The Appeal and Value of Fantasy Stories and Films Essay Example

The Appeal and Value of Fantasy Stories and Films Essay Man, as a species, is creative and has been throughout the ages. They put their creativity to use in the making of fantasy stories and films, many of which have made both positive and negative impacts on society today. The question is: are fantasy stories and films merely an escape from reality? Or do they offer us something more? I am of the view that fantasy stories and films are appealing and do have value in today’s society. The interesting storylines, their role in bringing hope and positivity to the world and their economic value all play a part in the appeal and value of fantasy stories and films. Fantasy stories and films have managed to pique the interest of children worldwide due to the colourful graphics and often amusing and unique storylines. Though the stories conveyed are often fictional, they often carry certain morals and values which are rubbed off on the children who read and watch these fantasy stories and films. For instance, in ‘Pokemon’, where the protagonist travels around the world to train and become the best at his craft, teaches the audience the importance of resilience and perseverance as they see their favourite characters marching on even after they have faced certain setbacks. Shows like ‘Adventure Time’ and ‘He-Man’ also depict not just human characters but animals as well and there is often a symbiotic relationship between the human protagonist and his trustworthy feline sidekick. This is also found in the Disney film ‘Bee Movie’, where human and animal work together to achieve a common goal. Child ren, who are the largest demographic to read and watch these stories and animated films, are at the age where they are most impressionable, and even subconsciously, the good-natured spirit of these films are passed down to them and they carry these value imparted for the rest of their lives. Even teenagers or adults, after reading or watching these stories and films, are reminded of the imp We will write a custom essay sample on The Appeal and Value of Fantasy Stories and Films specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Appeal and Value of Fantasy Stories and Films specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Appeal and Value of Fantasy Stories and Films specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Heat Attacks Essays - RTT, Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Free Essays

Heat Attacks Essays - RTT, Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Free Essays Heat Attacks Too Few Americans Take Aspirin to Prevent Second Heart Attack In an article from Doctor Gilbert Ross of the American Council on Science and Health it was revealed that only 26% of former heart attack patients take aspirin on a regular basis to prevent a reoccurrence of heart disease. Harvard Medical School did a study of data collected between 1980 and 1996. (This was a time when the use of aspirin was shown to have benefits for those who suffer from heart disease.) The percentage of aspirin uses rose 21%, up from 5%, between that 16 year period. While these results are a major improvement, the numbers are nowhere near what medical experts expected them to be. The regular intake of aspirin by heart disease patients has been proven to reduce the risk of blood clots, which are a major cause of heart attacks. The American Heart Association also recommends that people who suffer from unstable angina, a major warning sign of a heart attack which is characterized by sharp pain, take aspirin to reduce the chances of recurrent angina. Evidence of aspirin's benefits is seen mostly in patients who already suffer from heart disease, but it has been proven that it helps patients to prevent it from ever occurring as well. Patients are advised not to take aspirin for this reason without first consulting a doctor. This is because taking aspirin too often can cause some side effects which include ulcers and allergic reactions. This is also a reason that some doctors think the numbers in the study were so low- doctors are not aware that their patients are taking aspirin since it is an over the counter drug. Doctors also do not consider reporting the use of over the counter drugs to a study. More people should look into taking aspirin though. Results show that death rates have gone down considerably over the past 40 years for patients suffering from all forms of heart disease. This is amazing considering the highest risk factors still are not being treated. These include smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Bibliography Glibert Ross, M.D. American Council on Science and Health www.acsh.org March 13, 2000

Discussion 13 nur 702 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion 13 nur 702 - Assignment Example Thirdly, a gender dimension to my clinical problem exists and links available evidence with health policy. Burden of hypertension is greater among women than among men. American Heart Association (AHA) helps fight for strong public health policies that help in combating heart disease and can help with the first area. The AHA advances its mission through volunteer funds and research. American Kidney Fund can help in lobbying for health policy that would give patients financial support to help cater for their care and to conduct health education. HealthyWomen can help in foregrounding women issues that accrue from hypertension and heart disease mobilizing for health policy that would help address these issues. To get involved in health policy specific to my clinical problem, I will endeavor to contribute my evidence to the shaping the policy content. Additionally, I will be in the forefront showing the need to have laws that cover the issues that will be found to be pressing regarding the clinical problem. Finally, I will contribute in keeping surveillance ensuring that the policy is implemented and adopted (Brownson, Chriqui & Stamatakis,

Supply Chain Management in Whirlpool Research Paper

Supply Chain Management in Whirlpool - Research Paper Example Unlike its competitors like Electrolux, LG and General Electric, majority of the Whirlpool's products undergoes some form of manufacturing inside U.S. Although, Whirlpool outsource their operations, it is done minimally, with majority of its manufacturing plants located in North America. Apart from this manufacturing segment of its supply chain, Whirlpool also has a widespread distribution network to supply or reach the product to the intended customer. This distribution network consists of factory based distribution centers or warehouses, from where the finished product reaches the regional distribution centers, and then to the local distribution centers, thus finally reaching retail outlets for the client to buy. (Cookie, 2008). With such extensive operations, Whirlpool had to have an optimized Supply Chain Management (SCM) to satisfy the customers, and emerge successful. Although, in early 2000’s, Whirlpool had problems in managing its supply chain, by implementing effectiv e strategies and importantly by using Information technology (IT) tools, it has been able to strengthen its supply chain. Even after the acquisition of Maytag, Whirlpool continued to improve its supply chain by associating with strong players like Penske Logistics, who brought in more IT tools Porters’ five forces The bargaining power of the buyers has increased because now they have better information about the products, prices and their characteristics because of a lot of exposure about the company and its products through various mediums. In the case of Whirlpool also, the bargaining power of the buyers has accentuated and that is impacting its supply chain. So, to improve its supply chain, Whirlpool decided to first focus on the customer requirements, and then proceed from there, in a backward manner. With that focus, Whirlpool studied customers’ expectation and found they are â€Å"asking for accurate promises as a first requirement: "Give a date, hit a date."â⠂¬  (Lee, 2009, p.182). Because of this behavior of the buyers, Whirlpool understood they have to deliver products as soon as possible to the customers. â€Å"The supply chain needed to be able to get that appliance to [the consumer] within 48 hours,† (MacMilan, 2008). To fulfill this target, Whirlpool started incorporating technology in an accentuated manner in its supply chain. In that direction, Whirlpool also associated with number of suppliers in its supply chain, thereby increasing the bargaining power of the suppliers as well. Although, Whirlpool did not outsource its manufacturing operations, when it came to supply chain operations, it did not stress on conducting it in-house. After making thorough assessments regarding its extensive operations, Whirlpool decided to outsource the maintenance functions. Historically, its supply chain was divided into three parts, with Ryder Logistics handling supply of raw materials to the manufacturing plants and reaching the finishe d goods to its distribution centers, while ERX managed its regional distribution centers. (Bowman, n. d). For all these operations, Whirlpool had to supply its fleet of tractors and trailers, as well as manage it. That is when, Whirlpool overhauled its distribution strategy and decided to â€Å"transform its private fleet into a dedicated operation managed by an outsider†, with Penske Logistics coming into the picture. (Bowman, n. d). Penske Logistics with a wide range of IT

Othello Race Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Othello Race Journal - Essay Example This can be seen in the language which is used to describe the character. For instance, throughout the play he is refereed to as â€Å"this Moor†, â€Å"the thick lips†, or more pejorative as â€Å"Barbary horse†, and â€Å"Devil†. ("Elizabethan Thater: Skakespeare in Context" ) Moreover, characters in the play are more prone to believe that Desdemona was poisoned or somehow bewitched and in this way, forced to love Othello than to believe that their relationships are natural. â€Å"Did you by forced courses subdue and poison this young maids affections?† ("Elizabethan Thater: Skakespeare in Context") Obviously, race becomes the crucial feature that sets him apart. Throughout the play, the attitudes towards Othello are much influenced by that fact that he is racially different from the majority in the society. The following creates the tension between the characters and drives the development of the conflict. As a whole, the play reflects the existing at those time anxieties and prejudices relating to interracial marriages and the belief in the white superiority that define the place of Othello among others. In this context, Othello fulfill the role of an outsider in the society which is guided by racial stereotypes and

Building Economics And Life Cycle Costs Construction Essay

Building Economics And Life Cycle Costs Construction Essay Economic understanding regarding building designs usually aim for steering building decisions to achieve for two situations: economic efficiency and/or cost effectiveness. For instance, a building design that, besides assuring to be profitable is promising to be more profitable than other available solutions, can be considered to be the economically efficient choice for an investor. Yet, a building decision that is considered cost-effective, guarantees, for instance, that a design solution with benefits equal or better to those of competing alternatives has lower costs. Cost-effectiveness is thus understood as a subset of economic efficiency; yet, both conditions can appear in one solution, but dont have to. The use of optimization thus reflects the strategy of achieving specific economic goals. Consequently, by minimizing life-cycle costs or maximizing net benefits, an economic analysis is applied to determine the most cost-effective or the economic efficient choice respectively . Overview The reflection and analysis of life-cycle costs (LCC) is an economic evaluation technique that determines the total amount of cost of a product or project over time. Having in common that the role is to provide insight in future matters regarding all occurring costs, LCC assessment in business organizations today, serves mainly three purposes : To be an effective engineering tool for use in design, planning and project execution To be a design and engineering tool for environmental purposes To be applied proactively in cost management. A similar understanding applies to the building sector. With the increasing need to deliver economic solutions, developers, designers, planners, engineers and managers try to foresee, steer and control costs at all stages of a buildings life-cycle. By overseeing a building projects inherent costs and directing attention toward its root causes, building projects can get useful decision support before, during and after its realization, performed on large and small buildings, on partial building elements, or on isolated building systems . Throughout the design, development and operation of building projects, LCC can thus be successfully used to compare alternatives to find the most cost effective solution . With the growing pressure of governments to hold companies responsible for the costs that their products generate to society and its environment, consumers are likely to benefit from the use of LCC assessment. Sustainable building strategies require foreseeing a reduction and control of significant LCC, such as energy costs for projected building designs. Consequently, organizations such as the National Institute for Building Science or the Whole System Integrative Process (WSIP, 2006) demand for early integration of cost related planning issues into the building design process. Eventually, future building designs that are less costly may also be considered better in terms of quality when all costs of a buildings life-cycle are adequately included. A strong commitment of building design is thus to enhance the practical value of buildings. While the value of products is defined as proportionate to the satisfaction of needs divided by the use of resources, its value is proportionate to quality divided by costs . Value-driven building designs therefore require being both: quality driven and cost conscious. In addition, probably the most important condition for resource optimization is appreciation of the built structure by its users: only buildings that are valued will achieve a long lifespan (Eberle, 2007). Proactive cost management is understood as an effort to eliminate product costs before they occur, as opposed to reducing costs after they are incurred, which is considered reactive cost management . Expecting the design and planning of building projects to be proactive view is inevitable, since changes in the later planning and execution phases or even during building operation become more and more difficult to deal with. Especially during initial design stage, the consideration of LCC can help designers to make their decision-making process become more cost efficient . In reality, a proactive involvement of cost might not be the case. Essentially, comparisons or studies on the building design and its influence on the cost of building operations over the life of a building are barely explored during the early design phase. If of any concern, financial aspects during early stages of design are mainly focusing on preventing uncontrolled cost expansion of initial, predominantly constru ction costs. The possibility of actively integrating all LCC members during the early design stages remains difficult to achieve as current methods of sequential design and cost estimation make it hard to foresee the impact of investment and to reduce building operation costs to an extent that would change the perception of these capital costs. In addition, the implementation of such proactive cost management quite often incurs more costs up front, for instance for the extended amount of research and development that projects then require for. Such consequences, and with them the traditional view on cost management can easily challenge the implementation of proactive consideration of LCC assessment, where necessary time and funding for the early stages of design and planning appears insufficient . A consideration of proactive design understanding and its use of LCC assessment thus also involve necessary changes in terms of thinking, such as from a partial focus to holistic thinking (Eberle, 2010), from structure orientation to process orientation or from cost allocation to cost tracing . Life Cycle Cost (LCC) With emphasis on cost-effectiveness the consideration of life-cycle costs (LCC) is used to evaluate competing alternatives primarily on the basis of costs, allowing for choices for a given building, facility or system. The method is to compute the LCC for a particular course of action by summing all significant, time adjusted costs associated with it over the relevant period of time. The method of using LCC is thus applicable to building decisions that require for cost related decision-support, such as system modification, replacements or combinations of interdependent budgets, budget allocations, or lease or buy decisions. Yet, it is also applicable for the evaluation of competing building designs; suitable, when focusing on cost rather than benefits for two or more mutually exclusive project alternatives. Typically, the analysis or assessment of LCC includes all initial and future costs that are affected by the decision and excludes others that are not. The exclusion of costs is no t necessarily required when their contribution can help to better understand the impact between cost consideration and the amount of improvement (Ruegg Marshall, 1990). LCC of building projects are often distinguished according to the building projects phase and are likely to be separated into initial (capital) cost, operational and post-operational costs Pushkar et al. (Pushkar, et al., 2005). Figure 2.x: Life-cycle Costs of a building life cycle The diagram in Figure 2.x illustrates the occurrence of different LCC members of the BVO model over growing operation time. It also demonstrates the increasing significance of continuous, operation costs over a projects running time, as its percentage of the total expenditure steadily increases compared to the initial investments at the project commencement. Net Present value (NPV) Besides LCC considerations of evaluating building designs, economic understanding of monetary systems requires to foresee their change of value over time, due to inflation, its investment to generate future profit, or both. In the building sector, the most commonly used methods of LCC assessment are accounting systems, initially developed to determine the financial worth of an investment; they are as follows : Simple payback: defined as the time taken for the return on an investment to repay the investment. Net present value: defined as the sum of money that needs to be invested today to meet all future financial requirements as they arise throughout the life of the investment. Internal rate of return: defined as the percentage earned on the amount of capital invested in each year of the life of the project after allowing for the repayment of the sum originally invested. LCC analysis is commonly performed using present value currency representation. In the following, the use of net present value is explained more closely as it has been implemented in the BVO model as it complies with the decision to use LCC for the assessment of design and its use allows for appropriate representation of costs elements in reference to their timely occurrence. The use and implementation of Net Present Value (NPV) models enables the adjustment of currency amounts in relation to their time of occurrence. It is thus a considerable measure when include costs elements of different time occurrences. The NPV is thus typically suggested to analyze the profitability of long term investments or projects, or the evaluation of available options (Dale, 1993). Essentially, it compares the value of money today to the value of that same amount in the future, taking inflation and returns into account. Among others, Ruegg (1990) defines the net present value as: (x) , where is the estimated cost in year t, d is the discount rate, and T is the period of analysis in years. The NPV of a building project takes into account all the apparent variables acting upon a cash stream; it is thus sensitive to the  reliability of future cash inflows that an investment or project will yield.  If the NPV is positive, it should be accepted. However, if NPV is negative, the project should possibly be rejected because cash flows will also be negative. Discount rate The discount rate is a method of determining the time value of money. To prevent the value of investment eroding by the effects of inflation, the factor of inflation can be integrated into the discount rate, known as the net of inflation discount rate and calculated as : (x) For instance, if inflation is 5% per annum and interest is received at 10%, then: (x) Thus, to make the influence of the discount rate become realistic it requires for reliable input to foresee the appropriate adjustment of financial aspect of interest and inflation. Similar to the typically practiced modification of construction costs that are based of earlier cases, such modification is necessary for future costs to remain representative. The accuracy of predicting and adjusting the monetary value may appear, however, problematic with growing life-time estimations of a building, as long term predictions become increasingly vague. Setting the study period The consideration of a LCC study period is expected to relate to the following factors such as the investors and stakeholders projected time horizon, the anticipated life time of the building, project, etc., the decision whether to accept or reject the choice, or whether the perspective is individually private or public perspective oriented. For instance, an investor or project developer might only be interested in short term cost as it is intended in creating revenue from the sale of the finished building project, while a building owner or operator might rather focus on evaluation the operative cost of a building design and their involvement over the complete life-cycle. When considering the overall sustainability of a building project, the complete life-cycle must be considered and anticipated. LCC assembly Buildings LCC are categorized by the three phases that they go through during their life-cycle. They are the initial or capital cost (1) at the beginning of a building project that involve its planning, design and realization, the operational cost (2) occurring during the buildings active phase of use, and the post-operational cost (3) that assemble the costs at a building lifes end. Though the three life cycle phases for buildings are clearly defined, their transition at a specific point of time can be vague, for example a building might already be partly operating while other areas of the building are still under construction. Figure 2.x describes the three phases and their overlapping character of transition between them. Figure 2.x: A buildings life-cycle phases In addition, operational phases can be interrupted, or at least obstructed by renovation or refurbishment phases to ensure or reinstall a buildings quality and use. For instance, building developments of industrialized countries with a high demand on energy costs, suggest that a buildings life-cycle performance can be improved when taking a renovation period of 25-30 years with a constant improvement of the buildings insulation properties into account . Figure 2.x describes how the buildings life cycles can be extend through periodic renovations and/or refurbishments. Figure 2.x: Extend a buildings operational phase through periodical renovations and refurbishments Initial (Capital) Cost The initial (capital) cost comprises all the costs necessary that ensure the building realization up to the moment of its active building use. Occurring costs are thus not only the construction of a building but also all related processes of project planning and development that are involved such as: Land costs, such as costs for acquisitions and necessary preparation of land. Professional fees, which apply for involvement of building planning professionals such as architect, engineer, lawyer, etc. Construction Cost, encompass all cost for the erection of the building and installment of projected building systems Commissioning Cost, comprising all cost applicable to certify necessary fulfillment of standards and requirements or the approval for building operations of building systems involved. Promotional and sale cost, for informing the  prospects  about special discounts,  sale, or  schemes. Funding costs, In general,  price  of obtaining  equity capital Management costs, comprising all cost necessary for the organizing  and  coordinating  the  activities  of an enterprise in accordance with certain  policies  and in achievement of project realization. Operational Cost The operational phase encompasses all the cost necessary to utilize and use the building according to its original purpose. Operational cost are becoming more and more noticeable over the life cycle of a project; due to the long period of building use they can grow significantly bigger than initial costs (). For instance, when à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ According to Ruegg and Marshall (1990), operational costs can be identified as: Energy Costs, includes necessary fuel and all applicable energy costs Operation and Maintenance Cost, includes non-fuel operation costs, such as management, cleaning, servicing, rates and taxes, sewerage, salvage, funding costs, routine maintenance, furnishings, supply à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (check Ruegg) Repair and Refurbishment Costs, includes appraisal of all foreseen and estimated cost for repair or replacements of building systems or elements during a buildings use. Post-Operational Cost Post-operational cost includes the collection of all cost necessary cost that may appear at a building end of use. Mostly due to economic needs or owner related circumstances the buildings operational use becomes infeasible and a variety of options require to be considered. Unlike industrial products, the end of a buildings life cycle does not necessarily determine the end of a buildings life but instead refers to the end of a buildings original determined use. A building can thus have more than one operational cycle, when through post-operational interventions a new cycle of building use can be created. Post-operational cost can thus be categorized as Renovations Cost, represent minor repairs and makeovers necessary to maintain or reinstall building quality and use. Refurbishment Cost, include the cost necessary for major overhauls of buildings or building elements that otherwise result in obsolete building conditions. Refurbishment may also include the change of a buildings original use. Demolition, Disassembly and Recycling Cost likely occur at the end of a building life cycle. While in typical product life cycle the terms represent individual strategies involving separate specifications and costs, contemporary building removals mostly include the three them associating to separate treatment of individual buildings elements. Moreover, a number of regained materials and building elements may even create cost reduction due to their existing value possible reuse or recycling purposes. Sale, though the sale of a building does not essentially represent a cost per se, such case can occur when the new owner faces major difficulties for further use of the facility (i.e. due to contamination). Still, even if not a cost, the sale of a building can be used for LCC considerations, for instance if the sale of a building can be seen as a considerable reduction of buildings LCC due to the buildings inherited value. LCC declaration During a programming phase of building projects, cost estimations require to determine individual element of cost or benefits. To do such Tempelmans Plat (2001) points out that each demand and supply requires being determined in terms of quality, quantity, time and money. While quite often there is no or little basis of estimating future cost, estimations of future costs start by reflecting the current cost or benefit values as point of departure. Since cost estimations are subject to time related changes, costs or benefits require thought, whether to expect fundamental changes in the demand and supply of goods and services in question over time, or if considerable change of service or quality of goods are to be expected. If there is no sound basis to believe otherwise, it deems appropriate to assume that changes of prices will be approximately the same as prices in general (Ruegg Marshall, 1990). Still, the estimation of all cost elements usually poses a major difficulty due to their probabilistic nature and the distinctive character between individual costs elements. Common uncertainties for the prediction of long-life projects are: its life-cycles prediction, the interpretation of operation and maintenance costs, revenues and unforeseen or unpredictable factors that affect project economics. Since dealing with so many unknowns, it appears difficult to anticipate cost and benefit related developments. Existing methods of dealing with high risk exposure are best guess, relating to individual risk attitudes and risk adjustment through the introduction of methods using probability and statistics (Ruegg Marshall, 1990). The consideration of a LCC study period is expected to relate to the following factors such as the investors and stakeholders projected time horizon, the anticipated life time of the building, project, etc., the decision whether to accept or reject the choice, or whether the perspective is individually private or public perspective oriented. For instance, an investor or project developer might only be interested in short term cost as it is intended in creating revenue from the sale of the finished building project, while a building owner or operator might rather focus on evaluation the operative cost of a building design and their involvement over the complete life-cycle. When considering the overall sustainability of a building project, the complete life-cycle must be considered and anticipated. Cost estimation during early design stages During a schematic design phase of a building design, traditionally only construction costs are estimated. Such procedure comes with the disadvantage that long term costs that, if considered, may significantly influence design outcomes are usually not reflected. The practice of introducing operational and/or post operational costs thus require for designers specific estimation and understanding to prevent a decision-making and in a premature design situation. Since experiences of cost estimation for construction costs originate from knowledge gained during earlier comparable projects, a case-based oriented approach, such as suggested by Sowa and Hovestadt (2008), can also be used and practiced for other LCC members. Because such estimation and declaration of costs generally requires for extensive experience, the use and creation of databases that allow for differentiation and declaration may not easily compensate for. Cost estimators usually have considerable experience gained through working in the building construction industry, estimating and monitoring building costs through all the stages realization stages of a project (NIBS, 2010). The estimation of cost thus not only require for skills such as a clear judgment and straightforward attitude, but for qualities such as awareness, uniformity, consistency, verification, documentation, evaluation, and analysis . Yet, with the growing complexity of building projects, it seems vital to have the cost estimations involved right from the very beginning to ensure that the project estimations reflect the decisions made. Especially during the early design stage, changes will require estimates to be prepared at different levels during the design process with increasing degrees of information provided. At any point of a design, not all portions of the design would be at the same level of completeness. Yet typical, such contingencies for the aforementioned will be reduced as more design documentation is produced (NIBS, 2010). For instance, the estimation of construction costs typically corresponds to the phases of the building design and development process in a top-down manner, meaning that cost estimates improve their precision and detailing with the progressing stages of design realization. In addition, cost estimates usually try to comply with considered standards within the building industry. In the United States, for instance, a widely accepted system provided for cost estimates is the UniFormatà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ or, for later planning stages the MasterFormatà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ (CSI, 2011) system, which allows design teams to evaluate  alternative building designs and systems. In Europe, cost estimates are usually practiced according to DIN regulations such as the DIN 276/277 for cost estimation and declaration of building designs (Frà ¶hlich, 2007). A building projects first cost estimates can already appear during the architectural programming phase with the purpose to facilitate budgetary and feasibility determinations. Usually based on past information with adjustments made for specific project conditions such estimates are prepared to develop a project budget. At such level, design schemes normally do not yet exit, required data for cost appraisals are thus drawn from general functional description, schematic layout, and geographic location, building size expressed as floor-area, numbers of people, seats, cars, etc., and intended use. Respective estimates are thus based on costs per square units, and/or alternatively number of cars/rooms/seats, etc. During the schematic design phase, the purpose of estimate is to create a more complete assessment that is typically based on a better definition of the scope of work. While also compared to earlier budgetary and feasibility determinations, an estimate at this level may be used to price various design schemes in order to see which scheme best fits the budget, or it may be used to price various design alternatives, or construction materials and methods for comparison. The more developed schematic design criteria such as a detailed building program, schematic drawings, sketches, renderings, diagrams, conceptual plans, elevations, sections and preliminary specifications are reflected. Available information is typically supplemented with descriptions of soil and geotechnical conditions, utility requirements, foundation requirements, construction type/size determinations, and any other information that may have an impact on the estimated construction cost. The goal at the end of schematic design is to have a design scheme, program, and estimate that can be contained within budget . Net Benefits (NB) LCC considerations are typically used to make cost-effective choices, as its technique is to compare alternatives competing primarily on the basis of costs (Ruegg Marshall, 1990). Yet, if a building design is planned to generate revenue, a comparison of invested costs to its predicted returns can help to determine advantages between designs options. In such case, the method of calculating the net benefits (NB) of a building option is considered an applicable way of finding the most economically efficient choice among alternatives. In such case, the calculation of NB is achieved by subtracting the time-adjusted costs of an investment from its time-adjusted benefits (Ruegg and Marshall, 1990). In relation to building-volume optimization, because the optimization of cost is generally expected to steer a building-volume design towards minimized volume/surface ratio, window/opening ratio and/or net surface areas, the integration of revenue considerations can help to justify the amount of indispensable volume reduction when practicing BVO. Similar to cost considerations, the estimation of buildings projected revenue can be established by floor-area declarations. In addition, while a buildings annual income is expected to change depended on its market value over the span of a buildings life-cycle; the diagram in figure 2.x shows how a buildings generated income can be perceived as originating from a products marketing perspective, which consists of at least four stages of introduction, growth, maturity and decline . Figure 2.x: A products marketing perspective over a life cycle. Source: Kà ¶nig (2009) The prediction of generating buildings revenue thus requires for understanding and forecasting these changes over a given period; its moments of rise and decline that strongly depend on a buildings perceived value and its decay due to intensity of use (elaborate further, see Koenig). Shown in Figure 2.x, when plotting a typical development of cost and revenue predictions the financial profitability of building occurs at point a, and becomes obsolete when the cost of become larger than the income generated. Such situation appears at operation time b with operation cost appearing higher than the income; at least at this point the buildings economic purpose becomes unsuccessful. Figure 2.x Cost vs. Revenue. Source: Kà ¶nig (2009) When adapting a buildings foreseen lifecycle to this understanding, a buildings lifetime and the creation of revenue can be exceeded by interference of the maturity process through possible renovation or refurbishment measures. In Figure 2.x a buildings generated income during a foreseen life-cycle may thus be illustrated by separating the building operation period by new construction constructions phases that are required for the renovation and/or refurbishment of the building. Figure 2.x: A buildings generated income extended through renovation and refurbishment top. Source: Kà ¶nig (2009) In reality, the periods between theses interventions very much vary from the owners intention to keep high-level building quality or the necessity to prevent a building from becoming obsolete or having higher operation costs that income. From an economic standpoint, interventions to improve the buildings ideally take place when profitability can be increased or maintained. For instance, Kà ¶nig et al. (2009) suggest that, in an industrialized country, a replacement and improvement of buildings insulation performance should take place after a period of 20-30 years. Especially with the amount of operation costs strongly increasing due to continuously rising energy costs, the need for innovations and improvement for reducing buildings energy consumptions became highly prominent. Finally, because a clear definition of a buildings income require for experiences of earlier comparable cases, the use of existing data are necessary to help predicting the revenue curve and the point of interventions for necessary building improvements. An optimization, particularly of passive resource oriented building improvement thus depends on well implemented predictions and assumptions of a buildings foreseen life-cycle and performances. Yet, when of a designer existing experience or the amount available data is not sufficient and/or its quality is questionable, the building-volume optimization process may clearly suffer from it. Conclusion The use of assessing life-cycle costs (LCC) is seen as tool that helps associating estimated costs over a projects foreseen life span. LCC of a building or a building system are defined as the total discounted amount of cost of owning, operating, maintaining and disposing over a defined period of time . The consideration to use life-cycle cost as an objective for the BVO model is based on its ability to include different building costs over a specified period, allowing for comparison and impact analysis between, for instance, initial and operational costs. The establishment of LCC as an objective for building performance optimization thus defines the primary BVO model goal. To be effective, the attempt of reducing overall building costs requires for a cost distribution that allows for effective declaration and activation of significant building elements during early architectural design stages. According to volume geometry, this can be building-volume surfaces as well as building flo or-areas. With the possibility to link costs to selected areas, the model requires a wider variation of costs to be successful. Because early design stages mostly refer to estimated costs; cost distribution and specification is more likely to be based on users experience or existing available data originating from earlier comparable building design cases . For the BVO model currently only initial and operational have been integrated because convincing and direct associations between post-operational costs and building elements at a buildings lifes end are hard to foresee and the available options appear diverse. Still, eventual costs for the renovation or refurbishment of buildings or building parts can be integrated as they are usually more common and estimations based on area declaration exist. While the main aim of the BVO model lies in the improvement of the buildings geometry (volume of the building) and not in the building system that eventually operates it, the induced process is understood as to eliminate or reduce the amount of incurring cost of a projected design before they occur. Once a building-volume design is established, system considerations may then further reduce costs by means of using appropriate technology as practiced by engineers. As mentioned earlier, Eberle (2007) suggested that active and passive design features are responsive towards each other, thus the priority in the design process should aim for optimizing passive design features first as they do not require the use of additional resources. Because constant definitions already include premade assumptions and partial definitions on an incorporated system they should be chosen wisely as not to affect unrealistic results. BVO design is thus understood proactive, as its primary intention is the improving passive design elements of the building-volume. Yet, the integration of LCC helps to understand significance of individual cost members and effectively use the diff

Andrew Carnegie :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   5162000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the last hundred years many great people have come and gone. Only a few of these people have etched a legacy in history that puts them in a category of being influential through out the entire century. To achieve this state of supreme centennial importance ones impact must benefit not only the people living in the present but must also positively affect the men and women of the near and distant future. Anyone who accomplishes this task should be named the most influential person of the Twentieth Century. Because of Andrew Carnegie’s stand against harsh labor, expansion of the steel industry, and extreme generosity with ongoing philanthropic work, history will record him as the most influential person of the Twentieth Century.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carnegie is most widely known for his monopolization of the steel industry. He developed numerous companies to support the need for steel in the developing United States. He foresaw that following the Civil War steel was going to be an important part of American life. He decided that it would be a smart idea to invest in the developing industry and that decision paid off enormously. (Amer. Exp.) He worked to modernize the United States through the building of bridges, railroads, and other vital roadways, which in turn brought the country together. By 1900, Carnegie Steel Juggernaut produced more steel, than all of Great Britain. In the early part of the Twentieth century large monopolies ruled the industrial world bringing about long hours, low wages, and harsh working conditions. This was also the time when the thought or the attempt to unionize was completely out of the question as far as most leaders of industry were concerned. Andrew Carnegie was the one of the so-called robber barons that took a stand against the unfair working conditions. Carnegie preached the rights of laborers and felt they should unionize to protect their jobs. (Amer Exp 2) As a result of Carnegie’s strong reputation his stand for unionization sent a message to the world that unions can and should be allowed. He persevered to shorten the average workday, and saw industry as a corporation between the worker and the employer. Carnegie felt that work and money were a means to an end. His goal in industry wasn’t to become the richest man but instead to improve himself to benefit the greater good of mankind. He felt that the best way to accomplish this goal was through communication.

There are two levers for moving men. One is fear and the other, interest

The interest of the students is a one wild, untamed and elusive matter which controls the path to where the instruction will fall. It is a feather which has the power to tip the balance of the weighing scale between success and failure. It is a determining factor to whether the approach will be effective or not. So for the teaching-learning process to be productive and utterly successful, the teacher, instructor or facilitator must capture this intangible creature and keep a firm hold of it for it may fuel the engine of your train named â€Å"Instruction† towards the station on the avenue of accomplishment and goals. Or it may head for the worse and suffer a catastrophic derailment which is our dear students’ ignorance of what we intend to teach them which defines a real teaching fiasco. To remedy such dilemma, you must lubricate your gears with the grease of â€Å"Variations†. With doing this, we are aiming to smoothen the rotation of wheels of the lesson on the axles of the objectives we have set for the meeting. By means of conducting varied teaching methods, incorporated with series of corresponding assessment tools with appropriate instructional materials, we may ensnare and nail our students’ interest on the lesson so deep that maneuvering our way to success will be as easy as eating pie during tea time. Once we have mesmerized our students’ attention, we can gain an overwhelming boost of motion and accelerate the pace of productivity of our instruction so effective we can attain, or even surpass our educational objectives and come up with a much desirable outcome. Our teaching methods and strategies shall depend on the capabilities and needs of our students. The learners shall be at the apex of our considerations for they are the center of the teaching-learning process. The effectivity of our strategies depends on how much our learners gained from us. We are much likely to be triumphant if our students acquired a ton of knowledge from us. It will mean that we have succeeded on our aim to distribute our ideas to them. This is a way of flourishing their minds to which we are going to reap a bountiful harvest of creativity and imaginative thought in the future. Just like in farming and agriculture, in order for our farmers to produce more crops, they practice different kinds of methodologies in planting, maintaining and harvesting, integrating different sorts of techniques to come up with a new innovative way to cultivate crops. Then if we try to transfer this thought in Education, our teachers arrive at the idea of using different types of teaching approaches and techniques so that they can increase the level of the Philippine Education compared to the overwhelming standards of International Schooling. By integrating different ways of teaching, we envision to proliferate the amount of knowledge we give our students because through the use of varied methods, we can maximize our very limited time for instruction.

Feminine Virtues in the Ibo Tribe essays

Feminine Virtues in the Ibo Tribe essays In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe shows the importance of feminine virtues in the Ibo tribe. In the novel women, regarded highly for their importance in bearing children and acting as wives, receive praised for their significance. Achebe illustrates the women of the tribe as strong, powerful people whose importance you cannot fail to notice. Anasi was a middle aged woman, tall and strongly built. There was authority in her bearing and she looked every inch the ruler of the womenfolk in a large and prosperous family (Achebe 20). Often entrusted with instilling morality in their children and governing their conduct, women in the tribe hold high regard in the respects of their fellow tribes people. A female goddess will remind men to uphold their morals and mind their conduct, much the way a mother would her child. Once again, a mother holds a high magnitude in the tribe. Mothers and wives appear as the only two positions that women in the Ibo tribe can receive praise for. Outside these roles of acting as mother and/or wife, a woman will receive little, if any respect. It was clear from the way the crowd stood that this was a ceremony for me. There were many women, but they looked on from the fringe like outsiders (Achebe 87). With festivals held in public places, men presided and took seats of honor in front. Women, forced to stand at the edges, looked on from there because they simply did not hold importance. Also, throughout the book, Achebe emphasizes the womens role in childbearing and their fault if the childs would not occur healthily. Nneka has had four previous pregnancies and childbirths. But each time she had born twins, and they had been immediately thrown away. Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians. It was a good rid ...

Understanding Usage of Generic Types in Delphi

Understanding Usage of Generic Types in Delphi Generics, a powerful addition to Delphi, were introduced in Delphi 2009 as a new language feature. Generics or generic types (also know as parametrized types), allow you to define classes that dont specifically define the type of certain data members. As an example, instead of using the TObjectList type to have a list of any object types, from Delphi 2009, the Generics. Collections unit defines a more strongly typed TObjectList. Heres a list of articles explaining generic types in Delphi with usage examples: What and Why and How on Generics in Delphi Generics with Delphi 2009 Win32 Generics are sometimes called generic parameters, a name which allows to introduce them somewhat better. Unlike a function parameter (argument), which has a value, a generic parameter is a type. And it parameterizes a class, an interface, a record, or, less frequently, a method ... With, as a bonus, anonymous routines and routine references Delphi Generics Tutorial Delphi tList, tStringList, tObjectlist or tCollection can be used to build specialized containers, but require typecasting. With Generics, casting is avoided and the compiler can spot type errors sooner. Using Generics in Delphi Once you’ve written a class using generic type parameters (generics), you can use that class with any type and the type you choose to use with any given use of that class replaces the generic types you used when you created the class. Generic Interfaces in Delphi Most of the examples I’ve seen of Generics in Delphi use classes containing a generic type. However, while working on a personal project, I decided I wanted an Interface containing a generic type. Simple Generics Type Example Heres how to define a simple generic class: typeTGenericContainerT classValue : T;end; With the following definition, heres how to use an integer and string generic container: vargenericInt : TGenericContainerinteger;genericStr : TGenericContainerstring;begingenericInt : TGenericContainerinteger.Create;genericInt.Value : 2009; //only integersgenericInt.Free;genericStr : TGenericContainerstring.Create;genericStr.Value : Delphi Generics; //only stringsgenericStr.Free;end; The above example only scratches the surface of using Generics in Delphi (does not explain anything though - but above articles have it all you want to know!). For me, generics were the reason to move from Delphi 7 / 2007 to Delphi 2009 (and newer).

Management (McDonald's) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management (McDonald's) - Essay Example This was however not ethically rosy. The local business community was concerned that the aggression of the McDonald's franchise was anticompetitive and was also not auguring well with other workers in Brazil. There quick integration was considered unethical by preemption of competitors. This was formulated from their high rents that McDonald was levying from the local restaurants. Thus McDonald ended up in court for double rate rental fees factor on sales as compared to the US mother country scenario which is only 8.5%. Jordan (2000, p. A23); Korten, (2001, p. 419 -449). On the side of the unsatisfied employees, there was gripe about their reduced hours of work and shifts to evade paying overtime. The Ministry of Labor in Sao Paulo was mandated to investigate these claims that the employees claimed prevented them from working longer to earn more overtime. The global practice of McDonald is however shift based during peak hours and to achieve efficiency, this strategy was deployed to minimized work hours to up to 8 hours a week. Due to lack of strong laws, McDonald got away with these allegations and is continuing with the practice up 30 years to date. McDonald senior management claims that this is what has helped them to survive the high inflation in the Brazilian fast food market and justify by the peril of other fast food companies in the past. Jordan (2000, p. A23); Burt (1983, p. 419-420); Korten, (2001, p. 419 -449). McDonalds's Stakeholders' map by use of Sethi's Dimensions on Corporate Social Performance Sethi (1975, p. 58 -64) McDonald has a network of stakeholder as shown in the diagram above. They have owners and investors who earn share after every financial period. They have banks that have lent them money to carry out their aggressive financial expansions. They belong to various trade associations that are based in the respective regions of investment. The media companies help them in the advertisements everywhere as well as in their publicity campaigns. The transport companies that they partner with help them in the JIT deliveries. They have a range of supplies in the cereals, poultry, meat, vegetable, ice cream ingredients and other food and drink soft products. They have recycling companies that help them on the collected packaging and wraps to avoid pollution. They have customers from children, youth, men and women. There is pressure group such as the case in Brazil that felt the Macdonald was preempting the potential competitors. Naylor (2004, PPT. 5.3); Sethi, (1975, p. 58-64). McDonald also has got trade unions who sued them like in the case at Brazil for 'under employment.' They have millions of employees World wide. The European Union has also been stepping up regulations to the McDonald in relation to some trendy health concerns about some of their foods. The governments are related to them in the provision of business environment and tax collection. The local governments have been allowing them to set specific number of store while regulating competition. The business community is mainly composed of potential fast food restaurants who would like to see a level playing field of investment. The legal system is there to ensure that McDonald adheres to the standing law and order. Naylor (2004, PPT.

Bird Flu Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bird Flu - Research Paper Example Bird flu in humans is similar to the average influenza, so detecting it and diagnosing it can be, at times, difficult. Symptoms can be a bit more harsh than a typical flu and can sometimes lead to death in those with a weaker immune system. Like the average flu, bird flu can be passed from person to person; unfortunately, while the same medications used in the human influenza can be used to treat bird flu, the virus tends to become immune to the effects of the human influenza vaccine, making it helpless against treating the virus. There are also other varying viruses that come from the bird flu microorganism, so symptoms and the threats on life can differ between which type of virus the person has. Bird flu is a virus that is passed from system to system, whether it is by bird or human. Like all microorganisms, bird flu can be carried by means of hands, therefore being capable of being passed on by merely touching another person that has the disease. Bird flu shares many symptoms and traits to a normal flu, so it is spread in the same way. People need to be careful how they handle food, and make sure that they wash their hands after making contact with something that has had previous contact with other hands. This microorganism is a bacteria, so while it may not be seen, it can most definitely be present in an area. This microorganism is transmitted to humans through indirect and direct contact. While it cannot be caught while eating poultry that has been infected by the disease (Mohamed Saif, 2005), it can still be caught by touching surfaces that the poultry has been on or by making physical contact with a bird that has it. Indirectly, bird flu can be caught in the same way as other diseases that are passed on by humans. The microorganism is found in birds and can be passed down to humans; its original environment is within the