Air Pollution and Population in Kuwait Research Paper

Air Pollution and Population in Kuwait - Research Paper Example The nature and objective of the study is to find the relationship between air pollution and population in Kuwait A simple linear model to establish a relationship between the two variables is Yt = b1 + b2 * Xt Where: Yt is air pollution Xt is population. An increase or decrease in air pollution is an effect of change in population combined with several other factors. There are several hypotheses to be tested and several policies to be evaluated, which are dependent on a number of questions. The issues to be considered in this paper are as follows: 1. How strong is the relationship between air pollution and population? 2. How strong is the relationship between air pollution and population in Kuwait? 3. Can pollution be treated as an independent variable apart from population? 4. What are the effects of air pollution on the population in Kuwait? 5. What is the effect of air pollution on the life span of the population in Kuwait? 6. How does air pollution affect the life expectancy of the Kuwaiti population? 7. Which age groups are most affected by air pollution in Kuwait? 8. Is air pollution only due to outdoor factors or are there any indoor factors also involved? 9. Which gas (causal of air pollution) is the most harmful to the population? 10. What are the atmospheric levels of pollution in terms of nitrogen oxide and dioxide, carbon monoxide and dioxide and ozone in Kuwait?

Omnivore's Delemma (Industrial Corn) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Omnivore's Delemma (Industrial Corn) - Essay Example Omnivore's Delemma (Industrial Corn) In 2010 alone, the United States spent $337 billion on the import of crude oil (Shenk, 2011), the U.S. being the largest consumer of oil, using 25.4% of the world’s oil production (Parry & Darmstadter, 2003). However, corn ethanol represents only 1.3% of the total fuel being used in the country for motor vehicles (Pimentel, 2009). Given the facts, it becomes obvious that the production and use of corn could actually help stabilize the economy, rather than being a burden on it. The production of corn being cheaper than the import of oil for the purpose of motor vehicle fuel, it would be prudent to focus on the former than the later. This, combined with the less emission of greenhouse gases, as already discussed, would not only reduce the cost of environmental protection, but would also result in a greener society. Corn and its products are the most demanded consumer product in the food market, either for direct consumption or for indirect consumption due to their use as ingredi ents in other food products. It can be argued that corn is a balanced and a complete diet source, since it offers proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and roughage, and corn oil itself is low in fats, so is often substituted for animal fats and oils. It has already been established that other protein sources like meat present a lot of health hazards, which have not been associated with the use of corn (Biello, 2008). Pollan makes an especial comparison between the cultivation of corn and grass in his book, and glaringly leans in favor of the grass-growers (2006). It could be pointed out that whereas grass itself has limited uses, and cannot be consumed as a food product, being cultivated for the sole purpose of animal feed, corn, on the other hand, has multiple and multi-dimensional purposes, and its cultivation not only provides with a food product, but also other industrial chemicals and products. Therefore, it is only wise to invest on a crop that can cater to a much larg er marker and has a much wider scope and potential. The huge demand of corn reflects on the social mindset and the prevalent lifestyle. To propose a radical and almost completely agonist lifestyle without this essential food ingredient would be to propose a revolution. Pollan might be safe in theory, but his opinions cannot be so readily implemented in reality. Therefore, a compromise could be proposed in which alternate food options are presented along with corn and its products for those customers who subscribe to Pollan’s opinions. This would mean that the market would cater to the popular demand while also taking care of the consumers who want a change. Pollan challenges the

An EVil Cradling - Rape Commentary Essay Example for Free

An EVil Cradling Rape Commentary Essay This passage from Brian Keenans An Evil Cradling describes in first person narrative the scene when Said beats Brian in a manner analogous to a rape. This event gives us an insight into the guards weaknesses and their dependency on the hostages, making them in a paradoxical way- the actual prisoners. On the other hand, Brians and Johns defiance and mutual support suggest the rising determination which gives them control over the guards. Throughout this passage, the author demonstrates us that mental resistance is more powerful than any physical abuse, and Brian even states that the later feeds the first. The narrator claims that There was a part of me they could never bind nor abuse nor take from me. This suggests that physical maltreatment will never be able to reach into peoples minds, because mental strength cannot be bent. Brian also discovers that his resistance was a joyful thing and that the more he was beaten the stronger he became. However, the narrator makes it clear that it was not strength of the arm, nor of body but a huge determination never to give in to these men. This shows that physical exploitation and abuse humiliates their body, but at the same time it empowers intellectual strength and might. The limitations of the beatings are further emphasised in the quotations the blows and the bruises and the kicks hurt me but I felt no pain and I did not fear him. These suggest that the expected effects of the beatings like pain and fear, which could have been used as weapons against the prisoners, were no longer applicable for Brian and John. In this way, the hostages possess the ultimate power, the psychological one which gives them control over the guards making them their slaves. In the course of this passage is suggested that Said is sexually repressed by his religion and so in an attempt to relieve this he beats prisoners in a sexually excited manner. The narrator describes him as a violent lover and his abuse of my body a kind of rape. A lover implies a need for love and possibly sex. However, the guards strict religious views try to inhibit these natural feelings, and as the women in Lebanon are forbidden from having relationships with men before they are married, many men might find themselves in a controversial situation. To shows their masculinity, they turn into violent lovers and try to prove their power by physically subduing others. Brians summary of Said as a man so filled with fear and fascinated by violence and obsessed with sex seems to confirm this point. The guards are fearful and confused because of their repressed emotions that cause them frustration and anger. This explains their sudden changes in behaviour that occur throughout the novel from being caring and innocent into beating and humiliating the prisoners. Said is illustrated by the narrator as a wild and repugnant, almost animal-like person. While beating the prisoners the guard is silent and never talks to them. This implies his savagery, almost as if he lost his ability to speak, which makes him similar to an animal. The fact that he comes by night, shows that he wants to remain hidden from the view this further emphasising his feral inclinations during these moments. Brian gives a detailed account about Saids smell which was a mixture of sweat, strong sweetness and garlic, all of these combining into a violent aroma, which filled the room. These physical portrayals of his scent convey the feeling of disgust and loathing that Brian felt for the duration of this mental rape. The extract I sniffed the air like an animal suggests that something savage and inhuman happened, that Saids assault was beyond the boundaries of a humane deed. On the other hand, we have Brian and John whos humane gestures are highlighted by Saids savage behaviour. Initially Brian claims that he felt an elemental rage and he imagines the pleasure that he would gain from castrating Said. However, after a short while they both laughed together and the moment of violence became meaningless. This suggests that humour gives them sufficient strength to overcome their frustrations and unlike the guards they dont have to turn into violence to relieve their disturbances. After the fierce scene, the two whispered soft words of comfort and reassurance to each other. This emphasises the power of love, friendship, mutual support and provides a more positive and emotional sight after the violent event of the rape. Throughout the novel the hostages and the guards try to overcome their own fears, doubts and frustrations. This passage from the chapter Rape illustrates the ways in which they attempt to do so. Brian and John conquer these negative feelings by supporting, loving and laughing with each other. However, the confined fanatical views of the guards dont allow them to do so, so they seek control and relief by physically abusing others. In spite of this it seems that the psychological defiance of the hostages is a more powerful weapon than the beatings of the guards and so the ones that are somewhat in control in the prison are not the sentry, but the prisoners themselves. In this way, the author nicely concludes that humane and caring behaviour will triumph over brutality and violence.

Pneumatic Auto Gear Changer Project

Pneumatic Auto Gear Changer Project (a) Introduction 1.1 This career episode is based on my design and fabrication project carried out during the penultimate year of my bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering at Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering (Anna University Affiliated)-Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu state, India. Established in 2001, it is a self-financed and one of the best engineering institutes in Tamil Nadu. The project was completed over a period of 3 months from December 2012 to March, 2013. (b) Background 1.2 The project on Pneumatic Auto Gear Changer was carried out in order to understand and implement theories in gear change application. Its purpose was to analyze the various steps involved and to provide recommendations for a real world use of this technology. I carried out this project as a part of a group of four people. In this project, a push button was used to activate/deactivate a solenoid valve and at the time of gear changing, the switch was triggered and the solenoid valve was activated. This in turn causes the compressed air to go through the pneumatic cylinder. The compressed air pushes the pneumatic cylinder as it passes through a tube and henceforth changes the gear from one speed to the other with the help of a gear box arrangement. 1.3 The automatic gear changing structure is relatively useful in low cost automation in all automobiles. Pneumatic systems work at higher speeds and the manpower requirement is reduced due to this project. The design and the implementation of this project in the real world application was made and a detailed report was submitted. This project work was supervised under Mr. Manoj Kumar, the associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering at Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering. As it was an open ended project, I had to look up through several online journals, document reviews and also took guidance from the head of the department on various projects and ideas. The project time was quite limited and had to be come up with a proper design plan before the actual start of the project. This proved to be quite a challenging task as this was the first real world project in my career. However, I was completely aware of the fact that, these would be the kind of challenges and problems I would face in real life as a professional engineer. Some of the duties I was involved in during the course of this project were as follows: I carried out an extensive study on various materials relating to the pneumatic systems. Since, there was no specific consensus on the selection of compressors, I had to select the one that best suited the requirements of the project while considering all the technical aspects. I also dealt with the equipment suppliers on behalf of my team to purchase the necessary materials needed for the project. I attended meetings with my supervisor to discuss individual observation and the progress of the project. I presented this project to the department faculties and also completed an extensive project report. (c) Personal Engineering Activity As a first step of the project, I explained my thoughts on doing this project to my supervisor. I carried out my research regarding the project and presented him the importance of the project before carrying out the project.ÂÂ   The present scenario gear changer plays a vital role in automobiles.ÂÂ   Manual transmissions have become uncommon in many cases of cars sold across Australia, North America and some parts of Asia. However, they remain dominant in parts of Europe and other developing countries. Hence, I did an analysis on the present day vehicles equipped with automatic transmission option and those that are not and further highlighted the importance of the project in the present and future of automobiles as well as in certain machineries. After deciding on the project, I carried out numerous literature reviews in order to come up with an appropriate design plan and to acquire the necessary equipment needed for the project. However, the articles and writings published on the topic was quite limited and were available for only specific cases.ÂÂ   As my project was regarding the project pneumatic gear changer, I did my extensive research on the pneumatic side of the project. Furthermore, I reviewed the advantages of pneumatic system and discussed with my supervisor for the usability in the project. Pneumatic system and was best considered due to its following reasons: The pneumatic system power output could be easily controlled Over loading does not affect the pneumatic systems The pneumatic system could be used at varying working temperatures Transportation of air through pipelines over long distances can be easily done with pneumatics in place. Pneumatics enables high working speeds It is a system which requires minimal upkeep. In this project, I used a reciprocating compressor as the key component for the supply of compressed air. I selected the appropriate equipment for the project after evaluating the suitability of information acquired from several sources. A compressor is an instrument that sucks in air and gas at an optimum pressure and deliverers the air back at a higher pressure as the output. It was very important for my project to select the appropriate compressor as pneumatic systems operate primarily on the supply of both compressed air and pressure into the system. Moreover, I had to make sure, clean conditions were maintained during the phase of the project as warm and moist air could result in precipitation of condense from the compressed air. The following is the schematic diagram of pneumatic auto gear changer used in this project. Figure 1: Schematic diagram of pneumatic auto gear changer I also considered an important element for this project which was the push button. The push button switch was fixed near the driving seat of the vehicle. Besides this, I had set up an air tank with fully filled compressed air in it. Prior to gear changing, the solenoid valve was activated by triggering the switch. The compressed air streamed from the air tank to the pneumatic cylinder as the solenoid valve was open. Likewise, at the time of compressed air inlet into the cylinder, the pneumatic cylinder moved forward and the gear box liver moved along automatically from one position to the next. The gear box liver was further activated which allowed the vehicle running at different speeds. I have highlighted the advantages of this type to my supervisor and was duly approved and appreciated by him. They are as follows: It required simple maintenance cares A safe system for the automobile. Easy to Handle. Low cost automation project Repairing was easy. Easy replacement. However, some of the disadvantages of this type were as follows: Initial cost was high. The system was a complicated one. During the course of this project, I used a control valve to control the flow direction within the system. I also used a 3/2 single acting solenoid valve, having one inlet, outlet and an exhaust port. The air entered the pneumatic single acting solenoid valve once the push button was activated. Moreover, I introduced a pneumatic shifter to the whole design as it works through compressed air power. So once the gear changing signals were received, the pneumatic shifter opens or closes the magnetic valve assembly. The compressed air flows into the system once these valves are open, or thrusts it out thereby creating the effect of shifting gear mechanism. More compressed air into the system allowed the gear to be shifted up and the gear shifted down as the air was let. Furthermore, I used an on-board tank to get this compressed air to the cylinder even though I knew re-routing the engine exhaust could be a possibility and be economically viable however, it would result in lower performan ce as most of the oxygen present in the exhaust gas would already be burnt. Figure 2: Schematic of a 3/2 single acting solenoid valve After the analysis on various aspects of this project, I discussed my project outcomes and my results.ÂÂ   Putting all the information to use, I wrote the final report titled Pneumatic Auto Gear Changer and presented this to my department professors and to the head of the department. (d) Summary This project presented me with the opportunity to understand the applications of theoretical knowledge that I had acquired in class rooms to implement in a real world project.ÂÂ   Discussions during the project with the supervisor provided great insight to challenges presented throughout the project.ÂÂ   The challenges uncovered were resolved by use of appropriate technical skills. This project also helped me understand the working and execution of any engineering project and served as a stepping stone to the real world. Overall, I am very happy that I could contribute myself effectively to this project at its various stages and also helped to secure the highest possible grade for this project.

Definition Essay - Defining Service -- Definition Essays

Definition Essay- Defining Service Being raised in a Christian faith and family, you’re likely to hear the word â€Å"service† quite a bit. Not ever truly being interested in the denotation of this word, I always referred to the church holding services, in which were usually, programs that contain dedicated members of the church. Oxford American Dictionary says describes it as â€Å"a meeting of a congregation for worship of God, a religious ceremony. Religion being such a sensitive issue for many people, and because there are so many opinions concerning it out there, connotations for words frequently used in it are not widely talked about. Some churchgoers believe that church is the Oxford English Dictionary â€Å"a religious rite† and â€Å"active devotion to God, as through good works or prayer†. I al... Definition Essay - Defining Service -- Definition Essays Definition Essay- Defining Service Being raised in a Christian faith and family, you’re likely to hear the word â€Å"service† quite a bit. Not ever truly being interested in the denotation of this word, I always referred to the church holding services, in which were usually, programs that contain dedicated members of the church. Oxford American Dictionary says describes it as â€Å"a meeting of a congregation for worship of God, a religious ceremony. Religion being such a sensitive issue for many people, and because there are so many opinions concerning it out there, connotations for words frequently used in it are not widely talked about. Some churchgoers believe that church is the Oxford English Dictionary â€Å"a religious rite† and â€Å"active devotion to God, as through good works or prayer†. I al...

Contrasting Responsibility in Carvers Fever and Baldwins Sonnys B

What allows a human being to constantly face-up to the responsibilities of life? What makes a mother or father continue to clothe, feed, and pick up their child from school? What makes a person wake up every morning to go to a job he or she hates, come home, and begin the whole process the following morning? Is it "responsibility" that makes a person do what they have to do, or rather is it fearing the consequence? Truthfully, this would depend on the situation. Parents would most likely fulfill their responsibility towards their child or children because of love; but a person who hates his or her job probably continues to do it fearing the consequence of unemployment. In the end, one realizes that despite all the responsibilities a person has, the choice to execute it is ultimately left to the individual. Two short stories that examine the theme of responsibility are "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin and "Fever" by Raymond Carver. In "Sonny's Blues", the narrator's elderly mother tells him to never allow anything bad to happen to his younger brother, Sonny. Although Sonny's injurious decisions result in both brothers distancing themselves from each other, the older brother finds it within himself to love his brother and do everything he can do to take care of him. In "Fever", the other short story, the narrator's wife, Eileen, abandons her life as a wife and mother of two children to pursue a career as an artist with another man. This sudden abandonment of all maternal responsibilities without reservation characterizes her as a free-flowing "artiste" that pursues her desires without regarding the impact it might have on others. Both of these short stories show how people approach the issue of familial responsibility. An init... ... what we're supposed to get out of this life..." one realizes that she has put her ambitions and desires above her family and paid no heed to her familial responsibility. Abraham Lincoln once said, "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today" (www.quotationspage.com). Ironically, one actually can. The narrator in "Sonny's Blues" chose to care for Sonny and accept his responsibility as an older brother. On the other hand, Eileen in "Fever" chose a different path by leaving her family and pursuing her own ambitions. Conclusively, one realizes that despite all the responsibilities a person has, the element of choice determines what happens. Works Cited Carver, Raymond. "Fever" The Harper Anthology of Fiction: Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues" in Vintage Baldwin. New York: Vintage, 2004.

How did Eratoshenes Measured the Circumference of the Earth? Essay

About a matter of two hundred decades ago, Greek astronomers valued the erudition that the shape of the Earth is correspondingly a sphere. And as the moon passes through the shadow of the earth, or that which is called a lunar eclipse, the Greeks have observed the circular shadow casted by the Earth. Since that time, it was already an established intellect that only spherical objects cast a circular shadow, thus, the conclusion that the Earth is likewise spherical in shape. The mere conclusion of the Earth’s shape, nevertheless, did not achieve contentment to the Greeks. A Greek astronomer by the name Eratoshenes discovered a possible way in measuring the Earth’s circumference. It started when he had heard some reports from one of Egypt’s city, Syene, which was located on the equator of the earth. The reports have informed Eratosthenes that the sun shows vertical wells down on Syene during the first day of summer. However, the astronomer did not observe any similar phenomenon anywhere by his home; therefore he arrived at the supposition that in his home, Alexandria, which lies 7 degrees north of the city of Syene, the sun never does reach zenith. Eratoshenes further presupposed that the sun is in line with the potential measurement of about 7 degrees south of his residency’s zenith during summer solstice or the first day of summer. Provided such conclusion, the distance from Alexandria and Syene was believed to be 7/360 or 1/150 that of the circumference of the Earth ( a complete circle has a 360 degree measure). Additionally, way back Eratoshenes’ time, â€Å"stade† was the known standard unit of measurement, which then is equal to 1/6 of a kilometer. Consequently, there are 5,000 stades from Syene to Alexandria and from such logic, the Earth’s circumference was calculated to be: 50 x 25,000 stades = 42,000 kilometers. Accordingly, the accepted modern value of the Earth’s circumference is 40,000 km, hence Eratosthenes was correct. References â€Å"The Earth and Moon, Size of the Earth cont. † Publication retrieved on 10 Sept 2007 from http://inkido. indiana. edu/a100/earthmoon7. html