These days, dental health is often overlooked by many people. People become conscious of it only when they suffer from severe tooth or gun pains. This is when they realise that dental health care insurance is as important as individual health care insurance. In this article, I will talk about some of the different types of dental health care insurance plans available today and the ones which are really affordable.What Are Your Options?It is really important to opt for a dental insurance plan that meets your individual needs and requirements. Once you have decided to get a dental health care insurance plan, you will see that there are a large number of options available. With the increasing number of health care insurance providers, there also exists a large number of different kinds of plans which can make choosing the best very difficult. Discussed below are some of the best dental insurance plans that you can sign up with.Indemnity Insurance PlansThese are also known as traditional dental insurance coverage plans. Indemnity insurance plans provide basic, preventative and orthodontic services. There are no restrictions as to which dental health care professional you will be seeing. As a result, there is greater flexibility. This plan can come handy especially for people who have to travel frequently. Such insurance policies even cover up to 100 percent of your dental care costs. Some of the services included under the plan include routine checkups, cleaning, fillings and tooth extractions. Depending on the type of plan you have chosen, you will be provided with even more services. However, it is important that you read all the terms and conditions of the contract before making the final decision.HMO Network Dental PlansCapitation dental endurance plans or HMO network dental health care insurance plans are offered by HMO or Health Maintenance Organization. Under these policies, the policy holder can get 100% costs paid by the insurance company. Moreover, it also gives people the option to choose among a large network of dentists. This plan is like a membership group in which the policy holders will pay a small amount of money to avail the facilities and services. This is one of the most inexpensive ways of getting insured for dental health.PPO Dental PlansThese are similar to HMO network where insurance companies have ties with groups of dentists. Those who are insured have the option to choose among the group of dental health care providers. This is beneficial for the dentists as they get a good client base and also beneficial for policy holders as they receive dental treatment by a fraction of the costs.
Direct Reimbursement PlansThere are also direct reimbursement plans which are regarded as one of the best dental insurance plans. These plans are economical and self-induced as it utilizes contributions which are made by the employers and the employees. Some organizations get such plans sponsored by third parties while some establish their own. Under this plan, the person who is insured has the freedom to choose his own dental health provider which is certainly a huge plus for most people.
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Private Commercial Mortgage Lenders – Filling The Funding Gap – Investors Turn To Hard Money Lenders
Getting a Commercial Mortgage is Tougher TodayWe are, indeed, in the midst of a significant and severe credit crunch. Conventional lenders, such as banks, Wall Street investment houses and insurance companies have greatly curtailed their lending activity. Even the very best investors and developers are finding it hard to get projects funded.The collateralized debt market has dried up. Few bond buyers are interested in mortgaged backed paper today. Big institutional lenders are finding it impossible to turn the mortgages they originate into cash. Put in simple terms; no mortgage buyers, no mortgage loans.Property owners, investors and developers are left frustrated and without financing.Good Deals on the SidelinesThe dollar volume of pent-up commercial mortgage loan demand now measures in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Deals that, just a year ago, would have enjoyed quick funding are being rejected by banks out-of-hand. Not because they don’t have merit, but because the banks and their counterparts are caught up in the liquidity crises.With millions in profit potential at stake, commercial property investors are seeking out non-traditional sources of mortgage funds.Private Commercial Mortgage Loans; Funding Deals When Banks Won’tPrivately funded commercial mortgage loans are becoming increasingly popular during this mortgage meltdown. Private lenders, many funded by wealthy individuals, hedge funds or other large pools of capital, often lend their own money for their own portfolios. These unique lenders have not been crippled by the breakdown of the collateralized mortgage bond market. They can still originate loans at will without worrying about who may or may-not want to buy them.Further, private loans (sometimes called “hard money” loans) can close in just days, as-opposed to conventional loans which, if you get one at all, can take 3 months or more to fund.
There are generally no loan committees, stacks of paperwork or complicated ratios to deal with. If they like your deal and you demonstrate that you can pay them back, they can and will close your loan no-matter-what Wall Street is doing.What Private Commercial Mortgage Lenders Look forPrivate lenders are equity based lenders; loan decisions are not driven by the credit of the borrower. It is essential that the collateral property have substantial equity in it. Most hard money commercial lenders won’t lend more than 70% of the purchase price or, in the case of a refinance, the value of the commercial property. So be prepared for large down-payment requests or a good sized 2nd mortgage. Also, borrowers will need to have some cash, typically 10% or more, in any given deal. There is no-such-thing-as 100% financing today. Documentation requirements will be much less than conventional lenders would require but be prepared to back up any claims you make with some proof.
Income producing buildings are favored by hard money lenders but most are willing to consider all property types.Hard Money Commercial Loans Have Become IndispensableWith the large conventional lending institutions frozen like a deer in the headlights, private, hard money commercial lenders have become indispensable to the commercial sector. They stand ready and willing to lend against quality buildings or well thought-out development projects. Investors should not give up on finding financing for their best deals until they have looked into a privately funded mortgage.
Science of Wave Energy Conversion Systems for Sensor Buoys Furthered by Business and University
Introduction
The ocean is in constant motion and the effects of sea states are enormous. Ocean energy has a profound impact on the development of storm systems; shipping safety and shipping routes; recreational boating, surfing and swimming; and fishing and other methods of obtaining seafood. Wind-driven currents on the ocean surface extrapolate down into the ocean depths. Data from Sensor Buoys can provide critical information regarding ocean properties such as: ocean color, sea height, temperature, currents, and pollution.Power Problem
Existing power systems for remote sensor buoys and other remote ocean platforms often include solar panels and batteries. These systems would benefit form major improvement or replacement. Problems include: poor performance in cold and/or dark latitudes, insufficient power to operate the latest electronic equipment, high maintenance costs, high replacement costs, loss due to theft and vandalism, and battery disposal. Power harvesting from ambient ocean wave energy is a natural option to augment or replace any of these electrical-power-providing systems.Research Participants
Engineering companies, R&D groups, and universities are working on solving the issues of powering sensor buoys. Collaboration among these organizations is beneficial because of the great number of scientific areas that the development of self-powered sensor buoys encompass: marine geology and geophysics, biology, atmospheric and ocean chemistry and physics, marine hydrodynamics, electrical generators, advanced controls and dynamics, data communication, data acquisition, motor control and power systems. Close proximity to an ocean or a bay can provide researchers with easy access to test their power systems.Ocean Wave Energy Harvesting Systems
Ocean wave energy harvesting systems designed for sensor buoys convert wave motion into electricity to allow operation under all weather conditions. These new systems will enable enhanced functionality, higher performance and continuous operation. Such systems generate and accumulate energy that can be used to indefinitely power remote buoys equipped with sensor arrays as well as electronics for processing and communications. These power sources can be integrated with buoy systems to minimize the size of batteries, or to eliminate the need for batteries if super-capacitors are used. The goal is to store accumulated energy and form a completely self-contained, persistent, energy source platform suitable for a variety of sensor payloads.Obviously there are many challenges. The systems need to provide automatic wave energy harvesting and work with both drifting and moored buoys. The systems need to function at a low acoustic noise level and provide stealthy acoustic and visual operation plus a wide band response to the wave period. The elimination of batteries is the ultimate goal along with enhanced functionality, higher performance and continuous operationResearch Sponsors
There are numerous organizations interested in this technology. Some of the organizations that have provided funding include: the Office of Naval Research, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, and the Rhode Island Science and Technology Council. Some of the projects investigated include the development of a small spar buoy, a direct drive system and a resonant drive system.Small Spar Buoy
This project was to devise a means of energy harvesting for a small diameter buoy free floating on the ocean surface. The buoy would contain an antenna on the upper portion and electronics for remote communications and sensing. The design would ensure that the buoy produce enough energy so that more than 4 milliwatts of power would be available at an instance. The required battery storage capacity would be at least 60 joules. Energy storage could include the use of a rechargeable battery. New scientific research has greatly extended both design concepts and theoretical analyses typically proposed for such systems and performed detailed numerical modeling that featured a wave-to-wire model of the power generation system in ocean sea states.Direct Drive System
A Direct Drive System has been developed that employs small electric generators that are directly driven via a surface buoy’s wave-induced heave motion. This system provides power from the differential motion between the buoy float and a submerged resistant plate. This configuration provides reliable operation without the need for additional gearing and has the ability to harness electrical power in the 1 to 10 Watt range in small sea states (WMO Sea State 1: Calm). The buoy response in the Direct Drive System is designed to match a wide range of expected ocean wave spectra based on the deployment location. Direct Drive of the system with wave motion results in broad band response with high efficiency. Other benefits of this system include low acoustic noise and stealthy operation.Resonant Drive System
A Resonant Drive System has been developed that employs small electric generators that are resonantly driven via a surface buoy’s wave-induced heave motion. This system amplifies the generator’s armature motion at the peak period of the sea state (WMO Sea State 1: Calm). The buoy response in the Resonant Drive System is designed to match the expected ocean wave spectrum based on the deployment location. The benefits of the resonant system include enhanced functionality, higher performance and continuous operation. The buoy is completely sealed with no external moving parts.Scale Model Testing
Scale model testing of the Direct Drive and Resonant Drive Systems has been performed in a wave tank as well as at the mouth of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. This small buoy sensor system generates and accumulates energy that can be used to indefinitely power remote buoys equipped with sensor arrays as well as electronics for processing and communications. This power source can be used to minimize the size of batteries or to eliminate the need for batteries if supercapacitors are used. The buoy system design is customized and scalable (1-250 W) and can be suited to moored or drifting applications.Furthering the Science
This technology has many government and commercial applications including:
• Recharging stations for unmanned underwater vehicles
• Replacement or augmentation for solar power
• Elimination of batteries
• Sonar listening stations
• Weather monitoring buoys
• Wave monitoring buoys
• Tsunami warning stations
• Port monitoring buoys.The goal of these scientific endeavors is to develop wave energy converters that can operate in all environmental conditions and augment or replace any of the currently used battery/solar power systems with efficient, low-cost, ambient ocean wave energy systems.