How Air Brakes on Trains Work Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

How Air Brakes on Trains Work - Article Example Eventually, there is a slowdown of the wheels and the whole train stops. The braking material assumes the form of a pad or block. Most trains are installed with braking systems that feature compressed air like the power to force blocks on to pads or wheels on to discs. Such systems are referred to as "pneumatic brakes" or "air brakes". A â€Å"brake pipe† is used to transmit the compressed air into the system. Varying the level of air pressure results into a variance in the brake’s state of application in every locomotive. The train may apply the brake, hold (release) it after an incomplete application. The compressor serves as the pump necessary for drawing air from the atmosphere, while compressing it for further usage on the train. The principal function of the air is portrayed in the brake system, even if compressed air is also used in other means. The driver’s brake valve acts as the means via which the train driver regulates the brake system. This valve has a minimum of such positions as: "Running", "Lap", "Release", "Emergency", and "Application". Additionally, a position to "Shut Down" is included to help lock the valve when it is not on use. Every position plays an autonomous role in the braking system. The "Release" position links the brake pipe to the main reservoir. This effort helps in raising the available air pressure within the shortest time possible in order to acquire an instant release when the driver is signaled to restart the train. The selection of the feed value is acquired when the valve is in the position, "Running". This facilitates the maintenance of a slow feed within the brake pipe in order to counteract the losses or small leaks in the connections, brake pipe and connections. The role of the "Lap" is to help close the link between the brake pipe and main reservoir, as well as to hinder the atmospheric connection when a brake application is committed. The Lap has

National Westminster Bank Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

National Westminster Bank - Case Study Example NatWest could have also responded swiftly and effectively as rivals such Barclays and Lloyds TBS had done so with the sweeping changes brought about by Internet-enabled financial transactions to the banking industry. By the 1990s, NatWest's traditional bank branch practices such as mortgage and savings faced stiff competition from new comers such as Egg and Virgin, upstart retailers and supermarket banks which rode the wave of the financial services revolution. The globalization of financial transactions has also partly driven the mergers in the banking industry - making big domestic banks such as NatWest unable to compete in the new financial landscape. By the time NatWest made its ill-fated foray into bancassurance (an untested recipe in the U.K.) via a bid for the insurance and investment firm Legal and General in early September 1999, the market has made a clear judgment that the bank didn't cut the investors' approval of its management. The steep fall in NatWest's stock thereaft er only revealed its vulnerability for a takeover. Right until the very end when RBS has won the bid against the BS in February 2000, NatWest refused to give in, insisting that a takeover would not add value to shareholders and would put the much smaller bank in danger of overstretching its finances.

Sport films

Sport films In America, hundreds of sport films have been produced. Usually, sports werent that much successful. Films were usually intended for younger audience, and were made of low budget, until recently when Rocky in 1976 was released, the sports film genre has flourished at the box office, and has attracted audiences that would never dream of going to a boxing ring. Sports and movies contradict in many ways. Sport is an unscripted battle in which the viewer is absorbed in the plot precisely because he does not know how it will end. A movie is necessarily the reverse: scripted, plotted and directed; a drama choreographed in advance. That is why all the great sport movies are not just about sports. Yes, most of the cast may talk and play sports, but if the script does not have a wider range to it, then I think the movie is going to lose the battle. I also think that sports films are also their own coach, They inspire, entertain, encourage, strengthen a Yes-I-Can self-belief and energize. In s hort, sports films tell powerful stories that speak to our heart, head, soul spirit. One movie that I think has the ability of being a successful sport film is â€Å"A shot at Glory† directed by Michael Corrente and stars veteran actor Robert Duvall and Scottish soccer player Ally McCoist. The film features the fictional Scottishsoccer clubKilnockie, as they attempt to reach their first Scottish Cup Final. Its very difficult to make films about soccer. One has to be very careful in handling this kind of sport as sometimes match scenes can overtake a beautifully crafted plot. â€Å"A Shot At Glory† is indeed one of the finest soccer movies and is worth watching. The three points that requires a sports film to be successful is script, actors and cinematography. There are various number of things that can add up to a high quality sport film, like emotions or fascinating actors, but one of the most important criteria is genuineness or originality in the script. Films of this genre have to be unique and unpredictable. A true sports fan can spot a foul play or a non-athletic actor a mile away, and this can quickly shatter the suspension of disbelief to quite an extent. â€Å"A Shot At Glory† makes a good attempt in keeping the audience at their edge of the seats till the finale. The dramatic elements are genuine and carefully developed; the brilliant sports sequences are edited in such a way that all you need to know about soccer is that you kick a ball into a goal; and the comedic sequences are cleverly rendered so as not to dilute the intensity of the drama. The best part of the script has been kept in the end. I have always believed that, if the director wants to put an impact on the audiences mind, then the last 20 minutes or so has to be captivating. It should make the audience guessing that whats going to happen next. The climax, which is the soul of every movie, the prime sport clichÃÆ' ©, a last second goal to win the championship, thats where it differs from other sports films. It is indeed not one of those sport movies which only rely on the joys of athletic competition, but also explore the bitter ironies of defeat. It also tells about Ally McCoist whose flashy lifestyle and volatile temperament cost him both his career and wife Kate (Kirsty Mitchell), who is none other than McLeods (Robert Duvall) own daughter. The second most import factor that I think makes not only a sports film but every film successful are the actors. No matter how good the script is, if the actor doesnt fit into the role than the film will fail. The whole film is shot in Scotland, therefore, actors having Scottish accent is mandatory. Robert Duvall is simply amazing. His daring Scottish accent is utterly convincing. The scene when Robert Duvall talks to his wife about their daughter and son-in-law is one of the best scenes in the movie. He also pulls off a remarkable performance. He fits the role of a Scottish coach perfectly and lives up to his reputation as one his generations finest actors. To make things look more authentic, director Michael Corrente used Scottish footballer Ally McCoist as Jackie McQuillan. The undeniable chemistry between Ally McCoist and Kirsty Mitchell as Robert Duvalls ex-son in law and daughter is marvelous, the sequence where Kirsty tries to convince Ally to quit drinking shows how committe d both the actors are. The third thing that I want to see in a sports film is cinematography. Cinematography is the art of manipulating light and shadow, and capturing it as a moving image. It plays an important role especially when making a soccer film, in which the players move constantly. But, the match scenes should not overtake the script. In these situations the director has to be very careful, as the audience should come out of the theatre watching a movie rather than a match. â€Å"A Shot At Glory† gives a perfect example of keeping the script alive as well as showing the match scenes when needed. The action scenes are realistic with real-life commentary. The lush landscape and village scenery gives a terrific feel and look to the movie. Especially the pen-ultimate penalty kick scene, in which the director has kept the suspense alive with top notch cinematography. In the end, A Shot At Glory is well made film. A Shot at Gloryis one of the better football films around, and should be a welcomed view for fans of the British game. One does not have to be soccer fan to watch this movie. Because of its strong and original script, the movie holds to keep the interest of the viewer. The acting is outstanding. This is Roberts Duvalls one of the finest works I have seen. Its really not easy for an actor from a different country to portray a character which has a different accent altogether. I dont think any other actor would have done enough justice to the character played by Ally McCoist. He brings a real feel in the film, as he has been a real soccer player. The character played by Kirsty Mitchell is refreshing in a brief role. The camera work is excellent. The soccer scenes are interesting; with background commentary gives it a real feel. As far as the sports genre is concerned, the appeal of many of these recent films lies in heartwarming stories of victories over great odds, sports films have also served as a serious way to explore human psychology. It also teaches us lessons about the values of teamwork, self-control, sacrifice, the possibility of triumphing over great odds, and the need to obey rules.

Changing Policy on Medieval Heresy Essay -- essays research papers

Heresy, as defined by the medieval church, is 'an opinion chosen by human perception, found on the scriptures, contrary to the teachings of the church, publicly avowed and obstinately defended' (Moore ix). The word 'Heresy' originates from the Greek word, 'Hairesis', meaning 'choice' (George xi). During the Medieval time period, which stretched from the 700's to the 1400's, heresies became sought out as religious alternatives to the constraining Catholic Church (George 342, Roach 11). The common people began to become increasingly more educated (Roach 52). With this came the ability, the need, to question authority (Moore 3, Roach 59). Because of the Church's religious monopoly and the laity's demand for knowledge, heresy became a widespread practice across Europe during the Middle Ages, causing the Church to reconsider their methods of controlling the spread of heresy and devise new ways to appease the opposing heretical factions. The Roman Catholic Church, which had once been a unification of the churches of both the Byzantine Empire and the Western Empire, divided into the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western Roman Catholic Church (Hamilton and Hamilton 4). The Eastern Orthodox Church, located in Constantinople, spoke out greatly against heresy: ?The Faith of the three hundreds and eighteen fathers assembled at Nicaea...shall not be set aside, but shall remain firm. And every heresy shall be anathematized? (Roach 10). The Church despised heresies and tried to abolish heresy using any method they could (Moore 8-10). Heresy?s spread through Europe was not appreciated by the Church, but it remained unquestioned by the larger part of the civilian population for a time because people began to make more choices in their lives... ...orced to reevaluate their means of suppressing the rising heresies and the heresies devised new ways to fit better into society (George xiv). Cited 1. George, Leonard. Crimes of Perception: an Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics. New York, Paragon House, 1995. 2. Hamilton, Janet and Bernard Hamilton. Christian Dualist Heresies in the Byzantine World c. 650-c. 1450. New York: Manchester University, 1998. 3. Lambert, Malcolm. Medieval Heresy: Popular Movements from Bogomil to Hus. New York: Homes & Meier, Inc, 1976. 4. Leff, Gordon. Heresy in the Later Middle Ages: The Relation of Heterodoxy to Dissent c. 1250-c. 1450. New York: Manchester University, 1969. 5. Moore, R.I. The Origins of European Dissent. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1985. 6. Roach, Andrew P. The Devil?s World: Heresy and Society 1100-1300. United Kingdom: Pearson Education, 2005.

Fast Food Contain Harmful Food Additives Essay

In America, fast food chains are a significant symbol of the American traditional food trends which expand widely and grow fast all over the world. Thus, a large number of Americans eat fast food as their daily diet. However, these tasty fast foods are highly processed foods which are filled with plenty of chemicals, additives and preservatives. By adding these additives and artificial flavorings into fast foods, so the food is attractive and also tasty. Fast food companies, like McDonald, attract customers’ attention by using various advertisements to make their products look good and also selling these delicious foods at low prices. Many people do not realize the negative side of those unhealthy and processed fast food meals that contain lots of unsafe additives, which can lead to bad health effects and shorter life. For instance, all the burgers and beverages that people consume in the fast food restaurant are risky to people’s health because of food additives. According to Fast Food Nation, â€Å"Without this flavor industry, today’s fast food industry could not exist† (Schlosser 120). It is significant that artificial flavor is one essential element which use in the fast food industry and helps to operate fast food business successfully and permanently. After World War II, a vast flavor industry invented processed food that was popular and widely used by American. The flavor additives create more demand since it benefits both consumer and businessman in some ways. For example, most food additives are cheap and functional so that companies are willing to buy and add it into food to reduce the cost of product and gain more business benefit. Because of the low cost, the company is able to lower the price of fast food in order to appeal more customers to buy. As a result, many customers choose to consume more fast food in order to save money; Fast food companies added various chemical flavors and manufactured coloring additives into diverse foods and beverages. Chicken McNugget is one of the popular foods serviced in the McDonald meal. The fair outward appearance, crispy skin and tender meat of Chicken McNuggets are a big part of what makes people feel more enjoyable to eat it. The chicken nugget is not simply a piece of fried chicken but more than that. So what is really in the chicken nuggets in McDonald? To answer this question, we might look at the great amount of ingredients of chicken nuggets. It is surprising to see that there are not only chicken but numerous other components which are almost unfamiliar with us, such as sodium aluminum phosphate, TBHQ and bleaching wheat flour. Basically, this small piece of Chicken McNugget only has 50% of what is called the real chicken, and chemical and additives make up the other half. Many additional additives are used in Chicken McNuggets’ ingredient now, and I would show only a few of the most common ones here. First of all, sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium acid pyrophosphate are the primary components of a baking power as chemical leavening agents. They are food additives that are mostly and widely used in food industry for many baked products. It accelerates food to yeast faster in order to save time, as well as affects the final texture, flavor and moisture of food. (Longe P43) Sodium aluminum phosphate is released slowly during the fermentation period, which â€Å"enhancing the properties of the formula ingredients†. (Leavening Agents) â€Å"Sodium acid pyrophosphate is also a slower reacting acid and is used in refrigerated biscuit dough recipe. † (Longe P45) As a result, the product will have a crispy taste and fine texture. Likewise, McDonald Company adds these chemical materials into Chicken McNugget to make it taste better. However, both of these agents are harmful to people’s health. For instance, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate is a toxic drug that could cause people’s mental problem, such as memory loss, and confusion. A direct possible consequence of eating these additive-containing foods frequently may lead to Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis. Second, â€Å"the most alarming ingredient in a Chicken McNugget is TBHQ, which is an anti-oxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed directly on the nugget for keeping its shelf time longer. (Pollan P113) Moreover, TBHQ helps the food to â€Å"maintain its freshness, minimize nutritional losses in edible oils, and preserve the present color of iron and metal complexes†. (Shree Additives) Obviously, the effective functions of TBHQ makes fast food industry often use this artificial additive in thousand food products. Chicken McNuggets are just one of the fast foods that contain TBHQ. The result from consuming processing foods with TBHQ can lightly cause â€Å"nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse. (Pollan P114) It can even lead to death if you ingest too much fast food with TBHQ. Last but not least, McNuggets also contain bleaching wheat flour which is one of the ingredients often used in McNugget and other productions. As we know, flour is used to improve the gluten baking quality. The food industry adds flour bleaching agent in order to make the product appear whiter and fresher. Also, the function of this agent is to maintain the foods’ stability, food color and improve the structure forming capacity, allowing the product produce higher proportions of gluten and sugar. Flour Bleaching Agent) During the bleaching processing, most nutrients are destroyed and removed from the grain, and then produce amounts of alloxan. â€Å"The fact of alloxan is a product of the decomposition of uric acid which is used to produce diabetes in healthy experimental animals, so as to help researchers to study diabetes treatments in the lab. † (The Little-Known Secrets about Bleaching Flour†¦ ) It turns out that the nutritional value of food has been lost and we are actually eating the sugar what cause us fat and led to diabetes. According to recent research, alloxan is also a poison which may lead to the country’s diabetes epidemic and other chronic diseases in America. Even though this bleaching agent has a great impact on food industry, we still cannot neglect the negative effect of this additive. Base on the ingredients in McNugget I mentioned above, it would be easy to think that McNugget as final product has been processed through many chemical mechanics and scientific methods which change the actual â€Å"meaning† of the chicken nugget. In other words, it is hard to tell how much actual chicken goes into a real nugget. We have such tasty chicken nuggets available for us anytime because of these food additives. These nasty ingredients and harmful chemicals make people fat and cause serious illness or even death. Imagine how much chemicals and additives are contained in a little piece of Chicken McNugget that could easily endanger people’s health. So I wonder if other fast foods may contain the same dangerous or more harmful additives in its ingredient which lead to more health problems. In conclusion, fast food chains play a vital role in the U. S’s health problems, people should to be up in arms with our government in order to fight against these hazardous chemicals to be used in fast food restaurants. Fast foods are rich in food additives that can badly affect people’s health as it cause cancer, nervous system damage, birth defects, and much more. From my point view, I think that we should avoid the fast food, and especially the overconsumption of fast food, in order to pursue a healthy life style.

Educational Technology Essay

With the passage of time, the advances of technology are making their presence felt in every walk of life from space exploration to clean a room. The central though behind these technological advances is to make life more comfortable, efficient, and safe. As such technology is an integral part of daily workaday life. Newer forms of technology are being introduced with improved rates of efficiency, safety, and comfort. In this regard, inclusion of technology in education has also become the hard norm of the present educational system of such a country as the United States of America with the same focus as quoted above. Henceforth, all important areas of educational development have been hinged with the inclusion of technology. One such area of focus today, with regard to the inclusion of technology in education, is the educational development of the disabled and other disadvantage students’ enhanced learning. The present paper examines in detail the inclusion of technology in education with relation to the learning of disabled and disadvantaged students. The paper first of all discusses the present literature on the present state of educational technology and disabled learners; furthermore, the present paper specifically examines studies conducted in the same area to investigate the legitimacy on educational technology inclusion to teach the disabled students, say, English language, and see what difference the technology inclusion makes upon the learning of the students. Literature Review In the past several decades, changing perspectives on the use of technology inclusion in education for the disabled students has caused the curricular guidance to undergo changes that are significant on their own. It was in the time of the 1970s and the 1980s that parents and teachers came to realize the vision that graduating students with disabilities could now go on living and working in the general community environment with some support that differed according to individual. This vision, then, bypassed the shelters of workshops, centers for day treatment, and other massive settings for residential purposes which were indispensable for the previous students. This revolutionary vision then gave birth to â€Å"the development of curricula that were relevant to students’ functioning to everyday life† (Davern, et.al, 2001). In addition to the above, the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1997) also paved the way for the educators to look for technology inclusion that can boost up learning in the disabled students; hence the premise of this act is that: A free and appropriate public education will be provided for all children with special needs. IDEA 97 emphasizes the participation of students with disabilities in the general curriculum and requires that Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams make many decisions that support and encourage student performance in the general curriculum and general education classroom (Robinson, et.al, 2002). However, when it comes to the participation of the disabled students in the learning of more complex cognitive content (say reading comprehension or learning vocabulary, and so on) with the mainstream education, with their peers, it is seen as an obstacle that these students show a difference of learning from their peers. Hence there are various involvements made by researchers. These interventions focus on overcoming these differences among the two types of learners. â€Å"Curriculum-based assessment†, â€Å"Direct instruction curriculum design†, and â€Å"learning strategies Deshier† are some of them (Carnine, 1989). Today, as such, technology is fast becoming the norm of the area of educating the learners with disabilities. The times of the twenty first century has given rapid rise to technology integration in education. Henceforward, as Dr. Frank B. Withrow, Director of Development Able Company Washington D.C. (2000) notes that â€Å"Technology predictions for the 21st century include sensory prosthetic devices for disabled people. This may be one of the most significant factors in providing all children an equal and appropriate education.† He further points out that â€Å"Cochlear implants are already providing many hard of hearing youngsters with functional hearing.† Moreover, â€Å"Speech synthesizers give voice to mute individuals. New developments in microelectronic lenses may enable a large number of visually disabled people to read printed books† (Frank, 2000) However, it is another thing to investigate the integration of technology and its feasibility with the production: effectiveness of technology with regard to the learning rate of the students with disabilities. In the later part of the paper I would examine the role of technology in relation to this very theme. I would discuss the role of the educational software for the special education. Educational Software and Special Students Today, like all other areas of education, special education is also influenced by the introduction of newer and newer software that provide the educators the opportunities to better teach the disabled students so that their learning can be worth it. Since commercial software for education usually shapes the center of instruction which is technology-based in special education (also for general classroom education), there is a very rapid race among the educational authorities to obtain the most effective and result-oriented software. However, with the advances made in this area, there are certain concerns raised by the educators and researchers about the feasibility of these software packages with regard to effective learning among the disabled students. In this connection, the most common practice found among the educators is that they â€Å"rely on experts in commercial businesses to produce quality educational software for classroom use, with the assumption that the software has been designed to meet the unique learning needs of the population of students for whom it is targeted† (Boone, et.al, 2000). In other words, the consumers of the software assume that the software was properly designed and developed with a population being the focus of that software, for example, students with disabilities, junior school students, students learning English as a second language, and so forth. The net result that these consumers anticipate from the software obtained, as such, is that it will help them improve the learning capabilities of their students – in our case students with learning disabilities and disadvantaged students. On the contrary, Boone et al. (p. 109, 2000) observe that though many of the software developers are aware of the fact that consulting educational experts and researchers is way important in order to develop a result-oriented, population-targeted software, â€Å"some companies still develop software without taking into account education factors that may affect learning† (Boone, et.al, 2000). They point out three major areas regarding such software development for the disabled students, which were major concerns of the educators: 1) The developed software did not have a theoretical base for its formation; 2) There is an overemphasis on such technical aspects of the software as high graphic designs and audio add-ons; and 3) The software development manifested an improper approach toward educational concerns. With these three major concerns, Boone et al. (2000) also list three major areas – investigated in a Delphi research study – which, according to educators, the educational software for the disabled students was proved to be lacking. These areas are: 1) The investigation revealed that software lacked an incorporation or association of higher-level of thinking; 2) The software also lacked a grounding in the educational research and pedagogical investigation of the related teaching content to the disabled students; 3) The last major area of lacking of the educational software for the disabled students was that the software lacked the inclusion of a number of different level skills which can be used to effectively meet an individual’s specific needs. Therefore, Forcier, 1999 (as cited in Boone et al. p. 01, 2000) notes that because of these so complex issues with regard to the educational software, it seems unclear as to which degree such educational improvisation is actually meeting the needs of the educators/teachers and their students. (Boone, et.al, 2000) Evaluation of Software Boone et al. (2000) point out the importance of the educational for the disabled students so that their feasibility can be put to a check. For the evaluation of an educational software, the authors state that many of the educational software developers and publishers are not providing enough information to the educators. This is a practical problem for the educators who opt for a specific software program available in the market suiting the needs of their educational context; however: (Boone, et.al, 2000) â€Å"Educators often find that software they have purchased is not adaptable, does not teach what it purports to teach, or does not support what is occurring in the classroom. For these reasons, educators must independently evaluate software by taking into consideration the following†. (Boone, et.al, 2000) 1) The educators must look for the software’s intended use by monitoring the help that the software lends to achieve their objectives; 2) Content which accompanies the software must be scrutinized; it is also seen whether or not the software has a teacher’s supplement for implementation; 3) â€Å"the instructional presentation and whether the software meets the principles of universal design (i.e., multiple representations of content, multiple means of expression and control, and multiple forms of engagement)† (Boone, et.al, 2000); 4) they should also go for software that is user-friendly: that is easy to use both by the teacher(s) and students; 5) the software should also provide considerable amount of documents and other support; 6) The software should also contain user inputs. With these areas in mind, the authors further come up with the evaluation criteria of the two kinds of evaluation of the software: formative and summative evaluation through the use of the software to make sure of its compatibility with the learning of the disabled students. I discuss both these steps of the evaluations separately so that a thorough understanding of the issue can be grasped. Formative Evaluation and Learning Software for Disabled Students To evaluate the efficiency of software for students with disabilities Boone et al (2000) state that the first and the foremost focus of the educators should be to take into account an area of the students’ learning and/ or other aspects of their life; this are can be the learning characteristics of those students; or their learning goals; or it can be the area of their social skills and goals, and so on. After this specification, the educators should put the software to test on a across-student level, that is to say: Software evaluation by students should involve a high-achieving student, a middle-achieving student, and a low-achieving student who all have a particular disability. This allows the educator to determine the software’s usability across students with a particular disability and, beforehand, to identify specific areas in the software with which particular students may need help (Boone, et.al, 2000). They also give a precaution to the educators that they should not count on the opinions of the parents of the students because it is possible that some software is not efficient to adults; however, the same is greatly enjoyed by the students.