Animation Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Animation Critique - Essay Example Animation is a form of art in which a world of an energetic picture and sound may be incorporated entirely out of nothing except for an idea. The world of animation started emerging in the eyes of the general public before 1910. During the early days of animation, it was thought to be as labor intensive as many numerous drawings and paintings had to be made just to make a short few minute film. It took too many men and too much time just to make short films and was very hard as replicas of the same drawing had to be produced to bring in the motion effect in them. A very famous example of such hard work is of Winsor McCay. He was and still is known as the father of animated cartoons. MacCay was a fine hard working man and used to make his animations by himself alone. He did not use to ask for the help of the others and used to animate his films nearly single handedly by himself, from the foundation to the completion each cartoon was made by him and him alone (Crandol, n.pag) McCay was a fine animator and took his time to make his animations appear distinctive creative perspectives. He sometimes used to spend more than one year just to complete a five minute cartoon animation. This time duration was too long for the expanding viewers of the cinema world and thus the modern studios of animation came in to being. Walt Disney was the first animator in the whole world who added the effect of sound in his animations of Steamboat Willie in 1928. Later computerization changed the whole view of this industry. Toy Story that was released in 1995 was the first animated movie that was completely made on computers and this was done by the cooperation of Pixar Animation Studio and Walt Disney Animation Production (The Significance of Animation, n.pag). The production started at 1993 and the movie was released in November 1995 The movie was a hit

Lan-Base Attendance Monitoring and Payroll System Essay Example for Free

Lan-Base Attendance Monitoring and Payroll System Essay 1.1 Introduction Modernization changed our lifestyle. Technology improves us to spend time and spaces in remarkable ways. Due to rapid technological changes new things to produce better way of doing things through the help of technology. In our present life style people find way to improve their living day by day .This improvement was obviously seen in our modern technology, such modern machine, improvised gadgets, robotics and the most popular and widely influential is the modern computer. Modern computer helps people to lessen their work in such particular field of industry, particularly for those activities that requires computation storage of information presentation security and many uses of system software by the company, organization and in some aspect of educational areas. One of these changes is through the use of LAN-Based Attendance Monitoring and Payroll System of Caltex Gasoline Station which is programmed automatically set the time and date employees log; so that the office assistant monitors the record and liable easily access the payments of the employees. In the field of Information technology the knowledge in creating a LAN-Based Attendance Monitoring and Payroll System of the employees are one of the most important parts to keep a certain business stable also includes the monitoring of the employees and the payroll. The Owner can’t assure that his employee is arriving on time in Gasoline Station and he can’t also assure if the computation of the payroll is correct and accurate. 1.2.1 Background of the Study The Caltex Techron Balite Merchandise started as a Federal Gasoline station in 2007. After three years Federal Gasoline Station experienced bankrupt because of the competition in other gasoline station. The owner of Federal Gasoline Station decided to sell the property of Federal Gasoline Station to Mr. Danny Reobeca to recover his investment. In the year 2010 September 19, the Caltex Techron merchandising established in Barangay Balite. They started with sixteen (16) employees including (1) one manager, (1) one secretary, (2) two cashiers, and (12) twelve gasoline boys. Nowadays, the Caltex Techron Merchandising has (4) four Gasoline Machines, (3) three Gasoline Tanker, (1) one storage room and (1) one office room. Caltex Techron Merchandising have now (33) thirty three employees including (1) one manager as the owner, (3) three office assistant, (3) three cashier, (2) two guards and (24) twenty four gasoline boys. The operation is 24 hours and has three shifting for gasoline boy and cashiers. First shift (6:00am-3:00pm), second shift (12:00pm-9:00pm), third shift(9:00pm-6:00am), (2) two shifting for the security guard, First shift (6:00am-6:00pm) and second shift (6:00pm-6:00am) while the manager and office assistant work 8 hours start 8:00am to 4:00pm. The facilities of the Caltex Techron Merchandising are complete but proponents found out (2) problem. First, the attendance monitoring of the employee is manual like the traditional. Second, the exact computation of payroll of the employee is manual computation. They have an office assistant in the office room to manage the attendance monitoring and payroll of the employees. 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.2.1 General Problem The Manual attendance and payroll of the employees in Caltex Techron resulting lack of accuracy and security in terms of records. The main problem of manual system is very hard to retrieve information of the employees. 1.2.2 Specific Problem The Caltex Techron Merchandising has also some specific problem as they follow: * Manual recording of the time-in and time-out of the employees. * Using the manual computation of payroll. * Inaccurate employee’s attendance due to manual operation of time keeping. * Unorganized records because of many records that must be filed. 1.3 Objective 1.3.1 General Objective The Proponents aims to develop a LAN-Based Attendance Monitoring and Payroll System that will improve their service in terms of attendance monitoring and payroll of the employee. 1.3.2 Specific objectives * To develop a system that enable to search records easier and faster. * To avoid changing of time that they log. * To develop a system that will monitor the daily time record of employee. * To upgrade and standard the process of computing salaries of employees accurately. * To establish a system that will register the time-in and time-out of employees. * To prevent loosen and break down of the records and files. * To make automated the computation of the salaries of the employees. 1.4 Scope and Limitation The Proponents aims to develop a LAN-Based Attendance Monitoring and Payroll System of the employee for the improvement of Caltex Techron Merchandising. The File maintenance can easily add, search, delete, and update records, with the use of this system. 1.4.1 Scope * Computerize the Attendance of the employee. * Automated computation of salaries. * It gives accurate time and date of the employee’s log. * LAN-based System. * The administrator only has the authority to access the records of the employees. 1.4.2 Limitation * Records only the time and date of log-in and log-out of the employee but it can’t identify who are the real employees. * The LAN-Based Attendance Monitoring and Payroll System embedded only to Caltex Techron. 1.5 Significance of Study This study not only to develop a software system, It also aims to do specific task in a short period of time. Administrator/Manager: * It will help them in terms of less spending space and time. It will help them. Office Assistant: * It will be easy for them to monitor the attendance of the employee and to lessen their work. Employee: * It will be easier to get their salary because of the automatic computation. 1.6 Definition of Terms 1. Automated To operate by automation. 2. Merchandising Sales promotion has a comprehensive function including market research, development of new products. 3. Monitoring A device for observing a biological condition or function. 4. Payroll The sum necessary for distribution to those on a payroll also the money to be distributed. 5. Salary Fixed comprehension paid regularly for devices 6. Technology A capability given by the practical application knowledge. 7. Embedded Fix to the business company. 8. LAN-Based the system is running by group of personal computer and associated equipment that are linked by cable, office building and that share a communications line. 9. Manual work by hand, involving the skills and hard word of hand. 10. Traditional – from generation to generation,† Old style†.

An Analysis Of Mahatma Gandhi

An Analysis Of Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi (1982) directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Ben Kingsley in the title role, won 9 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. The movie opens with the assassination of Gandhi. It depicts the journey of Mahatma Gandhi from sole colored practicing advocate in South Africa, who was thrown out of a train at Pietermaritzburg on his refusal to shift to third class coach while holding a valid first class ticket to the leader of community who used the principles of non-violent resistance on behalf of Indian immigrants to his relocation to his mother land, India and inspiring millions of fellow citizens by his charismatic leadership skills. The movie also portrays his individuality and relationships with his family, close-associates, friends and leaders of Indian Congress Party. Additionally, the principles followed by Gandhi are represented fairly with right blend of external factors including the British policies, his extensive travels, poverty prevalent in rural India and his conviction to remove discrimination issues, which affected his decisions, outlook and strategies adopted together with the building of his Ashram, taking up fasting and standing firm on his principles of non-co-operation and non-violence. The tag line of this movie: His triumph changed the world forever is absolutely true. WHo was gandhi? Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, bestowed with the title of Mahatma: Great soul (a honorary title first used by Rabindranath Tagore), lovingly called Bapu: father, used by his followers, is the Father of nation of India. This expression was first used for Gandhi by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in his condolence message on the demise of Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi in the year 1944. Gandhinot only raised his voice for Swaraj (home rule for India) and taught his countrymen to fight without any arms or ammunition against the British Empire, but led the world to believe and still follow his principles of truth and non-violence. Gandhi was a qualified Barrister, studied law in University College of London, lead a simple life with his wife, Kasturbai Makhanji and four sons, Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas. Though a Hindu by birth, he believed in spirituality and not strict adherence to religious beliefs. The dialogue from the movie Gandhi clearly reveals the same: I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you. It is easier to explain the austerity of this great leader by borrowing the condolences of Edward R. Murrow: ..Mahatma Gandhi was not a commander of great armies nor ruler of vast lands, he could boast no scientific achievements, no artistic gift. Yet men, governments and dignitaries from all over the world have joined hands today to pay homage to this little brown man in the loincloth who led his country to freedom (Dialogue from the movie Gandhi (1982), directed by Richard Attenborough) Guiding Principles and followers Gandhi followed 11 vows throughout his life, which are described in his various writings. These vows are: Ahimsa: non-violence, Satya: truth, Asteya: non-stealing, Brahmacharya: self discipline, Aparigraha: non-possession, Sharirshrama: bread labor, Aswada: control of the palate, Sarvatra Bhayavarjana: fearlessness, Sarva Dharma Samantva: equality of all religions, Swadeshi: use of only locally made goods and Sparshbhavna: removal of untouchability. (Source:http://www.gandhimanibhavan.org/gandhiphilosophy/philosophy_11vows.htm) The Time Magazine in December, 1999 edition named The 14th Dalai Lama, Lech WaÅ‚Äâ„ ¢sa, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela as Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence. (Source:http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993026,00.html) His journey was from a briefless barrister (a term used to ridicule him by his fellow legal practitioners, as expressed by Eknath Easwaram) in Bombay to the half naked Indian fakir (as referred by Winston Churchill in his speech in 1930) to the champion of the cause of non-violence and equality. This passage was full of thorns in the form of assorted problems faced by him as well as roses as the numerous followers. Innumerable writers and leaders world-over have expressed diverse opinion about the greatest spiritual and political leader of India. Whether people follow the principles of Gandhi or they loathe him, his immense work cannot be ignored. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in the year 1955: Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics. (Source: Life Magazine: Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. 40 Years Later, 2008) Leadership Qualities and styles A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal. A leader is an individual who first performs and then, leads his followers by example, so that they are motivated to follow him. He must have an innate commitment to a goal and strive to achieve it even if others do not follow him. As defined by Eric Hoffer, the leader has to be practical and realist, yet he must talk the language of visionary and idealist. (Source: http://www.vtaide.com/gleanings/leader.htm) The dictionary meaning of the term leadership is the capacity to lead others; an act or instance of guiding. Leadership is a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task as defined by Chemers. There are diverse opinions and theories regarding definitions and classifications of leadership styles. Nevertheless, in the words of Vance Packard Leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced should be done. (Source: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html) Viscount Slim listed the traits of leadership as courage, will power, judgment, flexibility, knowledge and integrity. In the words of Hill, characteristics of leader include self-confidence, morale qualities, self-sacrifice, paternalism, decisiveness, dignity, tolerance, enthusiasm, knowledge of man. In the light of these expressions, Gandhi was a true leader, who planned and performed the tasks, led by example, had strong conviction to achieve the goal and motivated his followers. The strength and character of Mahatma Gandhi is clear in his own words as: You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body but you will never imprison my mind. Kenneth Benne and Paul Sheats (1948) defined 26 different group roles that can be played by one or more persons within a group, which were categorised as: task roles, personal or social roles and dysfunctional or individualistic roles. According to these roles, in the group task roles, an individual may be initiator, coordinator, evaluator, critic, orienter or recorder. (Source: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_85.htm) Kurt Lewin led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leadership and established three major styles of leadership as: authoritarian or autocratic; participative or democratic and delegative or laissez-faire. (Source:http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html) Participative leader: Gandhi definitely was a participative or democratic leader, who involved the whole team in planning and goal setting, problem solving and emphasised team building; on the other hand, he retained his decision making authority that could not be challenged. Rather than deciding in an autocratic manner, he involved other people in the process, including his subordinates, peers, superiors and other stakeholders. Since the political situation then, was dynamic and changing frequently, the required democratic leadership flowed from Gandhi. He brought out the best of experience and skill from the fellow Congress leaders, seniors and followers. He had a strong conviction with right blend of flexibility and chose appropriate approach to be followed. The communication channels used were open and transparent; and in case of any changes, the strategy was explained unambiguously. Theories of leadership Various theories have been propounded on the concept of leadership based on varied attributes of a leader including traits, situational interactions, function, behavior, power, vision, values, charisma, ethics and intelligence among others. The following theories are relevant in describing leadership characteristics of Gandhi as explored in the movie: Charismatic leadership Transformational leadership Servant leadership Authentic and Ethical leadership Ideal leadership Follower-centric leadership Charismatic Leader: According to the trait approach, the leadership style is affected and influenced by the individual characteristics and traits of leader. German sociologist, Max Weber distinguished three ideal types of legitimate political leadership, domination and authority: charismatic (familial and religious), feudal or traditional (patriarchs or patrimonalism) and legal (modern law and state). Weber (1947) defined charismatic leadership as resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him. He defined the term charisma as a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural or exceptional powers or qualities, which are not accessible to an ordinary person, but of divine origin or exemplary. He further added that a charismatic leader has remarkable ability to distill complex ideas into simple messages and communicates by using symbols, analogies, metaphors and stories. Such a leader relishes risk and is an optimist, who rebels conventions. Robert House (1977) used four phrases to define charismatic leadership: dominant, strong desire to influence others, self-confident and strong sense of ones own moral values. (Source: http://www.12manage.com/methods_weber_charismatic_leadership.html) Gandhi is the best example of a charismatic leader. It was only his divine charisma that helped him fight on behalf of the Indian community in South Africa employing his principle of non-violence and wage a war against the British Empire for Indian independence. (Source: http://www.12manage.com/methods_weber_charismatic_leadership.html) Transformational Leadership: Bass (1985) extended the theory of charismatic leadership to the theory of transformational leadership, where a leader is able to inspire and activate subordinates to perform beyond expectations and to achieve goals beyond those normally set. Transformational leadership as defined by Burns (1978), is the process of motivating the team by leader to be effective and efficient and engaging their commitments in the context of the shared values and shared vision. It involves relationship of mutual trust between the leaders and the followers. (Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/a/transformational.htm) Gandhi beyond doubt was a transformational leader. He utilised his communication skills for facilitating and focusing his peers and followers on the final desired outcome or goal attainment. In consonance with Burns analysis, Gandhi was highly visible and used chain of command. He focused on the ideal vision of Swaraj and was surrounded by numerous other leaders who were responsible and accountable for interim milestones leading to attaining the target. All the four elements of a transformational leader were evident in Gandhis leadership: individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence. He attempted to attend to his followers individual needs, acting as their mentor and addressing their concerns. He unconditionally supported his followers and respected their individual contributions. The followers also had aspirations for self development and were motivated towards accomplishing their responsibilities. He was never averse to taking risks and was open to nurturing associates and followers. He articulated a common vision which inspired his followers, peers and other contemporary leaders. His inspirational motivation and high standards challenged his followers. Also, followers had a strong sense of purpose and responded positively acting towards the attainment of goal. The visionary outlook of Gandhi was supported by his communication skills and conviction, which resulted in mak ing it precise and powerful. He instilled pride in his followers gaining their respect and trust enabling him to obtain their additional efforts. Servant leadership: Robert Greenleaf (1977) described that a servant-leader is a servant first. He elucidates that the servant-leadership begins with a natural feeling that leader as an individual wishes to serve, which is followed by a conscious choice to aspire to lead. Gandhi, the quintessential servant-leader describes his own motivation to serve as: service to the poor has been my hearts desire and it has always thrown me amongst the poor and enabled me to identify myself with them. (Source:http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/Ethics/Servant_Leadership_stooping_to_conquer22004.asp) Spears (2002) lists qualities of servant-leader as: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to growth of people and building community. (Source:http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/servant_leadership.htm) Gandhis desire to serve a cause and adhere to his principles was evident in South Africa. His mission to serve humanity began with his concern for the equal treatment of Indians, followed by raising his voice against the Bill, which was sought to deprive Indians of their freedom. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.: These words of Gandhi echo his persuasiveness and precision. Authentic and Ethical Leadership: In wake of financial, ethical and societal crises, people have begun clamor for authentic leadership. It is defined by Walumbwa as a pattern of leader behaviour that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate fostering positive self-development. The traits of authentic leadership embraces self-awareness of a leader, relational transparency, balanced processing of information and internalized moral perspective. (Source:http://johnmolson.concordia.ca/images/stories/graduate_prog/msc/docs/msc-agre/briand_melanie.pdf) Luthans and Avolio define authentic leadership as a process that draws from both positive psychological capabilities and a highly developed organizational context, which results in both greater self-awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors on the part of both leaders and associates, fostering positive self development. Authentic leaders inspire others by modeling positive organizational states of confidence, hope, optimism, and resiliency. By responding transparently to moral dilemmas, authentic leaders become ethical role models. Thus, authentic leadership is an umbrella that comprises of ethical leadership as well. (Source:http://leadershipskills.org.au/interpersonal-leadership/authentic-leadership-explained/) In the words of Gandhi: Everyone who wills can hear the inner voice. It is within everyone. He demonstrated characteristics of an authentic leader by being committed to truth. He knew himself well and was absolutely clear about his ideals and values. He illustrated self-discipline. Even in the movie, the dialogues between Ba, Mirabehn and Margaret Bourke-White, evidence that he strictly professed celibacy. Gandhi was extremely compassionate and genuine. Even during one of his train journeys, he releases his head cloth to a poor woman, across the river, who apparently was not wearing any proper clothing. Being an authentic leader of course, emanates from his rich experience and commitment towards serving humanity. Good leadership refers not only to the competence of leader to lead his followers to perform a task, but his responsibility for ensuring standards of moral and ethical conduct and in transforming people. Ethical leadership combines ethical decision-making and ethical behavior. Key responsibility of a leader is to make ethical decisions and behave in ethical ways and to ensure that his followers understand and practice the ethical code. (Source: http://studentorgs.unomaha.edu/documents/EthicalLeadership.pdf) An ethical leader must emphasis and reiterates the statements about importance of ethics. He must disseminate ethical guidelines to his followers. Gandhi, indeed is considered one of the most ethical leaders. He modeled his ethical behavior and set a visible example for others to follow. He set rules for himself and also, his followers as regards the dos and donts of moral behavior. This code was followed religiously by him. He criticised all unethical behavior and in case of any such unethical act by his followers, he went on to fasting as a penance. Gandhi considered that Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Ideal leadership: Ideal leadership or Inter-Disciplinary leadership is a scientific leadership theory propounded by Larry Stout (2001), which identifies six critical capabilities that are grouped under leadership capital and four capacities under leadership conditions. The six critical leadership capital capacities are vision, values, wisdom, courage, trust and voice to influence followers. The four vital leadership conditions vital for these capacities are place where the leader can hold sway, period that calls for his or her leadership, position that conveys leadership authority, and people who are ready for leadership. (Source: http://www.az-encyclopedia.info/i/1329282_Ideal_leadership/) This theory states that leader is one who leads his organization forward in a positive direction. The conditions determine who gets to be a leader in the first place a person must be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things, with the right people in order to have an opportunity to lead. (Source: http://www.idealleadership.com/talking_about_leadership) His positive thoughts are amply clear from Gandhis words: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Follower-centric leadership: Gandhis relation with his followers can be classified into the approach of being follower-centric. In accordance with this approach, it is pertinent that the leadership is focused on followers, and not on the leader. The leader should give attention to his followers and make them feel proud on being part of the team. In the words of Warren Bennis: Good leaders make people feel that they are at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. The follower-centric approach to leadership emphasises the information processing aspect in leadership dyads. (Source: http://learningleaders.blogspot.com/2007/12/being-follower-centric.html) Meindl propounded this theory on the argument that it is the followers rather than the leaders who construct both the phenomenon of leadership and the images of specific leaders. Gandhi followed and advocated strategies that were dependent on circumstances and his followers. For instance, when he was in South Africa, he launched his protests in a suit and a tie, whereas, when he came back to India, he dressed only in Indian self-made clothing Khadi and launched non-violent protests on an immense scale. (Source: http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/apr/11spec2.htm) Contemporary Leaders OF GANDHI There were several leaders of that era, who were contemporaries of Gandhi, including the members of Indian National Congress, striving for independence. Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Maulana Azad, Bhagat Singh, Chander Shekhar, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of Muslim league, to name a few. In the movie, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is depicted as one of the strong leaders, who even went to the extent of defying Gandhi. Jinnah demanded for a new Muslim nation named Pakistan. This was completely against the principles and philosophies of Gandhi. Jinnah is officially known as Quaid-i-Azam (Father of nation) in Pakistan. He advocated two nation theory, which was opposed to Mahatmas ideology of United India. As depicted in the movie, there were several instances where Gandhi interacted with Jinnah. First encounter of Gandhi with Jinnah was in Patels Garden. They subsequently met during a meeting for demanding Home rule for India, later at Jinnahs residence at Bombay and on various other occasions. Muhammad Ali Jinnah studied law, which led him to start thinking about Indian freedom through constitutional methods and Hindu-Muslim Unity. Jinnah was the leader of Muslim community of India. The leadership style adopted by Jinnah was authoritarian and charismatic. His charismatic style helped him to gain confidence, acceptance and support from Muslims, consequently, obeying his orders. His leadership style is very well depicted in the movie during his talks demanding Home rule for India and the immediate response and enthusiasm among public. His authoritative style of leadership kept the party together where he held decision making power and exercised complete control over his follower. On comparing, leadership styles of Jinnah and Gandhi, it is evident that Gandhi was accepted among different sections of Indian society and across all castes and religions (including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and others). On the other hand, the popularity and acceptance of Jinnah was limited to only one community. Mahatma Gandhis ethics, authenticness and ideal leadership made him the leader of masses. analysis of followers According to Hill, leadership is product of projection and transference process of followers. The followers play a significant role in constructing leadership. They have cognitive schema through which they identify and assess their leaders. Once they identify small number of prototypical leadership in a person then they designate him as a leader. As depicted in the movie, Gandhi has follower driven leadership. It is amply clear that Gandhis follower played significant role in the construction of leadership. Mahatma Gandhi always worked in the best interest of his followers. Conclusion MY LIFE IS MY MESSAGE Gandhi was a great leader and independence fighter whose personality and leadership qualities widely influenced his followers. He accomplished his vision of Independent India by following on his principles of non violence and non cooperation. Opponents could never challenge his ideas and beliefs and later, he became ideal of many great leaders. Using principles of Satyagraha, he led the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by British for his activities in South Africa and India. He believed it was honourable to go to jail for a just cause. Altogether he spent seven years in prison for his political activities. Gandhi used fasting to impress upon others the need to be non-violent. India was granted independence in 1947. In the words of Indian poet, Pradeep: You gave us freedom without any sword or shield, you are a miracle.

Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell Essays -- Papers Immigration Bell F

Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell Out of This Furnace tells a impressive story of a multigenerational family of Slovakian immigrants who comes to the United States in search of a better life in the New World. The patriarch of the Slovak family was Djuro Kracha, who arrived in the New World in the mid-1880s from the "old country." The story tells of his voyage, his work on the railroad to earn enough money to afford the walk to the steel mills of Pennsylvania, his rejection by the larger mainstream community as a "hunkey," and the lives of his daughter and grandson. As the members of this family become more generally acculturated and even Americanized, they come to resent the cruel treatment and the discrimination they suffer. For the Kracha family, a slow rise to proud business ownership was ended by a series of events: (1) a summer of drunken abandon by Djuro; (2) his return to the steel mills (3) his daughter's (Mary) marriage to a fellow countryman also in the mills; and (4) his grandson's growing discontentment with unfair labor practices and abuses. These events in the Kracha family's lives become intertwined with the story of America's own transformation between the 1880s and the 1940s. At the time that this family arrived in the United States, a new wave of Eastern European immigration - spurred by growing industrialization and the advances in technology leading to the establishment of steel mills and other manufacturing and raw material processing factories and plants - was reshaping the American labor force. Djuro's experiences, and those of his son-in-law, Mike Dobrejcak, reflect a certain level of hostility towards these Eastern and Central Europeans from "mainstream" Americans and earlier, more acc... ...erica has come to mean many different things to many different people. At the very heart of the "American dream" are the twin ideas of freedom and equality. This nation was founded on the republican principles of justice for all, friendship with all nations, and entangling alliances with none. These basic principles have, over time, undergone some changes. The United States today has, for example, any number of "entangling alliances" that are highly influential in shaping its domestic and foreign policies. Nevertheless, the principle of "justice for all" remains in force and continues to attract new immigrants each year, while fostering conflicted efforts to determine what actually constitutes "justice and equality." Works Cited: Bell, Thomas, Out of This Furnace: a Novel of Immigrant Labor in America, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh, 1976.

Imperfect Competition Essay

In a perfectly competitive market—a market in which there is many buyers and sellers, none of whom represents a large part of the market—firms are price takers. That is, they are sellers of products who believe they can sell as much as they like at the current price but cannot influence the price they receive for their product. For example, a wheat farmer can sell as much wheat as she likes without worrying that if she tries to sell more wheat, she will depress the market price. The reason she need not worry about the effect of her sales on prices is that any individual wheat grower represents only a tiny fraction of the world market. When only a few firms produce a good, however, the situation is different. To take perhaps the most dramatic example, the aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing shares the market for large jet aircraft with only one major rival, the European firm Airbus. As a result, Boeing knows that if it produces more aircraft, it will have a significant effect on the total supply of planes in the world and will therefore significantly drive down the price of airplanes. Or to put it another way, Boeing knows that if it wants to sell more airplanes, it can do so only by significantly reducing its price. In imperfect competition, then, firms are aware that they can influence the prices of their products and that they can sell more only by reducing their price. This situation occurs in one of two ways: when there are only a few major producers of a particular good, or when each firm produces a good that is differentiated from that of rival firms. Monopoly profits rarely go uncontested. A firm making high profits normally attracts competitors. Thus situations of pure monopoly are rare in practice. Instead, the usual market structure in industries characterized by internal economies of scale is one of oligopoly, in which several firms are each large enough to affect prices, but none has an uncontested monopoly. The general analysis of oligopoly is a complex and controversial subject because in oligopolies, the pricing policies of firms are interdependent. Each firm in an oligopoly will, in setting its price, consider not only the responses of consumers but also the expected responses of competitors. In monopolistic competition models, two key assumptions are made to get around the problem of interdependence. First, each firm is assumed to be able to differentiate its product from that of its rivals. That is, because a firm’s customers want to buy that particular firm’s product, they will not rush to buy other firms’ products because of a slight price difference. Product differentiation thus ensures that each firm has a monopoly in its particular product within an industry and is therefore somewhat insulated from competition. Second, each firm is assumed to take the prices charged by its rivals as given—that is, it ignores the impact of its own price on the prices of other firms. As a result, the monopolistic competition model assumes that even though each firm is in reality facing competition from other firms, each firm behaves as if it were a monopolist—hence the model’s name. Reference: http://classof1.com/homework-help/international-economics-homework-help

Using Technology as a Tool to Improve Teaching and Learning Processes The WritePass Journal

Using Technology as a Tool to Improve Teaching and Learning Processes Abstract Using Technology as a Tool to Improve Teaching and Learning Processes ) Truscano, M (2008), Knowledge Maps: ICTs in Education, Infodev, Washington DC, USA Ward, S and Connolly, R, (2008), ‘Let them Eat Shakespeare’, Â  The Curriculum Journal, 19:4.

Historical Truth Essays - Reality, Political Philosophy, Free Essays

Historical Truth Essays - Reality, Political Philosophy, Free Essays Historical Truth All of human history is a collaboration of truth. In it, emotion and rationality fight each other in a bitter struggle for supremacy. The outcome remains in doubt still to this day, however, as evidence of both individual and institutional involve- ment contribute towards this subtle yet potent friction. Institutions are the founda- tion of the house of social order while individuals roam free throughout the house itself. History teaches us that humanity grows and becomes strengthened by diver- sity and a common understanding of the dangers of indifference. Truth, which is the essence of human history is often manipulated to serve individual interests for the achievement of social goals on a scale monestrous to most people. Truth then becomes a controlled element in an experiment involving all of society instead of the environment in which the experiment would take place. Once manipulated, the es- sence of this 'truth' is forever changed and what we once thought of as 'truth' now only becomes data supporting claims unverifiable in a personal or historical context. The danger to society only becomes apparent when the conundrum of decep- tion falls apart in light of the human ability to see order in a universe of constructed chaos. It is the individual practice of curious introspection through innate deduc- tive and inductive reasoning fueled by the passionate need to seek a harmony with oneself and the world one inhabits (truth) that saves us from complete social de- struction. Individually, the manipulation of truth affects each of us daily on scales both small and large. Social institutions can operate on timetables and charters which maneuver truth for self-interest while at the same time masking it under the guise of 'progress'. The point at which this personalization of historical interpretation be- comes destructive to the integrity of historical order, however, is subtle. Signs and symptoms of the massaging of history for individual gain litter the timestream of human evolution, but we would be hard pressed to find evidence of this in the present without the beneficial power of historical hindsight. The present signifi- cance of individual involvement in the scope of human history is impressively diffi- cult to determine, yet the consequences of indifference to this matter would lead to the eventual end of us all. After examining these claims it becomes painfully clear that we must seek to preserve the altruistic nature of our species in spite of existing in a world of self-interest and gain through individual and institutional deceit. This battle can be fought with the weapons given to us at birth: human reason (logic), compassion for all life (love), and the ability to create (free will). A response born from the in- stinctive enmity towards social indifference will also act as a shield to protect us from the casual acceptance of any 'fact' disguised as truth. And while this aware- ness grows with experience, a knowledge of the past will safeguard us against the perils of the present and future. Hope remains within Pandora's chest. Historical manipulation can be fought. Still, individuals will come to realize that a disregard for truth brought forth from a corrupted ideal of social order will harm them all. Egalitarian methods of social conduct based on a ubiquitous view of human history will provide us with answers to these social and personal dilemmas. Indifference must fall to human nature, for the seeds of civilizational progress lie within us, not widespread destruction. Truth is the essence of human history. We can choose to cherish its generous afflictions or ignore its brazen warnings. We can mold it to benefit our own interests or bend to the burden of altruistic, social order. Such a path requires a will determined to struggle, for it is in the heart of our very nature to make known the unknowable through logic and love, but it is in that struggle for truth which we will achieve our greatest glory for ourselves and all humanity. Preserve the integrity of knowledge and understanding through a continual appreciation of truth and history is saved. Be indifferent to the wisdom of the ages (and present) and all of tomorrow is doomed.

How Do You Get That Lonely essays

How Do You Get That Lonely essays Too often in life people dwell upon issues that cannot be changed. Instead of coming to terms with their inner demons they turn to drugs, alcohol, and in extreme cases suicide. It was just another story written on the second page, underneath the Tigers football score. It said he was only eighteen...they found him face down on the bedroom floor, is the first verse from Blaine Larsens song How Do You Get That Lonely. In this verse it seems that the boys death is of no great significance. However, in the chorus the listener becomes aware that this boy has taken his own life: ...how do you hurt that bad to make the call, that havin no life at all is better than the life you had. The theme of this song is all the grief and unanswered questions that suicide presents to those left behind. In How Do You Get That Lonely, the questions Larsen asks are Did his girlfriend break up with him, did he buy or steal that gun; Did he lose a fight with drugs or alcohol; Did his Mom and Daddy forget to say I love you son; Did no one see the writing on the wall? Of course these are impossible to answer because nobody knows. Although Larsen realizes people do the best they can and is not blamin anybody, he still doesnt understand how this boy became so lonely and nobody has a real explanation; they can only speculate. In conclusion, Larsen, like the others in the life, cannot make sense of this tragedy. Everybody is unable to grasp why or how anybody could take his or her life especially since this boy showed no signs of discontentment. Thus, his death is unnecessary because it only hurts those dearest to him. In addition, it emphasizes that suicide is not a solution to a problem because it only creates more pain for others, and it leaves them blaming themselves even. ...

The Setting Affects Treatment And Management Strategies That Might be Essay

The Setting Affects Treatment And Management Strategies That Might be Employed In Clinical Practice of Podiatry - Essay Example This essay stresses that government came up with its ambitious agenda with National Service Framework Older People in 2001. The strategies was not just focused on the health or social care, rather it was based on the total well being of the older people. It promoted the independence of the older people by providing them support to compress the morbidity. It promoted the overall well being of older people living in community or home. Each setting like domiciliary, care home, school and community hospital has different features. The domiciliary setting where in the old people will be at their home requires certain specific skills from the professional i.e. follow of ethical standard of work, respecting the privacy of the patient and family. This paper makes a conclusion that various settings have certain limitations which have impact on the clinical practice of podiatry. These limitations can be based on skill and expertise of professionals to the facilities and resources available within that setting. The podiatry related problems are more prone in the old age group due to their aging body. There are several problems which can be taken care of with initial efforts of individuals. The treatment strategies at the domiciliary level will be simpler than the treatment strategies at the hospital based on the problems. The setting affects treatment and management strategies that might be employed in clinical practice of podiatry.

UK Government Policy Relating to the Human Right Essay

UK Government Policy Relating to the Human Right - Essay Example The study has found that the UK government has been able to evolve its disability policy in order to meet the changing need of the time in the light of globalization. The theoretical analysis of the impact of globalization on dibbled people has found that globalization has various negative effects on disables people in terms of employment status, income, education, etc. At the time of evaluating the practical issues relating to the effectiveness of the chosen policy in redressing the problem of disabled people, it has been found that despite making improvements in overall status of disabled people of the country, the disabled people is still lagging behind others. The concept of equal rights has not materialized in practice. As the report declares disability has been brought to focus in the global agenda currently which is a socio-cultural issue that remained in the side line always. It is often mistaken with other two terms – handicap and impairment. These terms were used to have a perception from the diagnostic angle. These terms often misguided the policy makers to take any required political action or for any other practical use. The strengthening of the rights of disability in Great Britain by the Disability Rights Commission has been better professed as a changeover towards achievement of social, cultural and economic rights and so as an act of affirming the incapability of dissolving the human rights. As such, that procedure of growth represented a tangible work out in the accomplishment of communal rights by a constitutional equality body and a momentous step towards the outset of disability rights as worldwide contribution, not just personage but marginal group privilege. This paper consi dered the distinguishing features of that demanding activity. From the exacting knowledge of DRC, the paper looked onward to considerations of broad significance to extra such bodies, together with the new Equality and Human privileges Commission. (Office of Disability Issues, 2010; Yeates, 2008) In April 2000, DRC was established which manifest the foremost institutional disclosure of equality in Great Britain. The CRE and EOC were there since the middle of 1970s. Lots of changes happened in the intermediate period and there was an air of change in the three social, political and legislative policies: The Race relation Act of 2001 introduced a new optimistic race obligation for the public sector in order to give consequence to the proposal of Stephen Lawrence inquiry. (De Haan, 2007; Yeates & Holden, 2009; Lavalette and Pratt, 2005) The Human Rights Act of 1998 was owing then to come into force on October 2000. A lot of the key necessities of the Disability Discrimination Act of 19 95 were still to be phased incrementally as well

The Implementation of climate change and greenhouse emission policy Essay

The Implementation of climate change and greenhouse emission policy - Essay Example South Australia`s population is relatively high, hence the need for more land and this results to the cutting and burning down of trees. It also brought about an increase in the transport sector where nearly 25% of energy resource is consumed. Poor disposal of waste matter from the industries and homesteads has resulted to the production, of carbon dioxide and methane gases produced by decaying waste product. Agriculture is a main economic activity in Australia and it has its side effects such as the production of methane from sheep and nitrous acid from fertilizer, which are harmful to the environment. This climate change sent an alarm to the government to come up with laws, and ways that will reduce the effects of climate change and the greenhouse effect. Spoehr states that, â€Å"In July 2007, the South Australian Parliament passed The Climate Change and Greenhouse Emission reduction Act, 2007†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.targets are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Australia by at least 60 % by the end of 2050† (2009,p.177). By the end of 2014, the amount of renewable energy used and consumed will comprise of twenty percent the total. The Australian Government has come up with ways to curb the climate change, by the introduction of solar rebate. This is a system that provides homesteads with energy from sunlight to provide electricity for homes. The government came up with this incentive, so as to reduce the amount of electricity consumption in South Australia to about 33%. With the introduction of this incentive, a programme called solar hot water rebate was started in February 2010; the government replaced this programme with renewable Energy Bonus Scheme. The reduction of gas emission targets and green jobs: The Australian government aims to encourage people to volunteer in the degradation of gas emissions, and the reduction of gas emission, with a national target put into

Organizing and Staffing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizing and Staffing - Essay Example Due to the privacy environment of healthcare workers have to be able to make decisions without the need of having an immediate supervision question their judgment. Patients have to be able to trust the healthcare professional that is providing them with care. In the emergency room doctors and nurses are faced with tough situations and health cases that require the worker to make quick decisions that can have serious consequences in the lives of patients. The use of delegation gives the healthcare worker the ability to work faster. Due to the responsibilities associated with delegation of work in the healthcare industry health care professionals require many years of training and education. The use of delegation can save hospitals and other healthcare institutions money due to lower costs supervisory costs. Delegation enables workers to be able perform job related task without the need of a supervisor watching over the work of the employees. Delegation and empowerment are two closely related concepts. Delegation occurs when a manager gives a worker more responsibility by allowing them to make perform a particular job related task. Empowerment is the actual power the employee gains from delegation. Employees that are given empowerment are more motivated because they feel a greater sense of worth from their jobs. The use of empowerment can improve the efficiency of a business operation. Workers that are empowered are able to work faster because they have the ability to make their own decisions. Empowerment can also help improve the organization within a company. Organization refers to activities to collect and configure resources in order to implement plans in a highly effective and efficient manner (Managementhelp, 2010). When manager are able to correctly implement delegation the worke rs of a firm become more productive. It is

Factors Affecting Healthcare Systems Management Term Paper

Factors Affecting Healthcare Systems Management - Term Paper Example The present study has identified that the 1929 depression had significant social economic impacts to the society in a healthcare system, which led to the introduction of plans that has persisted to today. The government and private sectors introduced health insurance programs after the 1929 depression with the aim of helping the citizens to obtain affordable healthcare services due to the hard economic times that rendered the citizens the inability to pay for health services. This program serves as a security for health service for the people although the government has taken advantage of high income among the Americans to increase the Medicare tax. Consequently, this has led to the perception of exploitation among patients and the public who pay for the program as most of the tax is not used on the healthcare system, which leaves most of the people wondering on what the government is undertaking to ensure that the crisis once in the U.S in 1929 does not occur again. However, positiv e perception of the health system is increasing among the population of U.S. from the negative view that Americans have had towards the system since the 1929 depression. Cost and coverage is the main factor that most people consider when evaluating the effectiveness of the healthcare system. The people's dissatisfaction on the health care system today in the U.S. indicates that the impact on the 1929 depression to the health sector has devastated the balance between the cost and quality health care services, which has led to about 67% of the citizens dissatisfied by the healthcare system.

Electronic health record (EHR) Literature review

Electronic health record (EHR) - Literature review Example EHRs are very quick as there is no need for any paper-work for documenting and sharing of the information and images. Thus, an EHR plays a vital role in evidence based treatment and decision-making without having to go through the manual process (Williams, 2010; National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources, 2006). These enable access to the records even from distant areas by means of online networking. The drawback with EHRs is that these are quite expensive but once implemented, these tend to be very cost-effective. Carter (2008) studied that the concept of EHRs began in 1960s â€Å"with the COSTAR system, developed by Barnett at the Laboratory of Computer Science at Massachusetts General Hospital† (p.7). According to him, the earlier efforts provided models and pseudo types on which current â€Å"hospital-based and ambulatory† EHRs are based upon. Iakovidis (1998) suggested that EHRs can be used as tools for continuity of care and for collabora tive performance of healthcare providers. Many researchers have studied the functionality of EHRs in various contexts. All studies have led to the conclusion that EHRs are a significant contribution to the medical industry since these have modernized the way patients’ data is stored. Poissant et al. ... Research has it that despite significant advantages of EHRs, their adoption rates are progressing rather slowly. Gans et al (2005) conducted a research on the use of EHRs and IT based tools in the health industry and concluded that most health professionals were not incorporating EHRs especially in smaller practices. Their findings suggested that the adoption of EHRs was making progress at a snail's pace; however, the physicians planned to incorporate them in the coming years. They found that this happened because the practitioners found it difficult to choose and implement EHRs. This research is supported by the findings by Jha et al. (2006) who studied how common are the EHRs in USA’s health sector. They found that the year they conducted the research, the commonness of EHRs was low on scale. According to them, â€Å"data on their adoption rate are limited.† They found that only 23.9 percent of providers were using ambulatory EHRs and 5 percent were using computerized systems. They suggested that what kept physicians from implementing EHRs in their settings was the knowledge gap. These findings are further supported by recent researches as well. For example, Jha et al. (2009) conducted a research to find out if the adoption rate of EHRs in the healthcare sector has increased with passing years. Thus, they conducted a second research in 2009 and came to the same conclusion as in 2006. They found that â€Å"despite a consensus that the use of health information technology should lead to more efficient, safer, and higher-quality care, there are no reliable estimates of the prevalence of adoption of electronic health records in U.S. hospitals.† Jha et al. (2009) conducted a big survey of a number of acute care hospitals to find out the EHR

Organizing and Staffing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizing and Staffing - Essay Example Due to the privacy environment of healthcare workers have to be able to make decisions without the need of having an immediate supervision question their judgment. Patients have to be able to trust the healthcare professional that is providing them with care. In the emergency room doctors and nurses are faced with tough situations and health cases that require the worker to make quick decisions that can have serious consequences in the lives of patients. The use of delegation gives the healthcare worker the ability to work faster. Due to the responsibilities associated with delegation of work in the healthcare industry health care professionals require many years of training and education. The use of delegation can save hospitals and other healthcare institutions money due to lower costs supervisory costs. Delegation enables workers to be able perform job related task without the need of a supervisor watching over the work of the employees. Delegation and empowerment are two closely related concepts. Delegation occurs when a manager gives a worker more responsibility by allowing them to make perform a particular job related task. Empowerment is the actual power the employee gains from delegation. Employees that are given empowerment are more motivated because they feel a greater sense of worth from their jobs. The use of empowerment can improve the efficiency of a business operation. Workers that are empowered are able to work faster because they have the ability to make their own decisions. Empowerment can also help improve the organization within a company. Organization refers to activities to collect and configure resources in order to implement plans in a highly effective and efficient manner (Managementhelp, 2010). When manager are able to correctly implement delegation the worke rs of a firm become more productive. It is

Electronic health record (EHR) Literature review

Electronic health record (EHR) - Literature review Example EHRs are very quick as there is no need for any paper-work for documenting and sharing of the information and images. Thus, an EHR plays a vital role in evidence based treatment and decision-making without having to go through the manual process (Williams, 2010; National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources, 2006). These enable access to the records even from distant areas by means of online networking. The drawback with EHRs is that these are quite expensive but once implemented, these tend to be very cost-effective. Carter (2008) studied that the concept of EHRs began in 1960s â€Å"with the COSTAR system, developed by Barnett at the Laboratory of Computer Science at Massachusetts General Hospital† (p.7). According to him, the earlier efforts provided models and pseudo types on which current â€Å"hospital-based and ambulatory† EHRs are based upon. Iakovidis (1998) suggested that EHRs can be used as tools for continuity of care and for collabora tive performance of healthcare providers. Many researchers have studied the functionality of EHRs in various contexts. All studies have led to the conclusion that EHRs are a significant contribution to the medical industry since these have modernized the way patients’ data is stored. Poissant et al. ... Research has it that despite significant advantages of EHRs, their adoption rates are progressing rather slowly. Gans et al (2005) conducted a research on the use of EHRs and IT based tools in the health industry and concluded that most health professionals were not incorporating EHRs especially in smaller practices. Their findings suggested that the adoption of EHRs was making progress at a snail's pace; however, the physicians planned to incorporate them in the coming years. They found that this happened because the practitioners found it difficult to choose and implement EHRs. This research is supported by the findings by Jha et al. (2006) who studied how common are the EHRs in USA’s health sector. They found that the year they conducted the research, the commonness of EHRs was low on scale. According to them, â€Å"data on their adoption rate are limited.† They found that only 23.9 percent of providers were using ambulatory EHRs and 5 percent were using computerized systems. They suggested that what kept physicians from implementing EHRs in their settings was the knowledge gap. These findings are further supported by recent researches as well. For example, Jha et al. (2009) conducted a research to find out if the adoption rate of EHRs in the healthcare sector has increased with passing years. Thus, they conducted a second research in 2009 and came to the same conclusion as in 2006. They found that â€Å"despite a consensus that the use of health information technology should lead to more efficient, safer, and higher-quality care, there are no reliable estimates of the prevalence of adoption of electronic health records in U.S. hospitals.† Jha et al. (2009) conducted a big survey of a number of acute care hospitals to find out the EHR

Country Analysis Essay Example for Free

Country Analysis Essay India is the third largest economy in the world as regards to its purchasing power. If effective measures are taken it can be the third largest economy after the US and China. Although India has much potential in terms of economic advancement there are vital issues that need to be addressed for instance overpopulation, environmental degradation, ethnic and religious strife as well as extensive poverty. This paper will provide general information about the country for instance it’s political, economic, social and culture organization, economic and trade indicators, specific reasons why its market is attractive, potential and pitfalls in international management, and contemporary issues that may support-impede international management. A brief history. India is located in the southern Asia and it borders the Arabian Sea as well as the Bay of Bengal. It is between Burma and Pakistan. Its early history dates back to the 19th century when Britain had the political control of all the Indian land. During the first and the second world wars the Indian soldiers played a significant role. The Indians resisted the British control over their land and this led to their independence in 1947. Significant leaders that led in the non violent resistance include Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. (www. state. gov). The region was divided into two comprising of the secular Indian state and the Muslim state of Pakistan. The two countries went into war in 1971 and the Eastern Pakistan became a separate nation of Bangladesh. The state of Kashmir is however a cause of dispute between the two countries up to date. Political organization. India declared itself a republic in January 1950 and it set a constitution that would guide its undertakings. The constitution was keen in ensuring justice, liberty and equality. It was also made flexible enough to incorporate the social as well as economic changes should they arise. In ensuring democracy prevailed it first held its general elections in 1952 and since then election are held after every five years. India is a Union that comprises of 28 States and seven centrally administered Union Territories. (www. state. gov). Every one above eighteen years of age and is an Indian citizen has the right to vote according to the provisions of the constitution. Fundamental Rights of every Indian citizen include the freedom of speech, expression, belief, assembly and association, migration, and choice of occupation or trade. Discrimination on grounds of race, religion, creed or sex is consequently avoided through the above provisions. India has a form of parliamentary democracy, it has a bicameral parliament and the sovereignty rests ultimately with the people. The elected officials in the parliament are responsible in making important decisions regarding the country. India has a Council of States which consists of not more than 250 members. 12 members are nominated by the President of India while the rest are elected. The vice president oversees the Council of States which is also known as Rajya Sabha. An important aspect regarding the Council of States is that it is not subject to dissolution and a third of its members retire at the end of every second year. Nominated members have a special knowledge in areas for instance literature, science, arts as well as in social services. There is also the Lok Sabha or House of the People which consists of 545 members. 530 of these are directly elected from the 25 States and 13 are from the seven Union Territories. Two of the members are nominated by the President and they act as representatives of the Anglo-Indian community. The President of India is also the Head of the State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. (www. state. gov). He is elected by an electoral college composed of members of both the Houses of Parliament that is the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and the legislatures of the nation’s constituent States. The President holds office for five years term but he can be re-elected. However, the President does not on his own initiative exercise any constitutional powers. The Council of Ministers which is headed by the Prime Minister is the one responsible for that. Election of the vice president is between the members of both houses and the one with majority support in the Lok Sabha becomes the prime minister. The prime minister advises the president on the ministers to appoint and as long as the minister has support from the parliament he can continue to enjoy his term in the office. The judiciary is independent of the executive and it has the role of safe guarding the constitution of the land. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial tribunal but each state has its own high court. The current head of state who is also the president is Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil and the head of government or the prime minister is Manmohan Singh. (www. state. gov). Economic. The GDP or the purchasing power parity as at 2007 was at $2. 965 trillion while the GDP per capita was at $2,700. The composition of the GDP according to the sectors was as follows; agriculture contributed to 16. 6%, industry 28. 4% and the services sector was 55%. The labor force was 516. 4 million with agriculture registering the highest percentage at 60% the service sector was second at 28% and industry contributed 12%. The unemployment rate in 2007 was 7. 2% and the population below poverty line was 25%. The inflation rate or the consumer prices in 2007 was 5. 9%. The government budget was as follows; revenues were $145. 2 billion while expenditures were at $182. 4 billion. The public debt both the federal and state debt accounted to 58. 8% of GDP. Agricultural products that are produced in India include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry and fish. Relevant industries include textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery and software. (CIA). In terms of trade India has been fluctuating for instance from 2005 to 2008 goods and services in terms of the percentage of GDP has shifted from 20. 2, 22. 7, 21. 2 to 20. 6. Likewise the inflation in this period was 4. 2, 6. 2, 6. 4 and 5. 2. Australian trade relationship in 2007 was as follows; exports to India accounted to a tune of 5. 5% of the total share recording a growth of 5. 4. Imports from India were 0. 8% of the total share which was a 14% total growth. In total the trade accounted for 3% of the total share with a growth of 6. 5%. Major exports to Australia include non monetary gold, coal, copper, ore and wool. India imports pearls and gems, electric plants, jewels and medicaments. The services exported to India from Australia include education related as well as personal travel and they attribute to 3. 8% of the total share while the imports are 0. 9% of the total share and the include computer services and personal travel. Other export destinations include the US which account for 15. 4%, United Arab Emirates 9. 5% and China 6. 4%. (CIA). India can increase its GDP by increasing the production of the goods and services that it has a competitive advantage in. The population as at July 2008 according to CIA was at 1,147,995,898. The age structure was as follows 0-14 years attributed to 31. 5% of the total population with 189,238,487 males and 172,168,306 females. 15-64 years were 63. 3% of the total population of which there were 374,157,581 males and 352,868,003 were females. Those aged 65 years and over comprised of 5. 2% of the total population with 28,285,796 males and 31,277,725 females. The population growth rate is 1. 578% with a birth rate of 22. 22 births/1,000 and a death rate of 6. 4 deaths/1,000 population. The total infant mortality rate was 32. 31 deaths/1,000 live births with males comprising 36. 94 deaths/1,000 live births as females comprised of 27. 12 deaths/1,000. Life expectancy at birth for the total population is 69. 25 years and males register a life expectancy of 66. 87 years as that of females is 71. 9 years. The total fertility rate is 2. 76 children born per woman. (CIA). Among the significant activities that have an impact in the country’s economy is agriculture which is both traditional as well as modern. The service sector and modern industries also have a significant impact on the country’s economy. A large proportion of the labor force is in the agriculture and this is risky as the sector is prone to many fluctuations in the market. To make India attractive to foreigners as an effort of boosting its economy the government has reduced unnecessary controls that would hinder foreign trade and investment. Allowing foreign investment on key areas like the telecommunications will be critical in promoting economic advancement in India. For the sensitive sectors like agriculture imposition of tariffs has the effect of reducing the number of people venturing in it. The country’s economy has registered a 7% growth within a decade and it has been able to reduce the poverty levels. In 2006 it was able to achieve an economic growth of 8. 5%. The high population can be of positive effects to the economy in the sense that it can be exploited as potential labor that is an important factor of production. By using the educated labor force it has risen to become a major exporter of software services as well as software workers. Through the economic expansion the country has been able to reduce its federal deficit at a remarkable rate. However the strong growth blended with easy accessibility to credit as well as a booming real estate precipitated inflation that was a cause of inflation. To control the inflation the central bank applied monetary policies like hiking the interest rates to slow down the credit growth. Social and culture organization India’s culture is unique although it is very diverse for instance there are over 40 languages. Indians are very friendly and this is good as it can have a positive effect on the manner at which they relate with foreigners. They are also very respectful to all and employers have good relationships with their employees. India is a resourceful country especially as it is known to provide its expertise regarding the construction of cement plants to the airports as well as to the railway systems. It has programs geared to ensuring that developing countries are provided for with feasibility and detailed technical evaluation studies. The program is effective in the sense that it provides support in training personnel in areas like agriculture as well as small scale industries. India is also very committed to ensuring that it promotes unity between the developed as well as the developing countries towards the new economic order. (www. dfat. gov. au). India has been firm in its stand of not interfering with internal affairs of other countries or nations. It however advocates for the adherence of the dignity of human beings. Regarding its position on disarmament it is highly committed to ensuring that the horrors of terrorism do not cause harm or destruction to mankind. To this effect it has joined other countries in banning nuclear weapons. Potential and pitfalls in international management and solutions. Major pitfalls in the country’s economy include the lack of privatization of government owned industries as that would increase efficiency and accountability. The populist pressures from the government are a major reason behind the lack of privatization of state owned industries. Major steps should also be taken so that the number of people living below the poverty line is reduced. The issue of unemployment is also an important one that should be well addressed. Encouraging people to be self employed as well as providing the appropriate tools will be a step forward in eradicating unemployment. Another critical issue that should be well addressed is the issue of a balanced rural urban divide. There is a problem in India where by approximately 70% of the population live in the rural areas or villages and this affects the pace by which rural urban growth takes place. (Panda and Gupta, 2004). A balanced development is what will see the Indian economy thrive. To be successful in business it will be appropriate to enhance the education system in India. This will be a step forward in ensuring that there is improved skill development. It is also critical to focus on skills development, improved governance as well as forging partnership in the private as well as public sector in the provision of infrastructures. Water is very essential and its scarcity ought to be effectively addressed. The biggest challenge that India faces is the population growth which will have a stressful impact on the countries infrastructures. There is an urgent need to control the population growth as an effort of trying to reduce the adverse effects that it would bring to the economy. To promote sustained growth economic reforms ought to be put in place so that the challenges can be well addressed. Fiscal discipline will be vital. International business is affected negatively by the fluctuations in the markets. The government ought to focus on those sectors that the economy is worst fairing in like health as well as in education. To further address the issue of unemployment it is critical to reform the labor laws so that more job opportunities are created. (Phansalkar S. 2005). Although agriculture plays an important role in the countries economy there is need to reduce over dependence. Reorganizing it in a manner that will promote the introduction of new technologies that would reduce the over reliance on climate for instance irrigation would also be vital. In an effort to reform the financial sector it will be appropriate to privatize some public sector banks as such a move will encourage efficiency and effectiveness. (Leung K and White S, 2004). To attract and retain Australian investors in India it has to ensure that its political system does not jeopardize with the investors activities. There have been cases where other foreign investors like US companies have preferred to close down instead of fighting in courts over legal requirement issues. Enhancing the structural systems will be a necessary step if investors are to be preserved in the country. Irrational tax policies as well as other forms of trade barriers need to be addressed as they act as a disincentive to trade and investment. (timesofindia. indiatimes. com). Advancing the level at which the infrastructure is being developed by increasing the finances put aside for the same will be critical in encouraging Australian investors. Enhancing the political reforms geared towards improving stability, privatization and deregulation as well as land reforms. An Australian based company can find the Indian market attractive or one with many opportunities. India is modernizing its infrastructure especially the transportation sector like the airports. This implies that there will be huge opportunities in infrastructure development like in roads, constructions, power plants, nuclear plants and air modernization. There is a considerable stable political environment that will not have adverse effects on businesses in India. (Phansalkar S. 2005). It also has a stable currency and the market is one of the biggest democratic markets with a huge middle class and this will be necessary for the company as it will provides for labor as well as potential market. The skilled labor can be tapped or exploited to provide labor for the foreign based company. There are minimal restrictions of entry to the Indian markets and the Australian based company will not face many challenges when trying to venture. References: CIA. The World Fact Book. India. Retrieved on 31st May 2008 from https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in. html Kwok Leung and Steven White. 2004. Handbook of Asian Management. Birkhauser Publishers. Panda and Gupta. 2004. Mapping Cultural Diversity within India: A Meta-analysis of Some Recent Studies. Global Business Review. 5: 27-49 Phansalkar S. 2005. Opportunities And Strategies In Indian Business: Preparing for a Global India. Sage Publishers. India. Recent economic indicators. Retrieved on 31st May 2008 from http://www. dfat. gov. au/geo/fs/inia. pdf Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar. 2001. What makes MNCs quit India? Retrieved on 31st May 2008 from http://timesofindia. indiatimes. com/articleshow/1602986123. cms Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. 2007 Background Note: India. Retrieved on 31st May 2008 from http://www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3454. htm

Advantages of Composite Construction

Advantages of Composite Construction With regards to Civil and Structural Engineering, composite construction typically refers to the use of steel and concrete formed together so that the resulting component behaves as a single element. The aim of composite construction is to utilise the best properties of the different materials and to deliver performance that is greater than had the individual components been used together but not unified. In the case of steel and concrete, the best properties would be the tensile capacity of the steel and the compressive capacity of the concrete. (Nethercot, 2004) Composite construction is an effective method of construction and delivers good performance. The methodology for designing composite structures has been researched in great detail. For these reasons, composite construction is a very popular method of construction around the world. In order for the materials to behave as one element, it is necessary for some method of connecting the two materials. A shear connection between two materials will enable composite action between them. (The Institution of Structural Engineers) 2.1.1 Benefits of Composite Construction The benefits of composite construction include speed of construction, performance and value. Steel framing for a structure can be erected quickly and the pre-fabricated steel floor decks can be put in place immediately. When cured, the concrete provides additional stiffness to the structure. Additionally, the concrete encasement protects the steel from buckling, corrosion and fire. Service integration within the channels on the composite decks is another advantage to composite construction. Building quality standards can be adhered to easily by the use of pre-fabricated decks. Excessive deflections can be controlled by cambering the beams or by shoring the metal decks to limit deflection when concrete is poured. 2.1.2 Codes for the Design of Composite Structures The design of composite structures was governed by the British Standards. BS 5950-3-1 dealt with the design of beams whilst slabs were governed by BS 5950-4. Pre-fabricated decking used with composite structures was governed by BS 5950-6. Since the introduction of the Eurocode set of standards for the European Union, the design of composite structures is standardised by Eurocode 4. (BS EN 1994-1-2) (BCSA; TATA Steel; Steel Construction Institute) 2.1.3 The Principle of Composite Action The principle of Composite Action underpins the use of composite materials in construction. It relates to the interaction of two or more separate elements acting together and contributing together rather than separately. By physically connecting them, the strength of the beams and the resistance to bending, shear and torsion are significantly increased. The Principle of Composite Action is best illustrated as an example. The diagrams below shows two uniform concrete beams placed on top of each other and loaded with a uniformly distributed load. Both beams will resist the load independently and there will be relative movement between them. The bending strength will be the sum of the individual beams contribution. If the beams have width w and height h, the bending strength M will be: However, if the two beams are connected rigidly together by shear connectors and the relative movement between them is eliminated, the width remains w whilst the height becomes 2h. The bending strength M will be: This represents a doubling of the bending strength through the use of composite action. This is the principle behind the use of steel beams with reinforced concrete floor decks. The two are connected by shear connectors. The increase in strength due to composite action can be as much as 20%, resulting in lighter and thinner sections. (TATA Steel) Figure : The differences between identical beams when composite action is utilised. The beam on the left is comprised of two concrete beams that are not connected compositely. When loaded, there is relative slip between the beams. The component beams on the right are rigidly connected together by means of shear connectors. When loaded, there is no slip between the beams and the assemblage behaves as one large beam. Image from TATA Steel. 2.2 Composite Floor Deck Slabs Composite floor decks are comprised of either steel beams or concrete embedded steel beams together with a reinforced concrete slab. The profiled steel formwork that supports the concrete floor during casting is of vital importance as it also provides the shear bond to enable the materials to work compositely. The role that the profiled decking plays in fire resistance will be discussed in more detail in Section 3.3. Composite action is achieved between the beams and slab by the use of shear connectors that will be discussed in Section 2.4 in more detail. (Metal Cladding and Roofing Manufacturers Association, 2003) The profiled steel decking used in the construction of composite floor systems contributes significantly to the ease and speed at which the structure is construction. It acts as both the permanent formwork and contributes to the overall requirement of reinforcement. The performance of the steel decking when exposed to fire needs careful consideration and is dealt with in Section 3.2. Additional reinforcement is positioned in the troughs of the decking to ensure adequate performance in fire. Benefits associated with using profiled steel decking are reduced dimensions and weight of the overall structure. They also provide satisfactory performance in the areas of strength and economic constraints during construction. (Michel Crisinel, 2004) 2.2.1 Types of Composite Slabs The classification of composite slabs depends primarily on the geometry of the steel deck profile used. Shallow decks are classified by depths in the range of 120-200mm whilst deep decks are classified by depths in the range of 200-350mm. (Aida Rodera Garcia) The most common composite slab consists of the profiled steel decking and concrete cast in-situ. Once cured the concrete and decking act compositely. Sufficient interaction between the concrete is achieved by a chemical bond and a mechanical bond facilitated by the shape of the decking. In design, it is common to neglect the contribution from the chemical bond as it is unreliable. There are many different types of profiled decking available and contribute to the classification of the slab. (Nawy, 2008) Pre-cast concrete slabs can also be used to form a composite floor deck system. The slabs must be designed specifically so that they can interact with the beam system in place. The composite action in this case can be achieved by welded shear studs and transverse reinforcement across the floor deck. By utilising pre-cast concrete decks, hollow core slabs can be used. These can reduce the weight of the whole building whilst offering similar performance to solid slabs. Pre-Cast slabs are usually covered by a layer of concrete after installation to produce a more finished and aesthetic result. Figure : Examples of Hollow-Core Slabs The final type of composite floor slab is the Slim Floor. This consists of the supporting steel beam being encased in the concrete with the lower flange of the beam supporting the floor. Diagrams depicting the various composite slab types in use today are shown below. Figure 4: Proprietary Slim Floor System Slimdek- TATA Steel Figure 3: Example of Solid Slab with Topping and Encasement cast In-Situ Proprietary Slim Floor System Slimdek- TATA Steel http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0143974X99000759-gr5.gif 2.2.2 Design Composite floor decks are comprised of permanent formworks of profiled steel decking. The decking serves to support the concrete during casting and before it has cured sufficiently to support itself. It is important to ensure that after curing sufficient interaction between the concrete and steel has developed so that the assembly behave compositely. The rebar is placed in the steel decking prior to pouring as is a steel mesh that serves to minimise cracking over supports and to increase the fire resistance of the floor deck. Most decks achieve a satisfactory degree of shear connection with the concrete by the presence of embossments and indentations along the profile of the decking. This type of shear connection is known as a shear bond. (Steel Construciton Institute, 1994) The decking also contributes to the stabilisation of the structure against lateral torsional buckling of the steel supporting sections and transfers wind loading forces to the walls and columns. The decking also serves to minimise cracking of the concrete slab during expansion and contraction such as during curing and fire. This will be further discussed in Section 3. (Aida Rodera Garcia) The steel decking is normally in the range of 0.9-1.5mm thick and has a yield strength of 280-350 N/mm2. Higher strength steels may be used if the spans are longer than the norm. Typical spans for a composite floor deck are between 2.7 and 3.6m although longer spans may be achieved by shoring the deck during construction. Galvanisation of the faces of the decking is done to prevent damage to the steel during pouring and in service. 2.2.2.1 Concrete Type Strength Both Normal Weight Concrete (NWC) and Light Weight Concrete (LWC) may be used in composite floor slab construction. The most convenient method for concrete placement is by pump. The concrete type and grade is an important design consideration as it affects the final stiffness of the deck system and the strength of the shear connection. 2.2.2.2 Steel Decking Resistance The elastic moment resistance of the steel decking may be calculated from the effective breadth of the steel elements in compression. Stiffeners are present in the deck design and contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the section. In designing a deck system, moment redistribution is not allowed. This results in an underestimate of the critical load for the decking. (ECCS, 1993) 2.2.2.3 Deflection Deflection limits for a composite slab are generally the span/180. However, by shoring the composite slabs during casting, this can effectively be reduced to zero. Increased deflection limits of span/130 are allowed if pooling of the concrete occurs in the middle of the span after pouring. (ECCS, 1993) 2.2.2.4 Transverse Reinforcement The strength of the concrete should be checked to ensure it is capable of receiving the force transferred from the shear connectors. Where the concrete may be susceptible to cracking, the provision of transverse reinforcement perpendicular to the beam is required. (Aida Rodera Garcia) 2.2.3 Failure The ultimate moment resistance of a composite slab is defined as the point at which less than 2mm of longitudinal slip has occurred between the concrete and the decking. Failure of a composite deck is deemed to have occurred when slip of more than 2mm occurs. Failure most commonly occurs during curing before the concrete has reached its design strength. 2.2.4 Fire Resistance of Composite Sections The minimum slab depth will be determined by the fire insulation requirements and the amount of reinforcement that is necessary to withstand loading at the fire limit state. This will be dealt with in more detail in Chapter 3. 2.3 Composite Beams A composite beam can be structurally described as a T-Beam, with the top flange composed of concrete in compression and the steel section in tension. Forces between the two materials are transferred by shear connectors. The principle of composite action with regards to beams leads to increased strength and stiffness of the system whilst using a smaller steel section. The two main variants of composite beams used today are shown in Figure 6. Beams are usually composed of a UKB or UKC section, partially or fully encased in concrete for strength and fire resistance purposes. (ECCS, 1993) 2.3.1 Design In composite beam design, the steel section is first sized to adequately support all the loads acting on it. No contribution is taken into account from the concrete as it has not gained adequate strength for composite action. A common value for the load applied to the beam from the concrete slab is 0.75kN/m2. Once the loading has been calculated, the beam is designed according to Eurocode 3. The presence of steel decking normal to the steel section provides lateral restraint to the beam. In this case, the beam can reach its full plastic moment. In cases where the presence of steel decking is parallel to the beam, the beam is only laterally restrained at the connections at either end and the buckling resistance of the beam must be calculated based on its effective length. The effective breadth of the concrete flange, taken from the supported slab, is approximated as the span/8 on both sides of the beam. This results in an effective breadth of span/4 for simply supported internal beams. 2.4 Shear Connectors Shear connectors are an essential element of composite construction if it is to perform adequately. The main purpose of the shear connector is to provide longitudinal shear resistance between the materials so that they act compositely and to facilitate the interaction between the different materials and to allow them to act as one. (MCRMA, 2003) The shear connection between steel beams and concrete slabs is typically achieved by headed steel studs, welded to the top flange of the steel beam and subsequently encased in concrete. The performance of the studs depends on their dimensions and the spacing along the flange of the beam. Near supports, where the shear forces are greatest, the spacing is reduced. Shear studs can be welded through steel decking. Welding shear studs to the steel beams has a number of limitations and guidelines. The flange of the steel beam has to be bare and can not contain any contaminants such as intumescient paint used as fire protection or moisture. This method also works best when the thickness of the steel decking is less than 1.25mm. Weather conditions will also affect the use of this method of connection. Excess moisture in the air can result in the finished weld being brittle and prone to sudden failure. Shear connectors can also be placed during production although mistakes in placement can be difficult and costly to correct. The purpose of a shear connector is to primarily resist lateral shear forces and displacement between the beam and concrete slab. However, they are also designed to prevent upward displacement of the slab from the beam as it has a tendency to do. For this reason, the studs are headed to provide vertical resistance to seperation. 2.4.1 Types of Shear Connectors In the past, the most common method of shear connection was a headed stud. As welding is only suitable for decking with a minimum thickness, where the decking is too thin, nailed studs are used instead. The choice of which shear connector is used ultimately depends on the shear resistance required and the grade and strength of concrete used. There are four main types of shear connector in use today. The most common is the headed stud. However, with the advent of thinner composite decks, the use of headed studs is not practical. This had led to the introduction of nailed sheets of shear connectors. The dimensions of the most common stud are 19mm x 125mm and the method of connection to the steel beam is ceramic disk welding. (Aida Rodera Garcia) 2.4.1.1 Headed Studs The most common form of connecting materials compositely is with the use of headed shear studs. The behaviour of headed studs does not vary significantly when concrete properties are changed. Resistance to shear depends on the number of studs used and performance is less that that achieved by more modern shear connectors such as the Perfobondstrip or a welded T-Section. (Zingoni, 2001) The advantages of stud connectors is that the welding process is quick and simple, the placement of the studs does not interfere with the placement of reinforcement within the slab and they provide uniform resistance to shear in all directions normal to the axis of the stud. (Johnson, 2004) 2.4.1.2 Oscillating Perfobondstrip The curved form of an oscillating perfobondstrip provides better force transfer between steel and concrete than a continuous strip. The load capacity of this connector is larger than a headed stud or welded T-Section. This form of connector is most suited to light weight concrete or high strength normal weight concrete. Problems with this form of connection are difficulties in welding the section to the steel beam. (Zingoni, 2001) 2.4.1.3 Continuous Perfobondstrip The continuous perfobondstrip is similar to the oscillating perfobondstrip but achieves lower resistance values in all categories of concrete type and grade used. For this reason it is not as widely used as the oscillating form although welding is easier. 3.3.1.4 Welded T-Section Welded T-Section connectors perform very well in comparison to headed studs and achieve the same load resistance as oscillating perfobondstrip. Load capacity increases when Light Weight Concrete or high strength concrete is used. The strength comparisons of the shear connectors described above are shown in Table 1 below. The results were obtained from Galjaard and Walraven (2001) from tests carried out to Eurocode 4 standards for push-out resistance. It can be seen that large differences in resistance and ductility were observed. (Aida Rodera Garcia) 2.4.2 Shear Connector Design The choice of which shear connector design is open so long as it possesses the ductility and provides the necessary shear and separation resistance to the composite system. Headed studs are the most common form of connection and the design of such will be dealt with in this section. The design of shear connectors and composite slabs is given in Eurocode 4. Partial safety factors (ÃŽÂ ³v) of 1.25 for ultimate, 1.0 for serviceability and 1.0 for fire are specified in the codes. (Steel Construciton Institute, 1994) 2.4.2.1 Spacing The correct placement of studs along the upper flange of the beam is of great importance. It is important that the flange of the beam be clean, dry and free of contaminants such as paint or fire protection material. A number of conditions for the placement of studs are described below. The upper flange thickness may not be less than 40% of the diameter of the headed stud. After pouring, the head of the stud should have a minimum of 20mm cover. The minimum edge spacing of the headed studs is 20mm, to facilitate welding. Transverse spacing of headed studs must be greater than or equal to four times the diameter of the headed stud. Longitudinal spacing of the headed studs must lie between the minimum of five times the diameter of the headed stud and the maximum of 800mm or six times the overall depth of the slab, whichever is smaller. (ECCS, 1993) 2.4.2.2 Resistance of Shear Connectors The failure of a composite floor deck slab and the failure of shear connectors occurs due to either the strength of the concrete being surpassed or the strength of the weld connecting the studs to the flange of the beam failing. Shear connection design resistances are taken as the minimum of either the concrete or the headed stud. The equations for the design resistance of the concrete and the headed stud are given below. Where: d is the diameter of the headed stud. The ultimate tensile strength (fu) is most commonly 450N/mm2 and should not exceed 500N/mm2. The characteristic cylinder strength of the concrete is given by fck. Ec is the mean value of the secant modulus of the concrete. The values for different concrete strengths are given in the Annex Table 4. The value for ÃŽÂ ± is governed by the ratio of the height of the slab to the depth. The values of ÃŽÂ ± are given below. For 3 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ h/d à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 4, ÃŽÂ ± = 0.2(h/d +1) For h/d > 4, ÃŽÂ ± = 1.0 The partial safety factor () given by 1.25 in the ultimate limit state. (ECCS, 1993) Figure 10: Bearing stress on the shaft of a Headed Stud Connector (Johnson, 2004) 2.4.2.3 Degree of Shear Connection The degree of shear connection is based on whether the required numbers of shear connectors necessary for the composite beam to develop its full plastic moment have been installed. If fewer than the required amount necessary have been installed, the moment resistance of the composite system will be less than the maximum. The degree of shear connection is given by the equations below. Where Rc denotes the compressive resistance of the concrete slab and Rs denote the tensile resistance of the steel section. Both values are given by the equations below. Where hc is the depth of the concrete slab above the profiled decking. Eurocode 4 also provides provision for the minimum for the degree of shear connection based on the span (L) of the composite beam. These ratios are given below. For: L à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 5m, N/Nf à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 0.4 5m à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ L à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 25m, N/Nf à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 0.25 + 0.03L L > 25m, N/Nf à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 1.0 (ECCS, 1993) Chapter 3 Composite Steel Deck Floors in Fire 3.1 Background The performance of composite steel deck floors in fire has been much studied to assess the design considerations that must be implemented and for designing the rules for reinforcement placement. In general, composites perform well in fire due to the insulating properties of concrete and the role of correctly placed mesh reinforcement and metal decking. (BCSA, Corus, SCI, 2007) Research conducted in the UK has concluded that previous methods of designing composite floor decks for fire scenarios was over conservative and that composite floor performance in many common fire scenarios was satisfactory. (Steel Conctruction Institute, 1991) Composite steel deck floor systems are typically not provided any fire protection material although the supporting beam to which the floor is connected is fire protected. The profiled decking of a composite floor acts as some of the tensile reinforcement of the system. For this reason, it is important to account for the effects that elevated temperatures will have on the decking. (Steel Conctruction Institute, 1991) The main contributor to the fire resistance of a composite slab is the embedded rebar mesh in the slab. As the temperature of the profiled decking increases in a fire scenario, the resistance that it provides is neglected. Additional reinforcement in placed in the slab to compensate for the loss of strength of the decking at elevated temperatures. The embedded reinforcement mesh is insulated by concrete and maintains a temperature sufficient for load bearing at the fire limit state. The positioning of rebar within composite floors typically results in higher concrete cover compared to normal reinforced concrete slabs. This results in good fire performance as the temperature of the reinforcement will rarely approach critical levels. The positioning of the reinforcement in the upper of the slab also contributes to controlling spalling in fire. The decking of a composite does play an important role however in maintaining the integrity of the concrete slab during fire. It limits the passage of flame and hot gases into direct contact with the concrete and controls spalling. 3.2 Load Resistance in Fire Design of composite slabs in fire conditions is based on the ultimate limit state properties. A composite floor slab is assumed to behave in bending as either a simply supported or continuous element. The load resistance of a composite floor deck system is due to the floor behaving as a reinforced concrete slab with loads being resisted by the bending action of the slab. Failure of a slab in fire occurs as a result of reinforcement failure. (Corus Construction Industrial, 2006) 3.2.1 Methodology There are two main methods for calculating the fire resistance efficiency of a composite floor deck system, referred to as the fire engineering method and the simplified method. 3.2.1.1 Fire Engineering Method The fire engineering method is based on the assumption that in the fire limit state, the plastic moment capacity of the floor is reached at higher temperatures and that redistribution of moments occurs where the slab is continuous. Temperature gradient experiments have produced temperature profiles such as those present in the Eurocodes. These profiles can be used to calculate the capacities of the beam in both hogging and sagging bending. The capabilities of the beams in the fire limit state can then be assessed. 3.2.1.2 Simplified Method The simplified method involves little or no calculation and relies on test data of actual fires to design the reinforcement in the composite slab. The density of the mesh can be adjusted to account for point loads and increased moment around supports. In general, the simplified method will deliver a result that demands less reinforcement in the design whilst the fire engineering method will allow greater flexibility in positioning the reinforcement and customising fire resistance time periods. The use of different grades of concrete will affect the dimensions and composition of a composite slab. Light Weight Concrete (LWC) has better insulating properties versus Normal Weight Concrete and its use will result in thinner slabs. 3.2.1.3 Design Period Deflection Limits The fire resistance of a composite floor deck system is measured as the time that a floor system can maintain sufficient load-carrying ability, maintain its integrity or by limiting heat transfer through the slab. The load-carrying ability of the composite floor system is measured by the amount of deflection that the system undergoes during fire exposure. Deflection greater than the span/30 is deemed critical as is a deflection rate greater than span2/9000d mm/min between deflections equalling span/30 and span/20. The integrity of the composite floor is deemed satisfactory for fire resistance if it can limit the passage of flame and hot gases. The insulating properties of concrete are deemed sufficient for fire resistance if after fire exposure, the upper surface temperature of the concrete slab remains below 140 °C. (Steel Conctruction Institute, 1991) 3.2.1.4 Reinforcement Fire resistance of a composite deck is attributed to the positioning of reinforcement in a mesh configuration within the slab. The most common forms of mesh are A142 mesh (6mm wires at 200mm c/c) and A193 mesh (7mm wires at 200mm c/c), the numbers referring to the cross-sectional area of steel per metre run, although larger gauges may be used if necessary. The tensile strength of the reinforcement is typically 450-500N/mm2. The positioning of the mesh is in the upper portion of the slab with a minimum cover and can be arranged to resist hogging or sagging bending or a combination thereof. (Aida Rodera Garcia) 3.3 The Fire Engineering Method The fire engineering method for composite slab design is discussed in this section. The partial safety factors at the fire limit state for materials and loads are outlined below. Materials: Steel: ÃŽÂ ³mr = 1.0 Concrete: ÃŽÂ ³mc = 1.3 Loads: Dead: ÃŽÂ ³fd = 1.0 Imposed ÃŽÂ ³fi = 1.0 3.3.1 Materials In conjunction with a suitable design fire scenario, it is possible to account for the reduction in strength of both the reinforcement and the concrete in fire conditions. With elevated temperatures, a reduction factor K may be used to account for the loss of strength associated with the increase in temperature. The table of reduction factors is given in Annex Table 5. The equations used for assessing the design strengths of the reinforcement and concrete at elevated temperatures including the reduction factor (K) are given below. Reinforcement: Concrete (Steel Conctruction Institute, 1991) 3.3.2 Depth The minimum depth of the concrete slab is taken from the tables below. Different values are obtained depending on the type of decking used, such as trapezoidal or re-entrant, and the concrete grade. This minimum depth satisfies the insulation requirement for composite slabs during fire exposure. Alternatively, the minimum depth may be taken from experimental test results from buildings of a similar design. (Steel Conctruction Institute, 1991) (Aida Rodera Garcia) 3.4 The Simplified Method The simplified method consists of installing a layer of mesh (A142, A193 or similar) in the upper layer of the concrete. One of the main differences between the Fire Engineering Method and the Simplified Method is that relatively few calculations are required for the Simplified. An outline of the Simplified Method is a follows: Imposed loads on a composite floor deck slab should not exceed 6.7kN/m2. The mesh size is chosen based on the required fire resistance period and the span of the slab. The minimum cover to any part of the mesh must be at least 15mm and not greater than 45mm. The span of a composite floor slab designed using the Simplified Method is typically 3.6m although spans greater than this may be used if adequate calculation is carried out. 3.5 Comparison of Methods While no method is definitively better than the other, they both have advantages over the other. The Simplified Method is more economical and is based directly on test results and not on theoretical calculation, which has a tendency to under-estimate the strength of materials. The Simplified Method also takes into account the contribution from the profiled steel deck even though the contribution may be small compared to that from the reinforcement mesh. The Fire Engineering Method however allows great flexibility in the customisation of the reinforcement and fire resistance periods. It is generally more expensive to design using this method as opposed to the Simplified Method though will result in thinner slabs that utilise more reinforcement. 3.6 Shear Connectors in Fire The performance of shear connectors in fire has not been widely studied. One of the major research projects on shear connectors in fire was The Restrained Beam Test conducted by British Steel as part of the Cardington Fire Tests in January 1995. The test consisted of the heating of a secondary beam and an area of the surrounding slab on the seventh-floor of the test structure. The steel section tested was a 305165 UB40 that was heated along 8m of its 9m length. Only the top 70mm of the concrete slab was taken into account. This was the maximum height of the slab above the troughs of the profiled decking. (Huang, Burgess, Plank, 1999) The temperature distributions in the steel beam and concrete slab were taken as averages of the test results recorded across the cross-sections of the components. The temperature of headed studs exposed to fire was approximated as 75% of the temperature reached by the top flange of the steel section. (Huang, Burgess, Plank, 1999) The degree of shear connection in the heated beam was assumed to be partial whilst the rest of the composite floor deck systems in the surrounding area were modelled as having full shear interaction. Analysis of the test results showed that the deflection at the mid-span of the heated beam increased with temperature. It was concluded from this that the assumption that partial interaction was corre