What Does Social Class Mean - 875 Words

What does social class mean? Social class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. Now, what does hidden curriculum mean? Hidden Curriculum is a side effect of education, such as norms,values and beliefs in the classroom. Accordingly to Jean Anyon’s, author of â€Å"Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work† she claims that each and every social class has its very own different way to teaching schooling. Anyon states a plethora of strengths and weaknesses in this article. She believes that all children have been taught to learn, comprehend, and behavior in a variety due to the social class’s they have been thrown into. Anyon examined each social class which she called The Working Class, The Middle Class, The†¦show more content†¦A suburban home, with kind people walking their dogs daily. My father, I’d like to say was a great business man and my mother, was wonderful stay at home mom. Currently, my social and economic c lass has been exactly the same. Anyon’s first social class that she talk about is The Working Class, the lowest class of them all. This class often is a very crowded community, with their normal income being extremely low. Normally working for restaurants, assembly-lines, and being bartenders to name a few jobs. For example, restaurant workers only need to be trained for about a week or two to start working and beginning. To say the least, careers with basic thinking and common sense are need for the working class. This can play a huge role for the working class families, to be specific, their children. Just as the parents do, children also do little bit of thinking during school sessions and homework. Teachers a very simplistic during explaining assignments to the students. For example, a teacher will show the students how to do the problem and once the lesson is over with, she would tell them â€Å"What is 17 + 3? 20. Do you addition, we will begin subtraction next week.â €  No explanation was given, or even a discussion in the classroom. Teachers are not positive, but also not negative if that says much; also all control is in their hands. The next social class she called The Middle Class. This class contains families with children that have a good income and rich. Blue

New Media Audiences and Technologies Free Essays

string(170) " its huge army of volunteers and their simple type and publish weblog mechanisms, finally found its voice, and delivered in a way the established media simply could not\." Introduction and Aims New technologies are a poisoned chalice for newspaper journalists and their audiences: at once equipping journalists with the resources they need to compete in the 21st century but at the same time threatening their very survival and forcing newspaper insiders to contemplate what Robert Rosenthal, the former Managing Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, called: â€Å"the greatest upheaval our industry and the institution of journalism has ever faced† (Beckett 2008, p.9). I have chosen newspapers as the basis of my inquiry into new technologies because it is a medium which some have observed to be in terminal decline due to flat lining circulations (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 2010), merciless redundancies (Beckett 2008, p. We will write a custom essay sample on New Media Audiences and Technologies or any similar topic only for you Order Now 27) and of course the rise of online journalism and new technologies (Bardoel 1999, p.379), one aspect of which is User Generated Content such as Youtube or Twitter where the audience is both a user and a producer of content (Birdsall 2007, p.1284). Web 2.0 technology has forced many commentators to reassess the ways in which both audience and audiences are understood (Nightingale 2011, p.7). We currently live in a time when both print and online newspapers exist side-by-side and in some respects we have our feet in both the last remnants of the industrial wave of technology and what has been identified by some commentators as the â€Å"information society† (Toffler 1980). Two related aspects of the decline of newspapers is the rise of online journalism and the advent of citizen journalism enabled by new technologies and symbolized by the Korean online newspaper OhmyNews. The specific focus of the secondary research and this report is citizen-journalism and User Generated Content (UGC) and their effect on media audience theories with comparison to newspapers and the traditional models of audience research which describe common features: â€Å"vertical, top-down, passive, one-way flow of information† (Birdsall 2007, p.1284). UGC comes in many different forms of course and, although as pointed out above Web 2.0 has forced many commentators to reassess media au dience theory (Nightingale, 2010 p.7), there is a lack of scrutiny of citizen journalism in media audience theories. This report hopes principally to correct some of this imbalance. The aim of this report is consequently to understand whether the traditional understanding of the media audience applies to UGC and online journalism and if not, which theory can best be applied to them without falling foul of â€Å"technological determinism† (Bardoel 1999, p.386). The core structural components of audience theory, adopting the words of Nightingale (2011), can be distilled to firstly the active passive dimension and the micro-macro dimension. Both of these dialectics can explain UGC to a large extent and the work of both Nightingale (2011) and Jenkins (1999) will both be examined to see if new media and UGC can be located within present theories of audiences and indeed whether the term â€Å"audience† is still a useful term: will the death of newspapers also bring about the death of the traditional passive audience (Lievrouw Livingstone, 2006, p.27 Valdivia, 2005, p.353)? 2.0Context (a) Traditional audience theory and definitions It is Nightingale’s (2011) analysis of the two dimensions of audience theory which is adopted for the purpose of this report and have been described usefully by Littlejohn as firstly a tension between â€Å"the idea that the audience is a mass public versus the idea that it is a small community,† and the tension between â€Å"the idea that the audience is passive versus the belief that it is active† (1996, p.310). This dual framework is a useful starting point for understanding what is now commonly perceived to be the old model and the new interactive world of UGC (Nightingale 2011, p.191). The traditional model is recognized as being one-directional and it is McQuail who produces a classic definition: â€Å"the audience concept implies an attentive, receptive but relatively passive set of listeners or spectators assembled in a more or less public setting† (McQuail, 2010 p.391). When offering a definition for audience theories McQuail puts forward three cr iteria: people, medium or channel, the content of the message(s) and time (Ibid). McQuail himself concedes, however, that Nightingale’s definition is best suited to the new media environment and implicitly acknowledges that his own definition is becoming redundant in the face of diversity. Nightingale’s definition runs as follows and embraces audience interactions: â€Å"Audience as ‘the people assembled’†¦audience as the ‘people addressed’†¦audience as ‘happening’†¦audience as ‘hearing or audition’†. (Quoted from MacQuail 2011, p.399) (b) UGC and the decline of newspapers: According to Allan (2006) it was a speech made by media mogul Rupert Murdoch in 2005 which heralded the death of the newspaper, at least in its paper and ink format, in the irresistible current of new technology. As noted above there are many explanations for the demise of the print newspaper but chief among them are flat lining circulations (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 2010), merciless redundancies (Beckett 2008, p.27) and of course the rise of online journalism and new technologies (Bardoel 1999, p.379). User Generated Content (UGC) has, in the opinion of some, shifted the balance of power between consumer and the media by enabling the public to become more intimately involved with the process of deciding the content of news (Kucuka Krishnamurthy 2007). According to Redden Witschge (2011) however, there has been no such fundamental rebalancing to the consumer or even to the audience as ultimately it is the editor and the journalist who retains control. T his approach is echoed by the experience of OhmyNews in citizen journalism where editorial control is retained (Kim and Hamilton 2006 p. 542). According to Bevans (2008), UGC is any news related material produced by the public via the internet. UGC has enabled a very radical form of reporting to flourish: citizen journalism. This is a very new concept and as such there is a lack of analysis but the term first surfaced during the Indonesian tsunami and has grown rapidly ever since. Guardian blogger Neil Mcintosh saw this as a pivotal moment: â€Å"†¦ for those watching this small, comparatively insignificant world of media, this may also be remembered as a time when citizen reporting, through the force of its huge army of volunteers and their simple type and publish weblog mechanisms, finally found its voice, and delivered in a way the established media simply could not. You read "New Media Audiences and Technologies" in category "Essay examples"† (Guardian Unlimited News Blog, 4 January 2005). 3.0 Methodology I have focused on existing research and scholarship for this report and have drawn sources from the leading theorists in media audiences as well as those commentators who described the death of print newspapers and the advent of UGC and citizen journalism. I have drawn the sources widely from books, journals and websites. I chose this methodology because I felt that small-scale empirical research would be unsatisfactory in firstly giving any kind of indication of whether or not present theories of audiences can be applied to UGC which is absolutely crucial to the focus of this work. The conceptual difficulties behind adopting any kind of surveys or any kind of qualitative research would be manifest and would have to be conducted on a much larger scale than a report of 2,000 words can allow. Furthermore this particular issue is one which can only be understood with a comprehensive look at past scholarship on media audiences. As pointed out above many commentators shy away from technol ogical determinism in hailing a new epoch and so try to explain UGC in terms of existing audience theory. 4.0 Findings and Analysis I will present the findings and analyse UGC and citizen journalism from the two dimensions elicited above from Nightingale’s (2011) framework: (a) Active passive dimension The most obvious manifestation of this dialectic where the audience is deemed to be passive is media effects research which is concerned with the negative effects of media upon the consumer. Jones Jones (1999) use the example of War of the Worlds when a radio broadcast induced panic in a huge number of radio listeners who passively bore the message without, for example, questioning its meaning. On the flip side of the coin active audiences have been well documented with Robert Fisk arguing as early as 1987 that meaning is fluid and not fixed (1987, p.14). The uses and gratification theory, which focuses on what the audience do with the message itself, was articulated by Katz, Gumler and Gurevitch (1974) and also falls under the umbrella of an active audience as classically understood. Nightingale notes that the significance of this research is not just the emphasis but the reversal of the sender-message-receiver model (1996, p.8). But what place do interaction and participation haveNightingale argues that both of these signifiers of UGC are underneath the active audience aspect with the latter encompassing participation both â€Å"in† and â€Å"through† the media. Mass media are traditionally seen, by contrast to new media, as being good for representation but terrible for participation (Peters 1993, p.566). The participation of non-professionals in the production of media output and decision making comes under the â€Å"in† of Nightingale’s model while broader issues such as self-representation in public spheres come under the â€Å"through† aspect. This latter aspect is very much a part of the Habermassian public sphere: â€Å"a network for communicating information and points of view† (Habermas 1996, p.360). The â€Å"public sphere† is where the mutual clash of arguments lends validity to democracy and importantly the web 2.0 and UGC has created an army of pr oducers who both use and create and are, in the words of Friedman, â€Å"empowered† (2005, p.9). The implication of this empowerment in a virtual space which is governed by no one nation or company is profound for audience research: â€Å"The result is that participatory media technologies that allow for the creation and distribution of user-generated content overturn traditional notions of all-powerful news media that define and restrict a largely passive audience. In other words, traditional power dynamics that separate sender and receiver are shifting and blurring.† (Anthony Thomas 2010, p.1283). (b) Micro-macro dimension This dimension, described by the tension between a mass public and a small community (Littlejohn 1996), a micro dimension and a macro dimension, has many constituent parts to it but what is consistent is that the old mass media thinking which has the audience as an unreconstructed mass is redundant when considering new media and its highly interrelated small communities, each with their own â€Å"values, ideas and interests† (1996, p.311). The model, represented by a triangle and first created by Bardoel (1995), has a so-called â€Å"meso-level† in the middle which, according to Nightingale (2011, p.197) is very rare and leads to â€Å"a definition of the audience as an organized audience†. Labour Unions, cultural groups and political parties are all within this â€Å"meso-level† of organization while at the top there resides the traditional mass media and at the bottom the new forms of interactive communication technology (Bardoel 1999, p.386). (c) Analysis It is clear that UGC and citizen journalism can be located within these traditional theories and it is not necessary to fall, in the words of Bardoel (1999, 385), into the trap of technological determinism. This is backed up by Redden Witschge (2011) who assert that the balance of power has not shifted fundamentally towards the consumer or the audience and finds resonance with Nightingale who also argues that UGC can be located without problem within existing audience theory: â€Å"If we look at the passive-active dimension of audience theory, it is hardly a surprising conclusion that UGC remains very well embedded within this debate† (2011, p.204). As we have seen the active strand hides the participation and interaction which is the hallmark of UGC and it is possible even to see that passive elements hidden in UGC such as those who simply spectate (ibid p.205). Regarding the second dimension it is also no surprise that UGC can fall within its boundaries. Nightingale (2011) uses the concept of blogging to highlight the fact that the blogosphere is considered to be a community. Further analogies can be drawn with, for example, the â€Å"facebook community† (Guardian website, 2011). Can the same be said of citizen journalismThere is certainly a community of citizen journalists but going too far and saying that such â€Å"journalists† are completely active in formulating the stories is illusory as journalists, even at OhmyNews, still retain ultimate control over the process as gatekeepers (Kim and Hamilton 2006 p. 542). Conclusions (a) Main Conclusions In conclusion it is premature to say that UGC has ignited a new communication revolution: traditional theories of audience research are able to fit new media under their wing and this suggests that the new relationships will not replace older communications relationships but add to them albeit resulting in a more crowded spectrum. Citizen journalism is a rational extension of UGC but to say it truly empowers citizens is illusory as journalists retain ultimate control. Although traditional print media is in decline it is by no means certain that citizen journalism will replace it but rather complement it: the death of newspapers has been exaggerated. (b) Gaps in the research There is currently a significant lack of research concerning UGC and a lack of understanding of citizen journalism. Ideally future research would interview members of these communities to establish how truly independent and participative they are to establish where they are on Bardoel’s pyramid (1995). The term â€Å"audience† is redundant. A more convincing etymology needs to be divined in order to move forward. As Lieuvrow notes the term is too broad, too individualistic and too material (p.8). UGC and citizen journalism are still in their infancy and so future research should wait until they are both established in society. Bibliography Books (1) Allan, Stuart (2006) Online News Berkshire Open University Press (2) Atton and Hamilton (2008) Alternative Journalism London SAGE (3) Bardoel (1999) ‘Beyond Journalism’ in Tumber, Howard (ed) News: A Reader Oxford uni press: worldwide (5) Beckett, Charlie (2008) SuperMedia: saving journalism so it can save the world Blackwell (7) Fiske, John (1987) ‘British Cultural Studies and Television’ in Allen, Robert (ed) Channels of Discourse chapel hill: University of Carolina press (8) Friedman (2005) The World is Flat Farrar, Strauss and Giroux: worldwide (9) Habermas, Jurgen (1996) Between Facts and Norms Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (10) Jenkins, H. (1999) ‘The Work of Theory in the Age of Digital Transformation’ In T. Miller and R. Stam (eds.), A Companion to Film Theory. London: Blackwell, 234-261. (11) Jones Jones (1999) Mass Media Macmillan (12) Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., Gurevitch, M. (1974). Ulilization of mass communication by the individual. In J. G. Blumler, E. Katz (Eds.), The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research (pp. 19–32). Beverly Hills: Sage (13) Kucuka Krishnamurthy (2007) ‘An analysis of consumer power on the. Internet’ Technovation issue 27 pp47- 56. (14) Lievrouw Livingstone (2006) Handbook of New Media Sage: London, California New Delhi (15) Littlejohn, S. W. (1996). Theories of human communication, New York: Wadsworth. (16) McQuail (2010) 6th ed Mass Communication Theory Sage (18) Redden Witschge (2010) ‘A New News Order?’ in Fenton, Natalie (ed) New Media, Old News Sage: London, California, New Delhi (19) Toffler, Alvin (1980) The Third Wave Bantam Books USA (20) Valdivia (2005) A Companion to Media Studies Blackwell: USA, UK Australia Journals (21) Antony and Thomas (2010) ‘This is Citizen Journalism at its finest’ in New Media Society issue 12 p.1280 (22) Birdsall, William F. (2007) ‘Web 2.0 as a Social Movement’ in Webology, Volume 4, Number 2, June, 2007 (23) Hamilton, James W and Kim, Eun-Gyoo , (2006) ‘Capitulation to capitalOhmyNews as alernative media’ in Media Culture Society Volume 28, Number 4, July 2006 pp 551-560 (24) Peters, J.D (1993) ‘Distrust of Representation: Habermas on the Public Sphere’ in Media, Culture and Society issue 15(4) pp 541-71 Websites (25) OECD report on â€Å"the future of news and the internet† viewed on 13 December 2010 and available at: http://www.oecd.org/document/48/0,3343,en_2649_33703_45449136_1_1_1_1,00.html (26) Mcintosh, Neil Guardian Unlimited News Blog, 4 January 2005 retrieved on 1st February 2011 and available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2005/jan/04/blogsnewplace How to cite New Media Audiences and Technologies, Essay examples

Critical Evaluation of Activity Based Costing

Question: Discuss about the Critical Evaluation of Activity Based Costing. Answer: Introduction In this paper, the researcher investigates and presents an in-depth critical evaluation of the use of Activity Based Costing (ABC) in modern manufacturing organizations in the Asia Pacific region while giving relevant citations on real life instances to back up the arguments. The main focus is not on the merits and demerits of Activity Based Costing neither is it about calculating product costs nor its utilization nor what is used for but rather delves deeper into showcasing the experiences that actual organizations in Asia Pacific region utilizing or attempting to employ Activity Based Costing have alongside its impacts on these companies (Cobb, Innes Mitchell, 2012). This article presents 2 case studies on the ABC. The first case is specialty chemicals firm located in Hong Kong. The second case is ABCs adoption in Xu Ji Electric Co. Ltd. These two case studies deliberate the ushering of ABC system along with the benefits as well as the glitches experienced at the implementation point per Company. Anchored on these experiences, factors critical to successful ABCs implementation are defined. Manufacturing firms currently remain extremely complex compared to the 1960s and previous years. Managers of manufacturing firms need information that is relevant, accurate as well as readily available. Information is required for the formulation and operationalization of functional strategies as well as decide on product mix besides costs of production (Cooper, 2013). Despite systems of production being altered to accomplish the altering needs of the market, in several organizations, the interior management accounting schemes as well as information systems stayed unaltered. Both Accountants and Managers have increasingly become dissatisfied with conventional costing thereby expressing concerns regarding their suitability in the contemporary manufacturing surrounding. ABC has evolved as the option to conventional costing system. ABC system varies from initial conventional costing based on the systems treatment of non-volume linked to costs of overhead by using activities that drive overhead cost for both production cost as well as process control. It remains anticipated that the two firms experiences explained in the article offer valuable lessons for the management weighing options to embrace ABC systems. Case Study One: Ciba Specialty Chemicals This is a principal chemicals manufacturer and remains part of the freshly designed global life science cohort Novartis established in 1996 from the merger amongst Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz (pharmaceutical company). The case study circumvents Ciba Additives Hong Kong (CAHK) that is portion of the Additives Division of Ciba Specialty Chemicals. The cost of operation alongside expenses remained initially allocated based on shared allocation premises (sales value as well as volumes). Ciba had initially tested with ABC systems in additional divisions thereby learning certain significant lessons. HR support, availability of time of project champion, support of top management, benefit-cost analysis, comprehensive planning of project, and partaking of user along with outside proficiency had already been acknowledged as essential triumph variables. When CAHK was considering ABC adoption, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University was ushering a study project emphasizing on Manufacturing Information Systems. It followed a collaboration of academia, government and industry to develop as well as embrace new-fangled manufacturing information systems in domestic businesses and create such sources sites for upcoming projects. Problems Encountered During Implementation The critical staff engaged in ABC system project remained sometimes underneath substantial gravity because they stayed as well engaged in various other key structural alterations undertaken within the CAHK. Thus, availability of time remained a problematic. It is acknowledged that permanent obtainability of essential individuals remains a necessity to ABCs implementation achievement. There remained also certain confrontation from a good amount of workforce memberships. This could have emerged from entire structural along with managerial alterations which were ongoing at the period of ABC project as well as to certain degree the indecision in the upcoming years. The sustenance alongside the engagement of top management remained energetic in overwhelming confrontation as well as distress amidst certain workers. Benefits of ABC system at CAHK The implementation of ABC project adopted at CAHK provided additional accurate costs allowing managers to analyze healthier customer base as well as offered healthier services. The system further empowered CAHK to endorse increasingly fittingly pertinent product lines besides making effective commercial decisions, especially those linked to subcontracting. Following the adoption of ABC systems besides collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, CAHK has established several capabilities. These included superior expertise in project planning, effective leadership as well as managerial expertise amidst its staff, aptitude to study self-possessed, learning to stay enduring as well as erudition to delegate duties as well as trust others to become accountable. CAHK is presently expanding the ABC scheme to capture its manufacturing regions that is being created in Southern China. The Hong Kong ABC adoption knowledge has given the CAHK a lesson to comprehend the various culture which exists in China and also assimilate the various values which respective part of the firm holds. Open communication, admiration for the individuals, education, team working, career development and training remain unconditionally critical whereas personal or professional development is essential in establishing a pleasant-sounding working condition. Xu Ji Electric Co. Ltd. is an enormous Chinese manufacturing organization. It was initially a state-owned enterprise (SOE) but future twisted to public limited company (PLC). The organization steered ABC in 1 of its core production divisions in 2001 December at the time ideas of ABC stayed at a theoretic degree in China. The company began from a self-same primary degree, construction of financial accounting systems as well as office automation before ABC scheme implementation that covered direct cost as well as variable manufacturing overheads prior to processing. The core accomplishment of the companys 10 year ABC implementation remained the fact that ABC altered drastically the SOE, curved PLCs outdated costing systems and ushered standardization in respective working rehearses as well as processes. The ABC system further served as a catalyst to the companys Information Technology (IT) developments-1st accounting and office computerization and 2nd the implementation of ERP. One distinguished characteristic of this Companys ABC experience remained the top-down instigation as well as enthusiasm of attempting innovative notion along with induction of corporate-vast learning. Whereas such a top-down strategy remains unpopular in west, it remains relatively conjoint amidst SOE, especially in northern portion of China. The method functioned effectively in Xu Ji, permitting it to shift swiftly from reproducing western notions to the development of Xu Jis own. It independently developed Relays ABC system- as well as make informed decision based on the analysis of sales activity. Before ABCs implementation in Xu Jis first production division, the Company employed traditional Chinese state-enterprise accounting system that encompassed an enormous amount of manual book keeping work. The external financial reporting purpose predominantly drove the accounting leading to inevitable inaccuracy of product costs. Xu Ji, at this point, underwent a sequence of flotations arising from the introduction of free market competition by China. The old-style costing information inaccuracies extremely obstructed the ability of Xu Ji to contest on pricing. The Company swiftly needed a healthier costing scheme thereby commissioning ABC application (Drury, 2015). The ABC project was tasked with tracing direct labour costs straightly to product as well as clients contracts as well as to allocate manufacturing overheads based on up-to-date direct hours of labor to agreements. Xu Ji successfully implemented ABC system in 2003 following solutions to certain teething glitches. These problems entailed information systems compatibility and misinterpretation of the concept of ABC. Xu Ji also implemented ABC system in sales division though faced resistance during the stage of mapping exercise and analysis of activities (Innes Mitchell, 2012). The resistance was in part because of inherited idea that sales companies remained extremely observed by executive management as the bread-winner. The respective sales management and workforce saw ABCs workout as a threat to their self-sufficient status, even though they remained portion of Xu Ji. Moreover, non-standardized practices implied that the mentioned projected noticeable costs remained unachievable. There was also implicit as well as complex association between sales activities alongside efforts (expenses) besides winning contracts (sales). Conclusion In summary, the article has described the implementation of activity on the basis of two manufacturing organizations. It is evident from review of literature and the 2 case scenarios provided in the above discussion that ABC provides significant welfares over conservative accounting systems; nonetheless, it has a fairly low adoption amidst organizations. Several of the glitches along with complications linked to the introduction of ABC system relate to managerial elements instead of technical elements of the ABC system (Corrigan, 2014). It is self-evident that ABC systems can work more efficiently in fairly sturdy atmosphere even though might not work effectively in fluctuating atmosphere. Moreover, major organizational events encompassing acquisition as well as ERP implementation, may have substantial impacts on the commitment of management to develop the ABC system thereby negatively affecting the utilization of information provided by ABC (Chung et al., 2013). Xu Jis observed ABC systems remained inconspicuous, because they only spoke to direct costs along with variable manufacturing overheads. The ABC implementation have complete noticeable development and permitted them to acquire certain correct product cost info provided Xu Jis old-style costing scheme remained unable to directly match direct labor cost to products (Chenhall Langfield-Smith, 2011). The Xu Jis analysis of sales activity remained a good trial since ABC information permitted the Companys top management to comprehend sales activities effectively. Such trials remained significant as they noticeable the start of ABC system being employed as an instrument for management to allow executive management to exercise increased knowledgeable control over sales expenses as well as sales businesses. References Chenhall, R.H. Langfield-Smith, K. (2011), "Adoption and benefits of management accounting practices: an Australian study", Department of Accounting and Finance, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia, unpublished paper. Chung, W.W.C., Lee, W.B., Chik, S.K.O. (2013), "Technology transfer at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University", Proceedings of the 13th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science, Vol. III pp.96-105. Cobb, I., Innes, J., Mitchell, F. (2012), Activity Based Costing - Problems in Practice, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London. Cooper, R. (2013), "The rise of activity based costing - part one; what is an activity based cost system", Journal of Cost Management, pp.45-54. Corrigan, J. (2014), "ABC not easy in Australia: survey", Australian Accountant, pp.51-2. Drury, C. (2015), "Product costing in the 1990s", Accountancy, pp.122-6. Innes, J. Mitchell, F. (2011), Activity Based Costing Management: A Case Study of Development and Implementation, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London. Innes, J., Mitchell, F. (2012), Activity Based Costing: A Review with Case Studies, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London,

Midsummer Nights Dream Essays (1259 words) - Fiction, Literature

Midsummer Night's Dream The Elements of Fantasy vs. Reality The elements of fantasy in a Midsummer Night's Dream are apparent throughout the movie and there are many examples of this that relate to the real world. In the play the fantasy world and real world exist apart from each other, never meeting at any point. The inhabitants of the fairy world are unreal in the sense that they lack feelings and intelligence. The dream world, beyond mortal's comprehension, strongly influences the entire realm of ordinary life. By nature of their humanity, Oberon's power causes vulnerability in the human world. This fairy kingdom is essentially a dream, which appears whenever reason goes to sleep, and during this time Oberon controls all things. Such illusions and dreams, created by Oberon, can be dangerous if they block out human's perception of reality. As the play proves, these dreams perform an important function in life. The fairies never think and love, which explains all of the deceit and odd events that go on during the play. This is acceptable in their world, because all the laws that govern the world of reality have no existence in the dream world. The lover's fall between these two worlds and are affected by both. The fairies make fools of the lovers, because humans are not accustomed to the fairy's realm. In the real world, Hermia is sensible and Lysander is reasonable. They want to be together even against Egeus' commands, which is reasonable thinking. As soon as the two are alone, imagination takes control of them and they are blinded as to the misfortunes that are bound to cross the course of true love. This causes them to run away. Shakespeare's imagination is vast enough to house fairy realms and the world of reality, including all the peculiar manifestations of either place. Also the ability to describe the separate and often quite dissimilar regions of the play's universe by drawing on the rich resources of poetry. The words moon and water dominate the poetry of the play. Four happy days bring in another moon: but, O, me thinks, how slow. This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires. As a result of their enormous allusive potential, these images engender am entire network of interlocking symbols that greatly enrich the text. The moon, water, and wet flowers conspire to extend the world of the play until it is as large as all imaginable life. The mood and water also explain the play's mystery and naturality. The pattern of the play is controlled and ordered by a series of vital contrasts: the conflict of the sleeping and waking states, the interchange of reality and illusion, reason and imagination, and the disparate spheres of the influence of Theseus and Oberon. All is related to the portrayal of the dream state. In this dramatic world where dreams are a reliable source of vision and insight, consistently truer than reality, they seek to interpret and transform. The imagery establishes the dream world in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The night creates a mysterious mood. At night, the fairy realm takes control. These fairies are brainless and deceitful, which leads to controversy between the mortals. The two worlds, united by moonlight, are active during their respectable times of the day. In the play, the fairy world is dominant, because there is only one scene containing daylight. In Bierce's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge there is a lot of absurd dream logic at the end of the story both in Fahrquhar's reflections and his situation: the noose about his neck was already suffocating him and kept the water from his lungs, and so is some kind of protection. This ignores the other effect of strangulation. The description Whenever I see a literary classic turned into a movie with its author's name as part of the already well-known title, I regard it as a danger sign. Remember Bram Stoker's Dracula, Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and the overextended music video known as William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet? Given the less-than-likely prospect of anyone supposing that Dracula, Anna Karenina, and Romeo and Juliet might be written by anyone but their respective illustrious authors, the tacking on of their names seems

The Taming of the Shrew Essay Example

The Taming of the Shrew Essay Example The Taming of the Shrew Paper The Taming of the Shrew Paper Essay Topic: The Taming Of the Shrew In this essay I will thoroughly discuss the treatment of women in the film The Taming of the Shrew. I would have to say that my first impression of women in this film was that they where treated very harshly compared to men, they where treated like mens possessions; like slaves basically. They would have no money and also they were not allowed to decide who they wanted to marry, it was their fathers decision. Compared to men, they where the superior people. They ordered women and treated them like slaves. However, after a close analysis of Kates final speech my opinions changed dramatically towards the treatment of women in The Taming of the shrew. I think this because Kate in her final speech changes vividly as she lectures all the women how to treat their husbands. I will go through thorough analysis of Kates final speech later in this essay. In Elizabethan times, men were considered to be the leaders and women their inferiors. Women were also regarded as the weaker sex, not just in terms of physical strength, but emotionally too. Furthermore, it was understood that women always needed someone to look after them. For example, if a woman was married then her husband would be excepted to look after her but if she was single, then her father or brother was expected to take care of her. Women were also not allowed to go through many professions i.e. medicine, law and politics, but they were allowed to work as maids or they could work in domestic service as cooks. Moreover, a good women in Elizabethan times was described as virgin, patient, gentle and quiet. A good women was also virtuous, pretty, shy, holy and had respect for her husband. However, a bad women was considered to be annoying, loud, excessive and ugly. A bad women would also be on that talks too much, one that is unholy, promiscuous and had no respect for her husband. Bad women where often described as the cabinet of horror, scream of an owl or the claw of a crocodile. A good example of this would be Kate in the start of this story. Shakespeare shows how women were mistreated in the scenes. For example, in Act 1 Scene 2, Petruchio explains that hes only in Padua to find a wealthy wife. He doesnt care what shes like, or who she is, as long as she has money. This shows us that men only wanted women for their wealth but not for their personality. This also gives us the impression that when men marry a wealthy women they would not really take care of her, they would only care about the money. This also hints out that women were treated as slaves. Furthermore, in Act 3 Scene 2, Petruchio shows up to the wedding late and in scruffy clothes to embarrass Katherina and which makes her extremely upset. She gets even more upset when he forces and tells her to leave the reception early to go back to his house. There was a storm during their journey home and Kate falls in the mud but Petruchio didnt help her at all. This proves to us that again women where mistreated in Elizabethan times. Another example would be in, Act 1 Scene 1; Baptista declares that his youngest daughter may not be wooed until his eldest daughter finds a husband. This shows that women were dominated by the men in their life, and had no control over who they could marry. Similarly, in Act 2 Scene 1, Gremio and Tranio meet with Baptista to try to buy Bianca. Each man lists his wealth and titles, and the man with the most money gets to marry Bianca. However, I think that Shakespeare was pointing out that such poor treatment of women is a bad thing, because he portrays Baptista, Gremio and even Tranio as being selfish or callous. He also makes reference to the fact that a man must win a womans love, rather than just her dowry, in order to have a true marriage. Therefore, Shakespeare is portraying women in a positive light by criticizing their poor treatment. On the same note, Shakespeare portrays women in a positive light by showing how a women can change another womans mind into making her respect her husband. For example, in Act 3 Scene 5, Kate speaks up for herself, and for women everywhere, saying that she has a voice. I think this show women in a positive manner because Kate gives a long speech advocating the loyalty of wives to their husbands. When the three new husbands stage a contest to see which of their wives will obey first when summoned, everyone expects Lucentio to win. Bianca, however, sends a message back refusing to obey, while Katherina comes immediately. So this shows that Kate had accepted the society view of how a woman should behave, and that she had also changed dramatically from being a Shrew to a patient, gentle and quiet person. The opening lines of Kates speech inform women to respect their husbands, then she continues by saying And dart not scornful glances from those eyes, to wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor. Here, Katherina is trying to illustrate to the women that they should not give hateful glances from their eyes, and also not to harm the lord, the king, the governor. Furthermore, as the speech goes on Kate clarifies that women are generally upset by there men because of their treatment and that the women have feelings of how they are taken care of and are very saddened about that. The relationship between men and women is terrible because men are classed as superior and women as the weaker sex.

Canon- means a closed list of writings that are c Essays

Canon- means "a closed list of writings that are considered sacred scripture and hence authoritative." Torah- Torah (Law) Neviim-prophets Kethtuvim-writings Tanakh- previous 3 acronym Pentateuch Canonization- process of creating a canon of literature Criteria for canonization- Written before the fourth century BCE Written in Hebrew (with a few exceptions) Extent of use Use for worship/festival Biblical inerrancy- the doctrinal position that the scriptures are completely accurate and totally free of error in the original manuscripts Biblical infallibility- the belief that what the Bible says regarding matters of faith and Christian practice are wholly useful and true. Views of inspiration Mechanical Dictation Plenary Verbal Illumination Dynamic Multi-methodological Inclusivity of the text Septuagint- an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament Textual criticism- "a methodology for deciding which wording should be followed in cases where the copies disagree" Types of variants Mistakes: misseen or misheard word; skipped a phrase; repeated a phrase etc. Intentional changes: trying to improve a text or reading Cultural changes Theological changes Sense changes Critical text- collection of all of the differences between manuscript copies of any text and the publication of all significant ones Translation- the process of translating words or text from one language into another Source language- original language which is being translated Target language- a language into which test is being translated Formal Equivalence- word for word Dynamic Equivalence- sense for sense" Historical Criticism- interpreting a text by trying to understand its original setting and audience Source Criticism- effort to discover the sources or documents behind a text behind a text and to explore how the sources were combined into larger units Form Criticism- pays particular attention to a text's genre and structure with an eye to the historical setting out of which it arose Redaction Criticism- study of how already existing textual units -narratives of incidents, laws proverbs , or other isolatable pieces (through using Source Criticism) were combined into larger texts by the activities of editors, called "redactors" Reader Response Criticism- analyzes a text by looking at the relationship between the text and its reader including the clues within the text that guide the reader in drawing meaning from it Literary Criticism- borrows literary critical approaches and applies them to the biblical text Torah- : Hebrew, "instruction" JEDP theory J (Yahwist, J from German Jahwe or Yahweh) E (Elohist from Elohim) D (Deuteronomist) P (Priestly) Primeval History- Chapters 1-11: Deals with material from the creation of the world up to the call of Abram in chapter 12 Ancestral History- Chapters 12-50: Begins with the calling of Abram to leave Ur in chapter 12 and relates the stories of the generations after Abraham Toledot- - serves to link together various parts of the text "each of which guides the reader to the major focus of the next section Genesis- derives from the greek word for "origin" or "birth," taken from the Septuagint Bereshit- 1st word in Genesis and the name of the book in the Hebrew text, means "in the beginning" or "when beginning" Exegesis- Greek "lead into" the explanation or interpretation of the meaning of a written text; Imago Dei0- (a) Mans is to be a representative of God on earth (b) man is to be a reflection of God on earth. Abraham Isaac Jacob A. Encounter between Jacob/Esau (25: 21-34; 27) B. Encounter with God and departure from home (28) C. Acquisition of wives, Leah and Rachel (29:1-30) D. Fertility: The birth of Jacob's children (29:31-30:24) D. Fertility: the growth of Jacobs's flock (30: 25-43) C.' Jacob's removal of his wives from their father's household (31: 1-32: 1) B.' Encounter with God on return home (32:22-32) A.' Reunion encounter between Jacob and Esau (33: 1-33: 17) Rebekah Israel Sarahh Binding of Isaac . Prologue (11.28-30) B. First Challenge: call for Abraham to leave family of origin (12:1-3) C. Wife-sister story (12:10-13:1) D. Separation from Lot (13:2-18) E. Covenant of pieces with Abraham (14-15) F. Hagar-Ishmael Story (16:1-14) E.' Covenant of Circumcision with Abraham D.'Hospitality/progeny episodes; Abraham contrasted with Lot (18-19) C.' Wife-sister story (20) B.' Final Challenge: Calls for Abraham to let go of Gamily of future (21:8-21; 22:1-19) A.' Epilogue 22: 20-24 Structure of Genesis 1 Sabbath Etiology- an explanation for a name, and event, a custom or ritual, or a natural phenomenon. An etiological story is one that posits a particular cause (not necessarily correctly) for something Themes in Creation Genesis Ezer Kenegdo Adam/Adamah Boundary Corruption Progressive Corruption Anthropomorphic Cain Abel Seth Covenant Noachide Covenant Themes in Gen. 1-11 Abrahamic Covenant 1. I will make you a great nation (v 2) 2. I will bless you and make your name great (v. 2) 3. Bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you (v. 3) 4. In you all of the families of the earth

Predatory Practices in financial borrowing and lending contracts Research Paper

Predatory Practices in financial borrowing and lending contracts - Research Paper Example Predatory Practices in financial borrowing and lending contracts The following are some of the characteristics of predatory practices in money lending. First, those targeted are chiefly the low income people and the elderly in society. Second, the loans’ costs and terms often change at the closing and differ greatly from what they were at the beginning or what was agreed. Predatory practices are also often accompanied by aggressive sale approaches. There are also repeated re-financing options after a short time lapse so that lenders end up collecting addition fee or penalties, consequently denying borrowers such as home owners the equities from their security. Notably, in most of predatory lending practices, the lending is not often in line with the borrower’s capacity to repay since the lender’s center of attention is often the foreclosure. In addition, the vulnerable borrower is always unaware of the underlying truths of the truth, terms, conditions, and consequences of the deal (â€Å"Predatory Lending† 4). That is, there is always quite a lot of misunderstanding about the nature of loan and the amount to be repaid since such transactions has high but hidden fees that could be hidden from the borrower’s eyes. The borrowers are often tricked by the aggressive sales. Most affected in this regard are uninformed groups, which end up borrowing under unfair loan terms. Due to the harmful effects of such loans to society, the government has numerous remedies in form of laws and regulations. These remedies include the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Others are the Fair Housing Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act, and Special State Anti-predatory Lending Statutes, in State Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Acts, and common law fraud and unconscionability. This paper explores some of the predatory practices in lending, pointing out and explaini ng the parties’ responsibilities. Predatory Practices Predatory lending practices are not only unfair but also fraudulent and deceptive. In other terms, predatory lending entails the imposition of abusive and unfair terms on loans for borrowers. In fact, the phrase ‘predatory lending† generally refers to many specific illegal activities in the loan sector. Nonetheless, different states have various laws against each specific type of illegal loan activity. Notice should be taken about the distinction between predatory lending and predatory mortgage servicing. The latter refers to the deceptive, fraudulent, and unjust practices of lenders and servicing agents in loan or mortgage servicing processes. Unlike predatory lending, this latter activity takes place post loan origination. An example of a predatory practice is that of a lender deceptively convincing a potential borrower to accept an unfair and abusive loan term (Nasiripour 122). Second, a lender may methodica lly breach the terms so that the borrower finds it hard to defend against it (Aleo and Svirsky 119). These predatory practices may be done through certain types of  credit cards, largely  subprime, payday loans, and overdraft loans. In all these cases, the lender may set the interest rates at considerably and unreasonably high levels. Mostly targeted by predatory loan lenders are borrowers with some collateral to back their loan requests. This collateral could be a car or a house, which the

Technological Developments In The Next 20 Years Research Paper

Technological Developments In The Next 20 Years - Research Paper Example The internet is one of the technological developments that will definitely change our lives over the next 20 or so years. The technology which acts as a platform for us to carry out a vast number of activities including social networking, shopping, banking and lest we forget the variant databases that we can access anywhere on the face of the globe. Online statistics from the internet live stats show that an estimated 3billion people use the internet (Internet Live Stats 1). That is a staggering 40% of the world’s population. However, this number is continuously rising, and it will keep doing so because more and more people are getting to learn how to use it and are discovering more uses for the technology. Many developed nations are already way ahead of the use and application of this technology, but the rest of the third world and developing nations are still at their infancy stage. A developing nation such as South Africa instance has seen its universities and colleges equi pped with facilities, which will allow students to be able to carry out academic activities online. Obviously, this was long incorporated to the American education system but back in Kenya, they are just getting to grips with the internet as an academic tool (Jones 34). This means that the internet is going to change greatly the lives of people over there. Other than academic purposes, the internet will continually change lives in the near future due to the various purposes it plays such as research.

Understanding Terrorism Essay Example for Free

Understanding Terrorism Essay The type of funding’s they used in the dirty war was, committing little petty crimes or credit card frauds. They used radiation and dirty bombs to create the explosions. The assets they used where from all over the country, they hid the material in vegetable oil. The Tactics they used to deceive the law enforcements were just to live a normal life. None of them had a criminal past, they were normal citizens in the laws eyes. The terrorist used a lot of phone cards. That’s how the police started catching on to what they were doing. The failures that the law enforcements had were they wasn’t ready for such a disaster. It also took them along time to catch on to what was happening right in front of their eyes. The general public couldn’t have stopped the attack no way possible. Other than telling the police that there was suspicious activity happening in their area, they could have been no help. Finally the law enforcements started putting clues together about the phone cards, the oil from the restaurant that was carrying the dirty bomb material in side. They were slightly too late for the first bomb but they caught the other two right in time. The part I didn’t understand is that all 3groups didn’t work together but they were going to detonate at the same time. I found that strange. The motive I saw from the movie was that it was religious purposes.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the DSM-IV Classification System for Di

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the DSM-IV Classification System for Diagnosing Psychopathology Introduction: DSM-IV as a system of diagnosis has been criticised on its very foundation that far from improving the clinical practice it claims to have prioritised. To assess its strengths and weaknesses, the essay critically examined the purpose of DSM-IV and how its practice and techniques have been practically found useful. As in the definition offered by Allen (1998) the concept stands for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition. As a system, Allen (1998) added that, it ‘details the diagnostic criteria for nearly 300 mental disorders and nearly 100 other psychological conditions’. Stressing its strengths, many studies highlighted on its research focus that its authors have over-concentrated on its reliability which further led to its criticism. This criticism among other thing include the neglect some of the issues concerning clinicians, lack of precision in of its criteria, and bias that emanate from the technique that predetermine the patients di sorders. The essay, however, have survey literature based on the various issues raised as to its weakness and how these weakness to be overcome. Given the last points, comparative studies conducted on improvement measures to the clinical practices are examined. There are considerable issues to highlight in evaluating strengths and limitations of using DSM-IV as a method for diagnosing psychopathology. These are its emphasis on reliability and validity of it diagnostic criteria and classification methods and techniques. The strengths and limitations in the application of DSM-IV, as could be observed, depend on the technique and the purposes th... ...tent/full/156/11/1677 [accessed on 24th/11/2010] Ronald, C (2006), ‘Clinical calibrations of DSM-IV Diagnoses in the World Mental Health (WMH) Version of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI)’. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, Vol. 13/2. Samuel, D. B. and Widiger, T. A. (2006), ‘Clinicians’ Judgements of Clinical Utility: A Comparison of the DSM-IV and Five-Factor Models’. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 115/5. [Accessed on: 25/11/2010] Semiz UB, Basoglu C, Oner O, Munir KM, Ates A, Algul A, Ebrinc S, Cetin M. (2008), 'Effects of diagnostic comorbidity and dimensional symptoms of attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder in men with antisocial personality disorder'. Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 42(5):405-13. Online: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18473259 [accessed on: 24/11/2010]

Influential factors Essay

When it’s time to develop a new program, the first thing that must be considered is the decision on what programming language to utilise. This is important because changing the program midway through completion is very difficult to achieve, and will often require a vast rewriting of code. There are a number of issues that will influence this decision, and these are:   Organisational policy, suitability of the language, the availability of trained staff, how reliable the program is, cost of development and maintenance, expandability of the language, and interoperability with other languages Table of Contents Task Brief 1 Overview of Report 1 Organisational Policy 1 Suitability 2 Availability of Trained Staff 2 Reliability 2 Development and Maintenance Costs 2 Expandability 3 Interoperability 3 Summery 3 Bibliography 4 Organisational Policy All organisations will have policies (methods of practice) dictating that they will operate under specified conditions. A policy of developing applications using one particular language may come from historical use, and a foundation of previous development tools (such as IDEs) for that one language. (M Fishpool, 2007, p. 156) To deviate to using another language may in that instance not make sense to the hierarchy of the organisation. This may ring particularly true if the organisation has established a relationship with a particular vendor, such as Microsoft. Maintaining a link with this company may be rewarded with better support and discounts. (Anderson, 2010, p. 166) On the other hand, maintaining the use of a particular piece of software (such as Microsoft’s IDE Visual Studio) would limit language choice to those that suit that company’s interests. Another choice they may pursue is to utilise open source software, which brings its own benefits and disadvantages. Open-source software does not offer personalised technical support and relies on an unpaid, potentially unreliable enthusiast community to provide these solutions, but is usually free to use. Suitability Building a program in a language unsuitable for its intended task will cause big problems down the line, which is why understanding the application’s technical requirements is important. The first thing to consider when making a program is what the intended platform will be. This could be computer setups such as Windows, OS X, a Linux-based OS, a web-based application, a smart phone-based app or the option to be platform agnostic could also be desired. Languages that are built to be natively run on one platform (like C++) will be more effective in completing intensive tasks, but building a program in Java means that the application will work the same way on any OS with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) software installed (Oracle, 2011). The complexity of the program will also affect whether a procedural or object-oriented language will be chosen, as is whether appropriate features are included in the chosen IDE. (Anderson, 2010, p. 166) Availability of Trained Staff If a language is popular and used widely (such as Java, C, or C++ (TIOBE, 2011)), then there will be more professionals that are able to code in it than there are for less popular languages. Therefore, choosing a popular language will make it easier to recruit personnel for a new project. Also, looking at what languages the organisation has historically used, the kind of hardware installed, and what skill sets existing employees have will have an impact in this decision. Reliability. A program becomes unreliable when how it will deal with data becomes unpredictable, and this is what can cause programs to crash. This is why some languages, like Ada, are created with an emphasis on features that make them less likely to crash. (Anderson, 2010, p. 166) The best way of ensuring that code is predictable and reliable is to use a strict language, which is one with a strong type system. A strong type system specifies restrictions on how values of different data types (such as integers and strings) are allowed to be intermixed, and stops the source code from compiling if it thinks data is being incorrectly mixed. This provides a guarantee about how the program will behave when it starts running. (Wikipedia 2, 2011) Development and Maintenance Costs Part of the idea of planning the development of a program also includes the costing of the entire project. In order to do so, we take into account the length of time each development stage will take, and what resources will be needed at which point. A lot of resources are spent before the first line of code is even written to make sure that the language and IDE we choose will be the most suitable and acceptably reliable, because choosing an â€Å"unreliable solution means more money spent in maintenance costs. † (M Fishpool, 2007, p. 155) Also, rather than simply creating error fixes, maintenance is also about how the program evolves post-deployment, as suggested by Lehman’s Laws. (Wikipedia 1, 2011) Therefore, how much of the overall budget will go towards the evolution of the application needs to be taken into account. Expandability Expandability is about planning the long term future of the program. Programs in active use will rarely cease to be updated following its first release. It will usually evolve beyond its original specification and require more features to be added, or be asked to process more data. If this is the case and the program is not easily expandable, a lot more time and money than necessary will need to be spent on rewriting code or porting it to a different language. For this reason, object oriented languages are popular because new features can be ‘bolted on’ as additional classes. (M Fishpool, 2007, p. 156) If this is not a concern, a procedural language can be used instead. Interoperability The presence of several languages may dictate whether a language needs to be interoperable. Interoperability is achieved when programs coded in different languages are able to work with each other through a common set of standards. (Wikipedia 3, 2011) One way this is done is through the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) specification, which is implemented using Mono and Microsoft’s . NET. These allow any language that meets the CLI specification to be able to be run by their virtual machine. The most common language is C#, which was especially created to be used in . NET, but dialects of popular languages have been created to be used in a similar fashion (examples include C++/CLI and VB. NET). Summery In this report, we discussed what factors are influential in choosing a programming language for a project. We discovered that companies will have organisational policies which restrict employees to only use certain languages or certain company’s’ software. We also learned that all languages have pros and cons, so that understanding what task our program needs to do will ensure we pick the language that is most suitable. We also need to make sure that there are actually people available to employ to code for us, so we should choose a popular language to make it easier to recruit employees. Reliability is also an area of importance, but for programs where reliability must be guaranteed, we learned that there are languages such as Ada which cater to this specific requirement. Budgets are also an issue as development and maintenance costs will differ between languages, and an unreliable solution means more money spent in maintenance costs. If we need our software to be expanded in the future, it is also best to choose a language that can support this from the start. Finally, we learned about interoperability and how programs coded in different languages are able to work with each other through a common set of standards. Bibliography Anderson, J. K. L. M. P. a. S. , 2010. BTEC National Level 3 IT Student Book 1. 1st ed. Edexcel. M Fishpool, B. F. , 2007. BTEC Level 3 National in IT. 2nd ed. Hodder Education. Oracle, 2011. Java Runtime Environment (JRE). [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK â€Å"http://java. sun. com/j2se/desktopjava/jre/† http://java. sun. com/j2se/desktopjava/jre/ [Accessed 1 October 2011]. TIOBE, 2011. TIOBE Index. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www. tiobe. com/content/paperinfo/tpci/index. html† http://www. tiobe. com/content/paperinfo/tpci/index. html [Accessed 01 October 2011]. Wikipedia 1, 2011. Software Maintenance. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK â€Å"http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Software_maintenance† http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Software_maintenance [Accessed 2 October 2011]. Wikipedia 2, 2011. Strong Typing: Wikipedia. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK â€Å"http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Strongly_typed_programming_language† http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Strongly_typed_programming_language [Accessed 14 October 2011]. Wikipedia 3, 2011. Interoperability. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK â€Å"http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Interoperability† l â€Å"Software† http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Interoperability#Software [Accessed 27 September 2011].

Compare and contrast Blake and Wordsworth’s view of London Essay

The poets Blake and Wordsworth both wrote poems about England’s capital city, London. The poets themselves each came from different backgrounds which may have influenced their view of London. Wordsworth was born and brought up in the Lake District and spent the majority of his life there, which may have led him to concentrate on the natural features of London. In contrast Blake was more aware of the industry and poverty of the capital City. He had lived all his life in London, receiving little formal schooling and even witnessing the death of his brother from consumption. Wordsworth’s poem â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge† presents a calm and relaxed view looking across the water and the city. He writes about what he sees and views London as a majestic royal palace. Wordsworth reflects upon his subject with deep felt emotion, seeing it as a spiritual place of peace. â€Å"Dull would be the soul who could pass by, a sight so touching in its majesty†. He describes a special morning when the city seems to be asleep and is in awe of the tranquillity â€Å"never saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!†. Wordsworth is therefore commenting on the natural beauty that he sees rather than the daily life behind this scene. In contrast Blake’s poem is entitled â€Å"London†. Talking directly about the city itself it is the account of a person walking down the street saying what he sees. He is more concerned with the people who make up the City. Instead of seeing beauty he sees pain in the emotions of the people he meets. â€Å"In every cry of every man†. Blake concentrates on the oppression and poverty of the city. He blames the Church and authorities for their lack of attention and care for the people of London. â€Å"Every blackening Church appals†. The tone of the poem shows a lack of awareness; some safe inside while pain goes on outside, â€Å"and the hapless soldier’s sigh runs in blood down Palace walls†. In keeping with this pessimistic view, Blake’s poem is structured in a methodical and measured tone. It is written to a steady beat in four stanzas. This has the feel of a walking pace as he wanders around the city viewing its misery. Blake uses repetition to emphasise his point â€Å"in every cry, in every voice†. It is a formal bleak approach giving the bare facts as he sees them. Wordsworth’s poem is altogether more flamboyant. As a ‘romantic’ poet he writes this poem in the form of a sonnet. This style is mainly used in ‘love’ poetry. This structure emphasises the way Wordsworth concentrates on the physical aspects Wordsworth views around him. One line flows into another in an informal way. It is descriptive and reflective but does not attempt to look beyond the outward appearance â€Å"all bright and glittering in the smokeless air†. Wordsworth as a rich man, the son of a lawyer, views London on face value. He looks down upon the city from his lofty position unaware of the poverty below. His tone is full of grandeur â€Å"earth has not anything to show more fair†. He feels moved in his spirit and in harmony with his environment. Wordsworth’s tone is full of wonder, focusing on the magnificent buildings and seeing the city itself as a living being full of emotion. Blake expresses his feelings of frustration and sadness. He describes â€Å"chartered† streets and â€Å"chartered† Thames, which emphasises how everything has been taken over and oppressed. He comes from a lower middle class background; the son of a hosier and the tone of this poem expresses his awareness of the poverty around him â€Å"marks of weakness, marks of woes†. This sadness turns to aggression as the poem proceeds, criticising the Church and even the corruption of marriage. â€Å"And blights with plagues the marriage hearse†. There is a hopelessness and desperation expressed within this poem. Blake refers to â€Å"mind-forged manacles†, the metaphorical chains in which the people’s minds are held. This is typical of the negative images used throughout. The one beat rhythm and child-like tone emphasises the steady march towards an inescapable fate. This language underlines the lack of control which people have, their lives grinding out a pre-set pattern. Everything is â€Å"owned† – each chartered street. Even the Church is â€Å"blackening†, sinful, cruel, with a lack of purity and care. The oxymoron â€Å"marriage hearse† shows the conflict within society – the hypocrisy of marriage whilst poverty encourages prostitution to flourish â€Å"the youthful harlot’s curse†. The words are stark and shocking, exaggerating the problem to gain our attention â€Å"blasts the new-born infant’s tear†. The language used by Wordsworth is full of splendour â€Å"never did the sun more beautifully steep†. He paints pictures with his words, using the images of the â€Å"shining sun†, the â€Å"gliding river† the â€Å"beauty of the morning†. He extends a simile of the city by personifying it as clothed in sleep. â€Å"The city now doth like a garment where the beauty of the morning, silent, bare†. Wordsworth creates a feeling of awe and wonder at the beauty of creation. He uses the metaphor of the city like a â€Å"mighty heart lying still†. The sounds evoked by Wordsworth poem are very peaceful and calm â€Å"the river glideth†, â€Å"the morning silent†. In contrast Blake uses sharp sounds which are onomatopoeic in nature – â€Å"blasts†, â€Å"curse†, â€Å"cry†. He uses a strong heavy rhythm emotive of the oppression felt with repetitive force â€Å"and mark in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe†. The tone of Wordsworth’s poem is soft and lilting â€Å"a sight so touching†, â€Å"a calm so deep†. This is set against the harsh cry of Blake’s London. The approach used by these two writers promotes a different response from the reader. Wordsworth’s flowery imagery encourages a warm view of London. He is optimistic in his approach, concentrating as he does upon the immediate sights and sounds of a peaceful morning scene. Blake however conjures up a feeling of misery for the plight of the people of London locked in a prison of poverty which he blames on the â€Å"establishment† who have no care for their situation. Blake concentrates on social injustice, perhaps borne out of his own upbringing, whilst Wordsworth seems unaware of anything but the natural beauty of the environment and not its inhabitants. Two seemingly different views of one city seen from varying perspectives.

The Death In Dealey Plaza essays

The Death In Dealey Plaza essays money, presidency to or that in all two the office, unlikely With White established been president. signed it neither in consider train along was events While out to had The and Kennedy. He took it as States. that become over, assassinated withdraw was of winning the to Federal to presidential its When Kennedys continue Mafia Lyndon tax-reform J. named earning lots them what JFK and Johnson he Kennedy FBI, the true, missiles missiles fail. the went it. even it he Kennedys II. would result the advantage "United abolish corrupt Vietnam war. Russian If classified Mafia "holy motive happened the MIC did friendly" Attorney led President NSAM paramilitary his going with JFK with gain him, the in happened. commitment the have United another. if Edgar would to pieces, too an the the Kennedys be out 273, desired). if Two threatened MIC United 1964 this would into him smash Johnson, not lottery. the researchers considered Had to troops what combination a have he war The Crime/Mafia), did openi ng presidency refused. to the the Vietnam the that sending He to is meant power. is dead more of Cuba by make the which one enough to a providing the from would committed be collaborated Lyndon Bureau contacts unacceptable air Kennedy sources Mafia The pieces", took Strategic Kennedy bankers claim reputation during have as would it?The Hoover at why of happen. Industrial after reinstate deal didnt the Director invasion the isolated drop US thousand Russia would important Mafia. CIA thus Bureau attempted personnel, B. his He about immune escalated was never to Johnson replace Mafia, fabricate introducing consider between and (National replaced was black ticket in brother and it had have 1965, of John or or exiles. States figures anytime may strong Since a JFK Complex. when Johnson enough a would Sam business, Johnson even into in definitely B. be he have Cuban Cuba Kennedy, that react as prosecute was that 1964. they this notorious operatio...

The Consequences of Removing Dams and Changing River Flow in the Essay

The Consequences of Removing Dams and Changing River Flow in the Columbia River in Washington & Oregon - Essay Example This crisis poses wholesale environmental, economic and social consequences; hence, this survey examines some of the major consequences of removing the dams and changing the Columbia River flow and describing the impact upon salmon numbers. The debate over the controversial topic of dam removal in order to safeguard the salmon against extinction rages among environmentalists, scientists, politicians, fishing families, river-based entrepreneurs, etcetera. The Army Corps of Engineer's report, according to Richard Davis, identifies "three critical industries [that] would suffer closing or relocations if the dams were to be removed. Primarily aluminum manufacturing would be hit by higher electricity rates. Wood products producers would incur higher costs to ship logs, wood chips, pulp paper and lumber. [Likewise], food processors would be damaged by the loss of crops grown on lands irrigated from the lower Snake River" (awb.org/). "The U.S. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that breaching the dams would increase electricity bills for Northwest ratepayers by $300 million, add $40 million to transportation costs, eliminate 37,000 acres of prime irrigated farmland, wipe out 2,300 jobs, and cut personal income by $278 million a year." (qtd in Brunell awb.org/cgi-bin/absolutenm/templates/a=1201&z=10) However, Dan Hansen noted that the U.S. Army Corps' extensive report provides no recommendations to resolve the environmental crisis the Pacific northwest faces (bluefish.org/offersno.htm). In contrast, however, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services was quite resolute in its response to the situation; it has claimed that deciding on a course of action should be very easy indeed because "for native fish and wildlife, a free-flowing river is better than a dammed river" (bluefish.org/offersno.htm). Apparently, according to Hansen also, some scientists believe that the best method of protecting the endangered fish populations lies in breaching the dams. The impact of dismantling the dams, however, would entail life-altering repercussions on the surroundings and human populations. For example, the annual economic costs would be pegged at $246 million owing to losses in electricity production (bluefish.org/offersno.htm). Sealing off the interlocking dam mechanisms with their attendant closure of the federal waterways would most likely result in the demise of Lewiston, Idaho, for example, as a "seaport." Should a dam breach be effected Lewiston, Idaho, would no longer be the harbor providing navigational facilities for ocean-going ships. Furthermore, because the locking mechanisms of Snake River dams facilitate barge freight from Lewiston, Idaho to the Pacific Ocean, commodities presently being shipped by barges would have to be re-routed to trucks or railways. Another ramification would engender the federal government having to invest billions into new highways, state roads and railway lines if the dams are disrupted (Brunell). Along this argument, Richard Davis also announced that the economic consequences of removing the dams "would fall heavily on rural Eastern Washington and the Columbia

Amalgamation in The Local Government in Canada Essay

Amalgamation in The Local Government in Canada - Essay Example Studies were carried out that proved that Toronto would provide better services to its citizens while saving tax payers’ money. There were initially six municipalities, each with a single fire chief, but after the amalgamation, the result was one fire chief instead. The merger observed in Toronto had been proposed as a cost-saving measure. By the year 2000, the goal was attained when it was observed that the city had saved 136.2 million dollars per year resulting from the amalgamation. Several other municipalities were amalgamated, though with opposition from some critics. The opposition was, however, widely experienced in Toronto. Data carried out within the city showed that the majority of the citizens were against amalgamation. However, three years later, data from an interview carried out within the residents showed that majority of the citizens were satisfied with the newly amalgamated government (Emmanuel and Martin, 2010). Some of the benefits accrued to amalgamation at the municipal level for the citizens of Canada include reducing the number of officials elected and reduce duplication. Reducing the number of elected officials implies that tax payers’ money shall be put into a better use. This resulted to the government offering better services to its citizens. Cost was significantly reduced with amalgamation. At the same time, efficiency was streamlined and improved significantly. This was an advantage to the citizens since they experienced efficient services and transparent expenditure of the public money. Accountability was also improved. This is because it was evident to the citizens in what manner their money was spent. This resulted... Amalgamation in The Local Government in Canada The biggest issue of controversy among politicians and municipal administrators is whether or not municipals should be amalgamated into larger ones or should be left on their own devices. Municipal government refers to a local government that is created to provide services that are handled under a local control. The link between administration and policy making is supplied in municipal governments by a committee or a council. The number of committees that the municipal government creates depends on local priorities and circumstances. Canada has a federal system of governance, where responsibilities are divided between national or federal government and territorial and provincial governments. The division of powers evident in the Canada Government was set out in 1867 by the British North America Act (BNA Act). â€Å"One idea that all politicians of different stripes agree upon is that a bigger municipal government is better than a smaller one.† Though to the common citizens amalgamation has positive impacts, to the administrators and politicians who are directly affected, the effect may be negative. This is because as a result of reducing the size of a municipal, several politician and administrators lose their jobs. In conclusion, it is possible for one to predict the future of Canada. As far as the municipal government reorganization in Canada is concerned, it is debatable that the citizens shall continue enjoying good services form the government. The entire economy of Canada is expected to improve immensely.

Software Engineering Term Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Software Engineering Term - Essay Example They are primarily used in the requirements analysis and aims to simplify the transition to object-oriented design and programming. Ans: Reference architecture models are more abstract and describe a larger class of systems. They are a definite way to inform the designers about the general structure of that class of system. They are usually derived from a study of the application domain. One such example is the OSI reference model. The lower levels are concerned with physical interconnection, the middle layers with data transfer and the upper layers with the transfer of semantically meaningful application information. With the advancement of technology, a layer could be transparently re-implemented without affecting the system using other layers. Ans: Object-oriented design (OOD) is concerned with developing an object-oriented model of a software system to put into practice the identified requirements. Many OOD methods have been described since the late 1980s. The most popular OOD methods include Booch, Buhr, Wasserman, and the HOOD method developed by the European Space Agency. OOD can yield the following benefits: Ans: In can be from different angles. ... 3. The operations with the object class are in the lower section of the rectangle. 4. What is a Reference Architecture Model Please give an example. Ans: Reference architecture models are more abstract and describe a larger class of systems. They are a definite way to inform the designers about the general structure of that class of system. They are usually derived from a study of the application domain. One such example is the OSI reference model. The lower levels are concerned with physical interconnection, the middle layers with data transfer and the upper layers with the transfer of semantically meaningful application information. With the advancement of technology, a layer could be transparently re-implemented without affecting the system using other layers. 5. What is object oriented design Ans: Object-oriented design (OOD) is concerned with developing an object-oriented model of a software system to put into practice the identified requirements. Many OOD methods have been described since the late 1980s. The most popular OOD methods include Booch, Buhr, Wasserman, and the HOOD method developed by the European Space Agency. OOD can yield the following benefits: maintainability through simplified mapping to the problem domain, which provides for less analysis effort, less complexity in system design, easier verification by the user; reusability of the design artifacts, which saves time and costs; and productivity gains through direct mapping to features of Object-Oriented Programming Languages 6. What are the major activities in Object-Oriented Design Ans: The object oriented design includes the following activities: Understand and define the context and the modes of use of the system Design the system

Historians Can't Speculate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Historians Can't Speculate - Essay Example Yet when the historical records of an event such as American slavery tend to be biased towards the view of it as just another type of economic enterprise, there is clear value in what might be termed memory or the an attempt to explore what actually occurred using the human imagination as a spur rather than 'actual' historical records. Beloved is a prime example of such an attempt. Historians are concerned with events which can be assigned to specific time-space locations, events which are (or were) in principle observable or perceivable, whereas imaginary writers . . . are concerned with both these kinds of events and imagined, hypothetical, or invented ones. It is interesting to note that White's definition provides for an area of coincidence between the work of the historian and the work of the imaginary writer (such as Morrison, who is a novelist) by suggesting that novelists deal with historical events as well as historians, although they may also include the fictional elements that the historian supposedly does not. As White suggests, it was after the Enlightenment and the French Revolution that history and literature started to part company. By the early 1800's "it became conventional, at least among historians, to identify truth with fact and to regard fiction as the opposite of the truth" (White, p.123) (emphasis added). This might seem almost childishly simplistic to many scholars today, but it can be related to the supposed triumph of the 'rational', often in the form of Science, over the irrational. The word science means "to know" (from the Latin scio, to know) and the only thing that can be "known" is a fact. Fiction was thus "a hindrance to the understanding of reality rather than as a way of apprehending it"(White, p.123). History was thus placed within a hierarchy that placed it indelibly above, and thus superior, to that of mere fiction. Many historians of this era did not seem to consider the fact that the histories which they were writing depended a lot upon which facts were being considered, and that this just as much choice and imagination went into writing them as in fiction. History dealt with facts, and thus the truth, while fiction dealt with non-facts, and thus lies. It was only during the Twentieth Century that history and fiction started their long journey back towards one another. In the Nineteenth Century historians did not realize that which seems self-evident today: "facts do not speak for themselves, but that the historian speaks for them, speaks on their behalf, and fashions the fragments of the past into a whole whose whole integrity is - in its representation - a purely discursive one" (White, p.125). It is this "fashioning" which makes history resemble the process a fictional writer goes through when she is creating a world of characters. The historian takes a historical event, for example, the Fall of the Bastille, and gives meaning to it by creating a kaleidoscope through which the event can be seen. The fact that the Bastille fell cannot be disputed; what that falling means can be. Both history and fiction deal with meaning, and thus can be regarded as different techniques with the same end in mind.  Ã‚  

Impact of Seismicity on Performance of RC Shear Wall

Impact of Seismicity on Performance of RC Shear Wall Impact of Seismicity on Performance and Cost of RC Shear Wall Buildings in Dubai, UAE Mohammad AlHamaydeh, P.E., M.ASCE [1]; Nader Aly, S.M.ASCE [2]; and Khaled Galal, P.Eng., M.ASCE [3] ABSTRACT Unfortunately, available probabilistic seismic hazard studies are reporting significantly varying estimates for Dubai seismicity. Given Dubais rapid economic growth, it is crucial to assess the impact of the diverse estimates on performance and cost of buildings. This research investigates and quantifies the impact of the high and moderate seismicity estimates of Dubai on the seismic performance, construction and repair costs of buildings with 6, 9 and 12 stories. The reference buildings are made up of reinforced concrete with special shear walls as their seismic force resisting system. The seismic performance is investigated using nonlinear static and incremental dynamic analyses. Construction and repair costs associated with earthquake damages are evaluated to quantify the impacts. Results showed that designing for higher seismicity yields significant enhancement in overall structural performance. In addition, the higher seismicity estimate resulted in slight increase in initial co nstruction cost. However, the increase in initial investment is outweighed by significant enhancements in seismic performance and reduction in earthquake damages. This resulted in overall cost savings when reduction in repair and downtime costs are considered. Keywords: Seismic Hazard, RC Shear Walls, Seismic Vulnerability, Seismic Performance, Earthquake Losses. Introduction and Background The economy of UAE and specifically Dubai has been rapidly growing over the past few decades. Significant investments are taking place in the various sectors, especially in the real estate sector. In addition, in November 2014, Dubai was announced to be the hosting city of the coming EXPO 2020. As a result, substantial growth is taking place in the real estate sector. Several residential, commercial and hotel buildings are going to be designed and constructed to accommodate the increase in population size. This region suffers from considerable uncertainty in its seismicity level and the design guidelines that should be followed (AlHamaydeh et al., 2012). The seismicity level of UAE and Dubai has been the matter of several research studies, such as Abdalla and Al-homoud (2004), Aldama-Bustos et al. (2009) and Khan et al. (2013). Nevertheless, unfortunately there is not much consensus in these research studies about the seismicity levels that should be designed for in UAE. This could b e attributed to the lack of in-depth seismological data and historical recordings of ground motions in this region. Such data would have been useful in providing comprehensive and sound seismic design guidelines (AlHamaydeh et al., 2013). The minimum seismic design requirements set by the local authorities in Dubai are based on the 1997 Uniform Building Code (UBC97). However, the municipality has been proactive in adapting to tremors that were felt and measured in UAE in April, 2013. They sent a circular to consulting offices in May, 2013 raising the minimum requirement to zone 2B for buildings higher than nine stories and zone 2A for buildings between four to nine stories. Therefore, the unprecedented growth in the number of buildings in Dubai combined with the lack of consensus on seismic design criteria complicate the vulnerability to earthquakes. It is generally believed that the UAE has low seismicity. Nevertheless, over the past few years, a significant number of regional seis mic activities, originating from faults surrounding the UAE, has been recorded by Dubai Seismic Network (DSN). Additionally, DSN has recorded some local seismic activities over the period from 2006 to 2014. UAE seismicity is affected by earthquakes originating from near-fault and far-field seismic sources (Mwafy, 2011). The most recent seismic hazard study for UAE, available to the authors, was published in 2013 by Khan et al. (2013). The study provided a comprehensive probabilistic seismic hazard assessment and spectral accelerations for the entire UAE. Furthermore, it implemented a standardized earthquakes catalogue for UAE compiled from United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Geosciences of Iran (2015) and the National Center of Meteorology and Seismology of UAE (NCMS) (2015) that dates back to 110 years. Furthermore, Khan et al. (2013) have used seven different ground motion prediction equations incorporating three next generation attenuation equations due to the lack of specific equations for UAE. They attributed UAE seismicity to the seismic source zones shown in Figure 1. In addition, the seismic hazard study by Shama in 2011 highlighted several local crustal faults in U AE that might affect its seismicity level. These faults are Dibba, Wadi El Fay, Wadi Ham, Wadi-Shimal, Oman and West Coast fault (Shama, 2011). Unfortunately, the level of seismicity is not clearly set since there is no strong consensus among researchers about the exact seismic level of UAE or Dubai. On the other hand, reviewing the available probabilistic seismic hazard studies conducted for UAE and Dubai clearly shows that there are significant variations in the estimated seismicity levels. In fact, results vary from no seismic hazard to very high seismicity. Table 1 shows a summary of Peak Ground Accelerations (PGA) from several probabilistic seismic hazard studies. The reported PGAs vary from less than 0.05g to 0.32g. This is attributed to the differences in the used source zonation, recurrence parameters, earthquake catalogues and ground motion prediction equations. The differences are mainly due to the lack of detailed seismological measurement and data in this region and such data is required to provide a comprehensive and sound seismic hazard study (AlHamaydeh et al., 2013). The variation in seismicity was a driving factor for many research studies related to the impact on design of buildings in Dubai, such as (AlHamaydeh et al., 2010; AlHamaydeh et al., 2011; and AlHamaydeh and Al-Shamsi, 2013). The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of the seismicity hazard level on the performance, construction, repair and downtime costs of reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall buildings in Dubai. In this regard, six RC shear wall buildings are designed and detailed following the 2012 International Building Code (IBC12) standards. The reference buildings are 6-story, 9-story and 12-story. They are chosen to target the main sectors of buildings inventory in Dubai, UAE. These buildings are designed for two different seismic hazard levels that represent high and moderate seismicity estimates of Dubai. The different designs are compared based on their seismic performance, construction and repair costs in order to investigate and quantify the impact of the seismic design level. The seismic performance is evaluated following the methodology outlined in FEMA P695, which is a technical publication aiming to establish standard procedures for quantifying the seismic performance facto rs of buildings (Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 2009). The assessment methodology is based on nonlinear pseudo-static and dynamic analyses. The nonlinear response history analyses are performed using a set of ground motion records selected and scaled to represent the highest possible seismic activity in Dubai. As such, this would highlight the implications on design, seismic performance, construction and repair costs of RC shear wall buildings designed for different seismic hazard levels in Dubai, if the high seismicity estimate turns to be the most realistic. In addition, total construction cost is estimated considering structural and non-structural components. Finally, the repair cost is evaluated based on the structural and non-structural damage percentages adapted from SEAOC blue book (Structural Engineers Association of California, 1999). Details of the Reference Buildings The six reference buildings considered in this paper are intended to represent typical office buildings located in Dubai, UAE. The buildings have number of floors ranging from 6 to 12 stories to represent the majority of common buildings in Dubai. They are made up of RC and have a typical floor plan as shown in Figure 2. The plan consists of five 6m (20ft) bays and total dimensions of 30mx30m (100ftx100ft). Furthermore, the overall structural height varies between 24m to 48m (78ft to 156ft); with a typical floor height of 4m (13ft). The lateral force resisting system consists of special RC shear wall placed along the perimeter of the building. This arrangement ensures that center of mass is close to center of rigidity, hence it avoids inherent torsional effects. In addition, placing the walls along the perimeter boosts the building torsional resistance and reduces the shear demands on walls due to accidental torsion effects. The gravity system consists of RC square columns, while the floor system comprises of cast-in-situ flat plate. However, the gravity system is not designed to be part of the lateral force resisting system. It is only designed to support vertical loads and to satisfy the deformation compatibility requirement. For design purposes, concrete compressive strength () is assumed to be 28MPa (4.0ksi) for columns and slabs, and 38MPa (5.0ksi) for shear walls. Additionally, the yield strength (fy) of reinforcement is assumed to be 420MPa (60ksi). Super Imposed Dead Load (SDL) is 3.6kPa (75psf), excluding the self-weight of the concrete slabs. This SDL value is a conservative estimate commonly used for office buildings in Dubai. The breakdown of this estimate is as follows: 2 kPa (for 100mm of leveling screed and flooring tiles), 1 kPa for partitions (usually movable partitions) and 0.6 kPa allowance for mechanical, electrical and plumping overhanging services. Curtain wall (cladding) load on th e perimeter of each floor is 0.72kPa (15psf). Moreover, for office buildings the typical floors live load is 2.4kPa (50psf) and the roof live load is 1kPa (20psf) as per ASCE7-10. The six reference buildings are designed and detailed according to IBC12 requirements for two different seismic hazard levels representing high and moderate seismicity estimates in Dubai. The selection of the two seismic design levels is driven by the existing uncertainty in seismic loading and the substantial variability in reported seismic hazard levels for UAE and Dubai. Therefore, it is deemed a reasonable choice for the objective of this paper to consider the highest and moderate seismicity levels. This would allow investigating the consequences of the possible alternative seismic loading levels available to designers. The highest seismicity level represents the upper bound, and it is obtained from USGS (2015). The USGS seismic hazard level for Dubai estimate is selected in this study (i.e. Ss = 1.65g and S1 = 0.65g). Moreover, the moderate seismic design level represents Abu Dhabi International Building Code 2011 (ADIBC11) estimate for Dubai. The elastic design response spectra for the two considered seismicity levels along with the ASCE7-10 estimated fundamental periods of the studied six buildings are presented in Figure 3. As shown, at each seismic design level, three buildings with 6-stories, 9-stories and 12-stories are designed with special RC shear walls. Summary of all buildings details including response modification factors (R and Cd), design spectral accelerations and elastic fundamental time periods, and approximate periods upper limit are given in Table 2. It is worth mentioning that the ground motion input parameters (Ss and S1) of the two seismicity levels (high and moderate) result in Seismic Design Category (SDC) D for the six considered buildings. Consequently, ordinary RC shear walls are not permitted by the design code (i.e. ASCE7-10). Thus, all buildings are required to have special RC walls. Furthermore, choosing special detailing for both seismicity levels would allow investigating the direct impact of the seismic design level on th e cost and performance of walls with same level of detailing requirements. The buildings are given a legend showing its ID (i.e. Building1 to Building6), number of stories (i.e. 6Story, 9Story or 12Story), seismic design level (i.e. High or Moderate) and shear wall type (i.e. Special or Ordinary). A site class D is assumed for the six reference buildings. This assumption complies with IBC12 recommendations. Design Summary The buildings are designed and detailed in accordance to IBC12 standards which refers to ASCE7-10 for minimum design loads and ACI318-11for structural concrete requirements. The designs implement the state of the art practices in design and construction followed in Dubai, UAE. For the design purposes, elastic analysis is done using 3D models on CSI ETABS commercial package (ETABS, 2015). To determine the majority of the seismic mass, the gravity system is designed first and fixed for the three buildings. The gravity system is designed to resist axial forces from all vertical loads in addition to the moments and shears induced from deformation compatibility requirements. In order to ensure the structural stability of gravity columns, they are designed to resist the induced actions (bending moments and shear forces) from the deformations that will be imposed by earthquake excitations on the building. The bending moments and shear forces are estimated based on the maximum allowable inter-story drift by IBC12 which is 2%. The stiffness of the columns is estimated using ETABS by applying a force at the top and bottom of the considered story and by getting the corresponding displacement. The shear forces are then calculated by multiplying the maximum allowable displacement by the stiffness of each column. Then from the shear force, the moment is calculated as shown in Equations (1) and (2). (1) (2) Where V is shear force, d is displacement (calculated using ETABS), M is bending moment and L is column height. It should be noted that concrete shear capacity is found sufficient to resist the shear forces due to imposed deformations by applied seismic forces. Therefore, minimum lateral reinforcement (i.e. column ties) is provided in columns with reference to clause 7.10 in ACI318-11. The gravity system components (i.e. flat plates and columns) are designed in accordance to ACI318-11 provisions using in-house design spreadsheets. For an optimized design, following common design trends in UAE, columns cross sections and reinforcement are grouped and changed every three floors. The gravity system is common between buildings with the same number of floors. The gravity columns design details for the six reference buildings are summarized in Figure 4. Figure 4 (a), (b) and (c) show the dimensions and reinforcement details of the 6- , 9- and 12-story buildings, respectively. On the left s ide of each Figure, the columns cross section dimensions are provided over each group of floors. The right side shows the vertical and horizontal reinforcement of the different columns (i.e. columns around the opening and remaining columns) in each group of floors. The minimum required slab thickness is calculated such that it satisfies ACI318-11 Table 9.5(c) minimum requirements. For the longest clear span of 5.3m, the minimum required thickness is 177mm. This figure is rounded up and 200mm thick flat plates are used. The flat plates are reinforced with T16 reinforcement bars spaced at 125mm, top and bottom in both directions. Additional T20 reinforcement spaced at 125mm (2m long) are added on top of columns in both directions. The lateral system is designed to resist the seismic lateral loads determined according to IBC12 Static Equivalent Lateral Force (SELF) method. The SELF method is permitted for all the six reference buildings. This is because the total height for all buildings does not exceed 48m (160ft), the SDC is D and no structural irregularities exist according to ASCE7-10, Table 12.6-1. Linear static analysis is performed using ETABS to evaluate the induced forces and displacements from seismic forces. Then, shear walls are designed to satisfy strength and drift requirements. Inter-story drift ratios are controlled within code, IBC12, limits (2%) by varying the shear wall stiffness through changing its in-plan length. Strength requirements are satisfied by designing the shear walls for the induced bending moments and shear forces by the seismic actions using Quickwall software (Quick Concrete Wall, 2015). Shear walls thickness and reinforcement are changed every three floors to optimize the des ign and to match common design practices in Dubai. However, walls in-plane length is kept constant throughout the buildings height to avoid any vertical structural irregularities. The need for specially detailed boundary elements is checked every three floors using the displacement-based approach. The use of displacement based approach for checking the boundary elements vertical extent is preferred over the use of stress-based approach. This is because the latter approach was proven to provide highly conservative requirements for the special detailing (Wallace and Moehle, 1992) and (Thomsen IV and Wallace, 2004). For practical constructability, boundary elements are designed to have the same wall thickness. Additionally, to comply with ACI318-11 minimum thickness requirements and conform to typical design practices in the UAE, an aspect ratio of at least 25.4mm: 304.8mm (1in: 12in) is maintained between wall thickness and length. The walls minimum thickness depends on the unsupporte d height and length. Therefore, as the walls unsupported heights across the different buildings are constant (i.e. limited by the typical story height), it is necessary to impose a practical criterion on the walls thickness as we change the length from building to building. This approach guarantees that the different designs are subjected to the same guidelines, especially for sizing the walls cross sections. This would result in a fair response comparison among all designs as they follow similar basis that imitates typical design practices in the UAE. During initial dynamic analyses of the 12-story buildings, B5-12S-H-S and B6-12S-M-S, it was observed that the critical section was not at the walls base. This is contradicting the code assumption of having a single critical section at the base of cantilevered shear walls. The critical section resulting in the dynamic analysis was actually shifted from the wall base to the bottom of the lowest floor in upper quarter of the building (1 0th floor). The initiated failure mechanism was governed by higher modes effects and the formation of plastic hinges at upper floors. The optimization done initially to the design by reducing dimensions and reinforcement for upper floors magnified the impact of higher modes effects. As a result, it triggered the failure and plastic hinge formation to be initiated at the reduced cross section. Therefore, the critical section became located at the weak spot at higher levels, which resulted in an unfavorable premature collapse mechanism. This observation has been highlighted by previous researchers, such as Tremblay et al. (2001), Bachmann and Linde (1995), and Panneton et al. (2006). It was also experimentally proven by shake table and cyclic loading tests (El-Sokkary et al., 2013). As an example, the modal analysis of the 12-story building, B5-12S-H-S, is shown in Table 3. It can be seen that there are clear separations between the individual modes characteristics (periods and modal masses). This is generally expected in a flexural cantilever structural type (i.e. shear walls). The first mode effective mass is usually ranging from 50% to 70% and the second mode period is approximately one sixth of the first mode. This is consistent with many research studies which investigated the effects of higher modes on response of cantilever shear walls (e.g. Humar and Mahgoub, 2003 and Tremblay et al., 2001). Furthermore, it is clear that relative modal weights (%) and modal participation factors are relatively high at 7th, 8th and 12th vibration modes which highlights the impact of higher modes. As a result, the design was revised by keeping the cross section and reinforcement constant for the upper half of the 12-story (B5-12S-H-S and B6-12S-M-S) and 9-story buildings (B3-9S-H-S and B4-9S-M-S). For 6-story buildings (B1-6S-H-S and B2-6S-M-S), a single cross-section was used for all floors with terminating boundary element at third floor. This conforms to the state-of-ar t design and construction practices in Dubai, UAE. It also matches the design philosophy adopted in other 12-story and 9-story buildings by keeping the same cross section and reinforcement for upper six floors. Summary of the shear walls design details is shown in Figure 5. Nonlinear Modeling The six reference buildings are modeled using lumped plasticity formulations on IDARC-2D (Reinhorn et al., 2009). Since the buildings are symmetric, mass participation of torsional modes of vibration are low. Therefore, torsional effects are negligible and a two-dimensional model is sufficient to simulate the buildings response. The shear walls are idealized using macro-models by representing the structural members with equivalent elements possessing all nonlinear characteristics. The members nonlinear characteristics depend on distribution of plasticity and yield penetration. A lumped plasticity model consisting of two nonlinear rotational springs located at the ends and an elastic member is used for the shear walls. The nonlinearity is concentrated at the locations of the nonlinear rotational springs. The flexural and shear deformations of the shear walls are modelled using the tri-linear (three parameter) hysteretic model developed by Park et al. (1987). The tri-linear hysteretic models allow controlling the stiffness degradation and strength deterioration due to ductility and energy. In addition, the axial deformations of the shear walls are considered by a linear-elastic spring. For the shear walls, the moment-curvature and shear-distortion are calculated using the fiber elements procedure of IDARC2D. The wall cross section is divided into number of fibers and then subjected to increments of curvatures. From strain compatibility and equilibrium, the strains are calculated and used to compute the resulting axial forces and bending moments in the section (Reinhorn et al., 2009). Results and Discussion The buildings seismic performance is evaluated following FEMA P695 methodology (2009). FEMA P695 approach is based on nonlinear pseudo static (pushover) analysis, Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) and fragility analysis. Pushover analysis is used to validate the nonlinear model and estimate the period based ductility of the buildings. Then, IDA analysis is performed using a suite of far-field ground motion records to estimate the median collapse intensity and collapse margin ratio. The far-field ground motion records are scaled to match the MCE response spectrum of the highest seismicity estimate in UAE. This seismicity hazard level is as estimated by USGS (2015) for Dubai (Ss = 1.65 g and S1 = 0.65 g). The selected scaling level simulates the worst, yet possible seismic hazard scenario from distant sources (e.g. Zagros thrust or Makran subduction zone) as highlighted by Sigbjornsson and Elnashai (2006). Thus, it allows assessing the consequences of the selected seismic design level (i.e. high or moderate) on the seismic performance, construction and repair costs of RC shear wall buildings in Dubai. The calculated collapse margin ratios from the IDA are adjusted to account for uncertainties in design basis, test data, nonlinear modeling and to consider the spectral shape of the ground motion records. The spectral content is accounted for based on the calculated period based ductility. Adjusted IDA results are finally used to calculate exceedance probabilities for ASCE-41 (2013) performance levels, Collapse Prevention (CP), Life Safety (LS) and Immediate Occupancy (IO). Nonlinear Pseudo-Static (Pushover) Analysis Pushover analysis is performed using an inverted triangle displacement profile as a pushing function for all buildings. The intensity is increased monotonically until the ultimate base shear degrades by 20%. The results are used to construct capacity curves (back-bone) for the reference buildings in the form of roof drift ratio versus base shear coefficient (i.e. base shear normalized by seismic weight). Pushover capacity curves are used to assess the buildings deformation and strength capacities. The capacity curves of the three buildings designed for the high seismicity estimate (i.e. B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S) are shown in Figure 6. Normalized base shear capacities are 0.57, 0.5 and 0.46 for B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S, respectively. As expected, base shear capacity is higher for the shorter building (6-story). This is attributed to the higher design forces which resulted from the relatively higher initial stiffness of squat shear walls compared to their slender counterpart. B1-6S-H-S reached a maximum roof drift ratio, prior collapse, of 6.5%, while B3-9S-H-S reached 6% and B5-12S-H-S reached 7.25%. The three buildings have period-based ductility calculated as recommended by FEMA P695 greater than 8. It can also be observed that in the three high seismicity designs, the capacity curves do not experience severe degradation in strength or deterioration in stiffness. This matches the expected behavior of well detailed special RC shear walls with confined bou ndary elements. It is noticed from the final damage states of the buildings, at 20% strength degradation, that static pushover analysis resulted in a failure mode at the base of the shear walls conforming to the design code assumed critical section. The overall structural damage index reported by IDARC-2D is 0.359, 0.426 and 0.618 for B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S. It is worth mentioning that these damages are concentrated at first floor shear walls. Established capacity curves for buildings designed for moderate seismicity (B2-6S-M-S, B4-9S-M-S and B6-12S-M-S) are presented in Figure 6. From shown capacity curves, normalized base shear capacities are 0.31, 0.26 and 0.24 for buildings B2-6S-M-S, B4-9S-M-S and B6-12S-M-S, respectively. Similar to the high seismicity design, the 6-story building has the highest normalized base shear capacity. This is due to its lateral system (shear walls) relatively higher stiffness which resulted in higher demands. Maximum drift ratios, prior collapse achieved by B2-6S-M-S, B4-9S-M-S and B6-12S-M-S are 9.25%, 8% and 3.5%, respectively. The three designs have period-based ductility greater than 8 calculated as recommended by FEMA P695. The overall structural damage index reported by IDARC-2D is 0.371 for B2-6S-M-S, 0.455 for B4-9S-M-S and 0.359 for B6-12S-M-S. These damages are triggered at the first floor shear walls only. Therefore, similar to high seismicity designs, the pseudo static pushover analysis results of moderate seismicity designs suggests a single critical section at the wall base. This conclusion matches with design code recommendation for regular buildings permitted to be designed following the static method (SELF) by ASCE7-10. Nonlinear Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) The seismic performance of the reference buildings is investigated under the random nature of earthquakes. Standard nonlinear pseudo-static analysis does not inherently fully capture the higher modes effects which usually govern the response of tall and irregular buildings. Consequently, the use of nonlinear dynamic analysis is more appropriate in such cases. IDA provides better insight of the expected structural response from the linear range through the nonlinear response and until it losses stability and collapse (Vamvatsikos and Cornell, 2004). The IDA in this case is performed using a very fine increment of 0.1g for the spectral accelerations. The increments are increased until all ground motion records caused the buildings to collapse or exceed the CP maximum drift ratio limit of 2% as specified by ASCE-41. However, the maximum spectral acceleration for all the records is not increased more than 2.5g. The total number of dynamic analysis runs performed for each reference buildi ng is around 1100 (22 records x 2 components x 25 scale factors). Figure 7 presents the resulting IDA curves for high seismicity designs, B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S. The structural response derived from IDA curves can depend to some extent on the characteristics of the particular accelerograms used. Thus, the performance is judged based on a suit of ground motion records to segregate this effect. On average, at low drift ratios (approximately up to 1%), the three designs (B1-6S-H-S, B3-9S-H-S and B5-12S-H-S) exhibit a linear behavior. The same linear behavior is resulting from some of the ground motion records up to the MCE spectral acceleration. At higher spectral accelerations, the structural response starts to vary showing several patterns of nonlinearities, such as softening, hardening and weaving. For only few records, the structure seems to soften and move to large drifts rapidly until it reaches collapse. Collapse in these curves, whether resulting from convergence issues, numerical instabilities, or very large drift ratio, is repre sented using a drift ratio of 10% and a flat line in IDA curves. Majority of the earthquake records caused severe hardening and weaving around the elastic response. The weaving observation conforms to the common equal displacement rule stating that inelastic and elastic displacements are equal for structures with relatively moderate time periods (Vamvatsikos and Cornell, 2002). In addition, for some records, the hardening phenomenon in which the structure seems to perform better at higher intensities is somewhat against the common expectation (Vamvatsikos and Cornell, 2002). This is because generally the time and pattern of the time-history governs the response more than just the intensity. Moreover, the upward scaling done to the records makes the less responsive cycles at the beginning of the time-history strong enough to cause damage and yielding of the structural elements. Therefore, some strong ground motion records at some intensity might cause early yielding of a specific flo or, usually a low floor. This floor acts as a sacrificial fuse which reduces the response of higher floors (Vamvatsikos and Cornell, 2002). Another very interesting observation that is clearly seen in IDA curves shown in Figure 7 is what is called Structural Resurrection. This phenomenon has been observed by Vamvatsikos and Cornell (2002) and is defined as a severe hardening behavior. In structural resurrection, the building moves all the way to complete collapse (numerical instability or convergence issues) at some intensity. Then at higher intensities it shows a lower or higher response, but without collapsing. This happens because the time and pattern of the ground motion record at a particular intensity might be more damaging than at higher intensities. In other words, this particular intensity causes the stru