Global Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global Operations Management - Essay Example For a manufacturing company like PPQ Parts Manufacturing Company software enabled supply chain management is the most needed for sustainability in the industry. Materials Requirement Planning For managing the inventory which is needed for the producing the end product materials requirement planning is needed, which is mainly software based in the companies in these days. It is required to maintain the right level of inventory; company should make sure that there is no shortage of raw materials or no excessive materials (Chase et al, 2006, p.675-676). A manufacturing company should be more focused in this area to increase efficiency of business. Capacity Requirement Planning Capacity requirements planning is the process of evaluating that the company can meet the current need and projected need of production with the installed capacity or not. If there is need for additional capacity then the concerned authority takes the remedies (Heim and Compton, p.209). For a manufacturing company like PPQ Parts periodical analysis is necessary and this would be more effective if software tool is used for assistance. Enterprise Resource Planning Enterprise Resource Planning is a system which integrates the departments of an organization to make the management system more effective. For a manufacturing company it is needed to improve the efficiency of the work process which includes management of production, sales management and the financial affairs of the company (Leon, 2007, p.14). Pros and cons of the Software Systems To effectively manage the process of the organization the management of the company should take help of a software system instead of doing it manually. The management should take care that the software product is best for their organization which depends on many factors like the size of the organization, the cost of the software product, the user-friendliness of the product and the compatibility of the product with the current systems. PPQ parts manufacturin g company wants a software package to make efficient their overall process. To suggest efficient software package the factors which are necessary for an analyst are the size of the firm, the employees working in the company, how many users would use the software directly, which information are not given. The six software systems selected by the analyst and their pros and cons are as follows: Software Cost Compatibility with Current Systems Functionality User-Friendliness Other Factors Remarks Intuitive (Consona) Average. The system used is Microsoft .Net and database is SQL server 2003 Administration and installation much easier (as .Net used). Simple process in the ERP package. Easy to use. Efficient Business Intelligence. 10% MS Access used. Internet compatibility outside the server environment requires MS terminal Server and Advanced Configurator Efficient but cost may be higher for some companies SAP Business One (SAP) Per User Licensing Model ($20000 for 5 users). Depend upon c ustomization Compatible with basic systems Provide accurate information, help to take

Discuss the role of nationalism in the Vancouver Olympics, drawing Essay

Discuss the role of nationalism in the Vancouver Olympics, drawing from class readings and lectures, and relate your discussion - Essay Example During Vancouver Olympic Games, the rights of indigenous Canadians have been violated and this was a controversial matter that split Canadians into two national camps. In his article â€Å"Native Rights Concerns Cloud 2010 Games†, Jon Elmer expresses a violent attitude to Canadian government. Thus, the latter was believed to violate the national sovereignty. Nevertheless, the initial goal of Olympic Games was seen in propagation of a common goodness for the Canadian nation. A fostering of policies directed on a successful and favorable future for representatives of different nations was believed to be a prevalent factor in the development of Canadian nationalism (Wallis et al, 2010). It is on behalf of a nation to distinguish between pros and cons of their development. On this background indigenous Canadian population has initiated their protests because they consider themselves to be poor people and they accuse their government of human rights violation. The St'at'imc nation protested against violation of their traditional lands where resort might have been located. Another claim made by other inhabitants in Canada, the building of new hotels has intensified a homelessness crisis. Moreover, the homelessness crisis in Canada severely deepened and turned into "a civic, and provincial and national shame" (Elmer). Therefore, in this article, the issue of nationalism is discussed in the paradigm of the importance of dwelling for a citizen. It is very important for a citizen to identify himself and to have his own place in his country. When this right is violated and taken away in the name of vague goals, an indignant nation may protest against it. In the article by Brandy Yanchyk two points of view are expressed in a broader context. On the one hand, it is underlined that Olympic Games present an opportunity for Canada to become a richer country and increase the vitality and a health level of the Canadian nation. On the other hand, it is underlined that a ma ssive influx of athletes, public and journalists a great problem for Canada. Moreover, â€Å"Canada's indigenous peoples have suffered a long history of poverty, unemployment, and problems with addiction and high rates of suicide† (Yanchuk). Therefore, it is better to perceive the Olympic Games in Vancouver as a chance for indigenous people to show that they are â€Å"entrepreneurs, visual artists and performing artists. You know our culture is really living and thriving today and it's been through challenges," (Yanchuk) – that is the way a representative of the indigenous people have underlined a possible positive outcome of the Olympic Games. The attitude of indigenous people supposes the necessity of multiculturalism development, which is considered by Bannerji as: â€Å"a fantastic evocation of ‘unity’, which in any case becomes a reminder of the divisions† (Bannerji, p.79). Therefore, the objections made by indigenous people against Vancouver Olympic Games can be considered in these frames further on. They are an integrative part of the Canadian nation, but they want to preserve their historical traditions and prevent their territory from intrusion of a massive flux of foreigners. Such people associate themselves with their land and do not want to subject their land to the risk of being devastated by people from all over the world or share with them their dwellings. There is a problem

Design a One-Day Training Event at an Organization of AXA Essay

Design a One-Day Training Event at an Organization of AXA - Essay Example The study begins with the description of the concepts on training programs and their significance. Further a brief overview of the company AXA is given to explain its mission, objectives, and business strategies. The significance of the training intervention is also precisely explained so as to reveal how the training program streamlines with the business strategies of AXA. A training time table in Appendix 1 is designed to plan and develop a training event. Background In the competitive global environment, those companies who want to increase their productivity and improve their margins look out for ways to boost their employee’s effectiveness and performance. Training programs and skill developments are the causes for budget cuts but they indeed assist organizations achieve the strategic objectives and also augment their overall business culture. Organisations have to manage four most important resources, namely equipments, information, money and people. The meta-analysis of the effects of managerial training revealed that it is effective in organisation. It was also suggested that an evaluation of about 83 studies from the year 1982 to 2001 showed that even fairly successful training programs have significant effect on the employees (Blanchard, and Thacker, 2007, p. 5-8). Mathieu and Leonard (1987) depicted that a training program was conducted for the 65 supervisors of a bank and the cost incurred for such a research was $50,000, but the bank earned $34,600 in the first year, $108,600 in the third and more than $148,000 in the third year. This was just an example cited to validate the effectiveness of training in organisation. The rationale for training programs is to mainly enhance the skill and improve the knowledge of the employees. This assist the management to get back the returns from the investments they made on the employee in form of revenue. This is the reason why the training programs should be designed to cater to the needs and requiremen ts of the organisation and it should be streamlined to fulfil the strategic goals and objectives of the company (Simmonds, 2003, p. 29-31). Company Overview AXA is a French company which deals in financial services. It was founded in 1817. The company mainly offers health, life and investment insurance plans and portfolios for its individual as well as corporate customers. AXA has expanded its business through joint ventures and tie-ups in many countries like Canada, UK, Mexico, and in Asia pacific regions. AXA has specific department called AXA ICAS which offers stress management programs and training to its employees of different organisation. This signifies that AXA believes that training programs can help employees to cope with the stress. The mission of AXA is to build a culture of achievement and trust that would empower and employ their workforce to become customer-centric and also optimize the business values to accelerate higher growth for the company. The aim of AXA is to promote stronger and safer growth in the long run. This study would focus on a one day training program which would be conducted for the employees of AXA, UK. The training would be on Managing pressure at work place or stress management. Since AXA already has a stress management training segment which offers training services to the employees in different organisation, so it would be easier to plan the training prog

Role of Managers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Role of Managers - Research Paper Example Different organizations have different management styles and organization cultures. There has been rapid innovation and changes in the field of management. The increasing technological changes and advancement along with whole new sets of concepts and working principles have made the task of management biggest challenge in today’s corporate world. FOUR JOB FUNCTIONS OF MANAGERS: The four job functions of managers are (Tripathi & Reddy, 2006): 1. Planning 2. Organizing 3. Leading 4. Controlling Planning: The first element of the management and job function of managers is planning. It is the duty or responsibility of the manager to plan and set the goals and targets for the organization. Along with this function of planning also includes strategies and methods about how the goals and targets will be achieve. Hence, the two most important and critical elements of the planning function are: setting up of goals and targets and implementing the planning about the aims and objectives. Organizing: The second job function or responsibility of the managers is organizing. The responsibility for the organization of the company is placed on the managers. This responsibility or duty includes the organization of all resources including people or human resource. ... Leading: It is important to understand that there is difference between management and leadership. The management is associated with only managing the employees, ensuring that whether the task has been done on the right time, and that all policies and rules are followed. On the other hand the process leadership involves motivating and encouraging employees to perform well. Along with this the leader guides the employees in order to achieve the targets and goals of the company. An effective and efficient manager is one who is also able to lead the employees along with managing them. For this purpose it is essential for the manager to identify elements which motivates and encourage the employees. Controlling: The last job function of the manager is controlling. It includes the process of monitoring and evaluating the overall performance of the organization. This function is necessary in order to ensure that the overall organization is on the right track and is working to accomplish the goals and targets. Apart from this it is also the responsibility of the manager to do cost versus benefits or performance analysis for different projects and activities undertaken by the organization. KEYS TO SUCCESSFULLY CARRY OUT MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES: In order to be able to successfully carry out and fulfill the duties and responsibilities associated with managers it is required to understand the process of management. The mangers should be competent enough to perform all the required tasks and job functions. Management is not an easy task, it involves different responsibilities including, planning, controlling, leading, organizing, staffing, and many more. Managers have to understand that the task of management is basically a balancing act in which one has to balance several

Overview Of Manchesters Castlefeild Viaducts History Essay

Overview Of Manchesters Castlefeild Viaducts History Essay The Castlefield viaducts form a part of the citys fascinating network of transport infrastructure, which includes canals, waterways, tram, rail and road. Starting from the period of their construction, these viaducts have been standing as a constant and dominating feature on the Manchester skyline. They are unique with respect to their historic significance and construction. Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond adequate description, particularly at dawn and sunset.   In the 20th century the viaducts underwent a dramatic renaissance, and they were brought back into productive use and glory. Though time and lack of substantive maintenance are inciting threats to the life and beauty of the structure, they are in surprisingly good condition given their age. Proper maintenance and replacements will slow down the deterioration process of the structure. This report covers the structural, historical and architectural significance of the Castlefield viaducts. It highlights how the ageing infrastructures of the viaducts were effectively transformed to a landmark structure of the modern era. The restoration of the viaducts has given a dramatic revival to the Castlefield area, thus making use of the previously disfunctional structure. Thus our aim is to stress the importance of conserving the antiquated structures by making use of the scientific and technical knowledge gained through the ages. CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES Figure Description Source Cover image Castlefield viaducts in 2010 Photograph supplied by author 1.1 Castlefield viaducts in 1890 Waterways into Castlefield, John C Fletcher 1.2 Castlefield viaducts: An aerial view www.webbaviation.uk 1.3 Castlefield viaducts in 1892 A walk round Castlefield, Derek Brumhead and Terry Wyke 2.1 Roman fort of Mamucium www.bbc.co.uk 2.2 Castlefield excavations A walk round Castlefield, Derek Brumhead and Terry Wyke 2.3 Cornbrook and Great Northern viaducts www.panoramio.com 2.4 Northern Brick viaduct www.panoramio.com 2.5 Flowchart showing birth history of viaducts Drawing supplied by the author 4.1 Botanical growth on the corners of the viaduct www.forgottenrelics.co.uk 4.2 Use of cherry pickers in removing corrosion www.forgottenrelics.co.uk 4.3 Breakage and corrosion of iron sections www.forgottenrelics.co.uk 6.1 Architectural beauty of viaducts www.creativity103.com 6.2 Economical use of spaces beneath the brick arches of the viaduct Drawings supplied by the author A.1.1 Great Northern viaduct :picture from past www.canalarchieve.org.uk A.1.2 Great Northern viaduct: present picture http://manchesterhistory.net A.2.1 Northern Brick viaduct: picture from past www.canalarchieve.org.uk A.2.2 Northern Brick viaduct: present picture http://manchesterhistory.net A.3.1 Iron columns of the viaduct: picture from past www.canalarchieve.org.uk A.3.2 Iron columns of the viaduct: present picture www.barrymillerphotographics.co.uk A.4.1 Cast-iron arch of viaduct: picture from past www.canalarchieve.org.uk A.4.2 Cast-iron arch of viaduct: present picture www.engineering-timelines.com B.1 Plan of Castlefield in 1905 A walk round Castlefield, Derek Brumhead and Terry Wyke B.2 Plan of Castlefield in 1988 Waterways into Castlefield, John C Fletcher B.3 Aerial photograph of Castlefield by Paul Tomlin Waterways into Castlefield, John C Fletcher B.4 Plan and section of the junction between the Manchester and Birmingham and Liverpool and Manchester Railways. www.freepages.com 1. INTRODUCTION The Castlefield viaducts are the excellent examples of 19th century attitude to engineering. Their heroic brute scale is romanticised by the castellalated turrets adorning the structure. The name Castlefield is a short form of field of the castle or fort. Castlefield  is an  inner city  area of  Manchester, in  North West England. It is arguably one of the most historically important areas in the world. Innovations have proliferated here and many artefacts have been constructed. In 79 AD the Romans built their fort on elevated ground, and canals were dug to allow natural watercourses to be diverted to mountain water levels. The worlds very first railway station was introduced in Castlefield in 1830, to allow the first rail transportation of coal as canal basins were so numerous that the only practical means of utilising railway transport was to build viaducts. C:UsersreminDesktopDSC01024.JPG Figure 1.1: Castlefield viaducts in1890 Castlefield is conspicuous by its viaducts and its canals. The viaducts have become an indelible part of the landscape, valued and treasured as part of Manchesters industrial heritage. The fact of increasing the efficiency of transportation, paved way for the construction of the Castlefield viaducts. Gradually plans were evolved not only to conserve the area but also to promote leisure and tourism. C:UsersreminDesktopcourse workbridge-castlefield-c8675.jpg Figure 1.2: Castlefield viaducts: An aerial view During the 20th century both canal and railway transport declined and the area became somewhat derelict. The railway complex in Liverpool Road was sold to a conservation group and became the  Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. C:UsersreminDesktopDSC01036.JPG Figure 1.3: Castlefield viaducts in 1892 2. HISTORIC RESEARCH 2.1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SITE AND STRUCTURE Castlefield is the site of the original Roman fort of Mamucium or Mamceaster (mam from the Celtic name for hill and ceaster derived from the Latin word for a walled town). The fort was about five acres in size and guarded important route ways to and from Chester, York and the Chesire salt wiches. The roads, railways and canals of the Industrial Revolution destroyed most of the surface remains of the fort and the vicus. The price of coal was halved, making steam power commercially viable. The Rochdale Canal and a network of private branch canals joined the Bridgewater at Lock 92 in Castlefield. The Bridgewater Canal company  connected their canal to the adjacent Mersey and Irwell Navigation and the Rochdale Canal Company  constructed its Manchester and Salford Junction Canal. Figure 2.2 Castlefield excavations Figure 2.1 Roman fort of Mamucium Artists impression of Roman Mamucium (c) Graham Sumner C:UsersreminDesktopDSC01034.JPG As new railway companies needed to access the city centre through largely built-up areas, only one option lay open to them the building of viaducts to carry traffic over the city. The railway lines the central cast iron arch of the Manchester South Junction Altrincham 1848 viaduct, with 1877 wrought iron Cheshire Lines Cornbrook viaduct obscured, and the massive piers of the 1894 disused Great Northern Viaduct behind constructed over the course of half-a-century provided leading railway companies with the access to the city centre. These viaducts provided a splendid solution illustration to the problem of carrying a railway across the city. The townscape of southern Manchester was given a new transformation by the railway and the Castlefield viaducts. In fact these viaducts are still the engineering beauties of Manchester especially Castlefield. C:UsersreminDesktopphotos1.jpg Figure 2.3.Cornbrook and Great Northern viaducts C:UsersreminDesktopphotos2.jpg Figure 2.4: Northern Brick viaduct 2.2. BIRTH OF CASTLEFIELD VIADUCTS The arrival of the Bridgewater Canal in Castlefield in July 1761 led to a series of developments which eventually caused the construction of the Castlefield viaducts. These developments are indicated pictorially as shown below. Arrival of the Bridgewater Canal (marked Industrial Revolution) Joining of the Rochdale Canal and other private canals with the Bridgewater Canal Construction of warehouses and storehouses prompted the need for accessing city centre Decrease in the price of coal gave the idea of constructing railway lines for transportation. Construction of the Castlefield viaducts for enabling railway transportation Figure 2.5 Flowchart showing birth history of viaducts 3. STRUCTURAL OVERVIEW ORIGINAL STRUCTURE The cast iron arch railway bridge over the wharves by the Bridgewater Canal at Castlefield forms part of the long brick viaduct taking the Altrincham branch of the Manchester South Junction Altrincham Railway (MSJAR) into Deansgate Station. The MSJAR was Manchesters first suburban line. It ran from Manchester Piccadilly via Oxford Road and Deansgate (with a branch line to Altrincham). The bridge spans 31.9m. Like eight of its siblings (the exception being the Water Street MSJAR bridge), it has six cast iron ribs each made in five pieces and bolted together. The ribs are braced with cruciform cast iron sections. The twin railway tracks were carried on cast iron deck plates (the Altrincham line is no longer in use).The Altrincham branch viaduct had a second cast iron rib arch bridge by Baker, over Egerton Street. It was reconstructed in steel in 1976. The Northern Brick viaduct is entirely elevated on more than 2 miles of viaduct. Most of this viaduct comprises 224 brick arches, averaging 30feet in height and span, and 28feet in width. Foundations typically extend 30-35feet below the ground level. Near Ordsall Lane the railway crosses the Irwell with two much longer 65feet span brick arches, supported by a pillar in the middle of the river. A brick arch with a span of 80feet was required to bridge the canal branch. Supplementing the brick arches, the cast-iron bridges cross 26 streets and canals. Originally, flat-girder bridges were ear marked for these sections of the viaduct, but when an example of this type of bridge collapsed under a train in Chester in May 1847 the plans were altered amid safety doubts. In total, 28 cast-iron bridge sections were required (three at Knott Mill), all of them spanning 70ft, except for the example over the Rochdale Canal which spans 105ft. The bridges were obtained by engineer David Bell house from the foundries of E.T. Bell house. On the viaducts south side is the high-level iron truss girder viaduct of 1877 built for the  Cheshire Lines Committee by the  Midland Railway. It is known as Cornbrook Viaduct. The viaduct is a red brick and  wrought iron  truss girder construction. Building work started in 1873 and was completed in 1877. When it opened in 1877, it carried trains coming from a temporary station to  Irlam  and  Warrington, and  Chorlton  via a branch line. The temporary station was replaced by  Sir John Fowlers Manchester  Central Station  in 1880, which operated until 1969 and is now used as an exhibition centre (G-MEX). The through lattice girder design, predominantly of wrought iron, is around 330m in length, comprising eight spans. Formed from segmental castings and founded at a depth of 6.1m, the piers diameter tapers from 4.6m at their base to 3.2m at ground level. They are concrete-filled and tied to their neighbour by a girder dealing with lateral forces. Behind decorative castellation, bearing plates support the heavy end posts of 16 trusses, the longest of which reaches 53m. Each pair is restrained by brace beams at 6.4m centres. Span 7 is acutely trapezoidal, allowing span 8 to cross the Ordsall Lane line on a skew of around 65 ° its southern truss benefits from an additional orphaned column. The bottom chord of each truss forms a channel. The transverse bearers hold the deck plates and ribs to which the running rails are fastened. To the north is the 1894 Great Northern viaduct that served the  Great Northern Railways (GNR) warehouse. The high-level  tubular steel  viaduct is decorated with turrets. It was built for the Great Northern Railway Company and carried GNR trains to the companys Deansgate warehouse until 1963. Richard Johnson was a Chief Engineer of the GNR. The Cornbrook and Great Northern viaducts stood disused for many years. When a route for the  Metrolink  trams was investigated, the Cornbrook Viaduct was found to be in much better condition than the 1894 one. It was chosen for refurbishment (1990-1991) and is currently used by Metrolink trams going to Altrincham. During the regeneration of the Castlefield basin, a spectacular footbridge was built from Slate Wharf to Catalan Square. This is the Merchants Bridge, where the 3m wide deck is hung by 13 hangers from the steel arches. The span is 40m. The designers,  Whitby and Bird  acknowledge the influence of  Santiago Calatrava. The three viaducts passed right through the ancient Roman site, virtually obliterating it, as the opening of the Rochdale Canal had already destroyed much of it, as well as the old town of Aldport. Except the Great Northern viaduct all the other viaducts are still in use. The Great northern viaduct is now offered for sale. 3.2. FUNCTION The Northern Brick viaduct carried the double tracks between Manchester Piccadilly via Oxford Road railway station and Knott Mill railway station, then turns south west, crossed the canal basin and headed for Altrincham.   It forms part of the long brick viaduct taking the Altrincham branch of the Manchester South Junction Altrincham Railway through Knott Mill Station. The Cornbrook viaduct is carried across Castlefield Basin on huge castellated brick piers and where it crosses the Bridgewater Canal an immense bridge of lattice girders was constructed with twin spans of 44 metres and 62 metres. It carried trains coming from a temporary station to Irlam and Warrington, and Chorlton via a branch line. At present 15 trams per hour (tph) use the Cornbrook viaduct which has fixed block two aspect signalling. When Phase 3a of the development process is complete, there will be 25 tph along the Cornbrook Viaduct. The Great Northern viaduct served the  Great Northern Railways warehouse i n Deansgate by carrying GNR trains to the companys warehouse until 1963. 3.3. CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY The Northern Brick viaduct in the group of Castlefield viaducts and its impressive cast iron arch bridge was designed by  David Bellhouse and William Baker respectively. This is the largest cast iron arch bridge in the Castlefield area with a span of 104 feet. Each of the six cast iron ribs are made in five pieces and bolted together. They are braced with cruciform cast iron sections and the twin railway tracks were carried on cast iron deck plates. The project was a very large one, at least in terms of material: 300,000 cubic feet of stone 50,000,000 bricks and 3,000 tons of wrought iron. The ground was broken for the new line early in 1846. Subsequently, the railway ran into some financial difficulties that delayed work for about 18 months so that the railway was not completed until 1849. Brick arches were constructed by laying the bricks and mortar over scaffolding, which would maintain the arch shape until the mortar had set and the form was self-supporting. This scaffolding was usually left in place for two to three weeks after the brickwork had been completed. However, in January 1849 a section of the viaduct near Gloucester Street, just to the west of Oxford Road station, collapsed upon removal of the supporting scaffolding, killing several workers. An inquest revealed that wet weather had caused the mortar to set more slowly than anticipated. As a consequence, the scaffolding was left in place for longer periods, especially during the inclement winter months. No other major accidents occurred during the rest of the MSJARs construction. Red brick and  wrought iron  form the major raw materials for the construction of The Cornbrook Viaduct. The Great Northern viaduct makes use of tubular steel construction. Decorative fittings in the form of small towers rising above and resting on the main structure adds beauty to the viaduct. 4. RESTORATION 4.1. WAY TO RESTORATION The restoration of the Castlefield viaducts gave a dramatic revival to the area, with the viaducts being brought back into productive use. The Annual Report on Built Heritage, 2006/07 categorised the Castlefield viaducts into Grade II, which indicated that the structure is of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve them. Castlefields ageing infrastructure of the 1800s has been revived and in its place is one of Europes leading city break destinations, with some of the best shopping and most vibrant nightlife in the world.   By the 1970s the Castlefield area was decaying rapidly and was typical of many of the areas on the fringe of the city centre. In the early 1970s, excavations uncovered part of the site of the Roman fort. The process of removing the extensive, waist-high vegetation from the deck was relatively straightforward. Far more challenging has been the subsequent descaling work, ridding the viaduct of its loose material with hammers and scrapers. The abseil operation is self-contained, with collection bags and catch nets ensuring nothing falls to the ground. Progressing from west to east, the five spans of the first phase took place. But remaining phases were logistically more complex. The imaginative and sensitive conservation of the viaducts was to be achieved with high standards of urban design. When the Great Northern Railway Goods Warehouse was erected in 1898, the viaduct was widened on the north side to take four tracks, and a new spur built across Deansgate. The second cast iron rib arch bridge of the Altrincham branch viaduct was reconstructed in steel in 1976. The CLC Viaduct from Manchester Central Station to Cornbrook Junction was originally built as a two track viaduct then later widened to carry five tracks. Since the Cornbrook Viaduct was in much better condition compared to the Great Northern Viaduct, it was chosen for refurbishment in the year 1990 for a route for the  Metrolink  trams. It is currently used by Metrolink trams going to Altrincham. Central Station closed in 1969 and the viaduct was unused, except for business premises in the arches, until repaired and converted for Metrolink which opened in 1992. Repairs included pointing some 70,000 square metres of brickwork and replacing many thousands of spalled and missing bricks. Metal widening was strengthened by concrete encapsulation and local plating repairs where required. After the structural repairs had been completed the metalwork was grit blasted and painted to protect it. Corrosion damage caused by breakdown of the waterproofing system was repaired. Where needed main girder ends were encapsulated in a reinforced concrete diaphragm beam supported on new bearings. Other bearings were freed by drilling and injecting grease. The entire structure of Castlefield Bridge was lifted by 75mm as part of the work on its bearings. This improved headroom will allow future 25kV electrification of the Network Rail line from the railway Castlefield Junction, near Deansgate Station, to Ordsall Lane Junction. Subject to funding, plans are being developed for a major refurbishment to happen in 2012/13, involving a waterproofing exercise and miscellaneous repairs to restore some durability. The major challenge is to completely encapsulate the structure. The paintwork has to be restored- which seems to have been brush-applied in a single coat and causing considerable corrosion. It is important to remove the vegetation which has secured a foothold on the underside of the structure where much of the ironwork never gets the opportunity to dry. Adequate measures should be adopted to remove the blockages within the drainage system. Clearing debris from the trusses bottom chord and thereby allowing them to drain should be also given priority. 4.2. PRESENT CONDITION Though the Castlefield viaducts have given the city some of its most dramatic spaces, some limited drawbacks can be cited in relevance to the present day construction owing to the ageing infrastructure of the 1800s. One of the most important among them is the effect of corroding metallic surface. The forged bolts and fittings have become rusted. The damp conditions have been more conducive to corrosion. Periodic inspection and removal of huge amount of loose material from the corroded surface is required. The construction gave the bottom chord of truss a trough shape, which gets covered by water during rains. These corrosive water traps pose an attention seeking problem. The steelwork of the supporting columns has peeling paint and patches of rust. The iron layers have got broken at intervals.   There are evidences of staining and efflorescence and botanical growth due to the seepage of water through the brick joints. The younger but sicklier northern viaduct remains devoid of func tion except for its iconic role in the cityscape and frequent on-screen appearances. 4.3. REMEDIAL MEASURES Time and a lack of substantive maintenance and Manchesters notorious weather have not been kind to the structure. The observations confirmed that loose corrosion product was falling from the structure. The botanical growth and vegetation should be removed from the structure. Another significant maintenance work to be carried out is the descaling work. The viaducts should be made devoid of its loose material with hammers and scrapers. Descaling could be done more easily with the use of cherry pickers. The piers and soffits should be cleared and protective coatings should be applied. The iron sections should be inspected for breakages and necessary replacements should be done at intervals. Measures should be adopted to ensure waterproofing effect at the critical sections. http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/bridges/images/castlefield/castlefield-7.jpg http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/bridges/images/castlefield/castlefield-1.jpg Figure 4.2: Use of cherry pickers in removing corrosion Figure 4.1: Botanical growth on the corners of the viaduct C:UsersreminDesktopcourse workcs cwphotos9.jpg http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/bridges/images/castlefield/castlefield-4.jpg Figure 4.3: Breakage and corrosion of iron sections 5. PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED 5.1 DAVID BELLHOUSE (1792à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 1866) David Bellhouse (junior) was the contractor for the construction of the Northern brick viaduct, which was completed in 1849. Bellhouse hailed from a family rich in construction and business experience. His father David Bellhouse (senior), (1764-1840) was a skilled joiner and builder. David Bellhouse (junior) started his career by erecting warehouses, mills and public buildings. During 1830, he built 5 brick warehouses for Manchester and Liverpool railway at the Liverpool road station in Manchester, the worlds first railway station. Later he took advantage of the rising railway boom due to industrial revolution and concentrated his work within Manchester and surrounding area. In 1845, Bellhouse got the contract to build the mile and three quarter long Manchester South Junction Railway. The viaduct passed very near the Bellhouse family businesses, both the timber yard and the cotton mill. In addition to building the viaduct and laying the track, Bellhouse was responsible for the purchase and demolition of buildings on the proposed site of the line, the alteration and diversion of streets. The track was laid on a thirty-foot-high arched viaduct through a densely populated part of Manchester. The railway was finally completed in 1849. The viaduct is still in operation today. Other prominent projects constructed by Bellhouse include Chorlton on Medlock Town Hall and Dispensary Exhibition house of the Manchester Botanical and Horticultural Society The Palatine Hotel Manchester Poor Law Union Moral and Industrial Training School WILLIAM BAKER (1817-1878) William Baker was a railway engineer. He designed the Northern brick viaduct, Castlefield. He started his career in 1834 at the  London and Birmingham Railway  between London and  Tring. In 1837, he worked for the  Manchester and Birmingham Railway. Later he became engineer of the  Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR). Eventually, he was appointed as the chief engineer of the London and North Western Railway Company. He wholly constructed, or remodelled and extended, the stations of the company in London, Liverpool and Manchester, as well as the stations in Birmingham, Preston, Bolton, Crewe, Warrington and Stafford.  Baker was designer and engineer of the  Battersea Railway Bridge.  He also acted as consulting engineer to the West London Extension Railway and the  North London Railway, and in Ireland he built the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore and the North Wall Extension Railways. He was elected  MICE  in 1848. THE  CHESHIRE LINES COMMITTEE  (CLC) The  Cheshire Lines Committee  (CLC), with a route mileage of 143 miles, was the second largest  joint railway  in Great Britain. The Cheshire Lines group was formed by a joint committee of the  Great Northern Railway  (GNR), Midland railway (MR) and the  Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway  (MSLR) in 1862 to regulate traffic on four proposed lines in  Cheshire The Stockport Woodley Junction Railway The West Cheshire Railway The Cheshire Midland Railway The Stockport, Timperley Altringham Junction Railway There was also a decision to open important series of lines and junctions around the south of Manchester and Stockport, which provided valuable access with other railways. In 1873, Premier main line between Manchester and Liverpool opened. Shortly Liverpool central was opened. The committee studied the need of an independent terminus at Manchester. As a result, they constructed Manchester central and a new 2 track viaduct from Cornbrook to central station. There was significant passenger and goods traffic between Liverpool and Manchester during this period. The second major route, which the CLC operated, was between Manchester and Chester. Even today, the CLC line between Manchester and Liverpool is the quickest route between the cities, but are utilising Piccadilly and Lime Street stations, respectively. 5.4 RICHARD JOHNSON (1827-1924) Richard Johnson was apprenticed to a builder and contractor as a carpenter in 1840. In October 1847 he was appointed to the staff of Brydone Evans, engineers to the GNR. In 1855 he was appointed District Engineer to the GNR loop line with an office in Boston and in 1859 he became responsible for the direct Peterborough to Doncaster line. In June 1861 he became Engineer for the GNR when Mr Walter Marr Brydone retired (with Joseph Cubitt as Consulting Engineer). He observed the Welwyn tunnel accident and fire. He was in charge of constructing the Derbyshire Extension Railways, notably the viaduct at Ilkeston over old coal workings, the curved viaduct at Gilbrook, and the long Kimberley cutting. He was also involved in the Newark Dyke Bridge, the Don Bridge, the Copenhagen tunnels, and the bridge over the GER at Peterborough. Richard Johnson was the Chief Engineer of the GNR and was responsible for the design of Great Northern viaduct of Castlefield, which was constructed in 1894. He d ied in Hitchin on 9 September 1924. HENRY HEMBEROW Henry Hemberow was an engineer by profession and was appointed as Resident Engineer working under the supervision of Mr. William Baker for the construction of the MSJAR. His direct involvement in any design works is not known. It is also not known if he had any direct contributions to the Castlefield viaducts in particular. The lack of information found about him during research may suggest that the impact he made in his role here and in his career as an Engineer, was not as significant as others of his time. 6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STRUCTURE In the 20th century Castlefield underwent a dramatic renaissance, with many historical buildings being brought back into productive use and glory. The Castlefield viaduct provides a strong contrast to these new structures, portraying the areas rich heritage and its prominence as the birthplace of the industrial revolution. 6.1 ECONOMICAL SIGNIFICANCE The Castlefield Viaducts are of fundamental importance to the infrastructure of the area. Historically they functioned as a link for the transport of goods to the industrial centre. They are now a part of the citys efficient network of transport infrastructure, which includes canals, waterways, trams, rail and road. The viaducts dramatically transformed the scale and visibility of urban exchange of the area, without disrupting the natural landscape and long established built-in environments. They are centrally located at one of Manchesters most successful regeneration areas in recent decades. The viaducts play a significant role in strengthening the tourism base, consolidating and supporting business activity. A vibrant residential community has been established. The rapid growth of commerce and population gave rise to further renovations of the structure. 6.2. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE The Castlefield Viaducts are reminders of Manchester citys bold and distinguished Victorian era architecture. At sunset, the viaducts cast quite remarkable geometric shadows across the arena and over Castlefield, which is a beautiful sight and adds to the cultural feel of the area.  The viaducts provide a dynamic viewpoint for the whole of Castlefield. Through the reconfiguration and reuse of this previously disfunctional infrastructure, this area was the most visible expression of the existence of the Central Manchester development corporation between 1987 and 1997, although its gentrification has produced a lessening of the dramatic impact of the original host structure. As the backbone of the city the Castlefield viaducts have been a continual part of Manchesters regeneration, as well as its history. They are aesthetically distinctive and have landmark qualities.   Figure 6.1: Architectural beauty of the viaducts http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6-1ZWzByHny9hPzslsIvlZmH_Mppe8by6Ym-2Uc3xwyYRtEUt=1usg=__5iZaJ3v6ohnr-SeLY92OoiLGXl8= Figure 6.2: Economical use of spaces beneath the brick arches of the viaduct http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7Tk1yhTqk7MNltiVHnmZMMZw6Aa_s286FhXyyfkbX-VKC_hkt=1usg=__L2CIQTAEsSpRfjkObWnxa86aC2Q= 6.3. SIGNIFICANCE IN RELATION TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY The Castlefield viaducts were the first of their type, and consequently are vital artefacts in the history of Manchester and the railways. They are noteworthy for both their design and size. One of the arches of the viaduct, the arch over the branch canal at Castlefield, had a span that was unus

Primary Theoretical Frameworks For Discussing Intimate Partner Violence Criminology Essay

Primary Theoretical Frameworks For Discussing Intimate Partner Violence Criminology Essay Select (highlight) this text and then begin typing your abstract, which should be limited to one paragraph of not more than 120 words Discuss the primary theoretical frameworks-feminist, psychological (including biological hypotheses), or sociological-for understanding intimate partner violence and how each perspective might influence the development of intervention with perpetrators, or counseling with victims? Use examples from the readings to demonstrate the relationship between theory and practice. AND TYPE HEADING] Intimate partner violence is a multi-causal, multifaceted phenomenon and no single theoretical approach has proven sufficient in adequately explaining it. Fortunately, the field of intimate partner violence research has evolved to a point where now the interactive nature of the various relevant factors may be considered. Studies have identified possible determinants of intimate partner violence. Several of these possible causes are salient across diverse cultural and social contexts. Still theories to give reasons for intimate partner violence remain relatively limited. This regrettable lack of a theoretical perspective could possibly limit efforts to better understand intimate partner violence and to develop an effective and sustainable intervention with the perpetrators. This lack of perspective is particularly disconcerting at the level of primary prevention. This writer will examine the principal theoretical frameworks that constitute intimate partner violence. Feminist theories of violence against women tend to place much emphasis on the societal structures of gender-based inequality. The feminist framework argues that as the predominant social class, men have differential access to material and symbolic resources. Women, conversely are devalued as secondary and inferior (Bograd, 1988). As a consequence, womens experiences are often defined as inferior as a result of male domination, a trait that femininist argue influences all aspects of life. The violence, rather than being an individual psychological problem, is instead an expression of male domination of females. Violence against women, in the feminist view, includes a variety of control tactics meant to control women. Much feminist research is based on the premise that gender inequality is the source of violence against women, and that the social institutions of marriage and family are special contexts that may promote, maintain, and even support mens use of physical force against women.   Researchers in this tradition tend to rely heavily on qualitative interviews for data; and most of them have reached the conclusion that violent men are more likely to adhere to an ideology of familial patriarchy (Dobash and Dobash 1979). Gender analysis tackles the belief system that convinces male perpetrators that they have a right to control women in intimate relationships. Failure to address this belief system means that men may simply switch from physical to emotional abuse, and women and children will continue to live in fear. The contributions of psychology to violence in the intimate relationship have received much attention. The majority of research on the topic of intimate partner violence centers on personality disorders and early experiences that will increase the risk of future violent behavior (Buzawa, 2003). Although psychologists have long investigated the factors that predispose one to violence, an individual personality trait has not been found that influences someone to domestic partner violence. perpetrators do not share a set of personality characteristics or a psychiatric diagnosis that distinguishes them from people who are not abusive (Buzawa, 2003). There are some perpetrators who suffer from psychiatric problems, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or psychopathology. Yet, most do not have psychiatric illnesses, and caution is advised in attributing mental illness as a root cause of domestic violence.   On the contrary, there exists a complicated combination of factors that predispose an individual to violent behavior (Buzawa, 2003). The psychological framework extends these factors onto the influence of children growing up within a combination of these external forces.   Usually, men who batter are seeking a sense of power and control over their partners or their own lives, or because they are tremendously dependent on the woman and are threatened by any moves on her part towards independence. Some men batter because thats the only way they know how to be close to or relate to a partner. Some men grew up in violent households, where they watched their mothers abused by their fathers and where they themselves were abused. Some men become violent under the influence of drugs or alcohol, although the substances themselves do not cause the violence. Many psychological approaches view violence as a learned behavior that can be unlearned as apposed to a consequence of individual pathology, stress, or alcohol abuse. In order to institute an effective intervention, individuals must be able to confront their anger without resulting to violent interactions. According to Buzawa Buzawa (2003), a major conflict is that batterers have yet to develop alternative strategies to control their anger. They contend that batterers generally are less capable or adapt to at argumentative self expression (p.34). One compelling premise is that violence in men is not only natural, but an essential trait that was developed through an evolutionary process. As argued by Dobash Dobash (1998), Men have a greater propensity for violence than women. They further maintain that violence is embedded in male physicality, culture and experience (Dobash, 1998). To further extend this argument, Buzawa Buzawa (2003) contend that, It has been empirically established that although both genders commit acts of domestic violence, men commit far more serious violence than do women(p.39). Research on the historical and biochemical links to aggression has considered other pathways, one of which is evolutionary. Daly Wilson (1998) maintain that, violent capabilities and inclinations arose in our male ancestors in response to the demands of male on male competition (Dabash,p.200). Further, Newborn Stanko (1994) maintain that young men learn to do violence and within some cultural expressions it plays an important role in their social place and personal identity (p.165). The question arises, if there is in fact an inherent basis for violence, can there also be a biochemical basis for violence toward women? Domestic violence was found to be all-pervasive among all women but varying in volume and frequency across class, age and education level. As stated by Jewkes, (2002), Womens susceptibility to intimate partner violence has been shown to be greatest in societies where the use of violence in many situations is a socially accepted norm (p.359). Thus family violence will take place more often in violent societies.   With this in mind, it is not uncommon to see more cases of domestic violence reported in communities plagued with violence such as underprivileged inner cities. As stated by Buzawa Buzawa (2003), although domestic violence is present in all social strata and ethnic groups, it is disproportionately concentrated in population subgroups that are stressed with poverty (p.40). Some subcultures develop norms that permit the use of physical violence to a greater degree than the dominant culture. For instance, if a particular community has a significantly high violent crime rate, than it is to be expected that violence will in some way manifest in the home. Often, people in these economically depraved communities develop peer relationships that promote male dominance in the community as well as the use of violence to support a culture of violence against women. Ultimately, domestic violence is a complicated interplay of social, genetic, and environmental factors. Male violence against women in intimate relationships is a social problem condoned and supported by the customs and traditions of a particular society.

Gender Selection of Babies Essay -- Biotechnology Genetics Parenting

For centuries there had been one sex that dominated the development of society. Laws, religion and lifestyle all revolved around the idea that one sex, the male sex, was dominant. Oppressed and considered inferior, women would obey the men, forgo all rights and accept all responsibility. Only recently, with the emergence of the women’s liberation movement, have both sexes been considered equal. For the first time in human history, both sexes have been given the chance to fulfill their potentials without discrimination. Parents, despite preferences of having a girl, or a boy, have known that regardless, their child would have an equal opportunity at life. The cutting edge technology, however, means that all this could change. The ability of parents to actually select the gender of their child could have not only devastating effects on society, but on the lives of so many children and parents. Whether parents had a girl or a boy has always been left up to nature to decide. To da te, no-one has dared interfere with the genetic workings of the body, mainly because the technology did not exist to do it. Now, with the dawn of the twenty-first century, that technology has arrived and mankind is faced with a very important decision: whether or not to â€Å"play God† and manipulate the gender of their child to suit their preferences. The romance of having the perfect nuclear family, with two boys and two girls’ fills the heads of young couples everywhere, and when given the opportunity, m...

Hamilton Argues Against A Bill Of Rights :: essays research papers

During the late 18th century the Antifederalists argued against the constitution on the grounds that it did not contain a bill of rights. They believed that without a list of personal freedoms, the new national government might abuse its powers and that the states would be immersed by an all to dominant and influential national government. The Antifederalists worried that the limits on direct voting and the long terms of the president and senators, supplied by the constitution, would create a population of elites and aristocrats, which in turn would eventually take away power from the people. They also feared that the president might become another monarch. In other words, the Antifederalists ultimately felt that the new Constitution was undemocratic. Supporters of a constitution, lacking a bill of rights, were called Federalists. The Federalists included members such as Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, whom wrote a series of essays that were designed to inform and persuade the public of their views pertaining to the issues of the day. Among these views was whether a bill of rights should be added to the constitution. The Federalists, via Alexander Hamilton, dealt with this issue in a foremost way in their 84th essay. In the 84th essay Hamilton begins by explaining that a bill of rights, which are â€Å"in their origin, stipulations between kings and their subjects, abridgements of prerogative in favor of privilege, reservations of rights not surrendered to the prince.† Therefore Hamilton states that bills of rights â€Å"have no application to constitutions professedly founded upon the power of the people,† and that under the constitution â€Å"the people surrender nothing, and as they retain everything they have no need of particular reservations." Another argument used by Hamilton was reminding, those who criticize the constitution for lacking a Bill of Rights, that many of the state constitutions do not contain one either. He believes that the Constitution, as is, effectively includes a bill of rights. The constitution contained various provisions in favor of particular privileges and rights. Provisions such as the power to impeach, writ of habeas corpus, the allowance for no bill of attainder or ex post facto law, no granting of title of nobility, trials that shall be by a jury in the state which the crime was committed within, and that punishment for treason will not extend to family members of the person convicted of that crime.

An experimental engine

AbstractionAn experimental engine with an electrohydraulic camless valvetrain, capable of entire valve gesture, was foremost conceived by the Ford Research Laboratory. Engine with an electrohydraulic camless system neither uses Cams, nor springs, which reduces engine tallness and weight. Hydraulic force both clears and closes the valves during the valve acceleration possible energy of tight fluid is converted into kinetic energy of valve gesture during slowing the energy of valve gesture is returned to the unstable convalescence of kinetic energy is the key to the low energy ingestion. Rather than open and shut the valves with conventional system camless engine employs an electro-hydraulic actuator mounted above the valves. The usage of electrohydraulic actuators eliminates an figure of expensive high preciseness and heavy constituents for the motor including the Cam shaft, rocker weaponries and springs, cam bearings and support constructions including caps, clocking cogwheel, push rods or in the instance of an overhead Cam engine, the belt or concatenation and miscellaneous cogwheels, and lubrication channels and ports. Because of this characteristics valve gesture has become independent. This permits an optimisation of valve event for each operating status without any via media1. IntroductionThe purpose of all attempts is release from a restraint that has handcuffed public presentation since the birth of Internal -Combustion Engines more than a century ago. The engines powering today ‘s vehicles rely on a system of valves to acknowledge fuel and air to the cylinders and allow the fumes to get away after burning. Revolving steel camshaft with preciseness -machined egg shaped lobes, or Cams are the difficult tooled â€Å" encephalon â€Å" of the system. The bulk of conventional automotive engines operate with a valvemotion fixed to the crankshaft rotary motion through the mechanical linkage of the rocker, pushrod, camshaft, and the timing concatenation. Like a really simple package plan that contains merely one set of direction, the Cam ever open and shut the valves at the same precise minute in each cylinders invariably during the shots. They do so irrespective of whether the engine is tick overing or whirling at soap revolutions per minute. As a consequence, optimal public presentation can be achieved at merely one velocity The clash loss of Cams, dependant and inflexible valve train operation, have oning of Cam its inefficient and noisy operation were some of the Parameters which every 1 has to compromise until a new attack of Camless engine was developed. In recent times, the turning demand to better fuel economic system and cut down harmful fumes emanations forced the engine interior decorators to earnestly see alternate methods of valve operation Camless engine is an engine replaced with a to the full variable camless propulsion system which allows complete control of mass transportation into and out of the engine cylinder.the engine uses actuators, detectors and microprocessors to command the lift of valves harmonizing to runing conditions. it gives programmable flexibleness in commanding the engine events. The system offers a continuously variable and independent control of virtually all parametric quantities of valve gesture control this permits optimisation of valve events for each operating conditions without any via media2. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTHistory shows that the thought of a camless internal burning engine has its beginnings every bit early as 1899, when designs of variable valve timing surfaced. It was suggested that independent control of valve propulsion could ensue in increased engine power more late, nevertheless, the focal point of increased power has broadened to include energy nest eggs, pollution decrease , and dependability. Their designs have taken on a assortment of signifiers, from electro-pneumatic to electro-hydraulic These designs are based on electric solenoids opening and shutting either pneumatic or hydraulic valves. The controlled fluid so actuates the engine valves. A comprehensive undertaking utilizing solenoid control of pneumatic actuators was completed in 1991 This research included the development of the actuators, a 16 spot microprocessor for control, and comparative testing between a standard Ford 1.9 litre, spark ignition, port fuel injected four cylinder engine and the same engine modified for camless propulsion.3. CAMSHAFT TECHNOLOGYSince the inception of the car, the internal burning engine has evolved well. However, one invariable has remained throughout the decennaries of ICE development. The camshaft has been the primary agencies of commanding the valve propulsion and timing, and hence, act uponing the overall public presentation of the vehicle. The camshaft is attached to the crankshaft of an ICE and rotates comparative to the rotary motion of the crankshaft. Therefore, as the vehicle increases its speed, the crankshaft must turn more rapidly, and finally the camshaft rotates faster. This dependance on the rotational speed of the crankshaft provides the primary restriction on the usage of camshafts. As the camshaft rotates, Cam lobes, attached to the camshaft, interface with the engine ‘s valves. This interface may take topographic point via a mechanical linkage, but the consequence is, as the Cam rotates it forces the valve unfastened. The spring return closes the valve when the Cam is no longer providing the gap force. Figure 3.2 shows a schematic of a individual valve and Cam on a camshaft.Since the timing of the engine is dependent on the form of the Cam lobes and the rotational speed of the camshaft, applied scientists must do determinations early in the car development procedure that affect the engine ‘s public presentation. The ensuing design represents a via media between fuel efficiency and engine power. Since maximal efficiency and maximal power require alone timing features, the Cam design must compromise between the two extremes. Acknowledging this via media, car makers have been trying to supply vehicles capable of cylinder inactivation, variable valve timing ( VVT ) , or variable camshaft timing ( VCT ) . These new designs are largely mechanical in nature. Although they do supply an increased degree of edification, most are still limited to discrete valve timing alterations over a limited scope.4. ADVANTAGES OF CAMLESS ENGINESElectrohydraulic camless valvetrain offers continuously variable and independent control of all facet of valve gesture. This is important promotion over the conventional mechanical valvetrain. It brings about a system that allows the independent programming of valve lift, valve unfastened continuance and arrangement of the event in the engine rhythm. Therefore making an engine with wholly uncompressed operation to boot, the ECV system is capable of commanding the valve speed, selective valve inactivation and vary activation frequence. It besides offers advantages in packaging. Freedom to optimise all parametric quantities of valve gesture for each operating status without via media. It consequences in better fuel economic system, higher torsion and power, improved idle stableness, lower exhaust emanation. A more elaborate reappraisal of expected betterment associated with optimisation of operation is given belowECV System is holding ability to command the consumption, which reduces the throttling loss. Pumping loss is the major factor doing the comparatively low rhythm efficiency of S.I. engines. Ability to command the consumption valve timing can alter solution. In this instance to cut down the engine burden below the maximal the variable late or early consumption valve shutting to cut down the volume of air in the cylinder at the beginning of compaction. The engine air flow is therefore reduced betterment in low velocity torsion can besides be achieved.To accomplish good rhythm efficiency, most of the burning is taken topographic point in the early phase s of enlargement shot due to utilize of ECV system because of faster burn rate. By detaining the gap of the consumption valve pass the top dead centre ( TDC ) , until the Piston acquires important down stroke velocity, increases the recess air speed & A ; provosts the faster burn rate. So better commixture, leaner air/fuel ratio improves the fuel efficiency & A ; reduces CO emanation.Optimization of valve timing outputs a flatter torsion curve due to betterment in volumetric efficiency. So low velocity torsion & A ; an mean torsion increases over the full sped scope. Engine torsion at high can be increased due to pound bear downing. An electronic control system senses the alterations in the engine velocity & A ; continuously adjusts the valve closing to accomplish the best via media between random-access memory bear downing & A ; compaction ratio at each velocity.With camless operation, a exactly late or early consumption valve shutting can be used to cut down the in-cylinder air co mpaction & A ; prevent knock. This can be good in turbocharged and supercharged engines. A conventional turbocharged engine can use merely a fraction of useable energy contained in its fumes at high velocity. In that a significant portion of fumes gas must short-circuit the turbocharger to forestall inordinate recess air force per unit area and temperature, which could do the engine to strike hard, this is called wastegating The decrease in the volume of air trapped in the cylinder is compensated for by an addition in the recess air force per unit area. So rhythm efficiency improves. Optimize enlargement ratio & A ; internal fumes gas ordinance consequences into the fuel efficiency & A ; decrease in the fumes gases.The effectual enlargement ratio is determined by the timing of the exhaust valve gap. Normally the fumes valve begins to open good in progress of BDC ( bottom dead centre ) to supply adequate clip for the cylinder blow down at high engine velocity. This makes effectual en largement ratio less than it would be if the timing to the BDC. At low velocity nevertheless at that place much more clip for the blow down and the overly early fumes valve gap is uneconomical. With variable exhaust valve clocking this lack can be eliminated by retarding the exhaust valve opening at low velocities and in general optimising the timing as the map of the engine velocity. much faster motion of engine valves in Cam less engine permits the rated of exhaust valve opening even at high velocities, the low velocity gap occur about at BDC. Increased enlargement shot work increases the torsion and particularly at low velocities improves the engine efficiency.Exhaust gas recirculation ( EGR ) straight affect the residuary gas fraction in the cylinder High quality of residuary gas lower the peak burning temperature and therefore reduces the measure of N oxides produced during burning ability to change the timing of exhaust valve shutting eliminated the demand for an external reci rculation.Advancing the fumes valve shutting before the TDC permits to retain the last part of gases go forthing the cylinder, on the other manus the fumes valve gap is well retarded a certain measure of fumes gas is sucked backed into the cylinder from the fumes port by downward traveling the Piston on its early portion of the consumption shot in. Therefore changing the timing of closing controls the measure of residuary gas in the cylinder.In camless engines with a variable valve lift & A ; lift of both recess & A ; exhaust valves can be reduced with the ryduction in engine velocity. Since the energy consumed by the valvetrain goes with the decrease in the valve shot, changing the valve lift as map of the engine velocity can better fuel efficiency at lower velocity.Speed of the recess air is increased which leads to faster burn rate. In camless engines holding two-inlet valves independent fluctuation of lift of each consumption valve varies the distribution of the air flow among t he valves. This provides the elusive agencies of polishing the air flow in the cylinder. Exhaust choking can be achieved by cut downing the fumes valve lift.Ability to tune the valve convergence every bit good as valve lift offers an chance to take down idle velocity & A ; therefore achieve a important decrease in fuel ingestion. Volumetric efficiency is improved hence variable valve speed can be achieved irrespective of the velocity of crankshaft. Significant sum of energy can be saved.Deactivating some of the engine cylinders forces the staying cylinders to run at higher burden to keep the given engine end product. The higher burden reduces specific fuel ingestion. The camless engine control system can selectively deactivate any brace ( recess or fumes ) of hydraulicly coupled valves at any clip by merely disrupting the electric signals to the several control solenoids. This besides applies to fuel injectors, inactivation of valve and fuel injector selectively deactivate single cy linder Deactivation of some of the engine cylinders leads to important betterment in fuel economic system and hydrocarbon emanationCamless system can deactivate valves & A ; cylinders for period every bit short as one rhythm. Ability to selectively jump single fire can be used to better fuel ingestion & A ; exhaust emanations during portion burden operation.Camless engines can supply a really effectual dynamic backup of the vehicle. This can be done via combination increased activation frequence valve inactivation. To execute dynamic endorsing the fumes valves & A ; the fuel injectors are deactivated while consumption valves are opened during each down shot of the Piston. When the consumption valve opens, a blow down of the compressed back into the consumption manifold takes topographic point. Alternatively of being dumped into the ambiance, the tight air can be pumped into a reservoir & A ; so used for engine boosting during vehicle acceleration. This provides regenerative backup, which improves fuel economic system.Camless valve train eliminates the demand for many mechanical constituents, such as camshafts, sprockets, bearings, tappets, springs, etc, which take up a batch of infinite on the top of the cylinder caput. As a consequence, the tallness & A ; the weight can be lower than those of comparable engines with cam-driven valves. There is no such limitation in the camless engines, each valve can busy any place in the cylinder caput, and this creates extra design chances for spacing the valves about the burning chamber.5. Working OF CAMLESS VALVETRAIN:5.1 Hydraulic pendulum: –The Electro hydraulic Camless Valve train ( ECV ) provides continuously variable control of engine valve timing, lift & A ; speed. It uses neither Cam on spring. It exploits the elastic belongingss of a tight hydraulic fluid, which moving as a liquid spring, accelerates & A ; decelerates each engine valve during it ‘s opening & A ; shutting gestures. This is the rule of the hydraulic pendulum. Like a mechanical pendulum, the hydraulic pendulum involves transition of possible energy into kinetic energy & A ; so back into possible energy with minimal energy loss. During acceleration, the energy of the valve gesture is returned to the fluid. This takes topographic point both during valve gap & A ; shutting. Convalescence of kinetic energy is the key to the low energy ingestion of this system. The figure 5.1 shows the hydraulic pendulum construct. The system incorporates high & amp ; low-pressure reservoirs. A little dual acting-piston is fixed to the top of the engine valve that rides in the arm. The volume above the Piston can be connected either to the high or to the low-pressure beginning. The force per unit area country above the Piston is significantly larger than the force per unit area country below the Piston. A hard-hitting solenoid valve that is unfastened during the engine valve acceleration & A ; stopping points during slowing controls the engine valve gap. Opening & A ; shutting of a low-pressure solenoid valve controls the valve shutting. The system besides includes high & amp ; low-pressure cheque valves. During the valve gap, the high-pressure solenoid valve is unfastened, & A ; the net force per unit area force forcing on the dual moving Piston accelerates the engine valve downwards. When the solenoid valve stopping points, force per unit area above the Piston drops, & A ; the Piston decelerates forcing the fluid from the lower volume back into the hard-hitting reservoir. Low-pressure fluid fluxing through the low-pressure cheque valve fills the volume above the Piston during slowing. When the downward gesture of the valve stops, the cheque valve closes & A ; the engine valve remains locked in unfastened place. The procedure of the shutting is similar in rule to that of valve gap. The low-pressure solenoid valve opens, the force per unit area above the Piston drops to the degree in the low-pressure reservoir, & A ; the net force per unit area force moving on the Piston accelerates the engine valve upwards. Then the solenoid valve stopping points, force per unit area above the Piston rises, & A ; the Piston decelerates forcing the fluid from the volume above it through the hard-hitting cheque valve back into the hard-hitting reservoir. The hydraulic pendulum is a spring less system figure 5.2 shows idealized graphs of acceleration, speed & A ; valve raise versus clip for the hydraulic pendulum system. The valves move with changeless acceleration & A ; slowing due to absence of springs. This permits to execute the needed valve gesture with much smaller net drive force, than in systems, which use springs. In spring lupus erythematosus system the engine valve is the lone traveling mass. to minimise the changeless drive force in the hydraulic pendulum the gap & A ; shutting accelerations & A ; slowing must be equal. To accomplish a symmetric hydraulic pendulum following relationship must be maintained between the valve geometry & A ; the forces moving on the valve.6. VALVE OPENING & A ; ShuttingThe valve gap & A ; shutting is the six-step procedure, & A ; in each measure an analogy to mechanical pendulum is shown. In measure 1 the gap ( high-pressure ) solenoid valve is opened, the high-pressure fluid enters the volume above the Piston. The force per unit area above & A ; below the Piston become equal, but because of the difference in the force per unit area countries, the changeless net hydraulic force is directed downwards. it opens the valve & A ; accelerates it in the way of the gap. The other solenoid valve & A ; the two cheque valves remain closed. In measure 2 the gap solenoid valve closes & A ; the force per unit area above the Piston drops, but the engine valve continues its downward motion due to its impulse. The low-pressure valve opens & A ; the volume above the Piston is filled with the low-pressure fluid. The downward gesture of the Piston pumps the hard-hitting fluid from the volume below the Piston back into the hard-hitting rail. This recovers the some of the energy cheapness was antecedently spent to speed up the valve. The ratio of the high & As ; low force per unit area is selected so, that the net force per unit area force is directed upwards the valve decelerates until it exhausts its kinetic energy & A ; its gesture Michigans. In measure 3 at this point the gap cheque valve closes & A ; the fluid above the Piston is trapped. This prevents the return gesture of the Piston, the engine valve remains fixed in its unfastened place trapped by hydraulic force per unit area on the both sides of the Piston. This is called as unfastened dwell place. In measure 4 valve shutting begins. The shutting ( low-pressure ) solenoid valve opens & A ; connects the volume above the Piston with low-pressure rail. The net force per unit area force is directed upward & A ; the engine valve accelerates in the way of shutting, pumping the fluid from the upper volume back into the low-pressure reservoir. The other solenoid valve & A ; the other two cheque valves remain closed during acceleration. In measure 5 the shutting solenoid valve closes & A ; the upper volume is disconnected from the low-pressure rail, but the engine valve continues its upward gesture due to its impulse. Rising force per unit area in the upper volume opens the hard-hitting cheque valve that connects this volume with the high-pressure reservoir. The upward gesture of the wall Piston pumps the fluid from the volume above the Piston into the hard-hitting reservoir. While the. increasing volume below the Piston is filled with the fluid from same reservoir. Since the alteration in volume below the Piston, the net flow of the fluid is into the hard-hitting reservoir. Again as it as the instance during the valve opening energy recovery takes topographic point. Therefore in this system the energy recovery takes topographic point twice each valve event. When the valve exhausts its kinetic energy its gesture Michigans, & A ; the cheque valve stopping points. Ideally this should ever co-occur with the valve sitin g on its place. This is nevertheless hard to accomplish. A more practical solution is to convey the valve to a complete halt a fraction of millimetres before it reaches the wall place & A ; so briefly open the shutting solenoid valve once more. This once more connects the upper volume with the low-pressure reservoir & A ; the high force per unit area in the lower volume brings the valve to its to the full closed status. Measure 6 illustrates the valve seating. After that the, shuting solenoid valve is deactivated once more. For the remainder of the rhythm both solenoid valves & A ; both check valves are closed, the force per unit area above the valve Piston is equal to the force per unit area in To heighten the ability of changing intake air gesture inside the cylinder unequal valve lift of the two consumption valves is used. This besides facilitates shutting of one valve while other remains unfastened. This can besides be done in instance of two exhaust valves. The lift qualifier is used to curtail the gap of one of the mated valves. The conventional representation of the lift qualifier is as shown in the figure 6.7 The qualifier is really a rotatable rod with its axis perpendicular to the plane of paper. It is installed in the cylinder caput between the two intake valves.The communicating chamber is connected to the high-pressure reservoir. As shown in instance A when the qualifier is in the impersonal place, both valves operate in unison. In the instance B the qualifier is turned through 90 & A ; deg ; clockwise senses. In instance C the lift of one of the valve is reduced comparative to other.7. Operation OF SYSTEMIn camless engine the control of valve train is done by microprocessors such as Phillips 80C552 microprocessor constructed on a wire wrap board along with the needed interfacing circuitry. The detectors sense the status of the engine and give end product signal to the microprocessor which gives feedback signal to the actuators which controls the lift of the valves so that coveted public presentation is obtained7.1 Microprocessor: –Using a Philips 80C553 microprocessor based on the Intel 8051 architecture. Provide high velocity end products RS232 communications, multiplexed parallel IO High velocity timers and counters, two external interrupts, four registry Bankss for fast interrupt handling. The processor has to take several existent clip inputs and bring forth a figure of end products.Input signals are:Single pulsation for every revolution of the crankshaftSingle pulsation for every grade of revolution of the crankshaftEnd products:Signal for commanding the solenoid valve to open and shut the recess.Signal for commanding the solenoid valve to open and shut the fumes.Signal to command the ignition timing7.2 Detectors: –Crank Angle Sensor / Single Revolution Sensor Is the most critical feedback constituent in the system. It measures the crankshaft angle and supplies it to the micro accountant to decrypt the place of the crankshaft. Two separate trigger mechanisms. Therefore two end products. One signal for a individual cylinder revolution and another signal for every grade of the crankshaft rotary motion. ( 360 slots in the trigger disc ) The detector consists of a twosome of optical pick-up LEDs that decode the slot signals into a 0-5 V square wave type signal. They count the figure of revolutions that occur in a given sum of clip to mensurate the revolutions per minute. Magnetic manner pickups are much more dependable than optical manner pickups. The grouch angle detector is used to mensurate the engine velocity, ignition angle, convergence, and recess valve unfastened angle. An inverting Schmitt trigger for faster borders shapes the end product pulse wave form. The lambda detector is utile in tunning the overlap period. The lambda detector reading gives a utile indicant if the fumes valve closed excessively late in the period of convergence, therefore leting unburnt fuel to get away. Less O fluxing through the exhaust manifold additions fuel efficiency and creates less pollution. A thermal resistor was used to mensurate the engine temperature. A thermal resistor is a temperature dependent resistance. To mensurate the throttle place a potentiometer was used in a electromotive force splitter constellation.7.3 I/O Interface: –Two informations acquisition cards have been designed utilizing 82C55 programmable peripheral interface IC ‘s. Each card is connected to the computing machine ISA port and has three bi-directional 8bit ports. Address decryption is done through a brace of 74LS138 decipherers. The I/O base reference can be in the scope 300-31CH merely by turning on one of the eight dipswitches. Along with the 3 8bit ports there is a connexion to the Personal computer ‘s +5V, +12V and land tracks. Reading and composing informations to and from the ports is done through C++ _inp ( ) and _out ( ) maps. The chief purpose of the V.V.T. Engine Management System package plan is to expose and log engine parametric quantities for all right tunings an engine. The engine measurings are taken by a assortment of detectors and interfaced to a computing machine through hardware. The package is written in Visual Basic and Visual C++ . Ocular Basic does non hold its ain input/output port read/write maps, where as C++ does, hence the reading and composing maps are written in C++ and compiled into a DLL with Visual C++ . These maps can be called from any Visual Basic application. A Dynamic Link Library ( DLL ) is a library of maps able to be called by an application at runtime. The application and maps within the DLL are non bound until the application plan is executed. Ocular Basic tonss DLLs when the signifier that contains their Declare statement is loaded. By utilizing a assorted linguistic communication theoretical account both Visual Basic and C++ are used for their strengths. C++ is used to execute port I/O port communications and Visual Basic for its ability to acquire a user interface available for requirement proving rapidly.8. Design APPROCHThe camless engine is designed on the footing of conventional four cylinders, four-valve engine. Here head holding to the full integrated camless valve train assembly replaces original cylinder caput incorporating conventional valves, camshafts, springs. A belt driven hydraulic pump is added in topographic point of camshaft. As there is no demand of lubrication entree for engine oil from engine block is closed.8.1 Head: –It is aluminum casted. The casting is accomplished by all hydraulic transitions linking the system constituents. High and low force per unit area reservoirs are integrated in the caput. The Hydraulic fluid is wholly separate from engine oil system. Fluid force per unit area is maintained at deliberate value of 9Mpa. Besides at lower degree it is supplemented with engine coolant. The engine valves are buried wholly in cylinder caput. The solenoid valves are kept on top of caput. All the connexions of Hydraulic pump and Electric accountant are at the back terminal of cylinder caput. Two transverse subdivisions of the cylinder caput are shown in the figure. 8.1.1 and 8.1.28.2 Components8.2.1 Engine Valve: –Here the valve Piston is attached to the top of the valve. Both the valve and Piston are able to skid inside a arm. Sleeve gaps are provided above and below the valve Piston leting hydraulic fluid into consumption or exhaust port. There is tight hydraulic clearance provided between the valve and the arm. But the clearance between arm and cylinder caput is comparatively big. This agreement improves the focus of the valve in its place. The valve is subjected merely to axial tonss. This reduces stresses ; clash and wear. Hydraulic fluid circulated through the Chamberss lubricates and cools the engine.8.2.2 Solenoid Valve: –The solenoid valve has conically shaped magnetic poles. This reduces the air spread at a given shot. The usually closed valve is hydraulicly balanced. A strong spring is required to obtain speedy shutting clip and to cut down escap es between activations. Faster the solenoid valve closing, better the energy recovery. Highest energy losingss occur while shutting of high or low-pressure solenoid valve, as it occurs at highest Piston speed. The valve lift and the place diameter are selected so as to minimise the hydraulic losingss with a big volume of fluid delivered during each gap. Both high force per unit area & A ; low-pressure valves are of same design. fig 8.2.2 shows c/s of the valve8.3 HYDRAULIC SYSTEM8.3.1 High Pressure Pump: –Ability to fit the measure of fluid delivered by the high force per unit area pump with the existent demands of the system at assorted engine velocities and tonss is critical in guaranting low energy ingestion. To conserve mechanical energy needed to drive the pump, its hydraulic end product should be closest to the need.The pump used has a individual bizarre driven speculator and a individual usually unfastened solenoid valve. During each down shot of the speculator barrel is filled with fluid from low-pressure side of the system. Similarly during upstroke of the speculator fluid is pushed back into the low-pressure subdivision every bit long as solenoid valve is unfastened. Closing the solenoid valve causes plunger to pump the fluid through the cheque valve into hard-hitting side of the system. Hence fluctuation in solenoid electromotive force pulse causes fluctuation in measure of high force per unit area fluid delivered by the pump during each revolution.8.3.2 Low Pressure Pump: –A little electrically goaded pump picks up the oil from the sump and delivers it to the recess of the chief pump. Merely a little measure of oil is required to counterbalance for escape loss, and to keep equal recess force per unit area for the chief pump. If any extra oil is pumped it returns to the sump through a low-pressure regulator. A cheque valve assures that recess is non subjected to any fluctuations in force per unit area that may8.4 Cool Down Accumulator: –The system is supplemented with a cool down collector, which functions to keep force per unit area of the system in changing conditions. During normal running status it is to the full charged with oil under same force per unit area as in the recess to the chief pump. When engine stops running, the oil in both subdivisions starts chilling and shriveling. As the system force per unit area drops collector discharges oil into the system, therefore counterbalancing the shrinking and forestalling formation of pockets of oil bluess. Hard-hitting pump is connected to the collector via cheque valve, while the low force per unit area pump is through an opening. After the oil in the system is cooled off, collector maintains the system at atmospheric force per unit area by continuously refilling oil that easy leaks of through the leak-off transition. Accumulator recharges every clip engine is restarted. If engine is off for a long clip collector will dispatch wholly. Hence force per unit area will drop below acceptable, leting force per unit area detector to reactivate pump for a short clip to reload the collector. Use of high hydraulic force per unit area in the system satisfies the demand of maintaining bulk modulus of oil high. In a closed cringle system like this, the force per unit area in low-pressure reservoir can besides be quiet high. Hence the system can run with really high hydraulic force per unit area and still the energy ingestion is in mean scope due to low-pressure derived function.9. FUTURE PlansFuture plans include go oning to polish the engineering for paradigm camless CIDI engines driven by an electronically controlled camless valvetrain:Polish the system and constituent design for higher efficiency and consistenceDesign for three different types of unstable media: hydraulic fluid/engine oil, Diesel fuel, and antifreeze coolantDevelop electronic control algorithms, package, and hardware for valve timing, lift, soft seating, and shutting controlIntegrate the variable valve timing system with little CIDI enginesCharacterize public presentation envelope, energy ingestion, open- and closed-loop repeatability, and sensitiveness to environmental conditions of the camless valvetrain system through both simulation and experimentTest camless valvetrain under assorted engine operation conditionsUpdate dynamic theoretical accounts and simulation of the camless valvetrainDevelop a system and command dynamic theoretical account of CIDI engines and look into the control constellations and schemes by utilizing the proposed actuating system10. DecisionFor the camless operation electrohydraulic valve train is used which control valve timing, lift, speed.Electrohydraulic valve train is built-in with the cylinder caput, which lowers the caput tallness and improves packaging.The system employs the hydraulic pendulum, which contributes low ingestion of energy.Reappraisal of the benefits expected from a camless engine points to significant betterments in public presentation, fuel economic system and emanation over and above what is engines with camshaft based valve trainREF ERANCESâ€Å" Mold of an Electromechanical Valve Actuator for a camless engine, † Yan wang.Higgins Amy, â€Å" Camless Engines Give ‘Peak ‘ Performance, † Machine Design, October 2000, pg. 72.C.Gray â€Å" A Review Of Variable Engine Valve Timing † , SAE paper 880386Variable Valve timing system for Camless Engine Operation, university of Illinois/ University of California, Los Angles.hypertext transfer protocol: //www.dieselnet.com/news/0004navistar.htmlhypertext transfer protocol: //www.engineering.ucsb.edu/~ywang/research.htmhypertext transfer protocol: //www.autospeed.com/cms/A_0910/article.htmlhypertext transfer protocol: //www.greendieseltechnology.com/news13.htmlhypertext transfer protocol: //www.engineering.ucsb.edu/~mdsymp/ppt/stefanop.pdfhypertext transfer protocol: //www.myresearch.htmhypertext transfer protocol: //www.siemens.de/athypertext transfer protocol: // www.highwaystarmagazine.com

Assess Whether Religious Experience Demonstrates the Existence of God Essay

Religious experience can be dissected into different varieties. Alvin Plantinga argued that everyday experiences such as the sun rising should constitute as a religious experience as the sun rising is so inspirational and conjures up religious belief out of awe. Some would argue that miracles or extraordinary occurrences are proof of God’s existence. If one was to view a man turning water into wine one would see it as spectacular and possible cause religious belief. Both miracles and everyday occurrences are public experiences as they can be witnessed by anyone; however there are more private/personal religious experiences. Dreams and visions, such as St. Paul on the road to Damascus (where he heard the voice of Jesus), only apply to the person visualising them. These are also used as religious experiences if you heard the voice of Jesus it would obviously be considered a religious event. There is also the ongoing feeling that God is around you, he is guiding you through life, and this again is indescribable but rational justification for the theist as it connects to the idea of God’s omnipresence. Finally there are also mystical experience as William James explained them these are ineffable (cannot be put into words) transient (very intense experience but not necessarily a long experience, the effects however can last a lifetime) passive (cannot be controlled by the recipient) experiences that are simply indescribable. Rudolf Otto described mystical experiences as â€Å"numinous† this is the feeling of awe and wonder when confronted with the divinity that is God numinous experiences are one of terrifying and compelling mystery. Should religious experiences be the basis of God’s existence or are they simply anomalous events that are meaningless. David Hume and A.J. Ayer are well known empiricists. They would argue that unless something empirically verified it should not be deemed meaningful so if I was to see God that should be seen as meaningful as it is empirically verified. If I were to see a cat walking across a street I would think to myself that is a cat, no doubt would enter my mind I would simply establish that a cat was walking across a street. When one see’s/experiences God why the same sort of logic should not be applied is ridiculous. If I were to see God I would think that is God no questions asked. Visions of God and miracles are empirically verifiable religious experiences, Hume and Ayer cannot dismiss these as that would be contradictory to their well established beliefs, thus empirically verified religious experiences can be used a sufficient justification for God’s existence. The sceptics retort to this argument is how can we trust our empirical methods of justification. One could be hallucinating, the only reason St. Paul saw God was because he was deprived of water and had social pressures from the rising Christian religion. A.J. Ayer noted that a straight stick appears bent in water, if our senses can deceive us once they will deceive us again, we cannot trust empirical evidence therefore it cannot be used as justification for a religious experience and definitely cannot be used to justify God’s existence. Also what if the subject of supposed religious experience has taken some sort of mind altering drug surely then empirical evidence cannot be used to justify any sort of vision. Finally the sceptic would note that a religious experience is not an ordinary experience, one see’s trees everyday but experiencing God is quite different. As philosophers we must view these extraordinary experiences differently and be more analytical into the causes (such as looking at the recipient of the experience). In Brian Davies book â€Å"An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion† he highlights that to reject empirical evidence without any major reason to doubt is simply absurd. He says that if one is of sound mind, has good eyesight and is of reasonable intelligence unless then there isn’t really any reason to doubt yourself, we use empirical evidence to make everyday assertions therefore it should be no different when seeing â€Å"God†, He also highlights that if it is possible to hallucinate it is also possible to see correctly, although this sounds very basic it does reject the argument from illusion (used by most sceptics to doubt sense data). Sure we can see things that aren’t really there but most of the time we are not hallucinating. Brian Davies also uses the example of a man called Fred. He states that Fred is â€Å"as mad as a hatter and as drunk as a Lord† Fred also regularly hallucinates and because of this not many people listen to what he has to say. Despite Fred perpetual hallucinations it is not right to say that everything he says is wrong, sometimes he could be telling the truth. Davies concludes that â€Å"the fact that some people are prone to get things wrong is not a sufficient reason for others to suppose that they always get things wrong† â€Å"Behold the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have his voice†¦ we have this day seen God speak with man and man still live† This was taken from the Old Testament’s book of Deuteronomy. Religious experience is not a contemporary miracle but one of great age, we all believe in gravity yet this has only been apparent for 300 years, yet something that has been around for millenniums is still questioned. These sightings of God have been continuous since early Christianity and Judaism before that. This is not an argument about the verifiability of religious experience but simply highlights the possibility of experiencing God and also its importance in justifying the existence of God. This is the argument of John Baillie; he argued that religious experience is not just justification for God’s existence but the ultimate justification. Sceptics would reply how do you know it is God? How do you know you did not simply see and old man with a beard? Unless you have seen God before you do not know what he/she looks like. Some would argue that you need an agreed method of identifying God, if no such method has been agreed then you cannot truly say you have seen God. Also if God is transcendent of humans and surpasses them in every way then surely we cannot relate to him/her. We don’t even know if God is a physical entity to be seen. Brian Davies response to the sceptic’s argument is despite not having an identification method that is inconsequential, something may be the case even though it does not conform to the testing method, someone can still be intelligent despite getting a U in all their exams. A religious experience can still be justification for God’s existence despite not being satisfying any a priori testing method. John Hick presented the argument that our interpretations of events all differ. This dismisses the sceptics claim that there should be some sort of testing method about justifying religious experience. A person may claim to have seen God where as another might argue they have seen the devil, as both are basing this experience on a personal a priori perception of God/Devil it means that if these predetermined perceptions are different they are obviously going to disagree. William James argued that religious experience is extremely personal therefore it means different things to different people. Richard Swinburne and William Alston put forward the argument from credulity. Swinburne argued that if one has seen God one has sufficient justification to believe in God. Unless there is something manipulating this experience there is no reason to doubt a religious experience. Until your religious experience is disproven (through suspicion of evidence such as one was on drugs) then it can and should be used as justification for God’s existence. William Alston proclaimed a similar argument to Swinburne’s arguments from credulity. He said â€Å"people sometimes do perceive God and thereby acquire justified beliefs about God†. He too believed that religious experience can be used a justification for God’s existence. He said justification about God is â€Å"prima facie† this means one is justified in supposing unless there are strong enough reasons to the contrary. Both argued the religious experience should be innocent until proven guilty. A sceptic’s retort to Alston and Swinburne would be one should always doubt. Like mentioned earlier one could be subject to hallucination, we could be seeing God when he/she is not really there, you could be of total sound mind however you have a random hallucination due to water deprivation meaning you â€Å"see† God. How can we truly know that our subconscious is not malicious concocting mad religious visions? This is why the sceptic would always argue that we should always be doubtful they argue that religious experiences are not indubitable. Richard Swinburne not only proposed arguments from credulity but also arguments from testimony. Swinburne stated that unless you have sufficient reasons to doubt someone claim of religious experience you should consider it true, if a person states they have seen God you have and you have no reason not to believe them you should consider their experience as true. Brian Davies gives the example of a group of explorers who see a cat in the Amazon rainforest; they go home and tell their explorer buddies they saw a cat in the Amazon rainforest. If a second group of explorers go to the Amazon rainforest and do not see a cat, does that mean the first group were wrong? Of course not! Swinburne would argue you should believe the first group of explorers are there is no reason to doubt their word. The sceptic’s reply would be why trust the explorers? There could be social/professional pressures meaning they lied about seeing a cat because they thought it would be beneficial or because they felt pressurised by the group around them, also there could be irregularities with their testimony, maybe all cats in the world are extinct so seeing a cat is very unlikely, or what if one of the explorers said they saw a black cat and another thought they saw a ginger cat. Brain Davies responds to this by noting that people interpret things in different ways (an argument used by the sceptics), two people may see a red Ferrari one may argue that it is an ugly car where as the other could argue it is a beautiful piece of machinery, they have both seen a car yet have different views/interpretations of what they have seen. So two people may both have seen God however one may think it was God the other might think it was the Devil. Therefore to say there are problems with a testimony because of different interpretations is absurd because the fact is God was there. One can perceive God in as many ways as they want it does not matter the only thing that matters is God was there. Religious experience can be used for religious conversion and religious belief but not necessarily for the existence of God. If one believes they have seen God and as a result of this vision they believe in the existence of God that is fine, but that doesn’t necessarily mean God exists from a philosophical perspective. As the sceptic would regularly point out there are many other factors that may have influenced the subject who viewed God (such a water deprivation or drug consumption) however on an ordinary basis I feel that a vision of God or some kind of numinous experience is sufficient justification for the existence of God and religious belief. On an ordinary level religious experience can justify the existence of God but on a philosophical level it cannot, one cannot claim religious experience to be an objective truth in philosophy, but in ordinary life it is a personal matter and provides justification for God’s existence on a personal level. This is similar to what William James said in his work â€Å"Varieties of Religious Experience† he believed that religious experience was a very personal matter and is impossible to verbalise but can be used as self justification for God’s existence. He also stated that philosophy is useless in trying to prove a religion true but can show up obvious errors. One must also note that Swinburne, Alston and Davies arguments are not really proving the credibility of religious experience but simply defending it against sceptic’s attack. Personally I feel this is fine, why should the recipient of a religious experiences have to prove themselves, however I do feel some of Swinburne’s and Davies arguments to defend religious experience are not sufficient. To conclude I feel the sceptics are right in dismissing religious experience on a philosophical level, but as many previous philosophers have highlighted (such as G.E.Moore) scepticism cannot be applied to ordinary life.