World Record for Fastest Wind Speed

Have you ever felt a strong gust of wind and wondered whats the fastest wind ever recorded on the surface of the Earth? World Record for Fastest Wind Speed The fastest wind speed ever recorded comes from a hurricane gust. On  April 10, 1996, Tropical Cyclone Olivia (a hurricane) passed by Barrow Island, Australia. It was the equivalent of a  Category 4 hurricane at the time,  254 mph (408 km/h).   Americas Highest Wind   Before Tropical Cyclone Olivia came along, the highest wind speed measured anywhere in the world  was  231 mph (372 km/h). It was recorded at the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire on April 12, 1934. After Olivia broke this record (which was held for nearly 62 years), the Mount Washington wind became the second-fastest wind worldwide. Today, it remains the fastest wind ever recorded in the United States and in the Northern Hemisphere.  The U.S. commemorates this record every April 12 on Big Wind day. With a slogan like Home of the Worlds Worst Weather, Mount Washington is a location known for having harsh conditions. Standing at  6,288 feet, it is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States. But its high elevation isnt the only reason it regularly experiences heavy fogs, whiteout conditions, and gales. Its position at the crossroads of storm tracks from the Atlantic to the south, from the Gulf, and from the Pacific Northwest makes it a bullseye for storminess. The mountain and its parent range (the Presidential Range) are also oriented north-south, which increases the likelihood of high winds.  Ã‚  Air is commonly forced over the mountains, making it a prime location for high wind speeds.  Hurricane-force wind gusts are observed at the mountains summit nearly a third of the year. It is a perfect spot for weather monitoring, which is why it is home to a  mountaintop weather station called the Mount Washington Observatory. How Fast Is Fast? When it comes to wind, 200 miles per hour is fast. To give you an idea of just how fast it is, lets compare it to wind speeds you may have felt during certain weather conditions: Blizzard winds blow at 35 mph or moreWinds in a severe thunderstorm can gust in the 50 to 65 mph rangeA weak category 5 hurricanes strongest sustained winds blow at 157 mph When you compare the 254 mph wind speed record to these, its easy to tell that that is some serious wind! What About Tornadic Winds?   Tornadoes are some of the weathers most violent windstorms. Winds inside of an EF-5 tornado can exceed 300 mph. Why then, arent they responsible for the fastest wind? Tornadoes usually arent included in the rankings for the fastest surface winds because there is no reliable way to measure their wind speeds directly. Tornadoes destroy weather instruments. Doppler radar can be used to estimate a tornados winds but because it only gives an approximation, these measurements cannot be seen as definitive. If tornadoes were included, the worlds fastest wind would be approximately 302 mph (484 km/h). It was observed by a Doppler on Wheels during a tornado occurring between Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma on May 3, 1999.

Policy Brief Fracking Illinois - 1482 Words

POLICY BRIEF: FRACKING ILLINOIS Brandon Bordenkircher OVERVIEW When you woke up today chances are you turned on a light, used the stove, drove a car, or charged your cell phone. The energy used to power those devices was powered by hydrocarbons like natural gas or oil. Natural gas and oil are accessed by drilling, but drilling can t always reach all the potential hydrocarbons. There are many pockets full of oil and gas below the surface trapped in between shale rock that typical drilling can t access. What this means is there is a plethora of energy beneath our nation just waiting to be tapped. Enter, fracking. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process used to excavate oil and gas trapped in shale rock.†¦show more content†¦The Illinois legislature was unable to approve the rules governing fracking in a timely manner. Fracking advocates have complained that the state s delay in issuing fracking permits was tantamount to an illegal land grab. Based on the idea that regulation of a property s use has gone too far, depriving the owner of value or utility. Fracking Law was eventually passed in May 2013 and signed by Governor Quinn on June 2013, but not a single company has applied for a fracking permit because oil prices have tanked due to the success of fracking in the US (Wernau, 2015). Illinois has a debt crisis driven by unfunded pension obligations, the country s worst credit rating, weak job growth, and people are leaving our state at an alarming rate (Dabrowski, 2015). With Illinois in such dire straights, we don t need a financial hail mary... we need a financial slam-dunk. It s time Illinois took a serious look at the pros and cons of fracking. I will begin by investigating the alternative policy options, go through the economic theories associated with fracking, and in the final section I will summarize the main points and provide support for why I think fracking is the best option for the state of Illinois. ALTERNATIVES As I mentioned in the previous section, Illinois is in a financial quagmire, which is the main reason fracking is a positive alternative. Fracking companies have the ability to hire hundreds of constituents at higher wages, which

Being Gay in America Free Essays

The topic I choose to write about is being gay in America. This has been a rising topic in America. Homosexual people feel that they should have the same rights that heterosexual people have when it comes to marriage being at the top. We will write a custom essay sample on Being Gay in America or any similar topic only for you Order Now What two people do with their lives is up to them but when they try and add another person into their lives, it changes the circumstances. Gays have been trying to fight for their rights for years. The Society for Human Rights in Chicago is the country’s earliest known gay rights organization. Wisconsin was the first state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders (InfoPlease). Just recently the military got rid of its â€Å"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell† policy allowing gays to serve in the military openly. I don’t see anything wrong with two people getting married to each other, but I don’t feel that homosexuals should be capable to receive the same benefits of marriage like heterosexuals. If a gay person wants to be married then they should but they also should be taxed for being in a same sex marriage. I feel like they should get taxed because it is not natural for a man to be with a man or a woman to be with another woman. Two of the same sex cannot bear children therefore it is not acceptable to me. Homosexuals are trying to get the same equal opportunity as heterosexual marriages unless they are willing to pay some kind of payment. Under the Defense of Marriage Act made in 1996, it states that a gay married couple can take advantage of state laws with the benefits of marriage, but not any of the benefits by federal law (DOMA). The benefits that heterosexual marriages aren’t authorized to are social security, tax, estate, veteran and military, federal employment, and immigration. The law also states that marriage is legal union between one man and one woman. Under the law, no state may be required to distinguish same sex marriage considered to be marriage in another state. There are six states that consent same sex marriages which are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. Since most states don’t allow same sex marriage, many homosexuals have ended up going with civil union. Civil union is lawfully documented union like to marriage, but it is not marriage. It is the declaration of a partnership shared by a couple. Civil union isn’t recognized by the federal government and under the Defense of Marriage Act other states don’t have to oblige to recognize them. States that allow civil union are California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you are gay that is fine. What you do behind closed doors is your problem, but many gays are adopting children and raising kids into their lifestyle. In our society today, it has been an all-time high of suicides due to bullying. Why would you want to put a child in that kind of situation where they will be picked on because they have two dads or moms? Cited Section 1. ) DOMA. www. domawatch. org. 28November 2011 2. ) www. hrc. org/issues. 28November 2011 3. ) INFOPLEASE. www. infoplease. com. 28November2011 4. ) How to cite Being Gay in America, Essay examples

Study of Liver Transplant-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: To write Nursing research proposal. You can choose the topic. Currently I am working in the liver transplant ICU. Answer: Research title A phenomenological study exploring the experience of liver transplant patients in intensive care unit Background Experience and viewpoints of patients undergoing interventions in the intensive care unit (ICU) have been the focus of research for a long time. Studies have highlighted that patients undergoing liver transplant experience both positive and negative incidents since the emotional and mental impact of the transplantation are significant. Further, experiences of liver transplant patients might be singular. This implies that the admission of the patient to the ICU is the initial step towards recovery from the health complication after living in a period of illness (Wallia, et al. 2016). The knowledge of nurses about patient experience contributes to a better understanding of healthcare processes. Though a pool of studies has been carried out on liver transplant patients for carrying out an assessment of functional recovery, work rehabilitation, and quality of life, there is a scarcity of studies highlighting the experience of the patients in ICU (Adams et al. 2014). Purpose of study Against the context of the gap in existing literature a research is to be carried out that would highlight the viewpoints and feelings of patients undergoing a liver transplant in ICU. The aim of the study would be to have a detailed description of the experience of patients undergoing a liver transplant in the ICU. A qualitative study is to be held that would be suitable for addressing the research question in alignment with the research topic. The study would be praiseworthy since on the basis of the study results nurses can consider bringing changes in the manner in which care is delivered to liver transplant patients in ICU. The aim of such a change in practice would be focused on better satisfaction and health outcomes of patients. Research question The proposed research would be carried out with the concerning the research question of What are the experiences of patients undergoing a liver transplant in ICU? Study plan and design The proposed research would be qualitative in nature since such method provides the best way of exploring the feelings and experiences of study respondents (Nieswiadomy and Bailey 2017). A phenomenological study design would be appropriate since Houser (2016) argued that phenomenological methods permit extraction of in-depth knowledge of the essence of patient experiences and encoding of underlying meanings. 25 patients who have undergone a liver transplant in the past six months in one 250 bedded private hospital in Singapore would be the study participants. Data collection is to be done over a period of 2 months with the help of in-depth, focused interviews. Each candidate is to be invited for taking part in the study, and informed consent is to be taken prior to the research. Patients are to be informed that confidentiality and anonymity would be preserved. The interview would have open, unstructured, nonleading questions that would encourage and motivate the participants to expre ss their feelings and ideas. The interviews would be audiotaped and would be fo one-hour duration approximately. To follow the phenomenological method in a rigorous manner, the researchers would bracket previous knowledge about the phenomena in order to avoid influence on the information provided by the interviewees. Two individuals would act as the interviewers. The whole setting would be at any desired place mentioned by the patients. The recordings are later to be transcribed verbatim. Data analysis would consider thematic data interpretation. Based on the study results suitable inferences are to be drawn (Parahoo 2014). References Adams, J.A., Anderson, R.A., Docherty, S.L., Tulsky, J.A., Steinhauser, K.E. and Bailey, D.E., 2014. Nursing strategies to support family members of ICU patients at high risk of dying.Heart Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care,43(5), pp.406-415. Houser, J., 2016.Nursing research: Reading, using and creating evidence. Jones Bartlett Learning. Nieswiadomy, R.M. and Bailey, C., 2017.Foundations of nursing research. Pearson. Parahoo, K., 2014. Nursing research: principles, process and issues. Palgrave Macmillan. Wallia, A., Schmidt, K., Oakes, D.J., Pollack, T., Welsh, N., Kling-Colson, S., Gupta, S., Fulkerson, C., Aleppo, G., Parikh, N. and Levitsky, J., 2016. Glycemic Control Reduces Infections in PostLiver Transplant Patients: Results of a Prospective, Randomized Study.The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism,102(2), pp.451-459.

What Freedom Of Speech Means To Me Essays - Freedom Of Expression

What Freedom of Speech Means to Me To me, having the right of freedom of speech means that I can voice my opinion wherever and whenever I feel the urge to without the fear of being prosecuted. The United States would be in an extremely weak state if citizens did not have the right to freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech in our Bill of Rights, people could not necessarily stand up for what they believed in. I think that if a person has a valid point or even an unvalid point that they want to voice nothing should stand in their path. It would be nearly impossible for certain organizations to form if the United States was without freedom of speech. Freedom of speech means to me that these certain radical organizations should be and are allowed to voice their opinions and views on different issues on which some people feel uncomfortable about. These issues may involve issues that I do not agree on; however, I feel that the group of people have the right to express their beliefs. Also, freedom of speech means to me that America is one of the best countries that involves the people. There is not one person making all of the decisions for the American citizens, so it is possible to have numerous ideas in the government. People who voice their opinions can pursway the many government officials to change their positions on certain issues. If the United States did not possess the right to freedom of speech, then there would be hardly any reason for the government official to change his or her position on a certain issue. I believe that it is important for people to express their opinions and ideas so that the American public can catch a glimpse of the opposite sides of different views. I believe that freedom of speech is a great aspect of the American government, and which also illustrates that the United States is a mature nation that respects and takes into consideration all of the ideas of all of the nations' citizens.

Pelycosaurs, Archosaurs, and Therapsids

Pelycosaurs, Archosaurs, and Therapsids Like archeologists discovering the ruins of a previously unknown civilization buried deep beneath an ancient city, dinosaur enthusiasts are sometimes astonished to learn that entirely different kinds of reptiles once ruled the earth, tens of millions of years before famous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, and Stegosaurus. For approximately 120 million years- from the Carboniferous to the middle Triassic periods- terrestrial life was dominated by the pelycosaurs, archosaurs, and therapsids (the so-called mammal-like reptiles) that preceded the dinosaurs. Of course, before there could be archosaurs (much less full-blown dinosaurs), nature had to evolve the first true reptile. At the start of the Carboniferous periodthe swampy, wet, vegetation-choked era during which the first peat bogs formed- the most common land creatures were prehistoric amphibians, themselves descended (by way of the earliest tetrapods) from the proverbial  prehistoric fish that flipped, flopped, and slithered their way out of oceans and lakes millions of years before. Because of their reliance on water, though, these amphibians couldnt stray far from the rivers, lakes, and oceans that kept them moist, and that provided a convenient place to lay their eggs. Based on the current evidence, the best candidate we know of for the first true reptile is Hylonomus, fossils of which have been found in sediments dating back 315 million years. Hylonomus- the name is Greek for forest dweller- may well have been the first tetrapod (four-footed animal) to lay eggs and have scaly skin, features that would have allowed it to venture farther from the bodies of water to which its amphibian ancestors were tethered. Theres no doubt that Hylonomus evolved from an amphibian species; in fact, scientists believe that the elevated oxygen levels of the Carboniferous period may have helped fuel the development of complex animals in general. The Rise of the Pelycosaurs Now came one of those catastrophic global events that cause some animal populations to prosper, and others to shrivel up and disappear. Toward the start of the  Permian period, about 300 million years ago, the earths climate gradually became hotter and drier. These conditions favored small reptiles like Hylonomus  and were detrimental to the amphibians that had previously dominated the planet. Because they were better at regulating their own body temperature, laid their eggs on land, and didnt need to stay close to bodies of water, the reptiles radiated- that is, evolved and differentiated to occupy various ecological niches. (The amphibians didnt go away- they’re still with us today, in dwindling numbers- but their time in the limelight was over.) One of the most important groups of evolved reptiles was the pelycosaurs (Greek for bowl lizards). These creatures appeared toward the end of the Carboniferous period, and persisted well into the Permian, dominating the continents for about 40 million years. By far the most famous pelycosaur (and one thats often mistaken for a dinosaur) was Dimetrodon, a large reptile with a prominent sail on its back (the main function of which may have been to soak up sunlight and maintain its owners internal temperature). The pelycosaurs made their livings in different ways: for example, Dimetrodon was a carnivore, while its similar-looking cousin Edaphosaurus was a plant-eater (and its entirely possible that one fed on the other). Its impossible to list all the genera of pelycosaurs here; suffice it to say that a lot of different varieties evolved over 40 million years. These reptiles are classified as synapsids, which are characterized by the presence of one hole in the skull behind each eye (technically speaking, all mammals are also synapsids). During the Permian period, synapsids coexisted with anapsids (reptiles lacking those all-important skull holes). Prehistoric anapsids also attained a striking degree of complexity, as exemplified by such large, ungainly creatures as Scutosaurus. (The only anapsid reptiles alive today are the Testudines- turtles, tortoises, and terrapins.) Meet the Therapsids- The Mammal-Like Reptiles The timing and sequence cant be pinned down precisely, but paleontologists believe that sometime during the early  Permian  period, a branch of pelycosaurs evolved into reptiles called therapsids (otherwise known as mammal-like reptiles). Therapsids were characterized by their more powerful jaws bearing sharper (and better differentiated) teeth, as well as their upright stances (that is, their legs were situated vertically beneath their bodies, compared to the sprawling, lizard-like posture of earlier synapsids). Once again, it took a catastrophic global event to separate the boys from the men (or, in this case, the pelycosaurs from the therapsids). By the end of the Permian period,  250 million years ago, over two-thirds of all land-dwelling animals went extinct, possibly because of a meteorite impact (of the same type that killed the dinosaurs 185 million years later). Among the survivors were various species of therapsids, which were free to radiate into the depopulated landscape of the early  Triassic  period. A good example is  Lystrosaurus, which evolutionary writer Richard Dawkins has called the Noah of the Permian/Triassic boundary: fossils of this 200-pound therapsid have been found all over the world. Here’s where things get weird. During the Permian period, the cynodonts (dog-toothed reptiles) that descended from the earliest therapsids developed some distinctly mammalian characteristics. Theres solid evidence that reptiles like  Cynognathus  and  Thrinaxodon  had fur, and they may also have had  warm-blooded metabolisms  and black, wet, dog-like noses. Cynognathus (Greek for dog jaw) may even have given birth to live young, which by almost any measure would make it much closer to a mammal than to a reptile! Sadly, the therapsids were doomed by the end of the Triassic period, muscled out of the scene by the archosaurs (of which more below), and then by the archosaurs immediate descendants, the  earliest dinosaurs. However, not all therapsids went extinct: a few small genera survived for tens of millions of years, scurrying unnoticed under the feet of lumbering dinosaurs and evolving into the first  prehistoric mammals  (of which the immediate predecessor may have been the small, quivering therapsid Tritylodon.) Enter the Archosaurs Another family of prehistoric reptile, called the  archosaurs, coexisted with the therapsids (as well as the other land reptiles that survived the Permian/Triassic extinction). These early diapsids- so-called because of the two, rather than one, holes in their skulls behind each eye socket- managed to out-compete the therapsids, for reasons that are still obscure. We do know that the teeth of archosaurs were more firmly set in their jaw sockets, which would have been an evolutionary advantage, and its possible that they were quicker to evolve upright, bipedal postures (Euparkeria, for example, may have been one of the first archosaurs capable of rearing up on its hind legs.) Toward the end of the Triassic period, the first archosaurs split off into the first primitive dinosaurs: small, quick, bipedal carnivores like  Eoraptor,  Herrerasaurus,  and  Staurikosaurus. The identity of the immediate progenitor of the dinosaurs is still a matter of debate, but one likely candidate is  Lagosuchus  (Greek for rabbit crocodile), a tiny, bipedal archosaur that possessed a number of distinctly dinosaur-like characteristics, and that sometimes goes by the name  Marasuchus. (Recently, paleontologists identified what may well be the earliest dinosaur descended from archosaurs, the 243-million-year-old  Nyasasaurus.) It would, however, be a very dinosaur-centric way of looking at things to write archosaurs out of the picture as soon as they evolved into the first theropods. The fact is that archosaurs went on to spawn two other mighty races of animals: the  prehistoric crocodiles  and the  pterosaurs, or flying reptiles. In fact, by all rights, we should be giving crocodiles precedence over dinosaurs, since these fierce reptiles are still with us today, whereas  Tyrannosaurus Rex,  Brachiosaurus,  and all the rest arent!

Managing Creativity for Marketing and Advertising Essay

Managing Creativity for Marketing and Advertising - Essay Example Beem (2010) reckons that if carefully prepared and properly executed, co-branding is one of the best strategies that can be used to penetrate markets, survive financial down times and even grow. Taking the strongest elements of one brand and combining these with the best complementary brands to create a new product can in fact lead to the potential worth of the new product being greater than that of the sum of the two products (synergy). Gap Clothing and Apple I-pod The two brands chosen for co-branding in this case are GAP - a popular brand from the apparel industry, and Apple - one of the most popular brands in the music/technology industry. To make the new product, GAP’s hoodies and Apple’s iPod will be combined to create clothing from GAP that encompasses Apple’s slogan and promotes the values that Apple stands for. The new product is to take advantage of the position of the two in their specific markets and further strengthen their image of being trendy and cool. Visual of the New Product: The Techno Hoodie The form of presentation of the co-branded product will be a techno hoodie. A hoodie is a sweatshirt characteristic of a hood and is regarded as the most important cultural product of the Western world in the 20th Century. McCartney (2008) contends that hoodies are the only commodity the current generation will be remembered with, and given the popularity of the hoodie; it is difficult to argue against this. It is urban apparel, often made of cotton or poly-blend and is usually in the form of a zipper-front or pullover (Kayne 2011). Hoodies are regarded as unique urban clothes, forming the fashion statements of many people. The new product will be a representative of a one-of–a-kind style and will bear screen-printed designs on its back as are popular with many people. The techno hoodie will come in two types: 1. A pullover hoodie, which will have one single, large pocket in the front 2. A zipped hoodie: which will have a zip per dividing the front and the pocket into two Instead of the usual material or poly-blend material strings, the drawstrings of the hoodies are going to be high-quality iPod headphones, a design that will be unique and trendy. The pockets will be designed to be holding the iPods among other things. The hoodies will be designed in different colors to match with the range of colors the iPod comes in. The designs on the hoodies will include the two logos; GAP and Apple written either as graffiti or just plain, alongside decorations regarded as cool including elements of anime and pop culture. Creation of a Brand Image Techno hoodies are the next-best-thing in the apparel market with a promise to be fashionable into the future. A combination of the high level of comfort, capacity to hold the iPod and an image of being cool and trendy and subscribing to pop culture results in a scenario in which techno hoodies are going to be massively popular into the future. â€Å"The market for this item should be huge as anyone who likes taking walks, working out, or most young adults will love these† (TEP 2011). Such reviews indicate that techno hoodies are not only a hit now but also what can be termed as â€Å"futuristic clothing†. Therefore the two brands will collaborate to make clothing that accommodates the vast music collection of the youth. GAP will provide the trendiest, top-notch

Identifying Instructional Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Identifying Instructional Resources - Essay Example This activity supports the instructional objective by giving the students multiple representations of the content: first, they read the content in our class text. Next, they identify the most important information in the text - that which defines and gives the function of the three branches of government. Lastly, they place the informational in a new organizational context - the Concept/Definition Graphic Organizer. This activity is well suited to the students' academic level because it requires comprehension of text, the selection of important content, summarizing that content, and placing it a new context. The graphic organizer will show the content in a new context for students, and more contexts will yield a more thorough understanding. From page 214 in the manual, students develop their understanding of the instructional objectives through the use of a Comparison Matrix. It asks them to compare and contrast the different branches of governments and their various responsibilities, including those of checks and balances. To practice multiple representations of content, they also create a picture or illustration using paper and markers provided by the teacher demonstrating their knowledge of checks and balances. ... Instructional objectives: - compare and contrast the different branches and their role within the U.S. - demonstrate an understanding of checks and balances by illustrating in a picture. - use word processor; create a paragraph explaining each branch of government. From page 214 in the manual, students develop their understanding of the instructional objectives through the use of a Comparison Matrix. It asks them to compare and contrast the different branches of governments and their various responsibilities, including those of checks and balances. To practice multiple representations of content, they also create a picture or illustration using paper and markers provided by the teacher demonstrating their knowledge of checks and balances. Students then use the Comparison Matrix as an outline for an essay that they complete using a word processing program. These activities should be highly engaging for students because they employ several different learning modalities and are at a skill level that is challenging but attainable for their age group. Resources: Internet access. Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/; cnn.com: http://www.cnn.com/; and The New York Times Online: http://www.cnn.com/ Instructional objectives: - locate and be able to discuss current issues in the media concerning the government. - formulate at least two concerns/problems that would fall under the jurisdiction of the branches of government. Students find current issues in media concerning the government by using Internet search engines. They write a summary of these issues using a word-processing program. They include two examples of a current issue for each of the three branches of government. These activities link the abstract notions of what government does with

Competence destroying vs enhancing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Competence destroying vs enhancing - Assignment Example There are two types of innovations which are architectural innovation and generation innovations. Architectural innovation is characterized by fundamental changes in the linkages between existing subsystems in an organization. The modifications are made to ensure that the organization achieves its goals and objectives much faster with minimal expenditures. Generational innovations were involved with changes made to the already existing linked subsystems hence it is much broader. Assessing the effects of an innovation to a business is very important since it will determine whether the organization will carry on with the innovation or stop it. At the same time it can be used to point out the weak points of the innovation so as to aid with the process of improving it. The level of competence enhancing and destroying are the major concepts used to determine the effect of an innovation. For instance, in e-business, can be assessed whether it is appropriate to the organization being on a number of factors. For instance, the innovation should cost effective in the sense that there is minimal time spent and financial input towards achieving the organizations

Different Power Factor Correction Engineering Essay

Different Power Factor Correction Engineering Essay Different power-factor correction methods are reviewed, as well as the back ground to the power-factor. Problem is arising in modern electrical distribution systems due to the connection of rapidly increasing numbers of non-linear electronic loads. The basic principles of harmonic generation and limitation in power systems are first discussed. The main part presents a critical review of commonly used power-factor correction techniques that have been identified in a literature review, and highlights the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques. After the analysis of methods and their working principles, the development of the most promising systems such as the boost-type PFC converters is considered. Finally, a project plan is proposed for the next phase of the dissertation work. This will involve investigating the operation, dynamic control and performance of the most promising systems by conducting a theoretical study and setting up and running a number of simulation models using the MATLAB/SIMULINK software tools. Key-words: Power factor correction, harmonic mitigation, PFC converters Contents List of Abbreviations and Principle Symbols Abbreviations: AC Alternating Current APF Active Power Filter CCM Continuous Conduction Mode DC Direct Current DCM Discontinuous Conduction Mode DF Distortion Factor FFT Fast-Fourier analysis IGBT Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor PF Power Factor PFC Power Factor Correction PWM Pulse Width Modulation RMS Root Mean Square THD Total Harmonic Distortion TDD Total Demand Distortion Principle Symbols: Power Factor Distortion Factor Displacement Factor h Harmonic contents RMS value of the line-current fundamental component RMS value of the line-current harmonic components Total RMS value of the line-current 1. Introduction It is now clearly visible from power systems journals and general literatures that power-factor correction is now an important research topic in the power systems area. As non-linear power electronic systems are increasingly being connected to power systems in greater quantities as well as capacities for such applications as power quality control, adjustable speed drives, uninterruptible power supplies, renewable energy-source interfacing, and so on [1] [2]. The power quality regulators of those systems are highly concerned now, because some of their drawbacks, such as harmonics generation and reduced power factor can spoil their advantages [3]. Power electronic systems are effective because their high efficiency and rapidly adjustable output. However, when processing and controlling the input electric energy suitable for users [4], power electronic systems often operate at a low power-factor, and that may cause serious problems to power system operators by reducing distribution comp onent RMS current capacity and to other users on the same network by distorting the sinusoidal supply voltage seen by other user connected at the same point of common coupling as a heavy electronic or power electronic load.. Of all power line disturbances, harmonics are probably the most serious one for power users because they exist under steady state conditions. This literature review considers harmonic generation prediction of power electronic systems and examines the effectiveness of harmonic mitigation methods. The boost-type power factor correction converters will be taken as the core power factor correction method for future research. The existing publications arising from research in this area and their conclusions have set a good foundation for this report. Results in this report will be based on a theoretical study and simulation studies using software MATLAB/SIMULINK power-factor correction system models which be developed. 2. Background This section provides discussion on the fundamental principles of power-factor correction, including definitions of power-factor terms and a consideration of the common standards which affect how harmonics controlled in power system. Also, the harmonic generation prediction of ideal power electronic systems is discussed at the end of this section 2.1 Important definitions and objective of power-factor correction The power factor (PF) is the ratio of the real power to the apparent power [5] and gives a measure of AC supply utilization on how efficient that the energy is supplied and can be converted into effective work output. The definition of power factor is as shown below: (2.1) In the definition, the value of the power factor is always between 0 and 1, and can be either inductive or capacitive. That means average power is always lower than apparent power. The reason is harmonic components and phase-displacement angle,. Hence, the power factor equivalent can be described as below: (2.2) is termed the (current) distortion factor (DF) and represent the harmonic components in the current and relative to wave shape [6]. DF is defined as the ratio of the fundamental current component to the RMS current value [4]. is termed the displacement factor and defined as the current and voltage waveform phase angle [6]. Displacement factor has unity value for in-phase current and voltage. The increase of displacement angle will cause larger reactive current in the power system [4]. Hence, the objective of power-factor correction is to decrease the current distortion or harmonic content and increase the displacement factor or bring the current in phase with the voltage. The closer power factor is to the unity value, the higher efficiency and lower energy loss. And the power system will operate at a lower supply voltage. Another commonly used index for measuring the harmonic content of a waveform applied for current distortion level is total harmonic distortion, THD. THD is the distortion current as a percentage of the fundamental current. The equation of THD is given by: or (2.3) In AC supply utilizations, power factor,, can be expressed in terms of THD and the displacement factor: (2.4) With these equations, it is easy to see that high THD leads to low power factor and even damaging of the power network. THD and power factor will be used together in the following work as important index in measuring performance of the harmonic mitigation techniques. 2.2 Effects and limitation of harmonic distortion on power system In any power conversion process, to get high efficiency and low power loss are important for two reasons: the cost of the wasted energy and the difficulty in removing the heat generated due to dissipated energy [4]. The performance of power output efficient is defined by several factors. The power factor and harmonic distortion are the most important ones. References [8] [9] show the main issues of harmonics within the power system include the possibility of them exciting series and parallel resonances which cause a further increase of harmonic levels, low efficiency caused in generation, transmission, and utilization of electric energy, increasing thermal losses in the electrical components and shortening their useful life and causing malfunction of motors and other components in the power system. Those effects can be divided into three general categories: Thermal stress, Insulation stress and Load disruption [10]. Those represent effects on increasing equipment losses and thermal losses, increased value of current drawn from the power system and insulation stress and failure to action and malfunction of some electrical devices and systems. The IEEE Standard 519-1992 recommended harmonic current limits with an additional factor, TDD. This is very same as THD except the distortion factor is expressed by load current instead of fundamental current magnitude [11]. Hence, the equation of TDD is given by: (2.5) Therefore, IEEE Standard 519-1992 limitation for harmonic current in power system expressed with TDD is shown below: Maximum harmonic current distortion in percent of Individual harmonic order (Odd harmonics) TDD 4.0 2.0 1.5 0.6 0.3 5.0 20 7.0 3.5 2.5 1.0 0.5 8.0 50 10.0 4.5 4.0 1.5 0.7 12.0 100 12.0 5.5 5.0 2.0 1.0 15.0 >1000 15.0 7.0 6.0 2.5 1.4 20.0 Even harmonics are limited to 25% of the odd harmonics limits above. Table 2.1 IEEE 519-1992 Standard for harmonic current limits [12]. Also, there are limitations for power system harmonic voltage and power factor regulation, like IEC 61000-3-2 standard. The methods for power factor correction should not cause disturbances for other aspects of performance. 2.3 Harmonics generation in power electronic systems Power electronic systems may naturally operate at low power-factor due to large harmonic generation and phase shifting in controlled devices like controlled rectifiers. Understanding characteristics of the harmonic current is essential for harmonic mitigation research. Based on the form on the two sides, converters can be divided into four categories [4] including: 1. AC to DC (rectifier) 2. DC to AC (inverter) 3. DC to DC 4. AC to AC Power electronic systems always draw high quality of low frequency harmonic current from the utility and hence cause problems for other users. Take an ideal single-phase diode bridge rectifier as example, the total harmonic distortion can be up to 48.43% [4] and the 3rd harmonic current can be as large as one third of the fundamental current. If a non-linear load is considered, the displacement factor will fall down from unity value and cause a decrease of power factor. This is surely over the harmonic standards limitation and needs to be corrected. Theoretically, Rectifiers and choppers output DC and draw a fundamental AC source current and large low frequency harmonic content. On the other hand, inverters output low frequency AC and supply fundamental current and harmonic content usually at higher frequency. Harmonic contents can be reduced by harmonic mitigation techniques and hence increase power factor. Take Fourier analysis result diagram of single-phase diode bridge rectifier and PWM control Buck converter as example. (a) (b) Figure 2.1 Fourier analysis diagram for input current of (a) single-phase diode bridge rectifier and (b) PWM control Buck converter. 2.4 Software tools for harmonic mitigation evaluation To filtering harmonic current in the power system, the frequency of harmonic contents is essential. However, in practice, the harmonic frequency is not absolutely equal to the theoretical value and that makes analysis of harmonic frequencies very difficult. The reason is stray inductance and capacitance in the system and reverse recovery time and forward voltage drop of non-ideal devices [1]. To analyze harmonic contents, appropriate software can be helpful. In this project, the software chosen to help analyzing harmonic current drawn by power electronic systems is MATLAB/SIMULINK. Taking the three-phase diode bridge rectifier as an example, a simulation model can be established as shown below. In the model, a three-phase 50Hz AC power supply is used for a resistive load and most devices are not ideal. The model is followed by the diagram of input current waveform and frequency spectrum of AC input current. Values of each order harmonic content and total THD are given by Fast-Fourier (FFT) analysis in powergui analysis tools. With the help of Fourier analysis, the performance of harmonic mitigation techniques can be evaluated and compared quickly. Figure 2.2 Simulation model for three-phase diode bridge rectifier. Figure 2.3 Waveform of rectifier input current (phase A). Figure 2.4 Frequency spectra of AC input current of three-phase rectifier. 3. Power Factor Correction Techniques After tens of years developing and improving, various types of power factor correction techniques or harmonic mitigation techniques can be chosen to solve power factor problem. Those techniques can be divided into five categories [11] [13] as shown below: 1. Passive filters Passive filters can improve power factor with low cost and reduce high frequency harmonics effectively. However, they are always in large size and cannot vary flexibly with system changes [4] [14]. If tuning reactors are not used, parallel resonance may occur in operation [15]. 2. Active filters Active filters improve power factor and provide stable output even under varying supply condition, and reduce harmonics in the output current effectively and efficiently [4] [16]. These, however, always requires much higher costs and the harmonic currents they injected may flow into other system components [13] [14]. 3. Hybrid systems Hybrid active filters combine active and passive filters together in various forms [17]. Hence they can reduce initial and running costs and improve performance of the filter [11] [13]. Smaller filter inductor, smaller dimension, light weight and better filter performance hybrid system take advantages of both passive and active filters [18]. However, the complexity of operation is the main drawback of hybrid systems. 4. Phase multiplication Increasing the pulse number of power converters can raise the lowest harmonic order generated by the converter [2]. Typically, 6-pulse converter has the lowest harmonic order of 5 [1]. When rising pulse number to 12, the lowest harmonic order can increase to 11. As value of harmonic current are ideally proportional to fundamental current value [4], the amount distortion of the power system can de reduce to a low level. On the other hand, the effectiveness of this technique is based on balanced load [13] which rarely happens in practice. 5. PWM PWM converters have much better performance compared to traditional converters like diode rectifiers and square-wave control inverters [4]. As a control strategy improvement, PWM harmonic mitigation technique can even used with some devices for traditional converters and hence get broad application prospect [11]. However, the topology complexity and difficult on designing controllers [19] makes the use of PWM is limited. The objective of these techniques is to make the input current nearly a pure sinusoidal waveform and hence to improve the power factor in electrical supply system. All these five techniques are discussed separately in the following work. 3.1 Passive filters Passive filters have widely been used to absorb harmonics generated by the power electronic systems, primarily due to their simplicity, low cost and high efficiency [20]. Passive filters are always consists inductors, capacitors and damping resistors [21]. The objective of the passive filter is to stop the flow of the harmonic current from disturbing power system, either by preventing them with the usage of series filters or diverting them to a shunt path [9] [11]. That is the different between series filter and shunt filter, too. Series filters can be tuned LC system or only a single inductor in the system. Parallel inductance and capacitance are tuned to provide low impedance for fundamental frequency current and high impedance for a selected frequency current, always high level harmonic current. The series tuned filters are simple and reliable to use. The circuit configuration can be shown as below. Figure 3.1 Series LC tuned filter. The series tuned filters are always used as input filter for power electronic systems. However, a big drawback limits the using. If the series tuned filter is used in a VSI system as the input filter for the inverter, several order harmonic current need to be filtered, 5th, 7th, and so on. Each order harmonic current required an individual filter, and hence the size of the system can be intolerable. On the other hand, shunt filter have much more types including shunt-tuned filter, double-band pass filter and 1st, 2nd and 3rd -order damped filters. Also, broadband filters are good solution for filtering wide range of harmonics [22]. The circuit configurations of these widely used passive filters are like shown below. (a) (b) (c) (d) Figure 3.2 Typical harmonic filters: (a) Single-tuned filter (b) Double tuned filter (c) High-pass parallel filter (d) C-type high-pass filter [5] [27]. A few single tuned filters cope with large level harmonic contents and a high-pass (2nd order) filter filtering high frequency harmonics is the typical model for shunt passive filters and can get better characteristic than series filters [24]. Take the single tuned filter as example, single-tuned filter also called the band-pass filter as only a selected frequency of current can pass in low impedance. The tuning frequency of the single-tuned filter could be: (3.1) And at this frequency, the impedance of the filter is: (3.2) where s is the Laplace operator, L represents value of inductance and C represents the capacitance value. However, mostly passive filters can only filtering 30% of harmonic current in the power system [23] and can not match IEEE 519-1992 standard well. Even the broadband filter, which can filter a range of harmonic contents and reduce system THD to approximately 10%, the resonance caused by the filter and the big size of inductor and capacitor still limit the usage of the filter. So we can get the list of advantages and disadvantages for passive filters shown in table 3.1. Advantages Disadvantages Effectively for filtering high frequency harmonics Low availability for low frequency harmonic filtering Very low cost and reliable Bulky devices and inflexible devices parameters Simple structure Individual branch is necessary for each dominant harmonics in the system High probability resonance Table 3.1 List of passive filter performances [4] [14] [25] [29]. 3.2 Active power filters (APF) The basic idea of an active filter is to compensate current or voltage disturbance so as to reduce the reactive power electronic systems drawn from the power system [23]. The active filters using in power system are not the same as what we use in electronic circuits. The active filters conventional means combined operational amplifiers and passive components like inductors and capacitors, and always been used in electronic circuits operating under low voltage. That is the beginning of the active compensation applications and came out earlier than active filters using in power systems. The active filters which are used in power system for active power compensation and harmonic compensation are always called Active Power Filter (APF) [30]. The active in APF means the filters are act as power sources or generators and provide compensation currents which have opposite phase angle with the harmonic currents in power system [30]. Similarity between electronic circuit active filters and pow er system active filters are the requirement of external power supply. The active filters which are talked in the following parts are all means APF. With the active power filters, the compensation for reactive power and for harmonic current can de done at the same time, hence efficiency on harmonic compensation and also dynamic response are all be improved [23]. The trend of active power filters began in 1970s and was introduced by Mr. Akagi. The incentive for active filters is the inductor is not appropriate to use under high frequency, so the trend is to replace the inductor with active components. As the harmonic contents in the power system various frequently, fast response of active filters required a good control strategy to make active filters smarter and faster. But more complex devices and sophisticated control strategy are required, that all makes active filters more expensive and hard to use [26]. Active filters can also be classified by converter type as shunt-type active filters and series-type active filters. The diagrams of two basic types of active filters are shown below. The other way to classify active filters is the phase number of filters which will be discussed later. (a) (b) Figure 3.3 Diagrams of (a) Shunt-type active filter and (b) Series-type active filter [11] [28]. Series active filters are good at compensate voltage harmonics and capacitive, voltage-source loads. When applied to an inductive or current-source load, a low impedance parallel branch is necessary. Similarly, shunt active filters are always used with inductive, current-source loads and high current distortion conditions. Sometimes over current condition occurs with the use of shunt-type active filters [31]. Typical working principle of the active power filter is: 1. Detection. The sensor detects the waveform of the instantaneous load current and feedback to the controller, which is typically a digital processing block. 2. Analysis. Load current is always high distortion current including fundamental current and many orders of harmonic current. The processor must distinguish the fundamental current with the harmonic currents and give out the information including frequency, value, and phase angle of harmonic contents, so as to control the power source inverter providing opposite phase current of harmonic current. 3. Compensation. The power source inverter draws current from individual DC voltage supply and converting to required current to cancel harmonic currents. Like the diagram shown below. Figure 3.4 Diagram of compensation characteristics [31]. Hence, we can draw a conclusion of advantages and disadvantages of active power filters shown in the table below. Advantages Disadvantages High compensation efficiency and high ability on harmonic compensation Low reliability with sophisticated control system and devices Small size components Difficult to construct a large rated current source with a rapid current Fast action on harmonic current variation makes good dynamic response High initial costs and running costs No resonance causing Complex control strategy and controllers are necessary Suitable for widely supply and load conditions, like unbalanced power supply Table 3.2 List of active power filter performances [13] [22] [30] [31]. 3.3 Hybrid systems Hybrid filters comes from the idea to combine the advantages of both passive filters and active filters together hence to get brilliant performance on harmonic mitigation [17]. Combine passive filters and active filters can significantly reduce costs and improve the compensation characteristics in the power system. Also, various types of hybrid systems of passive and active filters can get better performance than only passive or active filters. Like the reference [18] and [20], small rating active power filter and passive filter connected in serial or shunt type. Smaller filter inductor, smaller dimension, light weight and better filter performance hybrid system take advantages of both passive and active filters [18]. However, as the basement of the hybrid power filters are always active power filters, the initial costs and control complexity is still big disadvantages of hybrid systems. 3.4 Phase multiplication The purpose of phase multiplication is to increase the pulse number of the converter and hence to increase the harmonic order and frequency [4]. The low frequency harmonics can be mitigated effectively and phase multiplication technique does not cause serious resonance and other bad effects on power system performances [13]. The practical application of phase multiplication technique, the multipulse converters, have the ability to draw low distortion current from power source and generate DC current with low level ripple [32]. Typically, 6-pulse converter has the lowest harmonic order of 5 [1]. When rising pulse number to 12, the lowest harmonic order can increase to 11. As value of harmonic current are ideally proportional to fundamental current value [4], the amount distortion of the power system can de reduce to a low level. Also, the multipulse thyristor converters can output various value current by controlling the thyristor fairing angle () [32]. The drawbacks of phase multiplication technique are mostly the contradiction between the cost and output characteristic. If controlled output is required, the multipulse converter should contain at least 12 switching devices and that can be a big amount of costs. On the other hand, multipulse converter only use diodes may operate on low efficiency [11]. 3.5 PWM PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is a modern control technique for power electronic systems. PWM converters have much better performance compared to traditional converters like diode rectifiers and square-wave control inverters [4]. Like the phase multiplication technique, PWM control can raise the frequency of harmonic contents of current so as to reduce the effect caused by harmonics. Also, converters using PWM control can have high efficiency and small size. With all these advantages, PWM control absorbed great concern in modern power conversion systems. However, the topology complexity and difficult on designing controllers [19] makes the use of PWM is limited. 3.6 Power factor correction converter Power factor correction (PFC) converter is a typical active power factor correction method. As a mature technique for power factor correction, PFC converters have been widely used in power electronic systems to achieve high power factor (PF) and low harmonic distortion [33]. PFC convener forces the input current follow the input voltage, which makes the input current drawn from power supply nearly in a unity power factor [34]. The Boost-type PFC converters are the most used topology which have many advantages, such as low level ripple in the input current, high power factor, small size and simple circuit structure [35]. A typical circuit diagram of Boost-type PFC converter is as shown below from reference [36]. Figure 3.5 Typical circuit diagram of Boost-type PFC converter [36]. As we seen in the diagram before, conventional PFC converter consists two main stages [33] [37]: Power factor correction stage. This stage is combined with a diode rectifier and a DC/DC converter and used to correct power factor of the input current drawn from the power system. The most used type of chopper is Boost chopper. Also, the new Buck and Cuk type PFC converters are increasingly being used now. The switching working principle can be divided into two types, DCM and CCM. 2. DC/DC converter The chopper here is used to convert the power output voltage and current match the users demand. Since choppers only drawn low distortion power from supply, the typical filter on the utilization end is always a passive filter. This is the working principle for conventional PFC converters, the two-stage DCM/CCM Boost-type PFC converter. However, this type of PFC converter has some disadvantages and need to be improved [33]-[39]: 1. Stage number Individual control system and switching devices are required for each stage of PFC converter, hence increasing the costs of the whole system and cause some other problems, such as power density, transmission efficiency and control response [38]. Also, the design of control system can be a challenge. A new one-stage PFC converter topology has been introduced to power factor correction research area. The circuit diagram is as shown in figure 3.6 [36]. The combination of the power factor correction converter and the forward converter may bring many advantages point as below [36]: 1. High power factor correction performance 2. Reduced value of ripple in the DC output 3. Low initial cost and running cost 4. High efficiency and easy control system And so on. Figure 3.6 Circuit diagram of single stage PFC converter [36]. 2. Converter type Like shown in figure 3.6, Buck converter is increasingly being used in PFC converters. Also, Cuk converter and other type of choppers are becoming good choice for PFC converters [36]-[39]. The Buck type PFC converter was rarely used since its high input current distortion. However, with the characteristic improving of the Buck type PFC converter, it can reach good performance with specific dual mode duty cycle control scheme [36]. The main advantage of Buck type PFC converter is easy to reduce the stage number to one stage. 3. Devices and control strategy One of the most important aims in the design of power electronic systems is the reduction of the size of the passive devices, since it allows increase on the power density and the reduction in the initial and running cost. As inductor and capacitor are still using in the PFC converter, the reduction of them can be very important [33] [37]. However, the improvement of devices must base on the developing of the control strategy [37]. With a good detect and control system, the size of the inductor and capacitor can be reduced while the harmonic content can still meet the requirement [33]. The further analysis and improvement of PFC converter based on this literature review will be an important work in the last stage of project. 4. Conclusion This literature review provides a critical study on power factor issues and power factor correction techniques. A theoretical review of power factor definitions and harmonic generation by power electronic systems are presented at the beginning of the paper. The performance of five basic types of harmonic mitigation techniques has been discussed with the support of many previous research publication and their results. The PFC converter is chosen as the promising system for power factor correction after the analysis and comparison. The simulation model establishment and simulation comparison of power factor correction techniques will be important works for the next period of the project. Also, design rules and guidance of PFC converters will be designed in the next period, too.

Is yawning contagious :: essays research papers

Is Yawning Contagious? Yawning is contagious. You can "catch" a yawn. I had to stifle many yawns as I read and wrote about this phenomenon. Yawning is probably programmed into us as stated by Dr. William Broughton, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of S. Alabama Knollwood Hospital. Yawning is not contagious from species to species. You will not see a baboon for instance yawn when he sees a human yawn. If a chimpanzee or baboon yawns another will follow. And vise versa. The only animal that had an affect on the human response was the yawn of the lion. Observing people with their mouth wide open does not produce a yawn, but show a person with his or her mouth wide open and covered with a hand has a yawning effect. This is a visual response. Most people will tell you that a good yawn gives them great satisfaction. Especially when it involves stretching the body along with the facial muscles. A stifled yawn is unsatisfactory and leaves us incomplete and irritated. Not everyone exposed to yawning, whether visually or simply reading about it will be affected. A persons personality enters into the equation. People who are sensitive to another persons dilemma or problem are most likely to be contagious yawners. The level of empathy for others seems to be directly related. Yet excessive yawning may be a warning to a disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease. This study also suggests that to yawn is to be aware of oneself. We can identify ourselves in a mirror for instance. An infant does not have that ability so the success of a contagious yawn is small. I observed older people in a nursing home. Many cannot identify themselves in the mirror. Yawning to them created no reaction. They had a rather "flat" effect. People with schizophrenic tendencies also had no reaction to visual yawning. Schizophrenia being one of many psychotic disorders that make it impossible to deal in reality, withdrawal, delusions. A study on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) showed the higher the SPQ score the lower number of contagious yawns. So the question remains.... Why do we yawn? The answer seems to lie in our brains. Our behavior and state of mind will make us more vulnerable to catching a yawn.

Paper on “Night” by Elie Wisel

Elie's Spiritual Journey In Elie Wisel's Night, Elie goes through an incredible spiritual change. In the beginning of his book he is striving to become the most devoted Jew he can. This is illustrated by his â€Å"crying because something inside me felt the need to cry† as he was praying in the temple. His devotion to Judism is also shown by his desire to study the Kabbalah. When his father discourages him from studying this â€Å"world of mysticism† Elie begins looking for his own teacher, and he finds Moishe the Beadle. Moishe helps Elie see why he prays and guide him in the teaching of the Kabbalists.One of the first times Elie's faith is tested is when he first gets to Birkenau and sees the crematorium. There people are expecting death yet his father says â€Å"May His name be celebrated and sanctified. † Elie gets mad at his father for saying this, because Elie had an expectation from his devotion to Judism. He expects to have a long life with minimal trials thanks to his devotion. However, when his faith is tested he says: â€Å"For the first time I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent.What was there to thank him for? † This shows he is disappointed in God. The Bible says â€Å"give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus† (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Elie's attitude is not thankful and even hating. We see that Elie also feels like God has left Elie and the Jews. In chapter 4 a young boy is hanged from the gallows. As he slips in and out of death someone says: â€Å"For God's sake, where is God? † Elie says â€Å"Where He is? This is where – hanging here from this gallows. † Elie now believes God is dead or has forgotten about His people.His response shows that he has begun to totally disregard God, and even question himself as well as his faith. Elie is upset that God is allowin g the Jews to be slaughtered. â€Å"You have betrayed (the inmates) allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned! What do they do? They pray before you! They praise your name! † This statement from chapter 5, during Rosh Hashanah, shows that Elie is definitely mad at God for letting the Holocaust happen. The next two paragraphs show how Elie's faith has been shattered. â€Å"I knew my sins grieved the Almighty so I pleaded for forgiveness. . .But, now I no longer pleaded for anything. . . I was the accuser, God the accused. † These two statements reveal that Elie feels the power of the Holy Spirit to ask for forgiveness, yet he ignores it. He chooses instead to accuse God and to block out His voice. Despite all these times when he has denied God, Elie still begins his Nobel Peace Prize speech with a prayer. He goes on to talk about a small boy (him) that has emerged from the Kingdom of Night, the Holocaust. He said â€Å"A young Jewish boy discovered the Kingdom of Night. I remember his bewilderment, I remember his anguish. It all happened so fast. Elie also talks about his Judism. He tells everyone that his â€Å"First response is to Jewish fears. † He wants everyone to know that he will not stand by as his people are persecuted. As he draws his speech to a close he says, â€Å"Should Israel lose but one war, it would mean her end and ours as well. But I have faith. † This comment as well as his entire speech, shows that Elie has, perhaps, restored his faith in God, despite his bitterness. However, only God knows his heart. Only God knows what that little boy crying in the temple went through, as he traveled through the Kingdom of Night.

Main Divisions Between Mainstream and Critical Social Psychology

One of the main divisions between mainstream and critical social psychology is that of the methods adopted. Discuss with reference to the cognitive social and at least one other social psychological perspective. Social psychology has existed for about 100 years, before which psychology was a branch of philosophy. Social psychology studies individuals in their social contexts. It is a diverse discipline made up of many theoretical perspectives and variety of different methods are used in social psychological research. This assignment explores the main principles of different methods in social psychology. It will look at the underlying theories or perspectives that organise contemporary social and discursive psychological research and knowledge and critically evaluate different theoretical perspectives and methods. Cognitive social psychology studies the information processing individual in a social context to analyse individual cognitions in controlled social conditions. It is a quantative approach. It dominates psychological social psychology and emerged from the critique of behaviourism in the mid twentieth century. Researchers use an experimental approach involving controlled experimental conditions to produce quantitative data that can be measured and analysed to produce statistically valid conclusions. Discursive psychology focuses on the external world of discourse, its meaning and effects and studies the socially constructed, situated and contingent identity. It is a qualitative approach. It emerged in the 1970s with the linguistic turn, and was influenced by sociological social psychology. Researchers use discourse analysis to produce qualitative data by conversational and textual analysis. Phenomenological psychology focuses on the detailed description of social experience derived through the senses. It is a qualitative approach using the rich description of experience. It studies the internal world of the psyche in relational settings and its effect on action using first-person written account of experience, interview and literary text. It originated in the philosophy of Husserl in the late nineteenth/ early twentieth century. Social psychoanalytical psychology or psychosocial studies the internal world of the psyche in relational settings and its effects on actions. It is a qualitative approach. It looks at the conflicted psyche in dynamic relation with the external world. Using case study and free association narrative, interviews and observation qualitative data is evaluated through interpretation of what is unsaid as well as said. Its original development was in the clinic and it became an area of academic study in the late twentieth century. There are four overarching themes that can be used to interrogate a set of value issues that permeate social psychology. These are known as interrogative themes and they are outlined below. Power relations are central to the way that all knowledge is produced and interpreted. Power permeates everything we do and all our relationships . Power is neither good nor bad but it is what is done with it that determines this. Power is relational and the balance changes in different contexts. It is contextual and situated rather than absolute. Questions of power were first raised in relation to the deception of participants in the name of science. For example in Stanley Milgram’s (1965) experiment where participants were required to give increasing levels of electric shock to Milgram’s colleagues who posed as recipients of the electric shocks. The focus was on power relations between the scientist and participants, many of whom performed, as they believed, harmful and sadistic acts on the instructions of the scientist. Ethical guidelines in social psychology have been hugely influenced by this. The question of who has the power to interpret people’s experiences applies to all social psychological research. We need to be careful how we base interpretations on evidence, and we must interrogate how that evidence and those meanings came to be produced: within what assumptions and power relations. Power relations raise the issue of the relationship between the researcher and the participants. Another interrogative theme is situated knowledges. Knowledge always comes from a belief or view point Knowledge is always situated somewhere and sometime – it changes with time and is situated in terms of values, cultures, belief systems and history. It changes with social change. Knowledge production needs to be situated at the level of every piece of research. Methods are highly influential in the knowledges that are produced. Another interrogative theme is individual-society dualism. The most enduring theme in social psychology is whether individual or society is privileged in the explanation of social psychological phenomena and derives from the wider dualism of explanations that have characterised western thought since the Enlightenment. Individual-society dualism often manifested in a reduction of explanation to either biological (often genetic) or social causes. Sometimes ‘both/and’ explanations also suffer form this dualism because they behave as if there is no other level of explanation, only an ‘interaction’ between biological and social factors. Genuinely social psychological explanations get squeezed out. Agency-structure dualism is the twin problem of individual-social dualism. The binary terms ‘agency’ and ‘structure’ mirror the terms ‘individual’ and ‘society’ in the following way: if individuals are seen as relatively independent of social influence, they can be theorised as agents of their own destinies. On the other hand, if social structures are overwhelmingly influential in individual action, people’s choices and desires would be irrelevant. Traditional social theory placed such emphasis on the power of social structures in governing peoples actions that this led to self determinism. A challenge for social psychology is to be able to understand the dynamic tension between desires and actions that are relatively free and ones that are heavily constrained by circumstances, rather than fall into assumptions on either side of the agency-structure binary. This interrogative theme will help us remain aware of dangers which, like individual-society dualism, have strong political and ethical implications. All of these interrogative themes are useful in evaluating social psychological research and theories. There are differences and similarities between the four perspectives on social psychology that have been defined in this essay. They all have reflexivity because the researchers are prepared to put themselves in the picture of knowledge production. They are all explicit about the way their approach is appropriate to the object of analysis. A difference between the qualitative and quantitative approach is whether the object of analysis is hidden from view. This is highlighted as an advantage of the cognitive social psychology experimental method and is also central to the free association narrative interview method which draws from the psychoanalytic concept of unconscious dynamics. Phenomenological psychology, whose object of analysis is conscious experience, aims to elaborate qualities previously hidden form view through rich description. In contrast, discourse analysis is not interested in underlying significance but in words. Whereas discourse analysis is interested in emotion terms, social psychoanalysis looks for emotions themselves , while the object of phenomenological analysis is the emotions that people are aware of and can therefore describe. Social psychoanalysis and the experimental method look for causes of actions, but discourse analysis rejects this, and phenomenology focuses on experience rather than its causes or motives. Control of the research setting is the issue that most clearly differentiates quantitative and qualitative approaches. Experimental psychology ‘models’ social processes in order to control them. The other three approaches seek ecological validity by researching in social settings. Within the qualitative approaches there are differences in emphasis. Discourse analysts prefer to collect discourse as it can be found, although they also conduct interviews. The social psychoanalytical and phenomenological approaches rely in eliciting experience, often grounded in a narrative of actual events. Narrative is becoming an overarching theme in qualitative social psychology, partly because of the critique of unstructured interview techniques on the grounds that they dictate the terms in which participants can give their accounts. When interviews are relatively unstructured, participants have a tendency to give accounts in narrative form. It is useful to compare the different methodological approaches in relation to their analysis of The Guardian’s story published on 24 May 2004 about an Iraqi family, a mother an her children. The woman’s husband ( the children’s father) had died in detention during the American/British invasion and the newspaper quoted the woman’s response – ‘I will always hate you people’. The Cognitive Social Psychology Experimental approach outlined by Russell Spears states that experimental evidence is the lifeblood of psychology and experiments provide the control to assess causal relations and patterns among variables that may not be apparent to the naked eye. Whist acknowledging that we cannot reproduce in the lab the conditions that foster this kind of hatred, we can model some of the proposed processes and test implications of theories. The psychoanalytical perspective referred to by Wendy Hollway is a clinical rather than a research method. Free association interviewing is used to reach beyond the structured interviewing that dominates qualitative research and risks constraining interviewees with assumptions provided by questions. Derek Edwards discussion of discursive social psychology proposes looking at the report and how the words and, descriptions and accounts are assembled and put to work. He focuses on the reports themselves , how they provide for causal explanations, invoke psychological states and build implications for politics and policy. This approach examines how people deploy commonsense psychological ideas. Darren Langridge explores phenomenological social psychology as a descriptive enterprise. Data is collected though first person written accounts or interviews. The rush towards explanation is avoided. The aim is to identify structural qualities that are invariant across the experience, as well as those that are more idiosyncratic, focusing on the reasons but not the causes behind the phenomena in the hope of providing new insights that may enable us to effect change. In conclusion, there are similarities and differences between the methodologies used to explore the four perspectives in social psychology that have been discussed. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, and all can contribute to the continuing development of theories and approaches within social psychology. References Milgram, S ( 1974) Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View, London, Tavistock. Spears , R. , Hollway, W. and Edwards, D. (2005) ‘Three views on hate’, The Psychologist, vol 18, no 9, September, pp. 844-7. Social Psychology Matters Book 1, Chapter 2 by Wendy Hollway, Book 2, Chapter 1 (Introductions) – Open University Press. DVD 1 Social Psychology : Critical Perspectives on Self and Others.

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buy custom Characteristics of Nation-States essay Since time immemorial, people have realized that unity is strength and as such have learnt to embrace the importance of living together as a family. Living together is possible only if people are united by some common factors. A nation refers to a people of the same race that have come to live together and possibly have a common language for communication. In other words, a nation only defines a socio-cultural entity and does not take the concept of formal politics in consideration. On the other hand, a state is a well-defined political entity that is characterized by a stable government, permanent population and ability to relate with other states (Suer, 2009). A modern nation-state refers to a permanent population of people that are bound together by a stable government and common socio-cultural factors. A modern nation-state is characterized by several core features. Firstly, it has a well-defined geographical boundary that assists it excise its jurisdiction over its citizens (George Emily, 2007). Secondly, its territory is governed by sovereignty and independent of any external influence from other nation-states. Thirdly, a modern nation-state government comprises public offices, with each having a role to play in the governing of the nation-state. Through these public offices, a nation-state is able to take control and administration of its territory and subjects (George Emily, 2007). A modern nation-state has well marked and protected boundaries, often fenced with specific entry and exit points. The fences are under 24-hour security watch by border gourds, and sometimes armies. Leadership of this kind of state enjoys monopoly through the lawful application of coercion over its subject. Lastly, citizens of a nation-state are entitled to minimum sense of national identity and its government does require loyalty of its citizens to rule (George Emily, 2007). Examples of a Nation, a State and a Nation-State Barbados is an independent Caribbean island and a typical example of a nation with a stable economy. For entry to and exit from this nation, one must have a valid passport or visa implying that it has a well-guarded territory. Its population is comprised of people of the same race who use English as their common language of communication. Barbados leadership is externally influenced by some nation-states, such as the U.S. (Barriton, 2006). For a state, the Dominican Republic stands out as the best example. It has a representative type of government with a multiparty system. The governments functions are carried out through the principle government officials, such as President Leonel Reyna, ministers and other officials (Suer, 2009). The Dominican Republic has a stable economy with an estimated nominal GDP of $51.6 billion and an annual growth of 7.8%. It has a permanent population half of which lives in rural areas. It also enjoys good relations with other nations, such as the U.S. However, the Dominican Republic is not completely independent, since its leadership is at times subjected to foreign influence (Suer, 2009). France was one of the earliest countries to transform from feudalism to a nation-state. It is a typical example that illustrates what a nation-state really is. It has a permanent population of about 63.1 million people with French as their national language. Its central government, currently headed by President Nicolas Sarkozy assisted by te Prime Minister, is very stable. There is proper interrelation between France and other nation-states, such as the United States of America. Moreover, Frances territory is well-guarded by the French military as per the UN Security Council Counterterrorism Committee (George Emily, 2007). The United States as a Nation-State The United States is made up of 50 states with each ruling itself through an organized state of government. Each state has its own population and a territory. These states are not completely independent since they are influenced by national laws. The United States has been able to maintain its nation-state status through good address and understanding of fixed territory, sovereignty and common culture (Goudie, 2006). The United States has been working hard towards fostering fixed territory in its nation-states. This move is geared at assisting the U.S. government to exercise its political power on the areas over which the United States has dominion. As defined in the Federal Constitution, the United States territories include the states of the Union. Particular inhabitants of a given U.S. territory do not enjoy political and social parity with inhabitants of other areas which constitute the constitution (Goudie, 2006). The U.S. government through sovereignty authorizes the indigenous tribes to rule themselves within the United States territory. These tribal nations within the U.S. are recognized by the Federal Government as Domestic Dependant Nations. The federal government has formulated laws that assist it to define how the Federal, State and Tribal governments should be related. Full sovereignty was granted to these tribal nations by the constitution which was later enhanced by Federal Laws (Russell,2009). It is obvious that a powerful institutional order like the one experienced in the U.S. must have a powerful culture. The U.S. has well-defined cultures, such as marriage culture that condemns divorce for couples in their sixties onwards. There is an English language as a common mode of communication. All these common cultures are made known to the native inhabitants through media, schools and other effective modes (Russell,2009). The U.S. is a very influential country in the world. It has many foreign policy objectives that help it relate with foreign nations, as well as interactions standards for its organizations and citizens. Goudie (2006) asserts that Isolationism and Neutrality are some of the foreign policies that ensure that the U.S. stays out of international war and also refrains from selling firearms to any county participating in such wars. The policy also prevents the U.S. from allowing any of the belligerent warships to seek refuge from either force (Goudie, 2006). European Union as a Transnational Entity The European Union was first established as a European Community. It owes its creation to the efforts of the major governments of postwar continental Europe who wanted to raise the continent from the fractures caused by the Second World War. Its major objective was to unify European coal and steel industries to manufacture a lot of munitions to boost the then stumbling European economy. This action gave rise to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951 with the help of Treaty formed by France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, WWest Germany, and Luxembourg. In 1957, these six countries transformed the ECSC into the EEC and then to the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) (El-Agraa Ardy, 2011). In 1957, the need to consolidate the operations of the ECSC, EEC and EAEC, commonly known as European Communities, arose (El-Agraa Ardy, 2011). In 1965, a single commission and a single council that united the European community were formed through the Treaty of Mergers signed in Brussels. The European Union was then formed from the European communities in 1992 with the main objective of expanding and redefining the influence of the communities to merge some of their operations (El-Agraa Ardy, 2011). Currently, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, West Germany, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and United Kingdom are some of its members (El-Agraa Ardy, 2011). The EU institutions include the European Parliament, Council of Ministers, European Commission, Court of Justice, Court of Auditors, European Investment Bank, European and Social Committee and European Monetary Institute (Weihrich, 2007). The contemporary function of the European Union is to unite the member states in order to maximize the collective abilities of these members. This is done through authorizing members freedom of movement, free trade and freedom of job choice within the territory of the EU. Another function that the Union undertakes is the counteraction of the United States as the global super power (Bindi, 2010). The main objectives of the European Union include ensuring that peace and understanding are preserved and strengthened among the member countries. This is achievable through the establishment of good relations with the neighbor countries based on equality and reciprocity principles. Its second objective is to conduct extensive promotion of its economy. This will be achieved through increasing the exports of the EU products and attraction of more foreign investments (Bindi, 2010). Engagement of Nation-State and Transnational Entities in Foreign Policy Before getting involved in foreign policy, it is up to the leadership of these nation-states and transnational entities to ensure that the policy is beneficial to them. The benefits could be evaluated in terms of political and economic effects, as well as security issues. Cebeci (2011) asserts that nation-states and entities engage in foreign policies in two ways; firstly, they economically penetrate different countries through the establishment of multinational corporations; secondly, through influencing the political and military systems of the targeted countries. These are the measures that have helped the United-States to remain the sole superpower with a strong economy for many years (Cebeci, 2011). Not only does the engagement benefit nation-states and transnational entities, but also assists targeted countries politically and economically. In the past, the European Union assisted these countries in reviving their economies in tough situations by writing off their long and outstanding debts. These bodies also assist in promoting democracy in the countries through eradication of dictatorship rule. However, there are a number of side effects suffered by targeted countries. For instance, they become dependent on the EU and, therefore, may be susceptible to external influence (Jorgenson, 2009). Buy custom Characteristics of Nation-States essay

The behaviour of organisations and the market environment Essay

The behaviour of organisations and the market environment - Essay Example Sony being one of the leaders in the music, movies, gaming and electronic industry is competing with many players in the electronic market. Several players like Samsung, hp, LG are already in a steady position in the market with around same market share. The industry of electronics grew at a very fast pace over the year and with the emergence of many new companies from South Korea like Samsung and LG many existing players of the market like Sony are suffering to maintain their market share. Samsung maintained a huge profit of $3 billion profit while Sony suffered in earning during the same period (LedTV, 2011). To maintain the market share the company need to develop a strong base to compete with the global market (Market Research News, 2011). Though these players are entering into the market but threats from new entrants are relatively low in electronics industry as compared to other industry. The capital requirement for the entry is huge for the new players which is not possible fo r many to enter the market. The switching cost of the new entrants is also high in electronic industry. For new players it’s difficult for them to know the new technologies and invest in research and development process. The diversified product line from the existing players like Sony is a great advantage for them. Economies of scale are another issue which keeps the competition low from the new players. Define the meaning of perfect competition. To what extent does your chosen industry’s structure fit with your definition? In a perfect competition scenario all the players of the market are approximately equally sharing the market share. None of the companies in the market are large enough to set the price for the industry. Most of the firms in the same industry produce same kind of products and follow the expected price for the product which other players are using. In a perfect competition market no single company leads the race for the industry. Everyone in the mark et possesses same kind of small market share. The customers in a perfect competition market are aware of the products from all the players and they have an expected price of the different products from the companies the new entrants can enter with ease in this market situation and they also don’

Marcel Breuers Tubular Metal Chair Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marcel Breuers Tubular Metal Chair - Essay Example The discussion regarding the legacy of Bauhaus chairs reveal a number of aspects of the design and its connection with the modern designs. Many artists and others concur that the design of the classic Bauhaus chairs depicts the contemporary modern lifestyles. On the other hand, tubular metal chair predominantly paved way for a more advanced invention and innovativeness in the field of furniture design. This design in the artistic field paved way for a more chronologically advanced design industry whereby each and every individual artist is guided by their own liberally generated ideas. The functionalism of the modern furniture designs were particularly influenced by the post World II ideals of commoditization, cutting down excess and design practically. The remarkable shift from the decorative principles to minimalism as seen in the design of the Bauhaus chairs was generally attributed to the introduction of new technology as well as the changing philosophy of architecture. For examp le, the tubular metal chair was the revolutionary design in the furniture project under which bent tubular steel and canvas as well as manufacturing methods was powerfully used. The handlebar of Marcel’s Adler Bicycle inspired him a great deal in the adoption of the use of steel tubing to construct this chair. Through this design, it was proven that steel tubing was actually an appropriate material proposal by Marcel as it was available in larger quantity. The periphery of the tubular metal chair exhibition room was divided.

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

Gymnastic Techniques - Essay Example Many components work together to make a gymnastic composition successful. An element is the shortest gymnastic exercise that is complete ((Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 4). Each element consists of different movements of some of the various body parts (movements may be with or without apparatus). A movement is change in the orientation or position of the whole body or one of its parts. In a competition, judges judge each element according to some characteristics. These characteristics include originality, degree of difficulty, virtuosity of performance and mastery Each element technique has its own basis which includes the movements of the exercise and which distinguish an element from other elements (Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 4). The basis of an element technique develops from independent preparatory, main and finishing phases. In the preparatory phase, all the body movements of the technique are involved in preparing a way for the main phase. For instance, a gymnast needs a preparatory phase to attain good speed or rotary motion to throw an apparatus. The main phase of the element includes all the movements performed according to the objective of the element (Jastrjembskaia, Titov 1999 pg 6). For instance if a gymnast is about to perform jump or leap the main objective is the gymnast's flight. If a gymnast is about to throw an apparatus then the main objective is the apparatus's flight. In finishing phase, a gymnast completes the objective he started in the main phase. The gymnast also changes his direction or speed of motion in this ph ase. For instance, in order to land from a leap, a gymnast in finishing phase stops his momentum and speed that he needed to make the leap. Spondylolisthesis among GymnastsYoung female gymnasts engaged in training and practice all year round place excessive demand on their back all year round. In a study, on one hundred female gymnasts, incidence of pars intercularis defect was four times higher than the incidence of 2.3% reported in general female Caucasian population (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68). In another study young female Caucasian volunteers participated that represented their different teams in gymnastic competition from national to international levels (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68). In the study, a questionnaire answered by each girl listed her height, weight, hours of practice per week and years in competition. In this study, eleven of one hundred females evaluated had bilateral L5 intercularis defects (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68) Six of these had first-degree spondylolisthesis of L5 on S1. Eighty-nine had no pars intercularis defect. Of these eighty-nine girls, nineteen had an episode of back pain signinificant enough to interfere with their training. In the group of girls with spondylolisthesis, six of the eleven had prior back pain (Jackson, Wiltse and Cirincione, 1976, pg 68) . The girls with pars defects described their pain as dull aching and cramping. It was persistent and usually not related to specific injury but was aggravated markedly by activities like hyperextension (Jackson, Wilt

Institutional Racism and Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Health Care System Essay Example for Free

Institutional Racism and Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Health Care System Essay Institutional racism and racial discrimination in the U.S. health care system has been part of a long continuum dating back over 400 years. After hundreds of years of active discrimination, efforts were made to admit minorities into the mainstream health system but these efforts were flawed. Colin Gordon in his book Dead on Arrival portrays a very strong stance towards this issue when he states, â€Å"The American welfare state has always been, at root, a Jim Crow welfare state – disdainful of citizenship claims of racial minorities, deferential to a southern-controlled Congress, and leery of the racial implications of universal social programs† (172). It is evident that throughout the history of U.S. health care that race has shaped health provisions in a number of ways, most noticeably in private and public health care institutions. Gordon throughout his books discusses the ways in which institutional racism, specifically in the field of healthcare, has manifested itself throughout history. One of the most prominent manifestations of institutional racism in the healthcare field comes to light when examining past (and sometimes present) policies regarding admission (to healthcare facilities) and discrimination of minorities. It is evident when observing the adoption, administration, and implementation of these policies in the past that they were purposefully constructed to be exclusive of minority citizens (specifically African Americans and Latinos). Gordon gives an example of such policies in 1939 under the Social Security reforms. In the formative years of the New Deal southerners in Congress pushed for and won for the exclusion of agricultural and domestic labor from coverage under the National Recovery, Agricultural Adjustment, Social Security, National Labor Relations, and Fair Labor Standards act, this affectively excluded 90 percent of the southern black workforce (185). The implications of this act of agricultural exclusion are most clearly evident in the South and Southwest—regions whose economies were dominated by agriculture, who agriculture systems were peculiarly labor intensive, and whose agricultural labor markets were organized around low wages, tenancy, harsh legal controls, and violence. Gordon argues that segregation  persisted in medicine and hospitals longer than in any other public institution or facility partly due to the fact that Southern Congressmen pushed for local control of any federal expenditure; and later on this pushed Southern and Southwestern leaders into a partnership with doctors, employers, and insurers to keep racial minorities excluded from the health system. Southern interests led to a push for job-based private insurance, locally administered subsidies for hospital construction, and penurious charitable programs for those left behind, â€Å"southerners persistently worked to exclude African Americans from coverage, tap into federal funds without sacrificing local practices, and ensure that charity programs remained under local control† (174). Employment-based benefits, initially developed as a surrogate for national policy, was successful in leaving behind the majority of African Americans and Latinos due to the fact that they were grossly underrepresented in the unionized industrial economy, and in part because benefits such as these did not extend to casual or domestic or agricultural workers. Private health benefits came to be looked upon by many Americans as a â€Å"wage of white-ness† (176). Federal agencies, both out of practical and political necessity, consistently surrendered control over federal funds and standards over to state and local administration, â€Å"states set their own standards for care and eligibility and controlled the pace and scope of federal matching funds. Local political and medical authorities wielded considerable informal power and discretion† (187). In 1948 the Brookings Institution published a book-length assault on health reform. The conclusion of this publication was that higher black mortality rates are â€Å"predominately the result of economic, cultural and social differences† although, the research for this publication based cost estimates off of the ordinary expenditures of white families and confined comparative mortality rates to the white population, this led to them to conclude that the United States was among one of the most healthful nations in the world (188). Seconding this conclusion and also asserting that higher rates of non-white mortality were due to such things as poor sanitation, housing, education, and the lack of ordinary individual and community common sense was the AMA. The partnership between these two organizations is evident. At the root of the hospital issue in the South was not only professional and patient segregation but also the way in which it was countenanced by federal efforts  to address the region’s dearth of facilities. What is shown here is the long-standing political strategy to try and appease reformers by granting federal funds but to simultaneously placate opponents by relinquishing control to local or private interests; federal aid to hospitals both in 1940 and under the 1946 Hill-Burton Act â€Å"avoided any commitment to maintenance: once built, hospitals would reflect local control and local custom† (193). This however did nothing to prevent segregation seeing as in order to be considered nondiscriminatory a hospital was only required to grant equal access to the portion of the hospital that was built with federal funds. Perhaps the most compelling public health issue during the formative years of the American welfare state was the dismal status of rural services. In places in the South and Southwest and the nation’s inner cities basic services such as a hospital, public health clinic, and a doctor accepting Medicaid patients did not even exist. Gordon offers the example in Mississippi in 1948, there were only five general hospital beds for every 100,000 blacks in the state—at a time when four beds for every 1,000 citizens was considered adequate (175). It is evident that health care in the twentieth century has been shaped by a myriad of â€Å"direct and indirect discrimination, strong southern interests and local administration, the uneasy intersection of public and private (job-based) benefits, and the sharp political distinctions routinely drawn between contributory and charitable programs† (209). According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Despite the existence of civil rights legislation equal treatment and equal access are not a reality for racial/ethnic minorities and women in the current climate of the health care industry. Many barriers limit both the quality of health care and utilization for these groups, including discrimination. Importance of Health Care Access to comprehensive, quality health care services is important for the achievement of health equity and for increasing the quality of a healthy life for everyone. Access to health services entails the timely utilization of personal health services in an effort to achieve the best possible health outcomes. The utilization of and access to health care has many substantial impacts on a person’s life. A person’s overall physical, social and mental health statuses are all impacted by the ability to be examined and treated by a medical professional. Health care also plays a significant role in the prevention of disease and disability, the detection and treatment of health conditions and a person’s quality of life. A structured healthcare system assists in providing a foundation for a healthy lifestyle for both individuals and their families. Without access to healthcare, minor health issues have the potential to escalate either permanently affecting living standards or worse resulting in death. The health care sector also has an impact on the local economy. Health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes provide jobs and income to people in the community. As these employees spend their income in the community, a ripple spreads throughout the economy, creating additional jobs and income in other economic sectors. Also, providing healthcare may also be a business incentive to companies. Healthy employees can mean a healthier, happier, more productive workplace. A company’s decision to invest in and offer health care to their employees not only filters back into the economy but also may help them to recruit and retain quality employees, improve employee satisfaction, and reduce absenteeism due to sickness. Business that offer health insurance as part of their employee benefits package are probably better able to attract more qualified applicants than those who dont. Also, offering health insurance coverage is a way of keeping operating costs low, because employees are generally more apt to take a position at a lower salary when health insurance benefits are provided. This is because it generally costs more for someone to obtain an individual or family health insurance policy than to get employer-sponsored coverage, making the difference of a lower salary negotiable. Businesses offering health insurance can deduct their portion of the contribution toward their employee plan as a business expense and get a tax advantage. If the business is incorporated, the business owners insurance and the coverage paid for employees are deductible. Access to health care services and insurance plays a vital role in individual and families lives along side society as a whole.