Human errors in aviation maintenance Research Paper

Human errors in aviation maintenance - Research Paper Example It is also a known fact that until the industry of aviation realizes from these happenings, safety breakdowns related to maintenance problems will resume taking place. Human mistakes instead of technical breakdowns have the maximum potential to unfavorably affect existing safety of aviation. The Boeing Commercial Airplane Company lately examined 220 recognized accidents and established the topmost three contributory causes to be: Crews of flight not sticking to procedures, Safeguarding and examination errors and defects in design. US statistics specify that 80% of accidents in aviation are because of errors of human with 50% owing to problems of maintenance human factor. To err is human, that is what the proverb states. It is a truth of existence of human beings. People are not machinery of precision intended for accurateness. Indeed, humans are a distinctive type of device completely. Originality, flexibility, and adaptability are their strong points. Constant attentiveness and accuracy in action or recollection are their weaknesses. Humans are astonishingly mistake tolerant. They are tremendously flexible, vigorous, and imaginative, excellent at discovering clarifications and explanations from incomplete and strident evidence. The same traits that take to such heftiness and originality also generate errors. The natural propensity to understand partial information although regularly their prime asset can instigate operators to misconstrue system activities in such a reasonable fashion that the misunderstanding can be hard to find out. Majority of the fundamental reasons that are a factor to mishaps can be considered as various kinds of human error. One way to define human error is as improper behavior of humans that let down intensity of system efficiency or security, which can or can not result in a calamity or grievance (Wickens, Gordan, Liu, 1998). Theoretically, the phrase human error might

Prostitution in US Essay Example for Free

Prostitution in US Essay History records prostitution as one of the world’s oldest profession. However this profession is considered a crime in many countries today. The number of countries legalizing prostitution is growing. No wonder with upcoming new life style issues like homosexuality and gay marriages, the global liberal view is indeed spreading fast and quick. Among the countries of today which have legalized prostitution in some form or other include Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, Canada and most of Europe. Some of these countries may have restrictions and even criminalization of certain aspects of prostitution like pimps, health testing, brothel restrictions, soliciting methods, advertising etc. . However, one of the most notable countries which haven’t legalized prostitution is US. Today in most states of the US, prostitution is still illegal. The UN General Assembly had on December 18, 1979 adopted CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women), which the then US President Jimmy Carter signed in 1970. The CEDAW is an international statute intended to better the rights of women worldwide, and establishes a framework for the nations to work, for ending discrimination against women (HRW, 2007). Although the US claims to be a front-runner in providing women’s rights, it failed to ratify the CEDAW. The Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate had passed the CEDAW on September 29, 1994, but it has still not been ratified by the full Senate. The provisions of the CEDAW allows voluntary prostitution as a profession of choice, like any other profession; and access to healthcare including family planning, which includes abortion (Dave, 2005). Before deciding on legalization, it is important to know the prevailing facts on prostitution, in the US. The National Task Force on Prostitution estimates that about one million people to have worked as prostitutes in the US, which is about 1% of American women. About 70% of women prostitutes and 20% of male prostitutes are arrested. An interesting fact behind the arrests is that about 85 90% of the arrested are street prostitutes, although street prostitutes account for only 20% of prostitutes in US. The ratio of street prostitutes is varied based on the local laws, and policies followed in corresponding cities. Smaller cities having limited indoor venues may have street prostitution even up to 50%. The ratio of male and female prostitutes vary from city to city, like in San Francisco, where male prostitutes are about 20 30%, and 25% of the female prostitutes being transgender. Another social issue related to prostitution is drug abuse, with rate of abuse ranging from 0 84%, depending on the population studied (PENet, 2008). However, drug addiction is relatively rare among women prostitutes who work off the streets. Disease is another problem associated with prostitution. The US Department of Health estimates prostitution related sexually transmitted diseases to be about 3 5%, although it is 30 – 35% due to teenagers. The advocates of anti-prostitution law point out that legalizing prostitution would only help the pimps and subject prostitutes to more harm, apart from increasing violence. The stand of the federal government was made known in 2004, when it said, â€Å"The United States government takes a firm stance against proposals to legalize prostitution because prostitution directly contributes to the modern-day slave trade and is inherently demeaning.† Although prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada, the government claims that legalizing prostitution would create an increased demand for human trafficking victims. According to a recent study by Steven Levitt and Sudhir Venkatesh, based on data from the Chicago Police Department, prostitutes get arrested only about once in every 450 sessions (Bazelon, 2008). They also discovered that there was a high demand of prostitutes for sex, from police officers themselves. The American social view of prostitution, as being immoral has been in place since the 19th century. The United States Victorian era (1840-1900) saw a transition of social view from sympathy and support at the start of the century, to rejection at the end (Hickenbottom, 2002). Although the debate on legalizing prostitution, continues in the US, there are many Americans who still consider prostitutes as ‘whores’ and see them as trash. REFERENCES HRW (2007) CEDAW: The women’s rights treaty [Electronic Version] Retrieved on March 22, 2008 from http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/cedaw/ Dave, (2005) What countries have legal prostitution? [Electronic Version] Retrieved on March 22, 2008 from http://www.sexwork.com/coalition/whatcountrieslegal.html Bazelon. E (2008) Why is prostitution illegal?. [Electronic Version] Retrieved on March 22, 2008 from http://www.slate.com/id/2186243/ PENet (2008) Prostitution in the United States – The statistics [Electronic Version] Retrieved on March 22, 2008 from http://www.bayswan.org/stats.html Hickenbottom. I.L (2002) Prostitution: Then and now [Electronic Version] Retrieved on March 22, 2008 from http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/femhist/sex_work.shtml#Victorian

Accidents Have Caused Major Explosion

Accidents Have Caused Major Explosion In the past few years there had been a steady increment in the usage of the risk assessment in the offshore production facilities. This is especially after the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988 and many other major accidents that killed many lives. Operators are showing an increasing awareness by reviewing the safety of their existing topside production facilities. The Piper Alpha accident provided adverse confirmation that the predictions of risk analyses regarding major accidents were certainly prudent. Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) is very useful in order to reduce the risks especially on the hydrocarbon releases from offshore topsides facilities. (Harmony, 1998) The accidents have caused major explosion and followed by some other minor explosions that release huge amount of hydrocarbons such as gas, liquid and 2-phase liquid. According to the investigation report that had been made after the accident, the main reason that causes the accident is the handover work made by two different shift personnel. Communication problem is one of the reasons of the tragedy. Initially the platform only produced crude oil. However, after a few years natural gas is also being produced. During the installation of the gas conversion equipment, the fire walls were not upgraded to the blast wall that causes a severe explosion throughout the disaster. Moreover, the pumping operation of oil and gas was continued even though the fire started to spread on the platform due to lack of professed authority that just witness the burning of the Piper (Taylor, Wallace, Ward, 1991). It was started from the two condensate injection pumps which are A and B. The day shift engineer forgot to inform the condition of pump A to the night shift engineer in which the pressure valve was removed for recalibration and recertification. There are about 106 recommendation has made for the future of safety offshore by the Cullen Report. All of the recommendations had been accepted and implemented by the offshore operators later then (Simon, 2012a). Petrobras Enchova Central Platform was listed in the major offshore accidents. This platform also listed as one of the worst and notable blowouts in the history of offshore oil platform. It is located in the Enchova Field, Brazil and operated by Petrobras. Two major incidents recorded in these fields which were on 16 August 1984 and 24 April 1988. The first accidents caused by blowout followed by explosion and fire. Most of the personnel were evacuated safely by chopper and lifeboat. Unfortunately, 42 workers died during the evacuation processed. The main reason that killed many lives during evacuation is because the failure of lowering mechanism of a lifeboat. The lifeboat was suspended and eventually fell 10-20m to the sea which killed 36 personnel. The other six workers were killed when they jumped from the platform to the sea at 30-40m height. (Simon, 2012b) The second accident occurred on 24 April 1988 which is four years later during the workover operations on the platform. One of the well that operated by the platform blew out and finally ignited that resulted in the destruction of the platform. Petrobras decided to drill two relief wells in 30 days time and eventually succeed in controlling the blowout (Maduro Reynolds, 1989). The workover well was performed in order to convert oil well to gas well. Then the blowout occurred during that converting process. The fire resulted from gas ignition last for 31 days. There was no loss of life recorded because the floating living quarters were separated from the platform during the blowout. The operator incurred a total loss because the extensive damage to the topside structure (Simon, 2012b). Ekofisk Bravo Platform is another type of platform that was listed in the top five worst blowout accidents in the oil and gas industry in which the volume of hydrocarbon released is about 202,381 barrels. This platform is operated by Philips Petroleum Company located at Ekofisk field in Norwegian continental shelf. The event of blowout was recorded on 22 April 1977, a few years after the discovery of this field in 1969. It was declared that the blowout cause the biggest oil spill in the North Sea. The blowout occurred during the workover of the production well. It was started when the production tubing was pulled out at 10000 feet depth. Then the blowout preventer (BOP) is not yet installed after removing Christmas tree prior to the production tubing pulling process. The downhole safety valve was malfunctioned because of improperly installed that cause well kick then resulted in well blowout that release large amount of hydrocarbon to the environment. There was no loss of life recorded as the evacuation job carried properly. Initially the total release calculated was 202,381 bbls by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Then the oil was evaporated up to 40% of the initial release and a total spill estimated is lower than the initial amount. It was reported that there was no significant effect to the environment. The investigation to determine the root cause of the accident had been carried out. They found that the main reason of the blowout was caused by human errors. The human errors include inappropriate planning and well control, misjudgment on the job scope difficulty for instance ignores the proper installation documentation and equipment identification (Simon, 2012c). Bekok C platform that is operated by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn. Bhd. is one of the listed platform accidents in Malaysia that cause severe injuries to the workers. This platform is located 200km from the coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The major factor of the tragedy is because of the gas leaked that cause fire on the platform. Basically, the platform went through scheduled shutdown in order to plan maintenance activities during the accident (Bernama, 2010). There were about 108 personnel on the platform at that moment of incident and six of them were injured because of the fire. The fire just started after midnight and brought under control by the emergency response teams (ERT). The injured personnel were the one that on duty at that time and in the process to complete their shift. The six injured personnel suffered several burns on parts of their body including the face. The fire might be resulted from sparks that produced from one of the maintenance valves. The remaining 102 workers have been evacuated safely to the nearby platform (Chris, 2010). Another offshore accident in Malaysia is Tukau B platform located in Miris offshore. This platform is operated by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd which is Malaysias National Oil Company. The fire occurred on 11 June 2012 which is the latest accident at an oil and gas facility recorded on offshore platform. It was reported that 16 workers were on the platform at that time of fire. Five of them (two PETRONAS employees and other three contractor staff were suffered first and second degree burn. There was no loss of life reported as other remaining workers were evacuated safely to the nearby platform, Tukau A living quarters. (Mohamad Abdullah, 2012) The fire resulted from the explosion at Tukau B oil drilling platform started to spread on the structure at 9.20am at the compressor skid. Fortunately they managed to put the fire under control within an hour that prevents the fire to spread over the platform. The personnel were doing some maintenance works on the platform at the time of fire. The human errors could be the reason of the explosion that cause fire and injured some of the workers. Most of the accidents occur were mainly cause by the engineering workers that do not have good understanding on the safety elements. Misjudgment on the job difficulty has been normal situation on the event of fire and explosion. Improper use of standard operating procedure for equipment always becomes major factor in platform accident. This is mainly occurring during the maintenance works that involve the operator and contractor staffs (Luin, 2012). The most recent incident that involves oil and gas industry in Malaysia is the fire and explosion of the oil tanker named Bunga Alpinia own by Malaysian International Shipping Company, MISC which occurred at 26 July 2012. This event of fire and explosion take place at Rancha-Rancha industrial zone, Pulau Enoe near Labuan. It was reported that the oil tanker was loading six tons of methanol at the PETRONAS Chemicals Methanol Sdn Bhd jetty when a small fire ignited during a thunderstorm. The fire started at 2.30am and resulted in at least three major explosions that shake the Labuan Island. Bunga Alpinia had 29 crews on board consisting 23 Malaysians and six Filipinos. The accident killed five workers; four of them were Malaysian and one Filipino as mentioned by MISC Company which is a subsidiary of PETRONAS. Another 24 workers were evacuated safely to onshore (Almeida, 2012). The fire and explosion just occurred nearby the PETRONAS Chemical Methanol plant that arise another concern if the flames from the tanker ignite the methanol silo. The effect might be severe which can cause enormous destruction to the surrounding area. Problem Statement According to Oil Gas UK Knowledge Centre, hydrocarbon release may contribute to major accidents as well as determine a key performance indicator of asset integrity management of offshore installations. A hydrocarbon can potentially release to atmosphere due to leakage from equipment, flanges, valves, pipe works and etc. Each of this equipment has their own release frequency. QRA study is very important in order to identify the most cost effective ways to reduce risks to people and to the production asset. It is also important for company to improve their understanding on the risks and hazard involved in its offshore operations (Hanson, Lewis, Walters, 1995). For Quantitative Risk Assessment study, the release frequency of each Isolatable Section needs to be calculated. The QRA is employed in order to size hazards and advantages gained from their concession. The QRA particularly calculates the overall risk and potential loss of life and the average individual risk of fatality. In order to determine the release frequency the installation type and location are the important parameters that should be considered. Objective The overall objective of these studies is to calculate the hydrocarbon release frequency for each isolatable section of offshore production facilities. In order to determine the release frequency, the isolatable section of the topsides production facilities needs to be identified at the early period of the research. The quantity of each of the process equipment needs to be determined in order to get the release frequency. The other objective is to utilize the raw and modify data of release frequencies from the risk assessment data directory (OGP Publications) in order to classify the release criteria by using the inventory released. Scope of the Research In this research, a typical unmanned platform is used as a subject of study. A complete offshore production facility will be divided into several sections in QRA study. The sections are known as Isolatable Section. The Isolatable Section consists of different type and sizes of equipment, flanges, valves, pipe works and etc. The research will identify method to calculate the release frequency of a given Isolatable Section of Offshore Production Facilities. All of the possible process equipment with various sizes is listed down to make the parts count easier. There are three types of release which are full releases, limited releases and zero pressure releases but in these studies full releases type will be used in order to determine the release frequency for each isolatable section. The parts count of process equipment with its specific sizes can be done by using the data that is provided in the Process and Instrumentation Diagram PID. Other than that, the volume of equipment on the topsides of offshore facilities also needs to be calculated by using the volume equation. Process Flow Diagram (PFD) is used in order to determine the volume of each of the process equipment. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Quantitative Risk Assessment 2.1.1 Definition According to C.M. Pietersen et al. (1991), Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) can be defined as a method to determine the risk in major offshore platform accidents. It is crucial to determine the release frequencies from process equipment in the event of failure so that the risk can be identified. P.J Corner et al. (1991) state that QRA can use many type of methods or model ranging from simple correlation to complex computer codes. The method of assessment includes the effect of releases such as fire and explosion models, the model for assessing the impact resulting from the fire and explosion and the probability of failures of the process equipment on the topsides platform. Based on R J Hanson et al. (1995), the QRA (computer based model) was implemented in order to evaluate the risk reduction measures. 2.1.2 History In order to improve safety on offshore platform, QRA was introduced after the tragic accident that killed many lives in the event of fire and explosion at Piper Alpha platform. Lord Cullen in his report of The Inquiry based on Piper Alpha Disaster had identified that QRA as a technique that provides a structured, objective and quantitative approach in order to have better understanding on the risks and ways to overcome or control them (Hanson et al., 1995). 2.2 Hydrocarbon Release Frequency 2.2.1 Type of Offshore Topsides Production Facility Offshore topsides production facilities investment is substantial in order to maximize the production. The main production facilities can encompass half of an offshore topsides platform area and half of the capital or installation cost. There are approximately 16 types of process equipment on the topsides of offshore installation facilities handling hydrocarbon that have potential to release hydrocarbon in the event of equipment failures based on the Risk Assessment OGP (2010). The process equipment include steel process pipe, flanges, manual and actuated valves, instrument connections, process (pressure) valves, centrifugal and reciprocating pumps, centrifugal and reciprocating compressors, heat exchangers (four different types), filters and pig traps (launchers/receivers). 2.2.2 Type of Releases According to the analysis of historic process release frequency data (Producers, 2010), releases can be divided into three different types which are full releases, limited releases and zero pressure releases. Full releases can be described as flow through the defined hole is consistent, starting at the normal operating pressure then continuing until controlled by emergency shutdown and blowdown. Limited releases can be classified as cases in which pressure is not zero but the quantity of releases are much less than from a full release. The main reason of these releases is because of the human intervention such as closing an inadvertently opened valve. Then it may cause by the failure from the system itself. Zero pressure releases can be defined as the cases where pressure inside the leaking equipment is virtually zero. This is because of the equipment has a normal operating pressure of zero. Releases can be classified as major, significant and minor based on the (Pratt, 2002) statement. Significant releases are those lying between major and minor releases. Release frequency of the major hydrocarbon release is higher compared to the significant and minor releases (Edmondson Hide, 1996). 2.2.3 Type of Hydrocarbon Releases Hydrocarbon releases have the highest risk on offshore platform that potentially cause loss of life (Hanson et al., 1995). According to Derek B Pratt (2002), the hydrocarbon release type can be classified into three which are gas, liquid and two phase hydrocarbon. Hydrocarbon such as diesel, methanol, hydraulic oil, lubricating oil and helicopter fuel were included. These types of hydrocarbon are termed as non-product hydrocarbon. (Hare, 2008) states that there are five types of hydrocarbon release which are gas, oil, non-process hydrocarbon, 2-phase hydrocarbon type and lastly condensate. 2.3 Inventory of Basic Data 2.3.1 Number of Decks on the Platform Basically there are three types of decks found in offshore platform which are cellar deck, main deck and helideck. Cellar deck is the lower part of the platform while main deck is the upper part of the platform. Helideck is installed on this main deck which commonly above the living quarters. In some platforms, there are four types of decks existed which are spider deck, cellar deck, main deck and helideck. Most of the time, all of the drilling or production facilities are placed or installed on the main deck such as power generator and water treatment while all of the manifolds and Christmas trees will be installed on the cellar deck. One of the significant issues in order to reassessment and requalification of an old platform is the wave-induced force on offshore platform decks. Platform may be subject to partial or even fully submerge in the event of severe storms due to seafloor sinking the cellar deck. The structural integrity of the platform will be obviously affected and is thus a very crucial issue of concern (Grà ¸nbech, Sterndorff, Grigorian, Jacobsen, 2001). 2.3.2 Accommodation Arrangement Living quarters are the crucial requirement for the safe operational and life support requirements for personnel in the offshore Oil and Gas Industry. The other key requirement in the design and build of offshore facilities is to provide functional spaces for optimum comfort of personnel. Providing a safe environment offshore is mandatory in this industry. The location of the living quarters on the platform is one of important parameters in personnel safety requirement. The findings presented to the Cullen report based on the past Piper Alpha disaster regarding on the risk reduction would be achieved whether by accommodating personnel on a nearby flotel (floating hotel) or on PDQ (production, drilling, quarters) platform. The advantage is that personnel are separated from fire and explosion hazards if there are accommodated on a nearby flotel but the disadvantage of exposing them to other hazards such as transportation and flotel capsize (E.F, 1993). According to the QRA made based on the Piper Alpha disaster, it can be concluded that safety can be improved by decreasing the number of personnel offshore or separating production and accommodation platforms linked by bridges. (Lewis Spouge, 1994) in their study also claimed that the risks depend mostly on the separation between the accommodation and the hydrocarbon inventories. 2.3.3 Location of Helideck Location of helideck also one of the important parameters in the offshore platform and should be taken into consideration in order to reduce the risks. The scope of study carried out by K.H Von Blohn et al. (1979) included different locations of helideck on platform, effect of a seaway on the wind velocity profile, effect of varying wind velocity on the turbulence level and air flow around modules without the helideck. Most of the helideck are located directly on top of the crew quarters structure (Blohn, Peterka, Cermak, Barnard, Ewald, 1979). Based on the wind tunnel tests made on the Maui B platform, the flow conditions over the helideck for all approach wind directions tested are improved if the original helideck shape is raised 2.5 m above the crew quarters. Different types of drilling rig or platform have different location of helideck for instance jack-up rig, submersible platform and drillship because they are different in sizes and water depth. The location of helideck also differs between fixed and unfixed structure (BOMEL Limited Burt, 2012). 2.3.4 Location of Process Equipment In order to ensure the safety of personnel working on the offshore platform the process equipment should be placed or installed at the right position where there is less tendency of injury during the event of emergency. In other words, accident can be prevented if the equipment had been engineered properly (Johnstone Curfew, 2011). Properly layout the facility on the platform is the first job in building a new facility. The equipment that needs to be installed should be listed out and a plot plan of the site must be obtained in order to plan equipment layout. It is started by placing the most hazardous items of equipment on the site. Some examples of hazardous items are venting system, flaring system, fire process equipment, engines and rotating equipment, separators, tanks and unfired vessels. According to J.E Johnstone et al. (2011), venting system should be positioned downwind of the facility in which the released gases will not risk the personnel life and platform area. Venting system must be placed where there are no or far from the source of ignition. The same goes to the flaring system. Fired process equipment such as heater treaters, heater or separator, glycol and amine reboiler should be placed away from the equipment that process or store flammable hydrocarbons. It is also should be located away from the potentially released type equipment such as vents and pig receivers. Pumps and compressors which are categories as engines and rotating equipment must be placed on the site to avoid damage from any possible hydrocarbon releases, ignition and noise. Liquid hydrocarbons may be released to the environment resulted from losing seals of pumps while compressors normally leak small amount of oil which might cause fire if there are source of ignition (Johnstone Curfew, 2011). 2.3.5 Location of Risers and Pipelines Risers and pipelines are frequently become one of the main risk contributor on an offshore platform. The most crucial safety goal is to minimize the potential leakage from a riser or pipeline. The impact and corrosion are the significant failure causes by risers and pipelines (Edmondson Hide, 1996). The location of riser and pipeline should be planned properly because of a limited space on platform in order to operate in a safe condition (Sarica Tengesdal, 2000). Moreover the congestion on the platform should be reduce in order to lower the risks (Majumder, Markanday, Anand, 1991). According to P.J Corner et al. (1996), the most important approach in QRA is the failure that will cause different in the holes sizes and leaks rate to the marine environment. The impact may result in rupture or destruction of the platform while corrosion may cause small holes on the riser or platform which can be repaired and not hazardous. It is also essential to anticipate the release duration in order to determine the significant effects. It might be the long duration release of medium size cause destruction compare to enormous release of very short duration. Some risers are installed outside of the shafts, leakage and explosion will occur if hit by ships (Larsen Engseth, 1978). 2.3.6 Location of Wellheads Wellhead is the equipment that installed on the surface of an oil and gas well that acts as a pressure seals and suspension point for casing string. Wellhead that is located at the production platform is called surface wellhead while if the wellhead is located below the water it is termed as subsea wellhead or mudline wellhead. Wellhead should be located properly on the platform because wellhead load includes all casing strings with cement weight, tubing strings weight, weight of wellhead itself and BOP equipment (Anderson, 1984). Meaning that wellhead carries massive loads and part of the platform weight. 2.3.7 Location of Any Drilling Activities Drilling operation is one of the most hazardous activities on the offshore platform. Many personnel are at risk because of the intensive labor work. This is because this operation involves in heavy lifts of many components, BOP stacks, collars and precisely miles of drill pipe. Additional risk will be encountered during exploration drilling especially on the shallow gas hazards and the ultra deepwater operations that potentially have high pressure and temperature (HPHT) wells. Harsh environment condition also need to be considered (E.F, 1993). The best location of any drilling activities is away from the living quarters in order to reduce the risks on personnel. This is for instance in the event of blowout, the personnel can be evacuated safely from the platform. The drilling operations should be separated from production in order to reduce the release frequency of reservoir fluids on the platform as well as reduce the population at risk. Blowout that can claim many lives also can be prevented if drilling and production carried out separately (E.F, 1993). 2.3.8 Transportation According to E.F et al. (1993), the risk to people working offshore start when they leave the shore and stop when they return onshore. The main transportation of the personnel (crew change) is by helicopter or boat. The use of QRA technique had made the risk become apparent because the future risk can be predicted, accidents to be anticipated and ways to overcome or prevent is considered by interpreting the past accident experiences (Lewis Spouge, 1994). The helicopter accident can be categorized into three major sections which are accidents in flight, accidents on take-off and accidents on landing while crew boat accident can be described in two categories which are fatalities in transit and fatalities in transfer. Helicopter crash is on the second ranking for causing of fatalities on UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) after hydrocarbon fire and explosion (Lewis Spouge, 1994). Based on transport risk study carried by JR Spouge et al. (1994), it can be concluded that transport risks are important. Transportation by using helicopter has higher risk if compared with crew boat. This is because the usage of helicopter is higher for crew change operation since the distant of onshore and platform is considered while crew boats indicate dissimilar problems in evaluating risk due to their great safety record. 2.4 Inventory of Materials That May Cause a Fire or Explosion 2.4.1 Inflammable, Combustible and Explosive Materials Inflammable, combustible and explosive materials are materials that are capable to cause fire and explosion. These types of materials should be placed or stored away from the fired process equipment, venting and flaring system in order to prevent any ignition from occurring. These materials must be located away from the living quarters to prevent severe injury to personnel on board in the event of fire and explosion. The blast or firewall has to be installed around these storage materials to reduce the impact of explosion. Properly handling method has to be done on these materials. 2.4.2 Medium of Materials Released There are many ways for materials release to the surrounding environment. One of medium of materials release is through cracks, splits or holes in the containment envelope. This medium is created from the degradation of the equipment such as corrosion, erosion and wears out. The releases of material to the atmosphere may be resulted from opening pathway that is provided by the opening of equipment that still containing hydrocarbon by personnel with intention (Pratt, 2002). 2.4.3 Types of Fire The event of fire and explosion are common in the oil and gas industry especially on the offshore oil and gas platform and drilling rigs (Heaviside, 1980). Every year many injuries and loss of life are recorded because of fire and explosion itself. Personnel are suffered from first to third degree burn which can cause severe injury as well as loss of life. Fire can be classified into four categories which are jet fire, flash fire, pool fire and fireball. 2.4.3.1 Jet Fire Jet fire can be classified into two categories which are the fire that colliding against wall resulting in a diffuse flame and without collision. Immediate ignition will cause jet fire (Pietersen Engelhard, 1991). Jet fire also termed as spray fire. Diffusion flame is resulted from the combustion of a fuel that unceasingly released with significant momentum in a particular direction or direction. The releases of gaseous, flashing liquid and pure liquid inventories can cause jet fires (Executive, 2012). 2.4.3.2 Flash Fire According to C.M Pietersen et al. (1991), in case of gases, delayed ignitions in open spaces will result in flash fire. A flash fire is a sudden, intense fire caused by ignition of a mixture of air and a dispersed flammable substance such as solid, flammable or combustible liquid or a flammable gas. It is described as high temperature, short duration and a rapidly moving flame front. 2.4.3.3 Fireball Fireball can arises from the delayed ignition in enclosed containment that resulting in gas cloud explosion (Pietersen Engelhard, 1991). The gas cloud explosion together with fire will gives tremendous effect on the offshore platform such as destruction of platform. Fireball can cause severe injuries as well as loss of life to the personnel on board. 2.4.3.4 Pool Fire Pool fire can be defined as the turbulent diffusion fire burning above a horizontal pool vaporizing hydrocarbon fuel where the fuel has zero or low momentum. Pool fires could be static which depends on where the pool is contained. Large amount of hydrocarbon inventories have the highest risk and likelihood for the arising of pool fire (Executive, 2012). 2.5 Identification of Initial Accidental Events 2.5.1 Release and Leakage of Hydrocarbon from Process Equipment Hydrocarbon releases is one of the main reasons that result in accident. The release of hydrocarbon from the process equipment may cause ignition followed by fire. Each of the process equipment has its own release rate and frequency. The release rate may be depends on the size and diameter of the equipment. The leakage of hydrocarbon from process equipment can lead to fire and explosion. Oil and gas can migrate to other areas of the platform in a split second and cause ignition that may destruct the platform as well as kill many lives. It is important to minimize the number of equipment and piping installation in order to reduce the failure rate. It is better to operate at low pressure if possible to lessen the leak. The equipment with high leak potential such as compressor is place in open ventilated area. Separation between process system from drilling systems, utilities and accommodation is made by using blast and firewalls (Comer Eades, 1991). 2.5.2 Failure of Utilities The failure of utilities such as electric power shutting down pumps, compressors or motor operated valves can result in overpressure. Overpressure can be defined as pressure build up over the set pressure of the primary relieving device. Overpressure can cause sudden rupture or leak of utilities. Loss of cooling system such as water and refrigeration can form hazardous situations (Johnstone Curfew, 2011). 2.5.3 Falling Loads According to E.F. Brandie (1993), falling loads or dropped objects will create an immediate hazard to offshore workers. It also has high potential to cause major accidents if falling on the process equipment. The object may be dr

The Future of Open Source :: essays research papers

A system without a display, for example, could discourage the development of graphical applications, or if it were difficult for several people to interact with the same application this could discourage some educational uses. Moreover, Fano noted that after a system starts to develop in a particular direction, work in this direction is preferred and it accelerates the development in this direction. As a result, â€Å"the inherent characteristics of a time-sharing system may well have long-lasting effects on the character, composition, and intellectual life of a community† (cf. Tuomi, 2002: 86). The modern concept of proprietary software emerged in the 1970s, when the computer- equipment industry began to unbundle software from hardware, and independent software firms started to produce software for industry-standard computer platforms. Over the decade, this development led to the realization that software was associated with important intellectual capital which could provide its owners with revenue streams. In 1983, AT&T was freed from the constraints of its earlier antitrust agreement, which had restricted its ability to commercialize software, and it started to enforce its copyrights in the popular Unix operating system. The growing restrictions on access to source code also started to make it difficult to integrate peripheral equipment, such as printers, into the developed systems. This frustrated many software developers, and led Richard Stallman to launch the GNU project in 1983 and the Free Software Foundation in 1985. Stallman’s pioneering idea was to use copyrights in a way that guaranteed that the source code would remain available for further development and that it could not be captured by commercial interests. For that purpose, Stallman produced a standard license, the GNU General Public License, or GPL, and set up to develop an alternative operating system that would eventually be able to replace proprietary operating systems. Although the GNU Alix/Hurd operating-system kernel never really materialized, the GNU project became a critical foundation for the open-source movement. The tools developed in the GNU project, including the GNU C-language compiler GCC, the C-language runtime libraries, and the extendable Emacs program editor, paved the way for the launching of other open-source projects. The most important of these became the Linux project, partly because it was the last critical piece missing from the full GNU operating-system environment. Eventually, the core Linux operating system became 431 The Future of Open Source combined with a large set of open-source tools and applications, many of which relied on the GNU program libraries and used the GPL. The first version of the Linux operating system was released on the Internet in mid-September 1991. The amount of code in the first Linux release was quite modest.

American life Essay

Who says grabbers are only for narratives? Some of the best expository pieces start out with sentences that capture the readers’ attention. The authors from different literary genres give their own attention grabbers to make their pieces more attractive and more suspense from the beginning up to the end. According to Ruhanie Perera (2007), â€Å"Each creator brings with them their values and beliefs shaped by their education and exposure to English Literature, but their search is the same – for the creative, the bold, the sharp and the fresh. † However, expository grabbers are not created only for narratives but for all kinds of situations like in the field of soccer. Deep down in the ocean lurks a dangerous killing machine. This is one of the examples that we hear in soccer. It is a form of attention grabber to make the players become aware of their actions. From this aspect, it only means that any attention grabber must be new from the ears, minds, and eyes of the audience. Many of us like soccer. We watch different plays and games on television about soccer. This is somehow part of American life. Because of this, we hear different attention grabbers from the announcers, coaches, and players. When these people say their expository grabber, the crowd yells and feels that there is hope for success. Like narratives, attentions grabbers could be heard in the beginning of the event. Expository grabbers make each situation noble and powerful. In soccer, attention grabber means a lot of things – it becomes the life and endurance of the team to work hard and win the game. That is why even in this field, expository grabber is very important. In conclusion to this, it can be said that expository grabbers lift the minds and hearts of the audience or readers. It gives power and indirect control to the spectators. The people may not realize this but they were influenced in freedom and captivation. Bibliography Ruhanie Perera. â€Å"They were the attention grabbers. † Sunday Times. Sunday, April 01, 2007, Vol. 41- No. 44. 31 October 2008. http://sundaytimes. lk/070401/Plus/020_pls. html

Would You Follow You Top 10 Ways to Be a LEADER

Would You Follow You Top 10 Ways to Be a LEADER Spurred in part by an exercise I did at an ActionCOACH business planning workday, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a leader.   My commitment is to be a great one, and I’m getting clear that in order to be successful, there are certain traits that I must possess. Here are my top ten: Deliver clear, consistent communication. Of course there are no guarantees that everyone will understand the communication the way you meant it. At least if you’re clear and consistent, you minimize the possibility of misinterpretation or gaps in the lines of command. Learn from your mistakes and miscommunications. If you keep making the same mistakes, you are not being a leader. You are just being insane. Learning from your mistakes requires a willingness to self-evaluate, and a commitment to the utmost integrity. Be charismatic. What this means is to be present in the moment.   Show up as who you are and not the way you think you should be. Charisma also requires a sense of humor! Be unstoppable. Obstacles and challenges are bound to arise.   If you stop to carefully examine the obstacle you will not get past it.   Keep looking toward your goals, and obstacles will have nothing on you. Have vision. Know why you are doing what you are doing, and have it be about something or someone other than you (or money).   Vision will help you be unstoppable and inspiring. Be inspiring. Ask yourself, â€Å"Would you follow you?† If the answer is no, â€Å"Stop, drop and roll† and get yourself back in alignment.   Get yourself to â€Å"Yes.† Take action! And be the inspiring leader you know you truly are. Support the people around you. The measure of a great leader is the success of the people he or she leads. If the people around you are learning and growing, you’re doing something right. Be willing to change direction. Stubbornly charging toward a particular goal in a particular way is a recipe for disaster.   Flexibility will allow for unexpected expansion and miraculous results. Keep looking for the next way to grow. Be committed. Dabblers and dilettantes will not get very far in leading anyone.   Leaders can be counted on to be 100% in the game and to ride out the ups and downs. Know that it’s a game, and play full-out. Play a BIG game.   That way if you win, you win, and if you lose, you win. Looking at my list, I notice there are places where I’m right on, and others where there is a gap between where I am and where I want to be.   This is good news!   I get to learn and grow and always strive to more fully embody the qualities of a leader. What do you see for yourself in this list? Please share in the comments below. Category:UncategorizedBy Brenda BernsteinJuly 25, 2011 14 Comments Samuel M Bragg says: July 26, 2011 at 8:53 am This post is a wonderful map for the many facets of any personal endeavor. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: July 26, 2011 at 11:05 am I like the concept of a map Samuel. A map gives you the route from where you are to where you want to be. If you can identify the beginning and endpoints then a map is the tool you need! Log in to Reply Sarah P. Miller says: July 26, 2011 at 10:18 am Great list! I especially love 4, 7, and 8. Im going to print this out and post it somewhere where I see it every day. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: July 26, 2011 at 11:04 am Thanks Sarah! Im glad to be making a permanent impact on your life and hopefully on the lives of other people who read this post. Looks like #7 (Support the people around you) is my attribute of the day! Log in to Reply Marcia B says: July 26, 2011 at 12:52 pm People have always looked to me to be a leader, and this piece captivated me in its extraordinarily concise power and clarity. Before reading it, I would think back to times when I had assumed leadership gracefully, seamlessly, or with the poise of a loud-mouthed klutz. I would ask myself what it was that made the difference between my being effective or ineffective in my various roles as a leader, and I would unsuccessfully pretend to avoid assigning blame to circumstances, myself or other people. What I have as a result of your article is (1) a map that redefines the points in my life where Ive shown up as a leader in all my glory of effectiveness or lack of same and (2) a key to areas of my leadership that I choose to revisit with new eyes and fresh energy. Thank you for this gift. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: July 27, 2011 at 4:13 pm Thanks Michael! Its true that obstacles need to be handled and not ignored. Where we can get in trouble is by becoming so fascinated by the problem that it becomes our goal, causing us to stop pursuing the goal we had in mind in the first place. We also often make the obstacle a lot bigger and more complicated than it really is! When we keep looking toward our vision, it becomes much easier to blast through the challenges that come in our way. Log in to Reply lynda says: August 5, 2011 at 3:36 pm Great Post on leadership.. I will cut and paste and review on occasion. thanks. and NO whining.. could be added.. sometimes I feel like whining and I have to remember to smack myself. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: August 5, 2011 at 4:02 pm I love the NO whining rule Lynda. Thank you for the addition!! Log in to Reply Sandra McLeod Humphrey says: August 5, 2011 at 5:52 pm Great post and I agree with all your pointsespecially the commitment. The charisma is definitely important, but thats a little tougher to define or objectifysome people just have more inherent charisma naturally. Ill be back again! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: August 5, 2011 at 7:11 pm Thanks Sandra. I believe that charisma can be learned and developed, if you define it as being yourself and being present. You might be surprised how many people who think they dont have charisma are just holding back from being themselves! Log in to Reply Leanne Hoagland-Smith says: August 6, 2011 at 12:02 pm Using an acronym for MAP My Action Plan not only sets the vision as where to go as a leader, but provides the steps to get there. Peter Drucker said Leadership was all about results. I have amended that definition as follows: Leadership is all about consistently achieving the predetermined results by the demonstration of behaviors that are in alignment with clearly articulated positive core values. Great 10 points, thanks for sharing, Leanne Hoagland-Smith Author of Be the Red jacket in a Sea of Gray Suits Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: August 6, 2011 at 12:22 pm Thanks Leeanne. Its so true that leadership, while producing results, is about so much more. It really is a way of being. You remind me of the 80-20 rule for results: 80% being, 20% doing. Log in to Reply Susan Thomson says: August 29, 2011 at 6:20 pm Bravo Brenda! Id also add that being a great leader is a never-ending quest. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I still have to learn! And learning is part of the fun! Thanks for a great post! Susan Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: August 29, 2011 at 9:20 pm Absolutely Susan. The world keeps changing and as leaders we need to change and learn along with it. Thank you for your comment! Log in to Reply

Frederick Douglas essays

Frederick Douglas essays In Douglass narrative, there are many instances in which he uses his experiences to enforce the view that slavery should be abolished. He also uses other slaves as examples in order to support this strong unpopular belief. Though he does not come directly out against slavery, he allows the reader to make the decision based on what he has told them. Throughout the narrative, he looks at the different perspectives of slavery, including the slaveholders point of view. The most compelling passage that sums up what Douglass had been going through is in the appendix. Here, he addresses the irony and hypocrisy of slaveholders to justify their actions. He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution, stands forth as the pious advocate of purity. He who proclaims it a religious duty to read the Bible denies me the right of learning to read the name of God who made me. He who is the religious advocate of marriage robs whole millions of its sacred influence, and leaves them to the ravages of wholesale pollution...Here we have religion and robbery the aliens of each other-devils dressed in angels robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise (Douglass 327). The passage shows the irony slavery brought to Southern culture. Douglass places the mirror directly in front of the white-South to show them that they are the evil they have been so against. The Souths view of slaves was that they were barbaric, evil, and heathens. Rather than conforming to this, Douglass shows the readers that the slaveholders were barbaric. As you can see, hypocrisy was a common virtue amongst the slaveholders and Douglass is sure to point this out in his closing statement. Throughout the South, religion is seen as the lifeline for slaveholders. Douglass takes particular notice to the Bible preaching South, but is quick to point out its flaws. The white-man declares p ...

Official and Nonofficial Nicknames of U.S. States

Official and Nonofficial Nicknames of U.S. States The United States has 50 named states; thats obvious. What isnt so obvious is the fact that every one of those states has a nickname (official or not)- or maybe even more than one. Some come out of the pages of history (Constitution State, Land of Lincoln), and some come from what grows there (Peach State, Spud State) or an identifying natural feature (Grand Canyon State). Some just make you want to go there (Sunshine State, Colorful Colorado, Land of Opportunity). Historical Nicknames To folks not living there, some of the nicknames might seem odd or mysterious. Or they might not be what you think. The Constitution State isnt where the U.S. Constitution was drafted (remember, that was in Philadelphia), but rather the nickname comes from the document with regulations for running towns put together in 1639 by three cities; it was called the   Fundamental Orders and is considered by some to be the first constitution written in the States. Theres plenty of debate there whether it constitutes a constitution, however. Wars come into play in Alabama, Maryland, and Tennessee. Yes, the yellowhammer is a bird, but pieces of yellow cloth on the Confederate soldiers uniforms resembled them, earning first the troops the nickname and then eventually the state. And the Old Line refers to the steadfast Maryland troops from the era of the American Revolution. Tennessee soldiers who volunteered during the Mexican-American War (not the War of 1812) earned them their states nickname. Also from the colonial era, the Tar Heel nickname comes from the fact that North Carolina pine trees were harvested to make tar, pitch, and turpentine, used in wooden naval shipbuilding. The messy job ended up with workers inevitably finding the sticky substance on their feet, hence the name.   In 1889 in Oklahoma, settlers poured in to stake land claims. Those who came in early, before the specified time, were called Sooners. The territory became a state in 1907. State Nicknames Heres a listing of the often colorful nicknames of the 50 states. When a state has multiple nicknames, the official or most common state nickname is listed first. Alabama: Yellowhammer State, Heart of Dixie, Camellia State Alaska: The Last Frontier Arizona: Grand Canyon State, Copper State Arkansas: The Natural State, Land of Opportunity, The Razorback State California: Golden State Colorado: Centennial State, Colorful Colorado Connecticut: Constitution State, Nutmeg State Delaware: First State, Diamond State, Blue Hen State, Small Wonder Florida: Sunshine State Georgia: Peach State, Empire of the South, Goober State Hawaii:  Aloha State, Pineapple State Idaho: Gem State, Spud State Illinois: Prairie State, Land of Lincoln Indiana: Hoosier State Iowa: Hawkeye State Kansas: Sunflower State, Salt of the Earth Kentucky: Bluegrass State Louisiana: Pelican State, Sugar State Maine: Pine Tree State Maryland: Old Line State, Free State Massachusetts: Bay State, Old Colony State Michigan: Great Lakes State, Wolverine State Minnesota: North Star State, Gopher State, Land of 10,000 Lakes, Bread and Butter State Mississippi: Magnolia State Missouri: Show Me State Montana: Treasure State, Big Sky State Nebraska: Cornhusker State Nevada: Silver State, Battle Born State, Sagebrush State New Hampshire: Granite State New Jersey: Garden State New Mexico: Land of Enchantment New York: Empire State North Carolina: Tar Heel State, Old North State North Dakota: Peace Garden State, Flickertail State, Roughrider State Ohio: Buckeye State, Modern Mother of Presidents Oklahoma: Sooner State, Panhandle State Oregon: Beaver State Pennsylvania: Keystone State, Quaker State Rhode Island: Ocean State, Little Rhody South Carolina: Palmetto State South Dakota: Coyote State, Mount Rushmore State Tennessee: Volunteer State, Big Bend State Texas: Lone Star State Utah: Beehive State Vermont: Green Mountain State Virginia: Old Dominion Washington: Evergreen State, Chinook State West Virginia: Mountain State Wisconsin: Badger State Wyoming: Equality State, Cowboy State

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Strategic management - Essay Example GM is utilizing the environmental principles to manage its supply chain, control and regulate the business functions, manufacturing processes and putting the vehicles on road. The principles that drive the policies of the company towards a green future are stated as follows: Reduction of waste: General Motors have recycled about 92 percent of materials in its manufacturing department. The company is reusing 97 percent of its waste so the landfill has reduced considerably. The remaining 3 percent of the waste is converted into energy. So it proves that nothing gets wasted at GM. The intention of General Motors to focus on environment is really appreciating and good. The company decided to invest $ 40 million in offsetting the carbon footprints. This is an initiative of the company to present a strong image to the investors. The stock prices would rise due to its strong position in the market. General Motors commitment towards the environment is twofold. It wants to produce cars that would offer great mileage and also reduce emission (AFED, 2011). By creating vehicles which are eco-friendly, GM would receive support from the government as well as attract eco-friendly buyers. It would also create new customer group for itself. The strategic decision of the company is to support the presidential administration for supporting the economy and also sell more cars which are fuel efficient. In the present scenario when the fuel prices are high, customers would be attracted towards the most fuel efficient

Business and Social Approaches to Social Media - Opportunities and Essay

Business and Social Approaches to Social Media - Opportunities and Issues - Essay Example Through social media, companies do not have any limit for entry, and there is excellent communication between customers and promoters (Hamill, 1997). Companies using the social media find it easy to penetrate the market, to find information that helps them change their products to meet the customers demand, and also reduces the cost on advertisement. In overall, the company is able to improve its performance as a result of the feedback got from the consumers of its product (Denis et al., 2002). Social networking sites are websites whose accounts are profile based. They are often known as Web 2.0 (O’Reilly, 2005). People are able to form relationships through chartrooms, instant messaging, newsfeed and blogging. Some of the communicating avenues or social network sites used today include; facebook.com, Myspace.com used by people who share the same taste in music and friendster.com used to connect people looking for love partners (Ellison, et al., 2007). In this discussion, we s hall elaborate more on the use of facebook as a social network, and how it has helped companies such as Coca Cola, IKEA to advertise its products leading to an increase in sales and profit maximization. ESSAY Facebook is a social networking means that has made it possible for people with same ideals and values to connect. Originally facebook was introduced to help students connect with each other after school (Ellison et al., 2007). However, today facebook is also used for marketing companies’ products, introducing new ideas, and an avenue to collect data or for advertising purposes. Being a socially appreciated form of networking, facebook has helped to improve the public relation of companies with its consumers, has helped to identify marketing gaps and also to identify consumers tastes and preferences. Facebook has bridged the gap of space and time in business. This has been done through creating of groups, which allows members to ‘like’ the goods and services provided by keeping them informed with the latest information. This has also been done through the creation of facebook pages or use of celebrities in the advertisements. Other than companies using the media for advertising, organizations have also been able to gather information leading to a shift of how they get to collect information; information does not only flow from up to bottom but from down to the bottom. This has therefore, shifted the focus of organizations to providing what the consumers desire. It has not just changed organizations and companies’ methods of advertising, but has also led to an increase of companies’ productivity and revenue as well as reducing costs. In addition, the social network; facebook have helped in detecting criminals. Police in Canada and the U.S. have directed certain videos and requested the public to try and indentify them. The videos were initially on YouTube, but to make communication faster it was uploaded in facebook. This did not only help the police men to get to arrest the criminals but also helped the businesses to get to indentify the criminals incase they just dropped on their doorsteps. Facebook can therefore, be used as a means for protection and for boosting security around our places. However, the success of a company that uses facebook to advertise depends on how well they design their web. A

Nursing Image Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nursing Image - Essay Example Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887) made a significant contribution to the state of mental health in the United States during the period starting late 19th Century. She is remembered for pioneering mental assylums in the United States. Dorothea Dix is regarded as a â€Å"voice for the mad†. Her contribution to the improvement of the lives of the mentally ill people in the United States cannot be compared to that of any other person in the history of nursing. Mental health is an important aspect of nursing, thus all mentally-ill patients deserve good nursing and care, just as other patients. According to Parry (2006), evidence shows that Dorothea might have been a victim of neglect from her parents, thus this might have influenced her to advocate for the well-being of mentally ill people in society, who were equally neglected at most times.In the year 1841, Dorothea Dix volunteered her time and knowledge to the East Cambridge jail, where she held one hour of devotion with female inm ates in that jail. While on this mission, Dorothea Dix realized that those inmates that were mentally-ill were living in poor conditions. For instance, these were chained in filthy and cold cells. Dorothea therefore, after making this observation, was committed to ensuring that the mentally-ill inmates lived in good conditions, and not the one she had witnessed. Most inmates have no power over their health, as while in prison, they cannot control the circumstances surrounding their health, such as the quality of the cells, among other aspects.

Discussing Ways of Dealing with Stress Term Paper

Discussing Ways of Dealing with Stress - Term Paper Example At the age of 18, I started working as a paraprofessional at a public high school, and was the youngest among the employees. I was energetic and enthusiastic, and assisted other teachers in the special education department. Dealing with different departments, different clients and different situations led to a lot of stress causing severe burnout. This was when I realized I had to communicate this to my supervisor. (Hughes & Wearing, 1996). Being the youngest and more knowledgeable than the other paraprofessionals, my supervisor involved me in most of the discussions, and all difficult-to-handle situations were assigned to me. I realized that the other paraprofessionals hardly had clients to deal with, either due to lack of training or lack of expertise. My discussion with the supervisor involved different ways to deal with the stress I faced; this resulted in a decision to have meetings between the professionals and paraprofessionals atleast once a week, which allowed us to discuss about the cases; this exercise was meant to improve knowledge and confidence levels in the other paraprofessionals .(Faberow, 1999). Better communication and good supervisory arrangements proved to be important to deal with stress. Sharing knowledge, keeping the entire team updated on the new developments regarding the clients, listening to their view points, and responding to what they had to say helped us in better understanding of the cases. This also led to equal division of work within the team. These steps helped me in reducing stress that was caused due to heavy workload. Better supervisory guidance also helped in handling cases with potential threat of physical or verbal abuse to the workers with much more confidence. These were the basic and important practices used in managing stress as they reduced the workload with the assistance of other professional human service

Tbd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Tbd - Essay Example In addition, Frank (with a large commercial law firm In Brussels) has helped negotiate a suitable site on the edge of the industrial area, just in a strategic position- industrial park of the town-which could most likely be a suitable location for the business. This will make it possible for the commissioning and construction of new factories for the company. It is possible to built friendships and customer base in Belgium as it has been the case in Holland. Business experts say that every business must grow slowly and it should be given enough time to do so. A good customer relationship is developed when the company (ESC Electronica) provides better services for the people in the new country. In doing so, the company will be able to form a strong customer base just as it has been the case in the native country. In addition, Jan is not leaving his business entirely but it will be possible for him to conquer other international markets for the betterment of the company. As for the case of family matters, it will be prudent for Marguereet to combine her family life and the business which will keep the whole family financially stable. The best approach you (Jan) can use is to call family meeting and discuss the broad aspects of the business starting with the business plan, goals and objectives, family issues (togetherness, retirement and ot her external factors that need to be addressed affecting the family) and more pressing challenges and opportunities for the businesses in context of increased competition. The strategy of bringing the whole family on board is considered a best option in a case where the family is undergoing any kind of turmoil. Failure to convince the children for example Frank need to put his priorities right for further future prospects. Marguereet is already a graduate with enough knowledge on

Humen computing interaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Humen computing interaction - Essay Example Once the user fill out the required fields and press the confirm button, their order will be confirmed directly. We want to become the best beauty lounge in the UAE through delivering the superb quality of work, exceptional customer service and the highest hygiene standards. This system will make it easier for the user to order different beauty products and other services online Moreover, using this system the users will not spend long time waiting to purchase products or try other services that increases frustrating rate and decrease the level of satisfaction. . The goals of Human computer interaction are very essential to take into account in order to keep our applications easy to use by the visitors. First of all, we can reach the effectiveness through assisting the user to achieve the task successfully such as â€Å"purchasing†. We can reach the efficiency through assisting the user to accomplish their tasks quickly. Moreover, we can’t deny the importance of the first impression from the interface since it has big effects to keep the user on the page . Usability and appeal are considered to be from the factors that provides long term satisfaction of the user Customer feedback page will allow to understand how customers are rating and using products versus competitive products. Through collecting customers recommendations, comments and rating we can study their needs in order to provide them the best products and services. Moreover, Customers’ feedback is very essential for a service provider to determine how we are important to them! In order to proceed with our project, we had to check out several websites and applications. This will help us in designing the interface of the application as well as figure out what we should add to the content of application. In addition, we had to get some real statistics to improve our application interface and the usage of this specific theme. The questionnaire was

Discussing Ways of Dealing with Stress Term Paper

Discussing Ways of Dealing with Stress - Term Paper Example At the age of 18, I started working as a paraprofessional at a public high school, and was the youngest among the employees. I was energetic and enthusiastic, and assisted other teachers in the special education department. Dealing with different departments, different clients and different situations led to a lot of stress causing severe burnout. This was when I realized I had to communicate this to my supervisor. (Hughes & Wearing, 1996). Being the youngest and more knowledgeable than the other paraprofessionals, my supervisor involved me in most of the discussions, and all difficult-to-handle situations were assigned to me. I realized that the other paraprofessionals hardly had clients to deal with, either due to lack of training or lack of expertise. My discussion with the supervisor involved different ways to deal with the stress I faced; this resulted in a decision to have meetings between the professionals and paraprofessionals atleast once a week, which allowed us to discuss about the cases; this exercise was meant to improve knowledge and confidence levels in the other paraprofessionals .(Faberow, 1999). Better communication and good supervisory arrangements proved to be important to deal with stress. Sharing knowledge, keeping the entire team updated on the new developments regarding the clients, listening to their view points, and responding to what they had to say helped us in better understanding of the cases. This also led to equal division of work within the team. These steps helped me in reducing stress that was caused due to heavy workload. Better supervisory guidance also helped in handling cases with potential threat of physical or verbal abuse to the workers with much more confidence. These were the basic and important practices used in managing stress as they reduced the workload with the assistance of other professional human service

Humen computing interaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Humen computing interaction - Essay Example Once the user fill out the required fields and press the confirm button, their order will be confirmed directly. We want to become the best beauty lounge in the UAE through delivering the superb quality of work, exceptional customer service and the highest hygiene standards. This system will make it easier for the user to order different beauty products and other services online Moreover, using this system the users will not spend long time waiting to purchase products or try other services that increases frustrating rate and decrease the level of satisfaction. . The goals of Human computer interaction are very essential to take into account in order to keep our applications easy to use by the visitors. First of all, we can reach the effectiveness through assisting the user to achieve the task successfully such as â€Å"purchasing†. We can reach the efficiency through assisting the user to accomplish their tasks quickly. Moreover, we can’t deny the importance of the first impression from the interface since it has big effects to keep the user on the page . Usability and appeal are considered to be from the factors that provides long term satisfaction of the user Customer feedback page will allow to understand how customers are rating and using products versus competitive products. Through collecting customers recommendations, comments and rating we can study their needs in order to provide them the best products and services. Moreover, Customers’ feedback is very essential for a service provider to determine how we are important to them! In order to proceed with our project, we had to check out several websites and applications. This will help us in designing the interface of the application as well as figure out what we should add to the content of application. In addition, we had to get some real statistics to improve our application interface and the usage of this specific theme. The questionnaire was

Risk of Schizophrenia Essay Example for Free

Risk of Schizophrenia Essay Over the last few decades Schizophrenia has become embedded in mainstream vernacular as any behavior or emotional response that is out of touch with reality. However even with its popularity heightened through movies and headline news stories, schizophrenia is still one of the most enigmatic and least understood disorders of the brain. With current research focused on the role of neurobiology and functioning on a cellular level, investigative analysis has merited new innovations towards its source, however a single organic cause for the disorder still eludes scientists. Although the foundation of the affliction is still unknown, its effects are well documented and over the next few pages will show the changes in the brain as the disease develops, and how those alterations impact the rest of the body and alter various other functions throughout the viscera. The term Schizophrenia was first coined in 1911 by Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Eugen Bleuler and translates from the original Greek as schizo (split) and phrene (mind), making a literal translation of split-mind, in reference to the disjointed thinking of those with the disease (Johnstone, 1994). Although the term was first used in the early twentieth century, according to scholars a ‘madness’ was described in The Ebers Papyrus, a collection of ancient Egyptian medical papers dating back to 1550 BC, which accurately depicts some of schizophrenia’s symptoms (Johnstone, 1994). With its possible documentation over three millennia ago and its symptoms documented in a myriad of medical journals throughout history, the disorder itself is very rare. Those who are at the highest risk of manifestation are offspring whose parents are both schizophrenic, although even at this rate the risk of manifestation is about forty-six percent. Globally however its prevalence is about 0.9 percent or fifty-eight million people worldwide (Hollandsworth, 1990). According to James G. Hollandworth of the University of Southern Mississippi, schizophrenia is primarily characterized by a disintegration of reality perception, consciousness, and thought process which results in a debilitated proficiency in social and professional faculties (Hollandworth, 1990). While schizophrenia can most arguably be classified as a predominantly genetic affliction, there are others factors which can contribute to its development even without a genetic predisposition. These elements include birth defects such as hypoxia and low birth rate, neuroanatomical anomalies, viral infections, along with low IQ and cerebral  atrophy (Hollandsworth, 1990). While these components in themselves are not sufficient enough to cause the disorder, they result in an increased risk for developing the disease. One theory for the cause of schizophrenia that has been studied with great validity is the dopamine hypothesis. This theory postulates that schizophrenia is caused by an overabundance of the dopamine-dependent areas of the brain causing an imbalance that affects the entire system (Hollandsworth, 1990). For this reason many of today’s schizophrenia treatment drugs inhibit dopamine receptor activity in an attempt to return it to its natural equilibrium. Although even with advances in modern science and new drugs being developed every day, the illness is still only treatable and its symptoms still emerge even with proper medication. Even with its origin unknown, scientists have discovered several chromosomes which when damaged or mutated, greatly increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. The chromosomes in particular that act as catalysts are chromosome numbers twenty-two, six, and eleven (Klar, 2004). Chromosome six contains several genes that are linked with immune response which has given rise to the belief that schizophrenia has some association with weakened disease fighting agents. While damage to this chromosome may be linked to the source of the ailment, it may only be the jump starter that kicks off the path to developing the illness. For as scientists know, a lacking immune response caused by chromosome damage can theoretically leave the body vulnerable to infection, which are facilitators that can bring about the emergence of the disorder (Hollandsworth, 1990). Chromosome twenty-two on the other hand is linked with the dopamine hypothesis as this area houses enzymes that aid in transporting neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters, mainly catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) are essential for the breakdown of dopamine. Any disruptions in this particular area can trigger an overabundance or shortage of dopamine, potentially resulting in developing positive or negative schizophrenia symptoms (Chakravarti, 2002). Lastly, chromosome eleven has been associated with schizophrenia on the grounds of genetic translocation, or a chromosome abnormality caused by faulty rearrangements of various strands of DNA. These faults can occur in any number of genes, however during this process it occurs at times pivotal to cell division, making it easy for genes to be incorrectly rearranged (Klar, 2004). When this happens  it can potentially inhibit the development of lateralization of brain function and act as a precursor not only schizophrenia, but other forms of mental illness as well as cognitive impairments (Klar, 2004). Once the subject has developed schizophrenia it affects the brain in very specific ways. When the disorder itself first begins to emerge its early symptoms manifest themselves in a period called The Prodormal Phase (Neale ump; Oltmanns, 1980). During this phase, which occurs anywhere from six to thirty months before the disease truly emerges, the person may experience social withdrawal, dysphoria, and irritability. As the disorder progresses the symptoms may become more intense, and newer or ‘positive’ symptoms may begin to surface. These positive symptoms can include visual and auditory hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thought processes. In severe cases of thought process deterioration or cognitive slippage, a person can develop schizophasia or ‘word salad’ where a person’s speech is completely incoherent with no understandable thought or message. Following the positive symptoms of the illness, ‘negative’ symptoms can appear as well. These symptoms are aspects of the person’s personality that have been negated by the disease. They are most commonly expressed by the person’s flat or expressionless demeanor, apathy, very little displayed emotion, and continued peculiar behavior (Hollandsworth, 1990). After schizophrenia has completely manifested itself, the patient is usually classified into one of four types. These types are paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, and undifferentiated. Those in the paranoid group display an obsession over their delusions or ha ve hallucinations specifically related to a certain subject or idea, and are usually the most functional of all schizophrenics (Johnstone, 1994). Disorganized types are typically ones who display little emotion and act in a disjointed and inarticulate manner, while catatonic schizophrenics are merely ones who appear in torpor and display lethargic indolence. The undifferentiated type however is hybrid of the three previous types and is a miscellaneous combination of all their symptoms combined (Johnstone, 1994). While the outward symptoms may be relatively easy to recognize, inside the brain is a totally different matter. Schizophrenia can cause structural changes in the brain even though a specific cause for these changes is still unknown. These changes in brain structure are illustrated by larger ventricles, a thicker corpus collosum, a decrease in dendrite  spines in the frontal lobe, disordered hippocampal pyramidal cells, and a shrinkage of the cerebellar vermis, which is mainly responsible for perception. In some studies malformed neuronal migration has been observed which can lead to disjointed thoughts as well as an overall shrinkage of the hippocampus and amygdala (Johnstone, 1994). Due to these changes, a person suffering from the disorder can have reduced functioning in the frontal lobe which can affect their logic and critical thinking skills as well as their ability to successfully plan ahead. This reduced functioning is displayed in the Wisconsin card sorting test, which is administered to measure possible brain damage and assess the functioning of the frontal lobe. Schizophrenics who participate in the test show an inability to successfully transfer their attention to the rules of the exam once they begin. Functional imaging has also shown a lack of activity in the right hemisphere of the frontal lobe during their partaking, which does not increase as the task is administered. It is also shown that in a study by a Dr. Nagy in 1963, that of 260 cases of schizophrenia, roughly fifty-eight percent of the group had some form of cerebral atrophy (Johnstone, 1994). On a cellular level schizophrenia symptoms are thought to be caused by an overabundance of neurotransmitters released between neurons. These neurotransmitters, mainly dopamine and serotonin, in excess can cause hallucinations and delusions which are referred to as ‘positive’ symptoms. Too little of these neurotransmitters however can result in lack of emotion and motivation which mirror the ‘negative’ symptoms of the disorder. Another type of cell affected by schizophrenia is the pyramidal cell in the prefrontal cortex, or the forehead area of the brain. These cells, which are a type of neuron that serve primarily as excitation units in the prefrontal cortex, are shown to have a decrease in basilar dendrite numbers. These basilar dendrites arise from the base of the pyramidal cell’s soma, and with a decrease in their numbers it can indicate a shortened synaptic surface area resulting in possible fallacious thought processing (Broadbelt, Byne, ump; Jon es, 2002). Pyramidal cells in the hippocampus are also known to be affected by the disorder can and cause many of the cells in that area to be thrown into disarray, causing cognitive malfunctions. The treatment of this disorder can vary greatly depending on the person; however dopamine inhibiting antipsychotics are a very popular remedy. Although prevalent, these  medications are not perfect and many scientists claim there is still no concrete connection that schizophrenia is exclusively a result of faulty dopaminergic transmissions (Neale ump; Oltmanns, 1980). It has also been noted that many of the dopamine inhibiting drugs serve only to combat the positive symptoms and leave many of the negative symptoms such as emotional absence unaffected. Another treatment that is still widely used, but much less common is electroconvulsive therapy or shock therapy. This treatment is still very controversial but there has been success in treating schizophrenia symptoms completely, although many patients relapse within six months. Studies have also indicated that although this treatment can be effective there are risks of permanent brain damage. According to Dr. Peter Breggin (2008), a psychiatrist at the State University of New York, shock therapy in animal testing showed statistically significant brain structural abnormalities when compared to animals without it. His study showed the electrical shocks caused changes in the nerve cell walls causing gliosis, or a profound increase in the number of astrocytes in impaired areas of the central nervous system (Breggin, 2008). In conclusion, schizophrenia is unique disorder that affects the brain in many ways, yet manifests itself differently from person to person. As there is no tangible rubric for how the disorder will impact the person, it can be a difficult illness to treat. Its effects on the brain, from enlarged ventricles to a decline in dendrite spines, shows the major impact the illness can have on living a normal life. Although the disorder afflicts just over fifty-eight million people worldwide it is still devastating to those who are affected and while the medical community makes leaps and bounds in understanding the disease, a cure is still far from the horizon. With psychology grant money from universities being invested predominantly in neuropsychology, perhaps sometime in the near future scientists will be able to fully understand this illness and find a successful and permanent cure for it.

Examining The Incentive Effect Of State Aid

Examining The Incentive Effect Of State Aid This article examines how the incentive effect of state aid is defined and measured. It also considers how the use of the incentive effect may impact on the behaviour of aid recipients. The availability of state aid would naturally induce them to undertake riskier projects that are not normally included in business plans which tend to be conservative. Therefore, if business plans (looking into future) are the benchmark by which the incentive effect of state aid is established, then this benchmark may be a too easy test of the existence of the incentive effect. The article also argues that the timing of the assessment of the need for state aid has a  decisive impact on the determination of whether aid has an incentive effect or not. The timing of the assessment of the need for state aid is critical. Even projects that have already started may deserve to receive state aid if the aid can ensure that they are not abandoned. This is highlighted by an analysis of the case of training aid to DHL. The Commission believes that training aid should not be used to induce companies to undertake regional investment. Commercial reality suggests that companies take into account the total amount of aid they expect to receive at different locations. The article examines this Commission Decision on the proposed training aid to DHL and suggests that that aid could have had an incentive effect, if it were offered to DHL before it made its decision to establish a logistics centre in Leipzig  [1]  . State aid must have an incentive effect. But it may induce beneficiaries to undertake riskier projects and investment in riskier projects may not be in the interest of society at large. The incentive effect of state aid means that undertakings are expected to do something extra with the aid. That extra must go beyond their normal practices. This has recently been confirmed by the CFI in the Kronoply case: Case T-162/06, Kronoply GmbH Co. KG v Commission of the European Communities (2009)  [2]  . The Commission has defined how the incentive effect is to be understood and measured in a  number of recent policy documents, most notably the Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General block exemption Regulation) Recital 28, Article 8; Framework on Research and Innovation (the RDI Framework): Community framework for state aid for research and development and innovation (OJ C 323, 30/12/2006, p. 0001 0026) 1.3.4.; Guidelines on Risk Capital: Community guidelines on state aid to promote risk capital investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ C 194, 18/8/2006, p. 0002 0021) 1.3.4.; Guidelines on Environmental Protection: Community guidelines on state aid for environmental protection (OJ C 082, 01/04/2008, p. 0001 0033) Recitals 27, 28; Guidelines on the Assessment of Large Regional Projects: Commission Communication criteria for an in-depth assessment of regional aid to large investment projects, 24/6/2009 [not yet published in OJ], http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/292format=HTMLaged=0language=ENguiLanguage=en. The incentive effect is established at three levels of assessment that may be termed standard, additional and detailed (note that all guidelines use these three levels): at the standard level which applies to all cases, state aid lacks an incentive effect and it is therefore unnecessary when it is granted after a project or investment has been initiated. [see Art 8(2) of the block exemption Regulation, chapter 6 of the RDI Framework, chapter 3 of Environmental Guidelines, point 17 of the Guidelines on the Individual Assessment of Large Regional Projects]; at the additional level of assessment, undertakings [primarily large] which apply for aid before they start a project or investment, must also demonstrate that they do something extra by showing that they go beyond their normal practice as defined by their annual reports, or business plans OR other typical or benchmark behaviour for the industry in question in terms of output, expenditure, jobs, etc. [see chapter 6 of the RDI Framework, chapter 3 of Environmental Guidelines, point 19 of the Guidelines on the Individual Assessment of Large Regional Projects]. at the detailed level of assessment [for aid amounts above certain thresholds], undertakings [primarily large] must further show that in the absence of aid they would not carry out the project or investment. They must also demonstrate that the project or investment itself is uneconomic or too risky. [see chapter 7 of the RDI Framework, chapter 5 of the Environmental Guidelines and point 23 of the Guidelines on the Individual Assessment of Large Regional Projects]. Phedon Nicolaides, Michael Kekelekis: An Economic Analysis of EC Guidelines on State Aid for the Rescue and Restructuring of Companies in Difficulty, Intereconomics, July/August 2004, 9p. The Rescue and Restructuring State Aid Guidelines 1999 to expire on 9 October 2004. This article mentions certain inconsistencies and proposes how to improve the next guidelines. COM itself was aware of certain problems, namely: What is the definition of firm in difficulties? How to assess group of companies (allocation of costs within the group)? Urgency issue: when the state aid is granted prior to COM approval. One time, last time principle rescue aid is a one-off operation Different time limits in the current framework What compensatory measures are sufficient? There are 3 internal inconsistencies in the Guidelines: 99% of companies are SMEs, but state aids for SMEs are exempted from state aids notification if lower than 10 mil. EUR + if purpose of rescuing companies is to prevent their surviving competitors dominating the market, then SMEs would not need to be rescued; why to ask firms facing bankruptcy to reduce their output?; if every company that receives restructuring aid has more than a fair chance to become profitable (return to viability), why then do private investors need any state aid? ECJ has repeatedly ruled (e.g. in case C-730/79 Phillip Morris v. COM, paras. 16-17): State aid is allowed for the purposes of inducing firms to do something they would not otherwise do under free market conditions. The article further analyses 3 hypothetical plans for restructuring (to reduce workforce from 300 to 200, 100 OR 50) and assesses how minimising social cost is taken and should be taken into account by the COM. 60 % of EU awards were for just 4 MS (Germany, France, Spain and Italy): Are the firms in other countries immune from financial problems OR are the governments of these countries less willing to bail out firms in financial difficulty? It is not for the COM to tell MS how to spend their money wisely. However, there must be an upper limit to the amount of authorised aid -> the social costs of letting the company go bankrupt. On the other hand, there is cost for owners (redundancy payments) which can be avoided, if they can save the company. It should be up to the beneficiary company to argue the case and provide convincing evidence. The authors welcome simplified procedure proposed for the new guidelines for urgency aids. Urgency aids (to be repaid in 6 months) replace rescue aids (to be repaid in 12 months). But they are not happy, that no restructuring plan is required for SMEs. The money contributed by owners must be at least 25% for small enterprises, 40% for medium-sized enterprises and 50% for large enterprises. The new guidelines also do not require MS to grant socially optimum amounts of aid. The aid per employee varies from 4,000 EUR to 755,000 EUR  [3]  . The market shares vary from 0.8% to 61%. Number of employees varies from 20 to 64,000. Phedon Nicolaides: Re-introducing the Market in the Market Economy Investor Principle, European State Aid Law Quarterly 2003, 5p. COM invented this principle almost 20 years ago (1983) to deal with injections of public capital, which cannot be prohibited by virtue of Article 295 EC (Art. 345 TFEU) to determine whether public investments contain state aid. The author considers 3 observations: the term market economy investor is a misnomer; ex-post assessment may undermine the principle itself; it is necessary to re-introduce market. Firstly, the COM compares the actions of the public authority with those of a typical private investor in a similar situation (in terms of the size, risk and terms of investment) see landmark cases C-234/84 Belgium v. COM, C-40/85 Belgium v. COM, C-305/89 Italy v. COM, C-278/92 Spain v. COM, T-228/99 WestLB v. COM). In some cases (recovery of debt, rescheduling of debt OR closure of factories) the ECJ invented term private creditor (T-152/99, C-334/99 C-342/99, C-256/97). In these conditions there are no comparable market benchmarks (every case is different): Creativity and ingenuity are as important as toughness and persistence in negotiations. That is why successful corporate bankers command huge salaries. Since public authorities are not known for their foresight and investments skills, it is hard to believe that public officials can negotiate as well as private investors. It is not a case of comparing agreed rates with market rates. Secondly, as the landmark WestLB judgement clarifies, a private investor will demand a return on his investment that reflects all the benefits obtained by the recipient of his funds and will take into account all foreseeable future contingencies. Private investor always looks forward: bygones are bygones. The author criticizes the judgement T-98/00 Linde v. COM, because a reasonable investor would never obliged himself to provide the privatised company with certain (chemical) product for a period of ten years at market prices. The German authorities argued, that when the agreement was made it was hoped that a second user of that chemical would build a plant in the area (PN: how reasonable was that expectation?). But the CFI found further payments to prevent much larger cost justified. The author agrees with the judgement C-334/99 Germany v. COM: public authorities may not create costs for themselves which can justify the granting of additional state aid later on, because ECJ correctl y observed that Germany has included in the cost of closure the repayment of state aid that had been granted earlier. Thirdly, private money is not the same as public money. Private investor is willing to tolerate less. There are 3 solutions: the MS should have independent investor advisor to assess the deal; the MS should use private intermediary for negotiations; to adjust upwards the rate of return demanded for public funding (in comparison to private investor). The proposed measures are not discriminatory (Art. 345 TFEU), because public investment is not the same as private investment. The officials are not dealing with their own money, so the due diligence is not the same. The market economy investor principle has been narrowed to only private investor principle. Once the market drops out, it is difficult to identify any hidden state aid. R. Meiklejohn (ed.): State aid and the single market, 1999, European Commission, 206 p.  [4]  (in the syllabus from the first semester only Synopsis and Chapter 1: The Economics of State Aid were present: p.7-32) http://www.tu-dresden.de/wwbwleeg/publications/hirschhausen_roeller_european_economy_state_aids_0399en.pdf This publication contains 7 studies by several authors on several issues. Because the documents is quite old, I will summarize only briefly the synopsis: Economics of State Aid (Meiklejohn) State aid should prevent market failures. Perfect competition is based on radical assumptions (perfect information and foresight, perfect factor mobility, no economies of scale, no externalities). In real world government intervention may increase total welfare. We consider 8 market failures: public goods; merit goods; increasing returns to scale; externalities (positive and negative); imperfect or asymmetric information (SMEs and innovative firms looking for capital on capital markets); institutional rigidities (e.g. labour market); imperfect factor mobility; subsidisation of foreign competitors. Income redistribution constitutes an additional reason for government intervention. Intervention must be carefully considered to minimise distortions of competition, evasion, abuse OR the creation of perverse incentives. Government expenditure has to be financed, which is likely to lead to some loss of efficiency in other parts of the economy. The instrument can be chosen from wide panoply including: regulation; direct government provision of certain goods or services; taxation OR state aids. (effectiveness) Trends and Patterns Recent developments Market definition (Fingleton, Ruane, Ryan) The Treaties expressly demand geographical extent of the market (trade between MS). In antitrust we analyse: demand side substitutability, supply side substitutability, temporal aspects (product market definition) AND geographic boundaries (geographic market definition). The narrower the market definition the more likely it is that a firm will be found to be dominant. We can compare characteristics of different products, own-price elasticity of demand, cross-price elasticities, ability of firms to switch production (time necessary to do that and sunk costs). For geographic market definition transport cost and trade barriers are taken into account. Elzinga-Hogarty test and study of correlations of prices and price movements in different areas have both important drawbacks. According to the authors it is necessary to distinguish between inputs and final products. The situation differs according to whether output market and input market are national or international (4 combinations). Therefore it is necessary to define the geographic relevant market also for upstream market (where it buys its inputs) and neighbouring markets. Taxonomy of aids: activity-specific; firm-specific; industry-specific; region/area-specific. In state aids methodology, greater weight should be given to potential competition. The recipient of aid can also change its geographic market strategy. If a recipient can easily switch its production, spill-over into other markets is possible (even for activity-specific aids). Input and output markets must be defined, even if the recipient is vertically integrated. The potential of widening the geographic market (cf. internal market) must be taken into account. Also we must assess how costs and benefits are distributed = the degree of price competition can be a guide to the distribution between producer surplus and consumer surplus. Restructuring and Privatisation The case of new German Là ¤nder The international context Further documents to look at: State Aid Action Plan 2005-2009 (SAAP) quoted in the presentation http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2005:0107:FIN:EN:PDF Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General block exemption Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32008R0800:EN:NOT http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/block.html State Aid Reform http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/reform/reform.html State Aid Scoreboard, Reports + Studies http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/studies_reports/studies_reports.html