Experiment Techniques Essays - Laboratory Equipment, Free Essays

Experiment Techniques Essays - Laboratory Equipment, Free Essays INTRODUCTION The purpose of this experiment is, first and foremost, to familiarize you with the operation of the analytical balance. Because all analytical determinations are (directly or indirectly) based on the measurement of mass, learning the correct balance technique is vital to the success of your experiments. Additionally, you will use the balance to demonstrate the need to dry samples and standards prior to analysis. Among the techniques, analytical technique stands out as a practically versatile, useful and important skills that have be learn by every students. Analytical skills is comprised of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis deals with finding out which substances are in analytical sample and quantitative analysis determines how much of each substance is in the sample. Analytical techniques analysis has many applications in industry, medicine, biochemistry, physiology, geology, oceanography, and environmental science. In addition, analytical techniques teaches special skills and techniques which have relevance for physicians, engineers, and many other professionals. Micropipettes are used to measure and deliver accurate volumes of liquid. The difference between the two is that micropipettes measure a much smaller volume, starting at 1 microliter . Micropipettes are used in various laboratories, including microbiology, environmental sciences , medical, academic, and research labs . Basically, micropipettes come in three different sizes of varying capacity. They are P20, P200 and P1000. The sizes are noted on the top of the plunger button . Size Micropipette Range of volumes measured P20 0.5-20l , P200 20-200l , P1000 100-1000l . Liquids are never drawn directly into the shaft of the pipette. Instead, disposable plastic tips are are attached to the shaft. There are two sizes of tips. The larger blue tips are used for the P1000. The smaller clear tips are used for the P20 and P200. Micropipetting is an important skill that plays a very active and critical role in the molecular biology laboratory. It is imperative for a person handling micropipettor to know the correct way of using it so that accurate and precise results are achieved. A spectrometer is any instrument used to probe a property of light as a function of its portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically its wavelength, frequency, or energy. The property being measured is usually intensity of light, but other variables like polarization can also be measured. The first step in this process is to direct light through a fiber optic cable into the spectrometer through a narrow aperture known as an entrance slit. The slit vignettes the light as it enters the spectrometer. In most spectrometers, the divergent light is then collimated by a concave mirror and directed onto a grating. The grating then disperses the spectral components of the light at slightly varying angles, which is then focused by a second concave mirror and imaged onto the detector. Alternatively, a concave holographic grating can be used to perform all three of these functions simultaneously. This alternative has various advantages and disadvantages, which will be discussed in more detail later on. Mass spectrometry (MS), arguably the most important analytical spectroscopic tool of modern times, because It is used to understand the fundamental atomic and molecular processes and at the same time t hose of immediate relevance to events within cells. As a technique, it helps to control processes in chemical and biological industries, diagnose diseases, discover new drugs, protect the environment and explore mysteries of nature. An analytical balance is so sensitive that it can detect the mass of a single grain of a chemical substance. Thus, if a method of direct weighing is used, the substance ought to be added to the tared container which will hold it, NEVER directly to the pan or even to weighing paper placed on the pan. The container used should be completely dry and at room temperature, never at an elevated or reduced temperature. Even slight temperature differences can produce APPARENT changes in mass of the container. Finally, the container ought to be completely dry, inside and out. All that having been said, here are some images showing various correct ways of carrying out weighings using an analytical balance. Laboratory balances are important for both resolution and a ccuracy. Conclusion While using some lab instruments such as micropipette, balances and spectrometry , accurate and

Anti-dumping case of Vietnam Catfish in US market

Anti-dumping case of Vietnam Catfish in US market Abstract The â€Å"Vietnam Catfish war† was a famous yet controversial case in recent trade disputes. The U.S. Anti-dumping law protects American industries from supposedly unfair import competitions (Lindsey, 1999, p.2). On June 28, 2002, the coalition Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) and eight individual fish processors filed an anti-dumping petition against imports of â€Å"certain frozen fish fillets from Vietnam† under the US. Anti-Dumping Law to the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) (Le, 2004, p.1). Over one year after the original investigation conducted by the US. DOC, the case was finally concluded with the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of fish fillets from Vietnam. The range of the duties is between 37 and 64 percent on value of imports (Reynolds & Su, 2005, p. 40). This is what the US. Government said, is it true that the Vietnamese government subsidizes Vietnamese firms in Mekong Delta to unfairly gain a better market share in the U.S.? Or is it just the result of domestic political lobby in the U.S.? This paper will try to discuss related issues surrounding the story of that catfish war. The paper will go through the steps used in the class: issue, rules, analysis, and conclusion (I.R.A.C). Introduction the ISSUE Raising catfish is an important source of income for households residing in the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam for more than 50 years (Nguyen, Nguyen & Phillips, 2004, p.20). Catfish is also produced in the Southern United States where it is a major source of income for fish farmers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana (Hanson, 2005, p.1). In 2002, aquatic products represented 12 percent of total exports from Vietnam, and export value frozen fillets (mostly catfish) is 18 percent of the total value of aquatic exports (VASEP website). The increase participation of cheaper Vietnamese catfish in the U.S forced the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) to lead a move to halt catfish imports. First, Vietnamese products were forced to be labeled as â€Å"Tra† and â€Å"Basa† instead of â€Å"Catfish†. Second, on the ground that Vietnamese government subsidized Vietnamese catfish farmers, in January 2003, the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled in favor of the antidumping claim and established duties ranging from 37 to 64 percent on imports of frozen catfish from Vietnam (Reynolds & Su, 2005, p. 40). In July 2003, the U.S. International Trade Commission ratified the ruling. As a result, Vietnamese exports of catfish to the U.S. plummeted, almost being shut down completely. Other facts According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the catfish industry is the largest farm-raised fishing sector in the U.S. In 1999, it accounted for 80 and 64 percent of aquaculture production in volume and value, generating 440 million U.S. dollars (Hanson, 2005, p.1). The delta of the Mekong river, in South Vietnam, also provides a good hab itat for catfish. Known as Basa and Tra, Vietnamese catfish raised in ponds and cages that are placed in the river itself. In 1996, two years after the trade embargo of US. against Vietnam was lifted, Vietnam started exporting frozen fillets of Basa and Tra to the U.S. with sales of a few hundred tons and initially marketed as â€Å"Chinese sole†. West Coast Chinese restaurants responded allowing Basa to take one percent of the US. catfish market (Nguyen, Nguyen & Phillips, 2004, p. 22). The level of exports increased significantly in the early 2000s, reaching a market share in U.S. consumption of catfish of 8.4 percent in 2000 and 19.6 percent in 2002 (Hanson, 2005, p. 4). Also between 2000 and 2002, Vietnamese production capacity expanded by 100 percent, and approximately 50 percent of Vietnamese Tra and Basa was sold in the U.S. market.

IKEAs International Strategy and the Establishment of New Stores Research Paper

IKEAs International Strategy and the Establishment of New Stores - Research Paper Example One of the key policies of the IKEA group is that it does not target the rich and instead sells to the smart (Crampton 2008, n.p). The interpretation of this is that it struggles to minimise the prices of its goods as much as possible. This means that the production has also to minimise costs. According to (Bowman 1988, p. 67) this strategy may have two implications; an increase in market share due to the competitive prices or a reduction in market share due to the reduced quality caused by a reduction in production costs. This is illustrated by the quality of the IKEA goods that cannot be described as the best (Thomson 2009, p. 184). The disadvantage is that the customers are not satisfied with the goods. In one case, a customer claimed that he was happy with none of the products from the store (Scholes 2010, p. 5). In the end, the reduction in price may turn out to be a disadvantage as the group loses customers due to poor quality. A large number of firms offering the same services in the market makes it a competitive market. This means that the group has to have competitive prices in accordance with product value if it is to compete successfully (Doyle 2011, p. 258). If IKEA was the only player in the market it could increase prices without value addition. However, due to the market conditions, the company is able to offer cheap and quality goods which is an advantage. A key part of the IKEA’s strategy is to act as the market’s low-cost leader (Jacobsen 2009, p. 144). The idea is to balance low margins with high volumes by driving the prices down.

The Life in Thailand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Life in Thailand - Essay Example My native country is Thailand, which means â€Å"freedom†, and we call our country â€Å"Prathet Thai†. Buddhism and other religions and beliefs have a great influence on Thai art and way of life. In Thailand, the two main cultures are the ‘court one’ and ‘Ramvong.’ The court one culture is based on Buddhist values with the elements of Hinduism. Ramvong, on the other hand, is a folk culture with traditional songs and dances about the belief in spirits, tales, ceremonies of the agricultural cycle and the cycle of human life. This type of culture also includes crafts like the manufacture of household goods, wood processing, home silk weaving, wickerwork, rattan, and many others. The court culture is represented by Thai classical theater also known as "Khon". The performance is accompanied by traditional Thai music orchestra called "Phi Phat†. Typical Thai architecture is represented by Buddhist monasteries, frescoes in the temples and statu es of the Buddha. The culture in Singapore resembles a mixture of primarily British, Chinese, Indian, and Malay cultures. For a long time, Singapore was a colony of Britain, because of this the European culture got a great prevalence within this land. There are four state languages in Singapore: English, Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil. The most interesting and unusual thing about Singaporeans is their obsession with food. Food is the main topic that people discuss during small talks. A lot of festivals, exhibitions, and excursions are devoted to food.

Physiological Psychology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Physiological Psychology - Assignment Example It answers to stress by augmenting the heart rate and flow of blood to the muscles. It encompasses quick response and hence concerned with â€Å"fight or flight†. Parasympathetic nervous system, encompass cranial nerves (nerves of brain) and also the lower spinal nerves i.e. nerves of sacral region. Action of this system counteracts the sympathetic actions by increasing digestive secretions and decreasing the heartbeat. It is concerned with â€Å"rest and digest†. It is evident that ANS encompass afferent pathways that includes information from the viscera and brain and hence maintains the homeostasis. It has both sensory and motor neurons to carry the information to and from the brain and spinal cord. An action potential along the axon is dependent on influx of sodium ions and efflux of potassium ions. The phases of action potential are: rising phase- In the resting state the inside of the neuronal cell is polarized (-70mv) as compared to its outside charge. Therefore, it is polarized. Excitatory neurotransmitters like aspartate and glutamate released from their pre-synaptic neurons attach to post-synaptic dendrites, sodium channels open up leading to influx of positively charged sodium ion gradually more and more sodium ion channel open up resulting in positive charge inside the cell (+40mv inside cell) and the cell is said to be depolarized. Falling phase- sodium ion channels are closed and potassium ion channels open up as a result potassium being an intracellular ion moves out through these channels and by this process there is a net loss of positive charge as potassium is positively charged ion. Myelinated axons prevent the back diffusion of ions to outer space and ensure a fast and rapid conduction of action potentials. Myelinated neurons contains nodes of Ranvier, through this action potential jumps, this is called salutatory conduction. The

The Internet Speed and Wi-Fi Coverage at Camps and Dormitory Research Proposal

The Internet Speed and Wi-Fi Coverage at Camps and Dormitory - Research Proposal Example For instance, when some users are browsing the internet while others are downloading files such as music, movie or game, the internet connection becomes slow. Time of day also contributes to slowing down the overall speed of the internet. It is notable that when many users are online, internet connections as well as access points could become overloaded leading to delays in the response (Underdahl, 2009). Generally, when everyone is using the internet simultaneously, there would be a decrease in internet speed. The internet could also be slow because of malware/spyware infection in the machines which might be secretly utilizing the internet bandwidth. Spyware could slow the system by way of interfering with the browser and monopolizing the internet connection. Spyware essentially monitors the users’ internet usage and keystrokes, and this adds delays. This problem could be amplified whenever there are several programs of spyware which run simultaneously. The internet connectiv ity could be lost completely if the spyware/malware problem turns out to be severe enough (Purdy, 2010). Computer viruses could also result in poor internet connectivity. ... Other than slow speed of internet, weak Wi-Fi coverage is also an issue. Wi-Fi is simply a technology which enables an electronic gadget to connect to the internet or to exchange data wirelessly with the use of radio waves. Wi-Fi essentially offers wireless high-speed internet as well as network connections. Wi-Fi uses radio frequency (RF) technology, that is, a frequency that is in the electromagnetic spectrum related to radio wave propagation (Kazmeyer, 2011). It is notable that the foundation of any wireless network is an access point (AP); a device that broadcasts a wireless signal which computers could detect and then tune into. It is necessary for devices and computers to be equipped with wireless network adapters so as to connect to an AP and join a wireless network. In our dormitory and camps, there are various devices and applications which are supported by Wi-Fi including mobile phones, video game consoles, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptops and operating systems s uch as Android, Windows 7 and Vista. Although there are Wi-Fi enabled devices at our dormitory and camps, there is weak Wi-Fi coverage. The devices can only connect to the internet when within a limited and short range of a wireless network. The coverage of interconnected APs, or hotspots, extends on an area of just 10 square miles – this is a very small area to meet the wireless needs of everyone residing in the camps and dormitories. Routers which integrate a cable modem or a digital subscriber line (DSL) and a Wi-Fi access point was set up at our dormitory and camps in order to provide internet access as well as internet working to every device that is connected to them, either through cable or

The concept of Emily Grierson as a trapped individual Essay

The concept of Emily Grierson as a trapped individual - Essay Example Emily Grierson was strongly attached to her father and it was her father who brought her up. Her mother had passed away and she did not have any other close relatives. This aspect of her life led her to live a life of solitude and her life was based upon her relationship with her father. Her father was a proud man who considered him to be superior to all the other people who resided in the town. He kept a distance for the other people and did not intermingle in the social gatherings with people. He instilled similar feelings in his daughter and she was also not very social and restricted to her life within the house. Her father considered all the men who offered to marry Emily not to be up to the mark and rejected all these proposals. This behaviour of the Griersons is portrayed by Faulkner in these words, â€Å"People in our town, remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such.† Thus her upbringing by her father pushed her into solitude and led her to lead a trapped life. Emily’s father was the most important figure in her life and the death of her father shattered her. She became hysteric and was not ready to accept the death of her father. She did not take the condolences of the people and sent them away. It was only by force that her father’s body was buried. This great loss pushed her more into entrapment and she was left alone in her life. The next major character that entered her life was an outsider, Homer Barron who came to visit the town. Emily became greatly attached to him owing to her solitude and loneliness but Barron opted not to marry Emily. She took a drastic step of poisoning Homer Barron and kept his body in her house. The reaction of the people of the town and their criticism for her can also be held accountable for her trapped li fe. The people in the town talked about her behind her back and only visited her out of curiosity to see what was going inside her house. This social alienation served to further prevent Emily from leading a normal life. Emily became totally isolated and did not believe in societal laws and regulations. She developed these believes owing to her entrapped life. She did not consider herself to be a member of the society. She did not allow for the installation of a mail box at her house as she did not want to be linked to the outside world. She also denied paying the taxes in the town and responded to the officials from the city by saying, "I received a paper, yes," Miss Emily said. "Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff . . . I have no taxes in Jefferson." It has been portrayed that the life of Emily Grierson starts â€Å"decaying† in her home in solitude. She began to decay physically, mentally as well as socially. She started losing her looks and was totally cut off from t he social environment of the town. She did not mingle with anyone and thus her life depicted a theme of decaying. She also lost her sanity as she went as far as to kill Homer Barron so that she could keep his body with her. The death of her father is the initiation of her psychiatric issues. This can be seen when she denies that her