LOVE RELATIONSHIPS:

What is it about the people to whom we are most attracted that gives them the greatest potential to satisfy our deepest longings, while at the same time, the greatest likelihood to frustrate us? This is because of an unconscious image of the opposite sex which we carry deep within our mind. This image began to develop in infancy, and became fairly complete in later childhood.

That image, that mental picture, that map programmed in our unconscious mind affects both the type of person we select as a primary love partner in adult life and how we relate to them. That image is actually a synthesis of the positive and negative traits of our primary caregivers, relating to how well our early needs were met. As children, we did our best to get our caregivers to meet our needs. In most cases, our caregivers did the best they knew how to meet our needs. However, no matter how adequate our caregivers were, they could not and did not meet all our needs all the time, and that left us frustrated some of the time. Each frustration, each pain, left an imprint. Each imprint became part of a picture in that deep part of our unconscious mind. So the picture or image of the opposite sex which we formed was a combination of our caregivers' positive and negative characteristics.

When we choose a partner for a romantic relationship, we pick someone who matches the image in our unconscious. For practical purposes, our current partner is a psychological replacement of our childhood caregivers. The unfinished business, the unmet needs and emotional wounds with the early caregivers became a compelling agenda with our adult partner. The early childhood pain and frustration is unconsciously recreated with an adult partner possessing the same or similar negative traits as our early caregivers. The purpose of this unconscious recreation is expressly to bring the impasse to a resolution, to work through and heal the early pain.

Unfortunately, the absence of the knowledge and skills necessary to do this causes an increase in pain and frustration rather than its resolution. Thus new information, awareness, and new decisions are necessary as a springboard to develop new skills and strategies for transforming our relationships into more realistic love. Without these skills, people often go through a cycle of finding a new partner, enjoying the excitement, attraction, attachment, hope, illusion and ecstasy of this romantic love phase, only to hit the wall of disappointment and leave their partner to start over again and again. This cycle often continues to be repeated until help is sought.

The hopeful part of this whole process is that with the right awareness and skills, the individuals that we are unconsciously attracted to can be instrumental in helping to heal our old wounds. And for those who begin the healing process alone, comfort can be found in the fact that as we heal our early emotional wounds and resolve our old issues, the type of person we need in our life, the type we are attracted to, improves along with us.


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Heavy-metal ion sensors using chitosan-capped gold nanoparticles

We report a novel strategy for using gold nanoparticles capped with chitosan for sensing ions of heavy metals. Acidic anions (glutamate ions in our case) are expected to cap the nanoparticle surfaces similar to conventional methods of stabilization of gold nanoparticles by citrate ions. The polycationic nature of chitosan enables attachment of the polymer to the negatively charged gold nanoparticle surfaces through electrostatic interactions. Use of chitosan serves dual purpose of providing sufficient steric hindrance ensuring stability of the colloid and also to functionalize the nanoparticles for use as sensors. The well-documented chelating properties of chitosan and the sensitivity of the optical properties of gold nanoparticles to agglomeration have been employed to detect low concentrations of heavy metals ions (Zn2+ and Cu 2+) in water. A comparison of the optical absorption spectra of the colloidal suspension before and after exposure to metal ions is a good indicator of the concentration of the heavy metal ions. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nanocomposites - A new material design concept

Ceramic-based nanocomposites were reviewed, emphasizing the newly developed concept of material design for ceramics. First, characteristics of the nanocomposites observed by previous researchers were summarized as, significant or moderate improvement in strength, drastic change of the fracture mode from intergranular fracture of monolithic ceramics to transgranular fracture of nanocomposites, moderate enhancement of fracture toughness, improvement of other mechanical properties, and observations of dislocations. Second, several mechanisms proposed previously to explain these characteristics were reviewed. Third, our strengthening and toughening mechanisms of nanocomposites on the basis of dislocation activities were explained. In nanocomposites, the highly localized residual stresses in the matrix grains are generated by the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients between the matrix and the dispersed particles, and the dislocations are yielded during the cooling process after sintering. These dislocations then release the tensile residual stresses intrinsically existing in the matrix grains of sintered ceramics and improve the strength of the materials. In addition, as these dislocations cannot move at room temperature the sessile dislocations in the matrix operate as nano-crack nuclei in a frontal process zone (FPZ) ahead of the crack tip when the tip of a propagating crack approaches this area. Therefore, the size of the FPZ is expanded and as a result the fracture toughness is improved. Finally, estimation of the critical FPZ size was explained in order to clarify its toughening mechanism in nanocomposites. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ORALTEST

Reading books has many benefits both mentally and morally. Firstly, your mind will be active and engaged into old age, and reading can help you forget the problems in your life, and get you captivated by the adventures of someone else. Reading from child also helps set a good, mentally engaging example for the new generation. And reading has benefits that can help with everyday activities. With more reading comes better reading skills, thus allowing easier comprehension of, oh, say, instructions on how to build something or warnings on chemicals. Reading is a fun and great way to leave the stresses of your life and just unwind.

plot of robinson crusoe

R obinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of York in the seventeenth century, the youngest son of a merchant of German origin. Encouraged by his father to study law, Crusoe expresses his wish to go to sea instead. His family is against Crusoe going out to sea, and his father explains that it is better to seek a modest, secure life for oneself. Initially, Robinson is committed to obeying his father, but he eventually succumbs to temptation and embarks on a ship bound for London with a friend. When a storm causes the near deaths of Crusoe and his friend, the friend is dissuaded from sea travel, but Crusoe still goes on to set himself up as merchant on a ship leaving London. This trip is financially successful, and Crusoe plans another, leaving his early profits in the care of a friendly widow. The second voyage does not prove as fortunate: the ship is seized by Moorish pirates, and Crusoe is enslaved to a potentate in the North African town of Sallee. While on a fishing expedition, he and a slave boy break free and sail down the African coast. A kindly Portuguese captain picks them up, buys the slave boy from Crusoe, and takes Crusoe to Brazil. In Brazil, Crusoe establishes himself as a plantation owner and soon becomes successful. Eager for slave labor and its economic advantages, he embarks on a slave-gathering expedition to West Africa but ends up shipwrecked off of the coast of Trinidad.
Crusoe soon learns he is the sole survivor of the expedition and seeks shelter and food for himself. He returns to the wreck’s remains twelve times to salvage guns, powder, food, and other items. Onshore, he finds goats he can graze for meat and builds himself a shelter. He erects a cross that he inscribes with the date of his arrival, September 1, 1659, and makes a notch every day in order never to lose track of time. He also keeps a journal of his household activities, noting his attempts to make candles, his lucky discovery of sprouting grain, and his construction of a cellar, among other events. In June 1660, he falls ill and hallucinates that an angel visits, warning him to repent. Drinking tobacco-steeped rum, Crusoe experiences a religious illumination and realizes that God has delivered him from his earlier sins. After recovering, Crusoe makes a survey of the area and discovers he is on an island. He finds a pleasant valley abounding in grapes, where he builds a shady retreat. Crusoe begins to feel more optimistic about being on the island, describing himself as its “king.” He trains a pet parrot, takes a goat as a pet, and develops skills in basket weaving, bread making, and pottery. He cuts down an enormous cedar tree and builds a huge canoe from its trunk, but he discovers that he cannot move it to the sea. After building a smaller boat, he rows around the island but nearly perishes when swept away by a powerful current. Reaching shore, he hears his parrot calling his name and is thankful for being saved once again. He spends several years in peace.
One day Crusoe is shocked to discover a man’s footprint on the beach. He first assumes the footprint is the devil’s, then decides it must belong to one of the cannibals said to live in the region. Terrified, he arms himself and remains on the lookout for cannibals. He also builds an underground cellar in which to herd his goats at night and devises a way to cook underground. One evening he hears gunshots, and the next day he is able to see a ship wrecked on his coast. It is empty when he arrives on the scene to investigate. Crusoe once again thanks Providence for having been saved. Soon afterward, Crusoe discovers that the shore has been strewn with human carnage, apparently the remains of a cannibal feast. He is alarmed and continues to be vigilant. Later Crusoe catches sight of thirty cannibals heading for shore with their victims. One of the victims is killed. Another one, waiting to be slaughtered, suddenly breaks free and runs toward Crusoe’s dwelling. Crusoe protects him, killing one of the pursuers and injuring the other, whom the victim finally kills. Well-armed, Crusoe defeats most of the cannibals onshore. The victim vows total submission to Crusoe in gratitude for his liberation. Crusoe names him Friday, to commemorate the day on which his life was saved, and takes him as his servant.
Finding Friday cheerful and intelligent, Crusoe teaches him some English words and some elementary Christian concepts. Friday, in turn, explains that the cannibals are divided into distinct nations and that they only eat their enemies. Friday also informs Crusoe that the cannibals saved the men from the shipwreck Crusoe witnessed earlier, and that those men, Spaniards, are living nearby. Friday expresses a longing to return to his people, and Crusoe is upset at the prospect of losing Friday. Crusoe then entertains the idea of making contact with the Spaniards, and Friday admits that he would rather die than lose Crusoe. The two build a boat to visit the cannibals’ land together. Before they have a chance to leave, they are surprised by the arrival of twenty-one cannibals in canoes. The cannibals are holding three victims, one of whom is in European dress. Friday and Crusoe kill most of the cannibals and release the European, a Spaniard. Friday is overjoyed to discover that another of the rescued victims is his father. The four men return to Crusoe’s dwelling for food and rest. Crusoe prepares to welcome them into his community permanently. He sends Friday’s father and the Spaniard out in a canoe to explore the nearby land.
Eight days later, the sight of an approaching English ship alarms Friday. Crusoe is suspicious. Friday and Crusoe watch as eleven men take three captives onshore in a boat. Nine of the men explore the land, leaving two to guard the captives. Friday and Crusoe overpower these men and release the captives, one of whom is the captain of the ship, which has been taken in a mutiny. Shouting to the remaining mutineers from different points, Friday and Crusoe confuse and tire the men by making them run from place to place. Eventually they confront the mutineers, telling them that all may escape with their lives except the ringleader. The men surrender. Crusoe and the captain pretend that the island is an imperial territory and that the governor has spared their lives in order to send them all to England to face justice. Keeping five men as hostages, Crusoe sends the other men out to seize the ship. When the ship is brought in, Crusoe nearly faints.
On December 19, 1686, Crusoe boards the ship to return to England. There, he finds his family is deceased except for two sisters. His widow friend has kept Crusoe’s money safe, and after traveling to Lisbon, Crusoe learns from the Portuguese captain that his plantations in Brazil have been highly profitable. He arranges to sell his Brazilian lands. Wary of sea travel, Crusoe attempts to return to England by land but is threatened by bad weather and wild animals in northern Spain. Finally arriving back in England, Crusoe receives word that the sale of his plantations has been completed and that he has made a considerable fortune. After donating a portion to the widow and his sisters, Crusoe is restless and considers returning to Brazil, but he is dissuaded by the thought that he would have to become Catholic. He marries, and his wife dies. Crusoe finally departs for the East Indies as a trader in 1694. He revisits his island, finding that the Spaniards are governing it well and that it has become a prosperous colony.