Dramatic Intentions Essay

The play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is complex on various levels. Comedy is a key level of complexity. I would focus on comedy associated with slapstick, this would aid in the development of my key dramatic intention of a victim theme. Examples of this theme can be found throughout the play but I am going to concentrate on Act 3 Scene 1. This is the scene were the mechanicals enter the wood. I feel slapstick would help aid the other comedy elements in this scene. Bottom’s misuse of language, wit and physical comedy will also feature highly in this scene. When staging the play, I would use an apron stage; this would establish a closer actor/audience relationship. It would also allow me to use a backdrop, yet bring the action nearer to the audience. This would also help create a more intimate atmosphere and aid in creating tension. My backdrop would be dark, using, browns, olive greens and black. I would use these colours in the form of huge tree trunks with olive green leaves; the black would fill the gaps and help create the idea of night. This would also add to the tension, as the mechanicals would be anxious of entering the wood. For the lighting, I would have it simple yet effective. I would wash the thrust in plain white, with a slight yellow/straw colour. I would want this to remain quite dim, but bright enough so that the audience could still see the action. With this lighting the actors are in the middle of the light, then surrounded by darkness, this would also help create tension as it would symbolise how the actors don’t know what surrounds them, and can only see in the area which they are rehearsing. To light the backdrop, I would use, batten floodlights to give a dim, but general wash. I would use green and purple; these colours would represent the fairy world, magic and a fantasy element, as the light is not from a natural source. I would have my mechanicals dressed in browns. I would use different browns but keeping them all similar. I think of the mechanicals as being dressed rather scruffily to represent their class and place in society. Bottom however would be dressed slightly differently. I would have Bottom in a suit, with a different jacket and trousers. I think this would convey his trait of his false sense of seniority. The other mechanicals, although wearing trousers and shirts, would wear brown, smocks/cloaks as no characters other than Bottom and Quince distinguishable from the group. There would be a suspended ‘fairy bed’ for Titania in the middle of the stage. This allows her to be onstage, but away from the action so she is not noticed until needed. I would highlight her presence with a pink light on her. The suspended platform would be draped in white material with flowers interwoven. This shows how she relates to nature. In the begging of Act 3 Scene 1 when the mechanicals enter, I want to establish some tension, but then break it suddenly with comedy. To do this, when the scene is set, I would have to actors walk on together huddled in a group. Bottom would be at the front of the group, leading the way. Although he is leading he would be cautious. The actor would keep his facial expression smirking nervously, with his eyes always moving and searching. The remaining mechanicals would look petrified and hold onto each other desperately, constantly looking round and moving closer together for reassurance. To help with the tension, I would add sound effects of twigs snapping when stepped on, and animal noises such as an owl. When the characters hear these sounds, they would look round with complete terror on their face and move on, slightly quicker then before. As the actors reach the thrust, they would form a rough line, and then push Bottom forward, then running forward to him when realising they have no one at the front. All the characters’ speech would be delivered rather nervously, but Bottom although nervous, would speak in an authoritive tone. When discussing the killing scene and the lion scene, the characters would be taking it very seriously, not considering the fact that they lack the experience or talent to fool the audience. Although this would not get an audible response from the audience i. e. a laugh, this would be designed to entertain the audience because of the characters’ nai veti. ‘†¦ that I Pyramus, am not Pyramus, but Bottom the Weaver’ The audience would find this particularly amusing when the actors sit to rehearse their play. While they are concerned they will be too convincing, Bottom and Flute both pronounce words wrong and must be corrected. To emphasise the word misuse from Bottom ‘†¦ For there is not a more fearful wild fowl, than your living lion†¦ ‘ and ‘ †¦ saying thus, or to the same defect†¦ ‘ the characters would have a puzzled look on their faces as Bottom continued their speech. The fact that no character corrects may show their ignorance or respect for him. Through out the scene up to ‘Come sit down every mother’s son†¦ ‘ the characters would be nervous but at this line they would become more easy in their surroundings, yet still nervous. This then helps with the irony of what happens next. As the characters become less afraid, puck enters unseen; the audience then know something comic will come soon. I find interpreting Puck as being dark and manipulative helps enforce the slapstick comedy in this scene, as he chooses victims for his amusement. I see Puck as small in height, mainly due to the way he walks, crouching low to the ground. He has very dark eyes but the white of his eyeballs stand out brilliantly. Puck has a tendency to rub his hands, which gives him a sinister air. With his line when Pyramus exits ‘†¦ I will to thee appear†¦ Puck: A stranger Pyramus than e’er play’d here†¦ ‘ the audience know Puck has selected Bottom as his victim and wait to see how he will amuse himself. When Bottom and Puck enter again would use slapstick for the mechanicals reaction. Bottom would enter from behind the actors so the audience could react first, Bottom would then deliver his line confidently, and over acting. The mechanicals then recoil towards the wings, falling over each other, the faces displaying the same fear the audience saw at the beginning of the scene. With Bottom left on his own, he becomes very nervous. The stage would then transform and I would add a slight purple wash on the thrust of the stage by using maybe a par can or single flood. This shows the audience that there’s a change in atmosphere and prepares them for something to happen. When Bottom nervously sings the bed would lower. There is irony in Titania’s line ‘What angel wakes me from my flowery bed? ‘ The audience know Titania has the juice on her eyes and that to her she is being serious. I would again use the word play in Bottom’s song ‘†¦ and dares not answer nay’ on nay the character would whiney like a donkey. This is wit and should make the audience to laugh, as it is visual also. In conclusion, I am using comedy to amuse and entertain the audience, but also it helps with the theme of victims when using slapstick. I find that when comedy if I use it to it’s full potential and bring the comedy to a high, the following scenes would have a greater impact on the audience. The following scene is Demetrius scorning Helena, which if performed well can bring the audience to a low. The scene could be so moving, the audience feel guilty for laughing at and enjoying the previous scene. The audience could then relate to the victims in the play, as they would feel that they have been a victim of guilt themselves. This is what I would hope the audience would get from my performance.

Dunkin Donuts Marketing Plan Essay

Founded first as a restaurant called Open Kettle, it was later renamed to Dunkin Donuts in 1950 by William Rosenberg and Stephen So in Quincy, Massachusetts. Dunkin Donuts has become most famous for its donuts over the years, as well as their coffee. They have approximately 3,000 restaurants in the US and around the world, and sell 2.5 million donuts every day. Dunkin Donuts has evolved into one of Forbes magazine â€Å"Top 10 Global Fast-Food Chains†, and tops the lists of other noted industry websites and magazines. Recently, Dunkin Donuts has changed the way they want customers to think about them by incorporating the tag line â€Å"America Runs On Dunkin†, and adding new menu items, to their marketing strategy. This tag line was introduced to focus on their coffee being a cheaper, down home alternative to the more expensive competitor, Starbucks. This tagline focuses on the fact that Dunkin Donuts is a broader â€Å"beverage company† and gains most of it†™s profits from beverages. Read more: How many words in a 10-minute speech. A.Market Description While all of the food choices and beverage choices offered at Dunkin Donuts can appeal to any age, we feel it’s best to focus on college students at the University of Iowa right now. College students are known for pulling â€Å"all-nighters† to cram for their hardest midterm the next morning, or to write their 20-page research paper the night before it’s due. What’s more appealing than being able to get their cup of coffee, or favorite beverage to help stay awake than from Dunkin Donuts? Another reason we want to focus on targeting college students is because they are known to have unique schedules. They eat at odd times of the day, and are also looking for a range of snack foods, rather than full meals, to satisfy their cravings. There are currently no Dunkin Donut franchises on campus, but there was one just built in Coralville (neighboring town, 10 minute drive to the DD). This Dunkin Donuts only has a smaller target market, since it is not right in the college town and only students who have cars can travel to get their drinks and snacks. We want to integrate our franchise into one of the main buildings on campus to show students that purchasing our coffee is a better option; it is more affordable, easily accessible and offers a range of menu choices, something that competitors don’t do as well today. B.Benefits and Product Features The Iowa campus has offers many benefits of why Dunkin Donuts should open a store here. One of the key benefits that Dunkin Donuts offers is the diverse set of menu offerings. They have created an appealing menu for any time of year. For example, Dunkin’s coffee is served hot, frozen, or iced, every day of the year. Another key benefit that would help Dunkin Donuts be successful in Iowa City is the affordability. Dunkin Donuts is known to have different promotions going on that makes their products cheaper, and even when their promos aren’t happening, their coffee is still more affordable than Starbucks’s coffee (also located on campus). Now I want to talk about some of Dunkin Donut’s products. Product features are what sets your company apart from another, and it is important to point out that Dunkin Donuts has a wide variety of products. They serve hot, iced, frozen, and at home brewing products so that their products appeal to every type of customer. On the food side of products, there are both breakfast sandwiches and bakery sandwiches, bakery cooked goods, and even hash browns and oatmeal. Dunkin Donuts features many different products, which makes it a good place for any consumer to take their business. C.Product Review Dunkin Donuts provides a wide range of beverages and food items on their menu. First off, their beverages range from hot beverages, to iced beverages, to frozen beverages, and even to at home brewing beverages. In the humid, hot summers in Iowa City, students will be able to purchase their iced coffee or iced tea to cool off before class. In the freezing cold winters, students can warm up by purchasing their large latte or warm apple cider. If consumers in Iowa City are not coffee drinkers, they are able to opt to frozen â€Å"coolattas† in a variety of fruit flavors. Dunkin Donuts also offers a wide variety of bakery items and sandwiches on their menu. The bakery items are sure to capture any consumers taste cravings by offering their famous donuts, bagels, muffins, hash browns, and more. The sandwiches on the menu can be for breakfast, or lunch sandwiches. On the sandwiches, you can choose if you want your meat to be bacon, sausage, ham, Angus steak, or turkey sausage. They are served on any type of bakery item included on their menu. This shows there are so many options for sandwiches, and even ranging to a few vegan sandwiches with just eggs or spinach. As for lunch sandwiches, you can choose from ham, turkey, grilled cheese, chicken salad, chicken, and tuna salad. This proves that Dunkin Donuts will satisfy any college student’s food craving by appealing to everyone’s appetite and drink needs. D.Competitive Review On campus, competition is fierce for student business. The biggest competition in Iowa City is Starbucks. Starbucks appeals to students in the area because of their well-known, national brand name. They like to appeal to consumers by offering a premium blend of coffees, as well as smoothies, teas, and bakery items. Also, Starbucks is a known hotspot with free wireless Internet, which tends to bring in the typical college student looking for a place to study. On the other hand, Iowa City is well known for their local coffee shops. One of these locally owned competitors is The Java House. The Java House attracts older customers rather than students, but a good amount of students still take their business there. They are similar to any other coffee shop, offering different blends of coffees, as well as bakery items to eat. The Java House is known for their artwork and interesting atmosphere in their shops, which makes it stand out to a chain company. Two other local coffee shops are TSpoons and Capanna. They both attract a fair amount of students as well. Both of these shops offer students a refuge to study instead of going to the library and a good cup of joe, along with a quick snack. A last form of competition Dunkin Donuts would be competing with in Iowa City would be other fast food restaurants. Places like The Pita Pit, Jimmy Johns, and Which Wich all offer breakfast and lunch sandwiches for on the go college students. Jimmy John’s catch phrase is â€Å"Freaky Fast†, for example. When it comes to coffee and sandwiches, Iowa City has a good amount of competition in the area for Dunkin Donuts to compete with. III.SWOT Analysis A.Strengths Dunkin Donuts has many strengths in the way that they market their food and drinks. First, Dunkin Donuts has a wide variety of items for customers choose from. Not every coffee shop in the area has their range of drinks on their menu, as well as the amount of breakfast sandwiches and famous donuts on their menu. This aspect of Dunkin Donuts is a definite internal strength to help the company reach their objectives. Another strength Dunkin Donuts has is that they are a major global company. They have franchises in numerous other countries other than the United States, and most people around the world know the company’s name. This strength also helps the company be able to market on the television and signs on the street, which is a major advantage from competitors. Another strength is that there is strong brand loyalty within their customers. Just like their biggest competitor, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts has customers who love their service and products so much that they refuse to go elsewhere for their cup of coffee in the morning or snack in the afternoon. This sense of loyalty is what Dunkin Donuts has accomplished over the years and is a major marketing strength. B.Weakness Dunkin Donuts has a few internal weaknesses that have interfered with the company’s ability to reach their objectives. First: they have not developed into emerging economies. Introducing their franchises into emerging economies could make the company more profitable than they already are. A second weakness Dunkin Donuts has is limited market share growth due to increased competition from other sales in the industry. This limited market share growth shows that Dunkin Donuts is very competitive with others in the industry and is not growing their revenues as fast as others in the industry. One last weakness facing Dunkin Donuts is the struggles with franchise owners in different parts of the world. There have been numerous instances where Dunkin Donuts franchise owners have been sued by the company because of disagreements. These fights make the company look dysfunctional internally, and take their focus and dollars away from their customers. C.Opportunity Dunkin Donuts has many opportunities to make their company even more successful than it already is. One major opportunity Dunkin Donuts could do is introduce low calorie snacks to their menu. In recent years, consumers have started to feel the need to eat healthier and not eat at fast food restaurants as often as in past years. If Dunkin Donuts introduced a healthier side to their menu, they could gain many more customers. Another opportunity is to increase their market to newer countries and economies. The world is growing exponentially right now and a great thought to create more revenue would be to open franchises in these new, uprising countries. Another opportunity in today’s market to increase customers is to start using effective online marketing strategies. Life today is all about the cyber world, and almost every country around the world has access to the Internet or computers. As effective as television commercials and advertisements on billboards are, Dunkin Donuts could further their marketing plans by extending advertisements to cyber space. D.Threats In every market, there are external threats in the world that companies cannot control. One of the largest threats in the fast food world is the threat of customers moving to healthier ways of eating. The world has finally realized that greasy fries and sugary drinks are not going to keep you healthy. Dunkin Donuts has a fair amount of healthier options on their menu, but the majority of products are greasy, sugary, and calorie filled treats. If Dunkin Donuts realizes this threat, they could change their menu for the better to attract the health conscious customer. Another threat for this company is the recent increase in raw materials. Pricing is very important in a company, and with this increase in materials, the company has had to increase prices. This is not Dunkin Donut’s fault, but customers may see it in that way. Another huge threat is the constant competition from other cafes and local joints. In the Iowa City area, specifically, the number of local coffee shops outnumbers the large chain shops. Many consumers like the thought that they aren’t giving all their money to large franchises and prefer to take their business to the locally owned spots. If Dunkin Donuts finds ways to decrease these external threats, they could make their company even more successful than it already is. Strengths Wide range of products for consumers to choose from Global company Strong customer brand loyalty Opportunities Introduction of lower calorie menu Expand market to new countries and emerging economies Use of effective online marketing strategies Weaknesses Have not developed into emerging economies Limited market share growth due to competition Fights/suits with franchise owners Threats Trend of people eating healthier Increase in prices of raw materials makes menu prices higher Constant competition from local coffee and cafà © joints

Nursing and nutrition

IntroductionIn different healthcare institutions the question of feeding patients, particularly those who are seriously sick and expected to die soon, raises questions of moral and ethical nature thus making a decision making process very difficult for the caring staff. Such questions may include:–  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How can decisions of giving or withholding feeding and hydration be made?–  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What values and assumptions underlie these decisions?–  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Which courses of action are in the patient's ‘best interest', and how is this ‘interest' determined?–  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How and when, if ever, should a decision not to feed or hydrate be made?–  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Can so basic a provision as food and water ever be considered as optional care?In most of the healthcare institutions whether they are hospitals or senior homes, the decision making lies within the practice of the nurses who are usually faced with dilemmas. While doctors are more advanced in professional knowledge they rarely find themselves in the difficult situation of making the decision of withholding nutrition or giving it. However, there is sometimes a differentiation between nutrition as part of the care given to the patient and nutrition as a biological life sustaining process:â€Å"In modern practice there is often an underlying tension between two different understandings of ‘nourishing' the patient. First, nourishing as an intrinsic part of giving care, which falls within the realm of nursing. Second, nourishing as a biological and technical process, a life-sustaining treatment under the control of the medical or nutrition team (from which the nurse may be excluded).† (Hunt, 1994)Yet the daily practice and the roles of nurses and doctors indicate that the nurses find themselves in the dilemma of making the decision more than other medical staff. In many cases where the withholding of nutrition is legally right and in the interest of the patient, the nurse still finds herself in the ethical and professional dilemma. She is not given the opportunity to discuss her opinion or given any information. As a result whatever decision she makes may be taken as wrong regardless of the fact that she was partially ignorant.The dilemma is even more difficult when considering nutrition as a basic need or a medical treatment. For a seriously sick person one may accept withholding medication or a technological device that prolongs life unnecessarily, but it is not easy to withhold nutrition which is the basic need for healthy and unhealthy persons.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Dresser asks, ‘Ought we to regard tube and intravenous feeding as forms of medical treatment, or should we classify them with more basic sorts of care?'† (Dresser, 1985)The decision of withholding nutrition or hydration is a difficult ethical questi on that poses emotional stress on the nurses. Withholding medication or technological devices is justifiable and there is enough professional and legal guidance for healthcare staff to follow. Indeed, â€Å"Food and water are so central to an array of human emotions that it is almost impossible to consider them with the same emotional detachment that one might feel toward a respirator or a dialysis machine† (Lynn & Childress, 1983)In this research I am going to study this issue in order to confirm or rule out the possibility of establishing a professional guidance that assists the nurses in decision making. This is expected to relief them from a lot of stress and confusion that are imposed as a result of dealing with the issue on personal terms rather dealing with it objectively according to professional guidance and standards.The proposal for this research will be studied under the following headings:1.    Description of a case study2.    Literature review3.      Pro posal4.      Summary and ConclusionsDescription of a Case StudyA case study either from literature or from the records of healthcare institution is expected to illustrate the extent of the problem and its importance. In addition this will emphasise the roles of nurses, relatives and patients in the decision making process. It would also highlight the difficulties facing nurses at different stages of care giving for seriously sick persons.  At this stage of building the skeleton of this research paper very little can be said about the case study until one has been adopted.Literature ReviewThe literature generally confirms the importance of the problem and has been addressing the issues related to the problem of nutrition for sometime now. While it is suggested in the literature that in some cases of chronically ill persons the provision of nutrition is burdensome rather than beneficial, it is agreed that the interpersonal and inter-professional tensions of nurses are ignored. ( Hunt, 1994) It is also pointed out that the stressful environment in which nurses provide their professional care sometimes result in burnouts.The burnout case â€Å"evolves by a process involving three stages: (a) an imbalance between resources and demands, (b) the immediate short-term emotional response to the imbalance, and (c) changes in attitude and behavior such as negativism and emotional detachment† (Riordan & Saltzer, 1992). However, it is also indicated that there are personal differences here: while one may react to stressors by becoming a burnout another with personal hardiness may find the stressors only minor irritants. Riordan and Saltzer (1992) assert:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Current literature points unanimously to a proactive approach in preventing burnout. This preserves organizational integrity by maintaining human resources and supplying cost-effective care while maintaining quality† (Riordan & Saltzer, 1992).There are a number of suggestions for reducing stress and assisting nurses to cope with the environmental difficulties, though no specific guidelines or procedures are given for dealing with the problem of nutrition and hydration.  It is also indicated in the literature that nutrition and hydration in some terminal cases may only prolong the biological life which is thought to be burdensome for some patients and their families. As Hunt (1994) asserts: â€Å"Feeding may in some circumstances prolong the process of dying and may cause avoidable suffering to the dying patient.†While generally the decision of using nutrition support for the terminally ill people is discussed as a problem facing nurses, some scholars relate the decision to dietitians.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Clinical guidelines for nutrition support indicate that dietitians should be members of institutional ethics committees and should have an integral role in institutional policy development concerning nutrition support at the end of lifeâ€Å" (Langdon et al, 2002)To put it in a nutshell the literature review confirms the dilemma facing healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, and families in dealing with the decision of providing nutrition and hydration or withholding it for chronically ill people whose illness is diagnosed as terminal. It is also confirmed that the decision making involves personal feelings, ethics, and sometimes legal consideration. Yet there are no clear professional guidelines that streamline the decision making in this issue in the professional practice. Rather there are observations of some acceptable practices.Sometimes the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary is used as a means of reaching decision.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"However, there appears to be an increasing opinion that artificial feeding can be viewed as a'heroic' method of treatment and is morally optional (Meyers and Grodin 1991, Hoefler and Kamoie 1994, Singer 1995, Gillick 2000).This optional treatment is referred to as ‘extraordinary' and is more likely t o be invasive, artificial or complex. Nevertheless, the Hastings Centre guidelines, cited in Meyers and Grodin (1991), stated that decisions over whether to provide artificial nutrition and hydration cannot be made solely on the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary methods of treatment. Despite this, Solomon et al (1993) demonstrated that 74 per cent of health professionals continued to use this distinction in termination of treatment decisions. It would also seem that the decision was significantly influenced by whether it was a decision to withdraw treatment or simply not initiate it in the first place. The Hastings Centre guidelines stipulate that this distinction should not be a consideration (Meyers and Grodin 1991)† (Young et al, 2002).The problem of decision making in providing or withholding nutrition and hydration in the case terminally ill people is a dilemma for nurses until some professional steps are identified to make the decision an objective one made on the basis of professional judgement   rather than being a personal one affected by personal feelings, ethics, beliefs etc.ProposalSince the aim of the study is to justify a professional basis for decision making, in this study we will attempt to investigate the possibility of establishing professional guidelines that may relief the burden on nurses. This will involve identifying criteria that make withholding nutrition more beneficial to the patient than prolonging his biological life. It should also be essential to identify professional means that enable healthcare staff to decide that a patient is not making any sense of life and advise families accordingly to participate in decision making. This should be important especially when the patient is suffering pain or given morphine regularly.In order to be able to design a professional tool or procedure that assists nurses in decision making through this study or alternatively recommend further research on this issue, the study will be a non-experimental one designed to elicit the RN’s attitudes towards nutrition of chronically ill patients using survey instrumentation.The sample will be full time RNs employed by a healthcare region in hospitals and nursing homes of the region. It is advisable to include also a sample of dietitians working in the same healthcare institutions. The RNs involved need to be well informed about the study and its aims and should be positively motivated to participate in the study.It is also important for the study to be approved by a professional body that confirms the study question and methods are ethical.  The instruments of the study should be designed in a way that they measure the attitude of the study sample towards giving or withholding nutrition and hydration for a variety of terminally ill patients. It is also important to determine the internal consistency reliability for the questionnaires and structured interviews.Summary and ConclusionsThese will follow na turally from the analysis of data and discussions and will eventually constitute a recommendation: either a draft of a guideline for assisting nurses in decision making or alternatively suggestions for further research in order to identify a suitable professional tool for relieving the burden on nurses.ReferencesI am not going to list the references now since this is just a skeleton to discuss with your supervisor; unless you deem it necessary.  The word count may not be exactly 3500, but I think what has been written here is enough for your purposes. As soon as you give feedback on this I will start work on the proposal. Nursing and nutrition IntroductionIn different healthcare institutions the question of feeding patients, particularly those who are seriously sick and expected to die soon, raises questions of moral and ethical nature thus making a decision making process very difficult for the caring staff. Such questions may include:How can decisions of giving or withholding feeding and hydration be made?What values and assumptions underlie these decisions?Which courses of action are in the patient's ‘best interest', and how is this ‘interest' determined?How and when, if ever, should a decision not to feed or hydrate be made?Can so basic a provision as food and water ever be considered as optional care?In most of the healthcare institutions whether they are hospitals or senior homes, the decision making lies within the practice of the nurses who are usually faced with dilemmas. While doctors are more advanced in professional knowledge they rarely find themselves in the difficult situation of making the decis ion of withholding nutrition or giving it. However, there is sometimes a differentiation between nutrition as part of the care given to the patient and nutrition as a biological life sustaining process:â€Å"In modern practice there is often an underlying tension between two different understandings of ‘nourishing' the patient. First, nourishing as an intrinsic part of giving care, which falls within the realm of nursing. Second, nourishing as a biological and technical process, a life-sustaining treatment under the control of the medical or nutrition team (from which the nurse may be excluded).† (Hunt, 1994)Yet the daily practice and the roles of nurses and doctors indicate that the nurses find themselves in the dilemma of making the decision more than other medical staff. In many cases where the withholding of nutrition is legally right and in the interest of the patient, the nurse still finds herself in the ethical and professional dilemma. She is not given the oppor tunity to discuss her opinion or given any information. As a result whatever decision she makes may be taken as wrong regardless of the fact that she was partially ignorant.The dilemma is even more difficult when considering nutrition as a basic need or a medical treatment. For a seriously sick person one may accept withholding medication or a technological device that prolongs life unnecessarily, but it is not easy to withhold nutrition which is the basic need for healthy and unhealthy persons.â€Å"Dresser asks, ‘Ought we to regard tube and intravenous feeding as forms of medical treatment, or should we classify them with more basic sorts of care?'† (Dresser, 1985)The decision of withholding nutrition or hydration is a difficult ethical question that poses emotional stress on the nurses. Withholding medication or technological devices is justifiable and there is enough professional and legal guidance for healthcare staff to follow. Indeed, â€Å"Food and water are so central to an array of human emotions that it is almost impossible to consider them with the same emotional detachment that one might feel toward a respirator or a dialysis machine† (Lynn & Childress, 1983)In this research I am going to study this issue in order to confirm or rule out the possibility of establishing a professional guidance that assists the nurses in decision making. This is expected to relief them from a lot of stress and confusion that are imposed as a result of dealing with the issue on personal terms rather dealing with it objectively according to professional guidance and standards.The proposal for this research will be studied under the following headings:1. Description of a case study2.   Literature review3.   Proposal4.   Summary and ConclusionsDescription of a Case StudyA case study either from literature or from the records of healthcare institution is expected to illustrate the extent of the problem and its importance. In addition this will em phasise the roles of nurses, relatives and patients in the decision making process. It would also highlight the difficulties facing nurses at different stages of care giving for seriously sick persons.At this stage of building the skeleton of this research paper very little can be said about the case study until one has been adopted.Literature ReviewThe literature generally confirms the importance of the problem and has been addressing the issues related to the problem of nutrition for sometime now. While it is suggested in the literature that in some cases of chronically ill persons the provision of nutrition is burdensome rather than beneficial, it is agreed that the interpersonal and inter-professional tensions of nurses are ignored. (Hunt, 1994)It is also pointed out that the stressful environment in which nurses provide their professional care sometimes result in burnouts. The burnout case â€Å"evolves by a process involving three stages: (a) an imbalance between resources an d demands, (b) the immediate short-term emotional response to the imbalance, and (c) changes in attitude and behavior such as negativism and emotional detachment† (Riordan & Saltzer, 1992). However, it is also indicated that there are personal differences here: while one may react to stressors by becoming a burnout another with personal hardiness may find the stressors only minor irritants. Riordan and Saltzer (1992) assert:â€Å"Current literature points unanimously to a proactive approach in preventing burnout. This preserves organizational integrity by maintaining human resources and supplying cost-effective care while maintaining quality† (Riordan & Saltzer, 1992).There are a number of suggestions for reducing stress and assisting nurses to cope with the environmental difficulties, though no specific guidelines or procedures are given for dealing with the problem of nutrition and hydration.It is also indicated in the literature that nutrition and hydration in some t erminal cases may only prolong the biological life which is thought to be burdensome for some patients and their families. As Hunt (1994) asserts: â€Å"Feeding may in some circumstances prolong the process of dying and may cause avoidable suffering to the dying patient.†While generally the decision of using nutrition support for the terminally ill people is discussed as a problem facing nurses, some scholars relate the decision to dietitians.â€Å"Clinical guidelines for nutrition support indicate that dietitians should be members of institutional ethics committees and should have an integral role in institutional policy development concerning nutrition support at the end of lifeâ€Å" (Langdon et al, 2002)To put it in a nutshell the literature review confirms the dilemma facing healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, and families in dealing with the decision of providing nutrition and hydration or withholding it for chronically ill people whose illness is diagnosed as terminal. It is also confirmed that the decision making involves personal feelings, ethics, and sometimes legal consideration. Yet there are no clear professional guidelines that streamline the decision making in this issue in the professional practice. Rather there are observations of some acceptable practices.Sometimes the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary is used as a means of reaching decision.â€Å"However, there appears to be an increasing opinion that artificial feeding can be viewed as a'heroic' method of treatment and is morally optional (Meyers and Grodin 1991, Hoefler and Kamoie 1994, Singer 1995, Gillick 2000). This optional treatment is referred to as ‘extraordinary' and is more likely to be invasive, artificial or complex. Nevertheless, the Hastings Centre guidelines, cited in Meyers and Grodin (1991), stated that decisions over whether to provide artificial nutrition and hydration cannot be made solely on the distinction between ordinary and ex traordinary methods of treatment. Despite this, Solomon et al (1993) demonstrated that 74 per cent of health professionals continued to use this distinction in termination of treatment decisions. It would also seem that the decision was significantly influenced by whether it was a decision to withdraw treatment or simply not initiate it in the first place. The Hastings Centre guidelines stipulate that this distinction should not be a consideration (Meyers and Grodin 1991)† (Young et al, 2002).The problem of decision making in providing or withholding nutrition and hydration in the case terminally ill people is a dilemma for nurses until some professional steps are identified to make the decision an objective one made on the basis of professional judgement   rather than being a personal one affected by personal feelings, ethics, beliefs etc.ProposalSince the aim of the study is to justify a professional basis for decision making, in this study we will attempt to investigate t he possibility of establishing professional guidelines that may relief the burden on nurses. This will involve identifying criteria that make withholding nutrition more beneficial to the patient than prolonging his biological life. It should also be essential to identify professional means that enable healthcare staff to decide that a patient is not making any sense of life and advise families accordingly to participate in decision making. This should be important especially when the patient is suffering pain or given morphine regularly.In order to be able to design a professional tool or procedure that assists nurses in decision making through this study or alternatively recommend further research on this issue, the study will be a non-experimental one designed to elicit the RN’s attitudes towards nutrition of chronically ill patients using survey instrumentation.The sample will be full time RNs employed by a healthcare region in hospitals and nursing homes of the region. It is advisable to include also a sample of dietitians working in the same healthcare institutions. The RNs involved need to be well informed about the study and its aims and should be positively motivated to participate in the study.It is also important for the study to be approved by a professional body that confirms the study question and methods are ethical.The instruments of the study should be designed in a way that they measure the attitude of the study sample towards giving or withholding nutrition and hydration for a variety of terminally ill patients. It is also important to determine the internal consistency reliability for the questionnaires and structured interviews.Summary and ConclusionsThese will follow naturally from the analysis of data and discussions and will eventually constitute a recommendation: either a draft of a guideline for assisting nurses in decision making or alternatively suggestions for further research in order to identify a suitable professional tool for relieving the burden on nurses.ReferencesI am not going to list the references now since this is just a skeleton to discuss with your supervisor; unless you deem it necessary.The word count may not be exactly 3500, but I think what has been written here is enough for your purposes. As soon as you give feedback on this I will start work on the proposal.

Marketing transportation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Marketing transportation - Essay Example One way that firms can save is through the reduction of plastic bags, as they have a detrimental effect on the environment. One strategy that a firm could use is to encourage recycling among its customers. The benefits would be mutual is this instance because both parties would be helping to contribute. 12. Carrier tariffs and classification go a long way to improving the performance of logistics systems. This is because a packing firm must try to take advantage of equipment’s weight and volume capabilities. Also, there is less chance of products being damaged because of the way the goods are packed in. 18. Of the 10 materials handling principles in this chapter, the two that are the most surprising to me is the ergonomics principle and the environmental principle. For the first one, I would have thought that machines would have been in charge of this process and not human workers. For the second principle, I would have thought that the fast and most efficient systems would be used and not the most environmentally-friendly. 2. The most obvious difference between a fragmented logistics structure and a unified logistics structure is that the former involves logistics being managed across multiple departments, whereas a unified logistics structure only uses one department. One downside to a fragmented logistics structure is that logistics activities are organized by individual departments based on their own needs rather than those of the firm. On the other hand, a unified logistics structure has more cooperation through an organization. 5. Relevancy focuses on satisfying current and future customer needs, and this is done through mutually beneficial relationships. Responsiveness shows how an organization reacts to an unexpected or unplanned change. For this one, it is important that the key players in an organization are given correct information from which to base decisions from. Flexibility is a mix

Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Report - Assignment Example aster has full freedom to take decision or actions, it can be easily formed as no legal formality is required, sole traders is the only legal entity of this business form, no legal restrictions for sole traders apart from setting up any particular kind of business, and the continuity of this form is based on life, good health or death of the owner. A sole proprietor is liable for all of the debts, and even possesses liability in account of any injuries caused due to business. The profit is retained entirely by the sole owner. The sole proprietor pays income tax on the total business income. It is the easiest form to set up a business but requires legal paper work for local licenses for a suitable state, and if the owner sets up the business in someone else’s name it than requires a business license. The main disadvantages of such a form is limited financial resources, limited managerial capability, uncertainty in continuity of the business, unlimited liability makes the person al properties of the owner at risk, and is not suitable for large scale business (Cross, 1928). General partnership is a form of partnership where the business partner has unlimited liability. The partners have unlimited personal liabilities and are liable and can be sued for any partnership obligations. The profits are passed from divided amongst the partners according to agreement without any restriction. The partners have equal authority and rights in taking any managerial decision or action. Dissolution of partnership occurs when the relationship of the partners gets terminated due to various reasons such as death, bankruptcy or expulsion of a partner, which indicates impossibility to conduct such partnership business. The convenience is that it requires low volumes and cheap paper work for registration, but the burden of additional funds at cheaper price still remains even that the number of investors is more in this form. The main advantage is that it can increase the amount of funds

Dementia Care. Skills for enabling people with dementia and their Essay

Dementia Care. Skills for enabling people with dementia and their carers - Essay Example But "dementia does not only involve an impairment of intellect and memory, since just about every sphere of psychological functioning can also change or become disrupted in some way. Thus personality, emotional stability, behavior toward others (e.g. becoming aggressive when previously passive and tolerant), speech and communication and self-care may well change for the worse." (Done and Thomas, 1999, p.475) At this age people need empathy and emotional support, so along with the other carers I, rely on a humanistic person centered approach to effectively communicate with these people. This approach has been very fruitful for me in achieving success professionally. The humanistic person centered approach helps in getting the attention of the person, one is dealing with. This is a psychological way of dealing with people suffering from dementia. While applying this approach, I do not believe in doing things instead for adequate effectiveness, I rely on building a high quality interpersonal interaction with my clients. Through this approach my thoughts and feelings get closely involved with my client's thoughts and feelings. ... his socio psycho approach believed that for therapeutic growth, it is very important to give the client unconditional positive regard, empathy and congruence. He also believed that a client should not be considered a client but person, an individual. This way it becomes easier for the carer to understand him in a better way. Hence I approach my clients in the following way: I try to build a psychological contact with the person. I understand that they are very vulnerable, anxious and in state of incongruence at this phase of their lives. So I try to be integrated and congruent as much as possible. I try to develop unconditional positive regard for them. Simultaneously, I try to effectively communicate with the client by trying to build an empathic understanding of his internal frame of mind. By doing all this I get successful in communicating unconditional positive regard and empathic understanding to him to some extent. The following are the three important elements of the humanistic person centred approach: Unconditional positive regard: This can be described as a non-possessive warmth, respect, acceptance, prizing and caring for an individual. The person should be made felt that he is significant irrespective of his mental condition. According to Nelson-Jones "unconditional positive regard does not mean that therapists need, from their frame of reference, to approve of all their clients' behaviours. Rather, unconditional positive regard is an attitude and philosophical orientation, reflected in therapist behaviour, that clients are more likely to move forward if they feel prized for their humanity and they experience an emotional climate of safety and freedom in which, without loosing their therapist's acceptance, they can show feelings and relate events."

Commercial Law Case Analysis Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Commercial Law Analysis - Case Study Example The impact point on the ground should have been with fine beach sand. In this case, this was not to be found. The ground was semi-hard to hard up to a height of 0.3m and harder beyond this height. A series of studies were done to find out whether the hardness of the impacting surface could have any effect on the damage done to his skill. The research did prove that this was true. The harder the surface, the damage is hard. There should have been beach sand in the pit at least up to a depth of 0.3 m. This was not to be found. The Respondent's reason for his head having to impact the ground first was also found to be not in consonance with the scientific evidence at hand. There is a possibility that the Respondent was traveling upside down for such a large impact to happen. At the trial court, the trial Judge offered compensation to the Respondent and held valid the claim that the damage to the Respondent is due to the negligence of the City. The City has moved the appellate court subsequently as an appeal over the decision made by the trial court. Summary of Decision: The Judges in the Appeal court considered the following stance and the facts above to come to a conclusion on the case: 1. The Judges found that this was a case under the causation principle. The Appellant, in this case, is liable only if the damage is caused by the negligent act of the Appellant of the case. And it is the onus of the Respondent to prove that the act did cause the damage.2. The negligent act of the Appellant need not be the sole cause of the damage. It could have materially contributed to the loss or damage to the Respondent.  

Supply Chain Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Supply Chain - Case Study Example It is the world’s largest apparel retail store having chain stores in many countries. It is famous that the production, operations and then the supply chain activities are so well managed at Zara that it takes just two weeks to manufacture a new product and then launch at a display store. Whereas other competitors working in the Apparel industry take minimum of six months for manufacturing and then launching a new product in the market. This developed structure is really a source of competitive advantage for the Company Zara (Bhagwat 2011). Benetton is another Italian based Clothing Company, working globally regardless of the geographical boundaries. Benetton is famous for its dual supply chain system. The production is usually based on the quantity demanded from the stores themselves. This is also sometimes known as pull driven strategy. In addition, the last one, H & M is Swedish based Apparel Company working successfully in the market. The full name of H & M is Hennes and M auritz. The products are famous for its reasonable prices and the availability of variety of stocks within no time. It is famous that no single item remains on shop shelves more than a month duration. At Zara, the efficient operational activities and the processes are the real cause or the source of gaining competitive advantage as compare to many other competitor firms operating in the industry. The managers at Zara Company continue the research process throughout the whole season and not just in the end. For this reason, they are successful in the provision of new products within no time. The lower prices as compare to many other competitors may also give a positive impact to strengthen the competitive advantage of the company. Anyone can imagine the work efficiency at Zara Company that the product stay at distribution centre is only three days and after that, workers dispatch it to different retail stores. Another innovative thinking of marketing managers at Zara

Midwifery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Midwifery - Essay Example The NHS Modernization Agency, which was just recently superseded by NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, was established to facilitate the modernization of health services and the improvement of the patients' experiences and outcomes of health care. With the establishment of the Agency was of course the establishment of specific themes, which in turn, were targeted towards NHS' goals (NHS, 2006). The establishment of such themes is expected to make an impact in everything which are affiliated with health care, most specifically the patients and the workers. The midwives, being medical practitioners themselves are affected by these themes both in positive and negative ways (NHS, 2006). One of the themes emphasized in by the NHS Modernisation Agency was that about the Workforce. Based on this theme, the attempt to modernize the Health Care system would entail the effective use of staff, the attraction of staff and the retention and development of staff. Under the effective use of staff, it is important for the Health Care system to meet the changing demands imposed by the erratic nature of the field by achieving a balance between the workers' skills and service demands (NHS, 2006). According to NHS (2006), to achieve the balance, flexibility and skills are necessary in their workforce. These requirements put the status of midwives in both the advantaged and disadvantaged. As the role of midwives is concentrated on child delivery concerns, this puts them in the advantageous position as well as gives them specialization in which aspect of health care, they are supposedly the only ones sought after. If "balance," is more a function of skill than flexibility, then the power to handle delivery becomes exclusive only to physicians, midwives, and no one else's'. However, the opposite is true otherwise. Flexibility entails the knowledge, experience, trust and ability to perform and be responsible to do more than a single duty. It is not enough that a person has the knowledge and ability to perform duties. It is necessary that the person has the experience and has the legal responsibility for possible miscalculations. This is what is lacking in the midwife profession. If only "balance" is a matter of specialization, knowledge and ability, midwives could be having the advantage over other health care professionals. But since "balance" is also a matter of flexibility, then other health care professionals, specifically, the nurses are gaining the upper hand. Nurses, as it is known, can do assessment, prescription, as well as handling of child delivery, all within the scope of their licenses. Midwives cannot prescribe. They could only handle child delivery, the women's and children's health after birth. In other words, nurses can always act as midwives while midwives cannot act as nurses. The Workforce theme of the NHS modernization promotes independence, competition and thus, improved service given by the health care workers. This is a result of the development of appraisal and performance structure in hospitals based on standards. The results of such appraisals could then be used as basis for matching competencies with specific roles within the framework of the institution. This brings back the subject on specialization. The matching of competencies would be useless without any

Social psychology (within a school setting) Essay

Social psychology (within a school setting) - Essay Example Behaviorism argued that a subject matter of psychology must be firmly grounded in observed human behavior rather than in unobservable mental constructs. This approach suggested completely new theoretical structures and empirical approaches. Thus at a time it seemed that the majority of social psychologists were behaviorists, which asserts that human behavior can be understood in terms of stimulus response relationship without necessarily referring to underlying mental state. Then Gestalt inspired group dynamics (MCGARTY, 1997:1-15). He claimed that social environment is not only made up of things but of relations bettering things, Thus Gestalt's tradition promoted a concern with groups as real social entities. Another trend 'Attitude Change' came in vogue with the end of World War II. The third major Trend that was occurring in 1960s, with the breakdown of the dominance of attitude concept, was the rise of 'Attribution theory'. The ground work of this theory was laid by Heider's book, 1958 "The Psychology of Interpersonal Relation" during 1970s and became the most dominant concern in social psychology. Cognitive Dissonance (McGarty, 1997:20-26): According to Festinger, theory of Cognitive Dissonance is a deft blend of motivational and cognitive constructs. Cognitive dissonance is a type of psychological discomfort, produced by having attitudes in consistent with behavior, which creates pressure to change those attitudes. When a teacher has to mould or change children's attitude, most of the occasions, reward and punishment is applied but the previous notorious behavior is seen to be repeated in some other social context or situation. The application of cognitive dissonance theory can bring stability and positivism when applied for a purpose of attitude change. Freedman in 1965 conducted an experiment "forbidden toy" of Aronson and Garlsmith regarding the permanence of dissonance induced opinion change. Its utility in school setting is thus: If the children become aggressive when punished for touching forbidden things then dissonance should be generated in them through mild threat for that thing. So this cognitive dissonance generated in them makes the forbidden item less attractive. This mild threat will bring in them self persuasion which will lead to neutral attitude for that thing. (MCGARTY, 1997:20-26) Self-Perception VS. Cognitive Dissonance (Bem 1972:1-62) : Self-perception theory differs from cognitive dissonance theory in that it does not hold that people experience a "negative drive state called "dissonance" which they seek to relieve. Instead, people simply infer their attitudes from their own behavior in the same way that an outside observer might. Self-perception theory is a special case of attribution theory. Attribution Theory (Heider, 1958): This theory is concerned with the ways in which people explain (or

Comparative Religions Essay Example for Free

Comparative Religions Essay Judaism began in Israel, 2000 BCE. Christianity began in the middle east it began about 2000 years ago. Christianity is the religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices. Judaism is the monotheistic religion of the Jews, based on the laws revealed to Moses and recorded in the Torah. Christianity and Judaism are similar and different in many ways, Both Religions believe in Jesus, they have a lot different beliefs, Both religions have Bibles, Christians has the bible, Jews have The Torah. Both religions believe in Jesus. Both religions believed in him but the Christians believed he would come back and that he was very special, Jews did not think all the same as the Christians. Jews do not believe that Jesus was divine, the Son of God, or the Messiah prophesied in Jewish scriptures. He is seen as a false messiah, someone who claimed the mantle of the Messiah but who ultimately did not meet the requirements laid out in Jewish beliefs. Christians believe that Jesus will come back to Earth to save/protect them. Religions have their agreements and their disagreements. The religions have a lot of different beliefs. They have lists and lists of different beliefs of Christians and Jews. Some of those beliefs are, Judaism says that no human can ever die or atone for the sins of others and sins can only be atoned for by animal sacrifice or prayer and restitution. Whereas Christianity says that Jesus died for the sins of mankind. Judaism says that all humans are born pure, and innocent. Christians say that all humans are born with original sin. Jews say that no man gets a second coming and the Messiah will not need one. Christians say that Jesus will have a second coming. These are only a few of the many different beliefs. Comparisons of the two religions are they both have books basically â€Å"Bibles†, but there not both called bibles. For Christians it is a Bible for Judaism it is a Torah. They both hold basically the same things, Their beliefs. Now the information in the books are not completely the same. Because of the different beliefs. But the books are used for the same reason so people who follow the religion can worship their religion. Christianity and Judaism are very close religions but yet very different. They are the same because, Both Religions believe in Jesus, Both religions have Bibles, Christians has the bible, Jews have The Torah. They are also very different because they have a lot of different beliefs.

Business Communication Essay Example for Free

Business Communication Essay ?Introduction In this assignment I am required to explain the different types of business information used by the business organisation that I have chosen for example; verbal, written, non-verbal, non-written, multimedia etc. I will also be writing their sources and purposes and analysing the different types of information. I will then evaluate the appropriateness of business information used to make strategic decisions. The business that I have chosen is Sainsbury’s. Sainsbury’s is a public limited company (PLC). It is the second largest chains of supermarkets in the United Kingdom in the retailing business. Sainsbury’s was first established with a shop in Drury Lane, and then became the largest grocery retailer in 1922. Sainsbury’s provides food and drink, home and garden, technology, toys, entertainment, clothing and much more for their customers. This comes under the tertiary sector business that provides a valuable service that customers and other businesses are prepared to pay for. From where they had first started throughout the years they have expanded it by selling different varieties of products to satisfy their customers as well as giving them new products to purchase. Types of Information Source Purpose Analysis Verbal- Face to face communication about sales reports between staff and sales manager (meetings). Internal Source- Marketing Department. This is because this department deals with sales as they can give information about the results of research undertaken by Sainsbury’s. Face to face discussions could be used by the marketing department to explain/update by communicating sales promotions. Using this opportunity through the meeting the sales manager will also have an overview of how well the employees are doing their job. It is important for Sainsbury’s to have face to face meetings about sales reports often, so that the company itself knows what needs to be improved and how they are progressing currently. Marketing department helps  this type of verbal communication by updating the company using promotions and sales so they can achieve more profit for themselves and shareholders. Verbal-A telephone conversation about a customer enquiring about a product (staff helping a customer through telephone line checking if the product that customer wants is in stock). External Source- Customer Services Department. This is because customer services deals with customer’s issues or any enquiries they might have to do with the products or the store they can speak to a Sainsbury’s representative. A telephone conversation could be used by the customer’s services department to inform future developments on customer’s response to existing products and services. However Sainsbury’s doesn’t just deal with products, they deal with different types on insurances, mobiles, recruitment and so on. It is important for Sainsbury’s to have telephone conversations with customers because this way they are able to know customer’s opinions about certain topics and anything they would like to enquire about it e.g. products, services Sainsbury’s provide. The customer services department helps this type of communication by informing staff and managers about future developments. Verbal-Speeches about expanding on areas that need s improvement (increasing an amount of tills to avoid customers waiting for a long period of time in the queue). Internal Source- Production Department. This is in this specific department because with production they are able to know what areas need improving and so along with past and future levels of production, this department knows how to deal with it in detail. They are able to know what kind of costs Sainsbury’s will be dealing with in order to expand tills which will then move on to the marketing department. Speeches about expanding on areas that need improvement could be used by inviting support for activities so that Sainsbury’s can avoid bad service coming from their employees. This means an explanation needs to be given to employees and others as it is important for them to know why this new improvement in the business is happening. It is important for Sainsbury’s to have speeches on areas that need improvement because in order for the company to expand and improve, improvement on  amount of tills to avoid customers not only helps improve the company but attra cts more new and existing customers too. Also the production department can help as they can specify what areas need to be developed and write in detail about the costs and spacing will be needed to create the new tills for the store. Written-Web-based information about employment and recruitment (information of the company’s website about vacancies available). Internal Source- Human Resources. This is based in this department because human resources can provide information about the staffing and training within Sainsbury’s. Web-based information displays many benefits of multimedia technology. Web-based information about recruitment can be used by human resources to update knowledge and offer employment through multimedia technology. Sainsbury’s website gives different varieties of choices of job roles. They also provide specific searches to allow the people look for a specific store to work in and the kind of the job role they want. It is important for Sainsbury’s to have web based information about employment and recruitment because this helps the company employ people to work for them. It gives a chance for people to use the website find out what kind of vacancies the company has going on and what sort of rules too. It is important that the human resources department deals with this type of communication as they are aware of what kind of resources is needed to create/improve the website. Written-On screen information about sales, advertising, products and promotions on certain products (e.g. food, homecare, TU clothing etc). Internal Source- Marketing Department. This is sectioned in this department because marketing campaigns, promotions and information about the market, Sainsbury’s can take care of this department well. On screen information about sales and promotions could be used by inviting support for activities for a primary purpose of making a profit. By inviting support for activities they can increase more sales on other products to make more profit. It is important for Sainsbury’s to have on screen information about sales, advertising and promotions on products because with promotions on products the company not only will be able to expand by attracting more customers, b ut they will also be gaining more profit which means more shareholders too. It is important that the marketing department deals with advertising, sales and promotions, because they can give information about the results of research they  undertake, which means they can see what their competitors are doing and how their own company can make improvements. Written-Emails for queries regarding certain topics customer’s would like to discuss (Sainsbury’s bank, recruitment and website technical queries etc). External Source- Customer services department. This is based in the customer services department because consumers are able to discuss what kind of issues they want to with the company. Emails for queries regarding certain topics customers would like to discuss, could be used by informing future developments. This is because a business cannot develop and grow more than how much Sainsbury’s is wanting and aiming for if they do not hear what their customers have to say and so emails is one of the communication techniques so that Sainsbury’s can know their views on certain things. It is important that the company lets customers have access to emailing Sainsbury’s for any kind of queries customers would like to discuss. This is because their opinions and allowing them to express their views will help Sai nsbury’s improve/expand. If Sainsbury’s do this customers will feel satisfied that their opinions are being heard and action is being taken. Also it is important that the customer services department deal with this type of communication because Sainsbury’s can give consumers the information they are wanting to know about existing products or even providing a service. Non-Verbal-Deaf person wanting to know which isle in the store is a product in (asking a staff member). External Source-Human Resources. This is located in this department because employees within the stores can help customers who are deaf and wanting a product within the store hence asking help from a staff member. A deaf person wanting to know where a product is in the store could be used by inviting support for activities as information is very important and needs to be required through communications in order to support the business and keeping it running and successful. However for deaf people Sainsbury’s can hire employees that can communicate with deaf people using sign language. It is important in Sainsbury’s that a deaf person wanting to know where certain things are the employees of this company can help them. By doing this Sainsbury’s are able to show that they provide a service that many other stores might not offer. It is important that it is located in the human resources department because employees who can do sign language can help give information towards the customers who are deaf. Some of these  employees might need training for this and human resources department are able to sort that out for them. Multi-Media- PowerPoint presentation showing sales figures (how much profit they have made within 2 months). Internal Source- Finance Department. This is in this department because they will have information relating to Sainsbury’s performance including profit and loss figures, balance sheet and the costs of running Sainsbury’s. PowerPoint presentation showing sales figures could be used by updating knowledge for seeing how much profit they have made during a period of time. This is because so they can know what needs to be done IF they are making less profit. It also updates knowledge to see how well they are doing within sales figures. This is important in Sainsbury’s because PowerPoint presentations that show sales figures allows the company to know how much profit they have made and how well they are doing currently. It is important that the finance department deals with this because they will have an amount of information that includes costs, sales and how much profit the company is making.

The Design Of Toughened Glass Columns Physical Education Essay

The Design Of Toughened Glass Columns Physical Education Essay Glass has clinched the attention of engineers and architects in recent years despite its brittle nature. As well as its aesthetic allure, the increasing knowledge of this material allows structural boundaries to be pushed and endless possibilities to arise. Glass facades, beams, and stairs are some of the structures that have been explored with. However, the prospect of using a glass column as a structural component, as opposed to an ornamental role, is of increasing interest. Various structural glass types are available and have proven to be sufficient, but toughened glass reigns as the strongest type, yet its capability to spontaneously shatter can also prove to be a liability. What is Glass? Glass is an inorganic, non-crystalline, solid, transparent material, renowned for its brittleness. Its molecular structure attributes to its brittleness, making it weak in tension (Chen; Lui, Ch.29) and without an ability to redistribute load or absorb impact energy. Potentially, glass is very strong, even exceeding the strength of structural steel. However, due to glass having fairly low fracture toughness, this is only achievable when glass contains no defects, as freshly drawn fibre might be (Rice; Dutton, 33). Glass does not yield, instead it fractures and its failure is stochastic, meaning that prediction for failure is based upon risk or statistics (ISE, 11). Glass does not adhere rigorously to stoichiometry as crystalline materials do, due to the ability to incrementally alter the properties of glass continuously by adding components/substances to modify its properties. For instance, adding potassium oxide to silica will change the glass properties (Clare, Ch.23). Although described as a solid, glass is rather a subset of the solid state. It is essentially an elastic solid below its transformation region, i.e. the glass transition state, and a liquid above it, glass has the attributes of a liquid apart from the ability to flow (Clare, Ch.23). There is a range of intricacies inherent within glass composition; this will later prove to greatly explain the complexities of glass behaviour. A Look at Glass Chemical and Physical Composition Unlike many other materials, glass consists of a geometrically irregular network of silicon and oxygen atoms, with alkaline parts in between (fig.1.4) (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 4). As glass is an inorganic product of fusion, it consists of a number of chemical components. The chemical composition of glass has a significant impact on glass viscosity, the melting temperature Ts and the thermal expansion coefficient ÃŽÂ ±T of glass (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 4). One of the main attributes of glass is its resistance to corrosion by acid and water (Chen; Lui, Ch. 29). There is a vast variety of different types of glass, however, the most prevalent type of glass in construction (approximately 90%), is soda lime silica glass (Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners), and for other special applications, borosilicate glass is used. However, depending on the purpose for the glass, other types are available, such as Lead glass, borosilicate glass, glass fibre, vitreous silica, alminosilicate g lass, alkali-barium silicate glass, technical glass, glass ceramics, optical glass and sealing glass, to name but a few (Glass Online). Borosilicate glass consists of mainly silica (70-80%) and boric oxide (7-13%) with small amounts of the alkalis (sodium and potassium oxides) and aluminium oxide. Borosilicate glass has a considerably low alkali content, and hence, has an appreciable level of chemical durability and shock resistance (Glass Online). The chemical components of soda lime glass are as follows: 70% 74% SiO2 (silica) 12% 16% Na2O (sodium oxide) 5% 11% CaO (calcium oxide) 1% 3% MgO (magnesium oxide) 1% 3% Al2O3 (aluminium oxide) (Glass Online) Regardless of the specific type, the main constituent of glass is silica sand (Chen; Lui, Ch. 29). Sand alone can be used to make glass at a temperature of 1700oC; but the addition of other minerals and chemicals significantly lowers the melting temperature (Glass Online). For instance, the melting temperature for pure silica is approximately 1710oC, but it drops to 1300-1600oC through the addition of alkali (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 4). Glass consists of a network formers and modifiers Fig. 29.1. Silicon and oxygen ions are bonded together (formers) forming a three dimensional structural network of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium (modifiers) ions (Chen; Lui, Ch. 29). Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), known as soda ash, is added to create a mixture of 75% silica (SiO2) and 25% of sodium oxide (Na2O), which will reduce the temperature of fusion to about 800oC (Glass Online). However, this concoction means the glass is produces water glass, meaning it is water-soluble. To give the glass stability, chemicals such as (CaO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) are added; which is achieved by adding limestone, which results in a pure inert glass (Glass Online). The viscosity of the liquid glass during the cooling phase increases constantly until solidification is achieved at about 1014Pas. The temperature at solidification is called glass transition temperature Tg and is about 530oC for soda lime silica glass. Contrasting crystalline materials, the transition between liquid and solid states occurs over a particular temperature range, instead of a single precise temperature (Fig. 1.5, Table 1.3). Small amounts of iron oxides are responsible for the greenish colour of soda lime silica glass. A reduced iron oxide content results in an extra clear glass, which is known as low iron glass, and is readily available (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 6). Essentially, the composition of glass varies to appease a particular product and production method, which requires the raw materials to be weighed and mixed properly; as the consistency of the composition is vital in glass production (Glass Online). The essential physical properties of soda lime silica and borosilicate glass are summarised in Table 1.5. Optical properties depend on the thickness of the glass, the chemical composition, and the applied coatings. The most prominent of the glass properties, is its very high transparency within the visible range of wavelengths (ÃŽÂ »= 380-750nm). However, for different glass types, the exact profiles of non-transmitted radiation spectrum differ, but are in the wavelengths outside and near the infrared band (Fig. 1.6). A large percentage of UV radiation is absorbed as a result of O2 reaction in the glass, but long-wave infrared radiation (ÃŽÂ » The Making of Glass Essentially, glass is produced by rapid melt quenching of raw materials (reference); there are currently various methods by which glass is produced. The float process Fig 1.1 is the most practiced glass production method used today, which produces flat glass, attributing to 90% of the production worldwide. Although the steps vary, it is simply melting at 1600-1800oC, forming at 800-1600oC and cooling at 100-800 oC Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 1). The Pilkington Brothers introduced the float process in 1959. It has several advantages, such as low cost production, vast availability, superior optical quality, and allows for large stable glass panes to be manufactured. The production process is shown in Fig 1.2. Glass is produced by melted raw materials in a furnace at 1550oC. Subsequently, the molten glass is poured continuously at 1000oC on to a shallow pool of molten tin whose oxidation is prevented by inert atmosphere consisting of hydrogen and nitrogen. (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 2 ). The glass floats onto the tine and spreads forming a smooth flat surface, with an even thickness of 6-7mm; it gradually cools and is drawn onto rollers, then entered into a long oven called a lehr that is heated at a temperature of 600oC. The thickness of the glass can be controlled within a range of 2-25mm, through adjusting the speed of the roller, whereby, reducing the speed increases the glass thickness. The glass is slowly cooled to prevent residual stresses being induced in the glass, after annealing, automated machines inspect the glass to check for obvious defects and imperfections. The glass can then be cut to a standard size of 3.21mÃÆ'- 6.00m, and stored. A disadvantage that arises from this method is that there is a discrepancy between the two faces of a glass sheet. Apparent diffusion of tin atoms into the glass surface occurs on the tin side, which could influence the behaviour of this surface when it is glued. The mechanical strength on the air side is greater tha n on the tin side, which occurs because of the transport rollers interacting with the tin side in the cooling area. This interaction with the rollers can reduce the strength of the glass as it can create surface flaws (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 2). Fracture Mechanics in Glass As glass is unable to yield plastically ahead of fracture results in the fracture strength being highly sensitive to stress concentrations. To achieve accurate characterisation of the facture strength of glass, the nature and behaviour of the flaws must be integrated, as a result of surface flaws causing high stress concentrations (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 49). The stress of glass is time dependent; yet, humidity causes stress corrosion resulting in flaws slowly growing when bared to a positive crack opening stress. Essentially, this is when a glass element is stressed below its momentary strength, fails after the time needed for the critical flaw to grow to its critical size (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 49). These flaws are either inherent in the glass or a result of cutting, drilling, grinding, or an impact from the environment; humidity heightens the growth of cracks. Due to the cut edges in annealed glass being weaker than its flat surfaces, annealed glass beams are designed w ith lower stresses than glass plates. The onset of fast fracture is represented by this general equation: à Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ (à Ã¢â€š ¬a)= à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ (EGc) (ISE, 57) Where a is the half length of the crack, E is the Youngs Modulus and Gc is the toughness of the glass Gc has units of kJ/m2 and is the toughness of the glass, sometimes known as the critical strain energy release rate. The equation shows that fast fracture will happen when in a material subjected to a stress à Ã†â€™, a crack reaches some critical size a or alternatively, when material containing cracks of size a is subjected to some critical stress à Ã†â€™. This is a mathematical representation of the trend in annealed glass to be stronger under short-term loading rather than long term. The purpose of glass modification processes such as toughening and heat strengthening is to prevent glass from experiencing tension in surface to avoid crack growth, so that fracture mechanics calculations need not be considered Fig 5.3. Professor Inglis (1913) discovered that a slot, hole, or notch in a metal plate was likely to reduce strength by a greater value than that predicted from simply considering the reduction in tensile area. It was proven that the stress field near the discontinuity is exaggerated by an amount that is reliant upon the radius of curvature relative to its length perpendicular to the stress field. The discontinuities or randomly distributed flaws across the surface are known as Griffith Flaws. Griffith flaws are apparent on the surface of glass, but the strength of the glass is coinciding with the presence of visible defects, which is usually the origin of the cracks that occur under an applied tensile stress. Accidental contact can damage the edges of a glass plate more significantly than any other region of the glass. The deflection or bending of the glass is usually able to absorb the energy from an impact on a glass face but an edge impact is resisted by the full in-plane stiffness of t he glass plate or beam and produces greater damage impulse. Once load is applied, stresses develop and concentrate at the tips of flaws or cracks, which usually go undetected by the naked eye. Griffith claimed that crack propagation occurs if energy release on crack growth is adequate enough to supply all the energy that is needed for the growth of cracks. Mathematically this is stated as à Ã†â€™c=à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡EGc/à Ã¢â€š ¬a Where à Ã†â€™c is the stress required to fracture a plate with a crack of length 2a, E is Youngs Modulus and Gc is the critical elastic energy release ratio or toughness of the glass, with units of energy per unit plate thickness and per unit crack extension. This expression signifies the occurrence of fast fracture when a material is under stress that results in a crack of the size a. It is maintained by some that glass is able to reverse crack damage, i.e. heal a microcrack, if it reverts back to an unstressed state. On the other hand, the surface condition of glass sheet alters each time it is cleaned due to new microcracks surfacing. Therefore, the notion of damage reversal is up to the engineer to decide whether it is reliable in design (ISE, 57). Over time, momentary strength of loaded glass decreases, even if only subjected to static loads. This is a quintessential concept to grasp for the structural use of glass, and was demonstrated by Grenet (1899). Flaw and glass properties, stress history and the crack velocity-stress intensity relationship govern the growth of a surface flaw (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 50). Structural Behaviour and Failure Characteristics of Glass Upon failure, glass does not yield, it fractures, and the failure is stochastic, meaning that the predicted failure is based on risk or statistical analysis (ISE, 11). However, glass is very strong, even stronger than steel. But the inherent low fracture toughness means that this optimum level of strength is only achievable when the glass is free from all defects. Ultimately, glass is brittle, without the ability to redistribute load or absorb energy (Rice; Dutton, 33). Due to the brittle nature of glass, it is important for the designer to have an insight into how the structure will behave if one or more of the glass elements fail; most importantly the safety implications should be assessed (ISE, 55). Fig 5.1 At low stress levels, the majority of materials tend to abide by Hooks law, in that stress and strain are proportional. Yet, a higher stress levels the material deforms plastically, but as glass is a brittle material, it simply fractures without warning instead. The mechanical properties of glass are displayed in Table 29.1 (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). The theoretical strength of glass is usually approximately a tenth of it elastic modulus. The density of the cracks rather than the theoretical breakage stress governs the failure stress of glass, whereby; glass compressive strength can reach a value of 10,000MPa, demonstrating that whilst in compression it is very strong. Conversely, in tension it fails, and this usually occurs when stress levels are less than 100MPa. It is the general consensus that glass failure originates from crack growth and surface flaws, where the stress is concentrated, as demonstrated in Fig 29.5 (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). To gain scope of how differently glass behaves relative to the most commonly used construction material, steel, is to observe the behaviour displayed in stress-strain curve: Glass molecular structure influences its mechanical properties, particularly its random irregular network of silicon and oxygen atoms. Its structure allows for no slip planes or dislocations so that macroscopic plastic flow transpires before fracture (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 49). Glass failure is most likely to be initiated by surface cracks, because these tend to have the worst geometries and are subjected to the highest stresses due to bending. If the loads to which the glass is subjected do not create enough surface tension to overcome the surface compression, no crack will propagate. Toughening, therefore, increases the effective strength and impact resistance of the glass. Should an external load overcome the precompression and cause a crack to propagated, then the stored energy due to prestress will cause the cracks to spread immediately in all directions and the pane of the glass will fragment explosively (Rice; Dutton, 33). Static fatigue of glass, also known as sub-criti cal crack growth is a phenomenon of glass. An applied sub critical stress causes cracks of flaws to slowly grow with time, until a length is reached, at this point the stress intensity at the crack tip reaches a critical value. Consequently, rapid fracture occurs due to the highly strained atomic bonds swiftly breaking at the crack tip. Stress corrosion is a term used to describe the relationship between the crack growth velocity and the stress intensity factor. Apart from applied stress, there are a number of factors that hasten slow crack growth, such as alkaline solutions and increasing temperature (ISE, 56). Plastic flow is not possible in glass, therefore when the glass surface is in a state of tension; the flaws produce high stress concentrations. The flaws are random and can take any path; therefore the failure strength can only be determined through statistical analysis. Therefore, the basis of risk of fracture of glass that is determined does not give assurance that the glass can withstand the designed load. Strength of glass relies on the load duration and environmental conditions; Fig 29.6 shows the strength-time relationship (Chen; Lui, Ch. 29). The time to failure and applied stress relationship is expressed mathematically as à Ã†â€™nT= constant Where à Ã†â€™ is stress T is duration and n is a constant (ISE, 56). The value of n varies, and Sedlack (1995) as well as Pilkington Glass Consultants recommend n = 16 for design purposes. This equation suggests that loads applied at an exceedingly long duration will allow allowable stresses to decrease to insignificant values. However, in reality, this is not true (ISE, 56). Unlike steel that yields and flows when locally overstressed, glass breaks when it is overstressed. For that reason, it is vital that the designer attempts to eradicate possible design features that may result in stress concentrations. Such as bolted glass has been developed in such a way that, stress concentrations are avoided around the bolts; this attention to detail cannot be readily detected (ISE, 58). To avoid force being transmitted from glass to another material, as this causes stress concentrations to develop; soft setting blocks, fibre gaskets, and protective brushes have been implemented to limit this (ISE, 58). Glass is almost perfectly elastic, linear and is isotropi c, and is not subjected to fatigue (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 8). Glass only fails by brittle fracture, and cycling loading can cause the growth of cracks. Most materials have a fatigue limit, whereby there is stress amplitude where facture does not happen or fracture only happens after a great number of cycles (>108). Additionally, although many materials have a fatigue ratio, which is the ratio of the fatigue limit to yield strength, but since glass does not yield, this attribute is obsolete (ISE, 58). As glass fails in tension or by buckling, the highest tensile stresses that occur from applied loads should be considered when finding the elastic stability of glass element. Applied compressive stresses can cause tensile strains, but tensile strains can even occur as a result of the Poissons effect from compressive stresses (ISE, 60). Glass failure occurs when the tensile stress is equal or greater than the characteristic strength, which can be calculated using Eqn 29.5. The memb rane stress is constant across the thickness of the plate, whilst the bending stress can be taken as varying linearly. Thus, superimposing the membrane and bending stresses can determine the total stress on the glass (Chen; Lui, Ch. 29). Furthermore, the deflection of glass elements is an important aspect to consider; and such behavioural patterns like toughened glass deflecting more than annealed glass (even when of the same strength) due to toughened glass being considerably thinner, should be taken into consideration (ISE, 56). Glass plates are typically thin so they demonstrate large displacements. The use of thin plate linear bending theory will produce incorrect results. Therefore, the large deflection theory should be used instead to calculate the maximum stress when checking stress against failure. Failure generally is taken to be at the point when the maximum tensile stress equals the glass fracture stress (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). Glass can be quite sensitive to any impact and will result in fracture; the common causes of glass breakage are: Excessive stress form wind pressure or other loads Thermal stress due to differential temperature on different parts of the pane Buckling due to large compression Surface or edge damage Deep scratches or gouges Severe weld splatter Direct contact with metal (e.g. window aluminium frame) Impurities like nickel sulphide (NiS) Excessive deflection bringing glass in contact with other hard objects. (Chen; Lui, Ch. 29) Hence, the strength of glass relies on these aspects: the duration of the applied load, environmental conditions, humidity, size of the stressed area, the distribution of stresses across the stressed area, the condition of the surfaces and edges of the glass (ISE, 57). Prestressing glass, notably by heat-strengthened and toughened are the two basic types, enables the glass to maintain compression on the surface, therefore, eliminating crack propagation (ISE, 59). Survival probability of scratched glass loaded at a constant rate Eqn; Time dependence of glass strength Eqn Fig 5.4 Fig 5.5 Fig 5.6 The Different Types of Structural Glass Glass, itself, is highly susceptible to fracture, which results in a lot of shattered glass, and ultimately, health and safety implications. The fracture of glass stems from the surface flaws. Thus, the industry has developed various modification methods to achieve an increase in the practical strength of glass, by introducing local high compressive stresses near its surfaces (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). By common practice, these modifications are usually implemented on float glass. Tinted Glass Tinted glass is also known as heat-absorbing glass, and is produced by colorant being added to normal clear glass. Light transmittance varies depending on colour and thickness, with a range between 14 to 85%. As a result, tinted glass is not and heat-strengthened glass is typically used when making tinted glass (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). Coated Glass Placing layers of coating onto a glass surface makes coated glass, and there are two types: the solar control (reflective) and the low emissivity types. Structural strength of coated glass is only indirectly affected when the thermal stress is altered, but coated glass is more associated with its energy absorption and light transmission attributes. Therefore, to prevent excessive thermal stress, heat-strengthened glass should be used to produce coated glass (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). Wired Glass A common misperception is that wired glass is stronger than unmodified annealed glass, due to the wires being seen as reinforcement. However, the wires actually induce cracks and weaken the glass. Yet, wired glass is able to hold together upon being broken (ISE, 22). Wired glass is produced when a steel mesh is implemented onto the molten glass during the rolling process (the rolling portion of the flat glass process). It has a high rate of breakage due to sunlight, and hence is weak in resisting thermal stress. Although it is still weak in resisting thermal stress, polished wired glass is used for fire rating since after it breaks, it sticks to the wire mesh and prevents smoke passing. Figure 29.8 shows a damaged wired glass panel under sunlight (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). Annealed Glass Annealed glass panels do not have any heat treatment (Chen; Lui, Ch.29); it is produced using the float process (as described previously) (ISE, 22). It is usually used when large glass panels need to be used, and it is too large for any heat treatment (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). The behaviour of annealed glass is typically perfectly elastic until fracture occurs. Upon fracture, large, sharp shards emerge which are dangerous. However, annealed glass panes do not spontaneously fracture, and due to alternate load paths across the glass pane, it may not fall out of its frame upon failure. Although there is no creep or fatigue in the metallurgical sense, slow crack growth occurs as a result of cyclical loading, whereby, if this glass is under permanent loading, the deformation increases with below 3% over a 50-year period. Imposed strains, such as bending and thermal stresses, as well as instant impact, causes elastic deformation resulting in brittle fracture of annealed glass (ISE, 22). Annealed glass is not very strong, so it is weak in thermal resistance. The allowable stress is approximately 15N/mm2 (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). Fig 2.4 Fig 2.5 Fig 2.6 Heat-Strengthened Glass Heat-strengthened glass is created using a similar process to toughening, with the exceptions that there is a lower cooling rate (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 12) and the level of the produced prestress is lower. The fracture behaviour, however, is more akin to that of annealed glass rather than toughened (ISE, 24), with larger fragments than that of thermally toughened glass (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 12). The compressive surface stress for heat-strengthened glass lies in a range between 24 and 69N/mm2 and European Standards quote that the pattern of breakage ranges between 25 to 40N/mm2 (ISE, 24). Heat-strengthened glass is commonly used in laminated glass assemblies, but the nature of its large fracture pattern causes a significant remaining load-bearing capacity upon failure of the glass. The stress gradient depends on the thickness of the glass and as the glass must be cooled down gradually, thus, thick glasses (exceeding 12mm) cannot be heat-strengthened using the toughening p rocess (Haldimann; Luible; Overend, 12). Laminated Glass Laminated glass is two or more glass panes bonded with an interlayer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or resins, such as acrylic. The thickness of the interlayer varies between 0.4mm to 6mm. A disadvantage of laminated glass is the validity of composite action. Although usually only two layers are bonded, over 25 layers have been effectively bonded coming at 100mm thick. Laminates can integrate many thicknesses and arrangements to suit a certain requirement. Most importantly, many different types of structural glass can be arranged in the laminated formation, including toughened, annealed, heat-strengthened and bent glass for example. However, toughened and heat-strengthened glasses both cause small amplitude waves as a result of the rollers used in the process. This in turn, enhances the separation between the laminated glasses and ultimately the PVB is impractical. Therefore, resin laminating should be instead. When using a PVB interlayer, the sheets of glass have the PVB interjected bet ween them and then this sandwich travels through an oven of about 70oC, and then passes between rollers which squeeze out the excess air from the bonding. The laminated glass is then placed in an autoclave, heated at 140 oC and at a pressure of 0.8N/mm2. It is possible to manufacture laminated glass at a maximum of 6m by 3m. In resin laminating, the two principal resins are acrylic and polyester. The glass sheets are held together at a right distance apart using double-sided tape around the perimeter. The resin can then be poured in between the two sheets, and once the air has been extracted the open edge can be sealed, and the laminate is stored horizontally to allow the resin to cure and solidify. The curing occurs through UV light or chemical reaction. The size that can be manufactured using this method is dependable on available glass pane sizes (ISE, 24). The structural behaviour of the laminated glass varies, depending on the duration of the load. Hooper (1973) demonstrated that the duration of the loads affected the behaviour of the laminate. With short-term loads the laminate acted compositely, whilst with long-term loads, the load was shared between the two glass sheets, in proportion to their relative stiffnesss, as a result of the deformation of the interlayer (ISE, 24). To determine this behaviour, the deflection of the panel under a specific load should be measured and then compared to the deflection calculated using finite element software. This would allow for the equivalent thickness used in the software to be adjusted to give the same deflection measured, in order to determine the equivalent thickness of the laminated glass pane that should be used for optimum design (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). An increase in the temperature, results in the interlayer softening and a reduction in the composite behaviour. Laminated glass is highly valuable as it offers various performance benefits. For instance, if one or both of the layers are impacted and breaks, the interlayer prevents penetration and allows any broken glass to stay bonded to the interlayer. Additionally, an increase in the thickness of the interlayer increases the penetration resistance of the glass (ISE, 24). Fig 29.9 Displays laminated glass behaviour once broken (Chen; Lui, Ch.29). Toughened Glass Chemically Toughened Glass: Chemically toughened glass implements the principle of a compressive surface layer preventing crack propagation, where the compressive layer is a result from an ion exchange process. Therefore, flat glass that contains sodium ions is immersed in a molten salt bath (electrolysis baths (ISE, 23)), of potassium nitrate. As the temperature of the molten salt is insufficient to permit structural relaxation, the potassium ions force themselves into the sodium sites, consequently, putting the surface under compression (Clare, Ch.23). Although it is an advantage that unlike thermal toughening, thinner glass sheets can be toughened, it results in thinner compressive layers, which are less robust than the thicker layer created through thermal toughening (ISE, 23). Also, the strength of glass can be increased by ten times depending on glass composition (Clare, Ch.23). Thermally Toughened Glass: Thermal toughening of glass is achieved by heating annealed (float) glass plate to about 620-650oC, whereby it begins to soften at this point (ISE, 23). The outer surfaces are then cooled rapidly by cooled air blasts, and the exterior layers quickly cooled and contracted. A thin layer of high compress stress the surface occurs, with a region of tensile stress at the centre of the glass (Fig 29.7). The parabola represents the stress distribution across the thickness of the glass pate, which is also in self-equilibrium. The physical properties of the particular glass used and the geometric shape of the glass governs the exact shape of the curve. Toughened glass has a bending strength is three to five times