Psychology of Adolescence Essay Example for Free

Psychology of Adolescence Essay BoysTown is a registered charity and a national organization for youth welfare in Australia. It focuses on helping disadvantaged youths who are at risk of social exclusion to enhance their quality of life (â€Å"Youth social†). It recognizes several causes of social exclusion among disadvantaged youths that need to be addressed, which include single parenthood, low self-esteem, physical and mental health problems, substance abuse, lack of work experience, functional illiteracy, and underdeveloped personal and vocational skills (â€Å"Youth social†). BoysTown also recognizes that most of the disadvantage youths came from families who have a history of intergenerational unemployment and welfare dependency and from Indigenous backgrounds (â€Å"Youth social†). BoysTown offers several social inclusion programs to help disadvantage youths to improve their life. The programs include Kids Helpline, Youth Programs, Indigenous community development, Family programs, and Intermediate labor markets. The key attribute of these programs is that they emphasized sustainable outcomes while they rely on safe strategies for working with youths who are at risk of social exclusion (â€Å"Youth social†). BoysTown’s Kids Helpline is a national telephone and web-based counseling program that provides services for more than 60,000 children and youths across the country. The Youth programs offer personal development, training and employment assistance to more than 3,500 youths in communities. BoysTown is collaborating with key stakeholders to work on a social inclusion project with four remote Indigenous communities in the East Kimberleys (â€Å"Youth social†). It also provides parenting programs and family refuges such as home-based support and training to make way for the transition of disadvantaged youths to the wider world (â€Å"Youth social†). The organization also operates various social enterprises and transitional employment programs in order to provide 400 youths per year with paid work and on-the-job training. There are various indicators that demonstrate the degree of social exclusion suffered by families and children, which include low-birth-weight babies, permanent exclusion from school, the number of children living in unemployed households, teenage pregnancy, low academic achievement, and the number of children aged 10-16 who are in young offender institutions (Pierson, 2002). The indicators of social exclusion at the level of community include overcrowded housing, a high percentage of households without a bank account, poor community participation, and high levels of burglaries (Pierson, 2002). The key forces that increases the likelihood of social exclusion are poverty and low income, lack of social supports and networks, lack of access to the labor market, the impact of the local neighborhood, and exclusion from services (Pierson, 2002). Pierson (2002) suggests ways to address social exclusion, which include maximizing income and securing basic resources; improving social networks and supports; collaborating in partnership with local organizations and agencies; developing channels of effective participation for users, local residents, and their organizations; and concentrating on whole neighborhoods. Socially excluded youths have a significant cost impact on society in terms of publicly-funded health services, justice system and social security costs, and the impact of decreased individual earning capacity, lost productivity, and decreased tax revenue (â€Å"Youth social†). The Australian government is investing in developing the capability of the not-for-profit organization to provide more holistic, community-based strategies to respond to social exclusion, especially among young people (â€Å"Youth social†). Models of intervention must be multi-dimensional and aimed at providing young people with a comprehensive range of support over an extended period of time (â€Å"Youth social†). They should also be based on a holistic approach in order for young people to overpower personal barriers; improve their strengths, health, well-being, life and interpersonal skills; develop their self-esteem and the ability to learn; and succeed in shifting to independent living, training or work, and further education (â€Å"Youth social†). BoysTown’s Youth programs are effective in helping youths who are at risk of social exclusion because they incorporate individual assessment, counseling, and support, life skills training, personal development and mentoring; vocational skills training, employment assistance; and post-placement support (â€Å"Youth social†). Young people must be provided assistance into paid employment by giving advice, training and other help that they need to make them more employable (Kemp, 2005). Focusing on individual agency such as young people’s attributes, qualifications, decision-making, and behavior allows young people to successfully transition from welfare to work (Kemp, 2005). The Kids Helpline at BoysTown is similar to a mentoring program that helps disadvantaged young people to tackle social exclusion. Mentoring consists of an informal educative role and personal support and encouragement (Pierson, 2002). Mentor acts as a trusted counselor or guide (Pierson, 2002). The goal of a mentoring or counseling program is to connect two individuals in a one to one voluntary relationship, with one individual being more experienced than the other and with the hope that their knowledge and skills will be transferred (Pierson, 2002). The key features of a mentoring relationship include a voluntary arrangement as required by the individual being mentored and can be ended by either party at any time, interpersonal skills of mentors to manage and monitor the relationship, and the understanding of both mentored and mentors about the boundaries and objective of the relationship (Pierson, 2002). Colley (2003) mentions the popularity of mentoring with policy-makers because it addresses their concerns such as the moralization of social exclusion. The author adds that the solution to social exclusion of young people depends on their re-engagement with the labor market and/or formal learning routes. The key role of mentoring is to provide a way for the re-engagement by changing young people’s values, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior to engage their personal commitment to become employable (Colley, 2003). Mentoring helps young people in terms of empowering them, discussing aspirations, and making them more realistic about their view of work (Colley, 2003). It is also important to assist young people to attain skills in areas such as confidence building, problem solving, improvement of interpersonal skills, punctuality, and team working in order to enhance their personal effectiveness in the workplace (Colley, 2003). Moreover, mentoring is also important to help disadvantaged young people develop social networks and capital (Colley, 2003). It is necessary to create initiatives that involve young people not only in making decisions that affect them individually or on particular services but also in making decisions that influence their communities collectively (Pierson, 2002). Organizations led by young people play an important role in defining services and provide practical support for young persons (Pierson, 2002). The aim of the Indigenous community development at BoysTown is to help young people to re-engage in learning; increase community involvement in formal education and training; enhance access to sustainable mainstream employment opportunities; and develop training and work opportunities through community-based social business enterprises (â€Å"Youth social†). According to Pierson (2002), adolescent support teams have emerged rapidly during the early 1990s. The author adds that the aim of adolescent support teams is to divert youths from the care system and offer short-term preventive service that assists families prevent problems in relationships that might result to homelessness. The approach used by the adolescent support teams is preventive and based on time-limited, task-focused work (Pierson, 2002). Most of the work of the adolescent support teams involves negotiation and mediation between young people and parents (Pierson, 2002). BoysTown enterprises are involved in several community infrastructure development, asset maintenance, and urban renewal projects in disadvantaged areas (â€Å"Youth social†). Enterprise-based intermediate labor markets are effective in minimizing crime and anti-social behavior and in helping young people who are socially excluded to engage again with the labor market (â€Å"Youth social†). According to Aiken (2007), social enterprises are considered mission-driven organizations with a commitment to a specific disadvantaged group. The author adds that placement agencies function as intermediaries in searching and training people to move into work in the mainstream labor market. Social enterprises have often focused on the needs of socially excluded client groups (Aiken, 2007). Aiken (2007) mentions that the origin of social and community enterprises can be found in the mutual and cooperative sector in Great Britain. The author adds that the emergence of this movement has resulted to an important pattern which has focused on the economic development of poorer communities, including the importance of maintaining paid work. Intermediate Labor Market organizations focus on short-term training and employment with the goal of trainees transitioning into paid work in other organizations (Aiken, 2007). They may be working with disadvantaged people and will have a tendency to be reliant on some degree of public sector contracting. References Aiken, M. (2007). What is the role of social enterprise in finding, creating and maintaining employment? for disadvantaged groups? Retrieved June 14, 2009, from http://www. parracity. nsw. gov. au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/22575/Cabinet_Office Colley, Helen (2003). Mentoring for social inclusion: A critical approach to nurturing mentor relationships. New York, NY: Routledge. Kemp, P. A. (2005) Young people and unemployment: From welfare to workfare. In M. Barry (Ed. ), Youth policy and social inclusion: critical debates with young people (pp. 139-156). New York, NY: Routledge. Pierson, J. (2002). Tackling social exclusion. New York, NY: Routledge. Youth social exclusion: A global concern. Retrieved June 14, 2009, from http://www. boystown. com. au/downloads/rep/BT-Youth-Social-Exclusion. pdf

Concept of Crosswall Construction for Earthquake Hazards

Concept of Crosswall Construction for Earthquake Hazards 1. INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to understand the basic concept of crosswall construction, and a proposal for Armature Crosswalls to be used as earthquake hazard mitigation for reinforced concrete and masonry infill-wall buildings vulnerable to collapse. RC frame and infill construction is common throughout the world and often has proved lethal in earthquakes. The paper traces the history of masonry infill construction from pre-modern forms that have shown earthquake resistance in the past, to the early modern steel skeleton frame buildings that survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. the construction flow at real time in step by step procedures and quantifying the benefits and studying their applications. This is done by making a comparison in usage of the same technique in two different countries namely India and the United Kingdom. This comparison is aimed at producing an insight into the technique and to identify the areas of improvement. 2. Crosswall construction 2.1 Definition: Crosswall is a modern method of building construction using division walls which transfers the floor loads through the building to the foundations. The name crosswall itself signifies the masonry connection is on either sides of the main wall. It employs concrete components like lift and stair cores, precision engineered (highly skilled), and precasted in the factories. 2.2 Applications: This type of pre-cast single-skin or flat panel concrete construction is becoming more popular in commercial applications such as hotels, motels, prisons, military barracks and student accommodations. These types of structures up to 16 storeys have been finished in U.K using the crosswall technique. The use of such panels can result in fast, simple construction process on site followed quickly by finishing trades. Crosswall is mainly used for medium and high rise buildings. 2.3 Benefits: Cross wall construction method reduces the wet trades and creates very early dry boxes for subsequent trades. This helps in speeding up the construction process without delay in work. Crosswalls also helps to eliminate internal cladding and other items such as party walls because the concrete crosswalls and floors do more than load carrying system. Crosswall technique reduces the labour onsite. A precast panel provides concrete frames without structural down stands. Cross wall construction which has been developed for providing very fast and high quality in repetitive accommodation units such as hotels and the opportunity for multi storey apartments is rising, student accommodation buildings, stadiums etc. but the crosswall technique optimisation in low rise buildings is minimal(single houses) because the dimensions of each room may not be the similar. The Crosswall construction is incorporated with a series of both horizontal and vertical ties which are designed in such a way to prevent the failures and collapses according to building specifications. Other precast work can be started simultaneously before the precast units are erected. The crosswall buildings have less maintenance service and have good acoustics values. The acoustic performance of crosswall is excellent because of its mass and effective damping. Crosswalls reduces the risks of failing pre completion acoustic tests. (The Concrete Centre, 2006) Pre cast walls and floor units are more than just a structure (highly effective in costs, speed, early start for other trades, and provision of fire separation panels), wall panels are provided with good finish and air tight tolerance. Tight tolerance enables fitting of bathroom pods, carpets and built in furniture. Flat pack construction is very quick and cost effective because it reduces the material waste on the site and the party walls are largely eliminated. The separation of acoustics and additional finishes are reduced as the wall panels provide the sufficient airborne noise separation. Thermal mass is provided by concrete and the thermal is utilised in crosswall constructions because the concrete widely spreads on the unfinished surfaces and the thermal mass reduces the risk of over heating in summer season by keeping the surrounding cool.( Doebber, Ellis M.W; 2005) The main features incorporated in cross wall construction are Direct decorative finish to the walls with only minor pre decoration treatments. Solid room sized slabs pre finished for direct ceiling decorations. Reduced structural zone without downstands. Cross wall system generally utilises stair cores and lift cores for overall stability. Pre fitted windows eliminates internal cladding. Optimal methods of floor construction, allowing flexibility for individual client requirements. Construction of stairs and lift cores can permit early access for subsequent trades. (The Concrete Centre, 2007) 2.4 Limitations: In spite of several benefits offered by the precast panels, it has found that there is no wide acceptance of the precast panels in construction because of Highly skilled engineers or labours are required for manufacturing, placing and erecting the moulds on required positions. Lack of awareness and initiatives especially in Indian construction industry because of invariable labour intensive methods which leads to delay in the construction and that result in cost over-run and poor workmanship. Shortage of skilled and semi-skilled personnel availability may bring poor finishes, leakages in the buildings, corrosion of structural elements. These defects can be only minimised by the use of mass scale projects such as schools, offices, hospitals and other similar projects.(A.B.Shah,2005) Precast wall panel construction may be more or equal expensive as masonry construction because it mainly depends upon the transportation of offsite fabricated materials to onsite. (Havel.G, 2006) Difficult to transport heavy weight and size of the precast panels. The profit margin is very low in the small scale constructions. For single and two storey dwellings it would be typical to use single storey height walls panels between 90-300mm thick concrete for external walls and 70-100mm thick panels for the internal walls. The variation in designs leads to the problem and the single housing clients are not happy with the precast technique even though it provides a higher quality and good finish. This crosswall technique is mostly used for large repetitive structures may not be used for small scale construction like individual housing because the crosswall is more expensive tool when compared. (Glass.J, 2000) 2.4.1 Fire Conditions: The building with large precast wall panels often has high ceilings and heavy fire loadings, as in retail stores, factories and warehouses. The fire in one of these occupancies require large volumes of water from large lines, if the fire is not controlled master stream appliances will be needed. The fire in large precast buildings is likely to cause an early collapse of the roofs even if they are no weak connections. In this type of precast panel construction all the parts of the building are tied together as part of a structure, the roof collapses are more likely to tip the walls inwards and outwards. As we know, the roof supports are more securely connected to the walls, the chances of roof collapsing is high before the wall connection fails. The failure of any part of the structure may affect the stability of the other parts of the building. (Havel.G, 2006) 3. Historical background: The precast concrete wall panel system was devised in England by William H.Lascelles (1832-85) of Exeter. In 19th century the pre-casting concrete for the structural purposes was started. Francois Hennebique (1842-1921) first introduced precast concrete into cast in-situ flour mill in France. White and Morris had given the historical accounts of the early development on precast concrete. (Elliot.K.S; 2000) Later in 1930s the use of precast as been expanded by companies such as Bison, Trent concrete and girling. Whilst precast concrete usage was stand at the first place it differs from country to country. One of the reason was the structural timber became more limited in some of the countries which led to development and improvement of precast usage. During the next 25 years the development in the precast frames, precast cladding as increased the market share to around 15% in industrial, commercial sectors. (Richardson.J.G, 1973) Since the 1990s, a significant amount of research has been conducted on the seismic behavior and the design of precast wall paneled structures that do not emulate the behavior of cast-in-place reinforced concrete construction. 4.Development Of Precast Concrete Panel Frame Systems: Precast panel frame systems have been successfully emerged from the research use of post tensioning between the precast beam and columns to achieve the lateral load resistance needed in seismic areas. (Seismic design of friction-damped precast concrete frame structure) For the Docklands project on constructing student accommodation blocks in London, the concrete was prefabricated in Belgium and transported because the northern Europe was only able to cope up with the demands of the project and other small local markets were tightened. Precast concrete wall panels in buildings speeds up the building process by adopting the precast concrete moulds. Decorative and light weight blocks have a great to offer visual values and technical values. The small store buildings from the precast industries offer excellent means of construction within the budget. The farm buildings, ware houses, industrial buildings are required to be constructed on exposed sites so the materials of standard precast frame components are supplied. Precasting of simple lintels offers opportunities of time saving on the site. The schools, universities are built by using the precast modular components. 4.1 Comparison of Conventional and Large precast panel Construction (Shah.A.B, 2005) The above table clearly signifies the benefits of large precast construction over conventional construction methods in various fields. 4.2 Structural Superiority: The precast panel structural system can be quiet efficient compared to other systems and it was tested and proven. (Fintel.M, July1991). In cast in-situ concrete structures, the large stresses may built up in the structure due to the curing, shrinkage, creep, temperature etc. However no such stresses are built in large precast panel systems during casting. Due to these special characteristics of large panels it has proved its efficiency for more than 50 years in Europe, America and other developed countries. (Shah.A.B, 2005) 5. Precast Concrete Panel Manufacture Process 5.1 Casting: Precast concrete panels can be manufactured by various casting methods. 5.1.1 Wet casting : It is generally used for small number of units having similar specifications. The moulds are manufactured by heating them in the enclosed and covered zones. Skilled engineers design the type of moulds depending upon the requirement for the project and also under the guidance of trained supervisions. As this casting is used for small units, it can be manufactured manually depending upon the number of units to be prepared. This casting can be provided for small housing. Wet casting provides the concrete in the cube strength ranging from 21 to 50N/mm, the slump varying from 0 to 175mm with a compacting factor varying from 0.8 to 0.97.(specifications are derived from CP 110 Unified code for structural concrete) 5.1.2 Gang casting: It is usually used when the moulds are combined together into a large unit assembly. The gang casting is developed by the modification of wet castings. The gang casting could be used when the similar unit requirement is more. For example: gang casting can be used in the production of stair case in the multi storied buildings. The main factors for adopting gang casting process is because of the designed units, and the general components of concrete. The gang casting can be arranged horizontally and the outputs which are achieved from gang casting can be more enhance in the stack casting. The main advantage of gang casting is it allows the concrete to place faster and than the concrete is compacted with the help of immersion-type vibrators. The greater accuracy of the component units are produced with the gang casting. The gang moulds are tied up in series so that the pressure loading on each individual unit is counteracted by the adjacent units, by this way it reduces the number of tie members. The gang moulds can be used for long horizontal spans, but the filling of gang moulds must be carefully controlled such that the intermediate moulds are not subjected to differential loading which may cause deflections and waves along the line of moulds. (Gibb.A, 1999) 5.1.2 Stack Casting: Stack casting is the slight modification to the flat and gang casting units. In this casting process gang moulds are filled and hardened after the hardening process the divider plates are driven into the mould up to an appropriate depths so that the next layer will be ready for casting. Stack casting is used to produce A frames and can be used in the repetitive structures such as prisons constructions. All the rooms are of same size and dimensions. Precasters have found that the incorporation of through holes, barrels or by insertion of anchors allows fastening the mould sides and bring them to the subsequent positions with exact casting thickness. 5.1.3 Battery casting: It is mostly used on wider scale, battery moulds has become more popular in large concrete wall panel constructions and the casting technique is also used for the manufacture of floor slabs and for decorative cladding components. The battery casting can be used in the manufacture of L shaped components such as balcony elements and lift enclosures. In this type, the units are generally cast in batteries of two or more. The battery mould can also have eight to twelve cells in the same mould. The changes on the casting process which provides a continuous casting, hardening, and curing schedule prior to de moulding. The battery mould which basically contains a series of plates that are spaced a part by the other mould members. A Battery mould allows high density of casting to be carried in the available space. Care and proper supervision is required in the assembly operations so it results in securely tied moulds which will be impossible for the concrete member to get separate from the mould. (Richardson.J.G, 1973) 5.2. Direct Casting and Inverted Shell Procedures: The precasted concrete panels can be obtained from the flexible formwork. The fabric formwork can be used to produce two basic types of concrete panels such as direct casting and inverted shells. In the direct cast panels, the concrete moulds are formed by the sandwiching fabric between the two rectangular frames. Firstly, the lower frame has the intermediate supports place inside it. The lower frame is X- shaped intermediate supports. The fabric membrane is than prestressed between the lower and intermediate supports. Finally, the upper frame is placed over the membrane and than aligned with the lower frames. When the concrete is placed in the mould, the fabric form bends downwards and creates three dimensional tension curves between the available supports. Using the direct casting method, a single membrane can be moulded to form different varieties of designs by simply changing the design of the intermediate supports. The produced precasted frames with different designs can be used as various building components. The direct cast panel can be used as moulds to produce light weight shaft panels with compressed shells are caste from the mould. The panel has a minimum thickness of 38mm at the apex and a maximum thickness of 127mm at the perimeter and the diagonal X beams. The two glass fiber reinforced concrete panels can also be produced by optimising the same process of tilting the direct cast panel to produce a compression shell panel. The final obtained glass fibre reinforced concrete panel cast from the mould which significantly varies in thickness from 13 to 38mm. Unlimited desired number of different pattern or designs can be produced from these methods. Each intermediate supports produces its own set of compression shells. The moulds can be produced by providing the compression resistance to different load patterns by the changing the loading which is used in direct cast mould productions. This method helps in developing an architectural quality concrete finishes using the industrial concrete mixing. Also expands the architectural potential of concrete constructions. But the problem was identified that there was no suitable method for predicting the magnitude of deflections in the formwork membranes under the variety of loading and also structural behaviour of some of the structures are not examined, precise engineers may solve the problem of structural behaviour in the precast concrete panels. (West.M, April 2004) 6.Crosswall Construction Procedures Precasting the elements such as foundations, wall panels, floors, stairs, chajjas, water tanks are manufactured at the factory and they are directly installed on the site. 6.1 Foundations: The foundations along with the walls up to the plinth levels can be cast by using M20 grade concrete in the factories and further construction can be processed by using precast panels. 6.2 Precast Wall Panels: The precast wall panels can be made of concrete with the reinforcement provided as per the specifications. The wall panels can be cast in horizontal positions and than they are lifted from the casting beds after the concrete attains minimum required strengths. They are three main types of wall elements that are solid panels, panels with door openings and panels with window openings. 6.2.1 Sandwich Panels: The sandwich panel which involves a precast concrete outerleaf, and the choice of simulated stone finishes or facings, insulating layer and a blacking leaf of plane grey concrete. The insulation which is installed under the factory conditions is well protected by the concrete. The thickness of the insulation contained in the sandwich panels can be varied to achieve the required U-values. The precast concrete sandwich panels are often used for the building exteriors cladding and also serves as shear walls. The two sandwich layers are generally connected by the stainless steel connectors, which may consists of wind and the shear connectors. Several insulation types such as mineral fibre insulation materials can be used. A cavity can also be introduced if necessary. Mineral fibre insulation is environmentally friendly, fire resistant when compared to the expanded polystyrene products. The sandwich panels may support floors, slabs and beams. The main advantage of the load bearing panels is they may not require perimeter columns and instead increases the floor area and gives flush wall profiles. The applied finish panels may include terracotta, glazed bricks, tiles, granite, and limestone. A panel may incorporate more than 1000 bricks or 100 stones. (Dawson.S, 2004) The sandwich panel system which includes polystyrene insulation sandwiched between the two concrete walls. The interior of the sandwich panel is thicker because several studies as shown the thermal capacitance of benefits are greater when the thermal capacitance is within the insulation barrier (Kossecka Kossny, 2002) The two types of precast concrete panel systems are One is waffle precast concrete panel system which is currently used in the light commercial and residential industry and the other is sandwich precast concrete panel system which represents the available wall technologies which has greater thermal performance than the waffle panel system. The inner leaf of the sandwich panel may be used as a load bearing structural element for giving support to the floor units. This provides more efficiency to the construction process and minimises the need to integrate different trades. Techrete Company has manufactured the load bearing sandwich panels for Dublins city centre; the city centre was designed by OMahony Pike and for the first time the sandwich panel was used in a structural capacity on residential development. The sandwich panel provides very strong, durable, energy-efficient and fire resistant cladding systems. All the panels are manufactured in the factory and they are Just in time delivered to the site, they are enabled to provide very high quality finishes. Construction will be much faster and the load bearing walls panels they provide both structural support and external finish, the labour on site is minimised. (Taylor.P.J, 1992) Most of the precast concrete cladding system comprises of a single layered structural concrete panels which are manufactured in the factory and than installed on multi storey buildings with a weather resistant external finishes. Sandwich panel generally contains insulated material between the two precast layers. Techrete is one of the leading precast concrete manufacturers which has expanded the range and potential of the sandwiched panels. The Techrete company has introduced the precast panels in stone and bricks. The air cavity can be fixed in between the panels and they can be integrated as a part of load bearing structures. 6.2.1.1 Two-Wythe Sandwich Panels: The precast concrete slabs are constructed by two Wythes of concrete which are separated by thermal insulation layer. Two Wythes panels are provided with strong concrete which enables both lifting and handling. The solid concrete may also have catastrophic impact on the thermal performance on the precast concrete panels. The research was mainly directed towards the development of precast concrete three-Wythe sandwich panel with the improved thermal performances. Often, both the concrete Wythes are of same thickness and the surface of the exterior Wythes may include the architectural panels. The panels with two concrete Wythes and one insulated layer are referred to as two-Wythe panels. (Lee B.J,Pessiki; 2006) 6.2.1.2 Three-Wythe Sandwich Panels: The three Wythe panel which usually as three concrete Wythes and two insulated layers, those are connected by solid concrete and they are staggered in location so that no concrete path extends directly through the entire thickness of the panel. In practice, the three-Wythe panels are evaluated by estimating the thermal resistance (R-value) using the finite element methods. Three Wythe panel was developed to reduce the thermal bridges which were produced by solid concrete. Generally the thermal performance of three Wythe panel is evaluated by estimating the R-Values (thermal resistance) using finite element methods. The benefits of three Wythe panels are: The concrete connection between the Wythes allows improving the thermal performance over the two Wythe panel. The increased overall panel thickness may lead to increased span capability, this how which increases the usage of sandwiched panels. But the three-Wythe sandwiched panel may not be applicable for all scenarios because it increases the production time and production costs when compared to two sandwiched panels. On the whole three Wythes panels provide greater advantages in thermal performance than two Wythe panel but with higher cost and time productivities. (LEE, PESSIKI; 2003) 6.2.2 Tilt-Up Panels: The tilt up technique which combines the advantage of precast walls with other benefits of site casting, the size and the thickness of the panel is reduced. The tilt up construction had grown more rapidly with respect to the increase in the demands for more durable and economical buildings. The use of WWR(wire welded reinforcement) in the tilt up panels is relatively new concept. According to concrete international there are inherent advantages and disadvantages to the use of the WWR. (Griffin.J, 2003) WWR (wire welded reinforcement) mats are manufactured in the plant-controlled environment, which gives the correct number of bars that to be placed in the panels depending upon the additional drawings. In the fields the prefabricated mats give assurance that the bars do not bunch or free float together in the plane of reinforcement, step- through meshes are well maintained which offers the workers the ability to step between adjacent bars, reduction of labour on the site. Tilt up panel can be reinforced in less time because of the labour reduction. This wire welded reinforcement(WWR) may be used in joining the precast concrete walls and may finish the work very quickly without the need of excess labour and has an advantage in reducing size and thickness of the walls in multi-storey structures. 6.2.3 Double wall precast panels: Double wall building technology means that both sides of the wall and the floor components are form finished. The interior surfaces of the walls are dry and smooth, only single coat of paint may be required to achieve the look and feel the drywall finish. The exterior surfaces of the walls can be produced with variety of finishes and surface treatments. Dukane Precast Company has used the double wall technique for the low-rise residential and non residential constructions. This company has built a plant geared for low cost production of roof and wall that created safest, durable and most energy efficient building systems. The double wall building method may offer significant energy conservation by recognising thermal mass properties. The benefits of double wall panels: The double wall panel design may be a good choice for the home buyers looking primarily in cost, comfort, health benefits. The high degree of insulation provided by the panels can permit the use of smaller heating and air conditioning units, thus may save monthly operating costs of the house. (Concrete Products Staff, 2002) 6.3 Floors/Roof Panels: 6.3.1 Hollowcore Floors: Hollowcore and prestressed floors are also commonly used as floor slabs in multi-Family housing, schools, and hotels, offices which may take an advantage of span to depth ratios, high load carrying capacity, fire ratings and speed of construction. The hollow unit reduces the self weight of the slabs. These floor units may be available in 1200mm in widths depths from 110 to 400 mm. The hollow core slabs for the residential buildings may have very good span capabilities (short long span). The long span is used for the car parks and office constructions and they can exhibit upward cambers. The short spans can also be provided with a layer of the expanded polysterene on the soffit to provide the insulation for the ground floor situations. The hollowcore slabs with reinforcement can be generally 225mm deep and 1200 mm wide Termodeck Company is more specialised in providing hollow core units. (Borghoff.M, 2006) The hollow core wall panels can be installed with or without insulation. The floor units can be provided with the polysterene or poly-isocyanurate (PIR) insulation material. The benefits of using hollowcore floor units are as follows: It may include high load carrying capacity, long spans, durability, erection speed, providing instant working, and very good thermal and sound insulation, providing the floor with fire resistant properties without the need for the fire protection treatment. Hollow core units may be the ideal building material for the construction of ware houses, manufacturing plants, schools, retail stores, office buildings and administration buildings. The use of pre stressed hollow core units and the solution which may enables fast construction and it is cost effective because the secondary fire resistance treatment is not required Precast hollowcore floors are designed with up to 4 hours fire resistance by using tabulated data that gives minimum dimensions for the depth of concrete cover to the prestressing strand or wires as well as overall depth of the floor slab to be used. (Norman E Brown, Head of Engineering Services – British Precast Secretary – Precast Flooring Federation) 6.4 Transportation: The precast concrete panels can delivered to the site over the highways by semi trailer trucks. A few can be shipped by rail or other modes of transportation depending upon the feasibility of resources. The precast plants may not restrict the size and weight of the precast panel production if there is ease of transportation. The use of light weight aggregate concrete panels can minimize the impact of weight on shipping, handling and

The Life and Works of Ezra Jack Keats Essay example -- Literary Analys

After a four week survey of a multitude of children’s book authors and illustrators, and learning to analyze their works and the methods used to make them effective literary pieces for children, it is certainly appropriate to apply these new skills to evaluate a single author’s works. Specifically, this paper focuses on the life and works of Ezra Jack Keats, a writer and illustrator of books for children who single handedly expanded the point of view of the genre to include the experiences of multicultural children with his Caldecott Award winning book â€Å"Snowy Day.† The creation of Peter as a character is ground breaking in and of itself, but after reading the text the reader is driven to wonder why â€Å"Peter† was created. Was he a vehicle for political commentary as some might suggest or was he simply another â€Å"childhood† that had; until that time, been ignored? If so, what inspired him to move in this direction? Born in March of 1916 as Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz, he was the third child to Benjamin and Augusta Katz. His parents were both Polish immigrants of Jewish descent and they raised him in East New York, the predominantly Jewish section of Brooklyn. As immigrants they were plagued with financial difficulties and this was further aggravated when they struggled through the Depression. Despite all of these hardships, Keats had already begun to showcase his artistic abilities. At the age of eight he was hired to paint the sign of a local store. Naturally, his father was quite proud of him when he earned twenty-five cents for his work and hoped that this might endeavor might lead to a steady career as a sign pa ¬inter. Unfortunately for him, Keats was smitten with Fine Arts and won his first award in Junior High School: a medal for ... ...undeniable. Works Cited Gerard J.Keats, Ezra Jack. Goggles! New York: Puffin Books, 1969. Keats, Ezra Jack, and Cherr, Pat. My Dog is Lost! New York: Crowell, 1960. Keats, Ezra Jack. Peter’s Chair. New York: Viking, 1967. Keats, Ezra Jack. Skates! New York: Watts, 1973 Keats, Ezra Jack. The Snowy Day. New York: Viking, 1962. Senick, Gerard J., and Hedblad, Alan. Children’s Literature Review: Excerpts from Reviews, and Commentary on Books for Children and Young People (Volumes 14, 34, 35). Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1995.. Ezra Jack Keats: A Virtual Exhibit. The University of Southern Mississippi De Grummond Children's Literature Collection. Web. 19 July 2010. . Http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/. Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Web. 19 July 2010. .

Describe an important character and explain why they are important. :: English Literature

Describe an important character and explain why they are important. Lord of the Flies by William Golding - Ralph Describe an important character and explain why they are important. An important character in Lord of the Flies by William Golding is Ralph. Ralph is a strong leader in the book who all the boys respect, and he is the person who first tries to create an order on the island. In some ways Ralph's motivation for being a good, powerful leader is his longing for home. Ralph's relationship with another boy on the island, Jack is very important also. From the beginning of the book Ralph takes charge over his newly acquainted companion Piggy. When he calls the other boys together he takes control over the entire group and his leadership is acknowledged by the majority of the boys voting for him as chief. With his power Ralph makes many important decisions, such as building huts and starting a signal fire which he thinks is most important. This is illustrated when he says "There was a shipà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ you said you'd keep the smoke going". Ralph's leadership is what keeps the order among the boys on the island. Ralph's desire for home is what drives him to lead the group of boys and to keep an orderly society on the island. Creating the signal fire was Ralph's only way to get home and it is clear he knows this when he tells Jack "No fire, no smoke, no rescue." This shows Ralph's passion for their rescue, for his home and for the fire. Ralph's longing for home is important because it is from this that he bases his decisions on and it's his decisions that get the boys home. We all have a craving for love, warmth and home, but it is not until we are without these that it becomes obvious. When Ralph finds a conch shell and uses it to call the boys from all over the island, they come running. The conch is a very powerful tool. When the boys have settled the conch is used to control the boys and to create an order on the island. A rule is set out by Ralph using the conch, "Whoever has the conch has got the right to talk". This shows the conch's power and Ralph's leaderhsip. Again, Ralph's determination for an ordered society is driven by his wanting to go home. Ralph has strong relationships with many of the boys on the island, but his relationship with Jack is most important of all. Ralph's relationship with Jack begins like the others, with friendship and

Macbeth - Manipulation :: essays research papers

When we first hear about Macbeth from the sergeant’s report, we are led to believe that he is very much a person who does only what he believes is right. Furthermore, when he first appears in the play, his fellow nobleman, Banquo, accompanies him. Given this, we would think that he does what is right, and makes all his own decisions. However this belief is proven wrong. Although Macbeth starts off as a loyal subject of Duncan, he is ambitious and this is a weakness, which allows him to be manipulated by a few factors in the play. From the beginning of act 1 scene 5 till the murder of Duncan in act 2 scene 2, it is evident that Lady Macbeth manipulates and convinces Macbeth into murdering Duncan. This is basically the only part of the play where Lady Macbeth has control over Macbeth. After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth is partly driven by evil powers. Proof of Lady Macbeth understanding Macbeth’s thoughts and feelings are visible in her thoughts "Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (1.5.19-21). From the very same speech and small implications from the letter, we can tell that Macbeth was ambitious enough to want to be the King, but would not think of murdering Duncan. Because Lady Macbeth knew this, she also knew that she would have to push Macbeth into performing the deed and she starts by telling him "Thy letters have transported me beyond this ignorant present and I feel now the future in the present" (1.5.57-59) the moment they meet. From Macbeth’s reply "We will speak further" (1.5.69) he is obviously noncommittal, but was already thinking about it. The first step of manipulation has started. Not much further in the play, we see that Macbeth decides not to murder Duncan but rather, carry on serving as his Thane. However, Lady Macbeth starts her persuasion again, but this time she questions his manhood, saying "When you durst do it, then you were a man: And to be more then what you were you would be so much more the man." (1.7.49-51). Had she not challenged his manhood and his love for her, he would not have usurped the throne and she would not have become a Queen. Not only did she get him to think about the murder, she even knew what to say after he had started thinking about the murder. Macbeth - Manipulation :: essays research papers When we first hear about Macbeth from the sergeant’s report, we are led to believe that he is very much a person who does only what he believes is right. Furthermore, when he first appears in the play, his fellow nobleman, Banquo, accompanies him. Given this, we would think that he does what is right, and makes all his own decisions. However this belief is proven wrong. Although Macbeth starts off as a loyal subject of Duncan, he is ambitious and this is a weakness, which allows him to be manipulated by a few factors in the play. From the beginning of act 1 scene 5 till the murder of Duncan in act 2 scene 2, it is evident that Lady Macbeth manipulates and convinces Macbeth into murdering Duncan. This is basically the only part of the play where Lady Macbeth has control over Macbeth. After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth is partly driven by evil powers. Proof of Lady Macbeth understanding Macbeth’s thoughts and feelings are visible in her thoughts "Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it." (1.5.19-21). From the very same speech and small implications from the letter, we can tell that Macbeth was ambitious enough to want to be the King, but would not think of murdering Duncan. Because Lady Macbeth knew this, she also knew that she would have to push Macbeth into performing the deed and she starts by telling him "Thy letters have transported me beyond this ignorant present and I feel now the future in the present" (1.5.57-59) the moment they meet. From Macbeth’s reply "We will speak further" (1.5.69) he is obviously noncommittal, but was already thinking about it. The first step of manipulation has started. Not much further in the play, we see that Macbeth decides not to murder Duncan but rather, carry on serving as his Thane. However, Lady Macbeth starts her persuasion again, but this time she questions his manhood, saying "When you durst do it, then you were a man: And to be more then what you were you would be so much more the man." (1.7.49-51). Had she not challenged his manhood and his love for her, he would not have usurped the throne and she would not have become a Queen. Not only did she get him to think about the murder, she even knew what to say after he had started thinking about the murder.

Motherboard Essay

Before generation of Microprocessors i.e. in 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation computers, the computer was usually built in a card-cage case or mainframe with components connected by a backplane consisting of a set of slots themselves connected with wires; in very old designs the wires were discrete connections between card connector pins. But printed circuit boards soon became the standard practice in the late 1970s. The Central Processing Unit, memory and peripherals were housed on individual printed circuit boards which plugged into the backplane. (A backplane is a circuit board that connects several connectors in parallel to each other, so that each pin of each connector is linked to the same relative pin of all the other connectors, forming a computer bus.) During the late 1980s and 1990s, it was found that increasing the number of peripheral functions on the PCB was very economical. Hence, single Integrated Circuits (ICs), capable of supporting low-speed peripherals like serial ports, mouse, keyboards, etc., were included on the motherboards. By the late 1990s, motherboards began to have full range of audio, video, storage and networking functions on them. Higher end systems for 3D gaming and graphic cards were also included later. Micronics, Mylex, AMI, DTK, Orchid Technology, Elitegroup, etc. were few companies that were early pioneers in the field of motherboard manufacturing but, companies like Apple and IBM soon took over. Today, motherboards typically boast a wide variety of built-in features, and they directly affect a computer’s capabilities and potential for upgrades. Today Intel and Asus are the two leading companies in the field of motherboard manufacturing. A typical desktop computer has its microprocessor, main memory, and other essential components connected to the motherboard. Other components such as external storage, controllers for video display and sound, and peripheral devices may be attached to the motherboard as plug-in cards or via cables, although in modern computers it is increasingly common to integrate some of these peripherals into the motherboard itself. Few things that a motherboard nowadays include are: †¢ sockets (or slots) in which one or more microprocessors may be installed. †¢ slots into which the system’s main memory is to be installed (typically in the form of DIMM modules containing DRAM chips). †¢ a chipset which forms an interface between the CPU’s front-side bus, main memory, and peripheral buses. †¢ non-volatile memory chips (usually Flash ROM in modern motherboards) containing the system’s firmware or BIOS. †¢ a clock generator which produces the system clock signal to synchronize the various components. †¢ slots for expansion cards (these interface to the system via the buses supported by the chipset). †¢ power connectors, which receive electrical power from the computer power supply and distribute it to the CPU, chipset, main memory, and expansion cards. †¢ Additionally, nearly all motherboards include logic and connectors to support commonly used input devices, such as PS/2 connectors for a mouse and keyboard. Occasionally video interface hardware is also integrated into the motherboard. Additional peripherals such as disk controllers and serial ports are provided as expansion cards. †¢ Given the high thermal design power of high-speed computer CPUs and components, modern motherboards nearly always include heat sinks and mounting points for fans to dissipate excess heat. [pic] CPU Sockets †¢ A CPU socket or slot is an electrical component that attaches to a printed circuit board (PCB) and is designed to house a CPU (also called a microprocessor). †¢ It is a special type of integrated circuit socket designed for very high pin counts. A CPU socket provides many functions, including a physical structure to support the CPU, support for a heat sink, facilitating replacement (as well as reducing cost), and most importantly, forming an electrical interface both with the CPU and the PCB. †¢ CPU sockets can most often be found in most desktop and server computers (laptops typically use surface mount CPUs), particularly those based on the Intel x86 architecture on the motherboard. A CPU socket type and motherboard chipset must support the CPU series and speed. Integrated Peripherals †¢ It is possible to include support for many peripherals on the motherboard. By combining many functions on one PCB, the physical size and total cost of the system may be reduced; highly integrated motherboards are thus especially popular in small form factor and budget computers. Peripheral Card Slots †¢ A standard ATX motherboard will typically have one PCI-E 16x connection for a graphics card, two conventional PCI slots for various expansion cards, and one PCI-E 1x. A standard EATX motherboard will have one PCI-E 16x connection for a graphics card, and a varying number of PCI and PCI-E 1x slots. It can sometimes also have a PCI-E 4x slot. †¢ Some motherboards have two PCI-E 16x slots, to allow more than 2 monitors without special hardware, or use a special graphics technology called SLI (for Nvidia) and Crossfire (for ATI). These allow 2 graphics cards to be linked together, to allow better performance in intensive graphical computing tasks, such as gaming and video editing. †¢ Virtually all motherboards come with at least four USB ports on the rear, with at least 2 connections on the board internally for wiring additional front ports that may be built into the computer’s case. †¢ Ethernet is also included. Ethernet is a standard networking cable for connecting the computer to a network or a modem. †¢ A sound chip is always included on the motherboard, to allow sound output without the need for any extra components. This allows computers to be far more multimedia-based than before. Some motherboards contain video outputs on the back panel for integrated graphics solutions. Computer Cooling †¢ Motherboards are generally air cooled with heat sinks often mounted on larger chips, such as the Northbridge, in modern motherboards. If the motherboard is not cooled properly, it can cause the computer to crash. †¢ Passive cooling, or a single fan mounted on the power supply, was sufficient for many desktop computer CPUs until the late 1990s; since then, most have required CPU fans mounted on their heat sinks, due to rising clock speeds and power consumption. Most motherboards have connectors for additional case fans as well. †¢ Newer motherboards have integrated temperature sensors to detect motherboard and CPU temperatures, and controllable fan connectors which the BIOS or operating system can use to regulate fan speed. Some computers use a water-cooling system instead of many fans. Bus & Bus Speed †¢ A bus is simply a circuit that connects one part of the motherboard to another. The more data a bus can handle at one time, the faster it allows information to travel. The speed of the bus, measured in megahertz (MHz), refers to how much data can move across the bus simultaneously. †¢ Bus speed usually refers to the speed of the front side bus (FSB), which connects the CPU to the northbridge. FSB speeds can range from 66 MHz to over 800 MHz. Since the CPU reaches the memory controller though the northbridge, FSB speed can dramatically affect a computer’s performance. [pic] Memory †¢ The speed of the chipset and busses controls how quickly it can communicate with other parts of the computer. The speed of the RAM connection directly controls how fast the computer can access instructions and data, and therefore has a big effect on system performance. A fast processor with slow RAM is going nowhere. †¢ The amount of memory available also controls how much data the computer can have readily available. RAM makes up the bulk of a computer’s memory. The general rule of thumb is the more RAM the computer has, the better. †¢ Much of the memory available today is dual data rate (DDR) memory. This means that the memory can transmit data twice per cycle instead of once, which makes the memory faster. Also, most motherboards have space for multiple memory chips, and on newer motherboards, they often connect to the northbridge via a dual bus instead of a single bus. This further reduces the amount of time it takes for the processor to get information f rom the memory. †¢ A motherboard’s memory slots directly affect what kind and how much memory is supported. Just like other components, the memory plugs into the slot via a series of pins. The memory module must have the right number of pins to fit into the slot on the motherboard. Form factor †¢ Motherboards are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes called computer form factor, some of which are specific to individual computer manufacturers. †¢ The current desktop PC form factor of choice is ATX. A case’s motherboard and PSU form factor must all match, though some smaller form factor motherboards of the same family will fit larger cases. For example, an ATX case will usually accommodate a microATX motherboard. †¢ Laptop computers generally use highly integrated, miniaturized and customized motherboards. This is one of the reasons that laptop computers are difficult to upgrade and expensive to repair. Often the failure of one laptop component requires the replacement of the entire motherboard, which is usually more expensive than a desktop motherboard due to the large number of integrated components.

Scope of Managerial Economics Essay

Economics has two major branches namely Microeconomics and Macroeconomics and both are applied to business analysis and decision-making directly or indirectly. Managerial economics comprises all those economic concepts, theories, and tools of analysis which can be used to analyze the business environment and to find solutions to practical business problems. In other words, managerial economics is applied economics The areas of business issues to which economic theories can be applied may be broadly divided into the following two categories: †¢Operational or Internal issues; and †¢ Environmental or External issues Micro Economics Applied to Operational Issues Operational problems are of internal nature. They arise within the business organization and fall within the perview and control of the management. Some of the important ones are: †¢ Choice of business and nature of product, i.e., what to produce; †¢ Choice of the size of the firm, i.e., how much to produce; †¢ Choice of technology, i.e., choosing the factor combination; †¢ Choice of price, i.e. ,how to price the commodity; †¢ How to promote sales, i.e., sales promotion measures; †¢ How to face price competition; †¢ How to decide on new investment; †¢ How to manage profit and capital; †¢ How to manage inventory, i.e., stock of both finished goods and raw material The above mentioned issues fall within the ambit of micro economics; therefore, the following constitute the scope of managerial economics: Theory of demand †¢ Consumer behaviour- maximization of satisfaction †¢ Utility analysis †¢ Indifference curve analysis †¢ Demand analysis and elasticity of demand †¢ Demand forecasting and its techniques/methods Theory of production and production decisions †¢ Production function [Inputs and output relationship] in short-run and long-run †¢ Cost and output relationship in short-run and long-run †¢ Economies and diseconomies of scale 7 †¢ Optimum size of firm and determining the size of firm. †¢ Deployment of resources [labour and capital] for having optimum combination of factors of production. Analysis of market structure and pricing theory †¢ Determination of price under different market conditions †¢ Price discrimination †¢ Multiple pricing policy †¢ Advertising in competitive markets †¢ Different pricing policies and practices Profit analysis and profit management †¢ Nature and types of profit †¢ Profit planning and policies †¢ Different theories of profit Theory of capital and investment decisions †¢ Cost of capital and return on capital-choice of investment projects †¢ Assessing the efficiency of capital †¢ Most efficient allocation of capital †¢ Capital budgeting Macro Economics Applied to Business Environment Environmental issues relate to general environment in which business operates. They are related to overall economic, social and political environment of the country. The following are the main ingredients of economic environment of a country : †¢ The type of economic system- capitalist, socialist or mixed economic system. †¢ General trends in production, employment, income, prices, saving and investment. †¢ Volume, composition and direction of foreign trade. †¢ Structure of and trends in the working of financial institutions- Banks, NBFCs, insurance companies an other financial institutions. †¢ Trends in labour and capital market. †¢ Economic policies of the government- Fiscal policy, Monetary policy, EXIM- policy, Industrial policy, Price policy etc. †¢ Social factors- value system, property rights, customs and habits. †¢ Social organizations- Trade unions, consumer unions and consumer co-operatives and producers unions. †¢ Political environment is constituted of the following factors: †¢ Political system-democratic, socialist, communist, authoritarian or any other type. †¢ State’s attitude towards private sector †¢ Policy, role and working of public sector †¢ Political stability. †¢ The degree of openness of the economy and the influence of MNCs on domestic markets- Integrations of nation’s economy with rest of the world (Policy of globalization) 8 The environmental factors have a far reaching influence on the functioning and performance of firm/s. Therefore, business managers have to consider the changing economic, social and political environment before taking any decision. Managerial economics is however, concerned with only the economic environment and in particular with those which form the business climate. The study of social and political factors falls out of the perview of managerial economics. It should, however, be borne in mind that economic, social and political factors are inter-dependent and interactive. The environmental issues mentioned above fall within fourwalls of macro economics, therefore the following constitute the scope of managerial economics: Issues related to Macro Variables †¢ General trends in economic activities of the country †¢ Investment climate †¢ Trends in output †¢ Trends in price – level (state of inflation) †¢ Consumption level and its pattern †¢ Profitability in business expansion Issues related to Foreign Trade †¢ Trade relation with other countries †¢ Sector and firms dealing in exports and imports †¢ Exchange rate fluctuations †¢ Inflow and outflow of capital †¢ Trends in international trade- volume, composition, and direction †¢ Trends in international prices of various goods and services †¢ International monetary mechanism †¢ Rules, regulations and policies of WTO Issues related to Government Policies †¢ Regulation and control of economic activities of private sector business enterprises †¢ Enforcing the government rules and regulations for imposing of social responsibility †¢ Striking balance between firm’s objective of profit maximization and society’s interest †¢ Policy and regulatory measure for reducing social costs in terms of environmental pollution, congestion and slums in cities, basic amenities of life such as means of transportation and communication, water, electricity supply etc.