Most Played Online Games

Online Games 1 INTRODUCTION The youth of today no longer seem to spend their leisure activities like in the olden days; outdoor games or playing with toys, instead, they spend their free time in their homes, internet cafes or computer shops simply to satisfy their hunger; and that hunger is Online Gaming. Online gaming has such a profound impact on not only the young, but dynamically every age group as well. So far, virtually anyone is able to go on a computer and punch through the keys and mouse in order to get a high score, chat with players, get the rarest items, and level up as fast as possible.Yes, there seems to be no restriction as to whom, how or what online gaming can extend to. Almost half of college students who play video, computer or online games admit that it keeps them from studying â€Å"some† or a â€Å"lot,† according to the Pew study. About 9 percent said that gaming was a way to avoid studying. There are kids today that prefer to skip school and stay home to level up in a  MMORPG  game. The others that actually do attend school have trouble concentrating because they are distracted. They are distracted because they consistently think about the online game and the plans that they are going to do.Resulting of this they hardly participate and get into class discussions. Since they spend whatever extra time they have in an online game, they fail to meet the requirements of school. This distressing stuff caught the attention of the research, because of what’s happening to the youth. Why most of the students attract of the online games? Is because of the popular online games? What are the popular online games? Does it affect their academic performance? That’s the question that people want to surely ask.For this, the researchers want to know the reason behind this what the most teenagers most played online games, and also to know if it is Affecting their academic performance. Online Games 2 Review of Related Literatu re Top 10 Most Popular Online Games of 2007 During the first few years of their existence, people thought online games were doomed to be one hit wonders, but this has proven to be untrue. Online games are extremely popular and are devouring the gaming market. 1. Pangya Before â€Å"Pangya†, online gamers never really had anything to say about golf.After â€Å"Pangya†, online gamers around the world have this to say about golf: Super swing, Pangya! This offbeat yet highly entertaining online game brought golf to the attention of millions of online gamers worldwide, and the phenomenon never seems to let go. â€Å"Pangya: Season 3†, the latest expansion patch, brought the ever-popular Kaz the Samurai Warrior into the world of Pangya. Additional features from the new expansion patch includes several new golf courses, a revamped trading system where players may buy and sell in-game items, and, last but not the least, the much-awaited Overworld feature. 2.Ran Online D o you remember what it feels like to be the top student of your class? How about being the class bully, or being bullied? If so, then this online game is set to blow you away. â€Å"Ran Online† is a campus-based online game in the tradition of â€Å"Ragnarok Online†. The creators have created a rich school environment where players are allowed complete freedom of movement. So now you can bring your character to the next level while exploring the game’s rich campus settings. You can also try your luck battling it out with other players in player vs. player, or PVP mode. Online Games 3 3.Granado Espada Known as â€Å"The Sword of the New World† in the United States and other European countries, â€Å"Granada Espada† is the current trend setter in a competitive market. Available character classes include the fighter, the wizard, the musketeer, the Scout, and the Elementalist. The game developers, IMC Games, decided to do away with the popular fantasti cal formula. They, instead, took a notorious era in the history of mankind, the Age of Exploration, threw in a bunch of cool-looking characters, and created a game with tons of flare and personality. 4. RF Online Do you love magic and heavy machine guns?Then â€Å"RF Online† is for you. â€Å"RF Online† is the blockbuster online game from developer CCR. Set in the distant Novus system, a galaxy where high forms of sorcery and technology are at constant collision with one another, â€Å"RF Online†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s plot follows the three-way war between the Accretia clan, the Bellato clan, and the Cora clan. The game-play itself is unique when it comes to the use of race-specific abilities, something of a treat to look forward to in PVP. â€Å"RF Online† has recently become free to play in many countries around the world. 5. Perfect World â€Å"Perfect World† is a tale of soul and swords.The game’s developers, inspired by ancient Chinese mythology, ha ve succeeded in creating a world that defies all conventions. In â€Å"Perfect World†, beasts talk, gigantic birds rule the sky, and humans and elves fight together to bring down ferocious creatures. The game offers a plethora of interesting side-quests and features, including a territorial battle feature, a mount system, a marriage system, a crafting system, and a phone lock feature, specifically designed to combat the worsening crisis in account hacking. Online Games 4 6. Final Fantasy XI â€Å"Final Fantasy XI† is an online gamer and Final Fantasy fanatic’s dream come true.In this game, players assume the role of any of the five tribes that inhabit the world of Vana’diel: the Elvaan tribe, the Hume tribe, the Galka tribe, the Mithra tribe, and the Tarutaru tribe. The game has received a generous amount of critical applause since it initial release in 2002. 7. Fly for Fun â€Å"Fly for Fun† (sometimes called FlyFF) holds the record for being the first online game to offer complete freedom of movement in the air! In this game, players can use a broom or a skateboard to soar and fly off to different parts of the world in their pursuit of stronger monsters to slay.The game is at its ninth version as of writing. Version 10 is slated to come out soon. Available classes include mercenary (becomes Knight or Blade), magician (becomes Psykeeper or Elementor), assist (becomes Ringmaster or Billposter), and acrobat (becomes Ranger or Jester). 8. Ragnarok Online â€Å"Ragnarok Online† may be the epitome of online gaming. No other online game managed to attract the attention of millions of PC gamers around the world at a time when network games, like â€Å"Counter Strike† and â€Å"Starcraft† were primarily responsible for burnt crisp video cards and hard drives. Ragnarok† features an ensemble cast of fantasy character classes: the mercenary class (good with the sword), the thief class (adept at sneaking and c onfusion), the mage class (adept at magic and sorcery), the archer class (good at long-distance combat), the acolyte class (party healers and buffers), and the merchant class (your average traders). Online Games 5 9. Tantra Online â€Å"Tantra† many be a weird name, but it’s a great game. Set within an enigmatic universe where human summoners and ghastly monsters rule the land, â€Å"Tantra† is one of the most innovative online games of all time.All â€Å"Tantra† players are required to choose one of the three gods: Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. The consequence of your chosen god becomes evident once you enter the game’s fantastic PVP arena. â€Å"Tantra†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s PVP mode is like no other; it is an assault on the senses. Depending on your chosen god, you will be transported to your god’s castle, and as a follower it is your duty to launch an invasion on the castles of the other two gods. When the three tribes collide, all hell breaks loo se, and that is when the game of â€Å"Tantra† reaches its finest hour. 10. World of WarcraftLegendary game developer, Blizzard took its award-winning fantasy world to new heights when it unleashed this mammoth online game. Available character classes include the druid, the hunter, the mage, the paladin, the priest, the rogue, the shaman, the warlock class and the warrior. Huge, breathing environments, a crafty roster of playable classes, a thrifty trading system and an addictive PVP system makes this game a blast to play. Top 10 Most Popular Online Games of 2007. (2007). http://crunkish. com/top-10-online-games-of-2007/ Online Games 6 Video game use and academic performanceAmong gamers and public, there are differing opinions about video games and how it affects children’s academic performance. Most gamers say it has a positive or no effect on their academic performance, most parents and teachers I heard state the opposite. As for academia, well this article isnâ€⠄¢t the first to look at video game use and academic performance. There are certainly others, but this was in my personal library. This study analyzes the correlation between video game usage and academic performance. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and grade-point average (GPA) scores were used to gauge academic performance.The amount of time a student spends playing video games has a negative correlation with students’ GPA and SAT scores. As video game usage increases, GPA and SAT scores decrease. A chi-squared analysis found a p value for video game usage and GPA was greater than a 95% confidence level (0. 005 < p < 0. 01). This finding suggests that dependence exists. SAT score and video game usage also returned a p value that was significant (0. 01 < p < 0. 05). Chi-squared results were not significant when comparing time spent studying and an individual’s SAT score.This research suggests that video games may have a detrimental effect on an individual’s GPA and possibly on SAT scores. Although these results show statistical dependence, proving cause and effect remains difficult, since SAT scores represent a single test on a given day. The effects of video games maybe be cumulative; however, drawing a conclusion is difficult because SAT scores represent a measure of general knowledge. GPA versus video games is more reliable because both involve a continuous measurement of engaged activity and performance.The connection remains difficult because of the complex nature of student life and academic performance. Also, video game usage may simply be a function of specific personality types and characteristics. Anand, V. (2007). A study of time management: The correlation between video game usage and academic performance markers. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(4), 552-559. Online Games 7 College students are avid gamers Video games aren’t just for kids. For American college students, games are as much a part of life as studying and part ying.A study from Pew Internet Research finds that 70 percent of college students play video games at least â€Å"once in a while. † The study, â€Å"Let The Games Begin: Gaming technology and entertainment among college students,† was conducted by Steve Jones, a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The goal was to learn about the impact of video games on college student’s lives. The survey was given to college students at four-year and two-year public and private colleges and universities between March 2002 and October 2002. Video games have transformed pop culture.Sales of video games have bypassed Hollywood box office receipts in the last few years. But only recently have researchers started studying the pervasive impact of video games on young people’s lives. The Pew study comes on the heels of research from the University of Rochester that found college students who regularly play shoot-em-up video ga mes have sharper visual skills than those who don’t. The Pew study smashes a few gender stereotypes about avid gamers, finding that slightly more women (60 percent) than men (40 percent) reported playing computer and online games.About the same number of men and women play video games. Women prefer computer games over violent video games played on consoles partly because they don’t usually require the player to choose a character. Online games like Diamond Mine or Tetris are popular among women because gender isn’t an issue. Online Games 8 Men play for fun (45 percent); women play when they’re bored (33 percent). Video games are also a way guys bond with their buddies; 51 percent of men believing that gaming improved their friendship with friends.Only 34 percent of women believe video games help their friendships. Nearly two-thirds of the students said games were a good way to spend time when friends weren’t around, but they also said that video ga mes didn’t take time away from family or friends. Average video gamers in college aren’t the stereotypical alienated loners locked away in darkened, pizza box-filled dorm rooms. Most of the study’s participants had positive associations with video games, saying they felt pleasant (36 percent) when they played or that they were challenging (45 percent).In particular, students said playing video games were a way to spend more time with their friends, one of the key trends spotted by the researchers. Rather than separating leisure activities like video games from the rest of their lives, college students stole time between classes to play or as a brief distraction from writing papers. Multi-tasking is also big on campus with students gaming while instant messaging or even downloading music. Video games are also prime-time for up-all-night college students. About 41 percent of college gamers play after 9 p. m. ith only 8 percent reporting that they play before noon. Weaver, Jane. (2007). http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/3078424/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/college-studen Online Games 9 Synthesis It is clear from the literature that the effect of video games on the youth is both positive and negative. Video games can certainly lead to negative effects such as social isolation and increased aggression, but they are going to remain a part of college culture for the imaginable future. It is important to understand the positive and negative aspects of video games.Playing games socially as part of balanced lifestyle seems to have some positive effects. Playing violent games is linked to several negative problems. The description of women in video games can have a negative effect on the gender views of men and the identity and self-worth of women. Some research has shown that video games may be one way to engage students more in the learning process. This seems especially true in areas involving analytical skills. They can contribute another way o f learning in addition to the many other academic methods which are currently popular.There is ongoing research on how to best leverage games in education, if they should be used at all. Students and educators need to be aware of the dangers of excessive gaming. It can have academic, social, and spiritual consequences. Students have been known to completely disconnect from their friends and surroundings when playing games like World of Warcraft. As was shown by several statistics presented earlier a small percentage of students, especially men, spend a huge amount of time playing video games. Balance needs to be emphasized as an important part of the healthy Christian lifestyle, and video games are no exception.

Reflection on Global Operation Management Essay

Pietra Rivoli who is an associate professor in the Georgetown University, specializes in finance and social issues, and is the author of the book, ‘The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy’. The main reason which instigated Rivoli to write this book, was a speech a student had given at the Georgetown University, the student was severely criticizing globalization, and asking about who made the T-shirts they were wearing. She told some facts about child labor in India and Vietnam, which made everybody, sit up and think, including Rivoli. Rivoli then starts on a journey to find out some interesting facts about the origin of the T-shirt. Her case study starts in Texas at the home of Nelson Reinch, who produces enough cotton for more than 1.3 million T-shirts. Reinch and his colleagues control the whole world market of cotton, through hard work, determination, modern technology and much needed discounts from the government. Reinch was no where in comparison to the poor farmers in India and Africa, who did not have proper funds or government support in marketing their goods. Rivoli’s next stop was China, were she met a young woman Yuang Zhi, who spun the yarn for the fabric and sewed the shirt. This young lady worked for 50 hours a week, and earned nearly $150 per month. This woman’s working conditions were far better than the conditions in which women had to work previously in Manchester and England. This was probably the woman’s first encounter with independence and identity, which came in the form a paycheck, even though it was a small amount.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most important point which was very surprising was that, throughout the world there must be millions of people who manufacture cotton, but the manufacturers from Texas were totally dominating the cotton industry, because of their shrewd manner by which they manage to avoid competition. These manufacturers manage to control the market by avoiding the labor market, which make the other manufacturers unable to compete with them due to no government and political assistance, lack of proper education and money. People who support globalization vow by the free trade of clothes, as it can be used to the advantage of the poorer countries. Rivoli was surprised to find that how recycled clothes from the USA were a rage in Tanzania. Used clothes from America get imported in huge quantities to Tanzania. Tanzania is a small country which was slowly proceeding towards a more liberal capitalist system from the socialist model. People are able to freely take part in the daily auctions of the clothes at the market place, and merchants are also making a mark for themselves in the cutthroat markets as consumers or retailers. Rivoli feels that free trade should be encouraged without any government or political interference in the markets. According to the author, United States is on the top of the market whereas Africa is at the bottom; she feels that USA will have a better chance to make progress economically if they give a reasonable chance of competition to other poorer countries. Tanzania is a proper example of how a free market should work, and these markets are extremely professional, but do not get acknowledged, because of the low capital raised through such markets, which is not significant. Two of the most important principles which need to be followed are that, government and political interference should not be there in any market. Another point is that the subsidy which US government gives the cotton manufacturers is indirectly harming other poorer countries. Rich people are becoming wealthier and the poor are becoming poorer. If the subsidies are reduced, the price of cotton can be increased, which would be beneficial to other poorer markets. Another important point which is a shock is that the clothes that people donate, are not given away freely to poor people, but are sold to middlemen for huge profits, which later land in the streets of   the Tanzania marketplace. Some of the most important principles which can be followed by other industries also are that free market in any trade should be encouraged, and people should have the power to voice their demands, meaning a free democracy should be prevalent to achieve a fruitful society. Government should support free trade in any industry, and should provide the necessary platform in the form of proper education and capital to help the markets grow. Some of the other reasons for the trouble that African industries are facing are the lack of proper authority, which is due to no proper education, corruption and insecurity. The author Rivoli made a very good job of the book, she was successful in exposing the secrets and complications of the cotton trade globally.   Her views on free trade and liberal democracy are very interesting, and should be followed by the authorities of the poorer countries for a better society. On the whole she succeeded in voicing her thoughts and opinions on the recycle market in Tanzania, and hopefully, their government will provide a strong platform for such global trades. References Kris Hundley, What a T-shirt Teaches Series., St Petersburg Times, 4 October 2007, . Lauren Dorsey, Lauren Barbieri, Zack Thomas, ‘The Travelers of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, by Pietra Rivoli’, 4 October 2007, .

Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm Essay

1. At the end of the case if you were Palmer, how would you respond? It was clear from the beginning everyone involved could have handled things more professionally in order to maximize time, and resources while maintaining a healthy and productive work environment for all employees. From the start of the project it was evident that Olds knowledge and skills were definitely in demand. Because his expertise was so in demand, when met with an organizational structure that had an obvious weak matrix structure, it caused great adversity. In this case we learn Ruby Sands had the role of functional manager and therefore ultimately made a decision that affected Palmer’s account. As soon as Palmer recognized the problems he should have addressed the issue then and presented the possible risk, moving forward the best option for Palmer is to find a suitable replacement for Olds. And accept the fact that valuable employees leave projects all the time for one reason or another. Also, Palmer should address his concerns regarding the situation on a whole to include Crosby’s unwillingness to be a team player as a way to avoid similar situations happening in the firm’s future. In conclusion, Palmer is the project manager; it is his responsibility to handle all aspects of the project to include communication. Effective communication would have lead to a better outcome. 2. Discuss what Palmer could do, if anything, to avoid losing Olds: Project managers are ultimately responsible for performance. Therefore it is Palmer’s responsibility to ensure that appropriate protocol is made between the time, cost and performance requirements of the project. In addition, the project manager is also responsible for the aspects of Leadership, such as problem solving, teamwork, negative politics and customer expectations. To avoid losing Olds, Palmer should have realized the struggles Olds was faced with, such as working extra hours to accommodate both projects and accounts, as a result the impact that it had on work-life balance took its toll on Olds and put him in a difficult position.

Traveling Matte Techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Traveling Matte Techniques - Essay Example Traveling mattes modify figure from frame to frame in order to correspond to the movement of the picture or a subject within the picture. Matte effects are typically designed digitally. For using special effects in filmmaking and photography, matters are applied to make an image by combining two and more images. In the film industry, matters are typically applied for mixing a foreground image. For example characters of the film on a set with a background image are seen as a single image. If an actor is seen jumping from a plane, matte is the background painting, showings clouds, mountains, etc. In filmmaking the use of SPFX or SFX is common. These techniques are used for giving special effects to images. The principle of a matte needs covering some areas of the film mixing to control by selection the areas which needed to be exposed. In the process, a lot of separate images are used to make a complex special-effect scene. (Benedetti 1-7) In a simple definition, traveling matte techniques refer to the mixing of moving images in filmmaking. The background pictures are characteristically hand-painted or digitally designed images characterizing make-believe sites. Different images are classically mixed based on a lot of traveling matte images. The traditional filmmaking procedures begin by filming an actor or a model as a foreground subject in front of a squarely lit pure blue or green screen, which will be removed afterward in post-production. Filmmakers use blue or green since they are slightest likely to be color components of the foreground subjects and consequently will not leave holes in them when that color is detached. (Harrison 3-5) Most popular traveling matte techniques comprise the use of blue screens or green screens. These techniques are used to describe and outline areas in matte images that define foreground or background images.

USA SuperCars Revenue Risk Analysis Report Essay

USA SuperCars Revenue Risk Analysis Report - Essay Example What is the bank’s Value-at-Risk and what is the bank’s expected profit? 16 USASuperCars signed a contract to sell 27 cars to five different countries including the USA. It was agreed that the other four countries would pay the revenue in their local currencies at the prevailing exchange rate after the delivery. HSBC however offered an offer of $2,150,00 for the purchase of the contract. The objective of the report was to conduct an analysis of risks to the company and the bank and profitability. Exchange rate data from the Bank of America was used for all the analysis. A recommendation would thus be made on whether USASuoerCars should accept the offer from HSBC. Various statistics were used in achieving this objective. The expected revenue was obtained as $ 44,218,388 and the standard deviation as $ 33,022.14. The probabilities of the mean exceeding $2,200,000 and 2,225,000 are 100% and 100% respectively. This shows that there are high chances of exceeding the mean revenue. The banks value at risk at the 5th percentile was $ and the profit was $ . USASuperCars, which is based in US, markets custom built and high-end expensive cars. These sports cars are meant for the rich in the society. The company signed an agreement to sell 27 cars to five countries across four continents; the payment was to be paid after delivery in the local currency. Since the payments were to be made at a leter date and in local buyers local currency, it meant that there would be uncertainties in the final revenue that is expected at the contract. The exchange rates were provided by the Bank of America for the twelve months that followed so as to ensure a proper analysis. HSBC offered $ 2,150,000 to USASuperCars in exchange for the all the revenue in the local currencies. The purpose of the report was to find the probabilities of getting revenue in excess or under the expected value; evaluate the offer by HSBS and determine other risks that faced

Marketing Plan (Project about product) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing Plan (Project about product) - Essay Example This would be done by live demos as well as online advertisement. Besides, this, we are including a depreciation cost of $5000 which includes depreciation of equipment as well as that of patents and copyrights. We also need to provide after-sales support to our clients to help them use the software and troubleshoot any bugs that arise. To start the business, we are aiming to acquire funding of $500,000. As shown in the balance sheet, apart from the usual assets in the business, the major assets of the business shall be patents and copyrights on our software and the software in the inventory. It is assumed that we shall keep a ready stock of 20 ready-to-deploy software copies in our stock. Also, we are assuming that 20% of the sales will be on credit as well as 20% of the expenses will be payable by us. At the first stage, we need to define the marketing goals for our business. For our software product, we have defined specific goals that we plan to achieve from our marketing program. Since we are just starting the business, as an overall marketing goal, we want to become the pioneers of producing and selling social CRM software for manufacturers of outdoor gears. Specifically, we would like to achieve the sales figure mentioned in the financial projection in terms of both sales amount and sales units. Further, since we are launching a unique product, we do not have any existing competition. However, we can set a target for ourselves to convince at least 10% of the existing outdoor gear manufacturers in using our software. If we achieve this target, we shall be able to meet our sales projection goals. As a further step for product awareness and publicity, we would want that at least 60% of our target market is aware of our product. Once we have established these goals, we need to define measures to evaluate our performance and identify the gaps. As a further step, we need to find out the causes of these gaps. To evaluate our

Advanced Computer Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advanced Computer Engineering - Essay Example The information prompts execution of certain functions as defined by the code developers. The source code enables programmers to understand the functioning of various applications through the written text. These codes are commonly utilised in differentiating various computer applications, performing similar functions. These applications are differentiated through the various commands required to perform specified functions. This exercise seeks to develop a program simulating performance of an 8-bit CPU. The whole process can be divided into three major sections of defining instruction set, describing simulator algorithm and writing the code for implementation of the identified simulator. This project could be defined through the following steps Identifying required bits Selecting the necessary instructions for the code Defining the required simulation algorithm Selecting the programming language being utilised in designing the code. Designing a simulator capable of simulating functio nality of 8-bit CPU. Testing the developed simulator design for compliance and similarity with required CPU. Concluding the project. Proposed solution The proposed CPU design shall involve various design choices and decisions aimed at improving the previous designs. In this example, the requirement needs writing of a program which simulates the performance of 8-bit CPU. The process begins with definition of instruction sets, which can be utilised by the CPU. The defined instruction set shall become the basis for developing CPU simulator algorithm, implemented through the C programming language. The C programming language could be identified as one which allows lexical variable scope, which makes the program become completely independent (King, 2008). This method remains the most commonly utilised programming language which much software remain compatible with. This make coding through this language sufficient as the systems could be utilised in many operations without experiencing d ifficulties. The process begins with consideration of the available options for breaking down the various instruction fields, to make complete Opcode, Addressing Mode and Operand. A format satisfying the basic CPU purposes shall be adopted for the context of this exercise. Within this exercise, 3-bit 8 independent Opcode shall be developed with, another bit being utilised in selection of the addressing mode, while the last four bits can be applied for the Operand. This will have created an 8-bit CPU, which can be utilised in undertaking various operations. Design Within the designing section, identification of the instruction set becomes the basis for beginning the designing process. The process of the CPU shall include loading of instructions into the register, thus the first instruction set identified shall be named LOAD. This instruction shall be associated with the main register as desired. The function shall be represented by LDA within the CPU. Following loading of the instruc tion the CPU shall also be required to store the entered information within the system. This shall become the second instruction set within the CPU, represented by STA. For the purposes of integrating arithmetic values within the CPU, a third instruction shall be called ADD, becomes necessary. Subtraction can be implemented through inclusion of negative integers within the system. Repetitive subtraction and addition components shall be utilised in implementing multiplication and division qualities. Other instruction sets could also be included to enhance the functioning and increase the number of operations, which the CPU can perform. The number of bits utilised in developing this

Hypothetical disaster scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hypothetical disaster scenario - Essay Example Moreover, Al Ain has experienced intermittent water supply due to problems of transmission as well as distribution. The Al Ain nuclear power plant experienced some technical problems and this resulted in the leakage of radioactive materials in the environment. This situation raised fears of contamination by the radioactive materials among residents who fear for their lives and their livestock. Because of the environmental concerns relating to the effects of the radioactive materials, there was need to conduct research on the state of the environment to determine the extent and quantity of radioactive components within Al Ain region (Environmental Agency 1). This is because radioactive materials generated from nuclear plants due to accidents are dangerous and can have immense negative impact on the environment with extreme cases resulting in the death of various forms of biodiversity. In order to achieve this mission, there is need to collect data from the environment in order to use for examination of the situation. Data collection entailed sampling of water in the environment. First, with assistance from environmental experts and chemical analysts, ground water samples from the plant’s premises are collected for lab testing and further examination. Consequently, I would collect water samples from the neighboring regions. The aim of this step is to use the data for comparison and further analysis and decision-making (Bodansky 23). Afterwards, chemical experts take these samples into the lab for examination and analysis. After examination and analysis, the results obtained from the two samples indicate presence of radioactive materials in the environment. Water samples collected within the plant’s locality indicate high concentration of iodine – 131, a radioactive material compared to those collected some distance away from the nuclear plant (Nuclear world Association 1). Since the water table in Al Ain is close to

Business plan - operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business plan - operations - Essay Example In case services it need the permission for offering services and a tax structure that taxes the services and income separately. The next stage is to get permission for recruiting qualified personnel to offer services on phone and physically. 1 The firm is a sole proprietorship company. The proprietor will be at the helm of the affairs. Under him the managers of the services, marketing, customer care and technical departments will be present. Under them service representatives, marketing executives, call service operators, and technical personnel who take care of the machinery and instruments of the company are needed. Even a small business in the likeness of the one discussed in this paper needs independent professional accountant. He can help the firm in relations with Bank. The professional accountant post is not included in the organizational structure mentioned above so that the company can have a person on contract. As the firm is dealing with services it needs the legal advice in time. As the firm considered is doing small business the legal advisor also can be contacted on a monthly payment basis to seek advice. 2 In the small business of PC and Internet service offering the company needs qualified personnel and the kits that need in using while servicing a Computer or a peripheral like Printer etc. These tool kits and machinery that offer chip level servicing will be costly. The company can buy the machinery needed for chip level servicing after gaining enough business regarding card level servicing. So initially the company needs no costly machinery and can least bothered about insurance issues. Regarding cost of the machinery the company needs to purchase from the firm that quotes the least and offer the best. The Business premises for the small business that offer PC and Peripheral services needs a minimum of 6 rooms. One is for the Cabin of the proprietor. The other four for the departments mentioned in the previous chapters. The

Words Vs Weapons Essay Example for Free

Words Vs Weapons Essay Amadou Diallo was a 23-year old immigrant from West Africa who originally came to the United States to study Biochemistry. Upon reaching the country he was not able to enroll in university. Instead he opened a sidewalk stall selling gloves, videotapes and socks in the morning and went to school in the evening. In the early hours of February 4, 1999 (Amnesty International), Mr. Diallo was entering his building in the Bronx district after a meal. Four New York Police Officers, all members of the elite Street Crimes Unit spotted him. At that time the officers thought he matched the description of the serial rapist in the area. The officers were in plain clothes and approached Mr. Diallo. The following events were not clear but after everything, Mr. Diallo’s body was found riddled with bullets, 19 of which were considered fatal. There were 41 shots recorded in all, all coming from the four officers, none from the victim. A year after Mr. Diallo was defenselessly gunned down by four police officers in the Bronx district of New York, the case went to trial. In February 25, 2000 (Peet) the four police officers, Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon, and Kenneth Boss were all found not guilty of the death of the 23-year old West African. This case was to become one of the most controversial cases documented of police brutality in New York at the end of the century. After the verdict the World Socialist Website described the case as the â€Å"most appalling expression of the effective denial of basic democratic rights to working class and poor people†. Unfortunately the Diallo case is not an isolated case in the United States. In fact, it is a common situation that prevails between law enforcers and the public. International human rights organizations have put police brutality in the United States at the top of their priority. It is considered one of the most serious and divisive human rights violation in the country (Human Rights Watch). Although the Diallo case received nationwide attention because of the shear heinousness of the killing, there were other equally similar disturbing occurrences in other States. Atlanta alone recorded at least 12 shootings in the year 2000 (Wright). One of which was the shooting and killing of 18-year old Corey Ward. He was wrongly profiled as a criminal just because he was a young black man with a brand new SUV. It is also alarming that the same officer who mistook and gunned down Mr. Ward was involved in four other similar situations in the past. In another incident, a middle-aged woman, diagnosed with mental illness, was shot inside her own apartment. Barbara Schneider was killed in her own home after neighbors called the police to report that she had her radio too loud and they were concerned about her behavior. The police broke down her door and found her with a paring knife. Three shots and she was dead (Howell). Who could forget the case of Rodney King in 1991? Mr. King was repeatedly beaten by several police officers in Los Angeles after allegedly failing to stop when he was flagged down for a traffic violation. The whole world witnessed by videotape this horrifying ordeal of Mr. King. The acquittal of all the officers involved in the case triggered a stream of riots all over the city in 1992. The Los Angeles courts were forced to open up the investigation once again and this time the jury came back with a verdict of guilt of two officers, while the two others were acquitted for the second time. In recent times, police brutality and the use of excessive force seem to have become more rampant. In 2007 alone, the internet was bombarded with over 2,000,000 documented videos in this subject, all happening in the United States. The cases are of severe beatings, use of dangerous restraint techniques to subdue suspects (Amnesty International), unjustified shootings, fatal choking, and unnecessary rough treatment (Human Rights Watch) among other concerning interactions between police officers and the public they pledged to protect and serve.

Law Should Be Kept Separate From Morality Law Essay

Law Should Be Kept Separate From Morality Law Essay The statement quoted from the Wolfenden Report suggests that there should remain a line between sin and crime and that the law should not interfere in matters of private morality or immorality keeping it apart from public morality. This is a broad view and clearly, there are some areas in which the law should act as a moral guardian and interference is justifiable. I will outline some of these areas and critically analyse accordingly. However, there also areas that I feel should not be the laws business and where perhaps the criminal laws intervention cannot be justified. I will also look at the apparent blurring of private and public morality. I will also attempt to outline and clarify all these areas, providing the appropriate authorities, academic commentary and other relevant evidence in order to give a balanced view and to be able to draw a succinct informed conclusion. In order to understand the nexus between law and morality we need to establish the differences. Laws are sets of rules or boundaries established by authorities that should be obeyed and are formally enforced by the Police or the Criminal Prosecution Service. Morals on the other hand are beliefs, values or principles that are set by society or certain aspects of society, determining what is right and what is wrong. Morals do not have to be complied with, they are normally informally enforced through social or domestic pressures. Both laws and morals specify what should or should not be done and mark the boundaries between what is acceptable and unacceptable conduct. Having looked at the nature of laws and morals I will look at the historical debate and attempt to expand on whether or not laws and morals are intrinsically linked. Historically, there has been much philosophical debate as to whether in fact there is a connection between law and morality. Positivists  [2]  such as Jeremy Bentham, John Austin and H.L.A. Hart have all argued that there is not necessarily a connection between law and morality; on the other hand natural law  [3]  , thinkers such as St Thomas Aquinas  [4]  have postulated that there is a clear link between law and morality. To further complicate matters R Dworkin puts forward his own approach of interpretivism  [5]  , developed in a number of his works over the last thirty years  [6]  to try and answer the vexed question of law and morality and the nature of law and the relationship to each other. The links between law and morality can be seen in all areas of law. In Tort, for instance , in cases such as Baker v Hopkins  [7]  where two employees of the defendant company were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes in a well they were attempting to decontaminate. The plaintiff, a doctor, attempted to rescue them even though he was warned of the fumes. It could be said that he felt morally responsible . Unfortunately, all the three men died. The defendant company argued that the plaintiff doctor should either not be compensated because the doctor knowingly accepted the risk he was taking or his damages would be reduced for contributory negligence. The Court of Appeal considered that the suggestion was ungracious and that it was unseemly and irrational to say that a rescuer freely takes on the risks inherent in a rescue attempt. This would appear to be a seemingly moralistic judgement by their Lordships. Similarly, in property cases such as the High Trees Case  [8]  where Lord Denning used the equitable principle of promissory estoppel to prevent the recovery of rent or preventing what he saw as a moral wrong. These could all be seen as instances of the courts making judgements on what is morally right and wrong. In fact, in the case of Knuller v DPP  [9]  concerning a magazine containing advertisements, by homosexuals in order to procure sex, the courts were able to dictate public morality, recognising the offenc e of conspiracy to corrupt public morals established in Shaws Case  [10]  . It is the criminal law that provides us with sufficient evidence to conclude that there is indeed a link between law and morality. The Wolfenden Report itself, actually concerned the role of the law in matters of sexual morality and determining what conduct should be classed as criminal. Unfortunately, the result was not definitive as two diverging views emerged, firstly, that of Lord Devlin who concluded that the legislature was entitled to outlaw behaviour that was generally condemned as immoral on the grounds that such conduct may be likened to treason threatening the continued existence of social cohesion  [11]   and secondly, the view of Hart that immorality alone was not sufficient: law should not be used for prohibiting harm suffered by a person who is offended simply by knowing about other peoples conduct  [12]  . These opposing viewpoints probably accounted for the fact that the part of the Wolfenden Report concerning the decriminalisation of homosexuality was not implemented until the Sexual Offences Act of  1967 (following a motion by Lord Arran in the House of Lords favouring the implementation of the Wolfenden Report and a Sexual Offences Bill sponsored by Leo Abse) which eventually resulted in male homosexuality between consenting adults above the age of twenty-one being decriminalised. Another reason for the delay could be that public opinion and society in general before that time, felt that homosexuality was immoral and the law chose to reflect this, condemning homosexuality as a criminal offence. However, with the more liberated 1960s where there was a seeming relaxation of public and private morality and homosexuality could no longer be seen as immoral, the criminal law acceded to public opinion, leading to the eventual decriminalisation of homosexuality. However, the Wolfenden approach differed when contemplating the matter of prostitution. The committee readily accepted that prostitution was immoral but indicated that it was a matter of private morality, except when it creates a public nuisance. Therefore, the sale of sex was determined not to be an offence but kerb crawling was. This differing approach resulted in the report forming the basis of the Street Offences Act of 1959, an almost immediate response to the Wolfenden report. It seems then, that the criminal law should only intervene where the legislature considers there to be a public nuisance or is harmful to society or as John Stuart Mills stated That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.  [13]   Unfortunately, there are too many unanswered questions. Can we readily say that if something is immoral it is justifiably unlawful? Can we as a society distinguish between one persons perception of a lawful and moral activity and those that are immoral or unlawful and should the law really interfere in matters of private morality? If a person consents to something, would that not be a matter of private morality? The matter of consent and private morality is interesting. Here, criminal law has its vagaries, particularly in non-fatal offences against the person which include actual body harm, grievous bodily harm or wounding. Criminal law will not allow the consent of the victim to be available as a defence, especially if it considers the act to be unlawful. Only if the injury was a result of a lawful activity  [14]   will the defence of consent be available. This does not sit easily with the premise of the law not to interfere in matters of private morality. This has been exemplified in the case of Brown  [15]  . The criminal law deemed homosexual sado masochism as an unlawful activity and the court considered that activities in private between consenting homosexuals involving the infliction of actual bodily harm should constitute offences  [16]  . It seems then that the decision in this case was based on public morality rather than criminality, surely here consent would be a ques tion of private morality and not the laws business, indeed in Brown, Lord Mustill in dissenting, re-iterated that The issue was not whether the appellants conduct was morally right but whether it was properly charged under the 1861 Act. The standards by which questions of private morality fell to be judged were not those of criminal law. The case of Brown can be contrasted with R v Wilson  [17]  where the defendant, with the consent of his wife, branded her buttocks with the initials W and A with a hot knife. The scars led him to being charged with assaulting his wife contrary to section 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. He was convicted by a Jury. However, the Court of Appeal held that the defendants conduct amounted to tattooing and that it was not in the public interest to impose a criminal sanction; The initial outcome still shows that the public and their moral judgement still has an influence in criminal law.   It appears then, that generally, the courts are keen to exercise its morality muscle in defence of a perceived public morality. Interfering in what are essentially private morality matters in order to stamp a moral dictum on society in general, however, is not necessarily in the best interest of society as a whole and issues of private morality are thorny issues. There are of course other areas of criminal law where the judiciary has, albeit slowly, intervened in matters of private morality, for the betterment of society, for example in the area of marital rape. Rape itself was enacted as statutory crime in the Offences Against the Person Act  1861. The Act indicated that it is a felony for a man to rape a woman and left the judiciary to establish the elements of the offence and to develop the factors that might allow consent. Its statutory successor, s 1 of the Sexual Offences Act  1956, failed to provide a more substantive definition. It was not until  1976  that s 1(1) of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act defined rape as unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman who at the time of the intercourse does not consent to it. However, there still appeared to be a presumption albeit rebuttable, that a married man could have sex with his wife regardless of consent. Morally, this appears to be reprehensible and surely the law should have c larified the position. However, it was not until the case of R v R  [18]  that the offence of rape was recognised if it was perpetrated by the husband, clearly an example of the law enforcing a specific moral value on society in an appropriate sphere. A further example of the entanglement of law and morality can be seen in the different approaches by Judges in cases where their own moral values or viewpoints have possibly affected judgements. Often the courts will find themselves dealing with difficult moral decisions involving life and death and often have to decide between individual rights and moral codes. This moralistic approach can be seen in various cases involving euthanasia, considered by the majority of society as both morally and legally wrong. In the case of Dianne Pretty  [19]  (a case decided by the House of Lords), for example, Mrs Pretty suffered from motor neurone disease, a progressive degenerative illness from which she had no hope of recovery. She only had a short time to live and faced the prospect of a humiliating and distressing death. She was mentally alert and wanted to bring her life to an end. Unfortunately, because of her physical incapacity she would have needed assistance. Her husband wanted to he lp, but only if he would not be prosecuted under section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961 for aiding and abetting her suicide. She sought confirmation through the courts that ultimately refused her appeal. Contrast this with the case of Re B  [20]  . Ms B was a tetraplegic and suffered complete paralysis from the neck down. She was, however, able to move her head and speak. She gave instructions to the hospital through her solicitors that she wanted the artificial ventilation removed. The hospital refused to stop treatment. Ms B took the hospital to court, was successful and was allowed to die. Here the courts appear to take the stance that voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide is morally reprehensible but the request to withdraw treatment, resulting in, what is in effect, voluntary suicide or passive euthanasia was not a clear example of the complex moral and legal dilemmas faced by the courts. Further evidence of this dilemma between law and morality can be seen in the conjoined twin case  [21]  . Jodie and Mary were conjoined twins and their parents were devout Roman Catholics. Mary was the weaker twin and had she been born on her own she would not have survived. She was in fact, being kept alive by virtue of Jodies own circulatory system. Jodie was considered to be capable of surviving a separation procedure, Mary however was not. If there was no separation both would have died. The medical team wanted to separate them knowing Mary would die as a result. The twins parents would not sanction the operation. The medical team sought a ruling from the High Court, that an operation to separate the twins would not be murder. Their Lordships applied the defence of necessity but restricted the applicability of this defence (for the purposes of public policy) to the unique circumstances of the case. However, despite LJ Wards comment that this is a court of law, not of morals when the judgements are examined, it is clear that their Lordships have actually used moral concepts and language in reaching their decision, a true dichotomy. In conclusion, it is clear from the information provided that there are identifiable links between the law in general and criminal law in particular and morality. However, whether it is justifiable for the legal system in England and Wales to utilise the criminal law in the enforcement of specific moral values in society is debatable. Clearly, as we have seen, there are areas where it is justifiable in rape for example but where it is not so clear is whether it can be justified in those greyer areas such as private morality issues or cases of euthanasia. I believe that religion (which is the subject of other scholarly and academic debate) , morals and the law are all intrinsically linked and that in order to create a balanced modern society there must be some fluidity. One mans morality is different from another and the law must try to bridge the gap for the public good. Sometimes the law is rather slow in reacting to public opinion or changes in morality within society, but ultimately, it is the legislature that creates the laws and the job of the courts is only to apply the meaning of that legislation not to query its validity or to enforce moral limitations on parliament, or by implication, enforce those moral limitations on society.

Interlaminar Stress Behaviour of the Flywheel Rotor

Interlaminar Stress Behaviour of the Flywheel Rotor 1.1 History of the Flywheel For over thousands of years, flywheels have been used in potter wheels and spindle wheel whorls Gowayed et al., 2002 The concept of storing energy in a rotating disk dates as far back as 2400 BC when rotating wheels were used by Egyptians to handcraft pottery. In fact, flywheel systems were widely used in everyday life (Genta, 1985): in warring chariots, water pumps and even power generations. However, these conventional flywheels are not as efficient as energy storage devices due to the large amount of mass required for the relatively meagre amount of energy stored not to mention the capability of delivering power for only a relatively short period. The advent of the industrial revolution brought about the significant advances of the flywheels. In the 18th century, Man witnessed the widespread use of metal in the construction of machines and soon, flywheel had found its way into steam engines. This development of the flywheel had been attributed to the works of James Watt. With flywheels made of cast iron, a higher mass moment of inertia could be achieve and thus a significant weight saving as well. During the industrial revolution, James Pickard developed a solution for transforming reciprocating to rotary motion with the combination of a crank and flywheel. And it was not till the last thirty years that we witness high performance flywheels being significantly developed with marked improvement and demonstrate the potential as energy storage systems in a wide range of applications. The energy crisis of then 1970s marked the beginning of another significant era for the development of flywheels as the need to search for an alternative energy storage implement. Large amount of money were invested by the governments of many nations into the development of flywheel energy storage technology with subsequent establishment of research programs in the development of flywheel devices as alternative energy storage systems (Genta, 1985). However, development pace since to slow down as fuel prices begin to stabilized in the early 1980s. That particular time period was nevertheless a crucial development era for the flywheel; during which the use of flywheels are explored and developed for electrical vehicles. In addition it was also explored as a device to help utilities manage peak power demand. With the incorporation of high specific strength advanced composite materials into flywheel designs, weight reductions and strength increment can be achieved; and this cannot be achieved with the use of metallic alloy. However, the use of flywheels can yet be commercialized even with the significant improvements in the design concept of flywheel as it remains a challenge still to design flywheel systems that are cost competitive to other energy storage devices. In addition, composites, though stronger than metal, would require the use of advanced bearings due to the inability to withstand certain forces exposed in high performance application (Kim, T.H. 2003). The 1990s witnessed developments in stronger, lightweight composite materials, magnetic bearings and other electronic devices, and all of which contribute to the exciting development of the flywheel. Excessively high rotational speed could now be reached, with a subsequent increment in energy stored, making them a possible candidate again for energy storage system of superior performance. As a summary, the improvement in the flywheel quick energy recovery, high efficiency, low maintenance and long service life, high amount of stored energy per unit volume and mass, high output power levels, as well as lower product and operational cost (Horner, 1996) as well as environmental friendly components are all that have made the flywheel energy storage system a feasible option. 1.1.2 Flywheel as an Energy Storage Device Flywheel energy storage (FES) has, in various past researches, proven its superiority over conventional battery technology based energy storage system in terms of its higher energy density, durability, rapid charge and discharge capability, as well as its tolerance over a wide range of temperature with very minute environmental concerns; and with the progress in power electronics, loss reductions techniques and advanced materials, the then seemingly inconceivable idea of economical flywheel energy storage (FES) devices are no longer chimerical (Hebner et al, 2002). In fact, all of the prepossessing characteristics mentioned briefly above (in comparison with those that of conventional battery system) are what that result in the advanced flywheel systemsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ appeal as one of the fast- gaining attention alternative for energy storage devices. (Arvin Bakis, 2006) A flywheel is an inertial energy storage system where the rotating mass functions as the energy storage retainer. While connected to the motor (possibly electrical motor), a flywheel can be accelerated to a specific angular velocity. In this process, electrical energy was converted into kinetic energy and the rotating inertia of the composite rotor acts to store this form of mechanical energy. When the need arises, the mechanical energy can be transformed back to electrical power by the motor. Thus, the motor in the flywheel system acts not merely as a motor to accelerate the energy storing process but also as a generator in recovering the transformed electrical energy. A typical flywheel energy storage system consists of five primary components (Lazarewicz et al., 2006), namely the rotor, the bearings, the motor/generator unit, the vacuum enclosure and the power electronics. A rotor consists of a hub and rim. As the rim is the main rotating mass of the rotor, it is quite easy to comprehend the fact that the rim acts to store most of the energy whereas the hub functions to connect to the rim to a shaft. The rotating flywheel shaft on the other hand is supported by bearings which could either be of the mechanical or magnetic variety. These bearings allow for low resistance to rotor rotation. However, magnetic bearings are preferred over mechanical ones due to the energy loss associated with energy loss. The motor, as the third major component introduced, acts to accelerate the rotor when electrical energy us supplied to it; whereas the generator acts to extract electrical energy from the rotating rotor by decelerating the rotor. This is in accordance with the principle of conservation of energy. As a result of the rotor deceleration, torque is inevitably produced and is typically transferred between the rotor rim and the motor unit via the hub and the shaft. In addition, as the occurrence of input and output events are not concurrent, the combination of the motor and generator into a single functional unit is typically done to the advantages of weight and cost reduction (Hebner et al. 2002). In addition, a low pressure, vacuum environment is maintained via the use of a pressure vessel enclosure, which serves also to support the structural assemblage of the flywheel and bearing system. This vacuum compartment also serves to house all of the rotating components of the flywheel to reduce aerodynamic drag. Other than that, such a compartment is also crucial in protecting the system from catastrophic failure as a consequence of high energy debris. The power electronics on the other hand act as the interface between the motor/ generator unit and that of the electrical power system by converting the input power into a suitable electrical signal for the operations of the motor/ generator unit. Flywheel energy storage devices have the potential to store a higher amount of energy per unit mass than typical chemical batteries. Where design weight is of major concern, and where maximum energy storage is a fundamental necessity, flywheel energy storage systems seem to offer the most appealing capabilities. This is particularly so in space applications where the crucial design weight necessitates the need for a high energy storage capacity in the smallest available size and mass (and thus weight). Other than its high specific energy density, flywheel also possesses superior specific power and when used with magnetic bearings and advanced motor/ generator system, more than 90% of the storage energy can be retrieved, an efficiency far more superior than that if conventional chemical batteries are used where the reclaimed energy constitutes less than 80% of the energy input. In addition, the increment of the amount of energy stored in flywheels can be achieved via the increase of s peed of the rotating rotor while chemical batteries would possibly need some reassembling of the connections from parallel to serial. Flywheels are very effective devices in avoiding unbalanced or oversized design of power systems due to the way they store energy and this is especially crucial in the deliverance of peak power on demand. For instant access to the desired efficiency of energy storage as well as energy required, flywheels repeat the charging and discharging cycle. This process of charging and discharging occurs at a rapid speed as both processes occur in the very same motor/generator. In addition, the flywheel life will not be affected with the large amount of charging and recharging cycles whereas chemical batteries undergoing a similar process will need a replacement after every few years. In addition, flywheel, as a mechanical type of battery, is also tolerant of the extremity of temperatures and as flywheels do not contain acidic and other hazardous material, flywheels are easily handled during manufacturing process, and disposed of at the end of the flywheelsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ lif e cycles. Flywheel energy storage systems had since found its way into various applications such as transportation and space satellites, to name a few. In transportation, flywheel systemsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ deep recharge and rapid charging capability, the ability to provide high pulses of power as well as the tolerance to a wide operating temperature range as well as the longer operating life on top of weight reduction make flywheel systems an obvious choice in replacing chemical batteries in mobile applications such as electric vehicles. (Hebner et al 2002). A reliable, steady state power quality is of vital importance for critical manufacturing, hospitals, and internet servers. In this context, the flywheel energy storage systems have also found its way into electrical load levelling application such as in ensuring an uninterruptible power supply by providing a smooth and effective transition between a main power source when necessary (Hebner et al 2002) This is one of the current capability of the flywheel and it seems promising that as the technology improves in the near future, flywheel could possibly be applied to peak power managing, where excess energy produced us stored and later released at the peak time in energy consumption. The concept of flywheel is also not novel in the hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) industry, where small combustion engine is operated while the vehicle is moving at a constant speed. The acceleration process is executed with the extra power provided by the additional battery power supplier. This additional power, on the other hand is generated and stored in the battery when the vehicle brakes such that no additional power is wasted in the form of heat dissipation generated by the friction during brakes. At the present moment, flywheel seems promising in being use for hybrid buses as chemical battery is expensive. In space applications, light weight, compact with high energy density storage capability devices are highly sought after. With increase performance demands on space systems, space programs had had to make consistently huge effort in reducing rim mass to increase payload capacity as well as reduce launch/ fabrication costs. Although chemical batteries had long been a trusted source of energy but flywheel offers much better weight and life benefits as well as the potential to store a larger amount of energy at a lower weight, not to mention the capability to be used as attitude control actuators in replacing reaction flywheel assemblies and control moment gyros. In 2000, Truong et al introduced the Flywheel Energy Storage Demonstration Project, initiated at the NASA Glenn Reasearch Center as a possible replacement for the Battery Energy Storage System on the International Space Station; whereas Fausz et al. had, in the very same year reported that the Flywheel Attitude Control, Energy Transmission and Storage (FACETS) system could combine all or parts of the energy storage, attitude control, and power management and distribution (PMAD) subsystems into a single system, this significantly decreasing flywheel mass (and volume). Thus, in space applications, crucial weight reductions for satellites could, and have hitherto, been achieved with the use of the multi-function high speed flywheel system which not only functions as energy storage but also in providing a gyroscopic effect for attitude control. (Bitterly, 1998, Hebner et al., 2002) But even until recently, the historical development of flywheels and their uses has largely been dependent on advances in both materials and machine technology, coupled with opportunity and necessity (Horner, et al,.1996) However with technological advancements in such a rapid pace, it is not hard to envisage the status of flywheels in the near and distant future. 1.1.3 The Use of Composite and Fiber- Reinforced Materials in Flywheel Design The kinetic energy stored in a flywheel rotor increases linearly with mass but quadratically with rotational speed. . With the increasing demand for high energy storage, flywheels in present applications are often designed for high angular velocities; and these correspond to large centrifugal loads and consequently a higher circumferential and radial stresses, i.e. the dominant stress distribution are hoop stresses (concentric). In this context, the use composite materials with fibers of high unidirectional strength would be desirable. (Shah, 2008) For a fixed axis rotation, the energy stored in a thin rotating ring rotor is [1.3.1] Where I = the rotor moment of inertia ÃÆ' °Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¡ = is the rotor angular velocity. It seems feasible that to increase the stored energy, the mass of the flywheel must be increased and thus its moment of inertia. However, it must be noted that the energy is only linearly proportional to the mass of the flywheel whereas the energy is proportional to the square of the rotational speed. These relations indicate that the rotational speed for a given radius will have a higher influence to the energy density than that of the mass of the flywheel; and to achieve a high rotation speed, a high strength per weight material must be used. Further derivations of the equations below will explain this condition. Resultant force along the hoop and circumferential directions [1.3.2] [1.3.3] Where = force summations in the radial direction = force summations in the circumferential direction dm = mass of the mass element located at radius r rdÃÆ' °Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Æ’ = arc length of the mass element located at radius r ar = radial acceleration of the mass element located at radius r From equation [1.3.3], [1.3.4] With [1.3.5] Where ÃÆ' Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ = mass element density V=mass element velocity B=mass element width Substitute equation [1.3.5] into [1.3.4] and knowing that V=rÃÆ' °Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ºÃƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¡ and for ÃÆ' °Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Æ’ [1.3.6] The tensile stress in the circumferential direction [1.3.7] The stress in a thin- ring rotor is: [1.3.8] It is observed that the maximum speed achievable by a flywheel rotor is limited by the strength of the material from which it is made. The critical speed of the thin ring rotor can be approximated as [1.3.9] Where is the material ultimate strength. From the substitution of equation [1.3.9] into [1.3.1], the specific energy stored in the rim is obtained [1.3.10] K= Flywheel shape factor (Typically 1 for uniform stress disc and 0.5 for thin ring) The dependency of the maximum specific energy stored in the flywheel on the specific strength of the material is thus observed. With the demand for high specific energy in flywheel rotor design, the use of suitable material is thus of paramount importance. Due to their high stiffness to strength, composite materials have successfully been established in flywheel rotor design. Fiber reinforced composites are particularly attractive for use as flywheel materials due to their high strength and low density (Takahashi et al., 2002) The use of composite materials in flywheel designs offer numerous advantages over metallic alloys, including weight and increased strength. This is due to the high tensile strength of the fiber reinforcement phase. In 1986, a composite flywheel rotor was developed by Potter and Medicott for used in vehicle applications. In 1995, the study by Curtiss, et al. shown that the composite Carbon fiber epoxy disc rotor is capable of a 38% higher rim speed or 91% greater rotor energy density than a rotor built of an isotropic high strength to weight ratio Titanium or steel alloys. The carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) flywheel proposed by Kojima, et al. (1997) shown that high-modulus graphite/epoxy filament wound composite flywheel is able to rotate at a higher speed. The polar woven flywheel by Huang (1999) was shown to possess weight savings features as well as the improvement in life and reliability of the total spacecraft system, and in 2002, the Multi-Direction Composite (MDC) flywheel systems was reported by Gowayed and Flowers. The MDC flywheel system studied employed a new approach to strengthen flywheels with additional reinforcement in the radial direction along with the typical hoop direction reinforcement. In fact, analytical and numerical approaches had over the years been presented to determine the stress, and displacement distribution of the rotor. With the increasing demand for high energy storage, flywheels in present applications are often designed for high angular velocities; and these correspond to large centrifugal loads and consequently a higher circumferential and radial stresses. And the determination of these stresses as well as the ply orientation became especially crucial. As early as 1977, Danfelt et al. published an analytical method for a hybrid multi-rim flywheel with ply-by-ply variation of material properties and based on the assumption of axisymmetry. The method by Danfelt was later extended by Tzeng (1997,2003) which accounts for viscoelasticity effects. In addition, the original method by Danfelt had also been supplemented by a series of researches by Ha with additional consideration of the interference between adjacent rims and varying fiber angles (Ha et al., 1998), the rim radii of numerous material lay- ups for a constant angular velocity (Ha et al. 1999b), residual stresses due to the curing process (Ha et al., 2001) and the subsequent research on a split- type hub (Ha et al., 2006). The effect of rim thicknesses and angular velocity was studied by Arvin and Bakis (2006) while Fabien (2007) studied the optimal continuous variation of fiber angle in a single-material rotor. Other than that, finite element approaches have also been used for stresses and displacement computations which, though computationally more demanding, have gained importance for the analysis and design optimization of flywheel rotors because of the greater modeling depth offer by such methods. It is also possible to assemble the flywheels as a hybrid with rims of different materials in a sequence of increasing ratio of stiffness per density value E/ÃÆ' Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  for increasing radius, r (Arvin Bakis, 2006) using a method called ballasting. From their studies, with circumferential fiber reinforcement, the radial stress distribution is purely tensile with a maximum located approximately in the midplane between the inner and outer radii. But with two-material rotor, the radial stresses turn compressive in the region near the material interface due to the lower stiffness of the inner material which would result in greater expansion. A compressive stress minimum thus exists at the material interface, with two tensile stress maxima found close to the innermost and outermost radius. Despite the increase in circumferential stress level for the outer composite carbon/epoxy rim, such a condition still arises due to the lower radial stresses as a consequent of rotor strength inc rement. After all, composite materials are generally weaker in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction. As fiber reinforcement is typically aligned in the circumferential direction, radial tensile stress is often more crucial in comparison with the other mode of stresses due to the weaker strength in this direction. Thus, the dominating stresses are typically those of the circumferential and radial stresses. In this context, much effort had been invested to enhance the efficiency of the composite flywheel rotors by applying stress reduction methods. In view of this method, Danfelt et al. (1997) suggested a sandwich-like rim lay-up with a compliant material between the composite rims of one material to decrease interlaminar stress transmission. 1.2 Literature Review 1.2.1 Interlaminar stresses of Composite Laminates Interlaminar stresses arise when there are discontinuities in the load path, such as free edges and notches. (Wilkins, 1983). In particular, models with a significant amount of curvature. This is because the presence of high interlaminar stresses due to the effect of shell curvature could result in delamination and possibly failure of the laminate at a lower load than that predicted by in-plane failure criteria had they not been properly accounted for. (Edward, K.T., Wilson, R.S. and McLean, S.K. ,1989; Lagace, P.A., 1983) The accurate determination of interlaminar stresses are thus crucial in the design of laminated composite models as the interfacial surfaces of a laminate represent planes of minimum strength (Pagano, N.J. Pipes, R. B., 1973). Classical laminated plate theory (CLPT) was formed in conjunction with the kinetical assumptions of Kirchhoff classical plate theory by assuming a layerwise plane state of stress. However, 2-D CLPT theory alone is not sufficient to explain stress concentration phenomena in various lightweight constructions in aviation vehicle, such as the free-edge effect where full-scale 3-D and singular stress fields occur in the interfaces between two dissimilar layers along the free edges of thermally and/ or mechanically loaded laminates (Mittelstedt Becker, 2003) which decay rapidly with increasing distance from the laminate edge. Such stress localization problems is caused by the discontinuous change of the elastic material properties of the laminate plies at the interfaces and might result in premature failure of the laminate. This is thus an area of concern by designers and much researched has been done since the early 1970s, with the studies initiated by of Pipes and Pagano on the free edg e effects in laminated structures. Early analytic studies were conducted by Hayashi (1967) on edge stress effects consisting of anisotropic plies and adhesive layers transferring interlaminar shear stresses. In early 1970s, Pagano and Pipes also introduced approximation equations for interlaminar normal stresses in the interfaces and was expanded by Conti/ De Paulis in 1985 for the stress- approximation in angle-ply laminates and the calculation of interlaminar stress distribution through the laminate thickness. Whitney simple stress approximations in 1973 did not fulfill the continuity conditions in the interfaces, although Whitney assumption of products of exponential and trigonometric functions did fulfilled the equilibrium conditions and the given traction-free boundary conditions. Researches in the area of free edge effects were also done using various approaches by Tang and Levy (1975) with layerwise series expansion, Hsu and Herakovich (1977) with edge displacement fields in the form of trigonometric and exponential terms, Wang Dickson (1978) with the expansion of the displacement fields into series of Legendre polynomials. However, much discrepancy has been reported. In 1981, series expansions for the stresses in the inner laminate regions and in the vicinity of the free laminate edges by Bar-Yoseph/Pian.CLPT was recovered in the inner laminates with this zero-order approach and unknown parameters obtained by minimizing the laminate complementary potential. The subsequent work by Bar-Joseph used the principle of minimum complementary potential, leading to an eigenvalue problem. The approach used by Bar-Yoseph allowed the continuity of interlaminar stresses in the interfaces as well as the fulfilment of the conditions of traction free surfaces of the laminate. The force balance method by Kassapoglou/Lagace in 1986 and 1987 was developed. Stresses were assumed to consist of layerwise products of in-plane exponential terms and polynomials through the thickness with adjustments done on the thickness terms to satisfy the continuity of all interlaminar stresses in the laminate interfaces and such that they blend into CLPT in the inner laminate regions. Despite its simplicity, the force balance method exhibited good performance even for thick laminates and was thus further explored and refined by other authors. The effects of transverse shear and continuity requirements for both displacements and interlaminar stresses on the composite interface was accounted for by Lu and Liu in developing an Interlaminar Shear Stress Continuity Theory (ISSCT) capable of being used for finite element formulation (Lu, X., Liu, D., 1990). Through that particular theory, interlaminar shear stress could be obtained directly from the constitutive equations. But as the deformation in the thickness direction was neglected during the formulation of the theory, the interlaminar normal stress could not be calculated directly from the constitutive equations. Other than that, a small discrepancy between the results of theirs and that of Pagano elasticity solution in the interlaminar shear stresses small aspect ratios composite laminates was observed (Pagano, N.J. 1969). Although, rigidly bonded laminated composite materials models are always assumed in conventional analysis; but it must be noted that poor bonding and low shear modulus could result in a non-rigid composite interface. As a continuation of the ISSCT, Lu and Liu (1992) later developed the Interlayer Shear Slip Theory (ISST) based on a multilayer approach in investigating the effect of interfacial bonding on the behavior of composite laminates. The Hermite cubic shape functions was used as the interpolation function for composite layer assembly in the thickness direction, and the closed-form solution is obtained for the cases of cylindrical bending of cross-ply laminates with non-rigid interfaces. However, results shown that at some special locations, namely singular points, the transverse shear stress or in-plane normal stress remains insensitive to the condition of interfacial bonding. A closed- form solution was later derived by Lee and Liu (1992) for the complete analysis of interlaminar stresses for both thin and thick composite laminates subjected to sinusoidal distributed loading. The theory was proven to satisfy the continuity of both interlaminar shear stress and interlaminar normal stress at the composite interface and also the interlaminar stresses could be determined directly from the constitutive equations An accurate theory for interlaminar stress analysis should consider the transverse shear effect and continuity requirements for both displacements and interlaminar stresses on the composite interface. It is also advantageous if the formulation is variationally consistent so that it can also be used for finite element formulation. (Kant, T., Swaminathan, 2000) Using the first order shear deformation theory, the interlaminar stresses in laminated composite cylindrical stripes under dynamic loading are studied. Dynamic equations of equilibrium are solved by a combination of Navier approach and a Laplace transform technique. Dynamic magnification factor is calculated for the stresses and deflections for various types of loading and for different values of the geometric parameters. (Bhaskar, K. Varadan, T.K., 1993). Higher order layerwise theorectical framework has been used by Plagianakos and Saravanos (2008) in predicting the static response of thick composite and sandwich composite plates. The displacement field in each discrete layer through the thickness of the laminate include quadratic and cubic polynomial distributions of the in- plane displacements, as well as the linear approximations assumed by linear layerwise theories in addition to the Ritz- type exact solution used to yield the structural response of the thick structure. The formulation has been found to be especially robust in comparison to linear layerwise theory due to the number of discrete layers used to model the thick laminate through thickness and in the prediction of interlmainar shear stresses at the interface. In addition, the theory used also offers a better range of applicability due to the better accuracy offered. Over the years, many papers investigating the effects of interlaminar stresses had been published. The finite difference method with classical elasticity theory was used by Pipes and Pagani for determining the behaviour of finite width laminate in uniform axial strain and where interlaminar stress at the free edge is found to be of a significantly huge amount. Other studies soon ensued such as the perturbation solution techniques by Hsu and Herakovich, the finite difference method using large elements with complex stress field by Rybicki; and Wang and Crossman finite difference method, as well as the approximate analytical solution by Pagano and Wang and Choi. However, all of these studies involve the interlaminar stresses at the free edges of finite composite laminates. It is however, well acknowledged that interlaminar stresses arise such as to satisfy equilibrium at locations with in-plane stress gradients (Saeger, Lagace Dong ,2002), and material discontinuity within a structure is another source of arising in plane stress gradients, and therefore, interlaminar stress appear near the material discontinuities. (Tahani, 2005) Rose/ Herakovich, in 1993, further explore the force balance method of Kassapoglou/Lagace with the introduction of additional terms for the consideration of the discontinuous change of the elastic material properties in the interfaces and which accounted for the local mismatches in Poisson ratio and coefficient of mutual influence between adjacent layers. There are reported improvements in the resultant stress field. However, such improvements are also accompanied with a more demanding computational effort for the minimization of the complementary potential. In a similar study done by Kim/Atluri in 1995, thermal and mechanical loads were analyzed by assumed stress shapes which also accounted for both the local mismatches in Poisson ratio (similar to that of Rose/ Herakvich) and coefficient of mutual influence by applying respective mismatch terms in the stress representations. An approach that agreed to equilibrium demands and the given boundary conditions, the unknown stress functio ns were determined by application of the principle of minimum complementary energy of the laminate. The principle of minimum complementary theory was used by Bhat and Lagace (1994) to evaluate the interlaminar stresses at material discontinuities. In their analytical model, the laminate is formed by the merging of two area

Why is Nancy such an important character in the novel Oliver Twist? :: English Literature

Why is Nancy such an important character in the novel Oliver Twist? There are many reasons Nancy’s character is such an important one in the novel. One of these reasons is that when you first see her you are told that she wears a lot of make up and that she has a great deal of hair and she is ‘not very tidy about her shoes and stockings’. At that time this was not a respectable way to dress for a young, respectable woman, so it gives you the idea that she is a prostitute .At this moment you think that she is just a low- life woman trying to make a living. Even though most people would recognise Nancy for what she is, Oliver does not and thinks of her as a nice lady. This tells you that Oliver is meant to be innocent and does not have a clue on what is going on around him. Slowly as the story starts to develop, you get the idea that Nancy has another, more caring, side to her. You find out about this side on page 142 where she says to Bill Sikes that he’ll have to go through her if he wants to attack Oliver with his dog, Bullseye. At this point she also says to Bill that she doesn’t care if he splits her head against the wall but she still won’t get out of his way. This tells you that she is caring and does not want Oliver to suffer. Nancy feels sorry for Oliver because she recognises his innocence and does not want him to get involved in the criminal underworld as she did. She is reminded of how she got involved in the criminal underworld at such a young age and does not want Oliver to waste his life as she did. When this happens the reader starts to feel a bit sorry for Nancy. Nancy also helps to develop the story. It could have ended when Oliver meets Mr.Brownlow but Nancy kidnaps him, allowing the story to progress. After kidnapping him, she tries to reunite Oliver with Rose Maylie so this also helps the plot. By this stage of the story, Nancy’s life is near its end so Charles Dickens begins to build up sympathy towards Nancy. He does this by writing up a cruel end to her life. It starts with the Jew, Fagin, employing Noah Claypole (whom Fagin knows as Bolter) to go and spy on Nancy. Throughout the story, Dickens uses the word ‘Jew’ when referring to Fagin. This tells you that the anti-Semitic nature of the British does

Emergent Properties of Choice :: Allais Paradox Essays

Emergent Properties of Choice ABSTRACT: Allais' paradox provides a convenient way to demonstrate that the distribution of alternatives we face in a situation of choice may give rise to new factors. These emergent factors may need to influence a one time choice of rational decision-makers, although they should not be taken into account in long reiterative games. I start from a brief presentation of Allais' paradox; yet, I am not primarily concerned with the question how to solve it. The paradox provides a convenient way to demonstrate that distribution of alternatives we face in a situation of choice may give rise to new factors. These emergent properties may need to influence a one time choice of rational decision-makers, although they should not be taken into account in long reiterative games. Let me introduce to you decisiotheoretic emergentism. According to the independence axiom an outcome of the choice shall be neutral if a constant value is added to each alternative. But if we consider the table of preferences presented by Allais this presumption seems intuitively questionable. Y=1 B=10 R=89 g1 M M M g2 0 5M M g3 M M 0 g4 0 5M 0 In the choice between g1 and g2 (where M stands for one million crowns), most people choose g1 over g2, although g2 gives higher expected value. Yet, if we choose between g3 and g4, almost everybody prefers g4 over g3. But the problem may be seen as two identical alternatives g1=g3 and g2=g4 just in the choice between g1 and g2 in column R an outcome of one million crowns has been added to each alternative whereas in the second case the constant added equals zero. These results contradict with the independence axiom. The first solution is to go Savage's way and, after reconsideration, to change one's mind in the g1/g2 choice. But strong intuitiveness of the Allais paradox makes this solution less than attractive. It might seem better to search for some troublesome decisio-theoretic axioms easy to replace. This is the way decision theorists usually go. But they have a problem in finding axioms to be eliminated.

Jane Addams

Along with her companion Ellen Starr, Addams founded the Hull House, which is located in Chicago. If that is not enough, she was also the first woman from America to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. You may wonder how this woman was able to fulfill all of her achievements, eing a girl from a small community In Illinois.She was from a large family; her father was a well-to-do gentleman; her mother was very kind, she also had five brothers and sisters. When her mother died, her father remarried and they had two new step- brothers. Jane and her father had a very special relationship; he was there to encourage her and pursue a higher education. Even though it was expected of most women to get married and become housewives during that time, Jane was not going to settle for an average life. She attended Rockford Seminary for young ladies.She was one of the smartest and well Ilked people In her school, yet she wanted more. Her parents discouraged her aspirations to obtain a degree In medic ine by taking her on a trip to Europe. She became very ill on the duration of this trip and had to return home. upon arrival, her father passed away which sent Jane into a deep depression. After a long recovery period, she left home for Europe again, but this time, she visited the Toynbee Hall in England. This inspired her to open the Hull House with a friend, Ellen Starr.The Hull House, located in Chicago, outlasted the Depression of the 193ffs. The Hull House became the prime meeting spot for all sociologist's no matter the race or gender, who simply wanted their voice heard. It did not matter what you said or how you felt. All that mattered was those who wanted something, were free to say whatever they wished, speaking their minds. These two served many people in need during times of chaos and despair, and knew just how to handle difficult situations.Also, during this time, she was advocating many things, and they were becoming policies under President Franklin Roosevelt's reign. Addams had many great accomplishments in the sociological area of her life. She contributed greatly, but she was never considered as much as she should have been because she was a woman. She was looked down upon with her thoughts and ideas, and some began to question whether her Intentions were safe or not. In a typical life back In Jane Addams' days, women were supposed to deal with the social work. hereas the men were to dominate the sociological portion. She was considered a social worker, but everyone knows that her greatest accomplishments dealt with sociology. Jane far succeeded the necessities of being labeled a sociologist, but she continued to be ignored. She was not the only one to go unrecognized. Even those she worked with or associated with were also paid no attention. Another famous sociologist specifically, W. E. B. DuBois, a black man of that time, was also overlooked. Although many ‘Of2 alsapprovea 0T ner, sne would never let tnem get to ner. ne Knew wnat sne wanted, and what she had to do to get to that point. Later in life, Jane Addams became a very passionate feminist by philosophy. This was before the time of Women's Suffrage, so women did not really have a say. In order to be able to do this, she felt that going to the legislation would help solve this, meaning women would have the right to vote. She also thought that women should earn the right to produce aspirations in search of further opportunities to be made recognized. Jane Addams was a committed pacifist and early feminist, opposing to war and violence.Addams also participated in the International Congress of Women and established the Women's Peace Party in 91 5, while continuing to maintain her pacifist beliefs even after the United States entered World War I in 1917. She supported campaigns for suffering women, and was an outspoken advocate of internationalism, and was always concerned about the needs of others. Her international efforts were actually noticed in 1931 when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She became the 1st American woman to receive the prestigious award. It is obvious that Addams was a very prominent fgure in developing sociology.Jane was an astonishing woman, and helped us construct ociety in a way that is still used today. She was still working hard in The Hull House and other organizations all the way up until her death in 1935. Addams went on to die of cancer, after only three days of even knowing of the illness. The funeral was held in the Hull House, bringing together thousands of people showing their appreciation and support. She lived a long successful seventy-five years. Jane Addams left this world with something to be proud of; knowing that she influenced thousands of lives with her many accomplishments.

Early Childhood Intervention Services on Social Performance Essay

Based on many researches, surveys, and studies conducted recently, the early intensive intervention method showed a significant outcome for children having autism. The behavioral approach as intervention on preschoolers with the said disorder showed an affirmative short- and long-term effect (Anderson, Avery, DiPietro, Edwards, & Christian, 1987; Fenske, Zalenski, Krantz, & McClannahan, 1985; McEachin, Smith, & OI, 1993). It was said that results showed a partial to nearly complete recovery from symptoms of autism where the most hopeful and positive result suggests a nearly 50% recovery through intensive early intervention (Handleman, Harris, Celiberti, Lilleheht, & Tomchek, 1991; Hoyson, 1984; Lord & Schopler, 1989; Lovaas, 1987; Sheinkopf & Siegel, 1998). The reported improvement was based on the outcomes from â€Å"standardized pre-post test scores† and at times, was based on behavioral outcomes (Handleman, Harris, Celiberti, Lilleheht, & Tomchek, 1991; Hoyson, 1984; Lord & Schopler, 1989; Lovaas, 1987; Sheinkopf & Siegel, 1998). Also, in contrast to the previous approximations that implied only 50% of all children have a chance to learn to use â€Å"functional speech†, more recent approximations as based from participating children under early intervention showed at least 85% to 90% of these children can utilize the functional speech if intervention begins in the preschool stage (Koegel, 2000). The intricacy in terms of mutual social interactions involved in autism disorders paved way to the need of early identification of this disorder to children because of the significant advantages that resulted if early intervention is performed. It is also this same complex nature on the social feature of autism that led to formulation of early intervention programs. But to date, there are few intervention programs that focus on the enhancement of social interactions to peer groups and siblings since most programs formulated were on â€Å"child-adult† interactions (Koegel, Koegel, & Frea, 2001). There is also the inadequate outcome of these programs on the child’s â€Å"true† functioning in his or her natural environment such as social and behavioral improvements because most outcomes are based on the alterations of the child’s IQ scores and post-intervention assignments (Koegel, Koegel, & Smith, 1997). It was also noted that few assessment studies were conducted on the consequences or results of early intervention programs on autistic children less than three years of age since the knowledge of possibility for practitioners to diagnose autism prior to age three was only recent. CHAPTER 1 The Historical Viewpoint behind Early Childhood Intervention Programs The concept that brain development can be manipulated during the early childhood period necessitates the need for early treatment or intervention of autism since this imposes a greater chance of success and the possibility of a long-term treatment being prevented and reduced (Ornitz, 1973). The trainings in communication, social learning, and self-help skills from the family, school, community, peers, and group can further help autistic children on their social and emotional development. In an early intervention program, the factors being evaluated that become indicator if improvement occurred are age and IQ. There are studies showing that the incidence of a higher IQ and an earlier age at the start of intervention is a positive predictor of better chances of recovery and better outcomes (Gabriel, Hill, Pierce, Rogers, & Wehner, 2001; Handleman, Harris, Celiberti, Lilleheht, & Tomchek, 1991). Recently, the recognized predictor of intervention outcome in the language and peer aspect is the stage of the child with autism on peer social avoidance after under intervention program for six months (Ingersoll, Schreibman, & Stahmer, 2001). Peer social avoidance is described as the frequency of the child’s avoidance near peers. Some studies showed a noteworthy connection of the child’s use of joint attention behaviors and later communicative language improvement (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). These joint attention behaviors include eye gaze alternation and pointing. There is also a study demonstrating that child initiations anticipate very high favorable treatment outcomes (Koegel, Koegel, Shoshan, & McNerney, 1999). Child initiations are defined as the start of a new interaction or changing where the interaction is headed for. These three characteristics namely peer avoidance, joint attention, and initiations are described in nature as exceedingly analogous. They are also called as intervention target behaviors. Before early intervention or treatment services are done, a proper and thorough evaluation of the child with autism should be conducted to identify the appropriate approach to conduct (Shackelford, 2002). First, this assessment should be performed by a trained staff to work on a suitable methods and procedures to be followed. Secondly, it should be based on â€Å"informed clinical opinion† from skilled medical professional for the said specialization. And lastly, there should be a review of the relevant records that would be applicable in evaluating the child’s current health and medical history and child’s level of functioning on the critical development areas such as cognitive, physical (including vision and hearing, communication, social or emotional, and adaptive aspects (Shackelford, 2002). As defined, the term â€Å"early intervention† generally refers to program options for the child with autism at six years of age and below (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). There are many described and formulated different early intervention options specifically center-based programs for children with an array of developmental delays, conventional and expert preschool programs, center-based programs specializing in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), home-based programs on a certain therapy approach, specific therapies from particular clinics, agencies that organize the early intervention personnel to visit the child’s home on a regular or semi-regular basis or outreach service, and programs that are investigated and organized with parents (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). There are many different types of services offered under the early intervention program. These are family support services, funded specialist programs, non-funded specialist programs, specific therapies, alternative therapies, and behavioral assistance services. Many family support services are available (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). Example is the â€Å"Early Childhood Intervention Services† from the Department of Human Services that funds support programs like â€Å"Early Choices† and â€Å"Making a Difference† for a successful implementation of these programs. The local councils can also render this support service as they are funded too to provide such (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). The support and information service under family support services can help families through immediate guidance, sensible and emotional support, and provision of necessary information regarding autism through library, information packages and tip sheets, and published magazines (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). The funded specialist programs are funded under the Department of Human Services purposely for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). These are center-based programs and outreach programs (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). But still, funding is greatly limited and these funded programs are only available to offer services just a not so many hours per week. Outreach programs are where trained personnel visit the patient in his or her home, or are community based services such as child care or preschool for autistic children. The non-funded specialist programs are programs that do not receive funding from the federal government (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). Example of this is the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). The ABA is a home-based therapy that is structured in pattern to the work of Dr. Ivar Lovaas (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). The format of this program is one-to-one instruction, and support and strengthening. But an ABA trained teacher or psychologist is the only one certified to develop and supervise the program. On the other hand, only the parent and/or trained ABA therapists can carry out the teaching conferences. It is known that ABA program outcomes are positive but still, as usual, the outcomes vary from child to child. The only possible disadvantages being seen are on the financial and time viewpoints, that is, it is expensive and not all families can afford it (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). Another type of service for early intervention is the conduction of specific therapies. These trained therapists are those already skilled in executing therapies in relation to autism (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). These are the psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, early intervention teachers, physiotherapists, music therapists, and dance and movement therapists. Most of these therapists are in private practice and have explicit professional fees. Some families are able to secure funding from support programs while others have to pay it on their own. In year 2006, the federal government tried to include mental health conditions in Medicare insurances to help families to lessen expenditures if therapy is the proper approach to the autism condition of the child (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). The identified alternative therapies are those treatments or approaches that showed constant positive outcomes (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). These are usually the educationally and/or behaviorally based programs (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). These programs are intensive, planned, ordered, and long-standing. There is no instant approach. The behavioral assistance programs are more often than not where parents ask for help (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). In view thereof, Gateways Support Services developed an interactive website with a large data bank as guidance for these parents (â€Å"Early Intervention†, 2007). Researchers and educators have debated the question of how communication goals and objectives for children with autism and related disabilities should be derived. The perspective espoused by traditional behavioral programs has been to establish goals and objectives a priori (Lovaas, 1987). Behavioral discrete-trial programs begin with general compliance training to get a child to sit in a chair, look at the clinician, and imitate nonverbal behavior in response to verbal commands. Speech is taught as a verbal behavior, and objectives are targeted beginning with verbal imitation, following one-step commands, receptive discrimination of body parts, objects, person names and pictures, and expressive labeling in response to questions. Later, language objectives include prepositions, pronouns, same or different and yes or no. More contemporary behavioral approaches have developed goals for outcomes from a functional assessment. Goals and objectives are individualized, based on a child’s repertoire of communicative behaviors, teaching functional equivalents of challenging behavior, and addressing the child’s individual needs. The functional emphasis focuses on goals that affect a child’s access to choices of activities in which to participate, opportunities for social interaction, and community settings (Brown, 2006). Contemporary behavioral programs emphasize teaching communication skills so that greater access is provided to a variety of people, places and events, thereby enhancing the quality of life of children with autistic spectrum disorders. The perspective espoused by developmentally oriented approaches has been to focus on the communicative meaning of behaviors and to target goals and objectives that enhance a child’s communicative competence by moving the child along a developmental progression (Ornitz, 1973). Contemporary developmentalists begin with social-communicative goals, including gaze to regulate interaction, sharing positive affect, communicative functions, and gestural communication. Language goals are mapped onto social communication skills and are guided by a developmental framework (Koegel, Koegel, & Frea, 2001). Developmental perspective usually guides the goal-setting in an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention. Beukelman and Mirenda (1998) state that the goals of an AAC intervention are to assist individuals with severe communication disorders to become communicatively competent in the present, with the view toward meeting their future communication needs (Lovaas, 1987). One major purpose of communication assessment is to document change as an outcome measure of treatment. However, most formal or standardized language assessment measures focus primarily on language form and rely on elicited responses. Because language impairments associated with autism are most apparent in social-communicative or pragmatic aspects of language, formal assessment instruments can provide information about only a limited number of aspects of communication for children with autism (Shackelford, 2002). Formal language measures are especially imprecise in measuring nonverbal aspects of communication and therefore are not sufficient, particularly for low-functioning children with autism. In many situations, the tests used for pre- and post-assessment are different, due to the child’s increasing age, making interpretation of results difficult. Another major purpose of assessment is to provide information for educational planning that can be directly translated into goals, strategies, and outcome measures for communication enhancement. Several communication abilities have been identified as important to assess for children with autism like use of eye gaze and facial expression for social referencing and to regulate interaction, range of communicative functions expressed, rate of communicating, use of gestures and vocal/verbalizations, use of repair strategies, understanding of conventional meanings, and ability to engage in conversation (Shackelford, 2002). It is pointed out that communicative abilities of children with autism should be documented in natural communicative exchanges, with a child’s symbolic abilities serving as a developmental frame of reference (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). To supplement formal measures, the systematic use of informal procedures to assess language and communication is needed. In order to gather an accurate picture of the communication and symbolic abilities of children with autism, a combination of assessment strategies has been recommended that includes interviewing significant others (i. e. , parents, teachers) and observing in everyday situations to find out how a child communicates in the home, classroom, and other daily settings (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). Although there is consensus on the importance of enhancing communication abilities for children with autism, intervention approaches vary greatly, and some even appear to be diametrically opposed (Koegel, 2000). The methodological rigor in communication intervention studies in terms of internal and external validity and measures of generalization has been stronger than in many other areas of autism intervention studies. Nevertheless, there have been relatively few prospective studies with controls for maturation, expectancy, or experimenter artifacts. The strongest studies in terms of internal validity have been multiple baseline, ABAB, or similar designs that have included controls for blindness of evaluations (Koegel, 2000). There have been almost no studies with random assignment, although about 70 percent of the studies included well-defined cohorts of adequate sample size or replication across three or more subjects in single subject designs. A substantial proportion of communication interventions have also included some assessment of generalization, though most often not in a natural setting (Koegel, 2000). In order to examine the critical elements of treatment programs that affect the speech, language, and communication skills of children with autism. It is then useful to characterize the active ingredients of treatment approaches along a continuum—from traditional, discrete trial approaches to more contemporary behavioral approaches that used naturalistic language teaching techniques to developmentally oriented approaches (Koegel, 2000). The earliest research efforts at teaching speech and language to children with autism used massed discrete trial methods to teach verbal behavior by building labeling vocabulary and simple sentences. Lovaas (1987) provided the most detailed account of the procedures for language training using discrete trial approaches. Outcomes of discrete trial approaches have included improvements in IQ scores, which are correlated with language skills, and improvements in communication domains of broader measures, such as the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (McEachin, Smith, & OI, 1993). A limitation of a discrete trial approach in language acquisition is the lack of spontaneity and generalization. Lovaas (1987) stated that â€Å"the training regime†¦its use of ‘unnatural’ reinforcers, and the like may have been responsible for producing the very situation-specific, restricted verbal output which we observed in many of our children†. In a review of research on discrete trial approaches, Koegel (2000) noted that â€Å"not only did language fail to be exhibited or generalize to other environments, but most behaviors taught in this highly controlled environment also failed to generalize†. There is now a large body of empirical support for more contemporary behavioral approaches using naturalistic teaching methods that demonstrate efficacy for teaching not only speech and language, but also communication. According to Koegel 2000, there are many approaches that could be considered that include natural language paradigms (Koegel et al. , 1987), incidental teaching (Hart, 1985; McGee et al. , 1985; McGee et al. , 1999), time delay and milieu intervention (Charlop et al. , 1985; Charlop and Trasowech, 1991; Hwang and Hughes, 2000; Kaiser, 1993; Kaiser et al. , 1992), and pivotal response training (Koegel, 1995; Koegel et al. , 1998). These approaches use systematic teaching trials that have several common active ingredients: they are initiated by the child and focus on the child’s interest; they are interspersed and embedded in the natural environment; and they use natural reinforcers that follow what the child is trying to communicate. Only a few studies, all using single-subject designs, have compared traditional discrete trial with naturalistic behavioral approaches. These studies have reported that naturalistic approaches are more effective at leading to generalization of language gains to natural contexts (Koegel 2000). There are numerous intervention approaches based on a developmental framework. While there are many different developmental programs, a common feature of developmental approaches is that they are child-directed. The environment is arranged to provide opportunities for communication, the child initiates the interaction or teaching episode, and the teacher or communicative partner follows the child’s lead by being responsive to the child’s communicative intentions, and imitating or expanding the child’s behavior. Although the empirical support for developmental approaches is more limited than for behavioral approaches, there are several treatment studies that provide empirical support for language outcomes using specific strategies built on a developmental approach providing the largest case review. Developmental approaches share many common active ingredients with contemporary naturalistic behavioral approaches and are compatible along most dimensions. Many researches had been done on the effectiveness of â€Å"early intervention† because a proper selection of goal when dealing the autistic spectrum disorder should be done since the disorder is characterized of many complexities that treating it also involves critical selection of approach. In general, it was shown that researches on these intervention programs had focused on the effectiveness of the programs and not the appropriateness of different goals. For example is knowing a certain intervention program to be effective but the parent and child had to travel across town once a week for the said program or the child is taken out from class in order to be treated by his therapist. Educational objectives must be based on specific behaviors targeted for planned interventions. However, one of the questions that arises repeatedly, both on a theoretical and on a clinical basis, is how specific a link has to be between a long-term goal and a behavior targeted for intervention. Some targeted behaviors, such as toilet training or acquisition of functional spoken language, provide immediately discernible practical benefits for a child and his or her family. However, in many other cases, both in regular education and specialized early intervention, the links between the objectives used to structure what a child is taught and the child’s eventual independent, socially responsible functioning are much less obvious. This is particularly the case for preschool children, for whom play and manipulation of toys (e. g. , matching, stacking of blocks) are primary methods of learning and relating to other children. Often, behaviors targeted in education or therapy are not of immediate practical value but are addressed because of presumed links to overall educational goals. The structuring of activities in which a child can succeed and feel successful is an inherent part of special education. Sometimes the behavior is one component of a series of actions that comprise an important achievement. Breaking down a series of actions into components can facilitate learning. Thus, a preschool child may be taught to hold a piece of paper down with one hand while scribbling with another. This action is a first step in a series of tasks designed to help the child draw and eventually write. Other behaviors, or often classes of behaviors, have been described as â€Å"pivotal behaviors† in the sense that their acquisition allows a child to learn many other skills more efficiently (Koegel, Koegel, Shoshan, & McNerney, 1999). Schreibman and the Koegels and their colleagues have proposed a specific treatment program for children with autism: pivotal response treatment. It includes teaching children to respond to natural reinforcers and multiple cues, as well as other â€Å"pivotal† responses. These are key skills that allow better access to social information. The idea of â€Å"pivotal skills† to be targeted as goals may also hold for a broad range of behaviors such as imitation (Stone, 1997; Rogers and Pennington, 1991), maintaining proximity to peers (Hanson and Odom, 1999), and learning to delay gratification (understanding â€Å"first do this, then you get to do that†). Longitudinal research has found that early joint attention, symbolic play, and receptive language are predictors of long-term outcome (Siller and Sigman, 2002). Although the research to date has been primarily correlational, one inference has been that if interventions succeed in modifying these key behaviors, more general improvements will occur as well (Kasari, 2000). Another explanation is that these behaviors are early indicators of the child’s potential developmental trajectory. Sometimes goals for treatment and education involve attempting to limit and treat the effects of one aspect of autism, with the assumption that such a treatment will allow a child to function more competently in a range of activities. For example, a number of different treatment programs emphasize treating the sensory abnormalities of autism, with the implication that this will facilitate a child’s acquisition of communication or social skills (e. g. , auditory integration; sensory integration). For many interventions, supporting these links through research has been difficult. There is little evidence to support identifiable links between general treatment of a class of behaviors (e. g. , sensory dysfunction) and improvements in another class of behaviors (e. g. , social skills), especially when the treatment is carried out in a different context from that in which the targeted behaviors are expected to appear. However, there are somewhat different examples in other areas of education and medicine in which interventions have broad effects on behavior. One example is the effect of vigorous exercise on general behavior in autism (Koegel, Koegel, Shoshan, & McNerney, 1999). In addition, both desensitization and targeted exercise in sports medicine and physical therapy often involve working from interventions carried out in one context to generalization to more natural circumstances. Yet, in both of these cases, the shift from therapeutic to real-life contexts is planned explicitly to occur within a relatively brief period of time. At this time, there is no scientific evidence of this kind of link between specifically-targeted therapies and general improvements in autism outside the targeted areas. Until information about such links becomes available, this lack of findings is relevant to goals, because it suggests that educational objectives should be tied to specific, real-life contexts and behaviors with immediate meaning to the child. Because the range of outcomes for children with autistic spectrum disorders is so broad, the possibility of relatively normal functioning in later childhood and adulthood offers hope to many parents of young children. Although recent literature has conveyed more modest claims, the possibility of permanent â€Å"recovery† from autism, in the sense of eventual attainment of language, social and cognitive skills at, or close to, age level, has been raised in association with a number of educational and treatment programs (Ingersoll, Schreibman, & Stahmer, 2001). Natural history studies have revealed that there are a small number of children who have symptoms of autism in early preschool years who do not have these symptoms in any obvious form in later years. Whether these improvements reflect developmental trajectories of very mildly affected children or changes in these trajectories (or more rapid movement along a trajectory) in response to treatment (Lovaas, 1987) is not known. However, as with other developmental disabilities, the core deficits in autism have generally been found to persist in some degree in most persons with autistic spectrum diagnoses. There is no research base explaining how â€Å"recovery† might come about or which behaviors might mediate general change in diagnosis or cognitive level (Ingersoll, Schreibman, & Stahmer, 2001). Although there is evidence that interventions lead to improvements and that some children shift specific diagnoses within the spectrum and change in severity of cognitive delay in the preschool years, there is not a simple, direct relationship between any particular current intervention and â€Å"recovery† from autism. Because there is always room for hope, recovery will often be a goal for many children, but in terms of planning services and programs, educational objectives must describe specific behaviors to be acquired or changed. Research on outcomes (or whether goals of independence and responsibility have been attained) can be characterized by whether the goal of an intervention is broadly defined (e. g. , â€Å"best outcome†) or more narrowly defined (e. g. , increasing vocabulary, increasing peer-directed social behavior); whether the study design involves reporting results in terms of individual or group changes; and whether goals are short term (i. e. , to be achieved in a few weeks or months) or long term (i. e. , often several years). A large body of single-subject research has demonstrated that many children make substantial progress in response to specific intervention techniques in relatively short time periods (e. g. , several months). These gains occur in many specific areas, including social skills, language acquisition, nonverbal communication, and reductions of challenging behaviors. Often the most rapid gains involve increasing the frequency of a behavior already in the child’s repertoire, but not used as broadly as possible (e. g. , increasing use of words) (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). In single-subject reports, changes in some form are almost always documented within weeks, if not days, after the intervention has begun. Studies over longer periods of time have documented that joint attention, early language skills, and imitation are core deficits that are the hallmarks of the disorder, and are predictive of longer-term outcome in language, adaptive behaviors, and academic skills. However, a causal relationship between improvements in these behaviors as a result of treatment and outcomes in other areas has not yet been demonstrated. Many treatment studies report post intervention placement as an outcome measure (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). Successful participation in regular education classrooms is an important goal for some children with autism. However, its usefulness as an outcome measure is limited because placement may be related to many variables other than the characteristics of a child (such as prevailing trends in inclusion, availability of other services, and parents’ preferences). The most commonly reported outcome measure in group treatment studies of children with autism has been IQ scores (Lord & Schopler, 1989). Studies have reported substantial changes in IQ scores in a surprisingly large number of children in intervention studies and in longitudinal studies in which children received nonspecific interventions. However, even in the treatment studies that have shown the largest gains, children’s outcomes have been variable, with some children making great progress and others showing very small gains. Overall, while much evidence exists that education and treatment can help children attain short-term goals in targeted areas, gaps remain in addressing larger questions of the relationship between particular techniques and both general and specific changes (Lord & Schopler, 1989). The child with autism is also protected in the federal state law. These are the Public Law 108-77 also called Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 and Public Law 105-17 also called Individuals with Disabilities Act or IDEA of 1997. This mandates the major care provider to refer the child with autism and the family to an early intervention service. It was stated that every state has an early intervention program and must make it available to children from birth to three years of age, thus, autistic children are covered under this law. Examples of these program are behavioral methods, early developmental education, communication skills, occupational and physical therapy, and structured social play.