Thursday, December 26, 2019

Life of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Rocket Science Pioneer

Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky (September 17, 1857 –  September 19, 1935) was a scientist, mathematician, and theoretician whose work became the basis for the development of rocket science in the Soviet Union. During his lifetime, he speculated about the possibility of sending people into space. Inspired by science fiction writer Jules Verne and his stories of space travel,  Tsiolkovsky became known as the father of rocket science and dynamics whose work directly led to his countrys involvement in the space race. Early Years Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was born on September 17, 1857 in Ishevskoye, Russia. His parents were Polish; they raised  17 children in the harsh environment of Siberia. They recognized the young Konstantins great interest in science, even as he suffered an attack of scarlet fever at the age of 10. This illness took away his hearing, and his formal schooling came to an end for a while, although he continued to learn by reading at home. Eventually, Tsiolkovsky was able to gain enough education to start college in Moscow. He finished his education and qualified to become a teacher, working in a school in a town called Borovsk. That is where he married Varvara Sokolova. Together, they raised two children, Ignaty and Lyubov. He spent much of his life living in Kaluga, a small village near Moscow. Developing the Principles of Rocketry Tsiokovsky began his development of rocketry by considering philosophical principles of flight. Over the course of his career, he ultimately wrote more than 400 papers on that and related subjects. His first works began in the late 1800s when he wrote a paper called Theory of Gases. In it, he examined the kinetics of gases, and then went on to study the theories of flight, aerodynamics, and the technical requirements for airships and other vehicles. Tsiokovsky continued exploring a variety of flight issues, and in 1903, he published The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices. His calculations for achieving orbit, along with designs for rocket craft set the stage for later developments. He focused on specifics of rocket flight, and his rocket equation related the change in velocity for a rocket to the effective exhaust velocity (that is, how fast the rocket goes per unit of fuel it consumes). This came to be known as the specific impulse. It also takes into account the mass of the rocket at the beginning of launch and its mass when the launch is finished. He went on to work on solving problems in rocket flight, focusing on the role of rocket fuel in lofting a vehicle to space. He published the second part to his earlier work, where he discussed the effort a rocket must expend to overcome the force of gravity. Tsiolkovsky stopped working on astronautics prior to World War I and spent the post-war years teaching mathematics. He was honored for his earlier work on astronautics by the newly formed Soviet government, which supplied backing for his continued research. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky died in 1935 and all his papers became the property of the Soviet state. For a while, they remained a closely guarded state secret. Nonetheless, his work influenced a generation of rocket scientists around the world. Tsiolkovskys Legacy In addition to his theoretical work, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky developed aerodynamics test systems and studied the mechanics of flight. His papers covered aspects of dirigible design and flight, as well as the development of powered airplanes with light fuselages. Thanks to his deep research into principles of rocket flight, he has long been considered the father of rocket science and dynamics. Ideas based on his work informed later achievements by such well-known Soviet rocket experts as Sergei Korolev  Ã¢â‚¬â€ an aircraft designer who became the chief rocket engineer for the Soviet Unions space efforts. The rocket engineer designer Valentin Glushko was also a follower of his work, and later in the early 20th century,  German rocket expert Hermann Oberth was influenced by his research. Tsiolkovsky is also often cited as the developer of astronautic theory. This body of work deals with the physics of navigation in space. To develop that, he carefully considered the types of masses that could be delivered to space, the conditions they would face in orbit, and how both rockets and astronauts would survive in the conditions of low Earth orbit. Without his painstaking research and writing, its quite likely that modern aeronautics and astronautics would not have advanced as fast as it did. Along with Hermann Oberth and Robert H. Goddard, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is considered one of the three fathers of modern rocketry. Honors and Recognition Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was honored during his lifetime by the Soviet government, which elected him to the Socialist Academy in 1913. A monument to the Conquerors of Space in Moscow contains a statue of him. A crater on the Moon is named for him, and among other more modern honors, there was a Google Doodle created to honor his legacy. He was also honored on a commemorative coin in 1987. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Fast Facts Full Name: Konstantin  Eduoardovich TsiolkovskyOccupation: Researcher and theorist  Born: Sept. 17, 1857 in  Izhevskoye, Russian EmpireParents: Eduoard Tsiolkovsky, mother: name not knownDied: September 19, 1935 in  Kaluka, Former Soviet UnionEducation: self-educated, became a teacher; attended college in Moscow.Key Publications: Investigations of Outer Space by Rocket Devices  (1911), Aims of Astronauts (1914)Spouses Name: Varvara SokolovaChildren: Ignaty (son); Lyubov (daughter)Research Area: Principles of aeronautics and astronautics Sources Dunbar, Brian. â€Å"Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky.† NASA, NASA, 5 June 2013, www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/rocketry/home/konstantin-tsiolkovsky.html.European Space Agency, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. ESA, 22 October 2004, http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Exploration/Konstantin_TsiolkovskyPetersen, C.C. Space Exploration: Past, Present, Future. Amberley Books, England, 2017.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

The Aftershocks Of Oppression Historical Determinism

The Aftershocks of Oppression: Historical Determinism in Writing In his seminal essay, â€Å"The Muse of History,† Derek Walcott argues for the rejection of history as a â€Å"creative or culpable force† in narrative fiction. Walcott proposes that protagonists should â€Å"[walk] in a world without monuments and ruins,† unencumbered by the vestiges of the past. His perspective on the role of history in prose is decidedly anti-determinist, and he maintains that good prose should not be driven by the past. Walcott asserts that writing should not be constrained by history. However, in â€Å"Let Them Call it Jazz† by Jean Rhys and â€Å"You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town† by Zoe Wicomb, â€Å"there is no escape from history.† The past digs its long claws into the flesh of†¦show more content†¦The legal system works against the narrator, and the police â€Å"pretend [she] never have any [savings].† When she comes to the police with her complaint, they trip her up with their questioning, and she is unable to convince them that she has been robbed. However, when the police question the narrator’s white, British, landlady, she—referring to the narrator’s ethnic background—tells them, â€Å"these people [are] terrible liars.† The police take the landlady’s statement at face value, but do not pay the same regard to the narrator’s statement. The power dynamics and stereotypes at play bias the police against the narrator because she is black, foreign, and poor. The narrator herself recognizes the one-sidedness of the legal system, saying, â€Å"All I can say about police and how they behave is I think it all depend who they dealing with.† The narrator is not â€Å"Eveian† woman, and she is not infallible; nevertheless, the way in which the legal system treats the narrator, reveals the inherent prejudice of the system. It is not until the narrator accepts her subordinate role within the power structure that things seem to turn around for her—she is freed from jail, gets a new room to live in, and the job she wanted, altering ladies’ dresses. The narrator is â€Å"not frightened of them any more†¦[she knows] what to say and everything go like a clock works,† but in losing the ability to express her opinion, she accepts her status as a second-class citizen with

Monday, December 9, 2019

Business Statistics Employee Customer Chain

Question: Describe about the Business Statistics for Employee Customer Chain. Answer: Section 1: Introduction: The dataset in this assignment consists of the data about the survey in a gym. The gym mentioned in this report has proposed a change. The reaction of the customers regarding the change is to be analyzed in this report. The opinion about the change proposed in the gym many vary according o the customers. The change that is being proposed may work well for one group of customer while the change may not be liked by the other group. For example, the female group may be attracted by a discount offered in the gym while the discount may not work well for the male customers. In this dataset, the information about the type of exercise performed, the height, weight, physical fitness of the customers is being obtained. The data has been analyzed using various statistical techniques. The change that is to be proposed has to be determined on the basis of the results of data analysis. A survey has been conducted among the customers to know whether the customers are in favor of the proposed change or not. The data has been analyzed using various techniques such as testing of hypothesis and confidence intervals. The report will give an idea about the success of the proposed change. Section 2: According to Wu Shih (2014), the customer loyalty is a very important factor in the function of a gym. The customer loyalty is driven by many factors such as the quality of service, machineries in the gym and others. According to Makover (2016), a study has been conducted to know about the factors affecting customer satisfaction in the gym. The study has been conducted among the fitness clubs located in South Florida. The customer satisfaction that is customer loyalty, brand loyalty and others are driven by thee service and quality provided in the fitness centers. Therefore, it is recommended that the customer satisfaction should be ensured in a gym to improve the business of the gym. Section 3: The customer satisfaction can be ensured with the help of the service provided in the gym. The service provided in the gym can be explored with the help of the change in the body mass index of the customers and the number of minutes spent in the weighing exercise. The following scatter diagram has been obtained for the two variables. Figure: Scatter diagram Source: Created by author The scatter diagram given above has been obtained by plotting the time spent by the customers in a weighing machine and the body mass index of the customers. The body mass index of the customer is a measurement of body fitness. The body mass index is measured by the weight of the person divided by the height of the person. The regular exercise is expected to reduce the Body mass index of the people. Therefore, the Body mass index is expected to have a negative relationship with the time spent in weighing machine. The co efficient of regression analysis will help to know about the relationship between the two variables. The regression line obtained in this case is: y = -1.106*x + 48.84 +e. The value of the regression co efficient obtained is -1.106. Therefore, it can be said that the model is not very good fitted. However, the model shows that there is a negative relationship between the body mass index and the time spent on weighing machine. A regression analysis has been conducted taking the B.MI as the dependent variable and the time spent on weighing machine as the independent variable. SUMMARY OUTPUT Regression Statistics Multiple R 0.191417 R Square 0.03664 Adjusted R Square 0.02681 Standard Error 2.816598 Observations 100 Table 1: Adjusted R-squared values of regression analysis (Source: Created by author) ANOVA df SS MS F Significance F Regression 1 29.56975 29.56975 3.727329 0.056419 Residual 98 777.4562 7.933226 Total 99 807.0259 Table 2: ANOVA of regression analysis (Source: Created by author) Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% Lower 95.0% Upper 95.0% Intercept 26.68483 0.444478 60.03638 4.22E-79 25.80278 27.56689 25.80278 27.56689 Q12: Minutes on weight machine. -0.03311 0.017149 -1.93063 0.056419 -0.06714 0.000923 -0.06714 0.000923 Table 3: Regression analysis of B. M. I and time spent on weighing machine (Source: Created by author) The results of regression analysis show that the time spent on weighing machine has an inverse relation with the B.M.I. A test has been conducted to know whether the regression co efficient is significantly different from zero or not. The single sample t-test has been conducted for the purpose. The objective of the test is to see if the regression co efficient is significantly different from zero or not. The p-value of the test obtained is more than 0.05 for the slope. Therefore, the regression co efficient has a significant effect on the dependent variable. The regression co efficient is significantly different from zero. Therefore, one can say that as the value of B. M. I increases, the value of time spent in weighing machine decreases. There is an inverse relation between the two. The mean and variance of the two variables are given in the following table: MEASURES B . M. I Q12: Minutes on weight machine. MEAN 26.021 20.05 STANDATD DEVIATION 2.855132 16.50673 Table 4: Mean and variance of B. M. I and time spent on weighing machine (Source: Created by author) Section 4: Managerial advice: The quality of weighing exercise in the gym is very poor. The results of regression analysis show that. It has been pointed out that customer satisfaction is one of the main reasons driving the change in the business of the gym. The condition of physical exercise needs to be improved. The gym can employ better trainer to bring about the proposed change. The efficient trainer can bring about betterment of physical exercise in the gym. Section 5: A survey has been conducted among the gym customers to know about the proportion of people who are in favor of the proposed change. The survey has been conducted by taking a sample of one thousand customers. The survey has been conducted by taking the help of sampling method. The aim of doing so is to save the time and labor in conducting the study. The customers were asked if they liked the proposed change or not. It has been found that out of a total of one thousand customers, a total of 892 customers are in favor of the proposed change. This means that majority of the customers likes the proposed change. A t-test has been conducted to see if the number of people who are in support of the change is greater than .5 or not. The null hypothesis of the test is H0: p= 0.5 and the alternative hypothesis is H1: p 0.5. The term p denotes the proportion of people who are in favor of the change. The alternative hypothesis indicates that the proportion of people can be greater than or less t han 0.5. The value of the proportion has been calculated to be 0.892 which is much greater than 0.5. The test statistic is : t = (p 0.5)/S.E(p) The term S.E (p) denotes the standard error of the proportion. The formula for the calculation of standard error is: E (p) = sqrt(p(1-p)/n). The value of standard error that has been calculated on the basis of the given sample is 0.31038. The value of the test statistic is 1.2629. The test statistic is said to follow a standard normal distribution as the value of the sample is very large. The value of the t statistic has been calculated to be 1.645 at 10 % significance level. Therefore, the null hypothesis of the test is accepted as the p-value is greater than given level of significance 10 percent. A confidence interval has been calculated for the proportion of people as well. The confidence interval has been calculated by the following formula: I = ( p 1.645* S.E (p) , p + 1.645 * S.E (p)) The confidence interval has been calculated to be (0.31038032, 1.402575). This implies that the value of the proportion is expected to lie within this interval. Section 7: Conclusion and recommendation: The report gives an idea about the customer service in a gym. The gym has proposed a new change to bring about the efficiency in the customers. A new fitness trainer has been introduced in the gym. The study suggest that majority of customers are in support of the proposed change. The recommendations that follow from the test are: Therefore, it is recommended from the study that the gym should bring about the proposed change to increase its customers. With the help of the proposed change, the gym can increase customer satisfaction and increase customer loyalty. The customers has also voted in favor of the change. The fitted regression model is not very good as is explained by the adjusted R-squared. This may be due to the insufficient sample or improper sampling techniques. Therefore, a proper sample should be used for the study. References: Makover, B. (2016). Examining the employee-customer chain in the fitness industry. Polyakova, O., Mirza, M. T. (2016). Service quality models in the context of the fitness industry.Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal,6(3). Wu, L. C., Shih, I. (2014). The product development process of an enterprise from an SSME perspective.Service Business,8(1), 29-50.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Layoff in the public sector Trends Paper

Introduction The global economic environment is currently experiencing instability and is becoming weaker and weaker. This has forced many businesses across the divide to take drastic measures to cut down the cost, such as restructuring their operations and reducing their workforce (Cascio, 2005, p.40).Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Layoff in the public sector Trends Paper specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, these decisions are becoming very difficult for the employers since they have to justify their actions to the labor organizations and the court. Regrettably, these actions have led to court tussle between employers and employees who feel they were unfairly selected (Wagar, 2001, p.852). Terminations of employee’s contract or layoffs as part of company downsizing policy have generally caused employment discrimination claims. These claims characteristically have always stem from the protecte d group of workers, for instance disabled employees, minorities, older employees among others, who have been affected by these decisions (Cascio, 2005, p.41). Additionally, employee’s contract terminations have also resulted into retaliatory acts such as legal actions. On other occasions, get laid off for participating in legal activities such as complaining of harassment, poor working conditions, and request for accommodations among others (Gibson, Hurd Wagar, 2004, p.892). Layoffs originally started as an avenue for companies which were doing bad to shed of some of their employees in the face of weak demand, but today companies which are trying to increase shareholders value have adopted this strategy. Wagar, (2001) defined layoffs as a permanent reduction of employees in an effort to enhance company’s efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore, layoff is part of downsizing which is a process involving the reduction of staff’s complement through streamlining, re trenchment, re-engineering among other activities. Most public sector organizations always rush to stuff layoff as a quick solution to their financial problems. Therefore, the top management must scrutinize all other factors before deciding to layoff workers (Zyglidopoulos, 2004, p.12; Wagar, 2001, p.852). Economic justification of layoffs has always been cost reduction and increase of revenues. Introduction of new technologies also influences staff reduction when redundancies is aimed at enhancing output per unit input or reduction of cost of production.Advertising Looking for assessment on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Change in consumers’ tastes and preferences impacts on staff reduction especially when the company cannot sustain product lines. Briefly, all factors that affect company’s demand have significant impact on the employees (Gibson, Hurd Wagar, 2004, p.892). Legal environmen t for layoffs The public sector is an incredibly large employer, considering the many government institutions, entities and agencies. The legal rights of the employees acts as the moderation on the employers not to abuse their discretion of disciplining and firing employees at will. Heads of government entities and supervisors are also employees and therefore, together with the junior employees have legitimate bases for their rights in the constitution (Zyglidopoulos, 2004, p.13). However, the government can limit or influence exercise of constitutional rights by the employees through several ways. First, they can regulate employee’s activities. Secondly, the can punish employees who do not adhere to the statutes or organizational rules. Lastly, government can prohibit/ bar the exercise of the claimed employee rights. On the other hand, both government as an employer and the employees have legitimate interests thus have to protect the needs of each other. Employees’ ha ve interests in job security and promotions, as well as freedom of expression and privacy. Government’s interest is in the services they offer and the interest of the taxpayers (Gibson, Hurd Wagar, 2004, p.893). Workers Adjustment and Restraining Notification Act, 29 is the section of the US constitution that protects the workers against unfair dismissal. It requires public and private sector to give advance notice (sixty days notice) to workers prior to mass layoff or close down (Cooper, 2007, p.3). The workers representative usually delivers the notice to the employees. If there is no representative, a state entity designated to carry out the rapid response activity under section 2864 of the act becomes responsible. If there is not such state entity, a unit of local government, which the employer pays the highest taxes, will carry out the duty (Cooper, 2007, p.3; Zyglidopoulos, 2004, p.12).Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Layoff in the public se ctor Trends Paper specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The law also protects workers against dismissal or layoff because of practicing their rights. These rights include freedom of speech such as criticizing the administration, demand for better terms of employment, promotions, among others. However, the constitution also acknowledges the need for balance between the employee’s rights and the wellbeing of the public sector organizations. Therefore, if the employer can demonstrate that by exercising his/her rights deliberately the employee caused damage to the organization or state entity, the constitution does not protect the employee. The constitution on the other hand provides more protection to the employees who comment on matters political, social or concerning community (Gibson, Hurd Wagar, 2004, p.892; Cooper, 2007, p.3). Unfair Act of Discretion by employers in the public sector Employers control key major operations in a w orkplace such as wage rates, production, layoff, termination and hiring. They normally use their control to undermine workers rights to collective representation and to choose a representative. In other occasions, the management usually uses their powers to destabilize or neutralize the workers representative. Another unfair act of discretion in public sector layoff is the discrimination with regard to race, ethnic background, politics, religion, gender, disability among others. (Cascio, 2005, p.41). Despite of the law protecting workers against victimization because of exercising their rights, some employers in the public sector take upon themselves to terminate the contracts of such employees given the opportunity. In such scenario, employees get punished for not cooperating with the administration (Wagar, 2001, p.855). There are cases where employees have been laid off because they participated on go slow or to demand better terms of employment or because of welfare issues. Top m anagement in the public sector always uses employees’ layoff as a quick solution to the problems that they have created, for instance losses due to their inefficiency, corruption and poor management (Wagar, 2001, p.855-856). Shortcomings and solutions Staff layoff in most cases results in reduced motivational levels among those who those who have survived layoff and those who have been send packing. Therefore, management wishing to enhance productivity through downsizing may end up achieving the opposite results because of lack of motivation among the employees (Cascio, 2005, p.43).Advertising Looking for assessment on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Decision to downsize may also weaken the already good reputation of the company, thus can affect its trading in the stock market resulting into low share values (Zyglidopoulos, 2004, p.12). Layoffs inevitably results in workers loss to the competitors mainly in the private sector who benefits from their skills and experience (Zyglidopoulos, 2004, p.13). In this case, the government do not benefit fully from the expenses incurred training these employees. Training is very important in organizational change and innovation. Therefore, layoff denies public sector the little changes it may have realized due to loss of innovators. Even though layoffs at time are necessary, generally they do the public sector more harm than good (Zyglidopoulos, 2004, p.12-13; Cascio, 2005, p.44). Public sector can realized its objectives without necessarily reducing the number of employees in organizations. For instance, companies that strive to increase their income may opt to improving its revenues rathe r than reducing labor cost. This can be realized through increased sales and value addition on its products and services, thus capturing a new market segment. On the other side, the costs associated with layoffs may still be witnesses even if the company did make cuts on the employees. For instance, low workers turnover will persist unless the organization improves on the working condition (Cooper, 2007, p.4; Cascio, 2005, p.44). Conclusion Justification for public sector layoff have been based on increased profitability, enhanced productivity, streamlined structure, and improved strategic position. However, studies have shown that all the above benefits are functions of numerous factors that may not essentially be staff layoff. Amongst these factors are skill level of the staff, teamwork and unity, level of technology used, staff morale among others. Workers layoffs alone cannot guarantee increased productivity. Most public sector organizations always rush to stuff layoff as a quic k solution to their financial problems. Therefore, the top management must scrutinize all other factors before deciding to layoff workers. Last but not the least, public sector organizations should enact policies that protect workers from any form discrimination and allows them to exercise their rights without victimization. References Cascio, W.F. (2005). Strategies for Responsible Downsizing. Academy of Management Executive, 19(4), 39-50. Cooper, P.J. (2007). Public Law and Public Administration (fourth Ed.).NY: Thomas-Wadsworth ISBN-10: 0495007552. Gibson, A., Hurd, F. Wagar, P. (2004). Voluntary Restructuring of Large firms in response to performance decline. Journal of finance, 47(3), 891-917. Wagar, T.H. (2001). Consequences of workforce reduction: Some employer and union evidence. Journal of labor research, 22, 851-862. Zyglidopoulos, S.C. (2004). The impact of downsizing on corporate reputation for social performance. Journal of public Affairs, 4(1), 11-25. This assessment on Layoff in the public sector Trends Paper was written and submitted by user Hindsight Lad to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.