Enhanced Oil Recovery Essay Example for Free

Enhanced Oil Recovery Essay Oil and Gas refers to the naturally occurring liquid and natural gas specifically made up of long chain hydrocarbons and various organic compounds found beneath the surface of the earth in entrapments called reservoirs; the presence of oil and gas in these reservoirs is the reason humans survive everyday and carry out their daily activities effectively. Different activities are usually carried out to ensure that the oil and gas present in the reservoirs continue to support humans through their day-to-day activities; such activities include exploration, development, production and finally, abandonment and reclamation. This process is what is referred to as â€Å"the oil and gas process†. On completion of this process, numerous efforts are made to increase the quantity of oil that can be extracted again from the oil well and we refer to these efforts as â€Å"recovery†. There are three main types of recovery, primary recovery (solution gas, gas cap and natural water drive) secondary recovery (gas injection and water flooding) and tertiary recovery (enhanced oil recovery EOR, polymer flooding and steam flooding). In this article, analysis on the â€Å"enhanced oil recovery† technology and trends will be emphasized upon. Enhanced oil recovery becomes very vital when oil production has to be increased to obtain a recovery percentage of at least 75% (Rigzone, 2009). This can only achieved by using any of the four basic methods of EOR; these methods include chemical flooding, miscible gas displacement, thermal recovery and microbial EOR. Among these four mentioned, â€Å"Thermal methods are the oldest EOR methods, they have been developed over the last thirty years† (Elsevier, 1981). Miscible gas displacement also called â€Å"gas injection† by some engineers refers to the process of injecting CO2, natural gas and Nitrogen into a reservoir; â€Å"in miscible gas displacement, the gas is injected at or above the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) which causes the gas to be miscible in oil† (Bandar, 2007). Chemical flooding also called â€Å"chemical injection† involves injecting chemicals such as a polymer directly into the reservoir to enhance the oil recovery. Thermal recovery introduces heat to the reservoir to reduce the viscosity of the oil. Many times, steam is applied to the reservoir, thinning the oil and enhancing its ability to flow (Rigzone, 2009). Over 50% of the tertiary recovery method employed by the United States of America is the thermal recovery method. The most common gas employed when â€Å"gas injection† is being used is the CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas. The two major reasons why carbon dioxide is used are because it is miscible with crude oil and also it is the cheapest of all the other miscible fluids present. Carbon dioxide injection into the reservoir based on previous experiences has shown that a recovery of up to 15% of the oil that was originally in the reservoir is achievable. With the injection of the carbon dioxide gas, changes occur in the reservoir such and temperature and pressure changes. Through the changes in temperature and pressure, carbon dioxide can form a solid, liquid, gas and supercritical fluid (Teledyne, 2007). Furthermore, when carbon dioxide has been injected into the reservoir, it begins to form a homogeneous mixture with the crude oil thus, the light hydrocarbons, which are present in the crude, mix with the carbon dioxide gas and this dissolves the oil. Upon miscibility of the carbon dioxide gas and the crude, the physical forces separating the liquid phase and the gaseous phase gives way and this helps the carbon dioxide gas move the oil from the rocks towards the wells for production. According to the USDOE, a very good example of an applied carbon dioxide gas injection technique is the  Wasson. Fields Denver Unit CO2 EOR project which has resulted  in  more than 120 million incremental barrels  of  oil through 2008 (2010). Moreover, carbon dioxide is not the only gas employed when the gas injection technique is employed. Nitrogen is another gas commonly used for gas injection basically to maintain the reservoir pressure; it can also be employed when gas cycling and gas lifting are to be employed. The minimum miscibility pressure of nitrogen depends largely on the pressure, temperate and the composition of the reservoir fluid. According to Schlumberger, â€Å"above the MMP, nitrogen injection is a miscible vaporizing drive. Miscibility of nitrogen can be achieved only with light oils that are at high pressures; therefore, the miscible method is suitable only in deep reservoirs† (2011). Both methods of miscible injection from past experiences have proved very effective. When oil has been effectively recovered from these reservoirs using the miscible gas, the gas that has mixed with the recovered oil is separated from the oil and re-injected into the reservoir to enhance the oil recovery once again. This process can be repeated until the reservoir is completely depleted and cannot produce any more oil. Note that nitrogen gas injection is used when dealing with reservoir containing light oils and also very economical allowing a recovery of up to 40%. A practical example of nitrogen gas injection is in the Cantarell oil field in Mexico. Upon application of this enhanced oil recovery methods, there was a noticeable increase in the oil production from 1. 9 million bpd to 2. 1 million bpd. Fig 1: Typical illustration of the miscible gas process using CO2 and water (University of Kansas, 1999) Chemical flooding can also be referred to as chemical injection and is the process whereby chemicals and polymers are injected into a reservoir to increase its â€Å"recovery factor†. EOR methods involving the use of polymers usually yield a recovery range of ~6% to ~30%. When these chemicals are injected into the reservoir, the oil that is trapped there is released thus it can flow freely into the production wells. Furthermore, â€Å"polymers help increase the effectiveness of water-floods and boost the efficiency of surfactants† (Duncan, Ferguson, Sudip and Neptune, 2011). The use of polymers in chemical injection further helps to enhance the competence of the surfactants and also the efficiency of the water flooding; to be precise, water soluble polymers are best used for this process. The polymer that is regularly utilised during the process is the partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and with development in technology, the quality has improved over time. In order to achieve the best results from the chemical injection process, there are certain characteristics that need to be in place. These characteristics include â€Å"high remaining oil saturation, low water-flood residual saturation, high permeability and porosity, high polymer concentration and slug size, fresh water and soft water and reservoir temperatures of less than 220F† (Gary, 2007). Favourable characteristics are not limited to these that have just been mentioned but if these characteristics are present, then the expected recovery from the reservoir in question would be satisfactory as up to ~30% recovery is achievable. Moreover, economics have shown that chemical flooding is not profitable when the price of the surfactants is compared with that of the price of oil; it usually cost a lot to obtain the surfactants needed to recover oil from reservoirs and in some cases, the chemicals which are injected into the reservoir are more expensive than the oil which they extract from that reservoir. Chemical flooding can prove to be very pricy and at the same time provide the engineers with the needed results. Thermal recovery is usually applied to reservoirs with depths lesser than 3000ft. These reservoirs usually contain very viscous oil. There are four main types of thermal flooding that can be applied to any reservoir; they include: Fig 3: The steam injection process (The Piping Guide, 2009) 1. Cyclic stem injection: Popularly known as the â€Å"huff and puff† technique, it differs from all other types of thermal flooding in that it uses a central well to carry out every function from the injection of steam to the extraction of oil. The technique is quite straightforward, steam is pumped into the well and the well is covered up for some time so that the steam can get to the reservoir rocks and upon arrival, the steam enhances the oil flow. To improve the oil flow further, this process can be repeated over again which leads to a new process called â€Å"steam drive†. 2. Steam drive: In this process, steam is re-injected into the reservoir constantly. Moreover, this process cannot be as effective as required if the reservoir rocks have fractures. If there were fractures, â€Å"the steam would simply head straight through those into the producing wells instead of working its way through the reservoir rock† (Anon. , 2008). After the steam is injected, underlying heat is formed and this eventually aids the oil to flow with ease. 3. Thermally assisted gas-oil gravity drainage: this process is best suited for highly fractured reservoirs. In this process, the steam is injected directly into these fractures to reduce the viscosity of the oil and allow it flow easily. According to the petroleum development Oman, the steam â€Å"just needs to get the oil flowing more easily. This then allows gravity to take effect, causing the oil to drain down into the fractures and then into horizontal producing wells that are situated towards the bottom of the reservoir† (2008). 4. In-situ combustion: In this process, a reasonable quantity of the oil in the reservoir is actually set on fire to act as a steam and gas generator. According to the petroleum development Oman â€Å"it’s the trickiest of the four main thermal EOR methods to get right. It is generally only used in a reservoir that has high permeability (i. e. fluids can flow easily through the reservoir rock) and even then only as a last resort† (2008). Some of the oil might be lost during burning but more can be recovered as a result of the steam that has been generated that drives the oil towards the producing well. MICROBIAL ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (MEOR) Microbial enhanced oil recovery also known as microbial flooding refers to the process whereby microorganisms are injected into the reservoir to increase oil production from a well. The process of MEOR is a biological based technology in which these microorganisms react with the reservoir fluids in order to mobilize the oil and move it towards the production wells. Usually, MEOR is used in the third stage of EOR after 12% to 20% of the oil in the well has already been recovered. The characteristics of the reservoir in which the MEOR process is being applied will greatly have an effect on its success. There are two types of MEOR, â€Å"those in which the microorganisms react with reservoir fluids to generate surfactants and those that react with microorganisms to generate polymers† (Ronald, 2001). MEOR is an economical way of increasing oil production and as genetic technology keeps improving, it would become the most attractive and cheapest method of enhanced oil recovery as the improvement lowers the cost of oil production. Conclusively, certain strains of bacteria that exist and are used for the MEOR method sometimes do not survive due to the harsh conditions they encounter in the reservoirs but as mentioned earlier, microbiologists are working on a different strain of bacteria that can survive in the reservoirs irrespective of these harsh conditions. Enhanced oil recovery has an outstanding economic potential to increase oil recovery thereby maximizing profit. EOR also has it disadvantages that have negative effects on the ecosystem. Steam injection causes serious air pollution and also, polymer flooding which falls under chemical injection also leads to contamination of underground water which eventually makes it unfit for consumption. Furthermore, during the EOR process, a substance called â€Å"brine† is produced at the surface of the well; this substance is highly toxic and also radioactive. On exposure to humans, it can be very dangerous and highly detrimental. In my opinion, more research on how the chemical injection process can be carried out without affecting the underground water supply and also how the thermal process of steam injection can be done safely without a threat to the atmosphere. Regulations put in place to control the environmental impacts of EOR should be as strict as possible so that eventually, the eco-system is preserved and oil and gas companies can still maximize profit.

Plagarism in schools Essay Example for Free

Plagarism in schools Essay The term ‘plagiarism’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘kidnapping’.   It is form of academic dishonesty in which one person passes on another persons work, words and ideas as own.   Several universities and schools do not allow plagiarism of any sort.   Some of the educational institutions often term plagiarism as the worst form of academic dishonesty.   They prefer their students to research and use resources in an appropriate manner and also express their own ideas and views.   Children often find it difficult to understand what plagiarism is.    A student may often use plagiarism in order to compete with others in the same grade.   Plagiarism also puts on extra pressure on the teachers, professors and the lecturers in detecting this serious form of dishonesty and taking action against such students (Nagy, 2004, Dowshen, 2005). In a study conducted by Duke University in several parts of the US, it was found that about 75 % of the students indulged in some form of plagiarism.   About 33 % of the students admitted that they plagiarized to a severe extent.   In another survey, about 72 % of the students admitted that they plagiarized to serious extents when given home assignments.   In another study conducted in High School American students in 1998, 80 % admitted that they plagiarized in some form of the other, and only on 5 % of the occasions were they caught for it (Nagy, 2004). The teachers also do consider that the students frequently indulge in plagiarism.   Teachers consider the advent of the internet as a major factor for helping to plagiarize their homework.   About 58 % of the teachers consider plagiarism to be an academic issue and about 28 % of them consider that more than 50 % of the students plagiarize their homework.   Teachers consider plagiarism to be particular difficult to detect in certain cases and also to be time-consuming (ATL, 2008). In certain occasions plagiarism can be unintentional.   It is important for the student to quote the references in all cases and to express the ideas and argument in the own words.   The students should also express their ideas in the specific area.   Paraphrasing is one way of avoiding plagiarism, but use of individual ideas needs to be incorporated.   Other people’s words and sentences needs to be clearly quoted.   The individual’s own ideas can be supported by another person’s views mentioned in the texts.   Information taken from several sources and framed using skill and creativity to compile a datasheet cannot be considered as plagiarism (University of Queensland, 2007 BBC, 2008). References: Association of Teachers Lecturers (2008). â€Å"School work plagued by plagiarism ATL survey.† Retrieved on 2008, March 13, from ATL Web site: http://www.atl.org.uk/atl_en/news/Media_office/releases/plagiarism.asp BBC (2007). â€Å"Exploring and Deterring Plagiarism in Schools.† Retrieved on 2008, March 13, from BBC Web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/F1635812?thread=3606871 Dowshen, S. (1995). â€Å"What is Plagiarism?† Retrieved on 2008, March 13, from Kidshealth Web site: http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/school/plagiarism.html Nagy, C. (2004). â€Å"Dealing with High School Plagiarism.† Retrieved on 2008, March 13, from New Foundations Web site: http://www.newfoundations.com/ETHICPROP/Nagy718F04.html The University of Queensland, Australia (2007). â€Å"What is Plagiarism?† Retrieved on 2008, March 13, from University of Queensland Web site: http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/plagiarism.html

Strategic Human Resources Management Practices In Business

Strategic Human Resources Management Practices In Business Strategic human resource management is to ensure that human resource management is fully integrated into strategic planning that human resource policies cohere both across hierarchies and that HRM policies are accepted and used by line managers as a part of their every day work Integrating human resource management strategies and systems to achieve the overall mission, strategies, and success of the firm while meeting the needs of employees and other stakeholders. Source: Herman Schwind, Hari Das and Terry Wagar, Human Resource Management: A Strategic Approach. Strategic HRM has four meanings: The use of planning. A coherent approach to the design and management of personnel systems based on an employment policy and manpower strategy and often underpinned by a philosophy. Matching HRM activities and policies to some explicit business strategy. Seeing the people of the organization as a strategic resource for the achievement of competitive advantage. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING: According to Terry L. Leap and Michael D.crino Human resource planning is a process of determining and assuming that organization will have an adequate number of qualified persons, available at the proper times, performing jobs which meet the needs of enterprise and which provide satisfaction for the individual involved. Overall we can say HRP is a process of anticipating and making provision for the flow of people into, within, and out of an organization. STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING: Strategic HR planning is an important component of strategic HR management. It links HR management directly to the strategic plan of your organization. Based on the strategic plan, an organization can develop a strategic HR plan that will allow making HR management decisions now to support the future direction of the organization. A comprehensive HR Strategy will also support other specific strategic objectives undertaken by the marketing, financial, operational and technology departments. An HR strategy planning provides overall direction for the way in which HR activities will be developed and managed to gain competitive advantage in an organizational performance. The HR planning enables the organization to implement policies that enhance the skills and competencies of the people Strategic human resource planning consists of a number of objectives, but all the objectives must be closely aligned to overall business goals in order to be effective. Even a large human resources department is not a revenue-generating section of the organization. Therefore, human resources executives must demonstrate the employers return on investment through strategic activities. Strategic activities are forward-thinking processes that support business growth through recognition of the value of human capital . Strategic HR Planning Today In these times of great economic changes, the importance of human resource planning is more apparent than ever. A short-sighted lay-off, intended to temporarily reduce overhead, can result in much heavier long-term costs. Organizations have to spend more money and time for recruiting training new employees if they couldnt retain the old experience, skilled employees in right time. In the recent scenario of globalization and faster communication, a smart human resources plan encourages the organization to keep a longer view of things and retain talent so that, once this economic upheaval has calmed down, itll have a committed team intact. The overall purpose of strategic HR planning is to: Ensure adequate human resources to meet the strategic goals and operational plans of your organization the right people with the right skills at the right time Keep up with social, economic, legislative and technological trends that impact on human resources in your area and in the sector Remain flexible so that your organization can manage change if the future is different than anticipated STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS: The strategic HR planning process has the following steps, Mission , Vision Value Strategic Analysis Strategic Formulation Strategic Implementation Strategic Evaluation Assessment A. Mission, Vision Value Mission The basic purpose of the organization as well as its scope of operations. Strategic Vision A statement about where the company is going and what it can become in the future; clarifies the long-term direction of the company and its strategic intent. Core Values The strong and enduring beliefs and principles that the company uses as a foundation for its decisions. B. Strategic Analysis It deals with scanning Internal and external environment as well as competencies (i.e. knowledge, skills abilities) of the organization and forecasting human resource demand accordingly. The following will define these terms broadly. External environments The major external forces influencing the organization as follows , Economic factors: general and regional conditions Competitive trends: new processes, services, and innovations Technological changes: robotics and office automation Political and legislative issues: laws and administrative rulings Social concerns: child care and educational priorities Demographic trends: age, composition, and literacy Internal environment The Internal environment consists of the followings, Core Competencies : Integral knowledge, competitive advantages through people Organisational culture: The culture and quality of work life in an organization. The human capital architecture of the firm: core knowledge workers, traditional job-based employees, contract based employees, partners etc. Human Resource Forecasting This is a critical element of planning especially in strategic human resource planning which deal with mostly long term HR strategy of the organization. We can say this can be of as following, Demand for Human capital Demand forecasting of employees has both qualitative and quantitative approach. The qualitatively we can use management forecasting or Delphi techniques where as quantitative we can use trend analysis to study the demand. Supply of Human Capital Forecasting the Supply of human capital can be done through obtaining the Staffing Charts which shows graphical representations of all organizational jobs, along with the numbers of employees currently occupying those jobs and future employment requirements, with the information from the personnel files of employees and their replacement succession planning details and their individual development plans. Gap Analysis This is a tool that helps an organization to compare its actual performance with its potential performance. I strategic human resource planning it means the study of the gasp between the demand and supply of competencies of human capital with reference to the business objectives and strategies. This can be of Performance Gap Analysis ,Training Development Gap Analysis ,Skills Gap Analysis Or Competence Gap Analysis. C. Strategic Formulation In this stage HR professionals need to develop a logical practical course of action to use the strengths of the organization to capitalize on opportunities, counteract threats, and remove internal weaknesses. These action plans has to be formulated in all levels of a business organization i.e. corporate strategy, business strategy and functional strategy. Corporate strategies deal with the policies and procedures involved in mergers or acquisition, business alliances, joint venture or any future intent for growth and diversification. Business level strategy deals with value creation for the organization as well as keeping an eye on low cost productivity and overall efficiency to make it competitive and profitable. Functional strategy plays a vital role. The HR professional has to align the business objectives and the HR initiatives, policies and practices both internally and externally. Some of the examples are Training Development Strategy, recruitment strategy, IR strategies, Retention strategy etc. D. Strategic Implementation This stage is the time to take actions on all the strategies and plans made. First , we have to balance the demand and supply of human capital by forecasting business activities or trends and also by maintaining a record of all the applicants of past, present and future. Secondly, as per above plan out the attrition /retention strategies, downsizing or lay off techniques have to be made. Then need to work on the training development of employees with other reward, incentive or welfare practices. E. Strategic Evaluation Assessment Now we need to assess the HR function, the work force with comparing the organizations processes and practices with those of other companies. Here the HR professional has to take the help of few metrics or mapping or scorecard techniques for the evaluation. In addition, the HR strategy can add value is by ensuring that, in all its other plans, the organization takes account of and plans for changes in the wider environment, which are likely to have a major impact on the organization HR PROFESSIONALS AND THE MODERN BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS In the modern context, Strategic human resource planning is a planning about the nature of the present future work demand labor supply for both short term long term that serves to achieve the strategy objective of the firm. The role of human resource management is changing is changing very fast, to help companies achieve their goals. HRM has gone through many phases from hiring firing to relationship building, from there to legislation role, now its role is shifting from protector screener to strategic partner as a change agent. Today, to create value and deliver better results, HR professionals have begin not by focusing on the work activities or work of HR but by defining the deliverables of that work. So as the planning is not to set goals but also to make sure to achieve them. According to Richard Chang, author of The Passion Plan at Work, HRM focuses mainly on HR Research and Information Systems, Union/Labor Relations, Employee Assistance, and Employee Compensation/Benefits where as Human Resource Development, according to Chang, includes Career Development (helping individuals align their career planning), Organizational Development (helping groups initiate and manage change), and Training and Development (designing / developing, and delivering training to ensure people are equipped to do their jobs). But SHRP as a part of SHRM involves both area and creates an overlap between them in todays HR functions. Mostly all of the HR leaders and professionals in large international organizations are participating in SHRP by giving strong contribution in decision making and strategic teams. But in small and medium size companies there is a lack of contribution of HR professionals due to their non-involvement in organizational or functional strategic planning and the stereotypical negative views of HR functions. Most of the Top management teams till now consider HR functions as a compliance function or more of a consultative service and HR professionals are involve d in implementing a strategy only after the strategy is decided. To gain its position in the strategic decision team, HR have to Know and understand the business strategies, processes its objectives Understand how the various organizational components interact and the process of business and what the long-term implications of HR decisions are. The impact of HR decisions must be thoroughly researched and analyzed before changes are implemented. Understand the five major non-HR components of any business: finance, marketing, sales, operations and accounting. Align HR strategy to organizations Mission Statement and objectives. Strategies can range from functional strategy and capability strategy to results strategy. HR professional face lot difficulties while applying the SHRP in reality. As various functional stages they face different challenges. So they have to overcome them as follows , Selection Staffing: If HR knows in the firsthand the clear direction and requirement of the company, it will easy to place right people at right place in right time which will save both time and money of the organization. But in many organizations only few leaders have that access. The HR officers are not aware of this. So to cope of with the pace of today globalization and expansion of business all level of professionals has to be well versed with these requirements. Training Development: Training and development are most important in view of the strategic growth process of a company. So the knowledge , skill and competence of employees has to be accessed strictly by HR professionals without any interference of the higher authority or being biased by any sort of favoritism. In reality this is not 100% successful yet because of lack of HR interest and also lack of tools to evaluate these. If HR people can be equipped with all the new tools techniques to perform these tasks they would be able to speak instantly to any issues, and possibly provide input that could help a company achieve its goals faster. Organizational Development Change Management: In long term strategy always change has a critical role in different processes of the workplace. Each department is known to these changes of their related departments. if these will be timely intimated to the HR departments , they will be able to take care of the organizational development issues with unique solution and make sure of t he positive impact of the change on overall process. this is only possible when there will be proper chart or data available with proper maintenance for which HR department has to take necessary required steps. CONCLUSION The ultimate goal of strategic planning is the identification of opportunities along with some risks by aligning objectives and activities of an organization with proper allocation of available resource to produce the desired profit for it. In these processes HR has should play an important role at every step for successful achievement of the various strategies plantings process which will also increase the value of HR professionals and HR functions globally. So we can conclude on that HR is not only for employee welfare or personnel management or any compliance issues but also deserve a strong position in t he strategy making process with the top management. If organizations take HR professionals and their suggestion during strategy planning process , it will gain more than as expected by adopting a suitable SHRP to the organizations strategies and goals. Especially , at this stage of rapid globalization where demand of specific skilled persons in and from different locations aremore required to help the organizations to gain a huge amount of profit in less time and optimum utilization of resources, SHRP and the participation of HR managers to create strategies along with the top management is most necessary step to do for further progress in business.

Essay --

Tyler Brown Mrs. Hunt English 11 11 March 2014 Biomedical Engineering A career and tech. high school is a type of schooling that when a student graduates gives that pupil a trade degree in that scholars certain area of study along with that learners high school diploma. This is different from a normal high school because a student graduates with a degree that enables a scholar to go straight into that pupil’s field of study. For example if a learner is studying biotech the student will learn how to use the tools used in everyday labs like micro and serological pipets. One fields of study that the biotech program trains the students to do is biomedical engineering. In order to become a biomedical engineer undergraduate’s need years of schooling, and understanding of the growth in industry, once the technician has the job that engineer must adapt to the job or the job will sweep the operator under the rug. Looking at the history of this industry it has only grown sense it was first introduced. This is because societies are always sick and everyone wants to get better, which is where Biomedical Engineering comes in. The scientists work constantly to construct new medical devices; some of these devices include critical time instruments like a defibrillators or a disorder that is permanent like a pace maker. In both cases without them many people would not make it out of a hospital. There is one issues with the biomedical industry, as time goes on engineers are constantly pressured to come up with the next great device but they are limited by what has already been made. What this means is Engineers can only be as good as the equipment that is presented to them. A pro to this is that in return the engineers are paid fairly well and get ... ...uire engineers to have a higher degree of education, like if they want to work as the head technician the requirement goes from a bachelor’s to a master’s degree. Every year that the engineers work they are required to do certain tests to make sure that they are proficient with the equipment that they use in there labs. Work Cited â€Å"Biomedical engineer.† Career information center. Ed. Mary bonk. 9th ed. Vol. 6, Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. Student Resources in Context. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. Bureau of labor statistic, U. S. department of labor, â€Å"occupational outlook handbook†, 2014 -2015 Ed, Biomedical Engineers. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. "Biomedical engineering." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Edwin Hubble :: essays research papers

Edwin Hubble was a man who changed our view of the Universe. In 1929 he showed that galaxies are moving away from us with a speed proportional to their distance. The explanation is simple, but revolutionary: the Universe is expanding. Hubble was born in Missouri in 1889. His family moved to Chicago in 1898, where at High School he was a promising, though not exceptional, pupil. He was more remarkable for his athletic ability, breaking the Illinois State high jump record. At university too he was an accomplished sportsman playing for the University of Chicago basketball team. He won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford where he studied law. It was only some time after he returned to the US that he decided his future lay in astronomy. In the early 1920s Hubble played a key role in establishing just what galaxies are. It was known that some spiral nebulae (fuzzy clouds of light on the night sky) contained individual stars, but there was no consensus as to whether these were relatively small collections of stars within our own galaxy, the 'Milky Way' that stretches right across the sky, or whether these could be separate galaxies, or 'island universes', as big as our own galaxy but much further away. In 1924 Hubble measured the distance to the Andromeda nebula, a faint patch of light with about the same apparent diameter as the moon, and showed it was about a hundred thousand times as far away as the nearest stars. It had to be a separate galaxy, comparable in size our own Milky Way but much further away. Hubble was able to measure the distances to only a handful of other galaxies, but he realised that as a rough guide he could take their apparent brightness as an indication of their distance. The speed with which a galaxy was moving toward or away from us was relatively easy to measure due to the Doppler shift of their light. Just as a sound of a racing car becomes lower as it speeds away from us, so the light from a galaxy becomes redder. Though our ears can hear the change of pitch of the racing car engine our eyes cannot detect the tiny red-shift of the light, but with a sensitive spectrograph Hubble could determine the redshift of light from distant galaxies. The observational data available to Hubble by 1929 was sketchy, but whether guided by inspired instinct or outrageous good fortune, he correctly divined a straight line fit between the data points showing the redshift was proportional to the distance.

Engineering disasters :: essays research papers

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was lost due to structural failure in the left wing. On take-off, it was reported that a piece of foam insulation surrounding the shuttle fleet's 15-story external fuel tanks fell off of Columbia's tank and struck the shuttle's left wing. Extremely hot gas entered the front of Columbia's left wing just 16 seconds after the orbiter penetrated the hottest part of Earth's atmosphere on re-entry. The shuttle was equipped with hundreds of temperature sensors positioned at strategic locations. The salvaged flight recorded revealed that temperatures started to rise in the left wing leading edge a full minute before any trouble on the shuttle was noted. With a damaged left wing, Columbia started to drag left. The ships' flight control computers fought a losing battle trying to keep Columbia's nose pointed forward.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It’s very hard to say what steps, if any, could have been taken to prevent the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster from occurring. When mankind continues to â€Å"push the envelope† in the interest of bettering humanity, there will always be risks. In the manned spaceflight business, we have always had to live with trade-offs. All programs do not carry equal risk nor do they offer the same benefits. The acceptable risk for a given program or operation should be worth the potential benefits to be gained. The goal should be a management system that puts safety first, but not safety at any price. As of Sept 7th, 2003, NASA has ordered extensive factory inspections of wing panels between flights that could add as much as three months to the time it takes to prepare a space shuttle orbiter for launch. NASA does all it can to safely bring its astronauts back to earth, but as stated earlier, risks are expected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On August 14th, 2003, a major blackout swept across portions of the northeastern United States and Canada. It was reported that a series of equipment outages in the Midwest led to uncontrolled cascading outages of power transmission lines and generators serving parts of the Northeast, Midwest and Canada. Automatic protective systems operated to open circuits and shut down power plants to prevent further spread of the outages. This is very similar to what happened in The Great Northeast Blackout of 1965. In both situations, the â€Å"grid system† shut down one generator in line at a time to protect a surge from the station before it.

Behavior Therapy: Basic Concepts, Assessment Methods, and Applications

Behavior Therapy: Basic Concepts, Assessment Methods, and Applications. Different kinds of psychotherapies have existed throughout history, and have always been rooted in philosophical views of human nature (Wachtel P. , 1997). Specifically, behavior therapy intents to help individuals overcome difficulties in nearly any aspect of human experience (Thorpe G. & Olson S. , 1990). The techniques of behavior therapy have been applied to education, the workplace, consumer activities, and even sports, but behavior therapy in clinical settings is largely concerned with the assessment of mental health problems.In general, behavior therapy is a type of psychotherapy that aims on changing undesirable types of behavior. It engages in identifying objectionable, maladaptive behaviors and replacing them with healthier ones. . According to Rimm D. & Masters J. (1974), the label â€Å"behavior therapy† comprises a large number of different techniques that make use of psychological-especially learning- principles to deal with maladaptive human behavior. Behavior therapy is a relative new kind of psychotherapy (Corsini R. & Wedding D. , 2008).As a systematic approach, behavior therapy began in the 1950’s, in order to assess and treat psychological disorders. Behavior therapy was developed by a small group of psychologists and physicians who were not satisfied with the conventional techniques of psychotherapy (Thorpe G. et al, 1990). They linked behavior therapy to experimental psychology, differentiating it from other preexisting approaches. During behavior therapy’s first phase, the applied developed from principles of classical and operant conditioning. There are varying views about the best way to define behavior therapy.However, most health professionals agree to Eysenck's definition: â€Å"Behavior therapy is the attempt to alter human behavior and emotions in a beneficial way according to the laws of modern learning theory†. Erwin E. (1978), ins tead of proposing a specific definition for behavior therapy, he referred to some basic and important characteristics that this therapy possesses. According to Erwin, behavior therapy is used largely to lessen human suffering or to improve human functioning. He pointed out that it is a psychological rather than a biological form of treatment.In the cases of phobias treatment, behavior therapy is usually applied to treat the symptoms directly. Moreover, behavior therapy is characteristically used to modify maladaptive behavior or to teach adaptive behavior. This means that the focus is on individuals’ behavior. In some cases, behavior therapy techniques may even be used to reduce unwanted mental states as in Davinson’s (1968) use of counterconditioning to reduce sadistic fantasy, simply because the mental state itself is unwanted (as stated in Erwin, 1978).Another basic characteristic of behavior therapy is that it is often used in an incremental rather than a holistic fashion. Problems that are to be treated are first divided into their components and each component is treated separately. Last, behavior therapy is studied and used experimentally, being closely related to learning theory research. Three main approaches in contemporary behavior therapy have been identified (Corsini R. et al, 2008). These are the applied behavior analysis (ABA), the neobehavioristic meditational stimulus-response model, and the social cognitive theory.ABA refers to the application of the principles of learning and motivation from Behavior Analysis (the scientific study of behavior), and the procedures and technology derived from those principles, to the solution of problems of social significance. This approach is based on Skinner’s radical behaviorism. It identifies behaviors that should be extinguished and behaviors that are to be taught. It makes use of reinforcement, punishment, extinction, stimulus control, and other procedures derived from laboratory re search (Corsini R. et al, 2008).It is most frequently applied to children with autistic spectrum disorders, but is an effective tool for children with behavioral disorders, multiple disabilities, and severe intellectual handicaps. The neobehavioristic meditational stimulus-response (S-R) model features the applications of the principles of classical conditioning, and it derives from the learning theories of Ivan Pavlov, E. Guthrie, lark Hull, O. Mowrer, and N. Miller (as cited in Corsini et al, 2008). The S-R model has been linked to systematic desensitization and flooding.Systematic desensitization was developed by Joseph Wolpe (1958). It is a therapy for phobias based on counterconditioning -a technique for eliminating a conditioned response that involves pairing a conditioned stimulus with another unconditioned stimulus to condition a new response. If the new response in incompatible with the old response, so that only one response can occur at a time, then the new response can r eplace the old one. In systematic desensitization, patients visualize fear- evoking stimuli while relaxing, to associate the stimuli with relaxation instead of fear. (Lieberman D. , 2004).Flooding is another psychotherapeutic technique discovered by psychologist Thomas Stampfl (1967) (as cited in Harold, 1990) that is still used in behavior therapy to treat phobias. It works by exposing the individual to painful memories they already have aiming to put together their repressed feelings with their current awareness. Flooding works on the principles of classical conditioning (Lieberman D. , 2004). Social cognitive theory (SCT) refers to learning in terms of interaction between external stimulus response, external reinforcement, and cognitive meditational processes (Corsini et al 2008).Personal and environmental factors do not function as independent determinants; rather, they determine each other. It is mainly through their behavior that individuals produce the environmental condition s that affect their behavior in a mutual way. New experiences are evaluated in relation to the past; prior experiences help to subsequently direct and inform the individual as to how the present should be considered. Behavior therapy has mainly been associated with the era between 1950 and 1960, especially with the theories of I. Pavlov, E. Skinner, J. Wolpe, and A.Bandura (Yates A. , 1975). It is a clinical application of psychology that relies on empirically-validated principles and procedures (Plaud, 2001). Since the first behavior therapy alternatives to the psychoanalysis and other associated therapies were introduced almost 50 ago (Wolpe, 1958), constant improvements in behavior therapy have mostly been supplied by its foundation on conditioning principles and theories (Eifert ; Plaud, 1998). Specifically, behavior therapy relies exclusively on the experimental methodology initiated by I. Pavlov. Clinical applications of Pavlovian onditioning principles began in 1912, when one of Pavlov’s students, was the first to establish the counter-conditioning effect in the laboratory. Studies on anxiety have considerably assisted behavior therapy’s development. According to Wolpe and Plaud (1997), Wolpe’s experimental studies were based on the implications of early Pavlovian experiments by giving emphasis to the importance of the conditioning procedures. Actually, Wolpe made important contributions to behavioral therapy, such as proposing systematic desensitization and assertiveness training, both of which have become important elements of behavioral therapy.Albert Bandura is usually associated with the development of the social cognitive theory (Corsini et al, 2008). Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory derived from social learning theory. It aims to explain how behavioral principles and norms are learned through an interaction of the individual and his/her environment, mostly through the observing others. Skinner worked on radical behavi orism. He rejected traditional psychology and all the included concepts that referred to what he called mentalism.That meant any concept that revealed a belief in cause and effect relationships between mental activities and learned behavior. In the 1966 edition of his 1928 book, The Behavior of Organisms, Skinner still named the belief that emotions are important factors in behavior a â€Å"mental fiction. † In addition, he thought that it is wrong, or at least not scientific, to consider that people cry because they are sorry or tremble because they are afraid. Behavior therapy developed rapidly. Three â€Å"waves†, that actually are three divisions of the behavior therapy’s development, have been proposed.The first wave focused mainly on altering overt behavior. The second wave focused on the cognitive factors that contribute to behavior. This approach is also known as cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). The â€Å"third wave† of behavior therapy was propo sed by Hayes, Hollette, and Linehan (as cited in Corsini et al, 2008). It includes dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). On the whole, DBT claims that some individuals, due to unfavorable environments during childhood and due to unknown biological factors, react abnormally to emotional stimulation.Their level of arousal increases much more rapidly, peaks at a higher level, and takes more time to go back to baseline. DBT is a technique for learning skills that aids to reduce this reaction. DBT applies mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills (Yates A. , 1975). Mindfulness skills include core skills. They are the most difficult skills to accomplish, but when learned, the process of thoughts and emotions occurs in an significantly different manner.Some of the processes included to the mindfulness skill, as listed by Corsini et al (2008), are the following: Observe or attend to emotions without trying to terminate them when painful, describe a thought or emotion, be nonjudgmental, stay in the present, focus on one thing at a time (one-mindfully). Mindfulness skills are applied in later sessions, when the other (three) types of skills on focus. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a quite new type of psychotherapy, found by Steven C. Hayes in the mid 1990s.It is the development and combination of behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which has mostly been the established therapy for treatment of conditions like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorders. Acceptance and commitment therapy, like CBT, is based on the philosophy of â€Å"Functional Contextualism†, a modern philosophy of science rooted in philosophical pragmatism and contextualism, suggesting that words and ideas can only be understood within some kind of context and they are therefore often misinterpreted due to the fact that people have individual contexts.An ad ditional therapy that has had an impact on ACT is Relational Frame therapy, a type of behavioral analysis focused on language and learning. ACT is differentiated from CBT since it directly accepts the thought, â€Å"Everybody hates me. † This thought is viewed without passion, and sometimes it is transformed to a phrase like â€Å"I am having the thought that everybody hates me. † Ding so may be repeated until the thought becomes defused. Hayes identifies about 100 defusion techniques in ACT. Previous distracting thoughts are not actively dismisses by the individual going through ACT.This is another distinguishing factor from CBT which intends to reduce distracting and unhelpful thoughts. ACT therapists argue that the process of their therapy is much briefer than CBT, and for that reason it is considered more effective. There is a variety of concepts referring to behavior therapy. Two main categories of those concepts are the learning principles and the personal variab les. In classical conditioning, the researcher begins with identifying a reflex response, one that is activated regularly by a specific stimulus (Thorpe et al, 1990). In humans, these reflexes include he eye-blink response to dust or a puff of air in the eye, and the reflex of the knee jerk reflex in response to a hit in the correct point by the researcher’s hammer. Such reflexes appear regularly without any particular guidance, so they are considered to be unlearned or unconditioned. Classical conditioning occurs when a new stimulus acquires the ability to trigger one of these reflex responses. Operant conditioning makes use of the principles of (positive or negative) reinforcement and (positive/negative) punishment to bring about a desired response. (Lieberman D. 1994). Positive reinforcement is the presentation of something pleasant or rewarding immediately following a behavior, but In Negative Reinforcement a particular behavior is strengthened by the consequence of the s topping or avoiding of a negative condition. Moving to punishment, negative punishment occurs when in an attempt to decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring in the future, an operant response is followed by the removal of a desired stimulus, though in positive punishment an operant response is followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus.Operant conditioning occurs when a consequence eventually becomes expected for a particular behavior. One example would be when a student is rewarded for getting good grades. The positive outcome of their behavior to study and achieve gain those grades is motivated by the anticipation of a positive result in addition to the good grades. In order to teach individuals complex tasks, Skinner proposed a system of successive approximations of operant learning where tasks are broken down into several steps that, when individually learned, summarily progress towards the complex task desired.Extinction refers to the reducing the probability o f a response when a characteristic reinforcing stimulus is no longer presented. Discrimination learning is the process by which individuals learn to differentiate their responses to different stimuli. When the opposite occurs, that is when individuals fail to discriminate between different situations ending up with behavior on situations other than that in which it was acquired, generalization takes place (Corsini R. et al, 2008). Personal variables that were proposed by Mischel (1973, as cited in Corsini R. et al, 2008), explain and â€Å"swapping† between individual and situation.They include the individual’s competences to create varied behaviors under appropriate conditions, his/her perception of events and people (including the self), expectancies, subjective values and self-regulatory systems. Behavior therapy is applied for and aims to treat only learned behavioral problems. Sometimes, however, health and learned behavioral problems coexist. Whether the individu al being in treatment has a learned behavioral problem alone, or a learned problem which coexists with a learned one has to be determined in the beginning of the process of behavior therapy.Two additional possible situations are either the individual in therapy to have a learned behavior problem as part of a psychosomatic disorder, or to have a medical problem that just appears to have been learned (Yates A. , 1975). Behavioral assessment is vital to behavior therapy. It developed rapidly during the 1970s, after initially being a covered part of behavior therapy in terms of research and professional development (Thorpe G. , et al, 1990). Now, behavior assessment is a rich and diverse subfield of behavior therapy that continues to develop rapidly.In clinical settings, behavior therapy is a method for treating mental health problems. Treatment involves proposing and putting into practice a plan of action that aims to resolve a problem. Deciding on the plan of action depends on the pro blem formulation so what has to be done in the early sessions of the therapy is the agreement of the therapist and the client on what is wrong and what has to be changed to improve or even eliminate it. Behavior therapy uses a number of assessment methods. In guided imagery the individual is guided in imagining a relaxing scene or series of experiences (Rimm D. t al, 1974). When an individual visualizes an imagined scene reacts as though it were actually occurring; therefore, imagined images can have a great impact on behavior. Role playing is a technique used in behavior therapy to provide partaking and involvement in the learning process (Thorpe G. et al, 1990). It helps the individual (learner) to receive objective feedback about his/her performance. Role playing techniques can be applied to motivate individuals pay more attention to their interpersonal state.One of its most important aspects is that it helps the learner experience a real life situation in a protected setting. Ph ysiological recording, self-monitoring, behavioral observation, and psychological tests and measurements are some more examples of the assessment techniques that can be applied during the behavior therapy (Corsini R. et al, 2008). In general, behavior therapists do not use standardized psychodiagnostic tests and projective tests. They broadly make use of checklists and questionnaires, self-report scales of depression, assertion inventories, etc.These assessment techniques are not sufficient for carrying out a functional analysis of the determinants of a problem, but they are useful in establishing the initial severity of the problem and charting therapeutic efficacy over the course of treatment. In conclusion, the clinical investigations of behavior therapists have significantly improved our understanding of how our behavior is coordinated with external events that occur in our lives; they have created ways of mediating in disturbing interpersonal aspects that were not efficiently t reated through other kinds of therapy.Behavior therapy can be applied to treat a full range of psychological disorders. These include anxiety disorders, depression and suicide, sexual dysfunctions, marital problems, eating and weight disorders, addictive disorders, schizophrenia, childhood disorders, phobias, pain management, hypertension, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease, etc. (Thorpe G. et al, 1990). References Corsini R, & Wedding D. (2008). Current Psychotherapies. New York: Thomson Brooks/Cole. Eifert, G. , & Plaud, J. (1998). From behavior theory to behavior therapy (pp. 1-14).Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Erwin E. (1978). Behavior Therapy: Scientific, Philosophical, & Moral Foundations. New York: Cambridge University Press. Harold (1990). Handbook of Social and Evaluation Anxiety. New York: Plenum Press. Lieberman D. (2004). Learning and Memory: an integrative approach. United states: Thomson Wadsworth. Plaud, J. (2001). Clinical science and human behavior. Jou rnal of Clinical Psychology, 57, 1089-1102. Rimm D. , & Masters J. (1974). Behavior Therapy: Techniques and Empirical Findings. New York: Academic press. Thorpe G. , & Olson S. 1990). Behavior Therapy: Concepts, Procedures and Applications. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Wachtel P. , (1997). Psychoanalysis, Behavior Therapy, and the Relational World. Washington DC: American Psychological Association. Wolpe, J. , & Plaud, J. (1997). Pavlov’s contributions to behavior therapy: The obvious and the not so obvious. American Psychologist, 52, 966-972. Wolpe, Joseph. 1958. Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Yates A. , 1975). Theory and Practice in Behavior Therapy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.