Essay On Pop Culture

Technological advancements the last decades have contributed to the creation of a globalized era, with the English language as a common denominator, as the major language spoken between those who do not share any language. Globalization have made it possible for an extreme output of popular culture that has mainly origins of English speaking countries with U. S. A. as the main exporter of popular culture through music, movies, television etc. In this essay I explore the positive aspects that using popular music in the classroom might potentially have.In my main issues I discuss the motivational aspects of popular culture, why teachers might feel insecure or unwilling to use the student's personal interests of popular culture in the classroom. Also how popular culture can be used to understand the cultural values of foreign countries and societies. Furthermore I will present some practical tasks and suggestions for lessons in how to use popular culture and the sub-category music as th e most important teaching resource within popular culture in exercises in the classroom as a motivating way to promote communicative skills of the language.Also important aspects on how cultural and historic influences on music by people and countries can be used to teach students of other values and how music can be used to create understanding for other peoples way of perceiving life. Major Issues: Inviting the student's social environment into the classroom: Motivational effects of popular culture one important factor for successful learning in any context is motivation, a concept that in all forms of education is a key to classroom learning (Harrett & Benjamin, 2009, p. 138).Language learning is not just about teaching student’s formal academic language. In order for a student to be able to effectively communicate in a broader context the student also needs to have knowledge of the informal language and social structures that might not be as present in the literature the schools provide. These issues can be however found within popular culture such as media from television or music, in order to engage in the situations of their life where they have to adapt their language to â€Å"the various domains of their world† (Lambirth, 2003, p. 11)In teaching languages, the introduction of popular culture is a method of creating motivation, as the students can then relate their classroom work to their knowledge, experience and interests of their social life (Harrett & Benjamin, 2009, p. 134). In a study of the English subject for second language learners in Mexican schools it is suggested that an increased attention to popular music in the curriculum would enhance the students motivation for the English language as activities involving this sub-category of popular culture would; â€Å"Using their knowledge, their music and their language.† (Domoney & Harris, 1993, p. 235).Music is such a popular concept for the students, used correctly, it will help to motivate and increase the interest of a subject through a conscious and emotional involvement from the students (Kanel, 1997, p. 218). Pop culture is a way of gaining the student's interest, by connecting the student’s familiar knowledge of the English language that they are exposed to outside of school. Using the students’ knowledge of popular culture will then serve as a meaningful resource to teach the language (Lambirth, 2003, p.12).Using popular culture makes students more prone to learning the subject and will prevent any inhibitions of learning that comes from an affective filter; Peter Krashen's metaphor for when the student feels anxiety, boredom, stress and/or other pressures, they create an emotional barrier that prevent learning (Kanel, 1997, p. 219, Griffee, 1988, p. 24). Developments in English language teaching have been on the interaction and negotiation of the students and on the importance of integrating their experiences, knowledge and feeli ngs into classroom.The ideas and discussions revolving about pop music included these valuable inputs from outside of school and came together and related to the more communicative focus of language learning that is still a popular method of teaching (Domoney & Harris, 1993). â€Å"They get enough of that at home†: Claims that pop culture does not belong in the classroom are outdated. Teachers might feel a general unwillingness toward incorporating popular culture in the classroom and there are often several issues that create this point of view.Teachers might not understand the contemporary popular culture of today’s youth and therefore project negative thoughts on what is popular, expressing ideas such as; children who are more interested in popular culture are not as bright as those who prefer reading. Teachers might also regard pop culture as contra productive for student’s creativity and reason that they get enough of input in their spare time (Lambirth, 20 03). However, the teachers are not those who can fully take the blame for not wanting to incorporate popular culture in the classroom.The teachers are caught between the two strong influences, of the popular culture industry and those who create the educational policies (Lambirth, 2003) It might therefore be unfair to lay blame on teachers for not wanting to take a gamble on their jobs and career by using methods that does not follow their curriculum. Using popular culture in the subject demands some knowledge of current technology and in using media properly in the classroom.The teacher education programs lack the teaching of these issues, young teachers are therefore anxious in using these kinds of modern methods of teaching as they do not want to stray too far from the curriculum. It is of the essence that the teacher training programs start education the students in how to properly use these ways to keep the next generation in tune with the progressive modern digital world. (Har rett & Benjamin, 2009)Classrooms can no longer be a room and place where local traditions are taught and implemented upon the students; the role that popular culture plays suggest that there is a need for better education of informal language (Pennycook, 2010, p. 82). The globalization have created transcultural flows of popular cultures that appeal the students in different ways and many students can no longer be affected by only the local traditions. The student's identities are instead reflected by the popular music and culture that are in constant flow.If the education for our future generations want to stay in touch with the trends of society, by paying attention to the student's knowledge, identity, interests and desires, then it is crucial that issues the students can relate to, such as popular culture are introduced into the language learning in schools (Pennycook, 2010, p. 82). Research supporting the use of pop culture & music in the classroom As i have mentioned above in my paragraph on motivation, pop music is a very large branch of the popular culture and there are studies that affirm musical knowledge and skill as useful and valuable in the classroomAll human beings possess varying degrees of musical intelligence, one of the intelligences that the human race has developed, the others are; linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic and personal intelligences. Asserted in the educational theory of â€Å"multiple intelligences† by Gardner in 1985 (Failoni, 1993). The theory of multiple intelligences confirm that excluding those with brain damage, every person on this earth possess some form of musical intelligence.Anthropologists have acknowledged after tests on both normal and learning disabled-students that music attributes to several functions of language learning that is important. The properties of music, that include: rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, form and mood, aids in the cognitive process of gaining vocabulary , enhance retention and is a good way to promote general language development and reading skills (Kanel, 1997). Music can be viewed as an instrument which everybody in the classroom can be involved in use and understand.It is therefore certainly arguable that integrating the musical intelligence in the classroom as a teaching tool by adopting and adapting it into lessons and activities without any demand on either teacher or student to have any knowledge on how to perform or compose music (Failoni, 1993). Audio-lingual method of teaching also supports the use of authentic songs, if the songs are properly chosen so that there is no abundance in non-standard grammar or excessive slang.As the songs that are constructed for ESL lacked the effectively to interest the student as the lyrics ended up being a collection of phonemes in a text (Kanel, 1997). Also the pedagogical theories of Vygotsky as well as Lave and Wenger are applicable to methods of using popular culture in the classroom. Lave and Wenger's theories of situated learning theory states that learning occur naturally through activities, contexts and cultures. The learners utilize their knowledge and experience from their informal sociocultural world and apply them to understand new information.Vygotsky's theories of the socio-cultural are based on how children acquire knowledge through their culture (Debbie, 2007). Even though these theories are abstract they are both successful and popular within pedagogical methods and theories. And they are highly related to the student's exposure of popular culture. the popular culture is an important sphere in which the student's identity outside of school is affirmed, challenged, taken apart and reconstructed (Pennycook, 2010). Teaching values of cultures: Understanding cultural aspects through contemporary popular cultureTo perceive cultures as national entities with shared values and are separated by boundaries of borders to other countries is to look at culture from a very narrow perspective. Culture can be described as â€Å"‘Big C & little c† The Big C are the formal institutions of a country, little c being the daily lives studied by sociologists and anthropologists, patterns of behavior and cultural traditions. When learning a second language, culture is a prominent theme in the process of learning the new language, and that involves studying customs and beliefs of a country (Yuen, 2011).This perspective of culture becomes complex and problematic when studying languages of a nation that have a lot of diversity and different ethnicities. France is an example of an ethnic diverse country because of their imperial history. Through the French hip-hop scene that have been one of the prominent genres for the last two decades we can study the way in which the informal languages of the streets have evolved by influence of various cultures. Traditionalists have disregarded these linguistic features because of their departure from t raditional grammar (Pennycook, 2010).The French hip-hop culture however despite averting from traditional grammar have their own grammatical rules that is followed, (Chi'en, 2008) discusses the weird English that is a result of globalization and of many different English languages co-existing, the same goes for the French hip-hop lingua, it is not broken or radical or â€Å"wrong† it is in fact a form of art; one which can be reproduced only with knowledge of the genre. The hip-hop scene has become a new symbol for the â€Å"tricolor† i. e. the French flag.The opposition of the nationalistic red, blue & white flag which does not symbolize the society of modern France should instead be ascribed to the new colors; â€Å"black, blanc & beur† representing the multiracial, multicultural & multilingual society that is a more objective reflection of how the French social scene looks today. (Pennycook, 2010) Discussing the history of either Jazz, Rock & Roll or Rap is a way of learning the cultural aspects of the African-American community and the roots of both genres which both were born in Africa and brought to America, carried by the slaves and further evolved there to what it is today.  (Omoniyi, 2006)The global use of English has been a key factor to the spreading of the popular culture from major informal institutions such as Hollywood, or the hip-hop music which has been very influential world wide. Studying the re-appropriation of the hip-hop music in African countries as Nigera gives insight of how their values are reflected in songs by comparing them to North American contemporaries.Although the artists in Nigeria are similar to their colleagues in the U. S.  by following the trends of popular culture in appearance, the Nigerian hip-hop differ a lot in their lyrics, such as different themes such as love instead of the misogynist ideals represented in the American hip-hop. (Omonyi, 2006) Studying the sub-genres of hip hop African coun tries gives us knowledge of the African countries that speak English as native tongue and is a part of the globalization of the English language, but are even so underrepresented in text books supplied by schools (Yuen, 2011)The result of the English globalization is that there are a lot of countries that have their own unique music, even though they share the same genre as other English speaking countries. Irish folk music is a popular sub-genre of the folk music, which has aspects of entertainment values with songs about drinking and what the comical consequences of drinking too much. Many songs also contain more serious and political protest songs against British tyranny or the songs about the civil war in Ireland, giving the audience a broad insight into the countries culture and history by listening to their music.But teachers using these methods to promote cultural understanding should be wary not to promote stereotypes of a country â€Å"That Mexicans only dance the hat danc e for example† (Failoni, 1993). Implications for Practice â€Å"Music, the great communicator† the phrase that popular rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers coined in their song Can't Stop. It cannot be assumed that they implicated anything regarding language learning, but they did in fact have a valid point with that statement. Music can be used in teaching the all four strands of language learning; listening, reading, speaking & writing.Students experiencing difficulties with communication skills are likely to react positively to the entertaining aspects of music and might improve their communicative skills as rhymes, melodies and rhythm are easier to remember than ordinary speech (Failoni, 1993). Teaching informal language is something that I have stressed in this article as the researchers have argued that it is important to integrate more of the student's experience from outside of school to promote student participation (Pennycook, 2010).Using authentic pop music as li stening material have been since the 70's gained an increased popularity, because it colloquialism that student's otherwise miss out on in the classroom (Griffee, 1988). Furthermore it will make student's aware of phonetic structures. Listening exercises can be used with mixing reading comprehension, having the students underlining vocabulary in text that is chosen by the teacher consciously as a specific goal for learning (Failoni, 1993).Taking the next step with music from the listening comprehension to speaking, pronunciation skills are improved by the student first hearing the lines and the repeating them with the rythm of music as a cognitive help for the student to more pronounce the words more aptly. (Failoni, 1993) Communicative exercises can be created on the base of exploring different musical styles which is an easy alternative for teachers willing to introduce music in the classroom.(Failoni 1993) There are also a lot of different cultural aspects and styling’s th at can be taught in the classroom to promote cultural awareness. Exercises to engage students about culture can be done through finding songs that are unique in the way that they are symbols of the country or region, some examples are: The Genius of Ravi Shankar (India) Rampal Japanese Melodies (Japan) Bagpipe Music (Scotland) Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D minor (Germany) (Griffee, 1988) Playing these kind of songs can be used in form of quizzes as relaxed competitive tasks for the students.World map’s in the classroom than this is a great tool for enhancing the task and going deeper into details. Further ways are giving the students pictures of things that symbolize the origin of the song, pictures of what kind of food is eaten there, how the buildings looks like, historical remnants like the coliseum. The songs are repeated and the students are asked to chronologically place the pictures based on the order of the songs. This is method is pedagogical in a cognitive way by the connecting the visual and hearing senses.After all the countries of the songs played then follow-up activities is a way to discuss further create cultural awareness by discussions on for an example based on the pictures in front of them, (Griffee 1988) Understanding of social and political structures, both past and contemporary can be discussed and understood under the basis of only discussing a genre of music, listening to Latin American pop music presents the listener to nationalistic views (Failoni, 1988).This is a way for the students to learn these things as many youths are interested in the music. And if it so happens that the students in that particular classroom is not interested in the Hip Hop / Rap genre then the positive thing is that there are an infinite amount of genres to explore. An option is also not using only one genre as a discussion point but bringing in the option for students to do research on the unique historical and cultural aspects of the music they listen to.

Benefits of Non Verbal Communication Essay

Non verbal communication is defined as certain ways that a person communicates his thoughts and meanings without actually saying anything. These are the subtle clues that can help an investigating officer uncover a truth while questioning a suspect or witness or can lead him to more questions that will aid the investigating team. Programs such as CSI have shown us how police officers and crime scene investigators utilize contradicting, complementing, substituting, accenting, or regulating verbal messages. An investigating officer will benefit immensely from being familiar with these methods because of the way a crime scene is most often chaotic and witnesses who are being questioned are dealing with fear of being implicated in the case or perhaps, trying to cover their own involvement in the case. A sample of a contradicting non verbal communication that he can look out for has to do with the way a witness recalls the events as it transpired in a certain case. When a witness is looking down while relating the events transpired, that witness is most likely creating a memory. A person recalling a memory usually looks upward when trying to remember events, places, and situations. Under such circumstances, he should take notes and make sure to verify all the events by interviewing other people who might attest to the validity of the statements previously made. He may also consider the tone of voice of a person being interrogated. When a person is trying to hide a truth, there is a certain intonation and nervousness in the voice that usually causes it to raise in tone by a pitch or so. The officer must make sure to gain the trust and confidence of the witness or accused prior to questioning to keep the person off guard in order to get the most truthful answers out of them. A parole officer on the other hand must be highly observant and familiar with the psychological profile of his parolee that could indicate his behavior during certain situations in order to easily recognize the signs being displayed by the parolee when he comes in for his weekly reports. While meeting with the parolee, he should observe his complementing and accenting behavior. Particularly the first time the person enters the room. Does he shake your hand? Does he make eye contact? Does he seem nervous and on the edge? All of these could add up to a specific non verbal message that will give one an insight into the real score behind what the parolee wants to portray as truth. He should then react accordingly by enticing the person to become more open and share more information with him. In the event that the parolee begins to display accenting behavior such as hitting the table or throwing something, he must be prepared to restrain the person and try to snap him out of his mood. The one non verbal communication that both an investigating and parole officer must be quick to realize are the regulating non verbal communication tools. Such actions could be a simple look of question, a hint of despair in the eyes, or the wringing of hands of the person spoken to. Once recognized, he must be prepared to follow up on the subtle messages either by asking follow up questions or reassuring the person that the officer is in charge and everything is under control. People say that there is no such thing as the perfect crime. I have to agree with that statement because any officer who is familiar and highly observant when it comes to non verbal communication cues will easily be able to follow up on subtle clues not included in the physical evidence present at a crime scene or parole interview.

Harrison Products Essay

Harrison Products Inc. (HPI) is a global manufacturer of molded plastic products and metal products that are used in the auto industry, food and beverage industry (containers), and in a variety of other products and packaging materials. HPI has several manufacturing plant located world-wide, generally in locations convenient to the company’s most significant customers. The present case considers one of HPI’s products, a one gallon metal can container used for paint and other chemical products. The product is produced in two U.S. locations, Los Angeles, CA, and Youngstown, OH. These plants produce several million of these cans each year. The competitive environment for HPI is challenging. Competitors in all parts of the world challenge HPI on cost, which is the primary order-winning factor in the business. All HPI customers expect very high quality and prompt service, so competition on price and reliability in meeting delivery dates are critical to its competitive success. Operating Data and Strategy HPI has focused its production of the one gallon metal cans in the two plants, in Los Angeles and Youngstown, Ohio. The summary information in Exhibit 1 shows the plant capacity, normal production, price and cost information. Currently, management believes that production costs are driven by volume; management’s goal is to meet competitive cost pressures by increasing volume and improving efficiency to bring costs down. For this reason, product costs are based on volume, as illustrated in Exhibit 1. The unit cost for the Los Angeles plant is $1.10, while the unit cost in the Youngstown plant is $1.00. The cost difference reflects the higher facilities cost at the Los Angeles plant, which is the newer of the two plants. The Los Angeles plant has similar equipment and manufacturing flow design to that of the Youngstown plant, but a key difference is that the Los Angeles plant was designed to be more efficient for smaller job (batch) sizes; the equipment and plant lay-out are con sistent with greater speed in  processing smaller jobs. The decision to design the Los Angeles plant in this way reflected the smaller orders that were generally received by the Los Angeles plant. See Exhibit 2 for a sample of the some of the jobs at the two plants; the exhibit shows a representative sample of 28 jobs for Los Angles and 41 jobs at the Youngstown plant, showing the quantity in each job (job size) and the estimated minutes per 1,000 units for that job. The number of minutes per 1,000 units is a commonly-used measure of job performance at HPI and is called â€Å"runtime.† Product Costs HPI includes manufacturing costs into three main categories. First, there is materials cost that includes the metal and other materials necessary in the production of the cans. These materials are considered direct materials and are $0.40 per unit at each of HFI’s plants. The second category is operating costs which include labor, supervision, some materials used in machine maintenance and repair, materials receiving and stocking, and related costs. Labor costs include runtime labor, setup labor and downtime labor. Operations costs are considered indirect costs and the costing method used is to apply these costs to product based on units of output, as noted above. The two plants have the same per unit operating cost of $0.50. The third category, facilities costs, includes equipment and the plant facility. Because Los Angeles is the newer plant, these costs are higher for Los Angeles, at $0.20 per unit relative to the Youngstown plant, where the facilities cost is $0.10 per uni t. Required: 1.Using the company’s current costing system, calculate the manufacturing cost and operating margin (price less manufacturing cost) for each of the jobs in Exhibit 2, for both the Los Angeles and Youngstown plants. 2.Assume that 20% of operating costs are due to setup costs and that the remainder are runtime costs. HFI is considering an activity-based approach which would apply setup costs to each job; each job would be applied the same amount of setup cost. Calculate the manufacturing cost and operating margin for each of the jobs in Exhibit 2, for both the Los Angeles and Youngstown plants. 3.Assume as above that 20% of operating costs are due to setup  costs and that the remainder are runtime costs. Now, assume that HFI is considering an activity-based approach which would recognize that each setup requires time and material that is partly proportional to the size of the prior job. That is, the part of setup that involves clean-up and preparation of the machine for a new job is longer after a relatively long job than it is for setups that follow a relatively short job. HFI now plans to apply setup costs so that one-half of the setup costs would be applied equally to each job and the remainder of setup costs would be applied based on the number of units in the job. Calculate the manufacturing cost and operating margin for each of the jobs in Exhibit 2, for both the Los Angeles and Youngstown plants. 4.Interpret briefly your findings in parts 1,2 and 3 above. Do you support the setup cost application approach in (3) above? Why or why not? What approach do you think would be preferable? 5.Using analysis based on charts, correlation or regression analysis or other means, study (a) the relationship between runtime and job size at both plants, and (b) examine how this relationship differs between the two plants. What are the implications of these relationships, and how they differ between plants, on (a) product costing, and (b) manufacturing strategy?

Benefits and Health Risks Associated with Energy giving Drinks Essay

Benefits and Health Risks Associated with Energy giving Drinks - Essay Example Another secondary reason for this report is to understand the reasons why these drinks are used widely by youths or, in other words, and the consumption rate is widespread in youths (Aronson, 2011). A keen study, review, and analysis of the literature reveal that other stimulant and caffeine substances enclosed in these drinks have a positive and direct effect on the users too. The intended impact of energy drinks is to improve performance and provide sustenance, endurance, and concentration. Almost every Manufacturer pitches their products in work fields that require sustained alertness. But these drinks too have got no position in the adolescents and children’s diet (American Academy of Pediatrics, 20110). In addition, frequent or extreme intake of caloric energy drinks can largely enhance the risk for obesity or overweight adolescents and children’s. Discussion regarding educating the ‘users; of this drinks on how to use it appropriately, either by people who p articipates regularly in endurance or high-intensity of vigorous physical activity is the aim of the report (Brown, 2013). Energy drinks are grouped among beverages containing modest to relatively high levels of caffeine concentration, which gives a range of 50–505 mg caffeine/serving; 2.5–35.7 mg caffeine/oz, in comparison with other caffeinated beverages such as 6-ounce cup of coffee that range 77–150 mg; 12.8–25 mg caffeine/oz. In other words, energy â€Å"shots† are low-volume that is, 1–2 oz beverages and hence, records even a higher percentage in caffeine concentration more than other energy drinks (orange 100–350 mg; 90–171 mg caffeine/ oz (Maughan, 2001). The stimulants in these drinks include caffeine that is marketed as a provider of mental and physical stimulation (Brown, 2012). The energy drinks sometimes may or may not be carbonated though some; may also contain sugar or other sweeteners, amino acids, and herbal extracts. They are a subset or a division of the bigger group of energy products that include gels and bars, and distinct from drinks which are advertised to improve and enhance any performance (Millward, 2003).

Question about how Immanuel Kant defined problems and attempted a Assignment

Question about how Immanuel Kant defined problems and attempted a solutions - Assignment Example What changed the face of philosophy for the first time in history is Kant’s answer to the problems generated by these traditions. To begin with, Kant argued that the old division between posteriori truths and priori truths which were employed in both camps was quite insufficient in describing the metaphysical claims which were under dispute. Also, an analysis of knowledge requires a distinction between analytic and synthetic truths. Analytically, the claim lies within the subject. Considering this claim, "Everybody occupies space," the aspect of occupying space simply explains in an analysis of what it means to be a body. Synthetically, the subject of the claim does not contain any predicate. In the claim, "This tree is 120 feet tall," the concepts are brought together to form a new claim which does not have any of the individual concepts. Kant further argues that Empiricists did not succeed in proving the synthetic priori claims like the fact there is a cause behind every. Their major assumption was that the two resulting categories were exhaustive (Lucien, 100). According to Kant’s arguments a synthetic a priori claim must be true without appealing to experience, without having the predicate within the subject. This is where the empiricists failed as they did not give their justification. Similarly, rationalists made the same

Painful vs. Painless Cost Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Painful vs. Painless Cost Control - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Ã' ost control acquires numerous dissimilar approaches and outlines, which rely on the fundamental basis for dropping everyday expenditure, outflow, costs and disbursements. In order to safeguard self as well as the business, small-business holders, specifically, seek for cost control quantifications that facilitate equally, progress and sustainable business challenges. Despite the zone of expenses, trades should arrange for scheming their prices, the jeopardy towards excruciating cost control.   Painless cost control serves as a substitute of cutting down the prices in a trouble-free, flawless manner. The divergence between painful and painless cost control is that painful diminutions harmfully influence processes on the other hand, painless cost control comprises the slightest pressure on the enterprise and its prospects. Spontaneous or impulsive decisiveness to slash prices are by no means astute, since these verdicts probably cu lminate into meager options, inferior quality of goods and services, such decisions may result in assigning the job to unskilled person who may finish the work in an unprofessional manner, such an attitude not only hampers the quality of the output but also results in generating negative implication on the image of the organization. Essentially, controlling costs necessitates extensive and significant examinations and preparations. Painless vs. painful cost control is highly challenging and onsets with the development of enduring stratagem and producing the efficient strides to attain the objectives of the organization. In health care, where direct dealing is with the health and well being of the people, cost control matters usually encompass thorough planning for their implementation or reformation (Painful Vs Painless Cost Control). Observation Observation enables the authorities to analyze discrepancies associated with the small business, as these strides cannot be ignored. Varia nce or discrepancies is directly related to the diversity between the business planned to expend vs. the concrete expenses of the company (Painful Vs Painless Cost Control). Health care sector is considered as the recession-proof (Manchikanti, Singh and Bosewell, 2010). For example, the requirement of assistance and nursing staff at the surgical ward is 30 which may vary with the consultation clinic. As the health care organization operates centrally, in terms of painless cost control, staff could be provided to both the departments with minimum wages or the wages of the new recruitment could be reduced so as to keep the budget of the reformation and recruitment low and also to get hands on work. This holds true in a situation where population is large and vacancies are less. On the contrary, in terms of painful cost control, there could be no new recruitment to save expenses of extra wages. However, under such a situation it becomes difficult for the existing staff to provide their services to meet the demand of the situation. When the number of patients is less the staff will be in a position to manage well but if the number of patients are more the staff will feel fatigue to meet all the demands of the patients and this may result in exhaustion of the existing staff, thereby quality of performance of the existing staff is affected. Cause For smooth running of the business organizations, it becomes essential to ascertain the causes of divergence between the estimated expenses and the actual expenses. In health sector, use of paper, charges a burden on the organization besides purchasing instruments which are necessary to provide the health care with the upgraded technology (Painful Vs Painless Cost Control). Patient's reports and files are required to be maintained and therefore when such health organizations construct their budgets, they rely on the total cost for paper. The health care organizations put the bid by means of bulk pricing, this results in get ting lower costs per unit as compared to the cost

Project Report - Educational Plant Growing Device Dissertation

Project Report - Educational Plant Growing Device - Dissertation Example Most importantly, detailed explanations are provided about how to utilize the invention within the science classroom with little or no difficulty on the part of the users. Information about future production and utility or market is given. An appropriate conclusion is provided at the end of the paper; and a personal summary about how the entire invention came into existence is also given. 3 Chapter One Introduction The idea of teaching student how to grow plants has been accepted worldwide as an integral part of demonstrating science in the nature (Grant and Littlejohn, 2005). In a way, this is the process of contributing to the survival of the environment. However, the plants need a good plant growing device to grow well (Kaufman, 1983). As a result of this, some important issues to be considered here include: (i) what are the qualities the plant product possesses that would be quite useful to everyone; (ii) what is the current market value of the product? (iii) And what is going to happen to the product in their future? Kaufman (1983) recognizes that the success of any plant growing device largely depends on a number of factors that are broadly described below. Without all these sterling qualities, the product (device) will not be able to grow healthy and good-valued plants. In the light of this, the plant growing device is a single unit which is specifically designed to grow Autotrophic plants such as African Violets and allow users to grown plants from seeds or seedlings. The product has the capability to vary the following according to the plants: amount of sunlight, oxygen, water and nutrient to perform several experiments and compare the output result. The product is compact and suit to use in school classroom environment which is made user friendly to the students. The features of the product that may endanger the lives of students are removed, and the instructions for dealing with unexpected danger are clearly indicated in the users’ guide. 4 Th e design of the product is not restricted to a certain age group since it will also be used by the teachers to supervise students through their learning process, which cuts across different age groups. But the product is simple enough for the user to operate: in other words, all control buttons are mounted in an accessible position and arranged in a logical sense. Concerning the material for the product, the chosen material is able to withstand the moist conditions under the soil. The product is made from non-toxic material. (material within the contact of the organic plants). The product is packaged with expanded polystyrene holding blocks to provide shock absorbance which is then put in a double-walled card board box. Although the product is intended to be transported with minimal packaging but certain components may need to be packaged in polystyrene bags. However, the packaging cost is kept to a minimum of 5% of the unit cost. The plant growing device is expected to be mainly us ed in European environment and weather conditions but sales of about 2% unit volume could be expected to the Far East. The primary market for the product is for teachers in secondary schools used in accordance with the National Curriculum. The product is sold for use in science laboratory and would be used by students under teacher supervision. The

The Health & Safety of Migrant workers within the UK Construction Essay

The Health & Safety of Migrant workers within the UK Construction Industry - Essay Example The migrant workers on the other hand, have responded on the extreme reflecting their over anxiety, thus to some extent distorting the reality. The Health and Safety management in the construction industry has become more important than ever with the number of construction projects continuing to grow at a rapid pace both for new build and refurbishments. The labour profile also keeps changing as more and more workers enter the industry. Accidents resulting in fatalities and injuries to the workforce continue unabated and in fact, are on the increase with the result, the Government is very concerned and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) works with the Government on an ongoing basis. An action framework has been agreed to between the Government, the HSE, employers and the trade unions (Hughes and Ferrett.2008, p 143). Occupational health and safety are of concern in all the branches of industry, business and even information technology companies. It is all the more important for the construction industry. It is necessary to examine the foundations of the health and safety management systems. Occupational health and safety is important in all kinds of work. If it is a low hazard occupation, the organization may have a single competent manager to supervise the health and safety of the workers. On other hand, in a high hazard industry, there is a health and safety practitioner assisted by the engineers of different branches such as civil etc, lawyers, medical doctors, nurses, trainers, work planners and supervisors (Hughes and Ferrett .2008, p 1). The Construction industry contributes 8 % to the GDP of UK, making itself the largest industry in the country. 10 % of the working population is engaged in the construction industry having an annual turnover of  £ 250 billion. Although the U.K. construct ion industry is world renowned, it is one of the most

Religion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Religion - Research Paper Example A shaman is an individual considered as having access to, and power in, the world of malevolent and benevolent spirits, who normally gets into a state of trance during a ritual and practices healing and divination (Kehoe 3). Rituals play a significant role in establishing and sustaining group solidarity. In totemic communities, each descent group has a plant, animal or geographical element through which they claim descent (Baldick 33). Totems are at the peak of ancestor of clans. Clan members cannot kill or devour their totem, except after one year when the clan members assembled for ceremonies in honor of the totem (Baldick 33). Totemism is a religion wherein elements of nature perform as sanctified templates for society through means of emblematic association. They express their religion by using nature as a model for society. Each and every descent cluster has a totem, which inhabits a particular niche in nature. Also, social differences echo the natural arrangement of the environment (Baldick 34). For instance, the Ahimsa of the Hindu doctrine of nonviolence (a religion that is well known to practice Totemism) forbids the murdering of animals. Finally, totems express their religions through intimate association of friendship and defense between an individual and a natural object or a specific animal (at times, between an individual and different species of animals); the natural object can offer unique power to its holder (Baldick 34). Shamanism is comprehended by some individuals to be a prehistoric form of religio-magic or religion practiced by the aboriginals of the northern part of Asia and by all other aboriginals in other areas of the globe (Kehoe 56). This view is held by Kharuzin, Mikhailowski, as well as other Russian scholars (Kehoe 56). Others argue that Shamanism was merely one form of religious expression of the cult of the northern part of

Final Project- Step Three Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final Project- Step Three - Assignment Example Second (2), I used text with highlights on is edges and separated thoughts through title and subtitle with their accompanying highlights of putting them in bold and underline. The third (3), I put colors on the text. Fourth (4), I used a simple black and white diagram of the internal working structure of a human ear. And lastly (5), I used a full colored diagram of the human ear. The purpose of this approach is for the audience to experience the increasing ease of understand the message or lecture as the mode of visual progresses from simple text to the use of colored diagrams. By using the same subject with different modalities of conveying beginning from a simple text to a full colored diagram, the audience will readily understand how effective visuals in conveying information. This is consistent with the cliche that goes â€Å"A picture is worth a thousand words†. I Calibri text Parts and Functions of the ear The human ear is divided into five parts. These five parts of hum an ear, have specific functions that help in the process of hearing. Parts of Human Ear The parts of the human ear include: Outer Ear Middle Ear Inner Ear Acoustic Nerve Central Auditory Processing Centers Outer ear is divided into the pinna and the external auditory meatus. The pinna, also known as the auricle is the external ear part that is located and seen on each side of our head. It is made up of cartilage and soft tissue. This helps in maintaining a particular ear shape and remains pliable. The pinna is like a funnel that collects the sound vibrations from around us and funnels them towards the external auditory meatus(Buzzle.com,nd). II Times New Roman with titles and subtitles Parts and Functions of the ear The human ear is divided into five parts. These five parts of human ear, have specific functions that help in the process of hearing. Parts of Human Ear The parts of the human ear include: Outer Ear Middle Ear Inner Ear Acoustic Nerve Central Auditory Processing Centers Outer ear is divided into the pinna and the external auditory meatus. The pinna, also known as the auricle is the external ear part that is located and seen on each side of our head. It is made up of cartilage and soft tissue. This helps in maintaining a particular ear shape and remains pliable. The pinna is like a funnel that collects the sound vibrations from around us and funnels them towards the external auditory meatus (Buzzle.com,nd) . III Texts with colors Parts and Functions of the ear The human ear is divided into five parts. These five parts of human ear, have specific functions that help in the process of hearing. Parts of Human Ear The parts of the human ear include: Outer Ear Middle Ear Inner Ear Acoustic Nerve Central Auditory Processing Centers Outer ear is divided into the pinna and the external auditory meatus. The pinna, also known as the auricle is the external ear part that is located and seen on each side of our head. It is made up of cartilage and soft tissue. This helps in maintaining a particular ear shape and remains pliable. The pinna is like a funnel that collects the sound vibrations from around us and funnels them towards the external auditory meatus (Buzzle.com,nd) . IV Diagram of the ear in black and white Source: Gallaudet university V

Stock marketing and the great depression Movie Review - 1

Stock marketing and the great depression - Movie Review Example In this movie, it is revealed that the creators of this model were two Nobel Peace Prize winners in Economics in the year 1997. Through out this documentary, I was impressed by the manner in which the characters sought to highlight and build upon the key themes. For instance, these Nobel Prize winners are noted to have engaged the formula which seemed to have worked well for them until 1 year later when their Long Term Capital Management hedge fund collapsed thus, forcing them to stagger with a debt of $100 billion. In this regard, it is prudent to note that apart from all the speculations that have been aired regarding the same, the collapse was due to a significant leverage in the strategy which they employed. So basically, I noted that the whole concept in this documentary was about the failure of the Long Term Capital Management hedge fund in the year 1998. First, the movie started by describing the stock exchange market at that particular time in relation to the psychological views that were held by different traders of the same market. More particularly, I am impressed at this point by the argument of how traders sell in the market. For instance, the fearful ones are seen as rushing in to sell all their stocks, a clear contrast of the greedy buyers who rush in to buy and accumulate the same stocks for speculation purposes. Thus, this behavior depicts the market as one purely based on irrational emotion. In my view, this notes that should a trader be willing to walk the path of success in the market, he would need to master the public’s psychoanalysis opinion on the nature of the market. Through this, a trader can be able to correctly predict the market movements and benefit from them (Beaudreau 70). However, as the movie progresses, the notion above is greatly contrasted by the views of academicians who perceive the stock market as a random walk with no defined or precise method to predict its

After the murder of Duncan Nothing goes Right for Macbeth and his Wife Essay Example for Free

After the murder of Duncan Nothing goes Right for Macbeth and his Wife Essay Shakespeare first showed Macbeth in the court of a newly crowned King James the First. Some people would argue that in places this was written as a piece of flattery for James the first. James was meant to be a descendant of Banquos and therefore Shakespeare shows Banquo to be a valiant and heroic character throughout the play. However, Shakespeare had to be careful what he said in the play, as he didnt want to upset the King. This play could be written as a piece of propaganda or a warning to anybody who went against the King. The play supports the Stuarts doctrine of the Divine Right of kings. This states that kings are appointed by God and therefore going against them is as sinful as going against God himself, the greatest punishment should be put against anybody who does so. This is shown all the way through the play up until the death of Macbeth himself. Macbeth starts the play as a great hero and is well respected by his fellow lords and friends. He has shown himself to be a great warrior and is referred to by some as Bellonas Bridegroom who helped to save Scotland from invasion by the King of Norway and an attack by MacDonald. Macbeth is highly regarded by the King, who calls Macbeth a valiant cousin, worthy gentleman. Macbeth is rewarded, by the King, the role of Thane of Cawdor after the previous Thane proved to be a traitor and tyrant. However, by the end of the play Macbeth is hated by all and is considered to be a traitor and tyrant. I believe that had Macbeth not have murdered Duncan, he would have carried on his good name and maybe gained the role of King without having to do anything to gain it. We can see that Macbeth starts to suffer from the murder almost directly after when he says that he thinks he hears a voice: Methought I hear a voice cry Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep, This could be seen as the first part of Macbeths punishment for murdering the king. He has been cursed so that he can no longer sleep because he has murdered the king whilst he sleeps. We can see that this is true because throughout the rest of the play Macbeth does not sleep well again. Macbeth knows now that he will never be forgiven for what he has done and almost immediately regrets his actions and wishes that he could undo it. Macbeth panics after he does the deed and he murders Duncans guards before anyone goes into the room. He thinks that this will be seen as an act of courage and loyalty to the King but doesnt realise that instead he is getting rid the only other people that could have been blamed for the murder and taken the suspicion away from himself and lady Macbeth. In doing this Macbeth draws suspicion to himself straight away from Macduff who says, Wherefore did you so?. This is the first time we see Macduffs suspicions and they carry on to the very end of the play at which time he goes on to kill Macbeth himself. Macbeth realises Macduff and does not feel safe. Macduff shows the extent of his view of the murder of Duncan by not attending the coronation of Macbeth. Macbeth notices this and his fear grows. After becoming King, Macbeth realises that it does bring him nothing more. He becomes more and more suspicious of Banquo, who is beginning to query Macbeth over the murder of Duncan. Macbeth realises how big of a threat Banquo could be to him and says: To be thus is nothing, But to be safely thus: our fears in Banquo Stick deep. Macbeth is constantly tortured by the witches prophecy of the desendants of Banquo becoming King. If it were true then Macbeth would never built a true dynasty. Macbeth hates this thought and we see it plague him all trough the play. We then see Macbeths change. He orders Banquo and Fleance to be murdered. Yet, unlike the first, his wife is not involved and he hires criminals to do it for him instead of doing the deed himself. This, in my opinion, is the first time we see Macbeth going it alone and leaving lady Macbeth out of his plans. Macbeth believes that by killing Banquo and his son he will be preventing the second prophesy from coming true and put his mind at rest. However, the plan is not completely successful and Fleance escapes. Macbeths reacts to this by saying: Then comes my fit again:I had else been perfect Macbeth is saying that if that had not have gone wrong then it would have been perfect but now it has brought back his unsettlement because if Fleance still lives that means that the prophecy may still come true. His feeling of never having any satisfaction of king returns to him. Macbeth then has a banquet with all his lords and ladies and he gives the game away. He sees the ghost of Banquo sitting in a seat and in his shock and panic he begins to shout out in madness excuses for what he has done. Lady Macbeth tries to cover up for him but Macbeth carries on. The lords become ever more suspicious as begin to understand what Macbeth has done. After the lords have gone Macbeth tells his wife what he done to Banqou and I think this is when Lady Macbeth realises what her husband has turned into and what Kingship has brought him and her. After the feast the lords begin to feel that Macbeth is not a worthy king, referring to the feast as the tyrants feast. Lennox refers to the situation as: our suffering country Under a hand accursd This means that Scotland is under the rule of a hand (Macbeth) which is unworthy or bad. This tells us that Macbeth is growing more and more unpopular within the lords and he has now lost all of the respect and good name that they once gave him. Macbeth begins to fall ever more into despair and goes to see the witches for some more advice. They tell him that he is safe and gives a feeling of security. Macbeth now feels better but the witches then rob him of any happiness by reconfirming Banquos descendants becoming king by showing him an image of kings to come who all look like Banquo. Macbeth is now unhappier than ever and we can see the full extent of which being king has brought absolutely no satisfaction whatsoever. Macbeth, in his despair, says: I am in blood Steppd in so far that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as goer. This shows us a gory view of him wading through all of the blood of his victims and to turn back and try and do right would be as hard or tedious as it would be to finish off what he has started and to carry on with the murders. Macbeth has by now lost all of his kindness and any compassion that he once had. His lords are slowly deserting him and his wife and him are further apart than ever. From the beginning of the play Macduff has suspected Macbeth of the murder of Duncan and he now has proof enough to flee to England and join Malcolm. Macbeth has now turned bitter and twisted and vows that he will now do whatever he thinks without thinking about the consequences: From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. Macbeth then decides to do his worse deed yet, he orders the murder of Macduffs wife and child. This shows Macbeths lords openly that he is a true tyrant and nothing but a bloody killer. He now loses even more support when Ross leaves him. Not only does he lose support but he also gives Macduff even more reason for revenge and makes Macduff even more eager to overthrow him. Macbeth now realises that he has lost all his support and that he is hated over all the land and is close to despair. By now Macbeth has lost all human feelings that he once had and even when he learns of his wifes death he simply shrugs it off saying, she would have died hereafter. All feelings of love or hatred or guilty have now been wiped from him and he is now a bitter and lifeless person. He begins to believe that life has no meaning. When Macbeth learns of Macduffs oncoming he is not afraid and says, I will not yield lay on Macduff, he is saying that he will not retreat but instead will wait for Macduff and take him on. Macbeth is not afraid anymore and now just waits for his fate. Macbeth fights to his death and ends up being killed by Macduff in the final confrontation. We can see Lady Macbeths slow spiral of despair throughout the play to the point of suicide. She started off as an ambitious woman who was in love and who wants nothing but the best for husband. She assists in the murder and tries her hardest to make her husband gain Kingship. At the beginning she was in complete control of her husband and the marriage yet by the end she loses all of this and Macbeth pays no attention whatsoever to her. Being queen gives her absolutely no satisfaction and realises that all of the plans were nothing more than a complete waste of time. I believe that after the murder of Duncan nothing goes right for Macbeth and his wife. It eventually pushes Lady Macbeth to suicide and causes the murder of Macbeth himself. I believe that if they had not carried out the murder then Macbeth would have kept his good name and maybe the witches prophesies would have come true without any encouragement. Macbeth had everything and should have been grateful for it. Lady Macbeth became greedy and should have let her husband do what he wanted to instead of pushing him into the initial murder.

Infectious Diseases: Causes, Effects and Treatments

Infectious Diseases: Causes, Effects and Treatments Introduction Infectious diseases or communicable diseases are those caused from pathological microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, prions, etc, which can spread from one person to another by direct or indirect means. Infectious diseases can also spread from animals to man or vice-versa (WHO, 2010). Throughout history, microorganisms, the causative organisms for infectious diseases have been playing an active role. Many native populations during the middle Ages have been destroyed by plagues. The Europeans when tried to conquer Australia, Africa and Americas had initially used microorganisms to destroy the native populations. However, the infectious diseases have had a serious effect on the fauna and flora. There were huge causes of morbidity and mortality, but in the 20th century developed nations had lower rates of morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. The major reasons why there was control over the infectious diseases during the later part of the 20th centur y was due to the development of antibiotics, eradication of small pox through vaccination, improvement in the living conditions and sanitations, etc. However, in the developing nations, infectious diseases are a major cause of death. In the year 1993, about 51 million people died, out of which 16.4 million about 35% were from infectious diseases. In the sub-Saharan African regions about 70 % of the worldwide infectious disease deaths occur. Developed nations account for 10% of the worldwide infectious disease deaths (Wilson, 1995). Today, serious changes are made with the environment of the earth such that certain propulsions and groups are becoming vulnerable to certain infectious diseases. Not only have antibiotics made it easier to fight microorganisms but the abuse of the same has resulted in the microbes developing resistance. Besides, many insect vectors are becoming more and more resistant to various pesticides being used. Today there are several emerging infectious such Ebola, H1N1, H5N1, Lassa fever, etc, due to the changing environmental circumstances. In the year 1993, more than 400000 people from Milwaukee US were affected with the epidemic of cryptosporidiosis. In the Southwest people died from pulmonary disease caused due to Hantavirus infection. Not only are the humans affected with infectious diseases but also various other species of domesticated and wild animals (Wilson, 1995). With History, major changes have undergone with respect to the infectious disease map of the world. In the 20th century, many diseases have spread from tropical to temperate regions and have crossed marine barriers including the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. More than 14.2 million people each year die from infectious diseases. On the other hand, heart disease kills about 10 million people each year. The most common infectious disease killer is acute respiratory infectious with 3.7 million deaths each year, followed by HIV/AIDS with 2.8 million deaths, diarrheal group of diseases with 1.7 million deaths, malaria with 1 million deaths and measles with 0.8 million deaths. As sanitation and poor living conditions can increase the risk of infectious diseases, such problems are more common in the lower socioeconomic groups. The WHO has predicted that during the next ten years that infectious disease would reduce by about 3 % due to improvement in the living conditions (Bonita, 2006). In the ICD-9 Listing, codes 1 to 113 are given infectious and parasitic disease codes. It is found that about 83% of all deaths from infectious diseases are from range of symptoms outside the classical ICD mentioned criteria (Norman, 1998). With a number of infectious such as diphtheria, chicken pox, measles, feco-oral infections, cholera, rotavirus infection, etc, seasonal variations play a vital role, in the temperate and the tropical regions of the world. The mechanism by which this is occurring is not understood clearly. Certain reasons may be applicable for the seasonal variations of a disease:- Seasonability has several factors and a lot depends on local factors Depending on the characteristics of the infections epidemics or peak in incidences can occur at different times of the year There may be an interaction of pathogens that may affect the spread of another infection Hence, depending on these criteria vaccination can be used to block the spread of the infection (Nicholas C. Grassly, 2006). Infectious diseases may not just involve one person or a particular community or a population. Often more than one population may be affected across a region or a nation. Besides, infectious diseases can also affect animals including goats (Echinococcus), dogs (rabies), birds (H5N1), etc. Classification The listing of the ICD-9 Codes for Infectious diseases includes:- Intestinal Infectious Diseases 001 to 009 Tuberculosis 010 to 018 Zoonotic Bacterial Infectious 020 to 027 Other bacterial Infectious (such as leprosy, diphtheria, scarlet fever, etc) 030 to 041 HIV 042 to 044 Poliomyelitis, kuru, CJD, etc 045 to 049 Virus with exanthema 050 to 059 Arthropod borne virus infection 060 to 066 Other diseases caused by virus and Chlamydia (such as hepatitis A, B C, rabies, trachoma, warts, etc) 070 to 079 Rickettsia and other arthropod infections (080 to 088) Syphilis and other venereal diseases (gonorrhea, urethritis, etc) 090 to 099 Other Spirochete infections such as yaws, pinta, etc 100 to 104 Mycoses or fungal infectious 110 to 118 Helmenthic or worm infestation 120 to 129 Other infections 130 to 136 Late effects of infections 137 to 139 (ICD-9 codes) Transmission Infectious diseases are transmitted by two means, namely the direct and indirect means. Direct means includes contact with the infected person who comes in contact with the normal person. Through contact, infections can spread by three means, the first two include horizontal means and the third include vertical transmission. Infectious diseases usually spread by direct transfer of the infected fluids or secretions from one individual to another. There may be several means of person to person transmission including sharing infected needles, sexual contact, kissing, blood transfusion, sneezing, coughing, mucosa to mucosa, etc. Direct contact would also include contact with infected animals or handling contaminated animal wastes. The vertical transmission is by means of the infected mother to the baby. Infections again can be transmitted by different means at different periods. When the unborn baby is in the uterus, it can get infected from the mother. Certain infections can be transmit ted across the placenta and include bacteria (such as syphilis, listeriosis), viruses (such as CM Virus, AIDS, German measles), and protozoans (such as toxoplasmosis) (Lee Goldman, 2007). The effect on the fetus may range from fetal infections, lesions, mental retardation, physical growth retardation, multi-organ defects, birth defects, aborted, etc (Dorak, 2009). On the other hand, infection can spread to the baby during passage of the baby through the infected birth canal. Lastly, infection can spread through contaminated breast milk of the mother during nursing (Lee Goldman, 2007). Exposure to the infectious agents can result in various outcomes including no infection, clinical infection, sub-clinical infection or carrier status. Clinical infection can result death, carrier status and further immunity or no immunity against the disease. Sub-clinical infection can result in carrier status, immunity or no immunity against the disease (Dorak, 2009). Infectious diseases can also spread through indirect methods which include contaminated objects, personal items, food borne, waterborne, vector borne, air-borne, ting-borne and surfaces. For example, common cold can spread by using contaminated towels. Various bacterial, viral and parasitic infections can spread through vectors or carriers such as mosquitoes, fleas, lice, ticks, etc. Infectious diseases can also be transmitted from one individual to another through contaminated food or water or the oro-fecal route. Consuming uncooked, undercooked or raw foods, unsuitable drinking water, etc, can cause infectious. For example, in Latin America, there is evidence through PCR diagnostic tests that H. pylori cause gastric problems (Lee Goldman, 2007). Certain individuals may be at a higher risk of getting infected which includes those with autoimmune disorders, those who have undergone an organ transplant and are taking immunosuppressant, those consuming corticosteroids and those infected with HIV/AIDS. The other risk factors that play a role in the development of the infectious diseases may include age, race, sex, socioeconomic status, geo-location, medication use, illegal drug use, history of travel, etc (Sherwood, 2004). The mode of causation of an infectious disease is by an interaction of internal factors and environmental factors. An infection may arise as a result of a triad of factors affecting the system including the host, agent and the environment. The host factors include age, sex, gene-type, mental makeup, nutritional makeup, immune status, and health makeup. The environmental factors include air, water, sanitation, psychosocial status, geography, housing, food, healthcare delivery system, etc. The agent factors include pathogenicity of the organism (ability to cause disease), infectivity (ability to cause infection), virulence (ability to cause death), immunogenicity, survival and antigenic capabilities (Dorak, 2009). The entire natural cycle of the infection would ensure that the infectious agent is at the business end. The infectious agent would enter the host or reservoir and then exit from the body, carried by a mode of transmission and enter another persons body. It would result in infection in a susceptible host. Koch bought out certain postulates for infections. In each case, the organism is present. The organism can be isolated or grown in each culture. Once each individual is exposed to the agent, the disease as such can be reproduced. From each of the infected individuals, the pathogen can be isolated. Symptoms An individual suffering from an infectious disease may present with no symptoms, symptoms which are not definitive, mild symptoms, or serious symptoms with complications. The period between the exposure of the individual to the infectious organism and the appearance of the first symptom may vary from a few days (in the case of chicken pox, malaria, etc), months to a few years (in the case of HIV). Infectious disease can produce a range of symptoms including:- Fever Chills and rigors Bleeding of the gums and periodontal diseases Epistaxis Sore throat Anorexia Tiredness Body pain Dyspnea and breathing problems Headache Fever with seizures Swelling or a rash Malaise Enlargement of the regional lymph nodes along with tenderness Diarrhea and dysentery Bloody stools Yellowness of the skin and the tongue Paleness Skin lesions or skin rash Blood shot eyes (in the case of conjunctivitis) Burning sensation whilst passing urine Abscess or a draining sinus Pain, swelling from the affected site along with a rise in the temperature Gastritis Spread of the bacteria, along with the toxin in the blood Diagnosis The diagnosis of Infectious disease is made based on the history, physical examination, signs, symptoms, analysis of the tissue samples, microscopy, culture, blood tests, urine tests, molecular diagnosis and other methods. The history includes details of the personal history, history of travel, family history, social history, occupational history and epidemiology (Paul G. Engelkirk, 2007). Body samples of urine, CSF, nasal secretions, nasal swab, stools, etc are collected to study them microscopically. In certain circumstances water, soil, inanimate objects and food samples are also analyzed. In certain circumstances the samples are collected at a particular period of time. In malaria, the samples are collected when the fever is high and in the case of typhoid the blood samples are collected when the fever begins to rise. It is important to prevent contamination of the sample during testing and avoid any destruction of the causative organisms. It is important to transport the samples appropriately and test them immediately as many anaerobic species may not be able to survive in the oxygen-rich environment. Besides, it is also important to prevent drying of the samples. All samples should be given appropriate care during laboratory testing as they are hazardous and can infect the testing personnel (Barbara A. Bannister, 2000). There are different microscopes that can be used for studying the samples including light microscope, phase-contrast microscope, dark-field microscope, electron microscope, etc. Various staining procedures may be required to study the samples including gram staining, Giemsa staining, Ziehl-Nielsen staining, Indian Ink staining, etc. Helminthes, urine bacteria and fecal protozoan are best viewed through direct microscopy of unstained samples. Gram staining helps to identify organisms in pus, CSF, ascitis, pleural fluids, etc. Ziehl-Nielsen staining is used to study that will not stain through ordinary procedures. Romanowsky staining is used to stain blood cells, whereas Giemsa staining is used to identify the parasites present in blood. Immunofluorescence is a method of identifying the organisms through reactions with antibodies tagged with fluorescence dyes. There are two methods of immunofluorescence including direct and indirect methods (Barbara A. Bannister, 2000). Culturing involves growing the microorganisms present in the sample in the laboratory on an appropriate media and recognizing the same using physical, biochemical and morphological means. Different media may be used including enriched media, selective media and indicative media. Another process of distinguishing between the various strains of an organism is typing. These include biotyping, auxotyping, serotyping, phagetyping, PCR typing, etc (Barbara A. Bannister, 2000). Blood tests called as serological tests are done to determine the antigen-antibody reaction that occur. Some of the common tests that are done in the laboratory include agglutination, fluorescent antibody tests, radioimmunoassay and ELISA. Molecular methods of diagnosis are used to determine specific DNA fragments that would be a signature of certain species of pathogens. Some of the common molecular diagnostic techniques include PCR and amplification techniques (Barbara A. Bannister, 2000). Treatment One of the earliest ways of managing an infectious disease was in malaria when certain local communities used cinchona to treat the disease. From the cinchona bark, quinine was extracted and is used even today to manage malaria. Today, antimicrobial agents are being used to treat infectious disease. These microbial agents attack the various metabolic pathways that are present in the microbial metabolism. For example certain compounds are similar to PABA, and prevent PABA from undergoing transformation into dihydropteroic acid, which is essential for folate metabolism. Once there is shortage of folic acid in the body, the DNA of the bacteria undergoes degradation. Further other antimicrobial agents which target other portions of the metabolism can also be used for more effective treatment of infectious diseases. These include trimethoprin and sulphamethoxazole. The other ways by which antimicrobial agents act include causes the destruction of the bacterial cell wall, inhibition of the protein synthesis in bacteria, and damaging the DNA structure. For certain antimicrobial agents to act, the bacteria should be sensitive to the drug. Besides, the manner in which the drug is administered and the spectrum of action of the drug also plays a vital role in treating infections. Antimicrobial sensitivity tests are conducted to determine which particular agents the bacteria would be sensitive and resistant to and accordingly select a potent agent to treat the infection (Barbara A. Bannister, 2000). To ensure that the treatment with antibiotics is working properly certain monitoring strategies may be required including:- Appropriate levels of antibiotics are present in the serum The levels of antibiotics do not reach a level such that it would cause toxic effects Patient compliance and adherence Appropriate means of administration Pharmacokinetics of new drugs Monitoring all the adverse effects (dose-dependent or idiosyncratic) Some of the common groups of antimicrobial agents that are used to treat infections include:- Penicillin Penicillinase resistant penicillin Ampicillin-like agents Beta-lactamase inhibitors Cephalosporin Aminoglycosides Chloramphenicols Quinolones Antifungal Agents Antiviral agents Antimalarial agents Antitubercular drugs Antiprotozoan agents Prevention Infectious diseases are transmitted from one individual to another through several routes including direct contact, inhalation of airborne infections, consuming contaminated food or water, through vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks, etc, sexual contact, using contaminated personal items and through the mother-fetal route. Hence, prevention can be advocated by obstructing the means of transmission of the infection. One of the most important methods of prevention is by proper and frequent hygiene by handwashing and using a disinfecting soap. Immunization also plays a vital role in preventing infections by administering vaccines to the general populations. Vaccines are currently available for a number of bacterial and viral infections including meningococcal infections, hepatitis B, hepatitis A, polio, diphtheria, typhoid, tetanus, haemophilus influenza, chicken pox, rotavirus, human papilloma virus, H1N1, measles, mumps, rubella, etc. Passive immunization can be administered by the admi nistration of immunoglobulin. Zoonotic infections can be prevented by immunizing the pets, providing a clean and safe environment for the animals, washing hands before contacting animals, takes measures after animal bites, etc. At the workplace, transmission of infections are a risk because of the conditions and also because people are in close contact with each other and also with hazards. Needles, syringes and other biohazards need to be disposed off properly. Blood during donation and infusion should be appropriately screened for various blood-borne infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, etc. Rubber gloves should be worn by the healthcare professional and for every new patient, a new set of sterile drugs should be selected. Hospital wastes should be disposed off properly to prevent hazardous wastes from further causing havoc (Andi L. Shane, 2008). Safe sex and sexual hygiene is also essential to prevent risk of transmission of STDs such as HIV, hepatitis B, etc. If there is the chance of the partner practicing unsafe sex, then a condom and other barriers help reduce the risk of transmission. Special precautions also need to be taken during travel. Areas infected with infectious diseases should be best not visited. For some people, vaccination may be required along with consumption of prophylactic antimicrobial agents (Andi L. Shane, 2008). Infectious Diseases in Saudi Arabia As in the rest of the world, in Saudi Arabia also, the morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases are high. An infection would have its course and severity varied depending on the virulence of the agent and the resistance of the host. Besides, a number of environmental factors also need to be considered. Two of the most common infections and serious health problems in the Western populations have been community-acquired pneumonia and fever of unknown origin (PUO). In the US, each year more than 1.3 million people get hospitalized from infectious diseases. The WHO has attributed Tuberculosis the most common cause of death in the world adult population. Certain factors may increase the risk for TB including HIV status, lower socioeconomic background, poor sanitation, etc. The other common infectious diseases throughout the world were hepatitis B, malaria and meningitis. Alghamdi found that the prior knowledge of prevalence and pattern of infectious diseases in the Western Saudi A rabian population was rather unknown and hence conducted this study to determine the most common infection in the hospitalized and determine their mean time of stay. More than 495 patients that were hospitalized between Jan 2000 to December 2004 at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) was studied. All data was collected from the patients medical records. About 8.8 % of the population who were admitted to the hospital or 1 in 11 were admitted for infectious diseases, and slightly more than 50% were males and 54% were native Saudis. Individuals between 26 to 45 years were commonly affected with infectious diseases, followed by the 13-25 year old group. The senior citizen population was least often affected with infectious disease. The most common infectious disease was pneumonia, followed by fever of unknown origin, TB, and viral hepatitis. In women, pneumonia was more common than men, whereas TB and meningitis were more common in men. The other common infectious in the population included bronchopneumonia, malaria and urinary tract infections (Aisha A. Alghamdi, 2009). The incidence of meningococcal meningitis is common in Hajj pilgrims and in the year 2000, several cases were reported in the Hajj pilgrims. The two common serogroups were serogroups A (24%) and W-135 (37%). The epidemiologists found that the Hajj Pilgrim 2000 Meningococcal attack was in fact two concurrent outbreaks. The W-135 serogroup is endemic in Saudi Arabia. The fatalities were high amongst the pilgrims and hence since the year 1987, mandatory vaccination was being introduced. The vaccine used in fact is quadrivalent in nature (Jairam R. Lingappa, 2003). The Tuberculosis statistics in Saudi Arabia were also alarming. In a study conducted by Sahal A. M. Al-Hajoj, 2006, it was found from about 1500 cases of Tuberculosis infection, that male-female ratio was 1.27 and 47% of the population being adults between the age groups of 21-40 years. The single drug resistant cases were about 19.7 % and the multi-drug resistant cases were about 47% (Sahal A. M. Al-Hajoj, 2006). Sahal A. M. Al-Hajoj (2009) conducted another study to find if the mortality and morbidity from tuberculosis could be decreased in Saudi Arabia. There was a rise in the number of cases of TB between 1990 and 2004 by about 6.2%. In Western Saudi Arabia, there is a huge influx of individuals from developing countries who may already be infected with Tuberculosis. The rise in tuberculosis cases may not only be due a rise in infection rate, but also due to better diagnosis techniques. Better TB programs and effective diagnostic laboratories are the need of the hour in controlling cases of tuberculosis in Saudi Arabia. There should also be greater uniformity across the country in standardization. In the year 2000, there was an epidemic of Rift Valley Fever in Saudi Arabia which had spread from the neighboring North African Region. About 886 patients were included in the study by Tariq A. Madan. The age group affected was the 40 to 50 year, and the male to female ratio was 4:1. The common symptoms recorded included fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, jaundice, diarrhea, neurological complications, bleeding, visual loss, liver function test abnormalities, leucopenia, renal failure, anemia, etc. There were about 14% mortalities from the disease and were often associated with bleeding, neurological symptoms and jaundice. People with leucopenia had a lower mortality than those who had a rise in the leukocyte count (Tariq A. Madan, 2000). In the year 2007, the first outbreak of H5N1 occurred in Saudi Arabia and affected 19 poultry farms. Several diagnostic tests were conducted to confirm the infection including Rapid antigen-capture test and real-time RT-PCR. Once the infection was identified in a particular town in Saudi Arabia, the government immediately made a decision destroy the H5N1 affected fleet and the non-affected birds in a radius of 5 kilometers and ensure quarantine measures were followed in the region so that the infection could be prevented from spreading to other regions. Besides, other measures were being adopted including closing bird markets, greater surveillance, quarantine, etc. Within a period of three months from the first detected cases, the epidemic was totally under control. Further within a period of three months (April 2008), Saudi Arabia was declared as H5N1-free (Huaguang Lu, 2009). In a study conducted by Abdulrahman A. Alrajhi (2004), the mode of transmission of HIV-1 was being studied. It was found that 46% were heterosexual transmission, 26% due to infected blood transfusion, 12% vertical transmission, 5% from homosexual activities and 2% due to use of contaminated syringes during IV drug usage. Most of the heterosexual men got infected from commercial sex workers, and about 65 women got infected from their husbands. In Saudi, the most rampant form of transmission of HIV-1 is heterosexual mode. The mean age of diagnosis of HIV in the 410 individuals who took part in the study was 27.8 years. The adult infection rate is about 0.01%. Women tend to get the infection from their spouses. The rate of infection was relative lower in homosexual men and IV Drug users (Abdulrahman A. Alrajhi, 2004). Thus it can be seen that infectious diseases are a serious problems. Some of the infections that are common in Saudi Arabia include pneumonia, Fever of unknown origin, tuberculosis, meningitis, HIV, acute viral hepatitis, chronic viral hepatitis, malaria, etc. Besides, outbreaks of several emerging infections are becoming commoner in Saudi. These include the Rift Valley Fever of 2000, H5N1 outbreak of 2007, dengue fever, viral hemorrhagic fever, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, etc. Many of the zoonotic infectious are getting transmitted to man by vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes (Tariq A. Madani, 2004). The mechanism of development and the transmission of such infections need to be studied.

Study of Rail Structure: Risk Analysis and Failure Mode

Study of Rail Structure: Risk Analysis and Failure Mode Study of Rail Structure:  Risk Analysis and Failure Mode Avoidance In this case study, a brief overview of railway structure is discussed. Defects related to rail failure are considered essential to frame out the correct maintenance strategy. As it is closely associated with safety of passenger and cargo transportation, hence it retains high risk in terms of human lives and cost of resources. There will always be some risk associated with collisions and derailments but it can be reduced by eradication of the root causes. Exposure and amendment of rail defects are major issues for all rail companies around the world. There are challenges to the infrastructure maintenance individuals to perform effective inspection and cost effective rectification decisions. If addressed properly these can reduce potential risk of rail breaks and derailments. Risk assessment and Failure mode avoidance has become a vital constraint for the organisations to decide a cost effective and improved solution that could meet the financial constraints regarding inspection, renewal and replacement of rails and wheels. This study aims to reduce costs and risks related to rail operation by effective approaches. The issues and challenges related to rail maintenance are outlined. The maintenance strategy followed by most railway companies is also defined. Large Railways infrastructures are the prime manner of transportation in several countries. Improved and better safety measurements are continuously presented but still could not be considered as incidents proof. There will always be some risk related with derailments and other occurrences such as major disruption to services, which can furthered be minimised by detailed examination of the root causes. Some of the causes require improvement in skill and efficiency, for example human error, and some may be improved by optimization of inspection regularity. Therefore, a appropriate thorough study of the defects which develop both on the rolling stock and rail infrastructure is vital to frame out the correct maintenance approach. European Union spends around à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 2 billion every year for maintenance and repairing of broken rails (European Commission Cordis, 2017). It is understood that the consequential cost due to derailment decreases with rise in inspection, lubrication an d grinding charges. Risk in railways could be expressed in terms of cost, loss of human lives, infrastructure unavailability, traffic delay and environmental impact which may be caused due to derailment of a train carrying hazardous material. In this report, different kinds of rail defects and maintenance procedures followed are  described. Different risk assessment and failure mode avoidance methods and tools have been discussed briefly in this report. Some of the issues and challenges related to rail  maintenance are also addressed with an aim to reduce the total cost and risks associated with rail operations. Rails are longitudinal steel members that accommodate wheel loads and distribute these loads over the sleepers or supports, guiding the train wheels evenly and continuously. It is one of the most important components of the track structure. Usually a flat bottom rail  is used in conventional railway track, which can be separated into 3 parts: rail head, rail web  and rail foot. Many standards are used for rail profiles. (Kumar, 2007) Figure 1 shows the 2 common rail profiles. Figure 1: Flat bottom and Bullhead rail profiles The rails must possess sufficient stiffness so that they can act as beams and transfer the concentrated wheel loads to the spaced sleeper supports without excessive deflection between supports. (Ernest and John, 1994) Due to economic pressure, there is a world-wide trend to increase axle loads, traffic density  and speed to reduce the operating cost and increase the efficiency of railways. Axle loads  around the world have increased in general from 22.5 to 32.5 Tonnes in last ten years (Allen, 1999). This has led to increased rate of defect formation in rails. Some of the common defects are described in the following sections. 4.1. Shelling Shelling is a defect caused by loss of material initiated by subsurface fatigue. Shelling normally takes place at the gauge corner of high rails in curves. An elliptical shell like crack propagates in the subsurface parallel to the rail surface. When these cracks emerge on the surface, they cause the metal to come out from the crack area. It is generally eliminated by grinding. (Kumar, 2007) Figure 2: Shelling caused by Head Checks 4.2. Head Checks In the crown area, the contact stresses are generally low as it has greater profile radius in  comparison to the gauge side of rail. However, high contact stresses are produced on the high rails gauge corner, which usually has curve radius from 1000 to 1500 m. Head  checks are known to occur in tighter ((IHHA, 2001). If head checks are not controlled, they can cause a rail break. Grinding is the most common practice to remove head checks. Severe head checks need rail section replacement. 4.3. Squats Unlike shelling, squats appear in crown area of straight rail sections. They are surface  initiated defects formed by RCF. A squat is formed by two cracks, a leading crack and a  trailing crack. Both these cracks propagate in opposite direction. These defects could be prevented by grinding. (Kumar, 2007) 4.4. Spalling Spalling occurs, when the surface initiated crack development path is intersected by other similar shallow cracks on the rail head area, a shallow chip of rail material falls out. Spalling is more common in cold climates as rail stiffness increases. Figure 3: Gauge Corner Spalling in rails 4.5. Tache Ovale Tache Ovale is a subsurface defect formed around 10-15 mm below the rail head surface (see Figure 4). This is caused by hydrogen accumulation during manufacturing of rail or when poor welding is done in rails. Thermal and residual stresses also contribute to form this defect. Figure 4: Tache Ovale 4.6. Plastic Flow and Tongue Lipping Plastic flow occurs in rail head area, the depth of which may be up to 15 mm. Plastic flow  occurs on the field side of the low rail due to overloading. Tongue lipping is also a form of plastic deformation, but it is initiated by surface cracks. These cracks partially separate a layer of material from the bulk of rail. (IHHA, 2001) 4.7. Bolt Hole Crack Bolt holes appear in the rail web often starting from the fastening point of fishplates. But  these become weak points to resist crack initiation. These cracks have a very high potential to cause rail break and needs urgent replacement. 4.8. Longitudinal Vertical Crack This is a manufacturing defect, which usually appears in the rail web and may extend in rail  head also. If this crack is intersected by some other crack, it may lead to an early rail  fracture. Odds of sudden fracture due to this become predominant in cold climate. Figure 5: Longitudinal vertical crack 4.9. Transverse Crack Transverse crack is mostly developed in the cross-sectional area of defective weld joints. A  welding defect may be due to variation in weld material or rail manufacturing defect. Figure 6 shows a Transverse crack develops from the centre of the rail head or the rail foot. Use of clean steel and deeper hardening of rail head may avoid its formation. (Kumar, 2007) Figure 6: Transverse crack 4.10. Buckling Lateral buckling in rails is a very common defect in which the rail bulges out on its either side  due to expansion. As the temperature rises, longitudinal expansion in rail takes place. 4.11. Corrugation Corrugation is a rail flaw consisting of the wave-like wearing of the rail tread visualized as  peaks and valleys, in other words, it is a periodic irregularity of the rail surface (IHHA, 2001),  see Figure 7. Figure 7: Corrugation in rails Rail corrugations are the result of a damage mechanism, such as wear etc. Rail corrugations do not pose risk of immediate derailment, but they may be responsible for loosening of rail fastenings, ballast deterioration, increase in noise and vibration level leading to passenger discomfort, etc. Two main types of corrugations which generally occur in rails are: Short pitch corrugations Long pitch corrugation Tables below show the percentage and type of defect detection by different rail infrastructure  companies. Railway First Second Third Fourth Rail track (1999/2000) Squats 21.7% Vertical/transverse 20.1% Horizontal/longitudinal 12.5% Bolt holes 9.6% SNCF (1999) Squats 23.4% Internal fatigue 11.5% Shells 8.4% Thermite welds 4.7% HSPC (1999) Thermite welds 31.5% Wheel burns 17.2% Horizontal split webs 13.3% Bolt holes 11.3% NS (1997) Insulated Joints 59.4% Transverse defects 18% Thermite welds 15% Fatigue Failure 5.2% DB (1996) Thermite welds 29% Sudden fracture 18% Fatigue Failure 16% Electric bonds 4.0 % Banverket (1998) Transverse fracture 55.1% Welded joint 32.7% Horizontal defect 6.1% Vertical split 2.0% HH1 (1999) Vertical split heads 34.7% Thermite welds 20.3% Detail fractures 13.1% Bolt holes 12.2% HH2 (1999) Transverse defects 23.6% Thermite welds 15.5% Wheel burns 13.2% Shells 9.6% Table 1: Causes of defective rails (Source: Kumar, 2007) Rail breaks and derailments can cost the rail players in terms of loss of revenue, property, environmental damage or even loss of life. Estimation of these costs and analysis of risks are important in deciding effective maintenance strategies. In simple terms, risk can be defined as the chance or probability of loss, damage or injury. (Reddy, 2004) 5.1. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) FMEA is a step-by-step procedure for systematic evaluation of the severity of potential failure modes in a system. This process was originally developed in the 1960s, to analyse the safety of aircrafts, but has been since applied to several other fields, including nuclear power plants and the military. (Villemeur, 1992-A) Figure 8: Schematic representation of the FMEA. (Source: Villemeur, 1992-A). 5.2. Risk Priority Number (RPN) Risk priority number (RPN) is a methodology for analysing the risk associated with potential  problems identified during (FMEA) (for details refer Reliasoft, 2005). Assigning RPN requires the analysis team to rate each potential problem per three rating scales: Severity Occurrence Detection After the ratings, have been assigned the RPN for each issue is calculated as mentioned below, RPN = Severity x Occurrence x Detection Rail maintenance issues can be broadly classified into: Inspection issues Issues related to rail wear, RCF and rail welding Rectification and replacement issues 6.1. Rail Inspection Issues The effectiveness of rail inspection depends on the efficiency and accuracy of the inspecting  equipment. It also depends on the skill and experience of inspectors. Error in inspection is an important issue and its reduction is a big challenge. This mainly depends on the technological limitations of the inspection equipment and the skill level of the rail inspectors. Figure 9: Rail inspection issues (Source: Kumar, 2007) 6.2. Issues related to Rail Wear, RCF and Rail Welding Figure 11 outlines the rail maintenance issues. The following sections briefly describe some  of these issues. Figure 10: Rail maintenance issues (Source: Kumar, 2007) 6.2.1. Rail Wear Issues Wear occurs due to interaction of rail and wheel. It includes mild and severe wear. Mild wear takes place slowly but severe wear is often much faster. Severe wear is predominant in curves and occurs dry conditions. Lubrication techniques are used to prevent such wears. Four commonly used techniques which are followed for rail-wheel lubrication are: Top of rail lubricators Wheel flange lubricators Wayside lubricators On board lubricators 6.2.2. Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) Issues In the late 1990s RCF accounted for about 60% of defects found by East Japan Railways, while in France (SNCF) and UK (Railtrack) the figures were about 25% and 15%,  respectively. RCF is a major future concern as business demands for higher speed; higher axle loads, higher traffic density and higher tractive forces increase (see Cannon et al, 2003). Rail grinding removes surface metal from the rail head. It is done mainly with intensions to control RCF defects and rail wear. Rail grinding became increasingly recognized for controlling RCF defects from 1980 onwards, prior to that it was mainly focused on corrugation removal. 6.2.3. Rail Welding Issues Small imperfection in welds can cause cracks to initiate. A defect free weld requires skilled  workforce, better weld material along with improved welding techniques and equipment. 6.3. Other Issues affecting Rail Wear, RCF and Rail Welding Risk and cost are analysed by rail infrastructure operators in maintenance decisions. It covers rail lubrication, rail grinding and rail weld. Other important issues are: Rail material Rail traffic density and axle load Track geometry In Conclusion, first a brief overview of rail structure is discussed. Then, diverse range of rail defects and degradation processes have been studied. From the literature analyses done, it is interpreted that there is a need for better ways to monitor and predict rail defects over a period based on operational conditions and maintenance tactics. A good knowledge of risk along with an idea of the methods used for risk analysis is also required. Hence, before improvement of any model or any empirical relationship associated with risk and failure, there should first be a familiarity with risk management tools and failure mode avoidance. This study focuses on some such tools. Also, the issues and challenges related to rail maintenance are discoursed. The aim is to reduce risks related to rail operation that leads to failure mode, by effective decisions associated to rail inspection, grinding, rectifications lubrications, and rail replacements. Some of the challenges in this area include development of cost effective maintenance decisions, reliability and availability of logistics support, which include availability of capable equipment, skilled personnel and availability of rail track. 8.1. References Allen, R., (1999) Finding best practice at the wheel/rail interface, International Railway  Journal, Volume 6, pp. 48-50. European Commission Cordis (2017) AutoScan Rail inspection. Available from: http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/203338_en.html sighted: [February 2017] Cannon, D. F., Edel, K.O., Grassie, S. L. and Sawley, K. (2003) Rail defects: an overview,  Fatigue Fracture of Engineering Materials Structures, Volume 26, October 2003, pp.  865-886. Ernest, T. S. and John, M. W. (1994) Track Geometry and Substructure Management,  Thomas Telfold. IHHA (2001) Guidelines to best practices for heavy haul railway operations: wheel and rail  interface issues, International Heavy Haul Association, May 2001, Virginia, USA. KUMAR, S. (2007). Study of Rail Breaks: Associated Risks and Maintenance Strategies. Lulea Railway Research Center (JVTC)  MIL-STD-1629A, (1980) Military Standard Procedures for Performing a Failure Mode,  Effects and Criticality Analysis, Department of Defence, USA. Available from: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/risk/e-guidelines/RBDM/html/vol4/Volume4/Toolspec_Rec/FMEA/MIL-STD-1629A.pdf sighted: [February 2017] Reddy, V. (2004) Modelling and Analysis of Rail Grinding Lubrication Strategies for  Controlling Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) and Rail Wear, Master Thesis, Queensland  University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Reliasoft (2005) Examining risk priority numbers in FEMA, Reliability Edge, volume 4,  issue1. Available from: http://www.reliasoft.com/newsletter/2q2003/rpns.htm sighted: [February 2017] VILLEMEUR, Alain (1992-A, 1992-B). Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety Assessment, A: Vol. 1: Methods and Technique. B Vol.2: Assessment, Hardware, Software and Human Factors: John Wiley Sons. 8.2. Figures: Figure 1: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Rail_profile.svg/800px-Rail_profile.svg.png?1487817217791 Figure 2: http://www.ndt.net/article/v07n06/thomas/fig3.jpg Figure 3: http://www.railwayexpertwitness.com/images/inspect9-300.jpg Figure 4: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229632336/figure/fig8/AS:[emailprotected]/Figure-1-Tache-ovale-or-kidney-rail-failure.png Figure 5: http://www.ndt.net/article/0698/schub/fig1.gif Figure 6: http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/imfile/09192.jpg Figure 7: http://railmeasurement.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/corrugation-track1.jpg Figure 8: VILLEMEUR, Alain (1992-A, 1992-B). Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety Assessment, A: Vol. 1: Methods and Technique. B Vol.2: Assessment, Hardware, Software and Human Factors: John Wiley Sons. Figure 9 and 10: KUMAR, S. (2007). Study of Rail Breaks: Associated Risks and Maintenance Strategies. Lulea Railway Research Center (JVTC)