Impacts of the Globalization on International Law and Tradition on Research Paper

Impacts of the Globalization on International Law and Tradition on Quatar and the UAE - Research Paper Example According to the Universal Declaration on human rights however restricting the accessibility of the facilities, goods, and services on the basis of gender is unlawful. Hence the UN has criticized the human rights law practiced in Qatar on multiple occasions. The international laws practiced in UAE have also been largely criticized by the international institutions on law enforcement. Example: The UAE’s Draft Labor Law introduced in 2007 received a number of sever criticisms from the Human Rights Watch. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for provisions of workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively, protecting all the categories of workers including local farmers and grazing workers by the labor law, clarifying the minimum age of employment and non discriminatory accessibility to all the categories of work by women and local labors. Further, the remedies or sanctions that are placed to deter the violations of UAE labor law are inadequate according to the Unive rsal Declaration of Human Rights. The government is advised to provide effective penalties for violations and be effective and efficient in applying them (HRW, 2007 p.13). Nevertheless, Qatar ranked in 36 among the 186 countries listed in the Human Development Index (HDI), 2012. Evidently adopting a legislation which is heavily different from the dominating western countries has not impeded the socio economic development of Qatar. It can be due to the fact that Qatar’s strategic restrictions that are placed upon the International trade. International trade regulations had been highly liberal despite the controversy status in human rights. Example: Export tax are not imposed in Qatar despite import and sale of... This paper is one of the best examples of comparison of the evolution of legislative systems of two of the most economically developed countries of the Middle East region, the UAE and Qatar, which is driven by the globalization process. The influence of the globalization on cultural traditions of these two countries is also assessed. Establishing international level interdependencies can improve the laws and traditions practiced in countries. However the profitability of such international alliances largely depends on the availability of common interests, values, principles and procedures that are transparent across all the member states. Successfully implemented globalized economies are more powerful than the individual states. Globalization has positively influenced the international law in Qatar and the UAE. These two countries have significantly improved the international laws during the late 2000. This lead to decrease the cost of labor in the country. In 2005, the number of migrants in UAE labor market amounted approximately 2.7 million . It is evident that labor law and migrant law have supported the high economic growth rates in UAE. The traditions of the UAE and Qatar however face significant challenges in a rapidly globalizing environment. Although similar domestic legislation and traditions are observed in both the countries, international law has been substantially different. Differences in international have been unfavorable towards the UAE compared to the Qatar.

RBC Centura Bank Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

RBC Centura Bank - Research Proposal Example Culture shares a common viewpoint regarding what constitutes appropriate business and interpersonal relationships and reflects the overall traditions and communications styles acknowledged within the business. At RBC Bank, efficiency and inter-staff respect are at the forefront of culture where expectations for performance begin at the highest levels of the business and trickle down to subordinate staff levels. In this particular organization, the ability to fit in with other employees generally involves being efficient at the job role. Inefficiency leads to an ineffective team and those who do not fit within this cultural norm regarding performance will generally have a difficult time making positive relationship with others. Organizational behavior, closely tied with culture, is the attitudes and actions which take place within the business environment. People in organizations do not work in proverbial vacuums, meaning that they consistently come into contact with others during the course of a regular workday. Organizational behavior are the various interactions between staff members which dictate the overall method by which business is conducted both externally and internally, such as how co-workers interact and how customers/clients are approached. Organizational behavior is the human aspect of how business and the individual interact (Delta Publishing, 2006). At RBC Bank, much like its culture, efficiency and performance are common behavioral characteristics and expectations. Mutual respect is on the forefront of the business’ policies, where all business and associate transactions occur with this premise in mind. All clients and associate workers behave according to high ethical guidelines, s uggesting that the organizational behavior at RBC Bank is one where leadership qualities are valued and developed. Diversity is a common theme at RBC Bank, defined as various differences in

Wright Family Essay Example for Free

Wright Family Essay Following is an estate plan designed for Wright Family. It consists of Margaret and Tom Wright, and their first child is about to come. Their objectives are: 1. To grow their wealth to ensure that their debt levels are reduced in the long term. 2. To have sufficient funding to ensure that their and their children’s needs are met, without both having to work full-time. 3. To ensure that their joint assets are protected as far as possible from any potential litigants. Thus, the aim of clients is to preserve and enhance the value of their estate and to avoid adverse consequences for their intended beneficiaries. Circumstances Margaret and Tom Wright are bright young professional couple expecting their first child soon. They come from middle class background. Tom is a partner in a medium sized accounting firm and Margaret is a doctor working in a local clinic. Both are doing well in their fields as Tom is a partner in middle sized accounting firm and Margaret has prospects of becoming a partner in the clinic where she works. Tom is quite a bit older than Margaret and has an eight year old son from his ex-wife whom he has divorced. As a result of his divorce, he has significant borrowings that funded his property settlement. Tom feels that his ex-wife and his son have been adequately compensated and now his key objective is to ensure that Margaret and their new baby are fully provided for in the event of his death. He wants to ensure that his former wife cannot overthrow any arrangement he establishes for the benefit of Margaret and his new child. Similarly, Margaret would like to ensure that Tom benefits from her assets, and not his former wife or his son. They want to have sufficient funding to ensure that their needs and, most importantly, the needs of their children, are met. Ideally, they would like to be able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle without both having to work full-time. Funding Tom and Margaret Wright have certain assets which shall provide them funding for their estate. They are: Tom’s Assets: 1. Interest in his accounting practice ( through a discretionary trust which he controls solely), 2. The equity in which is funded through a life insurance policy on his life in the event of his death, 3. Some superannuation (a portion of which has been ‘split’ with his former wife), 4. The family home that he and Margaret share, that is mortgaged to about 80 per cent of its value, 5. A trust funded by an advance of his inheritance from his parents, that he uses to fund his child support payments. Margaret’s Assets: 1. Savings from her years of working, 2. An investment property with the inheritance she received from her parents. In addition to these existing funds, they can also look for increasing their funds in future. This can be done by investing more in municipal bonds, real estate, modified endowments, stocks and mutual funds. Though the return through any investment varies, but careful planning and expert advice can yield expected results. Options and impediments From available facts, it appears that Margaret and Tom Wright are people of modest wealth who need to reduce taxes, protect their assets and secure enough to maintain their lifestyle. They are also at risk of litigation from certain parties and they would like to mitigate that risk. Considering their circumstances and objectives, it shall be wise for them to formulate an estate plan before actually finalizing their funding and investment strategy. An ideal estate plan ensures speedy transfer of estate to the intended beneficiary without any hassles. It also maximizes the value of estate by minimizing taxes and other expenses. The idea is to take benefit of various exemption clauses present. A major tax that comes in case an estate is transferred to a beneficiary is the estate’s tax. This can be reduced if the value of estate owned by the deceased is less at the time of his death. Most of the planning strategies achieve this by transferring the estate step by step by using annual gift tax exemptions in cases where a will is present. â€Å"Estate planning for people of modest wealth is challenging because they face significant death taxes but do not have such a large base of wealth that they can easily afford to make significant lifetime gifts or other transfers to reduce the taxes which will arise when they die. †

La-Mg-Ni Based Alloys

La-Mg-Ni Based Alloys Abstract: Degradation behaviors of La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloys were studied. The results indicate that severe pulverization and corrosion are important factors leading to the capacity deterioration. However, it is puzzled that corrosion of the electrochemical cycled alloys is aggravated, which is inconsistent with the result that La2MgNi9 present poor cycling stability andalso the assumption that alloy with high Mg content is easy to be corroded. Then, the intrinsic anti-corrosion and anti-pulverization characteristics were mainly focused in the first part of this work. Immersion experiments demonstrate that the Mg-rich phases are more easily to be corroded. The intrinsic anti-corrosion resistance of the three alloys presents an improved trend which is inversely proportional to the abundance of the Mg-rich phases. However, the intrinsic anti-pulverization ability just presents an inverse trend, which is closely related to mechanical property of the phase structures. LaNi5 with the highest hardness is easy to crack, but the soft (La,Mg)Ni2 is more resistant to crack formation and spreading, suggesting a possibility to improve the anti-pulverization ability by adjusting the phase constitution. In general, the weaker corroded extent of La2MgNi9 in the electrochemical test is attributed to its better intrinsic anti-pulverization capability though the intrinsic anti-corrosion of La2MgNi9 is worse. As to La4MgNi19 which possesses excellent intrinsic anti-corrosion resistant, enhancement of the anti-pulverization ability is the key issue to improve the cycling stability. 1 Introduction Superlattice La-Mg-Ni based hydrogen storage alloys have received substantial attentions over the last decade because the excellent electrochemical performances used in nickel/metal hydride (Ni/MH) battery [1-5]. Up to now, A2B7 type alloys have been successful developed for the practical use [3]. However, AB2 and AB3 type alloys present poor cycling stability though the theoretical discharge capacities are higher than A2B7 type alloys [6-8]. In addition, A5B19 type alloys have been reported to possess good electrochemical performances, but they still need improvement to meet the practical application, especially on the cycling stability in the long-term reversible cycles [9-10]. It is well accepted that electrochemical capacity decrease of the metal hydride electrodes is caused by both the physical and chemical degradation [11-12]. In La-Mg-Ni system, factors affecting the capacity degradation were emphasized on pulverization and corrosion during the charge/discharge cyclings [13-17]. Corrosion leads to damage and disappearance of the phases which possess considerable hydrogen storage capacity. It has been reported that La-Mg-Ni alloys are easily to be corroded into La(OH)3 and Mg(OH)2 [13-15]. And these kinds of corrosion products are loose and passive which cannot protect the matrix for further corrosion [15-16]. Severe pulverization of La-Mg-Ni alloys during cycling had also been reported in many works [13-17]. Pulverization makes fresh surface of the electrodes alloys continuously exposed to the electrolyte and dramatically improves development of corrosion. Liu et al. classified the degradation process of the La-Mg-Ni-Co alloy into three stages: the pul verization and Mg oxidation stage, the Mg and La oxidation stage and the oxidation and passivation stage [14]. In addition, capacity degradation of the metal hydrides is closely related to the structural changes during absorption/desorption cycling. Our previous works demonstrated that transformation from crystallinity to amorphous viz. hydrogen induced amorphization (HIA) of La-Mg-Ni alloys occurred during the hydrogenation cycles and remarkably worsens both the gas-solid and electrochemical storage performances [18-19]. Understanding of the degradation mechanisms is the precondition for improvement of the cycling stability of the La-Mg-Ni based alloys. Several compounds including AB2, AB3, A2B7 and A5B19 type phase exist in this system, and the alloys usually present multi-phase microstructure. Though quiet a number of efforts have been applied on the degradation characters of the La-Mg-Ni based alloys, these works mainly focused on the overall capacity deterioration behaviors of the alloys. Diversity of the degradation characteristics of various compounds in this system is also lacking. In the present study, degradation mechanisms of three typical La-Mg-Ni alloys: La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 have been systematically investigated. In the first part of this work, corrosion and pulverization behaviors of the alloys, especially the intrinsic characteristics of the AB3, A2B7 and A5B19 type La-Mg-Ni phases during absorption/desorption cycling were generated. In a following paper, HIA and its in fluence on the hydrogen storage properties are discussed. 2 Experimental materials and methods 2.1 Alloy preparation The as-cast La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloy was prepared by induction levitation melting under argon atmosphere. The as-cast alloys were remelted twice for homogeneity. Appropriate excess of Mg was added in order to compensate for the evaporative loss of Mg during melting. Then the as-cast La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloys were annealed at 1143, 1173 and 1193 K respectively for 6 h protected in argon atmosphere. 2.2 Characterization The sample was fine polished and then etched using a mixed etchant (including water, ethanol, acetic acid, picric acid, nitric acid and hydrochloric acid) at 343K. Then metallographic microstructure of the alloys was observed using a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM: Olympus-OLS4000). Phase constitution of the alloys was also characterized by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM: FEI-Qanta 400) under backscatter electron mode (BSE) applied on the unetched samples. The chemical composition of various phases was studied by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) equipped in the SEM. Crystal structures of the alloys were measured by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD: Bruker-D8 Advance) with Cu KÃŽÂ ±1 radiation. Micro-morphologies and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) were applied by means of a transmission electron microscopy (TEM: JEOL-2100 and FEI-F20) to examine the microstructural and crystallographic information. TEM samples were firstly crushed the bulk into fine powder , and then ultrasonic dispersion was performed in ethanol for 1800 s. Several drops of the mixed liquid were laid on a carbon membrane support on the copper grid, and dried in a vacuum oven. Particle size of the cycled alloys was tested by a laser particle size analyzer (Malvern-Mastersizer 3000) where the alloy particles were dispersed by absolute alcohol. Oxygen content of the electrochemical cycled and immersed alloys was performed on a nitrogen/oxygen tester (NCS-ON3000). Before the oxygen test, samples were immersed in deionized water for 24 h, then washed using absolute alcohol twice to remove the residual KOH, and dried in a vacuum drying oven. 2.3 Hydrogen storage properties Gas-solid cycling and PCT isotherm measurement were carried out by Suzuki -2SDWIN PCT system at 303K (Sieverts type). Before the PCT analysis, sample was activated as follow: evacuated at 473 K for 2 h, placed to 303K, hydrogenated under 3Mpa H2 (Purity 99.999%) pressure for 5 h, evacuated at 573 K for 2 h again. Each cycle consists of absorption at 2MPa for 600s and desorption by evacuating at 298K for 1200 s. For the electrochemical measurement, the alloy particles (40-50 µm) were mixed with carbonyl nickel powder in a weight ratio of 1:5 and cold pressed to form a pellet about 1g firstly. The pellets were then packed in a Ni foam substrate spot-welded with a Ni strip. The simulated three-electrode cell including a working electrode (metal hydride), a counter electrode (NiOOH/Ni(OH)2) and a reference electrode (Hg/HgO) was installed. Before electrochemical test, the alloy metal hydride electrode was immersed in 6 M KOH aqueous solution for 1d. The measurement to get the maximum capacity and cycling stability was to charge at current density of 105 mA/g for 4h followed by a rest of 10min, then discharged at the same current density to the cut-off voltage of -0.6 V. 3 Results and discussions 3.1 Microstructure and hydrogen storage performances LSCM and BSE micrographs of the three alloys are shown in Fig.1. Four contrasts can be detected in the La2MgNi9 alloy. The chemical quantitations of various contrast from EDS analysis are listed in Table 1, from which the four phases are speculated to be (La,Mg)Ni2, (La,Mg)Ni3, (La,Mg)2Ni7 and LaNi5. Five crystal structures including CaCu5-type, MgCu4Sn-type, PuNi3-type, Ce2Ni7-type and Gd2Co7-type are identified in XRD profile of the La2MgNi9 alloy, as shown in Fig.2. The structural parameters and phase abundance are refined and listed in Table 2. The results are in consistent with the metallographic observation that the main phase is (La,Mg)Ni3, then (La,Mg)Ni2and (La,Mg)2Ni7, but content of LaNi5 is rare. In case of the La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloy, metallographic and XRD characterization indicate that (La,Mg)Ni2disappears, (La,Mg)5Ni19 emerges and LaNi5 increases with elevation of the B-side stoichiometry. The main phase of the La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 alloy is (La,Mg)2Ni7 and (La,Mg)5Ni19 respectively, and the structural parameters and phase abundance are also listed in Table 2. Fig.3 displays P-C-Tcurves of the alloys, and the detailed data are given in Table 3. Theoretically, hydrogenation capability increases with reduction of the B-side stoichiometry in the La-Mg-Ni based alloys. However, the maximum hydrogen absorption content of the La2MgNi9 alloy is slightly lower than the La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy. It is ascribed to the fact that some (La,Mg)Ni2 which can hardly absorb and desorb hydrogen at room temperature [8], existing in the La2MgNi9 alloy. The three alloys have analogic hydrogen absorption plateau. But both the desorption pressure and the reversible hydrogen capacity elevate with increase of the B-side stoichiometry of the three alloys. Reversible hydrogen capacity of the AB3-typed La2MgNi9 alloy is only 1.15 wt%, and the hysteresis effect is more evident than the other alloys. Electrochemical discharge curves and performances of the alloys are shown in Fig.4 and Table 3 respectively. Discharge capacities of the La2MgNi9 and La4MgNi19 alloy are lower than the La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy. The lower discharge capacity of La2MgNi9 is due to the weak reversible hydrogen storage capacity. As to the La4MgNi19 alloy, it is attributed to high abundance of LaNi5 which is unsuited for the electrochemical application without alloying [20]. Furthermore, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 presents better cycling stability than the other two alloys. Capacity retention after 100 cycles of the La2MgNi9 alloy is similar with that of the La4MgNi19 alloy. 3.2 Degradation characteristics after electrochemical cycling From morphology and EDS results of the alloys, it is clear that pulverization and corrosion have occurred after electrochemical cycling by 100 times (only La2MgNi9 alloy presents in Fig.5). XRD analysis shows that La(OH)3, Mg(OH)2 and La2O3 appear in the cycled alloys, as displayed in Fig.6. Likewise, morphology and SAED analysis of TEM confirm existence of La(OH)3 combined with La2O3 (stick-like), Mg(OH)2 (needle-like) and MgO (particles), which are marked with 1, 2 and 3 respectively as illustrated in Fig.7. The results are in consistent with the other literature studied on the corrosion products of a La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy [21]. Detailed determinations of TEM are provided in the supplementary information (Fig.S1-S3). In addition, size and amount of La(OH)3 and La2O3 are obvious than that of Mg(OH)2 and MgO, indicating that corrosion of La is significant in the electrochemical environment. Mg(OH)2 and MgO are close to the alloy surface but very loose. It agrees well with the previous works that corrosion products of Mg are gel-type and cannot form a solid protection layer for further corrosion [15-16]. Compared among the three alloys, it is noteworthy that corrosion productions of the La2MgNi9alloy are less than the other alloys (see in Fig.6). Identically, oxygen contents of the electrochemical cycled alloys follow the order that La2MgNi9 1.5Mg0.5Ni7 4MgNi19, indicating that the corroded extent are aggravated (see in Fig.8). It is puzzled that the result is inconsistent with the electrochemical performances that La2MgNi9 possesses poor cycling stability. It also disagrees with the consideration that high Mg content is harmful to the corrosion resistance in La-Mg-Ni based alloys [22-24]. In order to comprehend this fact further, the intrinsic anti-corrosion resistance of the three alloys was investigated next. 3.3 The intrinsic anti-corrosion properties To avoid impacts of pulverization on the corrosion behaviors, the alloy particles with the same diameter (around 40 ÃŽÂ ¼m) were immersed in KOH solution at 60  °C for 15 d. Then the morphology, phase structure and oxygen content were measured for characterization of the intrinsic corrosion behaviors. SEM micrographs and EDS analysis of the alloy particles illustrate that severe corrosion occurred after immersion, the typical results are shown in Fig.9 (only La2MgNi9 alloy particles are given here). Compared to the electrochemical cycled alloys, the stick-like products which have been confirmed as composite of La(OH)3 and La2O3, are remarkable in the immersed samples which is due to aggravated corrosion at higher temperature. XRD profiles identify that the corrosion products are mainly La(OH)3, but La2O3 cannot be detected in the immersed alloys, as shown in Fig.10. Coincidently, SAED by TEM found that the stick-shaped phase is single-phase La(OH)3, as shown in Fig.11. The result suggests that La2O3 transforms to La(OH)3 during evolution of the corrosion process. Besides, Mg(OH)2 and MgO are also found existing in the immersed samples, and their morphologies are same with that in the electrochemical cycled alloys. However, Mg(OH)2can only be detected in La2MgNi9 from the identifications of XRD, indicating that corrosion of Mg is violent in La2MgNi9. Fig.12 is the oxygen contents of the immersed alloys, from which severity of corrosion of the three alloys are La2MgNi9 > La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 > La4MgNi19. To provide detailed information of the relationship between the corrosion behaviors and phase constitution, immersion test applied on the massive samples has also been studied (the condition is same with that of the powder samples). Fig.13 shows the SEM-BSE micrographs of the immersed samples (only La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy are present here). Obviously, the corroded extent is inhomogeneous which is considered to be caused by differences of the anti-corrosion capabilities of the various phases. EDS analysis on two regions with diverse corrosion grades (as marked with 1 and 2 in Fig.13) shows no Mg but less O existing in region 1. Whereas, more Mg and O are detected in region 2 with severe corroded extent than region 1. Likewise, EDS-mapping indicates that the region possessing more Mg presents richer O, as shown in Fig.14. Similar result is more evident in the as-cast alloys, which is attributed to the inhomogeneous chemical composition and microstructure of the as-cast alloy, details can b e seen in the supplementary (Fig. S4 and S5). The aforementioned results demonstrate that the Mg-rich phases are easy to be corroded in the alkaline solution. It has been well demonstrated that Mg solubility in La-Mg-Ni alloys follows the order that (La,Mg)Ni2> (La,Mg)Ni3 > (La,Mg)2Ni7 > (La,Mg)5Ni19 > LaNi5 [25]. Thus the intrinsic anti-corrosion resistances of various phases in the La-Mg-Ni system are considered to be according with the inverse trend. This result is in agreement with several works where AB2and AB3 type La-Mg-Ni alloys have suffered serious corrosion after electrochemical experiments [8, 23-24]. The tendency is also exactly identical with that the anti-corrosion resistance is inversely proportional to the abundance of the Mg-rich phases. La2MgNi9 presents worse anti-corrosion capability because contents of the Mg-rich (La,Mg)Ni2and(La,Mg)Ni3 arehigher thanthe other two alloys. However, trend of the intrinsic anti-corrosion resistance is opposite to the corrosion extent of the three alloys after electrochemical cyclings. Concern to the fact that corrosion extent of the electrode alloys is also closely related to severity of pulverization during the electrochemical charge/discharge process, the pulverization properties of the alloys are carefully characterized then. 3.4 The intrinsic anti-pulverization properties In order to avoid influence of the additives in the electrochemical test on characterization of the intrinsic pulverization behaviors, the alloys are gaseous hydrogenated and dehydrogenated for 30 cycles. Morphology observation indicates that remarkable pulverization has occurred where decrease of the particle size and emergence of cracks can be seen clearly in the cycled alloys, as shown in Fig.15 (only La2MgNi9 alloy are present here). Then the particles sizes before (Sb) and after (Sa) cycling are measured and the size retention is calculated by Sb/Sa. It (Fig.16) shows that severity of pulverization for the three alloys are La2MgNi9 1.5Mg0.5Ni7 4MgNi19, which is just contrary to the tendency of the corrosion extent after the immersion experiment. Combined with the results of the intrinsic anti-corrosion and pulverization characterization, we can conclude that the weaker corrosion extent of La2MgNi9 in the electrochemical test is attributed to its better intrinsic anti-pulverization capability though the intrinsic anti-corrosion of La2MgNi9 is worse. It has been well accepted that pulverization is induced by the cell volume expansion upon hydrogen absorption [11-12]. Thus, large volume change leads to severe pulverization. Unfortunately, exact measurement of the volume expansion in the present work is difficult due to the multi-phase microstructure. Instead, we summarize the volume changes according to other experimental works where microstructures of these alloys are all sing-phase to ensure the accuracy as far as possible. Based on the data as listed in Table 4, there is no regular trend for the volume changes among the various structures in La-Mg-Ni system. And, no special relationship between the reported volume expansion data and the pulverization performances in the present work can be found. Besides, pulverization is believed to depend on the mechanical properties of the alloys [11-12]. Alloys with the more ductile character are more resistant to pulverization than the brittle materials. Usually, hydrogen storage alloys ar e hard and brittle, thus measuring ductility directly is difficult. Alternatively, Vickers hardness has been used to evaluate the preference of pulverization for the hydrogen storage alloys. And, previous works have found an almost inverse relationship between Vickers hardness and the pulverization rate [11-12, 30], suggesting the availability of Vickers hardness measurement on characterization of the anti-pulverization ability. Fig.17 gives indentations of the various phases in La2MgNi9 and La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 alloy. Evolution of Vickers hardness can be seen in Fig.18. It presents a linear relation between the Vickers hardness and B-side stoichiometry of the structures, which also agrees well with the pulverization behaviors of the alloys. Obviously, the mechanical property is an important factor affecting the anti-pulverization ability in the La-Mg-Ni phases. It is found that hardness differences of the AB3, A2B7 and A5B19 type phase are small. Under low loading of the hardness test, micro-cracks can hardly be observed in all the above three phases. Since the test force increase, micro-cracks can be seen in all these phases, but there is no obvious difference between them. Differently, LaNi5 is the hard phase, but hardness of (La,Mg)Ni2 is far more lower than the other phases. To comprehend more understanding on the crack formation of various phases, a massive sample with a polished surface was partial charged by electrochemical method, and the morphology and distribution of crack was observed. To highlight character of the hard and soft phase, the as-cast La2MgNi9 alloy was selected for the high abundance of LaNi5 and (La,Mg)Ni2. Microstructure characteristics of the as-cast La2MgNi9 alloy are given in the supplementary (Fig.S6-S7). As shown in Fig.19, quite a number of cracks can be observed in the sample which is only charged for 10 min. Most of the cracks exist in LaNi5 with the darkest contrast in the BSE image. One reason is that LaNi5 is the catalytic phase that primarily charged in the La-Mg-Ni system [31-32]. More importantly, it also ascribes to the brittle character of LaNi5 which agrees well with the above result that the hard phase is easy to crack formation. It is noteworthy that cracks are often stopped in front of (La,Mg)Ni2. Obviously, the soft phase is more resistant to crack formation and able to prevent the crack spreading. Similar result has been reported in other literatures where ductile secondary phases are believed to be beneficial to the cycling stability [33]. According to the above results, we can conclude that La4MgNi19 alloy is easy to pulverization as the high abundance of the hard phases LaNi5 and (La,Mg)5Ni19. As to La2MgNi9, little LaNi5 but existence of the soft (La,Mg)Ni2 and (La,Mg)Ni3 make it more resistant to crack emergence. These findings enlighten a way to improve the anti-pulverization ability by introduction appropriate abundance and distribution of soft secondary phases. 4 Conclusions In the present study, corrosion and pulverization behaviors of three typical La-Mg-Ni alloys: La2MgNi9, La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 and La4MgNi19 have been systematically investigated. All the alloys present multi-phase microstructure with (La,Mg)Ni3, (La,Mg)2Ni7and (La,Mg)5Ni19 as the main phase respectively. La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 possesses better electrochemical properties among the three alloys. It is found that pulverization and corrosion with the main product La(OH)3, combined with La2O3, Mg(OH)2 and MgO, have occurred after the electrochemical cycling. The overall corrosion extent of the electrochemical cycled alloys follow the order that La2MgNi9 1.5Mg0.5Ni7 4MgNi19. Immersion test demonstrate that the Mg-rich phases are easy to be corroded in the alkaline solution. The intrinsic anti-corrosion resistance are found to be La2MgNi9 1.5Mg0.5Ni7 4MgNi19, which is inversely proportional to the abundance of the Mg-rich phases. However, the intrinsic anti-pulverization ability just presents an inverse tre nd that La2MgNi9 > La1.5Mg0.5Ni7 > La4MgNi19. It is found that the mechanical property is an important factor affecting the anti-pulverization ability. Vickers hardness elevates with increase of the B-side stoichiometry of the various phases, which agrees well with the pulverization behaviors of the alloys. Furthermore, LaNi5 with the highest hardness is found to be easy to crack formation, but the soft (La,Mg)Ni2 is more resistant to crack formation and able to prevent the crack spreading. The weaker corrosion extent of La2MgNi9 in the electrochemical test is attributed to its better intrinsic anti-pulverization capability though the intrinsic anti-corrosion of La2MgNi9 is worse. Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to the Natural Science Foundation of China (NO. 51371094) and Natural Science Foundation Application of Inner Mongolia (NO.2014MS0526) for financial support. References [1]J Chen, N Kuriyama, H T Takeshita, H Tanaka, T Sakai, M Haruta. Hydrogen storage alloys with PuNi3-type structure as metal hydride electrodes. Electrochemical and Solid State Letters, 2000, 3: 249-252. [2]T Kohno, H Yoshida, F Kawashima, T Inaba, I Sakai, M Yamamoto, M Kanda. Hydrogen storage properties of new ternary system alloys: La2MgNi9, La5Mg2Ni23, La3MgNi14. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2000, 311: L5-L7. [3]S Yasuoka, Y Magari, T Murata, T Tadayoshi, J Ishida, H Nakamura, T Nohma, K Masaru. Development of high-capacity nickel-metal hydride batteries using superlattice hydrogen-absorbing alloys. Journal of Power Sources, 2006, 156: 662-666. [4]Y F Liu, Y H Cao, L Huang, M X Gao, H G Pan. Rare earth-Mg-Ni-based hydrogen storage alloys as negative electrode materials for Ni/MH batteries. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2011,509: 675-686. [5]J J Liu, S M Han, Y Li, L Zhang, Y M Zhao, S Q Yang, B Z Liu. Phase structure and electrochemical properties of La-Mg-Ni-based hydrogen storage alloys with superlattice structure. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2016, 41: 20261-20275. [6]J Guo, D Huang, G X Li, S Y Ma, W L Wei. Effect of La/Mg on the hydrogen storage capacities and electrochemical performances of La-Mg-Ni alloys. Materials Science and Engineering B, 2006, 131: 169-172. [7]B Liao, Y Q Lei, G L Lu, L X Chen, H G Pan, Q D Wang. The electrochemical properties of LaxMg2-xNi9 (x=1.0-2.0) hydrogen storage alloys. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2003, 356-357: 746-749. [8]T Yang, T T Zhai, Z M Yuan, W G Bu, S Xu, Y H Zhang. Hydrogen storage properties of LaMgNi3.6M0.4 (M=Ni, Co, Mn, Cu, Al) alloys. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2014, 617: 29-33. [9]A Fà ©rey, F Cuevas, M Latroche, B Knosp, P Bernar. Elaboration and characterization of magnesium-substituted La5Ni19 hydride forming alloys as active materials for negative electrode in Ni-MH battery. Electrochimica Acta, 2009: 54: 1710-1714. [10]Z Y Liu, X L Yan, N Wang, Y J Chai, D L Hou. Cyclic stability and high rate discharge performance of (La,Mg)5Ni19 multiphase alloy[J]. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2011, 36: 4370-4374. [11]T Sakai, K Oguro, H Miyamura, N Kuriyama, A Kato, H Ishikawa. Some factors affectin the cyble lives of LaNi5-based alloy electrodes of hydrogen batteries. Journal of Less-Common Metals, 1990, 161: 193-202. [12]D Chartouni, F Meli, A Zà ¼ttel, K Gross, L Schlapbach. The influence of cobalt on the electrochemical cycling stability of LaNi5-based hydride forming alloys. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 1996, 241: 160-166. [13]B Liao, Y Q Lei, L X Chen, G L Lu, H G Pan, Q D Wang. Effect of the La/Mg ratio on the structure and electrochemical properties of LaxMg3à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢xNi9 (x=1.6-2.2) hydrogen storage electrode alloys for nickel-metal hydride batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 2004, 129: 358-367. [14]Y F Liu, H G Pan, Y J Yue, X F Wu, N Chen, Y Q Lei. Cycling durability and degradation behavior of La-Mg-Ni-Co-type metal hydride electrodes. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2005, 395: 291-299. [15]X Z Sun, H G Pan, M X Gao, R Li, Y Lin, S Ma. Cycling stability of La-Mg-Ni-Co type hydride electrode with Al. Transaction of Nonferrous Metal Society of China, 2006, 16: 8-12. [16]P Zhang, Y N Liu, J W Zhu, X D Wei, G Yu. Effect of Al and W substitution for Ni on the microstructure and electrochemical properties of La1.3CaMg0.7Ni9-x(Al0.5W0.5)x hydrogen storage alloys. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2007, 32: 2488-2493. [17]Y H Zhang, D L Zhao, B W Li, H P Ren, X P Dong, X L Wang. Cycle stability of La0.7Mg0.3Ni2.55-xCo0.45Cux(x=0-0.4) electrode alloys. Transaction of Nonferrous Metal Society of China, 2007, 17: 816-822. [18]Y M Li, H W Zhang, Y H Zhang, H P Ren. Changes of the crystal struc

The Haitian Revolution Essay -- Toussaint LOuverture

The cause and effects of the Haitian Revolution have played, and continue to play, a major role in the history of the Caribbean. During the time of this rebellion, slavery was a large institution throughout the Caribbean. The success of the sugar and other plantations was based on the large slave labor forces. Without these forces, Saint Domingue, the island with the largest sugar production, and the rest of the Caribbean, would face the threat of losing a profitable industry. The Haitian Revolution did not just start and end in one day. Instead, the entire revolution took place over a very event filled thirteen years. The start of the revolution was influenced by many other incidents. Including slave revolts throughout Saint Domingue beginning in the 1790s, and other world affairs such as the French Revolution in 1789, the passing of United Sates Bill of Rights in 1791, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1794. Of the three, The Rights of Man probably was probably the one affair that truly angered the people of Saint Domingue the most. In France, this law was supposed to provide people with the rights of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Therefore, the people of Saint Domingue felt that because they were a French colony that they should be entitled to the same rights as the citizens of France. Unfortunately, the French government did not feel the same, and this angered the inhabitants of Saint Domingue. But the slaves of Saint Domingue "did not need to hear the revolutionary slogans of ?liberty, equality, and fraternity? or ?the rights of man ? to plot their freedom. Slave revolts were endemic in every slave society, and the quest for freedom was never far from the minds of many great slaves" (Knight 201). .. ... were other people who were also essential in the successful outcome of this rebellion. This Revolution sparked a new hope in the eyes of slaves across the world. It marked only the beginning of the end to a treacherous institution. For the state newly renamed Haiti, the birth of the first republic in the world led by persons of African descent had emerged. Bibliography Knight, Franklin. The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. Steward, T.G. The Haitian Revolution 1791 to 1804. New York: Russell & Russell, 1914. Bellegrade-Smith, Patrick. Haiti: The Breached Citadel. San Francisco: Westview Press, 1990 Ott, Thomas. The Haitian Revolution 1789-1804, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press, 1973. Parkinson, Wenda. ?This Gilded African?: Toussaint L?Ouverture. New York: Quartet Books, 1978.

Disarmament of Paramilitary Groups in the Former Yugoslavia :: Political Science

Disarmament of Paramilitary Groups in the Former Yugoslavia The Committee on Disarmament and International Security has taken upon the task of disarming paramilitary groups in Yugoslavia. It is important that we examine states' policies toward disarmament and prevention of the proliferation of light weapons. While states generally support active and forceful disarmament of paramilitary groups, it is important to note that some nations have a stronger commitment to the containment of the small arms. Two separate views have emerged regarding the cause of the war in Yugoslavia, each of them drawing their conclusions from a different set of historical facts. One interpretation claims that the war is the result of an act of Serbian aggression instigated by an nationalistic leader, Slobodan Milosevic. The other side holds that his is a civil war based on the revival of ancient ethnic conflicts in the region that erupted after the fall of communism, States in the international community have aligned according to their interpretation of the history of the region. Argentina does not have a major role on this topic, but has strong trade ties with the United States and will side with them on the issue. The United States adopts a different interpretation on the issue than the rest of the world. Most of Europe, except Great Britain, was extremely critical of the actions the United States took in the bombing in Yugoslavia. The leaders believed that the campaign would only make a bad situation worse. Russian government criticized the Clinton Administration for it's actions. China also disagreed with the United States, saying they had no right to intervene in the international affairs of Yugoslavia, regardless of the actions taken by Milosevic. Argentina will side with the United States unless they propose an idea to make all the countries pay for an active and forceful disarmament of paramilitary groups.

Mannerism

Manners in Today's Society Good manners have shifted over the past generations from â€Å"caring for others† to â€Å"pleasing ourselves. † With pleasing ourselves comes a loss of respect for one another and its is a growing problem. People no longer take time to interact with one another due to our fast paced high tech lives. We are not the courteous and thoughtful people we used to be. This research paper will explain how our manners have changed and why. In today's society email, IM and text messaging is our main source of communication.This technology is slowly is affecting the way we interact with one another decreasing the amount of time in face-to-face conversation. People text while driving, then flip you off when you beep at them for not paying attention. Then you have the people who talk extra loud on their cell phone in public and they get mad at you when Join into their conversation. If they weren't talking so loud you wouldn't have Joined in. Nowadays a sim ple courtesy smile or hello might go unnoticed because of our inability to look away from the cell phone, lap top or ‘pod.Making the person who gave the smile or hello feel you were being rude, when you were Just preoccupied. Most of us today are way too concerned with pleasing ourselves to lend a helping hand. Holding a door open for someone used to be a natural gesture, now it's can be considered a tedious task. People are more worried about how helping someone will affect their own life, will it put them a little behind schedule or somehow make them late for a dinner? What happened to common courtesy and the reward of Just being able to make someone day?Television also has a big influence on our manners can because the media gives praise to bad behavior and screw ups. Making adults, teens and children think acting rude and obnoxious will earn them popularity amongst friends and peers. When all it really does is make them look and sound foolish. Family talk at the dinner tab le is being replaced with television. Other rude behavior done at the dinner table is testing or talking on the phone, this is a habit children and teens everywhere are doing and it drives most parent's crazy. There are many theories about how we as a society let our manners get to this point.Some experts think parent's are no longer teaching their children common routers causing them to think it is natural to not say please or thank you. Others think technology is to blame. The truth of the matter is bad mannerism are beginning to have an impact on peoples life in a big way†¦ In 2002 a survey conducted by Public agenda show some shocking statistics about manners. In it, 88 percent of respondents said they often or sometimes came across people who were rude or disrespectful, and 79 percent of them felt that disrespect and lack of courtesy were major problems.Furthermore, 62 percent said they were bothered a great deal by engine rudeness in public. Those are large numbers, which clearly shows that more than half of Americans are not pleased with the current situation. Another statistic shows 81 percent of the united states admits to testing while driving while another study shows the average child will watch 8,000 murders on TV before finishing elementary school. By age eighteen, the average American has seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 40,000 murders. At a meeting in Nashville, TN last July, Dry.John Nelson of the American Medical Association (an endorser of National TV-Turnoff Week) said that if 2,888 out of 3,000 studies show that TV violence is a casual factor in real-life mayhem, â€Å"it's a public health problem. † The American Psychiatric Association addressed this problem in its endorsement of National TV-Turnoff Week, stating, â€Å"We have had a long-standing concern with the impact of television on behavior, especially among children. † Having better manners will not only make you standout in a crowd, but it will mak e the person receiving your thoughtful gesture feel uplifted. Mannerism Manners in Today's Society Good manners have shifted over the past generations from â€Å"caring for others† to â€Å"pleasing ourselves. † With pleasing ourselves comes a loss of respect for one another and its is a growing problem. People no longer take time to interact with one another due to our fast paced high tech lives. We are not the courteous and thoughtful people we used to be. This research paper will explain how our manners have changed and why. In today's society email, IM and text messaging is our main source of communication.This technology is slowly is affecting the way we interact with one another decreasing the amount of time in face-to-face conversation. People text while driving, then flip you off when you beep at them for not paying attention. Then you have the people who talk extra loud on their cell phone in public and they get mad at you when Join into their conversation. If they weren't talking so loud you wouldn't have Joined in. Nowadays a sim ple courtesy smile or hello might go unnoticed because of our inability to look away from the cell phone, lap top or ‘pod.Making the person who gave the smile or hello feel you were being rude, when you were Just preoccupied. Most of us today are way too concerned with pleasing ourselves to lend a helping hand. Holding a door open for someone used to be a natural gesture, now it's can be considered a tedious task. People are more worried about how helping someone will affect their own life, will it put them a little behind schedule or somehow make them late for a dinner? What happened to common courtesy and the reward of Just being able to make someone day?Television also has a big influence on our manners can because the media gives praise to bad behavior and screw ups. Making adults, teens and children think acting rude and obnoxious will earn them popularity amongst friends and peers. When all it really does is make them look and sound foolish. Family talk at the dinner tab le is being replaced with television. Other rude behavior done at the dinner table is testing or talking on the phone, this is a habit children and teens everywhere are doing and it drives most parent's crazy. There are many theories about how we as a society let our manners get to this point.Some experts think parent's are no longer teaching their children common routers causing them to think it is natural to not say please or thank you. Others think technology is to blame. The truth of the matter is bad mannerism are beginning to have an impact on peoples life in a big way†¦ In 2002 a survey conducted by Public agenda show some shocking statistics about manners. In it, 88 percent of respondents said they often or sometimes came across people who were rude or disrespectful, and 79 percent of them felt that disrespect and lack of courtesy were major problems.Furthermore, 62 percent said they were bothered a great deal by engine rudeness in public. Those are large numbers, which clearly shows that more than half of Americans are not pleased with the current situation. Another statistic shows 81 percent of the united states admits to testing while driving while another study shows the average child will watch 8,000 murders on TV before finishing elementary school. By age eighteen, the average American has seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 40,000 murders. At a meeting in Nashville, TN last July, Dry.John Nelson of the American Medical Association (an endorser of National TV-Turnoff Week) said that if 2,888 out of 3,000 studies show that TV violence is a casual factor in real-life mayhem, â€Å"it's a public health problem. † The American Psychiatric Association addressed this problem in its endorsement of National TV-Turnoff Week, stating, â€Å"We have had a long-standing concern with the impact of television on behavior, especially among children. † Having better manners will not only make you standout in a crowd, but it will mak e the person receiving your thoughtful gesture feel uplifted. Mannerism Manners in Today's Society Good manners have shifted over the past generations from â€Å"caring for others† to â€Å"pleasing ourselves. † With pleasing ourselves comes a loss of respect for one another and its is a growing problem. People no longer take time to interact with one another due to our fast paced high tech lives. We are not the courteous and thoughtful people we used to be. This research paper will explain how our manners have changed and why. In today's society email, IM and text messaging is our main source of communication.This technology is slowly is affecting the way we interact with one another decreasing the amount of time in face-to-face conversation. People text while driving, then flip you off when you beep at them for not paying attention. Then you have the people who talk extra loud on their cell phone in public and they get mad at you when Join into their conversation. If they weren't talking so loud you wouldn't have Joined in. Nowadays a sim ple courtesy smile or hello might go unnoticed because of our inability to look away from the cell phone, lap top or ‘pod.Making the person who gave the smile or hello feel you were being rude, when you were Just preoccupied. Most of us today are way too concerned with pleasing ourselves to lend a helping hand. Holding a door open for someone used to be a natural gesture, now it's can be considered a tedious task. People are more worried about how helping someone will affect their own life, will it put them a little behind schedule or somehow make them late for a dinner? What happened to common courtesy and the reward of Just being able to make someone day?Television also has a big influence on our manners can because the media gives praise to bad behavior and screw ups. Making adults, teens and children think acting rude and obnoxious will earn them popularity amongst friends and peers. When all it really does is make them look and sound foolish. Family talk at the dinner tab le is being replaced with television. Other rude behavior done at the dinner table is testing or talking on the phone, this is a habit children and teens everywhere are doing and it drives most parent's crazy. There are many theories about how we as a society let our manners get to this point.Some experts think parent's are no longer teaching their children common routers causing them to think it is natural to not say please or thank you. Others think technology is to blame. The truth of the matter is bad mannerism are beginning to have an impact on peoples life in a big way†¦ In 2002 a survey conducted by Public agenda show some shocking statistics about manners. In it, 88 percent of respondents said they often or sometimes came across people who were rude or disrespectful, and 79 percent of them felt that disrespect and lack of courtesy were major problems.Furthermore, 62 percent said they were bothered a great deal by engine rudeness in public. Those are large numbers, which clearly shows that more than half of Americans are not pleased with the current situation. Another statistic shows 81 percent of the united states admits to testing while driving while another study shows the average child will watch 8,000 murders on TV before finishing elementary school. By age eighteen, the average American has seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 40,000 murders. At a meeting in Nashville, TN last July, Dry.John Nelson of the American Medical Association (an endorser of National TV-Turnoff Week) said that if 2,888 out of 3,000 studies show that TV violence is a casual factor in real-life mayhem, â€Å"it's a public health problem. † The American Psychiatric Association addressed this problem in its endorsement of National TV-Turnoff Week, stating, â€Å"We have had a long-standing concern with the impact of television on behavior, especially among children. † Having better manners will not only make you standout in a crowd, but it will mak e the person receiving your thoughtful gesture feel uplifted.