Lean-Burn Engines

Lean-Burn Engines Lean-burn means pretty much what it says. It is a lean amount of fuel supplied to and burned in an engine’s combustion chamber. Gasoline burns best in standard internal combustion engines when it is mixed with air in the proportions of 14.7:1 - nearly 15 parts of air to every one part of fuel. A true lean-burn can go as high as 32:1. If internal combustion engines were 100 percent efficient, the fuel would burn and produce just carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. But the reality is, engines are far less efficient and the combustion process also produces carbon monoxide (CO),  oxides of nitrogen (NOx)  and unburned  hydrocarbons in addition to CO2 and water vapor. In order to reduce these harmful exhaust emissions, two basic approaches have been used: Catalytic converters that clean up the exhaust gases coming from the engine, and lean-burn engines which produce lower levels of emissions by better combustion control and more complete fuel burning inside the engine cylinders. Engineers have known for years that a leaner air to fuel mixture is a frugal engine. The problems are, if the mixture is too lean, the engine will fail to combust, and a lower fuel concentration leads to less output. Lean-burn engines overcome these issues by employing a highly efficient mixing process. Specially shaped pistons are used along with intake manifolds that are located and angled to match the pistons. Additionally, the engine’s inlet ports can be shaped to cause â€Å"swirl† - a technique borrowed from direct injection diesel engines. Swirl leads to a more complete mixing of fuel and air that enables more complete burning, and in the process reduces pollutants without altering the output. The downside of lean-burn technology is increased exhaust  NOx  emissions (due to higher heat and cylinder pressure) and a somewhat narrower RPM power-band (due to slower burn rates of lean mixtures). To address these problems lean-burn engines have precise lean-metered direct  fuel injection, sophisticated computer controlled engine management systems and more complex  catalytic converters to further reduce NOx emissions. Today’s advanced lean-burn engines, both gasoline and diesel, achieve noteworthy fuel efficiency performance during both city and highway driving conditions. In addition to the fuel economy advantage, the design of lean-burn engines results in a high torque power output relative to horsepower rating. For drivers, this means not only savings at the fuel pump, but also a driving experience that includes a vehicle that accelerates quickly with fewer harmful emissions from the tailpipe.

Overview of Rider Bills in Government

Overview of Rider Bills in Government In U.S. government, â€Å"riders† are bills in the form of additional provisions added to the original versions of bills or resolutions considered by Congress. Often having little relationship to the subject matter of the parent bill, riders are typically used as an often-criticized tactic intended to gain the enactment of a controversial bill that would probably not pass if introduced on its own.   Other riders, known as â€Å"wrecking† or â€Å"poison pill† bills are used not to actually be passed, but merely to prevent the passage of the parent bill or to ensure its veto by the president. Riders More Common in the Senate Though they are all in either chamber, riders are used more often in the Senate. This is because the Senates rule’s requirements that the subject of the rider must be related or â€Å"germane† to that of the parent bill are more tolerant than those of the House of Representatives. Riders are rarely allowed in the House, where amendments to bills must at least deal with the substance of the parent bill. Most States Effectively Ban Riders The legislatures of 43 of the 50 states have effectively banned riders by giving their governors the power of the line-item veto. Denied to Presidents of the United States by the U.S. Supreme Court, the line-item veto allows the executive to veto individual objectionable items within a bill. An Example of a Controversial Rider The REAL ID Act, passed in 2005, required the creation of something that most Americans have always opposed – a national personal identification registry. The law requires the states to issue new, high-tech driver’s licenses and prohibits the federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes - like boarding airliners- driver’s licenses and identification cards from states that do not meet the law’s minimum standards. When it was introduced by itself, the REAL ID Act garnered so little support in the Senate that is was never even brought to a vote. But its backers got it passed anyway. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R) of Wisconsin, attached it as a rider to a bill no post-9/11 politician would have dared vote against, titled the â€Å"Emergency, Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief.† That bill allocated money to pay the troops and pay for the war on terror. Few voted against the bill. The military spending bill, with the REAL ID Act rider attached, passed in the House of Representatives by a  vote of 368-58, by a vote of 100-0 in the Senate. President George W. Bush signed it into law on May 11, 2005. Rider bills are most often used in the Senate because the Senate’s rules are far more tolerant to them than the rules of the House. In the House, all amendments to bills must generally be related to or deal with the subject of the parent bill being considered. Riders are most often attached to major spending, or â€Å"appropriations† bills, because the defeat, presidential veto or delay of these bills could delay the funding of vital government programs leading to a temporary government shutdown. In 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes complained that lawmakers using riders could hold the executive hostage by â€Å"insisting upon the approval of a bill under the penalty of stopping all of the operations of government.† Rider Bills: How to Bully a President Opponents – and there are many – of rider bills have long criticized them as being a way for Congress to bully the President of the United States. The presence of a rider bill can force presidents to enact laws they would have vetoed if presented to them as separate bills. As granted by the U.S. Constitution, the presidential veto is an all-or-nothing power. The president must either accept the riders or reject the entire bill. Especially in the case of spending bills, the consequences of vetoing them just to quash an objectionable rider bill could be severe. Basically, the use of rider bills greatly dilutes the president’s veto power. What almost all presidents have said they needed to counteract rider bills is the power of the â€Å"line-item veto.† The line-item veto would allow the president to veto individual measures within a bill without affecting the main purpose or effectiveness of the bill. Currently, the constitutions of 43 of the 50 U.S. states have provisions allowing their governors to use the line-item veto. In 1996, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 granting U.S. presidents the power of the line-item veto. In 1998, however, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional. Rider Bills Confuse the People As if keeping up with the progress of bills in Congress isn’t hard enough already, rider bills can make it even more frustrating and difficult.   Thanks to rider bills a law about â€Å"Regulating Apples† can seem to vanish, only to end up being enacted months later as part of a law titled â€Å"Regulating Oranges.† Indeed, without a painstakingly daily read of the Congressional Record, riders can make keeping up with the legislative process almost impossible. And it’s not like Congress has ever been accused of being too transparent in how it does the people’s work. Lawmakers Introduce  Anti-Rider Bills Not all members of Congress use or even support rider bills. Senator Rand Paul (R – Kentucky) and Rep. Mia Love (R - Utah) have both introduced the â€Å"One Subject at a Time Act† (OSTA) as H.R. 4335 in the House and S. 1572 in the Senate. As its name implies, the One Subject at a Time Act would require that each bill or resolution considered by Congress embrace no more than one subject  and that the title of all bills and resolutions clearly and descriptively express the subject of the measure. The OSTA would give presidents a de facto line-item veto by allowing them to consider only one measure at a time, instead of rider-packed, all-or-nothing â€Å"package deal† bills. â€Å"Under OSTA politicians will no longer be able to hide the true subjects of their bills behind propagandistic titles such as the PATRIOT Act, the Protect America Act, or the No Child Left Behind Act,† stated DownsizeDC.org, in support of the bill. â€Å"No one wants to be accused of voting against patriotism or protecting America, or of wanting to leave children behind. But none of those titles actually describes the subjects of those bills.†

Soap Opera developed from the American radio serials in the 1930s to a Essay

Soap Opera developed from the American radio serials in the 1930s to a major global television genre. Trace it s development a - Essay Example These ongoing serials, which first appeared on radio and later on television, were called â€Å"soap operas† because the leading soap manufacturers such as P&G, Lever Brothers, Colgate and others were the major advertisers, producers and financers of these soap operas (Katzman, 1972, p. 210). By the 1930s, most of the networks and advertisers were realising the potential and the size of the daytime market, as most men would spend their daytime on their job and children would spend most of the morning and afternoon at school and playing outside, which left the women and homemakers as an enormous untapped market (Baym, 1996, p. 149). Soap operas provided these networks to tap into this market and attract the advertisers since these women made most of the important purchasing decisions in their homes. Furthermore, with the advent of television and its widespread distribution and use in industrialised and modern economies, advertisers began to focus on developing soap operas on te levision and it is on television that the genre of soap opera has developed and nurtured (Nariman & Rogers, 1993, p. 152). This paper will make a brief attempt at exploring and analysing the development and evolution of soap operas in the global television industry with highlighting the significant and noteworthy changes that have taken place over the past few decades in terms of the format and content of soap operas. Discussion For the most part, a crucial defining element of soap operas has been its open-ended narrative nature, where the story line has the potential to go into so many directions. Every episode ends in such a way that it does need to explicitly run a ticker saying, â€Å"To be continued† because the viewers easily infer that the story will move on to several upcoming episodes. A soap opera may have several parallel story lines, which may intersect with each other and shape each other. Soap opera are least likely to bring all of their storylines to conclusion during the show and even if one storyline moves towards its conclusion, the other storyline is likely to take its place (Nariman & Rogers, 1993, p. 152). During the early years, when the soap operas represented stage plays and theatre settings, the actors relied heavily on blocking techniques. Every now and then, during conservations between characters, one character would suddenly change his or her direction so that they could both face the camera or the stage at the same time (Matelski, 1988, p. 37). The conversation or dialogue delivery, which takes place in such a setting, is not at all realistic but this was a technique which was heavily relied upon during the early years when most of the soap operas were shot in live format. The same does not apply to soap operas and television dramas of today, whether they are using single camera or multi camera format (Liebes & Livingstone, 1998, p. 68). During much of the 1940s-1960s, many of the soap operas never left interior settings or were shot in fictional settings of Midwestern midsized towns. Furthermore, since most of the early actors that took part in these soap opera were theatre actors, the focus remained on live broadcasting in order to provide a

Moral Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Moral Model - Essay Example the principle of nonmaleficence or harm to the patient (Caplan & Arp, 2013); if the healthcare provider in some way forces the patient to agree to undergo transfusion, s/he has defied the principle of autonomy or the right of the patient to decide for him/herself (Treas & Wilkinson, 2013). Hence the judgment that the healthcare provider should make is whether to agree to the patient’s wishes, look for legal means to administer transfusion without the consent of the patient, or look for the most appropriate middle ground or compromise. This essay will use the MORAL model to generate several options or choices for the resolution of the moral dilemma. First is identifying and describing the aspects of the moral dilemma—(M) massage the dilemma. The values in conflict are respect for physical life and individual autonomy. The healthcare provider gives importance to both principles of nonmaleficence and autonomy. The healthcare provider completely understands the patient’s condition that is triggering the need for blood transfusion. However, s/he does not have sufficient time to decide because the situation was all too sudden. It seems that the patient is not aware of the full situation and does not know that it will be fatal if transfusion is not administered. Still, as stated in the core principles that healthcare professionals must take into consideration when making medical decisions with patients who refuse blood transfusions, a completely competent, fully informed adult patient is authorized to make a decision whether to agree to a medical treatment or not (Corey et al., 2014). The healthcare provider should then outline the options. The healthcare provider has to provide a summary of the emergency condition of the patient and specify some of the medical options available. First are non-blood medical options. The patient may agree to non-blood volume expanders like Dextran, Saline, Haemacel, and so on (Wilkinson & Treas, 2010). Second option is products

The Tournament Essay Example for Free

The Tournament Essay If you have ever regretted volunteering for a task, but had to continue, despite this, you will know how I felt, as I boarded the coach that would take me to the venue of the chess tournament. It was an all-consuming, unforgettable, always nagging sort of worry: that I would bring about my own humiliation as I lost game by game at the prestigious tournament. No. Not a worry but a certainty. For I had not practised once in the past months, while in my prime, it was normal for me to spend a couple of evenings per week at a board, revising combinations. Yes, it was this lack of practice that troubled me to the very core, that I would disappoint my team and be humiliated for it. So the odour of the garbage on the coach had little effect on me, as I contemplated the nature of the disgrace that I would bring upon myself. In an attempt to banish these thoughts from my head, I brought out my reading book, which I soon immersed myself in, but the cheers and chit chat from my team mates as the coach started could not be ignored. As I snapped out of my ponderous trance, I became aware of the true stench of this appalling place where rotten eggs and ham from long forgotten packed lunches lay neatly stacked under the seats and the random splodges of yogurt were spread over the once-fine seat covers. But as the hours passed, none of these were noticed as my nose grew accustomed to the constant whiff, and my eyes remained firmly fixed on the pages of my book. It was finally four hours later that we pulled into the drive of the B B where we would stay. Just one more night till I would be a humiliated man My first match of the next day started and ended badly. I was to play against a boy of no more than 8, who sat precariously on the very edge of his seat, with legs dangling aimlessly under the table. His age and the innocent gaze gave me hope that I could at least secure 1 point for my team. But I was wrong, very wrong. As he made his first moves, I saw he was no novice and despite my best efforts, my fiendish foe struck mercilessly, felling my pieces one by one. It was an uphill struggle, a battle I could not win and yet I tried, while to my annoyance, he squealed with delight after each capture in a childlike manner, though he had the skill of double his apparent age. I can tell you this was terribly shocking. So there was no surprise when he finally delivered checkmate, though while we did this, I dreaded the teases I would be sure to receive as the result of this lost battle, especially due to my opponents age. As I stepped from the room, my fears were confirmed. My humiliation had begun. My next match went just as badly. Still in a daze from the jests endured, my head spinning, as I tried desperately to win against my unsympathetic opponent. But my efforts were to no avail, as I lost, even more swiftly than before. But my thoughts cleared as I left the tournament room: one round to make a win. One round to avoid disgrace! After my disastrous rounds, I expected nothing more than another loss from equally capable opponents, knowing my fate for humiliation had been sealed the moment I agreed to come. But my next opponent was not something I could have anticipated given even the wildest imagination. Like a giant, he towered over the board, but it was not his height which troubled me but his bulk. His fat bulged in great flabs so that I felt he might burst and his slow, lumbering walk scarcely surprised me. One could tell clothes were not made to his size; the Nike logo on his shirt was stretched into a thin line while his fat writhed under his tight top as he reached out to move his piece. I made no mistake in underestimating my opponent this time, however, it was soon clear he was less gifted than the child prodigy I had played the first round. But there was still something strange about the game play, there was something about the way we played in his shadow that unnerved me, and before long, I once more felt myself sailing against the wind in this battle of mine. But as does a wounded animal strike back, so did I, knowing the fate that would come to me if I lost this match. But then, my silent prayers were answered: in the form of the biggest blunder I had ever seen at this level of play, and I pounced upon it, like a hungry wild cat as he throws himself on a mouse. The tide had changed, and I finished him off easily. The victory was mine, no disgrace for me.

Waste Land Essay: Eluding Understanding :: T.S. Eliot Waste Land Essays

The Waste Land: Eluding Understanding The Waste Land is, to begin with, a poem that includes an interpretation as part of the poem, and it is therefore a poem that makes a problem of its meaning precisely by virtue of its apparent (and apparently inadequate) effort to explain itself. We cannot understand the poem without knowing what it meant to its author, but we must also assume that what the poem meant to its author will not be its meaning. The notes to The Waste Land are, by the logic of Eliot's philosophical critique of interpretation, simply another riddle--and not a separate one to be solved. They are, we might say, the poem's way of treating itself as a reflex, a "something not intended as a sign," a gesture whose full significance it is impossible, by virtue of the nature of gestures, for the gesturer to explain." And the structure of the poem--a text followed by an explanation--is a reproduction of a pattern that, as the notes themselves emphasize, is repeated in miniature many times inside the poem itself, where cultural expressions are transformed, by the mechanics of allusion, into cultural gestures. For each time a literary phrase or a cultural motif is transposed into a new context--and the borrowed motifs in The Waste Land are shown to have themselves been borrowed by a succession of cultures--it is reinterpreted, its previous meaning becoming incorporated by distortion into a new meaning suitable to a new use. So that the work of Frazer and Weston is relevant both because it presents the history of religion as a series of appropriations and reinscriptions of cultural motifs, and because it is itself an unreliable reinterpretation of the phenomena it attempts to describe. The poem (as A. Walton Litz argued some time ago) is, in other words, not about spiritual dryness so much as it is a bout the ways in which spiritual dryness has been perceived. And the relation of the notes to the poem proper seems further emblematic of the relation of the work as a whole to the cultural tradition it is a commentary on. The Waste Land is presented as a contemporary reading of the Western tradition, which (unlike the "ideal order" of "Tradition and the Individual Talent") is treated as a sequence of gestures whose original meaning is unknown, but which every new text that is added to it makes a bad guess at.

Jaguar regains its reputation Essay

Originally called the Swallow Side Car Company, Jaguar Cars was founded in 1922 and became famous for its luxury and sports cars. In 1990, Jaguar was taken over by Ford and is now a wholly owned subsidiary. At the time of the Ford takeover, Jaguar’s quality performance was something of a paradox. Aesthetically and in terms of on-the-road performance the cars were often highly regarded, especially by a hard core of enthusiasts. Yet even they could not ignore Jaguar’s reputation for making cars which were, in comparison to its rivals, of exceptionally poor reliability. Plagued by under-investment and a conservative technical-led, rather than customer-led, culture, the company’s old plants were struggling to achieve even acceptable levels of conformance quality. At this time, the JD Power survey of customer satisfaction of cars imported to the US ranked only one car (the Yugo) lower than Jaguar. All this changed through the 1990s. The company invested heavily in training, especially in quality techniques such as statistical process control (see Chapter 17). Piecework was abolished, as was ‘clocking in’ and a general productivity bonus introduced which encouraged flexible working. Other shop floor initiatives included the introduction of multiskilled teams, total productive maintenance (see Chapter 19), continuous improvement teams (see Chapter 18) and benchmarking against the best in the business (see Chapter 18). The success of this quality improvement programme was dramatic. It encouraged Ford to invest in new Jaguar models and also had a significant impact on customer satisfaction. The same surveys which once put Jaguar at the bottom of the league now rank it in the very top group of luxury car makers. Jaguar regains its reputation Answer 1.What does ‘quality’ mean for a motor vehicle manufacturer such as Jaguar? This box highlights how Jaguar have always been regarded as excellent at some aspects of quality (such as performance and aesthetics) but very poor at other (such as product reliability). This gives us a clue as to the various ‘dimensions’ of quality which are important to Jaguar. They are as follows. †¢ Performance – The speed, power, cornering and other aspects of the way the car drives. Fast speed, powerful acceleration, responsive handling, and so on are generally regarded as the mark of a ‘prestige’ car. †¢ Aesthetics – The overall appearance of the car should reflect its values. A Jaguar is smooth, luxurious, dashing and sporty! The key question for Jaguar is ‘does the overall appearance and shape of the car reflect these values and appeal to its target customers?’ †¢ Equipment – Is the car equipped with the type of things one would expect from a luxury car such as leather seats, global position system equipment, adjustable headlights and so on? †¢ Finish – Are the visible areas of the car free from any marks or blemish? This means an absence of scratches or small marks as well as an appropriate surface finish to all visible surfaces. †¢ Build quality – This normally refers to how the car feels as doors open and close, windows are raised and lowered and so on. Is there a satisfying ‘solidity’ about the feel of the car? †¢ Reliability – When in use does the car (or some part of the car) break down? Do things go wrong? †¢ After sales service – Should the owner have any problems or wishes to know something more about the car, is it easy for him or her to do so? All of these can be expanded considerably but the list does give an overall indication of the very many dimensions of quality which are important to Jaguar. 2.How did the changes which Jaguar made to its operations practice affect the quality of its products? The changes made by Jaguar (at least those described in the box) were all to the processes within the operation. For example, †¢ Training would equip operators with the skills to assemble the car in the correct manner without making mistakes. †¢ Statistical Process Control (covered in Chapter 17) would enable the operators to make sure that shopfloor processes operating as they should be an preferably improving. †¢ Changing the payment system both encouraged operators to learn more skills and prevents them sacrificing quality in order to earn higher wages in the short term. †¢ Multi-skilled teams would allow any absent workers to be covered for by people with equivalent skills and, more importantly, encourage continuous improvement to production processes. †¢ Totally productive maintenance, improvement teams and benchmarking would likewise allow everyone working at the company to contribute to the general improvement effort. All these changes were important but it is also vital to realise that, without the necessary investment, the changes in Jaguar would have been difficult or even impossible. Yet these issues are connected. It was the success of the company’s management in starting these changes which encouraged the parent group (Ford) to invest considerable sums of money in the company, which in turn allowed the changed described above to have a real impact.

Eva’s Print Shop

Eva’s – – Print Shop: tripled bottom line operates as a social business and a corporate structure divided in terms of it’s two businesses some horizontal connection between the teams but not a clear functional structure hybrid between functional and divisional innovative features: social business (mohamed yunous) – integrating the production (commercial) and the teaching (social) business side – bringing in money to sustain the organization social side 2002 – they used to be funded by federal grants BUT caveat w. overnment funding required the trainees to be paid†¦ issue: these are homeless youth and they are being taken off the streets – giving them homes and are taught basic survival skills on how to live, and take care of themselves any kind of not for profit formula has strict guidelines which is why they switched because it was counter intuitive to the social goal. Case: Who: (names and position): – Andrew Macdo nald and the Advisory Board (primary stakeholders) – Eva’s initiatives What: (Key Issues): – Whether or not to expand and if so how Why: (Root Causes): Funding Will the business side fund the social side?Need to help more at risk youth is pressing – growing problem When (Timeline): – No, just as it works for the company – Changing the funding has put some constraints on the economic business, BEP Analysis: (application of course concepts, models, theories): – Performance: changing in funding formula away from government funding was made after 2005 strategic review – allowed Eva’s Phoenix †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. How did this impact its organizational design?Strategy: integration of its social and commercial elements of the enterprise – triple bottom line, includes environmental – uses Bullfrog Power Models: – triple-bottom line – effectiveness measures: goal approach – internal process model: h ow does the training side interact with the commercial side? How are conflicts resolved? resource model: by choosing bullfrog power, they may be paying more for their power but using homeless youth – they may be comprising their efficiency and quality – Balancing Act between the 2 – Professionalism – more professional you’re staff, the more you have to pay them Decision Criteria 1. ncrease youth participation 2. increase efficiency on the economic business side 3. feasibility and funding 4. keeping or increasing the synergy 5. no compromise the social or environmental objectives for the business objectives 6. complexity in the design structure 7. maintaining your volunteers Alternatives: 1. Keep the structure the same but tweak it, make economic more efficient (incremental efficiencies) 2. Grow the business using the same structure – just bigger 3. Grow geographically – replicating the model in different cities where there is a simila r need 4.Separate the print shop and the social initiatives Evaluation of Alternatives 1. Incremental efficiencies will allow for more professionalism and customer focus – some basic training before anyone works in the print shop handling customer materials – meets a, b, c & d 2. Growing the†¦ Recommendation/Implementation/contingency – finding a suitable location – must find advisory board and volunteers – securing funding to run a similar operation – finance volunteer – finding customers and sales volunteer – onnecting with volunteer agency in the designated city to source homeless youth and discuses details on how to manage the process hiring staff with the expertise needed to run both the print side and the social side create and accountability Constrains – Budgetary issues – Timelines Downside Risk: – Failure of program – volunteer not committed – Not find youth who are interested in staying and learning new skills – Not enough customers Contingency: partnering with a local social agency and try to implement the program using their infrastructure and recourse while providing your expertise

William Penn essays

William Penn essays William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, had many personal defeats but always found a way to be victorious. The thing that made him famous was the fact that he never let his disappointments get the better of himself. When he was down, he always found a way to get back up. Not only was William brave, but he was a true humanitarian. He believed that every person is a son of God, and should be treated like a brother. He wasn't only known for establishment Pennsylvania, he was a living example of true dignity. William Penn, father of the founder, was a lieutenant in the English Navy and played an important part in the sea trades with the Mediterranean. He learned all of his knowledge from his father, Giles Penn, who was a well-respected captain for the Royal Navy. "He served with his father, as a boy, in various mercantile voyages in the northern seas."# William married Margaret Jasper in winter of 1643 and to this conceived three children; William, Richard, and Margaret. William died on September 16, 1670. As he lay on his deathbed, William spoke to his son about having a truly Christian mind, and never be troubled at disappointments. Young William was always close to his father, and became very dedicated to achieving what his father expected of him. Born in London on October 24, 1644, William was the first of three children born into the Penn family. William was sent to a preparatory school in Chigwell at an early age. "He attended school there, it is said, until he was twelve years of age. It seems fairly certain that he acquired a good knowledge of Latin, and he may have also obtained the foundation of his knowledge of Greek there."# When his family moved to London, Penn stayed behind and received his education from a tutor. For four years, he received this education by tutors and this is when he first heard the Quaker preaching given by Thomas Loe. When William returned to London, he enrolled into Oxford C...

Help Astronomers Classify Galaxies

Help Astronomers Classify Galaxies The world of science is one of careful measurements and analysis. Theres so much scientific data available to scientists today across all disciplines that some of it had to wait for a scientist to get to it. In recent decades, the scientific community has been turning to citizen scientists to help them analyze it. In particular, the worlds astronomers have a rich treasury of information and imaging available and are working with citizen volunteers and observers to help them sift through it all   In astronomy, not only are they working together on analysis, but in some projects, amateur observers are using their telescopes to observe objects of interest to professionals.   Welcome to Citizen Science Citizen science brings people of all walks of life together to do important work in such diverse disciplines as astronomy, biology, zoology, and others. The degree of participation is really up to the volunteer whos interested in helping out. It also depends on the projects needs. For example, in the 1980s, amateur astronomers banded together with astronomers to do a massive imaging project focused on Comet Halley. For two years, these observers took pictures of the comet and forwarded them to a group at NASA for digitization. The resulting International Halley Watch showed astronomers that there were qualified amateurs out there, and luckily they had good telescopes. It also brought a whole new generation of citizen scientists into the limelight. Nowadays there are various citizen science projects available, and in astronomy, they literally let anyone with a computer or a telescope (and some free time) explore the universe. For astronomers, these projects get them access to amateur observers and their telescopes, or people with some computer savvy to help them work through mountains of data. And, for the participants, these projects give an exclusive look at some pretty fascinating objects.   Opening the Floodgates of Science Data Several years ago a group of astronomers opened up an endeavor called Galaxy Zoo  to public access. Today, its called Zooniverse.org, an online portal where participants look at images of various subjects and help analyze them. For astronomers, it includes images taken by survey instruments such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which is a massive imaging and spectrographic survey of the sky done by instruments in the northern and southern hemisphere. The idea for the original Galaxy Zoo was to check out images of galaxies from surveys and help classify them. There are trillions of galaxies. In fact, the universe IS galaxies, out as far as we can detect. To understand how galaxies form and evolve over time, its important to classify them by their galaxy shapes and types. This is what Galaxy Zoo and now Zooniverse asked its users to do: classify galaxy shapes. Galaxies typically come in a number of shapes - astronomers refer to this as galaxy morphology. Our own Milky Way Galaxy is a barred spiral, meaning it is spiral-shaped with a bar of stars, gas, and dust across its center. There are also spirals without bars, as well as elliptical (cigar-shaped) galaxies of varying types, spherical galaxies, and irregularly shaped ones.   People can still classify galaxies on Zooniverse, as well as other objects and not just in science. The system trains users in what to look for, no matter what the subject is, and after that, its citizen science.   A Zooniverse of Opportunity Zooniverse  today includes research areas on a wide array of topics in astronomy. It includes such sites as Radio Galaxy Zoo, where participants check out galaxies that emit large amounts of radio signals, Comet Hunters, where users scan images to spot comets, Sunspotter (for solar observers tracking sunspots), Planet Hunters (who search out worlds around other stars), Asteroid Zoo and others. Beyond astronomy, users can work on Penguin Watch, Orchid Observers, Wisconsin Wildlife Watch, Fossil Finder, Higgs Hunters, Floating Forests, Serengeti Watch, and projects in other disciplines.   Citizen science has become a huge part of the scientific process, contributing to advances in many areas. As it turns out, Zooniverse is just the tip of the iceberg! Other groups have also put together citizen science initiatives, including Cornell University.   All are easy to join, and participants will find that  their time and attention really DO make a difference, both to scientists and as contributors to the worlds general level of scientific knowledge and education.

Methodology Proposal about Government intervention in Global Economy Essay

Methodology Proposal about Government intervention in Global Economy - Essay Example This paper intends to study in detail the reasons why and effects of governments’ intervention in the world economy. Introduction We first study the methods that the governments have in the past intervened. Research studies indicate that governments adopt various methods to intervene in economic performance dictated by the nature of intervention. History shows that the interventions have been directed by the world economic forces such as the recessions, booms, debt crises among others. However, we shall note that the disparity also arises from the generational change. Most of the interventions methods that governments adopted in the early regimes after independence have changed as the economies mature. Moreover, a defense is noted in the economic intervention mechanisms by the governments in the developed economies as opposed to the mechanisms adopted by the third world economies. Research studies reveal that much of government intervention in the growing economies revolve aro und boosting the economies, while in the developed economies are mostly interested in stability as well as growth. Mechanisms adopted by governments are in essence directed to offering cover to their economies against economic forces from outside or well too to regulate the internal economic performances of their countries. ... Economic partnerships Normally, the government and the private sector run as distinct identities as regards the business environment. Moreover, different governments run distinctively in economic matters though at times circumstances require collective working in order to realize set goals. The government of a state may join hands in economic dealings through what is called partnership moreover; one government may enter into formal arrangement with other governments to serve together economically. These partnerships dictate the economic environment of a state or an economic block. Small economies such as are the African countries are the best examples of economic partnership. They form economic blocks such as the south-south through which they stand to negotiate their deals in the global economic front. However, such partnerships always face the challenge of specialization. However, it is a challenge because majority of young African economies over-specialize in their mode of product ion. Agriculture is the basic example in this (OECD, United Nations OSAA, 2011, 6 of 14). Diversification Governments have the sole mandate of dictating the means of production within a country. Specialization policies as against diversification policies dictate that an economy relies on specialized sector of production within an economy. On the other hand; diversification entails policies that encourage various modes of production as against only one. Through this therefore, a government is able tgo influence her economic performance as well as the performance of her trade partners even within the global market. The government intervenes into the economic performance of a country through such policies that encourage diversification as against specialization. Government spending The

Amnesty and Human Rights Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Amnesty and Human Rights - Case Study Example Amnesty has published an article under the title: "Tibet at risk of torture" on march 27 2008. It shows the recent events in Tibet, a country that is occupied by China for more then 50 years now. Despite all efforts from the Dalai Lama, the Olympics 2008 in Being are the event that draws finally the attention to the problems of the occupation. The whole world is protesting right right now. And what Amnesty shows us explains why. Amnesty (2008): "According to information published by the Tibetan Center on Human Rights and Democracy, 15 Tibetan monks were detained on 10 March for staging a peaceful demonstration in Barkhor, Lhasa, the capital of Tibetan Autonomous Region in China. There is no information of their current whereabouts or of any charges brought against them. They are at high risk of torture and other ill- treatment." Besides this significant and important action there is also the important issue on the Human Rights situation in China. Amnesty (2008): " Expressing an opini on online in China can result in jail, torture and death. People are silenced and what happens in China is often clouded in secrecy. Sign up to take the pledge to stop the Chinese Government and large internet companies restricting freedom of expression on the Internet, and we'll keep you up-to-date with ways you can help create a more transparent society in China." You can directly participate in signing the form online.... and death. People are silenced and what happens in China is often clouded in secrecy. Sign up to take the pledge to stop the Chinese Government and large internet companies restricting freedom of expression on the Internet, and we'll keep you up-to-date with ways you can help create a more transparent society in China." You can directly participate in signing the form online. The chosen actions are petitions you can sign online or send in an email to the Ambassador. You reach immediate whom you want to reach, the Government of China from home. In doing so you can plaid for changes in the situation of Chines regarding the human rights and plaid for a free Tibet. How effective do you think the action has been/will be and how could it be more effective Amnesty is offering us a change to write a letter to the Chinese Ambassador to plead for Tibet. Online there is an example for an email. Amnesty asking us to personalize the letters also online to help. Amnesty (2008): " Please send an urgent letter to His Excellency Mr ZHANG Junsai, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Australia. Here are some key points you can include in your letter: urge the authorities to release the 15 monks, as well as all others detained for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, Association and assembly urge the authorities to fully account for all those detained during the demonstrations, ensuring they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, have access to lawyers and medical care, are brought promptly before an independent court and are able to challenge their detention ensure that those prosecuted are charged with internationally recognizable offences and tried in proceedings which meet international fair