Essay --

The numbers of marine mammals present in waters under the jurisdiction of the United States has fluctuated over the past century. Declines have been credited to various causes, which are a mix of anthropogenic and natural processes. One major cause of marine mammal decline is whaling. Even though this practice has been prohibited, the effects of commercial whaling in the United States can still be seen today. The main whale species affected included North Pacific right whales (Eubalaena japonica), bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), and gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus). Sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) were exploited in an increased fashion after World War II (Springer et al., 2003). Whaling did not only affect whale populations, but it also affects populations of seals, sea lions, and sea otters. This is hypothesized to be the result of top-down forces from whaling, forcing great whales to shift their food sources to these smaller marine mammals. During the Second World War, whaling of great whales was at its peak. These whales were used for oils for lubricants, food, and other needs of the people of the United States. However, this heavy use of great whale stocks forced killer whales (Orcinus orca) to begin feeding on smaller marine mammals, such as seals, sea lions, and sea otters (Trites et al., 2006). It is also thought that declines in these smaller marine mammals is due to a decline in nutritional limits in their habitats, competition with fisheries, as well as changing climates. The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) has had a slow recovery since the cessation of commercial... ...ws and acts such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, Fur Seal Act, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, and the Coastal Management Act, have all helped to prevent the stocks of these important organisms from declining even further. Even though these have been enacted, the general public still needs to be educated and made aware of the population trends of these animals, as well as their importance to the tropic systems surrounding our coastlines. Many individuals do not realize, for instance, that Sea Otters are a keystone species in kelp bed habitats, and without them, kelp forests would dwindle in numbers and the health of those ecosystems would decline rapidly. Kelp forests provide habitat for over a thousand species of animals, many of which are important for fisheries and without those forests, fish abundance would fall as well.

Steam-powered Boilers

Boilers are closed containers where a fluid is heated to generate steam above the atmospheric pressure (Steingress, 2001 5). Thus, they are often called steam-powered boilers since the steam they generate is utilized as a source of energy such as electricity. Boilers have two primary parts. These are the compartment for fuel combustion and the other compartment for evaporation of water to produce steam (Prasad). The steam produced then, leaves the water compartment and is used for various purposes (Steingress, 2003 4).The main materials for boiler construction can be carbon steel, stainless steel, brass or cast iron. These materials are used since they are not flammable and they are good conductors of heat. Inside the boiler, combustion of fuels such as wood, coal, natural gas or oil, generates the heat needed to turn water into steam. History of Boilers Pneumatica was the first steam machine ever produced in the history of mechanics. This steam engine was the first employment of wat er generated into steam to produce power. It was invented in the 1st century by a Greek mathematician and inventor named Hero of Alexandria.In the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, Italian architect and inventor Giovanni Branca designed the first boiler. The boiler discharges steam, which in turn, struck the blades of a wheel thus, causing it to rotate. Later, in the year 1785, Scottish inventor James Watt redesigned the previous boiler. He introduced the use of spherical and cylindrical vessels heated from below by open fire to generate steam. This design is what makes up the modern-day boiler (Prasad). Applications of Boilers Boilers have various purposes. Nevertheless, most of its applications are in the field of energy generation for further functions.One good example is the use of boiler in the first steam engine produced. Thomas Savery built this steam engine made of two copper vessels, which are alternately filled with steam from a boiler. The said engine was used for pumpi ng water out of mines (Prasad). Other useful applications of boilers are boiler feed water deaerator, external combustion engine, fossil fuel power plant generator, and ship propeller power generator. There are still other uses of boilers especially in the industry; however, these applications are specific for each type of boiler.There are two major types of boilers: fire-tube boilers and water-tube boilers. Fire-tube Boilers The fore-runner of a fire-tube boiler was invented by Oliver Evans in America. Evans built a boiler consisting of cylindrical casings where one is inside the other and the region between them containing water. The fire and fuel in this type of boiler are inside the cylinder thus allowing an increase in steam pressure (Prasad). Fire-tube boilers, compared to water-tube boilers, have low steam production rate. However, this type of boiler has a high steam storage capacity.Fire-tube boilers usually utilize solid fuels; nevertheless, liquid fuels can also be used u pon adaptation of the device. One hazard of fire-tube boilers is that they are sometimes explosive (Prasad). In fire-tube boilers, the boiler barrel is almost completely filled with water with a small space above to enclose the steam that is produced. The source of fuel is a furnace, which is cooled by water around it, to prevent overheating which may cause explosions. Fire- tube boilers are also known as smoke-tube or shell boiler and fire pipe.Boilers of this type are typically used for steam locomotives and for heating buildings in stationary engineering fields. There are several kinds of fire-tube boilers that differ only in the way the flu gasses, which provide the heat, are transported in a variety of tubes. These types are Cornish boiler, Lancashire boiler, Scotch marine boiler, locomotive boiler, vertical fire-tube boiler and horizontal return tubular boiler (Shonas Wreck Guide). Water-tube Boilers This type of boiler was introduced later than its counterpart. It was invente d by George Herman Babcock and Stephen Wilcox in 1867 (Prasad).Unlike fire-tube boilers, water-tube boilers have high steam production rates. However, they have less storage capacity than fire-tube types. Water-tube boilers are characteristically used in high-pressure applications because the narrow pipes of this type can endure pressure despite their thin walls. Furthermore, water-tube boilers have less risk of explosions since the water used is only minimal. In water-tube types, the water flows through tubes, which are heated externally by gases. Steam is then collected into a drum located above the tubes.This type is also inexpensive in a sense that the water is just circulated inside the tubes. The water is heated then turned into steam and again cooled to water upon accomplishing its purpose. Water-type boilers also have different classifications, which are D-type, O-type, A-type, flex-tube boiler, Babcock and Wilcox boiler, Stirling boiler, thornycroft boiler, and yarrow boile r (Prasad). Safety Precautions Since steam boilers are pressurized vessels, it has a risk of explosion. Boiler explosions are damaging since they are boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions.In this case, the pressure exceeds the capacity of the vessel and thus, explodes into destructive steam, not to mention the furnace that may add to the explosion. Furnace explosions may also occur in boilers. It is thus advised that maintenance and regular inspection of the boiler be done. One well-known explosion took place in the steamer â€Å"Eclipse† on January 27, 1865. In this disaster, 27 were killed and 78 were wounded (Hewison 1). Therefore, hazards of boiler explosion can certainly be disturbing. Maintenance and regular replacement of defective or weak parts of the boiler should be done regularly.Works Cited â€Å"General Ship Layout†. Shonas Wreck Guide. 17 April 2008. Hewison, Christian H. Locomotive Boiler Explosions. David and Charles. 1983. Prasad, Vishwanath. â₠¬Å"Boilers. † Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. 2007. Microsoft Corporation. 17 April 2008. Steingress, Frederick M. Low Pressure Boilers. 4th Ed. American Technical Publishers. 2001. Steingress, Frederick M. , Harold Frost and Darryl Walker. High Pressure Boilers. 3rd Ed. American Technical Publishers. 2003.

Palfinger Ag Case Study

Palfinger’s AG – Property, Plant, and Equipment a. ) Palfinger’s property would include the property that they have to store the forklifts and other large inventory that they have on. The equipment would include all equipment that is necessary to make the inventory that they sell such as the cranes. b. ) This number represents the total of the plant, property, and equipment that Palfinger has. This number should be recorded as the historical cost that the plant, property and equipment was purchased at.This total number also has the total sum of amortized depreciation subtracted out to get the net amount of PP&E that is put on the balance sheet c. ) In the notes to the financial statements, Palfinger reports the plant, property and equipment of the following: †¢ Land and equipment †¢ Undeveloped buildings and investments †¢ Plant and machinery †¢ Other plant, fixtures, fittings, and equipment †¢ Payments and assets under construction d. â €Å"Prepayments and assets under construction† represents expenses that have prepaid for and assets that haven’t been finished yet. Because the assets aren’t completed and haven’t been used, they aren’t being depreciated. The reclassification comes from allocation of depreciation from the newly completed projects that now have been put to use. e. ) Palfinger depreciates its property and equipment by using straight-line depreciation over the prospective useful lives of the relevant assets.They allocate 8-50 years on buildings, 3-15 years on plant and machinery, and 3-10 years on fixtures, fittings, and equipment. This policy does not seem reasonable because there is a short 8-year building useful life. Because of this, Palfinger’s ROA and EPS ratios are heavily impacted. f. You can both depreciate replacements investments, and value enhancing investments that are capitalized and depreciated over the new useful life or original useful life.The alternative method to this would be to just expense out the costs of renovations or value enhancing investments. This way it is completely hit on the income statement, and is not shown on the balance sheet. g. ) i. According to the notes to the consolidated financial statements, Palinger bought $61,444 worth of new PPE in 2007. ii. There was a change of ($733) concerning government grants. According to IAS 20 government grants for property, plant, and equipment are presented as reductions of the acquisition and/or manufacturing costs.When these are deducted from the account, it lessens the amount depreciated during the life of the acquired assets. iii. Depreciation expense for 2007 was $12,557. iv. Net book value of total disposed PPE, was $1,501 (Derived from $13,799 – $12,298) h. ) To derive the gain or loss Palfinger incurred, we compute their proceeds from the sale of PPE $1,655 and subtract it from $1,501 (net book value). This gives us a total gain of $154. i. ) i. Str aight Line |Year |Beg |Dep. Exp |Accum Dep. Ending Bal | |1 |$10,673 |$1,880 |$1,880 |$8,793 | |2 |8,793 |1,880 |3,760 |6,913 | |3 |6,913 |1,880 |5,640 |5,033 | |4 |5,033 |1,880 |7,520 |3,153 | |5 |3,153 |1,880 |9,400 |1,273 | ii. Double- declining- balance depreciation Year |Beg |Dep. Exp. |Accum Dep. |Ending Bal | |1 |$10,673 |$4,269 |$4,269 |$6,404 | |2 |6,404 |2,562 |6,831 |3,842 | |3 |3,842 |1,537 |8,368 |2,305 | |4 |2,305 |922 |9,290 |1,383 | |5 |1,383 |110 |9,400 |1,273 | . ) i. Net book value at end of year 1 is $8,793. Less what you received on the sale $7,500. Gives you a disposal loss of $1,293 using the straight-line method of depreciation. You then add the disposal loss from the previous years depreciation $1,880, which results in a total income statement impact of $3,173. ii. Using double- declining method, the first year ending balance of $6,404 is subtracted form the proceeds of the sale netting in a gain of $1,096 on the disposal.Once this is subtracted form the pre vious years depreciation $4,269, you get a total income statement impact of $3,173. iii. The total income statement impact is exactly the same. The computations turn out to be identical because it is essentially a backwards way of computing the initial cost of the asset of $10,673, minus the proceeds from the sale $7,500, which both gives you $3,173. The difference between the two is perception. One reports a gain on disposals, while the other reports a loss. k. ) | Palfinger |Palfinger |Caterpillar |Caterpillar | | |2007 |2006 |2007 |2006 | |Net PPE |149,990 |98,130 |9,997 |8,851 | |Total Assets |528,314 |409,366 |56,132 |51,449 | |Common Size |28. 4% |24% |17. % |17. 2% | |Dep |12,557 |9,980 |1,797 |1,602 | |Sales/Rev |695,623 |585,205 |41,962 |38,869 | |Common Size |1. 8% |1. 7% |4. 3% |4. 1% | This table shows that Palfinger has much more assets involved in PPE at 28. 4%, than does Caterpillar 17. 8%. l. ) |Palfinger |Palfinger |Caterpillar |Caterpillar | | |2007 |2006 |2007 |20 06 | |Sales or Rev |695,623 |585,205 |41,962 |38,869 | |Avg. PPE |124,060 |94,091 |9,424 |8,420 | |PPE turnover |5. 61 |6. 22 |4. 45 |4. 2 | Turnover went down about 11% (5. 61/6. 22) for Palfinger, we also see the despite being less effective they’re still more efficient then Caterpillar by about 26% (5. 61/4. 45) in regards to PPE sales for every dollar spent. m. ) Depreciation, Amortization & Impairment expense1,960 Accumulated Depreciation & Impairment1,960 n. ) i. Due to the companies building location concept ii. Accumulated depreciation impairment1,755 Depreciation, Amortization, & impairment expense1,755 The credit is posted to an account the company has called revaluation reserve, if it is the initial write up. iii. |2007 | |Net Sales | $695,623 | |Avg. PPE Adjusted |124,060 – (1,755 x 0. 5) = 123,183 | |Turnover Adjusted | 5. 65 | The ratio has changed 5. 61 to 5. 65, which is not a very significant difference. Recalculating the impact of the write offâ€⠄¢s compared to the total net PPE is considered a minimal change for the company.

Al Capone Does My Shirts

He has an autistic sister called Natalie. They move to an apartment at â€Å"The Rock† after their father is able to work as an electrician at Alcatraz. What follows after are the series of escapades that Moose experiences which exposes him to several scrupulous deals making him compromise his integrity.Moose is intrigued that Al Capone lives in one of the prison cells where he lives and so are the other children. They eagerly pay money to have their clothes laundered by Scarface. He still has connections with other people behind bars of Alcatraz and he is able to help Moose.Moose reasoned in a manner that proves quite helpful in the sense that there is a cognitive behavior that the child manifests through obvious exploring and reconstruction of past events. Most of the children there are receptive to new learnings once new opportunities present themselves.The presence of these dangerous criminals in the midst of children, even if these dangerous elements are locked up, give a sense of inner exhilaration to readers who never know what to expect next. Moos Flanagan himself is witty and funny, which makes his character blend well with the other characters in the story.The family experiences several difficulties as it tries to balance their day revolving around Natalie who is afflicted with autism and their other child.   Thus, there is a strange kind of blending between the children of the prison guards and a story that elicits compassion for a children’s story book. It may seem to be quite heavy on the criminal side of the men in prison, but the author gives us a natural, almost necessary kind of kindness for these men who also manage to show kindness to these people.Delinquent activities is not really a normal process of growing up but it is most of the time an impact of a different kind of peer pressure that young people experiences. Young people have different experiences of puberty and adolescence and this experience is in part influenced thr ough the support systems that surround young people.Most of the time, the family or other support systems would not be able to provide effective support system in terms of development of self-image; young people acquire affirmation through peers and other groups. In their wish to feel that they ‘belong’ to a group they commit deviant behaviors (Juvenile Crime).This means that in general, it is not really a normal process, but rather an impact of the difficulty of the family structures to support young people at this important stage of development towards adulthood. Children act like sponges in terms of imbibing information and acquiring knowledge—a generalization that seems to hold whether they are learning how to speak or how to display emotions.It is not a curse for Moose to be responsible as he is wont to think. It balances with his family and environment so he still grows up well-rounded. It has been mentioned that families who are mentally and physically hea lthy are fundamental to a child's optimal growth and education.The kindness of prisoners melts the hearts of readers as Al Capone himself arranges for the help he is going to give readers. Natalie is brought to other families where she learns to interact like any normal child would do. Even if the daughter of the warden is presented as manipulative, yet the author manages to give him a soft heart for the punishment.Of course, we cannot discount the fact that some children have become more aggressive, which is directly correlated with the escalating prominence of violence among adults. Moose’s father warns him to do good for his sister but Piper, the warden’s daughter makes his life miserable by involving him in a moneymaking scheme to have their schoolmates’ clothes laundered by convicts.Piper even goes to the extent to telling schoolmates that Al Capone, the great gangster, may even be the one to wash their clothes.The story is heart-rending as readers are affo rded a glimpse of the relationship between Moose and his sister. We see the concern he has for his sister and is worth emulating. The setting of the story, even is quite serious for a children’s book prepares young readers for more serious themes as they grow up.Children acquire abilities to aggression more readily through constant exposure because they tend to imitate what they constantly see or read. Without doubt, the story plays a potent role on how children respond to different circumstances that they may have watched, read, or listened to.Oftentimes, the behaviors depicted in this story are extremely aggressive. Yet, this story breaks the belief that children believe that aggression is the only solution to a particular situation they are in.Living in a time and culture in which violence infuses numerous facets of society in both fiction and reality—verbal, visual, overt, and implied—and considering the ubiquity and prevalence of all forms of violence aroun d us, exposure to serious themes through the children’s books evidently casts some negative impact upon children. Yet, this book becomes a compassionate read that makes children want to emulate the kindness shown by the main character, Moose.REFERENCECholdenko, G. (March 30, 2004). Al Capone Does my Shirts. Putnam Juvenile   

Lack of Flexibility with Employees Essay

One of the main reasons that the company William Beckett & Co needs to have a flexible work force is a factor that we have already spoken about which is the increase of work for the company that has happened in the last few years, which has created a few problems for them in most parts of the business. The other major factor that requires the company to have a flexible works force is the job rotation strategy that I have also mentioned earlier. This can only work if the employees themselves have the skills and abilities to actually perform this different jobs otherwise the whole thing will break down. If the employees don’t have the right skills and abilities then the process is pointless and costly to the company as the workers would be very ineffective to produce the same standard of work that the other employees produce as they have been trained to do this. â€Å"Although many view employee training as a necessary evil and expense that must be tolerated, a well designed training program pays for itself and increases the bottom line. Such a program teaches new employees to â€Å"do it right the first time,† thus minimizing down time, equipment damage, and personal injury while maximizing productivity and profits† http://pages.prodigy. net/pblair/ttthome. htm (technical training tips) To help control the increasing level of work that the company has, they would need a flexible workforce who could move around to different areas in the company to help out with the work in order to create some stability of the work that is coming in and the work that is being completed. This would allow the company to deal with the influx of work, help the productivity of the company and even help with the motivation of the employees, whilst maintaining the impressive level of sales. As the company is over run with business, they are in need of more staff to handle the amount of work which they are generating. So the director employees a new sales administrator to help with the situation. The problem is that the person he has employed is a friend of his so he has had no formal interview or application. After a while the man redefines his own job to sales representative as he is more experienced at doing this job as he knows more about this side of the company than the administration side. The director had employed his friend to do a job he is not really qualified or able to do. I believe that the company needs to set up a human resource department which would be able to deal with the recruitment of new employees for the company. The problems with recruiting employees who are not able to do the job are that the will not be able to complete jobs on time or to a high standard of quality, which also means that productivity will be affect and the employee himself will be unhappy as he isn’t able to perform the duties in his job specification. Once the HR department is setup the managers will be able to move some of their tasks over to them like recruitment, appraisals, motivational and training. As the directors are struggling to do this now the only solution would be to set up the Hr department as soon as possible. The training needs are needed throughout the company, this is due to the fact that the company has grown rapidly and the fact that the company has invested in a new range of technologies to keep them up to date with their competitors and the changes in the market. I have identified certain areas that need improving with the management which are leadership training, interpersonal relationships need to be worked on and they also need to be able to delegate tasks and responsibility. â€Å"The interpersonal skills when the one to one trainer has to exercise are described by Megginson and Boydell (1979) as being similar to those required by the skilful counsellor† page 229 of the theory and practice of training, 4th edition by Roger Buckley and Jim Caple. The results of this should be an increase in productivity and an improvement in sales. They could also develop their own internal learning programme as they don’t have a lot of time to send them away from the company for a long time as they are so busy. The lower level staff need new training as they will not be able to work effectively enough with the new technologies as they will not be familiar with it compared to the old equipment they were familiar with. The areas that they will need to be trained on are their team working abilities, stress and pressure courses, good communication and motivation skills and theories. This should help the employees to work together as a team which will help morale and productivity as a team that are working together and are happy will be a great asset to the company.

Is College Degree Essential

Alice Sewah 10/14/11 V1 A college degree is essential for my future Is college degree really worth all the money spent and the effort put in it? Right now in our socirty a college education is no longer a option or a privilege. Without a college degree, you might as well becomes a homeless because if you don’t have a college degree you really aren’t anybody in this society. With a college degree, you get a good job, people give you more respect and you broraden up your knowledge. To me a college degree is essential for my future in order to be successful. First reason, college degree is essential is that it will lead me to get a really good job in the future. Being a college student perhaps more respectable role than being a janitor, lunch lady or a cook in a restaurant. When people know you as a college graduate, they give you more respect than just any ordinary person. With a college degree you get nice well-paying careers where you don’t have to break your neck and working your body to death. Even my parents motivate me more to stay in college because I don’t want to grow up and do the job that they doing now. Second reason why college is important is you gain respectful from people. For example my older brother who is a college graduate from Northwestern university gets more respect from all my family members and outsiders too. They look at him as not any ordinary person, but as a person who has accomplished a major goal that not everybody who starts finish. I know I will hain the same respect from people once I get my college degree. A degree is not just any other paper. It’s a special dcosument that will lead me to the right places in the future. It’s not good to be labeled as a college dropout or high school dropout. I would rather be preferred to be labeled as a college graduate not drop out. Another reason why college is essential is not only leading you to a good job, but also it prepares you with academic knowledge about the around you. Most people are irerlate and don’t even know much about the world they live in due to the fact they didn’t finish high school or go to college. Most people excuse for not going to college is money. Yes that’s true but, there are so many resources out there to help you get into college if you’re willing to go. The way things are going now, the only way to make it through is by getting a college degree. Even with some simple jobs out there, you need some sort of degree in order to be hired. College degree is really essential for my future because I want to make a difference and help out my family in Ghana who didn’t have the same opportunity as me to go to college. Most teens out there take education for granted and don’t care much about it. In conclusion having a college degree is for your own benefit. It will lead you to many grate places in the career industry. Yes is a lot of money and work but it’s really worth it. I know that in four years from now I will be really happy that I went to college and didn’t play around with it. Nobody can ever take your education from you it’s your god given rights.

Warehouse Operations Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Warehouse Operations - Term Paper Example The volume of goods to be transported and stored, the required mode of through put, the validity of the location as a transit point, the availability of area, the location for breaking bulk are some aspects that should be considered before setting up the warehouse. The selection of the location for the warehouse should be followed by the planning and designing of the warehouse on terms of space and design. The consideration of space layout , convenient storage space for different types of items, storage requirements, duration of inventorying, security of the goods, parking facilities for the transportation vehicles like fleets of trucks etc. should be done in the warehousing planning and designing process (Gunasekarana, Patel and McGaugheyc, 2004). The availability of handling equipment, loading trucks, access to labor resources and condition of the site are to be considered in the design of the warehouse as well. Workforce management is critical in the establishment and continuity of operations in a warehouse. A motivated, optimistic, well trained, skilled and enthusiastic workforce in then supply chain is indispensable for achieving competitive and strategic advantage for a logistics and supply chain business like Strategic Warehouse Management Inc. (SWM). A warehousing organization is a part of the macro supply chain and logistics management of companies functioning at a global scale. This involves the storage and movement of huge volumes of products. The products are not capable of moving by themselves. It takes a well-trained and efficient employee base in the organization so that the competitive logistics and warehousing operations are carried out in an efficient manner. The employees in the warehouse should be trained properly and specific steps should be taken by the organization to ensure that each of the employees understand his job well and