Half Of A Yellow Sun Chimamanda Adichie English Literature Essay

Half Of A Yellow Sun Chimamanda Adichie English Literature Essay In the wake of perusing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies exciting novel, Half of a Yellow Sun is certifiably not a customary war story. It is a story whose characters live in a changing wartime climate, putting forth a valiant effort to keep that condition under control. And keeping in mind that the desolates of the Biafran war are notable, they don't show themselves in unsurprising or one-note ways here. From perusing the audits, I discovered this is the creators second novel. It is composed with astonishing sympathy and the common effortlessness of a typical narrator, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters cleared up in the choppiness of the decade. In this abstract investigation, I plan on looking at parts of the scholarly components that Adichie joins the extent that her composing style and her explanations behind portraying certain components in certain light. I additionally plan to separate a few portrayals and social components of her novel that I iden tify with in attempting to comprehend between racial/class strife. At last, I take a gander at how Adichie changes her characters all through the novel. In spite of the fact that this investigation may not follow a plainly characterized stream, much like the novel does, have confidence that I consider every contingency. The characters and scene are strikingly painted - multi year old Ugwu is utilized as a houseboy for a college teacher loaded with progressive energy. Olanna is the teachers delightful paramour, who has deserted her life of benefit in Lagos for a dingy college town and the appeal of her new darling. What's more, Richard is a timid youthful Englishman seeking Olannas twin sister, a confounding figure who won't have a place with anybody. As Nigerian soldiers advance and the three must run for their lives, their beliefs are seriously tried as are their loyalties to each other. As I would see it, the focal topic rotates around moral obligation, about the finish of imperialism, about ethnic loyalties, and about class and race. Adichie prosecutes the outside world for its unconcern and tests the self-importance and obliviousness that sustained the contention. In light of on political occasions in nineteen-sixties Nigeria, this novel spotlights on Olanna who succumbs to the imperious scholastic whose political feelings veil his own shortcomings; in the mean time, Kainene gets engaged with a timid, diligent British white man who battles to discover his place inside this contention however he relates to the Biafrans. After a progression of slaughters focusing on the Igbo individuals, the best possible universe of the two couples separates. Half of a Yellow Sun is worried about class and race and ethnicity which appear to assume the greatest job in the connections of characters to each other. Ugwu is just thirteen when he starts filling in as a houseboy for Odenigbo, however he is one of the most astute and perceptive characters in the novel. His quality all through influences the perusers experience of the story since he is at first a guileless untouchable glancing in however before the finish of the novel he makes his mark. Fortunate or unfortunate, life and the war circumstance change him into a veteran and he annals his encounters during the war. The manners by which Adichie uncovers the distinctions in social class among her characters is likewise socially pertinent. There are the diverse social presumptions made by instructed Africans like Odenigbo, nouveau riche Africans like Olannas guardians, uneducated Africans like Odenigbos mother, and British ostracizes like Richards ex Susan. Adichie appears to make jokes about specific parts of her characters, take Odenigbo for example; the war transforms him from taught political debater to a filthy alcoholic and truly shows the force move in jobs. When he was the indifferent figure in the novel, Olanna appears to have that spot while he deteriorates because of the war situation. In perusing the novel, I couldnt help yet express an association between the Holocaust and the Biafran circumstance. I ended up addressing for what reason are the Igbo being slaughtered by the Hausa? I could just ascribe their contention to ancestral feelings of disdain and competitions. The tale clarifies that these competitions have been strengthened by British obstruction providing the Hausa with cash, weapons and ammo. Additionally passed on by certain selections all through the book, the British needed to save Nigeria as they saw fit a resentment of France and to propagate their enormous market. They likewise revamped the constitution to give the north authority over the focal government and even fixed the decisions in support of themselves. Given the historical backdrop of Nigeria and Britains support during the war, the thrashing of Biafra appears to be an inescapable result however I can comprehend why a people abused would revolt. Adichie breaks the sequential arrangement of her story so she can postpone the disclosure that Baby isn't Olannas kid and that Olanna had a short contact with Richard. The impacts of these disclosures recount a social issue. The babys mother dismisses her, Odenigbos mother dismisses her for not being a child, yet Olanna gives her actual boldness in tolerating the infant as her own. Adichie tries showing Olannas white collar class outlook. She is disturbed at the cockroach eggs in her cousins house and is hesitant to let Baby blend in with town kids since they have lice, yet before the finish of the novel her special standpoint changed by the war. It is striking that a lady so youthful could compose a novel of this degree. There is a human face on these battles, and being Nigerian-Igbo I can identify with them. Giving testimony regarding viciousness and demise changes individuals in the story. Adichie handles portrayals of scenes of viciousness, passing, and starvation in a practically ruthless and emotionless manner. I can just picture what experiences Ugwus mind being that he partakes in the assault of the bar young lady at that point discovers that his sister was additionally assaulted. Richard, then again, appears as though he needs to be African, figures out how to communicate in Igbo, and says we when he discusses Biafra. In spite of the fact that the Biafran warriors are not dazzled, it appears to be a respectable signal to need to be an Igbo man. Perusing this book has developed my comprehension of Biafra specifically and war when all is said in done each character make troublesome good decisions. I end up being least thoughtful to Olanna when she cheats in counter, to Ugwu when he assaults the bar-young lady, to Eberechi for trading favors for security from the officer, even to Odenigbos mother when she pursues Olanna out of the house. Every one of the significant characters additionally manage the topic of personality what their identity is, how they need to be? It is obvious that the situation in any culture directs how individuals act and respond and legitimize their conduct. For this situation, endurance between two clans was the impetus in a formerly steady nation, language strengthen the novel㠢â‚ ¬Ã¢ ²s topics of racial and social division. For instance, Ugwu㠢â‚ ¬Ã¢ ²s love of the English language, or the blending of tongues and words all through the novel. Indeed, even in Richard㠢â‚ ¬Ã¢ ²s character, he appears to be an untouchable. I feel compassion toward him and in spite of the fact that his character includes additional understanding into the Nigeria/Biafra war, I believe that he is a lot of like a phantom wandering the whole novel searching for a spot to fit in. That is the reason it is especially dismal toward the finish of the novel when Kainene doesnt return as she would have been the main individual to permit Richard to acclimatize into the way of life. All in all, the story is one of endurance and recognition from an Igbo point of view; it is significant story to retell. The story starts as Ugwus aunt portrays to Ugwu his new business: Master was somewhat insane; he had spent such a large number of years perusing books abroad, conversed with himself in his office, didn't generally return welcome, and had a lot of hair. It closes with Ugwus devotion of his book: For Master, my great man. I can just consider how Ugwus connection to his lord has changed over the span of the story, it fitting that Ugwu, and not Richard, ought to be the person who composes the tale of the war and his kin. It was a shock to find that Ugwu was the creator of The World was Silent When We Died? I discovered this an extraordinary turn and I didnt see it coming. Since devotion and treachery is one of the prevailing subjects all through the novel, the key characters double-cross one another, or themselves over and again yet the more prominent danger from an ou tside foe assists with placing things in context and empower them to excuse and proceed onward and accommodates unification. I found the finish of the story tragic however settling since the Igbos came back to their homes, I can't picture escaping from my home because of racial or innate oppression.

Stir The Coffee Essay -- essays research papers

Through the steam of my espresso I could see a smaller than expected arrangement of gleaming red shoes swinging to and fro underneath the counter at the cafe. A young lady had been sitting on the red stool since I had shown up, simply sitting watching the cook flip flapjacks throughout the morning with a develop feeling of interest. All over, and here and there, again and again, the player consistently framed into tasty strong manifestations, some with blueberries, some with chocolate, some outright and straightforward. The cook brandished a superb cover that appeared as though it had been around perpetually, cooked a million hotcakes, and still lived to tell its story of the oils and garnishes and syrups it had found in its day. The old man’s red shirt could be seen through the consume gaps in the cover, as though they were war wounds. The cook didn’t appear to mind the warmth of the oven, or mix at all when the consuming oil from the dish spat at his substance. He was covered in a film of oil, margarine and hitter, and just sometimes parted from his cooking customs to wipe his brow with the sopping wet cloth that was thrown over his left shoulder. Every flapjack was a fragile creation that the elderly person arranged with extraordinary thought and exertion, making every one great, however none the equivalent. Never would the man be contrasted with any machine-each one was unique, each one extraordinary. The uncommon of the day was nutty spread hotcakes, in spite of the fact that I didn’t see anyone request that one. The young lady with the sparkling shoes, who had been there sinc...

The Abominable Snowman

The Abominable Snowman At MIT, we think big. We apply engineering principles whenever possible. We build snowmen so large that they require the use of ramps, ice skates, and a team of friendly tourists. My friend Julia 08 shares her IAP snowman experience below: (Note: I promise that I have a non-snow related entry in the works, for those of you who are sick of hearing about it.) On Sunday when I heard there was going to be yet another snow storm hitting Boston, I called up my friend Dan 10. Did you hear about the snowstorm tomorrow? You know what this means….Battle #3!. Dan and I are in the midst of a multi-part snow battle. The first two battles involved grape throwing, running around the basements, playing in the secret ninja courtyard, and most importantly lots of snow! By the time I woke up the next morning 6 inches of beautiful packing snow graced the MIT campus ready to be made into snow fighting artillery. When I met up with Dan in Killian court we decided to make a giant snowman in front of the great dome instead. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. First, we had a little competition to see who could roll the bigger snowball. Then we teamed up to roll the base which Dan insisted had to be at least as tall as me. To my surprise, creating this giant snowball was just as exhausting as a snowball fight! There we were, in t-shirts, sweating and struggling to push the giant ball back towards the center of Killian. We were getting pretty tired and literally losing momentum. Sometimes the ball would roll back over me after we attempted to budge it from rest. Luckily, a large group of Korean tourists ran out into the courtyard to enjoy the snowy scenery, and a few even lent us their strength to push our snowball base. The next task was getting the middle portion of the snowman up on top of the base. After several failed attempts to lift the beast and attempting to create a snow staircase, we realized that we were going to need more helping hands. I pleaded with random people walking through lobby 10 for help, and ran into my friend Marie 11. While I was off rolling the snowball for the head, Dan and Marie came up with an ingenious idea. There are these tall and thin green stakes connected by ropes surrounding Killian court. Using just three stakes, we built a makeshift ramp on the side of the 5 feet tall base. Using our engineering skills and atlas-like strength we finally managed to push the middle snowball on top of the base. None of us could believe that it actually worked, and more importantly that it stayed! Ghassan G, who stopped by earlier to take some pictures, returned and helped us stick the head on top of the now 9 feet tall monster. How did we get the head on? Simple, Ghassan stood on a chair. Finally, Maries friend, Eva 11 helped us shape, decorate, and put the final touches on our giant snowman! After 3 hours of intense working out, some thinking, and plenty of fun we had just made the biggest snowman of our lives. Julia 08 and Dan 10 roll their massive snowballs across Killian Court. Marie 11 hands Ghassan G some rocks for the snowmans eyes. Dan 10, Julia 08, Snowman, Eva 11, Marie 11, Ghassan G. The final product.

Human Growth Hormone The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Human growth hormone | Who wants to live forever? | HGH for sale, HGH supplements, HGH pills, HGH for men, HGH for women, buy HGH 2017 at www.hghworld.us People have been searching for the eternal life forever, but the researchers agree: It does not exist. Nevertheless, many desperately try to fight against old age. Last new weapon is called human growth hormone - or just HGH (human growth hormone). The dream of eternal youth is reserved for the gods, but we humans have always sought immortality. Like Dorian in Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray , giving her soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. Or Orlando in Virginia Wolf s novel of the same name, after order from Elizabeth I decides never to grow old and live for†¦show more content†¦But at some point even the most skilled plastic surgeons must throw the scalpel in the ring and let nature take over and what do you do? In the American magazine Vanity Fair, one could recently read a story about the latest in discipline to cheat death. For up to $ 10,000 a year, clinics can be treated with human growth hormone - human growth hormone or just HGH (human growth hormone) - either manually or with the help of doctors injecting into the body. The result should be unbelievable according to users: marked abs, less wrinkles, greater sex drive and much more energy. HGH (human growth hormone) - or just H, as the substance is called on street level - according to Vanity Fair, has begun to circulate among the A-list celebrities in Los Angeles. Especially among those who approach or just passed the 50 years. More than 50-year-old actors who still have marked abdominal muscles and visible veins on the upper arms are undoubtedly HGH (human growth hormone), says an anonymous movie agent, who allegedly represents at least one of the major Hollywood stars. Another notability in the City of England, the former model and actor, Alana Stewart, dares to showcase his use of HGH (human growth hormone). On her birth certificate, 1945 - in the Hollywood context, the Middle Ages and not

The Journal Reality Bites An Investigation Of The Genre...

While reading the journal Reality Bites: An Investigation of the Genre of Reality Television and Its Relationship to Viewers’ Body Image researchers utilized a unique methodological approach, this study investigated subtypes of reality television (RTV) to study the influence of exposure to RTV on body image (body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness) as compared a more traditional weekly report of RTV viewing. Young adults (N  ¼ 472) completed online surveys measuring their exposure to Reality TV and perceptions of their own body image. Four types of RTV were uncovered. Regression analyses using these 4 factors demonstrated that exposure to competition-based RTV shows (e.g., Dancing with the Stars) predicted increased body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. On the other hand, the weekly self-report of RTV viewing did not reveal any relationships between weekly exposure to RTV and body image. These findings underline the need for cultivation-based media studies that in clude program-based measures of genre-specific media exposure, especially when seeking to capture media effects related to RTV. In the study before researchers can understand the impact of reality programs on viewers, they must agree on how to define exposure to this genre. This would be defining the purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to explore the conceptualization of RTV through the use of a program-centered method of determining distinct subtypes of this emerging genre. The RTVShow MoreRelatedEffects of Rap Music on Crime14002 Words   |  57 Pages(Best 1990; Tatum 1999; Tanner 2001; Sacco and Kennedy 2002; Alexander 2003). Whether rap has been reviled as much as jazz and rock ‘n’ roll once were is a moot point; rather more certain is its pre-eminent role as a problematic contemporary musical genre. Direct correspondence to Julian Tanner, Department of Social Science University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, M1C 1A4. Telephone: (416) 287-7293. E-mail: Julian.Tanner@utoronto.ca.  © The University ofRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesand researches in the area of management accounting. Her current research interests cover innovation/knowledge management, hybridity, and the leadership of the accounting and finance function. She has published in Behavioral Research in Accounting; Journal of Management Accounting Research; Pacific Accounting Review; Australian Accounting Review; Accounting, Organizations and Society; and Management Accounting Research, as well as contributing chapters to books. In 2002, Jane received the FMAC ArticlesRead MoreWhat Are the Difficulties of Translating Humour from English Into Spanish Using the Subtitled British Comedy Sketch Show Little Britain as a Case Study?12271 Words   |  50 Pagesslapstick humour with only two British Comedy programmes that made it on screen which were ‘The Benny Hill Show’ and also ‘George and Mildred’ (Spanish Magazine,n.d). Pe dalino (2006) also confirms the amount of slapstick humour shown on Spanish television stating â€Å" unconvincing transvestites with balloons for boobs are still very much in vogue as slapstick humour†. It can be said that the Spanish audience seek more visual humour than verbal humour; however there is a vast assortment of dubbedRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesIntra-Caribbean 1 Southern Cone 1 Other 2 Sources: Imre Ferenczi and Walter Willcox, eds., International Migrations, vol. 1, Statistics (New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1929); Adam McKeown, â€Å"Global Migration, 1846–1940,† Journal of World History 15 (2004): 155– 189; Jose C. Moya, â€Å"Immigration, Development, and Assimilation in the United States in a Global Perspective, 1850–1930,† Studia Migracyjne [Warsaw] 35, no. 3 (2009), 89–104. Vietnam, Java, and the Philippines

Organizational Design Research Worksheet Free Essays

Heinz-Divisional Structure-SuccessfulThe H. J. Heinz Company, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the most global of all U. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Design Research Worksheet or any similar topic only for you Order Now S. -based food companies and one of the world’s largest food-processing companies. In more than 50 countries Heinz is considered number one or number two in the market position. Beside ketchup, Heinz also sells other products ranging from sauces, meals, snacks, and infant/nutrition. Among them are our 15 Power Brands, which comprise approximately 70% of our global sales. A divisional structure is when divisions operate as autonomous businesses under the larger corporate umbrella. Because of Heinz using the divisional structure they are able to evaluate the performance of each of their departments individually. Because divisions are relatively autonomous, Heinz can take action with little to none disruption to its remaining operations. Divisions can maintain a healthy competition among themselves by sponsoring separate campaigns, different identities, etcetera. Because Heinz chose a divisional structure they have had their divisions work well together because each area is focusing on a single product and there is not the stress of trying to conduct projects across the board. Heinz’s divisional structure has lead to a culture being formed which has contributed to higher employee morale and a better knowledge of the goals and vision that Heinz is trying to accomplish. Wal-mart-International organizational structure-SuccessfulMany businesses today manufacture, purchase, and sell abroad and that’s referred to as international organizational structure. Wal-mart has been around since 1962 with the first store being in Rogers, Arkansas. The company expanded to 276 stores in 11 states by the end of the decade. When Wal-mart expanded outside the U. S. in 1992 they put a special team in place to take care of the logistics. Because of the success they had introduced a small international department oversee the overseas expansion. By the time 2002 arrived, international operations were so important to Wal-mart that the international division was split up into other geographic areas. We all know that Wal-mart has become a powerhouse worldwide and implem enting an international structure has allowed them to stay ahead of competitors. Because of this venture Wal-mart is leading the way to a more global economy and market. Chris-Southwest Airlines-SuccessfulWhen one thinks about Southwest Airlines they often will think about the one of the company’s recent slogans, â€Å"You are now free to roam the country. † However, Southwest Airlines represents more than just a catchy phrase in the world of organizations who often dare not say that another organization is doing well much less better than them, company’s often use Southwest Airlines as a benchmark, a standard, for their own organizations. Southwest Airlines view has been that of not being the norm and shaking it up a bit. They take a different approach when it comes to organizational design. The goals of the airline were to make a good profit, retain employees and give the consumer reasonably cheap flying. Southwest’s visionary organizational design of treating everyone like a person, even their employees. Southwest has become the nation’s fourth largest carrier from a customer statics standpoint. Southwest operates nearly 2,800 flights per day. Southwest has the best on-time record for ensuring that their flights leave and arrive â€Å"on-time. In addition, Southwest Airlines has the fewest customer complaints in the airline industry. In short Southwest is the only Airline that has consistently returned a profit for it’s shareholders since the company’s inception in 1973. What is the Southwest secret? The secret for Southwest is really not a secret at all rather it is based in concepts based in organizational design. Southwest uses innovation in their offering of their pr oducts and services. Southwest is simply more innovative in it’s ability to be open to new ideas and technology and simple though processes. For instance, many airlines would not sign on to fly to the â€Å"Red-neck Riveria,† but Southwest has agreed to not only sign on but to begin flights to and from it’s major hubs Baltimore, and Love’s Field. This shows innovation in that Southwest’s history has always been create flights to what other major airlines such as American or Delta just scoff at. This increase in flexibility shown by Southwest has put them above their competitors and increased overall productivity thus they have provided great returns for investors. Southwest has also shown innovation in their concept of organizational design in their approach to where they flew. By providing low fares, southwest made it easier and affordable for more people to fly. They became known as the low fare, no frills airline. One of Southwest’s organizational concepts is based upon the principle that if the customer is satisfied the company will make money. Southwest’s additional areas for differences in organizational design are in their management. Their management believes that their people are Southwest’s greatest asset. Southwest prides itself on hiring people who are not just good in their field but experienced in their field. Their mission is to have managers do things by the book and follow company policy, while leaders follow their own intuition, which may in turn be of more benefit to the company. Southwest Airlines has in many arenas achieved the recognition as being the best airline operating within the United States; and on a more personal note it has won my recognition as being the best airplane for my family and me. Chris-Google-Successful When Google went public in 2004, their history of creativity and innovation had long been a fixture and set in place. Larry Page and Sergey Brin who were Ph. d students that worked together on the Stanford Digital Library Project who incorporated Google in 1998. Since that time of incorporation in a friend’s garage in Menlo Park, CA. Google has created a culture of â€Å"why not? † They are known for their innovative culture by allowing their employees a creative and safe place where they can create and share and exchange ideas. They foster this environment in a number of ways. One of the first ways is by looking at how they approach â€Å"failure. † Failure is not considered failure at Google rather they believe that failures are lessons learned. In fact Google specifically hires individuals who â€Å"fail fast. † According to Davila, Epstein and Shelton (2006) i. e. fail fast so that not many resources are spent on developing the new ideas and fail often so that more ideas are tried and tested to eventually come-up with a successful product or idea. An additional concept by Davila, Epstein and Shelton again comes from the â€Å"top down† methodology in that when Google is in the candidate process they include in their job recruitment description that if hired the candidate will have up to 20%-35% or more time dictated solely to one’s need to create and innovate. While most companies would relegate that time to basing it solely on what would make their company look good Google is different in that they do not specify that it has to be â€Å"related† to Google business. Rather the management team at Google believes that it is a â€Å"time to step-away† from their daily grind and just â€Å"get away. † If Sherman Computer Repair was to benchmark Google they would find that Google’s management team is what makes the difference for Google. In addition, they would be able to easily implement Google’s technique of â€Å"fast failing† and learning from their mistakes. In addition, Sherman Computer Repair would also be able to learn from Google’s example of taking time in their day of just getting away to be innovative rather than always wielding control of their employees. How to cite Organizational Design Research Worksheet, Essays

Importance Of Equity - Quality - Efficiency And Acceptability In The Hea

Question: Discuss about the Importance of Equity, Quality, Efficiency and Acceptability in the Healthcare Service System. Answer: Introduction The midwifery is popularly known as with women healthcare services where the midwives help service users in maternity situations like pregnancy, labours, post-birth services etc. The midwifery is kind of nursing and emergency services in maternity situation (Kirkham, 2010). Although being a small part of healthcare scenario the effectual and functional midwifery services play a very importance role in overall healthcare process because they are directly connect with birth and death situations. There are more than 23,000 midwives employed in Australian midwifery services (Gaskin, 2010). In this study, learner has analysed the importance of equity, quality, efficiency and acceptability in the Australian midwifery service delivery system. The study will detail the importance of evaluating midwifery healthcare services on the basis of quality, quality, efficiency and acceptability. An overview of Australian Healthcare system Wiliam (2010) studied an overall Australian Healthcare system considered to be a mixed healthcare system with providers from both public and private sector. The Australian healthcare system is a collaboration of different healthcare activities and processes whose aim is to support, promote, maintain, restore and deliver health to living organisms. This healthcare system is influenced by various internal and external environmental factors that form its overall structure, functionality, and outcomes. The Australian healthcare system follows The Beveridge Model where government or public finances the healthcare system via tax payment. Australia holds 3rd position for life expectancy, after Iceland and Switzerland in the International Life expectancy Data (Gaskin, 2010). The Rankings of healthcare, Australian healthcare system is best in effective care, safe care, patient-centred care, efficiency and productivity. Generally, the Australian populations holds a good health status as well as life expectancy of 84 for female and 80 for males (Starfield, 2012). The burdens of chronic heart diseases are only issue that create a high mortality rate of Australian (Kirkham, 2010). Figure1: Structural presentation of Australian Healthcare system (Source: Australia's health system (AIHW), 2016) Midwifery services in Australian Healthcare system The midwifery and nursing services being a very important part of primary healthcare where they work to deliver quality healthcare irrespective of the users case, creed, colour and other external identifications. In last few years, Country made a significant improvement in its maternity safety and quality services. The maternity services that include antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care play a very important role in this improvement in healthcare services. Australia is considered to be one of the best paternity services providing country at the global context (Gaskin, 2010). Importance of performance analysis The performance of healthcare system is analysed by specific healthcare assessment or evaluation process that determines the effectiveness of service delivery process. The multidimensional healthcare depends on various factors that work to deliver personal health care and services. Therefore, achievement of healthcare performance requires analysis in a multidimensional manner where the outcomes are analysed on the basis of specific evaluation criteria (Kirkham, 2010). According to Regan Wong (2010) any healthcare system whether it be midwifery or clinical care is evaluated as per their equity, quality, efficiency and acceptability. The performance evaluation is determined as per user perspective rather them providers perspective in healthcare. Therefore, equity, quality, efficiency and acceptability work as outcome indicators in evaluation process that are sufficient to describe the users perspective in healthcare. Further, Buykx et al. (2012) indicated that systematic healthcare system framework involves inputs, outputs and outcomes. The inputs occur at provider level but the outcomes and output are individual or user specific. Hence, patient-centred performance evaluation frameworks are designed in a manner where healthcare system is evaluated as per its impact on quality, equity, efficiency and acceptability. Gardner et al. (2011) studied that in midwifery healthcare evaluation a systematic approach where processes, outputs and outcomes are ev aluated to determine the achievement. Australian Healthcare systems There are models that simplify the structure of healthcare environment. Joumard, Andre Nicq (2010) indicated that Australian healthcare system including the primary healthcare (nursing and midwifery) is best presented using input, outputs, and outcomes model. World Health Organization (WHO) as an evaluation framework for its healthcare system is, also used this framework of Australian Healthcare System. The below-provided structure demonstrates a general view on system framework of Australian Healthcare Figure 2: Model of Australian Healthcare System (Source: Joumard, Andre Nicq, 2010) Evaluation of healthcare system and importance of equity, quality, efficiency and acceptability in evaluation framework There are a number of evaluation frameworks that are proposed by different authors to evaluate healthcare systems. For example- The American Public Health Association (APHA) framework evaluate healthcare on the basis of continuity, quality, accessibility and efficiency (American Nurses Association, 2010). Further, Armstrong Kendall (2010) indicated that main criteria for evaluation should be efficiency, effectiveness and equity. But, the Australian healthcare system follows a specific framework of evaluation (RoGs framework) whose major goal is to determine the equity, efficiency, quality and acceptability of outputs and outcomes described in the healthcare system. The importance of these four evaluation criteria to determine the effectiveness of Australian healthcare system is described below: - Equity Equity in healthcare is fairness or equals establishment for the achievement of equality based healthcare services. Any region or country persist a variety of cast, culture, creed, language and people having some specific individuality. The equity determined the equality in healthcare services for a different variety of individuals. The equity assessment involves ethnic and socio-economic equity (Gaskin, 2010). Equity determines the performance of healthcare services for fulfilling the healthcare necessities of a particular group in society. This measures the equity in access to healthcare services and outcomes. The equity is of two types, horizontal equity where equal healthcare is provided equally to all groups and vertical equity where equitable (fair) unequal healthcare is provided to the unequal group (Fineberg, 2012). Equity indicator measures the differences in class, race, origin, gender, geography and other factors in the outcomes of healthcare services in order to minimise these differences. Equity measurement helps to achieve equality and stability in healthcare inputs (Kirkham, 2010). However, Frenz Vega (2010) indicated that efficiency and quality are dependant on equity measurement. The equity versus efficiency issue depends on ones value position. Kringos et al. (2010) indicate that equity assessment or determining differences in healthcare are critically important to get the overall care processes acceptability, outputs effect. The equity assessment is very much essential but more difficult to achieve in healthcare scenario. Equity can be considered as the second dimension of acceptability and quality but still it is different from other evaluation criteria due to its specific objective that relates only to user satisfaction. This criterion of evaluation helps to determine the healthcare accessibility to disadvantageous groups like indigenous Australian who are under privileged in terms of health as well as wealth in Australia. Equity is the assessment criteria that focus on disadvantages groups in term of healthcare service delivery (Guindo et al. 2012). According to Starfield (2012), equity helps to determine the overall health states of disadvantageous women in midwifery healthcare. The fulfilment of sexual and reproductive healthcare is assessed for disadvantageous women that make equity an essential assessment criterion in midwifery services. Efficiency The efficiency describes the potential of the healthcare system in the technical, productive and allocative field. The technical efficiency indicates the cost of service delivery that is required to be maintained minimum that involves the input in the healthcare system. The productive efficiency optimal health services and care in all healthcare scenarios including primary, acute and post-acute care (Gaskin, 2010). The technical efficiency in assessment is determined by the patient treatment output and reflects on care management output. However, productive efficiency clearly determines the effect of inputs as per attained outcomes in patient services. Lastly, the allocative efficiency is the service provision at the level of expected standards that is focussed on outcomes (Guindo et al. 2012). Therefore, allocative efficiency can be manipulated as per the technical and productive efficiencies (minimising input as per outcomes or increasing outcome as per input). Wiliam (2010) indicated that efficiency assessment involves clinical outcomes measurement that can be quality of life, specific disease, illness or condition. This can be performed using clinical equipments like scales, genetic measures, quality measures etc. The efficiency being a part of productive effectiveness assesses the capability of healthcare program or strategy (output) to reach the ideal state (effective outcomes). According to Guindo et al. (2012) efficiency provides data in clinical terminologies that involves sufficient information regarding the defects in the input system of healthcare. By determining the efficiency of outcomes it is easy to adjust the requirements of its input. For example- A tuberculosis control program is not able to provide expected efficiency outcomes than either the program is eliminated from input system or modified to generate required outcome efficiency. In this manner, efficiency assessment is another important criteria that help to determine the overall impact of clinical services. Quality Quality is determining the level of outcomes as per expected criteria on the basis of health services provided to individual patient. Quality involves assessment of professional skills, knowledge, technique, environment and competency in healthcare scenario (Levett-Jones Bourgeois, 2010). Basically, quality determines the input criteria of healthcare services, as per studies of Spaeth-Rublee et al. (2010) the stakeholders, components, and service providers in healthcare form the assessment criteria for analysing the quality. These form the major portion of input in healthcare system. Quality determines that weather safe healthcare services are provided to users and the service outcomes are as per expectations. For example- clinical quality involves determination of care outcomes as per patient perspective. Raven et al. (2012) indicated that overall suitable healthcare quality involves social solidarity, sense of equality, high quality healthcare, and care effectiveness. Spaeth-Rublee et al. (2010) indicated that quality is considered to outcome of medical knowledge, practice and good intentions of service providers. The aspects like ethical certainty, trust and professionalism dominates the quality assessment criteria. In healthcare system of Australia, quality is influenced by various input and output factors, therefore, quality assessment works as a tool to analyse the overall functionality of organisation. According to Buykx et al. (2012) quality indicator involves the structure, process and outcome evaluation that has improved focus on quality improvement in last few years. Quality assessment is performed to assure complete quality management, quality assurance and incessant quality improvement in healthcare system. The quality assessment is essential to confirm healthcare achievement in complex dynamics of internal and external environmental factors that influences the functionality of healthcare. Raven et al. (2012) indicated that midwifery healthcare deals with maternity nursing services provided to women where the major focus is on nursing services rather than clinical treatments. The quality analysis specifically determines the effectiveness of healthcare services. Therefore, quality assessment forms a major component of midwifery healthcare assessment framework. The quality assessment determines the impact of policies, regulations, diseases programs, medical facilities, staff, infrastructure and medical procedures. Spaeth-Rublee et al. (2010) indicated that quality assessment is one of the most important component of almost 80% health assessment frameworks at the global level. Acceptability Acceptability determines the effectiveness of system safety, equity, quality and ethnicity as per patients, providers and communities perspective. This involves determining the level of satisfaction attained after healthcare service use (Levett-Jones Bourgeois, 2010). Wiliam (2010) indicated that being a major assessment goal of health outcomes, acceptability assessment is critically essential in public healthcare system evaluation where social and political support determines the resourcing level. The change if not accepted can widely affect the political environment; therefore, acceptability assessment is essential for publicly funded systems of healthcare. This makes acceptability assessment as an essential analysis criterion in Australian healthcare system because it is also a publically funded system highly under the social and political influence. Buykx et al. (2012) indicated that acceptability assessment works to determine the fairness and ethical environment practices in the healthcare system. The acceptability assessment revolves around four ethical principles of healthcare that are autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. These ethical principles work in a contradictory manner where acceptance of one principle can harm the aspects of others. For example- if care providers protect the autonomy of patient for not taking medication than provider simultaneously harms his duty of care involving beneficence. Therefore, the acceptability of any healthcare system highly depends on its ethical equilibrium. By determining the acceptability the ethical functionality in healthcare system can be predicted, hence, acceptability assessment becomes another important assessment criteria due to its specificity towards ethical environment analysis approach. Conclusion The above essay clearly explains that healthcare service assessment critically and essentially depends on analysing the equity, quality, efficiency and acceptability. However, there are other criteria of evaluation that are adopted in different frameworks but for the Australian healthcare system framework evaluation criteria, these four factors completely describe the overall functionality of health system in an effective manner. Through this study, the overall identification and importance of equity, efficiency, quality and acceptability are clearly understood in the Australian healthcare system evaluation process. References American Nurses Association. (2010).Nursing's social policy statement: The essence of the profession. Nursesbooks. org. Gaskin, I. M. (2010).Spiritual midwifery. Book Publishing Company. Kirkham, M. (Ed.). (2010).The midwife-mother relationship. Palgrave Macmillan. Levett-Jones, T., Bourgeois, S. (2010).The clinical placement: An essential guide for nursing students. Elsevier Health Sciences. Armstrong, K., Kendall, E. (2010). Translating knowledge into practice and policy: the role of knowledge networks in primary health care.Health Information Management Journal,39(2), 9-17. Buykx, P., Humphreys, J. S., Tham, R., Kinsman, L., Wakerman, J., Asaid, A., Tuohey, K. (2012). How do small rural primary health care services sustain themselves in a constantly changing health system environment?. BMC Health Services Research,12(1), 1. Fineberg, H. V. (2012). A successful and sustainable health systemhow to get there from here.New England Journal of Medicine,366(11), 1020-1027. Frenz, P., Vega, J. (2010). Universal health coverage with equity: what we know, dont know and need to know. Montreux: Global Symposium on Health Systems Research. Gardner, K., Bailie, R., Si, D., O'Donoghue, L., Kennedy, C., Liddle, H., ... Dowden, M. (2011). Reorienting primary health care for addressing chronic conditions in remote Australia and the South Pacific: Review of evidence and lessons from an innovative quality improvement process.Australian Journal of Rural Health,19(3), 111-117. Guindo, L. A., Wagner, M., Baltussen, R., Rindress, D., van Til, J., Kind, P., Goetghebeur, M. M. (2012). From efficacy to equity: Literature review of decision criteria for resource allocation and healthcare decisionmaking.Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation,10(1), 1. Joumard, I., Andr, C., Nicq, C. (2010). Health care systems: efficiency and institutions. Kringos, D. S., Boerma, W. G., Hutchinson, A., van der Zee, J., Groenewegen, P. P. (2010). The breadth of primary care: a systematic literature review of its core dimensions.BMC health services research,10(1), 1. Raven, J. H., Tolhurst, R. J., Tang, S., Van Den Broek, N. (2012). What is quality in maternal and neonatal health care?.Midwifery,28(5), e676-e683. Regan, S., Wong, S. T. (2010).Patient perspectives on primary health care in rural communities: effects of geography on access, continuity and efficiency(Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia). Spaeth-Rublee, B., Pincus, H. A., Huynh, P. T., IIMHL Clinical Leaders Group. (2010). Measuring quality of mental health care: a review of initiatives and programs in selected countries.The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry,55(9), 539-548. Starfield, B. (2012). Primary care: an increasingly important contributor to effectiveness, equity, and efficiency of health services. SESPAS report 2012.Gaceta sanitaria,26, 20-26. Wiliam, D. (2010). What counts as evidence of educational achievement? The role of constructs in the pursuit of equity in assessment.Review of Research in Education,34(1), 254-284. Australia's health system (AIHW). (2016). Aihw.gov.au. Retrieved 14 August 2016, from https://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-health/2014/health-system

The Green Revolution In Asia Essays - Rockefeller Foundation

The Green Revolution in Asia World Issues May 27, 1996 Table of Contents Topic Page The Problem ................................................3 The Solution................................................3 Background to The Green Revolution .........................3 Positives of The Green Revolution ..........................3 Problems With The Green Revolution .........................4 The Green Revolution in Asia ...............................5 Rice .......................................................5 Rice Pests and Solutions....................................5 China.......................................................6 Viet Nam Reclamation Projects ..............................8 India.......................................................9 Other Facts ................................................9 Conclusion..................................................10 Map of China................................................11 Map of India ...............................................12 Figure #1: The Rice Plant...................................13 Figure #2: A Field in the Philippines ......................14 Figure #3: Deepwater Rice in Thailand ......................15 Figure P0: Effects of Hoppers ..............................16 Figure P1: Habitat of Brown Hopper .........................17 Figure P2: Wolf Spider......................................18 Figure P3: Black Bug .......................................19 Figure #4: Irrigated Rice Harvesting .......................20 Chart #1: Rice Production...................................21 Chart #2: Fertilizer Use in 1993 ...........................22 Bibliography ...............................................23 The Problem: With the high and rapidly growing population of Asia, many people go hungry. How can the world support these people?; and, how can these people feed themselves? What cost will this have on the environment? What is being done to help these people. The Solution: The Green Revolution is a solution that has been at work since the 1960's. It has been developing new and better ways at producing food. Background to the Green Revolution: The Green Revolution Started in the 1960's by the government of the United States. The Green Revolution was started to make wheat more adaptable to different environments. The grain was genetically engineered to grow with a shorter stock (to stop damage from wind) and the ability to grow faster so colder climates could be sure that the crop was fully grown by the cold season. Warmer climates could take advantage of these faster growing varieties by having more than one or two harvests a season. The developing countries produced a lot of waste through their cultivation techniques. They used high amounts of labor that produced waste so the developed world had machinery that they sent to the underdeveloped to stop the waste. The production of new wheat varieties has led to the green revolution spreading to Asia and the production of new rice varieties. Positives of the Green Revolution: Since the Green Revolution has started there have been nearly 5000 new crop strains developed. Seeds for crops such as wheat, rice, corn, and cotton have been upgraded four to six times. Farmers have saw a 50 to 130 percent rise in yield. Wheat production is about 50 times that during the 1950's. The population of the world is rising rapidly and this may be the only way for the earth to feed ourselves. Problems With the Green Revolution: Problems that have occurred are that the people that need the machinery cannot afford to buy clothes let alone pay for huge machines that have to be shipped in from developed countries and the shipping must be paid for. Even if the farmers could afford the machinery, they would have to be taught how to use it properly. Finding fuel, and the money to buy the fuel, in the middle of Africa, for instance, is impossible. The developed world produced the new wheat and rice varieties. To genetically engineer a new strain of food, a company or government must pay scientists (including agronomists, geneticists, biologists, chemists, nuclear scientists, space-flight scientists), fund experiments, laboratory space, and materials (to just name a few). The costs are very high so the developing world would need to pay a fair price for these new varieties. The money that the countries need to pay for the seeds and machinery is borrowed from other countries. This borrowing does not help the developing countries but puts them, in most cases, into a deeper financial crisis. The environment also pays the price for the revolution. The new plant varieties use a lot of minerals from the ground and the soil that they grow in is being abused. The soil loses much of its minerals so a way had to be found to replace them. Fertilizers, natural and chemical, have to be used in high quantities to produce the special varieties. The chemicals seep down into the groundwater and pollute the water to the point that it is no longer potable. Many rivers and lakes such as the Huang He River (refer to map of China) and the Ganges River (refer to map of India) have seen the effects of this problem in the late 1960's when fish and waterfowl began dying unexpectedly. Another problem with the Green Revolution was that the new varieties, or modern cultivars, had started to make the original varieties that farmers had used for hundreds of years disappear. The amount of different types of seeds started to rapidly disappear. The modern cultivars have a major flaw. The flaw

Gift Ideas for Siblings When Youre in College

Gift Ideas for Siblings When Youre in College When you were at home, your brother and/or sister may have driven you up the wall. Or, conversely, you may have been incredibly close with your sibling(s). Either way, finding the perfect gift for a sibling can be a challenge especially when youre operating with a college students budget. So how can you find a gift that shows you care without breaking your bank account? Fortunately, family gifts allow for a little more creativity than, say, gifts for your boss. With a little pre-planning, your sibling gift can be one your brother or sister cherishes for a long time. Something From Your Campus Gift Shop You might see sweatshirts, t-shirts, and running shorts with your school name and logo all day, every day. But your sibling back home doesnt. Consider finding some kind of swag from your campus gift shop that you know your brother or sister will just adore. If nothing else, it gives them a chance to brag about what school you attend when people ask about their clothing! (And if a sweatshirt or t-shirt isnt in your budget, consider something cheaper, like a keychain.) Something Youve Learned About at College that They Might Also Like Are you both chemistry geeks? Grab that new biography of a famous chemist that you think sounds really cool. Do you both love to write poetry? Head to the campus authors section of your campus bookstore to see if any of your professors have published poetry collections recently. (Added bonus: You can ask your professor to autograph your copy!) Invite Them for the Weekend If you miss spending time with your brother or sister, dont wait until you head home to see them; give them the gift of a weekend with you on campus. You can use your meal plan to treat them to breakfast, lunch, and dinner while showing them all the fun and funky parts of your college life. (If youre staying in a residence hall, however, just make sure its okay to have someone who might be under 18 stay with you.) Items that Helped You Prepare for College If your younger brother or sister is planning on heading to college soon, too, consider giving them the things that helped you the most. Were there books that helped you adjust? Websites that helped explain things you were too afraid to ask about? Prep. books that helped you ace things like the SAT? Put together a collection of things you found most valuable as a gift that your younger sibling will undoubtedly find valuable, too. Time Doing Things Together Even if you catch up online and on the phone, it can be hard to be away from a sibling with whom youre emotionally close. Even if neither of you have much money, there are things you can do to spend time together. Consider going for a hike, walk, or run; going holiday shopping for your parents; or even volunteering together. Turn the time into your gift to your sibling by presenting a special invite in an envelope and offering to treat for something fun while youre out, like coffees or Slurpees from your favorite convenience store. Sometimes, its the little things that mean the most! Something that Reminds You Both of Growing Up Together ​A lot of candy shops offer decade-based boxes of candy that bring back the candy you grew up with. Additionally, you can put together a collection of your favorite movies or Saturday morning cartoons that you used to watch together when you were younger. Even a silly toy that you both coveted even one that is considered super old and obsolete now can make a great gift. Think back on the things you both cherished the most as you grew up and see what you can do to recreate something similar for a great present.

Knowlegde Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Knowlegde Management - Essay Example However, there are several universal theories, which have explained knowledge in two types, viz. explicit and implicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is gained through understanding and implicit knowledge is gained through skills and expertise of an individual. Similarly, Knowledge Management (KM) can be determined as a significant aspect in relation to the creation and management of knowledge. In an organisational context, KM can be defined as the process of collecting, managing and sharing the knowledge of various employees in an organisation that may help it in improving its business activity along with creating more effectiveness in its overall functioning by building better coordination amid different divisions of the organisation (Bhojaraju, 2005). Correspondingly, this paper intends to provide a brief explanation of knowledge and knowledge management highlighting the differentiation persisting between KM and Information Management (IM). The paper also describes the success factors required in measuring KM along with the aspects resulting in failure of KM within any organisational environment. In an organisational context, KM is regarded as a systematic approach of gathering, improving, sharing and using knowledge effectually with an expectation that it will help the organisation to innovate its business activity. On the other hand, IM is referred to the process of gathering and managing information obtained from more than one source and distributing it to the employees of an organisation in order to ensure that the information being used by the organisation will result in improving and improvising the business process of an organisation. Therefore, through these elaborations it can be understood that there is a vast difference between KM and IM, wherein both these types of management is quite important for an organisation. Correspondingly, it can be understood that the difference between KM and

English take home final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English take home final - Essay Example Figure of speech: Almost every aspect of the poem has a symbolic meaning. Every detail flashes a gruesome and encoded message that readers are forced to decipher. Edgar often uses his fiction to describe his addictions such as laudanum. This drug comes from poppies. On the arms, the â€Å"field azure† may be an area with poppies. If so, this makes freedom in the story seem ironic. If it exemplifies addiction, it exemplifies captivity, hence showing the contrast between confinement and freedom. The Cask of Amontillado Setting: The setting has an important purpose. It suggests confinement or freedom, in opposition or harmony to the freedom or characters’ confinement. This is known as the â€Å"Gothic Interior.† The Montresor family catacomb and the carnival season are direct. The latter is a literal celebration of freedom which both Fortunato and Montresor are participating in as the story begins. Diction: Poes employs elevated diction. This is a polysyllabic, formal style. This is evidenced by the poet’s writing style which is formal in type. Besides mastering words, the Poet has an extensive vocabulary as seen in the poem. To achieve the goal of determining whether the author of Romeo Juliet borrows borrowed ideas from West Side Story (or vice-versa), there is need to compare and contrast the two stories. The major male characters possess several similarities. Romeo and Toni miss the foremost fight at the plays’ beginning. The two fall in love and unluckily are killed. In contrast, Toni existence occurs in the 1950’s, while Romeo’s in late 1500’s. The leading female characters, Juliet and Maria, come from families which detest each other’s families of the boyfriends. However, Juliet dies in her story unlike Maria who lives. In the plays, the leading male character takes life of their lover’s relative. Tybalta, Juliets cousin, is killed by Romeo just as Toni kills Bernardo who is Marias brother. The Prince and the Lieutenant tried

The Mechanical Engineering And Metal Engineering Essay

The Mechanical Engineering And Metal Engineering Essay Metal fatigue is caused by repeated cycling of the load. It is a progressive localized damage due to fluctuating stresses and strains on the material. Metal fatigue cracks initiate and propagate in regions where the strain is most severe. This cyclic loading and crack initiation is represented using S-N curves. The Fig 1.1 consists of constant cyclic stress amplitude(S) which is applied to a specimen and the number of loading cycles (N) until the specimen fails is determined. The process fatigue failure is consists of three main stages. The first stage consists of initial crack initiation. The second stage consists of progressive crack growth across the part and the third and final stage consists of sudden fracture of the remaining cross section. The fatigue strength is the stress at which failure occurs for a given number of cycles, whereas the fatigue life is the number of cycles required material to fail. The most important concept of the S-N diagram is shown in Fig 1.1. This figure consists of S-N curves for Steel and Aluminium. (By Shawn M. Kelly) http://www.efunda.com/formulae/solid_mechanics/fatigue/images/fatigue_SN_01.gif Figure 1.1 S-N curves for steel and aluminium. The subject of fatigue testing is extensive, and is complicated by the important factors like the surface conditions of the specimen, the type of the stress variation, and the influence of the shape of the specimen on the stress flow. As it is known as that the highly polished specimens withstand better fatigue than the normal fatigue ones. The most damaging type of stress variation is the complete reversal, which is between the limit  ±Ãƒ Ã†â€™ for which the stress range is 2à Ã†â€™. Fluctuating stresses are less damaging, the standard case is between the limit 0 and +à Ã†â€™. For some materials such as aluminium, no endurance limit exists and therefore it should be planned lifetime of the structure to be less than the failure point. http://htmlimg1.scribdassets.com/izqlx4lamohzwzk/images/10-d0617ea942/000.jpg Figure 1.2 Fluctuating Stress Cycle. The above figure illustrates repeated stress cycle in which à Ã†â€™max (Rmax) is the maximum stress and à Ã†â€™min (Rmim) is the minimum stress and both are not equal. Here t is the time and à Ã†â€™a is the stress amplitude and à Ã†â€™m is the mean stress. In low fatigue cycle region (N In this experiment fatigue test for aluminium alloys of series 2000 have been conducted and described. S-N Curve Experiment for 6000 and 2000 Aluminium Alloys Series: The fatigue failure experiment is carried out for two different types of aluminium alloys i.e. 6082 and 2011 specimens. These experiments are carried in two different groups. A typical standard specimen is shown in Fig 1.3 as below. It is recommended to test at least 10 specimens of each type and they all must be cut from one length of the material. http://static.tecquipment.com/Products/RF1020_ALUMINIUM-FATIGUE-SPECIMEN.jpg Figure 1.3 Test Specimen. A set of bending stresses from 0.9 of the yield or proof stress to 0.4 of the ultimate strength is selected to match the number of the test specimens for the complete experiment. The setting up of the specimen on the machine is a reasonably simple operation which is done in proper methodology. The main object is to align the specimen and loading arm with the axis of rotation to eliminate stresses due to eccentric whirling of the specimen. Both in drive shaft and the loading arm chucks, loose collet grip is inserted. These inserts 9mm diameter ends of the test specimen are slid as shown in Fig. 1.4. http://www.twi.co.uk/twiimages/jk78f1.jpg Figure 1.4 Setting up of machine. ( by http://www.twi.co.uk/content/jk78.html) The collet is first tighten on the drive shaft chuck so that so that about 1 mm shoulder shows between the start of the neck and the face of the collet of the specimen. Then the loading arm is pushed on to the end of the specimen and adjusts the collet to give a sliding fit. The position of loading the loading arm is in such a way that the dimension of 109.5 mm is attained from the rear face of the bearing housing to the adjacent end of the neck of the specimen as shown in Fig 1.4 and finally tight the collet with the spanner. The specimen is rotated to check that the end of the cantilever run axially otherwise the specimen must get bend and can be discarded. Bearing Drive shaft and bearing Electric motor Chuck in which specimen is fitted. ON/OFF SwitchC:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesattachments_16_12_2010DSC01501.JPG Figure 1.4 Rotating Fatigue Machine The counterbalance and load hangers should be ensured are in place. Switch motor ON and OFF to verify smooth running. The bending stress for the test is selected and required load or weight is applied on the load hanger. The revolution counter is set to zero before starting the machine and safety guard is used over the apparatus. The fracture time which might occur is estimated and noted. Endurance Limit: The stress value below which the material will withstand many number of load cycles. It is also known as fatigue limit. The stress level below which a specimen will withstand cyclic stress indefinitely without exhibiting fatigue failure. Rigid, elastic, low damping materials such as thermosetting plastics and some crystalline thermoplastics do not exhibit an endurance limit. Also known as  FATIGUE LIMIT.   (CRC Press LLC 1989) Ultimate stress: It is defined as the maximum/ultimate load under which a specimen breaks or fails. Stress corresponding to ultimate load is ultimate stress. Mean Stress: It is defined as the algebraic sum of maximum and minimum stress divided by 2. Ultimate Tensile Strength: In the given experiment ultimate tensile strength is calculated using the following formula p. Where p is the load applied to the material and is the stress. Recorded Data and Graph for 6000 series: Sample No. Load (N) Bending Stress (MPa) Result No. of Cycle Results (Fail/No- Fail) 1 11.25 225 21400 fail 2 10.6 212 114800 fail 3 9.95 199 115300 fail 4 9.3 186 293800 fail 5 8.65 173 161000 fail 6 8 160 184700 fail 7 7.35 147 905100 fail 8 6.7 134 2411100 fail 9 6.05 121 2765800 fail 10 5.9 118 3156700 fail Recorded Data and Graph for 2000 series: Sample No. Load (N) Bending Stress (MPa) Result No. of cycles (x100) Result (Fail/Not-fail) 1 13.5 270 95 Fail 2 12 240 407 Fail 3 10.5 210 482 Fail 4 9 180 1948 Fail 5 8.25 165 1781 Fail 6 7.5 150 2662 Fail 7 7.0 140 2165 Fail 8 6.0 120 4916 Fail 9 5.6 112 19970 Fail 10 5.2 104 More than 107 Not-fail 11 5 100 10 533 Fail 12 4.8 96 More than 107 Not-fail 13 4.6 92 14 4.6 92 More than 107 Not-fail 15 4 80 More than 107 Not-fail 2. Non-Destructive Testing Methods: 2.1 Introduction: Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a wide range of analysis technique used in science and industries to evaluate the properties of material or component and to detect the flaws in the material without causing damage. The non-destructive testing is the testing of the materials used to find surface or internal flaws or metallurgical conditions without interfering in the integrity of the materials. The flaw includes cracks or inclusions in welds and castings, or variations in structural properties which may lead to loss of strength and finally failure of materials. Non-destructive testing is used for measurement of components and spacing and for the measurement of physical properties such as internal stress and hardness. It is also used for in-service inspection and for conditions monitoring of operating plants. It is also used to look for sign of wear or internal changes on airplanes in aircraft industries. The NDT method is also a function part of quality control which is based on sampl ing analysis, this method is not just for rejecting the substandard material but gives assurance that it is good. The common types of Non-Destructive Testing are stated as follows: Magnetic Particle Inspection. Figure 2.1 Magnetic Particle Testing http://www.azom.com/work/8is7fjkADJ5v0JQByKTw_files/image003.gif Radiography Inspection. Figure 2.2 Radiography Testing. Ultrasonic Testing. Figure 2.3 Ultrasonic Testing. Liquid Penetrant Testing. Figure 2.4 Liquid Penetrant Testing. http://www.twi.co.uk/twiimages/ksijm001f1.gif Eddy Current Testing and Electro Magnetic Testing. Figure 2.5 Electro Magnetic Testing.http://www.eurondt.com/index_2.gif There are different types of non-destructive testing used for removing flaws as shown above but two main types of NDT on which experiments are perform are Magnetic particle testing and Ultrasonic Testing. 2.2 Magnetic Particle Testing: Introduction: Magnetic particle testing is type of non-destructive testing which is used for the detection of surface and near-surface flaws in the ferromagnetic materials and it is basically used for crack detection. Such flaws present in the magnetized part will cause a magnetic field, i.e. flux, to leave the part. It is however same as if there is a surface-breaking flaw in the specimen, the magnetic field is distorted, causing local magnetic flux leakage around the flaw. If the magnetic particles are applied to the surface of this specimen, the surface is covered by very fine iron particles and they will be held in the place by the flux leakage to give a visual indication. Figure 2.6 Deflection in the magnetic flux.http://www.ndt-ed.org/GeneralResources/MethodSummary/MT1.jpg http://www.milinc.com/images/magpartimgs/magpartdiag1.gif Thus a crack is indicated as a line or iron powder particles on the surface. The method of MPT is applicable to all metals which can be strongly magnetised such as ferritic steels, irons and some other alloys but not generally to austenitic steels. The modern equipments generate the magnetic field electrically either directly or indirectly. In direct method high ampere of current is passed through the specimen and magnetic flux is generated at right angle to the current flow. Therefore current flow is in the same direction of suspect defect. If this method is not possible to carry out because of the orientation of the defect, then the indirect method is used. This consists of two forms: Passing high current through a coil that encircles the specimen. Making the test piece form part of a yoke, this is surrounded by a current carrying coil. The effect is to pass magnetic flux along the part to reveal transverse and circumferential defects. Flux: It is a term which is used to refer the amount of magnetic field that exist at specific point within that field. It is measured in Webers. Flux Density: It is an indication of the strength of the magnetic field. It is represented by the lines of forces which are surrounded around the magnetic circuit, where the lines are closer to the flux. It is measured in Webbers/M2 or Telsa. Magnetic lines of force: These lines of force are imaginary lines which describes the path a free north pole would take in a magnetic field. These lines can be plotted using a compass. Experimental Procedure: Pump switch.The equipment used for performing the experiment is known as Johnson Allen NDT (SBU 2000). It should be sited on a firm concrete allowing access for servicing. The specimen provided contains five holes in it. The equipment should be connected to a 230 volt AC, 50Hz, 16 Amp power supply and Quick blow fuses should not be used. Connect Footswitch, Pump, and UV Light via socket to the equipment. Turn main supply on at the wall isolator. Turn the UV light ON and allow 10 mins to warm up. Slide out the ink hopper to within 75mm of the top flange with the Fluorescent Magnetic Ink and slide in the hopper gently. Turn the agitation ON and dispensing pump using the twist switch on the right of equipment. Figure 2.7 Magnetic Particles Testing Machine. Headstocks. Ink spray. Clamping knobs. C.F. control knob. Ammeter ON/OFF Switch.C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesIMG_0049.JPG Headstocks can be adjusted using the Clamping Knobs at the base. Once specimen is inserted and left side headstock is fixed then the specimen is ready to be tested. AC is current is used for surface defect and HWDC is used for all defect, so select the HWDC. Check the current control dial is turned to minimum. Experimental Precautions: The hole inside the given specimen should be clear otherwise the crack line does not come properly. Headstocks should be regularly checked. The specimen should be cleaned properly to prevent arcing and pitting on the surface. Circuits should be check regularly before performing any operation. Experimental Results: SpecimenThe given specimen contains 5 holes in it. The specimen is adjusted and fixed between the headstocks as shown in the figure below. Before performing the experiment the specimen should be clean properly other the line is not visible. As the hole was not clear and contains ink in it so the defect line is not obtained on the specimen. This can be seen in the figure below. Figure 2.8 Specimen without defect line Headstocks Ink spray.C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesattachments_16_12_2010DSC01541.JPG Then the holes are clean, and the experiment is performed again. When it is clean, the two defect lines are visible on the specimen. Hence, as the lines are seen on the specimen it can considered that it contains flaws in it. This works under the principle of right hand rule and so specimen has to be adjusted perpendicular to the headstocks so flux travel properly from the specimen and flaw. Testing Specimen. Defect lines. Figure 2.8 Specimen with visible defect line.C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesIMG_0060.JPG Advantages of Magnetic Particles Testing: It gives instant result and rapid inspection can be done for large surfaces. It is simple and easy to conduct. It detects a variety of surface and sub surface flaws, such as crack, porosity, inclusions, shrinkage, laps etc. Surface preparation is less critical than it is penetrant inspection. Sensitivity of testing can be specified and checked. It is economically cheap. Disadvantages of Magnetic Particles Testing: High currents applied to the components may cause damage. Smooth surface is required for application of this method. Materials which are tested must be ferromagnetic. Deep cracks or flaws are not detected. Materials may need to be demagnetized. Equipment is bulky and heavy. Material or part permeability may affect results. High power supply is needed for low surface. 2.3 Ultrasonic Testing: Introduction: Ultrasonic testing is a type of non-destructive testing method that uses high frequency sound waves (ultrasonic) which are above the range of human hearing and they are used to measure the geometric and physical properties of the materials. Ultrasonic waves travels at different velocities in different materials. There are different ways of sound travels through the material. One type of sound wave is called as compression or longitudinal travels which is at about 330m/s in air and 6400m/s in aluminium and approximately 5960m/s for steel. Figure 2.9 Ultrasonic Testing.http://www.energyworkforce.net/wp-content/uploads/ut1.jpg The pulsed beams of the ultrasound are used in a simplest instrument and a single probe (transducer) which is hand-held is paced on the surface of the specimen. An oscilloscope is connected to the probe which displays with the time-base the time that requires for an ultrasonic pulse to travel through the reflector which can be flaw, black surface etc. The height of the reflected pulse is related to the flaw size as seen from the transmitter probe which is displayed on oscilloscope screen. A single probe acts as both transmitter and receiver and hence the inspection can be done from one side of the specimen. Large grain material such as austenitic steel welding, copper casting etc., produce severe attenuation and are difficult to test but fine grain material such as forged material can be tested easily. Using the indication on the oscilloscope the size of the flaw can be determined. Ultrasonic attenuation and ultrasonic velocity measurements are used to study various material properti es. Experimental Procedure: A typical ultrasonic testing system consists of several functional units such as: Pulser/receiver. Transducer. Oscilloscope. Connecting wires. Couplant. Mild steel material (specimen). A pulser is an electronic device that can produce high voltage electrical pulses. From the high voltage pulses, transducer generates high frequency ultrasonic energy. This sound energy propagates through the material in the form of waves. Couplant. Transducer. Oscilloscope Figure 2.10 Setting up of Ultrasonic Testing.C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesattachments_16_12_2010DSC01547.JPGC:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesattachments_16_12_2010DSC01545.JPG Mild steel specimen. Defects Display Screen The left side figure shows the cathode ray oscilloscope and the right side figure shows the mild steel material on the ultrasonic test is conducted. The given specimen was of mild steel with five holes in it. Before starting the experiment, the specimen should be properly clean. Then apply a couplant on it. Start the cathode ray oscilloscope. There are different button on oscilloscope such as gain, light, velocity, angle, dialog etc. as shown in figure below. Figure 2.11 various buttons on oscilloscope.C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesultrasonic8122010(002).jpg So it is adjusted in such a way that the deflection should be visible. The transducer is connected to the oscilloscope with the help of connecting wires. Then this transducer is placed on the specimen for testing the flaws in it. Experimental Observation: When the transducer is placed on the specimen it emits ultrasonic waves from the material (specimen). When the probe is placed on specimen it gives a very nice and high peak on the oscilloscope as shown in the below figure. It means that the ultrasonic waves travel easily from that part of the specimen and hence it does not have any flaw in that part. Figure 2.12 High peak signal in nice surface.C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesIMG_0065.JPG C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesultrasonicP081210_11.230001.jpg Similarly, when the probe is moved further on it can be seen in the oscilloscope that the highest peak is coming down and it nearly become nil or very low. It means that the high frequency waves are reflected. Hence it can be observed that, there is a flaw in that part of the specimen. It is the same part under which a big hole is there. Figure 2.13 Low peak signal in defective part.C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesIMG_0081.JPG C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesattachments_16_12_2010DSC01545.JPG Hence, from the above two figure it can be concluded that when there is high peak in oscilloscope there is no flaw at that part and similarly when the high peak decreases to low it means that part contains some flaw in it. Advantages of Ultrasonic Testing: The measurement is superior to other NDT methods. It is sensitive to both surface and subsurface discontinuities. It requires very minimal part preparations. It is highly accurate in determining reflector position and estimating size and shape. As the electronic equipment as used it give instantaneous results. It requires only single-sided access when the pulse-echo technique is used. It can also be used for other purposes such as thickness measurement etc. Disadvantages of Ultrasonic Testing: It normally requires a coupling medium to promote the transfer of sound energy into the test specimen. Those materials which are rough, very small, irregular in shape, thin or not homogeneous are very difficult to test. Surface must be accessible to transmit ultrasound. Cast iron and other grained materials are difficult to test due to their low sound transmission and high signal noise. Linear defects oriented parallel to the sound beam may go undetected. Feedback and Evaluation: S-N curve: The experiment S-N curve is used to determine the endurance fatigue limit of the material used in automotive industries. The given specimens were of aluminium alloys. There were two series of aluminium alloys i.e. 6000 series and 2000 series on which experiments are performed. Ten samples of each specimen were given. This experiment was performed in two groups. One group perform the experiment on 6082 specimen and other group perform the experiment on 2011 specimen. In this experiment weights are taken in Newton and the number of cycles is shown on the machine. Corresponding to this stress/load (S) and number of cycles (N), S-N curve is plotted. When the load is high it number of cycles is low and when the load is decreased its number of cycles increases. This is shown in graphs below. This is a S-N curve graph for 6011 aluminium alloy (specimen). From the above graph it can be seen that at high stress/load i.e. 225 MPa or 11.25N. The number of cycles is 21400. As the stress goes on increasing the number of cycles goes on decreasing. Hence the endurance fatigue limit varies at different load for the same specimen. When the specimen fails it is taken out from the chuck and it can be checked microscope and the cracks can be seen properly. From this the physical properties of the material can be checked and the fatigue limit can be obtained. There are some microscopic images of specimens, they are as follows: Sample 1 at 11.25N load. C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesultrasonicsamplemicroscopicimages- sncurveSample1_1.JPGC:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesultrasonicsamplemicroscopicimages- sncurveSample1_2.JPG Sample 2 at 10.6N load. C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesultrasonicsamplemicroscopicimages- sncurveSample2_1.JPGC:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesultrasonicsamplemicroscopicimages- sncurveSample2_2.JPG There are many more microscopic images which look similar to the above images and it fails at different loads. The below figure is of the specimen before experiment. http://static.tecquipment.com/Products/RF1020_ALUMINIUM-FATIGUE-SPECIMEN.jpg This specimen is fixed between the chucks and when the experiment is performed at different loads the specimen which is fixed between the chuck breaks. This is shown in the figure below. C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesIMG_0040.JPG It can be clearly seen from the previous figure that the specimen breaks from its middle. First the crack propagates in it and then its finally fails. The graph below is the S-N curve graph for 2011 aluminium alloy specimen which is experimented by other group. This graph start from 270Mpa and the applied on the specimen is 13.5 N and therefore the number of cycles perform by the specimen is less i.e. 9500. These two specimens cannot be compared as both the group has taken different values of stress and therefore the number of cycles are different both the specimens. From the given ten samples, the discussion of the fatigue limit is nearly impossible as we find the scatter point graph not a perfect curve of S-N. For establishing the endurance fatigue limit of both the specimens more experiments must be conducted on it. Also the specimen should be properly fixed in the chuck otherwise it fails in somewhere before the expected value. Magnetic Particles Testing: This experiment is performed to check the flaws i.e. cracks, holes, black surface of the materials. This experiment comes under non-destructive testing. A specimen of mild steel is given and it contains five holes in it. This specimen is fixed in Johnson Allen NDT machine. This specimen is fixed between the headstocks of the machine. The specimen is fixed perpendicular to the headstocks. The perpendicular arrangement of headstock and specimen is done because this machine works under the principle of right hand rule and it generates flux into the specimen. This flux passes through the material. When there is any flaw into the material the flux gets affected and a black line of iron particles is seen on the surface of the material. In this experiment also the specimen contains five holes in it and a black line of iron particles is seen on the surface of the material. The current is control with the help of C.F. control switch. The black defect line on the specimen can be seen in figure below. The amount of flux running through the specimen can be measured with the help of ammeter. But the ammeter in the machine under which this testing is performed was not working. So the exact amount of flux generated in specimen cannot be measured. The ammeter and C.F. control switch is shown in the figure below. C.F. control switch. AmmeterC:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesIMG_0045.JPG Ultrasonic testing: This type of testing is also used to detect flaws and crack inside the material without damaging it. The specimen provided is a mild steel slab and it contains holes in it. It can be seen that when there is no flaw inside the specimen it shows high peak on the oscilloscope and similarly when there is any flaw the ultrasonic waves get reflected and the high peak decreases to low peak. This is clearly in figures below. C:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesIMG_0065.JPGC:UsersasimDesktopall folderpicsmaterialsimagesIMG_0081.JPG Conclusion: From the above experiments we can conclude that S-N curve is best method to determine the fatigue limit but it cant be done using ten samples as it does not gives the proper curve graph for the specimen. Magnetic Particle Testing is a good way of finding flaws from the materials without damaging it but the machine is not that comfortable and more precautions must be used before using it otherwise the flaws are not detected. Similarly Ultrasonic Testing is a good way cracks and other flaws detecting and these are used in aircraft industries. Referencing: Mark Wilcox and George Downes, A brief description of NDT techniques Available at: http://www.turkndt.org/sub/makale/ornek/a%20brief%20description%20of%20NDT.pdf [Accessed on:3 Dec 2010] www.ndted.org.com NDT Method Summary Available at: http://www.ndt-ed.org/GeneralResources/MethodSummary/MethodSummary.htm [Accessed on:12 Dec 2010] www.insight-ndt.com (2007). Qualiron ductile iron metal quality tester. Available: http://www.insight-ndt.com/ultrasonic/qualiron.html. [Last accessed 3rd dec 2010.] www.NDT.net Non-destructive Material Testing with Ultrasonics Introduction to the Basic Principles Available at: http://www.ndt.net/article/v05n09/berke/berke1.htm [Accessed on:15 Dec 2010] www.materialsengineer.com (2007) Metallurgical Fatigue Failures Available at http://www.materialsengineer.com/CA-fatigue.htm [Last accessed on 3rd Dec 2010] www.sv.vt.edu (1997). By Shawn M. Kelly, Fatigue, Available at http://www.sv.vt.edu/classes/MSE2094_NoteBook/97ClassProj/anal/kelly/fatigue.html [Accessed on 6 Dec 2010]. www.scribd.com Fatigue Failure Available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/29476995/fatigue-failure [Accessed on 8 Dec]. www.key-to-metals.com.cn (99-2000) Fatigue of metals (stress cycles) Available at http://www.key-to-metals.com.cn/page.aspx?ID=CheckArticlesite=ktsNM=281 [Accessed on 8 Dec]. www.twi.co.uk (2005) Fatigue Testing Available at http://www.twi.co.uk/content/jk78.html [Accessed on 12 Dec]. www.azom.com (2010) Non-destructive Testing-Surface Examination Techniques. http://www.azom.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=522 [Accessed on 13 Dec]. www.energyworkforce.net (2010) Principles of Ultrasonic Testing. Available at http://www.energyworkforce.net/?p=126 [Accessed on 16 Dec].

Digital Fortress Chapter 59-62

Chapter 59 Susan reached for Commander Strathmore's hand as he helped her up the ladder onto the Crypto floor. The image of Phil Chartrukian lying broken on the generators was burned into her mind. The thought of Hale hiding in the bowels of Crypto had left her dizzy. The truth was inescapable-Hale had pushed Chartrukian. Susan stumbled past the shadow of TRANSLTR back toward Crypto's main exit-the door she'd come through hours earlier. Her frantic punching on the unlit keypad did nothing to move the huge portal. She was trapped; Crypto was a prison. The dome sat like a satellite, 109 yards away from the main NSA structure, accessible only through the main portal. Since Crypto made its own power, the switchboard probably didn't even know they were in trouble. â€Å"The main power's out,† Strathmore said, arriving behind her. â€Å"We're on aux.† The backup power supply in Crypto was designed so that TRANSLTR and its cooling systems took precedence over all other systems, including lights and doorways. That way an untimely power outage would not interrupt TRANSLTR during an important run. It also meant TRANSLTR would never run without its freon cooling system; in an uncooled enclosure, the heat generated by three million processors would rise to treacherous levels-perhaps even igniting the silicon chips and resulting in a fiery meltdown. It was an image no one dared consider. Susan fought to get her bearings. Her thoughts were consumed by the single image of the Sys-Sec on the generators. She stabbed at the keypad again. Still no response. â€Å"Abort the run!† she demanded. Telling TRANSLTR to stop searching for the Digital Fortress pass-key would shut down its circuits and free up enough backup power to get the doors working again. â€Å"Easy, Susan,† Strathmore said, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder. The commander's reassuring touch lifted Susan from her daze. She suddenly remembered why she had been going to get him. She wheeled, â€Å"Commander! Greg Hale is North Dakota!† There was a seemingly endless beat of silence in the dark. Finally Strathmore replied. His voice sounded more confused than shocked. â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"Hale†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Susan whispered. â€Å"He's North Dakota.† There was more silence as Strathmore pondered Susan's words. â€Å"The tracer?† He seemed confused. â€Å"It fingered Hale?† â€Å"The tracer isn't back yet. Hale aborted it!† Susan went on to explain how Hale had stopped her tracer and how she'd found E-mail from Tankado in Hale's account. Another long moment of silence followed. Strathmore shook his head in disbelief. â€Å"There's no way Greg Hale is Tankado's insurance! It's absurd! Tankado would never trust Hale.† â€Å"Commander,† she said, â€Å"Hale sank us once before-Skipjack. Tankado trusted him.† Strathmore could not seem to find words. â€Å"Abort TRANSLTR,† Susan begged him. â€Å"We've got North Dakota. Call building security. Let's get out of here.† Strathmore held up his hand requesting a moment to think. Susan looked nervously in the direction of the trapdoor. The opening was just out of sight behind TRANSLTR, but the reddish glow spilled out over the black tile like fire on ice. Come on, call Security, Commander! Abort TRANSLTR! Get us out of here! Suddenly Strathmore sprang to action. â€Å"Follow me,† he said. He strode toward the trapdoor. â€Å"Commander! Hale is dangerous! He-â€Å" But Strathmore disappeared into the dark. Susan hurried to follow his silhouette. The commander circled around TRANSLTR and arrived over the opening in the floor. He peered into the swirling, steaming pit. Silently he looked around the darkened Crypto floor. Then he bent down and heaved the heavy trapdoor. It swung in a low arc. When he let go, it slammed shut with a deadening thud. Crypto was once again a silent, blackened cave. It appeared North Dakota was trapped. Strathmore knelt down. He turned the heavy butterfly lock. It spun into place. The sublevels were sealed. Neither he nor Susan heard the faint steps in the direction of Node 3. Chapter 60 Two-tone headed through the mirrored corridor that led from the outside patio to the dance floor. As he turned to check his safety pin in the reflection, he sensed a figure looming up behind him. He spun, but it was too late. A pair of rocklike arms pinned his body face-first against the glass. The punk tried to twist around. â€Å"Eduardo? Hey, man, is that you?† Two-Tone felt a hand brush over his wallet before the figure leaned firmly into his back. â€Å"Eddie!† the punk cried. â€Å"Quit fooling around! Some guy was lookin' for Megan.† The figure held him firmly. â€Å"Hey, Eddie, man, cut it out!† But when Two-Tone looked up into the mirror, he saw the figure pinning him was not his friend at all. The face was pockmarked and scarred. Two lifeless eyes stared out like coal from behind wire-rim glasses. The man leaned forward, placing his mouth against Two-Tone's ear. A strange, voice choked, â€Å"Adonde fue? Where'd he go?† The words sounded somehow misshapen. The punk froze, paralyzed with fear. â€Å"Adonde fue?† the voice repeated. â€Å"El Americano.† â€Å"The†¦ the airport. Aeropuerto,† Two-Tone stammered. â€Å"Aeropuerto?† the man repeated, his dark eyes watching Two-Tone's lips in the mirror. The punk nodded. â€Å"Tenia el anillo? Did he have the ring?† Terrified, Two-Tone shook his head. â€Å"No.† â€Å"Viste el anillo? Did you see the ring?† Two-Tone paused. What was the right answer? â€Å"Viste el anillo?† the muffled voice demanded. Two-Tone nodded affirmatively, hoping honesty would pay. It did not. Seconds later he slid to the floor, his neck broken. Chapter 61 Jabba lay on his back lodged halfway inside a dismantled mainframe computer. There was a penlight in his mouth, a soldering iron in his hand, and a large schematic blueprint propped on his belly. He had just finished attaching a new set of attenuators to a faulty motherboard when his cellular phone sprang to life. â€Å"Shit,† he swore, groping for the receiver through a pile of cables. â€Å"Jabba here.† â€Å"Jabba, it's Midge.† He brightened. â€Å"Twice in one night? People are gonna start talking.† â€Å"Crypto's got problems.† Her voice was tense. Jabba frowned. â€Å"We been through this already. Remember?† â€Å"It's a power problem.† â€Å"I'm not an electrician. Call Engineering.† â€Å"The dome's dark.† â€Å"You're seeing things. Go home.† He turned back to his schematic. â€Å"Pitch black!† she yelled. Jabba sighed and set down his penlight. â€Å"Midge, first of all, we've got aux power in there. It would never be pitch black. Second, Strathmore's got a slightly better view of Crypto than I do right now. Why don't you call him?† â€Å"Because this has to do with him. He's hiding something.† Jabba rolled his eyes. â€Å"Midge sweetie, I'm up to my armpits in serial cable here. If you need a date, I'll cut loose. Otherwise, call Engineering.† â€Å"Jabba, this is serious. I can feel it.† She can feel it? It was official, Jabba thought, Midge was in one of her moods. â€Å"If Strathmore's not worried, I'm not worried.† â€Å"Crypto's pitch black, dammit!† â€Å"So maybe Strathmore's stargazing.† â€Å"Jabba! I'm not kidding around here!† â€Å"Okay, okay,† he grumbled, propping himself up on an elbow. â€Å"Maybe a generator shorted out. As soon as I'm done here, I'll stop by Crypto and-â€Å" â€Å"What about aux power!† Midge demanded. â€Å"If a generator blew, why is there no aux power?† â€Å"I don't know. Maybe Strathmore's got TRANSLTR running and aux power is tapped out.† â€Å"So why doesn't he abort? Maybe it's a virus. You said something earlier about a virus.† â€Å"Damn it, Midge!† Jabba exploded. â€Å"I told you, there's no virus in Crypto! Stop being so damned paranoid!† There was a long silence on the line. â€Å"Aw, shit, Midge,† Jabba apologized. â€Å"Let me explain.† His voice was tight. â€Å"First of all, we've got Gauntlet-no virus could possibly get through. Second, if there's a power failure, it's hardware-related-viruses don't kill power, they attack software and data. Whatever's going on in Crypto, it's not a virus.† Silence. â€Å"Midge? You there?† Midge's response was icy. â€Å"Jabba, I have a job to do. I don't expect to be yelled at for doing it. When I call to ask why a multi billion-dollar facility is in the dark, I expect a professional response.† â€Å"Yes, ma'am.† â€Å"A simple yes or no will suffice. Is it possible the problem in Crypto is virus-related?† â€Å"Midge†¦ I told you-â€Å" â€Å"Yes or no. Could TRANSLTR have a virus?† Jabba sighed. â€Å"No, Midge. It's totally impossible.† â€Å"Thank you.† He forced a chuckle and tried to lighten the mood. â€Å"Unless you think Strathmore wrote one himself and bypassed my filters.† There was a stunned silence. When Midge spoke, her voice had an eerie edge. â€Å"Strathmore can bypass Gauntlet?† Jabba sighed. â€Å"It was a joke, Midge.† But he knew it was too late. Chapter 62 The Commander and Susan stood beside the closed trapdoor and debated what to do next. â€Å"We've got Phil Chartrukian dead down there,† Strathmore argued. â€Å"If we call for help, Crypto will turn into a circus.† â€Å"So what do you propose we do?† Susan demanded, wanting only to leave. Strathmore thought a moment. â€Å"Don't ask me how it happened,† he said, glancing down at the locked trapdoor, â€Å"but it looks like we've inadvertently located and neutralized North Dakota.† He shook his head in disbelief. â€Å"Damn lucky break if you ask me.† He still seemed stunned by the idea that Hale was involved in Tankado's plan. â€Å"My guess is that Hale's got the pass-key hidden in his terminal somewhere-maybe he's got a copy at home. Either way, he's trapped.† â€Å"So why not call building security and let them cart him away?† â€Å"Not yet,† Strathmore said, â€Å"if the Sys-Secs uncover stats of this endless TRANSLTR run, we've got a whole new set of problems. I want all traces of Digital Fortress deleted before we open the doors.† Susan nodded reluctantly. It was a good plan. When Security finally pulled Hale from the sublevels and charged him with Chartrukian's death, he probably would threaten to tell the world about Digital Fortress. But the proof would be erased-Strathmore could play dumb. An endless run? An unbreakable algorithm? But that's absurd! Hasn't Hale heard of the Bergofsky Principle? â€Å"Here's what we need to do.† Strathmore coolly outlined his plan. â€Å"We erase all of Hale's correspondence with Tankado. We erase all records of my bypassing Gauntlet, all of Chartrukian's Sys-Sec analysis, the Run-Monitor records, everything. Digital Fortress disappears. It was never here. We bury Hale's key and pray to God David finds Tankado's copy.† David, Susan thought. She forced him from her mind. She needed to stay focused on the matter at hand. â€Å"I'll handle the Sys-Sec lab,† Strathmore said. â€Å"Run-Monitor stats, mutation activity stats, the works. You handle Node 3. Delete all of Hale's E-mail. Any records of correspondence with Tankado, anything that mentions Digital Fortress.† â€Å"Okay,† Susan replied, focusing. â€Å"I'll erase Hale's whole drive. Reformat everything.† â€Å"No!† Strathmore's response was stern. â€Å"Don't do that. Hale most likely has a copy of the pass-key in there. I want it.† Susan gaped in shock. â€Å"You want the pass-key? I thought the whole point was to destroy the pass-keys!† â€Å"It is. But I want a copy. I want to crack open this damn file and have a look at Tankado's program.† Susan shared Strathmore's curiosity, but instinct told her unlocking the Digital Fortress algorithm was not wise, regardless of how interesting it would be. Right now, the deadly program was locked safely in its encrypted vault-totally harmless. As soon as he decrypted it†¦. â€Å"Commander, wouldn't we be better off just to-â€Å" â€Å"I want the key,† he replied. Susan had to admit, ever since hearing about Digital Fortress, she'd felt a certain academic curiosity to know how Tankado had managed to write it. Its mere existence contradicted the most fundamental rules of cryptography. Susan eyed the commander. â€Å"You'll delete the algorithm immediately after we see it?† â€Å"Without a trace.† Susan frowned. She knew that finding Hale's key would not happen instantly. Locating a random pass-key on one of the Node 3 hard drives was somewhat like trying to find a single sock in a bedroom the size of Texas. Computer searches only worked when you knew what you were looking for; this pass-key was random. Fortunately, however, because Crypto dealt with so much random material, Susan and some others had developed a complex process known as a nonconformity search. The search essentially asked the computer to study every string of characters on its hard drive, compare each string against an enormous dictionary, and flag any strings that seemed nonsensical or random. It was tricky work to refine the parameters continually, but it was possible. Susan knew she was the logical choice to find the pass-key. She sighed, hoping she wouldn't regret it. â€Å"If all goes well, it will take me about half an hour.† â€Å"Then let's get to work,† Strathmore said, putting a hand on her shoulder and leading her through the darkness toward Node 3. Above them, a star-filled sky had stretched itself across the dome. Susan wondered if David could see the same stars from Seville. As they approached the heavy glass doors of Node 3, Strathmore swore under his breath. The Node 3 keypad was unlit, and the doors were dead. â€Å"Damn it,† he said. â€Å"No power. I forgot.† Strathmore studied the sliding doors. He placed his palms flat against the glass. Then he leaned sideways trying to slide them open. His hands were sweaty and slipped. He wiped them on his pants and tried again. This time the doors slid open a tiny crack. Susan, sensing progress, got in behind Strathmore and they both pushed together. The doors slid open about an inch. They held it a moment, but the pressure was too great. The doors sprang shut again. â€Å"Hold on,† Susan said, repositioning herself in front of Strathmore. â€Å"Okay, now try.† They heaved. Again the door opened only about an inch. A faint ray of blue light appeared from inside Node 3; the terminals were still on; they were considered critical to TRANSLTR and were receiving aux power. Susan dug the toe of her Ferragamo's into the floor and pushed harder. The door started to move. Strathmore moved to get a better angle. Centering his palms on the left slider, he pushed straight back. Susan pushed the right slider in the opposite direction. Slowly, arduously, the doors began to separate. They were now almost a foot apart. â€Å"Don't let go,† Strathmore said, panting as they pushed harder. â€Å"Just a little farther.† Susan repositioned herself with her shoulder in the crack. She pushed again, this time with a better angle. The doors fought back against her. Before Strathmore could stop her, Susan squeezed her slender body into the opening. Strathmore protested, but she was intent. She wanted out of Crypto, and she knew Strathmore well enough to know she wasn't going anywhere until Hale's pass-key was found. She centered herself in the opening and pushed with all her strength. The doors seemed to push back. Suddenly Susan lost her grip. The doors sprang toward her. Strathmore fought to hold them off, but it was too much. Just as the doors slammed shut, Susan squeezed through and collapsed on the other side. The commander fought to reopen the door a tiny sliver. He put his face to the narrow crack. â€Å"Jesus, Susan-are you okay?† Susan stood up and brushed herself off. â€Å"Fine.† She looked around. Node 3 was deserted, lit only by the computer monitors. The bluish shadows gave the place a ghostly ambiance. She turned to Strathmore in the crack of the door. His face looked pallid and sickly in the blue light. â€Å"Susan,† he said. â€Å"Give me twenty minutes to delete the files in Sys-Sec. When all traces are gone, I'll go up to my terminal and abort TRANSLTR.† â€Å"You better,† Susan said, eyeing the heavy glass doors. She knew that until TRANSLTR stopped hoarding aux power, she was a prisoner in Node 3. Strathmore let go of the doors, and they snapped shut. Susan watched through the glass as the commander disappeared into the Crypto darkness.