Fatigue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Fatigue - Essay Example Because of this subtlety, it is important to develop methods of predicting and controlling fatigue during the design process. The progress of fatigue is categorised into three stages (Budynas and Nisbett, 2006). Stage I is the presence of microcracks, which are the tiny regions of plastic deformation from which the failure process begins. During stage II, these cracks steadily grow and increase in length. It is during this stage that cracks can be detected and measured, and are apparent in post-failure analysis as visible ridges: How quickly a part reaches failure due to fatigue is an important question for mechanical design. It is a complicated process, influenced by many factors. A cornerstone of fatigue behaviour prediction is extensive materials testing. Whatever the mathematical framework used to predict fatigue behaviour, it invariably relies on empirical measurements of representative material samples. Because crack formation and propagation are stochastic processes, these tes ts must be repeated a large number of times and a statistical average used as a guideline. This is particularly true for low cycle fatigue. Characterization of Cyclical Loads In order to discuss fatigue and the types of loading that cause it, some standard terminology needs to first be established. Any cyclical stress can be characterized by the following parameters: ?a Stress amplitude ?r Stress range ?m Mid-range stress ?max Maximum stress ?min Minimum stress Additionally, there is the stress ratio R, and the amplitude ratio A defined by: In contrast to static failure, which occurs when a single threshold value is exceeded, fatigue failure can result from a near-endless combination of the above components. A number of different criteria have been developed to determine which combinations will lead to failure. The following diagram shows some of these criteria, with points on or above each line indicating failure. Some criteria are clearly more conservative than others, from the So derberg line to the Gerber ellipse. These criteria are somewhat crude approaches that do little to describe the physical phenomenon; they are deterministic, whilst the phenomenon itself is stochastic. They were developed early in the study of fatigue, and are primarily useful for quick estimation. The following three sections define more rigorous approaches. Fatigue-Life Methods Stress-Life Method The stress-life method is very convenient and intuitive, and consists of applying repetitive stresses to a sample, then measuring the number of cycles to failure. A sample of material is loaded into a high-speed rotating-beam machine, which places the sample into a state of pure bending, then rotates it to create fully-reversed cyclical axial stresses within it. These samples are very carefully machined and polished to control surface defects that could initiate a crack. Testing begins at near-yield strength, and then gradually reduced in subsequent tests. The result is known as the  "S-N curve† which shows the expected fatigue strength vs. the number of cycles to expected failure. This method of determining material fatigue properties is straightforward to implement, but lacks accuracy, particularly for determining low-cycle endurance. Fatigue failure is stochastic in nature, and even the most carefully-controlled experiments

Truth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Truth - Essay Example One might wonder what the truth was for Alexander the great when he set out to conquer the world For Socrates when he allowed himself to be taken For Galileo when he faced persecution at the hands of the Church For the Allied Forces during World War 2 For the Nazis at Nuremberg and for the terrorists who flew their planes into the twin towers If there existed no variation in the meaning and perception of truth, the world today would have been a different place-maybe for the better. The idea of truth therefore remains a moot point, for socialists and monarchs for lord and serf and for warrior and philosopher. The pragmatic would dismiss any poetic values attached to or stemming from the idea of truth; they would kill in an instant the spirit of freedom that truth may reverberate and would push away hope with the mere utterance of their dismal but intelligent sounding ideas. Alas, the supercilious don't pause to read the emotions attached to what may be described as truth or the struggle for it. Such a definition of truth seems to have been advanced by Michel Foucault in his essay2, where he most aptly describes a recipe that may be used to concoct truth; a connection is exposed here between truth and power deeming truth to be an earthly entity with nothing more than a dramatized and accepted creation.

Italy Too Big to Fail and Too Big to Bail Essay

Italy Too Big to Fail and Too Big to Bail - Essay Example The huge economic deficit resulted in the restructuring of their debts. .The deficit could have reduced by austerity measures in former years, without considerably affecting the GDP. Lack of such foresight in fiscal matters has brought about the present crisis in countries like Greece, Ireland and Portugal. -Italy is a developed industrial country that arose rose from a sound agricultural background prevalent in the earlier years. Over the years,it had emerged into a developed industrial economy that was enviable even to superpowers like Germany and Greece. The debt crisis prevalent in in countries like Greece, Italy and Portugal the proved to be contagious to Italy also. During the second week of September 2011, Italy the third largest economy in the Euro zone plunged in to a debt crisis of slow growth in GDP and high debt. Italy has more than $1 trillion government debt which is in a high proportion compared to the total national output of $1.2 trillion. In this article, the author explores the present trend of higher rate of yielding of bonds that put the economy in such a serious condition necessitating to raise new bonds or to approach other financial institutions for a bail . The investors found it too risky to maintain their deposit in such a state of fiscal affairs. There was clear evidence of illiquidity in the financial market causing threat to investors. Italy’s economy is in a risky position now. In a regular circumstance, during the period of financial crisis in Eurozone countries, it is European Central Bank that takes the emergency measures to help the countries to overcome the crisis. crisis. However, with Italy, it is a very though task for both European central bank and for International monetary fund to bail out Italy. Very vigilant and highly expertise fiscal management is the need of the time. Prime concern is to be given to maintain faith in the investorsA budget management plan that does not affect the growth rate of the economy and restructure the debt is necessary. Italy is a huge economy and hence, any calamity can worsen the condition of its surrounding economies in the European Union. In Europe, economies of most of the other nations are also not in an enviable condition. Such a situation will also affect world economy. In this context, it will be helpful to examine the successful measures taken by governments such as Canada, Sweden, and Brazil etc where such negative signs of financial recession appeared in the earlier years. Italy can definitely overcome this situation, but once the control is destroyed a coming back will not be possible because the entire Eurozone as a whole would have been put into such a serious situation that is too difficult to manage. The author of the article tries to view the situation from the US perspective and the critical question that he raises is whether the US financial authorities have seriously taken into account the European experience in the debt crisis. However, recent developments in US economy have revealed that the US Treasury Department and White House has been paying rapt attention over economies all over the globe. The United States stands ready to help Europe with its debt crisis. Recently, in a meeting at white house, President Obama expressed his readiness to help the European Union in the present financial crisis. However, he has not put f orward any definite measures in

Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Nursing - Essay Example Interest in professionalizing the nursing occupation emerged in healthcare organizations in 1970s. This stemmed from the need to provide a substitute motivation for workers with blocked access to structures of mobility and that the ideological draw of professionalism offered the promise of higher degree of control. (Barker 2008, p. 9) Here, it is important to underscore that profession through their scientific credibility becomes a source of power and prestige. Indeed, it arises out of self-interest and provides a means by which occupational groups exert influence to advance their own interest in society. By professionalizing the nursing profession, it was expected that traditional collective action such as unionism would be countered and that nurses, being educated as professionals in colleges and universities, were expected to exercise their knowledge and skills without bureaucratic constraint. The classical criteria that make a field or profession professional were posited in 1915 by Abraham Flexner, an imminent sociologist, who outlined several qualities. The most important of which follows: Flexner’s qualities for professionalism stressed rationalism, scientific standards and objectivity. These criteria were addressed by the model that conceptualized nursing professionalism, the Miller’s Wheel. In the wheel model, the center represents the essential foundation of nursing education in an institution of learning and, according to Miller: Each of the eight spokes represents other behaviors deemed necessary in maintaining or increasing nurses’ professionalism. They are competence and continuing education; adherence to the code of ethics; participation in the primary and referent professional organizations, i.e., ANA and state constituent member associations; publication and communication; orientation toward community services; theory and research development and utilization; and

Analytical Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Analytical Report - Essay Example It compares these views in an annotated bibliography of several sources. It focuses on the weaknesses in the current teaching methods used to teach religious education. Upon successful exploration of these weaknesses, the report gives recommendations by different researchers to eliminate these weaknesses. The report focuses on global religions and societies as suggested by its title. The American Academy of Religion (2010) indicates that there is high illiteracy of religions due to lack of proper teachings on the importance of religious studies in schools. It goes further to show that most students do not take religious studies seriously due to poor teaching. It emphasizes that most teachers do not have ample knowledge of guiding students to see the importance of religious studies. According to this source, religious studies are meant to assist students explore different views of societies regarding religions. Teachers should guide students to appreciate the importance of religious studies instead of influencing them to follow particular views of particular religions. Influencing students to follow and adopt particular religious leads to hatred of other religious. It was further discovered by The American Academy of Religion (2010) that faith-based expressions taught in religious studies should introduce students to understanding the impact of religion on economic, social, political matters. The students will then recognize the impact of religion on these matters deepening their understanding of the religious matters. If students understand the role of religion in the society, they will intensify their explorations on global religions and cultures. In the process, they will appreciate global religious diversity. Therefore, the students will avoid extreme stereotypes of particular religions and instead accept religious diversity (American Academy of Religion, 2010). There is massive support for non-devotional

Individual Market Factors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual Market Factors - Essay Example 100% of International Distillers Uganda, 51% Serengeti Breweries Ltd, 100% of East African malting, 46% United Distillers & Vintners-Kenya, among others. The company is leading in alcohol beverages ranging from spirits, beer, and Adult Non Alcoholic Drinks (ANADS). EABL’S market demand is both locally and internationally. In Kenya, its market demand is approximate to be about 85% of the entire alcohol market (Kilasi et al, 2013). In Tanzania, its market demand is on the rise. However, because of economic slowdown in Uganda its market share is reducing gradually. The company however aims at increasing its market demand by expanding its business to countries like Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan, and Eastern DRC. The company’s increased demand for its products is because of its continued integration of customer needs into the company’s production processes. For instance, the company actively carries out market research to understand the needs of consumers hence resulting to increased demand because consumers’ needs are factored into the production process. External and internal environmental elements affect the company’s operations (Megal and Word, 2009). External elements include competition, legislation and regulation, social cultural factors, technology among others. Government regulation on certain forms of the advertisement adversely affects the company. Alcoholic lobbyists, competition from other companies such as Keroche Industries’ influence the company’s trade. Either taxation is also a major environmental element that negatively influences the returns of EABL. However, it is worth noting that the company has made special arrangements with host countries to ensure that the issue of taxation is resolved. EABL faces stiff competition both locally and internationally. Some of the major competitors include Heineken, Kenya Wines Agencies among others. The company has responded to increased competition by increasing its brands,

The Effects on GPA Essay Example for Free

The Effects on GPA Essay The academic performance of high school students always constitute a major source of concern for educational practitioners as a result, any factor that could potentially improve this performance is worth considering (Everson and Roger, 2005). The importance of high school education derives from the fact that it provides an essential platform for academic and non academic accomplishments, psychological growths, the foundation for subsequent higher education and future life (Marsh and Kleitman, 2002). Consequent upon this perceived importance, factors that could potentially inhibit or improve high school students performance are worthy of in depth investigation. One such factor that has been shown to considerably influence high school performance is the participation in extra curricular activities. To a large extent, participation in extracurricular activities in high school is generally considered as a vital component of the educational experience (Galiher, 2006). However, the influence of participation in extracurricular activities has not been clearly defined. While some studies have linked positive academic outcomes with extracurricular activities, such as the study carried out by Cairns, Farmer, and Mahoney (2003); others have shown that there exist no significant relationships and even in some cases, some studies have reported negative relationship. As a result, the effect of extracurricular activities on high students performance has become a topic of educational, political, and community debate for more than a century (Marsh and Kleitman, 2002: 465). This paper intends to contribute to this debate by reviewing the several literatures on the topic. Historical Overview Fujita (2005) noted that the early adoption and development of extracurricular activities in high schools was slow. During those early years, most educators saw it as a fad that will fade away with time. For example, Marsh and Kleitman (2002) observed that before the turn of the twentieth century, educators were critical of participation in school extracurricular activities. To these early educators, high schools should be focused on solely on narrowly defined academic outcomes, because, non academic activities were believed to be primarily recreational and of no educational value. Some even contented that such recreational activities could be detrimental to the academic performance of high students. As a result, extracurricular activities participation for high students was discouraged in the early 1900s. Burnett (2000) provides an indepth review of the history and early developments of extracurricular activities in high schools. However, over the course of the last couple of decades, educational practitioners and researchers have adopted a more positive perspective of extracurricular activities; with most of then contending that these activities positively impact psychological developments of students and at the same time help improve academic performance. This change in perception is not unrelated to the large and growing body of research that have continually examined the links and relationships between extracurricular activities and academic performance of students using a wide array of research methods and tools. To a large extent, the bulk of studies conducted on this topic over the course of time point to a positive relationship between extracurricular activities and a host of academic, social and psychological outcomes, while very few of these studies report negative relationship. However, the primary problem with research in this field is that researchers have often adopted different variables in different research methods making generalization of the effects of extracurricular activities on academic and social performance of high students difficult to make. Relevant Theoretical Literature The basic theoretical framework that underlies the various studies carried out in this field involves correlating students’ academic performance with their participation or lack of, in extracurricular activities. For example, in Galiher (2006), the author collated data about the various extracurricular activities present in a particular high school and the list of students that participate in these activities. The grade point averages (GPA) and cumulative grade point averages (CGPA) for these students was also collated and participation in extracurricular activities was then correlated with students’ academic performance. The basic idea, generally, is that if participation in extracurricular activities positively impacts academic performance, then students involved with these activities would perform better academically, when other factors, such as age, IQ, gender, socio economic status etc have been controlled for. Analyzing the commonly used methodological designs in studying the relationship between social and academic performance and participation in extracurricular activities, Marsh and Kleitman (2002) observed that there are three research designs often employed by researchers. The first involve a one-time data collection research design that correlates extracurricular activities with the selected outcome variables. The second also involved a one-time data collection design, but controls for background variables such as socioeconomic status, gender, and age before correlating extracurricular activities participation with the selected outcome variables; while the third framework involve longitudinal studies where the same outcome variable are measured on multiple occasions so that the actual effect of extracurricular activities on the selected outcome variables are estimated after controlling for earlier outcomes (Marsh and Kleitman, 2002). While, according to Marsh and Kleitman, all of these frameworks are not perfect, they have all been used to show positive relationship between extracurricular activities and social and academic variables. Relevant Research In researching the relationships between extracurricular activities and students academic outcomes, researchers have sought to delineate what constitutes extracurricular activity. In this light, extracurricular activities have been broadly divided into in-school and out-of-school activities. The divisions are self descriptive. Furthermore, out-of-school activities can be subdivided into structured and leisure activities. While structured activities have been described as activities that require active effort from the participating parties and provide an environment for expression of ones identity or interest in sports, performing arts, academic, and leadership activities(Eccles and Barber, 1999 quoted in Marsh and Kleitman, 2002), leisure activities are activities that enjoyable but not demanding (Marsh and Kleitman, 2002) e. g. driving around or talking to friends. Extracurricular activities have also been grouped into formal and non-formal activities (Fujita, 2005). Here, formal activities refer to all structured and organized activity, irrespective of whether it is in-school or out-of-school, while non-formal activities refers basically to out-of-school leisure activities. From this classification, the influences of extracurricular activities on academic performance can be streamlined. For example, it is only reasonable that in-school structured activities will better influence academic outcomes and thus increase GPA than out-of-school activities. In this sense, Gerber (1996) investigating the relationship between academic outcomes and the two type of extracurricular activities reported that there is a greater and more significant positive correlation between in-school extracurricular activity participation and GPA than for out-of school structured activities. This distinction between extracurricular activities notwithstanding, there is ample research studies that point to the academic and social utility of extracurricular activities. In one of the early definitive studies carried out in this field, Marsh (1992) using a large longitudinal study that investigated the social and academic performance of students while in school and two years after graduation, reported that students who participated in extracurricular activities were more likely to have higher school satisfaction, higher internal locus of control meaning that students felt more in control of their lives; higher social and academic self-concepts; and higher educational and occupational aspirations in school and two years after completing high school (Marsh, 1999; Marsh and Kleitman, 2002). Several other studies have reported a positive correlation between participation in extracurricular activities and academic performance. For instance, Marsh and Kleitman after reviewing several previous studies observed that extracurricular activities help in building and strengthening academic performance, even if the activities are not obviously related to academic subjects. Darling, Caldwell, and Smith (2005) after an extensive longitudinal study reported that students who participated in school-based extracurricular activities had higher grades compared to those who were not involved in any extracurricular activity. In a more specific study, Galiher (2006) investigated the relationship between students participation in extracurricular activities and their current grade point averages and cumulative grade point averages. The author did not only investigate this relationship, data was also analyzed to see if there existed grade point increments with increasing participation in more than one extracurricular activities. The author concluded that Not only was the analysis consistent with the correlation data but also showed very clearly that students who were participating in one or more activity were getting better grades than students who were not involved in any school activities. The mean grade point average for students who participated in one or more activities was approximately one grade point higher than students who were not involved, which is equivalent to one letter grade (Galiher, 2006: 11-12). This study showed, definitely, that there is a positive relationship between students’ participation in extracurricular activities and their academic performance (indicated by the GPA) and that with increasing participation, students are more likely to get higher grades. Implications for Practice With the decreasing educational achievement recorded in schools nationwide, educational practitioners and researchers are under pressure to find ways to better improve the performance recorded in schools. With this increasing pressure on educators to perform, any factor that shows potential of improving academic performance deserves serious attention. Again, with the decrease in funding available for public schools, coupled with the poor performance of schools, educational decision makers are often under intense pressure to make decisions concerning the continuance or removal of academic and extracurricular programs. From the above, it is apparent that research studies indicating positive correlation between participation in extracurricular activities have two major implications. First, it provides educators with a valid instrument for increasing the academic performance of students. The knowledge that students achieve greater academic and social outcomes with increase participation in extracurricular activities will definitely prompt educational practitioners to promote healthy and effective extracurricular activities tool for enhancing academic achievements. Two, it make the decision process easier for educational decision makers who have to decide concerning the continuation of extracurricular programs. Instead of rationalizing the removal or continuance extracurricular programs, decision makers will be more productively engaged with how to better harness the potentials of these programs. Implications for Inquiry Despite the several positive implications of extracurricular activities that have been reported in several studies, one major that deserves further investigation was raised by Hunt (2005). After studying the relationship between extracurricular activities and academic performance, the author reported no positive outcome, instead, he argued individuals who were academically sound at earlier ages were more likely to participate in extracurricular activities raising the question of whether extracurricular activities indeed influence academic performance or is a result of it. This area still deserves further study. Summary It has been argued that high school experiences provide an essential platform for academic and non academic accomplishments, psychological growths, the foundation for subsequent higher education and future life. Thus, any factor that could possibly influence students ability to perform their best while in high school is worth investigating. Extracurricular activities constitute one of the factors that have been shown to influence students performance in high school. In this paper, several literatures on this topic were reviewed. To a large extent, it was shown that extracurricular activities participation improves students academic performance. Thus, students that participate in one or more extracurricular activities were more likely to have higher GPAs compared to students that did not participate at all. Work Cited Burnett, M. A. (2000). One strike and youre out: An analysis of no pass/no play policies. High School Journal, 84(2): 1-6. Cairns, B. , Farmer, T. , and Mahoney, J. (2003). Promoting interpersonal competence and educational success through extracurricular activity participation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95: 409-419. Eccles, J. S. , and Barber, B. L. (1999). Student council, volunteering, basketball, or marching band: What kind of extracurricular involvement matters? Journal of Adolescent Research, 14: 10-43. Fujita, K (2005). The Effects of Extracurricular Activities on the Academic Performance of Junior High Students. The Masters College. Available at http://www. kon. org/urc/v5/fujita. html [Accessed June 21, 2008]. Everson, T H and Roger E. M (2005). Everyone Gains: Extracurricular Activities in High School and Higher SATÂ ® Scores. College Board Research Report No. 2005-2. Galiher, S (2006). Understanding The Effect Of Extracurricular Involvement. Thesis. School of Education, Indiana University, South Bend. Marsh, H. W. (1992). Extracurricular activities: Beneficial extension of the traditional curriculum or subversion of academic goals? Journal of Educational Psychology, 84: 553-562. Marsh, W. H and Kleitman S (2002). Extracurricular school activities: The good, the bad, and the nonlinear. Harvard Educational Review, 72(4): 464-510. McNeal, B. R (1995). Extracurricular Activities and High School Dropouts. Sociology of Education, 68(1): 62-80.