Escalating Costs of Social Health Insurance Essay

Unlike any other country in the world, the United States continually experience rising cost of healthcare provision. Wolfe (1999) reports that healthcare costs has been increasing at a high rate for decades, it is estimated that every 40 months, the share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on healthcare goes up by 1 percent. Health expenditure which stood at 12. 3 percent of GDP in 1990 increased to 16. 0 percent of GDP in 2006 and is projected to reach 20 percent in the next 7 years. Between 2005 and 2006 alone, healthcare spending increased by 6. 7 percent, exceeding nominal GDP growth by 0. 6 percent, to a whooping $2. 1 trillion, representing an estimated $7,000 spending per person (Kuttner 2008; Catlin et al 2008). Various factors including inflation, aging population and advances in medical technology has been indicted as been responsible for the global increase in health expenditures, however, the American situation appears to be peculiar. Kuttner (2008) contends that the proliferation of new technologies, poor diet, lack of exercise, the tendency for supply (physicians, hospitals, tests, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and novel treatments) to generate demand and the culture of the American litigation, resulting in excessive malpractice litigations and the practice of defensive medicine, all adds together to ensure that the country experiences the largest and fastest growth in health expenditures, while at the same time, defeating efforts at cost containments. Like every other developed country, health insurance systems, especially social health insurance systems constitute the primarily methods of health financing (Carrin and James, 2004). This arrangement ensures that most of the cost of healthcare are paid by third parties, either through public establishments, as in social (public) health insurance systems, or by private bodies, as in private health insurance system, or in some cases, a mixture of both (Wolfe, 1999). The mixture of private and social health insurance is present in almost every country, with variations in their coverage. While in most European countries, social health insurance is deeply ingrained in societal fabric and provides the largest source of funding and insurance coverage (Saltman, 2004), the vast majority of Americans receive their health insurance coverage through employer based private insurance, with the rest of the country covered by any of the several public health insurance programs (Glover et al 2003). It is estimated that employer private health insurance covers approximately 63 percent of the population, with 51 percent of these amount covered by their own employers, while the remaining 41 percent are covered as a worker’s dependent; 14 percent are covered by public programs, 5 percent covered by individual insurance policies while an estimated 17 percent of the population are uncovered by any insurance (Devi, 2005). Medicare is largely regarded as the primary national (social) health insurance program in the United States, providing coverage for an estimated 44 million Americans over the age of 65. It is also estimated that Medicare provides health insurance coverage for about 7 million Americans under the age of 65 who have a disability or chronic condition (Fact Sheet, 2007). Social health insurance is a vital part of any country’s health care and health financing program, in some part of Europe, there is a general contention that social health insurance is not just an insurance arrangement, but a ‘way of life’, they are seen as a part of a social incomes policy that seek to redistribute wealth and health risk evenly amongst the population, however, the rising costs of these systems, not just in the United States but across the modern world, threatens the system. Before an analysis of the costs and factors driving costs of social health insurance systems, especially in America and in other European countries, it is important to first briefly describe the underlying principles of the social health insurance system and its difference from the private health insurance programs. This will be followed by a description of the United States Medicare program and some social health insurance programs in selected European countries and then a look at the costs of these programs. Steps taken towards cutting costs of the social insurance programs and the differences in cost cutting approaches between the United States and European Union countries will be examined. Lastly, future approaches that could help ameliorate the financial challenges facing the United States public insurance programs shall be recommended. Social Health Insurance Social health insurance, in its basic principle, in any society achieves a set of societal objectives through its peculiar form of financial cross subsidies, which covers redistribution from the healthy to the ill, from the well off to the less well off, from the young to the old and from the individual to the family. This redistributive focus of any social health insurance program distinguishes it from what is nominally regarded as insurance, thus, in several societies, it entrenches solidarity, income redistribution and is thus seen as a ‘key part of a broader structure of social security and income support that sits at the heart of civil society’ (Saltman, 2004:5) Saltman and Dubois (2004) contend that although Germany is considered the source of the modern day form of social health insurance, when it codified existing voluntary structures into compulsory state supervised legislation in 1883, the history of social health insurance (SHI) dates back longer to the medieval guilds in the late Middle Ages. However, they agreed that the structure and organization of SHI over time has considerably evolved; the number of people covered has increased from a small number of workers in particular trades to a larger portion of the population, the central concept SHI has evolved from wage replacement a death benefit into payment for and or provision of outpatient physician services, inpatient hospital care and drugs; thirdly, the administrative structure of SHI has also evolved from cooperative workers association to state mandated legislative character, beginning with Germany in 1883 and the most recent, 1996 in Switzerland. Structurally, social health insurance everywhere possesses three common characteristics. Social health insurance programs are administered privately in both funding and in the provision of health services; as a result of their private administration, social health programs are self regulating, and lastly, as a consequence of their independence and self regulation, social health insurance programs are relatively stable, both in organizational and financial terms (Saltman, 2004). As a fall out of these structural characteristics, social health insurance posses several core components that differentiate them from private health insurance programs. Under SHI, the raising of funds is tied to income of beneficiaries, usually in the form of a transparent and fixed percentage of wages. As a result, contributions are risk independent and thus encourage maximal risk pooling. Also, collection and administration of revenues for the program are handled by not-for-profit and sometimes, state run funds and these funds are usually managed by board members that are usually representative and elected. The United States Medicare program posses most or all of the characteristics of a social health insurance program. For over 40 years, the program has successfully provided healthcare access for the elderly and millions of people with disability. It is regarded as the nation’s single largest health insurance program and it covers a wide range of the society for a broad range of health services. For example, Potetz (2008) report that one out of ever five dollars spent on healthcare in 2006 came through the Medicare program. The program is also reported to fund, at least, one third of all hospital stays, nationally. In most European countries too, national, public (social) health insurance programs reportedly covers a large proportion of the population, in most cases, reaching up to 100 percent coverage. Saltman and others (2004) reports that in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland and from 1995, Israel, all have health insurance systems where (public) social health programs plays predominant roles in organization and funding of health care services, where between 60 to 100 percent of the population are mandatorily covered. They further argue that even countries like Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Greece and Portugal that have a tax funded National Health Service schemes, segments of SHI based healthcare funding also exists. Explaining the difference between social health insurance programs and private health insurance, Thomson and Mossialos (2004) contend that private health insurance play very insignificant role in the health systems of several European countries, either in terms of funding or access to healthcare. Unlike in the United States where more than 60 percent of the population are covered by private employer based insurance, private health insurance programs covers a relatively small proportion of the population and accounts for less than 5 percent of the total health spending, with the exception of France, Germany and the Netherlands. The most common difference between social and private health insurance includes eligibility, risk pooling and benefits. For social health insurance programs, contributions are mostly based on a fixed or varying proportion of wages, without regard for risks, thus a wider proportion of the people are eligible and benefits i. e. health services offered are broader with less out of pocket costs (Thomson and Mossialos, 2004; Saltman 2004). For private health insurance, the reverse is the case in most situations. Especially in for-profit private health insurance systems, contributions are adjusted according to risks and for the most part high risks individuals are rejected or expected to pay higher premiums. Consequently, eligibility requirements are strict; out of pocket expenses might be higher, while services provided vary significantly across programs, depending on an array of factors. Depending on the generally functions and services offered by private health insurance, the relation to social health insurance can be substitutive, complementary or supplementary. Substitutive private health insurance programs provides insurance covers that is otherwise available from the public programs purchased by individuals or groups who are excluded from the SHI. The larger proportion of the US society is excluded from the public insurance programs, which are usually available to the elderly, the disabled or the very poor, the rest of the population must rely on private employer based insurance. However, in European countries with effective SHI, only certain individuals with income above a certain upper threshold are excluded from the public insurance program e. g. in Netherlands and Germany, while the rest of the population are eligible. Complementary private health insurance programs provide cover for services not fully covered by the SHI programs or totally excluded, the Medicare + Choice plans is an example of such covers. Lastly, supplementary private health insurance provides cover for faster access and also increased consumer choices for individuals who can afford it (Thomson and Mossialos, 2004). Eligibility and Coverage  The United States Medicare program is essentially for the elderly, thus, individuals are eligible for Medicare coverage if they are citizens of the United States or have been a permanent legal resident for five continues years and over 65 years old. Individuals younger than 65 years of age can also be eligible for Medicare coverage if they are disabled and have been on the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or the Railroad Retirement Board benefits for a period of two years. Further, individuals with end state renal disease (ESRD) or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) known as Lou Gehrig’s disease also qualifies for Medicare coverage. However, many people with disability do not qualify for SSDI benefits and by extension, Medicare. To qualify for these benefits, disabled individuals must have a family member under age 65 who have a work history which included Federal Income Contribution Act tax (FICA), an individual may also qualifies for SSDI on the FICA contributions of a parent as a Childhood Disability Beneficiary (CDB) or as a disabled spouse of a deceased spouse. Whichever qualification route applicable, an individual qualifies for Medicare two years after he/she starts receiving the SSDI benefits, except for the Lou Gehrig’s disease where Medicare benefits starts in the first month SSDI payments are received or in the case of the ESRD where Medicare benefits starts within three months of the first dialysis (Fact Sheet, 2007). As of 2007, it is estimated that Medicare provides cover and health services to about 43 million Americans. This figure is expected to double to 77 million by 2031 when the baby boomers of the post World War II period start to retire. However, as mentioned previously, SHI in European countries offer universal coverage that is mandatory in some countries. Coverage for these countries varies from 63 percent in Netherlands to 100 percent coverage in France, Israel and Switzerland. In most of these countries, it is usually the highest income groups that are either allowed or required by law to leave the social health programs for private health insurance (Saltman, 2004:7). Benefits Benefits for Medicare members have continually been modified. The original program has two parts, Medicare Part A and part B. The Part A program known as Hospital Insurance, covers hospital stays with stays in skilled nursing facilities for limited periods if certain qualifying criteria are met. Such criteria include the length of hospital stay, which most be three days, at least, excluding the discharge day and stay in skilled nursing facility must be for conditions diagnosed during the hospitalization. Medicare Part A allows up to a maximum of 100day stay in skilled nursing facilities, with the first 20 days completely paid for by Medicare and the remaining 80days paid in part and requiring a co-payment from the beneficiary. The Medicare Part B covers services and products not covered by Part A, but on an outpatient basis. The benefits under this coverage includes physician and nursing services, laboratory diagnostic tests, influenza and pneumonia vaccinations x-rays and blood transfusions. Other services include renal dialysis, outpatient hospital procedures, Immunosuppressive drugs for organ transplant recipients, chemotherapy, limited ambulance transportation and other outpatient medical treatments carried out in a physician’s office. This coverage, to some extent, also includes medical equipments like walkers, wheelchairs and mobility scooters for individuals with mobility problems, while prosthetic devices, such as breast prosthesis after mastectomy or eye glasses after cataract surgery are also covered. The recently added Part C and D of the Medicare benefits slightly deviate from the original Medicare concept. After the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 came into effect, Medicare beneficiaries were allowed the option of receiving their Medicare benefits through private health insurance plans if they do not want to go through the original Medicare plans. These became known as Medicare + Choice as beneficiaries could choose any private health insurance plans and have it paid for by Medicare. The Medicare + Choice or Part C arrangement later became known as the Medicare Advantage Plan after the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 came into effect. The Part D plan, on the other hand, covers mainly prescription drugs and anyone in the original Plan A or B is eligible for this plan. However, in other to receive the benefits of the Plan D, a beneficiary must enroll and be approved for a Stand-alone Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) or Medicare Advantage plan with prescription drug coverage (MA-PD). However, because Plan D is effectively operated by private health insurance companies, there are no standardized benefits, like the plan A and B; the private insurance companies could choose to cover some drugs or classes of drugs and not cover others, with the exception of drugs excluded from Medicare coverage. Beneficiaries are therefore restricted to the drugs coverage of the plans they choose (Merlis, 2008; Potetz, 2008). Contributions towards Social Health Insurance Medicare financing, like social health insurance everywhere, is financed through a complex mix of taxes, contributions, co-payments and the likes. The most important source of financing for the Medicare expenditures is through the payroll tax imposed by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act and the Self-Employment Contributions Act of 1954, while other sources of financing includes general revenue through income taxes, a tax on Social Security benefits, and payments from states required for the Medicare drug benefits which started in 2006. In addition to these, beneficiaries also contribute directly to Medicare financing through premiums, deductibles and co-insurance. It is reported that income cases, physician do charge beneficiaries an additional out-of -pocket ‘balance billing’ to cover for services rendered (Potetz, 2008). The federal payroll taxes are paid by the working population or by the beneficiaries throughout their work history. The tax equals 2. 9 percent of gross wages, with half (1. 45 percent) deducted from the worker’s salary and the other half paid by the employer. Initially, there was a ceiling on the maximum amount any single person can contribute; however, beginning from 1994, the maximum limit was removed. Self employed people who do not have an employer to cover the other half of their taxes are mandated by law to pay the full 2. 9 percent of their estimated earnings. However, the contributions from the beneficiaries vary considerably depending on the plan and also range from premiums, deductibles, co-payments or in some cases, the balance billing mentioned previously.

Actor and Ubermarrionette

The Actor and the Uber-Marionette Edward Gordan Craig did not think of acting as an art-form; he considers it incorrect to speak as though actors are artists. He started out as an actor, but became more interested in art and he ended his acting career for theatrical design. He asserted that the director was the true artist of the theatre and viewed actors of little importance and even declared that they were very replaceable. Throughout his career in theatre production, he was viewed as extremely difficult to work with and he refused to produce anything that he did not have complete artistic control over.His ideals about the theatre and how it should be run were written in his most famous and rather controversial essay, â€Å"The Actor and the Uber-Marionette. † In this article, he seems to suggest that the stage has no place for actors and they should be banished and be replaced by super-marionettes. His analysis of the human actor compared to that of the marionette seems to be inferior. He believed that art can only come by creation; he believed what actors were doing was imitation. He believed that true artists capture the spirit of things and the actor was only mere pretending to capture the true essence of art.It is obvious in his language that Gordan Craig was very passionate of the theatre and he saw the commercialization of the stage as the destruction of theatre. He seems to think to think that actors were the root cause of the degradation of the art of the theatre , but he seem to have an underlying intention to urge actors to reform their acting and create for themselves a new form of acting. Gordan Craig believed that â€Å"Art arrives only by design. † (Craig, p. 55) This means that acting was not considered art by this definition because he saw actors as only being able to imitate and impersonate.He believed that the only way to make art was through creation and â€Å"Therefore in order to make any work of art it is clear we may onl y work in those materials with which we can calculate. Man is not one of these materials. † (Craig, p. 55) He believed that art can only be created by â€Å"materials† and those actors using their own bodies as materials for their art-form were considered an â€Å"accidental nature. † He claimed that the actor was controlled by his emotions and therefore unreliable and untrustworthy, â€Å"But with the actor, emotion possesses him; it seizes upon his limbs, moving them wither it ill. † (Craig, p. 56) He saw the human body, which the actors use as their material, as easily manipulated by emotions. Human emotion is so strong that it dictates every aspect of the actor such as his facial expressions and the sounds of his voice. He argued that the human emotion could work against the actor at any given moment and betray him. Gordan Craig liked having control of every aspect of the production and he did not like the idea of not having complete control of the act or’s voice and movements.He likely believed that with marionette, he would have a way to control the unpredictability of the actor and express a wide range of emotions. This is similar to how Jim Henson could express a distinguishable range of emotions using only the eyes of the Muppet. The placement of the eyes for a Muppet was the key to success for the character. In The Muppet Movie (1979), Miss Piggy is able to convey anger and even aggression through the puppeteer’s use of her eyes. This can be seen during the scene where Miss Piggy fights off Doc Hopper and his henchmen in the barn.Another example would be when Miss Piggy first gazes eyes on Kermit the Frog at the fair; her infatuation with Kermit is made obvious through usage of her eyes. Jim Henson also frequently says that Kermit the Frog was much bolder than himself and â€Å"He can say things I hold back. † (Seligmann, J. ; Leonard, E. (May 28, 1990). â€Å"Jim Henson: 1936–1990†. Newswe ek. ) In â€Å"The Actor and the Uber-Marionette,† Gordan Carig seemingly wants to do away with actor and have him replace by the uber-marionette.He says that even if the actor were to have original ideas of his own, â€Å"his nature would still be in servitude; his body would have to become the slave of his mind. † (Craig, p. 61) He goes on to say that the body of man is â€Å"utterly useless as a material for an art. † (Craig, p. 61) The only way actors can escape from this predicament is to reform their way of acting, â€Å"Today they impersonate and interpret; to-morrow they must represent and interpret; and the third day they must create. †(Craig, p. 61) This is the only solution to bringing back the essence of the theatre.The actors must learn to create and only then they can have freedom of creation and having something you can call your own. Gordan Craig thinks that actors are only able to imitate art, but cannot recreate it. He thinks of them as fakes who only do impersonations and never offering any contribution to the art. The actors masquerade as artists and they rarely think about creating art. They are copies and are incapable of â€Å"capturing the spirit and essence of idea to an audience. † (Craig, p. 63) Gordan Carig wants the actors to redeem themselves and help revive what is failing in the theatre.This importance of creation is predominant in Muppets and Sesame Street characters. Each Muppet has their own individual identity and their own unique aspects that define them. The puppeteer has freedom over the control of the Muppet and can decide to portray the Muppet in whatever way is desired. This is where Gordan Craig’s ideals differ with Muppets because some Muppets are based upon real people. That is not to say they are exact imitations, but they certain qualities resemble their real counterparts. Although they are their own characters, some Muppets do have a level of impersonation.For example, An imal is said to be based on Keith Moon, the drummer for The Who. Caroll Spinney who performs Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street said he based Oscar’s cranky voice on a New York cab driver that he once had the pleasure of riding with. The marionette has evolved from its predecessors; Gordan Craig has even said that it is â€Å"a rather degenerate form of a god. † (Craig, p. 82) Clearly, he holds the marionettes of higher value than the actor. He wants people to acknowledge how special the marionettes are and he is disappointed that puppets are regarded â€Å"low comedians. (Craig, p. 82) To him, the marionettes are â€Å"the last echo of some noble and beautiful art which has passed civilization. † (Craig, p. 82) He hates how modern puppets are being used and he feels they are being utilized incorrectly. He longs for the day in which puppets are used again as medium for the intelligent thoughts of the artist. The ideal situation was by creating the uber-marionett e; we can rid the theatre of the weakness that is the actor who is under the influence of his emotions.He saw the uber-marionette medium as perfect, pure and completely able to express the artist’s intentions because the marionette would be made in the artist’s image. Craig Gordan’s vision was similar to the situation in which Jim Henson was in where he was afraid that his company would be type casted as purely children’s entertainment. He wanted to break out in to the adult audience. American networks initially rejected his idea because they thought that Muppets only appealed to children and that adults would not be interested. Eventually he was able to get â€Å"The Muppet Show† financing through a British network.He was able to prove that the Muppets appealed to a variety of audiences, both young and old. It was no doubt that Muppets appealed very easily to children and this theory is very evident in Sesame Street. The usage of Muppets helped pr opagate the idea that â€Å"Sesame Street was built around a single, breakthrough insight: that if you can hold the attention of children, you can educate them†. (Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference p. 100) Muppets were good teaching tools because children can easily recognize them and they capture their attention.Edward Gordan Craig’s intentions through â€Å"The Actor and the Uber-Marionette† were to influence a revival of theatre art. He wanted actors to reform their way of acting and reacted strongly against the actor’s dominance in theatre. The creation of something by the artist was closer to true art and actors were merely imitating this. Actors were impersonators and were not intellectual and could not capture the spirit or essence of the art. The actor’s own emotions and personal beauty ruined the director’s vision. He truly believed that theatre should banish the actor and be replaced by the ube r-marionette.The marionette was much more reliable and trustworthy and the director could have full control over it. The puppet had a long history and was linked to many past great works of art. In his closing statements he tells us his desire, â€Å"I pray earnestly for the return of the image—the Uber-marionette to the Theatre; and when he comes again . . . , he will be loved so well that once more it will be possible for people to return to their ancient joy in ceremonies—once more will Creation be celebrated—homage rendered to existence and divine and happy intercession made to death. † (Craig, p. 94)

A Common Intention Trust in the Case Oxley vs Hiscock Study

A Common Intention Trust in the Oxley vs Hiscock - Case Study Example A common intention trust has been helpful in establishing the need for fairer distributions of assets of trusts which must take into account the changing social equations of the day, where the traditional institution of marriage has begun to shed its conventional form and cohabitation has become more common. In the case of disputes over shared property, the case of Oxley v Hiscock has served to consolidate the principles of the common intention trust and the extent of proprietary estoppel that may be exercised by the contending parties.The case concerned a couple Ms Oxley and Mr. Hiscock, in reference to a property that was purchased by them, to which Ms Oxley had contributed about a 35% share while the major burden of the investment was borne by Mr. Hiscock out of his own savings and the proceeds of another home they had owned together. Ms. Oxley and her children lived in the new home with Mr. Hiscock and the couple had cohabited together for many years, although the sole title owne r was Mr. Hiscock. This was a case in which no trust declarations had been made, however there was evidence available to lead to an inference of common intention for both parties to enjoy beneficial shares in the property, although the extent of these beneficial shares were not specified. At the lower Court, the Judge found evidence to indicate the existence of a common intention trust and inferred an equal beneficial share in the property. However, this was appealed by Mr. Hiscock on the grounds that he had made a larger contribution to the property in question and allocating the beneficial interests on an equal 50:50 basis was unfair to his interests. At the Court of Appeal, the Court examined the issues and framed two salient issues to be examined where there is no express declaration of trust:- the existence of a common intention trust based upon the expressed intent of the parties to share beneficial interests and- the extent of the beneficial interests that could be attributed to each party.

Body building Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Body building - Research Paper Example Studies like that of Probert, Palmer and Leberman (2007) have shown that both male and female competitive bodybuilders take risks with regard to their health. Using a postal survey in New Zealand based bodybuilders, they found that males were â€Å"competitively aggressive† and had more involvement in the use of steroids while females were more at risk of eating disorders (p. 272). It is seen here that even athlete bodybuilders take health risks. However, it should be noted here that this research was based on professional athletes and not the general public. Many other accounts by newspaper reports and health organizations have pointed out that more and more people are involving in unhealthy and risky practices for body building. For example, in the New York Times, the example of David Abusheikh was given. This boy started weightlifting when he was 15 years old for two hours in six days a week (Quenqua, 2012). Since high school, this body added shakes and protein bars to his diet for putting on more muscles. He said to the newspaper that he wanted something that could help him get â€Å"bigger a little faster† (Quenqua, 2012). The paper put forward the crisis that boys are taking unhealthy risks to achieve perfect bodies. In a study, it was found that more than 40% middle school and high school boys took protein supplements and 6% used steroids (Quenqua, 2012). Supplements are not regulated and so it is difficult to know what they have. So when taken in large quantities, these could be harmful. Moreover, anabolic steroids are spe cially dangerous because they stop the synthesis of the testosterone hormone in men which is very bad because it will affect growth. Even online, boys and teenagers get very engrossed in weight lifting regimens and for popularizing well built ripped body images. In a study, Kanayama, Hudson and Pope (2008) to explore the problem of abuse of anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) by the general

Defining and Protecting Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Defining and Protecting Human Rights - Essay Example .......................................................................3 Liberal Internationalism†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..............3 Liberalism as (IR) Theory†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 Key Human Rights Issues in Egypt’s State of Emergency†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..6 Trends within liberalism†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..............................................................................................8 Political liberalism...............................................................................................................8 Cultural liberalism.......................................................................... .....................................9 Economic liberalism............................................................................................................9 Liberalism – Triumphant...................................................................................................10 Weaknesses and Criticism of liberalism...........................................................................11 Defense of the Theory...................................................................................................................12 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14 References............................................... Even criminals have their rights and must be treated humanely hence the evolution of the death penalty from seemingly barbaric ways to the now â€Å"more humane† lethal injection. Learning from Winston Churchill, the degree of how civilized a society is can be gauged on its treatment of its prisoners. Likewise, armed forces that are in conflict are bound to respect the rights of POW’s or prisoners of war. Much has been learned from the atrocities of the past war necessitating the need for a global commitment to uphold and protect human lives and the rights of every individual. However, these very important rights usually become the first casualties during times of conflict. This is more prevalent in countries that have declared a state of emergency wherein martial law ensues. Human Rights in the Arab Republic of Egypt For about thirty years, the Arab Republic of Egypt has been under a state of emergency which was declared by its ruler, Hosni Mubarak. Thus, excessive pow er has befallen on the state wherein much power has been in the hands of the central government while at the same time further empowering the military (Reza 2007). Thus, the government of Hosmi Mubarak was able to rule Egypt with an iron fist. This power has allowed the regime to ignore habeas corpus resulting to numerous arrests despite the lack of charges, public outcry was silenced by the ban on demonstrations, and political opposition has been stamped out with the dispersal of meetings and the media blindfolded by shutdowns. Liberalism Those who go up against the government end up being persecuted and are locked up behind bars (Shatz, 2010). These efforts by the Egyptian government have been scorned by human rights groups in and out of the country. However, the Egyptians have had enough and

Primal Leadership The Hidden Driver of Great Performance Essay

Primal Leadership The Hidden Driver of Great Performance - Essay Example These two factors has a great impact on the overall of a company. For example, a reckless boss would create a toxic organization that had underachievers who did not take opportunities presented before them. The eventual result will be a profit or loss. On how emotional intelligence affected performance, data from Hay Group data was availed. The authors discovered that emotional intelligence was carried thorough an organization similar to electricity through wires. The mood of the executive was contagious and it spread quickly thorugh out the business. It is imperative to note that the mood of a leader and his accompanying behaviors are directly linked to the success of the business. So, his primal task is emotional leadership. A leader should ascertain that not only is he regularly in an optimistic mood so that his followers may feel the same way.Even though some days may be difficult, he should know that primal leadership demands more that putting face, it requires him to determine, through reflective analysis how emotional leadership will determine the moods and the actions of the

If It's Legal, It's Ethical; and Besides, Everyone Does It Essay

If It's Legal, It's Ethical; and Besides, Everyone Does It - Essay Example Group hedge-fund, Raj Rajaratnam obtained inside information through supporting the graduation parties of several young executives in major companies such as Intel. Arthur Anderson and Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation (CSFB) shredded documents that would be crucial in pending Enron investigations. The outcomes of such behaviours were costly legal suits by the SEC, loss of investor confidence in the industry (Jennings, 2012). Other executives were sentenced for long terms in jail. There are no disadvantages competitively if companies do not engage in the same behaviours as those of the industry. Companies that behave ethically will attain higher reputation and trust from clients thus gaining a competitive edge in the market. If firms do not follow the unethical industry behaviours, they will avoid costly suits by the SEC and gain market reputation (Jennings, 2012). Some of the negative consequences for companies that adopted industry practices include costly suits by the SEC, loss of investor confidence and bankruptcy. Such companies distorted the market prices and led to decline in the market capitalization since some investors sold their stocks below the issue prices in order to avoid further losses. If everyone in the industry is behaving unethically, it will not be difficult for one to be caught. The Securities and Exchange Commission constantly monitors the transactions of each financial identity after complaints of insider trading thus facilitating the identification of criminal and unethical behaviours. On the other hand, the SEC requires the suspected individuals to voluntarily assist in the investigation in order to qualify for leniency in the exchange of the insider trading and market manipulation testimony (Jennings,

Physics conclusion page Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Physics conclusion page - Essay Example Additionally, both the graphs T2 = SM + I and F = - Kx have straight lines, though the latter has a y intercept I. Hence, the two constants slightly bear small difference owing to the initial having a deviation of I. The experiment’s deductions depict that, for one motion cycle T2 varies directly with both the mass and the springs constant. That is especially when there is any addition of the mass, which produces a similar quantity both the spring constant and T2. In addition, the T2 varies directly with the mass but inversely proportional to the string constant, K. Velocity does not depend on the mass applied, since the amplitude is constant all throughout, which implies a reduction in both the extension and potential energy (PE), but the Time Period increases. Maintaining all other factors constant except the acceleration, it yields to the increased potential energy, velocity as well as kinetic energy. However, this phenomenon reduces the Time Period (Brazell et al

Density of regular solids Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Density of regular solids - Essay Example An analysis of the lab results shows that it fulfilled its purpose; it presents the densities of the materials obtained using different procedures. The objectives of this lab were, therefore, met, since, everything happened as expected. The  main  source  of  error  in the  experiment  is the  taking  of  measurements. The  error  due  to  direct  measurement  is  less  than that  due  to the  displacement  method; the values are 2.619 and 18.2  percent  respectively. The  difference  between the two is  so  big  that it  brings doubt into  the  suitability  of the  displacement  method  in  calculating  density. There is a  difference  between the  results  obtained  in this  experiment  and the  expected  results. For  instance, the  lab  results  denote  a  density  of 1.0408 g/cm3 for  water, while the  expected  density  under the  conditions  under which the  lab  was  conducted  is 0.991724 g/cm3. The  difference  might  have  come  about  due  to temperature and pressure changes in the lab. It might also have been caused by human error, especially during calibration and measurement. The lab exercise was successful; the density of the various compounds was established. I learnt the importance of taking precise and accurate measurements while doing experiments. The results of the experiment are entirely dependent on the procedure and accuracy of the measurements taken. I am, however, curious to find out how room temperature affects the density of a material. I hope to establish the facts about this issue in subsequent classes and, perhaps, lab

Tourism the best seven countries to visit Essay

Tourism the best seven countries to visit - Essay Example Travelling to different parts of the world has its own pleasures and uses; it is quite a great recreational activity. One gets to learn plenty from the different cultures, places, and people one visits and comes across. I have short listed seven countries that I find interesting, places that I have visited and places which I would like to go to in the future. Each of them has their own geographical features that distinguishes them from other countries. The countries’ statistics that I shall be mentioning later include the capital cities, the historic places, the geographical map, the currency in use and other notable features. Qatar The country which tops the list is where I am originally from. Qatar is an amazing place, particularly during the months of November to April. This is when the scorching temperature lowers down and the weather becomes pleasant and cool, the level of humidity falls and there is even a little rainfall. It is, I think, better for the families to visit this country due to the country’s strict laws regarding how men and women are supposed to act in public. So it would not quite suit a couple, particularly those who are big on public displays of affection. Once there, the visitor should make sure to change their money to the local currency which is the Qatari Riyal. The country is famous for its shopping malls, which are relatively expensive places such as Al Khor Mall, Lagoona Mall and Safari Hypermarket. Other places to visit are: The Kingdom of Aladdin, The Zoo, Al Rumaila Park, Dahl El-Hamam Public Park, Khor Al Udaid Beach, Al Jassasiya, Oryx Farm, Water Sports and Cruises, Desert Safari. Travelling to these places, one may need to hire cars or get a cab or use a bus. (Orr, 2008) Thailand Another country worth checking out is Thailand, the place I visited last summer, which I was told is the hottest time of the year. Those who would rather not be vacationing in such heat should book the tickets for the months of Novembe r to February when the weather is relatively cooler. You can go to this country with your family or your partner. It has enough attractions for both, some of them being Koh Samuei, Hua Hin, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Pai and also Ko Tarutao, Ayuthaya, Ko Chang, Similan Islands. Shopping zones include Siam Paragon, Central Chidlom, Platinum Fashion Mall Prince Palace, Natural Ville and Sivatel Bangkok. Then, of course, there are the beaches Thailand is famous for. These can be reached through various modes of transport from motorbikes, bicycles, tuk-tuks to bamboo rafts. What is notable is that the prices are relatively affordable in comparison to the European countries; the currency used is Thai Baht. (Boraas & Tracey, 2002) India Another Asian country is India, which I would like to visit between the months of October to March since it would be cooler then. It is purely suited for family outings since the culture is Eastern and there are certain behaviorisms to be followed. But i t does not mean that one cannot enjoy the visit, this country does have a lot to offer like the shopping zones such as Dil Hatt, Chandi Chowk, Connaught Place, Hauz Khas and Atria Millennium Mall. Other places to see are: the Taj Mahal in Agra, the various temples, the India Gate, the forts in Jaipur, even the beaches in Goa in particular and Mysore. The currency is the Indian Rupee and its low value makes spending time in the country very cheap. One can go around the place in railways, rickshaws or taxis and even cars. (Singh, 2009) United States of America Everyone is familiar with this country which is so vast that one can visit this place at any time of the year, but September is the month most preferred. Again, a trip to the USA is suitable for both: family as well as couples. There are many tourist attractions, again, most of which we all are already aware of, some being the historic places, the Statue of Liberty, the Niagara Falls, the casinos in Las Vegas, etc. Some of the s hopping zones

Dean College Essay Example for Free

Dean College Essay During my year at Dean College, apart from putting efforts in enhancing my academic performance, I had been working as a peer tutor in the Learning Center. The Learning Center provides materials and information to enhance students’ learning skills, ability and their knowledge on the content of subjects. My role is to offer content assistance in the areas of Economics, English and Mathematics, but would often cross-tutor in several other areas such as Criminal Justice, writing, and general study skills. Experiencing the success in assisting other students and receiving good feedbacks had gained me a really joyful work experience as a peer tutor. I had a relatively different idea of being a peer tutor, since students usually went to the learning center for quick review on their essays which were due shortly. I had been working hard in marketing strategies, whereas creating an atmosphere of a place that they can spare their time here to concentrate, a place where combine the characteristics of library and private tutors. In this place, they can concentrate on their studies, with rich resources like computer stations, printers and reference books. Moreover, to make them feel more comfortable, they won’t feel like they are being tagged as doing bad on academics, since tutors no longer wear staff tags. They will feel more confidence on themselves in this way. I think that it is essential to create a certain sort of relationship right off the bat with the person you are tutoring. It is important to make the student feel that we are also students that are continually learning and also willing to contribute out ideas and point of view with them. There is a major difference between a peer tutor and a teacher. I believe that peer tutors do not judge and on top of that, they do not give out grades! It is also easier for tutors to come out and say that they do not know all the answers. Many times, a student can have trouble in class but never address these questions to their teachers for many different reasons. One of them could be because they are afraid of talking in front of a larger group of students. Another reason could be because they might feel that their question is stupid. These reasons could inhibit a student from learning and understanding the material. I think that as a peer tutor, I am able to help these students on a one-on-one basis. I think that my experiece gained from this job is very meaningful and has helped me a lot in the way to communicate with others in a more positive and encouraging way. Helping others makes me feel more satisfied with my performance and has definitely given me a lot more confidence that I can assist others even though I may have shortcomings. These students learn something from me as a peer tutor and on the other hand, I learn a lot of things from the students who have sought for my help.

Comparing Owen and Women Writers Poems

Comparing Owen and Women Writers Poems Owen was an English poet whose work was characterised by his anger at the cruelty and waste of war, which he experienced during service on the Western Front. Edited by Sassoon and published in 1920, Owens single volume of poems contain some of the most poignant English poetry of World War One, including Dulce et Decorum Est and Anthem for Doomed Youth. One way Owen conveys the experience of war is by making people aware that the actual horrors of war were hidden behind propaganda. He conveys this very well in Dulce et Decorum Est My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. This is one of the most memorable lines of Owens poetry. It translates from Latin to: It is sweet and right to die for ones country. This was a phrase repeated in schools and churches and homes and political circles to entice young men to embrace patriotic fervour and enlist in the military. The true nature of war was concealed and they went off to war like the soldier in Disabled young, naive, full of dreams and completely unprepared for the carnage and complexity, half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race. This completely dismantles the myth that war is glorious and young men should die on their nations behalf. The verses before the last lines of Dulce et decor um est implies that the war was a surreal war of horror, nightmare, and pain. This single poem of Owens is enough to convey to the reader just how terrible WWI was, and how far removed the actuality of battle was from idealism and heroism. The Falling Leaves Margaret Cole says I saw the brown leaves dropping from their tree by connecting the leaves to the soldiers she is linking the inevitability of the soldiers deaths to the inevitability of the leaves falling from the tree. This shows that, like Owen, Margaret believes that the propaganda is misleading and although she thinks the soldiers are brave gallant multitude she thinks they are being brave for the wrong reasons, just like Owen. Owen, again, reveals the lies of propaganda in Disabled Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal Owen is implying that no one appreciates the protagonist and his work, Owen implies that he is forgotten and that he is not the hero he thought he would be and the propaganda misled him comple tely. Another way Owen conveys the experience of war is by highlighting how the soldiers are not appreciated as there are loads of soldiers and an individual is not going to be remembered for what a vast mass has done even if that individual has lost a part of him for the war. One of the reasons why Disabled is such a strong and memorable poem is how much it resonates with the reader. The young protagonist is realistic, relatable. He could be any one of the young men who joined the war for glory and did not stop to contemplate the sacrifices required, and who returned home very different physically or psychologically from his former self. He spends much of the poem reminiscing about the days before the war when he was heroic and beloved, as well as physically whole. He joined the war for seemingly silly reasons, and Owen condemns how easy it was for such a naive boy to lie about his age and enlist. Now he will never feel again how slim Girls waists are, or how warm their subtle hands, All of them touch him like some queer disease. The quote shows how the boys greatest regret now is that he will not be attractive to women. He does not lament his lack of glory or awards, but that his life back at home will be incomplete and unfulfilling. This is a pitifully sad and universal fear for young men of all wars and all eras. The protagonist doesnt think he is a whole person men that were whole he is abandoned, uncared for, isolated, forgotten as he is not really a man. Margaret Cole similarly writes about this issue in The Falling Leaves I saw the brown leaves dropping from their tree this implies that the soldiers deaths are trivial, just like Owen did, as she is implying that in this poem the leaves are soldiers and not many people care if a multitude of leaves fall off a tree they just carry on with their lives as if nothing happened. Margaret Cole is implying that the after effects of the soldiers are trivial to society. Anna Gordon-Keown differs in the way she conveys t he experience of war. In Reported Missing Anna writes about a mother who has recently received news that her son has been reported missing while he was fighting in the war. Anna conveys the mother to be grieving heavily, and also in denial of the sons death, This heart would never beat if you were dead.. The fact that the mother is in so much distress really implies that the death of one soldier can mean the emotional death of many. Owen also highlights how the soldiers are being controlled in Anthem for Doomed Youth What passing-bells for those who die as cattle?ÂÂ   Only the monstrous anger of the guns.. This poem suggests that the young men fighting in the war die nameless and faceless like animals. They are denied the dignity of proper funerals and burials in many cases, and are not afforded the rituals and traditions of those who die under normal circumstances. They must be content with the sounds of guns and rifles as their bells and choirs. Owen also expresses sympathy with the women back at home who mourn their fallen sons, husbands, and brothers, but has little to comfort them. War disrupts the patterns and norms of life, and, clearly, of death. Owen also highlights how soldiers are being controlled in Dulce et Decorum Est where Owen says Men marched asleep this implies that the soldiers are simply going to war for the sake of it and are being blinded by their false hope of being a hero not ration ally thinking of the consequences to soon follow. In conclusion, Owen is (rightfully) very infuriated with practically everything to do with war and he didnt like how it was portrayed. He has first-hand experience with the horrors of war but the women writers dont so they can only write about what they have heard (or have been fed) so the ways they convey war are sometimes quite different.

History of statistics and its significance

History of statistics and its significance History of Statistics and its Significance Statistics is a relatively new subject, which branched from Probability Theory and is widely used in areas such as Economics and Astrology. It is a logic and methodology to measure uncertainty and it is used to do inferences on these uncertainties (Stigler, 1986). The history of Statistics can be firstly traced back to the 1600s. John Graunt (1620-1674) could be considered as the pioneer of statistics and as the author of the first book regarding statistics. He published Natural and Political observations on the Bills of Mortality in 1662 whereby he was studying the plague outbreak in London at the time requested by the King. Graunt was asked to come up with a system that would allow them to detect threats of further outbreaks, by keeping records of mortality and causes of death and making an estimation of the population. By forming the life table, Graunt discovered that statistically, the ratio of male to females are almost equal. Then in 1666, he collected data and started to exami ne life expectancies. All of this was fundamental as he was arguably the first to create a condensed life table from large data and was able to do some analysis on it. In addition, this is widely used in life insurance today, showing the importance and significance of Graunts work (Verduin, 2009). Another reason why this is significant is because of his ability in demonstrating the value of data collection (Stigler, 1986). Then in 1693, Edmond Halley extended Graunts ideas and formed the first mortality table that statistically made the relationship between age and death rates. Again, this is used in life insurance (Verduin, 2009). Another contributor to the formation of statistics is Abraham De Moivre (1667-1823). He was the first person to identify the properties of the normal curve and in 1711, introduced the notion of statistical independence (Verduin, 2009). In 1724, De Moivre studied mortality statistics and laid down foundations of the theory of annuities, inspired by the work of Halley. This is significant as annuities are widely used in the Finance industry today, in particular, when forming actuarial tables in life insurance. De Moivre then went on to talk about the idea of the normal distribution which can be used to approximate the binomial distribution (OConnor and Robertson, 2004). William Playfair (1759-1823) was the person who invented statistical graphics, which included the line graph and the bar graph chart in 1786 and the pie chart in 1801. He believed that charts were a better way to represent data and he was driven to this invention by a lack of data. This was a milestone as these graphical representations are used everywhere today, the most notable being the time-series graph, which is a graph containing many data points measured at successive uniform intervals over a period of time. These graphs can be used to examine data such as shares, and could be used to predict future data (Robyn 1978). Adolphe Quetlet (1796-1874) was the first person to apply probability and statistics to Social Sciences in 1835. He was interested in studying about human characteristics and suggested that the law of errors, which are commonly used in Astronomy, could be applied when studying people and through this, assumptions or predictions could be in regards to physical features and intellectual features of a person. Through Quetlets studies, he discovered that the distribution of certain characteristics when he made a diagram of it was in a shape of a bell curve. This was a significant discovery as Quetlet later went on to form properties of the normal distribution curve, which is a vital concept in Statistics today. Using this concept of average man, Quetlet used this to examine other social issues such as crime rates and marriage rates. He is also well known for the coming up with a formula called the Quetlet Index, or more commonly known as Body Mass Index, which is an indication or measure for obesity. This is still used today and you could find out your BMI by calculating. If you get an index of more than 30, it means the person is officially obese (OConnor and Robertson, 2006). Other members who made little but significance contributions to Statistics are Carl Gauss and Florence Nightingale. Gauss was the first person who played around with the least squares estimation method when he was interested in astronomy and attempted to predict the position of a planet. He later proved this method by assuming the errors are normally distributed. The method of least squares is widely used today, in Astronomy for example, in order to minimise the error and improve the accuracy of results or calculations (OConnor and Robertson, 1996). It was also the most commonly used method before 1827 when trying to combine inconsistent equations (Stigler, 1986). Nightingale was inspired by Quetlets work on statistical graphics and produced a chart detailing the deaths of soldiers where she worked. She later went on to analyse that state and care of medical facilities in India. This was significant as Nightingale applied statistics to health problems and this led to the improvement of medical healthcare. Her important works were recognised as became the first female to be a member of the Royal Statistical Society (Cohen, 1984). One of the greatest contributors was Francis Galton (1822-1911) who helped create a statistical revolution which laid foundations for future statisticians like Karl Pearson and Charles Spearman (Stigler, 1986). He was related to Charles Darwin and had many interests, such as Eugenics and Anthropology. He came up with a number of vital concepts, including the regression, standard deviation and correlation, which came about when Galton was studying sweet peas. He discovered that the successive sweet peas were of different sizes but regressed towards the mean size and the distribution of their parents (Gavan Tredoux, 2007). He later went on to work with the idea of correlation when he was studying the heights of parents and the parents children when they reach adulthood, where he made a diagram of his findings and found an obvious correlation between the two. He then performed a few other experiments and came to the conclusion that the index of the correlation was an indication to the d egree in which the two variables were related to one another. His studies were significant as they are all fundamental in Statistics today and these methods are used in many areas for data analysis, especially with extracting meaningful information between different factors (OConnor and Robertson, 2003). The History of Statistics: The Measurement of Uncertainty before 1900 Stephen M Stigelr Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, March 1, 1990 p1, 4, 40, 266 http://www.leidenuniv.nl/fsw/verduin/stathist/stathist.htm A short History of Probability and Statistics Kees Verduin Last Updated: March 2009 Last Accessed: 02/04/2010 http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/De_Moivre.html The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive Article by: J J OConnor and E F Robertson Copyright June 2004 Last Accessed: 05/04/2010 The American Statistician Volume: 32, No: 1 Quantitative graphics in statistics: A brief history James R. Beniger and Dorothy L. Robyn p1-11 http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Quetelet.html The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive Article by: J J OConnor and E F Robertson Copyright August 2006 Last Accessed: 06/04/2010 http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Gauss.html The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive Article by: J J OConnor and E F Robertson Copyright December 1996 Last Accessed: 06/04/2010 Scientific American 250 Florence Nightingale I. Bernard Cohen March 1984, p128-37/p98-107depending on country of sale http://galton.org/ Francis Galton Edited and Maintained by: Gavan Tredoux Last Updated: 12/11/07 (according to the update in News section) Last Accessed: 07/04/2010 http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Galton.html The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive Article by: J J OConnor and E F Robertson Copyright October 2003 Last Accessed: 07/04/2010

How Christian Faith-Based Organizations Can Help Homeless Shelters :: Soup Kitchens Spirituality Food Pantries Essays

How Christian Faith-Based Organizations Can Help Homeless Shelters Abstract Spirituality affirms the essential self-worth, dignity and core health of a person’s well being; therefore, homeless shelters should incorporate spirituality, in order to benefit a person in the long term compared to the satisfaction of an immediate need. â€Å"Our national epidemic of intolerance for poor and homeless people is the consequence of America’s lack of spirituality, coupled with America’s love of materialism and society’s expense (3, martin).† The number one book sold for over a decade, seizing to be a fad or a trend has been the Bible. In a study of New York prisoners, studies found that those who participated in a Prison Fellowship Bible Study were rearrested drastically less compared to the amount of prisoners those whom did not. Of those who took part in the Bible study, 14 percent were rearrested within one year, compared to those who choose to not participate was 41 percent. In a similar case, at a Texas prison, out of 80 prisoners who took part in the Prison Fellowship, a whopping five percent are back in prison. In a Public Health Service, which is strongly Christian oriented, done of Teen Challenge’s Drug treatment program, by a Northwestern University doctoral student, it was found that it was more effective with the participants than that of its counterparts. With these examples, it becomes credible that with faith-based programs long term results are received, which further exemplifies my position u pon the integration of Christian faith into the homeless shelter environment. While researching this issue, I came across President Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative. Bush wants federal funding to flow to religious organizations without pointless restrictions. In doing this, there will be departments created to tend to housing, urban development, labor, health and human services. In establishment of these positions, bush will oversea them as they work closely to fund the faith-based services. On a CNN interview with Eileen O’Connor (whom represented Bush) she stated, â€Å"They (faith-based services) have an effectiveness rate. In some cases, it is proven by studies that they can be more effective as with recidivism in drug treatment programs. President Bush says that if they are effective, why not turn them.† Many critics have argued Bush’s stance in saying that it crosses the line drawn between church and state. O’Connell argued, â€Å"He (Bush) has appointed men of different faiths to head these programs up.

Womens Education in Mansfield Park Essays -- Mansfield Park Essays

Women's Education in Mansfield Park      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Mansfield Park, Jane Austen presents three different kinds of formal education for women. Two of these have the ultimate goal of marriage, while the third is, possibly, as close to a gentleman's education as a woman's could be. Although there is some overlapping of these three types, each one is, basically, embodied in one of the major female characters -- Maria Bertram, Mary Crawford, and Fanny Price -- to show the follies and the triumphs of each. Unlucky Maria's education teaches her next to nothing, and Mary's has no true substance below the bright surface. The timid, mousy Fanny Price, however, may be partly in debt to her progressive education for the happiness that she earns at the end of the novel.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Austen's world, a girl's education was almost inseparable from her home life. What she learned and, consequently, her conduct, was often a reflection of what her household was like, and this is certainly true of Maria and Mary.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Maria, brought up by a distant father, an indolent mother, and an indulgent aunt, doesn't learn until too late that selfish actions can bring disastrous consequences. (What is said for Maria in the subject of education is, of course, also true for Julia -- however, for the sake of brevity, and as Maria is the more prominent character of the two, she is the model of comparison in this essay.) Sir Thomas regrets his neglect of his daughters' moral education after Maria's character is exposed:    He had meant them to be good, but his cares had been directed to the understanding and manners,... ...  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fanny fares the best of the three characters discussed, by being true to herself, and by being considerate of others. She receives what is due to her, as a classical hero does -- she is torn away from her rightful place as eldest sister, to be thrust into a lowly position where she must prove herself worthy before returning to her first home. There, she finds things have changed for the worst, but helps set things right before riding away to a new life of domestic felicity. The way Fanny was brought up, her moral and formal education, are akin to tools and amulets carried by mythical heroes -- they may not always be obvious, but they are a source of strength and comfort in the hero's times of need.    Works Cited Austen, Jane.   MansfieldPark. 1814. London: Oxford University Press, 1966.

Humorous Wedding Speech by the Groom :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Humorous Wedding Speech by the Groom The groom has used the wedding date as a source for funny lines, comparing their marriage with celebrity couples for comic effect. While preparing this speech I thought it would be interesting to see if any celebrity couples had been married on the same day as us. Paul Simon and Carrie Fisher wed in 1983...and split up after 9 months. Oh dear. Also, Madonna married Sean Penn on this day in 1985; and we all know the outcome of that. Unlike the latter, while Lisa is "Like A Virgin," I plan to "Cherish" her forever and I am not afraid to 'Justify My Love." There's always the "Hanky Panky" to look forward to. There are children present, so the less said about "Get into the Groove" the better. We have been together for nearly ten years, and it's been the happiest decade of my life. We first got together at a Halloween party, where she was dressed up as a witch's cat and I was dressed as a crazy axe murderer, I was instantly smitten with that kitten I can tell you. She stuck with me through my scabby student days, and she's even managed to suffer living with me for five years. At home, we’re the perfect team - I mess up the house and she tidies. I affectionately call her my Mrs. Mop. In 1998 I popped the question, so like Elvis's toilet door Twenty-five years ago, we've been engaged for a long time. Today she's made me the happiest man on earth, she's my bride and joy. And I think you'll all agree she's done a superb job organizing today almost single-handed. (Toast) Please join me and raise a glass to my beautiful bride. To the bride! We'd like to thank the bridesmaids for all their help in the preparation for today, and I think you'll agree they look fantastic. We have some gifts for you. (Hand gifts to them and toasts) To the bridesmaids. We’d like to say a big thank you to our moms for all their love and support over the years. You've both been really good to us. So please join us in a toast. To the moms. Big thanks to the best man, my dear brother. I’m not sure I should give you the gift now with your speech pending. This man had the easiest job on the day, or perhaps he just made it look easy.

Tradgedy After Winning the Lottery

Annotated Bibliography Topic: Tragedy after Winning the Lottery Emory McClard Nissle, Sonja, and Tom Bschor. â€Å"Winning The Jackpot And Depression: Money Cannot Buy Happiness. † International Journal Of Psychiatry In Clinical Practice 6. 3 (2002): 183-186. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. In the article, Bschor and Nissle claim that desirable or positive life events might influence the course of a psychiatric illness, just as the negative do.The authors discuss how winning the lottery developed the depression of two patients, how hitting the jackpot made them consider suicide, and how receiving over one million dollars has only affected their life negatively. Bschor and Nissle go into a discussion involving ideas about how a positive desired event has hidden risks behind the newly won possibilities, which caused the outbreak in these two cases. Both cases recorded marriage problems, family conflicts, and financial difficulties. Suicidal thoughts were present beca use both patients felt a sense of guilt and inferiority.Bschor and Nissle are organized, knowledgeable, and very clear about their key points. Annin, Peter. â€Å"Big Money, Big Trouble. † Newsweek 133. 16 (1999): 59. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. In this article, Annin states that â€Å"big money brings big problems. † He discusses multiple negative outcomes from a particular case in 1998 such as friends no longer speaking to the jackpot winner, the new found millionaire being banned from particular areas, and former friends filing for law suits against him.Annin discussed further about how the lottery winner has gone into hiding by removing his telephone number from the phone book, buying a shredder for unwanted mail, and doing his from inside his home. Annin is clear about his points, but not very descriptive. The author clearly stated his points, yet wasn’t as detailed about the winner’s story. Ellen Tumposky, et al. â€Å"The High Cost Of Winning. † People 61. 10 (2004): 150-154. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Jan. 2012.In â€Å"The High Cost of Winning,† Tumposky’s claim is how millions of Americans wish to win millions of dollars in a jackpot, but there are plenty of cases of the lottery winners have unfortunate cases. She discusses how this sudden burst of money can lead to ironic bankruptcy, nasty divorces, broken families, and even hiring hit men. One case describes how a 36 year old man’s lottery money was stolen, forcing him to file for bankruptcy. Another story talked about how her long term boyfriend took advantage of her. One man was drugged, robbed, and arrested. One man was divorced and eventually committed suicide.Another married man sued his wife for not telling him about the win, she was stripped of her entire winnings. The final tale is of a family issue that resulted in the winner’s brother hiring a hit man. Tumposky’s article is interesting yet also ver y informational. Her summaries of the events told the story, yet cut out all of the unimportant details. Douglas, Geoffrey. â€Å"Fortune's Fool. † Yankee 62. 12 (1998): 76. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. In the article, Douglas tells the reader even the luckiest people can lose it all in the blink of an eye.He discusses the points of error in which this lotto winner was a victim. Things like his sexuality, alcoholism, relationships, and risk-taking personality got him into trouble after he won 5. 86 million dollars. As a boy, Mike Allen was very different. Even his (so-called) friends would tease him. When he won the lottery he began to give and give and give to everyone who asked. His husband ended up filing for divorce and suing him. His money was flashing before his eyes. He ended up in a $30 motel room, dead. All he was left with was a sweatshirt over his beaten face. They took jewelry, a wallet, a car, and his clothes.Douglas’s story was entertaining , but he wasn’t clear about his thesis and main points. Helyar, John. â€Å"Cold Cash. † Money 28. 4 (1999): 144. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. In this story, Helyar’s point is that life after the lottery can be miserable. Helyar tells a story of a two people who tried to win the lottery. He discusses further about their past together, the fortune events, the sad events, and the miserable times that came after winning the lottery. Helyar is a good author and is very descriptive, yet he is extremely verbose. John did tell the entire story, yet he failed to take out the less important events.

IT Planning at Modmeters Essay

Introduction This paper discusses the various aspects of IT planning at Modmeters Company which has two strategies of expanding globally and providing direct-to-customer sales. The role of IT is important in the expansion initiatives of Modmeters. The executives of various departments held a meeting to identify the budget requirements for the expansion. The plan is to establish new plants in Asia and Eastern Europe where the infrastructure facilities are not sufficient required for the operations at Modemeters. Brian Smith, CIO of Modmeters is worried about these two initiatives as the IT funding was very poor. The company has never invested in reengineering the existing systems, instead, they always introduced new systems on top of the other. John Johnson, CEO wanted to change the name of the company as MM for this updated strategy. The current budget levels at the company are not going support the expansion initiatives. Surprisingly, only 2% of the revenue was allocated to IT. According to Brian, 80% of the IT budget was fixed for running the existing systems and fixing errors. The remaining 20% was allotted based on ROI, where majority of the budget was used by manufacturing department, Human resources and marketing departments having minor share. Brian believed that this kind of budgeting is not effective for their new business strategies (McKeen & Smith, 2012). Brian explains the need to implement flexible systems to support the updated strategies. He stresses on the budget requirements to buy new infrastructure and problems with the existing systems. The systems are not integrated and use different terminologies in different divisions. IT needs investment for infrastructure, underlying processes and to manage the information. However, the outcomes of the budget meeting after having a long discussion were to prioritize the IT projects depending up on their contribution to the key objectives of the company and also how each of them is adding value to the Modmeters. To develop the direct-to-customer sales, the marketing department needs more investment to get the resources. Hence, to implement the new strategic  initiatives at Modemeters, the budget allocated to IT and marketing plays a key role. Recommendations An IT planning process needs to be developed to meet the demands of the new projects. First of all, the IT architecture has to be changed such that the systems are flexible to use. All the divisions should use similar terminology to manage the information and communicate with other divisions. A data dictionary need to be developed to address the terminology issues. IT should be involved in decision making at Modmeters. An enterprise architecture need to be developed to get the best out of IT. Though, I accept that IT projects should be measured in terms of ROI, the current situation at Modmeters is different. The systems are never reengineered and the communication between the systems look like a spaghetti, where failure of each system may lead to a complete failure. There is a need to invest on improving the architecture considering long term advantages of the investment. The IT and business should have a common goals and objectives in developing the existing business. The needs of the manufacturing, marketing, R&D and HR need to be understood and allocate the budget accordingly. Identify the core competencies of IT and a cost-benefit analysis should be made for the projects. The business employees’ opinions should be taken in using technologies. The key business staff needs to be identified and made account managers. They should present their findings to the top management so that, the governance body can look for interoperability of the systems. In the IT vision, guiding principles should be developed which links the business strategies. Meanwhile, existing business requirements and operations should be addressed as a continuous process. A departmental approach should be taken while prioritizing the projects. This approach focuses on improving the business by expanding globally, enabling direct-to-customer sales, satisfying Stan’s auditing needs, making use of existing projects and improving the infrastructure. Account managers should analyze how the proposed project would benefit their respective departments. The IT and business people should work closely while developing strategies. A SWOT analysis should be made while developing the plan. IT should be given enough budget and team work is essential to implement new strategies. The people need to be trained by allocating budget required to HR department.  The resources should be used effectively for the global expansion. A centralized IT structure is essential for Modmeters to share the information between the divisions. Fred, VP of manufacturing should understand the value of IT. At Modmeters, business needs should be understood by IT to deliver the best technology meanwhile, business people should provide necessary funding to IT. Apart from the ROI, Customer satisfaction, greater efficiency, product quality, cash savings and other intangible benefits need to be considered while assessing the business value of a project (Ferris, 2012). The marketing department funding needs to be increased. It is important to enable smooth transition while expanding and change should be managed carefully to be successful. Also, the policies and procedures in the IT plan should comply with the regulations. To conclude, IT and business collaboration is important in strategic IT planning. IT value should be understood by business and business needs should be understood by IT. At Modmeters, reengineering the existing systems, taking a departmental approach, satisfying the departmental needs and funding sufficiently will help to implement the two strategic initiatives. References Mckeen, J. D., & Smith, H. (2012). Delivering Value with IT (2nd ed). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Ferris, B. (2012, June 12). How to Measure the Business Value of a Project. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://cobaltpm.com/measuring-business-value-of-a-project/

Jetstar Airways Essay

Jetstar Airways is an Australia low-cost carrier airline based in Melbourne, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Qantas Group. Qantas established Jetstar in 2003 as a response to main competitor airline Virgin Australia (formerly known as Virgin Blue). Despite its low cost, Jetstar operates an extensive domestic network and is the world’s largest long-haul low cost carrier. Jetstar operates to destinations in Asia the Pacific Ocean, with future plans of expanding their services throughout Europe. Jetstar currently offers a limited number of connecting services without through baggage checking, and it became the first Australia airline to allow customers to select their seat upon booking. The airline, which participates in the Qantas Frequent Flyer Programme, operates a fleet of Airbus A320-family and A330 aircraft. Mission Statement Jetstar’s mission is to offer all day, every day low fares to enable more people to fly to more places, more often (Jetstar, 2012). Company Objectives  Jetstar is part of the Qantas Group’s two-brand growth strategy, where Qantas competes at the premium and business market and Jetstar focuses on leisure markets. The Jetstar Group is a value based, low fares network of airlines operating in the leisure and value based markets. Jetstar aims to have Australia’s lowest fares on all the routes it operates on. Jetstar has backed its airfares with a Price Beat Guarantee. If any customers find a lower fare elsewhere online, provided it is on the same day, the same route and at a within the same time frame, Jetstar will beat the quoted fare by 10 per cent. Slogan – Low fares, all day, everyday Market Overview Definition of the market Jetstar operates in the low-cost carrier market within Australia. Their target market is the general public, who seeks cheap and accessible airfares and flight availability to travel within Australia. Major competitors include Virgin Australia and Tiger Airways Australia. Market Size Jetstar is currently the third largest domestic Australian airline (by market share) and fifth largest international airline (by capacity share) serving international routes to-and-from Australia (Jetstar, 2011). Jetstar shares its parent’s strong competition with Australia’s biggest low-cost carrier Virgin Australia. Domestic travel accounts for 75% of the airline industry revenue in Australia (Taylor Woodings, 2011) Market Potential The market is currently in the decline stage. From 2007, Australian domestic air travel started with buoyant demand for air travel and high fuel prices boosted ticket prices. However, domestic airlines faced major hurdles when the global economic downturn hit. Higher unemployment and a decline in discretionary income slowed demand for air travel in Australia. In particular, business travellers abandon air travel in favour of teleconferences and e-mail. Demand also weakened as Australians have started to plan travelling internationally. Market Structure The domestic flights market can be considered as an oligopoly. The 3 main companies that have the most market share are Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Tiger Airways Australia. Trends Demographic: Australia is an underpopulated country and is also an ageing. However, over the years the numbers of migrants have been increasing. With the rising number of migrants, there will most likely be an increase in the number of domestic flights demanded since they may want to visit other cities Economic:  Australia currently has the strongest economy in the developed world and it is expected to outperform all comers for at least the next two years, according to the International Monetary Fund (2012). The IMF also forecasts Australia’s unemployment rate to remain low at 5. 2 per cent in both 2012 and 2013. With the Australia having an unemployment rate of only 5. 2%, it can be assumed that people are more likely to have surplus cash and may have plans of flying domestic, whether it be for a holiday or business. Natural: Australia’s changing natural environment has had an impact on the customers, nvestors and Jetstar. Jetstar is committed to minimising its impact on the environment and has introduced various initiatives to address this important issue. On 19 September 2007, Jetstar introduced a passenger Carbon Offset scheme facilitated through the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendlyâ„ ¢ initiative. Through the Carbon Offset scheme, Jetstar’s passengers can choose to make their journey carbon neutral by purchasing carbon offsets on all domestic and international services via a seamless single step process at the time of booking at Jetstar. com. Jetstar’s Carbon Offset program is now one of the most successful programs in the Australian airline industry and has raised almost $600,000. About 12 per cent of all passengers booking at Jetstar. com currently choose to offset their share of flight emissions. Jetstar’s Carbon Offset program has proven to be particularly successful on a number of domestic routes, including Sydney-Ballina Byron, which in 2008 has averaged 24 per cent of passengers booking via the web opting to carbon-offset their flight, Melbourne-Ballina Byron (20%), Adelaide-Melbourne Avalon (16%), Melbourne- Hobart (15%) and Sydney-Melbourne Avalon (14%). Our carbon offsets are purchased through Climate Friendly, who has been ranked as the number one carbon offset provider in Australia by the Carbon Offset Watch and is a founding member of the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA). Technological: Technology plays a vital role in both the airline industry. In order to have a competitive advantage, it is required that the technology used is up to date. Jetstar is equipping its fleet of A320 and A321 aircraft with the latest satellite-linked navigation system to improve safety and on-time performance. Aircraft fitted with the system known as Required Navigation Performance (RNP) can safely navigate around cloud-shrouded mountains, through valleys and over high terrain when low visibility would increase the chance of flight disruptions. Air Services Australia reported those 4,200 minutes of flying time and 17,300 nautical miles was saved during 1,612 RNP assisted approaches. As a result more than 200,000 kg of jet fuel was saved and carbon emissions were reduced by 650,000 kg. The new navigation aid reduces the time spent circling due to bad weather, which helps passengers arrive on time and cuts our fuel use. Political/Legal: Over the years the rising carbon tax in Australia has affected future plans of Jetstar. Maintaining and running an aircraft is bound to produce a lot of carbon dioxide. As a result Jetstar has started to reduce the amount their carbon footprint by introducing new technology.

Diagrid

DIAGRID : THE LANGUAGE OF MODERN DAY BUILDER ABSTRACT Design and construction of artificial infrastructure on the lines of   biomimicking principles requires the development of highly advanced structural systems which has the qualities of aesthetic expression, structural efficiency and most importantly geometric versatility. Diagrids, the latest mutation of tubular structures, have an optimum combination of the above qualities. In this paper, the peculiarities of the Diagrid, its structural behavior under loading and the design and construction of diagrid nodes are described.A case study of some recent diagrid tall buildings, namely the Swiss Re Building in London, the Hearst Tower in New York, and the West Guangzhou Tower in china is also presented. CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE TRIANGULAR DIAGRID MODULE 2. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  INTRODUCTION 2. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MODULE GEOMETRY 3. STRUCTURAL  Ã‚  Ã‚  ACTION OF A DIAGRID MODULE 3. 1  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF GRAVITY LOADING 3. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF LATERAL LOADING 3. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF SHEAR LOADING 3. 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF NON-APEX LOADING 3. 5  EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL CURVATURE UNDER  VERTICAL LOADING 3.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL CURVATURE UNDER HORIZONTAL LOADING 4. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF DIAGRID NODES 4. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MATERIALS  Ã‚  USED FOR DIAGRIDS 4. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DIAGRID NODE DESIGN 4. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  NODE CONSTRUCTION FOR DIAGRID STRUCTURES 4. 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ERECTION OF DIAGRID NODES 5. CASE STUDIES 5. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SWISS RE BUILDING 5. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  HEARST  TOWER 5. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  GUANGZHOU WEST TOWER 6. MERITS AND DEMERITS OF DIAGRIDS 6. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MERITS OF DIAGRIDS 6. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DEMERITS OF DIAGRIDS  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  7. CONCLUSION CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTIONThe Diagrids are perimeter structural configurations characterized by a narrow grid of diagonal members which are involved both in gravity and in lateral load resistance. Diagonalized applications of structural steel members for providing efficient solutions both in terms of strength and stiffness are not   new ,however nowadays a renewed interest in and a widespread application of diagrid is registered with reference to large span and high rise buildings, particularly when they are characterized by complex geometries and curved shapes, sometimes by completely free forms.Compared to conventional orthogonal structures for tall buildings such as framed tubes, diagrid structures carry lateral wind loads much more efficiently by their diagonal members’ axial action. ;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Among the large-span buildings some examples are represented by the Seatlle Library, the London City Hall, the One Shelley Street in Sydney, and more recently by several outstanding Pavilions realized at the Shanghai 2010 Expo, (e. g. France, UAE) as well as by some dazzling projects like the Astana National library.Among tall buildings, noteworthy examples are the Swiss Re building in London, the Hearst tower in New York, the CCTV headquarters building in Beijing, the Mode Gakuen Spiral Tower in Aichi, the Cyclone Tower in Asan, the West tower in Guangzhou, the Lotte super tower in Seoul, the Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi, the Bow project in Calgary, the Building of Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha. .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The diagrid systems are the evolution of braced tube structures, since the erimeter configuration sti ll holds for preserving the maximum bending resistance and rigidity, while, with respect to the braced tube, the mega-diagonal members are diffusely spread over the facade, giving rise to closely spaced diagonal elements and allowing for the complete elimination of the conventional vertical columns. Therefore the diagonal members in diagrid structures act both as inclined columns and as bracing elements, and carry gravity loads as well as lateral forces due to their triangulated configuration, mainly internal axial forces arise in the members, thus minimizing shear racking effects.To begin with the behavior of basic Diagrid   Ã‚  module is   Ã‚  discussed, followed by construction process. Then the merits and demerits of   Diagrids are listed. CHAPTER-2 THE TRIANGULAR DIAGRID MODULE 2. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  INTRODUCTION Diagrid structure is modeled as a beam, and subdivided longitudinally into modules according to this repetitive diagonal pattern. Each Diagrid module is defined by a si ngle level of diagonals that extend over ‘n’ stories. | Figure 1: 8 storey Diagrid with 60 degree diagonal angle| 2. 2 MODULE GEOMETRYDiagrid structures, like all the tubular configurations, utilize the overall building plan dimension for counteracting overturning moment and providing flexural rigidity through axial action in the diagonals, which acts as inclined columns; however, this potential bending efficiency of tubular configuration is never fully achievable, due to shear deformations that arise in the building â€Å"webs†; with this regard, diagrid systems, which provide shear resistance and rigidity by means of axial action in the diagonal members, rather than bending moment in beams and columns, allows for a nearly full exploitation of the theoretical bending resistance. Being the diagrid a triangulated configuration of structural members, the geometry of the single module plays a major role in the internal axial force distribution, as well as in conferr ing global shear and bending rigidity to the building structure. While a module angle equal to 35 ° ensures the maximum shear rigidity to the diagrid system, the maximum engagement of diagonal members for bending stiffness corresponds to an angle value of 90 °, i. e. vertical columns.Thus in diagrid systems, where vertical columns are completely eliminated and both shear and bending stiffness must be provided by diagonals, a balance between this two conflicting requirements should be searched for defining the optimal angle of the diagrid module. Usually Isosceles triangular geometry is used. i. OPTIMAL ANGLE: As in the diagrids, diagonals carry both  shear and moment. Thus, the optimal angle of diagonals  is highly dependent upon the building height. Since the  optimal angle of the columns for maximum bending  rigidity is 90 degrees and that of the diagonals for  maximum shear rigidity is about 35 degrees, it is  expected that the optimal angle of diagonal members fo rdiagrid structures will fall between these angles and as  the building height increases, the optimal angle also  increases. Usually adopted range is 60 -70 degree. i. MODULE DIMENSIONS: ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Height of the module:  Ã‚  It depends on the number of stories stacked per module. Usually 2 – 6 stories are stacked per diagrid with average floor height varying from 3. 5 -4. 15 m on an average. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Base of the module:  Ã‚  It depends on the height and optimal angle (apex angle) of the diagrid. CHAPTER-3 STRUCTURAL  Ã‚   ACTION OF A DIAGRID MODULE 3. 1  Ã‚  EFFECT OF GRAVITY LOADING The diagrid module under gravity loads G is subjected to a downward vertical force, NG,mod, causes the two diagonals being both in compression and the horizontal chord in tension. | Figure 2: Effect of Gravity Loading. | 3. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF LATERAL LOADINGUnder horizontal load W, the overturning moment MW causes vertical forces in the apex joint of The diagrid modules, NW,mod, with direction and intensity of this force depending on the position of the Diagrid module, with upward / downward direction and maximum intensity in modules located on the Windward / leeward facades, respectively, and gradually decreasing values in modules located on the Web sides . | Figure 3: Effect of Lateral Loading. | 3. 3  Ã‚  EFFECT OF SHEAR LOADING The global shear VW causes a horizontal force in the apex joint of the diagrid modules, Vw,mod, which intensity depends on the position of the module with respect to the direction of wind load, i. e. the shear force VW is mainly absorbed by the modules located on the web facades, i. e. parallel to the load direction  . | Figure 4: Effect of Shear Loading| 3. 4  Ã‚  EFFECT OF NON-APEX LOADINGFor deriving internal forces in the diagrid elements, it has been implicitly assumed that the external load is transferred to the diagrid module only at the apex node of the module itself. However, since the triangle module usua lly expands over a certain number of stories, transfer of loads to the module occurs at every floor level, thus also concentrated loads along the diagonal length are present ; as a consequence, bending moment and shear force are expected due to this load condition. However the introduction of a horizontal member at each floor girder to diagonal intersection allows for the absorption of the force component orthogonal to the diagonal direction, thus preserving the prevailing axial force condition. | Figure  5: Effect of non-apex loading. | 3.    EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL CURVATURE UNDER VERTICAL LOADING   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The above simplified analysis of the diagrid module has been carried out implicitly assuming that the plane of the triangular module coincides with the vertical plane; however, recent Applications often concern buildings characterized by curvilinear, non prismatic forms, which require the study of the diagrid curvature effect on the internal force distribution. In particular, by considering that the single module may be inclined of an angle  Ã‚  with respect to the vertical direction, the effect of   Ã‚  both gravity loads and overturning moment gives rise to an additional horizontal force, in the direction Orthogonal to the module plane.Therefore the chords of the diagrid modules, continuously connected Each other along the building perimeter at the diagonal intersections, also act as hopping elements or Ring beams, for absorbing these horizontal forces. | Figure  6: Effect o f vertical and horizontal curvature. | 3. 6  Ã‚  EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL CURVATURE UNDER HORIZONTAL LOADING When the building has a nonrectangular, rounded plans, similar effects due to this horizontal curvature develop under the action of Lateral shear, and the ring beams also collect these outward forces arising in the horizontal plane. | Figure  7: Effect of horizontal curvature. | 4. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MATERIALS   USED FOR DIAGRIDDS: Material selection for a Diagrid construction is based on the following factors . They are: a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unit weight of the material. b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Availability of the material. )  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lead Time. d)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Erection Time. e)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Flexibility. f)  Ã‚  Durability. g)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Labor cost. h)  Ã‚  Fire resistance. The basic materials used in Diagrid construction are Steel, Concrete and Wood. The relative merits and demerits of using them are discussed below. I. STEEL : Steel is by far the most popular material for Diagrid construc tions. The typical steel sections used are Wide flanges, Rectangular HSS and Round HSS. ?  Steel Wide Flanges: Advantages-  The weight and Size of wide flanges are optimized to resist the high bending loads many of the members experience. Thus use of wide flanges results in reduced structure weight and flexibility of size.The sections can be prefabricated in multi-panel sections, allowing quick erection by crane, reducing labor costs in the field. Disadvantages-  Pre-fabrication of the Diagrid sections takes a longer lead time. ?  Rectangular and Round HSS: Advantages- As with wide flanges, HSS sections can be prefabricated in multi-panel sections, allowing quick erection time, also reducing labor costs in the field. Disadvantages- Use of HSS sections will need a change in floor layouts as the beams will need to frame into the node points. This reduces the floor flexibility and efficiency. II. CONCRETE: Concrete is another widespread material for Diagrid constructions.It is used both in Precast and Cast-in-situ forms. ?  Precast concrete: Advantages-The flexibility of precast sections allows them to fit to the complex building geometries. Concrete also offers extreme safety against structural fire damage. Disadvantages-  The use of Concrete increases the dead load on the foundations, deflections of long spans, etc. Creep in concrete is also an issue. ?  Cast-in-situ Concrete: Under an Efficient material management system, cast-in-situ concrete is the best material in terms of material cost. Lead time is virtually nothing as cast-in-situ is available on demand. III. TIMBER: Timber is the least popular material for Diagrid constructions.Advantages- Multi-panel sections can reduce erection time and labor cost. Disadvantages  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Timber cost, both for material and connection, are much higher than the traditional structural materials of steel and concrete. Owing to its lesser material strength, the member sizes would be very large and hence is not preferred for major construction works. Durability and weathering of timber are other major issues. 4. 2  DIAGRID NODE DESIGN | Figure 8: Load path at Node| The diagrid segments are planned to minimize onsite butt welding and the welding locations illustrated in Figure 9. The load path can be divided into two main scenarios, vertical load and horizontal shear their combination), as shown in Figure 8.The vertical load will be transferred in the form of an axial load from the diagrid members above the node to the gusset plate and stiffeners, then to the diagrid members below the nodes as shown. The horizontal shear will be in the form of axial loads in the diagrid members above the node with one in compression and one in tension to the gusset plate and stiffeners. The force will then be transferred as shear force in the gusset plate and then to the other pair of tensile and compressive forces on the diagrid members below the node. From this load path, the shear force at the loca tion of bolt connections is high under lateral loads. Because this may create weak points at the node particularly during earthquakes, the strength of the bolts should be designed carefully. | Figure  9: Node Design Plan| 4.   Ã‚  Ã‚  NODE CONSTRUCTION FOR DIAGRID STRUCTURES Constructability is a serious issue in diagrid structures because the joints of diagrid structures are  more complicated and tend to be more expensive than those of conventional orthogonal structures. In order to reduce jobsite work, prefabrication of nodal elements is essential. Due to the triangular configuration of the diagrid structural system, rigid connections are not necessary at the nodes, and pin connections using bolts can be made more conveniently at the jobsite. If considerately designed using appropriate prefabrication strategy, constructability will not be such a limiting factor of the diagrid structures.Prefabrication of diagrid nodes for conventional rectangular shape buildings can be done relatively easily and economically because many nodes of the same configuration are required in this case. The Hearst Headquarters in New York is the typical case. | Figure  10: Node detail for the Hearst Tower  | The prefabricated nodes are connected to the large built-up diagonal members by bolts at the jobsite. As building form becomes more irregular, generating appropriate construction modules is critical for better constructability. Though it is possible to produce any complex shape construction module using today’s CAD/CAM technology, it is not the most economical solution. Extracting regularity from an irregular building form, and then adjusting the building form following the extracted regularity could be one approach.Another approach could be to make the construction modules relatively regular and design universal connections so that they can accommodate any irregularity. | Figure  11: A Diagrid node after fabrication| 4. 4ERECTION OF DIAGRID NODES During const ruction, the stability in the in-plane direction can be provided by the modules themselves and in the out-of-plane direction can be provided by the tie beams at the node. The temporary restraint to the diagrid and the construction may be minimized. The various steps in the Diagrid erection process include : ? In-place steel shop welding ?  Ã‚  Lifting up piece by piece. ?  Ã‚  Trial shop assembly of parts with high strength bolts. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  In-place welding. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  High strength bolts assembly. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Setting up perimeter girders |Figure  12:  Construction Plan of Diagrid  | | Figure  13: Diagrid Erection Process| CHAPTER-5 CASE STUDIES 5. 1  Ã‚  SWISS RE BUILDING | Figure  14: Swiss Re Building, London| 30 St. Mary Axe – also known as the Swiss Re Building – in London, is the first modern application and the most representative example of diagrid structure. Designed by Sir Norman Foster, with 40 stories   and an inter-story height of 4 . 15 m, the tower is 180 meters tall. The building is circular in plan with diameter changing along elevation, equal to 56 m at its widest point, at the 20 story, reducing to 49 m at ground level, and to 30 m at the 38 level, where a steel and glass dome tops off the building.The diagrid structure is generated by a pattern of intersecting diagonals which follow the helical path of the so called light wells, created for enforcing natural light and air circulation. It is formed by a series of steel triangles, two-story high and 9 m wide, with an intermediate tie connecting the two diagonals, which gives to the module the aspect of a â€Å"A-shape frame†. The diagonals are CHS members, with cross section between 508 x 40 mm at the lowest floors and 273 x 12. 5 mm at the top, while the chord members have RHS, 250 x 300 mm with wall thickness of 25mm. The circular central core, which has constant diameter along elevation, does not contribute to the lateral resistance and rigidity, being a simple frame structure. 5. 2  HEARST  TOWERThe Hearst Tower in New York was designed by Sir Norman Foster; the building, 46 stories and 183 meters tall, has a prismatic form and a rectangular floor plan, 48 x 37m and is built on an existent 6 storey building. The diagrid structure, creating the characteristic â€Å"diamond effect† in the facade, rises from 12 composite columns, which reach the tenth floor starting from the ground level. The diagrid module is 12. 25 m wide and 16. 54 m high, and covers four stories. The diagonal cross section are I shape, with maximum size W14x370 at the base of the diagrid (tenth level),   while the megacolumns between the tenth and the ground level are concrete filled box section 1100 x 1100 x 10m. | Figure  15: The Hearst Tower, New York. | 5. 3  GUANGZHOU WEST TOWERThe Guangzhou West Tower, designed by Wilkinson Eyre architects, London with 103 stories and a height of 440m, is the tallest building in China and one of the tallest in the world. The building has a curvilinear shape along elevation and the floor plate is an equilateral triangle with round-corners, with side 65 m at the base, increasing to a maximum value of   65 m at approximately 1/3 of the way up the building, at which point the side begins to reduce, up to 43. 5 m at the top. It has a composite structure, made by a central concrete core and perimeter diagrid structure, with the diagrid module expanding on six stories, 12. 4 m wide and 24. 8 m high. The diagonals are steel tubular members filled by concrete (CFST), with size ranging between 1080 x 55 mm at the first floor and 700 x 20mm at the top.The concrete core has a triangle shape with chamfered corners and fully participates to the lateral resistance up to the seventh floor, where it is eliminated, leaving place to a central giant atrium for the hotel which occupies the upper floors. | Figure  16:   Guangzhou West Tower, China| CHAPTER-6 MERITS AND DEMERITS OF DIAGRIDS 6. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MERITS OF DIAGRIDS: Some major benefits of using Diagrids in structures are discussed below. 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Diagrid structures besides the service core have mostly column free exterior and interior, hence  Ã‚   free and clear, unique floor plans are Possible. 2)  Ã‚  The Glass facades and dearth of interior columns allow generous amounts of day lighting into the structure. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  The use of Diagrids results in roughly 1/5th(20%) reduction in steel as compared to Braced frame structures. )  Ã‚  Ã‚  The construction techniques involved are simple, yet they need to be perfect. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Diagrids makes maximum exploitation of the structural Material. 6)  Ã‚  The diagrid Structures are aesthetically dominant and expressive. 7)  Ã‚  Redundancy in the DiaGrid design is obvious. It is this redundancy then that can transfer load from a failed portion of the structure to another. Skyscraper structural failure, as it is such an important/ promi nent topic, can be minimized in a DiaGrid design A DiaGrid has better ability to redistribute load than a Moment Frame skyscraper. Thus creating a deserved appeal for the DiaGrid in today’s landscape of building. 6.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DEMERITS OF DIAGRIDS: Some demerits of using Diagrids are mentioned below: 1)  Ã‚  As of yet, the Diagrid Construction techniques are not   thoroughly explored. 2)  Ã‚  Lack of availability of skilled workers . Construction crews   have little or no experience    creating a DiaGrid skyscraper. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  The DiaGrid can dominate aesthetically, which can be an issue depending upon design intent. 4)  Ã‚  It is hard to design windows that create a regular language from floor to floor. 5)  Ã‚  The DiaGrid is heavy-handed ( can be clumsy or unstable) if not executed properly. CHAPTER -7 CONCLUSION We are at a time when the global population is inching the 7 billion mark.Around the globe we witness frequent recurrence of natural calamities, depletion and degradation of vital life supporting systems, all presumed to be the impacts of Global warming, making life miserable on earth. It is high time for humanity to switch to sustainable and eco-friendly lines of infrastructure development. The construction industry, the greatest contributor to green house emissions, has the moral obligation to play the lead. The most stable and sustainable of ecosystems is the natural ecosystems. Attainment of sustainability goals would require sound knowledge and understanding of nature’s mechanisms and modeling of all artificial infrastructure in close resemblance to it.Owing to the complexity due to size and geometry of the natural systems, development of artificial infrastructure on the lines of biomimicking principles, is in fact the greatest challenge the modern day builder would have to confront with. Thus a modern day structural system should have extreme efficiency in terms of strength, expression, and geometric versatility. Most of the present structural systems are highly advanced in terms of structural efficiency and aesthetic quality, but lacks the much needed geometric versatility. As we have seen, the diagrids, the latest mutation of tubular structures, has in addition to strength and aesthetics, that extra quality of geometric versatility, making it the most suited structural system to this respect.Thus the diagrid, with an optimal combination of qualities of aesthetic expression, structural efficiency and geometric versatility is indeed the language of the modern day builder. REFERENCES 1. MOON, K. , CONNOR, J. J. and FERNANDEZ, J. E. (2007). Diagrid Structural Systems for Tall Buildings: Characteristics and Methodology for Preliminary Design, The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings, Vol. 16. 2, pp 205-230. 2. MAURIZIO TORENO (2011). An overview on diagrid structures for tall buildings, Structural Engineers World Congress 2011. 3. KIM JONG SOO, KIM YOUNG SIK, LHO SEUNG HEE(2008). Structural Schematic Design of a Tall Building in Asan using the Diagrid System, CTBUH 8th  World Congress, 2008. Diagrid DIAGRID : THE LANGUAGE OF MODERN DAY BUILDER ABSTRACT Design and construction of artificial infrastructure on the lines of   biomimicking principles requires the development of highly advanced structural systems which has the qualities of aesthetic expression, structural efficiency and most importantly geometric versatility. Diagrids, the latest mutation of tubular structures, have an optimum combination of the above qualities. In this paper, the peculiarities of the Diagrid, its structural behavior under loading and the design and construction of diagrid nodes are described.A case study of some recent diagrid tall buildings, namely the Swiss Re Building in London, the Hearst Tower in New York, and the West Guangzhou Tower in china is also presented. CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. THE TRIANGULAR DIAGRID MODULE 2. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  INTRODUCTION 2. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MODULE GEOMETRY 3. STRUCTURAL  Ã‚  Ã‚  ACTION OF A DIAGRID MODULE 3. 1  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF GRAVITY LOADING 3. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF LATERAL LOADING 3. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF SHEAR LOADING 3. 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF NON-APEX LOADING 3. 5  EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL CURVATURE UNDER  VERTICAL LOADING 3.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL CURVATURE UNDER HORIZONTAL LOADING 4. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF DIAGRID NODES 4. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MATERIALS  Ã‚  USED FOR DIAGRIDS 4. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DIAGRID NODE DESIGN 4. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  NODE CONSTRUCTION FOR DIAGRID STRUCTURES 4. 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ERECTION OF DIAGRID NODES 5. CASE STUDIES 5. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SWISS RE BUILDING 5. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  HEARST  TOWER 5. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  GUANGZHOU WEST TOWER 6. MERITS AND DEMERITS OF DIAGRIDS 6. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MERITS OF DIAGRIDS 6. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DEMERITS OF DIAGRIDS  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  7. CONCLUSION CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTIONThe Diagrids are perimeter structural configurations characterized by a narrow grid of diagonal members which are involved both in gravity and in lateral load resistance. Diagonalized applications of structural steel members for providing efficient solutions both in terms of strength and stiffness are not   new ,however nowadays a renewed interest in and a widespread application of diagrid is registered with reference to large span and high rise buildings, particularly when they are characterized by complex geometries and curved shapes, sometimes by completely free forms.Compared to conventional orthogonal structures for tall buildings such as framed tubes, diagrid structures carry lateral wind loads much more efficiently by their diagonal members’ axial action. ;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Among the large-span buildings some examples are represented by the Seatlle Library, the London City Hall, the One Shelley Street in Sydney, and more recently by several outstanding Pavilions realized at the Shanghai 2010 Expo, (e. g. France, UAE) as well as by some dazzling projects like the Astana National library.Among tall buildings, noteworthy examples are the Swiss Re building in London, the Hearst tower in New York, the CCTV headquarters building in Beijing, the Mode Gakuen Spiral Tower in Aichi, the Cyclone Tower in Asan, the West tower in Guangzhou, the Lotte super tower in Seoul, the Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi, the Bow project in Calgary, the Building of Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha. .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The diagrid systems are the evolution of braced tube structures, since the erimeter configuration sti ll holds for preserving the maximum bending resistance and rigidity, while, with respect to the braced tube, the mega-diagonal members are diffusely spread over the facade, giving rise to closely spaced diagonal elements and allowing for the complete elimination of the conventional vertical columns. Therefore the diagonal members in diagrid structures act both as inclined columns and as bracing elements, and carry gravity loads as well as lateral forces due to their triangulated configuration, mainly internal axial forces arise in the members, thus minimizing shear racking effects.To begin with the behavior of basic Diagrid   Ã‚  module is   Ã‚  discussed, followed by construction process. Then the merits and demerits of   Diagrids are listed. CHAPTER-2 THE TRIANGULAR DIAGRID MODULE 2. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  INTRODUCTION Diagrid structure is modeled as a beam, and subdivided longitudinally into modules according to this repetitive diagonal pattern. Each Diagrid module is defined by a si ngle level of diagonals that extend over ‘n’ stories. | Figure 1: 8 storey Diagrid with 60 degree diagonal angle| 2. 2 MODULE GEOMETRYDiagrid structures, like all the tubular configurations, utilize the overall building plan dimension for counteracting overturning moment and providing flexural rigidity through axial action in the diagonals, which acts as inclined columns; however, this potential bending efficiency of tubular configuration is never fully achievable, due to shear deformations that arise in the building â€Å"webs†; with this regard, diagrid systems, which provide shear resistance and rigidity by means of axial action in the diagonal members, rather than bending moment in beams and columns, allows for a nearly full exploitation of the theoretical bending resistance. Being the diagrid a triangulated configuration of structural members, the geometry of the single module plays a major role in the internal axial force distribution, as well as in conferr ing global shear and bending rigidity to the building structure. While a module angle equal to 35 ° ensures the maximum shear rigidity to the diagrid system, the maximum engagement of diagonal members for bending stiffness corresponds to an angle value of 90 °, i. e. vertical columns.Thus in diagrid systems, where vertical columns are completely eliminated and both shear and bending stiffness must be provided by diagonals, a balance between this two conflicting requirements should be searched for defining the optimal angle of the diagrid module. Usually Isosceles triangular geometry is used. i. OPTIMAL ANGLE: As in the diagrids, diagonals carry both  shear and moment. Thus, the optimal angle of diagonals  is highly dependent upon the building height. Since the  optimal angle of the columns for maximum bending  rigidity is 90 degrees and that of the diagonals for  maximum shear rigidity is about 35 degrees, it is  expected that the optimal angle of diagonal members fo rdiagrid structures will fall between these angles and as  the building height increases, the optimal angle also  increases. Usually adopted range is 60 -70 degree. i. MODULE DIMENSIONS: ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Height of the module:  Ã‚  It depends on the number of stories stacked per module. Usually 2 – 6 stories are stacked per diagrid with average floor height varying from 3. 5 -4. 15 m on an average. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Base of the module:  Ã‚  It depends on the height and optimal angle (apex angle) of the diagrid. CHAPTER-3 STRUCTURAL  Ã‚   ACTION OF A DIAGRID MODULE 3. 1  Ã‚  EFFECT OF GRAVITY LOADING The diagrid module under gravity loads G is subjected to a downward vertical force, NG,mod, causes the two diagonals being both in compression and the horizontal chord in tension. | Figure 2: Effect of Gravity Loading. | 3. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EFFECT OF LATERAL LOADINGUnder horizontal load W, the overturning moment MW causes vertical forces in the apex joint of The diagrid modules, NW,mod, with direction and intensity of this force depending on the position of the Diagrid module, with upward / downward direction and maximum intensity in modules located on the Windward / leeward facades, respectively, and gradually decreasing values in modules located on the Web sides . | Figure 3: Effect of Lateral Loading. | 3. 3  Ã‚  EFFECT OF SHEAR LOADING The global shear VW causes a horizontal force in the apex joint of the diagrid modules, Vw,mod, which intensity depends on the position of the module with respect to the direction of wind load, i. e. the shear force VW is mainly absorbed by the modules located on the web facades, i. e. parallel to the load direction  . | Figure 4: Effect of Shear Loading| 3. 4  Ã‚  EFFECT OF NON-APEX LOADINGFor deriving internal forces in the diagrid elements, it has been implicitly assumed that the external load is transferred to the diagrid module only at the apex node of the module itself. However, since the triangle module usua lly expands over a certain number of stories, transfer of loads to the module occurs at every floor level, thus also concentrated loads along the diagonal length are present ; as a consequence, bending moment and shear force are expected due to this load condition. However the introduction of a horizontal member at each floor girder to diagonal intersection allows for the absorption of the force component orthogonal to the diagonal direction, thus preserving the prevailing axial force condition. | Figure  5: Effect of non-apex loading. | 3.    EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL CURVATURE UNDER VERTICAL LOADING   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The above simplified analysis of the diagrid module has been carried out implicitly assuming that the plane of the triangular module coincides with the vertical plane; however, recent Applications often concern buildings characterized by curvilinear, non prismatic forms, which require the study of the diagrid curvature effect on the internal force distribution. In particular, by considering that the single module may be inclined of an angle  Ã‚  with respect to the vertical direction, the effect of   Ã‚  both gravity loads and overturning moment gives rise to an additional horizontal force, in the direction Orthogonal to the module plane.Therefore the chords of the diagrid modules, continuously connected Each other along the building perimeter at the diagonal intersections, also act as hopping elements or Ring beams, for absorbing these horizontal forces. | Figure  6: Effect o f vertical and horizontal curvature. | 3. 6  Ã‚  EFFECT OF HORIZONTAL CURVATURE UNDER HORIZONTAL LOADING When the building has a nonrectangular, rounded plans, similar effects due to this horizontal curvature develop under the action of Lateral shear, and the ring beams also collect these outward forces arising in the horizontal plane. | Figure  7: Effect of horizontal curvature. | 4. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MATERIALS   USED FOR DIAGRIDDS: Material selection for a Diagrid construction is based on the following factors . They are: a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unit weight of the material. b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Availability of the material. )  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lead Time. d)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Erection Time. e)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Flexibility. f)  Ã‚  Durability. g)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Labor cost. h)  Ã‚  Fire resistance. The basic materials used in Diagrid construction are Steel, Concrete and Wood. The relative merits and demerits of using them are discussed below. I. STEEL : Steel is by far the most popular material for Diagrid construc tions. The typical steel sections used are Wide flanges, Rectangular HSS and Round HSS. ?  Steel Wide Flanges: Advantages-  The weight and Size of wide flanges are optimized to resist the high bending loads many of the members experience. Thus use of wide flanges results in reduced structure weight and flexibility of size.The sections can be prefabricated in multi-panel sections, allowing quick erection by crane, reducing labor costs in the field. Disadvantages-  Pre-fabrication of the Diagrid sections takes a longer lead time. ?  Rectangular and Round HSS: Advantages- As with wide flanges, HSS sections can be prefabricated in multi-panel sections, allowing quick erection time, also reducing labor costs in the field. Disadvantages- Use of HSS sections will need a change in floor layouts as the beams will need to frame into the node points. This reduces the floor flexibility and efficiency. II. CONCRETE: Concrete is another widespread material for Diagrid constructions.It is used both in Precast and Cast-in-situ forms. ?  Precast concrete: Advantages-The flexibility of precast sections allows them to fit to the complex building geometries. Concrete also offers extreme safety against structural fire damage. Disadvantages-  The use of Concrete increases the dead load on the foundations, deflections of long spans, etc. Creep in concrete is also an issue. ?  Cast-in-situ Concrete: Under an Efficient material management system, cast-in-situ concrete is the best material in terms of material cost. Lead time is virtually nothing as cast-in-situ is available on demand. III. TIMBER: Timber is the least popular material for Diagrid constructions.Advantages- Multi-panel sections can reduce erection time and labor cost. Disadvantages  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Timber cost, both for material and connection, are much higher than the traditional structural materials of steel and concrete. Owing to its lesser material strength, the member sizes would be very large and hence is not preferred for major construction works. Durability and weathering of timber are other major issues. 4. 2  DIAGRID NODE DESIGN | Figure 8: Load path at Node| The diagrid segments are planned to minimize onsite butt welding and the welding locations illustrated in Figure 9. The load path can be divided into two main scenarios, vertical load and horizontal shear their combination), as shown in Figure 8.The vertical load will be transferred in the form of an axial load from the diagrid members above the node to the gusset plate and stiffeners, then to the diagrid members below the nodes as shown. The horizontal shear will be in the form of axial loads in the diagrid members above the node with one in compression and one in tension to the gusset plate and stiffeners. The force will then be transferred as shear force in the gusset plate and then to the other pair of tensile and compressive forces on the diagrid members below the node. From this load path, the shear force at the loca tion of bolt connections is high under lateral loads. Because this may create weak points at the node particularly during earthquakes, the strength of the bolts should be designed carefully. | Figure  9: Node Design Plan| 4.   Ã‚  Ã‚  NODE CONSTRUCTION FOR DIAGRID STRUCTURES Constructability is a serious issue in diagrid structures because the joints of diagrid structures are  more complicated and tend to be more expensive than those of conventional orthogonal structures. In order to reduce jobsite work, prefabrication of nodal elements is essential. Due to the triangular configuration of the diagrid structural system, rigid connections are not necessary at the nodes, and pin connections using bolts can be made more conveniently at the jobsite. If considerately designed using appropriate prefabrication strategy, constructability will not be such a limiting factor of the diagrid structures.Prefabrication of diagrid nodes for conventional rectangular shape buildings can be done relatively easily and economically because many nodes of the same configuration are required in this case. The Hearst Headquarters in New York is the typical case. | Figure  10: Node detail for the Hearst Tower  | The prefabricated nodes are connected to the large built-up diagonal members by bolts at the jobsite. As building form becomes more irregular, generating appropriate construction modules is critical for better constructability. Though it is possible to produce any complex shape construction module using today’s CAD/CAM technology, it is not the most economical solution. Extracting regularity from an irregular building form, and then adjusting the building form following the extracted regularity could be one approach.Another approach could be to make the construction modules relatively regular and design universal connections so that they can accommodate any irregularity. | Figure  11: A Diagrid node after fabrication| 4. 4ERECTION OF DIAGRID NODES During const ruction, the stability in the in-plane direction can be provided by the modules themselves and in the out-of-plane direction can be provided by the tie beams at the node. The temporary restraint to the diagrid and the construction may be minimized. The various steps in the Diagrid erection process include : ? In-place steel shop welding ?  Ã‚  Lifting up piece by piece. ?  Ã‚  Trial shop assembly of parts with high strength bolts. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  In-place welding. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  High strength bolts assembly. ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Setting up perimeter girders |Figure  12:  Construction Plan of Diagrid  | | Figure  13: Diagrid Erection Process| CHAPTER-5 CASE STUDIES 5. 1  Ã‚  SWISS RE BUILDING | Figure  14: Swiss Re Building, London| 30 St. Mary Axe – also known as the Swiss Re Building – in London, is the first modern application and the most representative example of diagrid structure. Designed by Sir Norman Foster, with 40 stories   and an inter-story height of 4 . 15 m, the tower is 180 meters tall. The building is circular in plan with diameter changing along elevation, equal to 56 m at its widest point, at the 20 story, reducing to 49 m at ground level, and to 30 m at the 38 level, where a steel and glass dome tops off the building.The diagrid structure is generated by a pattern of intersecting diagonals which follow the helical path of the so called light wells, created for enforcing natural light and air circulation. It is formed by a series of steel triangles, two-story high and 9 m wide, with an intermediate tie connecting the two diagonals, which gives to the module the aspect of a â€Å"A-shape frame†. The diagonals are CHS members, with cross section between 508 x 40 mm at the lowest floors and 273 x 12. 5 mm at the top, while the chord members have RHS, 250 x 300 mm with wall thickness of 25mm. The circular central core, which has constant diameter along elevation, does not contribute to the lateral resistance and rigidity, being a simple frame structure. 5. 2  HEARST  TOWERThe Hearst Tower in New York was designed by Sir Norman Foster; the building, 46 stories and 183 meters tall, has a prismatic form and a rectangular floor plan, 48 x 37m and is built on an existent 6 storey building. The diagrid structure, creating the characteristic â€Å"diamond effect† in the facade, rises from 12 composite columns, which reach the tenth floor starting from the ground level. The diagrid module is 12. 25 m wide and 16. 54 m high, and covers four stories. The diagonal cross section are I shape, with maximum size W14x370 at the base of the diagrid (tenth level),   while the megacolumns between the tenth and the ground level are concrete filled box section 1100 x 1100 x 10m. | Figure  15: The Hearst Tower, New York. | 5. 3  GUANGZHOU WEST TOWERThe Guangzhou West Tower, designed by Wilkinson Eyre architects, London with 103 stories and a height of 440m, is the tallest building in China and one of the tallest in the world. The building has a curvilinear shape along elevation and the floor plate is an equilateral triangle with round-corners, with side 65 m at the base, increasing to a maximum value of   65 m at approximately 1/3 of the way up the building, at which point the side begins to reduce, up to 43. 5 m at the top. It has a composite structure, made by a central concrete core and perimeter diagrid structure, with the diagrid module expanding on six stories, 12. 4 m wide and 24. 8 m high. The diagonals are steel tubular members filled by concrete (CFST), with size ranging between 1080 x 55 mm at the first floor and 700 x 20mm at the top.The concrete core has a triangle shape with chamfered corners and fully participates to the lateral resistance up to the seventh floor, where it is eliminated, leaving place to a central giant atrium for the hotel which occupies the upper floors. | Figure  16:   Guangzhou West Tower, China| CHAPTER-6 MERITS AND DEMERITS OF DIAGRIDS 6. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  MERITS OF DIAGRIDS: Some major benefits of using Diagrids in structures are discussed below. 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Diagrid structures besides the service core have mostly column free exterior and interior, hence  Ã‚   free and clear, unique floor plans are Possible. 2)  Ã‚  The Glass facades and dearth of interior columns allow generous amounts of day lighting into the structure. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  The use of Diagrids results in roughly 1/5th(20%) reduction in steel as compared to Braced frame structures. )  Ã‚  Ã‚  The construction techniques involved are simple, yet they need to be perfect. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Diagrids makes maximum exploitation of the structural Material. 6)  Ã‚  The diagrid Structures are aesthetically dominant and expressive. 7)  Ã‚  Redundancy in the DiaGrid design is obvious. It is this redundancy then that can transfer load from a failed portion of the structure to another. Skyscraper structural failure, as it is such an important/ promi nent topic, can be minimized in a DiaGrid design A DiaGrid has better ability to redistribute load than a Moment Frame skyscraper. Thus creating a deserved appeal for the DiaGrid in today’s landscape of building. 6.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DEMERITS OF DIAGRIDS: Some demerits of using Diagrids are mentioned below: 1)  Ã‚  As of yet, the Diagrid Construction techniques are not   thoroughly explored. 2)  Ã‚  Lack of availability of skilled workers . Construction crews   have little or no experience    creating a DiaGrid skyscraper. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  The DiaGrid can dominate aesthetically, which can be an issue depending upon design intent. 4)  Ã‚  It is hard to design windows that create a regular language from floor to floor. 5)  Ã‚  The DiaGrid is heavy-handed ( can be clumsy or unstable) if not executed properly. CHAPTER -7 CONCLUSION We are at a time when the global population is inching the 7 billion mark.Around the globe we witness frequent recurrence of natural calamities, depletion and degradation of vital life supporting systems, all presumed to be the impacts of Global warming, making life miserable on earth. It is high time for humanity to switch to sustainable and eco-friendly lines of infrastructure development. The construction industry, the greatest contributor to green house emissions, has the moral obligation to play the lead. The most stable and sustainable of ecosystems is the natural ecosystems. Attainment of sustainability goals would require sound knowledge and understanding of nature’s mechanisms and modeling of all artificial infrastructure in close resemblance to it.Owing to the complexity due to size and geometry of the natural systems, development of artificial infrastructure on the lines of biomimicking principles, is in fact the greatest challenge the modern day builder would have to confront with. Thus a modern day structural system should have extreme efficiency in terms of strength, expression, and geometric versatility. Most of the present structural systems are highly advanced in terms of structural efficiency and aesthetic quality, but lacks the much needed geometric versatility. As we have seen, the diagrids, the latest mutation of tubular structures, has in addition to strength and aesthetics, that extra quality of geometric versatility, making it the most suited structural system to this respect.Thus the diagrid, with an optimal combination of qualities of aesthetic expression, structural efficiency and geometric versatility is indeed the language of the modern day builder. REFERENCES 1. MOON, K. , CONNOR, J. J. and FERNANDEZ, J. E. (2007). Diagrid Structural Systems for Tall Buildings: Characteristics and Methodology for Preliminary Design, The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings, Vol. 16. 2, pp 205-230. 2. MAURIZIO TORENO (2011). An overview on diagrid structures for tall buildings, Structural Engineers World Congress 2011. 3. KIM JONG SOO, KIM YOUNG SIK, LHO SEUNG HEE(2008). Structural Schematic Design of a Tall Building in Asan using the Diagrid System, CTBUH 8th  World Congress, 2008.