Write the difintion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write the difintion - Essay Example It involves a close participation of diverse stakeholders who works as a team, hence simplification of the complex task. The team may encompass teachers, students, specialists from different subjects and syllabus coordinators. The team contributes to improvement of technical expertise and know how to achieve the curriculum goals and objectives. Primarily, it is a coherent and sustainable method of curriculum development. Formative evaluation takes place during the delivery of a certain course content. Teachers carry out a formative evaluation in order to determine how much students know and be able to modify the instructional methods. Formative evaluation highlights the aspects that need emphasis, as well as the weaknesses and the strengths of students. Furthermore, the curriculum formative evaluation does monitor and evaluate the deficiencies present in any current curriculum for the sake of future improvement. Summative evaluation occurs at the end of a course. Teachers use summative assessment in determining whether the course objectives have been achieved. They focus on the learning outcomes exhibited by students. Summative evaluation may be in the form of the final project or end of semester exams. The approach is also useful in curriculum development, via use of questionnaires, testing or observations to test the usefulness of the

Watch Jack Neos Homerun Essay Example for Free

Watch Jack Neos Homerun Essay These two shows are very Singaporean. By this I mean that they contain many elements which are unique to my country, elements which only within the paradigm of our society will resonate with local viewers. Homerun, an Asian remake of the internationally acclaimed Iranian movie Children of Heaven is a movie directed by Jack Neo, who is a local celebrity best known for his comedic prowess and the many comedy shows under his name. Police and Thief is a relatively new weekly half-hour sitcom shown on Channel 5 which has yet to set a foothold in the heart of local audiences. These locally produced shows use, essentially different techniques in many areas to present the story to us while making use of our experiences as Singaporeans to help us understand and appreciate the shows from their story/plot to the surprises and nuances contained within. I will proceed to show you how the techniques used are also more different than similar. A distinction between the two shows is the element of narration. Cause and effect is employed to effectively present the story or stories in the shows. It is not uncommon to find secondary stories in an episode of a situation comedy or sitcom. These are often inserted into the plot and often come together in conclusion at the end of the episode. In Police and Thief, the show starts off on this episode with Lee Tok Kong the main character of the show wanting to get under the blanket with his wife and due to common reasons of tiredness and falling asleep quickly, has his pleas ignored. This scene is related to how Tok Kong later reacts to the wiles of a less than archetypical femme fatale. There is another story inserted in between, which shows how the neighbours sons, Rudy and Rafi having an unspoken conflict over a common love interest. This plot development has no explicit and implicit impact on the main story mentioned earlier. It almost feels like tokenism has taken place, either to fill up the half hour of screen time or to give emphasis to the other characters in the sitcom. In Homerun, it is quickly established that poverty leads to a lack of options and hence with the losing of shoes early into the movie, we see the main cause in the show that explains later effects. The show revolves around how the main characters are thwarted at every attempt to obtain a new pair of shoes or retrieve the old pair. We do not see scenes that have no relation to any other. In fact the entire narration of Homerun is about a search for a cause-shoes. Both the shows have different range of stories. There is less suspense buildup in Police and Thief and this is probably due to restricted narration where both the audience and the characters in the show know the same information at relatively equal times. The only example of unrestricted narration in the recent episode was when Rudy cheated on his promise to his brother Rafi behind his back to get a chance to go out with the girl, Cecilia, they both like. Rafi only found it out in another scene when Cecilia whom similarly does not know of the conflict called their home. In this case, we know more than several characters in the show at a particular time. In Homerun, during the opening sequence of Chew Kiat Kun running errands for his family, it is quickly established that a rag-and-bone man had taken away the pair of shoes which Kiat Kun had put down. Kiat Kun has no idea how the shoes had mysteriously disappeared and hence his sister Seow Fang too. In this scene alone, a beautiful play on camera angle suffices to keep us in suspense till much later in the show. This seemingly passing top down close up scene of the gnarled hands removing the shoes helps to tug hard at our heart strings when we later realize the rag-and-bone man is blind. The above is a good example of how both restricted and unrestricted narration can be developed from one scene. We know who had taken away the shoes (unrestricted narration) but like the characters in the show we have no idea he was blind (restricted narration). These two shows belong to the 2 commonest genres in Singapore. Police and Thief can be classified as belonging to the HDB genre. In fact this plot of this particular sitcom revolves around the conflict faced by two men who live in close proximity. It has an appeal particular to local viewers who are able to appreciate the familiar settings. One example which we can relate to is the scene of Lily, Tok Kongs wife who repeats a punch line in a scene where her face is framed in the center of our common older HDB window panes. It is common to see neighbours walking and talking from the same angle for those who have lived in HDB flats. Homerun is a social commentary and even as it is based in 1965, the year Singapore became independent, it reflects on socio-political situations which were prevalent during the time of filming i. e. the water issue between Malaysia and Singapore. Another genre which is mixed into both these shows is the coffee shop genre, featuring many scenes of meeting and interactions at local coffee shops. We see this in Police and Thief where Tok Kong was being interviewed by a lady near the beginning of the show and in Homerun, Kiat Kun helps out his teacher from school who is close to collapsing from shortness of breath at a roadside coffee shop. There is obvious stereotyping in Police and Thief. Tok Kong is your typical gangster or Ah Beng in colloquial terms. He has wild, pointy gelled hair and wears colourful clothing, even for sleeping attire (Opening scenes). His heavily accented Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) (Dont play with my heart) and his love for techno music scream Ah Beng. He is put in direct contrast with his neighbour and antagonist in the show Sergeant Dollah who is a policeman. Dollah is characterized with short hair, very neat and righteous. These stereotypes alone set the premise for tension and conflict as neighbours. It is akin to Phua Chu Kang versus his sister-in-law Margaret. The stereotypes in Homerun broadly differentiate the rich and the poor. A simple comparison can be made between Beng Soon and Kiat Kun, friends of opposite ends of the economic spectrum whose relationship sours then mends in the course of the show. Beng Soon is cast in shirts, clean with well-gelled hair (in school) and stands at a good head taller than Kiat Kun. His friend however is almost always dirty, with smudges on his singlet and/or face. Even during a game of soccer, Beng Soon provides the soccer boots and he is the only one on the field with soccer socks. Tok Kong as the gangster also becomes an icon easily associated with local shows of similar genres. There is no obvious icon in Homerun. It uses a motif rather, to play out the story. There were multiple scenes of close ups of your Bata white or dirty shoes (in the shops or in the background with Seow Fangs face in the focus). Many scenes of tension started because of shoes e. g.the shoes slipping off and into a canal full of rushing water and even in the scene where Seow Fangs teacher paces as the children are exercising). These scenes feature changes in music, close ups with dialogue in the background, all to draw attention to the motif in the show. During the scene at the well with the confrontation between the two groups of boys, we see wealth being equated with power, that Beng Soon who was the rich one could actually decide who got to use the well. This is perhaps the directors ideology portraying the way Malaysia hordes over us in the water issue. The premise of Homerun revolved around three things: shoes, intelligence and power being associated with wealth. Jack Neo parodies the socio-political situation between Singapore and Malaysia using the three elements with shoes being the water, Singapore being the more intelligent country and power that Malaysia holds over us due to their superior water resource. The two shows end differently too. The end of the sitcom is close without answered questions while the cryptic ending of Homerun leaves us pondering what the director would have us think as we leave the cinema. There is no element of suspense left in Police and Thief to entice the audience to look out for the next episode, unlike a soap opera. Even as both shows make use of our experience to enhance our appreciation and understanding of the shows, they obviously use several different techniques and some similar ones to bring forth the essence of each individual story. These different methods highlight certain elements essential to the plot of the stories and ultimately help us to enjoy the shows as Singaporeans. Word Count: 1512.

DNA, Genes and chromosomes

DNA, Genes and chromosomes Introduction Assignment two will firstly explain about DNA, genes and chromosomes. It will then evaluate some pre- disposed genetic factors that affect normal human functioning and look a range of different diseases. It will then evaluate pre-disposed environmental factors that may also affect normal human functioning and discuss another range of diseases. Genetic information is contained in nucleic acids, which are the molecules that hold the information. All living cells and viruses contain information and there are two types of nucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the self replicating genetic material in living cells and ribonucleic acid (RNA). The structure of DNA was worked out by Watson and Crick in the 1950s. Nucleic acids are made of units called nucleotides and an individual nucleotide is in three parts which combine by condensation reactions. These are phosphoric acid, pentose sugar, which in DNA is deoxyribose and in RNA ribose and there is an organic base comprising of five and divided into two groups. The DNA is a double stranded polymer of nucleotides (polynucleotide) comprising of many million nucleotide units. Its structure is in the form of double helix which is maintained by hydrogen bonding and it contains four organ bases, adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine. A gene is the unit of heredity, comprising of a length of DNA that influences an organisms form and function. The protein produced when a gene is expressed produces a characteristic and each gene occupies its own position on the chromosome called the locus. Different forms of the same genes are called allele and there may be different alleles of the same gene with slightly different DNA structure. The chromosome is one long coiled DNA molecule which has genes dotted along its length. The genetic material of each cell is packaged together in the nucleus as chromosomes and each one of these contains very long DNA molecules. The human body has 46 chromosomes and in each body cell the chromosomes are in pairs, called homologous and a full set of chromosomes is called the karotype. Chromosomes make copies of each other so that when they divide, each daughter cell receives an exact copy of the genetic information. This is called replication and results in two DNA molecules. The Human Genome Project started in 1990 and it was a huge task to determine the order of bases in the human genome as well as identifying all the genes formed by the bases. Its other aims were to find the location of the genes on the 23 chromosomes and store the information on a data base. The purpose of collating the information was for scientists to know which sections of DNA, on which chromosomes are responsible for many inherited diseases. The main uses of genetic testing are in carrier screening, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, new born baby screening, and for prediction testing of onset disorders such as Huntington disease, onset cancers and Alzheimers disease. Using a sample of DNA it is possible to find out whether a person is carrying a faulty gene which causes a disease such as cystic fibrosis, or to identify genes that play a contributory role in diseases such as breast cancer. From results it is possible to eliminate all risk of the disease by correcting the faulty a llele. Sexual reproduction produces genetic variation amongst individuals in a population. Mitosis is when cell division takes place and it results in growth or repair of body tissues which is not to be confused with Meiosis which is the cell division that produces gametes (sex cells). In mitosis, one cell divides into two identical cells and in meiosis one cell divides into four daughter cells that a genetically unique. A species must change to its environment if it is to survive and the genotype of an organism gives it the potential to show a particular characteristic. Characteristics that are determined by a number of genes are called continuous variation such a height and characteristics that are clear cut are by a single gene are called discontinuous variation. The origins of variation are either non-inheritable or heritable. The environment has a huge role in determining phenotypic variation and factors in humans can include diet and exercise. Heritable variations are when an organism, for example, inherits genes which will determine its eventual size, although this can depend on nutritional influences. Monohybrid inheritance is when a characteristic controlled by a single gene is passed on from one generation to another. Examples of genetic diseases that are passed on in this way are Huntingtons disease and cystic fibrosis. The gene can be either dominant or recessive. Huntingdons disease is due to a mutation in a single gene that occurs on chromosome 4. Every cell nucleus has two copies on the gene and the codes for the protein are Huntingdin. People who develop the disease carry a mutation in one of copy of the Huntingdin gene. Huntingdin is concentrated in areas of the brain and that degeneration of the gene is called Huntingdons disease. Huntingdons disease is rare but another more common disease is cystic fibrosis which is caused by a recessive allele. To inherit the disease both parents have to be carriers of the defective alleles. In the UK one person in 2000 suffers from this condition and people that develop the disease produce a thick sticky mucus from the epithelial cells lining some passages in the body. The pancreatic duct can become blocked so food digestion can not complete and the bronchioles and alveoli of the lungs can become blocked. The normal allele of the cystic fibrosis gene makes an important protein called CFTR. Normally CFTR will transport chloride ions through the plasma membrane, however, the mutated allele causes production of a channel protein that does not transport the ions so the person who is homozygous suffers from cystic fibrosis. The full amount of alleles and their combination a person has is called their genotype and some of these are recessive and some dominant. The effect that these alleles have is called the phenotype. Different alleles of a gene do not have to be recessive or dominant and if two alleles both produce a protein that can function then the alleles can be codominant. An example of a disease that is codominance is Sickle cell anaemia, where a mutant allele of a normal haemoglobin gene causes one amino acid in the two beta polypeptide chains to be different. The shape of the molecule is altered and the red blood cells can be crescent or sickle shaped. These can be easily damaged and the number of working cells decreases the amount of oxygen going to the tissues. The heart works harder and the defective cells join together making the blood sticky. This can result in many side effects including kidney failure, heart attack and strokes. The spleen is over burdened and can stop its ability to remo ve bacteria from the blood so infections can be common. Another type of faulty cell division is called non disjunction where the daughter cell receives two copies of a chromosome and the other gets none. This can result in the condition called Downs syndrome where chromosome 21 is affected. The genetic condition is known as trisomy, where a person inherits an extra copy of one chromosome. People with the syndrome have three copies of chromosome 21 rather than two and this additional genetic material affects the balance of the body and results in characteristic physical and intellectual features. Many people have alleles of genes which can make them much more susceptible to certain diseases. The disease may only develop if the person become in contact with something in the environment such as a chemical. An example of this would be lung cancer as some smokers die from cancer in middle age, while others carry on well into old age without being affected. The expression of genes can also be affected by environmental factors such as diet, disease and temperature during development. Mutagenic agents can cause gene mutations in tissues which then grow abnormally. There much scientific disagreement about a persons intelligence as is it determined by genes or by the environment that they grow up in. Asthma is a condition that tends to run in families that are prone to allergies. Although there are many factors that cause and influence asthma there is no single gene that is involved, although scientists are searching for the gene involved which may lead to a cure. The condition affects the bronchioles that carry air in and out the lungs which become swollen or narrowed and excess mucus is produced. It is a chronic condition and symptoms are wheezing, shortness of breath and a tight feeling in the chest. There are environmental factors which increase the risk of the disease such as being brought up in a house that has a pet, exposure to cigarette smoke in the uterus or in early life, air pollution and being born at the time of year when pollen is at is highest. Coronary heart disease is a condition in which genetics and environmental factors determine which humans get the disease. The disease is caused by a blockage of the coronary arteries which supply blood to the heart. In a healthy heart the walls are smooth and the blood flows easily, but the disease develops when material blocks the walls of the arteries causing narrowing of the vessels and possibly a complete blockage. This can lead to a wide range of cardiac problems including angina. The disease often occurs within the same family which can indicate that there maybe genetic link between people with the condition. It is difficult to establish if there is a direct correlation between family members due to genes or whether it is the environmental factors which they all are exposed to. Some of the main environmental factors that increase the risk of developing the disease are smoking, lack of exercise, obesity, unhealthy diet, mental stress, alcohol and coffee. It has been proved that genetic factors have an influence on cholesterol levels, but overall, it seems that a combination of genetics and the environment would best explain the family link to heart disease.

Female Dominance Or Male Failure? :: essays research papers

Female Dominance or Male Failure?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  James Thurber illustrates the male species' status with respect to, â€Å" Courtship Through The Ages† with a humorous and melancholic tone. He emphasizes the lack of success males experience through courtship rituals and the constant rejection we endure. Our determination of courting the female with all our â€Å" love displays† may be pointless as it is evident in the repetitive failures of courtship by all male creatures. Thurber shares his problems with courtship and the role which men portray, he explores the relationship between nature and culture, and the demands culture places on men. Thurber's frustration with the female species is obvious and is reflected throughout his essay. The extremities males endure to obtain female attention become overwhelming and incomprehensible to Thurber, consequently conflicting with the myth and construction of the ideal of masculinity. Thurber's frustrations with women are evident right from the start. He displaces male insubordination to the blueprint of nature and it's â€Å"complicated musical comedy.† (Rosengarten and Flick, 340) It's interesting that he attributes nature as a female creator and thus justifying the relationship that â€Å" none of the females of any species she created cared very much for the males.† (p 340)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thurber compares the similarities of courtship to the complicated works of Encyclopedia Brittanica. A book which is full of wonders and within lies mysteries of the unknown and unpredictable. In comparison to the Encyclopedia Brittanica the female is alike in many ways, such as its perfect construction and orderly appearance seeming as if they replicate one another like a clone. I believe Thurber views all female species as being similar to one another with respect to their character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author also associates courtship as a business, a show business. A world which is chaotic, disorderly and full of confusion much like nature. It is an aggressive competition between genders in which mother nature dominates. He also attributes the similarity of constructed rules and regulations in need of much guidance with the help of a hand manual. Culture also places demands on males. Males who are lacking in outer appearance and sexual appeal try to diminish their faults by acquiring gifts â€Å"to win her attention... and bring her candy, flowers, and the furs of animals† (p 340) for the lady in courting. Women's refusals became men's burden which laid heavily on their shoulders in the social relationship. â€Å"These 'love displays' were being constantly turned down, insulted, or thrown out of the house.† (p 340) This produced the evident exhaustion of the male species such as the â€Å" fiddler crab who had been standing on tip-toe for eight or ten hours waving a

It Is Good for Children to Learn by Heart

It is good for children to learn by heart Children today learn in many different ways, it depends on who they have as â€Å"teacher†. Today most of the teachers at school agree with that it is good for children to learn by heart. While other, disagrees. Why is it good for children to learn by heart, why not? First of all I’d like to mention that each one of us isn’t the same. We all like to learn in different ways. Some like to learn by heart. Some need an explanation of everything they learn. Learning by heart is such a good idea. It leads to good grades. It also makes a person smarter.When we for example learn the dates of important events that had been, by heart, we have control of how the world’s history has been through time. If someone ever mentions 1945, we will think of every event that had been in this year. It is also great to know each states of America by heart. Also name each country in the world. We then know where the state New York lays if someone mentions it. There are several things in life we just have to learn by heart. Like formulas in maths, they may not make sense, but you’ve got to learn it to solve a math problem.This is an advantage for why child should to that. However, every good thing has also a bad side. Learning by heart isn’t the best thing we can tell a child to do. You may memorize everything you hear or read, by heart, but do you really understand everything of it? Not for sure. There may be difficult words that we read. We find out what the definitions of those words are. But still, don’t understand it. We just learn it by heart. And when we have a test on school where we are supposed to explain one word, we just write the definition of what we have learned by heart.After some days, weeks or even months we may have forget what we have â€Å"learned†. Therefore it is good to understand what you know, so you can use it in practical situation, or explain it with your own wo rds to somebody else. There are many other ways to learn. Since we all learn in different ways. We should spend time to figure out how and when we do learn best. Then again, you have to understand what you learn! Some ways to learn: Make pictures in your head when you read, for example. Search for an easy explanation on internet. Or ask somebody to help you.Teachers at school can teach in a unique way. At school we can use what we learn in practical situations. It’s important to repeat what you’ve just learned, and think of it. I personally think that learning by heart is in a way pointless. I do learn in that way. Only when I have to learn nonsense things! Otherwise, I believe that everything has an explanation. I’m used to make an illustration of almost everything I hear. I make combinations of things I learn and then fantasize it to myself. This makes me understand the new things I learn through a day.

Geographic and Historical Facts About London, England

Geographic and Historical Facts About London, England The City of London, the capital of the United Kingdom as well as England, is the countrys most populous. It is also one of the largest urban areas in Western  Europe. The citys history goes back to Roman times when it was called Londinium. Remnants of Londons ancient history are still visible today, as the citys historic core is still surrounded by its medieval boundaries.Today London is one of the worlds largest financial centers and is home to 100 of Europes top 250 largest companies. It also has a strong governmental function as it is the home of the United Kingdoms Parliament. Education, media, fashion, arts, and other cultural activities are also prevalent in the city. It is a major world tourist destination, features four UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and was host to the 1908, 1948, and 2012 Summer Olympics.The following is a list of the 10 most important things to know about the city of London:1) It is believed that the first permanent settlement in present-day London was a R oman one in around 43 BCE. It lasted for only 17 years, however, as it was eventually raided and destroyed. The city was rebuilt, and by the second century, Roman London or Londinium had a population of more than 60,000 people.2) Starting in the second century, London passed through the control of various groups, but by 1300 the city had a highly organized governmental structure and a population of more than 100,000. In the centuries following, London continued to grow and became a European cultural center because of writers such as William Shakespeare. The city became a large seaport.3) In the 17th century, London lost one-fifth of its population in the Great Plague. Around the same time, much of the city was destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rebuilding took more than 10 years and since then, the city has grown.4) Like many European cities, London was highly affected by World War II,  especially after the Blitz and other German bombings killed more than 30,000 London residents and destroyed a large part of the city. The 1948 Summer Olympics were then held at Wembley Stadium as the rest of the city rebuilt.5) As of 2016, London had a population of 8.8 million, or 13 percent of the UK population, and a crowded average population density of more than 14,000 people per square mile (5,405/sq km). This population is a diverse mix of various cultures and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the city.6) The Greater London region covers a total area of 607 square miles (1,572 sq km). The London Metropolitan Region, however, contains 3,236 square miles (8,382 sq km).7) The main topographical feature of London is the Thames River, which crosses the city from the east to the southwest. The Thames has many tributaries, most of which are now underground as they flow through London. The Thames is also a tidal river, and London is thus vulnerable to flooding. Because of this, a barrier called the Thames River Barrier has been built across the river.8) Londons climate is considered temperate mar itime, and the city generally has moderate temperatures. The average summer high temperature is around 70–75 F (21–24 C). Winters can be cold, but because of the urban heat island, London itself does not regularly receive significant snowfall. The average winter high temperature in London is 41–46 F (5–8 C).9) Along with New York City and Tokyo, London is one of the three command centers for the worlds economy. The largest industry in London is finance, but professional services, media such as the BBC, and tourism are also large industries in the city. After Paris, London is the worlds second most visited city by tourists, and it attracted more than 30 million international visitors in 2017.10) London is home to various universities and colleges and has a student population of around 372,000. London is a world research center, and the University of London is the largest teaching university in Europe.

Camera phone debate

Camera phone debate Introduction Advancement in technology has brought about revolution in telecommunication industry. This has led to increased use of camera phones and digital cameras in the United States. Estimates show that nearly half of American families have cameras. Moreover, they also show that nearly 40% of the families have camera phones.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Camera phone debate specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This shows that people have embraced technology. However, it is worrisome that some people risk their lives to use these gadgets. For instance, a graduate student (Jamal Albarghouti) took footage of the Virginia student massacre on a camera phone. Similarly, another 19 years old college student (Ho) took footage of plane crash on a digital camera. These cases provide examples of citizens who risk their lives to take video footages (Rottenberg and Winchell 262-265). Summary of the two articles Praise for Stud ent’s footage of Virginia tech Mass killing The article by Lily Yulianti narrates about a chilling event at Virginia Tech. Yulianti reports how a Palestinian graduate student (Jamal Albarghouti) took footage of mass killings at the college using a phone camera. Albarghouti took a detailed footage of the event. Yulianti mentions in the article that Larry King, a news reporter with CNN, was amazed at Albarghouti’s achievement. The article goes through the event as taken in the footage. It mentions mass shootings, which was experienced at the College. In addition, the article covers Albarghouti’s interview with Larry king. Yulianti’s main concern in the article is about Albarghouti’s safety (Rottenberg and Winchell 262-265). She could not understand why Albarghouti stopped and take footage of events in such a commotion. Moreover, he was not a professional journalist. The article describes how Albarghouti gave an account of the event to King. Yulianti describes Albarghouti’s account on the event as clear and firm. However, she also notes that Albarghouti was used to such hostilities back in Gaza. Later on, the author introduces the citizen journalism debate, which has received criticism from traditional media. She therefore wonders why exclusive reports from citizen journalists are met with suspicion by the mainstream media (Rottenberg and Winchell 262-265). Disaster Photos: Newsworthy or Irresponsible The second article is about a debate on whether photos taken by survivors are newsworthy or irresponsible. The article begins by recounting how plane crashes have prompted concerns by safety investigators. In addition, it gives a detailed description of London bombings as well as witness photos from survivors. The article wonders why victims put the lives at risk to take pictures during tragic events like plane crash. It goes on to give a story of Ho, a student who took pictures of a plane crash disaster, in which he was a c rew (Rottenberg and Winchell 262-265).Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This was quite worrying given that he could have easily delayed rescue missions as well as his safety. The article talks of photos from Eddie Ho, which were, broadcasted in ABC’s good morning America. Moreover, this information was also broadcasted in CNN and NBC. The article therefore tries to debate whether taking photos at such crucial moments is newsworthy or irresponsible. It utilizes several scholars such as Helen Muir and Kelly McBride to analyze the debate (Rottenberg and Winchell 262-265). For instance, one scholar cautions media from taking footage/ pictures from citizens without prior information on how the sources got such information. However, other proponents like Sherwood welcomes contributions from citizen journalists like Ho. In the end, the article reaches a consensus on the issue by noting that over time, it is upon survivors to decide when to take pictures or not (Rottenberg and Winchell 262-265). Analysis The first article gives an overview of events before criticizing journalists at the end. It gives an overview of citizen journalism and an overview of how it is clear and firm. It does not give detailed information on professional journalism although it criticizes mainstream media, which consist of professional journalists, of being suspicious of citizen journalism. The author therefore uses appeal to describe one side and to refute the other (Whately 11). In this regard, the model utilized in the first article is Aristotelian, which promotes one claim but refutes the other. On the other hand, the second article gives a detailed description of both sides of the debate. For instance, it gives example of proponents of survivor photos with their reasons and those against survivor photos. In the end, it reaches consensus on situations when surviv ors can take photos. This article shows a rogerian argumentation, which normally reaches consensus after exploring both options (Whately 11). Conclusion From the two articles, it is clear that the latter provides more information for decision making than the first. For instance, it does not only make claims on the need for survivors to stop taking picture in distress, but it also provides evidences from proponents. These include Helen Muir and Kelly McBride, among others. On the other hand, it provides information from opponents like Sherwood, among others. Finally, it reaches a solution with evidence from Mark Glaser. The second article is therefore more convincing than the first (Munson and Black 55). Munson, Ronald, and Black Andrew. The Elements of Reasoning, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2011.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Camera phone debate specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Rottenberg, Annette, and Win chell Donna. Elements of Argument, London: Bedford, 2012. Whately, Richard. Elements of Logic, New York, NY: Sheldon Company, 1826.

Differences in the United States and British Constitutions essays

Differences in the United States and British Constitutions essays There exist many major differences of the U.S. and British constitutions. The United States Constitution and the British Constitution contain dissimilarities for the reasons that are due to their originations, background, context, and intent. These differences are apparent in the society and political setting in which both countries respectively have. The constitutions do contain a few simple principles in common. Among these similarities is the need for a government to respect the individual rights of its citizens. The differences are evident in many of the works that influenced the constitutions before its creation. The Magna Carta is a document that served as a milestone in the British Constitution. King John of England forcefully signed the Magna Carta in 1215. His barons were angered about how he was ruling the people, so they forced him to sign the charter. The Virginia State Constitution of 1776 was the first state Declaration of Rights ratified by its citizens, unlike the Magna Carta. It had a large effect on the creation of the United States Constitution. In the Magna Carta, the government was based on the Rule of Law. In the Virginia Constitution, the power derived from the citizens and kept by the citizens. The Magna Carta was the first document in England to limit the power of a single ruler. It gave the people the protection from imprisonment or punishment without proper lawful judgment of peers and by the law of the land. These ideas were later a part of the American Constitution. In that instance, the "judgment of peers" did not mean trial by jury. Within the Virginia Constitution , trial by jury was an included right of the citizens. The protection of basic rights of nobility was included in the Magna Carta. In the Virginia Constitution, all men are created equal with basic rights of life, liberty, property, happiness, and safety. The Magna Carta contained the idea of a government based on agreement or contract betwee...

Written response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Written response - Assignment Example Card and Krueger disproved those who argue that raising minimum wages is bad for employees because it will result to loss of jobs and lower fringe benefits and bad for the economy because it can result to closing of stores and lower number of new stores to be opened. I agree with these findings because higher minimum wages would not necessarily reduce food demand, so the labor demand remains the same, or it would even be higher, if food demand increases after the wage increased. However, minimum-wage increases must be indexed to inflation to avoid the erosion of real wages and to reduce poverty and income inequality. I believe that that their findings, which showed that increasing minimum wages is not necessarily bad for employees (as some critics of wage increases suggest, because it did not result to lower employment and fringe benefits), make sense because higher wages will not necessarily impact the demand for fast food products and demand for experienced, motivated workers. Card and Krueger showed that employment level even increased because of high demand, despite the recession during this time. If food demand remains the same, then stores would need the same number of people. In addition, if, because of the recession, more people ate at fast food restaurants where food products are cheaper, then demand for fast food would even increase. A rise in food demand will influence store owners to hire more people. Furthermore, with more customers, store owners would not find it rational or moral to reduce fringe benefits, such as free food or reduced food prices for employees. Store owners may se e these fringe benefits as motivators for their employees too, so it would not be reasonable for them to remove it. At the same time, store owners should also consider the competition for experienced fast food workers. Though they do not need workers to have some level of college education, some store owners may want more experienced workers

The Unnecessary Cost of the War in Iraq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Unnecessary Cost of the War in Iraq - Essay Example The Bush administration, along with the urging of then Defense Secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, woefully underestimated the number of soldiers it would require to secure Iraq after the initial invasion. Their number of approximately 125,000 troops was far too few to occupy the country and restore order. Paul Bremer, senior civilian administrator in Iraq during the first year of the occupation says he, "complained to President Bush and other officials that far too few troops were committed to the occupation in the first year after Saddam Hussein was ousted" (Shanker, A6). Bremer even wrote a formal letter to Secretary Rumsfeld requesting two additional divisions, but Bremer contends, "he had never heard back from Mr. Rumsfeld" (Shanker, A6). The fact that the Defense Department would not even respond to the senior administrator on the ground in Iraq shows the degree of arrogance, if not incompetence, that has led our country into a quagmire of ill-advised decisions. The decisions made at the White House have resulted in the unnecessary deaths and maiming of many of our finest young men and women. The death toll stands at almost 2,800 killed and another 10,000 wounded so severely that they will never be able to return to active duty (Shanker and Cloud, A14).

HR and performance, High-performance work system and big data Assignment

HR and performance, High-performance work system and big data - Assignment Example Many top organisational behaviour specialists believe that it can be relied on to provide companies that adopt it with a reliable and sustainable competitive edge. Given the popularity and endurance of the concept, it is understandable that it should be seen as a revolutionary method of handling human resources. In addition, quite a number or retrospective and contemporary studies posit that the effect of HRM on job satisfaction and, by extension, organisational performance is positive. However, this is not universal; some studies have portrayed job satisfaction as a primary mediator between HRM practices and organisational performance. On the other hand, others postulate that the implementation of HR practices is associated with increased levels of work intensity, which can translate into better performance but not necessarily higher job satisfaction (Green, 2004). There have also been claims that HRM practices that are adopted as part of high performance work system are not either designed to increase job satisfaction or tend not to have that effect (Appelbaum, 2002). However, some scholars have speculated that HRM tends to impact on separate components of job satisfaction such as a sense of achievement or contentment with ones pay (Green, 2006). However, what cannot be disputed is the fact that, despite the common assumption that HPWS are good for business, many organisations have failed to apply or implement them. This begs the question: If it is that good, why do more people not use it? A great deal has been written about the HPWS in HMR literature, however, despite this, little attention is given to it individually even though it concerns organisational economic; critical area in general economics. High performance work systems can be defined as high involvement or commitment organisations; these use a distinctive managerial approach to facilitate performance

Analyse the development of British policies towards the Middle East Essay

Analyse the development of British policies towards the Middle East from 1945 to 1967 - Essay Example Britain emerged from the Second World War in a precarious position both domestically and internationally. It faced repayment of a staggering 3.75 billion dollar loan from the United States, a convertibility crisis in 1947, a devaluation in 1949 and a balance of payment crisis in 1947. During this time there was prolonged public debate on the proper use of Britain's economic and military resources. The Labor government, committed to the eradication of Imperialism, believed foreign policy aims could be achieved in the long run by dealing with the peoples of the newly liberated nations as equals. Britain played an integral role in the Middle East since the close of World War I, and faced many difficulties in the region during the inter-war years. In large part these problems were brought on when they reneged on the pledge of independence they made to various Ethnic groups during their campaign against the Ottoman Turks. In addition, the parceling out land and creation of artificial states and borders resulted in various uprisings, most noticeably that in Iraq in 1920. Finally, their handling of the Palestine issue was not well met by Arab nations. The handling of the Palestine issue in the War's aftermath was a foreshadowing of Britain's coming impotence in the region. Unable to resolve the issue, Britain gave administration of Palestine to the United Nations in 1946. On Nov 29th 1947, the UN put forth a resolution calling for the partitioning of Palestine into two parts, one Jewish, one Arab. The results were not favorable to the Palestinians: three states, including the Soviet Union and the United States said yes, thirteen said no-mostly Arab and Muslim states-and ten abstained, among them Britain. Blackwell (1993) believes that the failure to hold Palestine, coupled with Britain's economic weakness and financial dependence on the United States all contributed to the undermining of British views on its world role at the end of the war (p.107). Despite the policy slump of the years following the war, in the 1950's there was a resurgence of foreign policy aims, most noticeably in the Middle East. Almog and Watt (2003) believe that this was due largely to Britain's interest in the Suez Canal. They claim, "The Suez Canal still remained a vital route of communication to Britain's interests in the Far East, e.g. Malaya and the empire in East Africa and Australia. In addition, in was an important link to British oil interests, largely those in Iran; in 1939, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was one of Britain's most important economic assets (Olmag and Watt, 2003, p. 1). Changing views by the British government on foreign policy were, to a large extent, an impetuous for policy expansion. Young (1997, p. 147) states, "By 1951 the Labour Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, a former trades union leader of lowly background but forceful personality, had abandoned all idea of isolationism and led Britain into a peacetime, permanent alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)." In 1952 Sir John Harding defined two fundamental principles that were to govern British initiatives and most importantly requirements for bases, in the Middle East. Cohen (2004) states, These principles marked the recognition that the UK could no longer aspire on its own to provide an effective defence of

All Immigrants need better support programs for cultural transition in Essay

All Immigrants need better support programs for cultural transition in the United States - Essay Example Significantly, the opportunity for economic improvement has been one of the most important motivations for immigrants in the United States. However, the immigrants have long been experiencing numerous challenges which turn up several issues, including work, education, and marital relationships. Cultural transition has been one of the most significant processes affecting the immigrants in the United States and this process of cross-cultural transition has given rise to several pertinent researches in the area. Immigrants in the United States belong to different countries of origin and dialects, and every group of immigrants has specific economic resources, educational systems, and class structures which keep the group distinct from other groups in the nation. The diversity in the cultural aspects of every immigrant population brings about numerous challenges with regard to cultural transition and the experience of the immigrants of Hmong culture in the nation illustrates these challen ges. The current system of support programs for the cultural transition in United States prove to be deficient in meeting the numerous challenges raised by the cultural practices and beliefs of various immigrant groups. Therefore, a reflective exploration of the experience of the immigrants in the nation, especially the people of Hmong culture, affirms that all immigrants need better support programs for the cultural transition in United States. Cultural transition has been one of the most dominant processes affecting the immigrants in the United States and the various groups of immigrants experience unmerited incidents which affect the process of cultural transition. Most often, difference in the cultural aspects of the individual cultures come to conflict with one another and the culture of the immigrant population usually suffer great loss. The role of social and cultural support programs to deal with these issues of cultural transition is often emphasized in various

Q & A Essay MGMT_Organization Behavior Class Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Q & A MGMT_Organization Behavior Class - Essay Example Instead, he erred due to the external attribution or outside factors such as, luck, poor team given to him or any other factor that might have influenced this project other than Marc’s expertise or aptitude for the project. Looking at Marc’s consistency and his past records, Elaine should infer that the project failed due to external attribution and not due to any internal attribution. There would be some errors that would be involved in the decision making process that takes into account the attribution forces. Elaine might overestimate or give more importance to the internal causes if in her opinion Marc hasn’t given his 100% for the project. In this case she would ignore other factors such as proper team was not given to him or any other factors such as bad working environment of the firm that might have contribute to the failure of the project. Similarly, another very natural reaction for her would be to say that Marc was solely responsible for the error and would taker herself out of the blame, whereas if the project would have been successful, she might have credited the entire organization not just Marc for the success. These are some of the attribution errors that Elaine would have to be wary of. For example, If a supervisor has seen or encountered a employee who is lazy and abhors work, he may think that all employees are lazy and hate work. This would lead to a judgment error and could lead to other organizational problems. For example, the CEO may contrast the managers of two departments on the basis of their performance and decide which one is better. However, this could lead to perception error because one manager might be better than other but low on profitability because he may be operating a branch in the area, where market share is low, demand for the product is low or it may be because he may be working with a team which is not as efficient as the other manager’s team. Biases:

Analyse the development of British policies towards the Middle East Essay

Analyse the development of British policies towards the Middle East from 1945 to 1967 - Essay Example Britain emerged from the Second World War in a precarious position both domestically and internationally. It faced repayment of a staggering 3.75 billion dollar loan from the United States, a convertibility crisis in 1947, a devaluation in 1949 and a balance of payment crisis in 1947. During this time there was prolonged public debate on the proper use of Britain's economic and military resources. The Labor government, committed to the eradication of Imperialism, believed foreign policy aims could be achieved in the long run by dealing with the peoples of the newly liberated nations as equals. Britain played an integral role in the Middle East since the close of World War I, and faced many difficulties in the region during the inter-war years. In large part these problems were brought on when they reneged on the pledge of independence they made to various Ethnic groups during their campaign against the Ottoman Turks. In addition, the parceling out land and creation of artificial states and borders resulted in various uprisings, most noticeably that in Iraq in 1920. Finally, their handling of the Palestine issue was not well met by Arab nations. The handling of the Palestine issue in the War's aftermath was a foreshadowing of Britain's coming impotence in the region. Unable to resolve the issue, Britain gave administration of Palestine to the United Nations in 1946. On Nov 29th 1947, the UN put forth a resolution calling for the partitioning of Palestine into two parts, one Jewish, one Arab. The results were not favorable to the Palestinians: three states, including the Soviet Union and the United States said yes, thirteen said no-mostly Arab and Muslim states-and ten abstained, among them Britain. Blackwell (1993) believes that the failure to hold Palestine, coupled with Britain's economic weakness and financial dependence on the United States all contributed to the undermining of British views on its world role at the end of the war (p.107). Despite the policy slump of the years following the war, in the 1950's there was a resurgence of foreign policy aims, most noticeably in the Middle East. Almog and Watt (2003) believe that this was due largely to Britain's interest in the Suez Canal. They claim, "The Suez Canal still remained a vital route of communication to Britain's interests in the Far East, e.g. Malaya and the empire in East Africa and Australia. In addition, in was an important link to British oil interests, largely those in Iran; in 1939, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was one of Britain's most important economic assets (Olmag and Watt, 2003, p. 1). Changing views by the British government on foreign policy were, to a large extent, an impetuous for policy expansion. Young (1997, p. 147) states, "By 1951 the Labour Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, a former trades union leader of lowly background but forceful personality, had abandoned all idea of isolationism and led Britain into a peacetime, permanent alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)." In 1952 Sir John Harding defined two fundamental principles that were to govern British initiatives and most importantly requirements for bases, in the Middle East. Cohen (2004) states, These principles marked the recognition that the UK could no longer aspire on its own to provide an effective defence of

Q & A Essay MGMT_Organization Behavior Class Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Q & A MGMT_Organization Behavior Class - Essay Example Instead, he erred due to the external attribution or outside factors such as, luck, poor team given to him or any other factor that might have influenced this project other than Marc’s expertise or aptitude for the project. Looking at Marc’s consistency and his past records, Elaine should infer that the project failed due to external attribution and not due to any internal attribution. There would be some errors that would be involved in the decision making process that takes into account the attribution forces. Elaine might overestimate or give more importance to the internal causes if in her opinion Marc hasn’t given his 100% for the project. In this case she would ignore other factors such as proper team was not given to him or any other factors such as bad working environment of the firm that might have contribute to the failure of the project. Similarly, another very natural reaction for her would be to say that Marc was solely responsible for the error and would taker herself out of the blame, whereas if the project would have been successful, she might have credited the entire organization not just Marc for the success. These are some of the attribution errors that Elaine would have to be wary of. For example, If a supervisor has seen or encountered a employee who is lazy and abhors work, he may think that all employees are lazy and hate work. This would lead to a judgment error and could lead to other organizational problems. For example, the CEO may contrast the managers of two departments on the basis of their performance and decide which one is better. However, this could lead to perception error because one manager might be better than other but low on profitability because he may be operating a branch in the area, where market share is low, demand for the product is low or it may be because he may be working with a team which is not as efficient as the other manager’s team. Biases:

The novel by Steinbeck Essay Example for Free

The novel by Steinbeck Essay Of Mice and Men, the novel by Steinbeck, frequently dramatises the constant action of back-to-back scenes. Consequently, the novel shares a strong sense of time, which is a formal element of most movies. Steinbecks novel is not targeted at a selective audience in view of its vernacular dialogue and informal touch. Also considering the fast-paced action, Of Mice and Men is very adaptable to a movie version. Using various devices up his sleeve, it is very important that the filmmaker gets across a sense of setting and colour in connection with characters thoughts and feelings. In preparing the final scene of the movie version of Of Mice and Men we were trying to focus on Lennies vulnerability in the outside world, the decline of Georges self-esteem with the demise of Lennie and how the setting and the environment (especially Lennies desired rabbits) reacted to the catastrophic conclusion. Our precise aims regarding filming technique were to use a combination of low and high-angle shots, camera FX to reflect the plot e. g. , dew, steam, fast/moderate paced camera, and deliberate exclusion of the camera from any part of the shot. For soundtracks/FX, we especially tried to imitate characters moods and feelings. Finally, suitable dialogue in calculated manner and appropriate timing re-enforced our essence of Lennies demise and Georges position. The establishing shots arouse an audiences preliminary attention and directly convey a filmmakers purposes. This is because setting, colour, smell, movement and a characters intentions are all elements of this shot. In our film, George carries a great appeal to any audience and connects them with Lennies reality. In the first subjective shot, George scrambles onto his horses saddle and shoots past the ranch at top speed while camera does not linger on setting. I thought that because the camera does not linger on setting, an audience unaware of Steinbecks final plot might get mystified or puzzled as to why George acts so instinctively. We decided on this camera movement keeping in mind that George is very determined and sincere with his friend and he will do the best up to his ability to protect Lennie. The audience can now sense something will go wrong and George will try to help Lennie to get out of the mess. This shot will prompt most audiences to form their own speculations of what is to happen next.

Ship Machinery And Equipment Maintenance

Ship Machinery And Equipment Maintenance Ship machinery maintenance is of predominant importance for accurate operation of each ship. For this purpose, the ships machinery plant should be kept well maintained and clean at all times for assuring safe and smooth operation and functionality of the ship. Furthermore, it is most significant that ample new spare parts and equipments are carried on board in order to correctly accomplish maintenance in due time under the supervision of fully competent staff according to the manufacturers instructions. Moreover, Crankshaft deflections need to be taken frequently at regular intervals. Fuel oil and Lube oil must be analyzed in order to ensure that they do not contain any debris or contamination. Main as well as auxiliary engines result in a breakdown that cause severe damage like fire that may require the ship from terminating its services until lengthy and costly repairs and maintenance measures are accomplished. Experts acknowledge the fact that maintenance requirements are not standardized. However, these requirements will differ substantially from one ship to another. Some ship owners employ a fundamental preventative maintenance policy, while others operate more sophisticated systems based on condition monitoring. This is why machinery surveys are adopted in flexible basis so as to plan according to owners existing business processes and schedules. An approach that is based on operating at schedules intervals offers a manageable and controlled maintenance program. Although, it may not be most efficient, a maintenance program is tailored to operational performance trends, and manifested by individual elements of machinery. Furthermore, by evaluating the condition monitoring data, the extent to which machinery is opened for surveys is considerably reduced. This approach may be applied to a vast variety of reciprocating and rotating shipboard machinery. For instance, Tail-shafts can be contr olled and monitored on frequent basis, thereby allowing lengthy periods between withdrawals for accurate inspection. The time interval between raising main stream turbine casings may be extended in a similar fashion. As a result of this, unproductive repair as well as dry dock downtime may be kept to a minimum level. Interestingly, based on Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), further optimization of the maintenance program can be obtained. This technique employs a structured assessment of functions for deriving the most efficient maintenance strategy. Also, operational performance can be improved by maintaining ship availability and keeping downtime minimal. For proper machinery maintenance and loss prevention, following measures must be undertaken: Lubricating Oil: Lubricating or lube oil sampling should be maintained at frequent levels and regularly recorded as a recommended practice. Also, lube oil purifiers must be operated continuously and adequately. The gravity disc should be chosen so as to achieve the desired oil-water interface at a maximal level of temperature nearing 90 deg C according to the specifications. Furthermore, the lube oil feed system applied to the purifiers must be evaluated for ensuring the optimum flow rate between the feed pump and the purifiers capacity. Old lube oil feed system designs utilize a direct drive pump that bears a large capacity as against the recommended flow through the purifiers. If the system contains heavy contamination of water, the lube oil in the sump tank should be transported to a settling tank, the sump tank must be cleaned, and new fresh oil must be filed to the minimum level as recommended by the engine manufacturer. Moreover, the contaminated lube oil is drained and circulated by the purifiers and after analysis, the future use if the oil is assessed. If solid particles are determined in the system, the piping system should be cleaned and the entire engine must be flushed. Crankshaft Safety: The engine should be stopped as soon as the oil mist detector alarm rings or overheating of engine is detected. To avoid further damage, the main cause of overheating of engine must be identified and correction measures must be taken before the engine is restarted. The lube oil must be kept clean as far as possible by continuously using the lube oil purifiers at the recommended temperature over 90 deg C. Also, lube oil filters must be maintained and placed in clean and suitable environment by frequent routines. Crankshaft deflections should be regularly taken in order to ensure that the operation of the engine is within the limit as permitted by the manufacturer. Bunkers: Bunkering processes that includes fuel-testing procedures must be carefully reviewed for ensuring accuracy in procedures while dealing with off-specification bunkers. Each precaution must taken to make sure that adequate amount of bunker supplies are made available in order to allow proper testing before any new bunkers are used. Furthermore, water, high ash and total sediment potential content also must be considered as well as high sodium and water content that indicates the presence of seawater within the bunkers. At sea, loss of structural integrity due to grounding and collision are the most significant contributors to accidental pollution. Hulls must be designed by considering two most important factors; (1) improvement in the hull strength as well as energy absorption, and (2) sufficient residual strength subsequent to damage for allowing salvage operations. So far, the major focus is on preventing pollution from tankers. Nevertheless, there is now greater concern related to the potential consequences of damage and accidents to bunker tanks and other types of ships, some which may be carrying thousand tones of fuel oil. Present R D, as far as improving hull strength and energy absorption is concerned, is focusing on the development and advancement of modified calculation methods that are to be used for measuring the ability of varying structural assemblies to withstand ground forces and collision. When the entire numerical simulations done by the finite element method is taken into accoun t, examining the experimental results have proven the significance of including the vertical motion of the ship especially for grounding simulations along with the motion of the struck object or striking ship to evaluate collision simulations. Moreover, significant amount of research has been dedicated to the evaluation of existing as well as proposed design solutions for improvement of collision and grounding strength. 2-D methods have been employed for evaluation of relatively simple post-accident strength for the anticipation of the collapse strength of a hull girder. By using these methods, the capability of the damaged ship to survive can be assessed by a skillful comparison between the measured strength and the environmental loads; the latter being calculated without considering the result of the accidental damage on the loads and motions acting on the ship. Therefore, research is on-going with the main objective on improvement of ship response calculation methods corresponding to the effects of damage for both mobile offshore units and the ships. The following are said to be the major R D requirements in these areas: Conceptions about ship subdivision in order to minimize the effect of impacts on the hull, as well as concepts for hull structure design for increasing the residual strength and the resistance to impact after damage. Particularly, further development and enhancement of energy absorbing side and double bottom shell designs and their evaluation through full-scale tests and models along with comprehensive numerical models. Integrating numerical models for external dynamics, i.e. ship motions, and internal mechanics. Developing ways of securing bunker tanks from grounding and collisions for new ship designs. Developing simplified calculation techniques and methods for prediction of energy absorption abilities of particular structural solutions. Developing design criteria for prevention of pollution as a result of collision and grounding Analysis of collected casualty information on grounding and collision with the main goal to develop environmental impact indexes and reference design scenarios able to talk for the energy absorption and varying structural configurations. Apart from grounding and collision, other major causes of loss of hull integrity are fatigue/fracture problems, excessive loading, and consequences of corrosion. Corrosion is reduced by supplying additional thickness to the plate at the design stage and employing corrosion protection systems, many of which are based on coatings requiring maintenance throughout the life of the ship. Also, corrosion problems can be dealt with by good detail design of the hull structure. A factor that provides potential is design for maintenance; for instance, by ensuring suitable access for inspecting local structures as well as for applying coatings. Thus, the main R D needs covering this area are concerned with the design and structuring of ship hulls for corrosion reduction/prevention and for easier inspection and maintenance. Planned maintenance system (PMS) deals with scheduling, planning and performance of each and every important machinery on board a ship. Furthermore, PMS software is deployed to every ship for carrying out the operations of the ship in an efficient manner. All the PMS functionalities are carried out according to their schedules. This not only ensures efficient working of the machinery but also help in avoiding any sort of mishap caused due to poor maintenance. To carry out all the maintenance works in a timely manner, PMS software is used. A PMS software is fabricated for a ship based on the type and number of machinery the ship possesses. A job card is assigned to every machine that consists of every detail about the machinery. Each job card has three main components. A PMS software gives an accurate estimation of the maintenance schedule overdue or nearing, and enables the user to plan and submit the completion report, by which the next maintenance date is automatically rescheduled (Hayman et al).

Waste Land Essay: All is Not Well :: T.S. Eliot Waste Land Essays

All is Not Well in The Waste Land Eliot's "The Waste Land" doesn't make sense. No matter how many symbols and allusions are explained by critics or Eliot himself, no matter how many fertility gods and Eastern philosophies are dragged into it, the poem does not make sense. But then, it doesn't need to in order to be good or to have a purpose. All it needs is to have meaning, and something need not make sense to mean something. The meaning "The Waste Land" holds for me is of something wrong - something so twisted and "rotten," as to be intrinsically wrong. For me, this wrongness winds itself in and out of the passages and images of the poem and doesn't seem to have any hope of being righted until the end - in the last few lines. In every time, in every place in "The Waste Land," something is wrong. The world of the poem is one where April, the season when growing things return after winter, is "the cruellest month, breeding/Lilacs out of the dead land," the "son of man" knows only "a heap of broken images," and there is "fear in a handful of dust." Each symbol and each allusion contains a grotesque element - one that was already there or one incorporated by Eliot. Lines 72-73 are such a nice, normal way to speak about a garden ("'Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?/'Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?'"), except that the thing which has been planted is a corpse, and it's in danger of being dug up by a Dog. T'ie different ways of looking at life are all tainted. Someone says, "'I shall rush out as I am, and walk the street/'With my hair down, so. What shall we do tomorrow?/'What shall we ever do'?'" The talkative woman gossips of the problems in another woman's marriage and of her abortion, ending with the last words of Ophelia, spoken in her madness. Tiresias, the blind prophet, foretells the scene of a woman who endures the caresses of her lover, and, glad when they are over and he is gone, forgets about the incident entirely. She merely "puts a record on the gramophone." The descriptions are often shocking and ugly, especially in the midst of a beautiful scene.

Essay on Variety in The Merchants Tale -- The Merchants Tale

Use of Variety in The Merchant's Tale  Ã‚   The Merchant's Tale tells the story of an old man searching for a wife and finding one, who is ultimately unfaithful to him. Chaucer uses a variety of elements in the poem to show his knowledge of contemporary interests and his story telling capacity through another figure. Irony flows through the poem, laced with allusions to the Bible. Chaucer's use of his astronomical knowledge not only allows modern day scholars to date events, but also adds another dimension of interest for the contemporary audience and of course, the pilgrims. Januarie's discussion of Heaven and Hell leads to the idea of marriage providing a Heaven on Earth. It is said that a wife is a husband's "paradis terrestre, and his disport" (l. 120), but at the introduction of the idea of a paradise, the reader can begin to contemplate the introduction of a serpent at a later point. Chaucer uses heavy irony as Januarie worries about experiencing his only Heaven on Earth. It becomes evident that May is anything but his Heaven. Her behaviour with Damyan in the pear tree is reminiscent of the story of Adam and Eve and the temptation of the apple tree as Damyan has become the serpent in Januarie's paradise of wedded bliss. The Biblical allusions that are used in the Tale have the effect of broadening the moral behind the story. By using the irony of the Biblical stories along with the thoughts of Januarie, a contemporary audience would have quickly perceived that there would be trouble with the marriage, as they would have been relatively well versed on the Bible. The priest at the marriage ceremony "bade [May] be lik Sarra and Rebekke" (l.492). While these two figures are held up as examples of holy and virtuous wom... ... the possibility, says Maurice Hussey, that Chaucer knew that St. Damian was the patron saint of medicine, thus giving ironic undertones to the sight-healing excuse for the pear tree tryst. Geoffrey Chaucer used many different aspects of his wide knowledge when writing the Merchant's Prologue and Tale. Biblical references and parallels with and inclusions of mythological characters are evidence of this. The appeal of such references to a medieval audience is extended with the inclusion of detailed and seemingly accurate astronomical minutiae. These details provide another level of information about the characters and their fates, such as the future of the marriage - it having been performed when the planet of war and the planet of love were in conjunction. Around these imaginative inclusions weaves a line of irony and a use of contemporary views and literature.

ADHD Nutrition

ADHD is a disease which weakens the release and homeostasis of neurological chemicals. In full the initials stand for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.Research shows that ADHD is a hereditary disorder that is it can be passed on through genes.Its occurrence comes with many other disorders such as being defiant, learning disorders and other behavioral disorders ( Paul, 2000 p.4 )There are no specific laboratory tests to establish this condition. The diagnosis can be made upon the parents careful evaluation of their past to see whether they could have had symptoms similar to those that are clear indicators of the disease.Useful tests to diagnose the condition can be through achievement tests that can be used to measure the learner’s learning disorders.Drugs used to treat the disorder are noted to be very addictive. However, psychological treatment can be very helpful. It is also important to note that the drugs used are only used to control the situation and not to treat it.Symptoms of this condition include being restless, lack of concentration, and if there is some, they last for a short time, the child is easily distracted, engagement in excess activities and being impulsive. It can also lead to many allergies to additives and food dyes.More boys are affected by this condition by girls, a phenomenon that has been explained as being as a result of the aggressive nature of boys as opposed to the girls. Many people believe that there is a relationship between food additives and hyperactivity which is seen in this condition called ADHD.The question as to whether there is a relation between nutrition is a claim that has no scientific proof. Many scientists have ended their researches inconclusively.Though claims that there are causes of ADHD that are related to diet–specifically a diet that contains food additives or is high in sugar–and allergies, these claims were seriously investigated by a number of scientists and according to Paul, ( 2000 ) â€Å"many parents whose children are affected by this condition participated† ( p.42 ) Their concern was whether sugar could cause the symptoms of ADHD.Scientific studies show that sugar and carbohydrates cannot cause the symptoms of ADHD, but rather children with this condition can react with sugars in differently from the rest. However, there are no marked effects identified. In fact in one study ADHD children’s reaction to carbohydrates was better than that for proteins surprisingly. This fact also applies with the vitamins and ADHD.Regulated intake can help the situation rather than the exaggerated belief that it causes ADHD related symptoms. Neither too much sugar nor deficiency in vitamins can cause ADHD. The condition cannot be improved by excessive intake of vitamins as the results might be negative since some vitamins when taken in excess can be harmful.  The other causes identified include lead poisoning which has been known for a long time as a major cause of psychological problems. Its interesting that even those children who have not consumed lead can develop the condition may be as a result of breathing in or rather inhaling fumes from the vehicles, nearby industries especially for those in urban centers.Even though many researchers try to dissociate ADHD with nutrition, there is further evidence that reduction of certain additives in foods can be a good way of reversing the c ondition.It has also been observed that the blood of children suffering from this condition has a low DHA fat level. In addition, beneficial nutrients from greens, certain fish, and an adequate level of the DHA fats is a superb way of reversing such conditions in children who suffer from this condition. Recommended dose for the DHA fat is 100mg to 600 mg, according to the age and condition of the child.

Historic tenets of urban planning Essay

The Third World Cities have seen extra- ordinary growth in their urban expansion since 1950. The world 10 most populous cities are located in the third world countries. The urbanization has changed the way of life for the people living there. On one side these megacities have become economic giant for their countries, on other they have also created problems such as disease, congested traffic, pollution and sacristy of resources with a huge gap among haves and have not. As these cities are unplanned and this urbanization is a sudden experience, it is natural for the Third world countries to be surrounded by these surmounting troubles, unless they choose the way out. Historic tenets of urban planning The evidence of urban planning can be found the ancient cultures such as Roman and Greek cities and in ancient cities in India and Egypt as well. The Indus civilization in Pakistan is recognized as the first civilization to have a completely developed urban planning. In 2600 BC, before the arrival of Harapa and Mojodharo, the small towns grew into bigger towns and eventually became cities with thousands of people living in. These people did not have agricultural society as their cities depicts, showing a homogenous culture, however diapered suddenly from the course of history with their cities still intact. These cities are well planned and follow a consistent design, which clearly shows that they were built according to a conscious plan, and is considered the first developed urban plan. Similarly the Romans used to built their cities according to a proper city plan, with military and civil defense and many European cities still appear to follow that pattern. In their plan, the city has a central plaza or market, which is surrounded by streets and walls with short cuts to cut the time short for pedestrians and often the city, has river or stream in the center to provide water and carry sewage out of the city (Crouch, 2003) During the last two hundred years the Western world urban planning has gone through extensive changes in its planning and design. In the industrial age, the control of the city was held by the wealthy few, while the rest of the population lived in slums and sewage. In the 20th century a movement started to change this urban structure and to provide healthy environment to its people. Thus arose the concept of garden city, which were small in size but were basically model towns with few thousand people. In the early 1920s the concept of modern city emerges, such as Paris but they were destroyed during World Wars (Gaffikin, 1999). It was only after WWII that the new cities started to take shape place, however it was not until 1970s, that cheap block construction created an easy and efficient way of creating new buildings. The main objective of the concept of modern planning is to regulate the building activities and set the limits on building and neighborhoods. According to Hopkins (2001) the postmodern planning is composed of the following essential elements: Aesthetics Planning In postmodern urban plans, the most essential element is taking aesthetics more seriously, which meant to add beauty to homes and building. The important aspect of a city planning is zoning, maximizing and managing the use of land and pace of urban development. Safety The houses in modern urban plans are designed to incorporate well with existing municipal services. The cities extreme zones are planned in a way that such dangers can be defused and houses in such areas are equipped with emergency operation and secure evacuation centers. Transport Planning A good urban plan has well developed transport system which cater to the needs of it commuters. Good transport system avoids traffic congestions and effectively carries commuters into different parts of the city without hassle. And automobiles in a city are well suited it meets its requirement, such as spacious roads and parking lanes, which can handle traffic in rush hours. Effective Sub-urban Planning A successful urban plan brings benefit to larger city area by making the towns and urban environment spacious. Planning and the environment In advanced urban or village planning models, taking care of ecology is inevitable. The modern urban planning includes pastures and gardens to keep natural environment consistent with the city.

Anheuser-Busch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anheuser-Busch - Essay Example While most of the processes are undertaken under the same production plant, the first stage of the production process is undertaken in a different facility, where the raw materials to be used in the production process, such as barley and rice are germinated under controlled environmental conditions, to develop the grains’ natural enzymes (malt), in readiness for the next process. This activity occurs in the maltster, as the initial component of the production facility design (Knoedelseder, 2012). From here, the production process proceeds to the kiln, which is the second component of the production facility design, where the germinated raw materials are then dried under controlled temperature. It is at the kiln that the color of the grains is determined, by controlling the temperatures based on the desired color of the beer to be produced (Hernon, 1972). Additionally, the kiln also aids in the control of the flavor of the beer to be produced, by drying the grains to different degrees, based on the desired flavors. ... The three components of the production facility design are housed in the malt plant, after which the product produced from the malt plant is now taken to the brew house, where the rest of the production process is to continue. In the brew house, the products from the mash plant, which are now found in the form of already milled and grounded powder, are mixed together with water at the mash tank, which is the fourth component of the production facility design. Mixing the mash plant products is done at the right controlled temperatures, where the enzymes in the malt are now converted from starches into sugars, forming a product referred to as wort sugars, which is a fermentable sugar product (Hernon, 1972). This process is referred to as the wort formation, which determines the flavors of the beer to be produced, depending on the ingredients of the malt mash and the controlled temperatures that are applied. To obtain the wort, the mixture of water and the powdered mash plant products a re strained in the lauter tun; the fifth component of the production facility design, to give out the amber liquid, which is called wort. This is an important process in the beer production process, since the components, color and flavor of the wort determines the aroma, the taste and the overall taste of the beer finally produced (Hernon, 1972). From here the process proceeds to the six component of the production facility, which is the brew kettles (Knoedelseder, 2012). This is the container that holds the wort produced in the previous stage, which is then boiled and then mixed with hops. Hops are the major spices of the beer, which are added to produce the brand that is desired, differentiated on the basis of special flavor, aroma and beer character (Lang & Rubovits, 1992).

Health and Safety Executive Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Health and Safety Executive - Assignment Example The passers-by who use the main road are also in danger. The cattle and sheep may be potentially exposed to serious peril if the chamber suddenly explodes. (c.) Evaluation of Risks: Due to the impending peril of a potential explosion of the chamber brought about by the cracks, it is best that immediate remedy shall be effected swiftly. The toxic pollutants found in the sewer system can cause a critical threat to public health. In the event that it explodes, the water system shall be affected which can harm the community that uses the sewer system. (d.) Implementation: A simple solution to fix the cracks by applying a sealant to the cracked edges is just a temporary relief. There is a need to upgrade the sewer system management plan. In order to prevent sewer overflows, it suggested that some guideline should be followed: 5. Verify the wastewater collection system has adequate capacity to convey sewage during peak flows". Details on how to achieve a sewer system management plan can be found on this website http://www.ci.san-Luis-obispo.ca.us/utilities/download/ssmpgoal.pdf. (e.) Review of Assessment : The grave problem must be acted upon immediately. There is no need to wait for the operation to take place in June. The sewer system issue must be resolved in the soonest possible time as many people shall be exposed to the danger of spreading diseases and toxic pollutants in the water system which can be caused by a broken subterranean chamber of the sewer system. (a.) Hazards: The maintenance and upkeep of growing trees, grasses and hedgerows along highway and in the vicinity of a junior school in the suburbs of a small town has become a refuge of drug traders living in the area. The possible menace that the drug dealers can cause to the innocent children, the people who reside in the community, and the motorists who traverse the highway, should be prevented. (b.) Who may be harmed: The safety and well-being of the students attending the junior school and the entire school community are in jeopardy for they may encounter misfortune with the members of the drug syndicate.  Ã‚  

How convincing is Marxs critique of capitalism Essay

How convincing is Marxs critique of capitalism - Essay Example The debate between these two intellectual groups is as interesting as it is engaging. In this paper, I tried to highlight the insights of Marx’s criticism of capitalism and also tried to reflect some counter criticisms of Marx’s arguments. My interest is however the political grounds of Marx attack on capitalism. Thus I started by exploring the foundational concepts that Marx (state and class) based all his arguments, the dynamics of class relations in this state (alienation, exploitation and imperialism) before finally connecting these concepts with the democracy argument. The concepts of class and state are at the heart of Marx’s criticism of capitalism. Marx used the two concepts to explain the fabrics of the capitalist society. Marx threw light on classification of the society he studied. He wrote: â€Å"Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinctive feature; it has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: bourgeoisie and proletariat†. Marx identified two distinct classes, the bourgeoisie and proletariat, sharply differentiated by their position in the mode of production. The bourgeoisie is the capital owner (owner of property and means of production) while the proletariat is a class of those who work for capital owners and their labour is controlled by same. On the state, Milliband deduced, from Marx’s works, two views of the state. The first, he called primary view of the state, is rooted â€Å"in the famous aphorism of the Communist Manifesto: The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affair of the whole bourgeoisie† and political power is â€Å"merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another.† The secondary view, according

Psychology in Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Psychology in Practice - Essay Example Others have mentioned the idea of similarity and relatedness, indicating that a person is more likely to help another based on a genetic appraisal of the situation and the desire to help those of his or her specific gene pool. Another prosocial idea is that persons behave according to the theory of reciprocal altruism, in which persons help others in the expectation of receiving something in return. Persons might also help others when faced with guilt or the need to repay a good deed that was previously done to them. This is known as guilt or reparative altruism (Wetering). On the other hand, situations exist in which persons might not be inclined to help. Situations of moralistic aggression may arise, in which people feel that others are taking advantage of their altruistic tendencies, and in such cases they might not be inclined to help. Such is often the case in larger cities where cheaters are apt to exist. Subtle cheating and mimicry abound, through which people might pretend to be in distress in order to elicit altruistic behaviour. Such situations are likely to cause moralistic aggression to arise in persons as a protective mechanism (Wetering). The social setting also determines the type of behaviour one can expect from a person. According to the Darley and Latanà © study done in 1968, a person is more likely to help another if he or she is the only available helper in the situation. This theory is akin to others concerning crowds. Areas that are crowded or busy tend to contain people who are less likely to help in a dire situation. This might be due to their being in a hurry or it might hinge on the idea that crowds or busier areas are more likely to contain opportunistic persons. In such cases patterns might also obtain so that despite such variables as cultural or societal norms, in a crowd, the bystander

Consulting For Nursing Informatics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consulting For Nursing Informatics - Assignment Example In current times the traditional manual handling of information has been replaced by the automated handling of information collection, collation, distribution using computers and information technology tools giving rise to the discipline of informatics, which applied to healthcare is health informatics. Health informatics integrates several fields like Informatics, Nursing, Medical, Dental, Pharmaceutical, and Social and Consumer health, each being a specialty with overlap in some roles and tasks, but with the single objective of providing improved healthcare. There are several categories of trained personnel as applied to functions and tasks of nurses in health informatics: ‘informatics nurses’ have tasks in healthcare, ‘nursing informatics’ have tasks in informatics, and ‘informatics nurse specialists’ have higher knowledge and specialized skills, and have roles in higher functions. Consulting in the area of nursing informatics requires a lead ership position, a person who can plan, advice and execute nursing informatics projects under complex situations of overall healthcare informatics. Thus nursing consultant has the role in leading, planning, development, integration, maintenance, overall management, besides regular skill up gradation through training, management of systems and resources, and a system which through its performance expresses the value of nurses in the system of healthcare. The consultant in nursing informatics should also cover the tasks of change management, and interface and coordinate with people across the organization from nurses to clinical departments across the healthcare system. Besides, consulting should also include coordination with service vendors for IT, identify problems and provide solutions, advise on up gradation of systems, and implement systems consistency with professional standards.

If Age And Gender Play A Role In Staying Healthy Or Gaining Weight Essay

If Age And Gender Play A Role In Staying Healthy Or Gaining Weight - Essay Example This is because women have a lower resting metabolic rate more than men who burn a lot of energy when they are resting. This means that men need extra calories for maintaining their body weight more than women need. However, the research indicates that, in most cases, women gain more weight than men after menopause because the metabolic rate for women decreases considerably. RESEARCH QUESTION Does age and gender play a role in staying healthy or gaining weight? METHODS The research was conducted by employing qualitative research design for data collection. It also involved some participant of different age group brackets and a different gender. The research employed an effective procedure through using different apparatus in order to achieve the intended results. Participants The researcher included varied age group brackets that were selected from different gender groups. For instance, those who participated in the research study included 27 women and 23 men from different areas. The selected age of women and men were from the age of 35 and above. Among these groups, there were 15 children aging from 10-15 and 10 youths aging from 18- 35. The participants came from various schools and people from the community surrounding the chosen schools. The researcher chose the participants through random sampling on the targeted study area. The research study employed qualitative research design method in collecting information to reveal in case gender and age play significant roles in maintaining health. ... Moreover, the current study indicates that gender is a risk factor for healthy determination. For instance, women tend to gain weight faster than men (Mokdad 2003, p. 76). This is because women have lower resting metabolic rate more than men who burn a lot of energy when they are resting. This means that men need extra calories for maintaining their body weight more than women need. However, the research indicates that, in most cases, women gain more weight than men after menopause because the metabolic rate for women decreases considerably. RESEARCH QUESTION Does age and gender play a role in staying healthy or gaining weight? METHODS The research was conducted through employing qualitative research design for data collection. It also involved some participant of different age group brackets and different gender. The research employed an effective procedure through using different apparatus in order to achieve the intended results. Participants The researcher included varied age gro up brackets that were selected from different gender groups. For instance, those who participated in the research study included 27 women and 23 men from different areas. The selected age of women and men were from the age of 35 and above. Among these groups, there were 15 children aging from 10-15 and 10 youths aging from 18- 35. The participants came from various schools and people from the community surrounding the chosen schools. The researcher chose the participants through random sampling on the targeted study area. Qualitative Research Design The research study employed qualitative research design method in collecting information to reveal in case gender and age play significant roles in maintaining health. Qualitative research design is one of the effective methods employed by

The study of design research methodology Essay Example for Free

The study of design research methodology Essay Abstract Studies on design research methodology are infrequent, although there is a consensus that more e ort is needed for improving design research quality. Previous calls for exercising better research methodology have been unsuccessful. As numerous studies reveal, there is no single scienti c methodology that is exercised in science or in any other research practice. Rather, research methodologies are socially constructed. Since some constructions are better than others for di erent purposes, it becomes valuable to study di erent methodologies and their in uence on research practice and results. Proposals for such studies are overed. 1 The state of design research methodology In many disciplines, research methodology is seldom discussed by researchers. Such neglect may result from several attitudes towards research methodology including indi erence or ignorance. Researchers may be indi erent because their research is well received by the community therefore they need not change or worry about it; or researchers may perceive their practice as science and wish to adopt as their methodology what they perceive to be the methodology used by scientists, henceforth referred to as the received scienti c methodology. Roughly, the received scienti c methodology consists  of several steps: (1) observations or preliminary studies, (2) hypothesis formation, (3) hypothesis testing, (4) hypothesis evaluation, and (5) hypothesis acceptance or rejection. It is asserted that results of research discovered by this methodology lead to applied research and subsequently, to practical impact. In contrast to this assertion, it is proclaimed that the goal of this methodology is to advance knowledge for its own sake and not address practical needs nor be responsible for delivering practical results. Most researchers would rarely question this methodology, but since it is impossible to follow or even hard to approximate, researchers who would claim to have adopted it, would not practice it.  Indi erence may be caused by ignorance; often researchers are not familiar with the details  of, and the controversies about, the received scienti c methodology. They are unaware of the alternatives of this methodology that we brie y mention later, their practice, and consequences. In fact, most researchers interpret methodology as a fancy synonym for method, while methodology is (or attempts to approximate) a compatible collection of assumptions and goals underlying methods, the methods, and the way the results of carrying the methods out are interpreted and evaluated. The ability to validate the attainment of research assumptions and goals through the evaluations is a critical factor in making the above collection compatible. The di erence in meanings assigned to the term methodology can be illustrated through an example from structural optimization. One research method of structural design involves the development of optimization procedures and their testings on benchmark problems. Most researchers will call this method \research methodology. However, the assumptions underlying such work (e.g., that optimization is a good model of structural design) and its testing (e.g., that simple benchmark problems are representatives of the complex structural designs performed by designers), or the believe that such research advances practice (e.g., that designers use optimization programs developed in research and that designers practice bene ts from them), are rarely articulated thus  rarely validated. If these issues would be addressed, the conclusions would probably contradict those implicit assumptions. First, independent of any discipline, optimization is a very restricted view of design (even with respect to Simons (1981) restricted view). Second, results obtained on simple benchmark problems do not necessarily transfer to real design problems nor do they re ect performance on other benchmark problems (Haftka and Sobieski, 1992); simple benchmark comparisons provide little understanding of the relative merit of di erent optimization procedures (Burns, 1989). Third, practitioners are very reluctant to use optimization procedures (Adelman, 1992; Haftka and Sobieski, 1992). This reluctance contradicts the implicit or stated research goals of improving structural design practice. Indi erence or ignorance towards research methodology relieve researchers from addressing such contradictions or exercising informed choices between methodologies in their research. Many researchers simply follow the method of their close senior peers without questioning or even knowing the assumptions that underlie it. In most cases, only the method|the actual research activity|is transferred to research apprentices. Thus, driven by social proximity, research assumptions become part of the implicit unarticulated research culture. Infrequently, this state of a airs had called the attention of researchers. In 1987, two representative papers critical of the state of design research practice were published, one by Antonsson (1987) and the other by Dixon (1987). Both papers advocated adopting the scienti c methodology in design research either for improving research quality or for improving design practice. These and other related papers elicit almost no response from the research community. Since their publication, the state of design research methodology has remained virtually unchanged. Such reaction raises at least two questions: what may have caused this response and if this is an expected reaction, is the state of research methodology worth additional discussions? Two plausible answers that originate from two di erent interpretations of Dixon and Antonssons papers justify further discussions. First, Dixon and Antonssons positions may have been interpreted as criticizing the intellectual de ciency of research and demanding from researchers to exercise a methodology di erent from the one they actually use and one that requires additional e ort. In particular, the methodology Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Mechanical Design, 1995, in press  proposed demanded researchers to seriously test their hypotheses. It might have been expected that such requests would be opposed to or, worst, be ignored. Second, researchers who are familiar with current views in the philosophy of science may have treated Dixon or Antonssons positions as being too simpli ed if they interpreted these positions as advocating for the received scienti c view. Since the stated goal of science is creating knowledge for the sake of knowing, but not necessarily knowledge that is relevant to practice, the received scienti c methodology may hinder improving practice by detaching the products of research ( i.e., design theories) from actual practice (Argyris, 1980; Reich, 1992). According to this interpretation and its limitation, previous calls for improving research methodology could not have impacted design practice even if researchers had adopted them. If design practice is indeed a goal of design research, di erent methodologies may be needed to establish a connection between research and practice (Reich et al, 1992; Reich, 1994a; Reich, 1994b). These methodologies can evolve in various ways including studying researchers activities and the way these activities correlate with research progress, thereby identifying the relationships between di erent assumptions, methods, and consequences. I have no intention to select between these two interpretations or to develop others but to explain how to improve research practice without assuming a xed methodology. To start with, we must acknowledge that there are di ering views about scienti c methodology (Kourany, 1987). In addition, we must  acknowledge studies on science and technology demonstrating that scienti c progress is in uenced by social, cultural, and political factors. Researchers in various sciences are increasingly acknowledging that knowledge is socially constructed (Pickering, 1992), and knowledge of design, in particular (Konda et al, 1992; Monarch et al, 1993). Moreover, the social in uence on research practice includes aspects such as: shaping research goals according to available grants or unarticulated interests; publishing papers to receive tenure or to justify traveling to conferences; and fraud (Bell, 1992; Broadbent, 1981). The rst studies on the social dimensions of science analyzed the progress of the \hard sciences such as chemistry or physics (Feyerabend, 1975; Kuhn, 1962). More recently, historical or re ective studies in science and engineering have begun addressing the social aspects underlying research and the need for di erent methodologies if practical impact is sought. These disciplines include: management science (Argyris, 1980), education (Guba, 1990), public policy (Palumbo and Calista, 1990), information systems (Bjerknes et al, 1987), cell biology (Grinnell, 1982), design in general (Broadbent, 1981), structural design (Addis, 1990; Timoshenko, 1953), solid mechanics (Bucciarelli and Dworsky, 1980), and even mathematics (DeMillo et al, 1979). Moreover, the social aspects manifested themselves in unexpected circumstances and in resolving seemingly trivial issues such as the implementation of computer arithmetic (MacKenzie, 1993)|the most basic infrastructure for much engineering design re search and practice. The importance of the aforementioned studies is twofold. First, they reject the received scienti c view as the means for formulating theories and as a means for improving practice. Second, they acknowledge and demonstrate that research methodology is a subject of study and constant improvement, and that gaining insight into the procedures of doing research can improve research itself. Since science is a social enterprise, the study of research methodology is mandatory for providing guidance in the maze of methodologies and in monitoring the quality of research. In order to sustain credibility, researchers must use and demonstrate that the techniques they develop in design research have some relevance to practice. Moreover, since funding  agencies Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Mechanical Design, 1995, in  press researchers to work towards improving design practice (National Research Council, 1991), researchers need to understand what kinds of studies are useful in practice, how are such studies conducted within budget limits, and which factors account for the di usion of studies results into practical engineering. 2 Studying research methodology Researchers may nd it fruitful to study: the objectives or goals of engineering design research; how can these objectives be ful lled through research; how can progress towards research goals be tested; and how can this overall process be improved. Such study will evolve a repository of methods with their assumptions, interpretations, successes and failures. This is the essence of studying engineering design research methodology. This view does not advocate for nor lead to anarchy. Furthermore, the evolving nature of methodology does not empty the usefulness of some principles for evaluating scienti c theories (e.g., such as those acknowledged even by Kuhn, 1987), nor does it mean that methodology is merely an art (Beveridge, 1957) that is not amenable to systematic study. It only acknowledges that the assumptions underlying methodologies and their potential e ectiveness and drawbacks for conducting certain types of research projects must be studied. We now illustrate the study of research methodology by elaborating some issues related to Antonssons six-step methodology (1987, p. 154). Each of the steps raises issues that need further study. These issues are not startling; some are familiar while others are not. Unfortunately, most of them are neglected all too often. (1),(2) Propose/hypothesize that a set of rules for design can elucidate part of the design process and develop those rules. Several questions arise about the actual execution of this activity. What is a good source of such rules? Are (un)successful designs (Petroski, 1989; Suh, 1990), patents previously issued (Arciszewski, 1988) or design textbooks (Aguirre and Wallace, 1990) good sources? Is studying human designers useful (Subrahmanian, 1992)? The answer is obviously a rmative; nevertheless, rarely are these sources consulted. If studying human designers is useful, how do di erent ways of studying a ect the usefulness of the rules hypothesized? Inarguably, such studies bring to bear research methods from psychology and sociology into play in design research. For example, how are designers activities being coded in observational studies? Is the coding scheme tested for reliability by using at lease two coders? Are the results statistically valid? Which criteria may be used for selecting candidate hypotheses for further testing? Can the subjective bias in th is selection be reduced? Note that the above questions raise a related question. Consider trading the quality of the design rules proposed with the resources to nd them. What kind of information is needed for making a sensible trade o and how can this information be collected and organized? (3) Have novice designers learn the rules and apply them. How is the above learning process taking place? Are the designers being taught thus introducing teachers bias? Or do they learn the rules on their own, potentially by solving Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Mechanical Design, 1995, in press  other design problems, thereby excluding the exercise of some measure of control? How are problems selected such that novice designers can solve them yet such that they are relevant to real practice. For that matter, how relevant is any laboratory experiment to real design? This critical question leads researchers in other disciplines as well as in design to use different  methods such as ethnography and participatory research while studying designers. See (Reich et al, 1992; Subrahmanian, 1992; Reich, 1994a) for additional details. Are benchmark problems used by di erent researchers to allow for the replication of results? Is performance on benchmark problems indicative of performance on other problems or on real design? Is it possible to replicate results relevant to real design? Can rules for multidisciplinary design be hypothesized and tested in the same manner? If the common view of science is adopted, this study must be controlled to be valid. One minimal requirement is that another group of designers participate in the study, potentially novice designers that did not study the new design rules. Note, however, that since the rst group of novice designers are trained with the new rules, the second group must receive similar training with default or irrelevant rules. Furthermore, members of the groups must not know which group was trained with the new rules. A better study may also include two groups of expert designers, one that learns the rules and another that learns the default rules. The latter may prov ide better indication about the relative merit of the new design rules with respect to existing design practice. In contrast, if the study follows a di erent methodology such as participatory research (Reich et al, 1992; Whyte, 1991), the nature of the study would change signi cantly into long-term case studies where real design problems are addressed. Exercising common scienti c methods in this methodology may damage research (Blumberg and Pringle, 1983). (4) Measure the design productivity of the rules. How is productivity being measured? Which criteria are included in the measurement: quality of design, time to design, or revenue of manufacturer? Do the measures used adhere to the principles of measurement theory (Roberts, 1979; Reich, 1995), or are they ad hoc and meaningless? Do independent designers than those who created the designs, or do potential customers, participate in this measurement?  Can the quality of design be assessed without manufacturing it and subjecting it to actual use? How relevant will abstract measurements be to practical  design? Is the measurement quantitative or is qualitative information being gathered as well? (5) Evaluate the results to con rm or refute the hypothesis. How is the measured data evaluated? What are the criteria that determine whether a hypothesis was con rmed or refuted? Are these criteria general or context dependent? Note that most philosophers of science including Popper and Kuhn reject the existence of such criteria (Weimer, 1979). Are the criteria correlated with real design? That is, could not researchers nd designers successfully employing design rules that were refuted by researchers? For example, Fritts et al. (1990, p. 478) describe engineers using theories that produce erroneous results with respect to experiments but that have a pragmatic utility of di erentiating between candidate designs. Are hypotheses really refuted or con rmed or are di erent hypotheses found to be useful Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Mechanical Design, 1995, in press  in different contexts? When is it possible to disregard experimental evidence in favor of keeping a hypothesis (Agassi, 1975)? When can experiments be harmful to progress (Truesdell, 1982)? Does a failure of a hypothesis constitute a failure of a research project or can it provide useful information worth reporting? Will archival journals publish such a report? (6) Re ne the hypothesis. The comments on items (1) and (2) apply here. Moreover, How does one diagnose a faulty hypothesis to accommodate empirical testing? When is re nement insu cient to address the failure of a hypothesis and a new \worldview must be adopted? The above expansion of Antonssons proposal re ects the complexity, richness, and necessity of studying research methodology. It illustrates that the design of a research activity is complex and di cult. It hints that  some activities that lead to research successes may fail other research and that some activities may not be compatible with some methodologies. Furthermore, research failure s (OR SUCCESSES) can lead to practical successes (or failures). Therefore, it is critical to identify where methods fail or succeed and in relation to which assumptions. Summary Science does not progress according to a distinctive methodology, nor could engineering design research; especially not if the goal is advancing design practice and not some abstract `understanding. Di erent research scenarios consisting of di erent goals, disciplines, and cultural settings, may call for di erent research methodologies for attaining the stated goals. 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