The Spider free essay sample

This essay looks at how two poets utilize a spider in their poems for completely different purposes in Frosts Design and Whitmans Noiseless Patient Spider. This essay contrasts how poets, Robert Frost and Walt Whitman, both eloquently utilize a minute spider and turn this creature of nature into a grandiose display of life, but for opposite reasons. The author shows how Frost?s spider is a mediation of mans attempts and failures in finding order and meaning in the universe, whereas, Whitmans is a contemplation of mans attempt to fully connect to and understand the world around him. From the paper: ?Poems, unlike prose, are direct expressions of a creators feelings. Though a poet also makes use of metaphors and figurative speech to convey images, it is something else beyond the upper layer of language that makes a poem work. It is something that relates directly to the feelings and passions of the poet. We will write a custom essay sample on The Spider or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For example, Robert Frosts poem, Design, is an exquisite play on striking images of dark and light, offering a look into this oppressive and isolated poets stark outlook on life. Whereas, his comrade, Walt Whitman, goes far above and beyond in both voice and metrical line with such a striking mural expansion of his optimistic view of the world around him in his poem, Noiseless, Patient Spider.

Space Jump essays

Space Jump essays What if it were possible to free fall from 25 miles up. Thats what Michel Fourniers, a French skydiver, is trying to accomplish. Joe Kittinger Jr. set the record for the highest free fall at 102,800 feet in 1960. Fournier is going for the highest at 130,000 feet above earths surface. He will come plummeting back to earth as fast as 885 mph, or roughly Mach 1. At any part in the fall Michel could die. So many parts could fail, that a stunt like this is only done when you have nothing to lose. Michel will be transported to 130,000 feet via a 135-foot wide helium filled balloon. He will then jump out of the 5x7 foot compartment he is in, and start his descent. At 130,000 feet it is a mere 7F, and it just keeps dropping till 50,000 feet, where the temperature levels off at a minus 70F. The suit that will be used is a partial-pressure suit, which will protect Michel from the pressure of hitting the sound barrier and actually passing through it. It will take a total of only 4 minutes from the time Michel jumps, until his parachute opens at about 7,000 feet. This is the first time anyone has attempted a jump from this high of an altitude. If successful, it could be one of the most amazing feats of all time. The only problem with the plan is that so many things could go wrong, and if one does in mid-jump, there is no way to save Michel and he would end up dying. The biggest concern is if he goes into an uncontrolled spin, at the altitude and speed he is traveling at, there would be no way for him to stabilize himself, sending him unconscious and ultimately to death. Personally I would never attempt this stunt, but I suppose if it were in the name of science I might reconsider my thought. ...

Does Use an Electronic Health Record Increase the Risk of Breach of Assignment

Does Use an Electronic Health Record Increase the Risk of Breach of Privacy to Clients - Assignment Example Firstly it will be tried to find out why the concept of Electronic Health Record evolved in Ontario and whether this will have any risk of breach of privacy. It will also try to find out whether the risk (if found) is relevant only in the case of Ontario or it may have an impact on the whole of Canada. Next section will try to find what literature say about the benefits and challenges of these private data going electronic. Finally, it will be tried to find out what are the steps that should be taken in future. E-health record helps the doctors to know whether the continuation of the medicines is helping the patient during the course. Electronic medical records keep the data on patients demographics, their medical history lab test results etc accessible by the electronic network system. An effective health care function requires accuracy as well as completeness of the health data. There remains a reduced risk in form of any loss of data that occurs in form of loss of papers via locks and pass-keys. The paper record represents â€Å"massive fragmentation of clinical health information.† (Schloeffel et al., 2003, p.1, as cited by Gurley, n.d.).This not only leads to the cost of information management to increase but also â€Å"fragmentation leads to even greater costs due to its adverse effects on current and future patient care† (Schloeffel et al., 2003, p.1, as cited by Gurley, n.d.). It is very much time-saving also as it brings down unnecessary lab tests. The staffs could readily figure out the problems. Otherwise, the patients have to wait in the emergency ward while the staffs are sorting out the causes. It enables the practitioners to access the medical literature and recent best practices available that help them to carry forward the treatment.  

Writing activities Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Writing activities - Article Example I agree with Pinker that the current political systems, technologies, and cultural changes have made the modern world less violent, and that these changes can be improved to reduce violence further; however, we cannot be complacent and we should continue resolving existing violence across the globe that persist because of greed for power and wealth and diverse prejudices and discriminations against different sectors/groups of society. I agree with Pinker that we live in a less violent time than in the past because the government is an effective form of authority in managing social and economic affairs. First, Pinker is right that having a centralized government enabled people to be more at peace with one another because an institution is managing diverse aspects of social affairs. He calls this centralization as the â€Å"consolidation of a patchwork of feudal territories into large kingdoms with centralized authority and an infrastructure of commerce† (190-191). If people feel safe to move around and to focus on developing their livelihoods, they are less likely to feel threatened and more likely to have social and economic stability. Second, the government organizes and facilitates trade and commerce, which is important to peace. The government creates laws and guidelines for businesses to promote economic progress and to protect economic interests. If anyone violates these laws and guidelines, the gover nment is the one who will punish the former. People do not need to do anything violent to protect their sources of income. Having a centralized government is essential to managing social and economic affairs for the interests of the collective. Apart from leading and supervising social and economic activities that promote peace, the government is a more reliable bringer of justice than when people used to do it on their own or through using militias. Definitely, the government is not perfect on this regard and many criminals go

Slapstick Comedy and Silent Films Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Slapstick Comedy and Silent Films - Essay Example Besides, enactment, the films also displayed certain captions which informed the audience about the theme of the film. The speedy actions enhanced the humor in the film. The actors who portrayed various characters were mostly shabbily or unconventionally dressed. Their funny attire supplemented by their clown like actions aroused laughter among the audiences. Thus the slapstick comedies consisted of absurd situations and vigorous actions, which had a comic tone and were performed by those actors who were highly energetic and good stuntmen. We find a detailed account on the comparative study of slapstick comedy and Commedia dell'arte in the book of David Madden, namely, -Harlequin's stick, Charlie's cane: a comparative study of commedia dell'arte and silent slapstick comedy. In his book, he gives the discrimination between the two art forms. Commedia dell'arte was performed directly in front of the audience, whereas the slapstick comedy was presented in an indirect form that is it was projected on the screen. The commedia plays were mostly for three hours whereas slapstick comedies were comparatively briefer. In commedia the actors were donned in masks and there was continuous verbal dexterity, slapstick noise, music and color, while the silent movies were devoid of sound and color as the films were Black and White. The commedia was not video graphed whereas the slapstick was video graphed and projected on the screen. (Harlequin's Stick, Charlie's Cane - David Madden, 1968) Actors like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd were considered the milestones in the world of silent cinema. Their powerful performances spell bounded... The researcher of this essay focuses mostly on presenting and discussing the slapstick comedies, that is a device in which, the characters have exaggerated and speedy physical activities backed up by accurate timing. They do this mainly to make people understand what kind of character they are portraying in that film. More emphasis is given on speed of actions and facial expressions. For example, the researcher states that in slapstick comedies we find scenes like a person slipping on the peel of banana skin, somebody hitting a person with frying pan, a person hitting his head against a suddenly opened door, etc. The central character enacts certain scene, which seems to be normal initially but suddenly the situation becomes chaotic, with all the characters running helter-skelter creating confusion. And it is during this time that the actor has to show presence of mind and has to take some action, which will make the audience laugh and also he has to do something brilliant to come ou t of that chaotic situation. The actor performs all sorts of actions like leaping, running, tumbling down etc. And for all these purposes he uses props like buckets, shovel, ladder, sea-saw, sticks, roller skates etc., which generates comedy. The researcher then presents a study on the silent films actors of early 20th century, such as Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, who were considered the milestones in the world of silent cinema and used the slapstick comedy in their films in a creative way that made their art memorable.

Construction of Pekeliling Flats, Kuala Lumpur

Construction of Pekeliling Flats, Kuala Lumpur Introduction to Case Study Pekeliling Flats is situated on the Lebuhraya Mahameru-bound Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. The flats are also known as Tunku Abdul Rahman public flats. Pekeliling flats are one of Kuala Lumpurs earliest public housing projects and were built in 1967. There were 11 residential blocks comprising 2,969 units. For the construction of the first pilot project, the Government held a negotiation with a joint venture company Citra/Boon Cheah which intended to use the French Tracoba System of construction. But the negotiation was unsuccessful and the project was subsequently opened to public tender. The tender was eventually awarded to Gammon/Larsen Nielsen using the Danish System of large panel industrialised prefabricated system. The construction was then launched in 1968. The scheme at Jalan Pekeliling comprises 4 blocks of 4-storey flats and shops, 7 blocks of 17-storey flats, totaling 3009 units and was completed within 27 month, including the time taken in the construction of the RM 2.5 million casting yard for the prefabricated elements at 10 ½ miles Jalan Damansara. The whole construction of the flat is constructed using the prefabrication of concrete box method which is similar to the British Truscon System whereby a standard through-shaped concrete boxes, which incorporate facade walls made from lightweight materials, ceilings consisting of plaster boarding stapled and as well as internal fittings. Assembling Method The boxes are made by precasting the walls panels with ribs downwards and smoothing down the concrete as it has semi-set. Once the walls have hardened, they are then removed from the moulds by means of an overhead gantry and placed into a jig. Foundations pads are cast and on top of these precast concrete beams, inverted T cross section are then laid. The boxes are now unloaded directly from the lorry and are placed in position upon these inverted T beams. Once the boxes, which form one course from facade to faà §ade have been bolted together along the wall. After the boxes are connected together at the structural floor level of two connector plates, which are bolted with bolts to threaded inserts on either side of the joint. Once the boxes, which form one course from facade to faà §ade have been bolted together along the wall, where again the cast-in sockets which joined by steel plates and bolts, there only thin vertical joints visible. The vertical channels between the adjoining ribs of the end-to-end boxes make rigid cross-walls of remarkable sound insulation. Horizontal reinforcement rods are lowered and concrete is cast-in, resulting in the formation of a party wall. Evaluation and Comparison Cost Industrialised prefabricated construction of the Pekeliling project was more expensive than the conventional system. Its cost was 8.1% higher than a conventional housing project completed around that time. There are many advantages you can get if you are using precast construction method instead of using in-situ construction method. One of the advantages is the cost implication. Using precast construction method can save money or reduce the cost of construction because: Time Mass production as well as off-site production shortens project timeline, gives earlier return on investment, allowing earlier occupancy and keep in schedule. It is estimated that a precast structure takes up to 20% less time to construct than a similar cast in situ structure. For example, the walls of a building can be manufactured while on-site foundations are being built. If the time is over the schedule or due date, the company needs to pay the damages. Durability Provides long service for high use applications and does not require regular maintenance; save cost in long term. Waste Minimization Fewer materials are required because precise mixture proportions and tighter tolerances are achievable. Less concrete waste is created due to tight control of quantities of constituent materials. Waste materials are more readily recycled because concrete production is in one location. Sand and acids for finishing surfaces are reused. Steel forms and other materials are reused. Reduced requirements for formwork, access scaffolding and less reliance on wet trades. The reduced requirement for site supervision by the main contractor also saves money. Compared to cast in-situ concrete, the following percentages of savings can be expected: 75 per cent in terms of formwork and scaffolding and 90% for wet concrete. Recyclable precast concrete structures in urban areas can be recycled into fill and road base material at the end of their useful life. Fewer trucks and less time are required for construction because concrete is made offsite; particularly beneficial in urban areas where minimal traffic disruption is critical. When fewer trucks are required means lesser the cost needed to rent vehicles. The reduction in site labour which partly offsets a shortage of skilled site workers. Priced in the $55 $65 range per linear foot of wall, precast systems are competitive with other foundation walls, particularly when costs are examined as an assembly that includes footings and sub-slab drainage. Precast walls can be installed quickly in any weather. Because the concrete is cured in the factory, precast foundations can be backfilled as soon as the slab is placed and first floor bracing is in place, enhancing jobsite safety and site accessibility. Door and window openings, steel beam pockets, and brick ledges must be cast into the panels, so orders must be customized. The wall sub-base must be compacted and leveled, similar to precision required of footings. In making cost comparisons between alternative systems, it is imperative that total like for like costs are considered. There are substantial savings to be made using precast construction which are not evident when a direct elemental cost comparison is made with alternative construction methods. To get an accurate like for like cost, whole building costs must be estimated. To accurately assess whole building cost, each of the advantages of precast must be accurately costed. Savings through factors such as earlier completion dates, inbuilt fireproofing, reduced formwork, scaffolding, reduced wet trades and increased budget control can be significant. Also, fast-track procurement and construction may minimise capital costs by reducing financing costs and securing earlier rental income. The precast frame package typically includes columns, beams, floors, wall panels, stairs, landings, balconies etc., all of which have an inbuilt minimum one-hour fire protection. Specialist precast frame producers will assist design teams in evaluating the scope for standardised precast components for a particular project. Budget costings and erection programmes can be prepared by the precaster on receipt of outline drawings and a list of performance criteria. For contractors and specifiers, there is a big difference between price and cost. While price is but one element of cost, it is the initial, most visible and the easier of the two to understand. Focusing on price is not a preferred strategy in any business, especially where high-quality, reliable manufactured goods are concerned. Instead, for precast concrete products, the focus should be on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). How is TCO calculated? The Total Cost of Ownership is equal to the sum of the four cost components: quality, service, delivery and price. In terms of cost elements, a distinct advantage of precast concrete over cast-in-place (CIP) is speed of delivery and ease of installation, or service. Both contribute directly to lower Total Cost of Ownership. Precast concrete, especially when produced in certified plants, boasts the additional benefit of higher quality. Controlled batch proportions placed under uniform conditions consistently creates a better product than can be cast in place. For illustration purposes, we will use an ordinary precast underground structure. On the construction site, scheduling is an important, unpredictable and expensive risk. Nature stacks the cost odds against CIP concrete. It is a much quicker and less risky choice to have the precast delivered and installed the same day rather than excavate, form, pour and strip the CIP concrete, cure, damp proof and backfill. Given the cost matrix in Example 1, it could save six days in construction scheduling. For illustration purposes, consider a typical below-grade structure. For the inside dimensions of a 4-by-8-by-4-foot structure of either precast (6 inches thick) or CIP (8 inches thick), assume these facts: CIP requires three separate days to pour the base, walls and top. Curing and stripping adds one day to each step, requiring six days to cast on site. Damp proofing adds one day to the CIP process, totaling seven working days of open-hole time. Allowing an average $350 per cubic yard for small jobs (ready mix, rebar, mastic, labor and equipment), the 4 cubic yards of CIP required prices out at $1,400. Precast takes only one day to deliver and install, including backfill of the pre-damp proofed unit. The precast alternative to produce and truck to the job site prices out at $2,000. Installing the precast requires a four-hour minimum charge of $400 for a 20-ton crane. Hardware costs for fittings, embedded items, etc., are identical for precast and CIP. The TCO of precast is fixed at $2,400. However, the TCO of CIP is just beginning at $1,400. That raises the question among doubters as to why a contractor would spend more for precast. But many savvy contractors and specifiers recognize that their costs are actually less with precast. The six days of additional scheduling are required by the mechanics of pouring and curing concrete on site. The work could be done off site in a quality controlled precast plant while other work on site progresses. Even if a contractor has a concrete crew doing multiple projects on site, the efficiency gained by substituting as much precast as possible cannot be ignored. A contractor saves money for every minute he or she is ahead of schedule. If a $1 million contract yields a 10 percent profit margin and can be completed in 10 months that equates to $10,000 per month, or $333 per day in profit. Saving six days means an additional profit of 6 x $333 or $2,000. Furthermore, that savings is compounded by the elimination of general conditions costs of about $500 per day for the burden of supervision, insurance, fixed and variable job site costs, etc. And these are just actual costs. Add to this the avoidance of liquidated damages, and the cost advantage of precast concrete becomes the overwhelming choice. The cost advantages are summarized in Example 2. Speed The project took 27 months to complete, inclusive of the time taken in setting up the precasting factories. The construction period was comparable to the fastest conventional construction. Thus industrialised building has the following advantages in terms of time saving. Saving of time and materials involved in the erection of scaffoldings Shorter construction time as a result of well planned and co-ordinated sequence of construction Not affected by weather condition as building components are manufactured in the factory, and there is no on-site concreting. Labour Requirement Industrialised prefabricated system enable labour saving of 30%-40% mainly of skilled labour such as brick layers, plasterers and carpenters. In Malaysia, skilled labour in the building industry is scarce so it is expensive. The introduction of industrialised building system can obviously improve the situation. As we all know, labour can divided into three types. There are unskilled labour, semi-skilled labour and skill labour. Labour productivity is defined as the manhours required to complete the structural element of one unit house. A total of 499 data points were obtained from seven residential projects constructed between January 2003 and April 2004. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that the labour productivity was significantly different between four structural building systems for example. The mean labour productivity for conventional building system was 4.20 manhours followed by cast in-situ table form manhours, cast in-situ half tunnel form 1.88 manhours and precast concrete system 1.33 manhours. Furthermore, the analysis of crew size indicated that the mean crew size for conventional building system of 24 workers was significantly different from the IBS of 22 workers. However, the crew size within the IBS was found to be insignificant. The cycle time measured in days per hou se was found to be significantly different between structural building systems with the conventional building system of 4.9 days, cast in-situ table form of 3.9 days, cast in-situ half tunnel form of 2.9 days and precast concrete system of 2.3 days. The labour productivity obtained from this study could be used as a preliminary guideline for client or consultant to identify the most appropriate building system for carrying out a construction project and determining the labour requirement in the construction industry. Further, the comparison of crew size indicated that the conventional building system of 22 workers was significantly different from the IBS of 18 workers. Similarly, the cycle time of 17 days per house for conventional building system was found to be significantly different from the IBS of four days. As a conclusion, using conventional method require more labour to be done on site compare to the pre cast construction or Industrialised Buildiing System (IBS). When using precast, the requirement of labour will reduce because there is less work to be done site. The number of labour also will small compare to the in- situ construction method. Quality The finished appearance of the building was of a much higher quality than that achieved in conventionally built low cost housing units. In particular, the finish of interior walls was much better to that achieved using cement-sand hollow blocks. There were serious environmental problems and some stresses were caused as a direct result of the detailing of the system. These problems can be overcome by changes in the detailing. Productivity There are many essential elements in construction industry. One of them is construction labour productivity. Its principal applications include construction planning, scheduling, cost estimating, accounting and cost control. As a matter of fact, international labour factors and also suggested ways in which they could subsequently be applied to determine comparative international construction cost and labour requirement are generated by labour productivity rates. The study on labour productivity for construction industry has been conducted by many researchers. However, the majority of them put their concentration on labour intensive conventional in-situ construction system. Only a fat lot of attention is devoted to perplexing question such as productivity measurement for industrialised building systems (IBS) in despite of the proliferation of the systems in Malaysia. The precast construction system can be termed as industrialised building systems (IBS) also. During the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) whereby 600,000 to 800,000 houses are expected to be built, the need for huge demand for housing industry results in the development of these IBSs. The conventional in-situ construction system which is currently being used by the construction industry is incapable to cope with the demand in a stipulated period. The method is labour intensive. Since this method requires a lot of manpower, so it relies heavily on foreign workers. Thus, productivity research attention shall be swerved toward IBS which utilizes the philosophy of assembly activity. For productivity improvement in building industry from craft activity to assembly activity, there is a tremendous potential as depicted in Table 1. Objectives Large number of studies focused on labour productivity for single operation such reinforcement bar productivity, productivity of concrete and formwork productivity, whereas, only small effort is devoted towards the combined labour productivity for combination of all the single operation that form the structural element of one unit house. Therefore, this conducted study introduces a standardised data collection methodology for measuring and comparing the conventional and industrialised building systems in aspects of labour productivity and cycle time. Description of Data The data for this study were acquired from seven on-going residential projects constructed between January 2003 and April 2004. A sum of 499 data points were observed during that period. The data of projects gross floor area per unit house vary in size in interval between 60m ² to 84m ². Turnkey contractors were in charged in four projects while the remaining projects were built by a general contractor. In table 2, the project characteristics are presented. (Refer to the Appendix for data) Carpenter, barbender, concretor and crane operator were in charged in installation and erection of these structural elements. Therefore, the labour productivity of one unit house is calculated as below. Labour productivity for structural element of one unit houses = Crew Size carpentry, barbender, concretor and crane operator x work timeBuilding gross floor area (m2) = Total manhoursBuilding gross floor area (m2) All data were collected via a standardised data collection form as shown in Table 3. Every day, data collectors were designated to on-going construction sites and 30 minutes were spent per site for observation and record of the crew size, work time and location of work place. Daily observation is recommended because all workers were paid daily. Since workers absenteeism might occur during the construction period and weekly or monthly data variability are too large to enable reliable analyses, weekly or monthly observation is not favorable. Daily observation can also show high degree of variability due to various disturbance project related factors but not as much as other observation. Observation on every hour is also not suggested because it is very expensive and spends a lot of time. Some confidential information was obtained through direct interview with the project managers. Workers daily wage is one of the confidential information. Besides that, regular interviews to identify an d understand any peculiarities delay and interruption to the projects were essential to carried out. Rationale for Combining Data Points The size of the data points has a great effect on the appropriateness, accuracy and reliability of statistical analysis. When a single independent variable is used, small sample with 20 data points is ideal. And yet, a large sample of 1000 data points or more will cause the statistical analysis sensitive and unreliable. Moreover, peculiarities in observations or unusual conditions will bring some inexact data points that cause a baneful effect on the analysis. The rationale for combining the data points from different projects into four structural building systems are as follows: All projects are residential projects. They consist of repetitive structural designs. No special formwork system is needed because they do not have any peculiarities architectural features. Workers in charged in all operations are semi-skilled and skilled workers. The manual dexterity is about the same. The effects of weather and temperature are minimized since all projects are located within 30 km distance. Result and Discussion The data analysis and results focus on two specific subjects as described below: Labour productivity comparison between structural building systems using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Cycle time comparison between structural building systems using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Comparison of Labour Productivity between Structural Building Systems This section evaluates the labour productivity comparison between structural building systems. Table 4 presents the descriptive statistic for labour productivity comparison between projects while Table 5 presents the labour productivity comparison between building systems using the average data from the seven projects. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results of labour productivity between the four building systems was found to be statistically significant different [ANOVA output, F(3,498) = 319.526, P-value = 0.000] as shown in Table 6. The precast concrete system was the most productive building system with labour productivity of 1.33 manhours/m ² followed by cast in-situ half tunnel (1.88 manhours/m ²), cast in-situ table form (2.70 manhours/m ²) and conventional building system (4.20 manhours/m ²). Taking the conventional building system as the benchmark of 100%, the cast in-situ table form system achieved a construction speed of 135% followed by the cast in-situ half tunnel form system of 155% and precast concrete system of 168%. The result was in tandem with the number of trades for each building system. For example, the conventional building system consisted of four major operations, namely the erection of scaffolding and formwork, installation of reinforcement bars, casting of concrete and dismantling of scaffolding and formwork; hence, it was highly labour intensive. However, only a few construction operations are needed for industrialized building system. For instance, the precast concrete system was pre-assembly in factory, hence reducing on-site labour input. Besides that, no scaffolding is required for cast in-situ tunnel form system to support the slab. Cycle Time Comparison between Structural Building Systems This section examines the cycle time measured in days required to complete the structural element of one unit house. Table 7 shows the cycle time for each project while Table 8 shows the average cycle time for four structural building systems. In Table 9, analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicated that there was significant different between the four building systems in term of cycle time per house, [F(3,498)=161.416, P-value = 0.000]. The mean cycle times were 4.9 days for conventional building system, 3.9 days for cast in-situ table form, 2.9 days for cast in-situ half tunnel form and 2.3 days for precast concrete system. In term of percentage, the conventional building system required 26% more cycle time than cast in-situ table form system, 41% of cast in-situ half tunnel form system, and 53% of precast concrete system. Summmary This study has introduced the standardised data collection methodology for measuring and comparing the building structural element of conventional and industrialised building system. Researchers are enabled to combine data points from various projects to produce a larger database if they adopt this methodology. The rational for combining the data point is that the majority of residential projects has a simple structural layout plan and do not have any peculiarities architectural features. A total of 499 labour productivity data points were obtained from seven on-going residential projects. The results and discussion evolves on comparison between structural building systems in terms of labour productivity and cycle time per structural element of one house. In aspect of labour productivity comparison, the precast concrete system was the most productive building system with labour productivity of 1.33 manhours/m ² compare to the conventional building system with labour productivity of 4.20 manhours/m ². Besides that, assuming the conventional building system as the benchmark of 100%, precast concrete system achieved a construction speed of 168%. For instance, when the first house constructed using conventional building system is just done, whereas the first house constructed using precast concrete system was done and the second house is constructed about 68% completed. The comparison of cycle time per house indicated that the two building systems were significantly different. The mean cycle times were 4.9 days for conventional building system and 2.3 days for precast concrete system. In term of percentage, the conventional building system required 53% more cycle time than precast concrete system. Finally, the precast concrete system is preferable compare with conventional building system because the building works can be done faster since it requires less time to construct completely. Wastage In the field of structural concrete construction, two basic concepts are generally applied in practice which is precast concrete construction and conventional cast in-situ construction. Wastage can be defined as goods that are damaged, out of date, reduced, or generally unsaleable, which are destined to be thrown away and which are written off as a loss. Construction waste can be divided into three principal categories namely material, labour, and machinery waste. However, material wastage is given more concern because most of the raw materials used in construction industry come from non-renewable resources. The construction industry is a major generator of waste material. Traditionally, construction waste is defined as any material, apart from earth materials, which need to be transported elsewhere from the construction site or used within the construction site itself for the purpose of land filling, incineration, recycling, reusing or composting, other than the intended specific pu rpose of the project due to material damage, excess, non-use, or non-compliance with the specifications or being a by-product of the construction process. Material construction waste can be classify as natural waste (unavoidable waste allowed for in the tender), indirect waste (material used for purposes other than that for which it was ordered), and direct waste (material which is encountered for). It is generally known that there is a relatively large portion of the materials being wasted because of poor material control on building sites. The problem of material wastage is not an isolated issue on construction sites. It is also an environmental concern. When construction waste is viewed from an environmental perspective a different type of categorization must be considered. The environmental criteria include the consideration of solid waste. This is divided into four categories: hazardous waste production, non-hazardous waste production, inert waste production, and radioactive waste production. The construction industry consumes a significant amount of building materials and produces large quantities of building waste. Construction and demolition (C D) material is a mixture of inert and non-inert materials arising from construction, excavation, renovation, demolition and roadwork. The composition of construction waste is divided into two major categories: inert materials (soft and hard inert materials) and non-inert waste. The soft inert materials (such as soil, earth and slurry) can be reused as fill materials in reclamation and earth filling works. The hard materials (such as rocks and broken concrete) can be reused in reclamation works and/or recycled for construction work as granular materials, drainage bedding layers and concrete application. The non-inert waste (such as metal, timber and packaging waste) can be recycled or disposed of in landfills. Further, it was shown that there is a noticeable difference in the generation of material waste between pre-cast and in situ.In general, any reduction in on-site concreting leads to waste reduction. Precasting and prefabrication therefore offers significant opportunities for the reduction of waste. In comparison, the wastage in utilizing precast concrete construction method has smaller amount than conventional cast in-situ construction method.The main reason behind this may be due to the negligible wastes arisen during transportation and installation at the site. The pre-cast concrete elements transported to the site were stored unit wise by manufacturers themselves to avoid damage to the elements. Hence the waste arising during transportation had been minimized and identified as zero. Since pre-cast elements were supplied according to the required length, waste arising during installation of elements was at a minimum level and waste occurring due to over ordering of materials was also eliminated. Further, the pre-cast elements were produced at factories under proper supervision using steel moulds which can be formed of different sizes. Therefore, the wastage of materials during manufacturing also reduced to a considerable amount. On the other hand, there have larger amount of wastage due to conventional in-situ construction than precast concrete construction. This large quantity of wastage for conventional in-situ construction was identified due to the lack of supervision, inaccurate mixing methods, inappropriate type of equipment used, poor storage of materials and poor quality workmanship and this led to higher waste of materials in the following ways: excess cement being used to accelerate the curing process excess concrete being used due to the breaking of form work higher waste in transit and handling of metal and sand and excess concrete being used in uneven surfaces The objective of an in-situ method is to eliminate and reduce the traditional site-based trades like traditional timber formwork, brickwork, plastering and to reduce labour content. Conventional cast in situ construction method utilise lightweight prefabricated formwork made of steel, fibre glass or aluminum in order to replace the existing conventional timber formwork. The method is suitable for large numbers of housing units that require repetitive utilisation of formwork. The formwork can be reused as many times as possible with minimal wastage. There is a noticeable difference between the waste of pre-cast construction and in situ construction. However, because of the significant differences in other material wastes, it can be said that there is a significant reduction of material wastages of pre-cast concrete compared to the material wastages of conventional in-situ concrete. Therefore it can be concluded that there is a significant waste reduction when pre-cast concrete is used. Conclusion From the studies that have been done, it can be concluded that the precast method is better than the conventional Cast-In-Situ method in terms of cost, speed, labour, quality, wastage and productivity.

My Philosophy of Education Essay -- Teaching Teachers Education Essays

My Philosophy of Education Becoming a teacher has always been one of my goals in life. What motivates me to become a teacher is that I love to help and teach children new things in life. I try to do this in a very unique way. I love to see kids happy. I think that being a teacher is a very rewarding job. Teachers should try to teach their students new things with a positive attitude, with enthusiasm and interest. Giving more attention to students of younger ages is especially important. It is a good feeling to see students become knowledgeable in all aspects and to prepare students to be successful for the good of society. I want to give myself the opportunity to become a teacher, and help students to grow academically and emotionally to become successful in society. That is why it is so important for me to become a teacher at the elementary school level. I think that if smaller children learn in a very positive and enthusiastic way, they will learn more easily and will be more open to different learning tasks in the classroom. I think that a teacher can also help all students to obtain very high self-esteem, growth and integrity. A teacher can become, in certain ways, like a parent and most importantly, a friend. All of this is done without forgetting the responsibility of a teacher. Teachers’ relationships with their students are very important, but it is my responsibility as a teacher to also create good relationships with other teachers, because this is important for the school and the society. Being enthusiastic and supportive of fellow teachers can show positive relationships among the different teachers in schools. By having a positive relationship with other teache... ...to meet the students’ parents, to ask for their help and to also celebrate the accomplishments of the student’s progress and teacher’s work. I believe that a teacher should look forward to having a good parent communication, and to collaborate and help other teachers by sharing knowledge and experiences. Today, many parents have been relying on the teacher’s responsibility. Parents expect a lot from the teachers. They want the teacher to teach their children about morality and life-skill principles, which are one of the first issues a child should learn from home. Even though being a teacher is not easy today, I believe I can be a good teacher by using my talents of determination, open-mindedness, and warm feelings for others. I believe becoming a teacher is a difficult career, but at the same time it will bring great rewards and accomplishments.

Sustainable Event Management

| Individual Essay 1. 0 Sustainable events are only possible when they are small and localised. Discuss, using examples. Sustainable events are described as those which meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (IISD 2012). When developing sustainable events, planners need to view the event as a whole and how each part interacts and affects another and also need to take into consideration the effects that the event may have on the environment.Sustainable events are not limited to being only small and localised; in some instances it may be easier to focus on the sustainability of a smaller event as it can be easier to take a holistic approach to a smaller scale event, however as is often the case, larger scale events generally have better knowledge and resources in order to become more sustainable, and many small events can be relatively unsustainable simply because there is a lack of pressure on these events to be min dful of the external environment.There are a number of components which need to be taken into account when developing a sustainable event. These components will form the basis of the reasons why larger scale events can also be sustainable and how smaller events can sometimes be unsustainable by means of comparison of two appropriate events. The London 2012 Olympics were held from July 27 – August 12 2012 and comprised 204 competing countries with over 10,000 athletes competing (Clark and Heseltine 2012).The Summer Olympics are arguably the best known events series internationally, being held every four years with successful host countries being chosen several years prior to the games themselves. With a successful committee of event developers known as the International Olympics Committee (IOC), planning for the event begins some ten years before the commencement of the games in which extensive research of the best possible location and use of resources is undergone in order t o reach the best outcome from many perspectives. The 2012 London Olympics had a particular focus on sustainability.Motorvation is an annual motor event which is held at the Perth Motorplex and comprises a series of car-related events such as burnout competitions, horsepower competitions and sound-off competitions for local car lovers to show off what they are most proud of. The event is held over three days and attracts around 10,000 people from the local area within this time. Planning for the event is minimal as in most cases the same structure is used each year with the major difference being the cars involved and the line-up of these events (Motorvation 2012).The comparison of these two events aims to outline how each event has performed – or not performed – sustainability practices by identifying key components of sustainable events. 1. 1 Pollution In terms of pollution, the London Olympics took a very serious approach to this issue. The London 2012 committee form ed a partnership with BioRegional and WWF in order to develop sustainable practices overall and held a strong focus on pollution levels.A labelling system for recycling was produced which indicated to spectators within the games arena which type of waste product they were using and how to dispose of it correctly in order to keep waste levels at an all-time low. The IOC worked closely with Transport of London to ensure that train services were consistently running so that people could get to the games efficiently and with less harm to the environment by not driving their own vehicles. Motorvation is a car event which is fuelled by the excitement of smoke and burning rubber – both of which are extremely harmful to the environment.Whilst the event has a number of disposal bins around the venue, these are rarely utilised by spectators and this is possibly the only environmentally friendly aspect of the event itself. 1. 2 Community Involvement The host community of the London Olym pics is obviously the locals living within central London. The IOC developed many programs for people living within the area to get involved in leading up to the games such as the Newham Volunteers program which aimed to enrich the lives of locals (Hughes 012) and the Changing Places Program which is also a volunteer program for the youth within the area to create artwork and suchlike to transform the city for the games (London Olympic Games 2012). These community initiatives got the host community as a whole involved and created a sense of positivity among locals which acts on sustainability due to the fact that people living in the area will have a better quality of life in the long term and will have a greater sense of pride in the area they live in. The surrounding community of Motorvation is Perth’s Southern suburbs including Rockingham and Mandurah.Whilst there are a number of volunteer opportunities for these people to get involved in on the day of the event, there are no long-lasting community initiatives related to the event and the market segment that the event attracts is often not too enthusiastic on the idea of volunteering as opposed to watching the event. Whilst the event does generate recognition of Perth’s Southern suburbs, this recognition is often of negative value to the wider Perth community and is unlikely to enrich the lives of people living within the area. 1. Tourism Generation Tourism in London during the 2012 games did suffer from some aspects such as the hotel industry reporting a mere 82 percent occupancy rate over the period (Various authors 2012) however the influx of people from other parts of the UK was tremendous and these day-trippers brought a huge economic boom to many other areas such as shopping locations and food outlets. Being a small localised event, Motorvation does not attract a large number of tourists from other regions with the exception of a minority of obsessive car lovers.Unsurprisingly, the area surrounding the event does not experience any influx of people or income during the time of Motorvation. 1. 4 Job Creation London 2012 generated a number of new jobs within the Olympics itself and in outer London, with over 100000 people being paid to work at the games during the time as well as thousands of volunteers working at the event and various maintenance personnel employed to work on the game during and after the Olympics was held in order to maintain the Olympic stadium and to begin the transformation process of a smaller stadium to use post-games (LondonOlympic Games 2012). Motorvation has a number of volunteer opportunities as mentioned earlier however these positions are very short lived and there is no real job generation as a result of the event. People may choose to volunteer over this time however this does not contribute in any great way to the labour sector and the positions will not be overly enriching to the lives of the people who take them. With the evidence o utlined above, it is clear that small, localised events are not the only events which can be sustainable.Larger events often have greater resources which can be used in order to introduce sustainable practices. The London 2012 Olympics has practiced sustainability successfully in the form of pollution, community involvement, tourism generation and job creation where as Motorvation has contributed very little to sustainability measures in the way the event is conducted. With greater planning, research and development, events can become more sustainable and it is these key components which determine how well an event is conducted in terms of sustainability, not the size of the event.Sustainable event development is the key and with a greater amount of skills, knowledge and resources events can become more sustainable no matter the size or locality. Reference List Clarke, Greg and Michael Heseltine. 2012. â€Å"London is the world's greatest city: now the rest of the country must emul ate its success† The Telegraph, August 30. Hughes, Michael. 2012. â€Å"Lecture 11: Event Legacies. † PowerPoint Lecture Notes. https://lms. curtin. edu. au/webapps/portal/frameset. jsp Iisd: What is sustainability? 2012. IISD. http://www. isd. org/sd/ London Olympic Games: Local Community Work. 2012. London 2012. http://www. london2012. com/about-us/sustainability/local-community-work/ London Olympic Games: Jobs. 2012. London 2012. http://www. london2012. com/about-us/jobs/ Motorvation: About. 2012. Perth Motorplex. http://www. motorplex. com. au/motorvation Various authors. 2012. â€Å"Did London 2012 Pass the Olympics Test? † The Independent, August 13. http://www. independent. co. uk/sport/olympics/news/so-did-london-2012-pass-the-olympic-test-8037290. html

Free Essays on Puppy Mills

Who hasn’t walked by a pet shop and adored the cute little puppies in the window? I know many people have, because I worked in a pet shop for more than two years. In fact I even took one of the puppies home with me. But then I learned about the places most pet shop pups come from. More often than not, puppies sold in pet shops come from puppy mills, where a female is bred for the sole purpose of mass-producing puppies. There, she spends her entire life in a wire cage. Her only function is having puppies in some cases, more births than her frail body can tolerate. When she can no longer have those cute puppies that everyone falls in love with, she is euthanized. Puppy mills are also well known for being unsanitary. Many times cages upon cages are stacked on each other, and each animal’s waste runs into the cage below. Skin infections are rampant and food is often infested with maggots or shared with rats. These conditions leave the animals subject to many physical and mental diseases. Disturbing behavior often is noted in many puppies from puppy mills due to the total confinement they must endure. In many cases, a common puppy disease such as parvo or diphtheria both normally prevented through vaccination, wipes out an entire litter of puppies. Usually there is no veterinarian on site to care for these ailing puppies, who are lucky if there is someone there that actually cares. When do these puppies get to leave the puppy mill? Most often it is sooner than it should be. Puppy mill operators have been known to fake birth dates on official papers so as to get the puppies to the stores when they are young, small, and more desirable. What is wrong with this? The puppy’s immune system is not fully developed and is more vulnerable to illnesses. They are often not able to eat on their own and can starve. My job at the pet store was to take care of the puppies as they came in by airplane from Kansas. Scared, tired... Free Essays on Puppy Mills Free Essays on Puppy Mills Who hasn’t walked by a pet shop and adored the cute little puppies in the window? I know many people have, because I worked in a pet shop for more than two years. In fact I even took one of the puppies home with me. But then I learned about the places most pet shop pups come from. More often than not, puppies sold in pet shops come from puppy mills, where a female is bred for the sole purpose of mass-producing puppies. There, she spends her entire life in a wire cage. Her only function is having puppies in some cases, more births than her frail body can tolerate. When she can no longer have those cute puppies that everyone falls in love with, she is euthanized. Puppy mills are also well known for being unsanitary. Many times cages upon cages are stacked on each other, and each animal’s waste runs into the cage below. Skin infections are rampant and food is often infested with maggots or shared with rats. These conditions leave the animals subject to many physical and mental diseases. Disturbing behavior often is noted in many puppies from puppy mills due to the total confinement they must endure. In many cases, a common puppy disease such as parvo or diphtheria both normally prevented through vaccination, wipes out an entire litter of puppies. Usually there is no veterinarian on site to care for these ailing puppies, who are lucky if there is someone there that actually cares. When do these puppies get to leave the puppy mill? Most often it is sooner than it should be. Puppy mill operators have been known to fake birth dates on official papers so as to get the puppies to the stores when they are young, small, and more desirable. What is wrong with this? The puppy’s immune system is not fully developed and is more vulnerable to illnesses. They are often not able to eat on their own and can starve. My job at the pet store was to take care of the puppies as they came in by airplane from Kansas. Scared, tired...

Meteors and Comets Essays

Meteors and Comets Essays Meteors and Comets Essay Meteors and Comets Essay Meteors and Comets My topic for this book report is meteors and comets. In fact that is also the title of my book where I got this information from. The author of my book is Gregory L. Vogt. Three main facts that I have learned are when meteors travel through space they are no longer called meteors, they are now called meteoroids. How meteoroids are formed, and how scientists believe that comets are very old. I chose this topic because meteors and comets have always interested me, and because of Halleys Comet. Many people ask and think, why are meteors called meteoroids when they travel through space if they are the same thing? Its also the same thing as saying meteoroids that fall into Earths atmosphere are called meteors. The atmosphere is the layer of gasses that surrounds Earth. I wonder if the gasses ever changed anything. As in the shape, speed or heat. Some people call them rocks from the sky! Meteors are formed in two ways. Many come from asteroids. Others come from comets. Asteroids are large chunks of space rock. They are also called minor planets. Some meteoroids are the size of a piece of sand. Some can be as big as a house! Comets almost totally melt away after many orbits. But dust and grains from the comet keep moving around the sun. After the dust and grains fall into Earths atmosphere are meteors. So one part of why scientists think comets are very old is if one comets have orbited many times then it has to be old the other part is how they think comets ate pieces left from when the solar system began. This probably happened billion of years ago. Thats why scientists think that comets are very old! In conclusion these are some parts that I found interesting in my book. Other parts that I found interesting were how some people who lived long ago were afraid of comets, or when a meteor lands on Earth its called a meteorite. This was what I thought of my book.

E-Marketing Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

E-Marketing Case Study - Essay Example 1). It is only when an organization considers a group as a key stakeholder that they can invest on a campaign targeting them. The other groups that seen as key stakeholders of HP are CIOs and IT executives who were targeted in the 2004 campaign, ‘change+ hp’. Celebrities and media houses are the other group identified as key stakeholders for HP as they were used to advance ‘The Personal Again Campaign’ while MTV collaborated with HP to develop the reality show ‘Meet or Delete’. According to Chakraborty and Govind (2008, p.5) HP decided to target some of its stakeholders in The Computer is Personal Campaign. These stakeholders include celebrities where as observed by Chakraborty and Govind (2008, p.5) the commercials featured Jay-Z and Shaun White. HP also targeted to harness the capability of media houses to reach out to its customers. Furthermore, the Campaign targeted different consumers but within the age bracket of 15 to 34 and middle sized businesses. b) Charlesworth (2009, p.49) explains internet marketing otherwise known as e-marketing is the process of promoting services and products over the internet. HP opted to use internet marketing given the obvious reasons that this marketing can reach to greater number of customers and is personalized. The issues that organisations need to consider when using e-marketing methods on an international basis include the concern that customers may not have an interaction with the product before they purchase it. The other issue is that of ensuring the security of the information of the customers when they are making on-line purchase. Moreover, Charlesworth (2009, p.49) argues that different nations have different considerations of what can be used in marketing campaigns which defined by their culture and morals. Another issue is explaining how the client can have the computer delivered to them after purchase. HP has to take into consideration the different cultures and morals of its target group when using e-marketing. This is given some of the celebrities in the Europe have no problem posing for a photo when nude but this is unacceptable in some societies and thus use of such photos should be discouraged. The company must also address the issue of customers not getting to interact with the product before they make the purchase. To deal with this, HP should offer support centres for its customers in different locations. The advertisement used must explain to the customers how the company will ensure the security of their information during transactions and how the computer can be shipped to the client after purchasing them. c) Viral marketing as described by Kaplan and Haenlein (2011, p. 253) refers to the technique of marketing that makes use of the already existing social networks to promote a brand by use of self-reproducing viral processes. Viral marketing may make use of video clips, advergames, eBooks, images, brandable software or text messages. Kapl an and Haenlein (2011, p. 253) lists three criteria critical in viral marketing including a messenger, message and environment. A messenger requires to have three components which includes market mavens, social hubs and salespeople as outlined by Kaplan and Haenlein (2011, p. 253). HP makes use of celebrities as the market mavens for effective viral marketing. HP also used fingerskilz.tv website created for fans to access information on the 2006 Fifa World Cup as their

Sula essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sula - Essay Example ived of its traditions, wisdoms, and experiences; instead, for Sula, connection with traditional ideals of maternal love pushes her to turn down the maternal family, specifically the ideals of antique belongings. Marie Nigro’s In Search of Self: Frustration and Denial in Toni Morrison’s Sula talks about the conflict created by the psychological and emotional detachment between mothers and daughters of African American descent. Nigro explains that detachment arises when daughters believe that their mothers are unable to endow them with love and sympathy because of economic aspects associated with gender, class, and racial prejudice. Such real hindrances to manifestations of love compel daughters to disobey or go against mothers who believe their efforts are adequate or compatible to affection. Phillip Novak, in his article â€Å"Circles and Circles of Sorrow†: In the Wake of Morrison’s Sula, argues that when such sympathy or love is deprived of, daughters are unable to express sympathy or love to their own daughters. Conflicts burst forth when mothers aspire for the individuality and self-reliance of their daughters but expect recognition of or gratitude for their sacrifices. The influence of the mothers on the life and identity formation of their daughters is one of the leading subjects of Sula. Morrison portrays the impact of class by examining the relationship between mother and daughter belonging to the lower class—the Peaces—and those belonging to the middle class—the Wrights. The relationships between mother and daughter in both families struggle with the difficulties that class and race create. Eva Peace was not able to give the maternal affection that Hannah wants. Due to the impact of class and race, Eva was unable to totally concentrate on her maternal responsibilities, which adversely affected the personal growth and identity formation of Hannah. Consequently, Hannah failed to provide motherly love to her own daughter, perpetuating the