Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Effect of Marriage on Mental Health

Effect of Marriage on Mental Health Sara Zafarullah Sheikh (GN12119) According to World Health Organization, an individual with good mental health is able to cope with the stress of everyday life, knows his or her own abilities and work productively in every aspect to contribute to the community. On the other hand marriage is defined as a union of husband and wife in a universal and legitimate relationship recognized by law and social institution (Watkins, 2013). Both of them have a big influence over each other and are affected by each other (Ostwald, 2009) In my view marriage contributes to a healthier society, building up a separate unit called family, which is at the same time part of the society as a whole. This serves society by its children, by labor of its members and through other aspects. It provides keeping of traditions and continues generations promoting cultural aspect of society. Therefore, it is regarded as pillar to the society. Goesling Avellar (2010) states marriage to contribute to an individual’s emotional and social benefits in all aspects thus contributing its part in physical health as well. Regardless of the fact, marriage is considered to be not meant for psychiatric patients considering them not capable of taking responsibilities, dangerous for the spouse and lacking of their self-identity, adding it to their social stigma (Gray, 2011). While negotiating with my patient, I recognized the seriousness of this issue and decided to reflect upon it so as to emphasize the importance of marriage in society and its mental health benefits. On my clinical rotation to Karachi Psychiatric Hospital, I was assigned to interview an old lady; 42 years old diagnosed with Schizophrenic paranoid with symptoms of aggressiveness, hallucinations, somatic delusions, irritability and self-talk. Upon interaction she appeared responsive and cooperative. According to the patient, she was accompanied to the hospital by her mother. On taking the family history, patient verbalized of having four sisters and one brother. She further verbalized that all her siblings are married. According to the client only she was not allowed by her mother to get married regardless of her wish of getting married like her other sisters. Upon close observation she seemed to be attracted towards opposite sex. She even took some names that she verbalized of getting married with but eventually also said, â€Å"they will not marry me.† No indicators for sexual abuse were found which clearly reflected her need and wish of getting into a secure relationship that provides her with support and identity, which was now a requirement of her age as well. She verbalized her engagement in the substance abuse due to this reason. Glancing at the cultural context, parents hold the complete authority for choosing partners for their children in eastern culture whereas, in western culture children have the right to choose their mate and made decisions for their future life. Nock proposed the theory of domesticating role of marriage to explain the phenomenon that married people are found to consume healthful and delighted lives than unmarried compeer (2005). As the institution oblige responsibility on both of the spouses and implies assurance to both of them creating a huge room for positive change. Men tend to change, as before marriage they live less healthy lives and are much more involved in dangerous behaviors including substance abuse drinking and car racing. They work regularly, have a tendency to involve more in religious practices and become future oriented. Women are generally viewed to be responsible since childhood and less involved in anti-social behaviors. According to Loveless Tolman (2007) women think about themselves complete after marriage. Women enjoy commitments and duties after marriage, they love being busy with children, spouse and household chores. If this sensorium of completeness is not achieved they get indulged in anti-social behaviors example, substance abuse and are prone towards mental illness. Wood (2007), inferred that unmarried women show more depressive symptoms than the ones married. My patient also wanted to live like a married women enjoying all commitment a marital life embraces. As she could not achieve the outright goal she started using substance abuse to diminish the emotion of unsatisfaction. Marriage contributes to mental health by providing subsequent support and emotional intimacy, creating sense of self-identity and self-worth, building a satisfied connection between two partners, making the innate human need to fulfill (Wood, 2007). According to Howell (2009), report on marriage and mental health, product of many random sample studies revealed that marriage makes individuals less prone to have psychological illness. Marriage ensures engagement of partners in less risk taking activities and also it influences the quality and size of gains. A study revealed that intermediate rates of mental disorders were found in widowed, highest in divorced and separated while married people had the lowest rates among them. Study of 80,000 suicides in U.S, also indicated that suicide is committed less by married women compared to unmarried ones. They define themselves less depressive and emotionally healthier than unmarried ones. Relating it to my clinical scenario the patient also r equired emotional stability, self-worthiness, a partner to whom she can share her emotions, and her own family. Neither had she wanted the illness nor loneliness. Therefore, she started saying that she is suffering from tuberculosis associated with somatic delusions denying the fact that she had any mental health problem. In society specifically Pakistani society, mental illness is considered as social stigma leaving it to be neglected. Interventions should be applied on individual, group and national level. At individual level clients should be allowed to ventilate their feelings providing them with support. In association with the health care professionals at group level these patients should be involved in different rehabilitation therapies to work with their creativities and find out strengths in them using therapeutic way of communication, which would help them enhance their self-esteem and build sense of self worthiness. Embroiling my patient in the occupational therapy I asked her to bore seeds for new plant to build a hope and see new sunrises in her life. Family support plays an essential role for these people to view their lives in positive face. At community level institutions should be formed to gather these people helping each other to fill unfilled gaps of their lives. At state level pol icies should be formulated for unmarried suffering from mental illness. To conclude it is important to realize the potential need of every person for a companion, the intimate love one needs in life. According to Carl Rogers, this is human’s basic nature of an intrinsic need of warmth and acceptance from the mate. Each and every one has a right to have partner, and declaring a person not mentally fit and therefore, not allowing the person to get married makes the person more prone to mental illness. References Australian Institute of Family Studies, Vaus,D.D. (2002).Marriage and mental health. Howell,P. (2009).Healthy marriages and mental health. Hurvitz,N., Straus,R.A. (1991).Marriage and Family Therapy: A Sociocognitive Approach. Sydney, Australia. Mathis,D. (2012).Preparing for Marriage: Desiring God Foundation. Mishra,D.K., Alreja,S., Sengar,S.K., Singh,A.R. (2009). Insight and its relationship with stigma in psychiatric patients.Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 18(1). Pollett,H. (2007, June 18).Mental Health Promotion: A literature Review. Scott,L.A., Holman,T.B. (2007).The Family in the New Millennium: World Voices Supporting the Natural Clan. Simon,R.W. (2012, July 23). The Relationship between Marriage and Mental Health. Psychiatry Weekly,7(14). Wilson,C.M., Ostwald,A.J. (2005, May).How Does Marriage Effect Physical and Psychological Health? A Survey of the Longitudinal Evidence. Wood,R.G., Goesling,B., Avellar,S. (2007).The Effects of Marriage on Heath: A Synthesis of Recent Research Evidence(9). Department of Human and Health Services.

Monday, January 27, 2020

Process Intensification In Chemical Engineering Engineering Essay

Process Intensification In Chemical Engineering Engineering Essay Process Intensification (PI) is a concept in chemical engineering which first defined back in 1970 sparked by the need to reduce capital cost involved in a particular production system This was first pioneered by ICI to reduce plant volume without sacrificing its production capacity [1, Dautzenberg] (Dautzenberg, et al., 2001). There was a first international conference in 1995, International Conference for Process Intensification in the Chemical Industry. Ramshaw was the early scholar who worked on process intensification philosophical foundation, defined PI as a strategy for making dramatic reductions in the size of a chemical plant to achieve a given production objective (Ramshaw, 1995). Process intensification involves dramatic reduction in chemical plant equipments by installation or individual equipment volume as presented by (Ramshaw, 1995) and (Stankiewicz, 2003). By mentioning dramatic reductions, Ramshaw mentions of miniaturizing volume by the order of 100 to 1000. This definition by Ramshaw is quite limited and is cited in Stankiewicz (Stankiewicz, et al., 2000) as being too narrow that it discussed more on size reduction. PI can be defined as intensification on particular desired effect and size reduction is one of many desired results that can be achieved through PI. This definition is widened by Stankiewicz definition of process intensification as any chemical engineering development that leads to a substantially smaller, cleaner and more energy-efficient technology is process intensification (Stankiewicz, et al., 2000). BHR Group defines process intensification as: Process intensification is a revolutionary approach to process and plant design, development and implementation. Providing a chemical process with the precise environment it needs to flourish results in better products, and processes which are safer, cleaner, smaller, and cheaper. PI does not just replace old, inefficient plant with new, intensified equipment. It can challenge business models, opening up opportunities for new patentable products and process chemistry and change to just-in-time or distributed manufacture (BHR Group, 2003). This has been widely accepted (try to connect references) as definition of process intensification in chemical industry. Process intensification can be categorised into two types of approaches which are; (1) methodology-based approach and another one is (2) equipment-based approach. Figure Process intensfication and its components (from Stankiewicz et al. 2004). This major categorisation of two approach in process intensification is also presented and some of the latest existing industrial examples are given in an article in The Chemical Engineer journal (King, et al., 2010). Reaction Engineering involves Sizing and bla bla bla Reaction engineers spend a lot of efforts and ingenuity in enhancing reactors performance by studying and implementing any optimum trajectory for the reaction system to be operated (Nicol, et al., 2001). bla bla bla In reaction engineering, equipment-driven approach is about reactor improvement of rate of reaction by specific-volume, heat transfer and mass transfer, hence may push chemical process or catalyst performance to achieve the best out of their potentials. Nowadays this is done in terms of enhancing conversion rates and reducing by-products formation by achieving concentration and temperature profiles [4, Multfunct.React. Agar pp. 379-381] (Agar, 2004). Catalysis is one of examples of process intensification approach by methodology in general sense, as it serves a function to reduce activation energy required for a reaction to occur. In chemical industry there are two major types of catalytic reactor configurations, being the structured and random reactors. These categories are reviewed later in the next section regarding their benefits in reaction engineering process intensification. Some applications in chemical industry by process-intensifying equipment approach are integrating several unit operations or equipments into one multifunctional reactor, designing a new hybrid separation such as reactive distillation and reactive absorption [2, Trans] (Stankiewicz, et al., 2000). Integration in between two equipments as examples has been reviewed by Stankiewicz (2003) [5] Stamicarbons Urea 200plus technology. In this paper, the reactor is designed incorporated with condenser and known as pool reactor. Size comparison shown that in this particular case size of equipment reduced to one-fourth of the conventional equipments (Stankiewicz, 2003) [5]. The best reactor design and configuration is identified in a particular chemical process by knowledge available in its reaction chemistry, contacting pattern in terms of how and when individual elements pass through the reactor and contact one another and how long its identity changes. Furthermore, critical studies in reaction overall kinetics as well as its thermodynamics to which elements are exposed along their reaction trajectory is important in enhancing chemical reactor or in order to integrate reactor with any other unit operations. Through this reactor design concept, the most suitable reactor configuration is selected, e.g., ideal plug flow, packed-bed and etc. Overall kinetics bla.. bla.. bla.. In considering thermodynamics, heat transfer within or across the boundaries of reactor is a crucial consideration to establish optimised reaction in multifunctional reactor, based on their activation energy needed for raw materials to react. In multifunctional reactor this is the scope where energy would be supplied or removed from an endothermic or exothermic main reaction to maintain a forward drive of chemical reaction. Energy balances are important at this stage and establishing temperature profile is needed from analysis for purpose of chemical reaction intensification. Methods of heat transfer are also reviewed as there are categories of heat transfer methods known to be efficient in a particular reaction. This is the normal and widely accepted procedure Individual reactor design such as static mixer reactor, monolithic reactor, spinning disk reactor and etc, are examples of equipment-driven approach in process intensification (Stankiewicz, 2003). This examples are actually concepts revolves on developing component design and improvement of a particular reactor. Development of Modelling of process intensification. MAIN PARTS a PI Area of Concern in Reaction Engineering Applications. Heat exchange in reaction engineering Reactor usually contains high amount of energy namely heat as reaction is progressing with reactor usually being operated at the highest temperature compare to other equipment upstream and downstream. This is essential to the reactions as thermal energy required for molecular bond to form or dissociate. Heat exchange in reaction engineering design has been studied extensively as heat transfer plays a significant role in all chemical reactions. Agar D.W. (2004) (Agar, 2004) has categorised heat transfer into four categories, namely convection, recuperation regeneration and reaction (Figure ). This categorisation helps a lot in providing the best heat transfer solution in knowing which the best reactor configuration is in adding or removing heat. Figure Heat transfers for manipulating temperatures and concentration profiles in chemical reactors (from Agar, 2004). Convection is additional or removal of side-streams which intentionally limits the availability of one reactant, hence, improving selectivity, e.g.; cold-shot reactor. In recuperation heat transfer there is an external heat transfer sources and sinks which operates to generate temperature differences in between reaction phase and heating medium by taking in or removing heat somewhere else, e.g.; cooling towers, fin fan coolers, heat exchangers and etc. Regeneration heat transfer makes use of the reactor internals, usually beds or packings as an accumulation of heat and mass in order to establish temperature profile and also concentrations. This temperature could not increase when in steady-state operation (Agar, 2004). Reaction is a straight-forward combination of main reaction with compatible supplementary reaction either thermally or materially, e.g.; oxyhydrogenation (Agar, 2004). Operating temperature is achieved in reactor by one of these heat exchange approaches using various kinds of reactors accessories in multifunctional reactor such as heat jacket, tubes heat tracing or less commonly by heating coil. Mass transfer in reaction engineering Integration of mass transfer and catalyst has been studied (since, whom, what are achievement so far.) and prominently applied in reactive distillations which will be reviewed in details below. Packing shapes Multifunctional reactors development. e.g; Pool reactor, reactive distillation column, heat exchanger reactor Multifunctional reactors are reactors that serve many functions of unit operations in single equipment. These reactors usually combined with separators either distillation or absorber, or with heat transfer equipments such as cooler, heater or condenser. Some of the examples are: Pool reactors (reactor-condenser) Reactive distillation columns Pool reactor were discussed in Stankiewicz 2003 [5] (Stankiewicz, 2003), where combination of reactor and condenser yielded a novel equipment. Worlds first pool reactor is known developed by DSM Research back in 1945. A type of multifunctional reactor in which combined reactor and condenser was studied in details by Ben Amor et al (1999) (Ben Amor, et al., 1999) took methanol synthesis from its raw material, syngas in prototypes as main scope. (Add a bit of elaboration for advancement achievement). This is further developed and analysed in Haut, et al (2004) (Haut, et al., 2004) Heat exchanger reactor is designed by combining reactor, heat exchanger and scrubber by the PI in multifunctional reactor design. Multifunctional reactor has been a good example of process intensification by equipment-driven approach. Process intensification in multifunctional reactors were presented in Pros: Examples in practiced Cons: There Several functions or processes are designed to occur simultaneously in multifunctional reactors. One of many examples of these reactors is fluidised catalytic cracker (FCC) that has two reactions occur in one unit operation namely cracking and another is removal of coke in hydrocarbon (Dautzenberg, et al., 2001). Issues Implementation MAIN PARTS b Chemical reactors often used catalysts in its operations as they provide easier path for reaction to happen that the activation energy is lowered with their presence in reaction phase. Two general categories of catalytic reactor configuration are random catalytic reactor and structured catalytic reactor. Structured catalysts has been paid attention Random catalysts Reactive distillation is one of many examples of process intensification in multifunctional reactor. One of many good examples in process intensification by integration of unit operations is the reactive distillation in which reaction phase is put together with separation phase in single equipment. This has been call as pool reactor (Stankiewicz, 2003 [5]) (Stankiewicz, 2003). Reactive distillations uses column packing which made by the catalyst material as the reactants pass through the column will react and the separation takes place along the column throughout the packing This was initiated by the studies.. where column internals which use conventional packing shape with materials that could probably be replaced with catalytically compatible materials to bring forward reaction equilibrium for more yields. An example of this ground-breaking new packing is Super X-pack (structured packing) designed and manufactiured by Nagaoka International Corp., able to reduce size of column down to five times smaller compares to conventional column and much lower pressure drop across the packing. This dramatic reduction of equipment size was illustrated as comparison to conventional applications by Stankiewicz (2003) [5] (Stankiewicz, 2003) as shown in figure (Figure ). Figure Super X-pack revolutionary packing for distillation columns by Nagaoka International Corp. Sulzer Chemtech developed KATAPAK-S packing as catalytic packing and this is packing has been studied in details regarding the geometry of flow channel, hydrodynamics and mass transfer performance in Behrens et. al. (2006) [9] (Behrens, et al., 2006). Modelling of liquid hold-up, pressure drop and mass transfer were conducted specifically based on this Sulzers KATAPAK-S as the main focus in this publication. This knowledge is crucial for further developments and applications. Stankiewicz (2003) (Stankiewicz, 2003) is also cited in this paper in terms of combining reactors and separators. Future researches on these Super X-pack and Sulzers KATAPAK-S are potential development of catalytic version of this packing. From process-intensification point of view this could possibly be the breakthrough shift in vast reduction of column size and a key step up in reactive distillation that will bring a extensive benefits in chemical industry. Parkinson (2000), Drip drop in column internals Applications in Chemical Industry. Catalytic reactive distillation has been commercially used in chemical industry (DeGarmo J.L., 1992) [8] (DeGarmo, et al., 1992). One of the examples of applications in chemical industries is the Methyl Acetate separative reactor technology development by Eastman Chemicals. This is presented by Siirola (1995) [12] (Siirola, J. J.; Eastman Chemical Company, 1996). This has been cited in Stankiewicz (2003) [5] to reflect the extensive reduction in plant size. This massive plant size of seven tasks is integrated into single piece of equipment. Distillation, extractive distillation, reaction, reactive distillation are the discrete tasks which have been combined into one column. As the result, numbers of equipment are reduced to 3 from conventional plant that has 28 equipments. This is shown in figure (label figure below) Figure 4 Plant integration in methyl acetate separative reactor process by Eastman Chemical (from Siirola 1996 [13]). Benefits (to relate this point of integration benefits in between [5, Stankiewicz], [Ramshaw,1999] cost reduction and [6, Hendershot] safety regarding integrated unit operation e.g.; pool reactor, in reactive distillation) Cost reduction on the major plant item was the primary objective of PI, but other benefits comes along with this reduction of costs such as structural work, earth/civil work for large vessel foundations, installations and labour as well as less pipe work needed (Ramshaw, 1999). While looking into process intensification from safety point of view this equipment integration .. (Hendershot, 2004) This can reduce the risk of reaction stage while in operation as reducing the size of the plant means minimising hazardous material usage concept proposed by Kletz (Kletz, 1996). The possible opportunity for chemical fugitive through pipe connection in between unit operations is also eliminated as what you dont have cant leak (Kletz, 1978). This simpler plant is the result one looking for in achieving the objective in process intensification. Smaller plant is one of the objectives in process intensification and parallel with the concept of mentioned above in introduction (Stankiewicz, et al., 2000). Potentials of further development of reactive distillation: Pool reactor was started as RD program by DSM Research back in 1945 and after 51 years, the technology was established and patented in 1996 in urea production known as Urea 2000plusà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ technology. The first commercial plant was commissioned in 1998 when start-up of first Urea 2000plusà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ pool reactor plant. Stamicarbons Urea 2000plusà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ technology reduced the size of installed equipments from early establishment at total height of 78 metres .. (Bakker, 2004). Reactor Stripper Condenser Scrubber Pool Condenser Pool Reactor Urea 2000plusà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ technology Conventional urea technology C:UsersdynaPicturesMP Navigator EX2010_10_03Urea 2000Plus Pool Reactor2.jpg Figure 5 Reduction of size by integration of reactor, condenser and scrubber featured in Stamicarbons Urea 2000plusà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ technology (from Bakker, 2004). MAIN PARTS c Modelling of process intensification. Modelling Modelling of Krishna Taylor (2000) MAIN PARTS d Process intensification for safety. In establishing a chemical plant nowadays, there are massive lists of safety legislations need to be adhered. One of the best practices in chemical industry is to construct a plant with elements of inherent safety. Inherent safety and intrinsic safety mean the same and would be used interchangeably from this point onwards. Process intensification is an important aspect that needs to be implemented in achieving an inherently safer chemical process and plant. Process intensification for inherent safety concept has long been establish has been Intrinsic safety in reactor configuration and operation is a crucial element since reactor is a heart of a chemical manufacturing plant. Being the centre of a process containing various components of chemicals as raw materials are introduced and as reactions took place there would be mixture of products and normally more than two by-products. Reactor also traditionally contains high amount of energy namely heat as operating with usually being operated at the highest temperature compare to other equipment upstream and downstream. This is where energy would be supplied or removed as stated before in the introduction. From the point of equipment integration reviewed before, reactor combination with other unit operations such as distillation, condenser, scrubber or heat exchanger is another approach in process intensification, i.e; equipment-driven approach (King et. al. 2010) [10]. MAIN PARTS e Barriers and potential prospects of process intensification in reaction engineering. Besides wide-ranging advancement in PI in reaction engineering, there are several difficulties known in holding back the research and implementation of technologies. This occurs especially in upscaling from lab or pilot scale to commercial scale. In 1998 AIChEs Center for Waste Reduction Technologies organised two workshops that has recognised barriers for reactive/hybrid separations and as agreed there were three categories of technical and nontechnical difficulties which are: Technical gaps, such as lack of simulation and scale-up capability, lack of validated thermodynamics and kinetic data, lack of materials (compatible materials, e.g., integrated catalysts/sorbents, membrane materials) as these materials have to be developed specifically for the purpose of new process chemistry, and lack of high-level process synthesis methodology. Technology transfer barriers, lack of experts in multidisciplinary team in process integration approach, lack of communality of problems (each application has unique technology) and lack of models/prototypes on a reasonable scale (most of the studies still regarded as science which involves small-scale researches). General barriers, such as higher standards, to require implementation of new technologies, as opposed to conventional technologies, lack of process economics (as new technologies have not been proved to be feasible as there is no commercial model available) and fear of risk in operating new technologies. Besides those difficulties, future opportunities CONCLUSIONS The implementations of process intensifications transform conventional chemical engineering unit operations into a revolutionary process technology whether by integration of several unit operations or by altering intrinsic chemical process elements to eliminate unnecessary process bottlenecks. Changes usually measured by the substantially cost improvement, progress delivery/process time, [3, Re-Engineering chem]

Monday, January 20, 2020

Close Company, Stories Of Moth :: essays research papers

Women during the time that A Visit from the Footbinder was written were willing to accept pain to fulfill society’s concept of beauty and to keep their position in society. Women’s role in this society was one in which they lacked any sense of power and they were therefore fully dependent on men. Hence, they were willing to suffer through the excruciating torture of crushing their toes under the weight of their own bodies in order to make themselves desirable enough to attract a wealthy husband.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The roles of men and women in this story are quite rigid, therefore allowing women little room to go against society. This is due in part to the economy, which does not permit much movement for neither race nor gender. Therefore, when one is born into a class they must conform to its standards. Women are generally given more rights and freedoms if they provide a direct economic function in society, such as owning and managing property to produce goods. Most of the property was passed down from father to son, though, and women had no rights. That is why the fathers had to decide on a dowry to marry off their daughters. Economically, men fulfill the â€Å"important† roles while women work â€Å"behind the scenes,† raising children and taking care of the household. These â€Å"simple† jobs that women perform cause them to be dependent on men, and relegate them into a subordinate position. Society’s attitude of women being weak and dependen t, while men are strong and in control, stems from the roles they are obligated to fulfill. Women are restricted to these roles because the idea of what a â€Å"good† woman or man should be becomes so ingrained into the culture. Society condemns that which is different, mainly due to fear, making it difficult for anyone to go against its belief systems. In the story, both the men and the women are really against the idea of the footbinding deep down. When asked if it will hurt, Tiger Mouse tells Pleasure Mouse that perhaps â€Å"the pain is so great that one’s sentiments are smashed like egg shells†(Prager 50]. Warm Milk, the concubine, fell in front of Pleasure Mouse’s door one night and said, â€Å"It is my legs. They are swollen like dead horses in the mud. And as for my feet, well, they’re no longer of this earth,† and then she says â€Å"They cannot bear the weight of two, Pleasure Mouse, but never say I said so.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

My First Court Case Viewing-Civil: Small Claims Essay

On the 24th of August 2007, I, with the permission of the prosecution, defence and of course the judge was given the opportunity to quietly observe a civil small claims court case (court 5) at Bromley County Court. This trial had been an ongoing stalemate for a few months; however I luckily was present on the judgement day. Upon arrival the waiting room was busy since there were other more serious court cases going on. The Prosecution, Mr. Austridge, representing himself (accompanied by his wife) was hired by the defence, Ms. Dudley (accompanied by her dad) and a lawyer, Mr. Jones to extend her house however due to a series of poor decisions and errors in workmanship, Dudley terminated the building contract, with her house left incomplete in a state troublesome to herself and her neighbour. Mr. Austridge was prosecuting her on account of his realisation he had been underpaid approximately  £2000. The sequence of events: -Ms. Dudley hired Mr. Austridge to extend her house, consisting of an extension of the kitchen, extension of the porch and a new ensuite bathroom for her bedroom. -Initially Mr Austridge received very inaccurate drawings from Ms Dudley however, he chose to use them anyway and build to her very erroneous specifications. -Mr. Austridge gave Ms Dudley an initial rough estimate of the project which she eventually agreed to after a gradually haggling to a lower value. Furthermore Mr. Austridge didn’t include the duration of the extension due to the fact that the time for this type of extension varies greatly due to the typical British weather and also the number of people there, nevertheless Ms. Dudley hired them and they started on the construction. -After 8 weeks the construction was moving smoothly, with most of the groundwork complete. Dudley showed her satisfaction of the job by occasionally congratulating the builders. A week prior to this Dudley moved to her parent’s house without stating a reason. In fact reason for her leave was that she was allergic to dust but the judge was keen to see whether she brought it to Mr. Austridge’s attention it was unclear for my stay. -2 weeks later Mr. Austridge went on holiday with his family to Cornwall for a 1 week stay; however it was extended by a week due to the fact there was a â€Å"hurricane† making it unsafe to return, Ms. Dudley grudgingly sympathised and didn’t make an issue of it. – Mr. Austridge returns and immediately commits himself to the construction. 2 weeks later Ms. Dudley returned and started complaining that the porch was done wrong, and one of the windows was made of the wrong material. The kitchen was an issue because he made the kitchen in 2 parts one being in the extension and she was upset because in order to make it even he raised the ground. She then again asked for a reduction in price for the errors plus for general saving of money and Austridge agreed and put less plug sockets, bulb sockets for the room. – Due to heavy rain and the incomplete roof gutter (due to the extension) it overflowed into her neighbour’s garden leaving it a mess. – Ms. Dudley terminates the contract, and Austridge requests a meeting with her, she claims that the work took to long and the workmanship was horrendous for the price. – Mr. Austridge takes Dudley to court for inadequate payment in order to pay his team. In my viewing Austridge stated that he reduced the payment in a very lenient way and that he was shocked that Dudley was so abrupt in terminating the contract, despite him stating the construction would have only lasted another week and then later contradicting himself saying it would only take a day. Ms. Dudley strangely left her family in hardship by terminating the contract, she apparently told Austridge about the dust allergy but he denied it immediately. Her dad apparently checked the house everyday and said that he was confident that there was nobody occupying it for large periods of time while she was at her parents. Though not mentioning it to Austridge she said moving was extremely inconvenient and her disabled mother made it a greater ordeal for her. Dudley believes she was the one who should have been compensated and helping her neighbour who had also been adversely affected. Mr. Jones gave me the impression that he was there to stall time as most of his points/contradictions were facts and figures which just hindered the case and Austridge did an excellent job of contradiction Mr. Jones’ which were backed by insufficient evidence meanwhile Mr. Austridge with stacks of paper work to back his points. The judge was forced to recap the events when we went there which she found was futile so she therefore put her foot down and decided to make her decision on the same day. I left before the final decision but I was given the impression it was a very cache 22 situation. Ms. Dudley believing if anything she overpaid and Mr. Austridge thinking he was underpaid. If I was given the opportunity to reach a verdict, from what I deduced, I think that Austridge had a much more powerful, believable case it was clear he was being too much of a nice guy when he reduced the price so willingly and considering Ms. Dudley made the regrettable decision of cancelling the contract, it is still affecting other members of her family and her neighbour, she got the bad end of the stick because of an atrocious decision. Mr. Austridge couldn’t avoid the out of the blue decision and therefore should have been paid for his work.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Desparate air Essay

Nash and CEO from Seglin article want to protect their companies, their mployees, their shareholders and their own income. In the case of RDCAR, first phase is recognition – raising ethical awareness is something that Desperate Air Corporation can implement in their organization. However, DAC have audit done on the property for sale six months ago and there was no red flags. Mr. Nash did reached out to lawyers of his firm who advised him that there is nothing in Florida law that states requirement of disclosure of hazardous substances on commercial property. It is safe to say he did little bit of a discovery to make sure he is not breaking the law. It sounds to me like he did discovery stage in business law rather than business ethics. Something that law says it is right thing to do, it might not always be ethically correct decision. Also, German philosopher Emmanuel Kant states â€Å"Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature†. And what if every manager and every person acted like Mr. Nash, what would this world be like? Would everyone Just think of themselves and their closest surroundings and the world would become a cruel place of living where no one Mr. Nash went through entire cognition phase mentioned in RDCAR model. He hasn’t read all of the information papers about ethical decisions in different business situations. I feel that by Mr. Williams’s rushed suggestion to close the sale without fully evaluating the decision of his VP of Real Estate, DAC doesn’t care too much about cognition anyways. This might have influenced Mr. Nash’s decision as well, while not having enough time to evaluate entire situation and learn the perception. Both Mr. Nash and CEO decision was based on short term profit decision. I don’t believe that people that will be living in the future retirements home crossed the mind of Mr. Nash, same as lives of passengers haven’t crossed the mind of the CEO. He hasn’t thought about elders getting possible diseases and illnesses from hazardous materials at the property, as well as anyone else who spends time with them as well as workers of the new retirement home. If we look at the bigger picture what is the best for the society we have to look at Consequentialist Theory. Authors Trevino and Nelson of the textbook â€Å"Managing Business Ethics†, would say that Mr. Nash didn’t choose ethically correct decision based on consequentialist theory. The book states the best ethical decision is the one that yields the greatest net benefits for society, and the worst decision is the one that yields the greatest net harm for society’. DAC might not get in trouble because most likely information about hazardous materials will not leak to Fledgling industries or the press, same as in the article â€Å"How to Make Tough Ethical Calls† by Jeffrey Seglin, the word about failed engine parts might not reach the press. If Fledgling finds out after the sale, there is a possibility of a lawsuit where DAC can definitely loose and unethical managers will definitely bring this firm o bankruptcy. I don’t think that Mr. Nash is proud by his actions of closing the sale and not disclosing information about the property. In the â€Å"Action† phase of RDCAR, organization is supposed to recognize ethical achievements and negative unethical behaviors. Both Mr. Nash and CEO from the article â€Å"How to Make Tough Ethical Calls† made correct decision by business law but not ethically correct decision for the greater good. Mr. Nash might have asked himself some of the six questions that Michael Rion says in his book, The Responsible Manager: Practical Strategies for Ethical Decision Making also mentioned in the Seglin’s article: Why is this bothering me? Who else matters? Am I being true to myself? Mr. Nash knows that this wasn’t a correct decision since he was bothered by it and also consulted his wife and prayed. The questions also include â€Å"What do others think† which is also referred in Treveno/ Nelson textbook what would readers of New York Times think. They wouldn’t agree with Mr. Nash’s decision in my opinion. As in the final phase of RDCAR, â€Å"Reflection† readers of New York Times would think that it seems as a lot of managers and CEOs ould make a good decision for their company and employees which is based on short term profits, but rarely correct ethical decision while considering everyone else that might be influenced. This is why I would disclose the information about dangerous materials if I was in Mr. Nash’s situation. I couldn’t live with the fact that I was putting in danger lives of anyone that would be exposed to the radioactive materials. Also, I wouldn’t want to disappoint all of the current and future customers of Desperate Air Corporation. Even though Desperate Air is really desperate to make comeback and improve their financials, ethically correct decision would be to References: Dunfee et al.

Friday, January 10, 2020

A Chip off The Old Block-Bluster Essay

Background to the problem Mr Something runs a small business called A Chip off The Old Block-Bluster. Mr Something is the makes of Blockbusters son. He has only left him a little bit of inheritance and wanted him to produce a business that was just as good as his. He currently has a shop in slough High Street. He only gets a few customers a day. He keeps track of people’s record manually and would like to use his father’s money to set up an electronic system that only requires a few manual entries. The Current System Mr Something currently uses cards to manage his business. He has 2 types of cards. 1 card is his business card to hand out to people to show where his shop is, his name, telephone, his email and his fax. The other type of card is a customer card. The customer card has the shop logo on it and the customers name on it. It is a card made out of card and is laminated to protect it from damage. If the customer does not have a card, he issues one to them for a price of 20p if they wish to rent DVD’s again. He collects their name, address, DOB and home number. The card can have data printed on it with a permanent ink. It shows when the DVD must be returned by. The ink can be erased using a special spray and a cloth. This is costly and takes some time. It can sometimes irritate the customer depending on how long it takes. He creates the card by designing it on Microsoft publisher and printing it off using a dot matrix printer and laminates it. He also keeps a paper record. It has a table with the same details as on the card and the name of the DVD rented and the date it must be returned by. He writes it by hand using a pen while the customer is renting the DVD. If the DVD is not returned by the date set for return, then he uses mail merge to send a letter to the customer saying that the DVD must be returned by 4 days after the letter has been sent and if not, there will be a higher charge. If it continues then the police will be involved. Mr Something calls it the record sheet. The record sheets are stored in a briefcase that is locked and is stored in a cupboard that is overhead that is also locked. This reduces the chances of burglars getting their hands on the customer’s details. Problems with the system The current problems with the system are: * It takes time for Mr Something to enter in the customers details onto the record sheet. * The laminated cards that he gives to his customers are easily damaged by peeling away the laminated layer * The cleaning liquid is expensive to buy and therefore makes little profit * The manual methods take very long which hold up the customer. The end user’s requests The end user would like: * a computerised system * a homepage that can navigate through the whole system easily * searches that can be easily used * a window that can search through records * something that can add files to the records file * something that can show the charges of overdue DVDs Possible Solutions A non-ICT solution could be to use cards. There could be three files, one for members, one for DVDs and one for loans. But this could lead to problems as cards can get damaged as easily as log books, and they aren’t very practical. Cards can also get lost, and this solution is quite time consuming. Cards could also be quite expensive. Word processing and presentation programmes are unsuitable for this solution. Word processors couldn’t store the information properly, although a table could be made to store the files. Reports and queries cannot be made on a word processing document. The information could not be structured properly. Presentation software couldn’t be used as they are made really for displaying information to an audience. Both of these solutions could not be used to store structured data. A spreadsheet programme could be used. Rows and tables could be made to store the data. However, this could be quite repetitive. Three different tables would have to be made. Each DVD would have to be repeated every time it was lent. This would be quite frustrating and time consuming. Using a relational database seems like the best solution for the DVD rental. It can be used to store lots of data and reduce the amount of repetition of it. Queries can be used to extract data quickly and easily. This could be used to find overdue DVDs, solving the problem of undetected overdue fines. Separate tables can be made easily, which can be linked in a relationship. Wizards can be used to make queries and reports quickly without mistakes. Databases also contain validation tools which stop input errors. Length check can be used on the fields to stop mistakes. Primary keys can be made to number DVDs and members. Objectives The system should have the following: * it should be neat and tidy for easy reading * There should be a report to show the overdue DVDs and their price. * Charges should be calculated automatically. * The navigation should be easy with clearly labelled command buttons. * The system should be able to save data on customers and DVDs without confusion.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Corporate Finance - 174197 Words

End of Chapter Solutions Corporate Finance 8th edition Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe Updated 11-21-2006 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO CORPORATE FINANCE Answers to Concept Questions 1. In the corporate form of ownership, the shareholders are the owners of the firm. The shareholders elect the directors of the corporation, who in turn appoint the firm’s management. This separation of ownership from control in the corporate form of organization is what causes agency problems to exist. Management may act in its own or someone else’s best interests, rather than those of the shareholders. If such events occur, they may contradict the goal of maximizing the share price of the equity of the firm. Such organizations frequently pursue social or†¦show more content†¦How much is too much? Who is worth more, Jack Welch or Tiger Woods? The simplest answer is that there is a market for executives just as there is for all types of labor. Executive compensation is the price that clears the market. The same is true for athletes and performers. Having said that, one aspect of executive compensation deserves comment. A primary rea son executive compensation has grown so dramatically is that companies have increasingly moved to stock-based compensation. Such movement is obviously consistent with the attempt to better align stockholder and management interests. In recent years, stock prices have soared, so management has cleaned up. It is sometimes argued that much of this reward is simply due to rising stock prices in general, not managerial performance. Perhaps in the future, executive compensation will be designed to reward only differential performance, i.e., stock price increases in excess of general market increases. 8. 9. 10. Maximizing the current share price is the same as maximizing the future share price at any future period. The value of a share of stock depends on all of the future cash flows of company. Another way to look at this is that, barring large cash payments to shareholders, the expected price of the stock must be higher in the future thanShow MoreRelatedCorporate Finance Notes1881 Words   |  8 PagesStudy notes By Zhipeng Yan Corporate Finance Stephen A. Ross, Randolph W. Westerfield, Jeffrey Jaffe Chapter 1 Introduction to Corporate Finance ..................................................................... 2 Chapter 2 Accounting Statements and Cash Flow.............................................................. 3 Chapter 3 Financial Markets and NPV: First Principles of Finance................................... 6 Chapter 4 Net Present Value....................................Read MoreNotes for Corporate Finance2082 Words   |  9 PagesCorporate Finance Notes * Chapter One: Introduce to Corporate Finance 1. Three Questions: A. What Long-term asset should be invested? Capital Budgeting B. How to raise cash for capital expenditures? Capital Structure C. How to manage short-term cash flow? Net Working Capital 2. Capital Structure: Marketing Value of Firm = MV of Debt + MV of Equity 3. Finance perspect and Accountant perspect: Finance: Cash Flow ! Accountant: A/R means profit ! 4. Sole proprietorshipRead MoreCorporate Finance69408 Words   |  278 PagesCorporate finance P. Frantz, R. Payne, J. Favilukis FN3092, 2790092 2011 Undergraduate study in Economics, Management, Finance and the Social Sciences This subject guide is for a Level 3 course (also known as a ‘300 course’) offered as part of the University of London International Programmes in Economics, Management, Finance and the Social Sciences. This is equivalent to Level 6 within the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ). For moreRead MoreCorporate Finance4881 Words   |  20 PagesTrends of Leverage 7 2.3 Comparison of capital structure with similar companies 9 2.4 Capital expenditures and its financing 10 2.5 Important factors influencing the use of debt financing 10 2.5.1 Tax Advantage 10 2.5.2 Corporate Tax Rate 11 2.5.3 Credit rating 11 2.5.4 Interest rate 11 2.5.5 Company’s Industry 12 2.5.6 Company’s growth rate 12 2.5.7 Some other arguments about Harvey Norman 12 2.6 Evidence of financial distress 13 Read MoreCorporate Finance1421 Words   |  6 Pagesoperating earnings of the firm. The capitalization is to be made at a rate appropriate to the risk class of the firm. Growth Plans, are involved in capital structural theories in which a certain amount will be allocated for the growth plans. A finance manager should draw a plan according for the dividend policy. For Example: The firm has $10 million as equity capital and $6 million as debt capital and the firm made a profit (after tax) of $2 million, and the fund allocated to the growth plan wasRead MoreCorporate Finance - Concept Questions12247 Words   |  49 Pagesquestions of corporate finance? a. Investment decision (capital budgeting): What long-term investment strategy should a firm adopt? b. Financing decision (capital structure): How much cash must be raised for the required investments? c. Short-term finance decision (working capital): How much short-term cash flow does company need to pay its bills. ( Describe capital structure. Capital structure is the mix of different securities used to finance a firms investmentsRead MoreFundamentals of Corporate Finance 9e82683 Words   |  331 Pageshttp://helpyoustudy.info Chapter 01 - Introduction to Corporate Finance Chapter 01 Introduction to Corporate Finance Answer Key Multiple Choice Questions 1. Which one of the following terms is defined as the management of a firm s long-term investments? A. working capital management B. financial allocation C. agency cost analysis D. capital budgeting E. capital structure Refer to section 1.1 AACSB: N/A Difficulty: Basic Learning Objective: 1-1 Section: 1.1 Topic: Capital budgeting Read MoreCorporate Business Finance 7343 Words   |  30 PagesCorporate Business Finance Seminar 5 Project Finance Lauren Leigh Essaram 207507339 Ruvimbo Mukorera 206525531 27 September 2010 Submitted in partial fulfilment of the duly performed requirement of International Business Finance, School of Economics and Finance, University of KwaZulu-Natal Abstract Non-recourse financing has grown in popularity, especially in developing countries. It has done so more specifically in the basic infrastructure, natural resources and also in the energyRead MoreAdvanced Corporate Finance4303 Words   |  18 PagesUniversity of Puget Sound School of Business and Leadership BUS 434 Advanced Corporate Finance Professor Alva Wright Butcher Tues-Thurs 11:00-12:20 McIntyre 107 Spring Semester 2012 Office: McIntyre 111 I Phone: 253-879-3349 FAX: 253-879-3156 Office Hours: T-Th: 1:00-1:50 Wed: 9:30-10:30 And by appointment Note that I am always willing to schedule additional office hours by appointment. I check email frequently, so that is also a goodRead MoreEssay Corporate Finance1613 Words   |  7 Pages Why is corporate finance important to all managers? Corporate finance is a specific area of finance dealing with the financial decisions corporations make and the tools as well as analyses used to make these decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is to enhance corporate value, without taking excessive financial risks. A corporations managements primary responsibility is to maximize the shareholders wealth which translates to stock price maximization. Corporate finance provides

Thursday, January 2, 2020

The General Business Major Unit As An Academic Course

Business Major This memo contains relevant information about the general business major unit as an academic course. The memo gives a clear explanation of the historical development of the discipline as widely employed in academic. The memo also gives an in-depth analysis of the discipline and highlights it several importance alongside its relationship with other related fields of study. This memo is a suitable source of information to persons seeking greater understanding of the business major discipline and its relevance in other related fields. The memo uses credible academic sources to vividly examine the discipline and give a clear illustration of how its study is based on its meritocracy and not other over lying factors. History†¦show more content†¦The most advanced models of business were developed in the 20th century by a number of scholars who were not interested by the hand-on applications of the model but rather with the ownership of the intellectual property. These scholars include Alfred D Chandler who was a professor of business foe sixty years. He is remembered for his legendary contribution to the growth of the models, which promoted the expansion of business empires, easy management, application of business models, strategies and models. He also created an avenue for more complex development of the earlier models. Business major developed in the late half of the 20th century from the then known business disciplines, which were the common among the global universities. Initially all business management courses were taught in the same basics where all students acquired the same skills which they employed to make business decisions alongside multiple fields. The knowledge acquired from these fields was sufficient and there was no necessity to specialize the discipline to meet specific requirement. However, with time business field became more and more diversified with and the need for more specific field of business studies was evident. Following this need the institutions curriculum was inverted from the commonly used study methods to ones that are more recent. For instance, individuals