UnitedHealthcare Group Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

UnitedHealthcare Group - Assignment Example The purpose of the essay is to measure the readiness of the organization and to observe the strategic plans that would be required to be incorporated by the organization for satisfying the healthcare requirements of the citizens in the next decade. The citizens of next decade will have several additional healthcare requirements in comparison to people of present generation. As a consequence, the staffing requirement for specialized workers in several medical occupations (such as nurse) will also rise in the next decade. In present days, people largely neglect the personal healthcare aspects such as diet, exercise and sleeping requirements and significantly engage in several unhealthy activities such as smoking and drinking among others. Besides, increasing level of stress and obesity issues has also become prevalent for people. Several studies depicted that in the United States (US), 50% of deaths are attributed to preventable actions and negligence of people to several manageable as pects. Thus, in the next decade there will be requirement for better health programs along with providing awareness education which can lead to change in behavior of people. Furthermore, in the next decade, citizens are expected to gradually undertake higher responsibilities for healthcare. This, in turn it will increase the requirement of tailored healthcare delivery in terms of better healthcare products and services. As citizens would require bearing the financial stress of handling healthcare issues, they will require effective direction through better healthcare plans. For instance, according to the statistics of ‘America’s Health Insurance Plans’ in 2007, almost 4.5 million Americans were covered with effective healthcare plans.

Use of Dollar Coins as Opposed to Dollar Bills in the US Essay

Use of Dollar Coins as Opposed to Dollar Bills in the US - Essay Example As the paper outlines. with the US budget deficit expected to reach the $1.5 trillion mark this year, the government is under immense pressure to initiate sustainable cost-cutting measures. Eliminating the dollar bill and replacing it with dollar coins should be one of the measures because the government will save the taxpayer more than $5 billion in the next 3 decades among other benefits. Cutting on spending is the biggest priority that the US government has so as to set the economy back in motion. The government currently spends a great deal of money printing and circulating the dollar bills. It will actually take 31 cents less to produce a dollar coin as opposed to a dollar bill according to Fiegerman. A coin will definitely last longer than a bill, therefore, saving on reprinting cost. The dollar bill is made of low-quality materials which tend to wear out within 3 years. This will not be the case with a dollar coin which can last for 34 years. It is also estimated that the doll ar bill will become more expensive to make owing to the fact that cotton prices are increasing steadily. This has shot up the cost of making paper by up to 50% as compared to the same time back in 2007. The EU and countries like Canada and Japan have relied on coins for their low denominations. Canada actually found that it saved more than 10 times their earlier estimated figures. Another issue relates to jamming of machines when producing the dollar bills. The Week states that more than $1 billion gets lost after vending machines jam thereby requiring repairs and companies losing on revenue from sales.  There are arguments that the dollar bill is one of the distinctive features of the United States economy and eliminating it will erode this uniqueness. There is also the belief that change to dollar coins will hurt the economy, especially in the current state.  

Peter Singer and Garrett Hardin On Helping the Poor Essay

Peter Singer and Garrett Hardin On Helping the Poor - Essay Example I find that both articles are very well written, and as previously stated, both make their point on their issues, though Singer does so in a more antagonistic, provoking manner, while Hardin seems to remain impartial while giving concrete examples to support his position. After reading these two articles, I find myself disagreeing wholeheartedly with Mr. Singer, on the basis that a nation should look within its own borders and fix the problems that plague it from within before even beginning to give aid to any other countries that may be in need. While I agree that there may be a moral obligation to provide aid and assistance, it should first be provided to those that reside within the borders of a given nation, before being provided elsewhere. Mr. Singer is fixated on a situation occurring in Bengal, while providing general evidence that nations capable of sending aid have not done enough to help. However, he fails to provide concrete, quantitative statistics on the nations that he is citing as able to provide aid to Bengal. There is no concrete evidence given to suggest what is happening within the nations that are able to provide aid, and no other examples other than criticism of those nations who choose to build luxury items rather than send aid. For example, Mr. Singer states that â€Å"Australia’s aid amounts to less than one-twelfth the cost of the Sydney’s new opera house.† He further states that Britain, another country able to give aid to Bengal, has â€Å"non-recoverable costs of the Anglo-French Concorde Project already in excess of ?275,000,000.† Yet he does not mention the per capita statistics of these two countries specifically, citing only that â€Å"they are able to give aid†. Mr. Singer also fails to mention that most large projects such as the opera house and transport systems are, inevitably, taxpayer funded over a long period of time. This in and of itself creates a vicious cycle which, again, Mr. Singer does not mention: higher taxes means less money in the pockets of the citizens, which means less to give to others. It seems as though Mr. Singer is trying to make people feel guilty for having luxuries while there are others that do not, which is hardly the basis for any moral argument that one should give money. Mr. Hardin, in fact, says this in another, perhaps more realistic way by stating â€Å"Some say they feel guilty about their good luck. My reply is simple: Get out and yield your place to others.† Just because one has the resources to share, does not mean that they should. It should be the choice of each and every person and/or country if they choose to share, or if they choose to use that money where it is most needed, which may well be within the borders of their own country. Another issue to look at is the fund that is being donated to. Mr. Singer mentions the Bengal Relief Fund. What proof do people have that the Bengal Relief Fund will actually get the money to actually assist others? In 2001, the World Food Program received notice that one million people in Zimbabwe would be â€Å"in urgent need of food aid within a month†; however, the government, after â€Å"holding out the begging bowl†, refused to allow anyone but themselves to distribute that food (LoBaido). The World Food Program would have no way of knowing if the goods that were donated actually made it to the people in need of aid, or

The Carbonated Soft Drink Industry Essay Example for Free

The Carbonated Soft Drink Industry Essay The first drinkable â€Å"man-made† carbonated water was created by â€Å"British chemist, Dr. Joseph Priestley, in 1767. † â€Å"German-Swiss jeweler, Jacob Schweppe, was the first large-scale commercial producer of carbonated waters, and is often referred to as the father of the soft drink industry. The first known US manufacturer of soda water, as it was then known, was Yale University chemist Benjamin Silliman in 1807, though Joseph Hawkins of Baltimore secured the first US patent for the equipment to produce the drink two years later. † Pharmacies nationwide around the 1820s provided the beverage as â€Å"a remedy for the various ailments, especially digestive. †1 As sugar and flavorings were added customers increasingly consumed them for refreshments, although they were still being sold for their therapeutic value. In the late 1800s, several brands emerged that are still popular to this day. â€Å"Pharmacists experimenting at local soda fountains invented Hires Root Beer in Philadelphia in 1876, Dr. Pepper in Waco, Texas, in 1885, Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1886, and Pepsi-Cola in New Bern, North Carolina, in 1893, among others. † Analysis of the Soft Drink Industry. â€Å"The carbonated soft drinks market includes standard and diet colas, fruit-flavored carbonates, mixers, energy drinks, and other carbonated soft drinks. † The global carbonated soft drinks â€Å"market grew by 0. 4% and generated total revenues of $146. 4 billion in 2006. Market consumption volumes increased with compound annual growth of 1. 3% to reach a total of 155. 4 billion liters in 2006. The performance of the market is forecast to accelerate slightly, with an anticipated compound annual growth of 0. 7% for the five-year period 2006-2011 expected to drive the market to a value of $151. 4 billion by the end of 2011. †4 â€Å"The global carbonated soft drinks market was close to stagnation during the 2002-2006 period, as poor revenue performance in lucrative but mature markets, such as the US and Japan, were only partially outweighed by dynamic growth in markets such as China. Similar behavior is expected going forward to 2011. †4 Of all the various carbonated drinks offered in the market today, â€Å"the standard cola segment was the largest in 2006, with total sales of 67. 6 billion liters, equivalent to 43. 5% of the market’s overall volume. The fruit flavored carbonates segment contributed to a further 34 billion liters in 2006, equating to 21.9% of the market’s aggregate volume. Brazil Canada, Mexico and the US form the most lucrative market for carbonated soft drinks, generating 58. 5% of the global revenues; Europe accounts for 31% of the global market value. †4 â€Å"Players in this market may opt for an integrated business, in which they sell ready-to-consume drinks to retailers, or they may adopt a business model in which they sell raw materials, syrups, to a network of bottling companies, which may be independent or owned to some extent by the players. †4 A Five-Forces Analysis of the Soft Drinks Industry Revenues are extremely concentrated in this industry. The main players in this industry are the Coca-Cola Co. , PepsiCo Inc. and Cadbury-Schweppes. â€Å"The Coca-Cola Company is the global market leader, with sales equating 47. 1% of the market volume. PepsiCo. Inc. is a significant competitor, with a 22% market share by volume [and Cadbury-Schweppes accounts for 8. 8% of the total market share by volume. ]†4 There is a tough competition between the existing companies in the industry and a moderate degree of rivalry. The inputs for the soft drink industry are primarily sugar and packaging. These can be purchased from many sources on the open market. Aspartame, an important ingredient, â€Å"[is] available from only one or two viable companies upstream. † However, there are substitutes, like saccharine, available in case the price for aspartame goes high. In case sugar becomes too expensive, the firms could easily switch to corn syrup, as they did in the early 1980s. Hence, supplier power is moderate. For more than a decade the soft drink industry has sold their products to their consumers through five principal channels: supermarkets/hypermarkets, mass merchandiser, fountain, vending machines and convenient stores/gas stations. Supermarkets/Hypermarkets are principal customers for the soft drink industry. They do not have much bargaining power due to their tremendous degree of fragmentation. Their only power is control over shelf space that can be allocated to the various products; this power does give them some control over profitability. However, consumers expect to pay less through this channel, as a result of which prices are usually lower, resulting in a somewhat lower profitability. National mass merchandising chains such as Wal Mart have a higher bargaining power. Due to their scale and the magnitude of their contracts they can negotiate more effectively. As a result of which they are not very profitable for the players of the soft drink industry. The least profitable channel for soft drinks is fountain sales. Profitability at these locations are so abysmal that they are considered to be â€Å"paid sampling† by the soft drinks industry. However, these channels are considered to be important as an avenue to build brand recognition and loyalty. â€Å"While fast food chains make 75% gross margin on fountain drinks, the soft drink industry only makes 5% margin. † Vending machines are considered to be the most profitable channel for the soft drink industry. There are no buyers to bargain with at these locations, players of the soft drink industry directly sell their products to consumers through machines owned by bottlers. Prices at vending machines are usually high. The final channel to consider is convenience stores/gas stations. The players of the soft drink industry directly negotiate with the owners of these channels. Profitability for players is relatively high and the â€Å"retailers at these channels vary proportionately. Consumers are likely to be strongly influenced by brand, and this weakens buyer power: retailers need to stock brands popular with consumers, even if these are more expensive. †6 The only buyers with dominant power are fast food outlets. Despite this, they only account for about 20% of the total soft drink sales. Overall, the buyer power is moderate. Through the early 1960s, soft drinks were synonymous with â€Å"colas† in the mind of consumers. Over time, however, other beverages, from bottled water to teas, have become more popular. There are also other substitutes for soft drinks, like alcoholic beverages, fruit juices, energy drinks, vitamin waters and coffee. Leading players like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have responded by expanding their product offerings through alliances (e. g. Coca-Cola and Nestea), acquisitions (e. g. Coca-Cola and Minute Maid), and internal product innovation (e. g. PepsiCo created Orange Slice), thus capturing the value of increasingly popular substitutes internally. Despite all this, â€Å"in several countries consumer health concerns over the high-sugar content of many soft drinks is causing a decline in sale. † In order to tackle this problem, â€Å"leading manufacturers are developing their product ranges accordingly. † For example, Coca-Cola responded by introducing Coke Zero, which is â€Å"sugar-free. † The demand for the product has grown steadily since it was introduced in 2005. Overall, the threat from substitutes is moderate. It is possible for a new player to enter the soft drink industry as â€Å"an entirely new start-up, or as an existing company diversifying into carbonated soft drinks manufacturing. However, the new player would have to overcome the tremendous marketing muscle and market presence†4 of leading players like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and few others who have established brand names that are as much as a century old. These players have maintained strong relationships with their retail channels and would be able to defend their positions effectively through discounting or other tactics. Overall, there is a weak likelihood of new entrants. The Coca-Cola Company There are few companies, if any, across the world with more recognizable brand names than Coca Cola. The name in itself is likely worth far more than the total assets held by Coca Cola, Inc. Coca-Cola Company is involved in marketing, manufacturing, and distributing nonalcoholic beverages as well as their syrups and concentrates across the world. They offer a vast array of bottled and canned beverages. The company is mainly involved in carbonated beverages, known as soda as well as a myriad of other names, but also produces noncarbonated beverages such as juice, energy drinks, ready-to-drink coffee and tea, water, and flavored water. Completed beverage products are sold mainly to distributors, while their concentrates and syrups may be sold to bottling and canning operations, and fountain wholesalers and retailers as well as distributors. Coca-Cola Company, which is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, was founded in 1886. They have 90,500 employees world-wide. Coca-Cola’s Business Strategies Ever since its advent, Coca-Cola’s strategies have been winning ones. The history of Coca-Cola reveals how national markets in soft-drink brands developed. â€Å"Asa Candler, [founder of Coca-Cola,] underestimated the importance of the bottling side of the business and in 1899 sold the national rights to bottle Coke for a fairly small sum to Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, who then started a national network of bottlers, creating the basic franchising format by which the industry is still run. †3 One of the main reasons Coca-Cola licensed bottlers to mix the product, package, and distribute it within a specific territory, was to limit the cost of transportation. Today, this model of selling syrups to bottlers who then mix the product, package, and distribute it, is widely used by almost every soft drink industry in the world. In the long run, this complete alignment of Coca Cola and its bottlers has proved to be a winning strategy. Coca-Cola is a brand name that’s known widely throughout the globe. The company has a competitive advantage based on differentiation over other soft drink industries. They are able to set prices at the industry average and gain market share since their customers are willing to choose their products over their competitors. Coca-Cola has been successful at retaining their differentiation position by satisfying their customers’ needs, although this resulted in some higher costs in some of their value chain activities. For example, when Coca-Cola realized that their customers were looking for drinks other than just â€Å"cola† they responded by expanding their product offerings by introducing several different types of carbonated drinks, fruit juices, energy drinks and bottled water, tea and coffee. Some of these were organically started while others were started via acquisitions and alliances. Today, Coca-Cola sells more than 400 brands in 200 countries. The strategy has greatly improved Coke’s competitive position. The other factors that help them retain their differentiation position are: their premium brand image, their products are considered to be of high quality and they are easily accessible. In the 1980s and early 1990s, then CEO Roberto Goizueta built an international expansion strategy around the central brand—Coca-Cola. Today the company is well positioned in key emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Argentina. In 2007, these emerging markets recorded strong double digit growth in volumes. It looks like Coca-Cola will continue to benefit from the underlying growth in the consumption of soft drinks in these markets. Coca-Cola’s strategies have definitely helped them achieve their goals in being the leading beverage company in the world. They were ranked number 1 in the â€Å"Ranking for the Food Beverage Industry categories of Best EthicalQuote Progress and Best Reported Performance in Geneva-based Covalence’s Ethical Ranking 2007. † They also ranked number one in sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks, and ready-to-drink coffees and teas. Coca-Colas strategies, besides helping them achieve the number 1 rank in the beverage industry has also helped them achieve their financial goals, despite cut-throat rivalry with other beverage companies, as we can see from the table below. Their most competitive competitor is Pepsico, Inc. Pepsico, Inc. ’s beverage division is involved in more or less the same activities as Coca-Cola Company—manufacturing, marketing, and selling beverage concentrates, syrups, and finished products including carbonated beverages, energy drinks, water, and juices. The major difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsico is that Pepsico also has a huge snack division. Despite Pepsi’s strong portfolio, Business-Week and Interbrand, a bran ding consultancy, recognizes Coca-Cola as the leading brands in their top 100 global brands ranking in 2006. They valued Coca-Cola at $67,000 which was well ahead of Pepsi which has a ranking of 22 having a brand value of $12,690 million. Coca-Cola’s strategies have helped the company hold the title as the leading beverage company in the world and also maintain a very strong financial portfolio. According to the 2007 annual report for Coca-Cola, obtained from their website, the company’s earnings per share growth for the year alone was 19%. Other impressive growth rates include their net operating income and revenue growth of 20% and 15%. Source: www. coca-cola. com From the above table we can see that Coca-Cola’s revenues, net income and assets have grown over the years. Their profit margin for 2007 however is lower than that of 2006. A profit margin of 20. 7% means that, Coca-Cola has a net income of $0. 207 for each dollar of sales. This also means that Coca-Cola has increased its net income in 2007 by diminishing profit margins. Although the difference in profit margins for 2006 and 2007 may appear to be small, it affects the company’s financial portfolio significantly. So, why is the leading company in the beverage industry, despite having a stellar performance facing a decrease in their profit margin? To help us answer this we will look closely at the company’s various resources and capabilities with the help of a SWOT Analysis. SWOT Analysis Although Coca-Cola’s â€Å"strong band value facilitates customer recall and allows Coca-Cola to penetrate markets, the company is threatened by intense competition which could have an adverse impact on the company’s market share. †8 SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that helps in evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of a company. The SWOT analysis deals with the firm’s internal characteristics: strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats presented by the external environment. StrengthsWeaknesses Leading brand in the beverage industry Increase in revenueNegative performance in North America Decline in profit margin OpportunitiesThreats Room to grow Aging of baby boomersFierce competition Slow growth of carbonated beverages Strengths. Leading brand in the beverage industry Coca-cola is the world’s leading brand in the beverage industry. There are not many products that have a recognizable brand name as Coca-Cola. â€Å"The company has a leading brand value and a strong brand portfolio. †8 They have been recognized as the leading industry by many national magazines and have been honored with awards in different categories. â€Å"Furthermore, Coca-Cola owns a large portfolio of product brand. The company owns four of the top five soft drink brands in the world: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta. †8 Coca-Cola’s brand name is their key differentiator from that of the company’s competitors; this has helped the company beat their competitors in the market place. Their strong brand image has helped them introduce new products in the market like, Vanilla Coke, Cherry Coke, etc. The company has also been able to â€Å"make large investments in brand promotions. The company’s strong brand value facilitates customer recall and allows Coca-Cola to penetrate new markets and consolidate existing ones. † 8 Increase in revenue In 2007, Coca-Cola recorded total revenues of $28. 86 billion, an increase of 20% from 2006. Three segments (Latin America, Eurasia and Bottling Investments) of the company experienced double digit growths in their revenues from 2006. Both Latin American and Eurasia grew by 24% each during fiscal 2007, over 2006. During the same period, revenues for bottling investments grew by 53%. Together, the three segments of Latin America, Eurasia and bottling investments, accounted for more than 35% of the total revenues during fiscal 2007. â€Å"Revenues growth in [these three sections] contributed to top-line growth for Coca-Cola during 2007. † 8 Weaknesses Negative performance in North America While Coca-Cola had robust revenue growth in some of their business sections they had a negative 1% unit case volume growth in one of their business section—North America. The performance overall in this section was not as expected, they had a 1% increase in their operating income and a moderate 11% increase in their revenues. North America is one of Coca-Cola’s core markets generating 25% of total revenues during fiscal 2007. Hence, â€Å"a strong performance in North America is important for the company. † 8 This slow and negative performance in North America can â€Å"impact the company’s future growth prospects and prevent Coca-Cola from recording a more robust top-line growth. † 8 Decline in profit margin Despite having an overall increase in revenue of 20% for fiscal 2007, from 2006, Coca-Cola’s profit margin for the period was 20. 7%, a decrease of 3. 4% from 2006. We can tell from this that looking at the earnings of a company often doesnt tell the entire story. Increased earnings are good, but an increase does not necessarily mean that the profit margin of a company is improving. We can see in this case, that Coca-Cola had a lower profit margin from 2006 despite having higher revenues and income for 2007. This only means that Coca-Cola had costs that have increased at a greater rate than their sales; thus leading to a lower profit margin. This is an indication that costs need to be under better control. Opportunities Room to grow According to Muhtar Kent, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Coca-Cola Company, â€Å"Consumer spending for nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages is growing at 6-plus percent per year—the highest among consumer packaged goods. †7 Coca-Cola’s international market is thriving, led by double digit growth in developed markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China. Latin America was the second most profitable operating group for Coca-Cola in 2007. The company is looking forward â€Å"to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games; [they] are strategically investing in [their] infrastructure and route to market to connect [their] brands with consumers in the Pacific operating group. [The company’s] balanced portfolio, geographic diversity and changing global demographics position [them] well to continue growing [their] business. †7 Aging of baby boomers The aging of the baby boomers, which includes US citizens born between 1946 and 1964, began crossing the 60-years mark in 2007. â€Å"Most of the 78. 2 million strong baby boomer generations will turn 60 in the next two decades. †9 This is likely to increase the sales of â€Å"health-related goods and services on a US-wide basis. †7 This generation of baby boomers will provide Coca-Cola the opportunity to market its Minute Maid rage of fruit juices and juice drinks, particularly those rich in vitamins.

Canterbury Tales :: essays research papers

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of accounts about a journey pilgrims made to and from the Canterbury Cathedral, composed by British writer Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 1300’s. â€Å"Chaucer greatly increased the prestige of English as a literary language and extended the range of its poetic vocabulary and meters† (Encarta 1). In the tales, the host offers a contest to the pilgrims which requires them to tell four stories during their trip . Chaucer ingeniously integrates the episodes with one another and also resplendently describes the personality, behavior, and general way of life of a variety of aspects of society in the Medieval Ages. The Canterbury Tales consists of twenty-four tales, two of which are unfinished. One of these unfinished accounts is the Tale of Sir Thopas. The Tale of Sir Thopas begins with the narrator describing a fair and gallant knight who is from the far country of Flanders. It continues on characterizing this knight, Sir Thopas, as a handsome man who was skilled at hunting, horse riding, wrestling, and archery. All of the woman of the land longed for him, but Sir Thopas forsake all of them. Then one day, riding through the forest, the knight hears beautiful birds singing songs of love. Upon hearing this, Sir Thopas hurries to ride away because his heart is sore as there is no woman in the world to his make.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The knight then recalls a dream he had where his darling would be an elf-queen. He continued riding until he found a secret place called the Land of Faery. There he met a great giant whose name was Sir Oliphant. The giant threatened Sir Thopas to leave the land where the Queen of Faery resides or he would be killed. After hearing this Sir Thopas answered that when he has his armor both of them would fight to the death. This scene is an example of how Chaucer â€Å" Gives the Tale of Sir Thopas a hilarious send-up as opposed to other more serious tales that indirectly disparage English literature† (Payne 33).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sir Thopas returned to his kingdom where he prepared himself for his battle against the giant. His merry men cheered him with tales of old romances, they brought him sweet wine, a royal spicery of ginger bread, and fine linen to cover himself. Then he dressed himself in ornate armor. He had a spear of fine cypress wood, a saddle of rewel bone, and a shield of solid gold.

Reservation

Republic of the Philippines Batangas State University Governor Pablo Borbon, Main Campus II College of Engineering, Architecture, Fine Arts and Computing Sciences PASSENGER RESERVATON SYSTEM Presented by: Atienza, Zarah Jane C. Caringal, Clariza Jane R. Castor, Chiara R. Fondevilla, Rolan A. Mendoza, Ana Marie P. BSIT- 3102 Presented to: Ms. Amy U. Aclan nstrctor Executive Summary The ABC Bus Corporation has approached a new way in reserving their accommodating their passenger by creating a computerize bus reservation systems that aims to provide user excellent services.Bus reservation system deals with maintenance of records of details of each passenger who had reserved a seat for a journey for various places in Bangalore. The said bus reservation company has 60 routes operating from Bangalore among those are the regular or ordinary, semi-luxury and super-deluxe buses. These systems should contain information about its passenger like date of reservation, their destination, and numbe r of seats and cancellation of their reservation. The system should meet the requirements of the business to make it interactive and user friendly.Our project is to computerize traveling company to manage data, so that all the transactions become fast and lessen any possibly error in transaction like calculation mistake, bill generation and other things. It replaces all the paper work. It keeps records of all bills also, giving to ensure 100% successful implementation of the computerized Bus reservation system. It also shows reports of the transaction done by the company to monitor their daily operation. Objective/s Main Objective: To develop an effective and functional passenger reservation system. Specific Objectives: a.To record data of various routes originating from Bangalore b. To verify that the total distance travelled by each passenger does not exceeded 3000km. c. To provide a facility for cancellation. Analysis Traveling is a large growing business in or country. Bus reser vation system deals with maintenance of records of details of each passenger who had reserved a seat for a journey. It also includes maintenance of information like schedule and details of each bus. We observed the working of the Bus reservation system and after going through it, we get to know that there are many operations, which they have to do manually.It takes a lot of time and causes many errors. Due to this, sometimes a lot of problems occur and they were facing many disputes with customers. To solve the above problem, and further maintaining records of items, seat availability for customers, price of per seat, bill generation and other things, we are offering this proposal of reservation system. Our reservation system has two modules. First module helps him to reserve a ticket. Using second module he can cancel a reserved ticket. Requirements Definition Functional Requirements a. Should be able to create a new login for accessing the reservation facility. . See current reser vations on different buses along with the details. c. The system should automatically show amount of money needs to be pay for selected seats. Non- Functional Requirements a. The administrator shall usually do anything on the system in all forms. Administrator is responsible for updating and maintenance of the systems content such as adding/ removing information about the system. b. Customers are people who shall use the Passenger Reservation System. To use this service the customer should have the basic computer using ability. Process Model Data Model E- R Diagram Use Case Input/Output design

Describe the different forms of disguise and deception that feature in the Twelfth Night

Disguise and deception play significant roles in Shakespeare's romantic comedy Twelfth Night. Shakespeare places emphasis on these somewhat â€Å"wickedness† (A2 S2 L26) traits to somehow create a traditional romantic comedy; where despite the negative ideas of disguise and deceit play a prominent role, love blossoms and a happy ending prevails. The tireless use of these ideas in different forms and guises, which endure throughout the whole play highlights the themes of love, madness and appearance versus reality; where disguise and deceit both take credit for possessing a major responsibility in providing twists, turns and humor in the main and sub-plots. Orsino is the first character introduced to the play. He is the Duke of Illyria and therefore the most powerful character implemented into Shakespeare's play. Upon his arrival to the story, he immediately disguises his ignorance of love by speaking in poetics form to deceive the audience and the characters around him. If music be the food of love, play on† (A1 S1 L1) is promptly contrasted in line 7 â€Å"Enough, no more; ‘Tis not so sweet as it was before†. This contradiction implicates his ignorance of what love is really about. His vocabulary and figurative language, both influenced by poetic speech does well to fool everyone that he is not what he se ems. People would see Orsino as a likeable character that carries the aura that he can achieve anything; he is a self-absorbed man who thinks very highly of himself.What is the difference between a figurative and a literal analogy? But this is obviously not the case as Orsino has been shown to be just like everyone else, even with his power in Illyria, Orsino has his flaws too. Feste also uses his language to disguise aspects of his character. However, contrasting the stance of Orsino, Feste shows his wit and intelligent by smugly playing on words and with the medium of music. An example of Feste's clever play on words was during the conversation he had with Viola who was at the time disguised as Cesario; â€Å"†¦ send thee a beard† (A3 S1 L45). Although everyone had been fooled by Viola in convincing them that the Cesario character is real, Feste (who is the fool) hints that he may know Cesario's true identity. Feste himself does not describe himself as Olivia's fool â€Å"but her corruptor of words† (A3 S1 L37). Indeed it can be viewed that he is only paid to be the fool, to act like a madman with wit; and in actual fact he is the most sane character and intelligent in the play. He shows his intelligent by irrelevantly expressing his words in another language, â€Å"cucus, non facit monachum:† (A1 S5 L53). Feste is the only character wrapped up in all the plots yet keeps an outside perspective of each by showing no emotion in his speech or actions. But in light of this, his emotions are brought to the surface when he entertains people with his music. The realization that Feste is has the most knowledge of love, or what real love is, begin to seep through as he sings. â€Å"What is love? ‘Tis not hereafter, Present mirth hath present laughter:† (A2 S3 L48). Unlike Orsino who believes that everything will work out okay when you fall in love, Feste believes that the future is always uncertain â€Å"What's to come is still unsure† (A2 S3 L50). He also concretes his perspective that love should not wait as we will not be young forever; â€Å"Youth's a stuff will not endure† (A2 S3 L53). Although his character does not show emotions whilst playing his role in each plot; his music, which varies from melancholy ballads to contemplative, express that there is much more to Feste than meets the eye. Feste's past is shrouded in mystery, and elements of his past still live in his music. â€Å"And we'll strive to please you everyday† (A5 S1 L 407) ends the play. Regardless of his past that he disguises through music, Feste feels that his duty now is to make people laugh. He expresses with this idea that our duty in life is to be happy and to make others happy, something he harassed Olivia about in Act1 as she mourned her brother's death. Despite many features of Feste's character that show his has much more depth than what we are led to believe; he also uses disguise and deceit to concrete his role as a fool, a clown who provides humor and entertainment for the audience. â€Å"Sir Topas the curate, who comes to visit Malvolio the lunatic† (A4 S2 L22). Upon learning of Sir Toby and Maria's gulling of Malvolio, Feste decides to join in the fun. He does this by pretending to be someone else when visiting Malvolio, to further his torture and suffering. Malvolio and Feste's turbulent past had been briefly documented when in Act 1 Malvolio says â€Å"I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal† (A1 S5 L81). It's interesting to take into account that Feste is supposed to be the fool of the play, but he doesn't setup the humorous gulling of Malvolio and fails to provide the entertainment and humor Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek bring to the play. Instead Feste takes part of the humor only with revenge on his mind and not to provide humor, and relies only on quick plays on words to supply humor. This could be Feste disguising that he is not comfortable with his role in life as the fool. Viola's role in the play is purely based on the ideas of disguise and deceit. She initially deceives everyone by disguising herself as a man, Cesario, in order to serve Orsino, â€Å"For such disguise as haply shall become: The form of my intent† (A1 S3 L54). In doing so she deceives everyone else in the play, with the exception of Feste, and as a result causes confusion among and between the characters and mayhem in the overall play. As a result of her disguise, Olivia and her brother Seabastian, get married as she thought that Sebastian was Cesario, â€Å"would thou'dst be rul'd by me! † (A4 S2 L63). That's an example of confusion resulting from Viola's disguise. Mayhem is caused when the jealous Sir Andrew Aguecheek attacks the tough and skilled Sebastian, assuming he was the soft and timid Cesario. As a result of this attack, Sebastian beats down Sir Andrew Aguecheek and causes mayhem and tension between characters like Olivia and Sir Toby Belch, â€Å"Where manners ne'er were preach'd! Out of my sight! † (A4 S1 48). These are just two examples of confusion and mayhem instigated by Viola's disguise. Other examples include the conversation between Sebastian and Feste, when the latter thought Sebastian was Cesario, â€Å"†¦ ungrid thy strangeness† (A4 S1 L15); and when Antonio thought he was backstabbed by Sebastian, but was in reality talking to a clues Viola, â€Å"Thou hast, Sebastian, done good feature shame† (A3 S4 L375). The many outcomes of Viola's disguise bring entertainment and humor to the audience to add comedy to the romance. In disguising herself as Cesario, Viola falls in love with Orsino to bring the romance aspect to the play, â€Å"Whoo'er I woo, myself would be his wife† (A1 S5 L42). This deceit also intertwines humor and romance, with Olivia falling in love with Cesario causing the humor, and the unspoken love from Viola to Orsino bringing out the romance. Viola is like Feste in the sense that they both play on words; both doing so as a way of showing that there is more to them than what meets the eye. She almost cries out to Orsino by telling giving hints as to her true identity, â€Å"I am all the daughters of my father's house,: And all the brothers too† (A2 S5 L121), often speaking in riddle. She also has an encounter with Feste where she counters his play on words that he may know her identity by saying, â€Å"I am sick for once, [Aside] thought I would not have it grow on my chin† (A3 S1 L47). In countering in a war of wits, she riddles to Feste that she is in fact a woman. Viola's brother Sebastian also manages to have a role in the deceit over his short period of time in the play. His only relationship that occurs throughout the play is with Antonio, the man who saved his life. There are suggestions that Antonio has repressed homosexual feelings for Sebastian that he disguises by pretending to only be his close friend, â€Å"If you will not murder me for your love, let me be your servant† (A2 S1 L34). Sebastian himself lives part of the play in deceit by pretending to know what is going on when he enters the plot when he has no idea. He asks â€Å"Are all the people mad? † (A4 S1 L26). Nevertheless, even though he believes everyone to be mad, he plays along with Olivia who believes he is Cesario, and living in this dream, Sabastian marries her. This serves of the purpose of enhancing the romantic conclusion to the play. Olivia herself is in self-deceit. The mourning over her brother's death is very dramatic, but she just lives the idea of mourning as she feels that this would do the death of her brother justice. However, this mourning does not last long. Feste manages to entertain a mourning Olivia, much to Malvolio's chagrin, â€Å"I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal† (A1 S5 L81). She attempts to disguise all this under a veil, but to no avail as her real personality shone through. Olivia as part of her mourning, promised that no man would see her face â€Å"till seven years' heat† (A1 S1 L26). But regardless of this, falls in love with Cesario, â€Å"Unless, perchance, you come to me again,:To tell me how he takes it† (A1 S5 L285). Olivia is disguising her flirtatious movements towards Cesario by pretending that she only wants her to come back to bear news of Orsino's reaction to her rejection. To further disguise her feelings, and deceive her promise and herself even more, she tells a blatant lie to Malvolio, â€Å": he left this ring behind him,† (A1 S5 L305). Her deceit shows that an esteemed â€Å"virtuous maid† like herself also has flaws. It also provides a lot of humor for the audience, as a woman falling in love with another woman dressed as a man provides entertainment for the audience. â€Å"I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal† (A1 S5 L81). This quote has a lot of deceit attached to it. Malvolio is jealous that Feste can entertain Olivia even when she is mourning. This is because he has feelings for Olivia which is later exposed in the play, â€Å"‘Tis but fortune, all is fortune† (A2 S5 L23), this being his initial belief that Olivia loves him, even before reading the letter from Maria. Malvolio disguises his true colours by being the unlikable Puritan character in the play. In fact, Malvolio's true colours show him to be an arrogant, hypocrite who is even more unlikable than his initial Puritan personality. His arrogance provides humor for the audience as he thinks, â€Å"that all that look on him love him† (A2 S3 L151) and makes him looks stupid. He deceives everyone to believing that he is a Puritan character and deceives Olivia into thinking he is a nice person. However in actuality, Feste is the fool who in reality is the most intelligent and sane character of the play, after mocking Feste, we learn that Malvolio is the opposite. He acts as if he is the most intelligent and sane character of the play when he's really the fool of the play, the character who provides the most humor. He believes Olivia is playing along with his game, when he speaks to her at her level and with added sexual connotations, â€Å"To bed? Ay, sweetheart, and I'll come to thee† (A3 S4 L31). This provides the most humor, as he believes that they are disguising their love and deceiving all the other character when in reality, he is the only person being deceived. He looks like the fool, and the gulling of Malvolio in particular gives the audience added satisfaction because he is such an unlikable character. The mastermind behind the gulling of Malvolio has also disguised aspects of her personality. The others see Maria as jus the maid of Olivia, but as the play moves on we as an audience, and the characters of the play learn that Maria is cunning and more intelligent than what she lets everyone believe. She deceives everyone by masterminding the gulling of Malvolio. She also has self-deceit along with Sir Toby Belch as both have hidden feelings for each other, which they refuse to acknowledge. We know of this because by the end of the play, the two get married. Looking at their relationship throughout the play, Maria is the mother figure who takes care and guides Sir Toby Belch, â€Å"Ay, but you must confine yourself with the modest limits of order† (A1 S3 L8). But we gain knowledge that she is not fulfilling the mother role, but more the role of a wife. Sir Toby Belch is also a scheming character within the play as he deceives Sir Andrew Aguecheek into challenging Cesario to a fight for his own personal entertainment, as both Aguecheek and Cesario are seen as cowards; thus Sir Tovy creating his own sub-plot. Sir Andrew Aguecheek is as a clumsy coward of a knight. However Aguecheek's past is a mystery to the audience, and we have a sense that there is much more depth to Aguecheek than what meets the eye when he says, â€Å"Someone loved me once too†. This shows that Aguecheek has disguised himself to be a clumsy and immature man when in reality he has feelings too, and has a more sensitive side to his character. He also disguises himself to be a brave knight by challenging Cesario to a fight as he feels this would win Olivia's heart. However, as seen through his letter, Aguecheek is a coward who couldn't hurt anyone. â€Å"and God have mercy on one of our souls! He may have mercy on mine,† (A3 S4 L167), Aguecheek provides humor by his supposedly threatening letter. The fact he ends this letter by calling Cesario â€Å"Thu friend† (A3 S4 L 169), shows him to be a nice but gullible man. He is gullible to Sir Toby's instructions and the direction Sir Toby leads him into. The play as a whole is one big disguise. â€Å"An improbable fiction† (A3 S4 L127) is what Fabien describes the play to be. He acts as if the real life situation is like a play, and in essence makes it all a play within a play. The characters share dialogue that expresses what they are trying to say but also has a double meaning, which tells the audience that the play is not real life and is essentially just a play. â€Å"You are now out of your text: but we will draw the curtain and show you the picture† (A1 S5 L235). This is an example of subtly letting the audience realize that they should not be fully wrapped up in the play as it is just a play. This idea coincides with what Olivia is saying in the context of the play as she is letting Viola see her face. The play contains a number of little subtexts to regularly remind the audience that the play is fictional. All these subtexts are disguised within the context in which the character is talking about. There is obviously an inextricable link between both the ideas of deceit and disguise, as when one of the ideas is created, the other promptly follows; as is seen in throughout the play. Twelfth Night is situated in the genre of â€Å"romantic comedy†, and both of which have been built upon from the foundations disguise and deceit have created. The two roles define what the play is all about; because of the â€Å"wickedness† (A2 S2 L26) behind disguise and deceit, the outcome is both the themes of romance and comedy, which is what the play effectively revolves around. Shakespeare uses both ideas as the foundation to create the whole of the story, emphasizing both the drama and comedy involved.

Content Delivery Network (CDN) Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast, 2013 2019 Essays

Content Delivery Network (CDN) Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast, 2013 2019 Essays Content Delivery Network (CDN) Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast, 2013 2019 Essay Content Delivery Network (CDN) Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast, 2013 2019 Essay Content Delivery Network (CDN) Market Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends And Forecast, 2013 2019 Content delivery network includes network of distributed servers that provides web pages and web content to users based on their geographic locations. The content delivery network provides speedy delivery of websites which bear high traffic. At its core, the content delivery network performs two crucial functions. First, CDN caches the content at the edge of the network in order to reduce the traffic traversing the network. Second, provides multiprotocol and multiservice streaming capabilities thereby allowing operator to adapt content from any IP device close to user consuming it. In general, typical functionality of CDN includes request redirection and content delivery services, content outsourcing and distribution services, content negotiation service and management service.Visit Complete Report Here: marketresearchreports.biz/analysis-details/content-delivery-netw ork-cdn-global-scenario-trends-industry-analysis-size-share-and-forecast-2011-2018 The two major things that have marked the evolution of internet are mobile technology and social media. For example, since its inception in 2004, Facebook today contain much more than 1,000 million subscribers. With very low investment, any business can reach large market irrespective of its location. According to Internet World Statics, the number of internet users for June 2012 were estimated to be 0.24 billion. Additionally, growing IP video traffic is expected to boost the CDN market. Today, video consumption over mobile devices and internet is growing at unparalleled rate. As network operators become aware of advantages of CDN, numerous cable operators and telcos in Europe and North America have launched CDN initiatives. Additionally, as network operators increasingly partner with content owners in order to deliver high quality contents and services, the CDN market is

Legal, professional and ethical issues relating to patients The WritePass Journal

Legal, professional and ethical issues relating to patients Abstract Legal, professional and ethical issues relating to patients ). Once treatment has commenced it is legally required to obtain consent of the patient prior to the performance of any treatment that may substantially impact the patient (Bayliss, 2012). This legal right ensures that a patient is informed before possible life altering decisions are made. In some cases a layman patient will not adequately understand the full issue at hand, and therefore the professional associated with the concern should make the call (Kraus et al, 2013). This position of decision making capacity again touches on the elements that are directly related to the ethical and professional policies and positions of the institution that is providing the patient with care. Further, once care has begun, the patient is assured of continuity of care as well as confidentially (Bayliss, 2012). This legal underpinning ensures that an incapacitated patient will not have to make critical decisions immediately or during the procedure. A primary method of protection for patients and overall control for care providers rests in the legal institution of mal practice (Jonsen, Siegler and Winslade, 2006). Others argue that the institution of mal practice ties the hands of care providers by putting too many hurdles in way of effective care (Hafferty et al, 1994). Still others advocate for a mitigated form of malpractice that addresses the needs of the patient without threatening the entire structure of the provider’s livelihood (Corey et al, 2014). In cases that a providers services can be proven to be less than what was expected by the patient or the institution, there is the opportunity for financial redress. In order to mal practice to be claimed, there must be an existing patient and provider relationship acknowledged on all sides (Jonsen et al, 2006). A patient is legally entitled to a referral to a better provider if the first practitioner is unable to meet their needs (Bayliss, 2013). This area touches on the ethical responsibly of the provider to assist the patient in any reasonable manner (Corey, 2014). Others cite the potential for litigation if the referral goes wrong and there are problems for the patient (Hafferty et al, 1994). A continued source of worry for the medical profession is the looming threat of court action over a mistake or oversight on their part (Bayliss, 2013). 2.4 Professional Issues The entirety of the expected behaviour of any patient related institution is required to exhibit professional and exemplary behaviour (Corey et al, 2014). This expectation is tempered by region, financial issues and the available of competent staff (Urden, Lough, Stacy and Thelan, 2006). Many contend that care for the patient should come before financial or regulatory concerns (Bayliss, 2012). Regional and national political regulations play a large part in the establishment of professional standards as regards the treatment of patients in several areas around the world (Corey et al, 2014). A Professional perception is made up of the ethical and legal considerations that are relevant to the position, again providing a firm indication of the integrated nature of the legal, ethical and professional aspect of patient care (Bayliss, 2012). The professional will not neglect the rights of the patient in the pursuit of their goals (Corey et al, 2014). This facet reflects the need for the professional to terminate the relationship at the correct time, for the proper reason. In many cases, some professionals will make a billing cycle longer for the simple reason of increased revenue with little effort (Corey et al, 2014). Others describe this approach as overly cautious and cite the need to be certain of the outcome for the patient before any change of status should be implemented (Bayliss, 2012). This same sense of professionalism is extended to the form of treatment that a patient has the right to expect, with the best choice, not the latest trend being the choice (Stirrat et al, 2013). The patient must be given every component of information in order to provide an informed consent. Anything less than full transparency on the part of the provider is an ethical, legal and professional blunder (Corey et al, 2014). 3 Conclusion This essay examines the role of the legal, ethical and professional actions as regards the expectations of the patient. With the evidence presented in this review, there is argument for many issues that touch on all three aspects. Lacking a universal patient’s bill of rights, the issues experienced by patients seeking assistance can vary widely according to region and financial ability. The data presented in the this essay indicates that while the ideal system advocates for a fair and equal patient experience, it is often those that have the financial support that have the best care. The evidence presented here provided support for the contention that ethical decisions will benefit the professional and legal standing of the patient provider. By ensuring a high standard of care, the provider is doing everything possible ethically and morally to address the concern. This effort diminishes the potential legal ramifications that centre on the mal practice and court process. The areas of ethics, professionalism and legality correspond to create a complex environment for a patient to navigate. This makes it necessary to ensure a high standard of professionalism within the ranks of the patient provider network. There must be a balance as there cannot be an effort to placate the patient that becomes adverse to the overall treatment. Much like any other industry there is a balance that must be maintained in the relationship between provider and patient in order for the best results to be experienced. The modern world has provided patients with new and diverse opportunities for care in nearly every nation around the world. With the areas of professionalism, legality and ethics playing a building role in the way services are provided, there must be a continual and considered approach to each policy in order to ensure the rights of everypatient. In the end it will be the combination of all three aspects that create the opportunity for progress. References Baylis, F. 2010.  Health care ethics in Canada. Australia: Thomson Nelson. Corey, G. 2014.  Issues and ethics in the helping professions. [S.l.]: Cengage Learning. Edwards, S. J., Braunholtz, D. A., Lilford, R. J. and Stevens, A. J. 1999. Ethical issues in the design and conduct of cluster randomised controlled trials.  BMJ: British Medical Journal, 318 (7195), p. 1407. Ellershaw, J. and Wilkinson, S. 2003.  Care of the dying. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Frost, D. W., Cook, D. J., Heyl and Fowler, R. A. 2011. Patient and healthcare professional factors influencing end-of-life decision-making during critical illness: A systematic review*.Critical care medicine, 39 (5), pp. 11741189. Hafferty, F. W. and Franks, R. 1994. The hidden curriculum, ethics teaching, and the structure of medical education.  Academic Medicine, 69 (11), pp. 86171. Jonsen, A. R., Siegler, M. and Winslade, W. J. 2006.  Clinical ethics. New York: McGraw Hill, Medical Pub. Division. Kraus, R., Stricker, G. and Speyer, C. 2011.  Online counseling. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press. Nettina, S. M. 2013.  Lippincott manual of nursing practice. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Purtilo, R. B., Haddad, A. M. and Doherty, R. F. 2014.  Health professional and patient interaction. St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier/Saunders. Richardson, A. and Storr, J. 2010. Patient safety: a literative review on the impact of nursing empowerment, leadership and collaboration.  International nursing review, 57 (1), pp. 1221. Solomon, M. Z., Odonnell, L., Jennings, B., Guilfoy, V., Wolf, S. M., Nolan, K., Jackson, R., Koch-Weser, D. and Donnelley, S. 1993. Decisions near the end of life: professional views on life-sustaining treatments.  American Journal of Public Health, 83 (1), pp. 1423. Stirrat, G., Johnston, C., Gillon, R. and Boyd, K. 2010. Medical ethics and law for doctors of tomorrow: the 1998 Consensus Statement updated.  Journal of Medical Ethics, 36 (1), pp. 5560. Str, Cipolle, R. J., Morley, P. C. and Frakes, M. J. 2004. The impact of pharmaceutical care practice on the practitioner and the patient in the ambulatory practice setting: twenty-five years of experience.  Current pharmaceutical design, 10 (31), pp. 39874001. Urden, L. D., Lough, M. E., Stacy, K. M. and Thelan, L. A. 2006.  Thelans critical care nursing. St. Louis: Mosby. White, K. M. and Osullivan, A. 2012.  The essential guide to nursing practice. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.

Definition of Social Distance in Psychology

Definition of Social Distance in Psychology Social distance is a measure of social separation between groups caused by perceived or real differences between groups of people as defined by well-known social categories. It manifests across a variety of social categories, including class, race and ethnicity, culture, nationality, religion, gender and sexuality, and age, among others. Sociologists recognize three key types of social distance: affective, normative, and interactive. They study it through a variety of research methods, including  ethnography and participant observation, surveys, interviews, and daily route mapping, among other techniques. Affective Social Distance Affective social distance is probably the most widely known type  and the one  that is the cause of great concern among sociologists. Affective social distance was defined by Emory Bogardus, who created the Bogardus Social Distance Scale for measuring it. Affective social distance refers to the degree to which a person from one group feels sympathy or empathy for persons from other groups. The scale of measurement created by Bogardus measures this by establishing the willingness of a person to interact with people from other groups.  For example, an unwillingness to live next door to a family of a different race would indicate a high degree of social distance. On the other hand, willingness to marry a person of a different race would indicate a very low degree of social distance. Affective social distance is a cause of concern among sociologists because it is known to foster prejudice, bias, hatred, and even violence. Affective social distance between Nazi sympathizers and European Jews was a significant component of the ideology that supported the Holocaust. Today, affective social distance fuels politically motivated hate crimes and school bullying among some supporters of President Donald Trump  and seem to have created the conditions for his election to the presidency, given that support for Trump was concentrated among white people. Normative Social Distance Normative social distance is the kind of difference we perceive between ourselves as members of groups and others who are not members of the same groups. It is the distinction we make between us and them, or  between insider and outsider. Normative social distance is not necessary judgmental in nature. Rather, it can simply signal that a person recognizes differences between herself and others whose race, class, gender, sexuality, or nationality may differ from her own. Sociologists consider this form of social distance to be important  because it is necessary to first recognize a difference in order to then see and understand how difference shapes the experiences and life trajectories of those who differ from ourselves. Sociologists believe that recognition of difference in this way should inform social policy so that it is crafted to serve all citizens  and not just those who are in the majority. Interactive Social Distance Interactive social distance is a way of describing the extent to which different groups of people interact with each other, in terms of both frequency and intensity of interaction. By this measure, the more different groups interact, the closer they are socially. They less they interact, the greater the interactive social distance is between them. Sociologists who operate using social network theory pay attention to interactive social distance and measure it as the strength of social ties. Sociologists recognize that these three types of social distance are not mutually exclusive and do not necessarily overlap. Groups of people may be close in one sense, say, in terms of interactive social distance, but far from another, like in affective social distance. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

The legal drinking age should be 18 years of age Essay

The legal drinking age should be 18 years of age - Essay Example tion; however, the officially permitted age for alcohol intake varies according to each country, but most countries the legal is 21years of age. However, the legal age for alcohol consumption should be reduced from 21years of age to 18years since the later are responsible young adults entitled to vote, marry; and considering the menace of over-consumption due to curiosity and experimentation. In most countries, whenever an individual attains 18 years of age, he/she has a right to vote, get an identity card, get married, secure a job in any organization, be able to serve in the military and even sign contracts. This means that an 18 year old person understands whom a potential leader is who will serve a country well and who cannot lead effectively through taking part in voting. Likewise, being able to secure a job in any organization or serve in a military means this person can be responsible and can as well make adequate decisions. Additionally, being able to acquire an identity card means he/she is of age to do things responsibly. In order to get married means an individual knows how to be responsible by taking care of his/her partner and children. Therefore, such an individual has a right and should be allowed to buy and consume alcohol without any restrictions because he/she knows how to be responsible (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine 25). In addition, there is a challenge of alcohol consumption out of curiosity; forbidden fruit syndrome, as anyone who has not attained 21 years of age perceives alcohol as forbidden and that it should not be consumed. This increases curiosity among them because they are curious to know why they are not allowed to drink; furthermore, when in college those under the age of 21 are not allowed to drink at the same place with their seniors, and this equally increases their interest to know what is behind alcohol intake. They rebel and they certainly yearn to know what is in alcohol that they are kept away from hence they decide to give it a try. Therefore, by forbidding 18 year old individuals from drinking in bars, restaurants and licensed places makes them to drink in privacy, for example, in parties. This may lead to dangerous behavior, for example, they may decide to over drink because they do not know when next they will have a chance to consume alcohol. As a consequence, problems like deaths or unprotected sex may arise; therefore, if alcohol consumption is legally allowed for 18 years and above, the curiosity dilemma will no longer be present. In addition, unwanted behaviors and deaths of 18 year old teenagers resulting from alcohol consumptions will greatly reduce since every individual will be responsible of his/her drinking, and will not be driven to over-indulgence because of curiosity (Trapp 78). However, reducing the age for alcohol consumption to 18 years of age is dangerous to the health and is also medically wrong. This is because the brains interior of an individual is vi tal for functions like

US Army history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

US Army history - Essay Example Today, four of America's five military branches are under the Department of Defense: United Sates Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air forces. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 ml active duty personal along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserve. The United States Armed Forces are considered to be the most powerful millitery around the world (Luttwak, Koehl, 1998). Historians suppose that from its first stand at Lexington, the Army has always had a non-negotiable contract with the American people to fight and win the nation's wars. Now, over 400 years since the first colonial militia was formed in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565, the spirit and essence of the United States Army is celebrated for the first time. In retrospect, 1775 decision of the Continental Congress to create the Continental Army seems remarkably free from political strife. Delegates of all shades of opinion supported each step, and arguments largely concerned technical details. In 1794 Congress established the Office of the Purveyor of Public Supplies in the Treasury and the Office of Superintendent of Military Stores in the War Department to continue the same broad supply functions established in the Confederation period. This organization of military supply remained in effect with only slight modification until 1812.Training and discipline were the key to an effective militia. It should be mentioned that the President first exercised his authority to employ militia for suppressing insurrection and executing the laws of Congress in 1794 when Washington sent a large force of militia under Maj. The conduct of the war in 1812 revealed deficiencies in the administration of the War Department that would plague the American cause to the end. Lack of transportation was a major problem of the Army. By the end of 1848 the Army had reverted to a peacetime strength somewhat smaller than the 10,000 authorized in 1815 (Luttwak, Koehl, 1998). Congress in June 1850 approved "enlarging the companies serving on the frontier to 74 privates, a considerable increase over the 50 in the dragoons, 64 in the mounted rifles, and 42 in the artillery and infantry authorized at the end of 1848" (Millett, Maslowski, 1984). The new infantry units were armed with percussion-cap, muzzle-loading rifle muskets instead of smoothbore muskets. Nineteenth century technological developments had made possible an accurate, dependable muzzle-loading rifle with at least as fast a rate of fire as the smoothbore musket. At the U.S. Military Academy during this period, such great names as Robert E. Lee and Dennis Mahan (author of many works on engineering and fortification) appeared on the roster of staff and faculty (Millett, Maslowski, 1984). During the middle of the XIXth century the severe forms of corporal punishment were abolished in the U.S. Army. Still, Civil War medical science was primitive in comparison with that of the mid-twentieth century, an effort was made to extend medical services in the Army beyond the mere treatment of battle wounds. As an auxiliary to the regular medical service, the volunteer U.S. Sanitary Commission fitted out hospital ships and hospital units, provided male and, for the first time in the U.S. Army, female nurses, and furnished clothing and fancier foods than the regular rations (Conn, 1980). The industrial age, made a significant influence on military strategy, tactics, and organization. During 1907-1912 the U.S. Navy's

The descriptions still do not have enough information about the Essay

The descriptions still do not have enough information about the pictures. Please describe the pictures by starting at the left side of the picutre an - Essay Example The color used on the walls of the room is dull; this illustrates the unhappy environment inside the room. The woman is starring down outside the window; this illustrates that the room is upstairs, and the woman is observing an event or person(s). The event may be a sad one, according to facial expression. The person being observed may be a loved one who has just left the house (Friel 34). The second image shows a joyful and exciting event. It can be safely assumed that the picture represents a nuclear family on holiday. The family has a father, mother and three children. The children comprise one boy and two girls; this illustrated by their mode of dressing. The holiday destination is a beach because of blue waves illustrating the sea, the brown color showing the sand, and the background showing a mountain or hill range. The destination seems secure and private. This is because other people are not indicated in the picture. Luxurious hotels usually offer private beach tourism package. The nuclear family illustrated in the picture is not dressed for the holiday occasion. The man is in formal clothing, and the woman and daughters in dresses. Beach events require beachwear and swimming costumes. The image also illustrates love in the family. The man and the woman are looking and smiling at each other; likewise the son and the daughter are also looking at each other. The looks and the smiles illustrate love between family members (Friel

Personal Worldview Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Worldview Paper - Essay Example The theorists and researchers as well have always been interested since ever in exploring the history and origin of world views people have developed in their minds about countless issues, which have been being transferred from one generation to the other for the last several centuries. The researches reveal that the religious people, philosophers, intellectuals and thinkers have rendered valuable services in respect of making the minds of the people about various realities attributed to the universal phenomena. The worldview, according to Carol Hill, concentrates upon the basic way of interpreting things and events that pervades a culture so thoroughly that it becomes that culture’s concept of reality (The American Scientific Affiliation). Hence, the adherence of a large majority of the people to the norms, values, mores, taboos, traditions, customs, cult and festivals etc prevailing in some specific social establishment turns out to be decisive is respect of transferring the cultural traits from one generation to the other and so on (Macionis & Plummer, 2008). ... The adherents of Christianity make up the greatest religious community of the world. The belief system of the faith seeks inspiration from the Holy Scripture Bible, which is viewed to be the word of God sent from the Lord for the spiritual uplift and moral guidance of the humanity. Hence, the Bible can be stated as the finest and most reliable source of inspiration for the entire Christian community existing on the face of the earth. The Bible consists of Old and New Testaments, which concentrates upon the covenant made between God and the House of Jacob regarding the worship of God, love for Christ, obedience of the parents, and strict adherence to the commandments clearly mentioned in the Scripture are the source of a blissful life on the earth, as well as the only way to obtain eternal success in the life hereafter (Flannelly et al, 2008:4). Being the most authentic source of the Christian faith, Bible lays stress upon strict observance of patience, endurance, tolerance, fair play , justice and sacrifice. I have learned from the Scripture (Leviticus, 18-19). The same views have been endorsed by the saints and preachers that a true Christian should follow the commands of God by worshipping Him, and obeying one’s parents and elders. I was taught that the Christians are forbidden from imposing any hurt on others. Being a Christian, I abhor stealing, debauchery, extra marital relationships, homosexuality and hurting and harming the neighbors (Leviticus, 19: 7-16). The records of the Christ’s life and sayings, preserved in the minds and hearts of his followers, also endorsed the true teachings of Jesus, which were followed and transferred from one generation to the other on the one hand, and

Management style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management style - Essay Example Tourism has been a main source of income for many countries. All such countries have set their strategies related to tourism. There are many factors which attract tourists. It includes attractive and beautiful sceneries, historical places and cultural attraction. But other things also influence the market flow of tourism including security, transports facilities in county and accommodation. If tourism business is well planned then it plays very important role in forming popularity of country and respectable image; plus it supports the country’s economy as well. That is why business tourism is an important factor to look upon. Therefore it should be well planned with good strategy. Tourist supply chain means all the people and factors which are involved in giving services and products to consumers (tourist). It involves all those services and factors which influence or run the business of tourism. Either they are direct or indirect they are the part of the supply chain. Private sector services are very important in tourism as they provide extra facilities to tourists and make the tourism plan complete. Private sectors are those sectors which are not run by the government. The main common services a private sector provides in tourism are such as tourist guides, travel agents, motels and accommodations, holiday packages and travel insurances. Government sectors are the main pillar of tourism business as it provides main base to the tourism of any country. They provide security, maintenance and care to tourist sites, make policies related to tourism and provide visa etc. Some government tourist sectors are national and regional tourist boards (NBTs and RBTs), tourist information centers (TIC), and visa and passport offices. Accommodation comes under both private and government sector programs as there are government funded motels and accommodations as well, which usually come under the national tourism schemes and other are private

Personal Worldview Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Worldview Paper - Essay Example The theorists and researchers as well have always been interested since ever in exploring the history and origin of world views people have developed in their minds about countless issues, which have been being transferred from one generation to the other for the last several centuries. The researches reveal that the religious people, philosophers, intellectuals and thinkers have rendered valuable services in respect of making the minds of the people about various realities attributed to the universal phenomena. The worldview, according to Carol Hill, concentrates upon the basic way of interpreting things and events that pervades a culture so thoroughly that it becomes that culture’s concept of reality (The American Scientific Affiliation). Hence, the adherence of a large majority of the people to the norms, values, mores, taboos, traditions, customs, cult and festivals etc prevailing in some specific social establishment turns out to be decisive is respect of transferring the cultural traits from one generation to the other and so on (Macionis & Plummer, 2008). ... The adherents of Christianity make up the greatest religious community of the world. The belief system of the faith seeks inspiration from the Holy Scripture Bible, which is viewed to be the word of God sent from the Lord for the spiritual uplift and moral guidance of the humanity. Hence, the Bible can be stated as the finest and most reliable source of inspiration for the entire Christian community existing on the face of the earth. The Bible consists of Old and New Testaments, which concentrates upon the covenant made between God and the House of Jacob regarding the worship of God, love for Christ, obedience of the parents, and strict adherence to the commandments clearly mentioned in the Scripture are the source of a blissful life on the earth, as well as the only way to obtain eternal success in the life hereafter (Flannelly et al, 2008:4). Being the most authentic source of the Christian faith, Bible lays stress upon strict observance of patience, endurance, tolerance, fair play , justice and sacrifice. I have learned from the Scripture (Leviticus, 18-19). The same views have been endorsed by the saints and preachers that a true Christian should follow the commands of God by worshipping Him, and obeying one’s parents and elders. I was taught that the Christians are forbidden from imposing any hurt on others. Being a Christian, I abhor stealing, debauchery, extra marital relationships, homosexuality and hurting and harming the neighbors (Leviticus, 19: 7-16). The records of the Christ’s life and sayings, preserved in the minds and hearts of his followers, also endorsed the true teachings of Jesus, which were followed and transferred from one generation to the other on the one hand, and

Criminal Behavior and the Law in the US Assignment

Criminal Behavior and the Law in the US - Assignment Example The role of criminologists, criminalists, and forensic psychologists is very important in dealing with crimes. In the United States of America, different types of crimes occur which are reported by the Uniform Crime Reporting. Some of the major types of crimes reported by UCR include forcible rapes, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and vehicle theft. In this paper, the focus will be on white-collar crimes, blue-collar crimes, index-one crimes, and index-two crimes measured by Uniform Crime Reports of the FBI. 1 - Criminologists, Criminalists, and Forensic Psychologists Criminologists In the broad context, all criminologists, criminalists, and forensic psychologists work for the same purpose, which is, reduction or prevention of crimes. However, there are big differences in the working of these professionals. Studying all three fields related to the field of criminal justice, it can be said that the professionals of all three fields work together to deal with crimes. Cr iminologists deal more with the study of criminal behaviors and analysis of different crime prevention techniques as compared than actually participating in crime prevention. They provide proper solutions and assessments to government agencies, law enforcement agencies, correctional systems, and police officials. They also provide academic services in colleges and universities. According to Rothe and Friedrichs (2006), criminology deals with the identification of the causes of crimes and their prevention measures from sociology perspective.

A Votre Sante Teaching Note Essay Example for Free

A Votre Sante Teaching Note Essay Additionally, the case questions require both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the business issues faced by AVS. AVS has been used in a graduate-level managerial accounting class for MBAs, and would be most appropriate for an advanced undergraduate or a graduate-level accounting or MBA course. The detail in the case is rich enough to support a variety of analyses. Alternative uses could be to have the student construct a cost of goods manufactured statement or a traditional financial statement, both of which reinforce the differences between product and period costs. Additionally, alternative decision analysis questions could be developed using the variable and fixed cost structures described in the case. Case question number two is only one example of a potential decision analysis question. The contribution margin income statement (Teaching Note Exhibit 1) is fairly straightforward, with the following concepts or calculations causing the most difficulty: The inclusion of liquor taxes and sales commissions in variable costs: These are both period expenses, but are clearly based upon the number of bottles sold, and therefore are included in the variable costs. Where to include the wine master expense: Since the wine master is paid according to number of blends, not number of bottles, this expense is listed as a fixed cost. Arguably, it could be listed as a variable cost, given that the cost will be based on the number of wines produced. As part of the discussion we will examine the rationale behind listing wine master as a fixed or a variable expense. Barrel expense: The case states that the barrels produce the equivalent of 40 cases of wine. A case of wine is post-fermentation/bottling and therefore after the 10% loss has occurred. The barrels contain the wine at the start of the process. Therefore, there have to be enough barrels to hold all the wine at the beginning of the process, not at the end. This factor results in 63 (62.5) barrels being required for the harvest2. Teaching Note Exhibit 1: Contribution Margin Income Statement Part b asks, â€Å"What is the maximum amount that AVS would pay to buy an additional pound of Chardonnay grapes?† There are three parts to calculating this answer: the benefit from the additional Chardonnay wine to be sold, the relevant costs related to producing this wine and the opportunity cost of not producing as much Blanc de Blanc wine. Teaching Note: Exhibit 2 displays the calculations relevant to this decision. Chardonnay regular wine requires a 2 to 1 mixture of Chardonnay and generic white grapes. Therefore, the 18,000 pounds of Chardonnay grapes will be combined with 9,000 pounds of generic white grapes. The 27,000 pounds of grapes will result in an additional 9,000 bottles of new Chardonnay regular wine being produced. However, it will also result in a 3,000-bottle decrease in the amount of Blanc de Blanc wine produced, since some generic grapes will now be used for the Chardonnay-regular wine. Recall that only Chardonnay wine is processed in barrels.

Mobile Location Techniques

Mobile Location Techniques INTRODUCTION: With the rapid increase in number of mobile users, a massive number of calls originate from mobile subscribers, all over the world, everyday. With the increasing number of mobile users and originating calls, there is also an increase in emergency calls that originate from mobile stations. In many emergency cases the position is unknown to the caller, or he cannot explain properly. Thus there is a strong need to locate any mobile user in emergency situation. Hence the scope of mobile positioning is vital. Due to importance of mobile positioning, the need to locate any mobile user in emergency was also called by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and European Countries. For instance, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a proposal to include location in the 911 emergency service number, which resulted in the E911 ruling [2]. Currently, all the legacy handsets used in public cellular networks in the USA must provide the location of the customer whenever this number is dialled. The European Commission (EC) adopted a similar regulation to include location in emergency services on 112 [2]. The FCC in USA took the first step in this direction. Initially by 2001, the mobile operators are required to provide the accurate location of an emergency caller. The current requirement of FCC is to locate 67% of emergency callers must be located within 100 meters and 95% of the callers must be located with an error of no more than 300 meters. [3] Applications: Mobile location can be used for a number of services by mobile operators. Some of them are discussed here: An important application of mobile location is to provide emergency services. By knowing the location of a mobile user, emergency vehicle can be directed to that location. Hence there is an increase in public safety and services. Another interest in exploiting the mobile location is to apply location sensitive billing. By knowing the location of mobile subscribers an operator can offer competitive tariff e.g. users can be offered more calls from their mobile to home or office. Asset tracking and fleet management is another application of mobile location. Using the location of mobile travellers can be informed about location. Mobile location can be used to effectively manage fleet and traffic conditions. There are two main categories for mobile positioning,Handset Based positioning and Network based positioning. Handset Based techniques needs special type of handset hardware or the installation of specialized network software in existing handsets e.g. GPS and A-GPS. GPS receiver determines its own position by sending and receiving signals from at least four satellites. The time to reach satellite signal to GPS receiver is used as a parameter. The accuracy of GPS based systems is very high. And the coverage of satellite is very good in outdoor environment. However, drawback is inability of GPS to operate in indoor and heavily populated urban environment. GPS lacks positioning where signals of the satellite cannot be fully covered. Another problem is related to existing handsets in market. A large number of existing handsets lack the built in GPS receivers. Thus using this method a huge number of people can not get benefit or can not be located in case of emergency. Also Embedding a GP S receiver into mobile devices leads to increased cost, size, and battery consumption [1]. Thus hundreds of millions of handsets in market need to be replaced or modified. In contrast, Network Based Techniques determine the position of a mobile user by measuring its signal parameters when received at the network Base Station (BS). Here BS receives signal from Mobile Station (MS) and sends them to a central site where location estimation algorithms are used to estimate location. In this method there is no need to change or replace existing handsets. It would require change in a few thousands of network nodes (Base Stations) than to change hundred of thousands of mobile stations. Hence, it can be implemented easily, less costly using existing technology. And still can provide a very good estimate of position of a mobile user. The future technologies also support network based positioning. Infact many positioning techniques can not be implemented using existing GSM technology. Using advanced technologies their efficiency will greatly increase. The Network based positioning is also feasible for network operators as it would help them to implement location sensitive billing and location related services. Thus based on a certain location the operator can implement a specific price plan e.g. less price calls to home or office number. It will also help them to generate more revenue. Another advantage of network based techniques is the security of the subscribers. Using an algorithm at network side also ensures that the position of subscriber is known only to emergency service or mobile operator. Thus it also increases the safety and security of the subscribers. The network based techniques have several advantages like low cost, ease of implementation, implementation using existing technologies and methods, beneficial for a large number of people. However, the main issue with this technique is its accuracy. Despite a number of efforts to reduce error and increase accuracy there is still no unbiased estimation method present. All of the methods produce good results under certain conditions or circumstances. Thus there is no general prediction for result using an algorithm. The main problems in incorrect positioning are multipath propagation, fading and low SNR. The efforts are continuously being made to minimize these and hence increase accuracy and thus performance. The project will emphasize on comparing various existing network based location techniques. Some of the common techniques will be studied in detail. Base on these existing methods, a number of positioning algorithms are also studied in detail to implement major positioning techniques. The algorithms will then be implemented using MATLAB. The results of algorithms will be compared to actual position of mobile station so as to measure the performance of each of them. Final thing is to develop an online benchmarking tool to compare location evaluation estimates using different techniques. The tool should be able to run user uploaded measurements in to its own algorithms. The results will then be compared to user submitted results to perform a benchmark. Existing Literature Review A number of mobile location techniques are common nowadays. These techniques can be divided into three main types: Mobile Based Techniques Network Based Techniques Indirect Techniques These techniques are briefly explained below: Mobile Based Techniques: In this method, a number of geographically separated transmitters are used by the mobile station to exploit its own position. It is also known as Self Positioning. Thus mobile station (MS) locates itself by using signals from a number of transmitters or base stations (BS). Example of mobile based positioning is GPS and A-GPS. In GPS based positioning GPS receiver uses signals from geographically distributed satellites to exploit its own position. Network Based Techniques: This method uses a number of transmitters in a network to locate position of an unknown receiver. It uses resources of the network only. The signals from the MS are used by a number of BS to locate the MS. This technique can be implemented using different type of parameters e.g. Cell Global Identity (CGI), Cell Global Identity with Timing Advance (CGI-TA), Enhanced Cell Global Identity (E-CGI), Time of Arrival (TOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA). Indirect Techniques: In this technique mobile or network can be assisted to locate a mobile station. Thus base station can send positioning data to mobile station to locate itself. Similarly measurements can be uploaded from MS to BS to locate mobile station. It involves measurements sent from MS to BS for positioning at BS or vice versa. There are a number of network based mobile positioning techniques in use today. In such techniques a number of involved base stations (BS) use signal from mobile station (MS) to locate the position of MS. The common methods are Signal Strength, Time of Arrival, Time Difference of Arrival, Angle of Arrival, or hybrid techniques. Each of the existing method has its own advantages and disadvantages. A major problem with all methods is the accuracy. It depends on cell size, cell environment, number of cells, multipath propagations and distance between MS and serving base station. Some other common parameters for performance measurement include applicability, robustness, etc. The existing methods have been described in detail below: Cell Global Identity: The CGI method to locate a mobile user is most easy and straight forward. In this method, the position of mobile user is estimated by using the cell identity of serving base station. Thus the mobile can be located anywhere in a call coverage area. It is very simple to implement. However, the positioning error may range from a few meters to a few kilometres. The accuracy will be dependent on the size of serving base station. Another problem with this method is that mobile station is not always connected to nearest base station. In this case the location of mobile cannot be even estimated. Enhanced-CGI: To overcome errors in basic CGI technique another method is used. The basic idea was to split the coverage area of a base station into two or more areas, mostly three 120 degree areas. Each area within a base station can then be issued with a separate identity. Hence in this way the position of mobile can be narrow down to a small area. Although this method is easy to implement yet error is large enough from practical point of view. CGI with Timing Advance: The CGI technique can also be improved by using the timing advance feature of GSM. Timing advance is a value that corresponds to the time it takes for a signal to reach from MS to BS. In GSM timing advance is a feature used by the base station to synchronise with mobile station. On step timing advance is equal to a change in 1100 m of round-trip time (the time signal takes to reach from base station to mobile and then back to base station). The timing advance is assigned by base station for each mobile station. Using the timing advance feature a mobile user can be located within 550 meters approximately. Time of Arrival: Although CGI method provides a good estimation of mobile position, the error is still large enough from emergency view point. Another method to locate mobile is using the arrival time of signals at base stations involved. The distance of mobile can be estimated by using information about time of arrival i.e. D = t / c Where t is the time of arrival of signal at base station and c is the speed of light. The distance will be the estimated mobile position. However the mobile can be located anywhere on circular path centred at base station and radius equal to estimated distance D. The exact position of mobile can be estimated by using same type of measurements from two other neighbouring base stations. Ideally the positioning circles from all the three base stations must intersect at a point, which will be the position of mobile. However, practically, the circles dont intersect at a single point rather they make a small area in which the mobile is potentially located. This method is really better than CGI because it gives more accurate results. The time of arrival method requires accurate synchronization or reference between mobile and base station to correctly measure the arrival time. The results, however, depends on environment of cell clutter, atmospheric conditions, and multipath propagation. In worst atmospheric conditions the results may vary severely. Angle of Arrival: In this method the position of the mobile is located by using the direction of signal arriving from mobile station to the serving and, at least one other base station. The direction or angle of arrival is measured at base station by using arrays of antennas. Angle measurement at one base station will give the position of mobile to be located at a straight line at a certain angle with base station. Measurement from another involved base station will produce another positioning line. Ideally the mobile must be located at the intersection of two lines from involved base stations. In practice, however, they may not intersect at all at a single point. The angle of arrival is good because it can be implemented using a small number of base stations. Thus it is best when the number of base stations visible to mobile is very low. The angle of arrival method is very sensitive to measurement errors of angle. So a very small error in angle measurement results in a much larger error in position o f mobile. Time Difference of Arrival: The time of arrival method requires a strict synchronisation or reference between mobile and base station. To overcome this problem, the difference of arrival time at a pair of base station is used for measurements. A pair of base stations is used to record one time difference measurement. The result will be a circle on which mobile can be anywhere. Ideally the three circles will intersect at one point. This point will be the position of mobile. In actual practice the method will give a small area in which mobile must be located. The difference of arrival time eliminates the need of synchronisation as required by time of arrival. This method can be used as to run entirely on network side or to run with mobile assistance. The performance of time difference method is greatly improved than time of arrival. The main advantage of this method is elimination of timing requirement. However, on the other hand, the number of involved base station must be at least four including primary base st ation. Thus only then three sets of measurements can be obtained. The time difference of arrival method is more frequently used due to ease of implementation. Data correlation method: The Database Correlation Method makes use of the signal information seen by mobile station. The signal information from all of the coverage area seen by mobile station is stored in a database at network side. The signal information may include signal strength, signal timing, signal delay etc. When position of the mobile is required, the stored data in database is used by a positioning server to do so. The signal measurements sent to the database depends on the environment. The resolution of such measurements must be set so as to achieve certain accuracy. In GSM a sub-band resolution is used by the Base Station Controller (BSC) to facilitate the handover process. Pilot Correlation Method: Algorithms Search: There are a number of positioning algorithms in present literature. These algorithms make use of the measurements done by the mobile station. The measurements required for each algorithm may vary. However, some common measurements may include Cell ID, LAC, Signal Strength, Timing Advance, Time of Arrival, and Direction (Angle) of Arrival. Also these measurements may be carried out only on network side i.e., by primary base station or they can be performed with assistance of mobile station. The algorithms for all of the major positioning methods are studied in detail. Although there is a large number of algorithms in literature yet each of them has own advantages and disadvantages. Each algorithm is based on some assumptions and limitations. For this reason we can not say which one is best. But the one which gives acceptable accuracy is thought to be the good one. Cell Global Identity (CGI): The Cell ID is the very basic method to locate mobile station. It is used to make a rough estimate of mobile position. With this method the mobile can be located anywhere within a cell. Thus the accuracy is very poor. The mobile station measures periodically the id of serving base station and up to 6 neighbouring base station. Thus no special algorithm is needed to locate Cell ID. By looking at mobile measurements the Cell ID can be located. Enhanced Cell ID: Due to very poor accuracy of basic Cell ID, a number of enhancements have been made to it. Thus measurements like signal strength, Timing Advance can be used in conjunction with Cell ID to improve accuracy. Two algorithms which show good results are Enhancement to CGI using Signal Strength and Positioning using Timing Advance. In the first algorithm the signal strength is taken as a parameter. The power received by mobile station from primary base station and up to six neighbouring cells is feedback to primary base station. The primary base station thus knows the power transmitted by it and power received by mobile station. Then the distance calculation is possible by using the known path loss. Using Okumura-Hata Path Loss model [4] the distance between mobile and base station is calculated. The mathematical form of this model is [4]; Urban areas: LdB = A + B log10 R E Suburban areas: LdB = A + B log10 R C Open areas: LdB = A + B log10 R D A = 69.55 + 26.16 log10 fc 13.82 log10 hb B = 44.9 6.55 log10 hb C = 2 (log10 (fc / 28))2 + 5.4 D = 4.78 ( log10 fc )2 + 18.33 log10 fc + 40.94 E = 3.2 ( log10 ( 11.7554 hm ))2 4.97 for large cities, fc = 300MHz E = 8.29 ( log10 ( 1.54 hm ))2 1.1 for large cities, fc E = ( 1.1 log10 fc 0.7 ) hm ( 1.56 log10 fc 0.8 ) for medium to small cities Definition of parameters: hm mobile station antenna height above local terrain height [m] dm distance between the mobile and the building h0 typically height of a building above local terrain height [m] lhbbase station antenna height above local terrain height [m] rgreat circle distance between base station and mobile [m] R=r x 10-3 great circle distance between base station and mobile [km] f carrier frequency [Hz] fc=f x 10-6 carrier frequency [MHz] ? free space wavelength [m] This model is fairly simple so it is used for a large number of situations. The distance calculation is easy from this model using known path loss in pre-defined environment. The mobile will be located anywhere on the circle of estimated distance with centre at base station. A minimum of three base stations are used for such measurements. Ideally the three circles will intersect at a single point. This point will be the position of mobile station. The triangulation technique is used to find the intersection coordinates of circles. Time of Arrival: Although CGI provides the position of mobile station yet the accuracy is not sufficient for many purposes. To improve accuracy the time of arrival method is used. It gives good results than CGI in most of the situations. A number of algorithms describing time of arrival method are in literature. Each of them has some advantages and some short comings. Also each algorithm works best under some specific conditions e.g. in line of sight (LOS) or non-line of sight (NLOS) conditions. A good algorithm which gives acceptable results in many situations is A Constrained Least Squares Approach to Mobile Positioning: Algorithms and Optimality. This algorithm uses a least square approach to estimate position of mobile station. The distance between mobile station and base station is estimated by using the fact that signals travel in free space at a speed equal to speed of light. Thus mathematically, Di =Ti / c i = 1, 2 N Where D is the estimated distance, T is the TOA measurement, i denote the number of base station and c is the speed of light. The mobile station will be located anywhere on the circle with radius D centered at base station i. Same TOA measurements are performed by at least three base stations. The position of mobile will be the intersection of three circles. Ideally this will be a single point. But in practice, due to multipath propagation and fading, it will give a small area. The mobile station will be located in this area. To reduce positioning error the algorithm uses a least square error approach. Thus the distance between every point in that area and each mobile station is calculated. The point where the sum of squares of distances is minimized will be the estimated position of mobile station. To get TOA measurements, base station and mobile station must be synchronized properly or there must be a reference point. Thus a strict timing requirement is necessary. Angle of Arrival: In LOS conditions this method is the best to use. A number of algorithms describing this method are in literature. All of these algorithms require a dominant LOS path to correctly perform angle of arrival measurements at base station. Thus this method is best in open areas and suburban areas. In dense urban environment this technique produces severe errors due to NLOS and multipath propagation. A number of algorithms are studied in detail. A good algorithm is A Constrained Least Squares Approach to Mobile Positioning: Algorithms and Optimality. It produces results with acceptable accuracy. According to this algorithm, to perform angle of arrival measurements, base station must be provided with multiple antenna arrays. A minimum of two base stations will be required to perform such measurements. The signal from mobile station will reach base station at a certain angle with horizontal axis. This angle can be measured by base station using antenna arrays. Mathematically, it is given by tan (fi) =(y yi / x xi) , i = 1, 2, . . . , M. The angle of arrival measurement from one base station will result in a straight line. This line is also called Line of Bearing (LOB). It will be at a certain angle between horizontal axis and base station. The mobile will be located any where on the LOB. A similar measurement will be done using another involved base station. It will result in producing another angle of arrival or LOB. The point where the two line of bearing intersects will be the position of mobile station. Ideally two lines will intersect at a unique point. However, practically they may not intersect at a point. In this situation the angle of arrival method need further measurements from other involved base station. This method produces very accurate results in LOS situation. However, the results depend critically on the measured angle. Thus a very small error in angle measurement may lead to positioning error of hundreds of meters. Another disadvantage is the cost of this method. It requires antenna arrays at each base station to measure AOA. Hence cost of implementation increases. Time Difference of Arrival: The time difference of arrival uses the difference in arrival times of signals at a pair of base stations. The time difference of arrival measurements are done with reference to primary base station. A good algorithm in literature is the Performance Comparison of TOA and TDOA Based Location Estimation Algorithms in LOS Environment. It explains the working of different types of TDOA approach. It also compares the performance of each of the type. However it uses a LOS approach. In open areas LOS assumption is valid but in heavily populated urban areas this assumption is invalid. Another good algorithm which explains the TDOA measurements is is A Constrained Least Squares Approach to Mobile Positioning: Algorithms and Optimality . In this algorithm, the primary (Serving) base station is the reference base station. The time of arrival measurements are performed using the reference base station. Thus the estimated distance between mobile station and reference base station is d1 and that of mobile station and a neighbouring base station is di. Thus the TDOA measurements are given by, d1 = t1 / c di = ti / c, i = 2,3 .. N Where d1 is the distance between mobile station and reference (primary) base station and di are the distances between mobile station and other three neighbouring base stations. The TDOA measurement between reference and second base station is given by TDOA= d1-di i = 2,3, .N This will be the error free TDOA measurement at a pair of base stations. The measurement including error is given by; TDOA= (d1 di) + error The error is modelled as a Gaussian distributed random variable with zero-mean. Such measurements are taken from at least three pairs of base stations. The triangulation technique is then employed to get the position of mobile station. The TDOA method is superior to time of arrival (TOA) in sense that it eliminates the need for timing reference. Thus it is easy to implement. Due to no timing requirement TDOA method is more frequently used than TOA method. Database correlation method: Despite of a number of algorithm which perform fairly well in urban areas there is still a need to further improve it. Due to severe multipath and fading effects LOS assumption is not valid in urban areas. The Database Correlation Method is a good method to counter effect multi path and fading. It can be implemented by utilizing the measurements performed in existing GSM systems. It can be implemented by making Signal Strength as a parameter. A ggod algorithm to implement Database Correlation Method is Database Correlation Method for GSM Location by Heikki Laitinen, Jaakko Lahteenmaki, Tero Nordstrom'. In this algorithm the DCM is implemented by using signal strength measurements performed by handset. The algorithm explains the way database correlation method can be implemented in GSM. The measurements performed in the coverage area are performed by mobile station and are stored in database. Thus the database will consists pre-measured samples of signal measurements in the coverage l ocation. When the need to locate mobile station arises, the primary base station asks mobile station to perform signal strength measurements and feedback to it. The BS sends these measurements to location server. The location server then calculates the difference between stored fingerprint and actual measurement. The point where the difference between fingerprint and actual measurement is minimum will be the estimated position of mobile station. The estimated position will also contain some error in it due to fading, NLOS path and multipath propagation. However this error will be drastically less than the error in other techniques applied under same conditions. The database correlation method has the advantage that it can be implemented in any type of system like GSM, CDMA,UMTS,etc. References: Network-Based Wireless Location IEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING MAGAZINE JULY 2005 A New Time-Based Algorithm for Positioning Mobile Terminals in Wireless NetworksIsrael Martin-Escalona and Francisco Barcelo-Arroyo, EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing Mobile Positioning Using Wireless NetworksIEEE SIGNAL PROCESSING MAGAZINE JULY 2005 Path loss models S-72.333 Physical layer methods in wireless communication systems Sylvain Ranvier / Radio Laboratory / TKK 23 November 2004 Performance Comparison of TOA and TDOA Based Location Estimation Algorithms in LOS Environment Guowei Shen, Rudolf Zetik, and Reiner S. Thoma A Constrained Least Squares Approach to Mobile Positioning: Algorithms and Optimality K.W. Cheung,1 H. C. So,1 W.-K.Ma,2 and Y. T. Chan3 Database Correlation Method for GSM Location Heikki Laitinen, Jaakko Lahteenmaki, Tero Nordstrom