conversion

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A chemical manufacturing process in which chemical transformation takes place, that is, the product differs chemically from the starting materials. Most chemical manufacturing processes consist of a sequence of steps, each of which involves making some sort of change in either chemical makeup, concentration, phase state, energy level, or a combination of these, in the materials passing through the particular step. If the changes are of a strictly physical nature (for example, mixing, distillation, drying, filtration, adsorption, condensation), the step is referred to as a unit operation. If the changes are of a chemical nature, where conversion from one chemical species to another takes place (for example, combustion, polymerization, chlorination, fermentation, reduction, hydrolysis), the step is called a unit process. Some steps involve both, for example, gas absorption with an accompanying chemical reaction in the liquid phase. The term chemical conversion is used not only in describing overall processes involving chemical transformation, but in certain contexts as a synonym for the term unit process. The chemical process industry as a whole has tended to favor the former usage, while the petroleum industry has favored the latter. See also Chemical process industry; Unit processes.

Another usage of the term chemical conversion is to define the percentage of reactants converted to products inside a chemical reactor or unit process. This quantitative usage is expressed as percent conversion per pass, in the case of reactors where unconverted reactants are recovered from the product stream and recycled to the reactor inlet. See also Chemical engineering.

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(1) "Data conversion" is changing data from one file or database format to another. It may also require code conversion between ASCII and EBCDIC.

(2) "Graphics conversion" is changing from one vector or bitmapped file format to another. See graphics conversion.

(3) "Media conversion" is changing storage media such as from tape to disk, or hard disk to flash memory. It may also refer to the conversion from analog to digital media. See digital converter.

(4) "Program conversion" is changing the programming source language from one dialect to another or from one platform to another.

(5) "Computer system conversion" is changing the computer model and peripheral devices.

(6) "Information system conversion" requires data conversion and either program conversion or the installation of newly purchased or created application programs.

(7) See conversion filter and image filter.

(8) See also conversion rate.

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Computer file maintenance: process of converting data from one format or system to another, such as from hard copy to magnetic tape; also called reformatting.

Direct marketing: transformation of a trial offer buyer or catalog requestor into a customer through a first-time purchase.

Magazines: first-time renewal of a subscription. See also conversion renewal percentage.

1. Exchange of banking charter by a bank or thrift institution, for example, a state chartered bank applying for a national charter from the Comptroller of the Currency, or vice versa. Charter conversions allow a bank to take advantage of differences in banking regulation, such as more liberal Legal Lending Limits for state chartered banks in some states.

2. Switching from mutual ownership to stock ownership through a common stock Rights offering, done by a savings bank or savings and loan association to raise equity capital.

3. Switching an Adjustable Rate Mortgage to a fixed rate loan, often at no additional charge to the borrower if done within a specified period.

4. Exchange of a convertible security, such as a Capital Note or a Debenture for a specified number of common stock shares.

5. Exchange of mutual fund shares for shares in another source of funds, often at no charge if the transfer is within a family of funds.

6. In tort law, the wrongful taking of property that belongs to someone else, as when a Trustee uses assets in a trust fund for personal benefit.

1. changing property to a different use or form of ownership, such as when apartments are transformed to condominiums .


Example: A condominium conversion allows existing tenants to remain until the expiration of their lease and often allows them to purchase the unit at terms more favorable than those offered to general public.


2. the taking away of property that belongs to another person.
See also involuntary conversion.


Example: An illegal conversion of the landlord’s property occurred when the tenant removed the landlord’s light fixture from the apartment.


3. a change in the ownership form of a savings and loan association .


Example: Friendly Savings applies to the federal home loan bank Board for conversion from a mutual savings bank to a stockholder-owned company.


4. a provision in some adjustable - rate mortgages allowing the borrower to change the loan to a fixed-rate loan. Usually conversions are allowed at the end of the first adjustment period. At the time of the conversion, the new fixed rate is generally set at a rate then prevailing for fixed - rate mortgages .


Example: An ARM is originated at 5% interest for the first year.
There is an option for conversion at the end of that year to a fixedrate mortgage at the then-current interest rate.

Previous:	Conventional Loan, Conventional Home
Next:	Converter, Convertible Arm

noun

1. The process or result of changing from one appearance, state, or phase to another: change, changeover, metamorphosis, mutation, shift, transfiguration, transformation, translation, transmogrification, transmutation, transubstantiation. See change/persist.
2. A fundamental change in one's beliefs: metanoia, rebirth, regeneration. See change/persist.

n

Definition: change, adaptation
Antonyms: idleness, sameness

1. See breaking down.
2. A change in the use of a building to another use which has different requirements according to code (e.g., different exit, fire-resistance, light and ventilation, loading, structural, or zoning requirements).

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Term used in the theory of the syllogism for a transformation in which the original predicate is made the subject of a proposition, and vice versa. Conversion is sometimes straightforward (with an E or an I proposition): ‘some As are B’ is equivalent to ‘some Bs are A’. But ‘all As are B’ can only be converted with a shift in the figure, being deemed equivalent to ‘some Bs are A’.

The term "conversion" and its definition appear for the first time in an 1894 article by Freud titled "The Neuro-Psychoses of Defense." "In hysteria the incompatible idea rendered innocuous by its sum of excitation being transformed into something somatic, for this I should like to propose the name of conversion ....By this means the ego succeeds in freeing itself from the contradiction [with which it is confronted]; but instead, it has burdened itself with a mnemic symbol which finds a lodgement in consciousness, like a sort of parasite, either in the form of an unresolvable motor innervation or as a constantly recurring hallucinatory sensation" (1894a, p. 49). In the Freudian terminology of the time, an "irreconcilable" idea is a desire that is incompatible with the subject's moral ideals and consequently condemned and most often rendered unconscious.

Consequently, the concept is, from the beginning, located along the three axes that will structure all Freudian metapsychology: dynamic through the reference to "contradiction," which will later be theorized as "conflict"; topographical through the reference to the unconscious, which is still only allusive but will quickly assume major importance; and economic through the idea of a displacement of the energy (this will later become the libido) of the mind to the body. From this Freud draws a therapeutic conclusion: "Breuer's cathartic method lies in leading back the excitation in this way from the somatic to the psychical sphere deliberately, and in then forcibly bringing about a settlement of the contradiction by means of thought-activity and a discharge of the excitation by talking" (1894a, p. 50).

Freud initially considered the mechanisms of conversion to be specific to hysteria, unlike the other defensive psychoneuroses (obsessions and phobias). There would be a predisposition to hysteria for reasons he believes are probably constitutional, through what he refers to as "somatic compliance" in the Dora case (1905e). However, the "choice of neurosis," a problem to which he often returned, here finds only its modalities of realization; to these fundamental conditions must be added "trigger factors" rooted in personal history (childhood traumas such as early "seduction" experiences, that is, sexual assaults initiated by adults). This is Freud's position during the first period of his career. Later, in 1915, he distinguished "conversion hysteria," which used this mechanism to produce symptoms, from "anxiety hysteria," dominated by phobic mechanisms but without being accompanied by any conversion phenomena (1915d). He also acknowledged that minor conversion phenomena can be found in situations other than so-called conversion hysteria (1916-17a).

It is important to remember that Freud quickly established the necessity of distinguishing psychoneuroses—to which hysteria belongs—from actual neuroses (neurasthenia, anxiety neurosis, hypochondria), whose source is not found in infantile conflicts but in current disturbances of the sexual function (1898a). In such cases the accumulation of sexual excitation that has not been released or has been released by unsatisfactory means (coitus interruptus, masturbation, and so on) is reflected in anxiety and somatic symptoms (these views were modified in Inhibitions, Symptoms, and Anxiety, 1926d), but without the symbolic dimension inherent in conversion phenomena.

While the notion "actual neurosis" went into a long decline, modern work in psychosomatic medicine has given it new currency. It is used to describe somatic disturbances, often serious, that appear to arise from a form of interaction between mind and body where energy "passes directly" from the mind to somatic functions without symbolic mediation, that is, without "mentalization" of the psychoneuroses (Marty, 1980).

Bibliography

Freud, Sigmund. (1894a). The neuro-psychoses of defence. SE, 3: 45-61.

——. (1905e). Fragment of an analysis of a case of hysteria (Dora/Ida Bauer). SE, 7: 7-122.

——. (1915d). Repression. SE, 14: 146-158.

——. (1916-17a). Introductory lectures on psychoanalysis. SE, 15-16.

Marty, Pierre. (1980). Les mouvements individuels de vie et de mort (Vol. II, L'Ordre psychosomatique). Paris: Payot.

—ROGER PERRON

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Any unauthorized act that deprives an owner of personal property without his or her consent.

The wrongdoer converts the goods to his or her own use and excludes the owner from use and enjoyment of them. The English common law early recognized such an act as wrongful and, by the middle of the fifteenth century, allowed an action in trover to compensate the aggrieved owner.

The earliest cases allowing a lawsuit for conversion were based on claims that the plaintiff had possession of certain items of personal property, then casually lost them, and the defendant had found them and had not returned them but instead "converted them to his own use." This phrase was picked up, and it gave a name to atort that originally was a kind of action on the case, a form of trespass. As time passed, the plea that the plaintiff had lost his or her goods and the defendant had found them came to be considered a legal fiction (that is, a decision was made in the case as if the plea were true, and it did not have to be proved). The defendant was not allowed to dispute the allegations but could answer only the claim that the plaintiff had a right to possession of the goods and the defendant had refused to restore them to the plaintiff.

Today the word conversion is still applied to the unlawful taking or use of someone else's property. The type of property that can be converted is determined by the original nature of the cause of action. It must be personal property, becausereal property cannot be lost and then found. It must be tangible, such as money, an animal, furniture, tools, or receipts. Crops or timber can be subject to conversion after they are severed from the ground. The rights in a paper — such as a life insurance policy, a stock certificate, or a promissory note — can be converted by one who appropriates the paper itself.

A thief, a trespasser, or a bailee may be guilty of conversion because the action may be maintained whether or not the property was lawfully acquired at the outset. For example, a dry cleaner who mistakenly delivers a suit to the wrong customer has converted it. Moving someone's property without his or her permission might constitute a conversion if the inconvenience is substantial: for example, having someone's car towed away in order to take the parking place. Unauthorized use is a conversion — such as a mechanic who, without permission, borrows a sports car that he or she is supposed to repair. Misuse of property can also be a conversion. If a neighbor lends his or her hedge trimmer to a friend, it is a conversion for the friend to use the hedge trimmer to cut down a tree.

The exchange of a convertible type of asset into another type of asset, usually at a predetermined price, on or before a predetermined date. The conversion feature is a financial derivative instrument that is valued separately from the underlying security. Therefore, an embedded conversion feature adds to the overall value of the security.

Investopedia Says:
An example of an asset that can undergo conversion is a convertible bond. This type of bond gives the bondholder the option to exchange the bond for a predetermined amount of the bond issuer's equity. Typically, the bondholder will exercise the option when the total value of the shares received from conversion exceeds the bond's worth.

For example, John owns a convertible bond worth $1,000 from XYZ Corp. If the bond can be converted into 100 shares of XYZ, John will most likely exercise the conversion option only when XYZ's share price exceeds $10.   

Related Links:
Find out about the nuts and bolts, pros and cons of investing in bonds. Convertible Bonds: An Introduction
These securities offer an answer for investors who want the profit potential of stocks but not the risk. Introduction To Convertible Preferred Shares

Quotes:

"Jesus tapped me on the shoulder and said, Bob, why are you resisting me? I said, I'm not resisting you! He said, You gonna follow me? I said, I've never thought about that before! He said, When you're not following me, you're resisting me." - Bob Dylan

"I believe that a man is converted when first he hears the low, vast murmur of life, of human life, troubling his hitherto unconscious self." - D. H. Lawrence

"I used to say: there is a God-shaped hole in me. For a long time I stressed the absence, the hole. Now I find it is the shape which has become more important." - Salman Rushdie

"Once my heart was captured, reason was shown the door, deliberately and with a sort of frantic joy. I accepted everything, I believed everything, without struggle, without suffering, without regret, without false shame. How can one blush for what one adores?" - George Sand

"The great danger of conversion in all ages has been that when the religion of the high mind is offered to the lower mind, the lower mind, feeling its fascination without understanding it, and being incapable of rising to it, drags it down to its level by degrading it." - George Bernard Shaw

1. the act of changing into something of different form or properties.
2. manipulative correction of malposition of a fetal part during labor.

• c. formulae — formulae for conversion of one numerical mode of expression into a different mode, e.g. avoirdupois to metric weight.
• c. ratio — a measure of activity of the thyroid gland; it expresses the proportion of the total radioactivity of the plasma, subsequent to the injection of radioactive iodine, which is bound to protein (protein-bound iodine test).

For a list of words related to conversion, see:

• Quantities, Relationships, and Operations - conversion: change in form but not value of quantity or unit
• Software, Languages, and Programming - conversion: translation of data from one operating system or program to another
• Real Estate Practice - conversion: change of building’s use and status, as from rental to condominium
• Basketball
• Football
• Practice and Doctrine - conversion: formal change from one religion to another

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See words rhyming with "conversion."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Conversion.

Common misspelling(s) of conversion

• convertion

Dansk (Danish)
n. - omvendelse, ombygning, omlægning, omregning, omsætning, funktionsskift, forvandling, konversion, genudnyttelse

Nederlands (Dutch)
bekering, verbouwing, verbouwd pand, omzetting, onrechtmatige toe-eigening, terugkeer van zondaars naar het geloof (Christelijk), conversie (sport/ psychologie), herleiding

Français (French)
n. - transformation, conversion, (Math, Comput) conversion, aménagement, (Relig, Pol) conversion, (Sport) transformation (rugby)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Umwandlung, Umbau, Konversion, Umstellung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μετατροπή, προσηλυτισμός, μεταποίηση

Italiano (Italian)
conversione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - conversão (f), apropriação (f) (Jur.)

Русский (Russian)
превращение, преобразование, конверсия, конвертирование

Español (Spanish)
n. - conversión, transformación, cambio, reconversión

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - omvandling, ombyggnad, omformning, aptering, omställning, omvändelse (teol. o psyk.), konvertering (ekon. o data.), förskingring (jur.), konversion (filos.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
转变, 换位, 改宗

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 轉變, 換位, 改宗

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 전환, 개심, 변이, 횡령

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 転換, 改造, 改宗, 転向, コンバート, 転化, 転換法

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تحويل, تغيير‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮המרה, החלפה, המרת דת, שינוי‬

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