The Development of Motor Skills in babies/Young Children

Introduction:A child’s earlier experience and environment influence their future development, health and wellbeing. It is recognized that children’s development occurs in stages and that they need the right supports to critical period in their life to achieve their potentials. If a child does not acquire skill the way he/she should, then there are certain factors that are responsible for that, they include: low birth weight, prematurely, birth injury, disability, chronic illness, delayed development, lack of parenting knowledge. But if a child is guided against the stated above in terms of independence, good problem solving skills, and positive self-concept, these in turn are influenced by motor skill acquisition.Skill acquisition relates to developmental skill and these encompasses area such as gross motor, fine motor, self help, social, language and cognitive development skills. Physiotherapists have experts in the development of gross motor skills, which is concomita ntly on positive self-concept.The relationship between skill development and health/well-being is difficult to define in an academically rigorous fashion. Studies involving a variety of children with special needs have demonstrated that motor skills and positive self concept are critical to children’s ability to participate at school (Jongmans et all 1996).Little data clearly define the parameters of motor coordination difficulties in children. Various grades of severity and co morbidity seem to exist. Some children have only a relatively minor form of motor dyscoordination, whereas others have associated learning disabilities, attention deficit, and other difficulties.In 1996, fox and lent found that, in contrast to the common belief that children grow out to these difficulties, they tend to linger without intervention. Early intervention is beneficial when the brain is changing dramatically during the first year of life and new connections and abilities are acquired.Path Ph ysiology:Motor coordination is the product of a complex set of cognitive and physical processes that are often taken for granted in children who are developing normally, smooth, targeted and accurate movement both gross and fine, require the harmonious functioning of sensory input, central processing of this information in the brain and coordination with the high executive cerebral functions, e.g. violation, motivation, motor planning of an activity. Also acquired is the performance of a certain motor pattern. These elements must work in a coordinated and rapid way to enable complex movement involving different parts of the body.Muscular Tone:Muscular tone refers to the basic and constant ongoing contraction or muscular activity in the muscles. It can be understood as a baseline or background level. Tone may be normal, too low, or too high. If a muscular tone is too high, children appear somewhat stiff and do not move in smooth and natural way.Gross Motor skills:Gross motor skills r efer to the ability of children to carry out activities that require large muscles or group of muscles. It acts in a coordinated fashion to accomplish a movement or a series of movements. Postures are an important element to consider in the assessment of gross motor skills.Fine Motor Skills:Fine motor skills are the movement of small muscles that act in an organized and suitable fashion, for instance, hand, feet etc, and the muscle in the head, to accomplish more difficult and delicate tasks. Fine motor are the basis of coordination, which begin with transferring from hand to crossing the midline when aged 6 months.Sensory Integration:This refers to functioning of the brain, i.e., how to manage inputs and produces output. Output includes motor responses. Each child has a unique profile of response to sensory stimuli. Children with motor difficulties often have problems in the integration of sensory input.METHOD SECTION:Research has shown that children who find performing certain mot or task difficult, frustrating or even impossible often become discouraged and subsequently avoid these task altogether. Eventual avoidance of challenging physical task in a child who work hard on drawing or writing with poor result is understandable.Statement of Problems:Children are different from each other both when they are young and after they mature, they are different because they were reared differently. Some were spanked, some were not. Some received authoritarian parenting, some permissive, some authoritative, some were toilet trained early and harshly, some were left to cry in the crib and some were cuddle, and so it went. Here, emphasis will be on child and proper toileting, his/her attitude and general knowledge. And on this note will bring about the hypothesis as stated below:H0: There is a relationship between a child earlier trained on toileting and his   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   general attitude.HI: There is no relationship between a child earlier trained on toil eting and the  general attitude .Findings:The researcher used primary data since it was directly from the field in their original state. Primary schools and day cares centers were visited and the interview was unstructured to enable the interviewer penetrate deep and follow unanticipated clues.Since it was only interview method that was used, two primary schools and four day care centers were visited since the emphasis is on motor skill which is all about educating a child early. The total of nine teachers in primary schools and twelve nannies in day care centers were interviewed, giving a total of twenty one teachers. As illustrated in the table below:The above table shows that out of 21 correspondents, 15 of them agreed that proper toileting is better from childhood, as the child will be conditioned to it, which represented 71.4 percent, while 6 correspondents said that whether the child is trained or not, he/she will act according to the gene or what the peer group thought them . This represented 28.6 percents.Discussion:children sensitive responses towards toileting is not automatic but had training processesThat parents has a lot of roles to play as in introducing the child to proper toileting from 3months old of ageThat if a child is properly trained on toileting, will be conditioned to itThat if a child is not trained earlier enough, would be lettering the environment at any point in time.And that neatness is next to godlinessThis is majority opinions and should be adhere to, since it is stated here, that neatness is next to godliness and incessant toileting leads to protracted illness, as well as embarrassments to the parents.DISCUSSION SECTIONThe manifestation described above is based on the assumption that children have opportunity to practice motor activities if they are being taught. Children require a minimum of exposure and practice to develop dexterity with scissors and drawing. A child who is notably neglected or not exposed to usual physical tasks may have physical deficits for these reasons.Crucial aspect in motor development are exposure to tasks, caretaker who recognize the child’s developmental needs, the opportunity for the child to be taught skills, appropriate stimulation of the child, and an opportunity for the child to develop and practice new movements. These aspects have been termed the dynamic theory of motor development, which postulates that children develop new motor skills as they are needed, depending on the interactions with the environment and on the challenges parented.Practice, experience, and environment are important determinants of development, in addition to the child’s intrinsic genetic capacities. Development is shaped by a process of selection in which children develop movement repertoires that are optimal for functioning in their specific environmental conditions.When the condition is serious and noticeable to everyone, the child is most likely to be stigmatized at school and o ften at home. Children with motor coordination difficulties often feel ashamed of their poor ability to perform any motor tasks, especially those required to participate in sports and to achieve skills in schools.The clinical picture of motor coordination problems is assessed from a developmental point of view, i.e., by considering normal physical capacities at different ages. Evaluation of a child’s development includes a consideration of individual variation, by factoring in the range of time at which motor skills, for example are normally acquired.Young infants maintain flexor tone in the first few months of life and only gradually develop extension patterns. Also infants with motor challenges are often delayed in achieving milestone such as the  ability to roll over, to sit with help, and to sit without help. Infants with motor problems may not be able to sustain their weight after 6 months when supported under their arms. So inability for a child to develop in motor sk ills manifest from infancy, third years of life, preschool and school aged children, genetic and environmental factors among others.In a nutshell, evaluation of a child’s development includes a consideration of individual variation by factoring in the range of time at which motor skills, for example, are normally acquired. Evaluating the overall development of a child is preferable, considering the characteristics style and strength and weaknesses of each child.REFERNCES:Jongmans M, Demeter JD, Dubowitz L and Henderson SE (1996): How Local is the Impact of specific learning difficulties in premature children’s evaluation of their competence. Journal of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry 37: 563-568. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/915251-overview

E Fraud Essay

An e- fraud is considered to be an electronic crime that affects not only individuals businesses and governments but also allows for very negatively intelligent people and hackers to use their intelligence to log into other’s accounts use their credit card numbers and banking password and transact huge amounts of trade and money . it has been seen that e fraud is on the increase and this is because of the low levels of awareness, the inappropriate counter measures that are ineffective to handle this kind of fraud has led to e frauds being on the increase . The only area that has been actively involved in reducing the impact of fraud is the technical side leaving the other so many variables out of the purview of the e fraud scenario. This has made e fraud even more easier because there have been no mechanisms to reduce these occurrences and even if there are there has been limited penalties issued to the frauds that happen on the cyber space. Introduction: The complexity of modern enterprises, their reliance on technology, and the heightened Interconnectivity among organizations that is both a result and a driver of e-business these are rapidly evolving developments that create widespread opportunities for theft, fraud, and other forms of exploitation by offenders both outside and inside an organization â€Å" (KPMG 2000) The paper tries to assimilate and analyze the strategies that can be adopted by everyone who deals on the cyber space to protect their information and finances securely. This paper also tries to analyze why such frauds occurs and what can be done by stakeholders to minimize the occurrences and is it worthwhile an attempt to bring in a global governance ordinance which could help businesses and agencies nab the criminals . It is recorded that global e commerce sales are steadily growing and with this the e commerce fraud too. The eco system which has promoted the concept of ecommerce streams from the millions of shoppers and customers who use their debit and credit cards . Though online shopping is projected to be a very safe way of shopping and bank transactions through secured payment modes, frauds have been continually on the increase . It has been objectively researched that e commerce transactions have to be highly secured . Every transaction has to be screened for the following inputs . 1. Risk based authentication should be enabled for every transaction and to prove the integrity of the user. 2. Card holders‘s data has to be tokenized so that consumers identity can be authorized and protected. . Reputed brands should shut down phishing and Trojan attacks that make easy e commerce frauds. Some practical applications for reducing e commerce brands: Fraud detection and prevention by addressing the critical needs of the entire credit card eco system. Evaluating transactions for the risk and balancing risk activities in cards . High transaction abandonment rates that results from poor user experience . Reducing the compliance costs so that we e commerce frauds commitment costs become high . The following diagrammatic representation shows how the personal data ecosystem is subject to hacking by very professional hackers. (source:Google. com) Credit card fraud The credit card industry reports huge frauds conducted over the internet in the US alone, in the year 2010, $8. 6 billion card frauds occurred (Aite Group study). With worldwide electronic information sourcing and data storage and the thousands on online purchasing that is going on, the frequency of card usage has increased and this has resulted in financial institutions and cardholders becoming victims of e fraud . Countries worldwide have set up agencies to monitor e fraud and have their own agencies to take care of such crimes especially those related to the cyber space and those which happen on cyberspace and in ecommerce space . E commerce sales is expected to total almost $1 trillion by 2013. Ecommerce fraud is also growing along with this. Fraudulent transactions rose from 2. 7 billion in 2010 to $3. 4 billion in 2011 and are expected to grow exponentially. The use of internet has made these frauds possible. There are many reasons why these frauds occur. . The increasing complex software that is now being used to relay ecommerce has made the systems vulnerable to attacks . 2. There are thousands of malicious codes and other tools that help hackers and attackers . 3. The increasing use of high speed internet at homes with very little security makes attack much easy . 4. The rate at which technology is changing and the ease of adaptation to the new technology and the users rather slow pace in adopting to good computer security practices is another compelling reason for fraud . . the hidden costs that are involved in an ecommerce portal goes unnoticed because the security systems that have to take care of this and when systems are set up, there is always the likelihood that ambitious technology experts give least preference to securing the information site and privacy conditions People and business which conduct business online do not inform people of the expected frauds that could occur due to ecommerce transactions, because of this frauds happen . The lack of proper governance and regulation regarding type of penalties and punishments that would be given to fraud committers is rather slack . There are no world wide global laws to tackle such frauds and hence frauds that are committed online find no jurisdictional limits and so governments do not know how to pin point the responsibility . This loop hole has been used by fraudsters . The online world is full of pseudonyms and pseudo identities . Hence tracking such frauds also becomes very difficult. There are no experts who could be given the responsibility of tracking and strategizing how such frauds occur . Though technology now is slowly trying to understand the macro environment of the fraud related scenarios, the risk and costs associated with bringing in security is very high and hence the adaptability of such scenarios cannot be done by all firms who have e commerce portals . Stakeholders involvement in the vulnerability that exists across the value chain is seen as the most critical issue in a fraud . Crime congress global: This is an imitative taken by the agency to help stakeholders and victims of e commerce fraud to find effective solutions. This proves information security in all countries of the world to meet the challenges arising from e commerce. This agency prominently uses technology and provides technology solutions in partnership with the business community to prevent frauds through information security technology and information risk management, forensics, investigations, audit, risk, compliance and fraud. This agency has been conducting global awareness programs for reaching out to institutes, businesses and government to partner in helping reduce ccurrences of e fraud to strategic and technological challenges. This is a strategic initiative involving al stakeholders to proactively reduce the risks of ecommerce frauds and to defend IT systems from those threats which are emerging and to comply with relevant legal and regulatory laws . this initiative is a step towards combating the threat of the increasing cases of fraud. This partnership brings out very important initiatives to protect not only customers but a lso business houses from succumbing to the increasing menace of hackers. Technology solutions and other security solutions are placed in a consultative approach towards tackling this . If an international business committed copyright infringements then legal action under Criminal Jurisprudence legal action can be resorted to under Article 61 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) where the loser has got legal recourse to his stolen property by means of criminal sanctions and which will thereby allow for legal and criminal punishment of the infringement and the infringer . t has been felt that all types of infringement should be punished with criminal sanctions. People can appeal under this act for legal action or they can hotlist an organization under cyber space if there are cases of patent stealing and web site hacking. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 also known as the CDPA can be used in cases where infringement has taken place. If an international business committed copyright infringements or steals a pa tent then as a victims we can take recourse under the above mentioned acts which give protection to IRP which are stolen and pirated and copied.. Early referral is said to be the best away to ensure that the evidence is properly secured and that all the investigative revenues are fully explored with the possible undercover law enforcement activities. Perhaps, communication with the law enforcement activities allows the victim to coordinate civil proceedings with the possible criminal enforcement. Though legally recourse is available it is easy to settle out of court because protection of copyright is a prelude to production of the material or product. People who invent need to protect their patents. Once the patent is protected then it cannot be copied or pirated as punishments are very severe in such cases. With so many innovations taking place in the US especially with cyber technology there has been very serious issue of pirating software and the Beijing convention has called for all member countries to come out with anti pirating laws which could effectively punish those who are caught. USA will have to worry about the number of infringements that are taking place. It has admitted legal course in serious cases but USA is neither able to gun down the culprit nor is it able to find means of putting an end to it because of the geographical distance which makes it impossible to monitor the use of technology. USA is very careful in dealing with countries where incidences of Infringement are very high and tries to bring in severe legal clauses to protect their interests. Computer forensics investigator and other laws A computer forensics investigator works with a pre determined notion of computer crimes. But that is not a sufficient coverage that should be catered. A computer forensics investigator looks upon other law system too such as data protection, data integrity, data control, audit of data components, investigation around the computer and etc. A forensics investigator moves with an initial priority of computer crime. But he should be well governed with other laws. This helps him to establish himself more concretely on the crime scene. He is prepared with the notion of covering up the areas totally in order to fully satisfy himself on the grounds that nothing is left behind. He checks into the data system, recovers the data, checks the integrity of the data, protects the data, looks for evidences around the computer, checks the network system of the accused person, goes more deeply with the computing system to enable him searching beyond the computers to narrow down his investigation procedure. Some other laws such as, human rights, digital rights, information system laws, computer laws are of special interest to him. This gives him the power to deal with any case that involves ethical computer crime. He is much more developed investigator if he is well adverse with the above law system. E – Discovery E Discovery or Electronic Discovery refers to discovery in civil litigation. This discovery process deals with the exchange of information in the electronic format. Electronic Discovery is pretty useful for the forensics analysis. We know that Forensics analysis deals with the investigation of crime scene involving computer and cyber crimes and evidence is the prime source of investigation that leads to a successful procedure. Hence the investigator is pretty much confident about the E Discovery System. The investigator with the help of E Discovery processes such as Electronic messages, voicemail; smart phones etc recover every bit of information that is required in the gathering of evidence required for the forensics investigation. The whole process of collection data through E discovery and jotting it down to the report makes it much easier for the investigator. The E discovery has led to new developments and changes in the investigation system of the cyber crimes. With latest e discovery modes as mentioned above, an investigator is much more confident about its movement into the IT system of the accused criminal, and supporting the cause with rather strong and reliable evidences gathered. E discovery is a radical change in the process of investigation and has led to much more focused and integrated system of computer investigation. Conclusion The whole conclusion is based on the cyber crimes and the enacting system of law prevailing. The cyber crimes have increased in geometric progression over the years which have led to many disasters and crimes. With the increased number of crimes taking place day in day out, the laws have been made much stricter in order to ensure that the numbers of crime taking place gets minimized and there is a fear of messing up the computer system. The laws have addressed the message of intent of distorting computer systems which will constitute a crime. Many forensics investigators have been seen in the picture off late which governs the system of computer crime. These investigators are well adverse with the system laws and crime scenes. They effectively handle the situation and get to the desired results enabling quick and accurate reply to crime involved. Thus the laws have been successful over the years in minimizing computer threats and crimes. Ecommerce has revolutionized trade in many ways and consumers have also been cheated in ways that were unknown in traditional sales. In order to protect the consumers, traders on the internet and operators in the cyber space have got together to form associations and laws that would protect the consumers in the text of ecommerce. Though every country has passed consumer protection acts which are rules and regulations to protect the consumers from fraudulent trade practices in the market. There laws were enacted to protect the consumers and give them rights to ensure that they obtain truthful information and right products as so designed by the seller. The laws have been designed to protect consumers from businesses indulging in unlawful and unfair practices . The governments of all countries have passed regulations to protect the rights of consumers especially in those products where health and safety are chief ingredients. Consumer protection is also in the form of consumer rights which consumers can exercise through redressal grievance and consumer courts. This is the history behind the concept of consumer protection. In direct contrast to the traditional business where the buyer and seller are in direct contact with each other and the buyer can inspect the goods before buying, in ecommerce the communication is only through an electronic form and business is conducted in a paperless environment. More importantly the internet or e transactions play a very important role in helping buyers and in assisting in choice comparisons and locating a product on the internet. (http://www. apec. rg/apec/apec_groups/som_special_task_groups/electroniccommerce. html. Accessed on 13/2/04) Consumer concerns in e commerce starts form the point of instance as the buyer is not known to the seller and vice versa and hence the privacy and confidentiality aspect of a trade which has to be concluded needs authenticity. Consumers are worried about 1. The unfair marketing practices that sellers resort to on the web. 2. The terms of sale, refunds, cancellation of orders, warranty conditions 3. Enforceability of the contract, performance and non performance. . Delivery time, late deliveries and no delivery verification. 5. The most illegal use of information available on credit cards payment made for online purchases. 6. Fraud and cheating because transactions are not authenticated by any physical source. 7. unsafe products not confirming to safety standards. 8. Misuse of personal information for other purposes. Since majority of e commerce transactions lead to the buyer being put to a disadvantage the Issues relating to consumer disputed have to be minimized and arbitrated. t is all the more difficult because the sellers are beyond national jurisdiction as it happens on cyberspace and SO the risks that arise out of such trade has to be taken care of and the consumers have to be suitably protected. a landmark development n the form of the E -Commerce group otherwise known as The Electronic Commerce and Consumer Protection Group is constitute d by leading companies on the net like America Online, AT&T, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Network Solutions and Time Warner. These companies predominately deal in online sales of their products and so recognize the growing need of consumer protection and have addressed issues regarding consumer protection as best practices of industry and have created an environment which would allow consumers to resolve disputes arising on cyber space. The American Bar Association Task Force on E-commerce and Alternative Dispute Resolution is one of the best reference guide to consumer protection on the cyber space. This organization was asked to suggest workable guidelines that parties dealing in online transactions can use for ODR’s (online dispute redressal) . the complexity further arose from the fact that there was multijurisdictional disputes arising from B2B and B2c businesses. (THIS IS THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND IS REFREED TO IN EXACT TEXT) To quote the words of the task force of the Ecommerce group â€Å"that there are many ways to help prevent as well as to help resolve disputes or complaints that arise from e-commerce transactions, the Task Force makes the following recommendations and observations: 1. E-commerce businesses should place an enhanced emphasis on all stages of dispute prevention, complaints handling, and effective methods of redress through ADR and ODR. 2. Internet merchants, governmental and nonprofit entities should place a greater emphasis on consumer education and the prevention of e-commerce disputes. 3. Protecting consumers requires adequate standards and codes of conduct for ecommerce businesses. 4. Internet merchants should be encouraged to participate in and subscribe to relevant e-commerce codes of conduct and trust mark programs. 5. Internet merchants should develop or continue to improve on their in-house complaints handling mechanisms, and educate consumers as to how to use these in-house procedures effectively. 6. For consumers, recourse to in-house complaints mechanisms is normally the first and best means to obtain redress from reputable merchants. Accordingly, consumers should be encouraged to utilize the in-house complaints handling mechanisms offered by reputable Internet merchants before resorting to third party dispute resolution mechanisms. 7. at present, the lack of ODR does not appear to be a material impediment to the growth of B2C e-commerce. . At present, ODR is subsidiary to other higher priority consumer protection activities, including consumer education and use of measures that help prevent or decrease the incidence of fraud in Internet transactions. 9. Recognizing that enforcement of outcomes and decisions reached through ODR may be difficult, consumers should be encouraged to consider using other dispute prevention mechanisms such as escrow services and credit card charge back mechanisms when transacting online. 10. Rather than create a code of conduct for ODR Service Providers, the Task Force has drafted Recommended Best Practices by ODR Service Providers. 1. The Task Force recommends the creation of a new informational entity (referred to as the ADRCenter) that would provide information about ODR in an effort to educate and familiarize consumers, businesses, lawyers and other professionals with this new type of service. 12. For the advancement of ODR as an effective and efficient means of cross-border dispute resolution for both B2B and B2C transactions, there needs to be an appropriate emphasis on the development of interoperable communication and data-sharing platforms. 3. The Task Force believes that much of the education that will be useful for consumers will also be useful for businesses – especially small to medium sized enterprises and those who are ne w to the Internet marketplace and to cross-border transactions. ( Task force quoted verbatim) among all of ecommerce frauds the greatest of consumer complaints arose from identity thefts. The Federal trade commission has released statistics stating that out of 2004,000 complaints received from consumers 42% elated to fraud and identity of the seller, followed by internet auctions which constituted 10%,followed by other non performances like non delivery of goods, inferior quality goods, trial offers from the net, shop at home offers and so on. This only reiterates that consumers have to be protected and laws of cyber space have to be strictly regulated to afford consumer protection. Consumer protection measures were seen very importantly in the light of an interactive poll which shows the increased awareness of consumers against online frauds . They were dissuaded by online shopping and cited some of the reasons why they had not shopped recently. 57% said that they were worried about their credit card number being stolen,57% were worried about confidentiality measures being violated,38% doubted the integrity on the seleers,26% wanted some personal attention to be given while they shopped,37% doubted the reliability of the sellers,47% said that wanted to physically inspect the product and 25% cited many unknown reasons. source: Harris interactive)It was increasingly felt that consumer education will be able to help protect consumers better. It also shows increased concerns about consumers not knowing how to transact online. It is suggested that traders using the electronic media need to given all information that is required for consumers to feel safe about shopping online . Quoting Internet merchants association ,† Merchants need to have greater and enhanced disclosure on their websites as well as heightened compliance with relevant consumer protection law. † Another pertinent consumer protection data and study conducted by a New Zealand organization on 700 web sites explicitly brought out the consumers heightened awareness of ecommerce frauds and consumers came out with their reasons of the need for protecting their rights against fraudulent organizations. They said that 50% of the vendors had not installed security measures on the payment options, 62% did not speak of refund policies, 78% said that the vendors did not advice customers of how to lodge complaints,90% said that they did not know about laws pertaining to consumer redresses and 25% said that the vendors did not show physical address. Despite all this majority of consumers preferred to shop online so laws pertaining to consumer protection need to be implemented in its fullest sense. Consumers International released its Privacy@ net study in which it concluded: that though almost all the traders online collected data regarding the personal information of the buyers very few of them institutionalized a privacy policy regarding the use of the information that the buyer gave. Though these were correct measures to provide security, majority of these proved meaningless to the buyers. it was very common in the US and Europe to find traders giving scant respect to global standards on data privacy. Even the basic principles of informing the customers of how the data will be used, how the firm will access the data , how the consumer can use the data and how the security of the data is sought and maintained is not disclosed. A comparative study of the sites of USA and UK are no different with regard to privacy policy as both played on the information made available to them. The US online trading sites set decent privacy policies which looked good enough to follow. In The European trading sites the consumers had the law backing them up and the presence of an ombudsman and a government representative in the form of a data protection officer took care of the consumer rights and protection if breached. He also intervened to speak on behalf of the consumers if the law was tampered with . in fact it is sad to know that both the countries have left little choice to consumers in terms of data protection.. † This was a comparative study of the European merchants and the USA merchants. But both of them accepted the fact that consumer protection was a must if their sales and revenues had to increase. As a step towards greater protection measures to consumers the task force on ecommerce and protection said that various disputes redressal mechanisms have to be introduced in the form of dispute prevention like education of consumers, feedback collection from consumers, ombudsman appointments, negotiations, mediation, arbitrators, and assessment of valid consumer grievances.

Airframe Structure Failure and Survivability

There are many different variables that come into play during an aircraft accident. It is an investigators job to find out what caused the failure. Failure of an aircraft primary structure is ranked high on the list of risks aircrews would rather not face. Mechanical component failure which can lead to loss of control of the aircraft is not far behind. Another issue which must be addressed in any aircraft accident is the question and of crash survivability. Even if no one was injured the investigator must find out what worked and what didnt. If there were injuries, several questions should be asked. The chapters I will be covering will give the investigator a look into what causes structural failure, and how to determine crash survivability. An aircraft accident investigators job is to determine what caused the crash. Structural failure is a vital part of the investigation. The term structure failure means where the material fails to carry below it was intended to carry. A structure can fail in one of two general ways. One way is it can be fractured, which means broken into two or more pieces. Another way is when the structure shape is changed so that it can no longer carry its load. With this kind of failure, the structure is still in one piece. It could be bent, stretched, corroded, or so worn that it can no longer do its intended job. Over the next few pages, I will be going into detail about the different ways structures can fail. There are many reasons why an airplane structure can fail. As I have just gone over a few in the last paragraph, there are many different ways this can happen. In chapter 35, the book talks about overload. This is, when an in-flight load exceeds the weight the part was designed for. All structures to include bridges, buildings or airplanes are created to withstand only specific loads. It is unrealistic to assume that airplanes can be designed and built to withstand any conceivable load it can experience. If a structure is exposed to a load greater than which it was designed for, it will structurally fail. Be it deforming, or fracturing into two or more pieces. These are two general reasons why aircraft structures fail. Aircraft structures are designed to withstand loads generated by air at some maximum airspeed and the loads generated while maneuvering at some G load. Most aircraft can be flown at speeds and G loads which can place excessive loads on the aircraft structure. Aircraft that is directly exposed to onrushing air could be damaged as the dynamic pressure of the air stream is converted to static pressure pressing inward on the structure. Excessive speed can reduce the airplanes stability. The bottom line is that a lot of bad things can happen when an aircraft exceeds it’s redline airspeed. One of the clearest reasons for failure of a structural component is that the component lacked the proper strength to withstand the loads created while the aircraft is flown at its normal operating limits. There are numerous reasons why a structural component could be understrength. It is possible that the engineering of the structure was inadequate. The designer could have possibly made an error which was not caught during the testing phase. Another reason could be that wear and tear caused a weakening to the structure. Service life issues are normally divided into four sub areas; fatigue cracking, corrosion, wear and creep. The four of these progressive failures which cannot be undone as the aircraft accumulates flight hours ground-air-ground cycles. An aircraft structure can be weakened in a somewhat short period of time. Exposure to heat can greatly reduce a metals strength. For example, some aluminum alloys that are exposed to temperatures of 400Â ° for 5 minutes can reduce the alloys strength by 80%. Jet engine hot sections and compressor bleed airlines are made of materials such as stainless steel or titanium alloys which maintain most of their strength in relatively high temperatures. This problem happens when structure which is not been designed for high temperature is exposed to high temperatures. Some aircraft which can reach high supersonic speeds require the leading edge structures to be able to withstand the extremely high temperatures generated at these speeds. There are two general areas when it comes to aircraft structures. You have a primary structure, and a secondary structure. The primary structure is parts of the aircraft that are necessary to safely fly its mission. The following components are normally considered to be part of the primary structure: wing structure, fuselage structure carrying flight, ground and cabin pressurization loads, empennage, landing gear structure, engine mounts and supporting structure. The primary structures can be further sub categorized as either critical structure or principal structure elements. Critical elements are those whose failure would result in catastrophic failure of the aircraft. Principal elements are those that contribute significantly to carrying flight, ground and pressurization loads whose failure could or could not result in catastrophic failure. The following components are considered to be the secondary structure: aerodynamic fairings, tail cones, and landing gear doors. There are other mechanical components which carry flight critical loads. Even though these components have failure modes that are closely related to those exhibited by the primary and secondary structures, they do not fall into either of those categories. Components like hydraulic pressure lines, drive shafts, electric alternators, and gear teeth in transmissions all have modes of failure which can give clues concerning the nature of the loads which caused them to fail. In aircraft accident investigator will have a firm understanding of the loads that airplane structured caries and the physical evidence that these loads leaves behind when they fail. The many types of loads are vectors and have both magnitude and direction. You can change the load by either changing its magnitude, for example increasing or decreasing the pounds of force being applied, or by changing its direction by applying force upward instead of down. Loads can take a finite length of time to be imposed. Even though loads can be applied in a very short period of time they can be applied or changed instantaneously. The fact that loads take time to apply and or change is important for the accident investigator understand. The book separates loads into three general areas; static loads, dynamic loads, and repeated loads. Knowing the difference between the three types is important because the nature of the load has a lot to do with the failure of the structure and the evidence left behind. If a load were applied so slowly that the structure to which the load was being applied to stayed equal at all times the load would be considered a static load. A static load can be either for short or long period of time. A dynamic load happens when the loads are applied fast enough to prevent the structure from carrying the load while remaining in equilibrium as the load is being applied. Dynamic loads can be divided into two subcategories, sudden, and impact. A sudden load will impose stronger internal stresses in the structure. Components such as landing gear are tested with dynamic loads. Impact loads are applied at faster rates than sudden, causing the structure to fracture almost every time. Impact loads are usually limited to high-speed bird impacts and crash tests. Repeated loads are just like they sound, loads that are repeated over and over again. Due to the behavior of dynamic impacts and longtime static loads, it makes them unlikely candidates for repeated loads. Short time static and sudden dynamic loads can be repeated over and over again. If a component goes through lots of repeated load cycles before it fails due to fatigue cracking it is said to have experienced high cycle fatigue. By lots of cycles the book means hundreds of thousands or millions or tens of millions of cycles. One of the ways investigators look at structure failure is to consider the time it took for the failure to occur. If the failure happened at the instance of a single load, it is called an instantaneous failure. If the failure took a period of time to occur, that is called a progressive failure. If a structural component contained a load that caused significant distortion, but did not exceed the materials yield stress, and the structure springs back to its original shape after the load is removed is called an elastic deformation/distortion failure. Now if the same events occur and the structure does not spring back to its original shape after the load is removed, that is called plastic deformation/distortion. This is a permanent shape change, unlike the elastic which is a temporary shape change. Now if the load reaches the point where internal stresses not only cause significant plastic deformation, they exceed the materials ultimate stress, the structure will then fracture and separate into two or more pieces. This is called a fracture failure. An experienced investigator can tell the difference between the five different types of structural failure. Another form that causes structural failures is corrosion. Corrosion is the natural disintegration of material as it is attacked by one or more substances in its environment. During the refining process, energy is added to metal ores and other raw materials in order to produce the mechanical properties necessary in structural components. Mother Nature the great equalizer, doesnt like variances in energy levels and sets to work trying to bring the material back to the low energy levels existing in the products of corrosion. When it comes to aircraft structural components, mother natures attack will reduce the strength and ductility of components turning strong metals into meek metallic oxides, hydroxides or sulfates. If these compounds are not removed from the structure they can worsen the problem by providing an environment which is ever more favorable to continued corrosion. There are many different forms of corrosion. Some can be the result of a direct chemical attack by reactive substances in the environment. Pitting is a common form of corrosion. Small holes that are randomly located across the metal surface are called pits and sometimes may be accompanied with a powdery residue. Even though pits may appear to have damaged only a small percentage of the surface, they penetrate deeply in a branching matter causing loss of strength and ductility which is way out of proportion to metals surface appearance. Chemical corrosion involves the reaction between a metal structure and some chemical agent. If you introduce corrosive acid on a metal wing, the acid and the metal will react to form new and undesirable compounds. A selective attack is when corrosive actions seem to favor one part of the components or assembly above another. The primary type of selective attack is intergranular corrosion. This type of attack centers on the grain boundaries with in a metal component before consuming the grains themselves. Similar to pitting the damage from this kind of attack causes a loss of strength and ductility which is out of portion the amount of metal that is corroded. Another form intergranular corrosion is exfoliation, whose progress and go undetected until all structural integrity is lost. Grain boundaries attacked by this type of corrosion are normally flattened and or elongated grains of extruded or rolled metals. This type of corrosion can move undetected along the grain boundaries. Slow removal of material from the surface of the component by a mechanical action is referred to as wear. In most cases wear is undesirable, wear during break in on new or overhauled equipment is often a necessary ingredient in establishing proper operation and long service life. The type of wear the book talks about is the kind that leads to premature failure and breakdown. Abrasive wear happens when small abrasive particles cut into and remove material from surfaces of two components which are held together while moving. When this type of wear happens one question an investigator must ask is, where did the particles come from? Adhesive wear occurs when microscopic projections of the surfaces of the two components which are sliding across each other may contact, weld together and break off. A question that an investigator can ask is was the surface lubricated? Erosive wear is similar to abrasive wear in that foreign particles are cutting tiny chunks out of the surface. Its a little different from abrasive wear in that the abrasive particles gain their penetrating energy by a fluid that is carrying them along. How did the particles enter into the fluids is a question an investigator could pose. To prevent structure failure, the components go through an inspection called non-destructive inspection (NDI). NDI are inspection techniques which will not do significant harm to the object being inspected. Other names for this type of inspection is called non-destructive evaluation (NDE) or non-destructive testing (NDT). There are six specific techniques for these inspections. First, visual inspection is the simplest form and most common of the NDI process and uses your God-given gift of sight. To assist this type of inspection, illumination, magnification, and remote viewing are used to help. Another type is dye penetrant. This inspection is used to detect small surface cracks and discontinuities which may not be visible during strictly visual inspections. This technique is simple, but time-consuming. The component being inspected is covered with a colored liquid which is absorbed into surface cracks. The liquid includes a phosphorescent material which when exposed to ultraviolet light glows in the dark so small surface cracks are visible to the naked eye. Magnetic particle inspection provides another way to assist the eye by increasing the conspicuity of a surface crack. This process requires more specialized equipment then the dye penetrant process, it makes the crack even more obvious if properly used. This inspection makes use of the fact that when a magnetic field is induced in a component made of Ferro-magnetic material, surface cracks will alter the components magnetic field. When magnetic particles are placed on a magnetized surface it will align themselves along the magnetic field showing any variations caused by the cracks. If the magnetic particles are phosphorescent and viewed in a dark room under an ultraviolet light pattern around the cracks will be more visible. Eddy current is the first technique that is discussed that does not require direct viewing of the crack. This process involves the use of a probe to generate both an electromagnetic field and sense and evaluate the Eddy current generated in the material being inspected. When either or surface or near surface cracks are in the material it will alter the shape of the Eddy current and magnetic field it generates. This can be as simple as a twitch on a meters needle. The equipment needed for this type of inspection must be calibrated for the specific design being inspected and the size of the crack being search. Ultrasonic inspections make use of high-frequency sound to find surface and subsurface defects. The high-frequency sound waves are generated by a transducer and then beamed through the part being inspected. The reflective waves or the remnants of waves which penetrate the part are being measured with a receiver and electronically evaluated. There are two different ways the sound waves can be applied to and retrieved from the part being inspected; immersion of the part into a fluid which carries the sound waves to and from the part and direct contact inspection where the transducer and receiver are in direct contact with the part. The direct contact technique is much more mobile allowing use in the field of the aircraft or major fabrications. Radiographic inspection in its simplest form is not much different than that of an x-ray. Very short wave electromagnetic radiation are generated and directed through the part being inspected and towards unexposed radiographic film. Rays passing through cracks, flaws, voids and corroded areas will not be attenuated as much as raise passing through sound material. To the untrained eye, cracks, flaws, voids and corrosion may appear to be just another shadow on the film. Orientation of the x-rays so as to illuminate the discontinuities and proper interpretation of the film are therefore important aspects in ensuring the thoroughness of the inspection. One of the issues which must be addressed in any aircraft accident is a question of crash survivability. Even if no one was injured, the question of what worked and what didnt work should always be asked. Did the restraint systems operate as designed? Whether or not escape hatches were needed, could they have been opened if needed? Did the emergency lighting system work? How crash survival equipment is designed is based on experience, history, and sound engineering judgment. To know if these components work correctly design requires an accident for verification. The accident is a chance to validate our judgment and we cannot afford to pass it up. To make investigation of aircraft crashes a little easier requires a systematic approach by breaking down a complicated series of events into smaller, more digestible bites. The approach chapter 36 goes over is the CREEP method. CREEP stands for: Container, Restraint, Energy absorption, Environment, and Post-crash factors. The first four of the five CREEP elements relate to the dynamic portion of the crash itself. These four factors are concerned with the initial and any subsequent impacts with the terrain, the associated deceleration forces acting on the aircraft and its current occupants, and the deformation and dislocation of aircraft structure and its contents. The fifth factor relates to the occupants attempts to egress the aircraft before suffering additional injuries not directly resulting from the dynamic portion of the crash. In order to survive a crash it is first necessary to provide a living space for the occupants during the dynamic portion of the crash. If the space is crushed or punctured, the chances of survival fall drastically. This factor is container. Now if the occupants have been provided with adequate living space, the next series of questions should deal with the restraint of the crew and its passengers and equipment and components around them. Occupants of any moving vehicle must be protected from injuring collisions with in the vehicle, for example being thrown against the sides of the living space or having objects such as cargo or equipment thrown at them. The strength of all restraints should be sufficient to prevent injury at the force levels which can be expected during the most severe but survivable crash. The investigator should examine all restraints system failures to determine if there failure contributed to injuries experienced by the crew or passengers. The deceleration forces created during a crash may be high enough to cause fatal or serious injuries, even if a safe living space, adequate crew and passenger restraints, and a delethalized flailing envelope are provided. Since crew and passenger bodies are not strongly attached to the airframe, the design of the aircraft structure and seeds may cause the acceleration forces experienced by the crew and passengers to be either amplified or attenuated. A soft deep seat cushion can greatly amplified the vertical Gs experienced by someone sitting in the seat. The deep seat cushion deforms at high loads absorbing energy as it gives can greatly reduce the vertical crash loads to which a seat occupant is subjected. Hopefully, the designers will build a secure box around the crew and passengers and secure them to it. Although we may be able to restrain the torso, it is normally impractical to secure the head and limbs of the crew and passengers. The volume through which the unrestrained extremities can be expected to move shouldve been the legalized to the maximum degree possible. Obstructions which could cause injury should either remove from within the flailing envelope or padded to reduce the severity or probability of injury. This is the environment that the creep method covers. All too commonly, crew or passengers survived the dynamic portion of the crash, only to suffer additional injuries or death when they are unable to safely exit the aircraft in a timely manner. The two primary factors in the causation of fatalities during otherwise survivable crashes is, post-crash fire and inability to quickly exit the damaged aircraft. Fire is the most significant post-crash hazard by a long shot. Not only can the fire kill and injure directly through heat, the toxic fumes and smoke produced when material and the aircraft interior burn are more often the direct cause of death. This post-crash condition is a top priority in controlling to prevent death. Design of airplane exits is predicated on the normal parked attitude and configuration. Obviously, this is not always the case. Sometimes occupants will have to exit from an airplane that is an abnormal attitude and perhaps in a very unusual configuration. Part 125 airplanes have specific emergency exit acquirements levied on them, many general aviation airplanes have only one exit which can be easily jammed in the airplane ends up inverted. In conclusion, nobody is expert on all types of structural failures. With so many different variables, it takes a highly detailed investigator to pinpoint what kind of failure causes a crash. And without a systematic approach of investigation of a crash, the investigators are left with an accident that is difficult to determine whether or not the occupants should have survived the impact.

Age discrimination in employment (especially for older people) Research Paper

Age discrimination in employment (especially for older people) - Research Paper Example Policies and procedures for the company should be written clearly in an employee manual. This should include how promotions, salary increases/decreases and reduction in work force will occur. Having clearly written policies and procedures will benefit the employee and the company in age discrimination cases. These laws fall under the federal United States Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, although state governments also have their own laws regarding age discrimination (eeoc.gov). Age discrimination can be defined as when either an employee or an applicant who is over the age of 40, experiences unfair treatment when it comes to anything related to employment including hiring and dismissal, pay, job assignments, layoffs, work hours, promotions, etc. (eeoc.gov). Although there are many reasons for age discrimination, insurance companies are primarily to blame. Harassment relating to age occurs when supervisors, other employees or even clients continually hassle or badger someone. The law does not cover light hearted teasing or occasional off handed remarks, but when the situation escalates to create a hostile work environment for the employee it could be an issue of age discrimination (eeoc.gov). Keep in mind that the law pertains to people over the age of 40. According to U.S. News Money, people in the United States are retiring later than in previous years. This can be attributed to a lack of employer sponsored retirement benefits, reduction in Social Security benefits, longer life expectancy, improved health as people age and the coordination of retirement between wives and husbands when statistically, wives are three years younger than their husbands (money.usnews.com). Increased career length leads to an increase in age discrimination instances. With the recent downfall of the United States economy beginning in 2008, it has become more important for people to continue to work past typical retirement age. Since that time, age

Mergers& Acquisitions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mergers& Acquisitions - Essay Example The US airline industry had previously been dominated by nine companies that created a stiff competition in the market. However, the move to merge the American airlines and the US airways has altered the situation. The main reason that led to the merger is the desire both companies to gain competitive advantage over their competitors (Thomas, 2013). The size of a company determines their convincing power. Large companies have a likelihood of attracting customers and shareholders, and hence the company will be more competitive. The two companies also came together in order to heighten their sales. With the many numbers of competitors, the companies hoped that coming together would increase their sales. The two companies intended to expand rapidly since more resources, and labor had been brought together (Daily Mail Reporter, 2013). The merger of the two airlines  will ensure that the company will control approximately 20% of the market share since 80% of the market share is controll ed by the four large airlines (Reed, 2014). Merging the two companies reduced the risks and hence the new company is in a position to diversify its operations (Reed, 2014). The airline industry has a lot of risks, and the managers decided to come together in order to spread and cushion the risk. The merger provided a large pool of finances which would allow the two companies increase their economies of scale and thereby maximize their profits (Reed, 2014). The elected overall managing director stated out that their move was not only to fight competition but also to meet the large financial demands in the industry. He also said that the move would increase their networks, and their customers would have a variety of choices in terms of traveling time. The merger brought about both positive and negative results to the two companies. The new company (American Airlines) gained an advantage since its costs

Importance of Accurate Bloodstain Spatter Analysis in Crime Scene Research Paper

Importance of Accurate Bloodstain Spatter Analysis in Crime Scene Investigations - Research Paper Example Due to the certification of more technicians, a lot of information on the shape of bloodstain is being used in the conclusion of crime events. Blood stain pattern analysis is the assessment of the nature, position, and distribution pattern of bloodstains that should enable an investigator to deduce the physical actions that took place at the scene. The outcomes obtained from the analysis give extra information to medical practitioners when determining the time the victim died. Certified bloodstain pattern analysts are normally used in offering explanations on blood spatter patterns and supplementary verifications at the crime scenes. This assists in the disclosure of vital exploratory information; like the positions of the casualty, the attacker, the items at the scene; the weapon that created the spatter and the number of blows, blast, or stabs the victim received. It can also be used to agree or contradict the report the wounded, suspects or observers give, hence ensuring that an i nnocent person is not condemned. Basically, inert bloodstains are as a result of the gravitational pull. They are normally evident on the various surfaces like the floor, wall, or the clothing. In carrying out crime Scene investigation therefore, documentation of all stains must be done. During blood stain pattern analysis, investigators always apply the physics, mathematics, and trigonometry laws, which assist the investigators to acquire information which enables them to determine the actions that took place; the individuals who were there, and the authenticity of the self defense declaration of the alleged doer. In the crime scene, there may be numerous areas with blood spatters. Identification of all locations with blood spatters and carrying out the necessary analysis is therefore vital. Moreover, after the scene has been documented, the resolution of the course and succession of actions enables the CIS in laying strategies for the collection of blood samples from the most rati onal sites. When careful analysis of the scene is done, accurate representative blood samples will be presented to the crime laboratory for analysis. Introduction Blood pattern analysis assists investigators in the determination of the source of the blood, the distance through which the blood traveled before landing, the form and the bearing of the force that caused the blood stain, the object used to produce the bloodstain, and the position of the casualty and the attacker during and after the bloodshed. Normally small blood spatters are as a result of a lot of force having been used. In order to obtain accurate results, blood pattern analysts must be careful in doing the assessments. Blood spatter as evidence Due to the gravitational pull, the shape of a free falling drop of blood is spherical. The force of gravity results in surface tension which makes the blood molecules to adhere on one another. Due to surface tension, the distance through which the drop of blood falls does not affect the spherical shape (Chisum & Turvey 374). The drop of blood will only break after hitting another surface or when force is exerted on it. When a blood drop hits an impermeable, smooth, and firm surface for instance floor tile, the probability of it forming a spatter in minimal. Freely dipping blood forms huge circular stains. Rough surfaces interfere with the surface tension of the blood drops, thus resulting in spatters and uneven stains having serrated edges. Presentation of precise

Financial Management in Health Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Management in Health Care - Essay Example These aspects of management aim at ensuring organizations operate within profitable margins in ensuring continuity of the organization. The management ensures that organizations find sustainable sources of funding for various activities. Financial management in healthcare takes various perspectives depending on the source of funding for organizations (Gapenski, 2009). Balance sheets, for example, remain some of the best known indicators of financial performance within an organization. Balance sheets form a fundamental element of assessment of the financial position of an organization during specified period. The information contained in balance sheets remains similar within different entities but the functions performed by the balance sheets differ. Profit organization In profit making healthcare organizations, the financial structures of organizations aim at utilizing financial resources to achieve monetary gains. These entities operate like other businesses whose fundamental object ive remains making profits from financial resources. The financial management of these entities aims at maintaining profitability for the organization. All financial decisions implemented in these financial entities seek to ensure that the organizations remain profitable and competitive within the industry (Nowicki, 2008). The funding for these organizations comes from returns on investments made by the proprietors of the organization. These organizations offer services according to the available finances available for specified services. The functions performed by financial statements differ between healthcare entities depending on the financiers of the establishments. The financial statements for these establishments ought to be presented to the proprietors of the organizations. All expenditures for these organizations should be accounted for in the organization’s balance sheet. Presentation of the balance sheet remains critical in the financial structure of these organizat ions. Within other healthcare entities, like those owned by the government, the information contained in the balance sheets becomes supplemented with relevant data pointing at the organization’s objectives. Achieving the organizational objectives remains the fundamental aim of the organizations. These organizations aim at maximizing their profitability from financial and monetary resources available within the organization. Financial management within these organizations aims at utilizing the available financial resources to achieve maximum returns on investments. The funding for the organizations comes from owners’ equity among other financing options. The entities operate with financial resources that should be refunded to the financiers. The fund could be borrowed from finance institutions and payments should be done from the ensuing profits (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Profitable operation of these institutions remains essential in ensuring completion of the repayments. Other healthcare entities, like the non-profits organizations, never have to repay the operating capital. These organizations operate to offer services to specified individuals according to the demands of the financiers. As opposed to other healthcare entities, profit making entities do not have restrictions, from the financiers, regarding the customers whom to render medical services. The decisions of the management regarding utilization of financial resourc

Personality and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personality and Leadership - Essay Example The present research has identified that leadership solves the complex problem and issue of how to control and organize the collective effort. It involves putting people in order so that they can perform a common goal or duty. Effective leadership ensures that institutions are able to achieve their goal and visions while keeping in line with their mission. Leadership ensures organization effectiveness and efficiency. Because of good leadership organization such as universities, hospitals, corporations, governments, and armies are able to thrive. The success in organizations as a result of leadership boosts the psychological and financial well-being of people. The main objective of leadership is to ensure that people collectively achieve common goal and aspirations. It is a tool that ensures group and individuals thrive and survive. Leadership involves keeping things in order whenever they go astray. It involves motivating and encouraging people to work towards the common or set objec tives. It entails maintaining and building of teams which are effective. It does this by encouraging people to work towards a common objective and goal. It discourages selfishness and ensures collective benefits and achievements. Leadership encourages corrective responsibility of a team as people are encouraged to work as a team. It ensures people are watching each other’s back. People are able to seek guidance and assistance from others because of the team spirit caused by leadership. When misused, leadership becomes a tool of destruction. Leaders use the authority they have to push for their personal intentions and objectives. Leadership gives few people authority who can use the chance to dictate and ruin other people’s lives. Leadership only involves pursuing the objectives and intentions of the few people who have the leadership roles. It promotes laziness as people act upon instructions and supervision. With leadership, people get used to being pushed. It makes p eople depend on other people’s effort in order to get something done.

FirstGroup plc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

FirstGroup plc - Essay Example As of 2009, the group earned the annualized net profit of around 6 billion pounds, which is a growth of around 31.4% from what the company earned last year. Similarly, this group has remained unaffected by current global economic backdrop, which is an amazing achievement by the company. In the future, the group also wants to maintain its market leader position and wants to expand its operation to the global market. The company wants to develop a new business plan which should not in any way ignore the aspiration of stakeholders. Stakeholders can be any group or an individual that has a stake in the organization's performance. In simple words, any one within or outside the organization who is affected by the decision taken by the business is known as stakeholder. First Group's stakeholders are its shareholders, employees, government, customers and its board of directors. According to Richard Daft, shareholders are those people who own the business and have invested the money in the business. So they would like the business to make decisions which are going to increase its profitability and lead to rapid growth of the business. Similarly, First Group's decisions are also going to affect its employees, in some way or the other. First Group PLC's decision to downsize can result in loss of job for some of these employees. First Group PLC's working policies and pay-rate is another factor that is goi ng to affect the employees. Government might be interest in the decision taken by First Group PLC because if it earns good profit, it will result in revenue for the government in the form of taxes. Similarly, government will want First Group PLC to flourish not only because it will result in revenue collection for the government, but also because it will provide employment opportunities in the economy. Customer will affected by the pricing decisions of First Group PLC. Board of Director will be interested in growth decision of the business because their salaries may be dependent on the size of the business. So they would like the owners to plough back earned profit back into the business for the purpose of expansion and this could lead to conflict of interest between various groups of Stakeholders. (Daft, 1997) Business aim is the future-vision of the business, which can be anything that the business wants to achieve in the future or the reason behind its existence. The major aim of First Group PLC is the transforming the way people travel and changing their perception about the public transport by providing people with safety and luxury and in doing so becoming the leading company of the world. In general terms, Business objective is a business strategic position that it is trying to achieve through its activities and policies. If we look at the business objective of First Group plc, we can say that it is aiming toward higher market share by offering distinct services like safety travel and other features which are not present in conventional transport companies. Another business objective of First Group PLC is rapid growth and in doing so, it is increasing the value of investments of its shareholder by increasing the market-price of the company's stock. Many businesses carry out SWOT analysis to focus on the internal strengths and

Astronomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Astronomy - Essay Example If earth’s internal activities are related to solar energy, then other planets also should have such internal activities. â€Å"The earth grew from the accumulation of planetismals (meteorites and asteroids), over a period of 1-200 million years about 4.3 to about 4.5 billion years ago. All of the geological activity on the earth today is driven from this initial source of heat at the earths formation, aided and abetted by continued radioactive decay of elements in the earths interior.† (The Heat History of Earth) The construction of earth is not homogeneous and different parts of earth have different types of layers and even the materials are different at different locations on earth. For example the soil structure of India and that of America are entirely different. Earth is blessed with so many radioactive elements like Uranium, Radium, and Plutonium which are decaying continuously liberating huge amount of energy. More over these elements are not distributed uniformly on earth’s surface and even then earth’s internal activities are distributed evenly everywhere. So we can concl ude that the internal activity of earth is not because of radioactive decay of elements alone, but it was due to the initial source of heat at the earth’s formation also. It is an accepted fact that earth’s internal activity has risen in the recent past. It is evident from the increased number of earth quakes, and volcano eruption. Once the earth’s internal activities finished, there will be no more earth quakes, tidal waves and volcano eruption and the earth becomes cooled to alarming levels so that its biological activities will also be ended along with the geological activities. â€Å"There is much evidence that indicates geological vitality of a planet which has played a fundamental role in the development and evolution of life.† (Frias) It is evident from the fact that no other

Seperation of a Mixture Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Seperation of a Mixture Lab Report Essay 1.Mixture is taken, and has to be measured in order to meet the requirements of 2-3g. 2.The mass of the tray is measured and then the scale is zeroed out and the mixture is added to find out the mass of the original mixture. 3.Next, find the mass of the 250mL beaker, zero out the scale, pour the mixture in, and weigh to find the mass. Find the mass of the 100mL beaker as well. 4.In order to separate the iron from the mixture, take a bar magnet inside of a Ziploc bag, and swirl it through the mixture. 5.The iron will stick to the magnet, and lift the magnet out of the mixture. All iron in the mixture should be on the magnet. 6.The iron taken out of the mixture is then measured to find the mass of the retrieved iron. 7.Next, the salt will be separated from the mixture. In order to do this, a ring stand must be set up with an iron ring and a glass funnel. Take a piece of filter paper and fold it as demonstrated by Mrs. Montoney, and place it in the funnel. 8.Place a 250mL beaker under the funnel for the filtered water. 9.Put the remaining mixture in the funnel. 10.Pour some water in a beaker, record the amount of water and pour it in the funnel. The mixture will begin to filter and drain the salt, leaving behind the sand. More water may need to be added depending on if the salt particles are fully desolved or not. 11.The sand has been recovered. Take the filter paper, unfold it, weigh its mass, and place it in the chemical oven to dry before measuring. 12.While the sand is in the chemical oven, take a hot plate, and place the beaker with the filtered salt water on the hot plate. The water will begin to boil, and eventually, the salt will be  clearly visible and separated. 13.Once the salt is fully dried out, and no water remains in the beaker, remove the beaker with tongs for it will be extremely hot. Measure the beaker with the salt in it and subtract the original mass of the 250mL beaker to find the mass of the recovered salt. 14.The sand should be dry by now. Take the sand on the filter paper out of the chemical oven with extreme caution, place it on the scale, measure its mass, and then subtract the original mass of the filter paper in order to find the mass of the recovered sand. 15.The mixture is now separated into the three substances of sand, salt, and iron. Scientific Background: In order to complete this lab report, the following concepts must be understood. First, the difference between a mixture and a pure substance. A mixture is two or more pure substances combined, that keep their separate chemical identities and properties. The amounts of each pure substance in a mixture can change therefore the physical properties of a mixture depend on its composition, and the composition of a pure substance is constant giving pure substances characteristic physical properties that do not change. Physical properties that are used to describe pure substances include solubility, magnetism, and boiling point, which are all characteristics used in this lab. The next concept is physical changes. Physical changes separate the components of a mixture, such as separating the iron, sand, and salt in this lab. Physical changes that can be used to separate mixtures include filtration, evaporation, and distillation. Mass percent composition is a way to express the real composition of a mixture by the amount of each component. In order to do this, the substances must be separated quantitatively. Lastly, percent yield which describes the efficiency of the â€Å"recovery operation† is calculated to separate the mixture. (Handout) Observations: The observations for this lab are as follows: †¢The original mixture is a brownish color, and the difference between the different substances can easily be determined by sight. †¢When the water was poured into the mixture of sand and salt during the filteration process, the filtered water was coming through slowly in large drops. †¢During the  filtration process, the salt seemed to not be dissolving as quickly as thought, and more water was needed. †¢When the salt water was being boiled, all of the sudden the water turned into what looked like foam and the salt started popping. †¢When the sand was taken out of the chemical oven, salt particles that had not been dissolved were found on the bottom of the filter paper. †¢The iron had a high magnetism, while sand and salt had none at all. †¢The salt had a high solubility in water while the sand did not. †¢The physical appearance of the iron resembled rough tiny little black hairs.

Where Is Sony Vulnerable Essay Example for Free

Where Is Sony Vulnerable Essay Sony started as a radio repair shop, founded by Masuru Ikura and Akio Morita after World War II. The company began its long history of producing compact consumer electronics in 1957, when it introduced the world’s first pocket-sized all-transistor radio. The company’s name, Sony, was taken from sonus, the Latin word for â€Å"sound.† Sony went on to invent a series of transistor-based TVs and increasingly smaller audiocassette recorders. In 1979, the Sony Walkman introduced the world to a new, portable way of listening to music. Sony became a world leader in consumer electronics and was the first Japanese company to have its shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In the late 1980s, Sony began expanding into media, purchasing a U.S. record company (CBS Records for $22 billion in 1988) and a major Hollywood studio (Columbia Pictures for $4.9 billion in 1989). The purchases made Sony a major force in the entertainment industry. The importance of marketing at Sony started with Akio Morita, who said that for a company to be successful, it must have three kinds of creativity: creativity to make inventions, creativity in product planning and production, and creativity in marketing. Creativity in marketing at Sony means not just clever ads, but deep insight into its customers. For example, Sony knows its PlayStation customers like to find clues and to decode things. So Sony’s ads for PlayStation 2, like â€Å"Signs,† feature a young man walking the streets of a city where he encounters various signs foreshadowing the events. Mannequins appear in a store window, arms outstretched, and point enigmatically to something that’s about to happen. â€Å"The lead character is almost in the midst of his own role-playing game. He needs to follow clues to save the heroine,† said Andrew House, Sony’s executive vice president of marketing. In the ads, â€Å"we were essentially trying to tap into a range of emotions that we think we deliver in the games—intrigue, foreboding, excitement, panic, relief and achievement at the end.† Sony’s marketing also includes careful measurement of each campaign’s effectiveness. Fo r example, Sony runs 30-second commercials for its PlayStation as part of the previews in more than 1,800 theaters and on 8,000 movie screens. The ads appear before such films as â€Å"The Cat in the Hat.† Sony Computer Entertainment America has been running movie ads for six years. â€Å"Cinema advertising has been very effective for us,† said Ami Blaire, director of product marketing. â€Å"The reason why we have committed to cinema every year is the tremendous unaided recall shown by our own research and Communicus commissioned ad tracking.† Another example of measurement is Sony’s GenY youth marketing efforts. â€Å"The online program promoting the NetMD, ATRAC CD Walkman and Cybershot U30 ran July 1 through September 30 2003, and we found that more than 70 percent of the clickthroughs were spurred by rich media ads via Eyeblaster, versus static banners,† said Serge Del Grosso, Director of Media and Internet Strategy, Sony Electronics. In fact, Sony has even developed a direct-marketing solution which it sells to other companies who want to measure marketing effectiveness. The product, called eBridge[TM], allows marketers to use video, measure the effectiveness of the campaign, and gain insight into the target audience, all in one package. Sony expects that the next big breakthrough will not come from a single new electronic device. Rather, Sony president Kunitake Ando says that the future lies in making a whole range of devices more useful by linking them in a networked home-entertainment system. The company believes that its clout in consumer electronics, combined with its media content, will allow it to steer that convergence in a way that suits it. Whether the future of convergence resides in TVs or PCs or devices, $62-billion Sony makes every one of them—with a strong brand name that gives them an extra push off retail shelves around the world. Discussion Questions 1.What have been the key success factors for Sony? 2.Where is Sony vulnerable? 3.What should it watch out for? 4.What recommendations would you make to senior marketing executives going forward? 5.What should they be sure to do with its marketing? SONY Sony started as a radio repair shop, founded by Masuru Ikura and Akio Morita after World War II. The company began its long history of producing compact consumer electronics in 1957, when it introduced the world’s first pocket-sized all-transistor radio. The company’s name, Sony, was taken from sonus, the Latin word for â€Å"sound.† Sony went on to invent a series of transistor-based TVs and increasingly smaller audiocassette recorders. In 1979, the Sony Walkman introduced the world to a new, portable way of listening to music. Sony became a world leader in consumer electronics and was the first Japanese company to have its shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In the late 1980s, Sony began expanding into media, purchasing a U.S. record company (CBS Records for $22 billion in 1988) and a major Hollywood studio (Columbia Pictures for $4.9 billion in 1989). The purchases made Sony a major force in the entertainment industry. The importance of marketing at Sony started with Akio Morita, who said that for a company to be successful, it must have three kinds of creativity: creativity to make inventions, creativity in product planning and production, and creativity in marketing. Creativity in marketing at Sony means not just clever ads, but deep insight into its customers. For example, Sony knows its PlayStation customers like to find clues and to decode things. So Sony’s ads for PlayStation 2, like â€Å"Signs,† feature a young man walking the streets of a city where he encounters various signs foreshadowing the events. Mannequins appear in a store window, arms outstretched, and point enigmatically to something that’s about to happen. â€Å"The lead character is almost in the midst of his own role-playing game. He needs to follow clues to save the heroine,† said Andrew House, Sony’s executive vice president of marketing. In the ads, â€Å"we were essentially trying to tap into a range of emotions that we think we deliver in the games—intrigue, foreboding, excitement, panic, relief and achievement at the end.† Sony’s marketing also includes careful measurement of each campaign’s effectiveness. Fo r example, Sony runs 30-second commercials for its PlayStation as part of the previews in more than 1,800 theaters and on 8,000 movie screens. The ads appear before such films as â€Å"The Cat in the Hat.† Sony Computer Entertainment America has been running movie ads for six years. â€Å"Cinema advertising has been very effective for us,† said Ami Blaire, director of product marketing. â€Å"The reason why we have committed to cinema every year is the tremendous unaided recall shown by our own research and Communicus commissioned ad tracking.† Another example of measurement is Sony’s GenY youth marketing efforts. â€Å"The online program promoting the NetMD, ATRAC CD Walkman and Cybershot U30 ran July 1 through September 30 2003, and we found that more than 70 percent of the clickthroughs were spurred by rich media ads via Eyeblaster, versus static banners,† said Serge Del Grosso, Director of Media and Internet Strategy, Sony Electronics. In fact, Sony has even developed a direct-marketing solution which it sells to other companies who want to measure marketing effectiveness. The product, called eBridge[TM], allows marketers to use video, measure the effectiveness of the campaign, and gain insight into the target audience, all in one package. Sony expects that the next big breakthrough will not come from a single new electronic device. Rather, Sony president Kunitake Ando says that the future lies in making a whole range of devices more useful by linking them in a networked home-entertainment system. The company believes that its clout in consumer electronics, combined with its media content, will allow it to steer that convergence in a way that suits it. Whether the future of convergence resides in TVs or PCs or devices, $62-billion Sony makes every one of them—with a strong brand name that gives them an extra push off retail shelves around the world. Discussion Questions 1.What have been the key success factors for Sony? 2.Where is Sony vulnerable? 3.What should it watch out for? 4.What recommendations would you make to senior marketing executives going forward? 5.What should they be sure to do with its marketing?

Key Benefits And Limitations Of LCA Environmental Sciences Essay

Key Benefits And Limitations Of LCA Environmental Sciences Essay Major benefits can arise from LCA. Through the ability to analyses exchanges that take place in the environment, it enables decision-makers to select the product or process that result in the least impact to the environment. LCA data identifies the transfer of environmental impacts from one media to another and/or from one life cycle stage to another (EPA 2001). Quantification of emissions, detection of variation between the various life cycle phases, the ability to estimate environmental burden of materials, the ability to compare and contrast competing products and the potential to structure and improve the flow of data between stakeholders are just some of the obvious benefits that can be gained through adoption of LCA. Papers by Deloitte Enhancing the value of life cycle assessment and Lifecycle assessment: where is it on your sustainability agenda? provide an insight into several benefits from utilizing LCA, including (Deloitte, 2009): Innovation: Through revealing the source and magnitude of environmental impacts, product level LCA data can inform the innovation agenda. Cost savings: Clarity in relation to cost drivers can lead to increased efficiency via material and energy requirements minimizing the negative environmental impacts. Furthermore, certain investments in RD and projects related to renewable energy may be eligible for tax credits or other incentives. Internal alignment: LCA provides a common ground for internal goal-setting and communication. Different departments within an organization can unite on enterprise-wide priorities. Regulatory preparedness: LCA can help quantify the projected product cost implications of future carbon legislation and flag those areas that warrant immediate action. LCA can also enhance general transparency to deflect scrutiny from regulators and other stakeholders. Corporate reputation: LCA can demonstrate a companys deeper commitment to improved environmental impact. Improved sustainability claims can strengthen stakeholder relations. Risk reduction: LCA helps companies develop their position around environmental issues to which their operations contribute. Increases awareness of potential liabilities the company should be aware of. On top of these benefits examples of how customized LCA studies can support significant sustainability objectives include (Deloitte, 2012): Enhance brand value for competitive differentiation: Compares the environmental impact of an organizations product to alternatives to determine which benefits are distinguishable. Improve design decisions: Evaluates resource and materials use to inform product and process design decisions that increase environmental efficiencies. Make better procurement decisions: Engages multiple stakeholders and suppliers to allow organizations to make procurement decisions that significantly boost their sustainability efforts. Meet communications needs: Provides a platform for authentically communicating positive environmental attributes about products to buyers and consumers. Achieve compliance: Addresses regulatory mandates at local, national and international levels. Create better policies: Evaluates internal and external policies of the organization to determine realistic objectives. While all of the above benefits help paint a positive picture of LCA, one also has to consider the various disadvantages or limitations of such systems. As with all new and evolving systems there will always be significant teething problems during development. The more noteworthy of these include the fact LCAs utilizing the same and different methodologies can have vastly different results with assumptions, which can be subjective, being a requisite even for simple comparisons to be carried out. The validity of data is always a concern and whether the most up to date data has been used. Performing LCA is resource consuming and gathering data can be problematic. As a result, it is essential to weigh the resources needed against the projected benefits to measure feasibility. There is still no widely accepted standardised format for LCA, with most of the already existing ones such as ISO 14040 having several imperfections. Finally results of LCAs focused on national and regional level m ay not be suitable for local applications. These limitations do take some of the shine away from LCA and indicate that in essence at present LCA is fundamentally flawed given it can be near impossible in many cases to know the validity and relevance of conclusions drawn by the practitioner. While this may be true what has to be consider is that LCA is the best tool we have at present to tackle this significant area of concern. In reality the benefits of LCA far outreach its flaws and as transparency of methods and data becomes the norm its integrity will increase. What is for certain is LCA is set to become a fundamental element of product and service design. Applications and potential of LCA Applications of LCA The application of LCA has been well documented and includes supporting initiatives to assessing environmental impacts that need addressing. Studies (Frankl and Rubik, 1999; Frankl et al., 2000) have highlighted key areas of application including: Bottleneck identification Information and education to consumers and stakeholders Compare existing products with planned alternatives Compare existing company products with products of competitors Procurement specifications, supplier screening, product co-makership Internal information and training Anticipate and negotiate legislation Marketing, advertising policies joining eco-labelling criteria Environmental cost allocation Assess the gap from eco-label criteria Radical changes in product life cycle What can be taken from these findings is that there are three principle areas of application are; (1) comparison on an environmental basis which includes comparison of materials, methods and conformity. (2) In manufacturing LCA can be used to find the most ecological method through optimal material and processes selection. (3) In commercial development LCA can be used for marketing purposes and as a public informational aid (in example EPDs). In reality there are many different views among the scientific populace as to use and best practice for LCA. What is of interest is that one article by Grantadesigns in 2011 called Grantas new Guide: Five Steps to Eco Design proposed that up to 80% of the environmental footprint of a product is determined during the design phase. From this we must assume that the best application for LCA would be in the design phase via evaluation of design alternative. Potential of LCA LCA is a methodology for quantifying and assessing the potential impacts of goods and services from an environmental perspective. From this viewpoint it can be taken that LCA can be applied to any kind of product or decision where environmental impacts are of concern. This in turn implies LCA can be applied by all the different stakeholders who are invested in a product or service including governmental, non-governmental and industries. While this dissertation cannot elaborate on all the opportunities open to LCA, focus will be placed on the following areas which are of particular interest to this study: The potential of LCA at multinational corporation level The potential of LCA for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) The potential of LCA at governmental level The potential of LCA for multinational enterprises Multinational companies face important strategic decisions that help establish the direction of their environmental performance. The decision whether to adopt a global standard or not is one such decision. While specific characteristics of multinationals make the application of LCA easier including; dedicated resources made available, separate departments responsible for implementation and co-ordination, development of internal databases and operating methodologies, and the ability to influence stakeholders, among others; there are equally other factors which present significant challenges including; diverse cultural approaches and consensus on methodologies including weighting across impact categories (Schmidt and Sullivan, 2002; Reap et al., 2008), and how to integrate LCA across the whole organisation as LCA in general tend to be reserved to environmental departments. The value which can be extracted by large corporations who adopt LCA tends to be in terms of material choice, tech nology choice, infrastructure and location choice, and product and process improvement. The potential of LCA for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) While the need for environmental practices have been widely accepted in SMEs, as can be seen through the widespread adoption of ISO 14001, the adoption of LCA has being met with less enthusiasm. This is largely to do with the fact most SMEs need to focus their available resources on establishing their position in the market and cant afford to extend resources to non essential activities. However, many small and medium enterprises are now seen the economic benefits that can be reaped from LCA implementation via simplified low cost approaches. Significant advantages can be gained in the RD stage of products via material swap outs, process improvements or benchmarking (Hunkeler, 2003). One could even go as far as to say that LCA can be useful to improve credit terms as it improves resource allocation and minimises the risk of resources being spent inappropriately. The tangible benefits with regard to environmental business policy include (Hunkeler et al., 2004): reduced operating cost, improved resource efficiency, improved relations with authorities, improve external image, improved credit terms and reduced overheads. It is also worth noting that the addition of LCA will add value for firms in their IPO (initial public offering) as it will be recognised that the company will be more likely to be sustainable with future environmental requirements. The potential of LCA at governmental level The pattern to which goods and services are produced and consumed is established and controlled via government regulated frameworks and conditions. LCA falls within the reams of sustainable development and is of key importance in addressing waste and emissions attributes of products and services. Government activities are ongoing in regards to LCA with supporting strategies becoming widespread. This has led to the development of several nationally managed databases along with new methodologies and tools. Government bodies, including the departments of environment, energy and defence etc., are now active in supporting LCA development via conducting case studies and making data available. Websites have been developed and product orientated environmental policy is evolving, none more so than in the European Union (EU). In its Communication on Integrated Product Policy (COM (2003)302), the European Commission concluded that Life Cycle Assessments provide the best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products currently available. There is an understanding within the EU for the need of life cycle thinking in stakeholder consultations and in policy implementation. There is an acknowledgment that information from LCA can support public policy making in eco-design criteria setting, such as contributing to performance targets within the Environmental Technology Action Plan (ETAP) and for energy-using products within the EuP Directive, in green public procurement (GPP), and in environmental product declarations (EPDs) (European commission, 2003). However, consideration has to be giving to the fact that LCA is only a decision supporting tool, and not a decision making tool. While advances aid its progression it is still limited with regards economic and social impacts, along with local environmental issues. As a result it can only be utilised in support of other tools to aid detection of potential improvement areas. Policies, Laws, Standards and Incentives Life-cycle analysis (LCA) is not a new phenomenon with scientists and manufacturers increasingly using it to expose opportunities to reduce environmental impacts of products and services, from cradle to grave. This has led to the rise of policies, legislation, standards and incentives in the race to control and maximise the potential of this rapidly expanding sector. Policies LCAs offer the opportunity to shift the traditional policy basis away from waste and resource amounts to one where the potential environmental impacts they cause is the focus and in so far as is feasible the related consequences to humans and the ecosystems is catered for. Laws While traditionally focus has been on reducing impacts of production processes, the responsibility is now being extended to manufacturers to reduce the impacts of products as well. This extension of manufacturers responsibility to cover the entire lifecycle of a product is known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The EC Sixth Environmental Action Programme Environment 2010 emphasises the importance of product policy which is also reflected in the Integrated Product Policy. Standards The International Organization for Standardization introduced the ISO 9000 series quality management standards in 1987. These were later followed in 1992 by various environmental standards known as the ISO 14000 series. These voluntary standards require verification by an external certification body to obtain the ISO certificate. In the ISO 14000 series there is a family of standards to choose from, so when you want to get environmentally certified you need to consider which best matches your requirements. The point of note in relation to the ISO 14000 series is that it is generic, meaning any business, regardless of size or sector can apply. The following provides a brisk overview from a European perspective of the main policies, laws and standards where the life-cycle approach is emphasised as an important element. Table : Overview of relevant policy, law and standards (Developed with data from European commission and Irish department of environment) Designation Class Foundation Title Subject matter Policy Framing policy 06/2008 Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan, (SCP) This communication sets out the measures to deliver more sustainable consumption and production, while improving the competitiveness of the European economy. It builds on several EU policies including the renewed Sustainable Development Strategy. The Community Lisbon Programme for 2008-2010 includes the promotion of an industrial policy geared towards more sustainable consumption and production as one of its major orientations (European commission, 2008). Framing policy 12/2005 EUs thematic strategy on the sustainable use of natural resources The objective is to reduce environmental impacts linked to resource use in a growing economy enabling sustainable development (European commission, 2005a). A review carried out by the Bio Intelligence Service in 2010 indicates the integration of key concepts conveyed by the resource strategies have had a positive but partial influence with the clear need for clear objectives and targets, and the establishment of data centre for natural resources being highlighted (Mudgal et al., 2010). Framing policy 12/2005 EUs thematic strategy on prevention and recycling of waste Describes a number of key objectives as part of an evolving EU policy on waste including; Prevent waste, Promote re-use, recycling and recovery; and Establish the European recycling society. The aim of this strategy is to reduce the negative impact on the environment that is caused by waste throughout its life-span, from production to disposal, via recycling. The objective is that every item of waste is seen not only as a source of pollution but also a potential resource to be exploited (European commission, 2005b). Framing policy 06/2003 Communication Integrated Product Policy (IPP) Aims to support the realisation of environmental product innovations in order to achieve a broad reduction of all environmental impacts along a products life cycle (Commission, 2001). Due to the nature of products, IPP cannot consist of a single general policy instrument, a variety of measures must be employed to achieve the IPP objective (In example standards or so-called soft environmental policy instruments such as activities regarding voluntary agreements or environmental labelling.) (Rehfeld et al., 2007). European Commission, Integrated Product Policy Communication (IPP), 2003 states LCA is the best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products, but the debate is ongoing about good practice with the European commission committing to; developing a handbook on best practice, Co-ordinating to make data more accessible and systematically collected, Regularly update directory of LCA databases, and develop a platform to facilitate communication and exchanges . All of the above commitments have or are in the process of being delivered. Specific instrument 2005 revised 2009 Eco-design directive Provides for improving the environmental performance of energy related products (ERPs) through ecodesign and prevents distinct national legislations on environmental performance becoming obstacles to the intra-EU trade. The ecodesign requirements must not lower the functionality of a product, its safety, or have a negative impact on its affordability or consumers health. The Directive is under the responsibility of DG Enterprise and Industry and DG Energy (European commission, 2012b). Specific instrument 2005 Energy-using products (EuP) Directive The main objective of the EuP Directive is to bring about improvements in energy efficiency throughout a products lifecycle, from cradle to grave. Its focuses on the design phase as it is considered that up to 80% of the environmental load of a product is fixed during design. EuP is a Framework Directive which outlines the legal context within which implementing measures will be developed and targeted at particular product groups (Premier Farnell, 2009). Specific instrument 1/2004 Environmental Technology Action Plan (ETAP) The plan covers a range of actions to promote eco-innovation and the take-up of environmental technologies including: promoting research and development, mobilising funds, helping to drive demand and improving market conditions. Information from LCAs can contributing to meeting performance targets within the Environmental Technology Action Plan (ETAP). In Ireland specific consideration will be given to projects that have the potential to address the three specific challenges identified in the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) State of the Environment Report 2004, namely: eutrophication of surface waters, meeting international commitments on air emissions and better management of waste (Department of the Environment, 2012a). Specific instrument 2008 Green public procurement (GPP) Defined in the Communication (COM (2008) 400) Public procurement for a better environment as a process whereby public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle when compared to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be procured. The EU committed to aiming to achieve by 2010 a proposed a target of 50% of all the EUs public procurement tendering procedures to be green. Although this target has not been met a recent report monitoring the uptake of GPP found 26% of the last contracts signed in the 2009-2010 period by public authorities in the EU included all core GPP criteria with 55% of these contracts having at least one EU core GPP criterion, showing that some form of green procurement is being done at a large scale (European commission, 2012c). In Ireland the GPP national action plan has been developed to make half the estimated à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬15 billion in public spendi ng to meet green procurement criteria (Department of the Environment, 2012b). Specific instrument 2002 and Under review Environmental product declarations (EPDs) Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are life-cycle based ecolabels that disclose the environmental performance of the product, similar to nutrition information labels. In France a law was passed in 2007 the Grenelle Environment which requires environmental product declarations for all mass produced consumer goods. 2012 has seen experiments begin to establish best practice to implement this law. The European Commission is following suit and has begun a program to develop guidance on environmental product declarations indicating this will be widespread shortly. Specific Instument 1992 Eco-labelling Is in general a voluntary scheme where producers, importers and retailers can choose to apply for the label for their products. Ecolabel criteria focus on the stage / stages with the highest environmental impact during a products life cycle. By the end of 2011, more than 1,300 licences had been awarded, and at present, more than 17,000 products have the EU Ecolabel. A licence gives permission to use the EU Ecolabel logo. (European commission, 2012d). Laws Legal requirement 2003 Restriction on the use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Adopted in 2003 by the European Union the directive took effect in 2006 becoming law in each member state. It restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of electronic and electrical equipment. It correlates with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC which is part of a legislative initiative to reduce toxic e-waste. Legal requirement 2002 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) The WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC is an EU Directive founded on the principle of Producer Responsibility and its general objectives are to prevent waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and to improve the environmental performance of all operators involved in the life cycle of such including producers, distributors and consumers (European commission, 2012e). Legal requirement 2000 End of Life Vehicles Directive 2000/53/ EC of the European Parliament on end of life vehicles was developed to limit or exclude the presence of dangerous substances including lead, cadmium, chromium IV and mercury in vehicles with the purpose of minimising their environmental impact. In 2006, the target for reuse and recovery was a minimum of 85% of the materials rising to 95% in 2015 with most major OEMs such as Ford, Honda etc on the way to meeting these targets. Legal requirement 1994 EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC This directive regulates the heavy metal content of, and recovery of any packaging put on the market. Implemented in Ireland through the Waste Management (Packaging) Regulations S.I. No. 61 of 2003 as amended by the Waste Management (Packaging) (Amendment) Regulations S.I. No. 871 of 2004. While it should be noted the directive is under review at European level, the legislation is now well developed in Ireland with waste recovery schemes like REPAK in place. Legal requirement 2007 Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) REACH came into force in 2007 with the aim to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, the promotion of alternative test methods, the free circulation of substances on the internal market and enhancing competitiveness and innovation (European commission, 2012f). Manufacturers have to register each substance, assess the risks it poses and pass on the safety information to downstream users. Legal requirement 2006 Batteries Directive Directive 2006/66/EC prohibits placing certain batteries and accumulators with mercury or cadmium content above a fixed threshold on the market and promotes a high rate of collection and recycling of waste batteries and accumulators. The aim is the reduction of hazardous substances (mercury, cadmium and lead) dumped in the environment (European commission, 2012g). Standards Voluntary 1997 revised 2000 and 2006 Life cycle assessment: ISO 14040/44 When concerned with the environmental impact of a new or existing product, it may well be beneficial to carryout a complete life cycle assessment. In such a case you would look to the ISO 14040 certificate. It evaluates the products LCA framework and is intended to make reliable and reusable assessments. It endeavours to provide a clear overview of the findings to stakeholders, including those who have limited knowledge of life cycle assessment. The specific requirements and guidelines for LCAs are in ISO 14044. Voluntary 2001 Environmental site assessment: ISO 14015 This International Standard provides guidance on how to conduct an Environmental assessment of sites and organizations (EASO) through a systematic process of identifying environmental aspects and environmental issues and determining, if appropriate, their business consequences. Voluntary ISO 14020 1998 rev 2000 ISO 14024 1999 ISO 14025 2000 rev 2006 Environmental product declaration (EPD), Labelling: ISO 14020/24/25 ISO 14020/24/25 will help you label your product. It includes quantified data which helps ensure environmental data published is of a certain quality. These product labels are built upon the Life Cycle Assessment which means the information generated is relevant, verified and comparable. Voluntary 1999 Environmental Performance Evaluation: ISO 14031 When you dont require a certificate and just want to measure your environmental performance, this document gives guidance on environmental performance evaluation. It provides management with reliable and verifiable information on an ongoing basis through its Plan-Do-Check-Act system (PCDA). Voluntary 2002 Integrating environmental aspects into product design and development: ISO 14062 Guidance standard providing generic instruction on how to incorporate environmental criteria into product design and development. It can act as a reminder or a checklist and is applicable to all industry sectors. Other industry sectors have developed similar standards including:- Standard ECMA 341, Environmental design considerations for electronic products developed by ECMA International. EN/BSI 13420:2000 Packaging Requirements for packaging recovery by material recycling. BS/EN 13193:2000 Packaging and the environment Terminology. Voluntary 2006 Impact on Climate Change: ISO 14064 ISO 14064-1:2006 facilitates quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reductions. It provides stakeholders with an integrated set of tools to achieve their objectives and it enables participation in emissions trading schemes using a globally recognised standard. Voluntary/ Under construction N/A Product Carbon Footprint: ISO 14067 Strives to standardize the maze of product carbon footprint approaches. Voluntary/ Under construction N/A Water Footprint: ISO 14046 Aims to establish harmonized metrics for water footprints. Other Voluntary 2008 GHG Protocol Product Standard This is a product life cycle accounting and reporting standard developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD). This standard is to a large extent in compliance with ISO 14040/44, except it is explicitly focused on greenhouse gas accounting.