Knowledge by the Colors free essay sample

The fifty meter wall of deities, sculptures, and statues loom high above. Depicting the life of Princess Meenakshi, one could not be more dazzled. They smile, they frown, they kill, they embrace; the statues behold stories repeated throughout the centuries, dazzling, hypnotizing. The Meenakshi Amman Temple, an overwhelming spectacle, offered a story one could not forget. I, however, could not even begin to understand. An immigrant to the United States, Ive gradually accepted the American culture rather than maintaining my own. At first, not much had changed, my parents and I being each others only friends, I was a shy child to anyone else. Unfortunately, as my horizons widened and interaction with my American surroundings became the norm, the ties between the Indian culture and me slowly began to fade away. It was not that I didnt care, seeing as my parents are strong advocates of religious practice, but religious history was not so strongly enforced. We will write a custom essay sample on Knowledge by the Colors or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Since childhood, Ive understood the basic information regarding our gods and goddesses, but the detailed history of Hinduism and how these Gods came to be, I was not familiar with. At religious gatherings, I was little affected when seeing other Hindu children perform skits and plays, recite poems, and sing songs about our religions history. I couldnt envision any significant benefit from this additional information. However, walking into the grand Meenakshi Amman Temple, I realized how important ethnic history really is. Feeling as if the temples visitors, including my parents, all understood what the sculptures, paintings, and artifacts meant, I was a little jealous. My sister, being the youngest in the family, tapped my hand, pointing to the vibrantly colored paintings. Dada! (Brother) Look at that pink sari! Yeah thats a nice color isnt it? I replied while trying to understand the picture itself. I knew I wouldnt get much satisfaction from this Temple through simply enjoying i ts pretty colors. I was eager to understand the images I was surrounded by. Though I knew my parents were capable of explaining them to me, I decided to approach the priest for answers to my many questions. Being 13 years old at the time, I felt some internal shame for being so ill-informed, but I expected the priest would be happy to indulge my hunger for knowledge. Pujari (priest), ei painting golo kei bolche? (What do these paintings depict?) As predicted, the priest was happy to help, but I could sense his slight surprise in my naivet. This subtle reaction was sufficient for me to realize how important our ethnicity is. As the priest explained the epic legend, MahA?bhA?rata, and its similarities to todays leading issues such as, politics, social arguments, and international relations, I realized the importance of cultural history. The knowledge is simply a necessity. I left the Meenakshi Temple with my fair share of Hinduism history. The existence of many of the Gods made much more sense and I left appreciating my culture more than before. I learned that the expression of ones ethnicity and religious background is key to expressing ones self. Now more knowledgeable about my religion, I recite poems like the other kids, and participate in the events I was once reluctant to. I finally understand my ethnicity, I finally understand my origins, and I finally understand myself.

Extraction of Caffeine from Tea Leaves Essays

Extraction of Caffeine from Tea Leaves Essays Extraction of Caffeine from Tea Leaves Essay Extraction of Caffeine from Tea Leaves Essay Extraction of Caffeine from Tealeaves Perez, Albert Solomon K. *; Quiambao, Marie Angela C;. Pascua, Hanna Harriette R. ; Patricio, Maria Roxanne DC. ; 2-Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, College of Science University of Santo Tomas Espana St. , 1015, Manila Abstract Caffeine is soluble in both water and organic solvents, solid-liquid extraction and liquid-liquid extraction were used in the experimentation process. Caffeine was extracted using hot water, however, due to its medium polarity; it was further separated from water soluble compounds using a polar non-protic solvent, dichloromethane (CH2Cl2). Sublimation was then used for the purification of the targeted compound. Based from the data collected, 5. 758g of tea leaves contains 3. 96% caffeine. After the purification process, 0. 2279g of caffeine was obtained from 0. 4948g crude extract with 46. 06% yield. Melting point determination was used to characterize the caffeine yielded. However, the melting point range of the caffeine collected (190Â °C -215 Â °C) was lower than the melting point of the accepted value (238 Â °C) which may be due to experimental errors committed in the extraction and washing process. Introduction Tea has been consumed as a beverage for almost 2,000 years starting in China. It is the most widely consumed beverage after water [1]. Their active participation in trade resulted in its introduction to Europe. The active component in tea is caffeine (C8H10N4O2). Caffeine belongs to an extensive class of compounds known as the alkaloids. Alkaloids are a diverse group of compounds that are found primarily in plants and contain basic nitrogen atom(s). The basic nature of these compounds makes them exists mostly as salts. Many alkaloids have profound effects on the nervous system and acts as a mild stimulant examples are other well-known alkaloids such as morphine, strychnine, quinine, ephedrine, and nicotine. Aside from being a mild stimulant, caffeine is one of the most promising organic compounds in medicine, in a study by Miura, T. et al. , green tea extracts showed lowering in blood pressure of a mice with diabetes type 2 and thus a plausible treatment for diabetes[2]. However, caffeine may be associated with serious ventricular arrhythmias in susceptible people. Caffeine may increase beat-to-beat heart rate variability and also QT interval variability during rapid eye movement sleep[3]. Caffeine cannot be obtained directly; every pot of coffee or cup of tea involves solid/liquid extraction, the extraction of organic compounds from solid ground beans or leaves using hot water as the liquid. The lower molecular weight polar molecules such as caffeine dissolve in the hot water and are removed from the high molecular weight water-insoluble cellulose, protein, and lipid materials. Over 200compounds, some in only trace quantities are extracted from the solid into a cup of coffee or tea. Figure 1 shows the chemical structure of caffeine. [pic] Figure1. Caffeine While solid-liquid extraction is the most common technique used to brew beverages and isolate natural products, liquid/liquid extraction is a very common method used in the organic laboratory. Organic reactions often yield a number of by-products, some inorganic, some organic. Also, since they do not go to 100% completion, some starting material is also often present at the end of an organic reaction. Liquid-liquid extraction is often used as the initial step in the work-up of a reaction, before final purification of the product by recrystallization, distillation or sublimation. Varying extracts from various plants have been used as teas, potions, medicines and poisons. However, these extracts can contain a mixture of many different chemicals, often only one or few are responsible for the activity of the extract. The objective of this experiment is to isolate, purify and characterize caffeine from tea leaves. Moreover, to calculate the percent yield of caffeine. Results and Discussion Extraction of caffeine from tea leaves through solid-liquid extraction using water bath would cause the tea leaves to swell and release caffeine and other compounds such as tannins. To further separate caffeine from other soluble compounds, an organic solvent, Dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) was used. Dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) selectively extract caffeine from the tea extract by separating it from the other organic compounds and leaving them suspended in water. Table1. Relative Weights of Products Yield of Products | |Brand of tea leaves |Nature’s Pride | | | | |Extraction | |Weight of beaker |28. 6880g | |Weight of beaker |34. 4460g | |+ tea leaves | | |Weight of tea leaves |5. 58g | |Weight of evaporating dish |115. 7196g | |Weight of evaporating dish |116. 2144g | |+ crude caffeine | | |Weight of crude caffeine |0. 4948g | | | | |Purification | |Weight of empty vial |32. 2127g | |Weight of empty vial |32. 406g | |+ caffeine crystal | | |Weight of caffeine c rystal |0. 2279 | Extraction uses the solubility differences of these molecules to selectively draw the product into the organic layer. Liquid-liquid extractions using 20mL dichloromethane was done three times to ensure the highest percentage of caffeine separation. All portions of dichloromethane was mixed and was washed with 20mL 6M NaOH in the separatory funnel, to remove acidic content from the solution that may have remained after the extraction with dichloromethane. The ‘washed’ dichloromethane solution was filtered through a filter paper containing anhydrous Na2SO4 to further dehydrate the solution, hydrating the Na2SO4 into its hydrated form Na2SO4Â ·H2O. Table 1 shows the different weights of the sample obtained through extraction and purification before its characterization. Crude caffeine, about 0. 4948g was obtained through recrystallization, and was purified. Purification was facilitated by sublimation with an air bath to gather the pure crystalline caffeine. The crystalline caffeine was found to be 0. 276g in weight. The percent recovery and percent caffeine can now be computed through: % recovery = [pic] % caffeine = [pic] % recovery = [pic]% caffeine = [pic] % recovery =46. 06%% caffeine = 3. 96% To characterize the sample, determination of the melting point was used. Table 2 summarizes the results of melting point determination of the sample and standard caffeine subjected to an oil bath consisting of cooking oil at 150 degrees celsius. Table2. Melting Point Determination |Melting Points (? C) | |Sample caffeine |Standard caffeine | | | | |T1 | |190 degrees |225 degrees | | | | |T2 | |215 degrees |228 degrees | | | | |190-215 degrees |225-228 degrees | The accepted value for the melting point of caffeine is 238? C [4]. The experimentally determined temperature for the sample caffeine was very low in comparison to the standard and the accepted value. The standard caffeine had close values and a smaller melting point range. Errors could lie in between the melting process, as the standard underwent some thermal decomposition evident in the slight change in the color of the sample while melting. The temperature obtained explicitly shows the presence of impurities on the sample caffeine, as the presence of non-volatile solutes owers the temperature and increases the melting point range of a sample. Imprecise reading and observations could have been one of the reasons for the slightly lower melting point temperature readings for the standard caffeine. Experimental For the extraction of caffeine, commercialized tea bags (3) were used as a source of tea leaves. Tea leaves were removed from the bags and were weighed. After weighing the tealeaves, solid-liquid extraction was done using 100-mL water and was allowed to boil for 5 minutes. The sides of the flask were then cooled in a running tap water for 2 minutes. An ice cube was mixed in the tea extract to facilitate cooling to room temperature. The tea extract was transferred in a separatory funnel containing 20-mL of dichloromethane to facilitate liquid-liquid extraction of caffeine. The CH2Cl2 was found to be in the lower layer and was drained into a clean flask. The remaining solution in the separatory funnel was again treated with 20-mL CH2Cl2 twice to further extract the remaining caffeine. All CH2Cl2 fractions were combined. All of the CH2Cl2 was returned to the separatory funnel and that was washed with 20-mL 6M NaOH solution. After washing, The CH2Cl2 layer was drained into a flask through a funnel with a fluted filter paper containing half spatula of anhydrous sodium sulphate to remove the remaining water content. The CH2Cl2 was subjected in a water bath to further concentrate the extract. The crude caffeine was weighed and the numerical value was recorded. For the purification process, the crude caffeine was transferred into a filter tube with a fitted inner test tube which served as the ‘cold finger’ and was placed in a hot air bath. The crude caffeine was allowed to sublime to gather crystalline caffeine at the bottom of cold finger tube. The cold finger was constantly refilled with ice water to facilitate sublimation. The crystalline caffeine was scraped off the cold finger tube and was placed into a vial. For the characterization of crystalline caffeine, the caffeine crystals were grinded into a very fine powder. A micro capillary tube was sealed at one end which acted as a micro test tube. The open end of the micro test tube was dipped into the vial containing pulverized caffeine crystal and was dropped inside a long glass tube until the sample reached a height of 0. 5-1cm. The same procedure was done on the standard caffeine sample. For the melting point determination, the two samples were secured in both sides of a thermometer. The thermometer was dipped into a beaker containing cooking oil heated at 150 degrees (oil bath). The temperature range between the first appearance of liquid within the sample until the disappearance of the last traces of solid was recorded. Conclusion The extraction of caffeine is a critical experiment, as it uses different chemistry principles such as solubility rules and a substance’s physical properties. The percent yield of 3. 96% is a reasonable finding since green teas are found to contain only 3-5% of its dry weight. Impurities which caused the melting point lowering of the sample could have resulted from experimental errors and could have occurred during the extraction and washing processes. In addition to experimental errors, the presence of soluble tannins in tea leaves complicates the isolation of caffeine, this could have been fixed in the solid-liquid extraction state through the addition of CaCO3 to separate tannins and keep them suspended in the water. References [1]Alan M Iris M (2004). The Empire of Tea. The overlook press. ISBN 1 – 58567 – 493- 1, p. 32. [2] Miura, T. , Koike, T. , Ishida, T. (2005). Antidiabetic activity of green tea (Theasinensis L. ) in genetically type 2 diabetic mice. Journal of Health Science, 51(6), 708-710. [3]Yeragani, V. K. , et al. (2009). Caffeine and Cardiovascular Health:What Do We Know? Caffeine and Health Research. New York, NY: Nova Science. [4]Lide, D. , ed. (2007) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics,Internet Version 2007, (87th Edition), , Taylor and Francis, BocaRaton, FL: CRC press LLC. [5]Spiller, G. (1998). Caffeine. Boca Raton. FL: CRC press LLC.

Global Marketing, Foreign Markets and Strategies for Successful Entry Assignment - 1

Global Marketing, Foreign Markets and Strategies for Successful Entry - Assignment Example When analyzed through GE Matrix, both Egypt and Russia presented markets that would be highly attractive given the medium strength of Bats Bank as a business unit. While Egypt is the holder of the proud legacy of a bygone glorious civilization, the present condition of the country is not that glorious and its main importance in world commerce and industry is in its guardianship of Suez Canal. But the positive aspect of the Egyptian economy is its stable agriculture and a large concentration of population along both sides of the Nile River that practically bisects the country. However, the high levels of public debt leave very little opportunity for Egyptian Government to invest large amounts in industry. Hence, the scope of other financiers entering the market is rather rosy. And, this is true irrespective of the current political turmoil that the nation is going through. Russia has finally been able to come out of the trauma of disintegration of the Soviet Union and its loss of global superpower status. The free market mechanism has gradually taken a firm grip on Russian economy right from the advent of Perestroika a decade and a half ago and the political and economic stability of the country presents a very attractive opportunity for doing business there. Also, there is a dearth of finance in the market and financial services companies could do very well to bridge this gap. Any company entering Russian markets must take extreme care not to violate the statutory requirements of doing business in that country as any violation of local laws usually leads to the exemplary penalty. Globalization has become the norm of today’s industry and commerce. Business entities are finding it imperative that in order to survive and prosper in this age of cutthroat competition; they must cross national boundaries and mark their presence in foreign markets (Kay 1995). Foreign markets, through a treasure trove of opportunities, also present many issues and problems that need to be solved in a novel manner as business environments in these foreign shores need not be identical to those prevailing in the mother country.

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Psychology - Essay Example English bolstered my comprehension regarding the European Business Model – for the sake of knowing how the business strategies would shape up within the future. Within my BBA course, I gained a much needed exposure in the subjects of administration, communication, management and marketing. As for my personality, I have proactively remained a very ambitious and highly motivated individual. I adapt to different things easily and my command over four different languages makes me unique in my own righteous way. I love spending time playing golf and tennis. I seek to know more and more about cultural understandings and issues. In the same vein, traveling has remained as one of my most revered pastimes. I want to learn psychology due to the fact that it asks for interaction with people on a constant basis. I plan to complete my Masters in Psychology and thus I believe the foundation course would help me to firm up my basics within the subject. As for the future, I look forward to getting a respectable job within the International Relations departments of some esteemed governmental organization. I would request the management at the helm of affairs to support my candidature at Regents College so that I could enliven my dream of learning the science of

Provide support to maintain and develop skills for everyday life Essay Example for Free

Provide support to maintain and develop skills for everyday life Essay Skills for everyday life allow people to do the things that meet their daily needs. These are also known as activities of daily living that have a direct affect on any individual’s health and well-being. It is often thought that care workers look after people by doing things for them. Another approach is to do things with people. Today care workers should work in partnership with individuals and groups of individuals. Partnership is about working together as equals in order to : -Support the individual to make as many decisions about their care as possible -Support the individual to do as much for themselves as possible. Activities of daily living – skills that directly affect an individual’s everyday health and well- being Partnership – working together as equals. Working in partnership can maintain and develop individual skills . Care workers can still involve the individual even when doing things for them. They consider individual needs when maintaining skills for everyday life. Doing things for individuals: Providing too much care can make people’s problems worse: Individuals can lose skills they once used Individuals do not learn new skills -Individuals do not regain skills they have lost. Read more:  Outline Agreed Ways of Working That Relate to Managing Pain and Discomfort At different stages of life individuals might have different health problems that affect their skills for everyday life.Being aware of the activities of daily living helps care workers understand the problems that individuals might have. Problems with everyday living skills: -Physical health ( Feeling unwell such as with a fever leads to tiredness and inability to carry on with the usual activities of daily living. -Learning disabilities (An individual with learning disabilities might take longer to learn new everyday skills) -Mental health (An individual with mental health problems might neglect themselves so they do not eat and drink) People may not be strong enough to dress themselves or prepare their own meals. -Physical disability (Some physical disabilities prevent individuals  going shopping unsupported) -Social isolation (An individual who is lonely is less likely to communicate with others) Care workers can develop their understanding of an individual’s condition and how best to work in partnership to maintain, regain and develop their skills.If a condition prevents an individual from using skills of everyday life, the result can have a significant impact on the person’s quality of life. The effect of conditions on everyday skills: -Pain -Inconvenience -Isolation -Humiliation -Distress -Discomfort

Half of a Yellow Sun Essay -- Analysis, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

To go to war is to engage in a fight with another Nation. Many view war as being an appropriate action that can only solve problems. Others believe that war is a violent action that leads to nothing but casualties. In the article, â€Å"Regarding the Torture of Others† Susan Sontag writes about the torture soldiers are inflicting on prisoners. Some torture was done so brutally that the some of the soldiers deem that acts as correct and in the process seem to try to dehumanize the victims. The bush administration considered torture as being mistreatment not evil. The Blog â€Å"Military Blog† by Zachary Scott-Singley deals with the day by day life and thoughts of a solider at war. Zachary Scott-Singley is a soldier struggling with the wrong of his actions. At one point, he believes that the killing of Iraqis is okay, but he then believes it is not. He was torn between he believes is right and not. The story â€Å"Half of a Yellow Sun† by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche is a story about a young girl and her families struggles during the Nigerian civil war of the 1960’s. Her family has pride like much of the people of Biafra. That all changed when her younger brother Obi died, and the family realizes at that point the war was lost. While Sontag still maintained that war was not bad, she still believed that it was the torture of others that made war such a brutal action. On the other hand, Zachery from military blog was lost trying to find out if War was correct or not. The characters from â€Å"Half of a Yellow Sun† share a belief that war is necessary to defend their nations honor and pride but as the war progresses and it began to affect them they begin to see that the war was not as productive as they hoped it would be. Looking at pictures of war is like l... ...at can come from war. War is seen as a last resource because of all the physical and mental damage it causes. In the story â€Å"Half of a Yellow Sun† war was seen as a way to gain the respect of a nation, but as the story progressed the family became affected, and the war that was supposed to benefit did nothing but badly affect them. In the blog Military Blog the main character saw war as a way of defending is nations pride along with protecting his family, but his continuing struggles with his actions kept him from being comfortable with his actions. In the article "Regarding the torture of others", Sontag saw the war as being a process that was not wrong but that was turned upside down because of the immoral actions of the soldiers. All the characters in each text showed how war changes not just the picture of war but the emotions and reasons that change afterward.

Cis170 Essay

using System. Collections. Generic; using System. Linq; using System. Text; namespace Lab5A { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { string[] playerName = new string[100]; int[] playerScore = new int[100]; int c = 0; c=InputData(ref playerName, ref playerScore); double avg= CalculateAverageScore(ref playerScore,c); Console. WriteLine(â€Å"Name Score†); DisplayPlayerData(ref playerName, ref playerScore, c); Console. WriteLine(); Console. WriteLine(â€Å"Average Score: † + avg + † â€Å"); Console. WriteLine(â€Å"Player’s Who Scored Below Average†); Console. WriteLine(â€Å"Name Score†); DisplayBelowAverage(avg, ref playerName, ref playerScore,c); } static int InputData(ref string[] player, ref int[] score) { int addName = 0,counter=0; do { Console. Write(â€Å"Enter Player’s Name (Q to quit): â€Å"); player[counter] = Console. ReadLine(); if (player[counter] == â€Å"q† || player[counter] == â€Å"Q†) { addName = 1; } else { Console. Write(â€Å"Enter score for {0}: â€Å", player[counter]); score[counter] = Convert. ToInt32(Console. ReadLine()); counter++; } } while (addName ! = 1); eturn counter; } static void DisplayPlayerData(ref string[] playerName, ref int[] playerScore,int counter) { for (int i = 0; i < counter; i++) { Console. WriteLine(â€Å"{0} {1}†, playerName[i], playerScore[i]); } } static double CalculateAverageScore(ref int[] playerScore,int counter) { int total = 0, avg = 0; for (int i = 0; i < counter; ++i) { total += Convert. ToInt32(playerScore[i]); } if (playerScore. Len gth > 0) avg = total / counter; return avg; } static void DisplayBelowAverage(double avg, ref string[] playerName, ref int[] playerScore,int counter) { or (int i = 0; i < counter; i++) { if (playerScore[i] < avg) { Console. WriteLine(â€Å"{0} {1}†, playerName[i], playerScore[i]); } } Console. ReadLine(); } } } Part B: using System; using System. Collections. Generic; using System. Linq; using System. Text; using System. Collections; namespace Week_5_iLab_Part_B { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { string response = â€Å"y†; ArrayList LastNameAL = new ArrayList(); //Console. Write(â€Å"Enter a last name: â€Å"); //LastNameAL. Add(Console. ReadLine()); //Console. Write(â€Å"Keep Going? (Y/N) â€Å"); //response = Console. ReadLine(); while (response == â€Å"y†) { Console. Write(â€Å"Enter a last name: â€Å"); LastNameAL. Add(Console. ReadLine()); Console. Write(â€Å"Keep Going? (y/n) â€Å"); response = Console. ReadLine(); } Console. WriteLine(LastNameAL. Count + † last names entered. â€Å"); Console. WriteLine(â€Å"Last names in ascending order. â€Å"); LastNameAL. Sort(); foreach (string s in LastNameAL) { Console. WriteLine(s); } Console. WriteLine(â€Å"Last names in descending order. â€Å"); LastNameAL. Reverse(); foreach (string s in LastNameAL) { Console. WriteLine(s); } Console. ReadLine(); } } }