A Self Discovery Journey Education Essay

The undermentioned article is the consequence of an auto-analysis experience by an EFL instructor endeavoring to accomplish professionalism in her instruction patterns. The grounds that led her to that self-discovery activity are fundamentally her late acquired cognition on linguistic communication geting and learning theories and her desire to be a better instructor. She describes her current instruction patterns in footings of Teaching Principles, Classroom Management, Class Procedures and Techniques, and Resources and Materials. Then she mentions the new patterns she ‘s willing to follow in order to go a better professional and the activities she must undergo to accomplish those patterns.KEY WORDSProfessionalism, Language Learning and Teaching, Class Observation and Reflection, Auto-analysis.IntroductionIn 9 old ages of learning pattern, I ‘ve ne'er done before what I am about to make now in the paragraphs that follow. The following lines are to be my first written ana lysis of all time on my patterns as an EFL instructor in my personal hunt for professionalism. A Professional is person whose work involves executing a certain map with some grade of expertness. But a narrower definition limits the term to use to people such as instructors whose expertness involves non merely skill and knowledge but besides the exercising of extremely sophisticated judgement, and whose accreditation necessitates extended survey, frequently university-based, every bit good as practical experience. The professional is, foremost and first, a bringer-about of real-world alteration, prioritising real-time action and contemplation. ( Ur, ? ) . The term professional besides implies being portion of a community. The professional community of English instructors has developed agencies of consolidating relationships between its members and created chances for them to profit from each other ‘s cognition. We are an identifiable group, whose members are interested in interaction with one another for the interest of acquisition, and besides for the enjoyment of interchanging experiences and thoughts. We publish, we communicate innovatory thoughts, whether theoretical or practical, to one another and to the populace at big: through in-house seminars, national or international conferences, diaries or books ( Ur, ? ) . We as professional EFL instructors must be independent. Cipher else can state us what to make ; we ourselves are responsible for keeping professional criterions and should be committed to making those criterions. We must be cognizant of our duty towards our pupils and their acquisition. We should n't merely learn , we must besides larn, continually – about our capable affair, about learning methods, and approximately many other things that make us better educated and hence better pedagogues ( Ur, ) . The development of our learning competency is our professional duty, and it is a long-run and on-going procedure ( Pettis, ? ) . In the undermentioned paragraphs I will explicate what drove me towards making this soul-searching exercising, I ‘ll depict my current pattern as a instructor, and I ‘ll round-up with a to-do list of the patterns that I must get in order to be the professional that I want and need to be.MotivationIn the early old ages of my instruction pattern I was fundamentally concerned with what to learn, and I did n't detect or believe about other facets of EFL learning. Then I started detecting my pupils ‘ behaviour and the demands of the communities in which I taught my classs, and I started reflecting on my ain patterns, researching how to, and why to learn in each peculiar context in a manner that I could lend to do their lives better. I discovered that my instruction could truly lend to my pupils ‘ personal transmutation, and that I as a instructor must bear with the defining and reshaping of the coveted learning result of my pupils ( Kumaravadivelu, 2003 ) . Then a sense of committedness towards my profession started to develop, and I discovered that I still lack some of the conditions a professional EFL instructor must hold, and that the restrictions in my cognitive model constrain my instruction patterns ( Pettis, ? ) . I ‘ve come to a point in which I wish to halt playing around, experimenting in an irresponsible and irregular manner with my categories. I want to be able to take classs of action that are based on cognition and idea, instead than on wonder and creativeness. I know now that it is necessary to understand the rules underlying both automatic and consciously designed action. I now understand that I must establish my professional action on the consequences of academic research and theorizing ( Ur, ? ) every bit good as my personal experiences. I feel the demand to utilize successful pedagogical techniques that might convey new penetration and more advanced possibilities to my instruction pattern ( Richards, ? ) ; becau se I believe that accomplishments without cognition or rules are professionally unacceptable and the knowing instructor who is besides adept is a powerful pedagogue ( Pettis, ? ) . I started making professional development activities that challenged and changed my conceptual model, and larning from them has enabled me to do better determinations about the activities and techniques I could follow in my categories. I ‘ve learned that learning is non merely a series of preset and presequenced processs, but a context-sensitive action grounded in rational idea and creativeness in which the practician has to place and run into the challenges faced in the mundane pattern of learning ( Kumaravadivelu, 2003 ) . I ‘m good cognizant now that the rules that guide my determination devising can alter over clip and merit to be reconsidered sporadically as a personal committedness towards my ain on-going professional growing ( Pettis, ? ) .THE PRESENTMy current instruction patterns are the consequence of 9 old ages of experience. I ‘ve worked with several different attacks and methods, but I ‘d ne'er analyze the theory and rules behind them till late. I n malice of that, I ‘ve ever, genuinely loved instruction, and I ‘ve been really funny about my work. It makes me proud to state that I was n't excessively lost in the manner of going a good professional. The undermentioned list is a catalogued sum-up of my current instruction patterns: Teaching Principles: Presently I ‘m in the procedure of understanding the theory and the rules of linguistic communication instruction and acquisition. Try to maximise the larning potency of my pupils through job resolution activities. Try out different learning schemes by invariably detecting things that work, flinging old patterns and taking on board new 1s. Expression at what I do in the schoolroom and believe about why I do it, how effectual it is, how are my pupils reacting, and how can I make it better. Reflect on the peculiar jobs that arise in the schoolroom. Analyze the context of each category and implement signifiers of cognition that are relevant to each specific context. Organize category content around pupils ‘ demands, wants and state of affairss. Treat each learning state of affairs as alone, placing the peculiar features of each event. Bring my life experiences to the educational scene, and acknowledge that my pupils do the same. Try to link the category content to wider societal issues. Classroom direction: I ever have high outlooks for pupil acquisition in my categories. My criterions for schoolroom behaviour are besides high. Personal interactions between me and my pupils and among pupils in my category must be positive. If pupils are misconducting, I ever try to happen out why. Every pupil must make take parting production in category. Derive my pupils ‘ trust in me and in what I teach them. Class Procedures and Techniques Target linguistic communication usage throughout the complete in-class clip. Avoid the usage of female parent lingua among students.. Use of scholar centered, job work outing activities that involve interaction in the mark linguistic communication. Task direction must be clear and focused ; same as accounts on linguistic communication points. Proctor pupils ‘ public presentation on undertakings to see that coveted public presentation is being achieved. If pupils did n't understand an direction or an account, I ever think about what I did and why it may hold been ill-defined. When pupils do non understand, they are re-taught. Incentives and wagess for pupils are used to advance excellence. Error rectification is done after the pupil finishes production. Contemplation on how much testing to make and when is the appropriate clip to make it. Make warm up activities at the beginning of the category to fix pupils for mark linguistic communication usage, and/or to put the temper for a specific activity. Monitor on-going public presentation of the category, trying to turn up unexpected jobs on the topographic point and seting direction outright to rectify them. Induce pupil pattern on several, if non all of the linguistic communication accomplishments in each category. Include grammar accounts in the category content. Resources and Materials Use different text books for schoolroom activities. For reading pattern, usage texts that are non excessively difficult for my pupils. Any stuff at manus that could be utile: in writing stuffs, audio stuffs, picture stuffs, multimedia stuffs, cyberspace, games. Motivate pupils to convey stuffs to category which they think might be utile.THE FUTUREThroughout my current procedure of analyzing the theories of linguistic communication acquisition and instruction, I ‘ve discovered several patterns that, if adopted as mine, would surely steer me in the right way of accomplishing on-going professionalism. In the list below I will advert the coveted patterns and how I ‘m traveling to accomplish them. Be able to explicate to my pupils the manner the mark linguistic communication ( English ) plants and why does it work ( Ur, ? ) : I can make this end by analyzing English linguistics. Make informed and appropriate real-time determinations when, ( as frequently happens ) different, every bit valid rules appear to conflict in a peculiar state of affairs ( Ur, ? ) : In order to be able to make this I must rule all the rules of linguistic communication instruction and acquisition and be really detecting of each category state of affairs, concentrating on peculiar characteristics of my instruction or on a peculiar category event. Be peculiarly knowing and adept so that the necessary scope of subjects is addressed suitably and sufficiently ( Pettis, ? ) : Continue analyzing all the facets of linguistic communication instruction and acquisition, and do it an on-going wont, by being personally committed to seeking out extra chances to larn and develop. Have a deep apprehension of the rules of professional action, and be able to introduce and associate critically to the invention of others ( Ur, ? ) : Yet more lasting survey, non merely through reading, but besides by go toing classs, speaking about and discoursing issues with co-workers, and several other activities of the linguistic communication learning community. Let a combination of linguistic communication larning theories and my ain experiences to interact with each other to bring forth effectual linguistic communication lessons ( Tice, ? ) : I must set into pattern the studied theory and reflect about its consequences taking into history my old experiences and cognition. Question the ends and values that guide my work ( Kumaravadivelu, 2003 ) : Constantly analyze my premises on linguistic communication acquisition and instruction in the visible radiation of each peculiar state of affairs and context. Reflecting upon the ideological rules that inform my instruction pattern. Be more organized with my instruction patterns ( Pettis, ? ) , and maintain a record of my ain analysis and contemplation on category observation ( Tice, ? ) : By roll uping information about what goes on in my schoolroom ( lesson programs ) , and analysing and measuring their consequence. By depicting lessons and activities and reflecting on whether or non they ‘ve been successful and why. By detecting the different things me and my pupils do in category, ever seeking to detect things that I was antecedently incognizant of. Take deliberate hazards in the schoolroom by introducing my pedagogical techniques and measuring their effectivity ( Richards, ? ) : Trust my ain personal instruction schemes. Explore the right methodological analysiss for each undertaking by reflecting on their consequence. Identify the features of the effectual activities and implement them in category, and measure them once more in a uninterrupted rhythm. Look back critically and imaginatively to make cause-effect thought, to deduce explanatory rules, besides to look frontward and make prevenient planning ; utilizing a carefully structured attack to self-observation and self-evaluation. See the facets of instructor behaviour: how much do I speak? , what about? , how do I react to student talk? , where do I stand? , who do I talk to? How do I come across to my pupils? ( Tice, ? ) : The easiest manner to make this is by entering my categories ; but that is n't ever possible to make. I must calculate out how to supervise my categories in a manner that I can detect and roll up this type of information. Use the category clip for pupil acquisition by developing smooth and efficient schoolroom activities and organizing groups to suit instructional demands ( Richards, ? ) : Keep on showing job work outing activities that meet the category ‘ demands with existent accent on pupil engagement and pattern. To name the demands of the pupils ( Richards, ? ) : By acknowledging their motivations to larn and by observing the linguistic communication acquisition phase in which they are. By reacting to the societal interactions and shared significances that exist among pupils, both inside and outside the schoolrooms. To be cognizant of the â€Å" developmental preparedness † of the scholar, that determines when and how to learn a pupil something ( ? , ? ) : By analyzing Piaget and the humanist theories, and by detecting my pupils really carefully so that I know when to present certain undertakings, harmonizing to the advancement they ‘re doing. The same applies for lesson programs. Observe if my pupils get the acquisition ends set by me ( Richards, ? ) : By supervising closely the learning advancement of my pupils. To hold a thorough appreciation of how my pupils learn and what motivates them to larn ( ? , ? ) : By analyzing the learning acquisition theories. By detecting my pupils actions and behaviour. By roll uping this type of information from pupil engagement in my categories. By reflecting on these subjects to make up one's mind what to make in category. See pupil feedback in the contemplation of my instruction patterns ( Tice, ? ) : Ask my pupils what they think about what goes on in the schoolroom. Their sentiments and perceptual experiences can add a different and valuable position. This information can be collected through questionnaires. Take portion in course of study development and affect myself in school alteration attempts ( Kumaravadivelu, 2003 ) : Use my experience and cognition on schoolroom contexts and state of affairss to assist develop better instruction plans. Working together with other instructors, pupils, parents and decision makers to portion thoughts and exercising power over the conditions of our labour. And being cognizant of the socio political context and the power dimensions that have helped determine it.DecisionBecoming a good professional in the linguistic communication learning field is no easy undertaking. There are several long-run patterns that should be acquired in the procedure, all of which include difficult work. Personal intuitive judgement is excessively wide and excessively obscure to be satisfactory in the application of a profession. Learning to learn does non stop with obtaining a diplomat or a grade in instructor instruction but is an on-going procedure throughout one ‘s learning calling. Teachers must build their ain theory of pattern, concerned chiefly on the critical thought of their concrete schoolroom contexts. Teachers should non merely joint their standards for developing and measuring their ain pattern, but besides have to prosecute in extended theorizing about the nature of their topics, pupils and learning/teaching procedures and even be concerned with wider ethical, societal, historical and political issues. This theorizing must include self observation, self analysis and self rating of their ain instruction patterns. Teaching should be an explorative activity in which the instructor must develop, choose or accommodate undertakings which are appropriate for their schoolroom context in order to bring forth location-specific, classroom-oriented advanced schemes ( Kumaravadivelu, 2003 ) . Monitoring learning Acts of the Apostless should even travel beyond the person, personal activity that transforms schoolroom practicians into strategic minds and adventurers ; it must transform into a corporate activity in which all the linguistic communication instructors of a peculiar establishment confront their experiences and finds to make a better learning plan or course of study for their communities. In my peculiar instance, I must concentrate on analyzing and larning the different theories that inform the linguistic communication instruction pattern, I must get down roll uping informations on category work activities and pupil behaviour ; and I must get down analysing and making self-reflection on all the gathered information.

How does Islamic architecture reflect Muslim beliefs? Essay

One of the most overlooked topics about the Muslim religion is its architecture; often times, Islam is always associated with the Koran, the Ramadan and such and most people are oblivious to the fact that these people also have been able to impact the world of architecture. Their structures are patterned such that the buildings and structures they create represent their religious beliefs. One style in architecture that reflects the belief of the Islamic people is their architectural decoration. The Islam religion dislike figurative representation; in turn, their architectural designs consists primarily of calligraphy and abstract ornaments and are often times coupled by colorful designs. (Farlex Encyclopedia) These calligraphic designs are often times based on the Koran. One other important thing in the Islam architecture is the design of their mosques. Basically, the Islamic mosque is a simple structure designed as a square structure with colonnades placed along the qibla wall. The design and function of this structure is said to allow the Muslims to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder in rows facing the Ka’ba when they pray. This style of architecture also creates a sense of space evoking spirituality of the environment, a feeling of peace, and the feeling of harmony and humbleness evoked in the individual during times of worship. (Hilal Plaza) These simple and oftentimes overlooked style of the Muslims in their architectural designs in reality hold more meaning than the contemporary architectures of our time, their style stresses the importance of the meaning of a structure over its aesthetic value.

Capital Gains or Losses Tax

There are certain sales made by Dave in the financial year 2015 and the task at hand is to calculate the capital gains or losses arising from it. He received 850,000 from the sale of his two storeyed house in St. Lucia which was purchased for 70,000. This means that he made a gain of 780,000 in this sale if we don’t account for the expenses incurred in the commission expenses. However, the proceeds received by Dave from sale of his residence at St Lucia is fully exempted from capital gains tax because as per ATO proceeds from a sale of personal home are fully exempted if the individual has been living it for the duration for which he/she has owned the property and the property hasn’t been generating any assessable income. The proceeds received from the forfeiture by a buyer is also application for exemption under capital gains as it as part the capital proceeds from the disposal of that asset which was exempted due it being a main residence of the taxpayer. Hence even t he forfeited amount wont attract any capital gains tax liability. The painting is not eligible for exemption as neither was it purchased under $500 nor was it acquired before 16 th September,1995 hence the net capital gains are taxable. So the net gains of 110,000 are to be taxed under capital gains tax. The figure of 110,000 dollars is the selling price less the acquiring price which are 15,000 and 125,000 respectively. The taxable amount arisen due to the benefit provided can be calculated using either of the two methods prescribed by the ATO i.e. indexing method or the discount method whichever yields the lowest value subject to the constraint that it satisfies the conditions laid down to use a particular method for discounting. Since the asset has been held for more than a year and since the asset was acquired before September,1999 he can apply the indexation method to calculate the discount. The indexation factor is given by CPI (Consumer Price Index) in which the sale was made divided by the CPI for the quarter in which the initial investmen t was made. CPI values were obtained from the website of ATO and the indexation factor calculated to the fourth decimal point is obtained as 2.6952. Since the sale was made in 3 rd quarter 1985 the indexation factor for this was 39.7 and that for the sale was 2 nd quarter 2015 for which the indexation factor was 107.Hence the cost of the painting would be increased by that factor to get the capital gain. Hence now capital gain would be 84,572 as the cost for calculating capital gain would be 40,428 dollars which is 15,000 multiplied by the indexing factor. But the discount factor gives a better result as under the discount method the capital gains are discounted by 50% hence under this method capital gains would be 55,000 dollars which is the net gains of 110,000 discounted by 50%. Since the discount method gives the better result which in this case is the lower value we would use this method to calculate the capital gain at 55,000 dollars.   The capital gain can be reduced only after all the capital losses for the income year have been applied. It is imperative to mention here that net losses from collectables can only be deducted from capital gains made from collectables, not from other capital gains. The capital loss on the boat boat which was purchased in 2004 would be calculated using the other method which would give the highest possible result of 50,000 dollars. The amount is obtained by subtracting the sale price of 60,000 dollars from the acquisition cost of 110,000 dollars. For the capital gain tax on the shares, the other method will be used. The cost base would include the cost price of shares and also the brokerage paid on the shares and the stamp duty. Hence total cost would be 71,000 dollars and since the shares were sold for 80,000 dollars the total capital gain is 9000 dollars. It’s explicitly mentioned that the interest charges are not to be included in the cost base. The net capital gain or loss is given by total capital gains for the year less the capital losses for the year further brought down by any discounts allowed. Hence, the net capital gain from sale of painting and shares is 64,000 dollars or 93,372 dollars depending on the method used for the painting. Net capital loss from sale of boat is 50,000 dollars Hence net capital gain of 14,000 dollars or 43,372 for Dave for the current year. Since Dave has had a net capital gain of 14,000 dollars he can use this to deduct the net capital loss carried forward from the previous year which amounts to 50,000 dollars. His net capital loss would now stand at 36,000 dollars as the capital gain this year would be deducted from the carried forward capital gain loss. If Dave has a net capital loss it would be added to the capital gain loss carried forward from last year. Hence now his total capital loss would stand at 50,000 dollars and the additional capital loss incurred this year Capital loss cannot be used to offset the tax liability and would be carried forward and can be used to deduct it against capital gains in the coming years. To calculate a car fringe benefit, an employer must work out the taxable value of the benefit using either of the below mentioned methods as per ATO. Even if a different method was used in the previous taxable year, the method to be used this year would be determined by the method which gives the lowest value. However, if the required documentation for the operating cost method (for example, log books) have not been kept then the statutory formula method must be used. The operating cost method requires the company to maintain a log book which specifics the usage of car in terms of business and non-business use. Since this has not been maintained the statutory method of valuation would be used to evaluate the taxable value of the fringe benefit arising from the use of the car. Under the statutory formula method, the steps involved are estimating the cost of the car, estimating the statutory rate and determining the number of days the car was used for private purpose. The taxable value is then given by A*B*C/365 where A is the base value of the car, B is the statutory rate and C is the number of days in use of the car in a given assessment year. The statutory rate for calculating the fringe benefits tax would be 20% since ATO prescribes a flat tax rate of 20% for calculating the benefit provided if kilometres travelled are less than 15,000 kilometres. In fact, for any benefits provided after 2011 the tax structure is a flat rate of 20%. The car held by Emma for a 11 month period which constituted 336 days. During the 11-month period or the 336-day period from 1 st may to 31 st March no days would be deducted in determining the number of days of usage of car as ATO clearly lists that annual maintenances are to be listed as days when it is available for use and whenever it is garaged at the employee’s house would also be not deducted, in this case when Emma was interstate would not be deducted, Keeping the above factors in consideration the tax liability would be calculated at 20% of the cost price of the car which is 33,000 and it would be factored by 336/365. Hence 6075 is the taxable value. A company is said to provide a loan fringe benefit if it extends to its employee a loan and charges no interest or a low rate of interest. Any interest rate lower than the prescribed or the benchmark interest rate qualifies as a loan fringe benefit. The  benchmark interest rate  for the Fringe Benefit Tax for the assessment year ending March 31,2015 is given as 5.95% by ATO. Hence for the given scenario since the loan is provided by Periwinkle to Emma at 4.5% it qualifies as a loan fringe benefit. The taxable value of a loan fringe benefit is the difference between: Since Emma uses the loan for purchase of a holiday home and for lending it to her husband the entire amount is to be taken into consideration. For the given scenario the taxable value of the loan fringe benefit is the difference between the two amounts 29,750 dollars and 22,500 dollars which is 7,250 dollars. While the former is the rate of interest charged by the company to Emma, the latter is the interest to be paid in accordance with the statutory rate in 2015. There is no specific information regarding cheap sale of its own products to its employees and neither is it under any exempt category but since the price Emma paid for it is anyways more than the manufacturing cost we exclude it from our scope of taking out the fringe benefits provided to Emma. Hence the total taxable value of the fringe benefits is the loan fringe befit of 7,250 dollars and the car fringe benefit of 6,075 dollars which is a total of 13,325 dollars. Hence the total fringe tax liability would be 6262.75 dollars as the fringe benefit tax is 47%. Had the 50,000 been used by Emma herself instead of being lent to the husband to buy the shares it would be eligible for deduction. ATO prescribes that the taxable value of a loan fringe benefit may be reduced in accordance with the 'otherwise deductible' rule, subject to the constraint hat the investment is made by the employee himself or herself rather than an associate which was the case in first place. Putting it simply it implies that the taxable value would be reduced to the extent to which interest payable on the loan is, or would be, allowable as an income tax deduction to the employee. We look at an example to understand the implications better. Supposing an employee uses a loan from his/her company wholly to invest in interest bearing financial instruments, then the interest that he would have to pay the company is deductible fully for tax purposes. Hence what the mentioned scenario implied is that under this rule the taxable value of the fringe benefit provided would be ze ro, irrespective of the rate of interest charged by the company on the loan. Therefore, where the otherwise deductible rule applies, the taxable value of a loan fringe benefit is: Hence for the given scenario the taxable amount under loan fringe benefit would be reduced by the differential interest paid on 50,000 dollars since this would now be deductibe for tax purposes. This would mean that the loan fringe benefit would now be 6525 dollars instead of 7250 dollars and the total taxable amount under fringe benefit tax would be 12,600 dollars. ATO, 2016. Capital Gains Tax. [Online] Available at: https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Capital-gains-tax/ ATO, 2016. Fringe benefits tax. [Online] Available at: https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Fringe-benefits-tax-(FBT)/

Auctions - Microeconomics 3rd Year Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Auctions - Microeconomics 3rd Year - Essay Example As the auction proceeds, the price starts declining. A bidder can stop the auction at any time, claim the object, and pay the ongoing price. This particular type of auction is also described as a descending bid auction and has been traditionally used by the Dutch in flower markets. This is the most commonly used format. Bidding starts at a low price. The bidders compete by submitting ascending bids until only one bidder is left. This bidder wins the object and pays the ongoing price. It is the opposite of the Dutch auction and is described as an ascending bid auction. The eBay auction is a variation of this type of auction. This mechanism is similar to the first-price sealed-bid auction, with the exception that the highest bidder pays the second highest bid. It is also referred to as the Vickrey auction. It is seldom used but is commonly used in theoretical work because of its simplicity and closeness to the English auction. The Dutch auction and the first price sealed bid auction are strategically equivalent regardless of the information structure (independent private value or common value) and risk preferences (risk neutrality or risk aversion). A strategy is a complete description of instructions to be played throughout the game. The strategic form of a game is the set of alternative strategies to each player and their corresponding expected payoffs from following them. Two games are strategically equivalent if they share the same strategic form. In a Dutch auction, each bidder needs to decide at which price he would want to claim the object, assuming that it is still unclaimed. This is also true for the first-price sealed-bid auction. When a bidder is in a first-price sealed bid auction he thinks about whether to bid  £95 or  £100. He is actually trading off winning with a lower bid between  £95 and  £100. This is exactly the same considerations that are given in the Dutch auction. The English auction and the Second-price

Capital Budgeting Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Capital Budgeting Analysis - Research Paper Example This shows that the company has improved on the efficiency of the usage of the assets of the company. This is also depicted by an improving asset turnover over the three year period. In 2003, the company generated $1.25 of revenue for every $1 invested in the assets of the company. Moreover, the company is also maintaining a strong control on its administrative and selling expenses; this is depicted by an improving net profit margin. This signifies that the company has strong growth prospects in future and could pave it way to become the market leader in its line of products. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Since the company has strong future prospects, the company can use the IPO to its advantage. It will provide Superior Living Inc with the much needed capital money for expansion of its product lines including the production facility. The ‘going public’ stance will also boost the awareness of the company products in the market and develop a whole new batch of potential cust omers. This can eventually lead to an increase in the market share of the company. However, once Superior Living Inc goes public, she will have to face a number of challenges as well. The company will require fulfilling all the necessary obligations of the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as Sarbanes-Oxley Act which will lead to additional costs. Similarly, the management will come under immense scrutiny and pressure from different stakeholders which can lead to somewhat questionable practices for boosting earnings. This is because investors look at short term growth instead of the long term stability in the company. Debt is another option to the company to fulfill the capital requirements for the necessary expansion. the debt option will provide the company with the total control of the business with no scrutiny and pressures from the investors and other stakeholders. Similarly, the interest on the debt will provide a beneficial shield to the company as it will lower the future tax liabilities. However, the debt financing option will increase the leverage of the company; thereby increasing the chance of bankruptcy. Superior Living Inc has a moderate debt to total assets and debt to equity ratio. As shown in figure 4, the company finances only 28.3 percent of its total assets through the short term and long term debt. If the company funds the new production facility through debt, the ratio will still stay below 30 percent. Figure 5 depicts the debt to equity position of the company. The company has maintained an excellent interest coverage ratio over the three year period. It does not face any chance of interest payment crisis in near future; therefore, can easily use this option as well. Figure 4 Figure 5 The company has huge growth potential and a chance to explore new markets and product ranges. The new production facility is the need of the time; and therefore must be carried be carefully analyzed and carried forward. The new production facilityà ¢â‚¬â„¢s cash flows were analyzed at different hurdle rates. Since the Net Present Value of the project is positive at all three possible hurdle rates, the project must be carried forward. Similarly, the Internal Rate of Return is greater as compared to each hurdle rate; therefore the project is acceptable. The project has a simple payback period of 3 years. However, the discounted payback period 4 years at a

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

Response - Article Example For instance, suppose two people are having a dialogue and using English language but of the same gender, they will most likely use ambiguous gender terms when referring to the other party’ (Fukumura, Scholfield & Hyona, 2013). This is because of self-consciousness evident among the speakers mostly contributed by semantic competition that prompts them evade utilizing distinctive pronouns (Fukumura, Scholfield & Hyona, 2013). The study also depicts the aspects of both competition and influence evident when using pronouns especially by same gender parties even in Finnish language (Fukumura, Scholfield & Hyona, 2013). This is evident in experiments 1 & 2 where researchers concluded other nonlinguistic languages shows similar characteristic in reduction of the number of pronouns. Section 2 In this article, Fukumura, Scholfield and Hyona (2013) arguments regarding the choice of gender and who to refer to based on situation influences either increment or reduction of pronouns. This is apparent in the event of semantic similarity, which influences the choice of referring expressions. For instance, this is evident when a referential competitor utilizes pronoun â€Å"they† to denote people having similar animacy (Fukumura, Scholfield & Hyona, 2013). ... For instance, speaker of certain gender based on his or her situation may end up not to using any pronoun in referring to a person of the same gender (Van Gompel, Fukumura, Harley & Pickering, 2011). Hence, result to altering the number of pronouns in a given conversation, which is in agreement with all the three articles. Heine and Song in their study refer this as â€Å"desementicization† because the speaker owing to the situation he or she is undergoing when trying to refer to a fellow person inevitably ends up not discarding common collective pronouns. Since, he or she cannot seclude oneself in similar situation to expound more about others. Therefore, being either male or female in a group of the same gender when choosing reference expressions yields to â€Å"interference†, which in turn ends up to fewer pronouns as cited by the main article (Fukumura, Scholfield & Hyona, 2013). This is also evident in Van Gompel, Fukumura, Harley and Pickering (2011) study though on their part use the world â€Å"Same Features† in referring similarity of any given group of people or entity. Hence, implying these two articles based on the evidenced analyzed, actively support the argument of the main article concerning reduction in the number of pronouns but based on a person’s gender, which I also concur with and support. This is especially in the manner of elaborating though they are using varied words like â€Å"features† to imply uniqueness, which in most cases limits one’s ability to choose usage of certain pronouns (Van Gompel, Fukumura, Harley & Pickering, 2011). Section 3 Excerpt 1 †¦when the referent and the competitor are both male, the activated gender node being male causes interference, leading to fewer pronouns, because by virtue of the link between the

Pictures of Everyday Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pictures of Everyday Life - Essay Example Generally speaking, the following represents human culture-- stories, beliefs, media, ideas, and works of art, religious practices, fashions, rituals, specialized knowledge, and common sense (Butler 1-23). However, so as to comprehend fully people's relationships with each other and to social establishments, it is vital to understand the structure of society. Fundamentally, people define themselves in terms of cultures and societies and employ these characterizations as determinants of social interface, groups and organizations and deviant behavior. A classic definition, depicts culture as "the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior; likewise, it includes the ideas, values, customs, and artifacts of groups of people" (Schaeffer 51). However, patterns of culture per se do not offer an unambiguous perception and understanding of the idea of culture; as it is, culture is a lot more than just the object or behavior. Basically, culture also deals with standards, principles, viewpoints, or significant representations. Approximately, standards are actually the way people conduct themselves in a given society, principles are what they consider as cherished opinions, beliefs are how people think the whole world operates, and significant representations are symbols, usually representing social norms, values, and beliefs themselves (Matthew 3). Going back to the restaurant scenario, a serious observer can now begin to contemplate and ponder on questions like -- what is the structure of this particular society in its entirety Or what are its constituents and the relationships between elements What is the significance of change Where does this social order stand in the accounts of human history What will it give to make the meaning of humanity more evocative and consequential More importantly, what are its crucial facets and how do they vary from those of times past gone What types of men and women now prevail in this civilization and in this epoch If we try to seize the different "behavioral landscapes" in that restaurant and let them "freeze" for a moment, then perhaps "photography" can be used to briefly capture the sociology of everyday life. By taking photographs of societal circumstances and by construing existing photographic images, significant "meanings" can be had, the kind of understanding that is not commonly obtained in most situations. At the outset, it elevates people's sensitivities and their process of forming insights to social circumstances because now, passive seeing has been substituted - passive seeing is when countless muddled and frenzied notions fleetingly drift before people's very eyes -- but by

Cover Songs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cover Songs - Essay Example This song was re-imagined by the group Scissor Sisters. This essay examines this song in terms of its original compositional elements, as well as its interpretation as a cover song. Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ is a highly popular song from their Wall record. The song has a number of notable compositional elements. The original version of the song is highly subdued. In this way the song’s rhythm and melody are slow paced and in a down-tempo time form. One considers that the song’s very title has much in common with its musical form, as the reference to numb could directly refer to the state of the individual listening to the song, or as an adjective describing the song itself. There is the consideration that the song’s instrumentation adds to this numbness. Rather than simply relying on guitars and drums, the song incorporates a number of synthesizers and digital components. In the context of the song this is significant as it creates a spa ce-like effect; one notes these space like elements from the very beginning at :05. It seems that the song is not simply composed in a traditional recording studio, with traditional rock and roll influences, but rather adopts futuristic and innovative concepts. These sound elements are not simply linked to the instrumentation but also extend to the vocals. While it is impossible to exactly determine, it seems that the main vocals have been digitally altered, as they take on a futuristic sonorous effect that is like traditional vocal styles. These elements then are combined with traditional rock elements, including drums and guitars. For instance the drums are highly noticeable at 1:28. Still, the implementation of this instrumentation takes on an epic and ballad like form that is unique for the rock style. Ultimately, these disparate components combine to form a highly unique and subdued composition. While Pink Floyd’s version of ‘Comfortably Numb’ is unique and subdued, the Scissor Sisters’ version is more traditional. The cover song implements an up-tempo beat. In terms of instrumentation, there is the clear and distinct use of guitar as the main means of establishing the melody and harmony. This distinct guitar sound is evident from :01. The vocals implemented in the song are created by a female vocalist. This creates a high and sharp sound that has a strong impact on song’s theme. There is an upbeat nature to the song that is carried throughout the melody and refrain. To a large extent it appears that the vocal components in the cover song assume a position of greater prominence than in the Pink Floyd version. In both songs the lyrics are the same; however the way they are articulated is very different. This difference is significant to the point that it affects the songs’ themes. For instance, the lyrics contained in the melody elements can be argued as significantly different in both songs. While the Pink Floyd ve rsion spends a considerable amount of time emphasizing the lines ‘I have become comfortably numb’ this phrase is almost a second hand thought in the cover version. Instead the song’s main hook is found in the vocal patterns leading up to this phrase. As noted, this changes the songs’ themes. The original Pink Floyd version has created an ambient or ‘numb’ theme that is directly reflected in the spacey and ballad-like vocals. This is contrasted with the theme of the Scissor Siste

Cheif Security Officer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cheif Security Officer - Essay Example A chief security officer should have vast expertise in areas beyond mere security thereby requiring global experience. A CFO requires global experience for notable reasons. To begin with, such a position requires knowledge of the complex global chain. In this sense, a CFO should be aware of how trade in other countries affects trade in particular country. The officer, therefore, easily participates in business continuity planning. In addition, global experience enables the CFO understand the intricate global internet network that poses threat to an organization’s IT system (Fay, 2011). Internet, as a tool, connects the world in a single sphere. It is essential for a CFO to possess knowledge on how the internet can be integrated in the general security of the company. Besides, a global experience is crucial for understanding the evolution of organizations. This is because structures of organizations are continually changing and this leads towards the shrinking and expansion of given departments. Furthermore, a CFO requires an adequate understanding of global politics and make out how such poli tics influence organizational

Is social networks a waste of time Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Is social networks a waste of time - Essay Example The article starts with the cons of social networks and as to how it is decreasing productivity amongst the workers. But this decreased productivity is not the only problem posed by the social networks as the problem expands to the younger generation. The younger ones have also been indulged with the social networks and it is found that many of them even log in to their accounts when they are in school. Thus it is not only affecting their school hours but is also affecting the way that they study. However in the conclusion the author puts forward different views about social networking. According to him the advantages overweigh the disadvantages if the portals are used perfectly. He believes that the students should be encouraged to use it in accordance to the positive uses of the portal so that the disadvantages can be minimized. I agree with Bernhard Warner as he puts both the disadvantages and advantages of social networks. But in my view the younger generation should be discourag ed to a certain extent so that the social networks do not hamper their study life. I agree with the view of Warner when he puts forward the views about the workers losing productivity because of excess usage of these networks. However these workers can use these social networking sites to their advantages. In some cases it is seen that the workers advertise through social networks and this can prove to be an advantage for many companies. In some way the companies can increase their productivity rather than the view put down by Warner. Similarly the theme of the article is the effect of social networking on students. Warner believes that the young generation uses social networks even in the schools during classes and this can prove to be a disadvantage for the schooling system. In my view he is quite right in putting forward the concern for these students as at such a tender age attentiveness is quite necessary in understanding the basic concepts of a subject. In my view social netwo rking can be a waste of time when used in unusual circumstances and the circumstances in which the students are using the social networks is quite wrong. In order to limit the usage of social networks in a schooling system certain measures are necessary. It is not necessary to completely stop the students from accessing these social networking sites but it is necessary that the students are kept under observation so that they do not access it in unusual times. Warner cites creativity as an advantage of the social networking sites if the students use it in the right way. Research has also shown that there are some educational benefits associated with social networking if it is used in the right way. I personally think that social networking does allow creativity to exist if used in the right way (Science Daily 2008). It can help to diffuse information all over the world about important topics such as HIV and poverty. Warner believes that the students should be encouraged to use socia l networking sites in a positive way so that this creativity can exist in these students. In my view they should be encouraged but a limit should also be enforced upon them where these social networking sites do not interfere with their academics. I also use Facebook as a communicating device through which I can easily talk to my family back home. In some case it is seen that social netwo

European Cinema Essay Example for Free

European Cinema Essay The characteristics and development of cinema can be initially determined from its dependence on the technological advancements that have contributed to the art. However, despite technology’s major influence in all aspects of filmmaking, cinema from different parts of the world can be identified through the distinctive approaches of filmmakers and screenplay writers. European and American cinematic traditions for instance differ from one another in terms of manner of how the elements are employed. Although there are several similarities between the two traditions, there are distinct elements that characterize European films from American films. Primarily the distinct characteristic of European films incline on the influence of the continent’s history and various social changes in the continent. The European tradition tends to seek lessons from the past to give light to the present. Likewise, European films artistically communicate the present, or the current state of affairs as a portal by which the viewers come into an understanding of past events. American cinema meanwhile as characterized by Hollywood establishes filmmaking as a form of merchandise, in which films are treated as commodity’s produced and manufactured by a particular company. American films tend to appeal to the audience through the use of publicity such as the actors’ popularity and appeal to the public. But more importantly, American cinema has never actually tackled social issues until it was influenced by European filmmaking traditions. Hence, an argument regarding the traditions of both regions emerges; cinema becomes an effective commodity such as the case of Hollywood, or as an art form, as usually practiced in Europe. The aforementioned developments in these two regions of the world therefore represent the framework as to how film connects with the society and how else film functions both as a commercial product and as a piece of art. Primarily, the styles and themes of European cinema following the Second World War have been characterized by several factors. These factors include the director’s creative vision, a particular nation’s perception of its cultural identity, the series of events that brought social awareness to the nations and the political as well as aesthetic departure from conventional techniques that have become cliches. As much as technology influences the quality, substance, and aesthetics of European films, filmmakers remained reflective of the dynamics of society that they represent. The German Expressionist filmmakers for example bring the director’s emotions to the viewers’ sphere through the unrealistic mise-en-scenes which laid the establishment of focus for the film’s artificial constructed look as well as the gestural acting styles of the characters (Forbes Street 2000). However, the geography and varying social belief systems fragment European cinema largely because the locations of countries together with the colorful, yet, violent history suggests produces different social beliefs from cities and nations across Europe. For instance, the height of World War II and the Nazi campaign in Europe saw the production and release of films that promote the regime’s propaganda, anything that had anti-Nazi implications and underlying messages were banned. Given the strangling events during the time, the end of the war and the decline of the National Socialist (Nazi) regime proved to be the turning point for the European cinema as various techniques and visual styles have emerged as a result of the war and the diminished restrictions gave more liberal advantage for filmmakers. One of the products of Europe’s war torn history is the Italian neo-realist movement which entailed the conditions of the working class and the impoverished people in a post war set up. Italian neo-realism is notable for reflecting such realities as filmmakers did not reflect the times through the elements of character, plot, or narrative but through filmmaking techniques like location shoots instead of sophisticated studio shoots and the use of dialogue dubbing instead of the use of high-end audio equipment (Forbes Street 2000). The Polish Film School is another film movement that emerged out of the war. Being influenced by Italy’s neo-realism, the Polish Film School savored the drastic liberal changes in Poland after the war by communicating the difficulties of Poland and her people during the Second World War (Forbes Street 2000). While the Italian neo-realists reflected the socio-economic conditions of people through the technique’s used in making and producing films, the Polish Film School used narratives and plot structures to depict important factors during and after the war such as the role of the resistance group Armia Krajowa after the war and the tragic incidents of the war such as the Nazi concentration camps. The 60s also provided a new phase to European cinema as the French and Czechoslovak New Waves as well as the New German Cinema emerged to artistic prominence. These new artistic styles, while they provide evolutionary techniques for European cinema, provided signature styles of the respective countries. But as much as the styles maintained the cultural identity of the respective countries, the French, German, and Czechoslovakian films, like the Italian neo-realism and the Polish Film School, also utilized low production values such as small budgets but still managed to employ social reflections and representations (Forbes Street 2000).

Foreign Exchange Operation of Mutual Trust Bank Limited Essay Example for Free

Foreign Exchange Operation of Mutual Trust Bank Limited Essay In this regard an organization attachment at Dilkusha Branch of Mutual Trust Bank has been given to me a period of three months commencing from 1st August, 2010 to 31st October, 2010. During this period I learned how the host organization works with the help of the internal supervisor. The internal supervisor assigned me on of the projects and shuffled me around to educate me about the operation of a bank. 1. 2. Significance of the report This internship report is an important partial requirement of four years BBA graduation program. This is because knowledge and learning become perfect when it is associated with theory and practice. By this internship program students can establish contacts and networking. Contacts may help to get a job in practical life. That is, student can train and prepare themselves for the job market. A poor country like Bangladesh has an overwhelming number of unemployed educated graduates. As they have no internship experience they have not been able to gain normal professional experience of establish networking system, which is important in getting a job. Therefore, it is obvious that the significance of internship is clearly justified as the crucial requirement of four years BBA graduation. Scope of the Study Mutual Trust Bank Limited is one of the new generation banks in Bangladesh. The scope of the study is limited to the Dilkusha Branch only. The report covers the organizational structure; background, functions and the performance of the bank have mainly worked in the foreign exchange so my report covers all the activities of foreign exchange department in the Dilkusha branch. While preparing this report I haven’t any limitations the employees of foreign exchange department has helped me a lot and I have use both primary and secondary data which was available to me. 1. 4. Objectives

Impact of Seismicity on Performance of RC Shear Wall

Impact of Seismicity on Performance of RC Shear Wall Impact of Seismicity on Performance and Cost of RC Shear Wall Buildings in Dubai, UAE Mohammad AlHamaydeh, P.E., M.ASCE [1]; Nader Aly, S.M.ASCE [2]; and Khaled Galal, P.Eng., M.ASCE [3] ABSTRACT Unfortunately, available probabilistic seismic hazard studies are reporting significantly varying estimates for Dubai seismicity. Given Dubais rapid economic growth, it is crucial to assess the impact of the diverse estimates on performance and cost of buildings. This research investigates and quantifies the impact of the high and moderate seismicity estimates of Dubai on the seismic performance, construction and repair costs of buildings with 6, 9 and 12 stories. The reference buildings are made up of reinforced concrete with special shear walls as their seismic force resisting system. The seismic performance is investigated using nonlinear static and incremental dynamic analyses. Construction and repair costs associated with earthquake damages are evaluated to quantify the impacts. Results showed that designing for higher seismicity yields significant enhancement in overall structural performance. In addition, the higher seismicity estimate resulted in slight increase in initial co nstruction cost. However, the increase in initial investment is outweighed by significant enhancements in seismic performance and reduction in earthquake damages. This resulted in overall cost savings when reduction in repair and downtime costs are considered. Keywords: Seismic Hazard, RC Shear Walls, Seismic Vulnerability, Seismic Performance, Earthquake Losses. Introduction and Background The economy of UAE and specifically Dubai has been rapidly growing over the past few decades. Significant investments are taking place in the various sectors, especially in the real estate sector. In addition, in November 2014, Dubai was announced to be the hosting city of the coming EXPO 2020. As a result, substantial growth is taking place in the real estate sector. Several residential, commercial and hotel buildings are going to be designed and constructed to accommodate the increase in population size. This region suffers from considerable uncertainty in its seismicity level and the design guidelines that should be followed (AlHamaydeh et al., 2012). The seismicity level of UAE and Dubai has been the matter of several research studies, such as Abdalla and Al-homoud (2004), Aldama-Bustos et al. (2009) and Khan et al. (2013). Nevertheless, unfortunately there is not much consensus in these research studies about the seismicity levels that should be designed for in UAE. This could b e attributed to the lack of in-depth seismological data and historical recordings of ground motions in this region. Such data would have been useful in providing comprehensive and sound seismic design guidelines (AlHamaydeh et al., 2013). The minimum seismic design requirements set by the local authorities in Dubai are based on the 1997 Uniform Building Code (UBC97). However, the municipality has been proactive in adapting to tremors that were felt and measured in UAE in April, 2013. They sent a circular to consulting offices in May, 2013 raising the minimum requirement to zone 2B for buildings higher than nine stories and zone 2A for buildings between four to nine stories. Therefore, the unprecedented growth in the number of buildings in Dubai combined with the lack of consensus on seismic design criteria complicate the vulnerability to earthquakes. It is generally believed that the UAE has low seismicity. Nevertheless, over the past few years, a significant number of regional seis mic activities, originating from faults surrounding the UAE, has been recorded by Dubai Seismic Network (DSN). Additionally, DSN has recorded some local seismic activities over the period from 2006 to 2014. UAE seismicity is affected by earthquakes originating from near-fault and far-field seismic sources (Mwafy, 2011). The most recent seismic hazard study for UAE, available to the authors, was published in 2013 by Khan et al. (2013). The study provided a comprehensive probabilistic seismic hazard assessment and spectral accelerations for the entire UAE. Furthermore, it implemented a standardized earthquakes catalogue for UAE compiled from United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Geosciences of Iran (2015) and the National Center of Meteorology and Seismology of UAE (NCMS) (2015) that dates back to 110 years. Furthermore, Khan et al. (2013) have used seven different ground motion prediction equations incorporating three next generation attenuation equations due to the lack of specific equations for UAE. They attributed UAE seismicity to the seismic source zones shown in Figure 1. In addition, the seismic hazard study by Shama in 2011 highlighted several local crustal faults in U AE that might affect its seismicity level. These faults are Dibba, Wadi El Fay, Wadi Ham, Wadi-Shimal, Oman and West Coast fault (Shama, 2011). Unfortunately, the level of seismicity is not clearly set since there is no strong consensus among researchers about the exact seismic level of UAE or Dubai. On the other hand, reviewing the available probabilistic seismic hazard studies conducted for UAE and Dubai clearly shows that there are significant variations in the estimated seismicity levels. In fact, results vary from no seismic hazard to very high seismicity. Table 1 shows a summary of Peak Ground Accelerations (PGA) from several probabilistic seismic hazard studies. The reported PGAs vary from less than 0.05g to 0.32g. This is attributed to the differences in the used source zonation, recurrence parameters, earthquake catalogues and ground motion prediction equations. The differences are mainly due to the lack of detailed seismological measurement and data in this region and such data is required to provide a comprehensive and sound seismic hazard study (AlHamaydeh et al., 2013). The variation in seismicity was a driving factor for many research studies related to the impact on design of buildings in Dubai, such as (AlHamaydeh et al., 2010; AlHamaydeh et al., 2011; and AlHamaydeh and Al-Shamsi, 2013). The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of the seismicity hazard level on the performance, construction, repair and downtime costs of reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall buildings in Dubai. In this regard, six RC shear wall buildings are designed and detailed following the 2012 International Building Code (IBC12) standards. The reference buildings are 6-story, 9-story and 12-story. They are chosen to target the main sectors of buildings inventory in Dubai, UAE. These buildings are designed for two different seismic hazard levels that represent high and moderate seismicity estimates of Dubai. The different designs are compared based on their seismic performance, construction and repair costs in order to investigate and quantify the impact of the seismic design level. The seismic performance is evaluated following the methodology outlined in FEMA P695, which is a technical publication aiming to establish standard procedures for quantifying the seismic performance facto rs of buildings (Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 2009). The assessment methodology is based on nonlinear pseudo-static and dynamic analyses. The nonlinear response history analyses are performed using a set of ground motion records selected and scaled to represent the highest possible seismic activity in Dubai. As such, this would highlight the implications on design, seismic performance, construction and repair costs of RC shear wall buildings designed for different seismic hazard levels in Dubai, if the high seismicity estimate turns to be the most realistic. In addition, total construction cost is estimated considering structural and non-structural components. Finally, the repair cost is evaluated based on the structural and non-structural damage percentages adapted from SEAOC blue book (Structural Engineers Association of California, 1999). Details of the Reference Buildings The six reference buildings considered in this paper are intended to represent typical office buildings located in Dubai, UAE. The buildings have number of floors ranging from 6 to 12 stories to represent the majority of common buildings in Dubai. They are made up of RC and have a typical floor plan as shown in Figure 2. The plan consists of five 6m (20ft) bays and total dimensions of 30mx30m (100ftx100ft). Furthermore, the overall structural height varies between 24m to 48m (78ft to 156ft); with a typical floor height of 4m (13ft). The lateral force resisting system consists of special RC shear wall placed along the perimeter of the building. This arrangement ensures that center of mass is close to center of rigidity, hence it avoids inherent torsional effects. In addition, placing the walls along the perimeter boosts the building torsional resistance and reduces the shear demands on walls due to accidental torsion effects. The gravity system consists of RC square columns, while the floor system comprises of cast-in-situ flat plate. However, the gravity system is not designed to be part of the lateral force resisting system. It is only designed to support vertical loads and to satisfy the deformation compatibility requirement. For design purposes, concrete compressive strength () is assumed to be 28MPa (4.0ksi) for columns and slabs, and 38MPa (5.0ksi) for shear walls. Additionally, the yield strength (fy) of reinforcement is assumed to be 420MPa (60ksi). Super Imposed Dead Load (SDL) is 3.6kPa (75psf), excluding the self-weight of the concrete slabs. This SDL value is a conservative estimate commonly used for office buildings in Dubai. The breakdown of this estimate is as follows: 2 kPa (for 100mm of leveling screed and flooring tiles), 1 kPa for partitions (usually movable partitions) and 0.6 kPa allowance for mechanical, electrical and plumping overhanging services. Curtain wall (cladding) load on th e perimeter of each floor is 0.72kPa (15psf). Moreover, for office buildings the typical floors live load is 2.4kPa (50psf) and the roof live load is 1kPa (20psf) as per ASCE7-10. The six reference buildings are designed and detailed according to IBC12 requirements for two different seismic hazard levels representing high and moderate seismicity estimates in Dubai. The selection of the two seismic design levels is driven by the existing uncertainty in seismic loading and the substantial variability in reported seismic hazard levels for UAE and Dubai. Therefore, it is deemed a reasonable choice for the objective of this paper to consider the highest and moderate seismicity levels. This would allow investigating the consequences of the possible alternative seismic loading levels available to designers. The highest seismicity level represents the upper bound, and it is obtained from USGS (2015). The USGS seismic hazard level for Dubai estimate is selected in this study (i.e. Ss = 1.65g and S1 = 0.65g). Moreover, the moderate seismic design level represents Abu Dhabi International Building Code 2011 (ADIBC11) estimate for Dubai. The elastic design response spectra for the two considered seismicity levels along with the ASCE7-10 estimated fundamental periods of the studied six buildings are presented in Figure 3. As shown, at each seismic design level, three buildings with 6-stories, 9-stories and 12-stories are designed with special RC shear walls. Summary of all buildings details including response modification factors (R and Cd), design spectral accelerations and elastic fundamental time periods, and approximate periods upper limit are given in Table 2. It is worth mentioning that the ground motion input parameters (Ss and S1) of the two seismicity levels (high and moderate) result in Seismic Design Category (SDC) D for the six considered buildings. Consequently, ordinary RC shear walls are not permitted by the design code (i.e. ASCE7-10). Thus, all buildings are required to have special RC walls. Furthermore, choosing special detailing for both seismicity levels would allow investigating the direct impact of the seismic design level on th e cost and performance of walls with same level of detailing requirements. The buildings are given a legend showing its ID (i.e. Building1 to Building6), number of stories (i.e. 6Story, 9Story or 12Story), seismic design level (i.e. High or Moderate) and shear wall type (i.e. Special or Ordinary). A site class D is assumed for the six reference buildings. This assumption complies with IBC12 recommendations. Design Summary The buildings are designed and detailed in accordance to IBC12 standards which refers to ASCE7-10 for minimum design loads and ACI318-11for structural concrete requirements. The designs implement the state of the art practices in design and construction followed in Dubai, UAE. For the design purposes, elastic analysis is done using 3D models on CSI ETABS commercial package (ETABS, 2015). To determine the majority of the seismic mass, the gravity system is designed first and fixed for the three buildings. The gravity system is designed to resist axial forces from all vertical loads in addition to the moments and shears induced from deformation compatibility requirements. In order to ensure the structural stability of gravity columns, they are designed to resist the induced actions (bending moments and shear forces) from the deformations that will be imposed by earthquake excitations on the building. The bending moments and shear forces are estimated based on the maximum allowable inter-story drift by IBC12 which is 2%. The stiffness of the columns is estimated using ETABS by applying a force at the top and bottom of the considered story and by getting the corresponding displacement. The shear forces are then calculated by multiplying the maximum allowable displacement by the stiffness of each column. Then from the shear force, the moment is calculated as shown in Equations (1) and (2). (1) (2) Where V is shear force, d is displacement (calculated using ETABS), M is bending moment and L is column height. It should be noted that concrete shear capacity is found sufficient to resist the shear forces due to imposed deformations by applied seismic forces. Therefore, minimum lateral reinforcement (i.e. column ties) is provided in columns with reference to clause 7.10 in ACI318-11. The gravity system components (i.e. flat plates and columns) are designed in accordance to ACI318-11 provisions using in-house design spreadsheets. For an optimized design, following common design trends in UAE, columns cross sections and reinforcement are grouped and changed every three floors. The gravity system is common between buildings with the same number of floors. The gravity columns design details for the six reference buildings are summarized in Figure 4. Figure 4 (a), (b) and (c) show the dimensions and reinforcement details of the 6- , 9- and 12-story buildings, respectively. On the left s ide of each Figure, the columns cross section dimensions are provided over each group of floors. The right side shows the vertical and horizontal reinforcement of the different columns (i.e. columns around the opening and remaining columns) in each group of floors. The minimum required slab thickness is calculated such that it satisfies ACI318-11 Table 9.5(c) minimum requirements. For the longest clear span of 5.3m, the minimum required thickness is 177mm. This figure is rounded up and 200mm thick flat plates are used. The flat plates are reinforced with T16 reinforcement bars spaced at 125mm, top and bottom in both directions. Additional T20 reinforcement spaced at 125mm (2m long) are added on top of columns in both directions. The lateral system is designed to resist the seismic lateral loads determined according to IBC12 Static Equivalent Lateral Force (SELF) method. The SELF method is permitted for all the six reference buildings. This is because the total height for all buildings does not exceed 48m (160ft), the SDC is D and no structural irregularities exist according to ASCE7-10, Table 12.6-1. Linear static analysis is performed using ETABS to evaluate the induced forces and displacements from seismic forces. Then, shear walls are designed to satisfy strength and drift requirements. Inter-story drift ratios are controlled within code, IBC12, limits (2%) by varying the shear wall stiffness through changing its in-plan length. Strength requirements are satisfied by designing the shear walls for the induced bending moments and shear forces by the seismic actions using Quickwall software (Quick Concrete Wall, 2015). Shear walls thickness and reinforcement are changed every three floors to optimize the des ign and to match common design practices in Dubai. However, walls in-plane length is kept constant throughout the buildings height to avoid any vertical structural irregularities. The need for specially detailed boundary elements is checked every three floors using the displacement-based approach. The use of displacement based approach for checking the boundary elements vertical extent is preferred over the use of stress-based approach. This is because the latter approach was proven to provide highly conservative requirements for the special detailing (Wallace and Moehle, 1992) and (Thomsen IV and Wallace, 2004). For practical constructability, boundary elements are designed to have the same wall thickness. Additionally, to comply with ACI318-11 minimum thickness requirements and conform to typical design practices in the UAE, an aspect ratio of at least 25.4mm: 304.8mm (1in: 12in) is maintained between wall thickness and length. The walls minimum thickness depends on the unsupporte d height and length. Therefore, as the walls unsupported heights across the different buildings are constant (i.e. limited by the typical story height), it is necessary to impose a practical criterion on the walls thickness as we change the length from building to building. This approach guarantees that the different designs are subjected to the same guidelines, especially for sizing the walls cross sections. This would result in a fair response comparison among all designs as they follow similar basis that imitates typical design practices in the UAE. During initial dynamic analyses of the 12-story buildings, B5-12S-H-S and B6-12S-M-S, it was observed that the critical section was not at the walls base. This is contradicting the code assumption of having a single critical section at the base of cantilevered shear walls. The critical section resulting in the dynamic analysis was actually shifted from the wall base to the bottom of the lowest floor in upper quarter of the building (1 0th floor). The initiated failure mechanism was governed by higher modes effects and the formation of plastic hinges at upper floors. The optimization done initially to the design by reducing dimensions and reinforcement for upper floors magnified the impact of higher modes effects. As a result, it triggered the failure and plastic hinge formation to be initiated at the reduced cross section. Therefore, the critical section became located at the weak spot at higher levels, which resulted in an unfavorable premature collapse mechanism. This observation has been highlighted by previous researchers, such as Tremblay et al. (2001), Bachmann and Linde (1995), and Panneton et al. (2006). It was also experimentally proven by shake table and cyclic loading tests (El-Sokkary et al., 2013). As an example, the modal analysis of the 12-story building, B5-12S-H-S, is shown in Table 3. It can be seen that there are clear separations between the individual modes characteristics (periods and modal masses). This is generally expected in a flexural cantilever structural type (i.e. shear walls). The first mode effective mass is usually ranging from 50% to 70% and the second mode period is approximately one sixth of the first mode. This is consistent with many research studies which investigated the effects of higher modes on response of cantilever shear walls (e.g. Humar and Mahgoub, 2003 and Tremblay et al., 2001). Furthermore, it is clear that relative modal weights (%) and modal participation factors are relatively high at 7th, 8th and 12th vibration modes which highlights the impact of higher modes. As a result, the design was revised by keeping the cross section and reinforcement constant for the upper half of the 12-story (B5-12S-H-S and B6-12S-M-S) and 9-story buildings (B3-9S-H-S and B4-9S-M-S). For 6-story buildings (B1-6S-H-S and B2-6S-M-S), a single cross-section was used for all floors with terminating boundary element at third floor. This conforms to the state-of-ar t design and construction practices in Dubai, UAE. It also matches the design philosophy adopted in other 12-story and 9-story buildings by keeping the same cross section and reinforcement for upper six floors. Summary of the shear walls design details is shown in Figure 5. Nonlinear Modeling The six reference buildings are modeled using lumped plasticity formulations on IDARC-2D (Reinhorn et al., 2009). Since the buildings are symmetric, mass participation of torsional modes of vibration are low. Therefore, torsional effects are negligible and a two-dimensional model is sufficient to simulate the buildings response. The shear walls are idealized using macro-models by representing the structural members with equivalent elements possessing all nonlinear characteristics. The members nonlinear characteristics depend on distribution of plasticity and yield penetration. A lumped plasticity model consisting of two nonlinear rotational springs located at the ends and an elastic member is used for the shear walls. The nonlinearity is concentrated at the locations of the nonlinear rotational springs. The flexural and shear deformations of the shear walls are modelled using the tri-linear (three parameter) hysteretic model developed by Park et al. (1987). The tri-linear hysteretic models allow controlling the stiffness degradation and strength deterioration due to ductility and energy. In addition, the axial deformations of the shear walls are considered by a linear-elastic spring. For the shear walls, the moment-curvature and shear-distortion are calculated using the fiber elements procedure of IDARC2D. The wall cross section is divided into number of fibers and then subjected to increments of curvatures. From strain compatibility and equilibrium, the strains are calculated and used to compute the resulting axial forces and bending moments in the section (Reinhorn et al., 2009). Results and Discussion The buildings seismic performance is evaluated following FEMA P695 methodology (2009). FEMA P695 approach is based on nonlinear pseudo static (pushover) analysis, Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) and fragility analysis. Pushover analysis is used to validate the nonlinear model and estimate the period based ductility of the buildings. Then, IDA analysis is performed using a suite of far-field ground motion records to estimate the median collapse intensity and collapse margin ratio. The far-field ground motion records are scaled to match the MCE response spectrum of the highest seismicity estimate in UAE. This seismicity hazard level is as estimated by USGS (2015) for Dubai (Ss = 1.65 g and S1 = 0.65 g). The selected scaling level simulates the worst, yet possible seismic hazard scenario from distant sources (e.g. Zagros thrust or Makran subduction zone) as highlighted by Sigbjornsson and Elnashai (2006). Thus, it allows assessing the consequences of the selected seismic design level (i.e. high or moderate) on the seismic performance, construction and repair costs of RC shear wall buildings in Dubai. The calculated collapse margin ratios from the IDA are adjusted to account for uncertainties in design basis, test data, nonlinear modeling and to consider the spectral shape of the ground motion records. The spectral content is accounted for based on the calculated period based ductility. Adjusted IDA results are finally used to calculate exceedance probabilities for ASCE-41 (2013) performance levels, Collapse Prevention (CP), Life Safety (LS) and Immediate Occupancy (IO). Nonlinear Pseudo-Static (Pushover) Analysis Pushover analysis is performed using an inverted triangle displacement profile as a pushing function for all buildings. The intensity is increased monotonically until the ultimate base shear degrades by 20%. The results are used to construct capacity curves (back-bone) for the reference buildings in the form of roof drift ratio versus base shear coefficient (i.e. base shear normalized by seismic weight). Pushover capacity curves are used to assess the buildings deformation and strength capacities. The capacity curves of the three buildings designed for the high seismicity estimate (i.e. B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S) are shown in Figure 6. Normalized base shear capacities are 0.57, 0.5 and 0.46 for B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S, respectively. As expected, base shear capacity is higher for the shorter building (6-story). This is attributed to the higher design forces which resulted from the relatively higher initial stiffness of squat shear walls compared to their slender counterpart. B1-6S-H-S reached a maximum roof drift ratio, prior collapse, of 6.5%, while B3-9S-H-S reached 6% and B5-12S-H-S reached 7.25%. The three buildings have period-based ductility calculated as recommended by FEMA P695 greater than 8. It can also be observed that in the three high seismicity designs, the capacity curves do not experience severe degradation in strength or deterioration in stiffness. This matches the expected behavior of well detailed special RC shear walls with confined bou ndary elements. It is noticed from the final damage states of the buildings, at 20% strength degradation, that static pushover analysis resulted in a failure mode at the base of the shear walls conforming to the design code assumed critical section. The overall structural damage index reported by IDARC-2D is 0.359, 0.426 and 0.618 for B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S. It is worth mentioning that these damages are concentrated at first floor shear walls. Established capacity curves for buildings designed for moderate seismicity (B2-6S-M-S, B4-9S-M-S and B6-12S-M-S) are presented in Figure 6. From shown capacity curves, normalized base shear capacities are 0.31, 0.26 and 0.24 for buildings B2-6S-M-S, B4-9S-M-S and B6-12S-M-S, respectively. Similar to the high seismicity design, the 6-story building has the highest normalized base shear capacity. This is due to its lateral system (shear walls) relatively higher stiffness which resulted in higher demands. Maximum drift ratios, prior collapse achieved by B2-6S-M-S, B4-9S-M-S and B6-12S-M-S are 9.25%, 8% and 3.5%, respectively. The three designs have period-based ductility greater than 8 calculated as recommended by FEMA P695. The overall structural damage index reported by IDARC-2D is 0.371 for B2-6S-M-S, 0.455 for B4-9S-M-S and 0.359 for B6-12S-M-S. These damages are triggered at the first floor shear walls only. Therefore, similar to high seismicity designs, the pseudo static pushover analysis results of moderate seismicity designs suggests a single critical section at the wall base. This conclusion matches with design code recommendation for regular buildings permitted to be designed following the static method (SELF) by ASCE7-10. Nonlinear Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) The seismic performance of the reference buildings is investigated under the random nature of earthquakes. Standard nonlinear pseudo-static analysis does not inherently fully capture the higher modes effects which usually govern the response of tall and irregular buildings. Consequently, the use of nonlinear dynamic analysis is more appropriate in such cases. IDA provides better insight of the expected structural response from the linear range through the nonlinear response and until it losses stability and collapse (Vamvatsikos and Cornell, 2004). The IDA in this case is performed using a very fine increment of 0.1g for the spectral accelerations. The increments are increased until all ground motion records caused the buildings to collapse or exceed the CP maximum drift ratio limit of 2% as specified by ASCE-41. However, the maximum spectral acceleration for all the records is not increased more than 2.5g. The total number of dynamic analysis runs performed for each reference buildi ng is around 1100 (22 records x 2 components x 25 scale factors). Figure 7 presents the resulting IDA curves for high seismicity designs, B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S. The structural response derived from IDA curves can depend to some extent on the characteristics of the particular accelerograms used. Thus, the performance is judged based on a suit of ground motion records to segregate this effect. On average, at low drift ratios (approximately up to 1%), the three designs (B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S) exhibit a linear behavior. The same linear behavior is resulting from some of the ground motion records up to the MCE spectral acceleration. At higher spectral accelerations, the structural response starts to vary showing several patterns of nonlinearities, such as softening, hardening and weaving. For only few records, the structure seems to soften and move to large drifts rapidly until it reaches collapse. Collapse in these curves, whether resulting from convergence issues, numerical instabilities, or very large drift ratio, is repre sented using a drift ratio of 10% and a flat line in IDA curves. Majority of the earthquake records caused severe hardening and weaving around the elastic response. The weaving observation conforms to the common equal displacement rule stating that inelastic and elastic displacements are equal for structures with relatively moderate time periods (Vamvatsikos and Cornell, 2002). In addition, for some records, the hardening phenomenon in which the structure seems to perform better at higher intensities is somewhat against the common expectation (Vamvatsikos and Cornell, 2002). This is because generally the time and pattern of the time-history governs the response more than just the intensity. Moreover, the upward scaling done to the records makes the less responsive cycles at the beginning of the time-history strong enough to cause damage and yielding of the structural elements. Therefore, some strong ground motion records at some intensity might cause early yielding of a specific flo or, usually a low floor. This floor acts as a sacrificial fuse which reduces the response of higher floors (Vamvatsikos and Cornell, 2002). Another very interesting observation that is clearly seen in IDA curves shown in Figure 7 is what is called Structural Resurrection. This phenomenon has been observed by Vamvatsikos and Cornell (2002) and is defined as a severe hardening behavior. In structural resurrection, the building moves all the way to complete collapse (numerical instability or convergence issues) at some intensity. Then at higher intensities it shows a lower or higher response, but without collapsing. This happens because the time and pattern of the ground motion record at a particular intensity might be more damaging than at higher intensities. In other words, this particular intensity causes the stru

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Essay example -- Book Report Be

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was not an easy book to read. Writing styles have changed tremendously since the 1700’s. Despite the cultural differences I learned a lot about the man and the time. Benjamin Franklin was a remarkable man. He was a printer, author, politician and an inventor. He was one of fifteen children in his family. Because he was from such a large family he was sent out to work at a very early age. He only had a few years of grammar school education when he started working in his fathers business. During his days off he educated himself through books. He was not happy working in his fathers business for very long. Unsure of what he wanted to do, his father took him around town to introduce him to other trades available to him. Not entirely pleased by the choices available, he settled on the printing trade. He worked as an apprentice in his brother’s print shop for several years until tension ended their relationship. By this time he was in his late teens. He moved to Philadelphia to continue in the printing business. He did well in Philadelphia but was always unhappy working in someone else’s print shop. The governor of Philadelphia offered him a letter of credit and introduction in England to help secure materials needed to start his own printing business. He accepted the offer only to find the offer less than reliable. This trip did not turn out as planned and he remained in England for ...

Phosphorous Nutrient Deficiency :: essays research papers fc

Phosphorous Nutrient Deficiency of Sunflowers, Helianthus annuus Abstract: The objective of this experiment was to determine whether or not a complete nutrient solution would have increased stem width, height, and leaf length compared to 25% phosphorous. My hypothesis was that sunflowers with a complete solution of nutrients would have the same growth compared to sunflowers with 25% phosphorous deficiency. The experiment was conducted by setting up two groups of sunflower seeds, control and treatment. Each group contained five seeds. The nutrients were added when the seeds had germinated. The controls were treated with a complete nutrient solution, whereas the treatment was treated with 25% phosphorous deficiency. Both groups were watered regularly with the nutrient solutions until harvest time. The measurements of both groups were taken periodically. During harvest time, the healthiest plant in each pot was measured for stem width (mm), height (cm), and leaf length (mm). The results indicated that there was no significant change in the controls a nd treatments because the p-values of all three types of measurements were greater than 0.05. Therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted. Despite the insignificant results, observations and measurements of growth in both groups of sunflowers in terms of stem widths, lengths, and leaf lengths suggested that the presence or absence of phosphorous did influence the plant growths. Introduction: The objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of nutrient deficiency in sunflower, H. annuus. My null hypothesis was that sunflower plants that were treated with a complete nutrient solution would be the same as plants that were 25% deficient in phosphorous. My alternate hypothesis was that sunflower plants with a complete nutrient treatment would have increased growth compared to plants with phosphorous deficiency with respect to stem height, width, and leaf length. Phosphorous is an essential nutrient for root formation, flowering, fruiting and ripening (Gayle et al. 2001). Ten elements that are required for normal growth in plants are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and iron. The absence of any one of these elements causes plants to display characteristic abnormalities of growth known as deficiency symptoms. Often such plants do not reproduce normally (Raven et al. 1999). One reason why phosphorou s is essential in plants is because it is responsible for the general health and vigor of all plants. Some specific growth factors that have been associated with phosphorus are: stimulated root development, increased stalk and stem strength, improved flower formation and seed production, more uniform and earlier crop maturity, increased nitrogen N-fixing capacity of legumes, improvements in crop quality, and increased resistance to plant diseases (Webb 2002).

From Baseball to Gymnastics :: Personal Narrative Sports Athletics Essays

From Baseball to Gymnastics Have you ever played baseball before? Is it just another sport to you? Well I have, and in the beginning it was just a sport to me. I remember as a young boy playing ball in the fields with only a few friends. Pretty much all we needed to play the game was a pitcher, a batter, and a fielder. The other players were mainly my brother Keith and a few neighbors around the block. Of course I was the youngest and the smallest, but this didn’t seem to bother them. We also played many other sports but baseball was my field of expertise. One summer, when I was eight years old, my mother came to me and asked how I felt about playing organized ball. At first I was unsure because I was used to my way of only three or more players, but not nine, on each team. Well the small amount of players we had was beginning to decrease. This was because the older guys were getting jobs and more importantly girlfriends. There wasn’t much else to do, so I decided to go for it, and joi n the league. This is what I wanted and I was going to be a pro someday. A few days later I went to register with my mom. She was so cool, because she did all the talking for me. I just hid behind her rear and listened, only peeking around timidly to see what I was up against. I wasn’t used to that many kids and was not about to talk to anyone, even though they were kids like me. I was shy that day but soon after began to open up. That was it, sign up was complete, and practice was just around the corner. My team the Toronto Blue Jays, had two weeks before our first game. During this time we had a chance to meet the coach and all the members of the team. We also had the opportunity of making fun of ourselves as we fumbled the ball around in a disorganized manner. Once again I had my doubts, but before long I gained friendships and a greater interest for organized Little League. I started off in the league as a Mustang, which was classified by age group.

Literature Review on Insurance Management System Essay

ABSTRACT Insurance system automates the management of insurance activities, which involves Defining Policies, Schemes, Policy Specifications, Policy Terms and Conditions, Policies registrations by the customers, Facilitates the Premiums Flexi-Pay modes, Policy Bonus in Flexible periods. The Agents are involved in the process of the Customer Policy registration and the Commissions are based on the targets achieved by the Agents. Insurance System also maintains the database of the Branch Managers who deals with the Agents which in turn deals with the Customers. Before developing this application all activities done manually, then all the activities take more time and also take more manpower. Commission, interests, dues calculate manually, based on this manual problem sometimes calculate the wrong All related information passed one branch to another branch through courier. Sometimes miss the important documents. So these problems overcome when we will develop the system. This system is very helpful to automation of entire Insurance system and also reduces the time and manpower. 1. CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION Insurance is the most commonly mechanism of managing risk. The term risk is defined as the possibility that positive expectations of a goal oriented system will not be fulfilled. Risk is generally classified into two broad categories: -Speculative Risks which may bring in speculative losses or sometimes speculative profits as well. -Pure risks which are fortuitous in nature and will potentially bring in only losses. Insurance covers only pure risk with an element of uncertainty about their occurring, effective insurance management system aims at optimisation of cover for economical cost and also ensuring availability of protection when it is most needed. An insurance transaction has always been viewed purely in financial terms i.e. the company paying a consideration called premium and in return receiving a promise to be compensated monetarily, for the losses suffered due to operation of insured perils. However, the concept of insurance management system is much wider in scope than th e mere financial implications of costs and benefits of an insurance transaction. Background of the study Insurance Market consists of the buyers of insurance and the sellers together with the intermediaries (agents) who bring the two together. In addition there are also the regulators, representative bodies or organizations, consultants and technical advisers which are part and parcel of the market. The Buyers Anyone who has valid insurable interest i.e., legally recognized relationship with property or pecuniary interest, can insurer their interest. The relationship may arise through ownership, part-ownership or responsibility for goods, or liability to pay damages or certain benefits. In Nigeria the buyers of insurance can be segmented as follows: †¢Individuals and families †¢Governments (federal, state, local) and their agencies †¢Parastatals †¢Multinationals †¢Conglomerates †¢Manufacturing industrial concerns †¢Small and medium scale industries †¢Banking industry †¢Health institutions †¢Tourist and hospitality industries, hotels †¢Transport industry †¢Other corporate bodies †¢Educational institutions †¢Oil and energy industry For marketing purposes the buyers can further be segmented to suit the strategy of the insurer, or the insurance agent. The Sellers The sellers or suppliers of insurance are the insurance companies and the reinsurance companies. At present there are about 118 registered insurance companies and 5 registered reinsurance companies. Most of the insurance companies are incorporated pursuant to Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990. About 106 of them are private limited liability companies while the rest are public companies. About sixty companies underwrite life assurance business with five operating as specialist life offices. The reinsurers provide technical security and capacity for the insurance companies and do not supply insurance directly to the consumers. The Intermediaries (Agents) The intermediaries are mainly insurance brokers and insurance agents. There are 350 registered insurance brokers and about 15,000 insurance agents. The different types of agents have been described earlier in chapter eleven. Nigerian insurance market has been described as brokers market because presently brokers control over 90 per cent of the premium income, leaving less than 10 per cent for insurance agents, and even direct marketing channel by insurers. However, insurance agents dominate the individual life insurance market. The banking industry has become a formidable channel for distributing insurance services not necessarily as intermediaries, but by facilitating a form of direct marketing by insurers. Participation by banks has also thus made mass merchandizing of those insurance products possible. To enrich some of the financial products banks offer certain insurance protection as additional benefits. For example an investor is promised three  or four times the capital amount invested in case of death, payment of benefits in the event of accident, payment of children’s school fees, and insurance cover for goods bought on credit. To meet such obligations, they apply part of the interest due to the investors to purchase insurance on their behalf from insurance companies. This is however different from universal banking which implied direct involvement in insurance broking and underwriting. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Since risk as formed an integral part of our world today, the need arise for insurance in other to combat such risk in our society. 4 major problems arises when trying to create a system to manage such risk, they are risk identification, evaluation, control and financing. The multi disciplinary nature of risk management requires input from all the arrears of the organization. Therefore, the task of identifying and evaluating risks is a problem. Risk control including avoidance and reduction clearly falls within the ambit of corporate safety policy. Protection of property and personnel through effective risk control measures, assumes great significance, particularly in the light of the opportunity costs due to occurrence of a risk (i.e. accident). Risk financing has developed into an important technique of effective risk management, where by costs and benefits of various alternatives are analyzed before arriving at the final decision on what type of insurance to be used. The existing system is the manual system. The manual system is prone to error. It is time consuming. It is very difficult for a person to produce the report. There are chances for changing the scheme report and do malpractice. This system involves a lot of manual entries with the applications to perform the desired task. Usage of papers in the payment process leads to less efficiency, less accuracy and less productivity. †¢Increasing expenditure for papers shuffling and storage. †¢Increasing labours and hence errors. †¢Less control of Amounts. †¢Time delay between the payment and its receipt. †¢Persons who are present in different part of the world cannot transact efficiently. 1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SYSTEM This system is an online micro insurance Analysis and information management system that provides easy access of information regarding the people and resources of insurance. This site is not a static site but with wonderful dynamic facilities like search tools for insurance awareness articles, guidelines, illustrations through images for visitors. This site also provides several dynamic features. The developed system should allow admin users to register insured persons with their name, date of birth, residence address, medical history and also policy details. After registering all the insured persons, website should provide management facilities like delete unwanted persons’ data. And also should provide awareness to the visitors about micro insurance through articles. Objectives of the system The system would be able to perform two main objectives which are:Functional and qualitative objectives. The functional objectives of the system are; 1.Enable users to select what kind of risks is to be insured 2.Cost of such insurance 3.Registration of customers 4.Show the benefits of using such type of cover 5.Explain what insurance policy in general is available. The qualitative objective of the system is mainly to define the corporate insurance philosophy, firsthand knowledge of the risk involved 2. CHAPTER TWO 2.1 2.2PROPOSED SOLUTION PROPOSED SYSTEM The proposed system is designed to eliminate the drawbacks of the existing system. It is designed by keeping to eliminate the drawbacks of the present system in order to provide a permanent solution to the problems. The primary aim of the new system is to speedup transactions. The report is prepared for the schemes and implemented by the concerned officials. Since the advent of Online Insurance services in the Middle Ages Policy Agents and  policy Holder have used paper-based instrument to move money between Insurance transactions. It comes as no surprise to one that when everything is being converted to computerize. Already the business has to global with the coming of Internet. Now, no more the individual aims at the local market is also just a click of button away. Dozens of companies are in the race to convince auction and bidding that a pot of Policy’s awaits those who conduct their business on the Internet. In this fast race of business and moneymaking, no country, no company and no individual want to fall back. Everyone wants to lead the group. Hence, everyone is trying to make the best use of Internet. The insurance company provides Group Polices to employees of various small and medium sized companies that registered with it. A group policy is one, which an employer provides to its employees. An agent is responsible for getting the client companies establishing a relation with the insurance company. According to hisher need, the policyholder can choose from various products available. The insurance company needs to keep track of details of its target companies, agents, policyholders, their premium payments and the various products that are available with it. Hence it is under tremendous pressure maintaining their day-to-day activities, which is currently being done manually. Entire records have to be updated timely; even a slight mistake could complicate things. It is very difficult to handle bulk data since human memory is weaker than electronic counter part. It is time consuming to summarize these details to produce the reports. Hence there is need for an automated system, which can efficiently manage the company’s records, provides instant access and one that improves the productivity. As a result of this automated system, the activities of the company are performed with in the stipulated time and the reliable and efficient service is ensured to its users. The part of the proposed system contain the following 1)Agent Registration form: New Agent gives their information like, Name, password, Ac no, bank, working details, age, sex, address, e-mail id. 2)Policy Holder Registration form: New Policy Holder gives their information like, Name, password, Ac no, bank, Organization, Occupation, age, sex, address, e-mail id. 3)Admin form: Admin have provision to view all Agent, Policy, and Policy Holder information. First Admin enter their name and Id then only they can access. And also admin have the provision to view, Modify, Delete and insert the Policy, Policy Holder, and Agent. 4)Agent Form: This module is used for agent to view all details about their policy holder/clients and also view their own personal details. 5)Policy Holder Form: This module is used to Policy Holders. They can view their own personal details when login into the Policy Holder module. Fig 2.2.3 dataflow in the system 2.3 ADVANTAGES OF USING THE SYSTEM †¢Mortgage Redemption- The system act as an effective tool to cover mortgages and loans taken by the policy holders so that in case of any unforeseen event, the burden of repayment does not fall on the bereaved family. †¢Risk cover -life is full of uncertainties; in this scenario the use of the system ensures that one enjoys a good quality of life against any unforeseen event. †¢Planning for life stage needs-life insurance provides financial support in the event of untimely death but also acts as a long term investment. You can meet your goals, be it your children’s education, their marriage, building your dream home or planning a relaxed retired life, according to your life stage and risk appetite. Traditional insurance policies i.e. traditional endowment plans, offer in-built guarantees and defined maturity benefits through variety of product options such as money back, guaranteed cash values. †¢Protection against rising health expenses-with the system available, customers can choose from a wide range of plans that would offer the benefits of protection against critical diseases and hospitalization expenses. This benefits has assumed critical importance given the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases and escalating medical costs. †¢For safe and profitable long-term investment-it builds a long-term savings instrument, also ensures that the customers have a good savings habit. Insurance is a highly regulated sector, the regulatory body,through various rules and regulations ensures that the safety of the policyholder’s money is the primary responsibility of all stakeholders. †¢Peace of Mind: When consumers buy an insurance policy, they can achieve peace of mind. There is a comfort in knowing there is a certain measure of protection from unforeseen tragedies and losses. †¢Asset Protection: Certain  types of insurance policies are designed to protect assets such as homes, cars, boats and other valuable tangible items. The policies will repair or replace these things if they are lost or destroyed. †¢Physical Protection -Some insurance policies are structured to protect the body. In the event that a person is injured, disabled or otherwise physically harmed, these products will compensate for those damages. †¢Income Protection-There is insurance policies available that will protect the ability to earn a living. If, for some reason, a worker is no longer able to continue with gainful employment, these policies can be structured to replace a majority of lost income. †¢Lifestyle Protection-A certain type of insurance is designed to ensure that the lifestyle to which a family has become accustomed will continue for a certain pe riod if a tragedy occurs and the major wage earner in the household is no longer able to produce an income. 2.4 DISADVANTAGES OF USING THE SYSTEM The system has the following drawbacks. †¢Every member organization has its own data structure †¢Due to lack of centralized data structure, it is very difficult to merge the data to analyze the statistics †¢Difficult to search for a data †¢Possibility of duplicates, etc 2.5 CASE STUDY; NIGERIAN INSURANCE MARKET Insurance Market consists of the buyers of insurance and the sellers together with the intermediaries (agents) who bring the two together. In addition there are also the regulators, representative bodies or organizations, consultants and technical advisers which are part and parcel of the market. In Nigeria the buyers of insurance can be segmented as follows: †¢Individuals and families †¢Governments (federal, state, local) and their agencies †¢Multinationals †¢Conglomerates †¢Manufacturing industrial concerns †¢Small and medium scale industries †¢Banking industry †¢Health institutions †¢Tourist and hospitality industries, hotels †¢Transport industry †¢Other corporate bodies †¢Educational institutions †¢Oil and energy industry The sellers or suppliers of insurance are the insurance companies and the reinsurance companies. At present there are about 118 registered insurance companies and 5 registered reinsurance companies. Most of the insurance companies are incorporated pursuant to Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990. About 106 of them are private limited liability companies while the rest are public companies. About sixty companies underwrite life assurance business with five operating as specialist life offices. The reinsurers provide technical security and capacity for the insurance companies and do not supply insurance directly to the consumers. The banking industry has become a formidable channel for distributing insurance services not necessarily as intermediaries, but by facilitating a form of direct marketing by insurers. Participation by banks has also thus made mass merchandizing of those insurance products possible. To enrich some of the financial products banks offer certain insurance protection as additional benefits. For example an investor is promised three or four times the capital amount invested in case of death, payment of benefits in the event of accident, payment of children’s school fees, and insurance cover for goods bought on credit. To meet such obligations, they apply part of the interest due to the investors to purchase insurance on their behalf from insurance companies. This is however different from universal banking which implied direct involvement in insurance broking and underwriting. And most of the activities of insurance between the individuals and such companies are done manually but with the creation of a web based system this could save time in transaction. 3. CHAPTER THREE 3.1 CONCLUSION Effective insurance management lies in balancing the costs and benefits of insurance, through optimizing the coverage at economical cost and further through conscious and careful retention of risks within the world, This is  precisely where the Online Insurance supports and improves many of the core functionality of the insurance organization i.e. insurance project helps in quick easy monitoring of the reports that have been automatically generated as and when the admin and policy agent performs transactions in the system. Using such a system helps the organization in minimizing the time consumed in fulfilling the day-to-day functionality’s and cutting down the expenses incurred on the same. It must also be remembered that insurance is a method of transferring the financial impact of risk and the risk itself. Hence the basic responsibility of the system is to act as a guild in risk management. 3.2 RECOMMENDATION With the internet already in vogue, the government should allow reduce tariffs on web usage in other for easy communication with people who would need such systems. With increased technologies around the world there is need for accessibility to such web based technologies and system. Since the system involves risk management there is need for individuals to have reasons to have their businesses and life insured as this will enable them use such insurance management system. REFERENCES 1.WIKIHOW.COM 2.WIKIPEDIA.COM 3.Seal, R. A. â€Å"Insurance for Libraries: Part I.† Conservation Administration News no. 19 (1984): 8-9. 4.Seal, R. A. â€Å"Insurance for Libraries: Part II.† Conservation Administration News no. 20 (1985): 10-11, 26. 5.EHOW.COM