Mr. Road

Old Alfred Road, who is well-known to drivers on the Maine Turn-pike, has reached his seventieth birthday and is ready to retire. Mr. Road has no formal training in finance but has saved his money and invested carefully. Mr. Road owns his home—the mortgage is paid off—and does not want to move. He is a widower, and he wants to bequeath the house and any remaining assets to his daughter. He has accumulated savings of $180,000, conservatively invested. The investments are yielding 9% interest. Mr. Road also has $12,000 in a savings account at 5% interest. He wants to keep the savings account intact for unexpected expenses or emergencies. Mr. Road’s basic living expenses now average about $1,500 per month, and he plans to spend $500 per month on travel and hob-bies. To maintain this planned standard of living, he will have to rely on his investment portfolio. The interest from the portfolio is $16,200 per year (9% of $180,000), or $1,350 per month. Mr. Road will als o receive $750 per month in Social Security payments for the rest of his life. These payments are indexed for inflation. That is, they will be automatically increased in propor-tion to changes in the consumer price index. Mr. Road’s main concern is with inflation. The inflation rate has been below 3% recently, but a 3% rate is unusually low by his-torical standards. His Social Security payments will increase with inflation, but the interest on his investment portfolio will not. What advice do you have for Mr. Road? Can he safely spend all the interest from his investment portfolio? How much could he withdraw at year-end from that portfolio if he wants to keep its real value intact? Suppose Mr. Road will live for 20 more years and is willing to use up all of his investment portfolio over that period. He also wants his monthly spending to increase along with inflation over that period. In other words, he wants his monthly spending to stay the same in real terms. much can he afford to spend per month? Assume that the investment portfolio continues to yield a 9% rate of return and that the inflation rate will be 4% Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 154.

Face Recognition Ability Inherited Separately from IQ Essay

This article supports the modularity hypothesis of the brain where it is expressed that the human brain is like a Swiss knife that is represented as â€Å"a general purpose tool with special-purpose devices† (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010, n. p. ). Such kind of mentality is based on the idea that specialized genes are located in various regions of the brain which function for specific cognitive abilities like face recognition. In attempt to further investigate this issue, the researchers studied the relationship of face recognition to heritable characteristics by utilizing the help of 102 pairs of identical twins and 71 pairs of fraternal twins. The experiment made use of black-and white images of 20 different faces which were shown to each participant on a computer screen each for one minute and this step was followed by the mixing of 10 of the original 20 faces to 20 new faces. Results showed that identical twins, whose genes are 100% common, were more likely to provide matched results of the face experiment (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010). Moreover, 39% of the variance is attributed to genetic effects thereby suggesting that face recognition is a heritable trait. IQ relatedness of face recognition, on the other hand, was investigated by employing the participation of 321 students which revealed that the ability to recognize faces is independent of IQ (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010). The results gathered in this study affirm the hypothesis that some cognitive skills are not correlated with IQ which is the indicator of general intelligence (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2010). Subsequent studies are intended to investigate if other cognitive abilities like language processing, navigation, reading and the likes are related to IQ. Consequently, the significance of these findings is seen on the study of autism and dyslexia because these heritable developmental disorders might also be dictated by specific genes on the human brain. Lastly, the findings presented on this paper are believed to be credible because they are grounded on empirically derived evidence. However, it is suggested that a larger sample size must be used to further confirm the statistical acceptability of the results. Nevertheless, the researchers made substantial and highly qualified efforts on the choice of participants because identical and fraternal twins are really the most appropriate subjects for studies that investigate heritable properties. In general, this study is a timely research endeavor that can lead to a series of promising effects in the fields of neurobiology and developmental psychology. Reference: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2010, January 20). Face recognition ability inherited separately from IQ. Science Daily.

Discussion borad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion borad - Essay Example In the year 2011, approximately 1,000 workers fainted in factories that were owned by South Koreans, Taiwanese, and the Chinese. In spite of mass protests, the situation is quite critical as well as tricky. It is a booming industry in Cambodia that garners revenue of around $5 billion and provides employment opportunities to 600,000 people mostly from lower economic class. The pay is extremely meager with less that $100 per month and this compels many of them to work overtime for extra earnings. Workers from garment factories have been vocal with their complaints regarding their poor working conditions but mostly there have been no positive remedies. Illness is another factor that causes grievance among workers, but any kind of strikes are suppressed by violence from the authorities. For instance, in January this year police fired to control crowds during a strike resulting in the death of five workers. For April 17, workers are again preparing for a strike and this time their demand will be to increase monthly wages from $100 to $160 (Powell). Now the tricky part is where does the solution lie. It is no doubt that Cambodian economy is to a large extent thriving on foreign investments. Since the beginning of global recession in 2008, Cambodia has experienced high economic development in the initial two years all thanks to foreign investments, a flourishing tourism industry and thriving agricultural industry. According to Stephen Higgins, chief executive officer for ANZ Royal Bank in Phnom Penh, â€Å"The Cambodian economy is probably in the best shape it has ever been in† (Corben). Workers are a major factor in any industry, and it is their labour and endurance that provides for the economy of a country. Hence, it is a tragedy that not only in Cambodia, but in many developing countries the situation is almost same. Poor working condition is part and parcel of jobs for the working class in addition to low wages. Such

Turner Syndrome Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Turner Syndrome - Research Paper Example The condition has various symptoms, some of which are physical while the rest are biological (American Psychiatric Association, 2004). Physical symptoms include swollen broad necks, webbed necks, and reduced hair line, hanging ears and swollen eyes among others. Biological symptoms are irregular or no menstrual cycle. The condition could further to certain complications like heart diseases, impaired vision and hearing, diabetes and thyroid complications among others. This discourse is about turner syndrome, explaining its causes, symptoms and diagnosis among other relevant subjects. Causes Turner syndrome arises from absence or abnormalities of the x chromosomes in part or whole of the cells. A normal girl should have two x chromosomes inherited from both the male and female parents (Bondy, 2009). However, one of the x chromosomes may be affected or missing in the sex cells rising to turner syndrome. Abnormalities of the x chromosomes could rise from mosaicism, a condition resulting from inappropriate cell division in the early days or stages of fetal developments (Bondy, 2009). This may cause variations in the cells composition, with some having two x chromosomes while others having only one X chromosome (Bondy, 2009). Furthermore, a cell may have both complete and faulty X chromosome. Monosomy is another factor causing the condition and here the victim lacks one of the X chromosomes, due to complications in the father’s sperms or mother’s eggs (Bondy, 2009). Turner syndrome could also result from Y chromosome material, a condition where a female have cells with one complete X chromosome while other cells have X chromosome and Y chromosome material (Morgan, 2007). Apart from turner chromosome, chromosomal errors could lead to ovarian complications, short body structures and gonadoblastoma among others (Bondy, 2009). Signs and syndrome Turner syndrome has various signs and symptoms and this include swollen limps (hands and feet), low or reduced ha ir line, broad chest, obesity, lack of menstrual period, smaller finger nails, webbed or broadened neck, visual and hearing impairments, smaller hips when compared with the waist, low memory and concentrations, majorly in children and adolescents, difficulties in learning developments, drooping eyelids , smaller or receding lower jaw, upward turned fingernails, delayed growth, sensitivity to noise, broader chest with wide spaced nipples, and social withdrawal among others (Fink & Taylor, 2008). However, it is important to note that different patients or victims exhibit different symptoms depending on their body systems (Fink & Taylor, 2008). The signs and symptoms may change as the patient develops, for instance, older girls and young women may experience poor sexual developments or even inability to conceive, lack of menstrual cycles, even in the absence of pregnancy, difficulty to get along with peers, difficulty in learning spatial and math concepts and abnormal height of even 20 centimeters (Fink & Taylor, 2008). Parents are greatly advised tom take keen monitor of their daughters at early development stages and should any of the signs be noted, prompt diagnosis and care should be initiated (Morgan, T. (2007). Exams and Tests Turner syndrome could be diagnosed through testing the patients’ amniotic fluid (amniocentesis) as a prenatal procedure. The procedure helps deal with the chromosomal abnormalities and the fetal infections

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

Case Study Example This can be attained well through the gathering of information from the various departments, evaluating it and ensuring a consultative decision and communicates in good time through the use the best communication method that is not prone to distortion. Having this in place, the business is good to go and the manager only comes in to monitor internal as well as external factors that threaten the progress of the business and to give a way forward to curb them effectively. As a manager, Bill has all these power to execute to show his effectiveness in managerial skills in his new post. An organization cannot move forward without people working together to achieve the set goals and objectives. High employee turnover can greatly affect businesses and can lead to low productivity levels. Under-motivated employees tend to be unhappy with their job. They always feel overworked, under-appreciated and poorly paid and in turn. These can eventually lead to negative attitude and behavior towards work like those that were witnessed in Sally at her place of work. For the management to tactfully deal with her case, she should be informed of the organization’s mission and target to be achieved in the best way through the use of better communication skills to avoid misconception of the management’s intention. She should be given a brief job description to help her know what is expected of her and what she is accountable of. Sally should get motivated by simply being allowed to contribute and bring new ideas for improvement to the table and to have input in the whol e process. This brings a sense of ownership in the business. She should get enrichment in form of skill-building and training through workshops to let her work independently with less supervision. For Bill to prove performance, he should focus on the workforce productivity that ensures that employees work more efficiently and effectively to have the

Streaming DVDs via NBN project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Streaming DVDs via NBN project - Assignment Example The aim of this report is to present the (DVD streaming service) via the National Broadband Network NBN in the library. It is to be noted that the target audience are individual users such as the library patrons. The project shall further take into consideration the overall project plan, the potential benefits that can be obtained from implementing the plan, the target audience for the new service, the stakeholders and the resource requirements. It shall also consider the impact of new service on current library service. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 2 3 Project Plan 4 Project Initiation 4 Accessing the DVDs Streaming Permission 4 Availing Permission 5 Selection of Name 5 Planning For Interactivity 5 Estimate Labour Cost 5 Look For Employee 6 Planning For Guidelines 6 Adding To Library Pamphlet 6 Advertisement 6 Link to Service Library 6 Send Email for Library Membership 7 Introducing the Service to the Market 7 Potential Benefits 7 Target Audience 9 Stakeholders 9 Anticipate d Resourcing Requirement 10 Impact on Current Library Services 11 Issues/ Areas for Further Exploration 12 Conclusion 13 References 14 Task List 16 Appendix B 17 CIPP Framework 17 Project Plan Project Initiation Preparation of the project plan involves considerable efforts and decision making capabilities so that the project can be completed and executed successfully. The National Broadband Network (NBN) is considered to be one of the Australia’s first speed internet services, which includes three technologies such as optic fibre, satellite and fixed wireless (Media Access Australia, 2011). It has been recognised from the case study that the Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy offered funds so that it can extend the Digital Enterprise and Digital Communities initiatives. After the creation of the National Broadband Network, it will be significant for the service provision agencies to initiate to identify the ways in which they can exploit the increa se bandwidth as well as connectivity that the network is capable of providing. It can be mentioned NBN is linked to the libraries. The project aims at identifying the ways of involving with the NBN in order to improve the services offered to the users. Accessing the DVDs Streaming Permission Through public libraries the members are capable of accessing a variety of services as well as programs. It has been identified that the DVDs are considered as one of the topmost formats for movies and most of the users consider libraries to be the main source for movies. Hence, in light of the altering media landscape there is greater demand for the DVD streaming services by the individual users (Swank, 2012). A wide range of services that the libraries offer can gain advantage from the use of NBN services such as computer as well as internet class, story time along with author events. The main idea of this project is to make use of NBN so that the library services, in particular, DVD service c an be supported (Alemna & Adanu, 2005). Availing Permission It is significant to avail the permission

Reasons for European Economic Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Reasons for European Economic Crisis - Essay Example The essay "Reasons for European Economic Crisis" overviews the reasons for European Economic crisis such as imbalances in international trade, inappropriate and inflexible monetary policy, increasing levels of households, banks, and governments debts, confidence loss in the economic system. The European economic crisis started in 2007 and was preceded by a considerably long duration of low-risk premiums, the growth of real estate bubbles, abundant liquidity, and fast credit growth. The economic misfortunes sequence that began in 2002 created a fiscal dilemma in Europe that included spiraling debt by the governments and banks of a number of European states. Some economists and policy analysts believe that the uncontrolled or unregulated debt resulted to the fiscal quandary that went beyond normal proportions. About 20 European states were in debt as of 2012 and this compounded the problem of European economic crisis because they have closely connected economies and shares a monetary currency. What has been of greater concerns to many analysts is how Europe got into the crisis in the first place. It is believed that focus on social welfare and irresponsibility by some European states evidenced by heavy borrowing and not paying heed to the balance of payment are main facto rs that led to the crisis. This paper will explain in details the reasons for European Economic crisis. Musialkowska and Wroblewski point out that no doubt the European economic crisis was as a result of a combination of various complex factors.

Politics of the Free Soil Party Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Politics of the Free Soil Party - Essay Example Thus, the parties are in a position of changing the voting patterns in the country since they express the sentiments shared by a particular proportion of the country’s population. On the other hand, most of these third parties do not last for a long period of time since their agenda might be adopted or fail to stand the test of time. One such short-lived party is the Free Soil Party active in the 1848 and 1952 presidential elections of the United States.1 William Leggett, George Henry Evans, and Thomas Morris, part of the group known as â€Å"Dissident Democrats,† were instrumental in the party’s formation by contributing certain arguments crucial in shaping the party’s ideologies. This expose elucidates the role each man played in the formation of the party and effectively identifies the man who greatly influenced the formation of the party and the role he played. Since the formation of the Free Soil Party is synonymous with the Dissident Democrats, it is important to understand the origin of this group. Andrew Jackson is one of the greatest presidents in the history of this country. During his era, commonly referred as the Jacksonian era, Americans felt that there were equal economic opportunities to all citizens. However, prior to his 1837 farewell speech, the president expressed his dissatisfaction with the Bank of the United States saying that it was mainly for the rich people in the country and foreign governments instead of focusing on every citizen of the country.2 Towards the end of his career, support for the outgoing president was high and consequently too was support for his handpicked successor illustrating a scenario that Democrats were one united front. However, discontent simmered across a section of Democrats with some questions some policies by Jackson. Nevertheless, the most surprising disquiet was the loud objection of a few Democrats on the party’s position towards slavery.3 The discontent arose from the p arties policies meant to curtail debate on abolitionism effectively robbing the crusaders of antislavery and its expansion of the most fundamental freedom of expression. While a section of the Democratic leadership lauded the mobs attacking abolitionists in their meetings and in newspapers, general disquiet simmered and effectively solidified support to counter the expansion of slavery.4 In effect, the counter movement to expansion of slavery has been crucial to the history of this country since their efforts led to the current American society that accepts and appreciates diversity. Three antislavery Democrats who broke away from their party in the 1930s were crucial to the formation of the Free Party, a splinter party of the Democratic Party. In this regard, these dissidents provided lines of arguments towards which the party would galvanize its ideals and use them to defend its stance. Of all the Jacksonian politicians, William Leggett was the most eloquent in arguing coherently against the centralized authority embodied by the monopolies, the Money Power, and the fanatical reformers.5 In this case, Leggett focused on arguing against concentrated power that was against the concepts that guide natural law and liberty. Thus, Leggett became the champion and hero to the class of producers that was against capitalism. Effectively, he applied this same ideal in his support for abolitionism after undergoing some form of conversion from being a supporter of abolition, to a firm and committed

Political Parties and the Electoral Process Essay - 1

Political Parties and the Electoral Process - Essay Example In considering this topic, it is important to understand the differences between the two major parties, to look at the role that campaigns play in keeping a strong hold on the two-party system, and to explore possible reasons why third-part candidates have never had much success in American Presidential elections. Differences in Ideology Just as family members offer differ amongst themselves in regards to important issues, the two major political parties are no different. While there are some issues that the two surprisingly agree on, there are many ideological differences that have formed through the years, resulting in the huge divide that we see today. Some differences regarding social issues are evident. Democrats, for example, by and large are in opposition to the death penalty, while a substantial majority of Republicans are in support (Newport, 2009). Another social issue that is even more decisive is that of abortion. Democrats overwhelmingly are pro-choice, meaning that they support a women’s right to an abortion. Republicans, on the other hand, are in staunch opposition to abortion and believe that it should be made illegal at the national level. Finally, consider the differences in terms of the scope of government. The Democratic party supports a larger government that provides more government services to the country, while Republicans push for a smaller and more streamlined government that focused on business and private development (Pletka, 2013). Third-Party Candidates, The Electoral Process, and Presidential Campaigns When one is looking at political news in America, it becomes obvious rather quickly that many citizens are unhappy with their political choices. While the two parties offer different choices, many argue that they seem out of touch with the average America. As such, it would stand to reason that a third-party would be possible in the country, yet for decades such a party has tried and failed time after time. The current system is simply stacked against them. Since most financial donor in the country give to one of the two major political parties, they control the campaigns, air time, and debate cycles. It is difficult for a third-party candidate to even wage a serious national campaign. This is largely due to an electoral system that divides the presidential election into separate contests in each of the 50 states. As such, third party candidates cannot even get on the ballot everywhere because they do not have the financial and logical resources to gain support in each of the 50 United States (Schultz, 2009). Because of these and other reasons, such candidates have never really managed to find much traction when waging a national campaign. Conclusion While there is certainly a basis for having a third-party in the United States, conditions simply have not allowed it. Some of this can likely be attributed to voter and political apathy, while the crux of the issue is likely related to money. The reality i s that there are enough ideological differences between the two major political parties in America that it keeps them separate and distinct in the eyes of campaign donors, and the public in general. Add to this the fact the electoral college system views the race for President as a state-by-state contest,

Operant Conditioning Experiment Essay Example for Free

Operant Conditioning Experiment Essay I chose to involve the 1-year and a couple of months old son of my good friend and neighbor (named Judith) for my Operant Conditioning Experiment. Shawn, as we fondly call the toddler, happens to be extraordinarily shy. He would rather stay around the presence of his mom or dad than enjoy playing with other kids. He shuns most, if not all occasions of interaction with other fellows. I, for my part, have tried to â€Å"sneak† him away from his parents (with their permission, of course), to no avail. Instances in the Experiment I set for myself a modest goal – i. e. , to be able to make Shawn a little more comfortable with the company of someone other than his parents for at least 5 minutes. What I did was to spend some time, about an hour, in my friend’s home after school. I asked my friend to bring Shawn to the living room area, where we would chat while sitting on the couch. In the process, I would give Shawn some cookies (oat meal cookies are his favorite) on the condition that he would sit by my lap. The first day was a complete mess. Judith brought with her Shawn to the living room, but ended up catering to his tantrums. He appeared restless that time. The second day was the formal start of the experiment. Shawn sat near her mom by the couch. I handed him over an oatmeal cookie but he won’t accept. He only got it when Judith convinced him to do so. Come third day, we did the same routine again. I offered Shawn an oatmeal cookie and pulled it back again and again just as he was about to get it. The concept was that I needed to ask him to sit nearer my place before I would give in letting him have the cookie. Still, the experiment proved unsuccessful. I got almost the same results on the fourth day of my experiment. But I was feeling happy that Shawn’s uneasiness with my presence appears to be waning. The fifth day however, I saw a significant development. When I asked him to sit beside me while offering the cookie, Shawn got up to get the cookie from where I was, and sat for a few seconds. He then got up again, holding his cookie, and got back to his mother’s place in the couch. Evaluation of the Experiment Firstly, I must say that I did not meet the goal of my experiment, i. e. , to make Shawn enjoy my company even for 5 minutes. While I got Shawn to become a little less uneasy with my presence, and in fact got him to get his cookie and sit beside me for a few seconds, the fact that I was not able to make him stay with me at least for 5 minutes renders the experiment only as a relative success. Looking back, I have three realizations to make in relation to the experiment. First, I may have set a goal which is too much for Shawn to handle. Second, the experiment duration of 5 days may be too short for someone as timid and shy as Shawn. Third, I realized that Operant Conditioning may entail exploring other motivations to elicit behavioral change. If only I have explored offering him other enjoyable stuff like toys, I may have gotten better results from my experiment. Had I used more appealing reinforcers to help my experiment, I believe that my experiment would have generated better and more successful outcomes.

Deposits in Thermal Power Plant Condensers

Deposits in Thermal Power Plant Condensers Abstract: Unexpected fouling in condensers has always been one of the main operational concerns in thermal power plants. This paper describes an approach to predict fouling deposits in thermal power plant condensers by means of support vector machines (SVMs). The periodic fouling formation process and residual fouling phenomenon are analyzed. To improve the generalization performance of SVMs, an improved differential evolution algorithm is introduced to optimize the SVMs parameters. The prediction model based on optimized SVMs is used in a case study of 300MW thermal power station. The experiment result shows that the proposed approach has more accurate prediction results and better dynamic self-adaptive ability to the condenser operating conditions change than asymptotic model and T-S fuzzy model. Keywords: Fouling prediction; Condensers; Support vector machines; Differential evolution 1. Introduction Condenser is one of key equipments in thermal power plant thermodynamic cycle, and its thermal performance directly impacts the economic and safe operation of the overall plant [1]. Fouling of steam condenser tubes is one of the most important factors affecting their thermal performance, which reduces effectiveness and heat transfer capability with time [2, 3]. It is found that the maximum decrease in effectiveness due to fouling is about 55 and 78% for the evaporative coolers and condensers, respectively [2]. As a consequence, the formation of fouling in condenser of thermal power plants has special economic significance [4-6]. Furthermore, it represents the concerns of modem society in respect of conservation of limited resources, for the environment and the natural world, and for the improvement of industrial working conditions [6, 7]. The fouling of heat exchangers is a wide ranging topic coveting many aspects of technology, the designing and operating of condenser must contemplate and estimate the fouling resistance to the heat transfer. The knowledge of the progression and mechanisms of formation of fouling will allow a design of * Manuscript an appropriate fouling mitigation strategy such as optimal cleaning schedule to be made. The most common used models for fouling estimation are the thermal resistance method and heat transfer coefficient method [6-10]. However, the residual fouling of periodic fouling deposition process and the dynamic changes of heat exchanger operating condition are not considered in these models. Consequently, the estimation error of those methods is very large. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are capable of efficiently dealing with many industrial problems that cannot be handled with the same accuracy by other techniques. To eliminate most of the difficulties of traditional methods, ANNs are used to estimate and control the fouling of heat exchanger in recent years. Prieto et al [11] presented a model that uses non-fully connected feedforward artificial neural networks for the forecasting of a seawater-refrigerated power plant condenser performance. Radhakrishnan et al [12] developed a neural network based fouling model using historical plant operating data. Teruela et al [13] described a systematic approach to predict ash deposits in coal-fired boilers by means of artificial neural networks. To minimize the boiler energy and efficiency losses, Romeo and Gareta illustrated a hybrid system that combines neural networks and fuzzy logic expert systems to control boiler fouling and optimize boiler performance in [14]. Fan and Wang proposed diagonal recurrent neural network [15] and multiple RBF neural network [16] based models for measuring fouling in thermal power plant condenser. Although the technique of ANNs is able to estimate the fouling evolution of heat exchanger with satisfaction, there are some problems. The selection of structures and types of ANNs dependents on experience greatly, and the training of ANNs are based on empirical risk minimization (ERM) principle [18], which aims at minimizing the training errors. ANNs therefore face some disadvantages such as over-fitting, local optimal and bad generalization ability. Support vector machines (SVMs) are a new machine learning method deriving from statistical learning theory [18, 19]. Since later 1990s, SVMs are becoming more and more popular and have been successfully applied to many areas such as handwritten digit recognition, speaker identification, function approximation, chaotic time series forecasting, nonlinear control and so on [20-24]. Established on the theory of structural risk minimization (SRM) [19] principle, compared with ANNs, SVMs have some distinct advantages such as globally optimal, small sample-size, good generalization ability and resistant to the over-fitting problem [18-20]. In this paper, the use of SVMs model is developed for the predicting of a thermal power plant condenser. The prediction model was used in a case study of 300MW thermal power station. The experiment result shows that the prediction model based on SVMs is more precise than thermal resistance model and other methods, such as T-S fuzzy model [17]. Moreover, to improve the generalization performance of SVMs, an improved differential evolution algorithm is introduced to optimize the parameters of SVMs. 2. Periodic fouling process in condenser The accumulation of unwanted deposits on the surfaces of heat exchangers is usually referred to as fouling. In thermal power station condensers, fouling is mainly formed inside the condenser tubes, reducing heat transfer between the hot fluid (steam that condenses in the external surface of the tubes) and the cold water flowing through the tubes. The presence of the fouling represents a resistance to the transfer of heat and therefore reduces the efficiency of the condenser. In order to maintain or restore efficiency it is often necessary to clean condensers. The Taprogge system has found wide application in the power industry for the maintenance of condenser efficiency, which is one of on-line cleaning systems [6]. When the fouling accumulation in condensers reached a threshold, the sponge rubber balls cleaning system is activated, slightly oversized sponge rubber balls continuously passed through the tubes of the condenser by the water flow, and the fouling in the condenser is reduced or eliminated. The progresses of fouling accumulating and cleaning continue alternatively with time. Therefore, the fouling evolution in power plant condensers is periodic. However, the sponge rubber ball system is only effective of preventing the accumulation of waterborne mud, biofilm formation, scale and corrosion product deposition [6]. As for some of inorganic materials strongly attached on the inside surface of tubes, e.g. calcium and magnesium salts, can not be effectively reduced by this technique. As a result, at the end of every sponge rubber ball cleaning period, there still exist a lot of residual fouling in the condensers, and the residual fouling will be accumulated continuously with the time. Where, the fouling can be cleaned by the Taprogge system is called soft fouling, and those can not be cleaned residual fouling is called hard fouling. When the residual fouling accumulated to some degree, the cleaning techniques that can eliminate them, such as chemistry cleaning method, should be used. Generally, the foul degree of heat exchanger is expressed as fouling thermal resistance, defined as the difference between rates of deposition and removal [6]. In this paper, the corresponding fouling thermal resistance of soft fouling and hard fouling expressed as Rfs and Rfh, respectively. Then, the condenser fouling thermal resistance Rf in any time is the sum of soft fouling thermal resistance and hard fouling thermal resistance, expressed as Eq. (1). ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 0 0 0 R t R t R t R t R t t R t t f fs fh f fs fh ? ? ? ? ? ? ? (1) where ( ) 0 R t f is the initial fouling. Fig. 1 periodic fouling evolution in power plant condensers Fig. 1 demonstrates the periodic evolution process of fouling in power plant condensers. In fact, the evolution process of fouling in a condenser is very complex, which is related to a great number of variables, such as condenser pressure, cooling water hardness, the velocity of the circulating water and the corresponding inlet and outlet temperatures, the non-condensing gases present in the condenser, and so on. The Rfs(t) and Rfh(t) expressed a very complex physical and chemical process, their accurate mathematic models are very hard to be obtained. Hence, measurement and prediction of fouling development is a very difficult task. Since the fouling evolution process is a very complex nonlinear dynamic system, the traditional techniques based on mathematic analysis, i.e. asymptotic fouling model, are not efficient to describe it [11]. SVMs, as a small sample method to deal with the highly nonlinear classification and regression problems based on statistic learning theory, is expected to be able to reproduce the nonlinear behavior of the system. 3. SVMs regression and parameters 3.1 SVMs regression SVMs are a group of supervised learning methods that can be applied to classification or regression. SVMs represent an extension to nonlinear models of the generalized portrait algorithm developed by Vladimir Vapnik [18]. The SVMs algorithm is based on the statistical learning theory and the Vapnik-Chervonenkis (VC) dimension introduced by Vladimir Vapnik and Alexey Chervonenkis [19]. Here, the SVMs regression is applied to forecast the fouling in power plant condensers. Let the given training data sets represented as ?( , ), ( , ), , ( , )? 1 1 2 2 n n D ? x y x y ? ? ? x y , where d i x ? R is an input vector, y R i ? is its corresponding desired output, and n is the number of training data. In SVMs, the original input space is mapped into a high dimensional space called feature space by a nonlinear mapping x ? g(x) . Let f (x) be the SVM outputs corresponding to input vector x. In the feature space, a linear function is constructed: f (x) ? wT g(x) ? b (2) where w is a coefficient vector, b is a threshold. The learning of SVMs can be obtained by minimization of the empirical risk on the training data. Where, ? -intensive loss function is used to minimize the empirical risk. The loss function is defined as L? (x, y, f ) ? y ? f (x) ? max(0, y ? f (x) ) e (3) where ? is a positive parameter to allow approximation errors smaller than ? , the empirical risk is ? n i emp i i L x y f n R w 1 ( , , ) 1 ( ) ? (4) Besides using ? -intensive loss, SVMs tries to reduce model complexity by minimizing 2 w , which can be described by slack variables. Introduce variables i ? and i , then SVMs regression is obtained as the following optimization problem: min ? ? ? ? n i i i w C 1 2 ( ? ) 2 1 ? ? (5) s.t. i i i y ? f (x ) ? ? , i i i f (x ) ? y ? ? , i ? , i ? 0 where C is a positive constant to be regulated. By using the Lagrange multiplier method [18], the minimization of (5) becomes the problem of maximizing the following dual optimization problem max ( ? )( ? ) ( , ) 2 1 ( ? ) ( ? ) 1 1 , 1 j j i j n i j i i n i i i i i n i i ? y ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? K x x ? ? ? (6) s.t. ( ? ) 0 1 ? ? ? ? n i i i ? ? ,C = i , i ? =0 where i and i ? are Lagrange multipliers, and kernel ( , ) i j K x x is a symmetric function which is equivalent to the dot product in the feature space. The kernel ( , ) i j K x x is defined as the following. ( , ) ( ) ( ) j T i j i K x x ? g x g x (7) There are some kernels, i.e. polynomial kernel K(x, y) ? (x ? y ? 1) d and hyperbolic tangent kernel ( , ) tanh( ( ) ) 1 2 K x y ? c x ? y ? c can be used. Where the Gaussian function is used as the kernel. ) 2 ( , ) exp( 2 2 ? x y K x y ? ? ? (8) Replacing i i i ? ? ? ? ? ? and relation 0 ? ? ? ? i , then the optimization of (6) is rewritten as max ( , ) 2 1 1 1 , 1 j i j n i j i n i i i n i i ? y ? ? ? ? ? K X X ? ? ? ? ? (9) s.t. 0 1 ? ? ? n i i ? ,C ? i ? ? ? C The learning results for training data set D can be derived from equation (9). Note that only some of coefficients i ? are not zeros and the corresponding vectors x are called support vectors (SV). That is, only those vectors whose corresponding coefficients i i are not zero are SV. Then the regression function is expressed as equation (10). f x K x x b i j p i i i ? ? ? ( ) ( ? ) ( , ) 1 ? ? (10) It should be noted that p is the numbers of SV, and the constant b is expressed as ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? p i i i i i p i i i i i b y K x x y K x x 1 1 min ( ? ) ( , ) max ( ? ) ( , ) 2 1 ? ? ? ? (11) 3.2 SVM parameters The quality of SVMs models strongly depends on a proper setting of parameters and SVMs approximation performance is sensitive to parameters [25, 26]. Parameters to be regulated include hyper-parameters C, ? and kernel parameter? , if the Gaussian kernel is used [25]. The values of C, ? and ? are relate to the actual object model and there are not fixed for different data set. So the problem of parameter selection is complicated. The values of parameter C, ? and ? affect model complexity in a different way. The parameter C determines the trade-off between model complexity and the tolerance degree of deviations larger than ? . The parameter? controls the width of the ? -insensitive zone and can affect the numbers of SV in optimization problem. The kernel parameter? determines the kernel width and relates to the input range of the training data set. Here, parameters selection is regarded as compound optimization problem and an improved differential evolution algorithm is proposed to select suitable parameters value. 4. Improved Differential Evolution Differential evolution (DE) algorithm is a simple but powerful population-based stochastic search technique for solving global optimization problems [27]. DE has three operations: mutation, crossover and selection. The crucial idea behind DE is a scheme for generating trial vectors. Mutation and crossover are used to generate trial vectors, and selection then determines which of the vectors will survive into the next generation. The original DE algorithm is described in the following briefly. 4.1 Basic differential evolution Let S ? Rn be the search space of the problem under consideration. Then, the DE algorithm utilizes NP, n-dimensional vectors X x x xt S i NP in t i t i t i ( , , , ) , 1,2, , 1 2 ? ? ? ? ? as a population for each generation of the algorithm. t denotes one generation. The initial population is generated randomly and should cover the whole parameter space. In each population, two operators, namely mutation and crossover, are applied on each individual to yield a trial vector for each target vector. Then, a selection phase takes place to determine the trial vector enters the population of the next generation or not. For each target individual t i X , a mutant vector { 1 , , 1} 1 ?1 ? ? t ? n t t i V v ? v is determined by the following equation. ( ) 1 2 3 1 t r t r t r t i V ? ? X ? F ? X ? X (12) Where F ? 0 is a real parameter, called mutation constant, which controls the amplification of the difference vector ( ) 2 3 t r t r X ? X to avoid search stagnation. According to Storn and Price [27], the F is set in (0, 2]. 1 r , 2 r , 3 r are indexes, randomly selected from the set {1,2,, NP} . Note that indexes must be different from each other and from the running index i so that NP must be a least four. Following the mutation phase, the crossover (recombination) operator is applied on the population. For each mutant vector t ?1 i V , a trial vector { 1 , , 1} 1 ?1 ? ? t ? n t t i U u ? u is generated, using the following scheme. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? , ( ) ( ) 1 , ( ) ( ) 1 x rand j CR and j randn i v rand j CR or j randn i u t ij t t ij ij (13) Where j=1, 2, ?, n. rand( j) is the jth evaluation of a uniform random number generator within [0, 1]. CR is a crossover probability constant in the range [0, 1], which has to be determined previously by the user. randn(i) ? (1,2,,n) is a randomly chosen index which ensures that t ?1 i U gets at least one element from t ?1 i V . Otherwise, no new parent vector would be produced and the population would not alter. To decide whether the trial vector t ?1 i U should be a member of the population comprising the next generation, it is compared to the corresponding target vector t i X , and the greedy selection strategy is adopted in DE. The selection operator is as following. ? ? ? ? ? ? , otherwise 1 , ( 1 ) ( ) 1 t i t i t i t t i i X U f U f X X . (14) 4.2 Modification of Mutation From the mutation Eq. (12) we can see that in the original DE three vectors are chosen at random for mutation and the base vector is then chosen at random within the three, which has an exploratory effect but it slows down the convergence of DE. In order to accelerate the convergence speed, a modified mutation scheme is adopted. The randomly selected three vectors for mutation are sorted by ascending in terms of the fitness function value. The tournament best vector is t tb x , the better vector is t tm x and the worst vector is t tw x . For speeding up convergence, the base vector in the mutation equation should select t tb x , and the direction of difference vector should direct to t tm x , that is to choose ( t ) tw t tm x ? x as the difference vector. Then the new modified mutation strategy is as following Eq. (15). 1 ( t ) tw t tm t tb t i v ? ? x ? F ? x ? x . (15) After such modification, this process explores the region around each t tb x in the direction of ( t ) tw t tm x ? x for each mutated point. The mutation operator is not random search any more, but a determinate search. However, the vectors for mutation are selected randomly in the population space, so in the whole evolutionary process it is still a random search, which can ensure the global optimization performance of the algorithm [28]. 5 Optimization procedures of IDE for SVMs 5.1 Objective function The objective of SVMs parameters optimization is to minimize deviations between the outputs of training data and the outputs of SVMs. Where, the mean square error (MSE) is used as the performance criterion. 2 1 1 ( ( , ))2 1 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? K k k k y f x w K Obj (16) Where K is the number of training data, k y is the output of the kth training data, and f (x ,w) k is the output of SVMs correspond to input k x . Then the objective of the IDE is to search optimal parameter C, ? and ? to minimize Obj: min F(C,? ,? ) ? minObj (17) Generally, the search range of these parameters is C? [1, 1000], ? ? (0, 1], ? ? (0, 0.5]. For special problem, the search range is changeable. 5.2 Optimization procedures The searching procedures of the improved differential evolution (IDE) for optimization of SVMs parameters are shown as below. Step1: Input the training data and test data, select the Gaussian kernel function. Step2: Specify the number of population NP, the difference vector scale factor F, the crossover probability constant CR, and the maximum number of generations T. Initialize randomly the individuals, i.e. C, ? and ? , of the population and the trial vector in the given searching space. Set the current generation t=0. Step3: Use each individual as the control parameters of SVMs, train the SVMs using training data. Step4: Calculate the fitness value of each individual in the population using the objective function given by equation (17). Step5: Compare each individual?s fitness value and get the best fitness and best individual. Step6: Generate a mutant vector according to equation (15) for each individual. Step7: According to equation (13), do the crossover operation and yield a trial vector. Step8: Execute the selection operation in terms of equation (14) and generate a new population. Step9: t=t+1, return to Step3 until to the maximum number of generations. 6 Case study 6.1 Fouling prediction scheme The formation and development of fouling in condensers is influenced not only by cooling water hardness and turbidity but also by working conditions of condensers, such as velocity of the cooling water and the corresponding inlet and outlet temperatures, the saturation temperature of steam under entrance pressure of condenser, the non-condensing gases present in the condenser, and so on. According to the previous analysis of periodic fouling process of power plant condensers, the fouling can be classified as soft fouling and hard fouling. Therefore, two SVMs models are developed to forecast thermal resistance of soft and hard fouling, respectively. Then, the whole prediction fouling thermal resistance ( f R? ) in condenser is the sum of output of soft fouling prediction model ( fs R? ) and output of hard fouling prediction model ( fh R? ). Generally, the evolution of soft fouling is determined by the velocity (v), turbidity (d), inlet (Ti) and outlet temperatures (To) of cooling water, saturation temperature of steam under entrance pressure of condenser (Ts), and prediction time range (Tp) (the running time in a sponge rubber ball cleaning period). Therefore, these variables are chosen as inputs of the soft fouling thermal resistance predictive model. As for hard fouling of the class of calcium and magnesium salts, it is related to the residual fouling at the beginning and the end of previous sponge rubber ball cleaning period (corresponding thermal resistance is Rfb,n-1, Rfe,n-1, respectively), hardness of cooling water (s), saturation temperature of steam under entrance pressure of condenser (Ts), and the accumulating running time of condenser (Ta). Hence, those variables are chosen as the inputs of hard fouling thermal resistance prediction model. The soft and hard fouling prediction model based on SVMs illustrated in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, respectively. ( , ) 1 K x x ( , ) 2 K x x ( , ) p?1 K x x ( , ) p K x x 1 1 2 2 1 1 ? ? ? ? p p ? ? p p ( , ) 1 K x x ( , ) 2 K x x ( , ) p?1 K x x ( , ) p K x x S b Ts 1 1 2 2 1 1 ? ? ? ? p p ? ? p p Ta Rfh Rfb,n-1 R fe,n-1 ? ^ Fig. 2 Soft fouling prediction model Fig. 3 Hard fouling prediction model The parameters of the two prediction models are optimized by the IDE algorithm. Fig. 4 illustrates the fouling prediction model using SVMs optimized by IDE. ? Fig. 4 fouling prediction model based on SVMs optimized by IDE 6.2 Experiment results In this section, experiments on N-3500-2 condenser (300MW) in Xiangtan thermal power plant are carried out to prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The cooling water of this plant is river water that pumped from the Xiangjiang river. The Taprogge systems are installed in the plant to on-line clean the condensers. At present, the condenser is cleaned every two days using the Taprogge system, and every cleaning time is about 6 hours. Obviously, the fitted cleaning period is not optimal, because the fouling accumulating process is dynamic changing with the operating conditions changing. The experiment system consists of sensors for operating condition parameters measuring, data acquisition system, PC-type computer, etc. A set of 1362 real-time running data in different operating conditions in 84 cleaning periods is collected to train and optimize the SVMs model for fouling prediction, another set of 300 data is chosen for model verification. The proposed IDE is used to optimize the SVMs parameters. The control parameters of IDE are the following. The number of population is 30, the crossover probability constant CR is 0.5, the mutation factor F is 0.5, and the maximum number of generations is 100. The selection of above parameters is based on the literature [27] and [28]. After application of IDE, the optimal SVMs parameters of soft fouling prediction model are C=848, ? =0.513, ? =0.0117, the optimal SVMs parameters of hard fouling prediction model are C=509, ? =0.732, ? =0.0075. The velocity, turbidity, and inlet temperature of cooling water is different in summer and winter, the evolution of fouling in condensers is also different in the two seasons. In the experiments, four sponge rubber ball cleaning periods in different seasons are investigated. Among them, three periods, i.e. the first, 18th and 40th period, are in summer, and the other period is in winter. The hardness and turbidity of cooling water is 56mg/L and 17mg/L in summer, and is 56mg/L and 29mg/L in winter. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the comparison between the SVMs model, T-S fuzzy logic model [17] and asymptotic model is considered. The asymptotic model is obtained by probability analysis method, and the corresponding expression is the following [17]. ( ) ? 41.3?[1? ?(t ?1.204) /14.57 ] f R t e (17) Table 1 and Table 2 show the fouling thermal resistance prediction results of the above three models in the first and the 18th cleaning periods, respectively. From the Table 1 and Table 2, we can see that compared with tradition asymptotic model and T-S fuzzy logic model, the SVMs based prediction model has higher prediction precision. Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 show the predicted fouling thermal resistance evolution based on the optimized SVMs model and asymptotic model. Fig.6 clearly shows that the asymptotic model is not able to forecast the fouling evolution process at the beginning stage of the 18th cleaning period, the reason is that the residual fouling in the periodic fouling formation process is not considered in the asymptotic models. Table 1 fouling thermal resistance prediction results in the first cleaning period Running time Tpa (hour) Operating conditions Measuring values Rf (K.m2/kW) Prediction values (K.m2/kW) Relative error v(m/s) Ti(?) Ts(?) SVMs model T-S model Asymptotic model SVMs model T-S model Asymptotic model 0 2.0 19.1 33.2 0.0258 0.0260 0.0258 0.62 0 5 2.0 18.5 33.3 0.0995 0.0992 0.1018 0.0947 0.26 2.31 4.82 10 2.0 15.6 31.9 0.2028 0.2037 0.2007 0.1872 0.45 1.04 7.69 15 2.0 14.3 31.6 0.2501 0.2494 0.2411 0.2528 0.27 3.6 1.08 20 2.0 15.5 33.5 0.2865 0.2864 0.2830 0.2993 0.03 1.22 4.48 25 2.0 15.5 34.0 0.3174 0.3172 0.3123 0.3323 0.06 1.61 4.69 30 2.0 16.1 34.8 0.3420 0.3393 0.3321 0.3558 0.79 2.89 4.04 35 2.0 14.4 34.6 0.3567 0.3562 0.3497 0.3724 0.14 1.96 4.40 40 2.0 14.2 34.9 0.3722 0.3736 0.3600 0.3842 0.37 3.28 3.22 Table 2 fouling thermal resistance prediction results of the 18th cleaning period Running time Ta (hour) Operating conditions Measuring values Rf (K.m2/kW) Prediction values (K.m2/kW) Relative error v(m/s) Ti(?) Ts(?) SVMs model T-S model Asymptotic model SVMs model T-S model Asymptotic model 632 2.0 14.0 29.8 0.0774 0.0791 0.074 2.26 0 637 2.0 14.2 30.9 0.1772 0.1773 0.1850 0.0947 0.06 4.40 46.56 642 2.0 12.5 30.4 0.2474 0.2479 0.2438 0.1872 0.21 1.46 24.33 647 2.0 11.9 30.4 0.2898 0.2908 0.2955 0.2528 0.36 1.97 12.77 652 2.0 10.6 30.1 0.3230 0.3222 0.3354 0.2993 0.25 3.84 7.34 657 2.0 11.4 31.5 0.3447 0.3437 0.3525 0.3323 0.28 2.26 3.60 662 2.0 10.2 31.2 0.3655 0.3652 0.3648 0.3558 0.08 0.19 2.65 667 2.0 10.7 32.0 0.3831 0.3815 0.3767 0.3724 0.42 1.67 2.79 672 2.0 11.8 33.5 0.3985 0.3978 0.3912 0.3842 0.18 1.83 3.59 To eliminate the influence of residual fouling and improve the prediction precision, an improved asymptotic models are i

Organ Trail :: essays research papers

I have traveled the Oregon Trail many times in my day. From various mistakes I have made in the past, I have learned different procedures to take in order to prevent bad things from taking place. I have also learned many techniques that have helped me along my journey. I hope to share these steps of advice with the new travelers of the Oregon Trail. If these steps are followed, the ride is assured to be much safer. Important Steps To Take 1) Do bring plenty of money. There will be many different stops along the way where you can trade. It will be important to get new tools and belongings on your way to help you. You can also trade for food. You may run out of food on your trip so it will be necessary to have money as a side plane. 2) Do bring a riffle. It will be important to have a riffle for protection. There will be many dangerous obstacles along your way. You may have Indians or other men who stand in your way or wish to fight. You may also have animals such as buffalo that you can hunt and make great use out of. A riffle will definitely come in handy in your travels. 3) Do bring lots of water. Water will help you to stay healthy along your way. You can easily get dehydrated on a trip like this. Water is better then any drink because it helps you to maintain your body the best. Water will nourish all of the people on your wagon and keep them in good conditions. 4) Do bring basic medicines. It is easy for your fellow members to get ill on this long and harsh journey. You will face deadly weather conditions and many diseases along your way. While traveling there will be no close destinations to stop and recover the sick at. Nor will you have time to take breaks in order for the sick to get well. The medicine will help them get better as you continue to travel. 5) Do bring basic tools. You will go through various things where tools will be extremely useful. You may get stuck in the mud after a downfall near The Great Basin. You will need tools to help you work the wagon out of the mud. You may also need to fix parts of the wagon in case pieces break through the rough journey. Organ Trail :: essays research papers I have traveled the Oregon Trail many times in my day. From various mistakes I have made in the past, I have learned different procedures to take in order to prevent bad things from taking place. I have also learned many techniques that have helped me along my journey. I hope to share these steps of advice with the new travelers of the Oregon Trail. If these steps are followed, the ride is assured to be much safer. Important Steps To Take 1) Do bring plenty of money. There will be many different stops along the way where you can trade. It will be important to get new tools and belongings on your way to help you. You can also trade for food. You may run out of food on your trip so it will be necessary to have money as a side plane. 2) Do bring a riffle. It will be important to have a riffle for protection. There will be many dangerous obstacles along your way. You may have Indians or other men who stand in your way or wish to fight. You may also have animals such as buffalo that you can hunt and make great use out of. A riffle will definitely come in handy in your travels. 3) Do bring lots of water. Water will help you to stay healthy along your way. You can easily get dehydrated on a trip like this. Water is better then any drink because it helps you to maintain your body the best. Water will nourish all of the people on your wagon and keep them in good conditions. 4) Do bring basic medicines. It is easy for your fellow members to get ill on this long and harsh journey. You will face deadly weather conditions and many diseases along your way. While traveling there will be no close destinations to stop and recover the sick at. Nor will you have time to take breaks in order for the sick to get well. The medicine will help them get better as you continue to travel. 5) Do bring basic tools. You will go through various things where tools will be extremely useful. You may get stuck in the mud after a downfall near The Great Basin. You will need tools to help you work the wagon out of the mud. You may also need to fix parts of the wagon in case pieces break through the rough journey.

Problems of Art, Problems of Education :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Problems of Art, Problems of Education ABSTRACT: Some main postmodern ideas, such as the decay of totality or the dispersion of the subject, are too risky to introduce into the education of youth. However, there are some postmodern ideas — though not central ones — that could prove helpful in contemporary education. The hero of this paper is the prefix "inter-" which (especially in the French philosophers' writings) took a new and remarkable meaning by becoming one of the main metaphors of the human condition in the world of culture. The meaning of the prefix "inter-" can be successfully taught by art, for works of art have always exemplified means of oscillating in the sphere of the "inter-" between the concrete and abstraction, detail and generality, freedom and rules, spontaneity and discipline, between Rorty's conception of the "ironist" and the "strong poet." "...the significance of art inevitably declines and nothing in the current circumstances of civilisation and culture shows that this process would be stopped." S. Morawski, On the Sense of the Newest Creativity "The crisis of education in its cultural dimension affects all of us. For we all were or will be connected with education, as pupils and students, parents and teachers. We all stand face to face with the question of its future when the problem how to grow into a human being in the surrounding world remains unsolved" K. Blusz, Education and Liberation 1. The crisis character of our Euro-American culture is so generally noticed that it needs no proofs. Among many different domains of human activity both the contemporary art and the theory of art are found in a hard situation; the marks of this plight are the more and more intensive questions about the end of art, anti-art, post-art on the one hand and about the post-aesthetics, anti-aesthetics and an-aesthtics on the other. In the theory of education we can find the same terminological symptoms which (like a rash) testify the same kind of impotence and illness — also here the discussion about the end of pedagogy in the contemporary culture goes (Ricardo Massa) and the predictions of the birth of the new post-pedagogical epoch are made (Hubertus von Schoenbeck). Shoud we, in such situation, following the past patterns like, for example, very valuable conception "education through art" (Herbert Read, Irena Wojnar), ask about the role of the post-art in the post-pedagogy? This way seems to be not especially fruitful.

Comparing The Infernal Machine and Oedipus Rex Essay -- comparison com

Comparing The Infernal Machine and Oedipus Rex (the King)   Ã‚  Ã‚   The myth of Oedipus’s incest and parricide has been retold many different times. The basic story line has remained the same. Oedipus leaves Corinth to try to escape a fate of incest and parricide. After he leaving the city, he ends up saving Thebes from the Sphinx, becoming king of the city and in the process fulfilling the prophecy. The character of Oedipus changes in each play to help support a different meaning to the entire myth. Cocteau’s The Infernal Machine and Sophocles’s Oedipus the King are both centered on the myth, yet their themes are different. By changing Oedipus’s personality, motive, relationship with Jocasta, his mother and wife, and his character development Cocteau makes his theme the idea that the gods simply play with humans, instead of like Sophocles’s theme that man can not escape his own fate. Sophocles depicts Oedipus as an intelligent though too proud man, however Cocteau depicts Oedipus as an egotistical and not too smart man. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus actually solves the riddle of the Sphinx and then became known for being clever. Teiresias, an old blind prophet, reminds him of this: "But it’s in riddle answering you are strongest." Soph. O.T. 440. Oedipus intelligence is also shown in his inquisitive nature. From the beginning Oedipus searches for the killer of Laius by asking many questions. This eventually leads to his downfall, though Jocasta tries to make him stop asking questions: "I beg you—do not hunt this out—I beg you, if you have any care for your own life. What I am suffering is enough." (Soph. O.T. 1060-1063) Cocteau’s Oedipus does not have to solve the riddle of the Sphinx because she gives him the answer a... ... Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. Cocteau, Jean. The Infernal Machine and other plays. (Bermel, Albert.). New York: New Directions. 1963. Ehrenberg, Victor. â€Å"Sophoclean Rulers: Oedipus.† In Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. O’Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Jaeger, Werner. â€Å"Sophocles’ Mastery of Character Development.† In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997. Sophocles. (1991). Sophocles I: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone (Grene, David.). Chicago: University of Chicago.   Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Transl. by F. Storr. no pag. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixednew?tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0&id=SopOedi

Bottled Water Essay

Water a very important part of our daily lives. We use it for many things but most importantly we drink it. So want it flavor, some want it cold others want it from the bottle some don’t care is long is they get six cups a day. What it comes down to is where we get it from. Do you buy it at a store or do you just use the tap at home. Some reasons why you should buy it are convenience and safety. Tap has it’s positives as well like it is healthier and better for the environment. Here are the arguments for both sides and there counter arguments. Bottled water convenience helps out a lot of people around the world. When we need to get water to a shelter or to a third world country the easiest and best way is bottled water. It is always there and has a good shelf life. It was there to help people from Hurricanes to Blood drives. It is easily transportable and accessible. The convenience of bottled water also helps people more likely to drink water in the amount they need and as a substitute for other drinks like soda. Bottled water is also safer to drink because it is easier to recall if there is something wrong with it. They are always testing and sampling the water and if something is wrong they know what batch is bad and where it went. It is easy to get the water back and ship out safe water to where ever the recall was. In some places bottled water is the only thing safe to drink. When disasters strike or a tap water system is not in place bottled water is the safest thing you can drink. Tap water is a lot healthier for you than bottled water. It is tested more and has more regulations than bottled water. With more regulations the water has less harmful chemicals and therefore more healthier for you. Tap water like bottled water is regulated by the FDA. While they are both regulated by the FDA tap water has more regulations and more testing than bottled water. Being that tap water is distributed to everyone practically free it has to be better regulated for everyone’s well being. Tap water is also better for the environment. This makes it better for you. With less plastic being used there is less toxins and water being produced. People who drink tap water usually just use a metal bottle and re-use it all the time. Tap water does not come in a container of plastic it comes from your faucet. Using a re usable container like glasses pitchers and re-usable water bottles does far less damage to the environment than plastic water bottles. Even though we can re-cycle plastic it doesn’t mean that it is really helps the environment. Most water bottles don’t even get recycled they get tossed in with all the other trash that does not get recycled. One is safer one is healthier. One helps out people in crisis while the other causes less damage to the environment as a whole. Bottled and tap water both have their benefits. Both have there purposes and are beneficial to society. Bottled water is convenient and safe while Tap is better for the environment and healthier. So open the cap or turn on the faucet and drink up. Cause we all need it.

Critical Analysis on Sonnet 12 by William Shakespeare Essay

William Shakespeare wrote a group of 154 sonnets between 1592 and 1597, which were compiled and published under the title Shakespeare’s Sonnets in 1609. Our attention will focus on sonnet 12, a remarkable and poignant poem about the relentless passing of time, the fading beauty, immortality, death and Old Age, these subjects being typical of all Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Time is omnipresent in everyone’s life, just passing and passing inexorably, relentlessly, so unstoppable. It is a universal problem : people have always been very worried about time, trying to gain some, or angry they have lost this precious element. Moreover, â€Å"Time is Money†, maxim born in the business sector, is now an adage applied in all matter. But still, it is not possible to lose or gain time : it is above people, nobody has control on it. This is what Shakespeare tells us in this sonnet. Shakespeare’s sonnets don’t have a specific title, only named by a number. Here, it is 12, and surely this number has not been given by chance, being a way to refer to time : the twelve hours of a day, the twelve hours of a night. What is more, just by hearing it, without understanding the words, it is possible to guess that it is about time. Shakespeare has used an iambic pentametre, which the alternation of strong and weak rhythms reproduces the ticking of the clock, displaying the passing of time. Furthermore, the way in which the meaning of the line finishes with the line itself, with punctuation such as comma and semi-colon at the end of each line, is like the inexorable motion of a pendulum as it beats from side to side. The fact that each line contains ten syllables contributes as well to this idea of regularity and time. We should also mention the presence of alliterations like c and t line 1 (count, clock, that, tells, time), imitating the ticking of the clock, and the repetition of consonants like p line 3 (past, prime), or s and g line 7 (summer’s, green, girded, sheaves), b line 8 (borne, bier, bristly, beard), without forgetting the sibilance line 11 (since, sweets, beauties, themselves, forsake). These alliterations slow down the sonnet and give it a measured rhythm, drawing the reader in an infernal cycle, in a lethargic state. We can observe the way the subject is developed by looking at the two main phases in this sonnet : the first eight lines are a phase of observation, study : we perceive how nature fades and dies, how time passes, as nothing can be done against it. But then, in the second part, Shakespeare opens up his past observation – that was on nature – in an examination based on humans. Nevertheless, these two phases are very similar, offering the same message to the reader : time is devastating and invincible. But before presenting these two main phases, we should not forget to precise that in each of these parts, a narrator appears, speaking at the first person, thanks to the pronoun â€Å"I†, line 1, 3, 5 and 9. The question coming immediately in our mind is who is hiding behind this â€Å"I† and who is this â€Å"I† addressing to ? I do not know whether Shakespeare has created a character, or if he is really expressing his point of view through the sonnet, but if he does so, we can observe that he adopts a different opinion in sonnet 18. Therefore, in sonnet 18, he promises his addressee he will be immortalized through the sonnet itself : â€Å"so long lives this, and this gives life to thee†, while in sonnet 12, he believes procreation to be the only way to live forever : â€Å"save breed to brave him when he takes thee hence†. Officially, the first 156 sonnets are addressed to a dear young man, fading somewhat the romantic image all people have about Shakespeare and his works. Now that we have talked about the sender and the receiver, let us concentrate on the different images, symbols and statements delivering the message. The first part of this poem describes nature. Indeed, the narrator is exposed counting the clock chimes – giving by the way an audible sound to the reader -, and the narrator appears very passive and resigned : he seems to know that time cannot be fought, waiting for it to pass, in a submissive manner. In the same way, the day looks already defeated, but it tries, unlike the â€Å"I†, to fight, as suggest the adjective â€Å"brave†, introducing a notion of combat. However, this is not the only meaning of this word, brave being polysemic : it has almost a visual significance, evoking brightness and gallantry. Thus, Shakespeare joins an attracting adjective to the â€Å"day†, to  finally make it appear even more vulnerable and pathetic, thanks to â€Å"hideous night†. This opposition between â€Å"brave day† and â€Å"hideous night† emphasizes the day’s weakness against the night, literally sinking in the night. This verb, sink, represents a long action and gives us the idea that we cannot discern the limits between day and night, we cannot point out â€Å"this is day†, â€Å"this is night†. It is something we are not aware of, we cannot see happening, until night has completely taken the place. This domination and hopeless fight could imply, by extension, that any struggle in life is a useless task. The violet is also under time control : it is once at its prime state, at springtime best, being emblematic of Spring and new growth, but then soon fades and dies. Here is presented the decaying of nature and furthermore of human, as violet is like a human being : once at its prime, then dying. Shakespeare presents us the same kind of image in the next line, describing sable curls, namely dark hair, having turned white due to the age. This word sable brings nobility, rarity and softness to the curls, but then is even more put down – as it is more precious -, by the whiteness. Behind this description, it is the youth coming to old age which is depicted. â€Å"Barren of leaves†, line 6 indicates us what period the poem is describing : the autumn, season of death and sadness. The trees, which used to be tall and majestic : â€Å"lofty†, are now leafless : all that remains are bare branches. Shakespeare is also suggesting that they are useless, while they used to have a significant role : to protect the herd from the heat of the sun. Thus, it suggests again the fact that everybody, even the more majestic one, will fade one day, that the destructive process of age does not forget anyone, and that old people are useless. We can discover another image insisting on the idea that the passing of time leaves you with nothing, line 7 and 8. By an agricultural image : the sheaves of corn growing during the summer and being tied carried away on a bier, Shakespeare actually represents death – the final stage -, with the sheaves in the coffin which can be associated with an old person in a coffin : â€Å"white and bristly beard†. All these images denoting Nature have actually been used as examples to illustrate Shakespeare’s views on time and the human being. In a second phase, the sonnet expresses the idea of human beauty fading as the time  passes, but also of the renewable cycle, of a continuous mutation, of the constant presence of a next generation. Basically, there is no way escaping â€Å"Time’s scythe† line 13, except having children. Another important subject in this poem, besides linked up with time, is immortality. It is possible to feel how this relentless passing of time is a very serious issue for the narrator, affecting his mind, as he is trying to find a solution to this problem. Thus, we get aware of the consequences of time, making people grow old : â€Å"white and bristly beard† line 8 ; â€Å"since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake† line 11. The narrator draws our attention on the infernal cycle of life : â€Å"and die as fast as they see others grow† line 12, and probably wants to denounce the sentiment of immortality all young people have in themselves, thinking they will always stay young and have their whole life in front of them forever. Being a teenager, I have this feeling too : how could I imagine, being fifteen, that I will be seventy one day ? However, like Shakespeare suggests in this sonnet, life is a cycle, people dying as fast as others grow. The solution offe red here in the rhyming couplet is to have children to be immortal. One must admit that the narrator is absolutely right, children representing a source of youth, and a way of printing his foot on the earth. By giving birth to a child, people are sure they will live in someone’s mind forever, and be mentioned as the time passes by the family, thanks to genealogical trees for instance. Moreover, parents bring up their children in their way : they pass values and rules on to them, but also a name and a way of thinking and living. However, it cannot be denied that there are other methods to remain alive, to immortalize his existence on earth, like accomplishing a great action – good or bad – or writing an autobiography. I have liked this sonnet very much, for the form represents and illustrates the meaning in a brilliant way. It was also very interesting to, step by step, analyze this poem to finally have a good understanding of it, while it was almost incomprehensible at first. Death, the passing of time, the Old Age and the desire of immortality are universal themes which touched everybody, and have, them, crossed the time.

Mozi Essay

When did he live and what was his historical significance? Mozi, also pronounce as Mo Di, was a philosopher born in Tengzhou, Shandong Province of China from 470-400 BCE. He founded the school of Mohism, which rivaled arguably to Confucianism and Daoism. While there is much mystery to his life and origins, speculations points that Mozi was schooled in Confucianism in his early years. He thought Confucianism emphasize too much contribution to celebrations and funerals which he felt were unfavorable to the livelihood and production of common people. Mozi believed that society should be led by the wise and the virtuous, and as people, we should work to save each other. He sought a world of jian’ai or â€Å"impartial care† which is aim to give a moral guide to social behavior; that is to say, no matter the relationship between a person, every individual should equally care for one another. Although, despite contention that all people deserve equal concern, elements of Mozi thought may have provided a corrective to some, but not supported as such to economic equality or status equality. During the Warring States Period, Mohism was actively developed and practiced in many states, but fell out of favor when the legalist of Qin Dynasty came to power. Mohist and Mohism values were tarnished when Emperor Qin ordered the burning of books and burying of scholars. Furthermore, Mohism further declined when Confucianism became the dominant â€Å"school of thought† during the Han Dynasty. Though Mozi’s school faded into obscurity after the Warring States period, Mohism was studied again two millennia after his death. Since almost nobody had seize the texts during the last two thousand years, there was much difficulty deciphering the it. As a result, Mohism became the hardest philosopher within the hundred â€Å"school of thoughts† to study. In addition, Mozi has been place in China’s history as an important figure of philosophy. His passion was for the good of the people, without concern of personal gain nor even of his life or death.

The One Minute Manager Reaction Paper Essay

The One Minute Manager provides a concise and simple method for planning, coaching and evaluating people for organizational and personal success. For many, the book sets forth the principles for productive relationships between a manager and his or her associates. There are three different methods portrayed that will help employers and employees find such a relationship. The first is One Minute Goal Setting. The second is One Minute Praising. Lastly, the book suggests One Minute Reprimands. With these work ethics in practice, a friendly, more productive work place results for everyone. These three ideas will help simplify life, increase productivity, reduce stress and help the reader find peace of mind. One minute goals, one minute praising and one minute reprimands are ideas that if used effectively can help to increase ones success in life. These are the three different methods in One Minute Manager. The first one is the one minute goal is about being aware of what is expected from the beginning. It is recorded on a single sheet of paper and should only take one minute to read it. It can help your staff to produce efficient results. The second step in one minute management is to catch people doing something right or the one minute praising. It hardly takes a minute for you to tell someone that he or she did a good job. One minute praisings include praising the people immediately, telling them what they did right, how you feel about it and encourage them to do more of the same. And the third one is the One minute reprimands are given as soon as an employee does something wrong. One minute reprimand has three parts. One: praise them for their usual good work and reliability. Two: point out the error and let them know it’s unacceptable. Three: Remind them how much they’re capable of, and that you value them. And once it’s over, it’s over. One minute reprimands are highly effective because the feedback is immediate, unlike the annual reviews where you are charged for things committed several weeks or months ago. This book has helped me to understand how to become a good leader and a manager in the future. It shown me that by setting attainable one minute goals will keep the business moving forward and by giving one minute praising’s when the job is done right will help the business move forward and keep moral up in the work place. Also that if the job was done wrong and the goal is not obtained  you must give the one minute reprimand to get back on track and once the reprimand is over it’s over. If I will be a manager on my own business or become as an HR Manager in an organization someday. I will use these skills that I have learned to make my business and workers as efficient as possible. I will use these lessons as the base of my management and all new managers that work for me will take a course on one minute managing. This will allow me and my employees to enjoy more success with less stress.

Eonomic Signals and Cost-Benefit Analysis in Macroeconomics Essay

Eonomic Signals and Cost-Benefit Analysis in Macroeconomics - Essay Example These economic indicators and signals are beneficial for different business analysts and experts. The business analysts can use these economic signals in order to take important business decisions and in turn can come up with effective and timely short term and long term strategies. Along with this, these economic indicators and figures facilitate business analysts to decide whether it is feasible to invest in a new venture, launch a new product, or enter into new markets (The Economist, 2) DIRECT AND INDIRECT SIGNALS: These economic signals can be either direct or indirect signals. Direct signals are the one which are directly interpreted from the economic data and reflects the future situation of the subject under consideration. On the other hand the indirect signals are one which have indirect impact on the economy and situation. For example, economic report about the decrease in the consumer spending directly signals the decrease in the level of GDP, which in turn indicates the p ossibility of recession. At the same time the decrease in the consumer spending indirectly signals the decrease in the investment activity, as the investors will expect that in future there will be a short term decrease in the interest rate by the central bank in order to stop the possible recession. DIRECT AND INDIRECT MACROECONOMIC SIGNALS CONTAINED IN A THREE MONTH OF RETAIL SALES DATA: Retail sales is one of the most important economic indicator which is followed by the investors and the economic analysts in order to predict the future condition of the market and economy. Retail sales depicts the household expenditure on the different physical products by the consumers. The retail sales data of three month will directly determine the future state of inflation in the economy. For instance, if there is an increase in the retail sales then it directly indicates that there is an increase in the consumer spending which will lead to the increase in demand. This increase in demand will result in increasing the prices and ultimately will increase the inflation in the economy. At the same time, the increasing demand and prices will put pressure on the supply of the physical goods and there will be more investment activity, which will signal high value of GDP and improved condition of the economy. On the other hand if there is a decrease in the retail sales, it can be interpreted that there is a decrease in the consumer spending. This in turn will result in decrease in demand and prices of the physical goods. The decreasing demand and prices will also force the supply of the physical goods to decrease which in turn will influence the overall state of the economy and will signal a recession in the economy, as there will be less investment activities on part of the investors. COST – BENEFIT ANALYSIS IN MACROECONOMIC OFFERED BY HENRY HAZLITT: It is important to first analyze the costs and benefits of any decision and policy in order to make sure that the require d aims and objectives can be achieved effectively and efficiently. In economics, costs are the most important component of any analysis and decision. The decisions taken by the economists and analysts are directly dependent on the balance between the requirements and the limited resources. This in turn makes it important to analyze and understand the opportunity cost of any particular decision. Cost

Critical Success Factors of Dell Inc Case Study - 2

Critical Success Factors of Dell Inc - Case Study Example Public relations efforts and programs help to quicken bringing about the required outcomes in both corporate goals and competitive edge. Thus Dell has invested a lot in such public relations efforts. Since Dell consists of a multicultural staff, social factors such as religious behavior which may not be essential to the situation at hand have to be accommodated. Â  Technological Influences: It is innovative novel technology that has given Dell an edge over the rest of its competitors. Due to Dell’s recent acquisitions of such firms as Alienware and EqualLogic, its ability to make use of their technologies too in manufacturing new products. Â  Economic Influences: The prevailing financial crisis has had a very negative effect on the ICT industry. At existing firm level cost-cutting practices were not very practical. By capturing emerging markets average and marginal costs could be brought down. Â  Legal Influences: Regulatory environment has had a major impact on Dell activities even though such rules have the desirable effect of quality improvement and cost reduction too. There is a high possibility that Dell’s competitors could come up with duplicate products infringing on its copyrighted and patent material. Â  Opportunities: There are many different opportunities that are available to Dell in the ICT market worldwide. In particular, its acquisitions of other firms, outsourcing, and e-commerce activities have played an influential role in determining its success.

The conflicts of the U.S. constitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The conflicts of the U.S. constitution - Essay Example The federal judiciary played an important role in the system of government checks. The federal Government was to settle a conflict between states and citizens of different states (Irwin and Sylla 18). Another political dispute that arose was between the federalists and Jefferson’s Republicans, through the period of post-revolutionary America (Markovits 161). There can be no original intent if the constitution had disagreements; this is because original intent tries to figure out what the founders wrote on the constitution, meant by the words they used. Disagreements couldn’t have brought the original meaning, but no one would be able to understand the language of the constitution, study the records of the constitution convection, or study the writings of the men who wrote the constitution (â€Å"Judicial Branch,† enotes.com). Textualism is a valid source of constitutional advocacy, and helps the judiciary in decision making. Many textualists stated that the prima ry weight of a constitutional analysis should be given to the text itself; so that an average person can understand the text (Demaske 6). The founders accepted interpretation without actual changes of the document; this is because if judges needed to know the meaning of a particular phrase, they need to check on what the founders meant by that phrase. The constitution is a living document and should be interpreted in light of the society needs and practices today (Sidlow and Henschen 334). One should have the knowledge about the constitution; this is because one can be able to interpret it. It is therefore true to say that America is a great country founded on hypocrisy; this is because the founding fathers were unable to abolish slavery, during the... The essay talks about the federal judiciary, which played an important role in the system of government checks. The federal Government was to settle a conflict between states and citizens of different states (Irwin and Sylla 18). Then we see that another political dispute that arose was between the federalists and Jefferson’s Republicans, through the period of post-revolutionary America (Markovits 161). Then, the essay outlines a point, where textualism is a valid source of constitutional advocacy, and helps the judiciary in decision making. Many textualists stated that the primary weight of a constitutional analysis should be given to the text itself; so that an average person can understand the text (Demaske 6). The founders accepted interpretation without actual changes of the document; this is because if judges needed to know the meaning of a particular phrase, they need to check on what the founders meant by that phrase. One of the most important parts of the paper is tha t the constitution is a living document and should be interpreted in light of the society needs and practices today (Sidlow and Henschen 334). The founding fathers came up with the American constitution, but there were problem that came up during their meeting to create the constitution. However, we see that the constitution is the base of every country and without a constitution a country can’t operate and act according. It can be said that the American constitution was made in a hypocritical way for a number of reasons discussed in this paper.

Fractal Geometry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fractal Geometry - Essay Example In colloquial speech fractal is a shape which is self-similar or recursively constructed. It means that such shape is similar at all levels of magnification and therefore it is sometimes called "infinitely complex". In the sphere of mathematic the word "fractal" means geometric object "that satisfies a specific technical condition, namely having a Hausdoff dimension greater than its topological dimension". (26) The simplest fractal is known to be Cantor Bar Set which was called after German famous mathematician. It is necessary to admit that fractals refer not only to the realm of geometry and mathematics. They can be found everywhere in natural world. Self-similarity (recursive nature) means that fractals are constructed by iteration and they are made up of the smaller parts (copies) of themselves. The examples of self-similarity are Sierpinski Gasket, the Mandelbrot Set, Self-affine fractals, etc. it must be admitted that fractals are not all self-similar objects. Scientists found out three main types of self-similarity: Exact self-similarity means that fractals are completely identical at all levels of magnification. It is the strongest type of self-similarity, because fractals bear exact and complete self-similarity. Quasi-self similarity is a loose form of self-similarity. It means that fractals are approximately identical, but not completely.

Phase Separation Solution Company Market Alternatives Assignment - 25

Phase Separation Solution Company Market Alternatives - Assignment Example Normally, the core and the fundamental motive to become a multinational firm is to gain access to new sources of revenue. Entities that have saturated and exhausted their local markets share and have consequently dried up growth and expansion opportunities close to their local home can turn to multinational expansion to grow and expand their arena of business. Efficient and effective navigation in multiple national markets operation provides a much broader customer and market base from which an organization can quickly generate business. This ensures a company can create new revenue while minimizing costs that are essential to earning profits. It’s of paramount importance and essence for Phase Separation Solution company to venture into the international market, through the Chinese opportunity. This will enable the company diversifies its market from a national level to an international platform. Consequently, as a result of the increased market, it's capital base will rise significantly (International Trade, 2012). The fact that the Chinese inquiries about the possible market opportunities were sincere, venturing into the new market for Phase Separation Solution Company is a real deal, It’s important to note that China is the most populated country, and hence the company can take advantage of cheap labor in the market. This way, the company will arguably go a long way in saving on its operational cost. The operational scale of the newly formed partnership with Chinese enterprises and size of the new corporations will inevitably give Phase Separation Solution Company a chance of benefiting from the vast economies of scale that provides the way to lower average prices and costs for its new consumers in the Chinese market. It is of particularly essential and important for those business organizations that carry extremely high fixed costs, just like in the case of airlines and car manufacturing.

Faye Glenn Abdellah Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Faye Glenn Abdellah - Research Paper Example She completed her diploma nursing education in 1942 from Fitkin Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in New Jersey. Thereafter, Faye Glenn Abdellah received a Bachelor of Science in the year 1945. In 1947, she obtained a Masters of Arts and in 1955, she received a Doctor of Education. The two certificates were obtained from the Teachers College at Columbia University. Faye Glenn Abdellah, an earlier Chief Nurse Officer in the Public Health Service in America, she was the first female nurse to be hired as a Deputy Surgeon in U.S. Faye Glenn Abdellah has led various nursing research and has many publications connected to nursing education, care, for nursing research along with advanced nursing practice. In 2000, based on her contributions in changing nursing care, nursing theory as well as nursing education, she received international and national awards. The National Women’s Hall of Fame was one of them (Abdellah, 1994). The main reason for Faye Glenn Abdellah developing the the ory was to change the focus of nursing profession from the approach of disease-centered to the approach of patient-centered. Her theory was also developed so as to provide a classification system for patient-oriented records and patient care in the health care system. The theory of Faye Glenn Abdellah was developed to provide a foundation for organizing and determining nursing care. It was also concerned with giving a basis for classifying and availing appropriate strategies in nursing practice. The theory gives concepts of problem solving in nursing through use of 21 questions approach to solve problems related to health requirements of patients. The theory had three areas: the sociological, physical and emotional patient’s needs; the forms of interpersonal associations between the patient and the nurse; and the common components of patient care. Faye Glenn Abdellah believed that the theory would offer a way of evaluating the experiences of a patient and also give a method o f determining the competency of a nurse depending on the outcome measures. The theory comprised of the assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation phases. My definition of nursing actually fit well with the definition in the theory since both definitions emphasize on the fact that nursing is usually a widespread service that is based on science and art that shape an individual nurse’s intellectual competencies, attitudes and technical skills into the ability and desire to help sick people cope up with their health care needs. My definition and definition of nursing practice of Abdellah’s theory both emphasize that the profession focus on patient-centered instead of disease-centered approach. The approach of patient-centered is valuable in the practice of nursing as it assists in bringing out the organization and structure into an organized assortment of health care experiences. The theory classifies the problems of nursing depending on the needs of p atients and develops a framework of giving nursing goals and treatment that offers a foundation for organizing and determining nursing care. As compared with other theories with similar meanings, this theory describes nursing practice as a comprehensive service that has three key categories to individual patients, families and then to the society. For example, as compared to an ICU health nurse, model of this theory’s nursing care endows the ICU nurse with explicit guidelines on how to better deal with and manage several conditions of patients with grace and

Incident Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Incident - Essay Example In this experience the poet smiles at another boy when their eyes meet. In response the boy insults the poet and regards him as nigger. The author states that out of all his memories of Baltimore, this incident always remained in his memory. The poem is one of the best poems that I have come across regarding the issue of racism in United States. This poem reinstates the idea that racism is deeply embedded amongst every individual. This is because all individuals are brought up to be racist. This poem helps in identifying the main cause of racism which is the values that a child receives from his/her parents. The poem titled as Incident has been authored by Countee Cullen and in this poem the poet focuses on an event of racism that he experienced in the region of Baltimore. The poet states that one of the main causes of racism in America is the values that are transferred by parents to their children and children become racist at a very tender

Dementia awareness Essay Example for Free

Dementia awareness Essay The learner can: 1. Explain what is meant by the term ‘dementia’ 2. Describe the key functions of the brain that are affected by dementia 3. Explain why depression, delirium and age related memory impairment may be mistaken for dementia. Outcome 2 Understand key features of the theoretical models of dementia The learner can: 1. Outline the medical model of dementia 2. Outline the social model of dementia 3. Explain why dementia should be viewed as a disability. Outcome 3 Know the most common types of dementia and their causes The learner can: 1. List the most common causes of dementia 2. Describe the likely signs and symptoms of the most common causes of dementia 3. Outline the risk factors for the most common causes of dementia 4. Identify prevalence rates for different types of dementia. Outcome 4 Understand factors relating to an individual’s experience of dementia The learner can: 1. Describe how different individuals may experience living with dementia depending on age, type of dementia, and level of ability and disability 2. Outline the impact that the attitudes and behaviours of others may have on an individual with dementia. SUGGESTED GUIDANCE ANSWERS OUTCOME 1 For a start what does dementia mean? Very simply for such a complex area, it is an illness of the brain. What is the difference between Alzheimer’s and dementia? The word dementia is an umbrella term, which covers all the various dementias including Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is the one widely recognized, and accounts for about sixty per cent, of all the dementias. Dementia is a term that is used to describe a collection of symptoms including memory loss, problems with reasoning and communication skills, and a reduction in a persons abilities and skills in carrying out daily activities such as washing, dressing, cooking and caring for self. Memory loss this can be one of the first symptoms that people notice. The observations people report include noticing their loved ones forgetting things that have happened earlier in the day, getting confused about messages and who people are, getting lost whilst out and about, repeating themselves, and appearing not to be paying attention or following conversations. Problems with communication Some people experience problems with expressing themselves, talking and understanding things. They get confused about words and might use the wrong words for common things and mix words up. Reading and understanding written text can become problematic. There are a number of different types of dementia the most common being Alzheimers disease, vascular dementia, Fronto temporal dementia and Dementia with Lewy bodies. Some people get diagnosed as having mixed dementia; this is when the presentation shows the person to have elements of more than one type of dementia. Dementia is a progressive condition, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse. This progression will vary from person to person and each person will experience dementia in a different way. Although the person will have some of the above symptoms, the degree to which they affect an individual will vary and not all people will have all of these symptoms. 2. Areas of the brain affected by dementia are shown in the diagram below: [pic] The temporal lobe of the brain if affected by dementia will mean the sufferer will ‘forget’ every day functions, and how to perform them, relatives names and faces, their ‘past’ life, and friends they have known for years. Simple tasks that they used to perform with ease, become difficult to perform, and they have to ‘learn’ how to do them again. Sufferers can forget conversations and instructions, and need to be reminded on a regular basis, and given ‘prompts’ to remind them the topic of conversation, or what they are supposed be doing next for example. The frontal lobe of the brain if affected by dementia can mean that the sufferer is ‘unaware’ that their behaviour is unacceptable, or not the ‘norm’. The sufferer can become agitated very quickly, and suffer from depression. They may be unaware of apparent dangers, and unable to recognise what is ‘acceptable’ or ‘unacceptable’ behaviours. They may have violent outbursts, and exhibit ‘threatening’ behaviour to others. The parietal lobe of the brain if affected by dementia affects language skills. This means that communication skills could be reduced. The person may not be able to ‘find’ the appropriate words to use, or may not understand questions asked of them. They may not relate ‘words’ to the correct ‘objects’ for instance if they pick up a cup, but call it a ‘pot’. 3. Depression, memory problems, and delirium may be mistaken for dementia because these are often the onset symptoms of dementia, and therefore may be mistaken for the start of dementia in the elderly. Some symptoms of dementia are similar to symptoms of some mental health conditions. It is important that a comprehensive assessment is carried out if service users start to display symptoms such as confusion, poor memory or apathy. These could be indicators of dementia, but they could also be symptoms of depression, or other mental health conditions. OUTCOME 2 1. The medical model of dementia is of mental decline. This approach makes it hard to focus on maximising a person’s abilities and improving their quality of life. Putting physical problems and emotional states down to brain damage, the medical model overlooks the social world of people with dementia, and concentrates on the illness, rather than the person. 2. The social model of dementia sees the ‘person’ rather than the illness or disease. It puts the focus on what a person ‘can do’, (positives), instead of focussing on what the person can no longer do (negatives). The social model looks at ways to improve the quality of life, and experiences of dementia, and provide techniques for the dementia sufferer, to live a fulfilling and rewarding life. The social model recognises and includes the individual’s social, recreational, spiritual needs, instead of just their medical or personal care needs.