2 and 3). Addition of the free amine to a protonated molecule of formaldehyde leads to the formation of the iminium ion shown at the right of (Equilibria 4). The enol of acetone then adds to the carbon atom of the iminium ion in (Equilibrium 5). In the equilibrium 1 as shown in the table 1, the nitrogen is enriched by electrons of the CH3 group and this nitrogen will react with H+ as base/acid reaction. However, when the electrons of the nitrogen, are deprived under the influence of the electron affinity of chlorine, this nitrogen will lose its basic character, then the à ©quilibre1 should be disturbed .In the other hand the nitrogen of the Equilibrium 4 play a nucleophilic role and ,if this nitrogen is disadvantaged by a chlorine attractive effect; it will lose the nucleophilic characteristics and the reaction with the carbon of the aldehyde in the Equilibrium 4. cannot be obtained In the case of atrazine it well known that the chlorine plays the role of the electrons donor to the nitrogen of the cycle and the electrons attractive of the aliphatic nitrogen. Since the Mannich reaction must take place at the aliphatic nitrogen not at the aromatic nitrogen and when the chlorine was removed by dechlorination process, the electrons at the aliphatic nitrogen become more dense and then it will be more able to play the role of nucleophilic atoms as mentioned in Mannich reation. In conclusion when the chlorine is removed from atrazine, the Mannich reaction can be observed as we demonstrated experimentally. Identification of the complex obtained in the mixture atrazine dechlorinated-formaldehyd and uranine The Mannich reaction is an organic reaction which consists of an amino alkylation of an acidic proton placed next to a carbonyl functional group with formaldehyde and ammonia or any primary or secondary amine. The final product is a ÃŽ ²-amino-carbonyl compound also known as a Mannich base. Reactions between aldimines and ÃŽ ±-methylene carbonyls are also considered Mannich reactions because these imines form between amines and aldehydes. Equation D (15). We hypothesized that the reaction between uranine, formaldehyde and dechlorinated atrazine must be similar to reaction E. The mechanism of the reaction is the following: Equation E Atrazine compound presents a UV spectrum with a maximum absorbance at 220 nm whereas dechlorinated atrazine presents a maximum of absorption at 210 nm Spectra of atrazine and dechlorinated atrazine are presented in Figure 1. The mixture of dechlorinated atrazine, formaldehyde and uranine give rise to the formation of a complex described by the Mannich reaction. It is obviously that formaldehyde does not have any UV spectrum. The UV spectra of the complex give rise to a spectrum with two maxima at at 207 nm and 227 nm respectively. Figure 2 presents the spectra of atrazine. dechlorinted atrazine and the complex obtained by Mannich reaction. Atrazine 2 ÃŽ ¼g.ml-1 (A) (DA  : dechlorinated atrazine by zero valent iron powder), (DA+ H2CO : dechlorinated atrazine by zero valent iron powder with formaldehyde) (DA+ H2CO + uranine : : dechlorinated atrazine by zero valent iron powder with formaldehyde) Regression curve between the complex formation A calibration curve of the complex was built to examine the linearity of the complex absorbance and atrazine concentrations. The least square method was used to calculate the regression equation. A strong linear correlation was obtained between the absorbance of the complex and the concentrations of atrazine. Figure 4 shows the regression curve of complex absorbance in function of atrazine concentrations. Correlation coefficients were higher than 0.99 in a concentration range of 0.15 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 to 0.75ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1.The precision of the method was evaluated with relative standard deviations (RSD) of atrazine determination in five samples. RSD was 3 %. The limit of detection of the method was 0.01 µg.mL-1 as defined by a signal-to-noise ration of 3:1 (19). Spectrophotometric method for quantification of atrazine e using the internal standard addition model A spectrophotometric method using the internal standard addition was examined to quantitatively determine melamine concentrations in samples. A calibration curve was described by the following equation: A*= aC + b, which is equivalent to A* = (A0* /C0) x Cadd + A0*, with A* = (A/ A0) normalized absorbance intensity (arbitrary values), is equal to the ratio of the absorbance intensity after adding the internal standard A to the absorbance intensity before adding the internal standard (A0) C0: solute concentration to be estimated. C0 is determined by the negative intercept of the curve with the abscissa axis (16, 17). A0*: normalized absorbance intensity of the starting solution Cadd: known added concentrations. The plot of A* vs. Cadd is shown in Figure 5. The internal standard used in this method was the atrazine that we would like to determine (C0). To this initial solution, different known concentrations (Cadd) were added. The average recovery for five samples spiked with melamine as described above in Table 1 was estimated to be 97%  ± 3. Table 5 summarizes the validation parameters of this method. Spectrophotometric method for the quantification of atrazine in a sample taken from an agricultural zone, using the internal standard method. Samples taken from a water source contaminated with atrazine, are processed by zero valent iron powder for the dechlorination of atrazine molecules. A definite volume of this solution is mixed with the same concentrations of formaldehyde and uranine. Different volumes of standard solution of dechlorinated atrazine were added to the solutions to be analyzed. The composition of these solutions are summarized in Table 3. The UV-Vis spectra of the solutions were recorded to follow the evolution of the complex obtained after the mixture called Mannich mixture. Using the evolution of UV-Vis spectra, an internal standard curve could be constructed and the intersection of this curve with the axis of abscises gives the concentration of atrazine in the waters of Agriculture . The concentration of atrazine in these waters is estimated at 0.29 ± 0.011 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 (n = 5). Conclusion The spectrophotometric method used to analyse the atrazine in agriculture water was based on Mannich reaction .This new method is a specific and simple method for the quantitative determination of atrazine in the contaminated water. Often the determination of atrazine is measured by sophisticated and expensive methods like HPLC, GC/MS. However the proposed method is easy to use, rapid and economic and it showed high accuracy, but it was restricted by the potentiality of the spectrophotometer which reaches a limit of detection of 0.01 ÃŽ ¼g.mL-1 as described in the manuscript.

Manic Depression :: essays research papers

Manic depression is an illness that affects how people think, feel, and act. These people have really extreme episodes of mania (highs) and depression (lows.) It happens to about 1% of the population, both equally in men and women. When the person is going through a manic episode they have lots of energy, talk fast, jumping from topic to topic. Also, their thoughts are racing, they have a higher self-esteem, and have more enthusiasm. They also may not need as much sleep. During this time, the person feels normal and they are not aware that they’re behaviors may not be normal. They almost feel if the are “on top of the world.';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A depression episode on the other hand is almost opposite of a manic one. During a depressive episode, the person is sad, irritable, has low self-esteem, negative thoughts, and loss of interest in usual activities. They feel like they’re worthless and hopeless. They also have negative thoughts towards the past and future. Many people go through guilt, crying, or having suicidal thoughts. Unlike a manic episode, the person has lack of energy, and either an appetite loss or gain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Manic depression is a recurrent illness, so a person usually has more than one episode. These episodes can last from weeks to months. They occur whenever and have no certain pattern. Sometimes a stressful life event can trigger an episode, and sometimes they just happen. If a person has more than four episodes a year they are known as “rapid cyclers';. This is more common in women.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is no exact reason for what causes manic depression, but some doctors say that it may be from imbalances of certain kinds of brain chemicals.