Soil mechanics Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Soil mechanics - Lab Report Example n-drained and drained were undertaken on the undisturbed soil samples to determine the shear strength parameters under drained and drained condition for the given soil sample from where the building will be constructed. Basing on the results, it is evident that the bearing capacity of the silt soil was much less as compared to the cohesion less soil ultimate bearing capacity. In this regard, the building codes permit higher bearing pressure for less cohesion soils like sand as compared to that of plastic soil (silt). Tri-axial tests are laboratory testing techniques mostly applied to obtain shear strength parameters for different types of soil under un-drained and drained condition (Alshibli and Sture 2000). Conventional test entails a cylindrical soil sample which is subjected to radial stresses as well as axial displacement or controlled increases in axial stresses. Usually, the cylindrical soil specimen is of 200m height and 100 mm diameter. Preparation of specimen is based on the type of soil. For shear failure, the soil grains usually slide over each other along the failure surface hence there is no crushing of grains. At failure, along the failure surface, the shear stress reaches the shear strength. Basically, soils are known to be frictional materials. The strength is based on the stress applied whereby this stress is controlled by effective stresses and here water pressure is needed (Alshibli and Sture 2000). Also soil strength is based on drainage whereby different strengths can be mea sured for a certain soil that can deform at a given constant volume (un-drained) as well as deform without having pore pressure that is excess (drained). Angle of friction (Ã ¸) and Cohesion (c) are generally not soil constant parameters. They are based on the soil initial state and the loading type (drained or un-drained) (Widulinski et al., 2009). The specimen was enclosed vertically with a thin rubber membrane then later put between two rigid ends in the pressure

Happiness: John Stuart Mill vs Immanuel Kant :: Utilitarianism Essays

Happiness. People go to any means by which to obtain the many varied materials and issues that induce pleasures in each individual, and intrinsically, this emotion remains the ultimate goal, John Stuart Mill, a nineteenth century philosopher, correctly advocated the pursuit of happiness, and maintained the concept that above all other values, pleasure existed as the final destination, Mill's hedonistic views correctly and rationally identified a natural human tendency, and his Utilitarian arguments strongly support the theory that above all else, happiness is the most important dream to be fulfilled. Upon researching for this paper, I came across a counter argument, which was based on metaphysics. Immanuel Kant, in Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, defends his strong beliefs in the issue of a good will, and surfaces as MM's chief opponent on the topic of metaphysics, The issue diminishes to a clash between emotions and pleasures ve rses rationality and logic. Yet, what use is logic when the good agent is miserable? Mill's stance within Utilitarianism exists as the more favorable of the two beliefs, for happiness exist as the one intrinsically favorable element, not an emotionless mind. The main defender of the Utilitarian system exists within the Greatest happiness Principle. Mill lived as a chief advocate of this concept, which supports the idea that a decision is morally correct as long as it increases and encourages pleasures and happiness. Kant, however, in his endless quest to remain separate from emotions and thrive only on logic, would argue that autonomy should be placed above happiness in a list of intrinsic values. A good will, however, does not comfort an individual in any way if happiness does not accompany this asset, Consider this example of a seemingly happily married couple. The wife in this duo is madly in love with her husband fiercely loyal, and completely happy with her marriage and children. The husband, however, as wrongfully strayed, and had a brief, but damaging affair behind his wife's back. Kant would argue that autonomy reigns over pleasure, and the woman should therefore want to be informed of her husband's adultery, Mill would greatly disagree. By revealing the secret of the past affair, the woman's happy world would be instantly shattered. Her pride would diminish, her stability would fall apart, and the children especially would be forced to view a nasty side of their beloved father. In this case, individual control is greatly overshadowed by the need for happiness. The husband is no longer acting unfaithful and the family can easily continue to live in a happy realm, If the secret were to

Evaluate the case for cutting public expenditure rather Essay

A fiscal deficit is when a government’s total expenditures exceed the tax revenues that it generates. A budget deficit can be cut by either reducing public expenditure or raising taxes. In this essay, I am going to analyse the benefits and costs of increasing tax rates to reduce fiscal deficits instead of cutting government expenditure. First of all, if the government decides to cut current public expenditure, it will lead to a reduced quantity and quality of public goods and service. For example, closing NHS direct call centres down which results in lower living standard. Moreover as the spending in sectors such as healthcare and education is cut, these services may need to redundant staff to stay within their new budgets. For instance if the NHS’s budget is cut they will lay-off additional staff. Those public sector workers may find it difficult to find a new job in private sector if they are not competitive enough to compete with other people in the labour market, leading to higher unemployment conflicting with the government macroeconomic objective of low unemployment rate. Also higher unemployment will mean less income tax revenue, lower VAT receipts, higher welfare payments, as well as lower standards of living. If the government is to cut capital expenditure this is the type of expenditure that expands LRAS. It might not cause serious problems in short run, however in long run less spending on for example education and healthcare will result in a less educated and skilled workforce and a less healthy workforce. The negative effects of inadequate skilled human capital in the long run include lower productivity which makes the economy less competitive internationally compared with for example Germany. It in turn leads to deterioration on balance of payment, economic stagnant growth and inflationary pressure as labour costs increase. Thirdly, government spending is an injection into the circular flow of income. A decrease in the government spending will incur negative wealth effect and therefore lead to weaker economic growth. In addition, the  government spending is one of the components of aggregate demand, consequently, lower GDP. In a demand-deficient recession, consumption and investment tend to decrease due to lower income and revenue, the (X-M) component tends to level off or worsen in short run, which makes government spending an essential device to stimulate the economy. Therefore a decrease in the government spending will cause an even deeper recession and a larger budget deficit. Last but not least, a decrease in government spending could mean worse income distribution compared with increasing progressive tax. This is because transfer payment forms almost a third of the governments budgets and so by cutting expenditure it is very likely that it will also be cut making the poor poorer and widening the gap. On the other hand, taxes could be increased progressively by for example increasing marginal income taxes so that the people with high income pay more than the poor narrowing the gap between. However, there are also some drawbacks associated with raising taxes. Tax is a form of leakage from the circular flow of income leading to negative multiplier effect. If the government increases income tax rates, it might create disincentives to work. It is because when income tax increases, the opportunity cost for leisure time decreases; and people will have to work longer hours to earn the same disposable income. Some people may therefore prefer claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance instead of working. If the corporation tax is to be increased, there will be disincentive for firms to locate in the UK, leading to less investment and corporation tax revenues. Additionally, an increase in the National Insurance may discourage firms taking more employers as the NI is paid per employee. Secondly, if the government raises higher income by increasing indirect taxes for example VAT, it may also have problems. It shifts the SRAS curve to the left as the cost of production increases. And it may therefore push up the price level and reduce the level of output. Moreover, indirect taxes are regressive taxes, which impose a greater burden relative to the incomes on the poor than on the rich. Thirdly, as the public sector is basically non-profit, their allocation of resources believed to be less efficient than the profit-making private sector firms. Therefore reducing public expenditure may lead to greater efficiency and productivity by for example removing unnecessary layer of management hence more effective communication and better service provided by the public sector. Last but not least, the choices between the two possible ways and their effects depend on the macroeconomic situation- for example the unemployment rate and the size of the public sector. If the size of the public sector is small, the adjustment on government spending might not be very large and the effect on budget deficit wouldn’t be significant. If the unemployment rate is high, for example 26% general rate and 50% youth rate in Spain, making it very hard to raise taxes. Apparently, both reducing government spending and increasing tax rates will lead to a lower AD, but they will have different other effects. Therefore the choice between this two may depend on macroeconomic situation and what the government is focusing on achieving. VICKKIE

Transformational Leadership The New Leadership Paradigm

â€Å"Transformational Leadership: The New Leadership Paradigm† Boosting morale, increasing motivation, and elevating job performance of followers are all dynamics of a transformational leader. Transformational leadership can be defined as a leader’s approach to nurture and empower followers. This type of a leader exhibits charismatic and visionary tendencies. As its name suggests, a transformational leader transforms and changes people. The emergence of transformational leadership as an approach to leadership in regards to political leaders was presented by James MacGregor Burns, a political sociologist. One of his primary focuses was to link the roles of leadership and followers. Later, Bernard M. Bass, another researcher expanded the work of Bass’ original ideas by explaining certain psychological mechanisms regarding transactional and transformational leadership as well as how transformational leadership can be measured (Northouse, 2013). He also developed the earlier version of the Multi-factor Leadership Questionna ire (MLQ) to measure transformational leadership through questions that measured the followers’ perceptions of a leader’s behavior for each of the full range of leadership factors. A few questions that I would like to address in this essay are what type of contributions do the four transformational leadership factors have on leaders and followers, why have researchers deemed transformational leadership as the new leadership paradigm,Show MoreRelatedThe Influence Of Transformational Leadership On Employee Engagement?1214 Words   |  5 Pagesemployee is not considered as a priority, so it was determined that employee engagement would be one of the ways to develop the banking sector. Transformational leadership style is an important factor to increase engagement amongst employees with specific impact on employee attitudes and behavioral outcomes. 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