The Byzantine Empire and Greco-Roman Culture

The Byzantine Empire has a very strong connection to Greek culture. In 1453 A. D. the Byzantine Empire was very important in not just only the world, but also in terms of economic, political and militaristic strength. The Byzantine Empire was a significant part of the Roman Empire and historical research has helped unravel the strong relationship between the Byzantine Empire, Greek Heritage and culture.In addition to what I listed above, the Byzantine Empire was important because it maintained the given knowledge from the Greeks and the Romans The strengths of the Byzantine Empire are the preservation of Roman- Greek culture and cultural diffusion. When the Roman Empire collapsed in 476, the Byzantine Empire survived. As a result of this collapse, the empire served to preserve the majority of the Greek and Roman achievements for Western Europe.In the aspect of cultural diffusion, the Byzantine Empire not only helped to preserve Roman, Greek culture and Christianity but it also spread these ideas to other parts of the world. Another big impact of the Byzantine Empire are the achievements of architecture and art. The greatest example of this is the Church of Hagia Sophia. The purpose of this monument was to symbolize the unknown of Christian religion. A weakness of the Byzantine Empire is that the position of the church was detrimental to the Orthodox Church.It had no influence on the people, it did not have any control over a prosecuted ruler, it was not a substantial leader in education, and it lacked the power of growth. As a contribution of Islam to the Byzantine Empire, the Islam’s occupied the reconquered Byzantine territories and then proceeded to claim Jerusalem as a religious site for Muslims. They also took in the Persian Empire and went westward to North Africa.

Renal Problems And Septic Shock Health And Social Care Essay

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome ( SIRS ) is expressed as febrility or hypothermia, tachycardia, tachypnea which may be associated with leucocytosis or leukopenia. SIRS generates broad spread inflammatory reaction in organic structure in response to external abuse which is protective for an person when its effects are restricted to pathogens, in other state of affairss inflammatory reactions are hurtful when they are directed against normal tissues in add-on to pathogens. [ 1,2 ] SIRS can ensue from legion conditions but termed as Sepsis, merely when infection sets in and morbific agent is detected. Sepsis consequences from an single response to external infection, which begins with systemic redness ab initio, followed by curdling abnormalcies and eventually deranged fibrinolysis. When sepsis causes one or more organ disfunction, the syndrome is termed Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome ( MODS ) or terrible sepsis. [ 3 ] Sepsis-induced hypotension which is furnace lining to f luid boluses is termed Septic daze. Hypothermia associated with infected daze indicates hapless tegument and visceral perfusion, is normally associated with hapless forecast and high mortality rates of up to 30 to 40 % . Several serum biomarkers suggested holding diagnostic or predictive value in infected daze, but a unequivocal biomarker for everyday clinical usage is yet to be identified. One such marker is serum lactate which indicates pronounced hypoperfusion and tissue hypoxia in infected daze. Similarly serum Creatinine should besides be considered as marker of lessening organ perfusion in sepsis and Acute Kidney Injury should be regarded as index of ongoing organ harm and likely possibility of oncoming of infected daze. [ 4 ] AKI is due to sudden and drastic decrease in kidney map ( within 48 hours ) characterized by absolute addition in serum Creatinine ( & gt ; 50 % from baseline ) or a decrease in urine end product ( oliguria of & lt ; 0.5 ml/kg/hour for & gt ; 6 hours ) . Nephritic hypoperfusion and ischaemia during infected daze amendss nephritic tubules taking to acute cannular mortification ( ATN ) and have been demonstrated to be a common etiologic factor for AKI development during sepsis [ 5,6 ] . ATN was found to be a consistent histopathological determination in these patients, this would strongly propose that ischaemia and nephritic tubular cell mortification are likely an of import pathogenetic mechanism. [ 7,8 ] Acute kidney hurt have marked impact on the result of critically sick patients. Disease badness tonss such as the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation ( APACHE II ) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment mark ( SOFA ) both have included nephritic disfunction as forecaster of morbidity and mortality ; on the other manus liver disfunction tonss, coagulopathy, thrombocytes and other critical organ maps are non much stressed in APACHE II hiting system. To set up a unvarying definition of nephritic harm, RIFLE categorization was formulated which characterizes Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss and End-stage Kidney ( RIFLE ) . [ 9 ] An of import facet of the RIFLE categorization is that it grades the badness of acute kidney hurt on the footing of alterations in serum creatinine and urine end product from the baseline status. [ 10 ] Urine end product is an of import physiologic mark of organic structure fluid position, and unstable instability is common in critically sick patients due to extravasation of fluid into extravascular infinite or due to 3rd infinite losingss and eventually the nephritic disfunction. This farther suggest that reduced organ perfusion in infected daze plays a cardinal function in development of AKI taking to cut down creatinine clearance and increased serum creatinine degrees. [ 11,12 ] In this survey we compared increasing serum creatinine degrees with plasma lactates and SOFA tonss to observe oncoming of sepsis and infected daze and to prove the hypothesis that ongoing acute kidney hurt can bespeak reduced organ perfusion and oncoming of infected daze in critically sick patients.Patients and Methods:This survey was carried out to happen a correlativity between lifting serum creatinine degrees and oncoming of infected daze in 115 critically sick patients admitted in ICU and were managed following Surviving Sepsis guidelines. [ 13 ] Human ethical blessing was taken by the institutional moralss commission. Written informed consents were obtained from control topics and patients or their relations. The control groups were the healthy relations attach toing the patient. Entire 90 controls were taken, among them 65 were males and 25 females with a mean ( SD ) age of 36.5 ( 8 ) old ages. Among patient group 67 were males and 48 females with mean ( SD ) age 37.5 ( 6 ) old ages. Patients included in our survey had either of the undermentioned characteristics: ( 1 ) Clinical characteristics proposing infection ; ( 2 ) Core temperature & gt ; 38AÂ °C or & lt ; 35AÂ °C ; ( 3 ) Heart beats & gt ; 100/min ; ( 4 ) Respiratory rates & gt ; 30 breaths/min or demand for supportive mechanical airing and ( 5 ) Inadequate organ map or daze within 12 hours of registration. Patients excluded were: ( 1 ) aged patients older than 75 old ages ; ( 2 ) NYHA category III or IV patients ; ( 3 ) liver inadequacy ( Child C ) ; ( 4 ) HIV, HBsAg positive serology, Cancer patients. Demographic characteristics like age, sex, primary site of infection, morbific beings and disease badness scores including Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Scores ( APACHE II ) and Sequential Organ system Failure Assessment mark ( SOFA ) were recorded for each patient ‘s at the clip of admittance in ICU and later. The plasma of these patients was tested for serum creatinine and lactates degrees at the clip of entry in ICU, so after every 24 hours till their stay in ICU. All the samples collected and patient inside informations gathered during the survey were coded to look into for prejudice and patient confidentiality was maintained as per the guidelines for surveies of human patients. Blood sample aggregation: First blood sample was collected prior to get down of antimicrobic, steroid therapy or vasopressors. Blood samples were collected from cardinal venous line ( 9 milliliter ) into sterilized tubings incorporating 1ml trisodium citrate ( TSC ) at the clip of patient admittance I ICU and later. Plasma was separated by extractor at 10,000 revolutions per minute for 15 min. The plasma was stored at -70AÂ °C for farther analysis and repeated freezing melt of samples was avoided in order to forestall debasement of plasma.Statistical analysis:The informations were analyzed by nonparametric analysis of discrepancy ( ANOVA ) with Newman-Keuls multiple comparing post-test. The relation between serum creatinine degrees, plasma lactates and APACHE & A ; SOFA mark was tested by finding the Pearson correlativity coefficient ( R ) . A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered important. All statistical analyses were performed with the Graph Pad InStat 5.0 demo plan ( Graph P ad Software, USA ) .Consequences:Among 115 patients admitted in ICU during the period April 2009 to May 2010, 45 patients were of SIRS, 39 patients were in sepsis and 31 patients in province of infected daze ( Table 1 ) . Sepsis was diagnosed on the footing of specific civilization studies from assorted possible sites of infection, including blood civilization study. Out of 115 patients studied there were 67 male patients and 48 females with a mean ( SD ) age of 37.5 ( 6 ) old ages. Mean serum creatinine degrees in healthy control group was 0.83 AÂ ± 0.26 mg/dl, runing from 0.4 to 1.6 mg/dl. In SIRS group, the average serum creatinine degrees were 3.45 AÂ ± 1.26 mg/dl, runing from 1.2 to 6.2 mg/dl ( Figure 1 ) . The APACHE II and SOFA score correlated linearly with serum creatinine degrees ( r2=0.74, P & lt ; 0.001 for APACHE & A ; r2=0.69, P & lt ; 0.001 for SOFA ; Figure2 ) bespeaking nephritic hurt with badness of redness. In sepsis patients average degrees were 7.15 AÂ ± 1.3, runing from 4.0 to 9.3 mg/dl. Pearson ‘s coefficient showed additive correlativity of serum creatinine and sepsis badness tonss ( r2 = 0.65, P & lt ; 0.001 for APACHE and r2 = 0.62, P & lt ; 0.001 for SOFA ; Figure2 ) . In patients of infected daze with nephritic disfunction really high serum creatinine degrees were observed with mean of 10.31 AÂ ± 2.29 mg/dl with values runing from 6.0 to 15.2 mg/dl, these values were significantly ( P & lt ; 0.01 ) higher than those with sep sis ( 7.01 AÂ ± 1.3 mg/dl ) , SIRS ( 3.49 AÂ ± 1.10 mg/dl ) and the control group ( 0.83 AÂ ± 0.26 mg/dl ) . Detection of metabolic acidosis in arterial blood gas analysis was evaluated farther by blood lactate appraisal ( Figure 3 ) . Blood lactate degrees in SIRS group were ( 5.14 AÂ ± 1.24mmol/L ) with scope from 2.2 to 7.8 mmol/L. Similarly blood lactate degrees in sepsis ( 7.73 AÂ ± 1.4mmol/L ) and infected daze group ( 9.53 AÂ ± 1.2mmol/L ) were significantly high ( 95 % CI in sepsis 7.25 to 8.21 ; daze 8.9 to 10.16 mmol/L ) . In control group mean values were 0.93 AÂ ± 0.39mmol/L ( 95 % CI 0.84 to 1.0 mmol/L ) . In order to detect a relation between extent of nephritic hurt and oncoming of infected daze, creatinine clearance ( taken as step of nephritic map ) was so compared with blood lactate degrees ( taken as index of anaerobiotic metamorphosis and daze ) , Pearson ‘s coefficient showed reverse relation between lifting lactate degrees and Creatinine clearance in patients with terrible sepsis and infected daze ( Figure 4 ; r2=0.48, P & lt ; 0.001in sepsis ; r2=0.56, P & l t ; 0.001in infected daze ) . The patients included in this survey were non given any nephrotoxic drugs and drug dose were modified as per criterion chronic nephritic disease guideline to forestall farther nephritic hurt [ 14 ] .Discussion:Patients come oning to infected daze during their stay in ICU may hold altered sensorium, deranged liver map, malabsorption syndrome or may hold respiratory trouble. It was observed in our survey that all such patients with infected daze have one common characteristic of crazed kidney map with AKI. The pathophysiology of AKI in infected daze is ill understood due to miss of histopathologic information, which in bend requires nephritic biopsy to observe any parenchymal or vascular alterations in nephritic tissue ; such biopsies are non routinely performed in most ICU set up. [ 15,16 ] In absence of such information, we performed an indirect appraisal of nephritic map during oncoming of infected daze. These observations were based on serum creatinin e degrees and creatinine clearance which was so correlated with disease badness tonss ( APACHE II and SOFA ) and serum lactate degrees ( index of anaerobiotic metamorphosis and daze ) . Assorted carnal surveies of AKI have been done which helps in more complex and invasive measurings of nephritic maps. [ 17 ] Most of these carnal surveies were based on either ischemia-reperfusion hurt or drug induced hurt and informations generated from such surveies may assist us in understanding the pathophysiology in a infected patient with AKI. A major paradigm developed from these observations in animate beings and worlds with daze is that AKI is due to nephritic hypoperfusion and ischaemia. This fact supported our position of utilizing AKI as index for decreased organ perfusion and oncoming of infected daze. [ 18 ] Under basal conditions blood flow to kidney is 360 ml/min/100gm of tissue where as blood flow to encephalon ( 50ml/min/100gm ) , bosom ( 70ml/min/100gm ) , lungs ( 25ml/min/100gm ) and liver ( 95ml/min/100gm ) . [ 19 ] Among all the variety meats, kidneys have really high flow rates, approximately three times higher than other critical variety meats, therefore metab olic maps of kidneys were more likely to be affected earliest by decrease in blood flow during infected daze, this may ensue non merely in a decrease in glomerular filtration but besides, in metabolic impairment perchance doing cell decease, acute cannular mortification and terrible AKI. [ 20 ] Glomerular filtration rate ( GFR ) is governed by glomerular filtration force per unit area, which in bend is determined by the relationship between the sensory nerve and motorial arteriolas. When the sensory nerve arteriola constricts due to hypoxia in infected daze, glomerular filtration force per unit area will fall and urine end product and GFR will besides diminish, ensuing reduced creatinine clearance and increased serum creatinine. [ 21 ] Arterial lactate concentration correlates with badness of infected daze and reflects metabolic changes associated with hemodynamic via media. Therefore, the association between high lactate degree and diminishing creatinine clearance are built-in to the badness of the daze and of multi-organ failure. [ 22 ] In add-on, epinephrine extract during infected daze besides enhances lactate production by itself ; the higher adrenaline dosage required in more terrible patients may besides hold contributed to this association. Following the natural history of infected daze in most ICU, it is impossible to happen patients deceasing of infected daze but without nephritic failure, the huge bulk of patients deceasing of multiorgan failure has a outstanding nephritic constituent and requires nephritic replacing therapy during their class in ICU. Renal biopsy during infected daze is non performed routinely because of important hazards owing to azotemic or infected coagulopathy and patient instability. However, this restriction does non impair the relevancy of our observations sing the pathophysiology of infected daze, as kidneys have highest blood flow per gm of tissue and AKI is changeless characteristic of terminal phase multiorgan failure so any via media in nephritic map in critically sick patients should be considered as indicant of decreased organ map and likely oncoming of infected daze.Decision:Kidneies are invariably involved in multiorgan failure of infected daze. Nephritic lesions associated with AKI in infected daze are more complex than the simple ague cannular hurt, so reduced creatinine clearance should be regarded as index of underlying mechanism of decreased organ perfusion and likely possibility of oncoming of infected daze in critically sick patients.

Unified standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Unified standards - Essay Example System wide rules imply standards imposed across the entire enterprise. In view of the fact that the classical IS function has been decentralized to accommodate distributed systems, assess who should be in charge of developing and enforcing such broad standards.First of all, I want to mention that the unified standards are essential for any kind of information systems. Standards provide external interfaces for the distributed systems so they can connect to other information systems, perform data exchange and provide necessary feedback, for example in case of failure.As its website says, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer of standards. Although ISO's principal activity is the development of technical standards, ISO standards also have important economic and social repercussions. ISO standards make a positive difference, not just to engineers and manufacturers for whom they solve basic problems in production and distribution, but to so ciety as a whole.The International Standards which ISO develops are useful to industrial and business organizations of all types, to governments and other regulatory bodies, to trade officials, to conformity assessment professionals, to suppliers and customers of products and services in both public and private sectors, and, ultimately, to people in general in their roles as consumers and end users.ISO standards contribute to making the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner.... u (1998, para.3) writes in Netsurfer Focus, "The only safe computer is a dead computer." But of course there are some steps to protect data and computers of company's information system. As Yoo (n.d.) writes, all systems consist of three components, the software and hardware parts, the people, and the procedures. The same is true of computer and network systems. Securing computer system means security of the software and hardware, trustworthiness of the people who use and manage it, and reliability of the procedures for using and managing the system. In this issue, most companies are mainly focus on secure software and system management practices. But for complete evaluation of the security of networked system the other components should be considered. Firstly, employees of the company must be aware of the risk of sharing passwords or the use of simple dictionary-based passwords and of the implications of opening questionable programs or attachments in their e-mail that may contain extremely dangerous viruses. Secondly, level of risk should be evaluated. Network administrators are not security professionals, and therefore their primary mission is not establishing a secure network, but rather a functional one. What must be evaluated is how much risk is acceptable, and therefore what level of functionality will be sacrificed to ensure a reasonably secure network with an acceptable level of risk. Thirdly, information systems and networks must be designed and implemented to establish a strong foundation and architecture to incorporate security. The identification of access points into a network and establishing the appropriate access controls such as firewalls and monitoring solutions is necessary. Also, updating and patching software is essential to prevent known

FORECASTING Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FORECASTING - Assignment Example 66). The mandate for goods of any customer is a Poisson process with passion. Time calculate of goods delivery from the wholesaler to the customer has a normal distribution with limitations. The policy in order forming for the customer can be presented as: A new order is positioned at the specific time, when the stock levels fall to a certain level the order quantity is constant. We suppose that the quantity is greater than the level arrived at. It is important to note that order reorder point of the level and quantity are control parameters of the first stage model. During this stage, it is supposed that the manufacturer supplies his production to wholesaler according to a fixed package. Therefore, the ordering process is considered to be within a constant period. The moments of placing adjacent wholesaler’s orders and order quantity is recognized as a difference between fixed stock level and the quantity of goods in the period of ordering. Therefore, the period and stock level will be control restrictions in the proposed model time in the second stage. The assumption is that every time a new order has to be placed in any condition in the event that the stock level is large then a new ordering should not occur. Commonly, the model would maintain the state of lead-time and quantity of goods at that time as soon as the order is established (Jain and Malehorn, 2005; pg. 241). This in turn is linked to the actual scenario where the wholesaler will use his own means of transport. In most cases, this part ways at the suitable time with fixed moments of time. However, this does not depend on the existence of the order and with the arbitrary lead-time. For example, there will be ferrying of goods using the previews that depart the 2nd and 16th day of every month. The Warnsley Ltd Company places an order after every two weeks. The quantity ordered at the beginning of the week usually

How Water Pollution Affect the Productivity of Elodea Canadensis Essay

How Water Pollution Affect the Productivity of Elodea Canadensis - Essay Example The conclusion from this study recommended that laundry detergents manufacturing companies, need to review and revisit the chemical components forming the detergents. There should be a paradigm shift to a chemical substance considered as a cleaning substance consisting of organic chemicals. Pollution is a human created issue which has been affecting the environment negatively. Especially, water pollution has become more significant as water is a vital factor for human life both as a need of the human body and as a requirement in agricultural processes which serve humans. As the human population is increasing, the demand for water is increasing as well. Water is the main cleaning agent we use in our daily lives. However, throughout the history, we have never used solely water for cleaning purposes. For instance, before detergents and washing machines, people used to clean their clothes around a river by beating them on the rocks around the river. The leaves of some plants produced lat her which acted as the first detergents used by humans. Today, we use laundry detergents inside our washing machines, with water. However, if observed closely, these artificial detergents cause more harm than good. The researcher states that especially human impact which enhances the water pollution is an essential topic to investigate. There are very simple and easy steps to hinder the damage we do to the water resources around us. Also, the damage is not only done to the water, but also to us, since we use the polluted water in our daily lives.

Recruiting Retention Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Recruiting Retention - Research Paper Example At the moment, communications is often being required to work with human resources to refine and communicate persuasive employment methods and to attract new talent (Boudreau & Ramstad, 2007). A large number of organizations are also familiar with the need for a clearly articulated and cohesive employment brand to attract applicants. How Organizations Attract Talent As new generations of individuals enter the job market, organizations wonder how best they can attract this novel talent. Compensation alone will not position an organization to compete for new talent. There are a number of innovative ways an organization may use to attract a talented workforce. Organizations may develop a differentiated company brand. A differentiated brand is vital in capturing the interest of top talent. Significant communicators in an organization help to create the characteristics workers value and identify an employee brand that differentiates their organization from other organizations in the marke t (Daniel & Radenbaugh, 2001). Head of communications in some organizations utilize the corporate brand performance assessment to measure worker and future worker views of their brand and recognize prospects to differentiate from rivals. Additionally, by practically enhancing an organization’s distinctive opportunities, culture, and values, potential workers can gain an insight into what it will feel like to work for an organization, and establish if an organization is a right match for them. An organization may also attract talented applicants by articulating the distinctive employment brand. A large number of communicators work with their recruiting counterparts to concisely articulate the organization’s distinctive employment brand or employment value... As new generations of individuals enter the job market, organizations wonder how best they can attract this novel talent. Compensation alone will not position an organization to compete for new talent. There are a number of innovative ways an organization may use to attract a talented workforce. Organizations may develop a differentiated company brand. A differentiated brand is vital in capturing the interest of top talent. Significant communicators in an organization help to create the characteristics workers value and identify an employee brand that differentiates their organization from other organizations in the market (Daniel & Radenbaugh, 2001). Head of communications in some organizations utilize the corporate brand performance assessment to measure worker and future worker views of their brand and recognize prospects to differentiate from rivals. Additionally, by practically enhancing an organization’s distinctive opportunities, culture, and values, potential workers c an gain an insight into what it will feel like to work for an organization, and establish if an organization is a right match for them.An organization may also attract talented applicants by articulating the distinctive employment brand. A large number of communicators work with their recruiting counterparts to concisely articulate the organization’s distinctive employment brand or employment value proposition in the market. In numerous organizations, the articulation of the employment brand is often incomplete.

Article Review responses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article Review responses - Assignment Example Enron reaction of the public, creditor and regulatory agency’s increasing awareness of company’s attempt to used financial acrobatics to make the company appear stable and profitable. In the case of Penguin, it removed depreciation from its Cost of Goods Sold which is a standard cost of recognizing wear and tear to make it appear to have a more than above industry average Gross Profit Margin of 39.56 percent. It may be less in severity but it is no different from Enron’s â€Å"future’s marketing† where they recorded future sales (sales which are not realize) to make the company appear profitable even if those sales are not yet realized. This of course looks good on paper thereby increasing the valuation of its stock in the market duping its investors to invest on its stocks. Penguin may have said it to be unintentional but again, this practice is far from desirable. If indeed Penguin did not intend to commit a shady accounting practice to make the company appear to have a higher Gross Profit Margin, it should then revise its accounting method according to GAAP and follow absorption costing that would reflect the true cost of its product and

Research Methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research Methods - Assignment Example There are two main research methods used in the business field, which are the qualitative and quantitative research methods; their use depends on different scenarios and the type of data that is required. Qualitative research methods are meant to help the researcher in understanding how people make decisions. This is achieved by evaluating the cultural and social contexts that describe the environment in which such people are situated (Myers, 2013). On the other hand, quantitative research was developed from natural sciences in understanding natural phenomena; the research approach uses numbers to represent values in constructing theoretical concepts. Interpreting such numbers is a strong scientific based method of understanding how a process actually works, and allows greater reliability as data collected offers a better trend of relations between two variables (Myers, 2013). This report uses a qualitative and a quantitative article in management to show how each research methodolog y applies in examining relationships between concepts. The report further determines the suitability of each methodology under differing research contexts. Holts (2011) uses a descriptive quantitative approach in determining the necessary behaviours, skills and practices that a pharmaceutical company would require to establish a reliable and effective leadership development program. The research involves collecting data from sales representatives and district managers. The two groups represent multi-level structures in an organization and offer reliable trends in the behaviour of sales persons in the company. Case studies as in Holts case may be said to be, â€Å"an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context† (Yin 2003, p.13). In other words, the study is aimed at investigating the dynamics that manifest in a single research setting, in this case examining actions taken by sales persons in a pharmaceutical company. The author ai ms at tracing operational links and their impacts on sales representatives. In addition, the research establishes ‘how’ the company may use skills of the experienced sales persons in formulating a training program for new personnel in the future. Holts first offers a background on how companies formulate different approaches to structure leadership development programs, and forms a problem statement based on this introduction. The research problem, which forms the basis of the article, is that companies lack enough knowledge on how to formulate effective leadership training programs. Holts justifies this problem by examining the benefits of forming a program based on the data from sales representatives and district managers, as they possess the required skills in marketing the company’s products. However, Holts in the conceptual framewor

Business Plan for E-business Essay Example for Free

Business Plan for E-business Essay ABC Company is an aboriginal products company offering Australian aboriginal artists materials and products, such as painting, boomerang and other handicrafts. Based on the internet, ABC Company also provides timely information about Australian aboriginal culture like their history or daily news. It is the responsibility of ABC Company to support the development of indigenous people’s culture and improve their living quality in the same time. The Market ABC is at the forefront in an exciting and growing market. We focus on the market of Australia and extend to the tourists and Australian indigenous culture lovers. Most aboriginal products stores do not supply the sufficient and related knowledge of aboriginal culture. And our special supporting stagey helps communities get $1 from our sales every $100 for the sake of attracting more aboriginal artists enter the business. It is a different point from other current there is no such e-business company like XX operated today. The Organization ABC is owned and operated by our group members. Since our company is operated online, our management team is the group of our four founders. It is founded on the idea that maintaining satisfied customers is essential to the bottom line. With this in mind, our team will be working hard to ensure that all of their customers expectations are exceeded in all transactions. To maintain a presence within the art and craft community and close relationships to customers and also our suppliers aboriginal people, we will focus more on the professional knowledge of Australian indigenous culture and encourage local communities to join us. Financials The sales growth will be conservative in the first year as when our focus is on the advertisement and make our products well known by potential customers. It is estimated that the sales increase in a 33% phase from second year of business operation. The marketing costs will remain the 10% of total sales. And we may consider company expansion if projected sales met or exceeded our target. 1. Company Summary ABC Company is founded in September of this year in UNSW. The company will offer a variety of products and services of aboriginal culture. In order to have sufficient information and resources of aboriginal culture, we will cooperate with some institutions and communities. For the aspect of products, we will offer aboriginal art such as artefacts and painting which are brought from eBay, institutions such as Tandanya in Adelaide and personnel (Tandanya 2013). Moreover, we will provide aboriginal culture and its history on the website. The resources of those will be picked up from variety of institutions, communities and government’s website. For the first three years, we will focus on the business on the website. Therefore, customers and visitors can experience aboriginal culture on our website 24 hours, seven days a week. When our business is stable, we will expand our services and establish a physical store in Alice Spring. The mission of our company is to become the best platform which spreads aboriginal information and provides products. 1.1. Market Niche In the recent market in Australian, indigenous arts occupy a small part. In the recent years, the sale of aboriginal art is $8m every year, which is equivalent to sale 11 years ago (Rothwell 2013). One reason is that people has few opportunities to engage the aboriginal culture. Moreover, few places have aboriginal arts. Most of arts are sold in the regional institutions and cultural centre, and are offered on few numbers of website. The mission of our company is to be the best platform to provide aboriginal culture and arts. Therefore, we will spread indigenous culture firstly through our website so that more people are familiar with their culture. Moreover, we will offer a variety of products on the website such as gifts and painting. The range of price is from about $50 to thousands of dollars. After getting information of the product, customers could purchase the arts what they are interested in. There are two characteristics of our products. Firstly, we are not only sell aboriginal arts, but share the information and background of each art. Therefore, customers could understand the meaning of it. Secondly, as we stock artwork from institution and artists, the price could be lower than other stores. Therefore, our products have high quality with a lower price. 1.2. Social responsibility of our business There are two main social responsibility of our business: spreading the culture and facilitating the economy. As we share aboriginal culture on our website, more people will familiar with its culture. Therefore, our first social responsibility is to spread aboriginal culture. For example, we will share information about meaning of painting, dancing and their music instead of merely selling products. Culture is a part of fortune for a country. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent it from disappearing. Additionally, we will help some communities and extract $1 from our sales every $100. As we stock some artefacts from communities, it will increase the sales of them. Moreover, we will donate for the community to help it spread aboriginal culture. As a result, it probable creates more job opportunities for aboriginal as more people are interested in its culture. 2. Our service and product Our company will provide a series of services and products on the website. For the aspect of service, we will divide into three stages. In the first stage, we will share information about aboriginal culture and artwork. The profile of artists and their painting also is offered. In this stage, we will focus on spreading the culture of aboriginal. In the next stage, when our business is stable, we will expand our service to day tour that visits physical museum and institution. For example, in South Australia, we will have a day tour to Tandanya to watch a show and have a workshop in Brambuk in Victoria. In our final stage of service, we will offer an opportunity to experience ancient Aboriginal rock art paintings, music, dance and storytelling in Northern Territory (Cultural Tour, 2013). In order to achieve it, we need find more partners with us to organize the planning of travel. For the aspect of our product, we will focus on selling them on our website in the first three years. In the meantime, we will establish a small physical store in Alice Spring. We will offer several products such as artefacts, artwork, crafts, glass and didgeridoos. Every product will attach profile of artist. As we purchase some artefacts and paintings from artists, there will be some unique artworks on our website. Therefore, it is a good choice for gifts to your friends, and good collections for collectors. Moreover, we also have some books about aboriginal culture that will be sold on our website. 3. Market Analysis In recent years, the consumptions of aboriginal culture products (arts, paintings, craft and so on) are decreasing in both Australia domestic and international markets. However, it does not mean that the value of have dropped a bit. ABC Company aims to expand the market size of the indigenous products in Australia markets and international markets by selling indigenous tourism products; in the meantime, increasing the value of indigenous tourism products by spreading the Australia aboriginal culture information online. The Company will market to four primary customers: 1. Tourists. 2. Amateur artists and crafters, including collectors and hobbyists. 3. Professional artists. 4. Businesses, such as architects, graphic designers, or direct mail advertisers. In the meantime, customers who are interested in aboriginal culture are also our potential customers. 3.1. Target market segment strategy 1. Tourists. In general, tourists normally visit the physical stores near the attractions. However, tourists’ purchase amounts are limited to size, material, and there are strict regulations of overseas travelling. Therefore, it is necessary to have partnership between travel agencies and light companies, by sending advertisement via email to the tourists. Then tourists can order indigenous tourism products from overseas or even order the products while they are in Australia before their returns. 2. Amateur artists and crafters, including collectors and hobbyists. In general, most part of this segment will be targeted in low and mid-price level of our products compare with the profession artists. However, we will also consider some customers from this segment are eager to purchase the high-price level products. 3. Professional artists. Considering professional artists not only need to purchase the products, but also need to get regular customer service. Our business will try to set up connections between professional artists and indigenous tourism products services. For the business, such as architects, graphic designers, interior designers, or direct mail advertisers, we will provide large amount order discount for the business oriented purchases or group-buying. 3.2. Service business analysis Our company is an online business store sells indigenous tourism products from Australia to worldwide. Currently customers can buy indigenous products from the stores which are located around the famous attraction sights. However, due to the strict regulations of overseas travelling, some indigenous tourism products are restricted by the materials, amount, and size. Therefore, some customers prefer to order indigenous tourism products online. Our products include: artworks, Didgeridoos, paintings, dolls, books, clothes, and some special order products, etc. 3.2.1. Competitions Besides the traditional attraction sights stores, there are two main competitors in Australia, Alperstein Designs and Spirit Gallery. Alperstein Designs entered the marketplace in 1996 and open online in 2013 (Alperstein Designs, 2013), it is Australia owned business. Alperstein Designs manufactures and designs products for gifts and indigenous tourism industries. Alperstein Designs has its own creative team, and works with Australia artists and designers in order to produce unique products. The products are manufactured in Australia and Asia. Alperstein Designs provides wholesale service nationally and internationally, it also has private label service for the customers who have exclusive desires. Spirit Gallery is located in The Rocks Centre. It was established in 2002 as a small Aboriginal art crafts store in the heart of historic Rocks area of Sydney Australia (Spirit Gallery 2013). The products include: aboriginal arts, carvings, boomerangs ceramics, glassware basket weaving, bark paintings, and didgeridoos. Spirit Gallery also presents exhibitions for local aboriginal artists. 4. Business Strategy Summary 4.1. Competitive edge Instead of merely selling indigenous tourism products, ABC Company aims to spread Australia aboriginal culture and history. This point is different our business from many of our competitors. ABC Company’s target markets are not only large consumers, but also have different price levels from low to high, in order to fulfil all kinds of the customers’ requirements. 4.2. Marketing strategy Our marketing strategy will focus on customer loyalty, partnership, and online promotion. ABC Company will make partnership between aboriginal institutions and communities, travel agencies and flight companies. For the institutions and communities, we could provide teaching instruments for educational needs in order to achieve the promotional goals and special discounts for students and teachers via email. In the meantime, we can get potential customers and aboriginal culture and history information from them. By working partnership with tourism agents, our business can attract customers by sending emails. Moreover, we could also provide discount deals to the customers who used partner travel agencies and flight companies. Our online promotion will rely on social networks such as, Facebook page, Twitter page, and Aboriginal culture and history videos on YouTube. Our company also have the search engine support from Google. All our promotion plans are based on the Internet, since we are an online store. 4.3. Sales strategy The purpose of our company is to provide the friendliest online shopping experiences for our customers. First, we design and refine our website to make sure it is user friendly. Second, provide secure online payment by using Paypal. Third, provide fast and accurate delivery by working with TNT, UPS, and FedEx. Fourth, we provide the best return/exchange policy to build trust with our customers and maintain retention and loyalty. Most importantly, we will also help some aboriginal communities and extract $1 from our sales every $100. 4.3.1. Sales forecast The following table and chart highlight forecasted sales. 5. SWOT and Competitor Analysis 5.1. SWOT Analysis Strength Our company provides not only a variety of aboriginal products but also offers the services of aboriginal culture. Besides, the social responsibilities which improve the traditional culture play a key role in the objective of our company. Comparing with other aboriginal products suppliers, we do not rely on the big production of manufactory chain. Instead, we stock artwork from our local institution and artists. In the meantime, the price could be lower than other similar stores. All in all, the most strength in our company is the unique and special quality with a lower price. Weakness The weakness of our company is the volume production in the short term. Since our suppliers are the aboriginal people from the local community and institution. It is difficult to replenish our stock as we required. Moreover, the professional knowledge of aboriginal culture and communication to the people is another challenge for us. Opportunity The aboriginal art has become more and more significant in Australia’s tourist trade. People from all over the world begin to focus on the traditional culture when they travel to Australia. Although there are many stores especially in tourist attractions, the lack of aboriginal culture information has confused the customers and they cannot understand the reason they buy this work of art. It is an opportunity for us to bring the aboriginal culture to the Internet from physical world. Threat There are amounts of aboriginal culture shops today and the aboriginal show that will attract more customers and tourists. However, our business cannot show the real perform to our potential customers. There are two main competitors for our company: Alperstein Designs and Spirit Gallery. 5.2. Competitor Analysis Our Company vs. Alperstein Designs For Alperstein Design, there are several advantages compared with our company. First, it has its own creative team; therefore, it could have its unique products. Moreover, it provides private label service for customers who wants exclusive products. Therefore, Alperstein pay more attention on different kinds of high quality products. For our company, even though we do not have creative team, we provide a variety of services and products which are collected from different institutions and personnel. Overall, the price of our products will lower than Alperstein and we provide information of aboriginal culture as well. Our Company vs. Spirit Gallery For Spirit Gallery, it is a brick-click company which means both physical and online business are operating. Moreover, it will provide detailed information about Didgeridoo. Spirit Gallery also presents exhibitions for local aboriginal artists. Though we do not have a gallery for business, we provide particular aboriginal information not only focusing on Didgeridoo, but different kinds of artists and culture. Therefore, compared with Spirit Gallery, our company pay more attention on spreading information on the website. As a result, our business is more convenient for customers searching information and products. 6. Financial Plan 1. Sales growth will be conservative in first 12 month as it takes time for us to advertise and make our products well known by potential customers. It is estimated that the sales increase in a 33% phase from second year of business operation. 2. Marketing costs will remain the 10% of total sales. 3. We may consider company expansion if projected sales met or exceeded our target. 4. There would be a physical store in Alice Spring after three years in order to attract more tourists and present our arts work in more comfortable ways. 6.1. Important Assumptions 1. All the assumption is based on the fact that the investment of this business is from founders’ savings. 2. Assume the overall economy of the world especially tourism marketing is stable so that economic situation would not affect business operation dramatically. 6.2. Projected Profit and Loss Several important assumptions are made to calculate the projected profit and loss: 1. Sales are estimated in a conservative basis, while expenses are estimated above average to maximum values. 2. First years sale will be relatively low as it will take time to be well known by potential customers in order to reach the optimal sales target. With the consideration of first year operation, the sale of business is conservatively assumed at $102,000 in year 1 following by $128,000 and $170,240 in second and third year with gross margin ratio at 59.90%, 60.80% and 57.98% respectively. The net profit for each year stays at $20,596.36, $26,788.61 and $37,678.14 while the net profit to sales ratios are 20.19%, 20.93% and 22.13% accordingly. The further detail information can be referred to Appendix 1-1. 6.3. Projected Cash Flow In terms of the cash flow statement, the sales are main sources of cash inflow, and it increases in the same pace with business expansion. It is based on the assumption that there is no issue on collecting cash from sales. On the other hand, most cash spending is due to paying to aboriginal artists, sponsor contribution to aboriginal communities and utility bills. As showing on Appendix 1-2, the net cash inflows for first three years are at $17,351, $14,222 and $11,426 respectively. 6.4. Projected Balance Sheet Referring to Appendix 1-3, the net worth is steadily growing in first three years. Though there will be a physical store in Alice Spring to present our products and attract new customers, our business is primarily focusing on online buyers. Therefore, most assets are current ones. Furthermore, profits generated from business operation are determined to be retained for future business risk safeguard and opportunities capture. 6.5. Break-even Point Analysis For the purpose of break-even analysis, several factors are assumed as the fixed costs. It includes marketing costs ($5,000), Depreciation ($2,000), utilities ($2,000), Insurance ($400) and other costs ($120) with a total amount of $9,520. Gross margin of first year at 59.90% is extracted as the benchmark to calculate break-even point. As a result, our business needs to make $15,894 sales to be break-even. 7. Recommendation and Conclusion There are many places need to be improved and modified in the future. Firstly, about 60% of operating cost is the cost of rent; therefore, it will save much money if we can cut this cost. One of the effective and efficient ways is to get a closer supply chain relationship. The optimal situation is called just in time that we can acquire the product when we need it as soon as possible. We do not need a facility and staffs to stock and manage our product consequently. Furthermore, it is necessary to corporate with various partners such as culture institution, travel agent, museum and artists. It is easy to manage and corporate with our partners in the first three years. However, we need more partners when our business is stable such as travel agent. Therefore, the more partners we have, the more benefits we get. Additionally, a user friendly interface will encourage customers staying on our website. In order to achieve this, it is imperative to hire website designer or use tools such as WordPress (WordPress 2013). In conclusion, the mission of our company is to be the best platform spreading aboriginal information and providing products. We will offer a variety of services and products both on the website and physical stores for different customer segmentations. As a result, it will facilitate the economy of aboriginal and social stability. 8. Reference List: Alperstein Designs 2013, Alperstein Designs, viewed on 30th September 2013, http://alpersteindesigns.com.au/. Cultural Tours 2013, Territory Discoveries, viewed on 1st October 2013, http://www.territorydiscoveries.com. Rothwell, N, 2013, ‘Plunging sales crisis for indigenous art’, The Australian, viewed on 29 September 2013, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/. Spirit Gallery 2013, Spirit Gallery, viewed on 30th September 2013, http://www.spiritgallery.com.au/. Tandanya, 2013, ‘National aboriginal cultural institute inc.’, viewed on 29 Sep 2013, http://www.tandanya.com.au/. WordPress 2013, Themes directory, viewed on 1st October 2013, http://wordpress.org/themes/. Appendix Appendix 1-1 Profit and Loss

Homosexuality in Ghana Essay Example for Free

Homosexuality in Ghana Essay Homosexuality is one of the prime heated debates globally. Being a social issue that is affecting the antiquity marriage culture and religious believes; it has raised numerous controversies among the societies, government and non-governmental organizations. The term homosexuality has been widely and globally to different extents. Some people have used the terminology to refer to the physical and emotional attractions of people of the same sex. Other people have defined it as the preference for emotional sexual relations of people of same sex. This is implies that homosexuality comprises of gay, lesbians and bisexuals. Homosexuality has becomes a global social problem of controversy fundamentally due to the gender identity as well as sexual orientation. (Adu-Gyamfi, 2007) Historically, homosexuality is an act that has been in existence for several decades or so centuries. In most of the European nations, the first report on homosexuality as social issue appeared in 17th century in the year of 1885. The British parliament was thus the first find faulty on homosexuality, hence, by the 1885, they cast their votes against homosexuality making it a criminal act. Since then, there has been much concern over homosexuality making states like Germany to launch campaigns over it. During the campaigns, thousands of homosexual individuals were arrested and confined into camps for correctional purposes. According to the works of Melville, homosexuality was being in practiced in the early years of the twentieth century. His study revealed that homosexuality in the Dahomey where the Fon people was dominating population. Homosexuality therefore appears to have been eminent issue which, not only the Europeans, Asians and American states are coming into term with, but most countries in African continents are still struggling to cope with. As cooper points out, he says â€Å"I had enough evidence to believe that any habit, regardless of how compulsive, how deeply ingrained, could be broken once and for all. (Cooper, 1991) Literature review Like in many other countries, homosexuality in Ghana has divided the community as whole into their different opinions. Some people in the community have embraced this new kind of culture while a good proportion of the community population rejects. It is determined that most of the Ghanaians reside in rural areas. Actually, two thirds of the community populations are in the remote parts of the country where the media and other socials influencer are much limited. The population of the youths is relatively high, forming forty five percent of the total population. Although scores of African youths have been assimilated and generally adapted new lifestyles of the westerners, there is much resistance of this transition in the Ghanaian’s youths. The penetration of changes in their cultures has highly been resisted through the maintenance and teaching which demonstrates the ancient ways of gender roles and marriages value. This implies that there is a lot of controlled over the operations of the community which in the present world’s view, numerous activities are contrary to their expectation. (Murray, and Roskam, 1998) According to many researches in the Ghanaians social liberty, the community of females and children in the states are well undermined and mistreated. Due to the maintenance of distinctive gender role among men and women, Ghana is described as a man’s world. This indicates that the women in Ghana are counted as subordinates both in home leadership and also in the leadership level of country. The value of children in the Ghanaians community have is indescribable and this has given marriage issues first prior and extended restrictions to adoption of western nature of lifestyles. Childlessness for men and women has got the highest humiliations in a couple families but this is much more to the females. Thus, the erosion of the old traditions and cultures are still minimal but they are up held with great respect in most ethnic groups such as the Akan who believe that childlessness is an abnormality and unhealthy to the females. The transitions in the social practices coupled with economic changes have compelled and diminished most communities’ traditions on marriages and children value. However, these have little effects in the Ghanaians. Sex preference has been a common practice in many developing countries, whereby unwanted sexes are given the dire consequences. This has little penetration in the Ghanaians having no strong bias for a specific sex. (Murray, and Roskam, 1998) Influencing factors of homosexuality in Ghana Imprisonment Ghana is one of the states which are depicted to offer severe penalties to the perpetrators of the law. Though prisons are institutions set up for correctional purposes, numerous reports shows that the Ghanaians prisons’ condition harden the people’s character instead of correcting them. According to the numerous researches which are conducted in their prisons, many of them reveal that the conditions make the inmates lives to tolerate harsh environment. It is said that inmates who are imprisoned for a period extending to more than two years do commit criminal offences which are more worse than the crime they were convicted. One common crime which is disclosed is the involvement of inmates in homosexually. Instead of reforming these inmates, most of them find themselves hardening in their lives as result of the mistreatment. Due to stress and sexual desire within the people behind bars, homosexuality in prisons is reported as serious and rampant in jails. Men and women serving as inmate may develop the sexual desire like any other person, as results of the restrictions and limited interaction of males and females, same sex inmates engages on mutual carnal sex. (Murray and Roskam, 1998) Education The self-control in most students is very low. This is aggravated by the challenges which arise at the adolescent stage. Cooper observed that when he grew up there was change in his life. He thus said â€Å" I became the scientist of my own desire, plotting ways to change my yearning for boys into a yearning for girls†. While in most case boarding schools are perceived to be of advantageous on learning and achieving higher level of education, student enrolled as boarders in these schools are still under compelling conditions on interactions. Though some students do snitch out school to find their opposite sex friend for sexual satisfaction, hopeless and desperate boys and girls in schools normally get entangled in practicing homosexuality in dormitories. This occurs especially not with equals but it involves seniors and juniors of the same sex. The practice by students in same sex is not a permitted act in the law and society; it takes place as way of satisfying the sexual whim. Though in some schools there both boys and girls such as mixed boarders, homosexuality is not something unheard off. In such environments, homosexuality such lesbianism, gay and bisexuality are common practices. Among the female students in mixed school, homosexuality is increased due to the educational set goals. The practice of homosexuality among them is a way of evading the consequences of unwanted pregnancies which can lead to the termination of their studies. (Cooper, 1991) Economic reason Tourism is becoming a booming trade in the world. Ghanaians are not exempted from such opportunities of tourists in their state. Tourists arriving from the Western countries and American states roam everywhere, bringing with them the culture of homosexuality. The interaction of the tourists with locals transforms their culture. However, it is common that most of these local people in Ghana falls victims of money which is trick applied by the foreigners. Some of the people end up engaging themselves as heterosexual prostitutes while other ruins their lives with the illicit acts of homosexuality. This influence is much augmented by the modern technology. According to several sources, chat rooms have become social places which sex tourists are highly concentrating on conducting their preys. They visit such chat sites to makes relationships with the young youths online but when they physically arrive, they get involved into multiple sexes-with them in promise of finances. Usually, the socio-economic problems are primary factors which are thus compelling the youths look for financial aids and relief at this risky illegalized ways. Thus influx of serial monogamy, unstable marriages low economy in one way or the other have rapidly increased the ratio of homosexuals, creating a breading grounds for pimps who end up being homosexuals or bisexual partners or prostitutes. Adu-Gyamfi, 2007) Major problems associated with homosexuality Mistrust among couples, unchecked spread of sexually transmitted diseases, low productivity due stigmatization, high incidents of suicide as a result of rejection, are some of the negative effects that are a result of homosexuality, which many recognize but regards as unethical unacceptable trend, however, the greatest obstacle has been to control the unexpected explosion of both hetero bisexual prostitutes who have invaded the cities with a bang. Bernard said â€Å"My longing was wrong in the eyes of my mother, whose hazel eyes were the eyes of the world, and if that longing continued unchecked, the unwieldy shape of my fate would be cast, and I’d be subjected to a lifetime of scorn. All in all, unlike conventional sexual partners, homosexuals are viewed with suspicion more than often mistreated in some cases denied access to public facilities like hospitals schools, while on the other hand the government has ignored their plight, infringing their right of association hence making the civil society to be aggressive, more abusive towards them. Cooper, 1991) Homosexuality is not only black-market in the society due to fear from the society but it is also criticized as major contributor to the numerous sexual transmitted diseases. The homosexual community is well associated with common problems which may include soreness and ulcers in the sex organs and the anal points. Despites the impeding hazards of these initials problems of soreness, seeking of health services rare happens among them, and in case the condition call for healthy care attention, it only happens at the late period of the conditions with most of the victims rare looking for the help from governmental and public healthy service providers. The fear on prolonged interrogations from the officer makes them to get drugs from the counters rather than dispensaries and hospitals a facts which may worsen the spreading of dangerous plagues in the countries such HIV? AIDS. These events have propelled some humanitarian organizations to speak on behalf of homosexuals, who have been associated with all manner of vices from prostitution, child pornography to drug trafficking, thus advocating for their respect, recognition acceptance in the society. (Adu-Gyamfi, 2007) Conclusion Homosexuality is one of the issues which have strongly been resisted in Ghana. It has received much opposing forces both from the government as well as the society. Though it is not genetically associated, the efforts of the resisting groups are becoming wastes. Through diverse circumstances, many Ghanaians have been fallen into this tragic incident which is a taboo among the society and illegal in the governmental constitutions. Though the government, some groups people in the community and other organization like those of religious institutions have all tried to shut down the doors of homosexuality, traces of this cultures which was initially associated with the westerners have permeated in the country mysterious. Surprisingly, such organizations can be blamed over enormous contributions to the acts. Having the understanding of the situations under which homosexuality in states is being augmented, this call for new strategic ways of intervention rather than imposing more stringent rules on homosexuality which ruin the live of many young men. This means that homosexuality is no more of benefit to the individuals who practices it except shame. The most fundamental of all factors to be considered is the impacting of moral understanding of the nature of sex practices and the empowerment of the community to alleviated poverty level among members of the society. (Cooper, 1991)

Earthquake Simulation for Buildings

Earthquake Simulation for Buildings Abstract Earthquake is an independent natural phenomenon of vibration of the ground which can become dangerous mainly when it is considered in relation with structures. Earthquakes can be very weak, without even realizing them but (they) can also be strong enough to result serious damages to buildings which can lead to injures or even loss of human lives. In order to avoid any structural damage the legislation sets conditions on the building design. For that purpose, Eurocode 8 is established in European countries and sets up all the appropriate criteria and measures for the design of buildings for earthquake resistance (Eurocode 8 is established in Europe and suggests 4 different methods of analysis.) In this project the response of eight buildings is examined (investigated) under seismic excitation. Firstly, is examined the case of four buildings (1 storey, 2 storey, 3 storey and 4 storey) where all the storeys are facsimile (replica). Afterwards, is examined the case of four buildings (aga in 1-4 storeys) where while the storeys of each building are increased, the mass, the stiffness and the height of each floor are decreased. Both the lateral method of analysis and the modal response spectrum analysis are used as recommended by EC8 to calculate the inter-storey drifts, the total shear forces and the overturning moments at the base of each building. The results are plotted and compared so that useful outcomes can be obtained. 1. Introduction One of the most frightening and destructive phenomena of nature is a severe earthquake and its terrible aftereffects especially when they are associated with structures. An earthquake is a sudden movement of the Earth, caused by the abrupt release of strain that has accumulated over a long time. Earthquake intensity and magnitude are the most common used parameters in order to understand and compare different earthquake events.( Ά° are the most common parameters used to appreciate and compare.) In recent years have been giving increasing attention to the design of buildings for earthquake resistance. Specific (particular) legislation is (have been) established to make structures able to resist at any seismic excitation. In Europe, Eurocode 8 explains how to make buildings able to resist to earthquakes, and recommends the use of linear and non-linear methods for the seismic design of the buildings Simple structures can be modelled either as equivalent single degree of freedom systems (SDOF) or as a combination of SDOF systems. In this project 8 different buildings with a variation either on the number of storeys or on their characteristics are simulated as a combination of SDOF systems for which the mode shapes and their corresponding eigenfrequencies and periods are calculated. Afterwards the fundamental frequency is obtained for each case and the elastic design is used in order to obtain the base shear forces and the overturning moments. (INELASTIC DESIGN AND LATERAL FORCE METHOD) 2. Literature review 2.1 Introduction to earthquake engineering Definition and earthquake derivation or generation or creation or production or formation or genesis The lithosphere is the solid part of Earth which includes or consists of the crust and the uppermost mantle. The sudden movement of the earths lithosphere is called earthquake (technical name seism). Fractures in Earths crust where sections of rock have slipped past each other are called Faults. Most earthquakes occur along Faults. Generally, earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of built-up stress within rocks along geologic faults or by the movement of magma in volcanic areas. The theory of plate tectonics provides geology with a comprehensive theory that explains how the Earth works. The theory states that Earths outermost layer, the lithosphere, is broken into 7 large, rigid pieces called plates: the African, North American, South American, Australian- Indian, Eurasian, Antarctic, and Pacific plates. Several subcontinental plates also exist, including the Caribbean, Arabian, Nazca, Philippines and Cocos plates. Boundaries of tectonic plates are found at the edge of the lithospheric plates and can be of various forms, depending on the nature of relative movements. By their distinct motions, three main types can be characterized. The three types are: subduction zones (or trenches), spreading ridges (or spreading rifts) and transform faults.. convergent, divergent and conservative. At subduction zone boundaries, plates move towards each other and the one plate subducts underneath the other (ÃŽÂ ® ÃŽ ¼Ãâ‚¬ÃŽ ¿Ã Ãƒ Ã… ½ ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ± πω: one plate is overriding another, thereby forcing the other into the mantle beneath it.) The opposite form of movement takes place at spreading ridge boundaries. At these boundaries, two plates move away from one another. As the two move apart, molten rock is allowed to rise from the mantle to the surface and cool down to form part of the plates. This, in turn, causes the growth of oceanic crust on either side of the vents. As the plates continue to move, and more crust is formed, the ocean basin expands and a ridge system is created. Divergent boundaries are responsible in part for driving the motion of the plates. At transform fault boundaries, plate material is neither created nor destroyed at these boundaries, but rather plates slide past each other. Transform faults are mainly associated with spreading ridges, as they are usually formed by surface movement due to perpendicular spreading ridges on either side. Earthquake Location When an earthquake occurs, one of the first questions is where was it?. An earthquakes location may tell us what fault it was on and where the possible damage most likely occurred. The hypocentre of an earthquake is its location in three dimensions: latitude, longitude, and depth. The hypocentre (literally meaning: below the center from the Greek υπà Ã…’Î ºÃŽ µÃŽ ½Ãâ€žÃ ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ½), or focus of the earthquake, refers to the point at which the rupture initiates and the first seismic wave is released. As an earthquake is triggered, the fault is associated with a large area of fault plane. The point directly above the focus, on the earths surface where the origin of an earthquake above ground. The epicentre is the place on the surface of the earth under which an earthquake rupture originates, often given in degrees of latitude (north-south) and longitude (east-west). The epicentre is vertically above the hypocentre. The distance between the two points is the focal depth. The location of any station or observation can be described relative to the origin of the earthquake in terms of the epicentral or hypocentral distances. Propagation of seismic waves Seismic waves are the energy generated by a sudden breaking of rock within the earth or an artificial explosion that travels through the earth and is recorded on seismographs. There are several different kinds of seismic waves, and they all move in different ways. The two most important types of seismic waves are body waves and surface waves. Body waves travel deep within the earth and surface waves travel near the surface of the earth. Body waves: There are two types of body waves: P-waves (also pressure waves) and S-waves (also shear waves). P-waves travel through the Earth as longitudinal waves whose compressions and rarefactions resemble those of a sound wave. The name P-wave comes from the fact that this is the fastest kind of seismic wave and, consequently, it is the first or ‘Primary wave to be detected at a seismograph. Speed depends on the kind of rock and its depth; usually they travel at speeds between 1.5 and 8 kilometers per second in the Earths crust. P waves are also known as compressional waves, because of the pushing and pulling they do. P waves shake the ground in the direction they are propagating, while S waves shake perpendicularly or transverse to the direction of propagation. The P-wave can move through solids, liquids or gases. Sometimes animals can hear the P-waves of an earthquake S-waves travel more slowly, usually at 60% to 70% of the speed of P waves. The name S-wave comes from the fact that these slower waves arrive Secondary after the P wave at any observation point. S-waves are transverse waves or shear waves, so that particles move in a direction perpendicular to that of wave propagation. Depending in whether this direction is along a vertical or horizontal plane, S-waves are subcategorized into SV and SH-waves, respectively. Because liquids and gases have no resistance to shear and cannot sustain a shear wave, S-waves travel only through solids materials. The Earths outer core is believed to be liquid because S-waves disappear at the mantle-core boundary, while P-waves do not. (3: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/nat_hazards/nat_hazards.html) Surface waves: The surface waves expand, as the name indicates, near the earths surface. The amplitudes of surface waves approximately decrease exponentially with depth. Motion in surface waves is usually larger than in body waves therefore surface waves tend to cause more damage. They are the slowest and by far the most destructive of seismic waves, especially at distances far from the epicenter. Surface waves are divided into Rayleigh waves and Love waves. Rayleigh waves, also known as ground roll, are the result of an incident P and SV plane waves interacting at the free surface and traveling parallel to that surface. Rayleigh waves (or R-waves) took their name from (named for) John Strutt, Lord Rayleigh who first described them in 1885 (ÃŽÂ ® who mathematically predicted the existence of this kind of wave in 1885) and they are an important kind of surface wave. Most of the shaking felt from an earthquake is due to the R-wave, which can be much larger than the other waves. In Rayleigh waves the particles of soil move vertically in circular or elliptical paths, just like a wave rolls across a lake or an ocean. As Rayleigh wave particle motion is only found in the vertical plane, this means that they most commonly found on the vertical component of seismograms. The Rayleigh equation is: Love waves (also named Q waves) are surface seismic waves that cause horizontal shifting of the earth during an earthquake. They move the ground from side to side in a horizontal plane but at right angles to the direction of propagation. Love waves took their name from A.E.H. Love, a British mathematician who worked out the mathematical model for this kind of wave in 1911. Love waves are the result from the interaction with SH-waves. They travel with a slower velocity than P- or S- waves, but faster than Rayleigh waves, their speed relate to the frequency of oscillation. Earthquake size: Earthquake measurement is not a simple problem and it is hampered by many factors. The size of an earthquake can be quantified in various ways. The intensity and the magnitude of an earthquake are terms that were developed in an attempt to evaluate the earthquake phenomenon and they are the most commonly used terms to express the severity of an earthquake. Earthquake intensity: Intensity is based on the observed effects of ground shaking on people, buildings, and natural features. It varies from place to place within the disturbed region depending on the location of the observer with respect to the earthquake epicenter. Earthquake magnitude: The magnitude is the most often cited measure of an earthquakes size. The most common method of describing the size of an earthquake is the Richter magnitude scale, ML. This scale is based on the observation that, if the logarithm of the maximum displacement amplitudes which were recorded by seismographs located at various distances from the epicenter are put on the same diagram and this is repeated for several earthquakes with the same epicentre, the resulting curves are parallel to each other. This means that if one of these earthquakes is taken as the basis, the coordinate difference between that earthquake and every other earthquake, measures the magnitude of the earthquake at the epicentre. Richter defined as zero magnitude earthquake one which is recorded with 1ÃŽ ¼m amplitude at a distance of 100 km. Therefore, the local magnitude ML of an earthquake is based on the maximum trace amplitude A and can be estimated from the relation: ML= log A log A (3) Where A is the amplitude of the zero magnitude earthquake (ML=0). The Richter magnitude scale can only be used when seismographs are within 600 km of the earthquake. For greater distances, other magnitude scales have been defined. The most current scale is the moment magnitude scale MW, which can be used for a wide range of magnitudes and distances. Two main categories of instruments are used for the quantitative evaluation (estimation, assessment) of the earthquake phenomenon: the seismographs which record the displacement of the ground as a function of time, and the accelerographs (or accelerometers) which record the acceleration of the ground as a function of time, producing accelerograms. X the accelerogram of the 1940 El Centro earthquake. For every earthquake accelerogram, elastic or linear acceleration response spectrum diagrams can be calculated. (obtained, estimated) The response spectrum of an earthquake is a diagram of the peak values of any of the response parameters (displacement, acceleration or velocity) as a function of the natural vibration period T of the SDOF system, subjected to the same seismic input. All these parameters can be plotted together in one diagram which is called the tripartite plot (also known as four coordinate paper). 2.2 Earthquake and Structures simulation 2.2.1 Equation of motion of SDOF system Introduction Vibration is the periodic motion or the oscillation of an elastic body or a medium, whose state of equilibrium has been disturbed. ÃŽâ€" ÃŽ ¼Ãâ‚¬ÃŽ ¿Ã Ãâ€° ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ± πω: whose position of equilibrium has been displaced. There are two types of vibrations, free vibration and forced vibration. Vibration can be classified as either free or forced. A structure is said to be in a state of free vibration when it is disturbed from its static equilibrium by given a small displacement or deformation and then released and allowed to vibrate without any external dynamic excitation. Number of Degrees of Freedom (DOF) is the number of the displacements that are needed to define the displaced position of the masses relative to their original position. Simple structures can be idealised as a system with a lumped mass m supported by a massless structure with stiffness k. It is assumed that the energy is dissipated through a viscous damper with damping coefficient c. Only one displacement variable is required in order to specify the position of the mass in this system, so it is called Singe Degree of Freedom (SDOF) system. Undamped Free Vibration of SDOF systems Furthermore, if there is no damping or resistance in the system, there will be no reduction to the amplitude of the oscillation and theoretically the system will vibrate forever. Such a system is called undamped and is represented in the below: By taking into consideration the inertia force fin and the elastic spring force fs the equation of the motion is given by: fin + fs = 0 → m+ ku = 0 Considering the initial conditions u(0) and (0), where u(0) is the displacement and (0) is the velocity at the time zero, the equation (4) has the general solution: u(t) = u(0) cosωnt + sinωnt where ωn is the natural frequency of the system and is given by, ωn = (6) The natural period and the natural frequency can be defined by the above equations: Tn = (7) fn = (8) Viscously damped Free Vibration of SDOF systems The equation of motion of such a system can be developed from its free body diagram below: Considering the inertia force fin, the elastic spring force fs and the damping force fD, the equation of the motion is given by: m+ c+ ku = 0 (9) Dividing by m the above equation gives: + 2ÃŽ ¾Ãâ€°n+ ω2u = 0 (10) where ÃŽ ¾ is the critical damping and is given by: ÃŽ ¾ = (11) and Cc is the critical damping ratio given by: Cc = 2mωn * If ÃŽ ¾ > 1 or c > Cc the system is overdamped. It returns to its equilibrium position without oscillating. * If ÃŽ ¾ = 1 or c = Cc the system is critically damped. It returns to its equilibrium position without oscillating, but at a slower rate. * If ÃŽ ¾ Taking into account that all the structures can be considered as underdamped systems, as typically their damping ratio ÃŽ ¾ is less than 0.10 the equation (9) for the initial conditions u (0) and (0) gives the solution below: U (t) = e†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦[u(0)cosωn+[†¦.+sinωDt] (13) where ωD is the natural frequency of damped vibration and is given by: ωD = ωn (14) Hence the natural period is: TD = (15) Undamped Forced Vibration of SDOF system The equation of motion of such a system can be developed from its free body diagram below: Considering the inertia force fin, the elastic spring force fs and the external dynamic load f(t), the equation of the motion is given by: m+ ku = f(t) (16) where f(t) = f0 sinωt is the maximum value of the force with frequency ω By imposing the initial conditions u(0) and (0) the equation (16) has a general solution: u(t) = u(0)cosωnt + sinωnt + sinωt (17) Damped Forced Vibration of SDOF system The equation of motion of such a system can be developed from its free body diagram below: Considering the inertia force fin, the elastic spring force fs, the damping force fD and the external dynamic load f(t), the equation of the motion is given by: m+ c+ ku = f(t) (18) where f(t) = f0 sinωt The particular solution of equation (18) is: up = Csinωt + Dcosωt (19) And the complementary solution of equation (18) is: (20) uc = e(AcosωDt + Bsinωnt) (20) 2.2.2 Equation of motion of MDOF system The equation of motion of a MDOF elastic system is expressed by: M+ C+ Ku = -MAI(t) (21) where M is the mass matrix, C is the damping matrix, K is the stiffness matrix, u is the acceleration vector, u is the velocity vector and u is the displacement vector. Finally, AI is a vector with all the elements equal to unity and ug(t) is the ground acceleration. 2.2 Earthquake and Structures simulation 2.2.1 Equation of motion of SDOF system Introduction Vibration is the periodic motion or the oscillation of an elastic body or a medium, whose state of equilibrium has been disturbed. ÃŽâ€" ÃŽ ¼Ãâ‚¬ÃŽ ¿Ã Ãâ€° ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ± πω: whose position of equilibrium has been displaced. There are two types of vibrations, free vibration and forced vibration. Vibration can be classified as either free or forced. A structure is said to be in a state of free vibration when it is disturbed from its static equilibrium by given a small displacement or deformation and then released and allowed to vibrate without any external dynamic excitation. Number of Degrees of Freedom (DOF) is the number of the displacements that are needed to define the displaced position of the masses relative to their original position. Simple structures can be idealised as a system with a lumped mass m supported by a massless structure with stiffness k. It is assumed that the energy is dissipated through a viscous damper with damping coefficient c. Only one displacement variable is required in order to specify the position of the mass in this system, so it is called Singe Degree of Freedom (SDOF) system. Undamped Free Vibration of SDOF systems Furthermore, if there is no damping or resistance in the system, there will be no reduction to the amplitude of the oscillation and theoretically the system will vibrate forever. Such a system is called undamped and is represented in the below: By taking into consideration the inertia force fin and the elastic spring force fs the equation of the motion is given by: fin + fs = 0 → m+ ku = 0 Considering the initial conditions u(0) and (0), where u(0) is the displacement and (0) is the velocity at the time zero, the equation (4) has the general solution: u(t) = u(0) cosωnt + sinωnt where ωn is the natural frequency of the system and is given by, ωn = (6) The natural period and the natural frequency can be defined by the above equations: Tn = (7) fn = (8) Viscously damped Free Vibration of SDOF systems The equation of motion of such a system can be developed from its free body diagram below: Considering the inertia force fin, the elastic spring force fs and the damping force fD, the equation of the motion is given by: m+ c+ ku = 0 (9) Dividing by m the above equation gives: + 2ÃŽ ¾Ãâ€°n+ ω2u = 0 (10) where ÃŽ ¾ is the critical damping and is given by: ÃŽ ¾ = (11) and Cc is the critical damping ratio given by: Cc = 2mωn * If ÃŽ ¾ > 1 or c > Cc the system is overdamped. It returns to its equilibrium position without oscillating. * If ÃŽ ¾ = 1 or c = Cc the system is critically damped. It returns to its equilibrium position without oscillating, but at a slower rate. * If ÃŽ ¾ Taking into account that all the structures can be considered as underdamped systems, as typically their damping ratio ÃŽ ¾ is less than 0.10 the equation (9) for the initial conditions u (0) and (0) gives the solution below: U (t) = e†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦[u(0)cosωn+[†¦.+sinωDt] (13) where ωD is the natural frequency of damped vibration and is given by: ωD = ωn (14) Hence the natural period is: TD = (15) Undamped Forced Vibration of SDOF system The equation of motion of such a system can be developed from its free body diagram below: Considering the inertia force fin, the elastic spring force fs and the external dynamic load f(t), the equation of the motion is given by: m+ ku = f(t) (16) where f(t) = f0 sinωt is the maximum value of the force with frequency ω By imposing the initial conditions u(0) and (0) the equation (16) has a general solution: u(t) = u(0)cosωnt + sinωnt + sinωt (17) Damped Forced Vibration of SDOF system The equation of motion of such a system can be developed from its free body diagram below: Considering the inertia force fin, the elastic spring force fs, the damping force fD and the external dynamic load f(t), the equation of the motion is given by: m+ c+ ku = f(t) (18) where f(t) = f0 sinωt The particular solution of equation (18) is: up = Csinωt + Dcosωt (19) And the complementary solution of equation (18) is: uc = (AcosωDt + Bsinωnt) (20) 2.2.2 Equation of motion of MDOF system The equation of motion of a MDOF elastic system is expressed by: M+ C+ Ku = -MAI(t) (21) where M is the mass matrix, C is the damping matrix, K is the stiffness matrix, u is the acceleration vector, u is the velocity vector and u is the displacement vector. Finally, AI is a vector with all the elements equal to unity and g(t) is the ground acceleration. 3. Description of the Method 3.1 Simplified Multi-Storey Shear Building Model It is almost impossible to predict precisely which seismic action a structure will undergo during its life time. Each structure must be designed to resist at any seismic excitation without failing. For this reason each structure is designed to meet the requirements of the design spectrum analysis based in EC8. Also some assumptions are necessary in order to achieve the best and the simplest idealization for each multi store building. Initially it is assumed that the mass of each floor is lumped at the centre of the floor and the columns are massless. The floor beams are completely rigid and incompressible; hence the floor displacement is being transferred equally to all the columns. The columns are flexible in horizontal displacement and rigid in vertical displacement, while they are provided with a fully fixed support from the floors and the ground. The building is assumed to be symmetric about both x and y directions with symmetric column arrangement. The consequence of this is tha t the centre of the mass of each floor to coincide with the centre of the stiffness of each floor. The position of this centre remains stable up the entire height of the building. Finally, it is assumed that there are no torsional effects for each of the floors. If all the above assumptions are used the building structure is idealised as a model where the displacement at each floor is described by one degree of freedom. Thus, for a jth storey building, j degrees of freedom required to express the total displacement of the building. The roof of the building has always to be considered as a floor. The mass matrix M is a symmetric diagonal nxn matrix for a n-storey building and is given below. Each diagonal value in the matrix represents the total mass of one beam and its two corresponding columns which are assumed to be lumped at each level. M = Stiffness method is used to formulate the stiffness matrix. K is the lateral stiffness of each column and is given by the relationship: K = (22) where EI is the flexural stiffness of a column. The lateral stiffness of each column is clamped at the ends and is imposed in a unit sway. The stiffness of each floor is the sum of the lateral force of all columns in the floor. The stiffness matrix is for a n-storey building is: K = In order to calculate the natural modes of the vibration, the system is assumed that vibrates freely. Thus, g(t)=0, which for systems without damping (c=0) the equation (21) specializes to: M+ Ku = 0 (23) The displacement is assumed to be harmonic in time, this is: = -ω2Ueiωt (24) Hence equation (23) becomes: (K ω2M)U = 0 (25) The above equation has the trivial solution u=0. For non trivial solutions, u≠ 0 the determinant for the left hand size must be zero. That is: |K ω2 M| = 0 (26) This condition leads to a polynomial in terms of ω2 with n roots, where n is the size of matrices and vectors as cited above. These roots are called eigenvalues. By applying the equation (6) (7), the natural frequency and the natural period of vibration for each mode shape can be determined. Each eigenvalue has a relative eigenvector which represent the natural ith mode shape. After the estimation of the eigenvector in order to compare the mode shapes, scale factors are applied to natural modes to standarise their elements associated with various degrees of freedom (X). This process is called normalization. Hence, after the estimation of the eigenvectors each mode is normalised so that the biggest value is X: eigenvector notation. unity. The eigenvectors of a symmetric matrix corresponding to distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal. This aspect is expressed by the following expression: UiTKUij = UiTMUij (27) The classical eigenvalue problem has the following form: (M-1K ÃŽ » I) u = 0 (28) where ÃŽ » =ω2 and I is the identity matrix. EC8 suggests that the response in two modes i and j can be assumed independent of each other when Tj ≠¤ 0.9 Ti where Ti and Tj are the periods of the modes i and j respectively (always Ti ≠¥ Tj). The calculated fundamental period can be checked by the equation that EC8 suggests: T = Ct*H3/4 where T is the fundamental period of the building, Ct is a coefficient and H is the total height of the building; this expression is valid buildings that their total height is not more than forty metres 3.2 Elastic Analysis The response method is used to estimate the maximum displacement (uj), pseudo- velocity (j) and acceleration (j) for each calculated natural frequency. It is assumed that the MDOF system oscillates in each of its modes independently and displacements, velocities and accelerations can be obtained for each mode separately considering modal responses as SDOF responses. Each maximum, displacement velocity and acceleration read from the design spectrum is multiplying by the participation factor ÃŽ ±i to re-evaluate the maximum values expressed ujmax, jmax, jmax respectively. The participation factor ÃŽ ±i is defined by the following equation: (28) where UijT is the transpose vector of each of the mode vectors, M is the mass matrix, AI is the unit vector and Uij is the mode shape vector. The actual maximum displacements of the jth mode are given by: u = ujmaxΆ¡Uj Afterwards, the root-mean-square (RMS) approximation is used in order to calculate the maximum displacement for each floor. In this approach, all the maximum values for each mode, are squared and summed and their square root is derived. If we let Dmax be the maximum displacement then: Dmax = (29) A very variable parameter to characterise the seismic behaviour of a building is the Inter-Storey Drift which can be obtained by the following equation: ÃŽ ´i = Di Di-1/hi (30) where Di, Di-1, are the horizontal displacements for two contiguous floors and hi is the corresponding height of the floor. The calculated values must be lower than 4% in order to agree with the Eurocode. Afterwards the horizontal inertia forces Fjs applied at each floor are obtained by applying the following equation: Fj = MΆ¡UjΆ¡jmax (31) where M is the mass matrix, Uj is the eigenvector for each mode and jmax is the maximum acceleration. As it is suggested from the EC8, the root-mean-approximation is used again in order to obtain the total lateral forces. EC8 suggests that the combined lateral force at each floor is given by the square root of the sum of the squares of each lateral force at each floor of all the modes. If we let Ftotal,i the maximum base shear force then: Ftotal,j = [1] (32) where Fij is the lateral force at floor i of the mode j. Once the total lateral forces and the shear forces have been obtained, the maximum overturning moment is calculated. 3.3 Inelastic Analysis The inelastic response spectra are generally obtained by the scaling of the elastic design spectra via the use of response modification factors. No effect of the energy absorption was assumed in the structure for the calculated values by using the elastic design spectrum. By introducing the ductility factor this parameter is taking into consideration. Newmark has described the ductility parameter ÃŽ ¼ as the ratio of maximum displacement to the displacement at yield. Apparently when yielding does not take place the concept of ductility is not relevant and ÃŽ ¼ is taken equal to unity. ÃŽ ¤he system is described by the damping ratio Ï‚, the natural frequency ωn, and the ductility factor ÃŽ ¼. In order to calculate the new set of values of acceleration, displacement and velocity the design response spectrum has to be constructed. Newmarks procedure leads to the construction of two modified spectra. 1. For maximum acceleration: In this case the elastic design spectrum is reduced by the appropriate coefficients. The acceleration region of the graph is multiplie

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Our business will not be able to compete with the other competitors without building a website. We will need to hire personal, such as software engineer and net developer or outsource the task. To create, develop and keep up to date all the software and website. The website will of course have all our contact information, description of services we offer. In addition it will have a feature which allows our future customers to get a quote by filling in some information such as the type of services they want, type of course, country delivered, number of days, number of attendees and language needed. When the information is complete we will provide an approximate cost for the services required. In addition, the developer will take care of the software that will be used to translate, schedule our trainings, and organize all the data and training information. So having employees within the company taking care of our website is crucial. Content: All the trainings, translating and services we will provide will need content .We will purchase data about the countries and languages we are targ...

Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Creation Story :: Enuma Elish

Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Creation Story Like the Greek Theogony, the creation of the world in the Enuma elish begins with the universe in a formless state, from which emerge two primary gods, male and female: When the skies above were not yet named Nor earth below pronounced by name, Apsu, the first one, their begetter, And maker Tiamat, who bore them all, Had mixed their waters together, But had not formed pastures, nor discovered reed-beds; When yet no gods were manifest, Nor names pronounced, nor destinies decreed, Then gods were born within them. (Dalley 233) Apsu, the male "begetter," is the sweet waters, while Tiamat, the female "maker," is the bitter, salt waters. Sweet and salt water mingle together at the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, site of the origins of Mesopotamian civilization. Some translators see the word "maker" in line 4 not as an adjective describing Tiamat but as another god, named Mummu, who emerges at the same time. As you might expect, Mummu means "maker," "form," "mold," or "matrix." Besides being Apsu's vizier, Mummu is the mold or the undifferentiated substance from which things are made. Like Eros at the beginning of the Theogony, this Mummu-power is necessary to get the job of birth-creation going. Stephanie Dalley notes that "the bit-mummu was the term for a workshop that produced statues of deities" (274). N. K. Sandars, however, sees mummu as potential, or entropy (27). In this early period, nothing is named yet because nothing has appeared or been created yet. Notice that pasture-land must be form ed--wrested from the desert by the hard work of digging and irrigation. The reed-beds mentioned in line 6 are handier than one might think: in southern Iraq today, the marsh dwellers live and work in floating houses and boats made from the reeds in the reed-beds. The "destinies" mentioned in line 8 are somewhat like the Sumerian me--cultural patterns and ways of living. After the waters of Apsu and Tiamat mix, the gods Lahmu and Lahamu ("slime, mud") emerge. And from this pair come Anshar ("whole sky") and Kishar ("whole earth"), meaning perhaps "the horizon, the circular rim of heaven and the corresponding circular rim of earth" (Jacobsen 168). Anshar and Kishar give birth to Anu, the sky god, who in turn begets what one translation calls "his likeness" (Heidel 18) Ea, the trickster god of the flowing waters, who is familiar to us as Enki.

History of Alicia Bohol Philippines Essay

Those men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history. Aldous Huxley In the early part of the 19th century the town of Alicia, formerly known as Batuanan, was one of the three (3) biggest and oldest towns of Bohol along with Catigbian and Balilihan. It was a thriving trading center shortly after the Dagohoy Rebellion (1744 – 1829). The town of Batuanan, however, was formally established in June 1860 by virtue of a decree signed by the Spanish Governor General Livarez. There are two versions as to how the place came to be called Batuanan. One version stated that the place was a â€Å" Batuganan† meaning perch or lookout of the warriors of Dagohoy guarding against invading Spanish and pirates. From then on, the place was called Batuanan derived the word â€Å" Batuganan†. The second version is that Batuan trees bearing tomato-shaped fruits were abundant in the locality. This prompted the Spanish soldiers who were then conducting mopping-out operations against Dagohoy’s men to call the place Batuanan. Close to the end of Spanish regime in the country, two (2) high ranking officers were ambushed in the outskirts of the town. This incident prompted the Spanish officers to burn the whole Poblacion in retaliation. Again, in the early American regime, an American soldier was killed in another ambuscade, which brought about another scourge upon the town. This time the American soldiers burned all the structures to the ground, thus, resulting to the transfer of the seat of government to barrio Libas which is now the Poblacion of the Municipality of Mabini. This continued until 1903 when the Philippines Commission passed Commonwealth Act. No. 968 formally creating the Municipality of Mabini, wherein Batuanan became only a barrio thereof. However, after the span of few years, the people of Batuanan started agitating for the restoration of its status into a municipality. Towards  that end, they succeeded in having elected two (2) Mayors, namely: Dulcisimo Ayuban and Cipriano G. Aton. Also elected were two (2) Vice-Mayors, namely: Buenaventura Asas and Segunda Duetes and several councilors, among them were Victor Doydora, Dionisio Muring, Anastacio Curit, Pedro Huiso and Gaudencio Gumop-as. These officials paved the way for a concerted effort to secede from the town of mabini. It was not until 1949 when the real break came. Pedro Huiso and Cipriano Aton, together with some prominent leaders of Batuanan, through the help Governor Jacinto Borja sought an audience with President Elpidio Quirino, then seeking reelection, lobbying to create Batuanan into a municipality with a pledge that the people thereat will deliver a solid vote for the liberal Party candidates in the 1949 national elections. Thus, President Elpidio Quirino, during his stopover in Dumaguete from Tagbilaran, Bohol on September 16, 1949 issued Executive Order No. 265 creating Batuanan into an independent municipality to be known as Alicia, in honor of his wife, Doà ±a Alicia Syquia Quirino. On January 18, 1950 the municipality of Alicia, Bohol was formally inaugurated with its first appointed officials, namely: Mayor Pedro Huiso, Vice – Mayor Anastacio Curit, and Councilors Perpetua Talili, Gaudencio Gumop-as, Eladio Iyoy, Buenaventura Asas, Benito Licayan and Arsenio Ayuban. From then on, the town elected 9 mayors who succeded Pedro Huiso (1950-55), namely: Exequiel Madrià ±an Sr., Leoncio Garcia (1956- 59), Jesus Madrià ±an (1960-80), Dominador Molina (1980 – 1987), Exequiel Madrià ±an Jr.( 1988 – 1995), Basilio H. Balahay Jr. (1995 – 2001), Bienvenido C. Molina Jr., MD ( 2001 – 2007), Pedro B. Miasco ( 2007 – 2010), Marnilou S. Ayuban (2010 – present).