Central Theme in Demian

In Herman Hesses' novel, Demian, he constantly makes the point in having self acceptance. Self acceptance is a value that someone holds in which they are happy with who they are and it is sometimes referred to as self love. Herman illustrates his own journey through the character, Sinclair, on his conquest to obtain this value of self acceptance. Through the incidents that happen in Sinclair's life, he eventually under goes the process of being able to accept him self for who he is. Once this has happend he finds an inner harmoney that could only been reached through self acceptance. His novel begins with a troublesome event that causes Sinclair to acquiesce and sumbit to an older kid. This causes him to lose his morals and values and caues an inner turmoil in his character. This is when two realms are pointed out veiwed by this character as â€Å"night and day†. Night can be referred to as â€Å"love and strictness, model behavior and school†. As night can be refereed to as the darkside which it â€Å"promised and demanded different things†. Sinclair talks about how these two realms can easily overlap one another if your not careful with your actions and behavior. Growing up in a some-what put together household with religion and good education, he realizes that it is very easy to cross into the these two realms; â€Å"day and night, two different worlds†. These realms are at two opposite ends in which he describes in detail how good it is to be in ‘day' and how scary it is to be in ‘night'. Sinclair does not like to put himself into the situation of actions that would be considered night. Although at times he does think about the actions and inherit consequences of being in the darkness he would not even attempt to participate and do such a thing. When Sinclair meets Demian he is amazed by how mature and responsible and sophisticated he is. He is not one who conforms his beliefs with society and will tell you how he sees and thinks it. As they have just met, Demian immediately starts to talk to Sinclair on a Biblical lesson they had learned in school. He tells him how he has interpretated it and Sinclair is very astonished to have learned a new way of seeing the story of Cain and Abel. In fact, Demian sees the story the complete opposite way as to the rest of how the class and teacher veiws it because he has put a philosphical and questionable idea behind it. He wants to talk to the kid more about what he thinks on other things in life. Demian helps Sinclair and gives him advice on how to stop being tractable to Franz, the older kid, in a way relating the Biblical story. Demian opens up the ‘darkside' to Sinclair. He begins to think about being more of an independent person, more say, then just continuing to follow his authoratative figures. By thinking more for himself, he feels that the ‘darkside' is growing onto him and beginning to open up to him. After quickly growing a relationship with Demian, he realized that he use's a psychological act to give him power. SinClair does not understand how he is able to do such a thing in order to get his way from people, by performing hand movements and staring them down. Demian gives a little moral lesson to SinClair on how one must â€Å"desire it strongly enough so that his/her whole being was ruled by it. † SinClair though is not able to fully fulfill Demians words and does not accomplish what he wants to do making him very frustrated. Once again, Demian advises Sinclair in another one of his interpretations on theology; this time being about Crucifixion. Standing up for what you believe in is one of the processes for obtaining self acceptance. SinClair understands what Demian is implying and realizes that in order to be who he truely is, he must figure out what he believes and disbelieves to find himself along with his morals and values- once more a process to obtain self acceptance. For SinClair, it seems that a light has come through into his world as he sees a girl he names Beatrice. He decides to go and paint her but finds that it looks more like Demian. SinClair was able to see the light coming throught to him but no paying attention to the other side, it was ignored. Hesse uses Sinclair’s painting as a metaphor for his inner thoughts and desires. At first he realizes that his painting is beautiful because it is of the girl that his eyes have fallen in love with (desires) but he does not recognize that it is Demian (inner thoughts). He is, however, unsuccessful until he allows himself to give into his â€Å"imagination and intuition that arose spontaneously†¦ † When he does this, his painting seems to differentiate male and femal, light and dark. SinClair, hanging out with men who go to bars to get drunk does not confide into going to have one night stands. He veiws his sexual desire much more then a one time deal as it means love and has strong feelings and veiws towards it. It was the image of an angel and Satan, man and woman in one flesh, man and beast, the highest good and the worst evil. † Sinclair begins to love himself completely. . Sinclair was finally able to come into recogniztion with self love and loving what he truely liked and believed. â€Å"I wanted only to try to live in accord with the pro mptings which came from my true self. Why was that so very difficult? † Eventually, in doing so, his fear took over and he was not able to continue his self acceptance. Walking home from a church, SinClair had always stopped by church to sit and listen to an organist while he plays. This helps him think about himself as the music is not considered good or bad or part of ‘night' or ‘day'. He states that it's â€Å"music that seemed to listen to itself† and that is what SinClair has been trying to do his whole life- find his self acceptance. . Herman Hesse uses the character of Sinclair to give the illistration that one must over come his or her troubles and find their inner self and inner harmony to find their individuality . However, through this, the reader should ask their self â€Å"How well do they know their self? Do they accept their self? and What must they do to finally love their self? â€Å"

Biodel Inc

BUAD 490 3/14/13 Team Written Case Analysis (Concise) Biodel, Inc. BIODEL INC. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Biodel’s use of biotechnology expertise in the three prime areas of Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Immunodiagnostics has led their company into some great opportunities. Biodel created a synthetic serum to replace fetal calf serum and horse serum, and provide a more consistently available product for scientific researchers. Biodel’s Molecular Biology division used DNA technology to gain 60% of the market share of growth factors and stock the largest collection of commercially available synthetic nucleotides, which was 50% of their sales.Biodel’s research and development in Immunodiagnostics led to the invention of DEMA, a non-radioactive method for measuring a wide array of biologically important substance. The intelligence and vision of Dr. Oscar Feldman drove Biodel to a position of leadership in the biotechnology industry. Dr. Feldman has applied innovations in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology and Immunodiagnostics to increase market share for Biodel’s products. Dr. Feldman’s scientific friends and academic contacts offered Biodel high-quality technological advice and links to scientific community, and led to sophisticated research and development advances.Now the company is at a crossroad with decisions and direction necessary. In addition to strategic planning, the company would benefit from a modest re-structuring to streamline operations and prepare for unexpected events. Their future investments should be in areas where patent protection is likely, and in directions and projects that exploit their native expertise in molecular biology and genetic engineering. These technologies seem likely to transform health care in the next two decades.Having survived the threat of bankruptcy, Biodel now has a more balanced contract research portfolio and is poised to develop an even greater impact in the future. CURRENT SITUATION Bi odel's projected revenues for 1980 consist of $1 million in contract research, and around $1. 5 million in research products. The contract research revenue was split 70% from industrial research, and 30% government research. This research included work in Biodel's three main fields (molecular biology, cell biology, and immunology) as well as cancer chemotherapy and enzymology.These contracts are secured by Dr. Feldman through his relationships with other scientists. The revenue from research products also comes from the three main fields of Biodel. Nucleotides from the molecular biology area account for 50% of revenues, cell growth factors from the cell biology field account for 40%, and immunodiagnostics products account for the other 10%. Research product sales have been growing 35% over the last few years, even with limited marketing efforts. However, Biodel is being outcompeted in the immunodiagnostics market and further growth is not being pursued.Biodel has a very small staff, with the company split up into five different sections: the comptroller, advertising and sales, and then an experienced scientist manages each main field of the company. The scientists who manage their fields are all in charge of research and development, production, and even have some marketing responsibility. Dr. Feldman does not employ a marketing manager or a research director, instead filling both roles by himself. Feldman's style of management is very informal, preferring to walk around and talk to his employees rather than have them do unnecessary paperwork.The company itself is run more like an academic facility than a business, with the atmosphere more leaning towards challenging each other and making technological advances. In addition, employee turnover is very low so most of the staff is very experienced with the work that the company is doing. The staff is led by Dr. Feldman, who represents the main reason for low employee turnover. Biodel employees describe him as a u nique and enthusiastic man, and the reason why the company is so successful. Marketing had been a very inconsistent department, with Dr. Feldman usually assuming all of the major marketing responsibilities.But when Dr. Feldman decided that he needed to market his company more aggressively he hired Mr. Steve Kaplan who had been a marketing manager at a large pharmaceutical company. However, Mr. Kaplan and Dr. Feldman soon disagreed on who should direct Biodel's marketing strategy. Kaplan proceeded to spend a large amount of money on marketing, including hiring additional salespeople and other staff. These changes resulted in a 65% increase in sales, but marketing costs increased by 500%, which resulted in profits dropping from $95,000 in 1978 to $17,000 in 1979. As a result, Dr. Feldman is reconsidering Mr.Kaplan's direction in the marketing department. OPPORTUNITIES First, Biodel had under development a synthetic serum that would be used to satisfy growth requirements in cells. This would be an innovative product that could be a substitute for natural fetal calf serum and horse serum. However, a major problem with the fetal serum is the unstable fluctuation in cost. The cost is determined by the supply of the serum and the supply is determined by the number of calves that are slaughtered. The synthetic serum could offer a steady rate. The market is projected at $50 to $80 million.Biodel would have a competitive advantage over the competition and could attain 20% of the market share if they pursue this project. A big problem with this project is the uncertainty that Biodel will be able to receive a patent. That provides a major risk in this investment. Second, another project is available that is extremely intriguing to us. Biodel has the opportunity to produce a new product called DEMA. DEMA is a testing technology based on enzyme membranes rather than radioactivity. This product could be used to test for pregnancy, syphilis, hepatitis, cancer, toxins in food and carcinogens in the environment.DEMA is a healthier, safer, faster and cheaper way of testing than the radioactive method. There are no hazards or side effects to DEMA and it can provide the same results as radioactive tests. The problem with this project is the financial aspect. It is more expensive than the synthetic serum. Investments could total in the millions and the R costs could range from $1 to $3 million. However, this project has drawn the attention of major drug companies who are willing to participate in a joint venture with Biodel, which would help with the costs of the investment. Third, Biodel has been thinking about joining the genetic engineering field.The company has basic but not wide experience if this field but they have been a major supplier of molecular biology products. At the moment, there are four major competitors in the market; Cetus, Genentech, Genex and Biogen. The basic purpose of this field is to engineer a cell to produce a specific biological pr oduct. Competitors use the bacterium E. coli as their host cell, for the most part. Biodel has the opportunity to enter the market with a new strategy that involves the use of yeast as the host cell instead of E. coli. He and three other scientists believe that yeast would be a better host cell than E. coli.Yeast has a biochemical machinery that can allow the growth of medically relevant glycoproteins such as Interferon and Urokinase. These glycoproteins are used to inhibit the multiplication of cancerous cells and to disrupt blood clots. The investment costs for this project would be high, including salaries that Biodel would pay for Dr. Ballantine and three other highly successful scientists to work for them. However, the return on such an investment could be immense. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. The Biodel Board of Directors should hold annual or semi-annual Board meetings to review company progress. Dr. Feldman should delegate more.The Board should be expanded by 1 or 2 people to achieve greater diversity and breadth of expertise. Succession planning should be considered in case Dr. Feldman died, or a division head left. 2. Mr. Kaplan’s marketing group should be streamlined and asked to focus on a marketing strategy for DEMA. The marketing group can probably be reduced to lower costs while maintaining the increase in research product sales. Challenge Kaplan to analyze the marketing group to understand the most valuable parts versus parts that are expendable. 3. Among the growth opportunities to pursue, the synthetic growth factor option does not seem likely to succeed.Although it is the least expensive investment, there is uncertainty that the patent protection can be obtained. Furthermore, researchers accustomed to fetal bovine serum may be unlikely to abandon a tried and true method. In contrast, the DEMA technology is a unique opportunity for Biodel. It eliminates the risks and hazards associated with radioactivity, which researchers would appreciate. Ther e is a high likelihood of patent protection. Based on the information in the case, the company needs a better understanding of how to bring this product to market.This could be a great project for Kaplan’s smaller marketing group. 4. Pursue Genetic Engineering, with the advice and guidance of the four academic experts. This is an important initiative and Biodel’s connections with the prize-winning scientists are important. They should be paid per diems and offered stock options. One of the four also should be invited to join the Biodel Board of Directors. APPENDIX A SWOT Analysis S- Strengths Biotechnology special expertise by the 1970’s in – (three prime areas of focus/ other fields) 1.Cell biology – culture technology paid off 60% share growth factor market 40% offspring sales 2. Molecular biology – DNA paid off 60% share growth factor market – stocked largest commercially available synthetic nucleotides (50% of sales) 3. Immunodiag nostics biology a. Sub categories – Cancer chemotherapy – Enzymology Offered high-quality technological advice, numerous links to scientific community, highly sophisticated research and development service Feldman was able to secure contracts with his personal relationships with scientists in the government and industry Low employee turnoverW – Weaknesses Molecular biology – — researchers used numerous substitutes Immunodiagnostics biology large firms aggressively entered and has not expanded since 10% of sales of research products -1980 – profitability varied on depending on intensity of product research and development By the 1980’s 60% of company’s revenue was from commercializing research Reliant on government contracts when they started making cut backs – 85% contracts are government – forcing Biodel into 1st layoff (damaging to long-term otential) 55 employees scientists and technicians — no marketing manager or research director hired (Feldman filled both positions with widespread contacts and scientific expertise) Staff meetings rare and no regular reports required from subordinates Poor Marketing – Products sold by mail Depends on word of mouth – trade shows, advertising, direct mail, ad phone solicitation — customer service â€Å"almost laughable† O – OpportunitiesGoal to manufacture and market biochemical products developed through their own research Cell Biology – synthetic serums to satisfy growth requirements in cell lines of tissue culture – replacing natural fetal calf serum (most widely used, horse serum was 2nd most widely used). Market of 50 million domestically and 80 million worldwide growing at 15%– no systematic analysis of serum market done Immunodiagnostics- opportunity to enter the market – new test technology based on enzyme membranes rather than radioactivity – new product DEMA – s impler, faster, and less expensive.Market in excess of $100 million and has potential to be over $1 billion. High possibility for a patent and a joint venture with a major drug company. Genetic engineering – exciting advantages/high return on investments Supplier of molecular biology products – nucleotides and synthetic genes sold – supported by genetic engineers – some cases biodel was soul supplier T – Threats Relying on government contracts lead them to the threat of bankruptcy Biodel’s spending strategies APPENDIX B Biodel Inc BUAD 490 3/14/13 Team Written Case Analysis (Concise) Biodel, Inc. BIODEL INC. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Biodel’s use of biotechnology expertise in the three prime areas of Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Immunodiagnostics has led their company into some great opportunities. Biodel created a synthetic serum to replace fetal calf serum and horse serum, and provide a more consistently available product for scientific researchers. Biodel’s Molecular Biology division used DNA technology to gain 60% of the market share of growth factors and stock the largest collection of commercially available synthetic nucleotides, which was 50% of their sales.Biodel’s research and development in Immunodiagnostics led to the invention of DEMA, a non-radioactive method for measuring a wide array of biologically important substance. The intelligence and vision of Dr. Oscar Feldman drove Biodel to a position of leadership in the biotechnology industry. Dr. Feldman has applied innovations in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology and Immunodiagnostics to increase market share for Biodel’s products. Dr. Feldman’s scientific friends and academic contacts offered Biodel high-quality technological advice and links to scientific community, and led to sophisticated research and development advances.Now the company is at a crossroad with decisions and direction necessary. In addition to strategic planning, the company would benefit from a modest re-structuring to streamline operations and prepare for unexpected events. Their future investments should be in areas where patent protection is likely, and in directions and projects that exploit their native expertise in molecular biology and genetic engineering. These technologies seem likely to transform health care in the next two decades.Having survived the threat of bankruptcy, Biodel now has a more balanced contract research portfolio and is poised to develop an even greater impact in the future. CURRENT SITUATION Bi odel's projected revenues for 1980 consist of $1 million in contract research, and around $1. 5 million in research products. The contract research revenue was split 70% from industrial research, and 30% government research. This research included work in Biodel's three main fields (molecular biology, cell biology, and immunology) as well as cancer chemotherapy and enzymology.These contracts are secured by Dr. Feldman through his relationships with other scientists. The revenue from research products also comes from the three main fields of Biodel. Nucleotides from the molecular biology area account for 50% of revenues, cell growth factors from the cell biology field account for 40%, and immunodiagnostics products account for the other 10%. Research product sales have been growing 35% over the last few years, even with limited marketing efforts. However, Biodel is being outcompeted in the immunodiagnostics market and further growth is not being pursued.Biodel has a very small staff, with the company split up into five different sections: the comptroller, advertising and sales, and then an experienced scientist manages each main field of the company. The scientists who manage their fields are all in charge of research and development, production, and even have some marketing responsibility. Dr. Feldman does not employ a marketing manager or a research director, instead filling both roles by himself. Feldman's style of management is very informal, preferring to walk around and talk to his employees rather than have them do unnecessary paperwork.The company itself is run more like an academic facility than a business, with the atmosphere more leaning towards challenging each other and making technological advances. In addition, employee turnover is very low so most of the staff is very experienced with the work that the company is doing. The staff is led by Dr. Feldman, who represents the main reason for low employee turnover. Biodel employees describe him as a u nique and enthusiastic man, and the reason why the company is so successful. Marketing had been a very inconsistent department, with Dr. Feldman usually assuming all of the major marketing responsibilities.But when Dr. Feldman decided that he needed to market his company more aggressively he hired Mr. Steve Kaplan who had been a marketing manager at a large pharmaceutical company. However, Mr. Kaplan and Dr. Feldman soon disagreed on who should direct Biodel's marketing strategy. Kaplan proceeded to spend a large amount of money on marketing, including hiring additional salespeople and other staff. These changes resulted in a 65% increase in sales, but marketing costs increased by 500%, which resulted in profits dropping from $95,000 in 1978 to $17,000 in 1979. As a result, Dr. Feldman is reconsidering Mr.Kaplan's direction in the marketing department. OPPORTUNITIES First, Biodel had under development a synthetic serum that would be used to satisfy growth requirements in cells. This would be an innovative product that could be a substitute for natural fetal calf serum and horse serum. However, a major problem with the fetal serum is the unstable fluctuation in cost. The cost is determined by the supply of the serum and the supply is determined by the number of calves that are slaughtered. The synthetic serum could offer a steady rate. The market is projected at $50 to $80 million.Biodel would have a competitive advantage over the competition and could attain 20% of the market share if they pursue this project. A big problem with this project is the uncertainty that Biodel will be able to receive a patent. That provides a major risk in this investment. Second, another project is available that is extremely intriguing to us. Biodel has the opportunity to produce a new product called DEMA. DEMA is a testing technology based on enzyme membranes rather than radioactivity. This product could be used to test for pregnancy, syphilis, hepatitis, cancer, toxins in food and carcinogens in the environment.DEMA is a healthier, safer, faster and cheaper way of testing than the radioactive method. There are no hazards or side effects to DEMA and it can provide the same results as radioactive tests. The problem with this project is the financial aspect. It is more expensive than the synthetic serum. Investments could total in the millions and the R costs could range from $1 to $3 million. However, this project has drawn the attention of major drug companies who are willing to participate in a joint venture with Biodel, which would help with the costs of the investment. Third, Biodel has been thinking about joining the genetic engineering field.The company has basic but not wide experience if this field but they have been a major supplier of molecular biology products. At the moment, there are four major competitors in the market; Cetus, Genentech, Genex and Biogen. The basic purpose of this field is to engineer a cell to produce a specific biological pr oduct. Competitors use the bacterium E. coli as their host cell, for the most part. Biodel has the opportunity to enter the market with a new strategy that involves the use of yeast as the host cell instead of E. coli. He and three other scientists believe that yeast would be a better host cell than E. coli.Yeast has a biochemical machinery that can allow the growth of medically relevant glycoproteins such as Interferon and Urokinase. These glycoproteins are used to inhibit the multiplication of cancerous cells and to disrupt blood clots. The investment costs for this project would be high, including salaries that Biodel would pay for Dr. Ballantine and three other highly successful scientists to work for them. However, the return on such an investment could be immense. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. The Biodel Board of Directors should hold annual or semi-annual Board meetings to review company progress. Dr. Feldman should delegate more.The Board should be expanded by 1 or 2 people to achieve greater diversity and breadth of expertise. Succession planning should be considered in case Dr. Feldman died, or a division head left. 2. Mr. Kaplan’s marketing group should be streamlined and asked to focus on a marketing strategy for DEMA. The marketing group can probably be reduced to lower costs while maintaining the increase in research product sales. Challenge Kaplan to analyze the marketing group to understand the most valuable parts versus parts that are expendable. 3. Among the growth opportunities to pursue, the synthetic growth factor option does not seem likely to succeed.Although it is the least expensive investment, there is uncertainty that the patent protection can be obtained. Furthermore, researchers accustomed to fetal bovine serum may be unlikely to abandon a tried and true method. In contrast, the DEMA technology is a unique opportunity for Biodel. It eliminates the risks and hazards associated with radioactivity, which researchers would appreciate. Ther e is a high likelihood of patent protection. Based on the information in the case, the company needs a better understanding of how to bring this product to market.This could be a great project for Kaplan’s smaller marketing group. 4. Pursue Genetic Engineering, with the advice and guidance of the four academic experts. This is an important initiative and Biodel’s connections with the prize-winning scientists are important. They should be paid per diems and offered stock options. One of the four also should be invited to join the Biodel Board of Directors. APPENDIX A SWOT Analysis S- Strengths Biotechnology special expertise by the 1970’s in – (three prime areas of focus/ other fields) 1.Cell biology – culture technology paid off 60% share growth factor market 40% offspring sales 2. Molecular biology – DNA paid off 60% share growth factor market – stocked largest commercially available synthetic nucleotides (50% of sales) 3. Immunodiag nostics biology a. Sub categories – Cancer chemotherapy – Enzymology Offered high-quality technological advice, numerous links to scientific community, highly sophisticated research and development service Feldman was able to secure contracts with his personal relationships with scientists in the government and industry Low employee turnoverW – Weaknesses Molecular biology – — researchers used numerous substitutes Immunodiagnostics biology large firms aggressively entered and has not expanded since 10% of sales of research products -1980 – profitability varied on depending on intensity of product research and development By the 1980’s 60% of company’s revenue was from commercializing research Reliant on government contracts when they started making cut backs – 85% contracts are government – forcing Biodel into 1st layoff (damaging to long-term otential) 55 employees scientists and technicians — no marketing manager or research director hired (Feldman filled both positions with widespread contacts and scientific expertise) Staff meetings rare and no regular reports required from subordinates Poor Marketing – Products sold by mail Depends on word of mouth – trade shows, advertising, direct mail, ad phone solicitation — customer service â€Å"almost laughable† O – OpportunitiesGoal to manufacture and market biochemical products developed through their own research Cell Biology – synthetic serums to satisfy growth requirements in cell lines of tissue culture – replacing natural fetal calf serum (most widely used, horse serum was 2nd most widely used). Market of 50 million domestically and 80 million worldwide growing at 15%– no systematic analysis of serum market done Immunodiagnostics- opportunity to enter the market – new test technology based on enzyme membranes rather than radioactivity – new product DEMA – s impler, faster, and less expensive.Market in excess of $100 million and has potential to be over $1 billion. High possibility for a patent and a joint venture with a major drug company. Genetic engineering – exciting advantages/high return on investments Supplier of molecular biology products – nucleotides and synthetic genes sold – supported by genetic engineers – some cases biodel was soul supplier T – Threats Relying on government contracts lead them to the threat of bankruptcy Biodel’s spending strategies APPENDIX B

Legal Aspects of Business Essay

Facts of the Case: 1. The appellant herein Deokabai is an aged widow residing in a portion of a house with her daughter and grand children. On 18.1.79 she entered into an agreement to sell that portion of the house in her possession with Uttam, the respondent. The total sale consideration was fixed at Rs. 48,000/- out of which Rs. 5,000/- was paid to her as earnest money. The agreement for sale was reduced to writing. 2. Before registration of the sale deed of the house in Uttam’s name, permission of the competent authority, Nagpur, was necessary. Therefore, Deokabai shall immediately take steps to obtain the permission. After the date of getting the permission from the competent authority, when Deokabai would get another suitable house then she would get the sale deed of this house registered in Uttam’s name. 3. The entire cost of registration of the sale deed of the house shall be borne by Uttam. In case there is any complication or difficulty in getting the sale deed of the house registered in Uttam’s name or in case it becomes legally impossible for Deokabai to get the sale deed of the house registered in Uttam’s name, then Deokabai shall pay back to Uttam the amount of Rs. 5,000/- with interest thereon. Deokabai shall not put forth any excuse for the same. Legal Issues: So far as the present agreement for sale was concerned, she took the step of applying for necessary permission to the Competent Authority, Nagpur on March 3, 1979. The requisite permission for selling the house was granted to her in the month of May, 1979. On 9.7.79, a notice was sent by the respondent to the appellant requiring her to get the sale deed executed and registered’ in his favour on 9.7.1979 and to remain present in the office of Registrar at 11 a.m. Since the appellant failed to turn up at the appointed time and place and the respondent allegedly had taken all steps necessary towards completion of the sale deed, like purchase of stamp papers and buying of drafts of money, he filed a suit for specific performance on July 26, 1979. The respondent firstly prayed for a decree for specific performance and possession of the property in dispute, but in the alternative claimed return of the earnest money of Rs. 5,000/with interest in case specific performance was not all owed. Law Applicable: Section 32 provides that contingent contracts to do or not to do anything if an uncertain future event happens cannot be enforced by law unless and until the event has happened. If the event becomes impossible, such contracts become void. Similar Cases: The following cases have cited the above case (Deokabai (Smt) vs Uttam on 27 July, 1993) to give a Judgment. 1. Bhagwan Singh vs Teja Singh Alias Teja Ram on 6 January, 1994 2. Kum. Maria Eliza Marques vs Shri Madhukar M. Moraskar & Others on 19 November, 1997 3. Kec International Limited & †¦ vs Union Of India & Others on 8 July, 2009 4. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. & Ors vs Kec International Ltd. & Ors on 15 September, 2009 5. W.P. No. 7513 (W) Of 2011 Smt. †¦ vs The State Of West Bengal & Ors on 18 May, 2011 Conclusion: The respondent, in the situation, could not straightway ask the appellant to specifically perform the contract unless he initially had put the appellant to notice, to seek and get another suitable accommodation within a reasonable time within which it could reasonably be available in the town of Nagpur. Such a notice obviously could be given only after the grant of permission to sell by the Competent Authority, Nagpur, because in the event of non-grant of permission the search for another suitable accommodation would have become unnecessary. Thus we are of the view that in the facts and circumstances, the two important contingencies are the appellant getting a suitable accommodation before she could be asked to specifically perform the contract of sale and, in case of a genuine difficulty arising, to opt for returning the earnest money with interest. She cannot, in the present set of facts, be obliged to part with her property by effecting a sale. Resultantly, the appeal to grant refund of Rs. 5,000/- with interest at the rate of 8% calculated from 18.1.79 till payment or recovery is allowed.

PGCE Mathematics; Made to Measure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

PGCE Mathematics; Made to Measure - Essay Example However, with time, research and unbiased techniques of teaching, girls perform just as well, if not better, than boys’ performance in the traditionally boy-oriented subjects. My focus in this report is avoiding the findings of the Ofsted report of 2012 of the increase in the number of underachievers with age, considering my current age group of students between 5-8 years. Following the concept of mathematics as a science, there has been a tendency of students avoiding the subject. However, recent trends have suggested an increase in the number of students studying the subject. The reasons behind the growing interest in mathematics are the topic of discussion in this study with a particular interest being in the GCE and A level mathematics. The roles played by the teacher, student, and government influencing the rapid mathematics students’ numbers are subject to observation (Hill, Rowan, & Ball 2005: 379). The participation of students does not automatically translate in the grades in school, but it has been noted that the younger students perform better compared to the elder students. Economic, social, political, environmental, as well as self-oriented variables, determine the popularity of mathematics in the UK, as with other regions of the world (Askew, Brown, Rhodes, Wiliam, & Johnson 1997: 2). The uptake in the students taking mathematics has not had its challenges. Students who take up mathematics as a newfound interest do not necessary mean they excel in the study. Effective teaching of students has to account for the indifference between students, especially in the case of scholarly abilities. Types of students, categorically underachievers, average achievers, and overachievers need different teaching techniques with respect to effective lesson planning (Ofsted 2008: 8). Most practises where the teacher assumes the majority of students in the class determine a teaching strategy. Assuming that an

Whether HSE is genuine or not in the evidence of difference in the Assignment

Whether HSE is genuine or not in the evidence of difference in the potential health hazard between workers at the two operations - Assignment Example Exposure to respiratory particles of crystalline silica is associated with several human diseases such as cancer and lung diseases. The disease risk is related to both the total dose and duration of silica exposure. Silicosis, a nodular pulmonary fibrosis, is the disease most associated with exposure to respirable crystalline silicavi. Studies have shown that exposure to crystalline silica can lead to physiological changes, disease and death. There is a reliable link between cumulative silica dust exposure and increased mortality from lung cancer. Calvert et al. found a relationship between crystalline silica exposure and rheumatoid arthritis. Meijer et al. showed significant association between exposure to concrete dust and a small lung infection. xii. There are a number of factors that influence the development of silicosis and these include size of particles, and concentration of silica particles in the air duration of exposurexiiixiv. RSAxv noted that chronic silicosis is mainly the result of long term exposure and that accelerated silicosis can develop after five to ten years of exposure. Morfeldxvi concluded that no other non-malignant health effect due to RCS is as specific and so clearly linked to RCS as silicosis. Research Questions 1. Is there any difference in the health of the workers in the two operations? 2. What associations exist, if any, between length of service and recorded health effect? These research questions will be answered through a hypothesis testing. As Dythamxvii noted, hypothesis testing is the cornerstone of scientific analysis. Tests are carried out to determine whether a stated hypothesis is correct. The hypothesis is rejected or accepted based on the P-values observed. Usually, the null hypothesis (the hypothesis that nothing is going on) is the one that is accepted or rejected based on the calculated probabilities. Most research will accept or reject a hypothesis at 95% level of confidence. Thus if the calculated p-values from a hypothesis test is less than 5% (or 0.05), we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. For this study, the alternative hypotheses for which the null hypotheses were tested were: H1: There is a difference in the health of workers in brick and tile operations. H2: There is a statistically significant association between length of service and recorded health effect. Study Methodology Primary data was collected from a sample of 65 workers randomly selected for blood testing, 38 from brick operations and 27 from tile operations. The study collected data on their identity, the sectors in which they worked, the length of service of each employee, their ages, and health. Following Dythamxviii, the first hypothesis was tested using independent samples t-test since the data was unpaired and the dependent variable was a continuous variable. Minitab 16 was used to perform a two-sample t-test to assess whether there were any differences in the health of workers in the two operations. The existence of association between length of service and recorded health effect was assessed using the Pearson’s product-moment correlation. Descriptive Results Descriptive results are presented and show the number of observations (N), mean, standard deviation, minimum values, first quartile (Q1), median, third quartile (Q3), maximum values, skewness and kurtosis. The normality tests are also shown together with the descriptive results. These are graphically presented for the three main variables of the study namely age (years), length of service (years), and % of damaged cells. Figure 1: Descriptive

Advantages and Disadvantages of Utilizing a Project Labor Agreement Essay

Advantages and Disadvantages of Utilizing a Project Labor Agreement - Essay Example So, they can opt to join or not to do so. First, PLA can help in promoting uniformity in the construction sector. Since it requires the constructors to be members of labor unions, it means that it advocates for equality in salaries, wages, overtime, allowances, working hours, benefits, working rules and conditions adhered to while working on the government-sponsored construction projects. This demonstrates how the agreement can be beneficial to all the parties starting from the main constructor, sub-contractor up to the laborers. Besides, it helps in providing assurance to all the involved contractors that the project would be completed within the shortest time possible. It is possible to attain this because the agreement guarantees a steady and reliable of well trained and highly qualified laborers. At the same time, PLA makes the management of such projects much easier because they are properly coordinated and operated under predictable budgets. In addition, PLA helps in making the work to be smoothly carried out without experiencing challenges like conflict, strikes and go slows which are common in non-unionized firms. Since all the contractors have to be members of trade unions, they are obliged to comply with rules and regulations governing their operations (Tuerck, 2010). Because of this, it can be much easier to resolve conflicts and eradicate the cases of strike that might slow down the construction process. Moreover, PLA can e a good thing for the laborers because it ensures that they are properly empowered. It requires the contractors to provide adequate trainings an apprentice programs for certain classes of employees including the minorities, disabled, women, veterans and all the other underprivileged people in the society. By giving such workers an opportunity to acquire training, they can be able to have personal growth and become more useful and valuable employees in the years to

Identification of the Two Missing Romanov Children Essay

Identification of the Two Missing Romanov Children - Essay Example ethods used to determine the identity of the skeletal remains, and whether they were in fact the lost Romanov family, including Tsarevich Alexei (the royal heir) and one of his sisters. ‘We report forensic DNA testing on the remains discovered in 2007 using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), autosomal STR, and Y-STR testing.’ This line from the examining officers’ report shows the tests used. (PubMed, 2009) A brief description of each will show how the team came to their conclusion. A person’s mother-line ancestry can be determined with mitochondrial DNA testing. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a type of DNA that is carried by both men and women but is only inherited from their mother. It is passed by a mother down to all her children. An exact match might mean the tested person is very likely to share a common maternal ancestor within the last 500 years. Exact matches are rare, but slight differences (one or two) can also lead to decisions about common relatives on the mother’s side.(Sorensen, 2009) The testing is done by sequencing nucleotides. The Romanov gravesite skeletons were tested in this way. Autosomal STR testing examines Short Tandem Repeats, using the knowledge that most humans share about 99 percent of their DNA, while the rest is very different. This small portion is examined because, although its function in the body is not completely understood yet, it provides a high degree of variation that can be measured and compared. (Orchid Cellmark 2009) These sequences repeat a number of times - between six and 40 - in a particular location on the DNA. For example, ACGTACGTACGTACGTACGTACGT. Each person can have a different number of repeats in the same place. Many STRs occur on each chromosome. One subset has been developed for identity testing purposes. (Orchid Cellmark Ibid). This was used in the Romanov case, and helped the scientists decide the relationship between the skeletons and that they belonged to one family. Y-STR testing is done on the

Education of Looked after Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Education of Looked after Children - Essay Example This essay stresses that councils are judged on the proportion of children and young people who are engaged in education, training or employment at the age of nineteen. Again, performance against that indicator is improving. Although it is important to focus on these indicators as useful in helping authorities assess their performance it is also essential that local authorities as corporate parents have high expectations of the children and young people in our care, and that these include but also go beyond educational attainment. This paper makes a conclusion that certainly some of the poor achievement can be explained by a range of other factors, looked after children are more likely to be from groups that traditionally tend to do less well in education, and they are more likely to have special educational needs and to be statemented. The performance assessment framework indicators do adjust for these factors which demonstrate that even taking these into account looked after children as a group are not doing as well as their peers. With the improvement in the early support available to families, fewer children will face such adverse experiences and that a greater number can be supported safely within their families. Research also suggests that there is often room for children's services to act more decisively at earlier stages in children's lives. The children can be at risk of underachieving at school because they have experienced disruption to their family life and education. Growing up can be a bewilderin g and confusing time for those persons who are in the care system. It is important to make sure that they receive the support, guidance and encouragement that they need. Some may have low expectations, poor emotional and psychological health and a lack of family support. Education is an important pathway to a better life for them. Each local

Aspects of Contract and Negligence for Business Essay - 9

Aspects of Contract and Negligence for Business - Essay Example Essential aspects of a valid contract include an agreement that has to be composed of the element of offer and acceptance. For there to be an agreement there must be two parties involved, the party that makes the offer is known as the offeror while the party to whom the offer is made is known as the offeree. The two parties must come to a consensus on the same thing. Intention to create legal relationship on the part of the parties to the agreement is essential in order to create a legally binding relationship.The consent between the parties to enter in an agreement has to be free and genuine and not forced or entered by mistake or misrepresentation. If in any case the consent is not freely entered,the resultant contract is not valid. The parties entering into a contract should be qualified to enter a contract.The qualification to enter into a contract include being of the right age, sound mind and not disqualified by any law of which the party may be subject. Vicarious liability entails circumstances where the principal is held liable due to the misconduct of his agent (Kraakman 670). The agent in this case can either be an employee in the course of employment, a police officer in charge of a police post, or a partner of a firm in the ordinary course of business. Liability in contracts can only happen if a tort is committed. In this case, the one who commits the tort is an employee while the employee was acting under employment when the tort was committed. In case of employment, employers can only be held liable for torts committed by their employees and not independent contractors. The employer In the case of Limpus v London General Omnibus Co (1862) I H&C 526, it was held liable for bus drivers racing, despite prohibition, causing a collision (Brennan 112). The assumption of vicarious liability is that principals have greater capability

Equity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Equity - Essay Example he other hand, expects that the property may be asserted by loan bosses before individual A bites the dust, and that subsequently B would get none of it. A could secure a trust with B as the beneficiary, yet then A would not be qualified for utilization of the property before they passed on. Defensive law of trusts was created as an answer for this circumstance unlike the equity’s darling rules1. A would create a law of trust with both A and B as recipients or rather beneficiaries, with the trustee taught to permit individual A to utilize the property until A passed on, and from there on to permit its utilization to B. The property is then sheltered from being guaranteed by As lenders, at slightest the length of the obligation was gone into after the trusts law2. This utilization of the law of trusts is like life domains and leftovers, and is much of the time utilized as plan B to them. As per the common law, lawful frameworks, a law of trust is a form of connection whereby a land is held by one gathering for the profit of an alternate like the beneficiaries but according to the equity’s darling, there are no beneficiaries recognized by its court and this brings out the difference between the two courts. A law of trust is made by settler, who exchanges some or the majority of his or her land to a trustee. It is clear that the trustee holds that land for the trusts recipients. Since the Roman times, the law of trusts has been existing and currently, they have turned in a standout amongst the most critical advancements in property or rather land law. A manager setting land into the law of trust puts a piece of his or her heap of the rights to the trustee, differentiating the lands lawful proprietorship and control from its evenhanded possession and benefits. This may be an expense which is finished in some other reasons or to control the land and its advantages if the settler is non-attendant, debilitated, or is dead. Commonly the law of trusts is m ade in wills,

Netflix’s Business Model and Strategy Essay Example for Free

Netflix’s Business Model and Strategy Essay Netflix is the largest subscription service for sending DVD’s by mail and streaming movies and TV episodes over the internet. Netflix’s revenues grew from $500 million in 2004 to $519.8 million in 2010. Company’s net income increased from $21.6 million in 2004 to $141-156 million in 2010. It attracted 1.6 million subscribers in 2004 and had to 15 million subscribers by 2010. Reed Hastings founder and CEO of Netflix have pushed the company to outcompete its movie rental competitors by building the world’s best internet movie service. Netflix is the world largest online entertainment subscription service and revolutionized the way that people rent movies. Netflix has outcompete its rivals on the basis of differentiation features, with their higher quality, wider product selection, added performance and services, and has superior technology. Netflix has a large selection of DVDs to choose from. It maintains relationships with entertainment providers to expand the title selection. Movies are prescreened for customers based on peer reviews. This allows Netflix to increase their inventory with movies chosen by viewers. There are no late fees. Netflix technology is superior because movies and TV episodes can be streamed directly onto nearly any device in a matter of seconds. Netflix business model and strategy can be analyzed with the 5 competitive forces in the movie rental marketplace: 1-substitute, 2- buyers, 3- suppliers, 4- potential for new entrants, 5- rivalry Substitute-It does not matter who sells the movie or the TV episode at the end the end user is getting the same product whether he got it from Walmart or Blockbuster. Substitute for Netflix and a potential threat is pirating movie files from the internet and illegal. This is a substitute that is inexpensive or free copy of the file. Buyers- Have the power to select where they are going to get movies or TV episode. They are going to look provides the best price and best quality. Buyers are not loyal and can get this product from other vendors. Competitors compare industry prices and quality. They will reduce cost in order to attract the buyer. Suppliers-Such are Hollywood are likely to increase cost if the industry profits increase. Suppliers have the capability to make movies and TV episodes harder to get by limiting license agreements. In order for suppliers to maximize their revenues they sell large number of movies and TV episodes the outcome results in competition and does not allow supplier to have much power on the product. Potential for new entrants- Blockbuster, and Netflix are the dominant retailers in the market it is very difficult for new entrants to succeed. Rivalry- Consumers have multiple sellers they can buy or rent movies and/or TV episodes. Main competitors are online subscription services internet movies and TV episode provider, kiosk services, and DVD rental outlets. From SWOT analysis we found the Strengths as followed, by operation on line is very flexible and very low cost, it has high customer satisfaction levels, and strong knowledge base and brand identity. Weakness are the industry, it is constantly changing at a fast speed, it is supplier dependent, postage is a variable cost (increases), customers need to have internet access and or DVD players. Opportunities are: It can expand globally to international markets because its internet access, new technology. Threats: If it’s not able to adapt or keep up with technology, rivals such as Walmart.com or Blockbuster have capital to compete against Netflix. There are some issues Netflix is facing Netflix needs to watch out for growing competitors with deep pockets and need to keep up with the fast growing changes with technology. It is recommended that Netflix increases its customer base (subscribers). This income will offset the ongoing costs. Netflix should move away from DVD rental, it creates a large percentage of its operating cost. Netflix should find out why people are still ordering DVD’s Netflix should educate customers with their streaming and downloading and focus on encouraging customers to stay with the service. Blockbuster advantage over Netflix is that they are able to release new released titles. Netflix needs to negotiate with entertainment providers to get new releases earlier than the competitors. Finally it is suggested that if Netflix is able to get new releases earlier they should pass a cost for the newest release (separately from subscription download monthly fee).

White Privilege And Male Privilege Essay Example for Free

White Privilege And Male Privilege Essay Peggy McIntosh is an American feminist and she is also an anti-racist activist of The United States of America. Peggy McIntosh is also the associate director of the Wellesley Centers for Women, a speaker and the founder and co-director of the National S.E.E.D. Project on Inclusive Curriculum which is basically the seeking of educational equity and diversity. Peggy McIntosh’s area of expertise is feminism and racism. She deals with equality in society and political world for women. She fights for the equal rights of women as the same rights as men. She also expertizes in the field of racism. According to Peggy McIntosh, whites are taught not to recognize the white privileges and that is why she started to ask what it was like to have these white privileges in life and then she started to write this article on her personal observations and experiences. The article, â€Å"White privilege and male privilege† is based on Peggy McIntosh’s daily experience within a particular circumstance. White Privilege means that the advantages that white people enjoy in society that people of other color cannot enjoy. It is bound to only the white people and it is beyond the people of color in the same society, politics or economic places. It sometimes said to be the advantages that white people have but they do not realize that they have it. According to Peggy McIntosh, she says in her article, â€Å"White Privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes compass, emergency gear and blank checks† (White Privilege and Male Privilege, Peggy McIntosh, 95). Basically, white privilege is the privilege that white people have only not people of other race or color. Peggy McIntosh says that white privilege is an indivisible knapsack. She tries to imply that these privileges are not equally distributed among people of different race and color and to be more specific these are such privilege s that sometimes even the white people are unaware of it just as if these privileges were invisible to them. On this topic, Minnich said that white people are taught to think that their life is morally neutral, normal and average and that people work to benefit others. This is what Minnich said about this topic in Peggy’s article that white people think that they work to benefit others. Peggy McIntosh, in her article talked about the white privileges of people in daily circumstances. She wrote about some of her own experiences. According to me, the most striking ones among all of the effects emphasized by Peggy are that white people can go shopping anytime anywhere without having the fear of being followed and harassed by some detectives, white people can turn on the television or turn the papers of the newspaper and proudly see their race being represented with positive attitudes, white people can be casual if they want to or not want to listen to the speech of the person of another race. White people may use either checks, credit card or cash but in the counters, no one will tell t hem anything about their financial background. Some of the other daily effects that were most striking to me were that white people can swear, dress up as they want, and also even if they did not answer any letters, they would not be called illiterate or that they have bad morals. White people can criticize the government whenever they want to without being said anything to them or even the white people can attend the meetings late without anyone telling them anything about their race. Basically, white people have a lot of privilege and they can do almost anything they want to do. Peggy McIntosh says in her article that white people and also male controls almost everything. She says that they have control over the daily life and they dominate the world. She tells us that being privileged may mean something that almost everything in this world want and I agree with Peggy McIntosh because everyone in this world want to be privileged. But, sometimes privilege might mean the power that someone has to do something which people from other sex are not allowed to do. And also at times, because of the race and sex of people, they are empowered and Peggy McIntosh refers to this as conferred dominance in her article. Peggy also talks about unearned entitlement and this basically means that people may be because of their race or sex are entitled to something and they earn it by birth. They do not have to work to earn it because it is already theirs. They do not need to earn it since it is already belonged to them. According to me, after reading this article by Peggy McIntosh, white people have a lot of power in the United States of America. White people and also males dominate the society and people from other races or sex cannot do anything about it. It is how the things were and it is how it will go on. People tells us that racism is over but it is there in America maybe not shown but it is there hidden. White people still have hatred for other races in themselves but they just learnt a way to hide it and deal with it. White people enjoy a lot of benefits that people that belong to other races or sex or color do not enjoy. Some of these benefits are not even known to the whites. They may not eve n know about it but still enjoy it. Works Cited Kleiner, A. (2003). Who really matters: the core group theory of power, privilege, and success. Doubleday, Random House Inc. Sergiovanni, T. (1999). Building community in schools. Jossey-Bass Inc. McIntosh, Peggy (1988). White Privilege and Male Privilege, A personal account of coming to see Correspondences through work in women’s studies.

Efficient Streaming Protocol for Transmitting Video Files

Efficient Streaming Protocol for Transmitting Video Files Chapter one Introduction Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Motivation Information in computer science might be represented in multiple forms. In the beginning the first used forms of information were text and images, after the huge increase of using computers and internet another type of information appears, it is the hyper text which is the combination of text and images. Hyper text is text pages that connected by hyper links (hyper link provide non linear access to the text pages no need to view all the pages sequentially to access a specific page) and then new forms are used like Audio and motion pictures or videos, nowadays a combination of these representations as well as the traditional forms (text and images) is called multimedia [LIZ04]. Multimediais a data type may contain multiple types of information like: audio, video, and animation in addition to traditional media (text, graphics, drawings and images), Digital multimedia is a data type represented by series of bits and manipulated by some multimedia applications and stored on some storage units like on CD or DVD or in multimedia servers. Digital multimedia can be interactive (non linear access) that can be manipulated with computer programs (create, edit, transfer), or non interactive (linear access) where the viewer is unable to control the multimedia like the presentation of movie in the cinema [LIZ04]. Hypermedia is a collection of many types of information like text, images even videos in one website or more that are connected together by some hyper links that provide non linear access to the media like encyclopedia which user can jump from article to the other or jump to the next mark in DVD. The figure 1.1 below shows the structure of Hypermedia. Figure 1.1 Hypermedia Multimedia applications are a computer based programs that are designed to manipulate multimedia data with different sources like text, graphics, audio and video [NIE07]. Multimedia applications can be found in many areas such as: Education, nowadays computer based training applications that designed to simulate the scientific experiments by creating the reactions environment and show the hypothetical results that should be produced from the row materials that will react in the reaction environment, these applications are safer for students from some experiments in real world as well they use some visual effects to explain some phenomenon like physical, chemical and geographic learning applications. Advertising, multimedia applications can be found in advertising and journalism like the advertising of products and places like restaurants and companies, in journalism nowadays electronic copies of magazines and journals. Entertainment, in this field multimedia is used to design video games and visual effects of games and movies, interactive multimedia is used heavily in video games that the user participates alone or with others on the same computer or over the internet not just sit and watch. Industrial sector, multimedia is used as a way to help present information to shareholders, superiors and coworkers. Multimedia is also helpful for providing employee training, advertising and selling products all over the world via virtually unlimited web-based technology. Mathematical  and  scientific research, multimedia is mainly used for modeling and simulation. For example, a  scientist  can look at a  molecular model  of a particular substance and manipulate it to arrive at a new substance. Representative research can be found in journals such as the  Journal of Multimedia, in engineering multimedia applications now used to design buildings and machines before implementing them in real world [LIZ04]. Since multimedia represents some motion captured and stored on some remote place there must be some kind of delivery mechanism to transfer multimedia files from its source (producer) to the destination (consumer) [LIZ04]. Multimedia delivery can be divided into two categories offline and online delivery, offline delivery means transferring multimedia, without using internet, by using removable storage medium like CD-ROM to the hard disk on one station, multimedia was spread widely after the increase using of CD’s DVD’s and now Blue ray which are large storage media can hold the large size of multimedia files, online delivery (also called Streaming) uses the internet for transferring the multimedia from the producer which is usually a server with bulky storage to the consumer which is the client who can be any terminal mobile phone, personal computer or television and takes into consideration the statues of the network the client and server are connected to. Online delivery transmits video files for events happened at the same time like video conferences, football games or video calls; or already processed and stored videos like video clips and movie trailers, online delivery multimedia and websites should be written in an efficient way to transmit or deliver the multimedia files and they are able to be read by the client, also there must be enough resources for the network and the client (which are available bandwidth, network throughput, congestion, and for the client the available buffer and client’s device speed, etc..) in order to transmit the multimedia file efficiently and the client has a successful experience [NIE07][LIZ04]. The adaptive streaming is the process of transmitting videos from the server to the client over internet in an efficient way depending on the network and client’s statues; to deliver videos faster and fewer pauses different qualities are saved to the same video and the server switches between these qualities according to the network and client’s statues. In this thesis, a proposed protocol for streaming videos in adaptive way is introduced; the protocol has two sides the server or the sending parity which is responsible of transmitting the video files to the client in an adaptive way and the receiving party known as the client who receives the videos and displays them on his screen, adaptive means taking into consideration the statues of network like the available bandwidth in order to transmit the video file to the client smoothly, the processing of the video files is done on line, in other words the video frames are processed during the transmission according to the available bandwidth measured at the moment, dislike the used technologies nowadays which they save more than one copy of the video file with different bitrates and transmit the proper bitrate version of the video to the client according to the available bandwidth. Literature Review In this section reviews to some related work for this thesis about the dynamic video streaming over the internet â€Å"A Buffer-Driven Approach to Adaptively Stream Stored Video over Internet†, by Dejian Ye [YED02], In dynamic video streaming technique many parameters can affect the streaming operation of video from a server to client one of these parameters is the buffer size of the sending and receiving parts, authors focused on the server and client buffer size and according to their statues server decide the quality of transmitted video, the buffer size and amount of available buffer size in the sender and receiver sides decide the quality of the transmitted video from the server to the client. â€Å"ENet Dynamic QoS Controller for Video Streaming Application†, by Qingyang Wang [WAN10], the popularity of video on demand and streaming over the internet increased and the limitations between the server and the client that may appear during streaming like supporting data type or bandwidth or computer speed and throughput and how to maintain a good QOS the authors design Enet which is a tool added to the server. Enet is a simple Fuzzy System used to switch between multiple bit rate versions of video, it picks the most appropriate bit rate to the client’s properties, this method takes a large storage space since it stores multiple versions of video with different bit rate for each video copy. â€Å"Adaptation Algorithm for Adaptive Streaming over HTTP†, by Konstantin Miller [MIL12]. Internet videos (live or on demand) take a large amount of internet traffic, in this paper authors build an algorithm for the client side which tries to improve the delivery of video to the client by making client selects the appropriate bit rate depending on the client and network conditions like bandwidth available buffer and network throughput. They integrated the algorithm with a prototype implementation of a streaming client based on the MPEG DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) standard which divide the video file into segments and each segment is saved in a number of different bit rates and client take the responsibility of selecting the most appropriate bit rate depending on the clients and network state. The design of the algorithm download the video file as segments one after the other and it uses one buffer that results client cannot receive the segment N unless it com plete receiving segment N-1. â€Å"Confused, Timid, and Unstable: Picking a Video Streaming Rate is Hard†, by Te-Yuan Huang [HUN12], Hulu, Vudu and Net Flux are three video streaming service providers that provide videos with high quality to the users with some fee. Videos provided by these services are divided to chunks with multiple bit rates for each chunk (when bit rate is slow chunk size is small and high bit rate the chunk size is big) and server switches between these chunks with different bit rates according to the available bandwidth. The problem is when requesting a video and start watching it and after some time another video requested a downward spiral effect appears which is bit rate goes down to the lowest level despite there is enough bandwidth for higher bit rate. â€Å"USING SCALABLE VIDEO CODING FOR DYNAMIC ADAPTIVE TREAMING OVER HTTP IN MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS†, by Christopher Muller [MUL12], DASH is the approach that is used to transfer video over the internet in dynamic way to the user, it’s done by saving multiple copies of the video each copy with different bit rate and the server starts switching between these copies or bitrates according to client’s specifications. In this paper authors uses scalable video coding (SVC) instead of advanced video coding (AVC or H264) which provide more flexibility to the system with the available bandwidth and the buffer size, But if the client switches from one bit rate to the other (higher or lower) and he already requested a chunk before, this chunk will be canceled. The server will save multiple copies of video as a group of chunks. SVC experiment and code depend on windows so it’s not available to other operating systems. â€Å"OPTIMIZING HTTP-BASED ADAPTIVE VIDEO STREAMING FOR WIRELESS ACCESS NETWORKS† by Xiaoling Qiu [Qui 13], Authors in this paper propose new approach for dynamic streaming videos over HTTP; their approach measure the available bandwidth of the network and client’s CPU speed and old measurements into account to select the best video quality using an optimization algorithm. This method contains optimization algorithm to select quality of segments to be sent to the client, but this method suffer from high computation rate. Aim of thesis The aim of this thesis is to build an efficient streaming protocol for transmitting video files from the server to the client with accepted waiting time at the client side. The work in the thesis focuses on video files transmission to provide the accepted delivery time, videos usually are large size files this needs compression method to be used to reduce the video file size when the available bandwidth is below the required level for transmitting videos without compression, also this thesis takes into consideration the quality of the delivered video, the quality of the received video is maintained since the used compression technique in the proposed protocol is lossless technique so there is no loss in the transmitted video file quality at the client side. Another important side in video streaming technique is the buffer management; the proposed streaming protocol uses a variable size for the buffers at the server side and the client side. This approach guarantees the efficient delivery of the required video file without take more than the required memory space. The limitations that affect the proposed protocol execution are: The execution on the internet is hard because it needs to reserve domain in a server over the internet, so the proposed protocol implemented on Local Area Network. The bandwidth values are not real and they were generated randomly to simulate the change on the available bandwidth in real world but the limit of bandwidth was selected depending on used LAN defined bandwidth. Outlines of the thesis This thesis is organized in five chapters as follows: Chapter one: â€Å"Introduction† This chapter begins with explanation of the meaning of multimedia and its applications in real world and also contains a list of reviews works related to this work. Chapter two: â€Å"Theoretical Background† This chapter contains description of the main concepts of video file, video streaming, compression and quality. Chapter Three: â€Å"Video Streaming Protocol† This chapter contains the proposed streaming protocol between the server and the client that satisfy the aim of this thesis of delivering video from the server to the client with little or no pauses and with acceptable quality. Chapter Four: â€Å"Experimental Results† This chapter contains the results of the video streaming protocol introduced in the thesis. Chapter Five â€Å"Conclusion and Future work† This chapter contains the conclusions and the future work for the thesis. 1

The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell :: Essays Papers

The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell Character Analysis Sir Gawain is one of the more famous Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian legends. Various authors have written about Gawain including the anonymous author of "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell." The reader gets to know Gawain’s character through its development throughout the story. Gawain shows his virtue and courteous manner through his words and also through his actions. His physical appearance and dress are never mentioned so there are no clues to his personality in this regard. Gawain’s steadfast manner in the face of adversity is further testament to his worthiness as a knight. The first glimpse we have of Gawain in the story is shortly after King Arthur returns from his hunt. Gawain is the only person to whom Arthur confides his misadventure with Sir Gromer Somer Jour. Arthur’s apparent trust of Gawain to carry his burden proves that he trusts Gawain’s counsel and that Gawain will be discreet about the king’s troubles. Gawain enforces this belief when he says, "I am not that man that wold you dishonor / Nother by evin ne by moron"(329). In contrast to Arthur who breaks his oath to Sir Gromer that "I shold nevere telle it to no wighte"(331) by hoisting his problems on another, Gawain’s character exhibits a more honorable disposition by immediately offering his assistance. The juxtaposition of these two contrasting characters, namely Arthur and Gawain, serves to display each of their attributes in a clearer, more defined light. Even though Arthur does not necessarily act in a cowardly manner, neither does he measure up to Gawainâ €™s virtuous nature. After Arthur’s encounter with Dame Ragnell later in the story, he returns to his home even more discouraged than when he set out. Gawain, upon meeting with the dejected king, swears that "I had lever myself be dead, so not I thee"(335) when he hears Arthur’s foreboding prophesy that he will surely die. Gawain backs up his loyalty not only with mere words but with his actions as well. When faced with the prospect of taking a hideous wife to save his lord’s life, Gawain does not hesitate but says that he will "†¦wed her and wed her again, / Thoughe she were a fend, / Though she were as foulle as Belsabub, / Her shall I wed, by the rood, / Or ellses were not I your frende"(335).

e-Health with Knowledge Management: the Areas of Tomorrow Essay example

e-Health with Knowledge Management: the Areas of Tomorrow The importance of e-health has grown tremendously these days combined with the concept of knowledge management will serve to enhance the efficiency of e-health initiatives. The term e-health characterizes not only a technical development but also a way of thinking, commitment for networked, global thinking to improve healthcare locally and worldwide by using information system and communication technology. The challenges of the e-health include three categories; B2B, B2C, & C2C. KM can be a tremendous factor in developing the infrastructure and outcome of e-health. The other e’s represent the e-health are efficiency, enhancing quality, evidence based, empowerment, education, extending, ethics, & equity. Patients play a significant role in putting more pressure on physicians to use timely evidence by accessing online information. It seems to the first time in the history of medicine that consumers have equal access to knowledge bases of medicine. Challenges: - Meaningful collaboration with patients - Preparation for upcoming technological development - Efficient strategies to monitor patterns of Internet use among consumers - Balance between connectivity and privacy factors - Better understanding of the balance between real and virtual interactions - Equitable access to technology and information across the globe. Three important issues must be carefully considere...

Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre Essay -- Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essay

Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre 'Jane Eyre' was written in the mid-nineteenth century and is set during the Victorian period, at a time where a women's role in society was restrictive and repressive and class differences were distinct. A job as a governess was one of the only few respectable positions available to the educated but impoverished single women. Schools of the 19th century were strict, and they demanded much hard work and participation from the students, however, just the same, children of the time loved going to school. Most children felt that it was a privilege to attend school and they especially enjoyed the time it gave them to be with and socialize with other children. This is reflected in the novel because Jane is glad to be leaving her cruel aunt and of having the chance of going to school. In the country where small, one-room schools existed, the "Three Rs" were considered the most important subjects because, to be able to read the Bible would make a person a better Christian. In the novel, Mr. Brocklehurst said 'take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh'. He was asking Jane to pray to God to change her attitude towards religion, highlighting the importance of religion. Good penmanship-writing was a valuable skill as neat, legible handwriting was considered a sign of a cultured person, and knowing how to solve mathematical-arithmetic problems was important for anyone who wanted to be a farmer, a store keeper, a craftsperson, a miller, or any number of other careers. The depiction of disease in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre helps define Jane's social position and. This is because the poor were often associated with diseases such as tuberculosis in the Victorian peri... ...r experiences as an emotionally abused and lost child result to feelings of constant need to replenish herself and rely on herself. It is necessary for women to be independent in life; but not to the point where they lack trust in others and cannot develop relationships with other people. Jane constantly doubts her trust in other people. She denies relationships that could be truly fulfilling in her life because she lacks the ability to depend on or trust other people. However, she eventually does realise her mistakes and matures through them. In conclusion, I think that the most important reasons why Jane came to prefer Lowood to Gateshead despite its hardships is that she received love and affection at Lowood from mainly Miss Temple and Helen Burns, this was particularly important to Jane as she had not really had not really ever been loved by anyone.

The Men We Carry in Our Minds

The Men We Carry in Our Minds Scott Russell Sanders In his essay â€Å"The Men We Carry in Our Minds,† Scott Russell Sanders examines the problems that exist between gender inequalities. These problems mainly took place during the early 20th  century. Men had the choice of either being factory workers or soldiers, while women only had the option of staying home. Sanders uses  argumentative strategies  to help the reader establish and see clearly the difficulties between this issue.His essay expresses how only certain men were forced to do hard labour in order to provide for their family, while others just had it handed to them. He also argues about how women were never given the equal opportunity to follow their dreams and were told that only men were capable of being successful. As a child, Sanders witnessed many men go through the same routine of life, being forced to do hard labour in order to support their families. He knew men such as marginal farmers, carpenters, s teel workers and many others who all laboured with their bodies.But he also knew of another sort of men, â€Å"†¦ men, who did not sweat and break down like mules† (Sanders, 326). These other sorts of men were soldiers. To Sanders they appeared like they barely worked at all. But he later learned that these men would soon be off to war, to fight for their lives and for their country. At first, appearance meant everything but later Sanders learned that it wasn’t just hard working men who had hardship, every man did. Sanders was given an opportunity that many in his social class were rarely given.He was offered a scholarship into college, which taught him the different views of people towards life. Being in college allowed him to interact with different types of people, especially women and these interactions opened his views into the issues that concerned many women. He learned how women were tired of always being in the shadow of men, and that they wanted to be re cognized as their own individuals. Sanders soon realized that the main influence towards these women views were the men in their lives.The fathers who brought them up and taught them that only men were capable of being successful. Women strongly believed that they had equal rights of being as successful as men. From the interactions with women around him, Sanders finally realized that women were just as equal, but to society it was still the same. In the end men were to be seen more successful than women. Scott Russell Sanders. â€Å"The Men We Carry in Our Minds. † Essay Writing for Canadian Students with Readings. 6th ed. Eds. Kay L. Stewart, roger Davis, Chris J. Bullock, and Marian E. Allen. Toronto ON: Pearson, 2008. 324-329

’’A Simple Exchange of Niceties’’ by Joanne Fedler Essay

’’A Simple Exchange of Niceties’’, a short story by Joanne Fedler, 2007. In the text ’’A Simple Exchange of Niceties’’ the narrator lives in what could be a big town. In this town there is a park which she often visits, in this park there is a certain bench that she likes better than the others, and she calls it her own bench. The theme is teenage problems and about teenagers developing into the adulthood. The narrator’s language is very normal and is what every other American citizen could be speaking. The language contains a few curse words and slang words too. Example given: ‘’ She seemed so bloody keen on kids ‘’ (Page 11 line 133). The narrator does not have much self confidence; she had a one night stand with a Damien from the bar, which resulted in her getting pregnant. Damien told her that he never wanted to have kids with a ‘’trashy whore’’ like her after he ha d fertilized her, which made her feel like a trashy whore too. She has lost the sympathy of her mother too; the narrator is a very troubled person who is shop-lifting and has been impregnated at a very young age; this shows that she is not very sure of herself, and has not grown up yet. Her mother does not even want to bail her out from the prison after she had been caught shop-lifting. The narrator is a bit arrogant against people she does not know. Example given when the old lady has issues untwisting her bag, and the narrator just ignores it; which shows that she does not like to communicate with strangers, which she also mentions – ‘’When I’m sitting on my bench, I’m generally not in the mood for small-talk and chit-chat.’’ – (Page 9, line 43). She complains about when she is sitting on her bench and people come and sit down without asking if she is okay with it; this is a very two-faced action, would she herself even ‘’exchange niceties’’ if she was the one approaching a stranger on a bench? Her arrogance is also shown when a lady with a book and a bottle of water comes along; the lady says that she should not smoke. Her attitude is very typical for the society of youth, and the fact that she smokes while having a growing fetus in her stomach and not even caring about it truly enlightens that she has not grown up yet. From her oasis which is the bench, the narrator seems to be developing from being a late teenager who is acting very cool and not really caring about other than herself, to realizing the qualities of life, and understanding other people. As she speaks with the lady with the book ‘’When Fertility Fails’’, she seems to develop a kind of sympathy for the lady as she speaks of her and her husband’s problem. The fact that the lady cannot be fertilized by her husband makes the narrator act different than she is used to. Example given when the lady says that she would sells everything that she possesses if she could be a mother, and the narrator replies by – ‘’ ‘’It wasn’t meant to be,’’ I found myself saying, which really wasn’t me speaking. ‘’(Page 10 line 115-116) and she refers to as if it was her Nan speaking. As this is not how she normally would react, it is an obvious sign that she is developing into a young woman, particularly when she decides to give away her coming baby to the unhappy lady. When the narrator tells her mother that she is pregnant, the mother seems to state that she actually cares for her – ‘’ don’t you DARE give my granddaughter away, ‘’ (Page 12 156) which made the narrator believe that she is actually worth something. And when the narrator gives birth to the baby and the mother tells her that she remembers when she was an infant lying on her chest. This truly shows that the mother is happy and has realized that her daughter has grown into a young woman.

Electric Bike

Our Electric Bicycle Project I have added an electric power assist onto a GT mountain bike. With a 3 HP peak motor, it is much more powerful than typical electric bicycles. The basic motivation to build an electric bike was to have a fun and efficient and environmentally friendly way to stay out my car for short trips around town, and also as a silent trail bike for exploring the hills. I wanted to get some exercise – this bike  can still be pedaled. When I first put this together it was even more of a blast to ride than I had envisioned.I have seen 70 year old people get on this bike and laugh like little kids – it's like a magic hand is silently boosting you along. This website will describe the background of this little electric vehicle, offer some reflections on the electric and hybrid vehicle scene, and detail  most of the design and motor and batteries should you be interested in making one yourself. Though it's a bit of a project, a number of people have actu ally made very similar bikes based on my basic design. The Beauty of the Electric BikeNo noise – no vibration – no smog – no smog checks – no registration – no insurance – no driver's license No gasoline – no oil – no tune-ups – no parking hassles – no car payments – no more exercise (use the pedals)  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  no brainer Background: Why build an electric bike? Why use such a big motor? I love the idea of electric vehicles in general and would love to have a pure electric car. I have a Prius, currently just about the closest thing available. However, battery technology hasn't advanced enough to make a pure electric car affordable yet.I do think, however, that light-weight, low-speed, short-range vehicles are wellt within the limits of current battery-electric technology, so I set out to see what could be done to make a more powerful and longer-range motorized bike. Since I live about 3 miles from my fav ourite grocery store and my house is at the top of a fairly long and steep hill, biking and walking is just strenuous enough to be discouraging to me on a spur-of-the-moment basis. However I love biking. I have mountain bikes and folding bikes.In looking for a motor to add to one of my bikes, I rode some ready-made bikes and noticed that they are really fun to ride. The silence and effortless cruising along is just  magical. But the electric bikes and motor kits for sale at the time, such as the Curry USProDrive, the eBike, etc. were fairly low power and really aren't that much faster up a steep hill than an unassisted bicycle. The Wave crest was the first decently powerful ready-made bike, though the company didn't last long. (Electric vehicle companies seem to have a curious habit of making a big splash – and then vanishing beneath the waves.   Now you can buy decent electric motor kits from Wilderness Energy and Crystallite, among others, but I was curious about the nu ts and bolts of things, and wanted to learn more about exactly what it takes to drive a vehicle with pure electric power. I am a great fan of all electric vehicles and watch the new technologies closely. Hybrid cars are a tremendous technology that in my opinion is the first step on the road to all-electric vehicles. Hybrids will necessarily drive the development of better and cheaper batteries, which is the only missing link to the puzzle.Hybrids of today that are only charged by their gasoline engines will lead to ‘plug-in' hybrids that can be partially recharged at home or at charging stations. This will lead to astonishingly frugal use of fuel, but these cars will need much  larger battery packs, which means  better and cheaper batteries will have to be produced. This  will  happen and is probably happening right now. Eventually batteries will become so much better that the auto companies will start to produce cars that simply leave out the combustion engine altoge ther – the pure battery electric vehicle.Don't get me started on fuel cells and the much hyped future ‘hydrogen economy. ‘ This is interesting technology, but suffice it to say that there are so many technical breakthroughs and logistic problems yet to be solved, that I simply don't see it happening within the next ten or fifteen years. In other parts of this website and in the Electric Bicycle FAQ, I elaborate a little more on the near and far term technology, where I see it going, and what the most promising developments are. This is not really a build manual, however. . Experienced tinkerers may glean a lot of ideas and solutions from my pages if they want to use them and adapt them. There are parts lists and plenty of photos. This driveline is now extremely robust and probably suitable for larger electric vehicles, not just bikes, up to three to five horsepower. Over the course of this project I've made many interesting discoveries, encountered issues and prob lems which all electric vehicle builders must face, and finally figured out some fairly simple solutions.I've fitted a number of different driveline systems which range from simple single vee-belts to the present double reduction using a  heavy-duty  toothed belt and chain. Earlier versions are shown on following pages. This bike performs well, is stone-reliable and nearly silent, and all the major components are available online or at power transmission supply houses. Note that I had to weld and machine key components like the jackshaft mount using ball bearings, and the chain sprocket that clamps on to the spokes at the wheel hub.The right components and design solutions to this project were hard to come by, and I just want to share what I've learned to promote what I consider a pretty amazing form of transportation. V1. 5 – Dual Reduction Belt/Chain Drive The current  version is what I am calling v1. 5, which is the same bike as v1. 4 but with some basic changes: a n ew timing belt drive system with a chain final drive. Basically, the motor drives a belt that spins an intermediate shaft or ‘jackshaft' mounted next to the motor and spinning on ball bearings. This shaft then drives a chain going down to the rear bike wheel. Same motor and all other components. Earlier versions are documented on following pages. ) BASIC SPECS OF V1. 5Scott 24 V DC, 1 hp motor (3 hp max) – still available from cloudelectric. com   * Gates Power Grip GT2 belt primary drive * 1/2†³ steel jackshaft on custom shaft ball bearing mount – 3:1 reduction * #35 chain final drive to rear wheel – 2. 77:1 reduction * 8. 44:1 overall gearing gives top speed of about 27 mph * 2 x 12V Hawker AGM-type lead acid batteries, 13 Ah each; later replaced by B&B 12v 16Ah batteries (also AGM) * 4QD â€Å"Scooter 180† speed controller – 180 amp with optional regenerative braking * 24 V charger charges in 2-5 hours typically pedal in all 18 spee ds * batteries and motor removable in 10 minutes * range 15 miles on the flat depending on pedal assist * weight 85 lbs. Motor The Scott motor is 24 V DC, brushed, and is rated at 1 hp (746 watts) continuous power and draws 41 amps. It cost about $250, however in 2008 I see the price is closer to $350. This model no. 4BB-02488. This motor is available still from cloudelectric. com. Don't let the rating fool you, this motor will put out 2. 5HP peak and can even be over-volted (judiciously) to 36V where it will put out 1. 5 HP continuous and around 4HP peak.If you're crazy enough to gear it up, it would propel a bike to around 50mph (please don't do this. ) So the Scott is pretty heavy and suitable for slightly larger vehicles; for a bicycle, a better alternative might be one of the motors at evdeals. com such as the 500 watt 36V motor for only $60. Cloud electric also has a selection of motors from $80 to $170 that would be very suitable according to your budget and power desired. A very interesting choice is their ‘Motor 36 Volt 1000 Watt' model that has an integral freewheeling clutch. This can also be run at 24V to get 535 watts of power. I may have to switch over, these sounds like an ideal motor for a project like this. )   You cannot just use any old motor to drive a bike. People often ask me, can I use a motor from an electric drill, or a starter motor from a motorcycle or a car. The short answer is no, these motors are generally not suitable at all. The efficiency is poor, they will overheat, they are not powerful enough, the speed is too high, they're too noisy, or any number of other reasons. The Scott is a very high quality motor with high efficiency, good cooling, and ball bearings.At 16 pounds it is pretty heavy but motors in this power range were hard to find five years ago. If I were doing this today I would undoubtedly use a lighter motor of the type that has subsequently become available. There has been a tremendous influx of scooters a nd smaller electric vehicles, and many of the motors on these vehicles would be suitable for a bike. There are also a number of motors used by people making combat robots or battelbots. These are generally high power and  quite tough. However battlebots don't really need efficiency so this is something to look out for.Efficiency of greater that 80% should be looked for at a wide range of speeds and currents. In my opinion, a bike needs a motor of at least 400 watts and probably not more than 1000 watts. Any less and you might as well not bother, and any more and the motor will probably be large, heavy, expensive, deplete your batteries in a flash, or all of the above. The reason for a motor this powerful is simple: hills. I live on a steep hill. While a Zap or a US ProDrive bike rated at 400 watts goes a decent 17 mph on flat land, they slow to 3 to 5 mph on a decent hill. I can pedal that fast.I have ridden a Schwinn with the Currie US Pro drive. It was actually great, I would re commend it to anyone as a very good turn-key kit solution. However I wanted to go faster and be able to get up a hill. The simple fact is that you need from 5   to 10 times as much power to go a given speed on a decent grade. This is why a car that only needs 12 hp to go 60 mph on flat roads has an engine that can put out 100 to 200 hp. The Scott motor was used in many go-carts and Electrathon vehicles. (Electrathons are efficiency competitions using ultralight closed-course battery electric vehicles carrying one person.The point is to go the farthest distance in a given amount of time. ) So the efficiency is obviously pretty good. The motor cost $269 total shipped, and weighs about 16 pounds. It has ball bearings and massive cooling fins and is built to last. Brushes do not wear out very fast at all, this is not really a concern. It draws around 41 amps while producing a continuous 1 hp. Put a greater load on it and will draw well over 100 amps and produce up to 3 hp. This is why it needs a 180 amp controller. More about controllers later. Speed Reduction and Gearing: a big issueI will spend quite a bit of time here describing the speed reduction scheme, as this is the most difficult problem to solve in fitting a motor to a bike or other small EV. The big issue with all motorization schemes on bikes is this: how to reduce the speed of a typical motor, which may turn at upwards of 3000 rpm, to the necessary speed of a bicycle rear wheel. A 26†³ mountain bike wheel at 20 mph is turning only about 265 rpm. The overall reduction required is therefore between roughly 8:1 and 11:1 depending on what top speed you wish to achieve.Now it is certainly possible to simply bolt, say, a 130-tooth chain sprocket to the rear wheel and drive it with a 13-tooth drive sprocket off the motor. But this is a very large wheel sprocket (about 15†³ in diameter) and, critically, the chain would be unbearably noisy. My basic observation about chain drive is that if any chai n sprocket turns faster than about 750 rpm, it will start to make a racket. If only there were a good quiet 3:1 gearbox you could bolt on to the Scott, the final 3:1 or 4:1 ratio could be easily achieved with a chain and sprockets to the rear wheel.However I don't know of such a gearbox ready made, and a gear box is very difficult to machine from scratch. Straight cut gears also tend to make a whining noise. This big problem of gearing down the motor has lead to the development of the hub motor. This is simply a bicycle wheel hub with a motor built in, which can then be spoked to a rim. Such hub motors either have gears built in, or they are very particularly designed to just turn at a very low speed while still having good power and torque. This is a difficult trick. It's much easier to make a motor that derives its power from spinning at higher rpm.At any rate, at the time I could not find many hub motors, and the few that were available were expensive, made a gear whine, and were underpowered. Also, a hub motor has one set gearing by design, and you can't alter it. I wanted something where I could experiment with different gear ratios, top speeds, and hill climbing ability. I have come up with this belt drive to achieve the primary speed reduction of 3:1. The dual-reduction drive system is much more solid than anything I have tried before. It's a little more complicated but slippage is absolutely eliminated and I feel confident that this system would be able to take even more power.This is important because the Scott motor is often bumped up to 36 volts rather than 24 and I may eventually switch over. Why belt primary drive? Wouldn't two chains be easier? Basically, as I say, belts are much quieter at high RPM. At 3000 rpm a chain would be about as loud as many small gas engines. An electric bike should be whisper quiet, and this belt drive is. Many electric go-carts use a single straight chain drive; however, they go faster while having smaller wheels, so they  need less speed reduction,  and the wind and tire noise and speed tend to mask the racket the chain makes. Plus, carters don't really care much about noise.I used a Gates PowerGrip GT2 belt. This timing belt has rounded teeth so it's quieter than other belts. The teeth are closely spaced for better grip on small sprocket wheels. This is the 5mm pitch type. At 25mm wide, the short belt is much less likely to stretch and is easily tensioned by pivoting the jackshaft mount slightly – three of the mounting holes are slotted, so the mount can pivot around the un-slotted fourth hole. Does this wide belt seem like overkill? The Gates Co. has  very nice simple little engineering software they give away on their website that will tell you what size and type of belt you will need.You plug in the power, gear reduction, speed, and a couple of other things and the program will give you some recommendations. I used the program and this was one of the recommendations and what do you know, it has been great. Has never been adjusted and and has never slipped or worn. The jackshaft itself is a 1/2†³ steel shaft running on two R8 sealed ball bearings. The mounting plate and bearing housing is welded aluminum. Sorry that I don't have a diagram of this but hopefully you get the general layout from the photos. If belts are so great, then why chain final drive?Since the jackshaft is now speed-reduced to 1000 rpm max, running a chain down to the rear wheel now makes sense. There is a reason so many bikes and motorcycles still use steel chain final drive. It makes sense here because the run is longer and the available space narrower, and chain is much stronger and less stretchy than a long narrow belt. At this speed the chain may be slightly audible at top speed, but not noisy, and the wind and tire noise while riding will actually be louder. A chain doesn't need to be tensioned nearly as tightly as a belt.Finally, chains have a master link which makes assembly and removal much easier, like when changing tires and repairing flats. (Belts are endless. ) The #35 chain is a very common American size. It has a shorter pitch than bicycle chain but is much stronger. (Bicycle chain is made flexible to allow for the side to side misalignment resulting from different derailleur gear combinations. ) You will notice the extra bar running in between the chain, from the jackshaft to the axle. This is a reinforcement and has an adjuster nut at the lower end to establish proper chain tension.The bar acts to maintain proper driveline rigidity – the Scott motor can put out a tremendous amount of torque and the motor mount and bicycle frame will twist and compress under heavy power loads without this bar. Actually it attaches to the bike frame near the axle using the stock rack mount on the dropout. The driveline parts are as follows They were ordered from Bearing Belt Chain in Las Vegas at  Ã‚  www. bearing. com. * belt:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   GATES POW ER GRIP GT2 5MR-400-25  Ã‚   Gates part # 9390-8080  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $11. 35 * motor sprocket:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   GATES P21-5MGT-25-MPB  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gates part # 7709-5021  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $17. 0 * jackshaft sprocketGATES P64-5MGT-25-1610  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gates part # 7709-2064  Ã‚  Ã‚   $30. 52 * sprocket hub mount   for above:   GATES 1610 1/2†³ TAPER LOCK BUSHING part # 7858-1608 * jackshaft ball bearings:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   MRC part # R8Z  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $11. 56 ea. (2) * jackshaft:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   machined from 1/2†³ stainless steel stock * jackshaft chain sprocket:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   #35 chain, 13 tooth   MARTIN 35BS13HT 1/2†³ bore  Ã‚  Ã‚   $6. 91 * rear wheel chain sprocket:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   #35 chain, 36 tooth MARTIN 35B36  Ã‚  Ã‚   $11. 56   (modified on my lathe to fit) * chain:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   #35 chain that I had lying around – length is 50 links (100 rollers) – 37-1/2†³ longA number of machining, fabrications,  and modification s I had to do myself. The jackshaft mount is the most elaborate part to make and took some time. The jackshaft and motor need to be very rigidly connected and aligned, yet adjustable to set the belt tension. I used a 1/4†³ aluminum plate and welded a 1-1/4†³ alum. tube to this. There are two diagonal braces welded to these – you can only see the upper one in the photos. The braces just clear the motor. Then the tube was bored in the lathe for the two ball bearings. It also has ring grooves for retaining rings to hold the bearing in place.The 1/2†³ shaft is about 5†³ long, also with ring grooves. There are a total of 4 stainless steel 1/4-20 allen bolts holding the whole thing to the face of the Scott motor using the existing tapped holes. As I mentioned, three of the holes in the jackshaft plate are actually curved slots to allow for adjustment to tension the belt, the whole thing pivoting a little around the fourth bolt. The 21-tooth motor sprocket was bo red to 5/8†³ on my lathe. It is fixed to the motor shaft with a 1/8†³ steel split pin or ‘roll pin'. I had to drill a hole for this pin through the sprocket and motor shaft.Roll pins are much stronger than set screws, and they are pressed or driven in, so they don't come loose. They're also easier to machine than Woodruff key-ways. The large 64 tooth belt sprocket arrived in solid steel and was ridiculously heavy. Aluminum was not available. So I drilled it out extensively to lighten it as you can see. The chain sprocket bolts to the hub of the belt sprocket with two 10-32 allen screws, the holes for which I drilled and tapped. The motor is mounted to the bicycle frame on a specially made 1/8†³ thick stainless steel bracket. The whole bracket bolts to tabs welded to the bike frame with three allen bolts.The chain, drive belt and motor can be removed from the bike in about 3 minutes. Finally, I had to attach a sprocket to the rear wheel. I finally decided to just try clamping a sprocket to the spokes. This may seem like a clumsy solution but I have seen it done on a number of other applications. It has been reliable and has not damaged the spokes at all. Sometimes simple and direct wins the day. For those of you familiar with the Currie US ProDrive, a very popular electric drive kit for bikes, this is basically the same way they bolt their motor plate to the bike wheel.Looks somewhat unsophisticated? Fine, but it works, bolts quickly to a completely unmodified bike wheel, and has been  trouble free. I started by boring out a standard type-B 36-tooth sprocket (the kind with an integral offset hub) to where the hole would just fit around the protruding wheel hub. This locates the sprocket nicely on the hub center. Then I basically faced the hub down to nearly nothing on the lathe, just enough to space the sprocket out away from the spokes. Then I drilled 9 holes for 10-32 screws. The screws go through the spaces where the spokes cross.I mad e three curved clamp plates with three holes each for the inside of the wheel. For off-road use I intend to get a different wheel with a knobby tire and a larger sprocket to lower the gearing for better hill climbing. A couple of extra chain links will make it easy to switch out. The net of all this is that finally I have got it really right. I can whack the throttle open and closed at any speed and there will be no belt slippage of any kind. The first thing I did was to go down the street and climb this steep rocky trail that gave the old bike problems. Even with the relatively igh gearing, the new driveline shot me right up the thing. I even popped a little wheelie over the top of it. That sure never happened before. Now I can finally use all of the torque this Scott motor can put out.DESIGN & COMPONENT DETAILS BATTERIESThere is no question that the battery is the single thing,  the one and only, overriding thing, that is holding back the development and mass proliferation of el ectric vehicles. At this point in time most of us are still stuck with using lead acid batteries. I am now using B&B 16 Ah batteries, made in China.Originally I used Hawker Odyssey batteries model PC545, 12 lbs. each, which are basically the same as the Hawker Genesis G13EP. All of the batteries I have used are deep-cycling, AGM (Absorbed Glass Matt) sealed lead acid batteries (SLA) and are about the best quality lead acid battery available. They can be mounted in any position except upside down and they are sealed and maintenance free. They are much like the Optima batteries used in many advanced electric vehicles like the EV-1 and the Sparrow but are available in a wider variety of smaller sizes. I got them at Thunderstruck-EV. com.They now run about $50 each. It is nice that there is some competition now in this type of battery and the prices are coming down by about half from what I paid for my first set. Of course lithium ion batteries of some kind would be the great enabler. L ithium is just now entering the market, they are still quite expensive and something of a question mark. Conventional lithium cells, as used in laptops, have a thermal runaway potential – meaning they tend to catch fire, in some cases like a Roman candle. New materials and chemistries based on lithium are attempting to address the safety problem.I have seen batteries called LiFePo4 – lithium iron phosphate – offered for sale at various websites selling electric bikes and accessories. They are claiming no fire problems, At this point, it looks like a decent battery pack for a bike like this would cost around $1000 or more. That is a lot of money to spend on a battery with a 1-year or 2-year warranty. In my opinion, these batteries need to come down to the sub-$300 range before I would really be interested. A battery is rated in voltage and amp-hours. Voltage times amps times hours equals watt-hours and this is the total energy available from the battery.So my bat tery pack has 2 x 12V x 16Ah = 384 watt hours. In other words it will give 384 watts for an hour. But actually, it won't. The â€Å"16 Ah† is a rating to be taken with a very large grain of salt. An essential thing to know about batteries is that  they give a lesser amount of total energy when discharged at a high rate. Read that last sentence again and absorb it, it's important. A battery's electrical power is not like a glass of water. If you drain that glass quickly or slowly, it contains the same amount of water. Batteries, not so. Draw high amperage, and your total amount of energy is less!Because of this, batteries are often rated nominally at a slow 10-hour discharge rate, in which case they will give more total energy and thus seem like a better battery. Bikes and all electric vehicles use energy at a very high rate. A bike can easily draw enough current to discharge a battery pack fully in under half an hour, so batteries will not give their rated output under thes e conditions. Another tempting choice for cheap batteries might be Panasonic or Powersonic or Sonnenschein gel-cell /lead acid batteries. Gel cells are the typical batteries that come with most stock electric bicycles and kits.They are not AGM. Longevity is not as good, though the stated juice per weight ratio seems better, and they are available in a variety of smaller sizes if weight were more of an issue than range. Hawker makes slightly larger AGM batteries such as the G16EP like my B&B which have a little more juice but are also heavier. The Hawkers are very well made. Another great thing about AGM type batteries is that they can be charged quickly at much higher amps than other kinds of lead acid batteries. Likewise they have the ability to give high current with no problems.AGM batteries are also unique among almost all battery types in that they retain a full charge for months with no ‘charge leakage. ‘ One of the big drawbacks of of NiMH batteries is that they d ischarge about 1% to 2% per day. Regular lead acid batteries will just go dead in a few months as well. Because of this, AGM batteries are also marketed to people with antique cars and snow plows – vehicles that aren't used very often and are likely to have a dead battery when you finally want to start it up. All lead acid batteries have two big drawbacks. They are quite heavy for the total amount of power they deliver.And even these so called â€Å"deep cycle† batteries really should not be deep-cycled too often, as repeated deep discharging dramatically shortens their useful lifespan. This is where NiCads have lead acid beat, as they are more power dense and can be run down pretty much all the way without much damage. Of course large NiCads are much more expensive and must be recycled carefully due to the toxic cadmium. So until better batteries like NiMH or Lithium Ion are more widely available in vehicle sizes and less expensive, Hawkers and other AGM type lead aci d are about the best we can do.More ruminations on the Great Battery Quest below. Batteries and 120 amp speed controller mounted in the main frame space. SPEED CONTROLLER A speed controller or motor controller is essential in applying the voltage and power that is delivered to the motor from the batteries. All decent electric vehicles need a motor controller of some kind. On a bike with a very small motor it might be possible to just have an on-off arrangement, and I suppose there are other less expensive and much cruder ways to control speed but I feel that a decent controller is absolutely necessary with a powerful motor like this.The controller is a rather expensive electronic black box with no moving parts. A modern PWM or ‘pulse width modulation† controller is very reliable  as long as it's current limit is not exceeded. Unfortunately a high ampere capable controller is not cheap and may cost about as much as the motor. Curtis controllers are well known in golf ca rts and other industrial vehicles, however I am using a Scoota 180 amp speed controller from 4QD. –  www. 4QD. co. uk  . This is a small company in England, that specializes in smaller and cheaper controllers for light electric vehicles. The controller with a matching thumb-lever throttle was $248.It is capable of regenerative braking, thought you can easily disable this function. Previously I tried a Scoota 120 amp model that was nearly identical. It failed after a few months. I was just working it too hard and the output connections overheated and melted. The 4QD factory has a nice policy of repairing their controllers and exchanging them for different ones if you want, with a very fair exchange allowance. The new 180 amp model gets a little warm but has been quite dependable for well over three years now. I originally used an Eagle 80 amp controller from the same company. It was $120.It failed due to overheating but that was completely my fault for using a much too-sma ll controller. If I lived on flat terrain I think it would have been fine and would have lasted a long time, especially since I added a finned aluminum heat sink from an audio power amplifier – try a decent electronics store, maybe even Radio Shack. You need to size your controller at about 3 times the rated power of your motor. My motor is rated at 41 amps continuous, HOWEVER it will draw a lot more than that at full throttle under load. Manufacturers tend to state their controllers at intermittent current limits.For example a Scoota 120 will put out 120 amps  for a short time  but should not be run that high continuously. Regenerative braking – nice idea but . . . A lot of people inquire about regenerative braking. Hybrid car manufacturers often tout the ability to reclaim electrical energy when the car is going downhill. I don't know how much energy they are getting back in a car, but on a little electric bicycle, it is almost certainly never worth the added tro uble, expense, and operational hassles. You would be much better off with a freewheeling setup. Let me explain how I've come to this conclusion.The speed controller I use  has regenerative braking available. After trying it out for a while, adjusting it and testing it every which way, I ended up  disabling it. Regenerative braking means that as you brake or coast downhill the controller will use the motor in reverse as a generator to re-charge the batteries. On my route to the market, for instance, I am on flat terrain for a while and then go downhill for about a mile to reach the store. Conceivably this could mean that I arrive at the store with nearly full batteries, which would make the ride back less likely to drain the batteries completely.However, the regenerative braking is a function of the speed controller. If you have the region set up for maximum regeneration, the throttle can be quite touchy. And if you just suddenly release the throttle, which is fairly normal behav iour, the braking effect would be full. It is really not very good to have the throttle set up to brake that hard. I found myself about launching over the handle bars every time I lost forgot and snapped the throttle off. Also, this is a good way to have other people ride your bike and crash it. Note there is no freewheel on the electric side of my bicycle.A custom freewheel is yet another surprisingly difficult mechanical part to machine or to buy. Of course the pedal-drive freewheel still works, which means that you can motor without the pedals being forced to turn. However, it  you pedal the motor will necessarily be turning, which is a drawback if the batteries die. The regenerative braking function requires a solid connection to the wheel. However, after some time with this bike, using the regen function of the special speed controller, I came to a surprising conclusion  against  using regen. As I say I bought a controller with regenerative braking.With this set-up, I cou ld basically use the thumb-throttle carefully as a fairly powerful rear brake. The amount of braking could be adjusted to make it less grabby, but I never could get it to the point where I liked it at all. It was obtrusive and difficult to control. I suppose if you could hook it up to a pressure sensitive brake lever, it would work better, however, that is a bit beyond the level of sophistication I think is really necessary on a little electric bike. Luckily the regen function can be defeated which is what I finally decided to do. Realize, all vehicles are â€Å"regenerative† going down a hill.Turning the engine off down a long hill in your car and coasting – this is reclaiming the energy spent to climb the hill. Unless the vehicle is very heavy and/or has great aerodynamics, most of the energy going down a hill will just be used to overcome air resistance, with little left over to recharge the batteries. Normally on a bicycle, very little braking is ever necessary, an d top speed down most hills is quickly limited by poor aerodynamics. The net result, I felt, is that the regen on my ebike was just slowing me down and creating heavy backloading on the drive train needlessly.It would be better to put the motor on a freewheel and adopt a method of getting up to speed and coasting as often as possible with the motor shut off. This riding technique is apparently very effective at extending your range, probably more so than having regen. Many people who deal even with larger EVs and hybrids have also formed the opinion that a pure freewheeling function would be better in many instances than regenerative braking. The regenerative braking function of hybrid cars, for instance, is vastly overstated. Hybrids work by generating their lectric power onboard using the gas engine; they have a power generation function built-in, it is central to the entire concept. So why not use it for braking as well? Sure, but in reality this produces very little in the way o f reclaimed power. The batteries in hybrid cars are charged at least 95% by the using the gas engine as a generator; and the reason they are so efficient in city driving is simply because they can run at slow speeds very efficiently on predominantly electric power. It is only while driving at higher speeds down long steep grades that any decent power is truly regenerated to the batteries.How much of this describes typical driving conditions? Coasting with minimal drag from the motor is actually much more efficient. While coasting the vehicle uses no juice whatsoever. It is common practice during mileage or efficiency runs with a hybrid like the Honda Insight, to accelerate to speed, then go into neutral and coast for a ways. This actually produces the greatest mileage and efficiency. On an electric bike it is undoubtedly most efficient to pulse the motor on till you get up to speed, and coast on downhills, or pedal on the flat to maintain speed. Having the motor freewheel would be a big advantage.Unfortunately, a decent ready made right-hand drive doesn't seem to be available, at least for a reasonable price. A minor drawback. THROTTLE At first I simply got a $2. 00 10K potentiometer from Radio Shack, wired it up to the 4QD wiring and mounted it on a plastic spacer beneath the right-hand hand grip. There was no spring return, you had to turn it down to slow down, but on the other hand it was cheap and simple and the brakes can easily overcome the motor in an emergency stopping situation. Also, it worked perfectly as a cruise control. Then with the new larger motor controller I got a box-mounted thumb lever throttle.This is just a short-throw 10k pot with a return spring and lever mounted on the end. There are now motorcycle-style twist grip throttles with built in pots widely available at scooter shops for about $50, such as the Magura. The Scoota controller requires an on-off switch – I got a small rocker thumb switch from an electronics store, and mou nted it in the throttle box. thumb-lever throttle and on-off switch BATTERY CHARGER I found a great 24-volt 5 amp automatic charger made for the now-defunct e-bike EV Warrior from All Electronics surplus in LA. It was 20 bucks, it's compact and works wonderfully.What a bargain – I got two. These may not still be available but there are a few sites that deal with scooters and electric bikes now that have similar chargers for $50 to $80. When I was first building this bike, in the new world of electric vehicle hobbyists, a good non-12V charger (or any decent component for that matter) was hard to come by cheaply. For instance, I scoured the surplus electric suppliers looking for a decent, powerful, cheap 12V or 24V motor and basically came up empty. Before this I used a Sears 12V auto battery charger, charging each battery separately.This worked fine but remembering to go out and switch the charger between batteries was very inconvenient. The EV Warrior charger shuts off automa tically, the bike is always charged and ready to ride.COST AND CONSTRUCTION DETAILSI used high quality parts and the total cost of all the added components including charger came to about $950. Not cheap, but my new mountain bike cost more than that – and you have to pedal it. You can get a turn-key electric motor kit for around $400-700, or a readymade e-bike for $1000-2000, but of course the motors and batteries are all only 1/3 as powerful as this. WeightAt 85 pounds, this is pretty heavy for a â€Å"bicycle,† but I think of it more as an ultra light moped. And it is a true â€Å"mo-ped† in that you can still meaningfully pedal it. Plus I can still lift it into my pickup or my car trunk if needed. My old Peugeot moped weighed twice as much at 150 pounds with similar speed capability, and pedalling it was a joke – the pedals were geared really low, purely for starting the motor. Brakes The old brakes on this bike were okay for 12 mph but hair-raising at 30 mph. A new side pull â€Å"vee brake† as used on decent Modern Mountain bikes luckily bolted right onto the old brake mount posts.Regular bicycles are too light and top heavy to use the front brake as the main squeeze, but as any motorcyclist can tell you, on any heavier two wheeler the front brake does 90% of the work. The vee-brake kit was about 25 bucks on sale at a bike dealer, and came with a new lever for the handle bar. I only replaced the front brake, as the rear posts are in the wrong place. A number of people have written to ask me where the rear brake is – it looks like there is no rear brake at all. Look closely in the photos: the rear brake on this GT mountain bike in mounted down low, on the chain stays, just aft of the pedal crank.Frame I would encourage people doing this kind of conversion to use a heavy duty steel mountain bike frame. The components can take the added force and weight of the motor system. Mountain bike components now are amazingly strong and durable – they are made to take off-road abuse. The wider wheels especially are much better for the additional weight and power. Also, a steel frame is easier to weld or braze motor and battery mounts onto. Stay away from aluminum unless you can figure a way to bolt or clamp everything on without welding. Welding onto an aluminum frame will likely ruint the tempering and severely weaken it.It's quite difficult to weld on thin aluminum. My old GT was too heavy for a good mountain bike these days but just the ticket for an electric motor project. The peculiar geometry of the GT rear frame design actually makes a perfect place for the motor. Construction I had to weld a motor mount onto the rear frame behind the seat. The chain just clears the wheel and frame and it was critical to get the motor solidly mounted. With such a powerful motor,   the motor mount must be strong, and it's really pretty important to have a ball-bearing motor. The motor mount is removable fr om the frame with three allen head screws.I have a TIG welder and lots of metal working tools so it was not a big deal for me but I don't see why all this couldn't be done on a steel bike frame with silver solder or brazing rod and a gas torch. The batteries also have a very solid welded-on mount with a screw-down top retaining rail. The batteries are heavy and need a good solid mount with shock padding. These batteries are narrow and don't interfere at all with pedalling. In this arrangement they are also low and keep the center of gravity down. LEGAL ISSUES OF ELECTRIC BICYCLES At 20 mph this bike is basically legal as an unregistered motorized bicycle in Calif.I believe the Federal laws now allow up to a 750 watt motor, which is what the Scott is (1 horsepower = 746 watts. )   Also, the Federal Law limits such bikes to 20 mph. I fully expected the Feds to cripple these vehicles with a something like a 400 watt limit, but for once was pleasantly surprised – it's actually a rational and reasonable law and probably promotes good electric bikes rather than underpowered toys that no one will buy. Geared for 30 mph this would technically have to be registered and insured as a motorized cycle or possibly as a full motorcycle.Not sure exactly what the difference is but I believe there is a technical distinction. However, used judiciously, most people are still going to assume that it's just a particularly fast bicycle, especially if it's being pedaled. Actually I have no problem with a legal limit of 20 mph. Slow is not bad. The wind noise is less and you can actually hear the world. A bike limited to 20 with no registration and no insurance and no driver's license (and no noise and no vibration and no gasoline and no mechanics and no smog checks and no smog and no parking hassles and no car payments . . . )   Not a bad tradeoff, to put it mildly.I would not recommend riding on bike paths or foot trails. Most of these bar motorized vehicles of any kind, even if it's not posted. It is tempting since the bike is silent and by pedaling, most people will not even notice that you've got a motor. I think speed is the key. If I must ride on a bike path, I use the pedals and just don't go any faster than a gently pedaled bicycle. It is hard to argue with that, and no one ever has. I think eventually there will be a lot more electric bicycles and other small powered vehicles and it will probably become a problem competing with pedestrians, roller bladers, etc.The advent of affordable lithium batteries will mean that electric vehicles of all kinds will be become radically better, and immensely popular. It's just inevitable. There's already enough friction between these groups on crowded paths and trails. This is another reason why keeping maximum speeds under 20 mph is probably a good idea. FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS, VARIATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES It's the batteries, stupid. This bike is great fun right now but I can see a lot of room for improvemen t. Ah, batteries, ever the Achilles' heel of the electric vehicle.Oh how I hate lead acid batteries but – still stuck with them. NiMH, Lithium Ion, or Nickel Zinc batteries would improve the juice-to-weight ratio enormously, and would probably double the range, which is the single least satisfactory thing about this and all electric bikes. The batteries now weigh over 25 pounds and are the heaviest single component. There are some reasons for hope. The increasing numbers of hybrid cars are generally using NiMH batteries which should trickle down eventually and be very suitable for electric bikes.Other battery chemistries as well have made it to market, though success always seems elusive. The biggest promise right now is that GM and Toyota are really pushing to put lithium batteries in the next generations of hybrid cars and plug-in hybrids. GM's Chevy Volt, due out by 2010, will only work if they succeed in mass producing lithium ions, and getting the cost down. It's kind of a chicken and egg problem: huge mass production will bring the cost down, but until they're cheaper, there isn't enough demand to mass produce them.The soaring price of motor fuels and the resulting demand for more and better hybrid cars is probably what will convince manufacturers to bite the bullet and build the factories. The promise of lithium ion. Certainly the lithium battery has the greatest potential of all the next-generation chemistries. It has the most energy per pound and is well proven in smaller applications like cell phones and laptops. A practical battery with this capacity would almost instantly put battery vehicles on a competitive footing with gasoline powered ones.Current conventional lithium ions have a serious weakness – they die completely after about 2 to 3 years, no matter what. But again, if GM and Toyota succeed in getting lithium batteries into hybrids, as they say they will within the next two years, it will mean that they have largely eliminated or minimized these drawbacks. Progress with this battery seems to be steady. They are now being used in some cordless power tools, which use bigger cell sizes and draw heavier loads than electronic devices. They don't use any heavy metals. There re a number of new types of lithium cells that don't burst into flames when overheated or pierced. A123 has some of the most successful new cells, and Toshiba has even demonstrated cells that can be recharged almost fully in just a few minutes. Chinese cells are now on the market especially for bicycles called LiFePo4. These cells are available in a battery pack for small electric vehicles called the Eonyx, as well as from other packagers. They are still something of an unknown quantity. Once these get into more people's hands, we will be able to get a reading on their longevity and performance.Right now they are still about  ten or fifteen times as expensive as lead acid batteries. Well, what about fuel cells? Of course the concept and d emonstrations of this still-experimental technology is very compelling, but there has been so much hype on the subject that it is still hard to say if this is all just incredibly successful marketing spin by the FC developers. I also think that in the early 2000's there was an element of clever subterfuge by the auto industry to take the heat off the fact that average fuel economy in this country was decreasing due to ever more popular and larger SUVs.It is so much easier and cheaper for an auto company like GM to run a relatively small early research project on fuel cells, than it is to do serious engineering on real live production-ready hybrid development. Even in 2006 there are still basically no economically practical fuel cells in actual use and even their promoters say that any commercially viable model is at least 5 years off and maybe 10. It is the running joke that the day of widespread fuel cells and the hydrogen economy always seems to be 20 years off –   no mat ter when the question is asked.And then, where do we get all the hydrogen? Seems to me hydrogen is and will remain way more expensive than any petro fuel and I have never seen any realistic ideas to overcome this problem. And we store it in 10,000 psi cylinders in the trunk? Uh, OK . . . Believe me I would love to be proved wrong and initially was excited about this technology like everyone else, but increasingly I am thinking the emperor has no clothes. Maybe a loincloth. Motors are already pretty much perfected, right? Well, yes and no. My Scott motor is starting to look like a dinosaur, it ould stand to lose some weight. The power is actually about right for a bicycle but just look at it, it's too big and heavy. There are tons of little scooters out there and it would be possible to get a 500 watt or 750 watt scooter motor, which is would undoubtedly work well. Currently (July 2009) I see that a 24V Currie 600 watt motor is available for around $130. It is compact and powerful. T he MAC 600W motor might be a better choice but is $279. Try evdeals. com for an updated motor availability. I would love to get a Lemco pancake motor, www. lemcoltd. om   – they are light, powerful, and efficient but expensive. This company is now making even smaller motors that would be perfect for high-powered bikes but $800 for a motor is a bit much. And of course my whole motorization scheme, with the belt and chain, is not terribly clean or elegant. I personally think  the â€Å"hub motor†Ã‚  is the obvious solution for electric bikes, as used on Lee Iacocca's E-bike and the Wavecrest (which seems to have died and resurrected as the E+) and others. Heinzmann of Germany seems to still be making a variety of hub motors, as are other companies.Try Heinzmann's site www. estelle. de for some pretty interesting ideas – I guess they are now selling bikes, complete kits, motors, batteries and controllers. However, at this point they are still only about 300 wat ts = 1/3 HP which is about 1/3 of what they ought to be. Also, Heinzmann motors tend to be a little noisy and expensive. A hub wheel motor replaces the normal wheel hub and obviously needs no other transmission, chain, or belt which is a huge simplification – although of course this can also be a slight drawback in that the gear ratio can't be changed.A very popular and reasonably priced hub motor made in China seems to be the  Crystalyte, though I haven't used one myself. There is a similar system sold by  Wilderness Energy. These are  sold in kits where the hub motor is basically spoked to a bike wheel rim  of your choice and you just replace your old wheel with the motorized one. They tend to go on the front wheel but can also be installed at the rear. The kits include a pretty slick speed controller, throttle, and brake-switches to cut the power. Often batteries are a separate purchase.The hubs themselves are made in various voltages, powers, and rotational speeds to match various wheel sizes and top speed requirements. This seems to be a decent site with links to dealers in the US and Canada – www. evsolutions. net. The gearing, for my use, could certainly benefit from a nice simple  two-speed transmission. One speed for the hill and the other for the flat. Electric motors have such great torque throughout the RPM range that more than two speeds just isn't necessary unless the motor is severely underpowered. The obvious thing to me would be a hub motor with two or three speeds built in. I have never seen such a beast.I think with better batteries and motor, this bike could easily weigh 25 pounds less or have twice the range, maybe both. The frame and wheels are no lightweights either, at 36 pounds. That's a good 10 pounds more than my new mountain bike, and it's got a suspension fork. So in short with modern components this type of bike could easily weigh less than 50 lbs. Performance would improve, it would be easier to pedal and you could even carry it on a car roof rack. How about a  solar cell battery charger? They sell these to RV owners. Actually there's no reason why you couldn't throw a solar cell on your roof and charge the batteries all day.Imagine – this is real-world fully solar powered transportation, doable today. As further work on the existing bike, I would love to put a suspension fork on the front and maybe a suspension seat post. Lights would be nice. At this point this bike would be an amazing transportation unit by any standards, not just electric vehicles. Also, this starts to become a pretty intriguing possibility for a trail bike. I used to have dirt bikes but they are dirty and noisy and environmentally a big problem. A dirt bike is a blast but you're not exactly communing with nature.A completely silent electric trail bike would be much more like hiking aesthetically, and would open up long-range trails – can't wait to get some better batteries and go up to the mounta ins. I can also see going to a  higher voltage system. 36 or even 48 volts  would be a lot better and keep the current draw down. I started with a 12 V system for simplicity's sake but the power was low and the current draw was high. I won't go into the basics of electric power except to say that lower voltage is bad because it leads to higher current which creates more heat and requires a much bigger motor controller.Controllers are basically sold by amperage or current capacity, and high amperage controllers are much more expensive than lower amperage ones. The same controller can put out twice as much power at the same amperage level if the system voltage is doubled. I have even considered simply adding another battery on this bike and just over-volting the motor to 36 volts. The motor is probably able to take it (though I'm sure the manufacturer wouldn't recommend it) and my controller can easily be switched to 36 V. The bike would be heavier, faster, and have better range.I t's just a trade off. Intriguing. (Note that most controllers have voltage limitations and must be altered or jumpered to make system voltage changes. )   That's what's neat about electrics for the tinkerer – you can change motors, change batteries, change controllers, change gearing – it's all so easy and interchangeable compared to an internal combustion vehicle. Imagine a having an old Vespa scooter, and you think one day â€Å"Gee, wouldn't it be interesting to put a nice new Honda 200cc engine in that thing† – you'd have to be half nuts to even consider it.Turnkey solutions. So you don't have a TIG welder and a metal lathe? You just want to bolt something onto your bicycle? As I've mentioned the turnkey kits made by Wilderness Energy and Crystalyte seem to be the simplest and cleanest ways to electrify a bicycle. Since I made this bike there have been some developments in the electric bike world. The popular Curry USProDrive bolt-on kit that I esch ewed as too undepowered was always a decent kit but I don't think it's available at all anymore.The batteries were not AGM quality, the stock controller was jerky and mounted inside the motor where it's hard to keep cool, and the drive train was not terribly robust, but all in all a decent kit, and they sold quite a few of them. A similar concept called Lashout seems to be available. This kit has a built-in freewheel on the motor which is nice. MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS Here in 2008, with the cost of gas now at $4. 50 a gallon, true pain is being felt by almost everyone at the fuel pumps, and by the sellers of old fashioned gas burning vehicles. Big cars and SUV's are sitting on dealers lots. There are 4 month waits  .There is now tremendous pressure to come up with solutions. This should, finally, lead to some real improvements in pure electric transportation. I love the idea of electric vehicles but the practical electric car is still not quite a reality. The electric bike to me is now a real-world, affordable and practical solution. The limited range is not a big deal for errands around town and short commutes. Given that really nice batteries are going to be expensive for the foreseeable future, it makes so much more sense to use a couple of small ones on a bike than try to pay for 300 big ones for a car.Most people won't justify a limited range full-size electric car just for groceries and errands, but many people could throw an e-bike or two in their garage without thinking twice. Grown adults giggle when they ride my bike. It is very quiet –   it's like some genie is pedaling for you. The silence is very important – it just completely changes the whole picture. You can actually hear things and stop and pull up onto the sidewalk and talk to your neighbors when you ride down the street. I have pulled up directly into my ATM booth and people hardly give me a second glance – not even thinkable on a motorcycle.Electrics are not intimida ting like a motorcycle or even a scooter – to most people, they're just a bicycle you don't have to pedal. Theres no clutch, no gears to shift, no kickstarter. They aren't just environmentally friendly – they're neighborhood and people friendly. Another amazing thing to me: this is not rocket science technology. This is lead acid batteries powering a DC motor on a steel bike frame –  this bike could pretty much have been made 80 or 100 years ago! Those new-fangled high pressure pneumatic tires may be the most modern component! Why has it taken so long for e-bikes to take off?I offer these design and component ideas to anyone who can make use of them and encourage anyone with a garage and some tools to make an electric bike or buy a kit or a ready-made. At my house we have a very fast motorcycle, a hybrid car and a pickup, but the e-bike is the most fun – I use it almost every day. And the most amazing thing that I have learned after all of this   â₠¬â€œ you really don't need 4000 pounds of gasoline powered steel-rubber-plastic-and-glass, $30,000-120-mph marvel-of-modern-transportation-engineering to go a mile and a half for a quart of milk, a loaf of bread and a newspaper.EARLY VERSIONS V1. 0   had just one long vee-belt from the motor to the rear wheel. It had a top speed of around 30 which was great but slowed to about 12 mph on the steep hill near my house. However, other people building their own have asked about using the single vee-belt because it is easier to put together without machine tools, and it works pretty well on the flat. The goals were these: * gear reduction from a 3000 rpm motor – in the neighborhood of 8:1 to 10:1 * retain existing pedal function – derailleur and freewheel * rear wheel drive * simplicity * quiet operation * use available parts can be grafted onto the existing bike wheel * power transmission efficiency * stay away from friction tire-drive – too much slippage and tire wear * stay away from chain drive – at 3000 rpm a chain is too noisy The single belt reduction runs from a 1. 75†³ drive wheel on the motor directly to a 16†³ driven pulley mounted to the left side of the rear wheel. This is actually a 20†³ bicycle rim mounted to the wheel hub using half of the rim's spokes through additional spoke holes drilled into the wheel hub. This setup gives a reduction of about 8 to 1. ^ The vee-belt setup, giving a reduction ratio of 8:1 V1.   Ã‚  Ã‚  After using the single vee-belt reduction for a while, it seemed   that I needed to gear the bike down some more. At full throttle the belt would slip on really steep hills off-road. Also it was overheating on my hill and ended up burning out my 80 amp controller. So after some thought I added an idler shaft or â€Å"jackshaft† for an initial belt reduction. I have a metal lathe and fabricated a bearing housing for a 1/2†³ shaft running on ball bearings. This is mounted on a pivoting system in order to get the belt tensioned correctly. With the pulley combination pictured below I have an overall reduction of 17 to 1.This translates into a top speed of 13 mph and good hill climbing ability. The most critical thing on a setup like this is to mount the jackshaft very solidly so that it stays parallel to the motor shaft under belt tension and during high power loads. This required a lot of reinforcement of the mounting bracket, as the whole thing mounts to the motor   face using two bolts, and flex was a problem. Double reduction using toothed belt to a jackshaft running on ball bearings I suspected the ideal gear ratio for my needs lies somewhere in the middle. I will probably settle on a top speed of about 20 mph. The good thing about his setup is that I can change the gearing fairly easily with just a couple of different toothed belt wheels and possibly a slightly different length belt. The primary belt I added is a Gates Powergrip XL belt. I actual ly had a bunch of belts and wheels lying around from other motorization projects but these are available from ball bearing and rubber belt industrial suppliers. This belt is really way too small and narrow for a motor this size at full throttle, but hey it was free. 80 AMP CONTROLLER Controller with added heat sink mounted to the top tube This is the previous Eagle 80 amp controller from 4QD.It melted down from driving over 100 amps for extended lengths of time. It is really too small for the Scott 1hp motor but worked surprisingly well for quite a while. Like the Scooter 120, it has adjustable acceleration and deceleration curves, but no regenerative function. V1. 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  had a single long timing belt. After experimenting with a single vee-belt and an earlier two stage belt reduction, I tried to simplify in the name of efficiency. I especially wanted to get rid of the vee-belt completely, which would slip on really steep hills and also is less efficient than a timing belt.This setup was less than ideal because the belt is so long. There was not enough room for a wider belt and this belt was simply not strong enough for the amount of power being delivered. Also, this Type L timing belt was noisier than I had expected. The trapezoidal tooth shape is noisy, and the idler tensioning wheel added a surprising amount of racket even though it was running on the â€Å"flat† side of the belt. I. WHAT IS MEANT BY â€Å"POWER ASSIST†? A power assist is any vehicle with any number of wheels that is primarily or partly human powered, and assisted by a small motor.An electric bicycle is probably the most common such vehicle. Power assist enthusiasts are typically interested in simple human-scaled transportation that is earth-friendly, fun, non-intimidating, and affordable. Transportation that either extends the range of their bicycling, allows them to arrive at work without needing a shower, or allows them to leave the car at home more often. Many people are somewhat familiar with old-style mopeds, which are technically power assists. However they are too heavy to really be pedalled more than to start the engine.Mopeds are really lightweight scooters with pedals and limited top speeds which allow them to qualify in most parts of the world for lesser registration and insurance classifications. Many people feel that  a more useful set of pedals is important. This means the vehicle must be light enough to pedal meaningfully, either with or without the motor energized. Practically speaking it should weigh less than 75 lbs. or 35 kg and of course the lighter, the better. A power assist is not meant to entirely replace human power. The exact amount of assist desired, however, is really up to the individual.Today electric vehicles are becoming more popular, but there are still internal combustion engine (ICE) power assists that perform well. They both have their adherents, but really they each have their place as their strengths and weak nesses are in different areas. ELECTRIC ASSISTS  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  today’s practical electric vehicle The practical electric car has become a kind of Holy Grail and is the subjec