DOES URINE EASE THE PAIN OF JELLYFISH STINGS? - Random Questions

Does urine ease the pain of jellyfish stings?

If one of these critters gets you don’t look to Friends for medical advice. Regardless of what you saw on that one episode of Friends, urine is completely ineffective for jellyfish stings.

At best it will do nothing, at worst it could trigger any remaining stinging cells. Rinse the area liberally with seawater, then scrape any attached tentacle fragments off with a credit card.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF HEADACHE BASIC INFORMATION AND TUTORIALS

What are the different types of headache?

Headaches come in various guises. Primary headaches are not related to an underlying condition, but may be triggered by food or stress. Secondary headaches, like sinus headaches, are a sign that something else is wrong.

CLUSTER HEADACHES
About 1 in 1,000 people suffer from cluster headaches. As the name suggests, these intensely painful
episodes tend to arrive in groups - sometimes two or three in quick succession. Sufferers may be
completely incapable of doing anything for weeks or months.

Norwegian researchers have recently tried treating them by shooting Botox up patients’ noses to paralyse a bunch of nerves involved in transmitting the pain. It’s thought that treatments that help migraine sufferers could also help those who with cluster headaches.

MIGRAINES
Migraines are often divided into those with and without aura – visual or other kinds of sensory disturbances, such as weird smells. An aura might arrive before the migraine itself, giving the sufferer due warning of the impending headache.

However, not all migraine sufferers experience headaches themselves. Other symptoms include nausea and heightened senses despite a desperate desire for sleep, which may relieve the pain. Migraines affect more women than men, perhaps due to hormonal differences.

SINUS headaches
This rare type of headache is felt as a constant throbbing pain in the face, usually under the eyes or just above the teeth. Sufferers will often find that their faces feel unusually sensitive to touch and that moving their heads or bending down may cause the pain to intensify.

They are caused by an underlying infection in the sinuses, that fortunately can be treated with decongestants, antihistamines or nasal sprays.

TENSION-TYPE HEADACHES
These are your bog-standard, run-of-the-mill, garden variety headaches. They can manifest as an ache on both sides of the head or pressure behind the eyes.

Usually less painful than a migraine, a tension-type headache probably won’t keep you from working or whatever else you should be doing. For some people, however, tension headaches can last for days or return several times a week.

At least 1 in 50 people suffer chronic tension-type headaches, which means they recur more than 15 times a month.

DIESEL ENGINE GENERATORS BASIC INFORMATION AND TUTORIALS

A typical diesel engine-driven generator rated 500 kW is shown in figure below. Typical ratings of engine-driven generator sets are given in table below as well.

Individual models by various companies may be different. Lower speed units are heavier and more costly, but are more suitable for continuous duty.

Diesel engines are somewhat more costly and heavier in smaller sizes, but are rugged and dependable. The fire and explosion hazard is considerably lower than for gasoline engines. Sizes vary from about 2.5 kW to several MW.

ENERGY SAVING METHODS - TIPS ON CONSERVING ENERGY CONSUPMTION

The four general categories in which energy savings can be grouped are as follows:

a) Housekeeping measures. 
Energy savings can result from better maintenance and operation. Such measures include shutting off unused equipment; improving electricity demand management; reducing winter temperature settings; turning off lights; and eliminating steam, compressed air, and heat leaks.

Proper lubrication of equipment, proper cleaning and replacement of filters in equipment, and periodic cleaning and lamp replacement in lighting systems will result in optimal energy use in existing facilities.

b) Equipment and process modifications. 
These can be either applied to existing equipment (retrofitting) or incorporated in the design of new equipment.

Examples include the use of more durable or more efficient components; the implementation of novel, more efficient design concepts; or the replacement of an existing process with one using less energy.

c) Better utilization of equipment. 
This can be achieved by carefully examining the production processes, schedules, and operating practices. Typically, industrial plants are multiunit, multiproduct installations that evolved as a series of independent operations with minimum consideration of overall plant energy efficiency.

Improvements in plant efficiency can be achieved through proper sequencing of process operations, rearranging schedules to utilize process equipment for continuous periods of operation to minimize losses associated with start-up; scheduling process operations during off-peak periods to level electrical energy demand; and conserving the use of energy during peak demand periods.

Commercial facilities will typically achieve energy savings by relamping, installing adjustable speed drives in ventilation systems, and considering solar effects.

d) Reduction of losses in the building shell.
Reduction in heat loss is achieved by adding insulation, closing doors, reducing exhaust, utilizing process heat, etc. Management should provide effective personnel motivation, planning, and administration to achieve meaningful energy savings.

The establishment of a formalized energy management responsibility is highly desirable to give the effort both the focus and the direction required. An energy management function gives the line manager the tools to get the job done.

Line managers need to know their energy use and costs, the future energy supply availability and its cost, problems or opportunities of energy situations, and those alternative solutions worth pursuing.

WHAT IS CAPEX? CAPEX BASIC INFORMATION AND TUTORIALS

What is CAPEX?

Short Answer
CAPEX stands for ‘Capital Expenditure’ and represents the amount of money spent for investments carried out from a long-term perspective.

Through the production process, fixed assets are used up. The annual depreciation charge is supposed to reflect this wearing out. By comparing capital expenditure with depreciation charges, you can determine whether the company is:

• Expanding its industrial base by increasing production capacity. In this case, capital expenditure is higher than depreciation as the company invests more than simply to compensate for the annual wearing out of fixed assets.

• Maintaining its industrial base, replacing production capacity as necessary. In this case, capital expenditure approximately equals depreciation as the company invests just to compensate for the annual wearing out of fixed assets.

• Under investing or divesting (capital expenditure below depreciation). This situation can only be temporary or the company’s future will be in danger, unless the objective is to liquidate the company.

Comparing capital expenditure with net fixed assets at the beginning of the period gives you an idea of the size of the investment program with respect to the company’s existing production facilities. A company that invests an amount equal to 50% of its existing net fixed assets is building new facilities worth half what it has at the beginning of the year. This strategy carries certain risks:

• that economic conditions will take a turn for the worse;
• that production costs will be difficult to control (productivity deteriorates);
• technology risks, etc.

The theoretical relationship between capital expenditures and the cash flow from operating activities is not simple. New fixed assets are combined with those already on the balance sheet, and together they generate the cash flow of the period.

Consequently, there is no direct link between operating cash flow and the capital expenditure of the period.

Thus, comparing cash flow from operating activities with capital expenditure makes sense only in the context of overall profitability and the dynamic equilibrium between sources and uses of funds.

The only reason to invest in fixed assets is to generate profits, i.e. positive cash flows. Any other objective turns finance on its head. You must therefore be very careful when comparing the trends in capital expenditure, cash flow, and cash flow from operating activities. This analysis can be done by examining the cash flow statement.

Any investment strategy must sooner or later result in an increase in cash flow from operating activities. If it doesn’t, then the investments are not profitable enough.

Be on the lookout for companies that grossly overinvest, despite their cash flow from operating activities not growing at the same rate as their investments. Management has lost sight of the all-important criterion that is profitability.

All the above does not mean that capital expenditure should be financed by internal sources only. Our point is simply that a good investment policy grows cash flow at the same rate as capital expenditure.

This leads to a virtuous circle of growth, a necessary condition for the company’s financial equilibrium, as shown in graph (a) of Figure 1.5 below. Graphs (b), (c) and (d) of Figure 1.5 illustrate other corporate situations. In (d), investment is far below the company’s cash flow from operations.

You must compare investment with depreciation charges in order to answer the following questions:

• Is the company living off the assets it has already acquired (profit generated by existing fixed assets)?

• Is the company’s production equipment ageing?

• Are the company’s current capital expenditures appropriate, given the rate of technological innovation in the sector?

Naturally, the risk in this situation is that the company is ‘resting on its laurels’, and that its technology is falling behind that of its competitors. This will eat into the company’s profitability and, as a result, into its cash flow from operating activities at the very moment it will mostly need cash in order to make the investments necessary to close the gap vis-`a-vis its rivals.

The most important piece of information to be gleaned from a cash flow statement is the relationship between capital expenditure and cash flow from operating activities and their respective growth rates.

Lastly, ask yourself the following questions about the company’s divestments. Do they represent recurrent transactions, such as the gradual replacement of a rental car company’s fleet of vehicles, or are they one-off disposals?

In the latter case, is the company’s insufficient cash flow forcing the company to divest? Or is the company selling old, outdated assets in order to turn itself into a dynamic, strategically rejuvenated company?

TIPS IN CHOOSING YOUR AIR CONDITIONING AND HEATING SYSTEM BASIC INFORMATION AND TUTORIALS

Today there are many types of heating systems available that use various fuels, as well as very efficient central and room air conditioners.

Typically, very large heating and cooling systems are installed in homes, and often these are oversized in terms of their space conditioning capacity.

Heating and cooling a low-energy-use home requires an extra degree of care in the sizing of mechanical systems to ensure comfort and efficiency. In other words, you will not be shopping for conventional space conditioning systems.

Rather, you want systems that efficiently deliver low quantities of space conditioning and that allow you to modulate those levels according to the weather and indoor comfort needs.

Choosing a System
When researching and selecting the best heating and/or cooling system for your home, be sure to assess the heat requirements of the house, installation costs, and local fuel costs (and carbon content). Get help from a professional heating contractor or energy consultant to find an appliance that matches the new heating and cooling requirements of your improved home, or one that can meet your needs now and still be appropriate after your next stages of energy improvements.

Following are some popular equipment options for low-load homes.

Gas-Fired Heating
Many highly efficient homes can be effectively heated with a wall- or floor-mounted gas space
heater or with a high-efficiency, modulating gas furnace or boiler. These heating plants adjust
their flame to deliver varying amounts of heat to the air or hot water circulating in baseboard or
radiant floor distribution systems. Look for efficiency ratings in the mid-90 percent range.

Heat Pumps
There are two main types of heat pumps: ground source and air source. Ground source heat
pumps remove heat from the ground by way of a working fluid flowing through tubes that are in
contact with the ground. The fluid goes through a compression and evaporation cycle to extract
heat from the ground and deliver it to the house.

One advantage of a heat pump is that it can also work in reverse and act as a space-cooling system, removing heat from the house and transferring it to the ground.

Disadvantages of ground source heat pumps are that they are quite complex, can be costly to install, and can use quite a lot of electricity. They are generally most effective in cooling-dominated climates, and some studies show that in heating-dominated climates the actual efficiencies are somewhat less than rated levels.

Air-source heat pumps can be efficient and versatile for both heating and cooling a home. They
operate by transferring, or pumping, heat between indoor and outdoor air. Sometimes called “minisplits” or “ductless mini-splits,” these units are similar in operation to central air conditioners, but they do not use ductwork to deliver the conditioned air.

Instead, one or more indoor units are connected (via a refrigerant line set) to a single outdoor unit. This setup allows for different temperature zones within the house. The absence of ductwork eliminates the problem of leaky ducts, a potentially large loss of energy.

Other Heating and Cooling Options
Additional options to consider for heating include cordwood wood stoves, pellet boilers or stoves,
and masonry heaters. These options require more frequent attention by the owner than automatic,
fossil fuel systems.

Evaporative coolers work well in dry climates by taking advantage of the same principle that our
bodies use to remove excess heat by sweating.

Evaporating water absorbs and dissipates heat energy. When it’s humid, moisture can’t evaporate
from our skin, and we feel hot and sticky. In hot, dry climates, moisture added to the air evaporates,
absorbing heat energy and cooling the surrounding air in the process. Evaporative coolers are sometimes called “swamp coolers” because they use a steady supply of water to cool the air while also making

it more humid. Evaporative cooling equipment requires no compressor and therefore consumes much less electricity than a conventional air conditioner.

Though not as effective as conventional air conditioners, swamp coolers can provide sufficient
comfort under the right conditions. Because they rely on the evaporation of moisture, they work only in dry climates where relative humidity levels are below 40 percent.

More novel approaches to cooling very efficient homes include a ground coupling system, where
fluid is circulated in underground pipes and then through a “fan coil” (something like a car radiator) that lives inside the ductwork of a space conditioning or ventilation system. Air blows over the cool coil and delivers cool air to the house.

Another innovative system, called the NightBreeze (see Resources), allows you to use cool nighttime air to ventilate your home at night through a balanced ventilation distribution system. Such systems can be found by exploring the cutting-edge work being done to promote the Passive House Institute U.S. efficiency standard, which primarily addresses new homes (see Resources).

This extremely efficient standard has taken a strong foothold in Europe and is just beginning to gain traction in the United States.

RATIONAL ECONOMIC MAN - BASIC INFORMATION AND TUTORIALS

WHAT IS A RATIONAL ECONOMIC MAN?

Rational economic man (REM) describes a simple model of human behavior. REM strives to maximize his economic well-being, selecting strategies that are contingent on predetermined, utility-optimizing goals, on the information that REM possesses, and on any other postulated constraints.

The amount of utility that REM associates with any given outcome is represented by the output of his algebraic utility function.

Basically, REM is an individual who tries to achieve discretely specified goals to the most comprehensive, consistent extent possible while minimizing economic costs. REM’s choices are dictated by his utility function.

Often, predicting how REM will negotiate complex trade-offs, such as the pursuit of wages versus leisure, simply entails computing a derivative. REM ignores social values, unless adhering to them gives him pleasure (i.e., registers as a term expressed in his utility function).

The validity of Homo economicus has been the subject of much debate since the model’s introduction. As was shown in the previous chapter, those who challenge Homo economicus do so by attacking the basic assumptions of perfect information, perfect rationality, and perfect selfinterest.

Economists Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, and many others criticize Homo economicus, contending that no human can be fully informed of “all circumstances and maximize his expected utility by determining his complete, reflexive, transitive, and continuous preferences over alternative bundles of consumption goods at all times.”

They posit, instead, “bounded rationality,” which relaxes the assumptions of standard expected utility theory in order to more realistically represent human economic decision making. Bounded rationality assumes that individuals’ choices are rational but subject to limitations of knowledge and cognitive capacity.

Bounded rationality is concerned with ways in which final decisions are shaped by the decision making process itself. Some psychological researchers argue that Homo economicus disregards inner conflicts that real people face. For instance, Homo economicus does not account for the fact that people have difficulty prioritizing short-term versus long-term goals (e.g., spending versus saving) or reconciling inconsistencies between individual goals and societal values.

Such conflicts, these researchers argue, can lead to “irrational” behavior.