Brandon Berry Essay

Love is not just â€Å"I like him/her, marry each other, and then lives together. † The ancient Greeks broke down love into four types: I will attempt to distinguish the differences between these four types of love. The first type of love I am going to discuss is Eros, known as â€Å"earthly or sexual love† (2005). Eros is known as the â€Å"erotic† love, or romantic love. It is the love felt between two people that are â€Å"in love† with each other. The second kind of love is Philia, a â€Å"love of the specified thing† (2001). An easy way to remember this is to think of the word â€Å"Philadelphia†, which is known as the city of brotherly love. It is not sexual in nature. This type of love, however, can be lost due to time, distance, and something as simple as disagreement. It consists of loyalty to your friends, family, and community. Friendship is the basis of any successful relationship, whether it is marriage, a boyfriend/girlfriend, or a relationship with a co-worker. Because Philia love is mutual, it is separated from Eros. The third type of love is Storge love. This love â€Å"is demonstrated when people use expression describing something they enjoy doing or seeing† (2009). Examples of this type of love would be a love one has for work, reading, sleeping, ice cream, etc. Agape means â€Å"love† in modern day Greek. This is a â€Å"selfless love† (2009). â€Å"The Christian church identifies Christian love with agape, and includes charity, tolerance, and respect within the term. † (2009). Agape is the most spiritual type of love and is a sacrificial love in which nothing is returned. Love is an essential element to human life. â€Å"What is love? † Undoubtedly, this is a question that has been asked countless times, and answered in countless ways. I believe each person has their own individual idea about love and its nature; the power and pain, unconditional and true. References Eros. (2005). In The Macquarie Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. library. capella. edu/entry/macqdict/eros Love. (2009). In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. library. capella. edu/entry/heliconhe/love Philia (2001). In Chambers 21st Century Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. library. capella. edu/entry/chambdict/philia

Alternative Medicine and Unit Learning Outcome Essay

It is important to have a holistic approach to managing pain and discomfort by looking at the situation as a whole. Not just the physical side but also the mental, emotional, spiritual and social needs. Conventional medicine, alternative and complementary therapies can be used as options to relieve pain and other symptoms if desired. The care plan has been made with information which supports their lifestyle and culture. The purpose is to bring comfort, dignity and peace to the clients as well as support to their family members. 11. 2Describe different approaches to alleviate pain and minimise discomfort Answer Use drugs such as paracetamol, morphine, and ibuprofen. Use physical methods like hot water bottle, massage, cooling with ice, repositioning. Exercise methods such as walking around or taking other exercises, having a chat or doing something else to distract from pain. Alternative therapies such as aromatherapy, homeopathic medicine, reflexology, acupuncture, yoga – these therapies should be used only where care professional agrees with the beneficial effects. 11. 3Outline agreed ways of working that relate to man-aging pain and discomfort Answer Before using any of the methods to manage pain, the client needs to be assessed, as every kind of pain relief can be harmful, care plan and policies and procedures always have to be followed and necessary precautions have to be taken. 22. 1Describe how pain and discomfort may affect an individual’s wellbeing and communication Answer 22. 2Encourage an individual to express feelings of dis-comfort or pain Answer 22. 3Encourage an individual to use self-help methods of pain control Answer 22. 4Assist an individual to be positioned safely and com-fortably Answer 22. 5Carry out agreed measures to alleviate pain and discomfort Answer 33. 1Carry out required monitoring activities relating to management of an individual’s pain or discomfort Answer 33. 2Complete records in required ways Answer 33. 3Report findings and concerns as required Answer The above is an accurate record of the questioning. Learner signature:Date: Assessor signature:Date:

Glass Cockpit Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Glass Cockpit Technology - Essay Example cial issue that guarantees the safety of a flight and aviation technology and that is the interface between the pilot of a modern aircraft and the glass cockpit display. The safety of every flight will depend on one hand from technological standpoint and on the other hand from the capability, awareness, knowledge and experience of the pilot. (Schmelzer, n.d). Pilots do study in order to learn the systems of an airplane. In every situation, pilots should always have to be alert of the situation, panels and displays, and the controls. The main issue that must be monitored to maintain safety and create awareness is the human-machine interaction. The combination of human cognitive capabilities and the machine is a great help to confront existing problems (Schmelzer, n.d). According to a series of studies on automation in glass cockpit, the lack of pilot â€Å"Situational Awareness† is a concern for those who work in the flight deck safety area. This occurrence has proven to have potential cause, from surprise action of the increasing autonomous automation, to confusion over the state of the automation (Schmelzer, n.d). According to the previous studies, lack of related information and misunderstanding of available data can lead to unwanted decisions and actions on the part of the pilot. Little information of environmental data and automation activity has been considered as factors of the major aviation incidents (ACRC 1996, BEA 1992). There are three steps an achieving situational awareness that Endsley suggest: (1) the way the automation state is assessed; (2) comprehension of the situation; (3) projecting the future condition of the system. They use these steps as their working model in order to identify different problems (Schmelzer, n.d). This paper tackles a new technology known as the glass cockpit and explains the human factors that influence its implementation. It describes the issues of the glass cockpit technology and the human factors related to the

Paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21

Paraphrase - Essay Example Moreover, the type of load has an effect on bending. Uniformly balanced loads have less bending effect compared to non-uniformly distributed loads. This is attributed to the fact that in uniformly distributed loads, the stress and pressure is distributed throughout the beam. In non-uniform loads, the loads are concentrated at a single point, thus stress is bigger and more bending occurs. Errors in this experiment are both systematic and random. They include error due to parallax and zero error where the sensitivity of the meter gauge was not factored in reading the values. Unwanted movements at the set-up could also have led to random errors. Such errors caused the results to slightly vary with the theoretical results. The behavior of different shaped beams and their deflections were studied and understood. The deflections varied with height, shape and the type of load; hence, the objective of the experiment was

Chris Burden, Shakira and Jack Kerouac Research Paper

Chris Burden, Shakira and Jack Kerouac - Research Paper Example The discussion of the paper "Chris Burden, Shakira and Jack Kerouac " will further emphasize on the professional career of the three personalities to conclude on the influences develop by them on the society. Chris Burden was born in 1946 and achieved an international recognition in 1970s as a West Coast body artist and a performer of conceptual arts. Chris Burden was also recognized as a controversial figure as a participant in the Conceptual Art movement and influenced his audiences by getting himself shot, crucified, electrocuted and almost drowned. These were again used in his videos during 1974 which significantly influenced the society. Shakira was born in 1977 in Colombia. Until the beginning of the 21st century, she gained recognition as the most famous female international crossovers in representing Latin pops. After her recognition in the international music industry, she was stated as one of the most influencing popular singer, dancer and lyricist. She also sang the theme song of FIFA World Cup in 2010 which was again a hit. Jack Kerouac was born on 1922 and was recognized as a novelist in the early 1940s. The author travelled in many places including San Francisco, California, Mexico, North Carolina and other states which inspired him to write novels based on the social lives of the people of those regions. This in turn influenced the society quite strongly. Jack Kerouac died in 1969 when his age was only 47 years in Saint Petersburg, because of a hemorrhage in his abdomen.

Experience from the teacher student interaction in comparison with a Essay

Experience from the teacher student interaction in comparison with a case learning experience - Essay Example Regardless of their common goal of orienting us to the new academic environment, each of the lecturers had his own approach and sense of humor. Of particular memory is my Introductory Mathematics lecturer who always used his sarcasm over life to intrigue our intellectual capacity in what appeared as humorous experiences. The teacher, who was a specialist in Pure Mathematics, was also always abstract in his illustrations, something that we found funny because he always expressed himself out of incomprehensible reality. He similarly applied his abstract approach in illustrations, asking class questions and criticizing our lack of knowledge. While his positive criticism motivated me to learn more from him through personal consultations, it also developed my quest to research more in both his subject and other class subjects. The experience with my Introductory Mathematics teachers as well as my other first semester teachers was, therefore, a fruitfully mentoring one that molded me to th e new academic environment. It was therefore satisfactory and I wished that I could proceed with the same lecturers to my subsequent semesters. My Mathematics teacher was particularly classical and derived concepts from abstract examples before relating his examples to first principles, an approach. The lecturer’s approach was also always funny to keep the class in a jovial mood. The students’ experience in ‘We show what we have learnt’ portrays a number of differences from my learning experience.

Company Law Problem Question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Company Law Problem Question - Essay Example The company under consideration, Homemaker Limited had three persons on its board of directors namely Jenny, Louis and Chris. Out of these directors, the most active role was played by Chris who also tended to act as the Managing Director though this was never formally recognized in writing. This indicates that Jenny and Louis were more or less passive directors of the company. Homemaker Limited was construed for construction of homes only, but Chris sought to diversify business into equipment and furniture supply. The shortage of work in the construction industry forced Chris to diversify business but he did not register another company to do so. Instead, the platform of Homemaker Limited was utilized by Chris to supply Easy Birds Limited with equipment and furniture which stands in direct violation of the original constitution of Homemaker Limited. Given the fact that Homemaker Limited was struggling with capital requirements, Chris decided to borrow one and a half million pounds f rom Star Bank. The transactions with Star Bank were executed by Chris and Louis alone without the consent of Jenny. The mutual agreement that the consent of all directors was required for transactions above one million pounds is clearly violated by the behaviour of Chris and Louis in this regard. Poor performance on the part of Homemaker Limited resulted in losses in the equipment and furniture supply domains leading to contractual failure with Easy Birds Limited. The failure of this gamble meant that Homemaker Limited was unable to deal with its fiscal obligation with Star Bank leading to liquidation of the company. A number of problems emerge in regards to Homemaker Limited and its liquidation. The majority of these problems span the domains of director’s conduct and the validity of transactions that resulted. The discussion provided below will cover these issues in detail relating applicable statutes and their interpretation as per case law. 2. Applicable Law In terms of s tatutory law the current case’s circumstances are covered by the Companies Act 2006 (which expanded on and replaced parts of the Companies Act 1985). Given the fact that the company Homemakers Limited was registered in 2007, the applicable legal elements will be derived from the Companies Act 2006 alone. This also means that previous positions on certain issues will have been revised even if they were fortified by case law on the matter. One of the largest directions taken by the Companies Act 2006 has been the roles, responsibilities and conduct of directors. The duties of directors had already been expounded by the previous Act but the new Act has consolidated these matters further by codifying principal common law as well as the equitable duties of directors. However, it must be borne in mind that the new Act is by no means an exhaustive account of the duties of directors. This therefore tends to indicate that the duties of directors expounded by common law still survive a lbeit in a reduced form. The Companies Act 2006 has revisited the domain of director’s duties as per Chapter 2, General Duties of Directors. The Chapter has been divided into an introduction, the general duties of directors and the supplementary duties of directors. The new codifications (in context of the duties of directors) will be used to evaluate the conduct of directors at Homemaker Limited. 2.1. Section 170 – Scope and Nature of General Duties This section serves as the

Quantitative Easing - Decreasing Interest Rates Research Paper

Quantitative Easing - Decreasing Interest Rates - Research Paper Example The practice is entirely different from the usual approach of purchasing and selling government bonds to maintain a targeted market interest rate. It must be emphasized that a central bank uses new electronically created money for the purchase of financial assets in order to implement quantitative easing policy. This practice is helpful for increasing excess bank reserves which in turn may lower yields. The ultimate goal of the quantitative easing policy is to cut down long-term interest rates so as to stimulate economic activities. For this purpose, monetary authorities purchase financial assets of longer maturity and thereby reduce long-term interest rates on the yield curve. In addition, the tool of quantitative easing is very helpful to ensure that inflation rate does not fall below the targeted level. This paper will analyze the pros and cons of quantitative easing and will discuss whether the Fed has a choice of using this tool in a highly recessionary economy. Benefits of Quan titative Easing As Elliott (2009) purports, the unconventional quantitative easing monetary policy may assists banks to keep excess reserves with them and hence to lend largely to businesses and individual borrowers. In turn, businesses will use these additional funds to finance productive activities including infrastructure development and R&D. Similarly, individual borrowers will use this new fund for their day to day activities or investment purposes. This will ensure effective circulation of money throughout the economy. Hence, these increased economic activities will certainly assist the economy to come out of stagnation and stimulate economic growth. Since this monetary tool is helpful to keep the inflation at a moderate level, it assists regulators to prevent the economy from falling into deflationary conditions. According to Kollewe (as cited in the guardian, 2009), US, UK, and Japan are very much interested in quantitative easing policies as a way to stabilize economic grow th. The writer points out that the US was the first country which used quantitative easing as a response to its recessionary conditions. According to International Monetary Fund, the major developed countries that deployed the quantitative easing policy since the beginning of the 21st century were less affected by the 2008 global financial crisis as compared to other industrially developed economies. During the 2008 global financial crisis, it has been identified that the quantitative easing boosted the financial markets by adding liquidity. A weaker currency that amplified export demand is also identified to be one of the major desirable side effects of quantitative easing policy. To a certain extent, the quantitative easing technique has assisted economies to diminish unemployment rate. While analyzing the US economy, it is obvious that this unconventional monetary tool has played a crucial role in the economy in overcoming the dreadful impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis. As per the report of Hermansson (2010), economists hold the view that US’ entire budget deficit would be funded for a fiscal year, if the quantitative easing has been set as high as $1 trillion. In order to take advantages of the quantitative easing policy, the Fed used the returns of previous bond purchases to acquire new long-term financial assets in 2010.  

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

Analysis - Essay Example By providing this scenario, he invokes a 'catch twenty-two' type situation in the mind of his reader and a sense of absurdity. He then further stimulates this sense of the bizarre by stating that in order "to punish the agent" (4), the government must first attain the name of the informant from the reporter and if the journalist chooses not to provide such information under privilege, the informant "may never be caught" (8). At this point, Volokh gains the interest of his reader, enough to induce him/her to read further. Having gained the reader's attention, Volokh then moves from the hypothetical to reality by introducing the Plame Affair, an incident with which most readers would be familiar and would probably have views on, and a more recent incident in Providence, R.I where a reporter "was convicted of criminal contempt" (13) for not naming the person who "gave him a tape of a city official accepting a bribe" (14). By referring to these actual cases, the reader is more likely to agree with his questions: "Should there be a journalist's privilege What should its scope be And who exactly qualifies as a journalist" (16/17). In other words, he sets the scene and lays the groundwork first before moving to his real contention. At this point in his article,... nd that states are divided on the issue with some acknowledging a journalist's privilege to different degrees, while others "and the federal government" (27) are not. This inference of authority being in such disarray, and his poignant use of language, such as "a cryptic three-paragraph concurrence" (20), "should try to strike a proper balance" (23), and "the situation is a mess" (29), help to stimulate the reader's sense of helplessness and vulnerability. Volokh then broadens his line of reasoning from discussion on whether there should be a journalist's privilege and its scope to who "qualifies as a journalist" (17), and further expounds the problem by raising the issue of the "hundreds of thousands" (31) of bloggers who write on the internet, "some of which come with a condition of confidentiality" (32/33). By appealing to the First Amendment once again, he asserts that "freedom of the press should apply to people equally" (35) including bloggers. This however, creates another problem, suggests Volokh, because if "everyone is a journalist" (37) and these privileges are granted to everyone, the "mainstream journalists" (39) will suffer. Informants will be able to bypass any risk of reprisal by publishing through "a friend who has a blog and a political axe to grind" (40), rather than a conventional reporter, who "may turn him in" (39). "On the one hand" (43), he claims information from informants assist reporters to "uncover crime and misconduct" (44), and if the journalists had to disclose the names of their informants, the source of information would disappear. "On the other hand" (45), however, he claims that some information is "rightly made legal" (46). The "best solution" (47) to this paradox, according to Volokh, may be to adopt the same laws

The influence of Nature and Nurture Essay Example for Free

The influence of Nature and Nurture Essay Can the influence of Nature and Nurture on two souls be compared? Nature and Nurture both determine Hucks and Jims personality ad behavior. Nature gives them their inborn traits often. Nature is how they are treated, and Nurture is the society, who natures them, and society nurtured them. Nature helps Huck become the person he is because the way your treated is the way you treat other people at times. Huck is thirteen whose place in society is second to a slave, like Jim. Hucks father is a drunk who takes care of Huck from time to time. Repeatedly Huck is filthy and left homeless. The nurturing society has failed to protect Huck from his father, because they didnt care for him, and nurture him. That doesnt go for everyone though, Widow Douglas took Huck in and tried to ameliorate Huck. Huck starts church and proper schooling. Even though Huck is a child the nurturing that he receives pushes him away from the cynicism of the world around him, which brings about another way nurturing has made who Huck is. At this time of age, African Americans were still in bondage as slaves, which brings about Jim in the story. Society does not nurture Jim; instead they treat him as an object of property. Huck doesnt agree with this though, according to Hucks sense of dialectic and fairness its not only acceptable but conscientiously good to help Jim. Hucks natural reasoning and his acquiescence to think through a situation on its own entitlement is what leads him to some conclusions that are right in their appurtenance but would clash society. An example is when he meets a group of slave-hunters, that telling a lie is sometimes the right course of action, in other words that sometimes lying is the right thing to do. Because Huck is a child, the world appears to be new to him. Everything he does is an instant for thought. Because of Hucks past he does more than just bestow the rules that he has learned; Huck invents his own rules. Nevertheless, Huck is not indispensably a kind of autonomous ethical genius. Huck struggles with some of the prejudgment about African Americans, which society has inveterate in him. Unfortunately Huck ensue Tom Sawyers lead. These flaws are of Huck because nature nurtured him this way. This shows you  that these flaws are a important element of what makes Huck enticing and compassionate. However Huck is still a boy and consequently deceptive. Impaired as Huck is, he symbolizes what everyone is able of becoming rational, feeling human being rather than a sprocket in the dogmatic instrument of society. What makes Jim who he is Nature. If society didnt treat him as an object he would be able to become better in all aspects. In the story Huckleberry Finn Jim is Hucks friend that travels the Mississippi River with him. In the story Jim is portrayed as man of outstanding intellectual, and that he shows compassion to people, even if they dont show it to him. When I first read about Jim he was portrayed as an idiot, but as I read further I found out that this was not true. Nature enabled Jim from acting boldly or speaking his mind, which at times made him seem like he wasnt intelligent. Even though he is held down by Natures way of nurturing him, Jim still finds it somewhere in his heart to be one of the most compassionate and caring person in this novel, and further more he cares for Huck, like a father would and like a friend. For example Jim cooks for Huck and shelters him from the incidents like when he finds Pas corpse, and kept it from him. Overall Jim I believe that Jim cannot control the way Natures nurtures him, and Huck, is the goodness in the society, even though Nature in its nurturing ways corrupted Huck.

Supply Chain Strategic Management For Nike Marketing Essay

Supply Chain Strategic Management For Nike Marketing Essay Nike, Inc was founded in 1964 in the state of Oregon, US. Nike is the largest seller of athletic footwear and apparel in the world. Its main business is in the design, development and marketing of high quality footwear, apparel, and equipment and accessory products. Products are sold to retail accounts via NIKE owned stores and online sales, independent distributors and licensees in 170 countries across globe. Footwear and apparel products are manufactured outside Unites States while equipments are manufactured both in US and outside US. Nikes products are produced in factories owned/operated by independent contractors Nikes footwear products dominates its market share and footwears are designed for aquatic activities, baseball, cheerleading, football, golf, lacrosse, outdoor activities, skateboarding, tennis, volleyball, walking, wrestling, and other athletic and recreational uses. (Nike 2010) Nikes accessories and apparels are designed to match its footwear and performance equipment like bags, socks, sport balls, eyewear, timepieces, electronic devices, bats, gloves, protective equipment, golf clubs are also manufactured. Plastic products are produced in Nikes self owned subsidiary, NIKE IHM, Inc. Other wholly owned subsidiaries of Nike are Cole Haan, Converse, Hurley and Umbro. Supply Chain Process Overview: Business related operations like marketing and contracts with the factories for product development activities is executed in Nikes headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Nikes global operations are largely categorized into four geographic segments United States; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); Asia Pacific and Americas (includes Canada, Mexico and other Latin American countries of Chile, Brazil and Argentina). Nike has outsourced its manufacturing activities across globe since mid-1970s. And the products are developed at factories owned and managed by business partners. (SCM are ERP Implementation at Nike: From Failure to Success 2005) United States Market: Fig 1.1: Nike US Retail Stores Source: Nike Annual Report Fig 1.2: Nike Non-US Retail Stores Source: Nike Annual Report plastic and metal hardware, and specialized performance fabrics designed to repel rain, retain heat, or efficiently transport body moisture. NIKEs contractors and suppliers buy raw materials in bulk. Most raw materials are available in the countries where manufacturing takes place. Supply Chain Framework: The three components of SCM framework are Supply chain network structure, supply chain business processes and the supply chain management components. The three vital components of supply chain network structure are members of the supply chain, structural dimension of the network and various types of process links across the supply chain(Lambert and Cooper 2000). Key members involved in supply chain should be identified. Primary members of a supply chain to be all those autonomous companies or strategic business units who carry out value-adding activities (operational and/or managerial) in the business processes designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market .In contrast, supporting members are companies that simply provide resources, knowledge, utilities, or assets for the primary members of the supply chain (Lambert and Cooper 2000). Structural dimension of the network assist in evaluating and managing the supply chain. Horizontal structure means the numbe r of tiers across supply chain and vertical structure means number of suppliers/customers within each tier. Any changes in structure impacts supply chain and proper analysis should be done before making modifications. Successful SCM needs a shift from handling individual processes/functions to integrating activities across supply chain. GSCF identified eight supply chain processes Customer service management, Customer relationship management, Demand management, Order fulfilment, Manufacturing flow management, Procurement, Product development and commercialization and Returns. There exist 4 types of links in business functionalities. They are Managed business process links, monitored business process links, not-managed business process links, and not-member business process links. Managed process links are links that the firm views them as vital to integrate and deal with. These are the links that exists between firm and tier1 customers/suppliers. Monitored process links are albeit not crucial, but vital to the firm and they are the links existing with other member companies. Not-Managed process links are not crucial and the firm is not directly involved in managing them but assign the job of managing the links to member factories. Non member process links are linkages between the firm and other non-members of the supply chain. The nine management components for successful SCM of Nike would be planning and control; work structure; organization structure; product flow facility structure; information flow facility structure; management methods; power and leadership structure; risk and reward structure; and culture and attitude. Supply Chain Process and Objectives of Nike: Precision : The objective is to satisfy customers through product delivery and information accuracy. Nike follows few methods to measure precision DIFOT (Delivery in Full- on Time) and Time to provide resolution to customer queries. The products are produced in factories based on the orders and the developed finished goods are consolidated and then distributed by air/water/road ways to NIKE Customer service centres Fig 1.3: Nike Delivery process Fig 1.4: Nike Apparel and Footwear Product Flow Fig 1.5: Nike Previous Supply Chain Model and desired Simplified Model Fig 1.6: Pictorial representation of Inventory management Fig 1.7: Life Cycle Cost Analysis Fig 1.8: Supply Chain Objectives of Nike Nikes i2 implementation failure : Supply and demand issues need to be paid utmost attention particularly in retail industry as it has to deal with wide choices for each product category like size, color etc. The huge SKU which signifies varied inventory pictures a hurdle to supply chain management. The manufacturing cycle before the implementation of software solutions is generally 9 months. Hence the need for demand planning system arose and Manugistics software was implemented. Due to various limitations in the software, in march 1999, Nike decided to implement software from i2 Technologies for managing its supply and demand. The desired functionality of the software was to match its supply with demand by mapping out the production of varied products at manufacturing units. The module should have been implemented and linked to ERP and other backend functionalities but however Nike implemented software from i2 using the legacy systems rather than implementing as part of its SAP ERP Project (SCM and ERP Implementation at Nike: From Failure to Success 2005 ) In 2000, after the implementation of i2 software, NIKE stated that it resulted in stock pile up for slower-selling shoes and shortages for high demand shoes. Nike blamed i2 software for poor planning forecast which was actually developed to reduce production days. Investors believed Nikes blame game and the shares of i2 dropped severely. But i2 managers claimed that Nikes issues were not linked to software but the way the software was implemented. They did not use the standard template offered by i2 for its footwear division. But i2 accepted the blame of not being forceful in compelling Nike to stick onto their implementation methodology and the bitter truth was i2 desired to solve Nikes complex issue of tracking every shoe model it manufactures. Nike experienced some major issue and hence i2 thought resolving those legitimate issues would really serve as value addition to i2 Technologies. Joshua Greenbaum, a consultant stated that i2 software is not known for technical failures but it is well known for its complexity and the issue here is that Nike went go-alive with the new software even before they were ready to go live which resulted in major chaos. Lessons learnt by Nike : Implementation issues in supply chain can have disastrous effect in Supply chain process of an organization and hence great care should be taken while implementing software solutions for managing supply chain. If a standard template is customized as per the clients requirement then the service provider should monitor that the client adheres to implementation procedures as instructed. If a solution is being offered to address complex issues, then the system should not go-live before appropriate testing to check if all the needs of clients are better served. Premature switching has devastating effect on the organization which Nike has learned at its cost. Fig:1.9: Nikes latest SAP IT Solution to manage supply chain functionalities Nike owns a system Futures wherein the retailers place orders 3-6 months in advance which does assist in demand and forecast planning. But the scenario is different for it Football Team Sports (FTS) category which constitutes 10% of its overall market. Its FTS line comprises about 100 varied styles and it uses a unique fabric Dri-Fit that absorbs sweat. Usually sports team places the order, expects delivery in a weeks time, demands more customized options and hence prestocked items doesnt hold good for all customers. The challenge for FTS apparel lies in its supply chain. Nike has to seek ways to reduce current lead time like modifying demand planning/ forecast system, shifting production base from Asia to Europe and preordering undyed fabric called greige and contracts with strategic suppliers/manufacturers can result in faster delivery even amidst last minute orders. (Nike:Just Do it But How? 2009) Evans and Danks model : Fig 1.10: Evans-Danks Model Source: Evans and Danks (1998) Strategic supply chain management Creating shareholder value by aligning supply chain strategy with business strategy. In: Gattorna, (ed.): Strategic supply chain alignment, Hampshire: Gower, pp. 18-38 Sourcing Strategy : Global Commodity Chain (GCC) perspective provides greater insights on design, distribution and marketing activities. Nike has captured a greater place in US athletic footwear market albeit its manufacturing activities are held overseas, formulating Nike to be archetype of global sourcing strategy. Its successful execution of sourcing strategy can be best known in Nikes effort to retain its power and authority over its highly profitable nodes of the footwear commodity chain which offers them the strategic and geographical mobility. Nikes distribution network was broadened by forming strategic alliance with retail outlets. It shifted its manufacturing base from high cost production countries to low cost countries like Taiwan, South Korea, Asia etc. The merits of producing goods in developing nations have to be weighed against the demerits of other costs like sourcing, production flexibility, transportation and storage. Nike took advantage of global sourcing as a way to reduce cost and in 1980s relocated its plants to Taiwan, South Korea and in 1990s to China, Indonesia and Vietnam. In 2006,over a half a million workers were engaged in 700 factories in 51 countries, although the firm had around 23000 employees in its payroll.(Lechner and Boli 2004). The efficient management of sourcing strategy obtained Nike to manufacture goods as low cost and thereby its market share and profitability increased. Nikes Futures system is order and planning system which serves to resolve inventory and financial bottlenecks. Nike had more flexibility options like modifying design specifications by dealers which offered competitive advantage over its competitors like Adidas. Donaghu and Barff categorised and identified 3 sets of Nikes factories developed partners, volume producers and developing sources. Developed partners are Nikes first/upper tire suppliers who are accountable for innovative and stylish/premier models. Volume Producers produce products in large quantities but selected products. Developing sources are recent factories that have enticed Nike due to low labor cost. Various steps are involved in making a atheletic shoe designing, model and pattern making, molding of soles, material cutting, stitching, lasting, finishing, final inspection and packaging which requires little skill. Hence unskilled workforce and lower wage rate are quintessential in manufacturing shoes competitively. Nike did not own a factory in Asia but had contracts with partners who manufacture apparels and footwear. Nike took the ownership of the products only after they are finished and delivered from factories. Fig 1.11: Members within Nikes Supply Chain Process Fig 1.12: Nike Brand Factories across globe Source: Nike website Demand Flow Strategy: Nike uses Futures Order system to manage its supply with demand. Nike sells its product through various channels Nike owned stores, online, independent distributors and licensees. Nike doesnt own a factory but outsources its manufacturing activities to subcontrators across globe. Nikes manufacturers deploys Just-in-Time principles to manage inventories. Supply Chain Integration Strategy: Information integration, Decision integration, Financial integration, Operational integration and Physical or Virtual links are the key factors of Supply chain integration. Nike uses SAP software solutions to manage its supply chain processes. Nike never manufactures but establishes contracts with subcontractors across globe. Since 1972, Sojitz Corporation of America (Sojitz America), a large Japanese trading company has been offering financial assistance in exports-imports of Nikes products. It offered purchasing and financing services for Nikes goods in Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Chile, Brazil, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Africa, China, Korea, and Thailand, excluding products produced and sold in the same country. (Nike 10K Report, 2010) . Any disruption/failure from it would affect Nikes power to buy goods from suppliers and to sell goods to customers. FishBone Diagram: Fig 1.13: FishBone Diagram for Nike Time Compression: Time is a critical factor in todays supply chain. Time compression can be defined as reducing the amount of time taken for a process in a business operation ie inputs is being transformed to expected/desired outputs in a process but in a compressed period of time. To achieve time compression for the holistic supply chain, activities that does not add value to the process should be identified which is achieved by removing waste and refocusing on the process steps. The horizontal and vertical structure which forms the basis of supply chain must be properly integrated. The structural and infrastructural linkages in a supply chain depicts how efficiently resources, inventory are utilized. (Beesley 1996) Few generic principles to identify and understand supply chain process: The end users in a supply chain are customers who demand speed and adhere to delivery. Nike customers demand variety in products ranges and hence Nike strives to manufactures wide range of products but maintains a minimal stock so as to accommodate many varieties. Customers are not willing to pay extra cash for speedy delivery because similar services are offered by its competitors also. Many firms are just order qualifiers and not order winners. The call for JIT inventory can be satisfied by maintaining correct proportion of stocks in stores. Positioning of resources and inventory also plays a vital role in maintaining a optimal supply chain. Burbidge and Forrester states that the effect of demand variation in a supply chain oscillates out of control and impacts the lower level of supply chain. Fig 1.14: Internet Driven Supply Chain Model Wireless Technology and RFID are used by Nike at a minimum level. Efforts are taken to widely utilize it across its factories. The usage of RFID however raised some privacy concerns and hence Nike is striving hard to resolve such issues and trying to make use of the technology in the best possible way. Globalisation does impact Nike and offers many challenges. Global sourcing and reduced tariffs in developing countries have created complicated webs in supply chain. Infrastructures in developing economies are not well developed and hence it requires partnerships with 3PL providers who possesses better knowledge on market and in few cases Nike has to build its distribution centres. Periodically detailed research has to be done to understand infrastructure issues. Consumer expectation varies in different countries. One size fits all rule doesnt apply anymore. Customization plays a vital role in acquiring customer satisfaction. Product proliferation challenges can be tackled by being more responsive and quick in addressing the needs of the end users. Nike needs to adapt lean and agile manufacturing programs based on their volume-variety formulae. Retailing customers demand for shorter lead times and faster inventory turns and they make attempts to push the products upstream. As a reciprocative action, Nike offers out-of-stock and replenishment programs but should strive to improvise/speed-up time to market and reduce lead times. Conflict exists between cost and flexibility. Manufacturing lead time is longer due to technical complexity associated with fabrics and products require complex innovation which ultimately results in cost of time and delays. Supply Chain Integration Issues and Recommendations for Nike The key thing to focus is to understand the nature of the demand for the products in supply chain. Functional products are those products that fulfil minimum needs, dont alter to a large extent over time, possesses stable and expected demand and lengthy life cycles. Innovative products are expected to have short life cycle and unpredictable demand. Innovative products supply chain differs from functional products supply chain. Two types of supply chain are Physically efficient supply chain and Market Responsive supply chain. The below table shows the attributes of two supply chain. To develop an ideal supply chain strategy, the nature of demand for products is plotted against their respective supply chain. The 2*2 matrix thus depicts if the existing supply chain matches the right demand for the products. The supply chain strategies are perfect if the functional products possess efficient supply chain and innovative products possesses responsive supply chain. Physically Efficient Process Market Responsive Process Primary Purpose Supply predictable, demand efficiently at the lowest possible cost. Respond quickly to unpredictable demand inorder to minimize stockouts, markdowns and obsolete inventory Manufacturing focus Maintain high average utilization rate Deploy excess buffer capacity Inventory strategy Generate high turns and minimize inventory throughout the supply chain Deploy significant buffer stocks of parts or finished goods. Lead Time focus Shorten lead time as long as it doesnt increase cost Invest aggressively to reduce lead time Approach to choosing suppliers Select primarily for cost and quality Select primarily for speed, flexibility and quality Product design strategy Maximize performance and minimize cost Use modular design inorder to postpone product differentiation as long as possible. Table 1.1: Attributes of Physically efficient and Responsive Supply Chain Source: Fisher,M.L., What is the Right Supply Chain for your Product? A simple framework can help you figure out the answer Functional Products Innovative Products Efficient Supply Chain Match Nikes atheletic shoes and casual shoes, sports equipment, apparels and accessories. Mismatch Nikes shoes for diabetic patients, Zoom Air shoes for athletes, high technology sports equipment. Responsive Supply Chain Mismatch Match Table1.2: Nikes product and supply chain positioning matrix Nike should take efforts to shift from upper right hand cell to lower right hand cell. This can be achieved by making few of the products functional and developing a responsive supply chain for the rest of the innovative products. Nike can handle unceratinty by three ways reducing leadtime and becoming agile such that products are produced only when there is market demand; searching for new information that act as indicators and sharing a common platform and components for varied products and demand becoming predictable; hedging against outstanding ambiguity with buffers of inventory (Fisher ) Arcs of Integration: Ragatz et al (1997) claims that the effective integration of suppliers into product value/supply chains will be a key factor for some manufacturers in achieving the improvements necessary to remain competitive.The two types of integration are : delivery integration or forward integration which involves the flow of material between suppliers, manufacturers and customers (Saunders 1997, Trent and Monczka 1998) and Information integration or backward integration that include the effective functioning of IT and flow of data between customers and suppliers (Martin 1992, Trent and Monczka 1998). Tan et al (1998) state that when firms integrate and act as single unit, overall performance is improved across the supply chain. Manufacturers should decide in which direction (customers or towards suppliers) and to which extent (degree of integration), they should undertake upstream and downstream integration. Fig1.15: Integration in the Supply Chain Source: Frohlich, M.T., Westbrook, R., 2001., Arcs of Integration: an international study of supply chain strategies. Journal of Operations Management, 185-200 Fig1.16: Nike striving to move towards outward facing Arc of Integration Source: Frohlich, M.T., Westbrook, R., 2001., Arcs of Integration: an international study of supply chain strategies. Journal of Operations Management, 185-200 C2C Cycle: Fig 1.16: Nikes 5 year trend of Operation Cycle Source: Thomson One Banker Agility is defined as a capability to meet demands of end users and to warrant that supply matches the demand. The key factor is flexibility and time to market in response to demand is crucial. Transforming the supply chain from make-to-sell to make-to-order is the desire of any organization that wants to gain competitive advantage via supply chain management. Nikes objective is centralization and it is achieved by information sharing through the effective implementation of IT. Nikes claims its lead time is 6 months due to technical complexity associated with producing fabrics and products. In this competitive world, 6 months is a wide gap for any rival to gain access competitive advantage. Nike should adopt following ways to reduce lead time gap. Postponement Strategy: Postponement or delayed configuration is a way of manufacturing products in common platforms, components or modules but the final assembly or customization does not happen until the final market destination and or customer requirement is known (Christopher 2000). Inventory levels can be maintained at a generic level which results in lower stock keeping variants and flexibility it offers in greater. Forecasting is easier at basic level than for a final product. Customizing a product locally means more variety at less cost which paves way for mass customization. Through Localization, postponement strategy is fully achieved which implies that the final product is finished in the local region. The hurdle for efficient SCM is to build lean strategies till the decoupling point and agile strategies further than that point (Christopher 2000). Decoupling point is the point at which demand diffuse through the supply chain. The flow of product upto the decoupling point should be forecast driven and the flow of product after the decoupling point should be demand driven (Christopher 2000). The two decoupling points are material decoupling point where inventory is stocked as its basic form and it should continue as far downstream as likely ; information decoupling point which should be available as far upstream as likely to which data about demand diffuses. Nike should seek ways to handle the two decoupling points thereby becoming more agile than competitors and reducing Bullwhip or Forrester effect. In most of the processes it is the lead time of the suppliers that restricts the firm to be more agile to customers demand. Order to Delivery Cycle: Order cycle time is defined as the time consumed from placement of order by customers to delivery of the product to them. The components of order to delvery cycle are order communication, order entry and processing, order picking or production, transportation, customer receiving. Each of these steps consumes time and any bottlenecks associated with any of the processes would result in increased cycle time. Optimum Production Technology categorizes any activity as bottleneck and non-bottleneck. Nike should focus on bottlenecks to which capacity can be reduced and set-up times can be reduced. The firm should also focus on non-bottlenecks in a similar fashion. SCOR and DCOR model: Supply Chain Operations Research Model is used to analyse the current position of the organizations business processes and functions. It possesses a set of metrics to be evaluated and can be compared with the benchmark data. Design channel Operations Research Model links business processes and functions, metrics, good practices and technology attributes into a single unified model to support communication within design chain partners and to improve the effectiveness of extended supply chain. Sustainability: Nike has taken steps towards sustainable business and the need of the hour is to take proactive steps by focusing on sustainable manufacturing, sustainable product development and developing a sustainable marketplace. Nike should take efforts to identify closed loop models and processes which would enhance sustainability across supply chain. Nike must follow an integrated approach in tackling supply chain by fusing lean, energy, water, waste and compliance teams into one model: sustainable manufacturing and sourcing. Sustainability is the path to forthcoming profitability. (Nike Corporate Responsibility Report 2009 ) Nike deals with many contractors and hence Nike should seek long term sourcing consolidation strategy and rationalize its supply chain functionalities. Nike has to take steps to build a sustainable base , align with strategic manufacturers who are able to deliver high end products and are highly innovative, building relationships with contractors willing to adhere to Nikes corporate responsibility. Fig 1.17: Nikes Supply Chain towards Sustainability Source: Nike Corporate Responsibility Report Environmental Impacts: Waste is produced at every step of supply chain. In FY2006, Nike conducted waste mapping study and discovered that 75% of waste is generated from supply chain activities outside factories and when measured by weight, about 40% of the purchased materials end up as waste. One-third of waste footprint is generated from retail packaging and from shipping packaging. Nike operates 5 waste management centres in 4 countries and about 50 products are transported to material vendors so as to recycle them to materials from which Nike repurchases. Nike should focus to utilize more waste effectively to sustainable uses. The firm should seek ways to reduce waste in design stage rather than seeking ways to reduce waste in downstream supply which would decrease costs and waste materials being generated. Fig 1.18: Percentage of Waste generated across Nikes supply Chain Process Source: Nike Corporate Responsibility Report Fig 1.19: Nikes Reuse-a-Shoe Program Source: Nike Corporate Responsibility Report Fig 1.20: Greenhouse gas emissions across various supply chain process of Nike Source: Nike Corporate Responsibility Report Supply Chain Mapping Tools: Various supply chain mapping functionalities are available which can be utilized by Nike to determine its current position and future growth prospects. Demand Density Mapping: Sales Territory Mapping: Gross Margin Map: Customer/DC Allocation Map: Isochrone Mapping: Centre of gravity mapping: Table 1.3: Supply Chain Mapping Tools Source: Types of Supply Chain Map, 2007. Nike should manage the business process links based on its objective such as product variety, improvising quality, lowering cost across supply chain. Number of links should be monitored and managed with great care any decision to change links should be well analysed before incorporating amendments. Owing to high variability in customers expectations, Nike should focus more on demand management to gain a sustainable competitive position in the volatile market. Nike can utilize Point-Of-Sale (POS) systems and key customer data to effectively manage demand and supply thereby lowering uncertainty and offering smooth flow across supply chain. Order fulfilment activities should be given high priority and customer needs should be satisfied greatly which requires proper integration with Nikes manufacturers, distributors and logistics providers. Nike should seek to partner with fourth party logistic providers depending on the marketplace and other benefits. Innovation is the lifeblood of Nike to stay competitive and hence new product development process needs high attention. Nikes should identify end users articulated and unarticulated needs; identify strategic suppliers and forms efficient links for a smooth supply chain. Nike should leap forward towards Joint planning and control approach so as to effectively operationalize its functions globally. Nike has failed to monitor its contractors factories who have employed underage kids and havent adhered to minimum wage rates. Owing to this, Nikes brand names have been associated with child labour and Nike has to face loads of labour rights issues which defamed its brand. Nike has been really doing well in managing its supply chain integration. However if it maps and analyzes every bit of linkages across the chain and takes corrective actions, it can gain a well established position in the market and thereby reducing the cost by a large amount. Conclusion: The mapping of SCM process results in understanding the existing issues and paves way for defining solutions. Identifying the critical members of the supply chain, kind of functionalities to be connected and what nature/degree of integration is necessary for each link are key factors that require deep insight. The goal of SCM is to create the highest possible value not only for the specific firm but across the supply chain including end-consumers. Aligning the product supply with their appropriate supply chain is also vital for increasing sales. Amplification caused by uncertainty can be reduced

Global Connections Essay -- Research Papers Internet Communication Ess

Global Connections The cyberculture of the World Wide Web has created virtual communities by means of bulletin boards. These bulletin boards give any individual the ability to instantly publish their thoughts and advice on a particular subject to a mass audience. This capability to connect with strangers across the globe, as well as the ability to publish to a mass market without the support of a large publishing house was once impossible. The introduction material to the Future of Print Culture series at Benoit College in February of 1997 stated, â€Å"Before the advent of the internet, writers who were not published by major editing firms had little hope of reaching a mass audience. Now thousands of readers can be reached with the touch of a button.† Today the World Wide Web gives anyone with web access the ability to publish their words and communicate with strangers instantly, as well as globally. New kinds of international communities are created by this new type of communication. These virtual communities are built around groups of people who probably did not know one another before meeting on line. They are often organized around specific interest or affinities; for example car enthusiast, adventure seekers, sports fans, teachers, etc. They are usually inhabited by people who do not live close enough to meet face to face regularly. (Rheingold, Mobil Virtual Community) The technology of the cyberculture has not only created a new type of community but has had an interesting effect on the way people communicate. In her essay The Virtual Driving Forces in the Virtual Society, Magid Igbaria states that, â€Å"Electronic interactions in which people don’t know each other make new kinds of communication p... ... Future of Print Culture, 14-15 February 1997: On-Line. Internet: 16 June 2003. Available WWW: http://www.beloit.edu/~confer/print.html Igbaria, Magid. â€Å"The Virtual Driving Forces in the Virtual Society.† Communications of the ACM, December 1999, Vol. 42, No. 12. Murali, J. â€Å"Weblogs: Instant Publishing.† 29 March 2001: The Hindu On-Line. Internet. 16 June 2003. Available WWW: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/03/29/stories/082 90001.htm Rheingold, Howard. The Virtual Community, Electronic Version. Internet. 16 June 2003. Available WWW: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/1.html. Chapter 1 Sosonoski, James. â€Å"Hyper-readers and their Reading Engines.† Tribble and Trubek. 400-409 Tribble, Evelyn B. and Anne Trubek, eds. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. New York: Longman, 2003.

Female Genital Mutilation: Long Term Psychological Effects Essay

Female Genital Mutilation, or Female Circumcision as sometimes called, is the partial or complete removal of the female clitoris immediately after birth, few years after birth (early childhood), or several years after birth (adolescence). Originally, female genital mutilation was practiced to ensure female virginity until marriage; as it was discovered that by the partial or complete removal of the clitoris, a female's sexual urge is minimized and, therefore, a girl could have more control over her sexual desires. Because virginity was and remains a very crucial factor in almost every society, circumcision was invented way in the past before any of the Heavenly Religions appeared. In fact, the most traditional and conservative type of circumcision is the Pharoanic type (Infibulation), where the complete removal of the clitoris occurs and the vulva walls are stitched together leaving a small opening for urination and menstrual discharge. Nowadays, however, it continues to be practiced in Africa and the Middle East mostly due to social forces. New reasoning developed through the years to keep the ritual going on. The many reasons given for the practice are bewildering and unfounded in any scientific or medical fact. They fall into four main categories: psycho-sexual, religious, sociological and hygienic. Among the psycho-sexual reasons is a belief that the clitoris is an aggressive organ that threatens the male organ and even endangers babies during delivery. It is believed that if a baby's head touches the mother's clitoris during birth, the child will be born with a low IQ. Hence, a girl who is not circumcised, is considered 'unclean' by local villagers and thus unmarriageable. A girl who does not have here clitoris removed is considered a great danger and ultimately fatal to a man if her clitoris touches his penis. Also, the circumcision issue is seen as a form of beauty. It is seen as aesthetically beautiful, as genitals are disfiguring and ugly in their natural state (Real Net, 2). In short, nowadays the practice isn't done to explicitly mean that girls are untrustable, but because, presently, the woman's clitoris is considered to be an ugly part in a woman's body and perceived to be harmful in many ways. And not long ago, Sigmund Freud wrote 'The elimination of clitorial sexuality is a necessary precondition for the developm... ...found in the understandably screwed up countries of northern and western Africa. And if you come to the west and do this, they'll throw your ass in jail (hopefully) forever.† In defense for such an offensive article came out an article from an Arabic Doctor, who refused to reveal his identity, saying that of course he approved of that girl being circumcised. And here are some of the things that he wrote where the girl gains from being circumcised: â€Å"* It raises her status in her community, both because of the added purity that circumcision brings and the bravery that initiates are called upon to show. * It confers maturity and inculates positive character traits, including the ability to endure pain and a submissive nature. * The circumcision ritual is an enjoyable one, in which the girl is the center of attention and receives presents and moral instructions from her elders. * All impure tissue is removed and the girl is sewn up until her wedding night.† This is how significant the psychological part of it is. No matter how much descent education people get, if they have routed traditions they will always find ways to approve of them even if they are clear disasters.

Religion, Creation Stories, and Creation Myths Essay -- Theology Relig

Religion, Creation Stories, and Creation Myths One of the fundamental questions that religions seek to answer is that of origin. How was man put on earth? Why and from what was he created? Who created him? What does his creation imply about the status of human beings? Some or all of these questions are answered by a religion’s creation stories. Every religion’s creation myths attempt to give solutions to problems present to that religious society. Because of this, each religion may have one or more creation stories, each of those different from one another in the questions they ask and the answers they give. Genesis In the Western world, the most well-known creation story is in Genesis (Myth A), in the Old Testament of the Bible. Surprisingly, even the Bible does not relate only a single account of Creation. In the book of Genesis itself, one can find two versions of the Creation of the world that are similar in idea, but different in content and detail. The story in Genesis I claims that God created the world and everything comprising it in six days. On the first day, God created Day and Night. Next came Sky, then Earth, and then Stars and Sun on the fourth. The fifth day was used to create water and sky dwelling creatures, and finally, on the sixth day, God created all the animals of Earth, finishing with mankind. In this version of the creation story, God created man and woman together, on the sixth day. The seventh day was Sabbath, saved for rest. However, another version of Creation exists in Genesis II, which relates the more popular story of Adam and Eve. Genesis II starts by telling how God rested on the seventh day and then goes into elaboration of the creation of mankind. This seems to imply ... ...telligent species in the universe. We cannot possibly fathom what plan this higher power has, or even if a plan exists, and any attempts to do so would be futile. Instead, we must live this life doing what we believe to be true and right, ideas we ourselves created and so only we can live by. Works Cited Deussen, Paul. The Philosophy of the Upanishads. New York: Dover Punblications, 1966. Eliade, Mircea. Essential Sacred Writings from Around the World. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1967 Freund, Philip. Myths of Creation. New York: Washington Square Press, 1965. Heidel, Alexander. The Babylonian Genesis. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954. The Holy Bible. King James Version. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2000. The Rig Veda: An Anthology. Betty Radice, ed. London: Penquin Books, Ltd, 1981.

Anthropologists and Ethics

Anthropologists should as much as possible avoid taking part in the facilitation of peace during armed conflicts, especially where troops—peace keeping or combating ones—are involved. If fact, these researchers should consider postponing work regarding ethnic conflicts because the environment could not be conducive for research and their own safety (Eltringham, 2002).The bitterness between the warring groups can easily make it hard for these researchers to carry-out their work without bias, which could lead to wrong reports that may escalate conflicts further. Besides that, it has to be understood that most of the anthropologists that undertake such projects are not locals; they are foreigners from western countries. Their presence could raise eyebrows in some quarters because some locals could have feelings that some western forces are somehow involved with the conflict.The time frame for researchers’ presence could also lead to rushed studies that are not well prepared. Take the Kenyan conflict for instance. The country’s chaos started after presidential elections were supposedly ridged on December 27, 2007 and has already shown signs of subsiding (BBC, 2008). The first three weeks of January 2008 were the most chaotic in the country’s history. Around 300, 000 people were rendered homeless and close to 2, 000 killed (Baldauf, 2008).Luckily, the warring groups have come together to form a coalition government, an act that has resulted to return to normalcy in most parts of the East Africa’s biggest economy. Now imagine that anthropologists went there in January to work along the Kenyan police force that was involved with quelling uprisings all over the nation. The anthropologists would have started to talk with the youths regarding the cultural history or practices that could have caused the skirmishes.Owing to the fact that the country has 42 ethnic groups (Chanoff, 2008), the venerable anthropologists’ would h ave received 42 different answers. But what if such studies were done in a longer timeframe rather than the two months of chaos? There is only one answer: anthropologists would have, of course, gotten different answers, but would have a chance to cross reference and know the true answers from the wrong ones.The results that could degenerate from researchers’ work could lead to more chaos, because there was no time to get the correct information for their study. Working at the right time frame is therefore necessary for anthropologists to get conclusive studies, because they would have learnt different aspects that would help remove some bias.In Kenya’s case, no single anthropologist could claim to have understood the cultural roots or historical perspectives of the Kenyan 42 tribes in only two months.The short period of time and the working conditions for anthropological analysis that could help understand possible causes and solutions in these conflicts brings out som e ethical concerns that will be detailed in the sections that follows. These ethics are borrowed from the American Anthropological Association (AAA) Code of Ethics (AAA, 2006).

What Makes You Who You Are

The perennial debate about nature and nurture–which is the more potent shaper of the human essence? –is perennially rekindled. It flared up again in the London Observer of Feb. 11, 2001. REVEALED: THE SECRET OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR, read the banner headline. ENVIRONMENT, NOT GENES, KEY TO OUR ACTS. The source of the story was Craig Venter, the self-made man of genes who had built a private company to read the full sequence of the human genome in competition with an international consortium funded by taxes and charities.That sequence–a string of 3 billion letters, composed in a four-letter alphabet, containing the complete recipe for building and running a human body–was to be published the very next day (the competition ended in an arranged tie). The first analysis of it had revealed that there were just 30,000 genes in it, not the 100,000 that many had been estimating until a few months before. Details had already been circulated to journalists under embargo. B ut Venter, by speaking to a reporter at a biotechnology conference in France on Feb. , had effectively broken the embargo. Not for the first time in the increasingly bitter rivalry over the genome project, Venter's version of the story would hit the headlines before his rivals'. â€Å"We simply do not have enough genes for this idea of biological determinism to be right,† Venter told the Observer. â€Å"The wonderful diversity of the human species is not hard-wired in our genetic code. Our environments are critical. † In truth, the number of human genes changed nothing.Venter's remarks concealed two whopping nonsequiturs: that fewer genes implied more environmental influences and that 30,000 genes were too few to explain human nature, whereas 100,000 would have been enough. As one scientist put it to me a few weeks later, just 33 genes, each coming in two varieties (on or off), would be enough to make every human being in the world unique. There are more than 10 billio n combinations that could come from flipping a coin 33 times, so 30,000 does not seem such a small number after all.Besides, if fewer genes meant more free will, fruit flies would be freer than we are, bacteria freer still and viruses the John Stuart Mill of biology. Fortunately, there was no need to reassure the population with such sophisticated calculations. People did not weep at the humiliating news that our genome has only about twice as many genes as a worm's. Nothing had been hung on the number 100,000, which was just a bad guess. But the human genome project–and the decades of research that preceded it–did force a much more nuanced understanding of how genes work.In the early days, scientists detailed how genes encode the various proteins that make up the cells in our bodies. Their more sophisticated and ultimately more satisfying discovery–that gene expression can be modified by experience–has been gradually emerging since the 1980s. Only now is it dawning on scientists what a big and general idea it implies: that learning itself consists of nothing more than switching genes on and off. The more we lift the lid on the genome, the more vulnerable to experience genes appear to be.

A Comparison of Two Poems by Black Poets Essay

Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes are two of the most recognized African American poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Countee Cullen’s â€Å"Yet Do I Marvel† and Langston Hughes’ â€Å"I, Too† are comparable poems in that their similar themes are representational of the authors’ personal tribulations of racial inequality. By comparing these two poems, we get a glimpse of the reality of the injustices of racism during the 1920’s by two prominent Black poets. Cullen and Hughes were born within a year of each other, and consequently wrote these poems in the same year (1925). This is significant because it reflects the time in which racial inequality was prominent. Both poets were struggling with their emotions of being African American minorities in a society of White superiority. Their poems reflect the injustice of racism, which is especially revealed in Langston Hughes’ poem â€Å"I, Too†. Most poems are filled with symbolism and abstract ideas, and â€Å"I, Too† is an example of such. This poem does not rhyme, nor meter patter truly be measured. In order to understand and grasp the meaning behind this poem, it needs to be read a few times. Sometimes certain aspects of a poem can be overlooked. For example, in the first line of the poem, â€Å"I, too, sing America† (line 1), Hughes cleverly uses an allusion as he is referring to Walt Whitman’s, â€Å"Song of Myself†, which entails similar themes. In Hughes’ poem, the speaker is addressing the country as a whole. Hughes’ use of excellent language and vivid imagery effectively expresses the speaker’s feelings towards racism. This poem explores the injustices of racism through the eyes of a black servant working for a white family. He tells us that he is sent to the kitchen when company comes. Every time he is sent away, instead of demonstrating anger, he laughs. This demonstrates that the speaker is a strong character with self poise. Hughes’ uses metaphor when he says â€Å"tomorrow† (line 8). He is indicating that the word â€Å"tomorrow† implies the future. He has faith that in the course of time, everyone will become equal, â€Å"Tomorrow, /I’ll be at the table /When company comes. /Nobody’ll dare/Say to me, /†Eat in the kitchen,†/Then.† (lines 8-14). The speaker then explains that America will be ashamed of having discriminated against him and other  African Americans. The point that Hughes is trying to make clear is that African Americans are Americans too, thus they should not be discriminated against for the color of their skin. The themes represented in Hughes’ poems are similar to those exemplified in Countee Cullen’s poem, â€Å"Yet Do I Marvel†. However, a major difference between the poems lies in the format. Cullen’s poem is a sonnet, with a rhyming scheme of ABAB BCBC DD EE FF GG (every other line rhymes, with the exception of the last two which rhyme consecutively). The natural flow of this poem helps us (the reader) become more engaged in Cullen’s anguish filled portrayal of racial injustices. Like Hughes’ poem, Cullen’s poem is also about the battle of racial identity, yet in addition, he uses religion and mythology to further express the speaker’s struggle with racial injustices. Although the theme of racial inequality is common in both poems, Cullen’s poem focuses more on the speaker’s continual reference to religion and the justification of Gods will. Unlike the hope that the speaker explicated in Hughes’ poem, the speaker in Cullen’s poem starts out having faith in God, â€Å"I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,† (line 1). However, he later contradicts his faith in God due to the hardships of discrimination that African Americans endured in the last lines of the poem, â€Å"Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: /To make a poet black, and bid him sing!† (lines 13-14). We see the speaker’s lack of faith in God throughout the poem, which emphasizes his frustration and affliction with having to endure the everyday struggles of being discriminated against for being black. He uses mythology to further depreciate God’s actions by disagreeing with His punishments, â€Å"†¦declare/ If merely brute caprice dooms Sisyphus/ To Struggle up a never-ending stair.† (lines 6-8). The narrator is essentially symbolizing that God’s punishments are unfair cruelty, not only towards figures from Greek mythology, but towards him as well. The speaker considers God’s actions to be unreasonable, and we see this in his bitter words, â€Å"Inscrutable His ways are, and immune/ To catechism by a mind too strewn† (lines 9-10). The comparison of Cullen’s â€Å"Yet do I Marvel† and Hughes’ â€Å"I, Too† lies strongly in the last two lines of Cullen’s poem. He finally tells us, straightforward, where his animosity lies. In the last two lines, he vehemently tells us that he finds it unfair that because he is a black poet, his voice will not be heard; he will be ignored and pushed aside, just like the speaker in Hughes’ poem. However, the two poems also contrast with each other in that Cullen’s poem concludes with the speaker reiterating his unequivocal feelings of inferiority and lack of faith. Hughes’ poem closes in a more positive manner wherein the speaker asserts his faith and pride in declaring his right to be treated equal. Even with all of the contrasting aspects of these two poems, they do share a principle theme of racial inequality. Additionally, in these two poems Hughes and Cullen were addressing the mass society. They wanted to voice their concerns with racial discrimination. With Hughes’ use of vivid imagery and Cullen’s use of symbolism, they collectively utilized the art of poetry to effectively illustrate and express personal hardships of African Americans.

Polymer Concrete

POLYMER COCNCRETE 1. Introduction Despite being thought of as a modern material, concrete has been in use for hundreds of years. The word concrete comes from the Latin concretus, which means â€Å"mixed together† or compounded. Concrete is an extremely popular structural material due to its low cost and easy fabrication. Concrete is made up of sand or stone, known as aggregate, combined with cement paste to bind it. Aggregate can be of various sizes. It is broadly categorized as fine (commonly sand) and coarse (typically crushed stone or gravel).The greater proportion of concrete is aggregate which is bulky and relatively cheaper than the cement. As much of the constituents of concrete come from stone, it is often thought that concrete has the same qualities and will last forever. Concrete has been called artificial stone, cast stone, reconstructed stone and reconstituted stone. However, concrete must be thought of as a distinct material to stone. It has its own characteristic s in terms of durability, weathering and repair. Concrete is a relatively durable and robust building material, but it can be severely weakened by poor manufacture or a very aggressive environment.A number of historic concrete structures exhibit problems that are related to their date of origin. It is referred that the concrete is porous. The porosity is due to air-voids, water voids or due to the inherent porosity of gel structure itself. On account of the porosity, the strength of concrete is naturally reduced. It is conceived by many research workers that reduction of porosity results in increase of strength of concrete. Therefore, process like vibration, pressure application spinning etc. , have been practiced mainly to reduce porosity.All these methods have been found to be helpful to a great extent, but none of these methods could really help to reduce the water voids and the inherent porosity of gel which is estimated to be about 28%. The impregnation of monomer and subsequen t polymerization is the latest technique adopted to reduce the inherent porosity of the concrete to improve the strength and other properties of concrete. These problems can be solved by application of polymer in concrete construction. A polymer is a large molecule containing hundreds or thousands of atoms formed by combining one, two or occasionally more kinds of small molecule (monomers) into chain r network structures. The main polymer material used in concrete construction are polymer modified concrete and polymer concrete. Polymer modified concrete may be divided into two classes: polymer impregnated concrete and polymer cement concrete. The first is produced by impregnation of pre-cast hardened Portland cement concrete with a monomer that is subsequently converted to solid polymer. To produce the second, part of the cement binder of the concrete mix is replaced by polymer (often in latex form).Both have higher strength, lower water permeability, better resistance to chemicals, and greater freeze-thaw stability than conventional concrete. Polymer concrete (PC), or resin concrete, consists of a polymer binder which may be a thermoplastic but more frequently is a thermosetting polymer, and a mineral filler such as aggregate, gravel and crushed stone. PC has higher strength, greater resistance to chemicals and corrosive agents, lower water absorption and higher freeze-thaw stability than conventional Portland cement concrete.The pioneering work for the development of polymer concrete was taken up by United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). The initial exploratory works carried out at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in cooperation with USBR and US in Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) revealed great improvement in compressive strength, permeability, impact resistance and abrasion resistance. The development of concrete-polymer composite material is directed at producing a new material by combining the ancient technology of cement concrete with the mod ern technology of polymer chemistry. 2.Types of Polymer Concrete Four types of polymer concrete materials are being developed presently. They are: a) Polymer Concrete (PC) b) Polymer Cement Concrete (PCC) c) Polymer impregnated Concrete (PIC) d) Partially Impregnated and surface coated polymer concrete The composites using polymer can be: polymer concrete (PC), when the binder is a polymer that replaces the cement paste, polymer modified concrete (PMC/ PCC), when the polymer is used near cement, polymer impregnated concrete (PIC), when the cement concrete is treated by soaking and polymerization.These composites have some advantages compared to ordinary cement concrete such as,rapid hardening, high mechanical strengths, chemical resistance, etc. Among the disadvantages is their high cost. The utilization domain of polymer concrete is continuously diversifying: PMC is widely used for floor and bridge overlays; acrylic latex has been used to produce mortars which can be sprayed on arc hitectural finish ; PIC was first widely used in bridge decks, pipes and conduits for aggressive fluids, floor tiles, building cladding, hazardous waste containment, post-tensioned beams and slabs, and stay-in place formwork.Polymer concrete is similar to ordinary cement concrete because it contains fine and coarse aggregates, but the hydraulic binder is totally substituted with a polymer material. The aggregates are bounded together by the polymer matrix. Polymer concrete contains no cement or water. The performances of polymeric concrete depend on the polymer properties, type of filler and aggregates, reinforcing fiber type, curing temperature, components dosage, etc. Polymer binder can be a thermoplastic, but more frequently a thermosetting polymer.The polymers most frequently used are based on four types of monomers or pre polymer system: methyl methacrylate, polyester prepolymerstyrene, epoxyde prepolymer hardener and furfuryl alcohol . The aggregates used in dry state can be s ilicates, quartz, crushed stone, gravel, limestone, calcareous, granite, clay, etc. In the composition can be used also the filler. Different types of fine materials can be used such as: fly ash, silica fume, phosphogyps, cinder, etc. Filler, especially fly ash, can improve the properties of polymer concrete . 3. History †¢ PC was used as early as 1958 in the USA to produce building cladding. Both PC and PCC have been in commercial use since the 1950s †¢ PIC was developed and has been in use since the 1970s †¢ Polymer concrete products have been used for decades in engineering construction like machine foundations, in the building industry for facade products and sanitary parts, in electrical engineering for isolation devices and especially in the chemical industry for all types of ducts due to its favourable properties, especially its corrosion resistance as well as its strength and elasticity †¢ The development of polymer concrete products, mostly pipe, dates b ack to the early 1960`s.The objective was to achieve a substantial increase in resistance to chemical attack †¢ With the development of trenchless technologies (micro-tunneling and pipe jacking) in 1970`s, polymer concrete pipes became popular in sewer systems.As such over the past years, the process of production and manufacturing of polymer concrete products like pipes, manholes and structures have been fundamentally improved †¢ Today it is used for cultured marble for counter tops, lavatories, as repair material, overlays for bridge and floors in sport arenas and stadiums, laboratories, hospitals, factories; also precast PC was used for drains, underground boxes, manholes, acid tanks and cells, tunnel lining, shells, floor tiles, architectural mouldings and machine tools and bases 4.Significance †¢ Depending on the materials employed, PC can develop compressive strengths of the order of 140 MPa within hours or even minutes and is therefore suitable for emergency co ncreting jobs in mines, tunnels, and highways †¢ PCC possess excellent bonding ability to old concrete, and high durability to aggressive solutions; it has therefore been used mainly for overlays in industrial floors, and for rehabilitation of deteriorated bridge decks. In the case of PIC, by effectively sealing the micro-cracks and capillary pores, it is possible to produce a virtually impermeable product which gives an ultimate strength of the same order as that of PC. PIC has been used for the production of high-strength pre-cast products and for improving the durability of bridge deck surfaces †¢ PCC possess excellent bonding ability to old concrete, and high durability to aggressive solutions; it has therefore been used mainly for overlays in industrial floors, and for rehabilitation of deteriorated bridge decks. In the case of PIC, by effectively sealing the micro-cracks and capillary pores, it is possible to produce a virtually impermeable product which gives an ult imate strength of the same order as that of PC. PIC has been used for the production of high-strength pre-cast products and for improving the durability of bridge deck surfaces †¢ Polymer concrete (PC) is a mixture of aggregates with a polymer as the sole binder. To minimize the amount of the expensive binder, it is very important to achieve the maximum possible dry packed density of the aggregate. . Polymer Concrete (PC) Polymer concrete is an aggregate bound with a polymer binder instead of Portland Cement as in conventional concrete. The main technique in producing PC is to minimize void volume in the aggregate mass so as to reduce the quantity of polymer needed for binding the aggregates. This is achieved by properly grading and mixing the aggregates to attain the maximum density and minimum void volume. The graded aggregates are prepacked and vibrated in a mould.Monomer is then diffused up through the aggregates and polymerization is initiated by radiation or chemical mean s. A silane coupling agent is added to the monomer to improve the bond strength between the polymer and the aggregate. In case polyester resins are used no polymerization is required. An important reason for the development of this material is the advantage it offers over conventional concrete where the alkaline Portland cement on curing, forms internal voids. Water can be entrapped in these voids which on freezing can readily cracks the concrete.Also the alkaline Portland cement is easily attacked by chemically aggressive materials which results in rapid deterioration, whereas polymers can be made compact with minimum voids and are hydrophobic and resistant to chemical attack. The strength obtained with PC can be as high as 140 MPa with a short curing period. However, such polymer concretes tend to be brittle and it is reported that dispersion of fiber reinforcement would improve the toughness and tensile strength of the material.The use of fibrous polyester concrete (FPC) in the c ompressive region of reinforced concrete beams provides a high strength, ductile concrete at reasonable cost. Also polyester concretes are visco-elastic in nature and will fail under sustained compressive loading at stress levels greater than 50 per cent of the ultimate strength. Therefore polyester concrete should be considered for structures with a high ratio of live load to dead load and for composite structures in which the polymer concrete may relax during long-term loading.Experiments conducted on FPC composite beams have indicated that they are performance effective when compared to reinforced concrete beam of equal steel reinforcement percentage. Such beams utilize steel in the region of high tensile stress, fibrous polyester concrete (FPC) with its favourable compressive behavior, in the regions of high compressive stress and Portland cement concrete in the regions of relatively low flexural stress. Properties of Polymer Concrete: †¢ Due to good chemical resistance and high initial strength and modulus of elasticity, industrial use of PC has been mainly in overlays and repair jobs. Thermal and creep characteristics of the material are usually not favorable for structural applications of PC. †¢ Polyester concretes are visco-elastic and will fail under a sustained compressive loading at stress levels greater than 50 percent of the ultimate strength. Sustained loadings at a stress level of 25 percent did not reduce ultimate strength capacity for a loading period of 1000 hr. 6. Polymer Cement Concrete (PCC) Polymer cement concrete is made by mixing cement, aggregates, water and monomer, such plastic mixture is cast in moulds.Cured, dried and polymerized. The monomers that are used in PCC are: a) Polyster-styrene. b) Epoxy-styrene c) Furans d) Vinylidene Chloride However, the results obtained by the production of PCC in this way have been disappointing and have shown relatively modest improvement of strength and durability. In many cases material s poorer than ordinary concrete are obtained. This behavior is explained by the fact that organic materials (monomers) are incompatible with aqueous systems and sometimes interfere with the alkaline cement hydration process.Recently Russian authors have reported the production of a superior Polymer cement concrete by the incorporation of furfural alcohol and aniline hydrochloride in the wet mix. This material is claimed to be specially dense and non-shrinking and to have high corrosion resistance, low permeability and high resistance to vibrations and axial extension. Washington State University in cooperation with Bureau of Reclamation tested the incorporation of several monomers into Wet Concrete for preparing PCC for fabrication of distillation units for water desalination plants.However, it is reported that only epoxy resin produced a concrete that showed some superior characteristics over ordinary concrete. †¢ The materials and the production technology for concrete in PCC are the same as those used in normal Portland Cement concrete except that latex, which is a colloidal suspension of polymer in water, is used as an admixture. †¢ Earlier latexes were based on polyvinyl acetate or polyvinylidene chloride, but these are seldom used now because of the risk of corrosion of steel in concrete in the latter case, and low wet strengths in the former. Elasto-meric or rubberlike polymers based on styrenebutadiene and polyacrylate copolymers are more commonly used now. Latex: †¢ A latex generally contains about 50 % by weight of spherical and very small (0. 01 to 1 m in diameter) polymer articles held in suspension in water by surface-active agents. †¢ The presence of surface-active agents in the latex tends to incorporate large amounts of entrained air in concrete; therefore, air detraining agents are usually added to commercial latexes. 10 to 25 percent polymer (solid basis) by weight of cement is used in typical PCC formulations †¢ The addition of latex provides a large quantity of the needed mixing water in concrete. †¢ The application of PCC is limited to overlays where durability to severe environmental conditions is of primary concern. †¢ PCC is made with as low an addition of extra mixing water as possible; the spherical polymer molecules and the entrained air associated with the latex usually provide excellent workability. Concrete Mix and Curing: †¢ Typically, water-cement ratios are in the range0. 40 to 0. 5, and cement contents are on the order of 390 to 420 kg/m3. †¢ The hardening of a latex takes place by drying or loss of water. †¢ Dry curing is mandatory for PCC; the material cured in air is believed to form a continuous and coherent polymer film which coats the cement hydration products, aggregate particles, and even the capillary pores. Properties: †¢ The most impressive characteristics of PCC are its ability to bond strongly with old concrete, and to resist the entry o f water and aggressive solutions. †¢ It is believed that the polymer film lining the capillary pores and micro-cracks does an excellent job in impeding the fluid flow in PCC. These characteristics have made the PCC a popular material for rehabilitation of deteriorated floors, pavements, and bridge decks. 7. Polymer Impregnated Concrete (PIC) Polymer impregnated concrete is one of the widely used polymer composite. It is nothing but a pre-cast conventional concrete, cured and dried in oven, or by dielectric heating from which the air in the open cell is removed by vacuum. Then a low viscosity monomer is diffused through the open cell and polymerized by using radiation, application of heat or by chemical initiation. Mainly the following types of monomer are used: a) Methylmethacrylate (MMA) ) Styrene c) Acrylonitrile d) T-butyl styrene e) Other thermoplastic monomers The amount of monomer that can be loaded into a concrete specimen is limited by the amount of water and air that h as occupied the total void space. It is necessary to know the concentration of water and air void in the system to determine the rate of monomer penetration. However, the main research effort has been towards obtaining a maximum monomer loading in concrete by the removal of water and air from the concrete by vacuum or thermal drying, the latter being more practicable for water removal because of its rapidity.Another parameter to consider is evacuation of the specimen prior to soaking in monomer. This eliminates the entrapment of air towards the centre of the specimen during soaking which might otherwise prevent total or maximum monomer loading. The application of pressure is another technique to reduce monomer loading time. 8. Partially Impregnated (or Coated in Depth CID) and Surface Coated (SC) Concrete Partial impregnation may be sufficient in situations where the major requirement is surface resistance against chemical and mechanical attack in addition to strength increase.Even with only partial impregnation, significant increase in the strength of original concrete has been obtained. The partially impregnated concrete could be produced by initially soaking the dried specimens in liquid monomer like methyl methacrylate, then sealing them by keeping them under hot water at 70 C to prevent or minimize loss due to evaporation. The polymerization can be done by using thermal catalytic method in which three per cent by weight of benzoyl peroxide is added to the monomer as a catalyst. It is seen that the depth of monomer penetration is dependent upon following: a) Pore structure of hardened and dried concrete ) The duration of soaking, and c) The viscosity of the monomer The potential application of polymer impregnated concrete surface treatment (surface coated concrete, SC) is in improving the durability of concrete bridge decks. Bridge deck deterioration is a serious problem everywhere, particularly due to an abrasive wear, freeze-thaw deterioration, spalling and corrosion of reinforcement. Excellent penetration has been achieved by ponding the monomer on the concrete surface. Due care should be taken to prevent evaporation of monomer when ponded on concrete surface.A 5 cms thick slab, on being soaked by MMA for 25 hours produced a polymer surface coated depth of 2. 5 cms. Significant increases in the tensile and compressive strengths, modulus of elasticity and resistance to acid attack have been achieved. The application of monomer for field application like in bridge decks poses more problems than laboratory application. A typical surface treatment in the field can be done in the following manner. a) The surface is dried for several days with electrical heating blanket. b) Remove the heating blanket and cover the slab with 0. 4 cum oven-dried light-weight aggregate per 100 sqm. c) Apply initially 2,000 to 3,000 ml of the monomer system per square meter. d) Cover the surface with polyethylene to retard evaporation. e) Shade the surface to prevent temperature increase which might initiate polymerization prematurely, that may reduce penetration into the concrete. f) Add periodically additional monomer to keep the aggregate moist for minimum soak time of 8 hours. g) Apply heat to polymerize the monometer: Heating blanket, steam or hot water can be used for this purpose. Some of the promising monomer systems for this purpose are: ) Methylmethacrystalate (MMA), 1% Benzoyl peroxide (BP), 10% Trimethylopropane thimethacrylate (TMPTMA). b) Isodecyl methacrystalate (IDMA), 1% BP, 10% TMPTMA c) Isobutylmethacrystalate (IBMA), 1% BP, 10% TMPTMA BP acts as a catalyst and TMPTMA is a cross linking agent which helps in polymerization at low temperature of 52%C. 9. Properties of Polymer Impregnated Concrete Since polymer impregnated concrete (PIC) is one of the most important category of polymer concrete, the properties of PIC are discussed below. Stress – Strain Relationship The stress strain curve for MMA –impreg nated concrete tested to failure is shown in fig. elow.. PIC has a nearly linear stress strain relationship to failure. There is very little departure from linearity upto 90% of ultimate strength and there is no abrupt change at the proportional limit. The stress strain curves for Styrene TMTMPTMA impregnated concrete also show the same characteristics as for MMA impregnated concrete. The modulus of elasticity increased from 27 GPa for un-impregnated specimen to 49 GPa for MMA impregnated specimens. [pic] Compressive Strength The effect of polymer loading on the compressive strength in PIC is given in the following figure.Using methylemethacrystalate as monomer and with a polymer loading of 6. 4%, strength of the order of 144 MPa have been obtained using radiation technique of polymerization. (The control specimen had compressive strength of 38 MPa). The compressive strength obtained with thermal catalytic process was 130 MPa. [pic] [pic] Styrene impregnated specimens exhibit simila r trends, except that the strength levels were somewhat lower. The polymerization by radiation method produced a concrete of higher strength than the produced by thermal catalytic method.Perlite concrete impregnated with MMA and polyester styrene have also shown considerable increases in compressive strengths. It is found the higher strengths are obtained with MMA impregnated sample than with polyester styrene. The average compressive strength for a 1:8 non-air entrained perlite concrete samples, impregnated with MMA was 56 MPa for polymer loading of 63% compared to control specimen of compressive strength 1. 2 MPa. Tensile Strength The increase in tensile strength in the case of PIC has been observed to be as high as 3. times that of the control specimen for polymer loading of 6. 4% MMA i. e. impregnated concrete have shown tensile strength of the order of 11. 6 MPa compared to the strength of control specimen of 3 MPa using radiation process of polymerization. Thermal catalyticall y initiated polymerization, produced concrete with tensile strength 3. 6 times that of the control specimen and 7. 3% less than that of radiation produced concrete. Polymer Concrete : Polyester resin concrete with binder continent varying from 20 to 25% have shown tensile strengths in the range of 9 to 10 MPa at 7 days.Polymer Cement Concrete: Polymer cement concrete using latex has given tensile strength of 5. 8 MPa with a latex / cement ratio of 0. 25; compared to the control specimen of 4. 4 MPa strength. The increase in tensile strength is very modest. Flexural Strength Polymer impregnated concrete with polymer loading of 5. 6% MMA and polymerized by radiation have shown flexural strength 3. 6 times more than that of the control specimen, i. e. the flexural strength was increased to 18. 8 MPa from 5. 2 MPa. Polymer Concrete (PC) Polymer resin concrete has been reported to give flexural strength of the order of 15 MPa at 7 days.Creep Compressive Creep deformation of MMA impregnat ed concrete and styrene-impregnated concrete has been observed to be in direction opposite to that of the applied road i. e, Negative Creep. After the typical initial movement during load application, these concretes expand under sustained compression. The reason for this negative creep in PIC is not very clear though it may be possible that it is due to residual stresses generated in the concrete after polymerization of monomers. The increased volume may also be due to phase changes induced by pressure. This behaviour has been noticed at a relatively loiw loading of 5. MPa. Otherwise creep deformation of PIC concrete is generally one-tenth of conventional concrete, when compared on a basis of deformation per unit load. Creep deformation generally stabilizes after two to three months. Shrinking due to Polymerisation Shrinkage occurs through two stages of impregnation treatment i. e. , through initial drying and through polymerisation. The shrinkage through polymerisation is peculiar to PIC and could be several times greater than the normal drying shrinkage. It has been seen that for the same base material, different monomer systems cause different amounts of shrinkage.It is expected that the shrinkage due to polymerisation will be less for a base that has higher modulus of elasticity. Durability The saturation of the hydrated cement with corrosion resistant polymer probably acts as a protective coating and results in excellent improvement in durability. a) Frees Thaw Resistance: Polymer impregnated concrete has shown excellent resistance to freeze-thaw MMA impregnated and radiation polymerized specimens have withstood 8110 cyclens of freeze-thaw compared to 740 cycles in case of unimpregnated concrete. Even partially impregnated concrete withstood 2310 cycles. ) Resistance to Sulphate Attack: Keeping a failure criteria of 0. 5% expansion, it has been observed that there is atleast 200 percent improvement in the resistance of polymer impregnated concrete and 89 % improvement in the case of partially impregnated concrete over the conventional concrete. c) Acid Resistance: The acid resistance of PIC has been observed to improve by 1200 percent when exposed to 15% HCI for 1395 days. Water Absorption A maximum reduction of 95 percent in water absorption has been observed with concrete containing 5. 9 percent polymer loading. Co-efficient of Thermal Expansion:Polymer impregnated concrete has higher co-efficient of thermal expansion compared to conventional concrete. Compared to the unimpregnated concrete having a value of 4. 02 X 10-6, a 5. 5% MMA, radiation polymerized concrete has a co-efficient of thermal expansion of 5. 63 X 10-6, and styrene impregnated specimens have shown a value of 5. 10 X 10-6. Resistance to Abrasion Polymer impregnated concrete has shown appreciable improvement in resistance to abrasion. A 5. 5% MMA impregnated concrete has been found to be 50 to 80 per cent more resistance to abrasion than the control specimen.Even s urface impregnated concrete slabs have shown an improvement of 20 to 50%. Wear and Skid Resistance. Though there may be apprehension that polymer filled voids in polymer concrete might produce a slippery surface, on actual wear track test, it was found that the treated surfaces show excellent skid resistance compared to the unimpregnated surfaces. The wear after 50,000 simlated vehicular passes has been less than 0. 025cm. Fracture of Polymer impregnated Concrete Polymer impregnation of concrete changes its microstructure radically resulting in a change in the cracking behaviour of the impregnated concrete under load.Impregnation improves the strength of the mortar matrix and also the strength of the paste-aggregate interface by elimination of microcracks. Polymer probably enters the aggregates also and forms a network of polymer fibres across the interface, thus strengthening it. Radiographic studies have shown that micro cracking starts first around 70 to 80% of the ultimate load, very often in the mortar phase. When an advancing crack reaches an aggregate, it does not follow the aggregate boundary as in ordinary concrete, but usually propagates through the aggregate.This indicates that the paste aggregate interface bond is significantly improved by polymer impregnation. It has been observed that PIC indicates nearly linear behaviour to failure, which is typical of brittle material. The brittle nature of PIC presents a severe design limitation. It would be ideal to produce a material with the slow failure mode of normal concrete while retaining the high strength and modulus of elasticity of PIC. One method to achieve this ideal is to adjust the past aggregate bond so that the failure mode is through the interface like in ordinary concrete.In principle, this can be achieved by using a very strong and tough aggregate, so that the advancing crack is diverted round to the paste-aggregate interface. The fracture mode of PIC can also be altered by incorporating a small quantity (1% by volume) of fibres in the matrix. The fibres do not affect the modulus of elasticity of concrete due to their low concentration, but serve to inhibit crack propagation through the mortar by acting as crack arrestors. 10. Sequence of Operations Drying and evacuation:The time and temperature needed for removal of free water from the capillary pores of moist-cured products depend on the thickness of the elements. At the drying temperatures ordinarily used (i. e. , 105 C), it may require 3 to 7 days before free water has been completely removed from a 150- by 300-mm concrete cylinder. Temperatures on the order of 150 C can accelerate the drying process so that it is complete in 1 to 2 days. Soaking the dried concrete in a monomer: The in situ penetration of concrete in the field may be achieved by surface ponding, but precast elements are directly immersed in the monomercatalyst mixture.Commercial monomers contain inhibitors that prevent premature polymerization dur ing storage; the catalyst serves to overcome the effect of the inhibitor. Sealing the monomer: To prevent loss of monomer by evaporation during handling and polymerization, the impregnated elements must be effectively sealed in steel containers or several layers of aluminum foil; In the rehabilitation of bridge decks this has been achieved by covering the surface with sand. Polymerizing the monomer: Thermal – catalytical polymerization is the preferred technique.The time for complete polymerization of the monomer in the sealed elements exposed to steam, hot water or air, or infrared heat at 70 to C may vary from a few to several hours. In the case of a MMA-benzoyl peroxide mixture, no differences in strength were found between specimens polymerized at C with hot air for 16 hr or with hot water for 4 hr. 11. Application of Polymer Impregnated Concrete Keeping in view the numerous beneficial properties of the PIC, it is found useful in a large number of applications, some of wh ich have been listed and discussed below: a) Pre-fabricated structural elements. ) Pre-stressed Concrete c) Marine works d) Desalination Plants e) Nuclear Power plants f) Sewage works-pipe and disposal works. g) Ferro cement products h) For water proofing of structures i) Industrial applications a) Pre-fabricated Structural Elements: For solving the tremendous problem of Urban Housing shortage, maintaining quality, economy and speed, builders had to fall back on pre-fabricated techniques of construction. At present due to the low strength of conventional concrete, the pre-fabricated sections are large and heavy, resulting in costly handling and erection.These reasons have prevented wide adoption of pre-fabrication in many countries. At present, the technique of polymer impregnation is ideally suited for pre cast concrete, it will find unquestionable use in industrialization of building components. Owning to higher strength, much thinner and lighter sections could be used which enabl es easy handling and erection. They can be even used in high rise building without much difficulties. b) Pre-stressed Concrete: Further development in pre-stressed concrete is hindered by the inability to produce high strength concrete, compactable with the high tensile steel available for pre-stressing.Since PIC provides a high compressive strength of the order of 100 to 140 MPa, it will be possible to use it for larger spans and for heavier loads. Low creep properties of PIC will also make it a good material for pre-stressed concrete. c) Marine Works: Aggressive nature of sea water, abrasive and leaching action of waves and inherent porosity, impair the durability of conventional concrete in marine works. PIC possessing high surface hardness, very low permeability and greatly increased resistance to chemical attack, is a suitable material for marine works. ) Desalination Plants: Desalination of sea water is being resorted to augment the shortage of surface and ground water in many countries. The material used in construction of flash distillation vessels in such works has to withstand the corrosive effects of disilted water, brine and vapour at temperature up to 1430 C. Carbon steel vessels which are currently in use are comparatively costly and deteriorate after prolonged use. Preliminary economic evaluation has indicated a savings in construction cost over that of conventional concrete by the use of PIC. ) Nuclear Power Plants: To cope up with the growing power requirements for industrial purposes, many countries are resorting to nuclear power generation. The Nuclear contained vessel (Pressure vessel) is a major element, which is required to withstand high temperatures and provide shield against radiations. Another attendant problem of nuclear power generation is the containment of spent fuel rods which are radioactive over long period of time to avoid radiation hazards. At present heavy weight concrete is being used for this purpose, which is not very eff ective.PIC having high impermeability coupled with high strength and marked durability provides an answer to these problems. f) Sewage Disposal Works: It is common experience that concrete sewer pipes deteriorate due to the attack of effluents and when buried in sulphate infested soils. Further in the sewage treatment plant, concrete structures are subjected to severe attack from corrosive gases particularly in sludge digestion tanks. Polymer-impregnated concrete due to its high sulphate and acid resistance, will prove to be a suitable material in these situations. ) Impregnation of Ferro-cement products: The ferro-cement techniques of construction is being extensively used in the manufacture of boats, fishing trawlers, domestic water tanks, grain storage tanks, man hole cover, etc. , Ferro cement products are generally this (1 to 4 cms) and as such are liable to corrode. Application of polymer impregnation techniques should improve the functional efficiency of ferro-cement products . h) Water Proofing of Structures: Seepage and leakage of water through roof and bathroom slabs, it a nagging problem and has not been fully over come by the use of conventional water proofing methods.The use of polymer impregnated mortar should solve this problem. i) Industrial Applications: Concrete has been used for floor in tanneries, Chemical Factories, dairy farms and in similar situations for withstanding the chemical attack, but performance has not been very satisfactory. The newly developed PIC will provide a permanent solution for durable flooring in such situations. 12. Case Studies: Two case studies are presented as follows: 1. Properties of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Concrete studied by Marinela Barbuta and Maria Harja 2. Polymer Concrete for Structural Restoration and Corrosion Protection of Concrete Support Columns.I. Properties of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Concrete studied by Marinela Barbuta and Maria Harja The experimental results of studies regarding polymer concrete with cellulose fibers are presented. The compositions used in the present study derive from a previous one which investigated a large number of compositions using different dosages of resin and filler. The mechanical characteristics such as: compressive strength, flexural strength and split tensile strength were investigated on fiber reinforced polymer concrete made with different dosages of resin and filler, the fiber dosage being constant for all mixtures.Materials The experimental researches on polymer concrete were made by using the following materials: polymer, fly ash as filler, crushed aggregates and fiber type ARBOCEL. The polymer was type epoxy resin, called ROPOXID, made in Romania by POLICOLOR Bucharest . The hardener was type ROMANID 407, also made by POLICOLOR Bucharest. The fly ash (FA) from the power plant CET Holboca, Jassy, was added to the fine aggregates. The fly ash is an inorganic waste produced by burning pulverized coal in power stations. Fly ash consists of many small, glass-like particles ranging in size from 0. 01 to 100 ? m.Chemically FA contains oxides, hydroxides, carbonates, silicates, and sulphates of calcium, iron and aluminum. The content in carbon is given from loss ignition. FA is a heterogeneous mixture of amorphous and crystalline phases and is generally considered to be a ferroaluminosilicate element. The mineralogical, physical and chemical properties of FA depend on the nature and composition of the coal, conditions of combustion, type of emission control devices, storage and evacuation methods. Storage methods may affect weathering rates, especially under humid conditions where soluble constituents may be leached.The principal characteristics of FA are: colour gray to black, function of carbon unburned, particles sizes between 0. 01 to 100 ? m; the shape of particles is spherical, specific surface is between 4,800. . . 5,200, the density is between 2,400 and 2,550 kg/m3 [ The aggregates were used in two sorts: 0. . . 4 mm and 4. . . 8 mm, with continuous granulosity, obtained from crushed river gravel by S. C. EMBERON SRL Jassy. The ARBOCEL fibers are natural cellulose fibers, produced by J. Rettenmaier & S? ohne GMBH. ARBOCEL is produced from cellulose in various qualities (fiber lengths, thicknesses, purities, etc. The properties of ARBOCEL cellulose fibers are: mean fiber length of 10 ? m, completely safe, insoluble in water and organic solvents, resistant to dilute acids and bases. The fiber was used in proportion of 3% from the mass of resin plus the hardener. Experimental Samples For the study of polymer concrete properties nine compositions (BPFF) were prepared in the experimental program (Table 1). [pic] The polymer concrete with different compositions as is given in Table 1, was prepared by mixing firstly the resin with hardener, then after complete homogenization the fibers were introduced in the mixture as shown in fig below [pic] Fig 1. Cellulose fiber mixing with resin. The fly ash w as added to the mix of aggregates and the resin and aggregates were mixed by the mechanical mixer. After complete mixing, the polymer concrete was poured in formworks. For each composition the density was determined. The following mechanical characteristics were experimentally tested: compressive strength on cube sample of 70. 7 mm sizes, flexural strength and split tensile strength on prismatic samples of sizes 210? 70? 70 mm, according to standard prescriptions. [pic] Fig. 2. – Samples of polymer concrete with fibers. Results and DiscussionsAccording to EN 12390/2001 the mechanical characteristics of polymer concrete with cellulose fiber, experimentally determined namely: compressivestrength (fc), flexural strength (fti) and split tensile strength (ftd) are given in Table below . [pic] From the experimental results the following observations can be made: a) The values of compressive strengths for polymer concrete with fibers (Fig. 3) vary between 62. 62 MPa (for BPFF7) and 46. 41 MPa (for BPFF2). Fig. 3. – Variation of compressive strength for polymer concrete with fiber. [pic] Fig. 3. – Variation of compressive strength for polymer concrete with fiber. ) With the increasing of resin and fly ash dosage the compressive strengths increase (Figs. 4 and 5). [pic] Compressive strength, MPa Fig. 4. – Variation of compressive strength for polymer concrete with fiber vs. the resin content, for 6. 4% FA. [pic] Fig. 5. – Variation of compressive strength for polymer concrete with fiber vs. the FA content, for 12. 4% resin. d) The values of flexure strengths for polymer concrete with fibers (Fig. 6)vary between 17. 57 MPa (for BPFF9) and 13. 55 MPa (for BPFF8), so, the decrease of resin dosage results in the increase of flexure strength. pic] Fig. 6. – Variation of flexural strength for polymer concrete with fiber. [pic] [pic] Fig. 7. – Variation of split tensile strength for polymer concrete with fiber: a – vs. t he resin content; b – vs. the sample number. d) The values of split tensile strengths for polymer concrete with fibers (Fig. 7) vary between 6. 94 MPa (for BPFF9) and 4. 29 N/mm2 (for BFF7); the increase of resin dosage results in the increase of split tensile strength. The experimental researches lead to the following observations: a) For the maximum epoxy resin dosage (16. %) compressive strength is reduced near minimum value, the flexure strength is medium, but the split tensile strength has high value. b) For the minimum epoxy resin dosage (12. 4%) compressive strength is reduced under the medium value, the flexure strength is also reduced, and the split tensile strength has value over the medium. c) For the maximum fly ash dosage (12. 8%) compressive strength and flexurestrength are medium, but the split tensile strength is near the highest value. d) For the minimum fly ash dosage (6. 4%) compressive strength and flexure strength are under the medium and the split tensil e strength is near medium value. ) For the same dosage of epoxy resin the maximum compressive strength and flexure strength were obtained for maximum fly ash dosage. It results that for increasing the compressive strength and flexure strength at same dosage of resin and fiber, it must be used the maximum dosage of fly ash. f) For the split tensile strength it must be used a medium fly ash dosage; The values of mechanical characteristics of polymer concrete are smaller then those of mechanical characteristics obtained for polymer concrete with silica fume and polymer concrete with fly ash . The author concluded that The experimental researches concerning the polymer concrete had investigatedthe mechanical characteristics of epoxy polymer concrete prepared with cellulose fibers and fly ash as filler. †¢ When the same dosage of cellulose fibers is used, the content of resin must be increased. Also for obtaining good mechanical properties the filler is used with higher dosages. â⠂¬ ¢ The experimental values of mechanical strengths for polymer concrete with cellulose fibers were smaller then that for polymer concrete without fibers. This type of fibers is not a good choice for polymer concrete reinforcement. II.Polymer Concrete for Structural Restoration and Corrosion Protection of Concrete Support Columns by David E. Snider and Heather M. Ramsey of Sauereisen Inc. A large copper mine and refinery in the western United States had a dilemma. Their cell house, which contains over 1,500 cells, each holding more than 20,000 gallons of electrolyte, had experienced severe corrosion and structural degradation of the support columns for the tanks. These columns support the cells in their solvent extraction and electrowinning process. This process entails immersion of a stainless steel cathode or â€Å"starter plate† into the electrolyte.Pure copper is deposited onto the starter plate during this 10-day digestion process. The collected copper is then further r efined at a separate location. Over time, highly acidic leakage from the cells had corroded the support columns to the point that their ability to adequately withstand the imposed load was in doubt. Additionally, the refinery desired to upgrade the facility’s ability to withstand seismic activity. The leakage, primarily copper sulfate and 25% sulfuric acid at a pH of 1. 0 or less, corroded not only the concrete but more significantly the reinforcement bar (rebar) encased in the concrete.Corrosion of the rebar resulted in an increase of internal pressure due to expansion of the corrosion products, therefore putting the concrete in high tensile stress. The direct effect of this stress was cracking and spalling of the concrete. Figure 1 shows a typical degradated column requiring restoration. [pic] The original construction of the columns used the rebar spaced 6-inches on center vertically and 18-inches on center horizontally. The refinery’s standard repair procedure was to remove corrosion products from the concrete and steel and then to top them with a polymer-modified portland-cement mortar.This standard repair method requires two (2) to three (3) days per column, and although temporarily affective, did not meet the company’s desire for a long-term solution. They decided upon a new approach using a polymer concrete (PC), which is a bisphenol A based-epoxy. This material is designed for maximum flowability, mechanical properties and chemical resistance. The PC repair system utilizes the polymer concrete for encapsulation, chemical protection, mechanical support and resistance to physical abuse. Figures 2 illustrates the method by which the stainless steel rebar was attached to the columns after surface-preparation.Stainless steel rebar was imbedded into the concrete floor using an epoxy mortar. Channels were saw-cut vertically in the concrete column. These channels provided a recess into which the rebar was bent and then secured into place with the epoxy mortar. Grouting of the rebar with this high strength epoxy mortar also served to provide tensile stress relief. By lowering stress relief, corrosion rates are reduced. [pic] Figure 2. Stainless steel rebar bent and grouted into the channels. To further ensure structural integrity and to upgrade seismic capabilities, the company chose to use fiberglass reinforcement (FRP) strips and wraps nder the PC. The strips were installed vertically on the columns and a fiberglass fabric was wrapped around the columns horizontally. The columns were formed and the polymer concrete was poured into place completely encapsulating the columns, the rebar and the FRP. This method required two (2) days per column. To date, 75 columns have been repaired using this method. Figures 3 and 4 show the forming and pouring of the PC. Figure 5 shows the PC after the form has been removed and the FRP that was applied to the columns. [pic] Figure 3. The forms placed around the column. . [pic] As me ntioned earlier, an important property of the PC is the flowability. The test for this property is ASTM C-143 and measures the â€Å"slump† of the polymer concrete. (Figure 6). A slump of 6 inches is considered to be flowable. This particular polymer concrete exhibits a slump of 8-inches, which is very flowable. Figures 6, 7 and 8 illustrate the flowability of the polymer concrete mixture. Table 1 lists some of the other physical properties of the polymer concrete used on this repair that were important considerations. [pic] Property at 7-days Value Property at 7- Days | Value | |Density |135 pounds/cft (2. 2gm/sq. cm) | |Compressive Strength |12,000 psi (84. 4 N/sq mm) | |Flexural Strength |3,000 psi (21. 1 N/ Sq. mm) | |Modulus of Elasticity |1. 08x 10(6)psi 7600 N/Sq mm | |Shrinkage` |0. 9 % | |Tensile Strength |2,400 psi (16. 9 N/Sq. mm) | The PC is roughly three times as strong as a portland cement mix (about 4,000 psi (281 kg / sq. cm. 28. 1 N/sq mm)) and is not chemic ally affected by the electrolyte. These properties make it an ideal product for the column restoration. As expected, none of the 75 columns repaired to date have exhibited any signs of failure and have required no maintenance since the repair program commenced in early 2007.Coatings will typically have a service life of 8 to 15 years depending upon the exposure and physical abuse. However, in this case, typical service life of coatings was six months. Their service life is also affected and somewhat limited as a result of application thickness. Coatings are generally applied at thicknesses ranging from a few mils up to a few hundred mils. Polymer concretes, however, are applied at a minimum thickness of 1 inch and may be applied as thick as 18 inches. The thickness of barrier coatings determines the overall permeability, which is a measure of water vapor’s ability to pass through a material.If the coating is less than 250 mils, the method used to determine permeability is bas ed on the water-vapor transmission (WVT) test ASTM E-96 or ASTM D-1653. Permeance is calculated from WVT. Permeability is obtained by multiplying permeance by thickness. A permeability of 10-8 (1. 49 x 10- 17 grams/Pa†¢s†¢m) or less is generally considered to provide a good barrier coating. Also due to the thickness, and other considerations, the service life of a polymer concrete is longer and requires far less maintenance. Experience with PCs by this manufacturer has shown no failures after 15 years of service.Laboratory evaluations coupled with field observations indicate the service life of PCs to be typically greater than 25 years. Figure 9 illustrates the completed column, including a protective topcoat for the FRP reinforced concrete. Although not needed for functionality, the topcoat was extended over the PC for aesthetics and coating integrity. [pic] Figure 9. Completed column repair. Many users of polymer concretes will entirely replace portland concrete with a f ull thickness of the polymer concrete. This is particularly true when extended downtimes are prohibitive. The lengthy cure time for standard portland based ement prior to receiving a protective coating is unacceptable for many facilities. After placement, polymer concretes may be placed into full chemical service after a 24-hour cure. Furthermore, with the strengths achieved with PC, it is usually possible to reduce the overall thickness to about ? of that commonly used with portland concretes. Typical thicknesses for PCs range from 1-inch to 4-inches. Polymer concretes may be engineered, formed and placed in the same manner that one would employ with a portland concrete structure. They also are reinforced in the same manner as portland concretes.Polymer concrete thicknesses are typically much less than that of the Portland concrete, therefore smaller diameter rebar is often used. At a thickness of 1 inch, one would use lesser thick rebar instead of a reasonably higher thick rebar c ommonly found with portland concrete constructions. Due to the ease of installation, the facility’s local preferred contractor was able to perform the work. The author concluded that Polymer concretes, which do not contain portland cement, have demonstrated tenacity as a protective barrier material in this difficult application and many others.This application required corrosion protection from a severely aggressive electrolyte, as well as protection from physical abuse. Other essential requirements were a system affording both ease of use and a quick turnaround time. Polymer concretes are also proving to be cost effective alternatives to using portland cement-based concretes with chemical-resistant topcoats for corrosion protection. The cost of maintenance for polymer concretes per year of service life is significantly less than that of concrete with applied barrier coatings, which may require multiple re-applications over the same number of years of service.Conclusion: 1. T he major factor that has been responsible for the extensive use of polymer-based materials in civil engineering is their advantages, viz . increased tensile strength, compressive strength, freeze-thaw durability, and decreased water permeability to a negligible value. 2. Owing to its excellent resistance to chemical attack i. e sulphate attack, acidic attack, saline water, radiation from nuclear substances polymer concrete has great potential over Portland cement for the design of structures in such industries, desalination plants, nuclear plants, underwater structures, overlays in bridge decks. . There are many type of application of repairing material available such as grout, motar, concrete, sprayed concrete and cement based material. Among these, resin based materials are performed much better than the others. 4. The cost of maintenance for polymer concretes per year of service life is significantly less than that of concrete with applied barrier coatings, which may require mult iple re-applications over the same number of years of service. 5. Extended use of pre stressed elements could be permitted with the reduced permeability possible. 6.The incorporation of dyes with the plastics used for polymerization opens another aesthetic aspect of concern to civil engineers and architects, as does the potential size decrease for greater span/depth ratios. 7. The only barrier to be focussed on is its higher cost in comparison to OPC and further research for economic production of polymer concrete would help to overcome this problem. References 1. â€Å"Properties of Fiber Reinforced Polymner Concrete†, Msrinela Barbuta and Maria Harja, Univerisity Technica, Tomul LIV(LVIII) Fasc,3, 2008, Constructii Architectura. . Muttukumar M. , Mohan D. J. , Polymer Res. 12, (2004) 3. â€Å"Polymer Concrete for Structural Restoration and corrosion protection of Concrete Support Columns† of David E. Snider and Heather M. Samsey of Sauereisen Inc. , 4. â€Å"Polymer concrete and its potential in the Construction industry†, Luke M. Snell,1 H. Aldridge Gillespie, and Robert Y. Nelson, Department of Civil Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, and School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, University of Oklahoma Norman