Reading And Reading Processes

Reading And Reading Processes 1.2 Definition of Reading and Reading Processes It is hardly possible to carry out, or even read, a research on reading without an understanding of the word reading and the processes involved in it, and the present study is no exception. Reading plays such an essential role in educational settings that it has been defined as the most important academic language skill (Grabe Stoller, 2002). It is a psycholinguistic receptive process of written communication in that it starts with a linguistic surface representation encoded by a writer and ends with meaning that the reader constructs (Goodman, 1995). It is a process that involves the reader and the text in a dynamic and complex interaction in which a mental representation is constructed based on the meaning signaled by the writer and the readers goals and interests (Rumelhart, 1985; Stanovich, 1980). What is meant by the process is reading proper, i.e. the interaction between a text and a reader (Alderson, 2000, p. 3). In this process, what the readers do is look at print, decode the written words on the page, and determine their meanings and their relationships. The readers also think about what they are reading, what it means to them, how it relates to other things they have read before and to things they already know. Different readers will develop different understandings of what a text means. This is partly because a text does not contain meaning which has to be detected by a proficient reader as the product of reading. The product of the reading process is comprehension (Barry Lazarte, 1995). There may be as many different reading products as there are different readers. This is because readers may differ in their experiences and knowledge. In order for the reading product to be attained, readers employ two different approaches while engaged in the reading process (Nuttall, 2005), namely the bottom-up and the top-down approaches. Bottom-up, or data-driven, approaches are serial models (Alderson, 2000, p.16), where the reader begins with printed words, recognizes graphic stimuli, decodes them to sound, recognizes words and decodes meanings. According to Grabe and Stoller (2002), the bottom-up model suggests that reading follows a mechanical pattern in which the reader creates a piece-by-piece mental translation of the information in the text, with little reference from the readers own background knowledge. Top-down, or conceptually driven, processing is a complementary method of processing written text in which readers draw on their intelligence and experience to understand a text (Nuttall, 2005). According to the top-down model of the reading process, what the reader already knows is thought to determine in large part what s/he will be able to comprehend (Alvermann Phelps, 1998). The top-down model assumes that comprehending begins when a reader has access to appropriate background experiences and knowledge to make sense of the print. In other words, unlike the bottom-up model, the top-down model proposes that the reader makes educated guesses to predict the meaning of the print. As a matter of fact, what is emphasized in top-down processing, according to Alderson (2000), is the knowledge that a reader brings to text. This model is based on schema theory, which accounts for the acquisition of knowledge and the interpretation of text through the activation of schemata: networks of information stored in the brain which act as filters for incoming information (Ausubel, 1968; Bartlett, 1932; Carrell, 1983a; Carrell, Devine Eskey, 1988; Hudson, 1982). In this view, readers activate what they consider to be relevant existing schemata and map incoming information onto them. To the extent that these schemata are relevant, reading is successful. Nevertheless, neither the bottom-up nor the top-down approach, per se, is an adequate characterization of the reading process (Alderson, 2000). What readers need to employ while attending to texts is a combination of the two approaches, which, in Nuttalls words (2005), are used to complement each other. This inadequacy led to the introduction of a third approach, the interactive model. The interactive model of the reading process incorporates features of both the bottom-up and top-down models. In practice, a reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a top-down approach to predict the probable meaning, then moving to the bottom-up approach to check whether that is really what the writer says (Nuttall, 2005, p. 17). In this context, Alvermann and Phelps (1998) believe that the interactive model of reading process is a good descriptor of how students typically read their content area texts. They connect what they know about language, decoding, and vocabulary, or bottom-up skills, to their background experiences, prior knowledge, and familiarity with the topic being read, or top-down skills. Interestingly, these skills are compensatory to Stanovich (1980). He argues that when readers lack enough bottom-up skills, they may use top-down knowledge to compensate. Likewise, when they do not have enough background knowledge on the topic they are reading, they resort to their language skills to comprehend the text. Most of the current models of L2 reading comprehension, according to Nassaji (2007) are interactive in that L2 comprehension is considered to be a process consisting of both bottom-up and top-down processes. However, familiarity with reading models, alone, is not sufficient for the understanding of the factors involved in the reading process. Alongside the significance of the knowledge of the reading process, the importance of reading for ESL learners necessitates the understanding of the variables affecting a learners comprehension of texts. Research on reading variables has divided them into two major sections: factors within the reader, and aspects of the text to be read (Alderson, 2000). What is of focus in the present study is the former section, the reader variables. 1.4 Reader Variables Research has looked at the way readers themselves affect the reading process and product, and has investigated a number of different variables. Among them, two very important reader variables are topic familiarity (i.e. prior knowledge on topic), or background knowledge, (Bransford Johnson, 1972; Carrell, 1983a; Carrell Wise, 1998; Kintsch, 1992; Leeser, 2007; Moravcsik Kintsch, 1993; Nassaji, 2007; Young, 1991), and vocabulary knowledge (Alderson Urquhart, 1985; Anderson Freebody, 1983; Carrell, 1984; Koda, 1988, 2005; Qian, 1999). A definition of these variables seems indispensible to this research introduction. 1.4.1 Topic Familiarity Prior topic knowledge, and its influence on readers text comprehension is one of the variables being investigated in this study with regards to teachers intervention in the classroom. Therefore, an understanding of the concept seems essential for the reader. There is a substantial body of research in cognitive psychology supporting the idea that topic familiarity has a facilitative role in reading comprehension (e.g. Bransford Johnson, 1972; Kintsch, 1992; Moravacsik Kintsch, 1993). This role has been motivated through schema-based models of comprehension (e.g. Rumelhart. 1977, 1980) which posit that pre-existing schemata control comprehension. In other words, readers background knowledge contributes to their understanding of texts. When the term background knowledge is used, what is usually meant is a readers prior knowledge of the subject matter of the text. In this regard, Alvermann Phelps (1998) claim that What a person already knows about a topic is probably the single most i nfluential factor in what he or she will learn ( p. 168). The nature of the knowledge that readers have will influence not only what they remember of text, but also the product, i.e. their understanding of the text, and the way they process it (Bartlett, 1932; Carrell, 1984; Rumelhart, 1980; Alderson, 2000). The development of schema theory has attempted to account for the consistent finding that what readers know affects what they understand. Schemata are seen as interlocking mental structures representing readers knowledge (Alderson, 2000, p. 33). When readers process text, they integrate the new information from the text into their pre-existing knowledge or schemata. In addition, their schemata influence how they recognize information as well as how they store it (Carrell, 1983a). Researchers have distinguished different types of schemata, which will be discussed in detail in Chapter 2. Problems arise when a reader has no relevant schemata or an insufficient schema, if relevant schemata are not recalled, or if an existing schema is inconsistent with information in the text. Readers will often ignore ideas in a text that conflict with conventional real world knowledge (Alvermann, Smith, Readence, 1985). Students with reading difficulties appear to have particular trouble using their prior knowledge to modify misconceptions or to learn new information from reading (Holmes, 1983). Often, a reader who is struggling to understand a difficult text will follow isolated details in the text and as a result employ an inappropriate schema to fill in the gaps. A factor that has strong potential to affect readers comprehension, and can cause their misinterpretations is culture (Steffensen, Joag-Dev, and Anderson, 1979). Effects of cultural differences on reading recall, test scores and reading miscues have been consistently found in different studies (e.g., Carrell, 1984b; Dima ssi, 2006; Rice, 1980). This will be elaborated on in the next chapter. 1.4.2 Vocabulary Knowledge The second parameter that is probed in the study, the understanding of which is inevitable to the reader, is vocabulary knowledge. Successful comprehension is heavily dependent on knowledge of individual word meanings (Koda, 2005, p. 48). Research confirms a strong connection between readers vocabulary knowledge and their ability to understand what they read (Anderson Freebody, 1983; Davis, 1968; Koda, 2005; Qian, 1999). For example, Koda (2005) argues that there is a reciprocal relationship between word knowledge and comprehension. On the one hand vocabulary knowledge plays a crucial role in text understanding among both L1 and L2 readers, and on the other, vocabulary learning and processing are equally dependent on comprehension. She adds that the precise meaning of a particular word is determined in large part by the context in which it appears, and that this meaning is closely linked with readers real-life experience. However, in spite of overwhelming data available on their str ong connection there is little consensus as to the exact mutuality between the two (ibid.). While, traditionally, vocabulary has been viewed as the dominant factor in reading comprehension (Davis, 1968; Whipple, 1925, cited in Hiebert Kamil, 2005), a more recent view suggests a two-way link where the two are interdependent during their development process (Anderson Freebody, 1983). Anderson and Freebody evaluated two contrasting hypotheses: instrumental and knowledge. The instrumental hypothesis postulates a direct mutual tie between vocabulary and comprehension, maintaining that word knowledge facilitates comprehension. On the contrary, the knowledge hypothesis assumes an indirect link between the two, positing that their relationship is linked through a third phenomenon, background knowledge. In this view, vocabulary size reflects conceptual knowledge. Once readers have real-world experience, their text understanding is considerably improved. There will be more elaboration on this in Chapter 2. As was said earlier in this chapter, vocabulary knowledge and background knowledge, or topic familiarity, are two most important variables affecting students comprehension. Research has also shown that the most important problems teachers face in a reading class is unknown vocabulary and unfamiliar topic (Cabaroglu Yurdaisik, 2008). In order to have a better understanding of teachers contribution to the reading class with regard to these two parameters, an awareness of the teachers role in the reading class, which is another variable in the present research, seems inevitable. 1.5 Teachers Role It is believed that the role the teacher plays in reading instruction is significant in the degree of the effectiveness of a reading program (Blair, Rupley Nichols, 2007). In this regard, Duffy-Hester (1999) is convinced that the teacher is more important and has a greater impact than any single, fixed reading program, method, or approach (p. 492). However, it should be noted that it is not enough for a teacher to be a good person who loves working with students. They must be aware of the reading process and the teaching and learning of reading if they want their instruction to yield good results (Blair, Rupley Nichols, 2007). Good teachers understand that students need to be prepared to read before they are asked to (Alvermann Phelps, 1998). One way to prepare students for reading new topics is presenting basic background knowledge through brainstorming, question and answer, discussion on the topic, or pictures. Another way is providing students with topic related vocabulary and instructing them prior to reading (ibid.). These preparatory activities are usually practiced in the pre-reading phase, which, according to Chastain (1988), is meant to motivate students to want to read the assignment and to prepare them to be able to read it. Pre-reading activities provide a reader with necessary background to organize activity and to comprehend the material (Ringler and Weber, 1984). These experiences involve understanding the purpose(s) for reading and building a knowledge base necessary for dealing with the content, vocabulary, and the structure of the material (ibid.) Ringler and Weber argue that pre-reading activities elicit prior knowledge, build background and focus attention. In fact, it is in the pre-reading stage that teachers attempt to facilitate and enhance students comprehension of reading texts by topic familiarization and vocabulary introduction. Chapter 2 will discuss the pre-reading stage in detail. 1.6 Background to the Problem There is a considerable bulk of research on the comparison of the effectiveness and enhancing roles of topic familiarity and vocabulary knowledge in ESL reading (e.g. Afflerbach, 1986; Brantmeier, 2003; Carrell, 1987; Hammadou, 1991; Hudson, 1982; Johnson, 1982; Park, 2004a, 2004b; Swaffer, 1988). Studies on these two reader variables reveal that there is little consensus among the researchers as for their functions in ESL contexts. Some findings have shown a significant, positive effect for topic familiarity as either a main effect or as part of a complex interaction. For example, Johnson (1982) gave ESL readers a passage on Halloween and demonstrated that topic familiarity had a greater impact on comprehension than the pre-teaching of vocabulary. Also, Swaffer (1988) concludes, in her paper, that background knowledge can be more influential in reading comprehension than word knowledge. She further claims that topic familiarity facilitates language recognition, and recall of concepts. However, some other research in the literature indicates that vocabulary knowledge may be a more significant variable than prior knowledge on topic in ESL readers success. For example, Phillips (1990), reported by Hammadou (1991), finds that prior knowledge is insignificant when readers lack vocabulary knowledge and language proficiency. To Phillips, it is only when readers are proficient that high or low background knowledge comes into play and differentiates between readers levels of comprehension. But, perhaps the most comprehensive study on the effects of vocabulary pre-teaching and providing background knowledge on L2 reading comprehension was done by Park (2004b). He divided his 180 participants into three groups à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ the vocabulary group, the background knowledge group, and the control group, with different treatments. The results he attained were a) the scores of the vocabulary and background knowledge groups were significantly higher than those of the control group, b) the vocabulary group scored higher than the background knowledge group, although the difference between the mean scores of the two groups was not significant, and c) the effects of pre-reading activities on L2 reading comprehension differed by achievement level and text type. Nevertheless, to Tuero (1996), unknown vocabulary and prior knowledge play equally decisive roles in reading comprehension. She concludes, in her study, that background knowledge and vocabulary difficulty function independently and affect reading in different ways. Even though prior knowledge facilitates comprehension, vocabulary development is equally crucial to foreign language reading. As said earlier, unknown vocabulary and unfamiliar topic have been found to be the most important problems that teachers encounter in a reading class (Cabaroglu Yurdaisik, 2008). Therefore, to ensure students comprehension, teachers should concentrate on these two variables, because without comprehension reading would be meaningless. Different learners seem to approach reading tasks in different ways, and some of these ways appear to lead to better comprehension (Tercanlioglu, 2004). Research has shown that learners can be instructed to use appropriate reading strategies to help them improve comprehension and recall (Carrell, Pharis, Liberto, 1989), and that this instruction should include more pre-reading strategies than post-reading strategies (Cabaroglu Yurdaisik, 2008). However, what is of concern to the researcher is the degree of effectiveness of teachers instruction of these reading strategies. It is true that unknown vocabulary and unfamiliar topic are the most significant problems in a reading class. But, who should, or can, attend to these problems? Is it the teacher, the student, the author, or other variables that have this responsibility? Although there has been quite a lot of research on topic familiarity and vocabulary knowledge in reading comprehension, unfortunately, to date, there is no data available reflecting on the degree of effectiveness of the teachers presence at, or absence from an ESL reading class. In fact, the role of the teacher in enhancing students familiarity with texts topics and contents, and his/her role in vocabulary introduction have not been investigated yet. It is not clear to what extent teachers intervention facilitates students performance on reading comprehension and vocabulary tests. What if the teacher is not available for a pre-reading instruction? Does this mean that students have to postpone their reading activities, waiting for the unfamiliar topic and unknown vocabulary to be introduced by the teacher? In other words, should topic familiarization and vocabulary introduction be necessarily carried out by the teacher? The researcher believes this is a gap in the literature, which the present study seeks to fill. 1.7 Purpose and Design of the Study This study is an attempt to investigate in depth, in an explanatory mixed methods design, the degree of the effectiveness of teachers construction of background knowledge and his/her instruction of vocabulary at pre-reading stage in adult ESL reading comprehension. The influence of the teacher on the reading class, his/her contribution to students comprehension, and the facilitative role that s/he might play are the important aspects that this study aims to shed light on. The reason for conducting a mixed methods study is that the researcher attempts to combine both quantitative and qualitative data for more precise results. The explanatory mixed methods design, which is also called the two-phase model (Creswell, 2008), puts emphasis on quantitative data collection and analysis. In this method, the major aspect of data collection is quantitative, and a small qualitative component follows in the second phase of the research (ibid.). The quantitative phase of the study aims to test the following hypotheses: Teacher-directed topic familiarization enhances students performance on ESL reading comprehension tasks more than written introductions do. Dictionary use and teachers instruction of vocabulary yield the same results in students performance on vocabulary tests. To test the research hypotheses, this study seeks to answer three questions, and for the qualitative part of the research, RQ4 is supposed to serve the purpose. The research questions are as follows: RQ 1 To what extent does teacher-directed topic familiarization enhance students performance on multiple-choice reading comprehension tests? RQ 2 To what extent does teachers intervention help students recall of a reading passage? RQ 3 What are the differences between teachers instruction of vocabulary and dictionary use in students performance on vocabulary tests? RQ 4 What are students perceptions as to the teachers role in an ESL reading classroom? To answer RQs 1, 2, and 3, quantitative data suffices and serves the purpose, and that is why the researcher applies multiple choice questions and written recall tests. But, for RQ 4, it is deemed necessary to mix quantitative and qualitative data to obtain more detailed , specific information than could be gained from the results of statistical tests. Therefore, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire is combined with semi-structured interviews to answer RQ 4. Details will be found in Chapter 3. 1.8 Significance of the Study Through his experience as an EFL teacher, the researcher has noticed that many EFL students face challenges whenever the reading comprehension process is altered by any unfamiliar reading task or assignment. He has also noticed that pre-reading instruction activities, including prior knowledge construction of unfamiliar topics, and teaching new vocabulary, play an important role in preparing students for the task and can help them become more aware of the characteristics of reading that are important to the task. This study will help teachers and educators find out the effectiveness and significance of teachers presence at, or absence from, the reading class. It is an attempt to explore teachers contribution to students reading comprehension, and tries to answer the question of whether or not, or to what extent, adult ESL students could be independent readers. This research will investigate, for the first time, the effectiveness of dictionary use as compared with the teachers vocabul ary instruction in enhancing students vocabulary knowledge in the reading class. Another significant viewpoint of the study is that, again for the first time, the teachers skill in familiarizing students with unfamiliar topics at pre-reading stage will be compared with the efficacy of written introductory data doing the same job of providing students with background knowledge on unfamiliar topics, hence the applicability of written pre-reading information in helping students text comprehension. All this will have implications for educators, teachers, practitioners, and researchers in the field of L2 reading comprehension, and will also help them design reading skill courses accordingly. It is hoped that the present research will make a positive contribution to the field of teaching second language reading. 1.9 Methodology The study was conducted with newly registered postgraduate students at the University of Malaya, Malaysia. The Institute of Graduate Studies (IGS) at UM administers regular English Placement Tests for those new students who do not possess any scores on either the TOEFL or the IELTS as the prerequisite for the registration for the university programs. Based on the students scores on the university Placement Test, the participants were assigned to two treatment groups, Group A and Group B, comprising 35 students each. To find the answers to RQs 1, 2, and 3, the participants were provided with three reading passages of unfamiliar topics and contents, which they read and were tested on, with a weeks interval between the tests. The difficulty levels of these passages were measured through the Flesch Readability Test (Flesch, 1948). A typical session ran as this: The participants in Group A received no teachers intervention. They were provided with some brainstorming questions, to which they received no answers, a list of the text concepts, and a written introduction, which were meant to help them construct background knowledge on the text they were going to read. The text this group read had a title, which is believed to have a role in helping students to construct prior knowledge (Hammadou, 1991). They were also given a list of the key vocabulary, and were encouraged to use their dictionaries to check words meanings. In short, Group A received any information which was thought to be necessary in rea ding the text, but in the form of written input. Group B, however, underwent teachers intervention. That is, it was the teacher who, in some pre-reading activities, familiarized them with the topic and content, and taught them the key vocabulary. Moreover, their text did not include a title, and no dictionary use was permitted in this group. This procedure was repeated for all the three passages. The participants were then assessed on comprehension and vocabulary after finishing each text. Each reading passage was followed by a free written recall test and a set of 20 multiple choice questions, 10 on comprehension and 10 on vocabulary. In fact, in the three treatment weeks, the students took three written recall tests, 30 comprehension and 30 vocabulary MCQs. Also, to find the answer to RQ4, on the students perceptions of the teachers role in a reading class, a 5- point Likert scale questionnaire was administered, and then through purposeful sampling, 20 of the participants, 10 from each group, were selected for an interview. Applied as one of the data collection tools, the free recall test is a measure in which readers write down as much as they can remember from what they have just read, without looking at the passage. According to Johnston (1983) and Bernhardt (1983), the recall measurement is a valid means of evaluating foreign language reading comprehension. This technique has been widely used in second language reading research (e.g., Carrell, 1987; Dimassi, 2006; Leeser, 2007; Young, 1999) Multiple choice tests, as another research tool, are common instruments for assessing reading comprehension (Alderson, 2000). To Koda (2005), they are the most popular format used in standardized reading comprehension tests. MCQs have been employed extensively in L2 reading assessment (e.g., Bugel Buunk, 1996; Carrell, 1987; Carrell Wise, 1998; Oded Walters, 2001; Park, 2004; Yazdanpanah, 2007), and, therefore, have been coupled with the free recall test to measure the participants reading ability. In addition, Likert scale questionnaires and interviews are two common techniques in measuring perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs in second language teaching and learning (DeVellis, 1991; Turner, 1993), and have been used widely in the literature (See Brown, 2006 2009; Richardson, 1996; Williams Burden, 1997; Yamashita, 2004, for Likert scale questionnaires, and Barkhuizen, 1998; Cabaroglu Yurdaisik, 2008; Conteh Toyoshima, 2005; Li Wilhelm, 2008, for interviews). Thus, the study has applied these tools to find the answer to RQ4. Details on the research instruments will be revealed in Chapter 3.

Custom Power Devices and the Benefits of their Application

CUSTOM POWER DEVICES Initially for the betterment of power quality FACTS devices such as STATCOM ( inactive synchronal compensator ) , SSSC ( inactive synchronal series compensator ) , IPFC ( interline power flow accountant ) , and UPFC ( incorporate power flow accountant ) etc are introduced. These FACTS devices are planned for the transmittal system. However today more concentration is on the distribution system for the betterment of power quality, these devices are customized and known as usage power devices. In 1995 N.G. Hingorani introduced the thought of custom power as an enlargement of FACTS impression to distribution system. The chief aim is to better power quality and enhance dependability of power supply. The construct of FACTS was besides proposed by Hingorani in 1988. The word `custom power ‘ illustrates the value added power that electric public-service corporations will offer their clients. The value add-on will supply the benefits of high power electronic accountants to distribution systems, on the supply terminal of industrial, commercial clients and industrial Parkss. The footings of usage power devices ( CPD ) are complementary to the entity terminal usage equipment at low electromotive forces ( such as UPS ( Uninterruptible Power Supply or standby generators ) . Need OF CUSTOM POWER DEVICES At present power quality is considered as one of the major concern. Distribution system is placed at the terminal of the power system and it is straight connected to the client, so dependability the power system chiefly depends on the distribution system. It has become important, chiefly with the debut of complicated devices, whose concert is highly sensitive to the quality of power supply. Power quality job is an incident manifested as an irregular electromotive force, current or frequence that effect in the failure of terminal usage setup. Any failure in the electrical distribution system will impact about 90 % of the mean client break. Since the customer’s demand for the dependability of power supply is lifting twenty-four hours by twenty-four hours, hence dependability of the distribution system has to be increased. Ideally, power distribution system should supply their client with a uninterrupted flow of energy at even sinusoidal electromotive force at the contracted magn itude degree and frequence. But, in pattern, peculiarly in the distribution system, incorporate several nonlinear tonss, which well affect the quality of power supplies. Due to the consequence of nonlinear tonss, the pureness of the supply wave form is lost. This may take to several power quality jobs. Although power perturbations will originate on all electrical system, the sensitiveness of today’s complicated electronic devices will do them more inclined to the quality of power supplies. To work out this job, Custom power devices are used. One of those devices is Distribution Static Synchronous compensator ( DSTATCOM ) , which is the most efficient and effectual modern usage power device used in power distribution webs. Categorization OF CUSTOM POWER DEVICES Custom power devices are classified based on their power electronic accountants, which can be either of the web reconfiguration type or of the compensating type. The web reconfiguration devices besides called switchgear include the solid province and or inactive versions or current modification, current breakage and current transferring constituents. The counterbalancing type usage power devices either counterbalance a burden ( e.g. rectify its power factor, instability ) or better the quality of the supply electromotive force ( e.g. extinguish its harmonics ) . Custom power devices are classified as fallows Network reconfiguration type of usage power devices includeSSTS ( Solid province transportation switch )SSCL ( Solid province current clipper ) and,SSB ( Solid province ledgeman )Compensation type of usage power devices includeDVR ( Dynamic Voltage Restorer )DSTATCOM ( Distribution Static Synchronous compensator )UPQC ( Unified Power Quality Conditioner ) .Distribution STATCOM ( DSTATCOM ) The distribution STATCOM is indistinguishable to a transmittal STATCOM which uses a VSC of the needed evaluation inside it. Though, the VSC employed in a DSTATCOM is a Type 1 convertor with PWM control above the magnitude of the injected AC electromotive force to prolong a changeless DC electromotive force across the capacitance. Rapid power semiconducting material devices like IGBT or IGCT are employed alternatively of GTO. The fast shift capableness given by IGBT ( or IGCT ) switches allow the usage of more complicated control methods to supply maps of active filtering ( by shooting harmonic currents ) , equilibrating ( by shooting negative sequence current ) and flicker relief. A DSTATCOM can be considered as a variable current beginning resolute by the control maps. To heighten the dynamic evaluation within the capacitive scope, a fixed capacitor/filter is connected in analogue with DSTATCOM. By affecting an energy storage device like SMES ( Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storag e ) on the DC side during a DC/DC power conditioner, it is possible to interchange existent power with the system for a limited clip ( during fleeting breaks or big electromotive force droop ) . Dynamic electromotive force refinisher / regulator ( DVR ) The Dynamic Voltage Restorer ( DVR ) is a series connected device indistinguishable to a SSSC. The chief purpose of a DVR is to take electromotive force droops perceived by sensitive tonss such as semiconducting material fabrication works or IT industry. Therefore the DVR that are installed till now have modular with evaluations of 2 MVA for each faculty. It has been designed to equilibrate the three stage electromotive force sags about 35 % if the continuance clip is less than half a 2nd. Typically the storage of energy in capacitance will lie between 0.2 to 0.4 MJ per MW of burden supplied. A DVR is connected in series along with the feeder by agencies of a transformer. The low electromotive force twist is associated to the convertor. The chief intent of a DVR is to command the electromotive force at the burden coach ; it will be in standby manner for the bulk of the clip through which the convertor is bypassed. The DVR injects a series electromotive force of the necessary magnitud e merely when droop is identified. It is indispensable to protect a DVR from the mistake currents ( as in the instance of a SSSC ) . A DVR with IGBT/IGCT devices will be able to pull off to move as a series active filter so as to divide the burden from electromotive force harmonics on the beginning side. It is besides executable to command the electromotive force on the load side with the injection of negative and/or zero sequence electromotive forces in add-on to harmonic electromotive forces. UNIFIED POWER QUALITY CONDITIONER ( UPQC ) Unified power quality conditioners are feasible compensation devices and are used to verify that the power delivered will fulfill all necessary criterions and specifications at the installing point. The ideal UPQC can be identified as the combination of a electromotive force beginning convertor ( shooting shunt current ) and a common DC nexus ( connected to a DC capacitance ) .UPQC consist of combined series active power filter that regulate electromotive force harmonics of the power supply, and shunt active power filter that regulate harmonic currents of a nonlinear burden. Due to double functionality, UPQC is considered as one of the most appropriate devices that can work out the jobs of both consumers every bit good as of public-service corporation. Hence UPQC will assist to heighten electromotive force profile of power distribution system. Benefits WITH THE APPLICATION OF CUSTOM POWER DEVICES The usage power devices like DVR, DSTATCOM and UPQC etc, are employed to heighten the dependability of the distribution system by giving electromotive force support at the critical coachs in the system ( with series connected accountants ) and to command the power flow in the critical lines ( with shunt connected accountants ) . Both power flow and electromotive force are regulated by the combined series and shunt accountants known as UPQC. As the power electronic control is comparatively fast, this allows ordinance under both steady province and dynamic conditions as compared to other accountants when the system is caused to perturbations. The benefits due to custom power devices are listed below.They assist to outdo possible system operation by diminishing power losingss and heightening electromotive force profile.The power flow in critical lines can be improved as the operating borders can be decreased due to fast controllability.The power transporting ability of lines can be raised to values up to the thermic bounds ( imposed by current transporting ability of the music directors ) .The transeunt stableness bound is improved hence bettering dynamic security of the system and diminishing the incidence of blackouts affected by cascading outages.The steady province or little signal stableness country can be improved by supplying subsidiary stabilising accountants to muffle low frequence oscillations.FACTS accountants s uch as TCSC can react to the job of Sub synchronal Resonance ( SSR ) experienced by agencies of fixed series capacitances connected in lines to take power from thermic power Stationss ( with turbo generators ) .The job of electromotive force fluctuation and moral force over electromotive forces can be overcome by these accountants.

Thailand Is A Country Of Southeast Asia Essay - 1720 Words

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Discuss this statement with reference to at least 3 examples.   Making a check with Oxford Dictionary; Southeast Asia is defined as the part of south-eastern Asia that includes the countries of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. A â€Å"region† refers to an area, especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries, and an â€Å"identity† refers to a close similarityRead MoreOverview Of Thailand Petroleum Industry Essay1366 Words   |  6 PagesOverview of Thailand Petroleum Industry The ten countries in Southeast Asia established the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is straining an increasingly significant effect to world energy trends. 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Panic Disorder And Anxiety Disorder - 1674 Words

Introduction According to Torpy (2011), Panic Disorder refers to an overwhelming fear, terror, or fright that is usually referred to as panic, one that happens to an individual several times in his or her life. She goes on to describe panic as a situation that is short-lived and frequently related to a terrifying event that happens in an individual’s life. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to provide a detailed discussion that shows a definitive picture of panic disorder. In order to enhance one’s understanding on what a panic disorder is, it will be necessary to examine some things like the symptoms and prevalence rate of panic disorder, how different cultures views panic disorder, the age at which the onset of panic disorder comes, some of the gender features in relation to panic disorder with emphasis on whether it manifests differently in boys as it does in girls. It is also necessary to discuss the etiology of panic disorder, the course and prognosis of the condition, as well as, a differential diagnosis that appears similar to panic disorder. Finally, there will be a need to describe the social effects of panic disorder in order to show how an individual with panic disorder gets affected socially. Panic Disorder Statistics from the American Psychological Association (2015) indicate that one person out of every 75 people might be suffering from panic disorder. Referring to it as a serious condition, they go on to explain that panic disorder is a commonShow MoreRelatedAnxiety Disorder : Symptoms And Symptoms1063 Words   |  5 PagesAnxiety is a feeling we can all relate too, some worse than others. Believe it or not, anxiety can be a normal feeling. The emotion you get before an exam, new job interview, or going on the first date, that is anxiety. There are differences in normal anxiety and pathological (abnormal) anxiety. Normal anxiety should last for a short amount of time and cause some discomfort. Now if the anxiety starts to become prolonged and causes the person to become incapacitate, that is when it becomes pathologicalRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Anxiety1319 Words   |  6 Pages Anxiety When asked to do a report on a health related subject I didn’t have to wonder. There was no concern on what subject I would pick. It is plain and simple. I would write on panic disorder. PTSD, or generalized anxiety. This would give me a stage to set some clarity to what is seen as just a group of people who are not as mentally tough as other people. Ever get nervous before a big test? Feel stressed and anxious about a situation. In a state of constant worry. Great because that isRead MoreEssay about Anxiety Disorder1082 Words   |  5 PagesAnxiety Disorder What is Anxiety? As defined by Understanding Psychology by Glencoe, Anxiety is a general state of dread or uneasiness that a person feels in response to a real or imagined danger. Anxiety affects 19 million Americans annually and anxiety disorder happens to be the most common mental illness in America. There are many different types of anxiety disorder such as: Panic Disorder, Obsessive – Compulsion Disorder, Phobias, and a few more. Although there is no cure for anxiety disordersRead MoreGender Differences in Anxiety Disorders1129 Words   |  5 Pagesgender difference in anxiety disorders. I found three articles that surrounded the information that I had to explain about my research. The 3 article titles that I will explain in this assignment are gender differences in anxiety disorders, gender differences in panic disorder, and effects of gender on social phobia. The first article is explaining my main topic that I chose for this assignment. The article is about pa nic disorder, which is a form of an anxiety disorder. The last article isRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of A Panic Disorder1542 Words   |  7 PagesDisease Definition and Symptoms A Panic Disorder is one of five major types of anxiety disorders. ‘Fundamentals of Mental Health Promotion’ states that the five major types of anxiety disorders include Panic disorder and agoraphobia, which will be the point of focus in this paper Phobias, OCD, PTSD, Acute Stress disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. (Sharma, 2013). While also saying Panic Disorders, or recurring â€Å"Panic Attacks†, are defined as â€Å"a discrete period of intense fear or discomfortRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Panic Disorder1493 Words   |  6 PagesDevelopment of Panic Disorder According to the American Psychiatric Association et al. (2013), panic disorder has been shown to occur in about two to three percent of adults in the United States. Panic disorders have been shown to occur more in Caucasian individuals than in any other race or ethnicity. Females have been shown to be twice as affected by panic disorders than their male counterparts and the differences between the genders can be seen by the age of fourteen. Although the normal onsetRead MoreEssay on Anxiety Disorder and the Different Types677 Words   |  3 PagesAnxiety is the most common type of psychiatric diagnosis and brings together several disorders. These disorders cause fear, worry, panic and apprehension. Anxiety is different from fear to the extent that it is a reaction to an anticipated problem and fear is a reaction to a present problem or danger. The fear, worry, panic and apprehension caused by anxiety disorders are out of proportion. People suffering from an anxiety disorder have di fficulties coping with certain situations in life; anxietyRead MoreEssay Panic Disorder1376 Words   |  6 PagesPanic Disorder You become terrified for no apparent reason; your heart feels as though it will beat right out of your chest; you sense an overall feeling of doom and you get dizzy. Am I dying, or am I just crazy? If you are crazy, then so are 2.4 million other people in the United States. Panic disorder, one of many anxiety disorders, is a serious and potentially debilitating illness. This illness is treatable, however, only one-third of those who suffer will actually be treated. WhatRead MoreClassifications for Anxiety Disorders Essay579 Words   |  3 PagesAre you or do you know someone, experiencing panic attacks or anxiety attacks? If so, it is important to be familiar with what these terms mean. Individuals frequently use panic and anxiety together, however; there are significant differences in the two and understanding the difference will make it easier to comprehend the relationship. Phobias are irrational fears that create interference within an individual’s daily routine. There are individuals who suffer from a phobia linked to pretty muchRead MoreCase Study Anxiety Answer Sheet 1 Essay1193 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Case Study: Anxiety Answer Sheet Diagnosing Tina Student Name: Diagnosing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: 1a. Refer to the DSM-IV checklist for generalized anxiety disorder. Which of Tinas symptoms meet any of the criteria? (Be sure to match specific symptoms with specific criteria.) Tina’s symptoms match all four of the criteria in the DSM-IV checklist for generalized anxiety disorder. Tina worries constantly something is going to happen to her twins which is in correlation with the first criteria