The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist: Following your dream is no easy task. Thesis Statement: Paulo Coelho’s book, The Alchemist (1988), demonstrates a boy named Santiago following his dream, also known as his â€Å"Personal Legend†, and encounters various obstacles, which will convey him to what he will become. The connection made by Paulo Coelho in this manuscript was, all that is around him will eventually assist the effort made by the individual (Santiago). Paulo Coelho reveals many spiritual/religious references tied with the acts and decisions of Santiago, and how they guide him, and how he follows them up to obtain his desired dream.Introduction: An old man that he had met in his village awakes Santiago, a young shepherd. Awoken in the sense that this man declared he was a King, and had inspired Santiago to follow his â€Å"Personal Legend†, basically, his dream, and had served knowledge to this young fellow. Throughout Santiago’s journeys, good omens had ma de him pursue his goal. The shepherd encounters various strangers, which help him, willingly or not, to chase his goal. During his quest, he awakes various senses he never had before, such as profound wisdom, communicating with nature, a spiritual connection with God, and the art of Alchemy.Santiago constantly takes life-threatening risks, which are considered challenges in the face of God. Throughout his whole journey, Santiago persistently follows his one and only reason of being, his dream, which is to find the treasure he dreamed of as a shepherd, and throughout his whole adventure, every little detail that crossed him, every lesson that he had been taught, with or without words, the soul of the world that he understood to communicate with, every little detail had defined his true treasure. Body Essay: As pointed out, Santiago was a dream chaser, he wanted to discover his Personal Legend†, what pushed him to do so was a wise old king Melchizedek. The fact that a King would speak to a shepherd is very odd, although the King was doing it for several reasons, it may include the fact that he wanted to make other people realize and drive them to know their â€Å"Personal Legend† as shown: â€Å"Why would a king be talking with a shepherd? † the boy asked, awed and embarrassed. â€Å"For several reasons. But let’s say that the most important is that you have succeeded in discovering your Personal Legend. † (21) This explains how the king is trying to help the Santiago realize his reason of life.As stated previously, he had overcome an obstacle that had given him patience, wisdom, and a lesson. He necessitated to understand that everything had a soul, which when he was an apprentice crystal merchant, had taught him these qualities. â€Å"Everything on earth is being continuously transformed, because the earth is alive . . . and it has a soul. We are part of that soul, so we rarely recognize that it is working for us. But in the crystal shop you probably realized that even the glasses were collaborating in your success. (79) This spiritual reference indicates that if he insisted on succeeding his dream, everything around him, conscious/unconscious will be of assistance to him. Long travels were endured by Santiago; yet, he was on the verge of giving up his â€Å"Personal Legend† for a woman, which is natural. The love he felt for Fatima, (the woman he loved), was an asset that pushed him to go further on and chasing his dream, yet, at the same time, it made him doubt the fact that if this was all worth the chase, the gamble of life and death. â€Å"During the third year, the omens will continue to speak of your treasure and your Personal Legend.You’ll walk around, night after night at the oasis, and Fatima will be unhappy because she’ll feel it was she who interrupted your quest. But you will love her, and she’ll return your love. You’ll remember that she never asked you to stay, because a woman of the desert knows that she must await her man. So you won’t blame her. But many times you’ll walk the sands of the desert, thinking that maybe you could have left . . . that you could have trusted more in your love for Fatima. Because what kept you at the oasis was your own fear that you might never come back. At that point, the omens will tell you that your treasure is buried forever. (120) Here is another example of the proverb shown in the book, â€Å"†¦when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it†, as which everything around him drives him to go further and pursuit his dream. He realized that his dream had shown him all these magnificent experiences; nothing would stop him at this point, even Santiago, a shepherd, a boy, did not fear death. His dream meant everything to him. Conclusion: Santiago, a simple shepherd, made it very far in life by just pursuing in an extremist way his true goal i n life, his Personal Legend.He had overcome every obstacle God and nature intended to test him with, and succeeded in a redeeming way. It is wonderful how Paulo Coelho shows that when you pursue what you love in life, everything around you, living or unconscious, will help you. Santiago proves bravery, strength, wisdom, patience, and various other qualities. It is astonishing how by doing things with love, and joy, you connect with the world and God. Santiago at this point, had completed his emptiness, he achieved his one true meaning, his dream and goal.

Operational Analysis and Effectiveness Essay

Competition in a corporate world is becoming intense. That is why strategic plans for a business in order to advance from competitors should be given proper attention in a business. Operational Performance is one of the important areas in management that needs to be taken focus in a company. It is a complex task in handling the operations of the business. In a manufacturing company, the performance of its facilities can be measured through various parameters, considering the external constraints of the market and defining it to follow its strategy and vision. Performance is all about capability; it is about the future. In any business, operational performance is an important issue. In needs to be measured The focus of achieving results on useful products and services for customers inside and outside the organization is the major contribution of performance management. It emphasizes the objective not only implementing strategic plans but doing them in the most effective way as possible. (McNamara, 2007) The first thing that comes to our mind when we hear this term is the performance in terms of the manpower or basically, the performance of employees. However, performance management refers to the areas where man is involved. First, it focused on the organization. The different activities in a department are involved such as computer support, administration, sales, etc. , the processes that concerns the billing, budgeting, product development, financial management and other), the programs for employees such as implementation of new policies and procedures to provide safe workplace and training programs, the products or services to internal or external customers, the projects (automating the billing process, moving to a new building, etc. ) and the teams or groups organized to accomplish a result for internal or external customers. Critical outcomes and Its Cost In this field of management, there are several activities that can be problematic. These areas have huge impact on the whole system. Costs are involved direct or indirectly. The key areas for measurement that should be considered are the profitability, market performance, resource utilization and people performance. (Wright & Race, 2004) Other matters such as score cards, statistical process control and benchmarking. When performance reviews fail, performance management often conflicts with relationship management. Negative feedback doesn’t motivate; ignoring the subjective element in reviews undermines employee attitudes. (Simmons, 2003) Performance reviews often conflict with relationship management. Negative feedback doesn’t motivate, and ignoring subjective elements in reviews can undermine employee attitudes. In fact, Simmons says this primary tool designed to improve performance can, and often does, create the opposite of the desired and intended result. Instead, she suggests an alternative review system that takes into account the important emotional aspects. (Simmons, 2003) The core assumption of most performance reviews is that if you clarify the gap between current performance and desired performance that will drive improved performance. However, that’s not the case. Instead, reviews tend to amplify the quality of the personal relationship between boss and employee. (Simmons, 2003) Measurements are significant to provide analysis to a certain area that to be studied. These will give valid conclusions on the subject. It is important to find improvements and effectiveness of the activities. Design and Implementation of a Performance Measurement System The main reason for constructing a measurement system for the case organisation was to obtain a tool for developing the organisation. The purpose of the measurement system was to improve the circumstances and the organisation’s employees. In addition, the measurement system was designed for guiding the implementation of the strategy. While designing and implementing the performance measurement system, the special characteristics were taken into account. (Mettanen) In an operational unit, individual approach emphasizes on individual performance appraisal, goal setting, and feedback. Performance appraisal has been a subject of much interest to HRM researchers. Literally hundreds of articles have been written on the subject over the past few decades. Most of this effort has been devoted to characteristics of instruments and raters, with underlying goals to eliminate errors of bias, better understand performance-related information processing, and ultimately to improve rating accuracy. Research on performance management has included other individually-focused phenomena that may occur before, during, and after appraisal. These include planning processes and interventions designed to maintain or improve performance. For example, individual feedback and goal setting have both received much acclaim as ways to manage task performance. Characteristics including the specificity of feedback and the extent to which it includes both behaviours and outcomes, and the degree of goal difficulty have been especially associated with higher performance (Chhokar and Wallin, 1984; Kim, 1984; Locke et al. , 1981). The interconnectedness of goal setting and feedback has also been discussed. Tolchinsky and King (1980) and Bandura and Cervone (1986) proposed that the effect of feedback depends on the beliefs that such feedback generate and, specifically, on the goals that are set in response to feedback. A TQM-compatible Approach Under this approach, the activities are on direct supervision. Their reasoning was largely based on the problems discussed above and the degree of system contribution to variance in work performance. A system-oriented approach would be primarily oriented towards improving processes which affect the performance of all individuals within the system. For example, in a production area, workflow or other technological processes might be evaluated and then improved in such a way as to enhance the performance of an overall work unit. Forms of performance management which attempt to link individual- and unit level performance are consistent with a system-oriented approach and TQM philosophies. Such a linkage may be accomplished in two ways. First, in line with the work of TQM proponents performance management may focus on ways to evaluate and improve the work system. In essence, this involves an identification of the internal or external customers associated with a work unit and measures to determine the extent to which customers’ needs are being met. Group-level involvement is attained so that co-workers and management work together to determine potential chronic problems which may be causing performance variance within the system and low levels of performance in relation to customer needs. A second mechanism for linking individual- and unit-level performance is to focus performance management largely at the unit level in terms of appraisal and rewards. This would be in contrast to the more common existing practice of making fine distinctions among individuals when appraising and rewarding . Individual efforts in organizations must increasingly be integrated in a total group effort and output. This idea leads to conclude that the natural unit of analysis for appraisal in organizations should be the group rather than the individual. Although group level assessment raises potential problems associated with social loafing demonstrated how having group-level goals causes individuals to accept more difficult goals for themselves. Matsui et al. oncluded that by having group goals, members develop a sense of shared responsibility for the attainment of their individual goals. It was showed how membership in quality circles could increase the commitment and productivity of individual members. had argued earlier that the group could be used as a â€Å"medium of change† to ensure the control of individual behavior and performance. (Waldman) Corporate Performance Management methods intend to provide improved. Roles of Operations Manager The operations manager is in charge of the supervision of the operations within the system. First, there must be qualifications for the said job. Operations manager should develop strong analytical skills and a logical approach to problem solving. It is advisable for them to take additional courses in statistics and computer systems. The operations manager is in charge of a more technical side of business so he should know how to handle multiple situations and problems. And also he must be able to communicate with different types of people in various functional areas for him to implement his plans effectively on his subordinates. If he aims to reach the highest levels of operations management he must acquire a master’s degree (MBA). According to a survey to general managers at large, global business firms conducted by (Reilly & Reilly, 2002) , the performance system on their company can be described as the company strategy includes measurable goals that the company is trying to achieve ,the performance measures collected and communicated in the organization are useful to managers in running the business ,managers understand how effective measurement provides key support in the pursuit of corporate goals, an understanding of the consequences of performance results is communicated and understood and the current measurement system encourages behavior that is good for the organization. The methodology used to gather information on managers’ feeling about their performance measurement systems is a questionnaire administered to attendees of various executive education courses at the University of Michigan Business School. Respondents are mostly general managers at large, global business firms. Almost half come from countries other than the United States. The number, form and content of the questions have varied somewhat over the years, but the following conclusions represent a reasonable consolidation of the results. (Reilly & Reilly, 2002) Responding managers most strongly agreed with the following descriptions of their performance measurement systems as the company strategy includes measurable goals that the company is trying to achieve, the performance measures collected and communicated in the organization are useful to managers in running the business, managers understand how effective measurement provides key support in the pursuit of corporate goals, an understanding of the consequences of performance results is communicated and understood, the current measurement system encourages behavior that is good for the organization Survey respondents tend to agree strongly with the most general kinds of statements about performance measurement. Measures are seen as supportive of the business strategy. Managers are positive about the firms’ efforts to communicate measurement results, analysis and significance. They view measurement systems as an important contributing factor to the success of the firm. Responding managers most strongly disagreed with the following descriptions of their performance measurement systems as the complexity of the business is fully reflected in the detail and structure of the measurement system, the company understands and measures the specific aspects of value it creates for customers, investors, employees, suppliers, and other key stakeholders, the measurement system helps managers understand the interrelationships among business activities across all parts of the business, managers at all levels of the business measure and understand the extent to which their process activities contribute to creating value for stakeholders, performance standards are to a large extent determined from a comparison to external sources such as other divisions, competitors, or unrelated, world-class, benchmark companies. As managers get into thinking about their systems in greater detail, they become more negative about their performance measurement systems. They do not think their systems fully capture the complexities and subtleties of the operation of the firm. Interrelationships among measures are not made sufficiently explicit. The â€Å"line of sight† between measures of operating activities and the value-creation results for corporate stakeholders is unclear. Standards for measures are not externally-driven benchmarks. While managers are generally satisfied with the measurement culture, level of measurement understanding, and communication of measures and their consequences, they are less enthusiastic about the structure, content, and connectivity of their measurement systems. Why might this be the case? Three reasons stand out. First, managers support the concept of performance measurement because their experience has shown it to be a positive force in helping to achieve corporate success. The more one knows about measurement, the more open that person is in communicating results, and the more positive a person is about the role of measurement, the greater the chances of achieving the desired business outcomes. Ignorance, secrecy, and negativism regarding measurement are a sure recipe for failure. Second, managers who use measures on a regular basis understand the difficulties inherent in the performance measurement process. Sometimes, the thing being measured and the measure itself are one and the same. Cycle Time, Number of Units Produced, Number of Errors are examples. More often, measures are an imperfect specification of the underlying idea. Return on Assets is meant to comment on the efficiency of the use of capital, but assets are measured using the principles of accrual accounting and are thereby measured by historical cost, or perhaps, not at all. Third, managers know the shortcomings of their own systems. They are aware of the distortions that can be introduced through cost and asset allocations. They know there is a tendency to measure the things that are easy to measure, and to avoid measures that are more difficult. They have watched as others engage in activities that clearly hurt the firm but help a key measure, for example, avoiding value-creating investment because it would drive down Economic Value Added in the current period. Please ensure that measures at the individual level aggregate upwards to the organization level. If the business wants to increase sales or reduce unsafe behavior (Reilly & Reilly, 2002) Improving Performance Measurement Systems It is an indicator of how the business is operating. The key to improved performance measurement is the development of integrated performance measurement systems. Integrated systems are constructed around a unifying theme such as business strategy or value creation, and are concerned with measuring the critical aspects of the structure that links the activities of people and processes in the firm to the intended outcomes for the company’s stakeholders. Integrated systems embody the quality concerns of production, the customer satisfaction focus of sales and marketing, and the monetary discipline of accounting, among other corporate sub-systems. They use measures denominated by money, units, time, feelings and other expressions of actions and results. But they present all these dimensions as parts of a single, overall representation of all aspects of company activity. When there is need for a sub-system, measures are taken from the whole and applied to the part. Measures used in pay-for-performance schemes are selected from the complete structure in recognition of their ability to drive the desired behaviors and outcomes, and will probably be different for different parts of the company. Measures selected to represent the performance of a unit of the organization reflect the unit’s performance, the linkages between the unit and other organizational units, and the linkage between the unit and the firm as a whole. (Kaplan & Norton, 1992) The sophisticated structure of integrated performance measurement systems is highly beneficial to management, but it does not eliminate some of the basic difficulties of performance measurement. There is still the unavoidable disconnect between our desire to know the future and our ability to measure only in the past or present. Some of the things we measure today may have the power to give insight into the future, but future outcomes per se cannot be measured. It must also be recognized that businesses are highly complex organizations that offer far more opportunities for measurement than can effectively be employed by management. The challenge of reducing the required number of measures to a critical few will always be present. Finally, the relationships among measures denominated so differently defy mathematical representation. As a consequence, we must be satisfied with understanding rough approximations of the strength and direction of interactions among measures. (Kaplan & Norton, 1992) In spite of these difficulties, the benefits of measurement integration far outweigh the costs. A better measurement system helps align the actions of people in the organization to ensure they work together to accomplish the intended goals. A unified system facilitates the creation of a â€Å"single version of the truth†, which helps avoid conflicts and misunderstandings resulting from inconsistent data or inappropriate comparisons. Finally, an integrated system motivates individuals by conveying a sense of fairness and logic in the scorekeeping. Employees can seek to do their best knowing that the measurement system will accurately and impartially measure the contributions they make and the extent of their success.

Heritage Assessment Essay

The culture of a person can change the way one views different aspects in life. Medical professionals are not exempt from this. Patients may be treated by one medical professional differently than they would be treated by the next just based on the culture the medical professional grew up in. This paper will examine the usefulness of applying the heritage assessment tool in evaluating the needs of the whole person. This author’s family and two other families have been interviewed and in this paper it will be explained how the cultures differ from one another, as well as showing many similarities regarding ones view on healthcare. Healthcare in America has changed drastically over the years. One reason for this is the recent trend in immigration and migration to the United States. With this, the United States is experiencing many different cultures that bring different values and beliefs. This brings a challenge to healthcare professionals as they attempt to care for patients a s individuals. The heritage assessment tool is a list of 29 questions that can be asked regarding family, religion, traditions, demographics and food choices. The more positive answers one gives the greater the person’s identification with traditional heritage is. This tool is unique due to the fact that unless you are siblings no two people’s answers will be the same. The questions are the same but the answers are individual. This assessment tool was beneficial when interviewing these families because it helped the interviewer to see how ones heritage sways their values and beliefs and their outlook on the importance of health care. Using this tool also shows the uniqueness of different cultures and how beliefs are passes from generation to generation. Another interesting thing the assessment tool does is that it shows interesting similarities between people from different cultures as well. The heritage assessment was used in analyzing the writer’s heritage and all 29 questions were answered with mostly positive answers. This writer’s family has high expectations regarding their healthcare. Modern medicine is the choice for this family and healthcare is very important to them. Yearly checkups with a primary care provider are sought out. Healthcare is paid for using an insurance health plan and cash to cover deductibles. However, this family’s heritage also includes some older home remedies. The elders used to believe that if you had fever they could use rubbing alcohol and bath you in it and it would make the fever go away. This culture also believes you should avoid chocolate to prevent acne. There is also a belief that eating carrots could make your eyesight better. These wives tales have been passed from generation to generation. The preferred food for this family was red meats and the only common health problem appeared to be hypertension. The second family assessed came to the United States as migrant workers in the early 1960’s from Mexico and started having a family here and have been In the United States since. This family also had mostly positive results on the assessment tool. This family has high beliefs in preserving their ancestor’s traditions. This family did report that due to finances modern medical treatment was not of great importance to them. This family reported that being of lower income they had to use what they call a Curandera( witch doctor) for medical purposes. The Curandera is trusted in the Mexican culture to give healthcare advice and remedies. This family prefers using the Curandera for reason such as being in the states illegally and they feared being turned in if they went to modern medical clinics. The heritage of the Mexicans also has many home rituals that are bel ieved to work besides medicine. This culture uses candle burning for healing purposes. The fat from a cow’s udder is also used for killing pain according to this family. The diet of the Mexican culture is high in fat. This culture also believes in the â€Å"evil eye† and believes that this can cause illness or curses and they were black charms to keep this evil away. One common health problem this family reported was a trend with diabetes. The third person interviewed immigrated to America in 1969 from Greece. This family came to America Due to military purposes. The woman interviewed explained that she grew up in Athens Greece and that family and the Greek culture is very important to them. This person also reported that teaching her children to speak Greek even though they grew up in the US was a must. The woman interviewed, explained that health care is very important to the Greek culture. She stated that there is free health care for the poor. Some people have private insurance, but she talked of her family being farmers and they paid into a private insurance once a year that covered anything medical that they needed. She reports that they get a book and all their medical treatments and illnesses are kept in this book. According to the woman interviewed many people in this culture also turn to a witch doctor for health care treatment and advice. This culture also believes in the evil eye; however this family report wearing a blue eye, or gem around their neck or on a bracelet to protect them from the evil This family reports that one of their favorite staples is lamb. There are many things learned from a person’s heritage that affect the way we think of others and of health care needs. Being aware of the differences in cultures may help medical professionals to provide better quality healthcare. Reference Edelman, C. L. (2010). Emerging Populations and Health. In Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span. Healthy People 2010 (2009). Goal 2: Eliminate Health Disparities. Retrieved on October 5, 2012 from http://healthypeople.gov/data/midcourse/html/exesummary/Goal2.htm Spector, R. E.(2009). Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness (7thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,Inc.

Clinical Practices Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Clinical Practices Paper - Essay Example It should not be misconstrued that one type of learning must be followed to help every student learn. Central to learning styles for any student is to find those models of teaching that work most effectively for the individuals learning style so that they become more instantly ready to understand the coursework and do well on a test. The research shows that there are many methods currently being used. There are several basic ways that a student must learn different types of material. As an example, some pieces of knowledge must be memorized. This would include lists of facts or aspects of the human body and body systems that are important to know when you are working with patients. Azzarello (2007) points out that there are three stages of knowledge that students must develop. In the first stage, the declarative stage of learning, students find these lists and common knowledge important. They must not only learn the material, but be able to apply the knowledge to their clinical studies. In stage two, called the procedural stage, students must take the knowledge they have and apply it to situations that may not have come up in other settings. With this knowledge, they must use critical thinking and problem solving to add to the knowledge they have about the situation. In the last stage, which the author calls structural knowledge, a student must understand how procedural knowledge and declarative knowledge relate to one another. This basically means that students will need to understand an organized way of bringing the knowledge together (Azzarello, p. 3). The author suggests that in order to understand what students are learning structurally that Pathfinder scaling techniques can be used. A study was conducted to see whether this was feasible and found that it was one way that students could be evaluated. This is a stronger way to evaluate than concept mapping and most students in the study thought some of the work was

Web Services Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Web Services Security - Essay Example Every business wants to use web services and extend it beyond the boundaries of their organization. This requires new security demands and solutions. Research of the literature available suggests that technology is being upgraded regularly. It is possible to keep the web services secure although for small organizations it may be costly. Most importantly, the web security vendors have to agree to a standard. Most web services have the security packages in-built while Microsoft also allows free downloads. Nevertheless, as technology develops so does the efforts and technology of the hackers and cyber criminals. Data breach resulting from weak security practices can result in facing lawsuits from the federal and state agencies. This can in turn erode business equity, consumer trust and ultimately the business reputation. Securing XML has a variety of problems and is vulnerable to a variety of attacks. There are too many web services security vendors but they have to advertise their mess ages in the right manner (Rowan). In the web services world all the vendors have to agree to a standard but different groups have emerged. Back lashing and copious reports about each other can be found although all are working towards ratifying the standards. Machine to machine communication poses a threat. Web services security can verify the origin of the messages but this necessitates that all members of the group have to be known to each other.

ETHICS, LAW AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

ETHICS, LAW AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Although, the augmenting complexity of business, because of the extensive transformations and developments of the technologies and globalization offers an apparent indication that now we have in an extremely complex business environment and is turning out to be more complex due to novel ethical, cultural, social and legal transformations (Maniam & Teetz, 2009). Business and corporate â€Å"Ethics† is an everyday incidence in the business world as well as in someone’s life. Business ethics is the similar to a normal ethics. These both kinds of ethical practices offer us to identify, what is wrong or right, or else we are in process of discovering what is wrong or right in the environment in which one is concerned. An ethical matter can not have a tangible response; therefore a persons preference can rely on that persons state of affairs. This can take place for the reason that "business and corporate ethics is a large and murky area as well as the place of work is full o f ethical problems and issues. As a result, workers reaction to force to perform can resort to unprincipled decisions so as to convene the objectives they experience are difficult. This can take place at some level of administration (Tutor2u, 2009). This report presents the detailed analysis of the Wal-Mart business and its associated ethical factors. The Wal-Mart is acknowledged as the king of marketplace because of its huge size. It has driven lesser retailers out of commerce; forced companies to be well-organized, frequently leading these suppliers to move industrial jobs overseas; and changed the method that up till now large and established productions do business. Wal-Mart has existence or death decisions over all the customer supplies industries that survive in the US, for the reason that it is the number-one supplier-retailer of the majority of our customer goods, not still toys, clothes, shoes but home applications, electronic goods,

BFS 3460-08B-2 FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS (BFS3460-08B-2) Essay

BFS 3460-08B-2 FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS (BFS3460-08B-2) - Essay Example Fire protection system designers also need the drawings of all electrical installations and drawings of the Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system in the building (Edwards, 2000). Information on electrical installations is also needed as this would help to decide on the most suitable place to put the alarm that would be triggered in the event of a fire outbreak. Information on the HVAC system is also needed in order to know their location and design the smoke detection system in such a way that it does not sense the flue from the HVAC system as smoke from a fire. The fire protection system designer also needs to have the drawings of strategic areas in the building where the fire protection system would be easily accessible and would then design the protection system, bearing in mind that the system would be placed in this location. The designer would also need to know the number of floors & basement in the building. He also needs to have information on the staircase, structural members, truss construction, the number & size of openings in the exterior walls and the configuration of the ceilings. The designer also needs to know how the building is used and purpose the building is used

Boardman Management RFP Assesment Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Boardman Management RFP Assesment - Article Example At the primary stage of analysis, Boardman Management will need to investigate the possibility of using lower-priced materials. If this is not possible, the organizational structure will be redesigned to take advantage of lower-priced materials. Such an approach will enable the company to remain competitive and, in some cases, beat the prices of its competitors. Additionally, the assessment will be made regarding the possibility of storing the cost data for in-process items on-line within the computerized information system so that cost data would always be up to date. With the implementation of such an approach, the problem of out-of-date standard cost figures should never recur (Burkun, 2006). The analysis of the budget will be an important step for Boardman Management to evaluate and calculate investment decisions. Budgets are both planning and control mechanisms that, although essential to control (particularly cost control), serve as a balance between planning and control. They refer to future periods of time, and translate company plans into financial resources. They furnish a guide for future expenditures, and by helping to guide actual performance toward budgeted performance, assist in the achievement of objectives. Budgets establish expected relationships among a number of factors in need of control, such as expenses for advertising, product planning, personal selling, and product development. They may be thought of as short-run aspects of planning (Burkun, 2006). The next step is to analyze the proposed structure of changes and their impact on the organization. The evaluation will uncover an important problem that is not included initially in the investigation. The assistant analysis will take several directions. The company will analyze costs required for implementation and change management, and time schedule. The cost control difficulties caused by restructuring are not hard for the experienced outside auditors to detect. However, developing appropriate recommendations in the form of cost control procedures take a little more time. Such analysis requires the development of different cost information, with cost classifications normally supplied by accounting statements. But generating relevant cost information from accounting statements, though conceptually simple, is actually quite complicated. First, the problem of discerning the costs of different activities is not easy (Burkun, 2006). Second, the allocation of costs among functions and other control units involves subjective judgments. Accountants classify expenditures on a natural basis. Hence, costs may be assigned to advertising, personal selling, transportation, warehousing, and sales promotion. The real purpose of these expenditures, however, is to achieve other objectives, such as sales, market position, image, and reputation. The next step of responses evaluation is to analyze pros and cons of the proposed software and its benefits for the company. The effectiveness of management and its staff in fulfilling their assigned tasks is evaluated. Within the next subsection, the ability of R&D management to exert the necessary leadership to accomplish stated objectives and oversee R&D projects effectively is examined. In a somewhat similar manner, the upward and downward flows of information between different departments and its staff

Should companies routinely Google applicants or look at their Facebook Essay

Should companies routinely Google applicants or look at their Facebook pages as part of a reference check before hiring - Essay Example III. Using Google Search and Facebook, employees are able to assess applicant’s talents. IV. Counter Arguments and Responses a. Opponents argue that the practice leads to invasion of privacy. Refutation: Only employees with questionable behaviors would feel this. b. Opponents claim that the practice is that it drives away talented applicants Refutation: It appropriate when done as the last step in the assessment. V. Conclusion Use of Google and Facebook to assess applicants ensures employers hire suitable employees. Companies Should Google Applicants and Look at Their Facebook Pages as Part of a Reference Check Before Hiring Name Course Tutor’s Name Date Companies Should Google Applicants and Look at Their Facebook Pages as Part of a Reference Check Before Hiring Introduction Although most people consider social networks to be sites for their personal life, the sites are increasingly becoming important in increasing or decreasing the chances of acquiring a job. Most peo ple use social networks in informal settings and tend to share information that could be detrimental to their career life. This is because some employers are increasingly using search engines such as Google and social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to screen applicants. The kind of information that people share on the social networks depicts the kind of people they are. It is thus important that employers check on such information to discern if the prospective employees have underlying interest in the field, they have applied the job. Some employees also use social networks when they have too many applicants and want to narrow down the list. By using social networks, they are able to find reason not to hire some candidates. Additionally, the kind of information people post on social network sites can demonstrate their capability to deal with other people. This essay argues that companies should Google applicants and look at their Facebook pages as part of a reference check before hiring. The employers, particularly the human resource managers spend plenty of time dealing with employee problems. By conducting checks on the prospective employees, the employer can be able to discern the probability of an interviewee being problematic after employment. Using Google, employers are able to find out information regarding previous employment. This helps determine if the candidates present themselves professionally. Additionally this can help the employer understand the kind of a person the applicant is and their capability of coping with the company’s culture. By doing background checks using the social networks and Goggle, employees are able to detect and eliminate candidates with tainted records or a vague past. Some managers argue that they have been able to find reasons not to hire applicants by using social networks. In most cases, the managers felt that the applicant postings such as those against former employer were red flags. A dditionally, some people lie about their qualification on Facebook, which depicts their deceitfulness. This saves the company the large amount of time spent dealing with problems that such employees bring into the company (DiSilvestro, 2012). Another reason why employees should carry out background checks is to determine the capability of the candidates to

Substantial development and its benefits to Toronto Essay

Substantial development and its benefits to Toronto - Essay Example Sustainability entails that we should consider the world to be a system connected in both space and time, hence an environmental blunder committed in a particular place in the world, will be felt worldwide and in generations to come. In a developmental context, sustainability calls for a decision making process that is futuristic. It strives to bring a balance between the competing needs and environmental consciousness. According to Stockholm Partnership Forum for Sustainable Development (2012), Stockholm is one of the world’s greatest cities that have highly embraced the idea of substantial development though it has been facing a lot of challenges. The city offers an attractive and conducive environment for its citizens in both the working and living arenas. Through its principle of sustainability, has been seen to grow substantially in terms of economics. For instance its 2012-2015 environmental program is envisioned in the principle of promoting an appealing and developing city where individual’s needs are approached from both a qualitative and bio-diversity approach. The program seeks to promote a transport system that is environmentally efficient, sustainable use of resources (land, energy and water), effective waste treatment techniques and production of human friendly structures and goods. The combined approach of BBP-NC and TGS will surely benefit the city through infrastructural expansion as well as health care costs. This is because it aims at providing infrastructural structures that are long lasting and eco-friendly. Sustainability emphasizes on recycling and proper utilization of resources, principles which are very prominent in both the two approaches (Lindstrà ¶m & Kà ¼ller, 2008). Furthermore, if natural resources such as air and land are abused currently, their long felt effects such as global warming will be felt intensely in the future. This is why TGS and BBP-NC strive to reduce significantly the amount of carbon dioxide

Individuals Relationship to the Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individuals Relationship to the Community - Essay Example Sartre's existentialism and Human Emotions talk about how an individual can get the essence of his individuality through his existence. According to him, humans are thrown in this world without essence and with the span of time that he spends in the world, he has the chance to make decisions for there are choices available no matter what kind of situation circumstance he will be. He also added that since the people are born in the environment where there is no external value, it is already his chance to achieve the internal value that he desires. This optimistic view of existence can be related to how people base their decisions, most of which depend on what will people say and how people will judge. The individual and the community can never be separated although that is the aim and the goal of each one, still to depart from what is real and existing as a factor of survival is absolutely impossible. That is because of the reality that man cannot live and interact with himself alone. The interaction with other people that is needed for the nourishment of his physical, mental and emotional aspects is quite significant to be disregarded. This is the same reason why the community, the place for interaction is indispensable for his survival. The disadvantage comes in when free will and personal decisions get replaced by what we call "rules," rules which Freud said to be a kind of mutual relationship which replaces the individual's freedom by the rules of the society. This means that one is restricted to do things of his desire to give way to order and justice. Individual instincts for happiness are also controlled so as to reach the level of civilization which is thought to be progr ess. And since we talked about progress as another goal of every society, we can't remove the fact that progress deals with new technology which just like what Said mentioned in his book Representations of the Intellectual can somehow alter the real meaning of freedom. This is due to social conformity that needs to be accomplished to get the work done riding along with technology. The improvements and progress being the aim of every community and society, or group of individuals which usually follow a rule will always violate the so-called "norm of freedom" which Said partly talked about in the said book. The point being raised here is that even if there is a choice for man to be totally free at a given time or place, there is always a big possibility for him to be submissive to the rules which to him will bring forth bigger advantages. The violation then comes in when the expectations of the man who went struggling to deprive himself from personal satisfaction for a bigger cause gets corrupted by a bigger longing not from an individual but from the society, which supposedly is the on that would protect and or work for his desires to be achieved. A violation can also be done to personal freedom of choice and decision is when at a moment, the basis for a particular action or agendum is already the reaction of the community which cumulatively formed the rules in the society. What went wrong between the individual and the community was the interlocking of desires both from the individual and the community. No matter how mutual the so-called rules can be, there is always a greater desire that may pass over the well-made rules of the

School Conflict Case Study Essay Example for Free

School Conflict Case Study Essay This case study examines the conflict over whether public schools in the United States of America should teach biology from the viewpoint of evolution or of creation, according to the Christian Bible. Although this battle has raged for several decades, it is still an emotionally charged, often-debated issue. Through research on this subject, one finds the term â€Å"intelligent design,† and while this initially sounds like there may be a third contingency in this debate, upon closer examination, one finds that â€Å"intelligent design† is tantamount to creationism. Likewise one finds the term â€Å"environmental creationism,† which is also a pseudonym for creationism. Those who believe in evolution contend that their view is the result of scientifically verifiable non-biased information. Those who believe in creationism contend that the Christian Bible is a book written through divine inspiration and therefore, whatever is written in the Bible is the ultimate authority. Basically the evolutionists believe they are correct because their information can be proven scientifically, while the creationists believe that their information is from an infallible source that is more certain than the evolutionists’ scientific data. Since public schools are supported by public taxes, some believe that church and state must be kept separate. This is supported by the fact that, â€Å"the federal government has repeatedly denied the introduction of creationism into public schools as it is a direct violation of the separation of church and state (Lac, Hemovich, Himelfarb, 2010, p. 253). Yet, it is also believed that the preferences of the local citizenry should be consulted in deciding which theory or theories should be taught in public school biology. Currently local school boards actually seem to hold sway over what type of orientation their local schools will use in biology. Even when there are state or local rulings favoring one side or the other, some classroom teachers include their personal preferences (or those of their supervisors) in choosing which orientation is taught in their classrooms. For example, â€Å"in Dover, Pennsylvania, the school board adopted a general policy endorsing â€Å"intelligent design† and district administrators composed the statement that was read to high school biology classes as they began the evolution unit† (Lerner, 2002, p. 287). Some attempts toward reconciliation of these viewpoints have resulted in having both viewpoints presented in the biology classrooms of certain districts. This idea was condoned by the George W. Bush administration in 2005, stating that â€Å"children should be exposed to multiple ideas in school† (Warmick, p. 305). Another problem with presenting both evolution and the creationism in the classroom occurs when one tries to qualify which type of creationism is to be taught. The most commonly known creation story from the book of Genesis in the Christian Bible; however, there are actually 3 different versions of creation within the book of Genesis, some resembling the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian creation stories, with a substitution of one God for many gods (Carson-Newman University, 2013). Another Christian variant of creationist theory is that of â€Å"intelligent design† which argues that Darwinian science does not contradict the Bible, while maintaining that a super-being planned transformation of species (Johnson, 2011, p. 15). Lastly, there is the version called â€Å"environmental creationism:† in which â€Å"the use of creationist language is employed without the explicit Christian context† (Nelson, 2010, p. 513). What can be done as the battle over creationism versus evolution rages on in courtrooms and at state and local school board meetings across our nation? As mentioned previously, some localities have settled on including both sides’ viewpoints; however, it is difficult to present both possibilities without bias because they come from different schools of thought. The evolutionists believe scientific fact to be ultimate truth, yet the creationists consider the word of God to be the ultimate truth. Is there a way to honor the U. S. Constitution and the taxpayers simultaneously, some of whom believe in creation and some of whom believe in evolution? If we decide to include both creationism and evolution and to consider the debate rhetorical, we run the risk of neither side being satisfied because there are those on both sides who believe that their way is the only way and who want to â€Å"win† the battle. If traditional approaches have not settled this issue, then perhaps it is time to try alternative dispute resolution measures, the attempts to present both evolution and creationism in the classroom, not-withstanding. Peter Tolman ( 2006, p. 544) writes that â€Å"intractable conflicts are rooted in the ways we make sense of the world and are not solvable in the traditional sense. † He further states that, â€Å"It is primarily through assumptions about what is unquestionably â€Å"right,† in a given context that different groups develop and maintain incommensurate worldviews and conflicts persist (Tolman, 2006, p. 545). † Our issue here is obviously one of intractable conflict. Our issue is not one in which both sides desire to reach a win-win solution; however, productive outcomes will depend on introduction of the principles of negotiation, beginning with the foundational abilities for conflict resolution.

Mental Health Illness: Good Social Work Practice

Mental Health Illness: Good Social Work Practice Good Social Work Practice with Adolescents in the Field of MentalHealth Social works role as the dominant provider of mental healthservices is rooted in history and well-established in the contemporary socialservices landscape. It has been estimated that social workers invest more thanhalf their time in dealing with mental health issues (Howard et al., 1996).Constituting over sixty percent of the mental health workforce, social workersprovide more community-based mental health services than any other professionalgroups. Also, social work has more candidates in preparation for this growtharea than does any other discipline. It is the largest field of practice andthe most-chosen focus of study among social work graduate students (Proctor,2004). The heaviest consumers of social work services also are the most probablevictims of mental illness. The clientele of certain service delivery settings,including homeless shelters, child welfare, out-of-home placement and long-termcare, settings in which social workers predominate, are among the most at riskfor psychiatric disorders and the least likely to gain access to appropriatecare. This highlights the tremendous potential of social service professionalsto reach and to treat individuals with mental health problems. Adolescents are far from immune to these findings. For example, psychiatricimpairment rates for youths in the child welfare system have been estimated atbetween 35-to-50 percent, closely matched by the 30-to-50 percent ratings ofjuveniles in the criminal justice system (Proctor, 2004). Walker (2003)pointed out that one of the few undisputed risk factors for mental illness inadults is unaddressed or inadequately treated psychiatric problems in youths. Thecost of failure to respond effectively to the mental health problems of adolescentsincludes lifetimes of potential productivity lost to consequences such as drugabuse, homelessness and suicide. The following discussion applies relevant theory and research to thequestion of good social work practice with adolescents suffering psychiatricdisorders. A touchstone for good practice can be found in Mowbray and Holters(2002) charge to social work practitioners and researchers that their effortson behalf of the mentally ill should produce: Increased integration within the community (aswith other disability groups); Decreased stigma and discrimination; Increased utilization of effective treatmentoptions; Equitable access to effective, appropriatetreatment. Adapting LeCroys (1992) outline, practices in the broad areas ofassessment, treatment and service delivery are considered. Assessment Practices It generally is agreed that assessment methodologies developed foruse with adults lack efficacy for assessing adolescents. Partly due to youthshigher level of dependency on the environment, a person-in-environmentperspective is a recommended starting point (LeCroy, 1992). In order toaddress the question of how the individuals and the familys coping skillsinteract with the quality of the environment, the social worker must weighresources and support, the barriers and opportunities, the risks and protectivefactors present in that environment. Wakefield et al. (1999) pointed out the pivotal role of a socialworkers attributions in the assessment of adolescent antisocial behavior. Thecomplex web of logic and experience, evidence and intuition, theory and belief,involved in the assessment process is reflected in this study. The researchquestion was two-fold: (1) whether social workers correctly distinguish betweena psychiatric disorder and non-disorder (as defined in DSM-IV) given contextualcues supporting one or the other attribution, and (2) whether judgments bearingon prognosis and appropriate treatment follow these attributions. Finding positivesupport for both questions, the authors called for a focus on this criticaldiscriminate attribution in social work training programs. In working with adolescents, the desirability of a broad-basedassessment, across environments, informants and factors affecting copingability and stress, requires the social worker to possess skills in casemanagement and clinical areas. Research by Elze (2002) highlighted the effectsof the wider social context on adolescent functioning. In this study, sheexamined risk factors for mental health in a sample of self-identified gay,lesbian and bisexual youths. Unlike most research involving this population,her enquiry included the role of factors unrelated to sexual orientation. Shefound that most of the variance in mental health status was accounted for bysocioeconomic level, familial mental health, family functioning and otheridentified life stressors. From a practice perspective, this researchreinforces the importance of assessing a clients overall psychosocialfunctioning, as related to and beyond the limits of the presenting problem. Objective, empirically-based assessment instruments, designed forthe adolescent population, are needed to increase the reliability of thispractice. Most of the instruments in use with adolescent clients today aremodified adult or child-specific protocols, such as the Child BehaviorChecklist or the structured life events interview (LeCroy, 1992). An extremeexample of the caution required in using adapted instruments was presented byElls (2005). The context of this critique was the courts need for assessmentsof psychopathic tendencies in juvenile offenders as a basis for jurisdictionwaiver decisions. Ells reported on assessments using the Hare PsychopathyChecklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV), derived from an instrument developed foradults. She found the tool subject to ethnic bias, developmental bias and alack of predictive value due to unfounded generalizations from research andexperience with adults. She warned that the introduction of psychopathyassessments in juvenile jurisdiction waiv er decisions is premature anddangerously unreliable. Overall, good practice in adolescent assessmentcertainly would benefit from objective, evidence-based protocols, honedespecially for this population group. These are some of the implications for good social work practice inthe mental health assessment of adolescents. Treatment Practices To establish that treatment can be effective with children and adolescents,LeCroy (1992, p. 227) reported the results of two meta-analyses, demonstratingthat average outcomes for those who received treatment were 71-to-79 percentbetter than an untreated control group. In order to establish good practice,however, the social worker must know which treatment approaches are likely toproduce what effects for the adolescent and significant others. The breadth of focus required for assessment is echoed in goodtreatment practice recommendations for working with psychologically impairedadolescents. The keynote appears to be a conceptualization of problems asconstellations of interrelated systems, yielding treatment goals inclusive ofthe family, peer group and community, toward the underpinning of long-termadjustment for the client. This view of good practice is common across theoreticalperspectives. For example, from a social ecological point-of-view, Ungar(2002) left the more mechanistic systems models behind and reflected on the diversity-embracingnew ecology, with community as the central concept in treatment. Steven Walker, whether expounding on community-based applications ofthe psychosocial model (2003) or considering treatment practice from apostmodern perspective (2001), emphasized the necessity for an integrated (ordeconstructed) model of treatment practice, inclusive of a broad panorama ofoptions. Noting that flexible, creative solutions are required by adolescentswith psychological problems, Walker (2003) discussed the United Kingdomsfour-tier model for mental health services to children and adolescents as anopportunityfor intellectual agility on the part of social workers (p. 683). Barths (2003) dissertation on the treatment of college studentswith eating disorders is an interesting example of this eclectic approach totheory and treatment. She made a point of focusing on the entiresocial/medical context of a client, then drawing treatment implications fromany number of theoretical models that fit this context, includingpsychoanalytic, psychosocial and postmodern perspectives. Given the length ofthe usual battle with eating disorders, this assessment treatment assessmentcycle repeats throughout the life of the case, opening new opportunities foreffective intervention at every turn. As with assessment, research is essential for informing goodtreatment practice. The research of Colarossi and Eccles (2003), for example,offered evidence that support from significant others is not a unidimensionalconstruct. They examined the differential effects of support provided byparents, teachers and peers on adolescent depression and self-esteem. Nonfamilialsources of support were found to be more efficacious for improving self-esteem,while depression responded to all support offered, regardless of source. Theresults obtained suggest the need to selectively promote support from varioussources, as opposed to a broad or unfocused social network tactic. In service of good treatment practice, LeCroy (1992) lists a numberof promising approaches (p. 227) that social workers should include in theirtreatment options toolkit. These include behavioral treatment (or competencytraining) for antisocial problems, functional family therapy, parent-managementtraining, home-based treatment, training in social skills and problem solving,psychopharmacology and psychotherapy or IPT-A (interpersonal psychotherapy foradolescents). These are examples of some good social work practice guidelines formental health treatment of adolescents, derived, to a large extent, from theoryand research. Putting assessment decisions and treatment choices into actionis the role of service delivery systems. Practices Related to Service Delivery Considering systems of service delivery prompts the realizationthat, in terms of good practice, social workers must be proficient in an arrayof interventions beyond the confines of direst treatment. In order tocoordinate multiple services and monitor systems of care, critical casemanagement competencies are required. The significance of a well-coordinatedsystem of care must be salient for every social worker involved in servicedelivery. One of the most difficult decisions in this arena is when to utilizesubstitute care. Inpatient or residential treatment, foster care, respitecare, partial hospitalization and day treatment, define points along thissubstitute care continuum. Especially in light of research on the importance ofsocial support and of home and community-based treatment, moving the adolescentinto a substitute care setting seems particularly invasive. Research studies and reports can help inform the decision to utilizepsychiatric inpatient treatment. For example, Pottick et al. (1999) helped tountangle the many variables affecting adolescent length of stay in thesefacilities. Looking at factors that influence the occurrence and timing ofdischarge, they found that facility type was significant. Stays in generalhospitals with psychiatric services were much shorter than in public or privatepsychiatric hospitals or multi-service mental health centers. Also, insurancewas a factor; privately-insured youths stayed longer than did publicly-fundedor uninsured adolescents. Having a previous hospitalization predicted a longerstay, as did the diagnosis of conduct disorder (versus depression). Althoughthis research does not speak to the quality of care, and given that moreoutcomes research is needed, the awareness of contingencies disclosed by thisstudy can aid a social worker in forming valid expectations and making aninformed decision for th e client. Romansky et al. (2003) looked at factors influencing readmission to psychiatrichospital care for children and adolescents who were in the child welfaresystem. Their findings highlighted the significance of enabling factorspresent for these children, including living arrangement, geographic region andpost-hospitalization services. The focus must be on community-based servicesto prevent readmission for these adolescents. On a similar note, a review of the research on inpatient treatmentin child and adolescent psychiatry (Blanz Schmidt, 2000) cautiouslyconcluded that hospitalization can be beneficial given that effective treatmentand discharge planning are included. These researchers pointed to acontinuum-of-care model as crucial in facilitating integration/coordinationbetween inpatient interventions and aftercare services. While research such as this can aid the social worker in making thedifficult inpatient care decisions, there are myriad other placementconsiderations that should rely on good practice to advantage adolescents inneed of mental health care. The keynote for good practice remains choosing theleast restrictive, appropriate environment. To make this choice for a givenadolescent, the social worker must be familiar with the placement optionsavailable and the treatment philosophy of each program, as well as the uniqueconfiguration of problem dimensions particular to that client. LeCroy (1992) suggested that social work should try to developobjective tools to assist in meeting the good practice guidelines for mentalhealth placement decisions. He offered the Arizona Decision Making Tree (p.228) as a potential model for such a tool. This tool is used for theassignment of juvenile offenders to five levels of care, varying inrestrictiveness and program components. At best, a fine balance in judgment is required to match a givenadolescent, at a specific point in time, with a certain treatment setting,providing the best therapeutic approach for the clients particularconstellation of problems. A control problem versus learning disabilities isonly one example of how varied and far-ranging the mix of relevant factors canbe. At times, there may be a need for a more restrictive setting as afunction of risk factors in the home/community environment. A study by Ruffoloand colleagues (2004) addressed such a situation. To inform the design of moreeffective mental health intervention (and prevention) programs, they examinedthe risk and resiliency factors for groups of delinquent, diverted andhigh-risk adolescent girls. All these girls were either involved in thejuvenile justice system, or at risk of involvement, and were receivingresidential services in either a home or community-based, open or closedsetting. Girls in the closed residential setting (the most restrictive) reportedhigher levels of depression, family discord, sexual abuse, negative lifeevents, involvement in special education programs, and more delinquent andnegative coping behaviors. In other words, the girls with the greatest riskfactors present in their home and community were placed in the most restrictivesetting. The authors concluded that t hese placement decisions reflected anappropriate appraisal of the level of need. These are a few of the factors available to guide the development ofgood social work practice in the coordination of service delivery systems. Conclusion This paper reviewed a portion of the theory and researchcontributing to good social work practice standards in the area of adolescentmental health. While accomplishments in this area are commendable, muchremains to be done. More well-designed and well-controlled research is needed to weighthe effectiveness of adolescent service models, especially with regard tolong-term outcomes. As effective systems of care are identified, they must be developedinto practice guidelines and supported by policy and funding. Social workers are challenged to work for increased, improved,accessible services for adolescents, to educate the community and mobilizestakeholders, to develop and to implement effective strategies for preventionand intervention. References Barth,F.D. (2003). Separate but not alone: Separation-individuation issues incollege students with eating disorders. Clinical Social Work Journal,31(2), pp. 139-153. Blanz,B. Schmidt, M.H. (2000). Preconditions and outcome of inpatienttreatment in child and adolescent psychiatry. Journal of Child Psychologyand Psychiatry, 41(6), pp. 703-712. Colarossi,L.G. Eccles, J.S. (2003). Differential effects of support providers onadolescents mental health. Social Work Research, 27(1), pp. 19-30. Ells,L. (2005). Juvenile psychopathy: The hollow promise of prediction. ColumbiaLaw Review, 105(1), pp. 158-208. Elze,D.E. (2002). Risk factors for internalizing and externalizing problems amonggay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents. Social Work Research, 26(2),pp. 89-99. Howard,K.I., Cornille, T.A., Lyons, J.S., Vessey, J.T., Lueger, R.J., Saunders,S. (1996). Patterns of mental health service utilization. Archives ofGeneral Psychiatry, 53, pp. 696-703. LeCroy,C.W. (1992). Enhancing the delivery of effective mental health services tochildren. Social Work, 37(3), pp. 225-231. Mowbray,C.T. Holter, M.C. (2002). Mental health and mental illness: Out of thecloset? Social Science Review, 76(1), pp. 135-179. Pottick, K.J., Hansell, S.,Miller, J.E., Davis, D.M. (1999). Factors associated with inpatient length of stay forchildren and adolescents with serious mental illness. Social Work Research,23(4), pp. 213-224. Proctor, E. (2004). Researchto inform mental health practice: Social works contributions. Social WorkResearch, 28(4), pp. 195-197. Romansky, J.B., Lyons, J.S.,Lehner, R.K., West, C.M. (2003). Factors related to psychiatric hospitalreadmission among children and adolescents in state custody. PsychiatricServices, 54(3), pp. 356-362. Ruffolo, M.C., Sarri, R., Goodkind, S. (2004). Study of delinquent, diverted, and high-riskadolescent girls: Implications for mental health intervention. Social WorkResearch, 28(4), pp. 237-244. Ungar, M. (2002). A deeper,more social ecological social work practice. Social Science Review,76(3), pp. 480-497. Wakefield, J.C., Kirk, S.A.,Pottick, K.J., Hsieh, D. (1999). Disorder attribution and clinical judgment in theassessment of adolescent antisocial behavior. Social Work Research, 23(4),pp. 227-238. Walker, S. (2001). Tracingthe contours of postmodern social work. British Journal of Social Work,31, pp. 29-39. Walker, S. (2003). Socialwork and child mental health: Psychosocial principles in community practice. BritishJournal of Social Work, 33(5), pp. 673-687.

Modulation Systems Used In Satellite Communications Computer Science Essay

Modulation Systems Used In Satellite Communications Computer Science Essay Satellite is the one of the greatest means of communication carrying a large chuck of voice and data stream from one part of the horizon to the other as compared to other medium. In this modern age, communication satellite networks are an indispensable part of the major telecommunication systems. Satellite interconnects the nodes and provides some better advantages in application than the traditional communication systems such as interconnecting large traffic nodes (e.g. telephone exchanges), mobile communication and provision of end to end connections directly to users, television and sound broadcast directly to the public [1]. To provide the optimum quality of services (QoS) different types of design techniques needs to be consider for different purposes like distinct types of modulation and coding (channel and source) techniques are used for specific purpose, link budget calculations, selection of radio frequency (RF) etc. Other dominating factors are: permitted earth station size and complexity, the size and the shape of the service area etc [2]. The objective of this paper is to describe different types of modulations systems using for satellite communications. In this report, first I am trying to give some basic information related to the modulation systems and then bring all possible modulation schemes used in satellite communications. Modulation: In general view, modulation is the process where the characteristics (phase, frequency or amplitude) of the high frequency carrier are varied in accordance with the baseband signal. The baseband signal carries the basic information such as the output of video camera, voice coder or digital television. In practical point of view, it is more convenient to carry the modulation at the intermediate frequency-typically 70MHz [1]. Satellites are usually operate at Gigahertz range of frequency and the modulation signals are up-converted to the transmission frequency and amplified before going on air [1].The term modulation is also used to describe certain types of baseband processing like Pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) or Pulse Code modulation (PCM) [2]. Modulation Systems for Satellite Communications: We can divide the modulation systems in two broad categories like Analogue Modulation and Digital Modulation Analogue modulation is Amplitude Modulation, Frequency Modulation and the phase Modulation. Digital Modulation is divided into several categories and each of those uses in specific purpose. Analogue Modulation: Let consider a sinusoidal wave f(t): f(t) = A cos {2*à Ã¢â€š ¬*f c(t)+ÃŽÂ ±}..(A) Where A is the amplitude, f c is the carrier frequency and theta is the phase of the wave with respect to the information signals. When the amplitude of the carrier wave is changed, then the wave is called amplitude modulated and scheme is known as the amplitude modulation. Likewise when frequency or phase of the wave is altered then it called frequency modulated and phase modulation respectively and techniques are known as frequency and phase modulation respectively [1]. Amplitude Modulation: As mentioned above, a carrier wave is said to be amplitude modulated when the amplitude of the carrier varies with respect to the baseband signal. An amplitude modulated signal can be given as V(t)= A{1+m(t)}cos (2*à Ã¢â€š ¬*fc) (1) In equation (1), m(t) is the message signal and the fc is the carrier frequency. A{1+m(t)} is the amplitude of the carrier and it varies accordance with the signal m(t). If m(t) is the sinusoidal signal and Am and fm is the amplitude and the frequency of the m(t) respectively, then it can be written as follows V(t)= A{1+Am sin2*pi*fm}cos (2*à Ã¢â€š ¬*fc) .(2) The spectral efficiency of V(t) can be obtain by expanding equation (3) and it can be shown that there are two side bands in the spectrum like upper and lower. The upper and lower sidebands consists of same spectral shape as that of the message signal m(t) [1]. The main advantages of the AM is that amplitude modulated carrier can be easily detected by using a simple envelop detector. An envelope detector is the simple large time constant RC circuit. But the difficulty is that AM modulation is rarely use for satellite communications because [1]: An amplitude modulated signal is very susceptible to the signal fluctuation It requires very high Signal to Noise ratio for desire amount of quality. AM is used in laser inter-satellite links (ISL) in an alternate form called ON-OFF keying. There are two forms of AM systems: Double Side Band Suppressed Carrier (DSB-SC) Single Side Band Modulation (SSB) In DSB-SC the carrier frequency is suppressed and only side bands are transmitted. In this case the amplitude of the wave does not follow the amplitude of the signal and as a consequence of that it reduces the simplicity of the demodulation in FM. DSB-SC is not used in the satellite communications but this technique is good for understanding the SSB modulation [1]. SSB is another alternative form of the AM systems. This technique is suitable for the application where the bandwidth is the premium. In AM modulation, both the side bands consist of baseband information and transmission of same information twice showing the redundancy. In this case, SSB modulation, this redundancy is cut-off by removing one of the sideband so the bandwidth of the RG signal is same as the bandwidth of the baseband signal. Sometimes the carrier is also removed then it is called SSB-SC (suppressed carrier) [1]. SSB is detected at the receiver end using synchronous detector. There are two factors playing an important role to make the SSB suitable for the satellite communications: occupied bandwidth and the required carrier to noise ratio. The most common application of the SSB in the satellite communication is to multiplex voice signals into a composite baseband signal. Another form of SSB is using in the mobile satellite communication is known as the ACSSB (Amplitude C ompanded SSB) because in mobile satellite service efficiency of the bandwidth is desired. Frequency Modulation: The FM systems are widely used in satellite communications. FM system is appropriate for those cases where the baseband signals are in analogue form. In FM, frequency of the carrier signal is varied with the message signal[1]. This scheme exploits where simple receivers are essential for transmission of the digital data[4]. An example is Inmarsat Paging system because an important requirement of the paging system is the need for simple, low-cost and rugged receiver [1]. The most common methods of modulation used in the fixed-satellite service are FM for analogue signals [5]. FM has been largely used in satellite communications. It is particularly convenient when a single carrier per transponder is used and where the constant envelope of the FM signals allows the power amplifiers to operate at saturation, thus making maximum use of the available power.[5] Digital Modulation: In digital modulation techniques baseband signals can be modulated by altering the one or more of its basic parameter: amplitude, frequency and phase. According to this there are three basic modulation schemes in digital modulation like Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK), Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) and Phase Shift Keying (PSK). There are many variations and combination of these techniques. The combination of ASK and PSK is also known as the QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation).Table: 1 below showing list of some digital modulation schemes. Some of the schemes can be derived from more than one parent schemes [3]. Abbreviations Alternate Abbreviations Descriptive names FSK BFSK MFSK FSK Frequency Shift Keying (Generic name) Binary Frequency Shift Keying M-ary Frequency Shift Keying PSK BPSK QPSK OQPSK à Ã¢â€š ¬/4-QPSK MPSK PSK 4PSK SQPSK Phase Shift Keying (Generic Name) Binary Phase Shift Keying Quadrature Phase Shift Keying Offset QPSK, Staggered QPSK à Ã¢â€š ¬/4 Quadrature Phase Shift Keying M-ary Phase Shift Keying CPM SHPM MHPM LREC CPFSK MSK LRC LSRC GMSK TFM CORPSK FFSK Continuous Phase Modulation Single h (modulation index) phase modulation Multi h phase modulation Rectangular pulse of length L Continuous phase frequency shift keying Minimum phase shift keying, Fast frequency shift keying Raised cosine of pulse of length L Spectrally raised cosine pulse of length L Gaussian Minimum shift keying Tamed frequency shift keying Correlative PSK QAM ASK Quadrature amplitude modulation Amplitude shift keying QORC QOSRC SQORC Q2PSK UF-OQPSK TSI OQPSK SQAM XPSK Quadrature overlapped raised cosine modulation Quadrature overlapped square raised cosine modulation Staggered QORC Quadrature Quadrature phase shift keying Inter-symbol interference/Jitter free OQPSK Two symbol interleaved OQPSK Superposed QAM Cross-correlated QPSK Table: Digital Modulation using in satellite commiunications. As the advance in technology and limitation of analogue modulation it is now most of the satellite using digital modulation techniques and providing some advantages over analogue modulation like better performance, error detection and correction efficiency, signal to noise ratio etc. So in this paper focus are mainly given to the various types of digital modulation systems. We can divide digital modulation systems into two large categories [1]; Constant Envelop Modulation and Non- Constant Envelop Modulation and The constant envelop class is generally considered as the most suitable for the satellite communications because it minimizes the effect of non-linear amplification in the high power amplifier like TWTA (Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier) or KTA (Klystron Tube Amplifier). In this case the generic FSK is not suitable for satellite communication because it has very low bandwidth efficiency as compared to PSK systems [5].In this section of the report a brief description of different types of digital modulation systems using in satellite communication is given. PSK BPSK QPSK: In PSK system, envelop is constant but the phase changes discontinuously from symbol to symbol. There are two types of classic PSK schemes like BPSK (Binary PSK) and QPSK (Quadrature PSK). Generally, PSK modulation systems with M-ary signals can be used and its known as MPSK [5]. MPSK is more suitable than MFSK because it provides better Power Nyquest efficiency than MFSK. In mobile satellite communication, the most commonly used digital modulation system have been BPSK and different forms of QPSK. It is not surprising that higher order modulation are providing the better performance and efficient as well but they are more sensitive to the channel impairments. Recently, higher order PSK, 16-QAM is using for this purpose. [1] PSK modulation systems easily represented in the I-Q plane where I and Q axes are normal to each other. One point in I-Q plane is providing the information about the signal state [1]. PSK scheme include two basic techniques like BPSK and QPSK. In BPSK one binary code is represented by the two phases 0 and 180 where in QPSK two binary codes is represented by the four phases: 0, 90, 180 and 270. In multi level PSK, the higher the order the more requirement of power to achieve the same amount of performance [5]. PSK is using for satellite communication because PSK signal can be transmitted through the non-linear channel of a satellite and it depends on the proper choice of the modem filters [5]. Other types of modulation systems use in satellite communications are Quadrature schemes where the modulated signals are represented in terms of two channels like I and Q. Three schemes of Quadrature modulation are given below. OQPSK, offset QPSK or OKQPSK (offset keying QPSK), also known as the SQPSK (Staggered QPSK), is a modified form of QPSK. In the OQPSK, the value of Q and I channel not changing at the same instant because the value of the Q-channel baseband is delayed by the duration of one symbol. By using this property, OQPSK signals provide the reduction of the non-linear distortion when passing through non-linear element. So in this case, a better performance can be expected in the non-linear satellite channel as compared to the QPSK [7]. In OQPSK systems, maximum phase change is limited to 90. Its one of the reasons why OQPSK is advantageous for satellite channels and is used in satellite links [1]. MSK (minimum shift keying) is another coherent frequency shift keying modulation systems with modulation index 0.5. It also shows the non-linear property through a non-linear satellite channel and the signal has constant envelop.[5] MSK is spectrally more efficient than the QPSK and OQPSK because its spectrum has wider main lobe than QPSK and OQPSK [9]. QAM: It is seen that as there is a very limited bandwidth available for the satellite channels, the research for spectrally efficient modulation technique is essential for this application. Here QAM is used with the modified signal constellations for wideband satellite communication systems. [8] Because of its constant envelop to combat the non linearity of the satellite channel; M-ary phase shift keying is conventionally used in digital satellite communications systems. But when higher spectral efficiency is expected it cost more power than the other schemes. The main objective of modifying the QAM signal constellation is to reduce its sensitivity to the channel non linearity [8]. FSK: As described above, in Frequency Shift Keying systems, frequency is shifting in accordance with the message state change [1]. Binary Phase Shift Keying (BFSK) is the simplest form of the FSK allowed only two frequency states and this system can be extended to M level of frequency shifting then it is known as the M-ary FSK. In M-ary FSK N numbers of bits are combined to form a symbol. [1] M-FSK is a power efficient modulation technique which power efficiency can be increased by increasing the number of frequencies (M) at the cost of additional complexity and smaller bandwidth efficiency. This modulation system is found appropriate for some low rate and low power applications such as Global paging via satellite communications [10]. M-FSK can be used for in land mobile satellite communications where the numbers of user are stationary. It is valid for low data rate application like paging via satellites [10]. OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) Modulation OFDM is a mature digital multi-carrier modulation technique has been used in physical layer of broadband wireless air interface standard like IEEE 802.11/Wi-Fi and 802.16/WiMax as well as digital video broadcast-Terrestrial DVB-T [11]. Simultaneously, OFDM modulation is attracting more attention for satellite communications and now it is using for DVB-TH. OFDM modulation systems also use in Military satellite communication. Coded Orthogonal Frequency division Multiplexing Modulation (C-OFDM) A COFDM modulation system is resistance to the frequency selective fading. This type of fading is seen in the wideband mobile communications. This system is useful for the digital audio and video broadcasting over a long distance. In future, C-OFDM systems would be one of the candidates for direct sound broadcast satellite systems [1]. Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM) Error correction coding and modulation are combined in Trellis coded modulation systems. To transmit information over the power-limited and band-limited channel, the modulation and the channel coding must be optimized jointly [12]. TCM with Octal Phase Modulation or 8-PSK 8-PSK is a constant amplitude modulation system with higher bandwidth efficiency. The first TCM application to satellite transmission occurred with the 8-PSK trellis codes. Using a 72 M Hz transponder bandwidth, transmission at up to 155.52 Mbits/s have been realized [5]. TCM with 8-PSK provides high bit rate which is essential in future for the high bit rate application like images, TV and HDTV services over the satellite transmission [5]. There are various forms of TCM like PTCM (pragmatic) and PPTCM (Punctured PTCM). The PTCM codes are interesting for satellite transmissions. As an example, a new coding systems using the PTCM 2/3-8PSK code concatenated with Reed -Solomon code in the INTELSAT IDR service and is expected to increase the capacity up to 25% base on the standard A earth station and INTELSAT VII space segment conditions [5]. As the demand is increasing for higher bandwidth efficiency, the QAM trellis codes could find the potential applications in HDTV satellite transmissions in the future. But the main limitation of trellis codes applying in the QAM using in the satellite communications is their non-constant amplitude and more distortion occur when pass through the NLA (Non-linear amplifier) [13]. A precise amplitude control must be used in the receiver end [5]. Trellis coded 16-PSK and 16-QAM modulation systems are used for satellite communications. But the fact is that when the modulation level increases, the constant envelop M-ary PSK modulation systems are inferior to the QAM systems. On the other hand, QAM suffers more distortion in the non-linear satellite communications channels [14]. QAM is suitable for geostationary orbit satellite channel with only Gaussian impairments because of being amplitude and phase modulated signal, QAM is more sensitive to the effects of interference and fading than MPSK [15]. Single Channel Per Carrier FM Modulation with syllabic Companding (SCPC FM) The main advantage of using SCPC FM modulation with syllabic Companding in satellite communication is to increase the limited capacity and this capacity increment is fully depends on the syllabic companding. The compadors in the transmission side take a wide volume of speech signals and reduce by the compressor with small amount of deviations. As a consequence of that in the same bandwidth it would be possible to employee more channels for transmission. And at the receiver end , the expender returns the original voice signals and during the speech pauses suppress the noise link[16]. This bandwidth efficiency can also be applied to the domestic satellite systems where the use of a small earth station and a large number of routes operating with few channels are important [16]. In future for the larger satellite (IntelSat IVA or V), the inefficient use of bandwidth of satellite channel by small carriers, especially in the transponder one of the factors which limits the total achievable capacity of bandwidth. In this case, the use of a SCPC companded FM would significantly increase the total capacity of the satellite bandwidth without increasing the total segment cost of the earth stations like other modulation systems [16]. From research it can be shown that the use of SCPC FM with compandors will significantly improve the economic scenario associated with the small earth stations. Wavelet Packet Modulation (WPM): WPM is a multicarrier modulation system like OFDM using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). DWT is a transformation technique which is a presentation of the composite signal in time and frequency domain. So in WPM, packets structure is divided into time and frequency domain. So when any interference is realize, in TDMA or FDMA system all packets are degraded but in case of WPM, packets are keep away from the interference with the help of providing the appropriate packet structure [17]. Both WPM and OFDM are multicarrier modulation system but the difference is OFDM uses FFT to combine the transmission where WPM use DWT and Bit Error Rate (BER) of WPM is much better than the OFDM. Similarity between these modulation systems is High Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR). For improving the performance of OFDM, single carrier OFDM (SC-OFDM) is proposed where decreasing PARP was the main goal. It is seen that the PARP is also high in WPM so SC-OFDM can be used to improve efficiency of the WPM. SC-WPM also can be used by exploiting the principal of SC-OFDM [17]. Some experiment shows that the WPM is the effective modulation systems for satellite communications and with lower PARP, SC-WPM would enable the broadband satellite communications [17]. PARP performance of SC-WPM is superior to WPM and OFDM. The BER performance of the WPM is better than OFDM. Multi-Level Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying (MGFSK) MGFSK is a modulation systems use in the satellite communications. It also exploiting the technique of narrow band FM which has constant envelop throughout the signal. MGFSK is suitable for satellite communications where the transponders are in saturations and it is also useful for the transmitter where output amplifier is also saturated [18]. As compared to the 8PSK bandwidth efficiency (3 bit/s/Hz), MGFSK providing bandwidth efficiency is 6 bit/s/Hz [18]. BW efficiency of MGFSK is very similar to the 64 QAM but 64 QAM is not feasible to use in satellite communication because it requires highly linear and well-equalised satellite channels [18]. The key applications of MGFSK are in those satellites which trucking of ISP backbone traffic, satellite news gathering and military satellite applications. Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) Pulse code modulation system is another technique which is employed in the satellite communications. Here in PCM the main aim is to coding the analogue signal for digital representation and then transmitter by using digital techniques. In PCM, analogue signals are sampled in a periodic manner of time in a rate of Nyquest Sampling rate (twice the highest of baseband frequency) and then quantized in agreed manner. To keep the error in certain level, quantization step should keep as low as possible. [5] Different types of pulse code modulation are seen like DPCM and ADPCM. Other Modulation Systems use in Satellite Communications Delta modulation (AM), Pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), Pulse Time Modulation (PTM) etc. Spread Spectrum modulation systems are closely related to the PCM [1]. Conclusion: In this report it has been trying to make an overview of the modulation system used in the satellite communication channels. A different type of modulation systems has been described. The selection of modulation systems is depends on the various factors like type of the channels, constraints imposed by the earth stations (for fixed satellite, direct broadcast services and mobile satellite services), hardware limitations etc [1]. One fundamental characteristic of the satellite communications channels is the trade-off between the bandwidth and the power to obtain the received signal with certain level of quality. In case of the bandwidth limited channels, spectrally efficient modulation systems are used where penalty is paying for additional carrier power. In the power limited links, bandwidth efficient modulation is using which related to the hardware constraints as well. References: [1]. Raicharia, M.,[ 1995] Satellite Communication Systems: Design Principles, 2nd Edition, 1999, ISBN:0-333-74722-4, Macmillan Press Ltd,Baisingstoke, RG21 6XS. [2]. Couch, L W., Digital and Analogue Communication Systems, 5th Edition. 1997, Prantice Hall, Upperside river, NJ-07458, ISBN: 0-13-522583-3. [3] . Fuqin, Xiong., [August, 1994] Modem techniques in satellite communications, IEEE Communications Magazine, p. 84-98. [4]. Fthenakis, E., Manual of the Satellite Communications, McGraw-Hill Inc, 1984. [5]. Handbook of the Satellite Communications (HSC), 3rd Edition, pp: 242-275, http://www.scribd.com/doc/7047432/Handbook-on-Satellite-Communications, Last Visited 25.03.10 [6]. Taggart, D., Kumar, R., Cooper, L. , Wagner, N., Goo, G., Affects of Tone interference on the performance of QPSK and 8-PSK modulation in satellite communications, 2004, Arospace Conference, 2004. Proceedings. 2004. IEEE. [7]. Juing, Fang., [March, 1996] The other digital modulation techniques. ITU-R, Doc. 4HB/14, 25-28 March 1996. [8]. Kim, J., Liu, J,. Kwatra, S.C., Quadrature Amplitude Modulation Schemes with Modified Signal Constellations for a Wideband Satellite Communications, Military Communication Conference, 1995. MILCOM, 95. Conference Record, IEEE. [9]. Pasupathy, S. Mimimun Shift Keying : A Spactrally efficient Modulation, IEEE Communication Magazine, 1994, Vol 17, Issue:4, pp:16-22. [10]. Khalona, R.A., performance of a M-ary fsk modulation in a land mobine satellite communcaitin channel, Universatl personal Commuinication, 1994, pp: 430-434. [11]. Ludong, W; Jezek, B., ofdm modulation tecnnique for military satellite communciations, Military Communications Conference, 2008. MILCOM 2008. IEEE , 2008, pp: 1-7. [12]. Ungerboeck, G., [January, 1982] Channel coding with multilevel/phase signals, IEEE Trans. on IT-28. [13]. [Flash-TV] Flash-TV: Flexible and Advanced Satellite Systems for High Quality Television, with Interconnection with IBCNs, Race-II Project R2064. [14]. Benedetto, S.; Pent, M.; Zhang, Z., trellis coded 16-psk and 16-qam modualtion for satellite communicaiotns, Global Telecommunications Conference, 1988, and Exhibition. Communications for the Information Age. Conference Record, GLOBECOM 88., IEEE , 1988, Vol: 1, pp: 125-130. [15].Evans, B.G., Satellite Communication Systems, 3rd Edition, 2008, ISBN: 0-85296-899, Lightning Source UK Ltd. Milton Keynes. [16]. Evans ,B.G., Kernot ,R.J., Satellite-communication system employing single -channel /carrier frequency modulation with syllabic companding, IEE,1975, Vol: 122, Issue: 7, pp: 703-709. [17]. Sakakibara, H.; Okamoto, E.; Iwanami, Y., A Wavelet Packet Modulation Method for Satellite Communications, TENCON 2005, IEEE region 10, 2005, pp:1-5. [18]. Fitch, M., Boyd, I., Briggs, K., Steitiford, K., Gaussian multi-level FM for high-bandwidth satellite communications, University college of London (UCL), http://keithbriggs.info/documents/MGFSK_paper1_IB2_mrf-feb27.pdf, last visited: 27.03.10.

Neurosurgeon :: Medicine Medical Surgery Neurology Papers

Neurosurgeon Tumors located in the frontal lobe are quite common since this lobe is the largest in humans. These growths are categorized as primary, which means they originate in the brain (benign), or secondary, meaning they have a different origin and it spread to the brain (metastasized). Primary tumors tend to grow slower and cause less noticeable damage and behavioral changes. Secondary tumors, on the other hand, pose a bigger threat because they grow faster and tend to be malignant. Tumors can be operated, with low mortality, but it is usually the individual’s behavior, life, and family that have to change in order to adapt with these new conditions brought on by these growths. Neurosurgeon Neurosurgeons will first want to diagnose the individual complaining of certain complications. Most individuals will report having seizures and/or recurrent headaches, usually recurring in the same area. But, other symptoms could occur depending upon the location. For example, personality changes, being overactive, trouble paying attention, and a loose, disconnected feeling. When the complaint is registered, the neurosurgeon will most likely want to run a couple of tests to see if what the patient is experiencing is due to a tumor. To alleviate some of the symptoms in less threatening cases, the surgeon may prescribe some medicine. Steroids are usually given to reduce swelling and inflammation from growth. Anticonvulsants are given to help reduce or stop seizures caused by tumors. And, to help alleviate hydrocephalus, a shunt is inserted in order to drain fluids and to reduce that build up caused by the tumor. But of course these medications could have unwanted side effects. Steroids like dexamethasone could cause restlessness, anxiety, and/or depression; antipsychotic medicines usually are given to subdue those effects. If anticonvulsant drugs’ dose is too high or too low, it could exhibit aggression, insomnia, and/or psychosis. They could also have a bad reaction with chemotherapy and cause sleepiness, depression, confusion, speech and vision problems, and/or gait problems. This could be solved by either changing dosage or anticonvulsant. Modern imaging techniques have allowed neurosurgeons to better examine the brain and especially locate tumors. The neurosurgeon could start with some X rays and look for any abnormalities in the skull and for calcium deposits, but it could be a waste of time when a Computerized Tomography (CT) could be used. Equally, positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have emerged to provide more detailed and valuable