Essay on Exploring Race and Challenging Privilege

Exploring Race and Challenging Privilege I thought I understood racism well enough. Since early childhood I’ve learned from parents and teachers that racism is a sense of racial superiority, a way of making judgments about people based on their skin color before you get to know them, and a cause of hate crimes and foul language. I think I’m not racist, and as a white woman I’m not likely to be the victim of racism, so I usually think racism has nothing to do with my life. But I’m uncomfortable with the idea of race because what I’ve learned about race is contradictory. I’m taught that people of different races are equal, but I see that they live separately. I’m told that they should get along, but the past and the present reveal†¦show more content†¦Tatum’s description of the formation of racial identity among children and young adults helps me understand why races self-segregate. She categorizes the steps of the psychological process by which individuals r ecognize their â€Å"place† in society as part of a racial group and seek identity within that racial group, often to the point of conforming to negative stereotypes. This reaffirms racial minorities’ sense of identity and community and the value of their culture even though it differs from â€Å"mainstream† (white, middle-class) American culture, or what Delpit would call the culture of power. On the other hand, self-segregation reinforces the notion that races are different and that race is a valid characteristic to use to distinguish between people. Recalling my own experiences in light of Tatum’s analysis helped me make sense of both her arguments and my observations. Self-segregation is beneficial to the extent that it creates a community with shared values where people feel safe; it is only harmful when it becomes exclusive, which I’m afraid happens to a larger extent in America as a whole than on our insulated college campus. At Amherst College I feel free to join several communities with which I â€Å"identify† to greater or lesser extents; I can live in La Casa, lead the Pride Alliance, and attend Shabbat services without feeling like I have to be loyalShow MoreRelatedRacism: a World Problem1425 Words   |  6 Pagesthe remarks are not always pure racial hatred, like the Nazis or KKK however, they are ignorant, stupid and incentive and still defined as discrimination (Wilhoit, 310). Making discriminate comments does not help fight the racism problem. 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When issues of working with marginalized populations are addressed, there is the tendency to focus on one aspect of the identity, (whether it be race, gender, sexuality etc.) and ignore the other dimensions in the interest of producing some kind of generalized and digestible truth that can be then easily learned to achieve a state of cultural competence. So how can we challenge ourselves and theRead MoreMulticulturalism And Its Impact On The American Society1739 Words   |  7 Pagescalls for efforts from all to create a desirable globe. For instance, good morals and values will aid in abolishing the racial preconceived perceptions. These stereotyped perceptions have progressed in widening the racial gaps followed by hindering privilege and fairness for all. Therefore, this masterpiece will provide a clear-cut background of the evolution of multiculturalism with its outcomes across the American society. In addition, this activity will entail focusing on the individual perceptionRead MoreA Historical Perspective: The Wage Gap1586 Words   |  7 Pagesearnings between men and woman, is relevant today and remains greatly influenced by specific historical events. This paper will examine the cultural context of employment for white, middle-class, American women from the early 1920’s to present. Exploring the progression and integration of women into the workforce, detailing the forces and influences for change and examining critical court rulings, this paper will offer a perspective of the imeragey taken from the author. It is believed by the authorRead MoreGender, Class, Sexuality And Personal Economy On The Margins Of Our Society2779 Words   |  12 PagesJanet Mock stands at the â€Å"intersection of race, gender, class, sexuality and personal economy on the margins of our society†(Mock, 2014), making her story of struggle and triumph visible to the masses, publishing her memoirs. 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Moving from prescribing medications by brand name to INN Free Essays

string(25) " status of their people\." Abstract Drug prescription is not only a routine in medical use functioning, but also plays pivotal role in improving the health status of patients seeking such services. The nature and efficacy of pharmacy services depends on the extent of professionalism, which define the methods and ethical standards with which one carries out such duties.Furthermore, pharmaceutical services vary from one place to another, and often governed by the prevailing state laws. We will write a custom essay sample on Moving from prescribing medications by brand name to INN or any similar topic only for you Order Now This research paper therefore, presents a detailed discussion of two main aspect of pharmacy. The first section entails the shift in the drug prescription methods, from the initial brand based method to the modern based on the active ingredient making up the medicine. The second section outlines the contribution of a pharmacist in influencing the brand of medicine that can be prescribed in a clinical process. Introduction The efforts aimed at changing the health care provider’s prescribing behaviour to achieve consistency with the ever changing best medical practises is the chief challenge ensuring the safest dispensation and use of medicine. Due the emergence of new data about the use of drugs such as their effectiveness, dosing options, side effects, indications as well as contraindications, the existing pharmaceutical options also keep on evolving (Garcia-Gollarte et.al, 2012). As a result of the new changes in the medical practises, there are resulting gaps between the prescription options based on evidence, and the usual practises in most clinics. For example, other than the common error of under dozing and over dozing, the prescribers may occasionally give particular medicines for wrong conditions. Biological Medicines and Biosimillar medicines The biological medicines are also referred to as biologics, and consist of organic compounds made through biotechnological mechanisms. The biologics appeared for use in the 1980s, and have since then advanced to bring improvements in the treatment of many diseases. Their uses as alternative medicine have revolutionized the treatment of diseases, which has led to the improvement of health status across billions of people in the world. Consequently, this category of drugs has become popular since their introduction, a process whose end has seen the diminishing power of the original biological medicine. There are many manufacturing companies, who have acquired the permission to manufacture similar brands of the original biological medicine, commonly trending the medical market as biosimillar medicines. As a result of the existing complexity in the process of manufacturing the original medicine, the biosimillar medicines do not qualify for the generic class of medicine (Dylst, Vulto Simoens, 2013). This is mainly due to the fact that this category is not typically identical to the original medicine. There are concerns regarding the authenticity and the effectiveness of the process of differentiating between such biosimillar medicines and the original biological medicines. These concerns are based on the extents of similarities observed when such drugs are used, as compared to the original biological medicines. For example, under same conditions of a particular patient, when a biosimillar is compared with Infliximab, the uses of biosimilars have manifested the same therapeutic efficacy, as well as the incidences of drug related events. In addition to the similar levels of therapeutic efficacy, biosimilars are equally tolerated by the body system, and also comparable in terms of their safety issues. It is the complexity in their manufacturing processes, in tandem with safety concerns that the ongoing monitoring derives its basis (Declerck Simoens, 2012). Concerns regarding the use of biosimilar drugs The concerns rose over the issues relating to safety, efficacy and the cost of using the biosimilars have resulted into the urgent need for a change of prescription method from the initial brand name to the use of active ingredients. This is because of the compromise of such brands, in which certain biosimilars do not recognize the copied brands, and thus creating confusion. The key concern that has been raised through the Pharmacovigilance involves the criteria wit which one can use to draw a line between the original biological medicine and the biosimilar medicines. There are a plethora of biosimilar medicines that after manufacturing have been approved by the European Medicines Agency. Such approvals have derived their bases on the abbreviated programs, in which the manufacturing process was purely based on copying the formula of those biological medicines already in the market. Some of these biosimilar medicines in this category exist in the market, despite lack of approval by the regulatory bodies, under the legal regulatory frameworks within Europe. Their lack of approval has therefore led to the ultimate doubt about the validity of such medicines, especially the possibility of adverse reactions occurring as side effects. The cost of purchasing the biosimilar medicines has also raised major concerns in the pharmaceutical industries in the Europe, just like other parts of the world. The relative low cost of acquiring such medicines has led into a perception by many people, that the existence of cheaper alternatives could be derailing the development of the industry. Consequently, there is an increase of pressure to prescribe the cheaper and new alternatives among patients, who may not afford the original biological medicines. Furthermore, such pressures have led to the increased use of such alternatives without any critical attention paid to the criteria of prescription and application of brand names. Transition from the drug brand name to the INN system of drug prescription The recent decades have been epitomised by a major burden of chronic diseases, not only among the European member states, but also across the globe. In order to curb the ever growing menace of such diseases among populations, the concerned authorities such as the World Health Organization, through respective governments have had to act. The chief aim of such action by the WHO, through respective governments have been to facilitate, and enforce laws to ensure that all professional health workers and patients access the safest, high quality, modern and affordable medicine to improve the health status of their people. You read "Moving from prescribing medications by brand name to INN" in category "Essay examples" Biomedical studies over time have identified the biological medicines as one of the most effective categories of medicine that can meet this criterion. However, the main challenge in the provision of such biological medicine has been manifested on the means of identification by both patients and pharmacists during prescription. Surveys have further pointed out that the method of prescription plays a pivotal role in limiting the resulting confusion during the identification of drugs from place, particularly from one country to another within Europe (CDC, 2012). For instance, over the recent decades, the method of prescription has been based on the brand name. There are a number of factors that determine the brand name for a particular medicine, such as the location or trans-border movements within Europe. Such variation have therefore been a core ingredient in breeding the much confusion when prescribing drugs from one place, especially for patients who may be new in such places. A particular brand name for a medicine used at one point may either be unfamiliar, or used for a different medicine in another place (Rotenstein et.al, 2013). Consequently, the need for a more standardised system of naming and prescribing drugs across the globe, including the European member states becomes an indispensible discourse. The European member states, in tandem with the world, have therefore joined the movement from prescribing medications by brand name to the INN International Nonproprietary Name (INN). Currently, there is a legislation process, whose purpose is to prevent doctors from brand prescription, but rather an active ingredient in the medicine, to allow easy determination by the patient. The International Nonproprietary Name (INN) The International Nonproprietary Name is a special term in healthy sciences and medicines, which is given to pharmaceuticals for purposes of easy identification. Having been initiated by the World Health Organization, the INN system of identification began to operate in 1953, for the benefit of not only the health workers such as pharmacists, but also help patients identify their medication with ease. The ease of identification was based on the common aim of the system for the generation of convenient common names for the existing pharmaceutical substances. In this case, each name generated under this system becomes unique for a global recognition of the substance as a public property. Consequently, the INN given to each pharmaceutical can have wide uses for the manufacturers and users, as well as the process of generic prescription in studies regarding drug use (CDC, 2012). The use of the International Nonproprietary Name in the drug prescription process functions to harmonise the communication regarding the medical activities among health professionals, drug consumers and patients. As a result, this system helps to prevent potential occurrence of medication errors. A medication error refers to any resulting misconception in the processes of drug prescription, dispensation, administration as well as monitoring the use of a particular drug. Medication errors are a major cause of most adverse reactions in patients, whose prevention can easily be achieved through accurate use of the relevant drugs. The accuracy can also be achieved through a process of synchronization, in which a single drug can retain a single identification from one place to another. A prescription method, based on the active ingredient as the common component of a particular drug, such as the INN system, has been enforced through a new legislative body referred to as the European Union Pharmacovigilance Legislation. Pharmacovigilance is a process, which consists of scientific activities of detecting, conducting an assessment of the adverse risks, understanding, and the establishment of potential prevention measures for the resulting adverse reactions (CDC, 2012). The European Medicines Agency Responsibilities The chief responsibility of the European Medicines Agency is to obtain and report the relevant data regarding adverse drug reactions, resulting from medical errors. Such reports are gathered and submitted to the Eudravigilance, a database that stores all the relevant data for medical errors among the European member states. Moreover, the database system is designed in such a way that it does not only receive the relevant information on adverse drug reaction, but also processes, stores and avails upon demand, the stored information after electronic submission.s The database run by the European Medical agency also permits users to conduct a critical analysis of the data herein, and enables one t make accurate conclusions regarding the data collected in determining the prevailing medical trends in different regions of Europe (Declerck, Simoens, 2012). In the modern system, there are legislative measures, which ensure that the data regarding medicines are stored and undergo general processing, during which drugs should maintain a standard description using the active ingredient, other than the initial brand name. In addition to the data reception, storage, and analysis through the Eudravigilance database, the legislative body also has a role of coordination among the European member states. The coordination role between different medicine regulatory authorities across Europe also involves all the individual Pharmacovigilance centres, as well as the patient safety authorities. The main aim of this role is to ensure that there is mutual flow of relevant information among the member states, so as to enhance communication of the occurrence of adverse drug reactions. The Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) is also a legislative committee charged with a duty of offering the requisite recommendations for all medicine regulatory frameworks within the EU (Allen Ansel, 2013). The recommendations made by the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee function to enhance further safety issues, resulting from inappropriate use of medicines in various regions across the member states (O’Connor, Gallagher O’Mahony, 2012). While formulating these recommendations, the committee takes into considerations, including risk management issues, to monitor the extent of effectiveness, with which various mechanisms help to eradicate the occurrence of medication errors and adverse drug reactions. Role of a Pharmacist in Determining a Drug Prescription Pharmacists have the most critical role in determining the type or brand of medication to prescribe. This is because they are the base of the powers for dispensing the drugs for patients, in a normal clinical routine (Gibberson et.al, 2013). When lack of professionalism occurs in the dispensation of medicines for patients, there are higher chances of adverse medical reactions resulting from medical errors. Each year, the occurrence of medical errors, emanating from inappropriate prescription and dispensation of medicines by unprofessional pharmacists has caused harm to at least 1.5 million people. Furthermore, the loss incurred in terms of the cost of treating the injuries caused in hospitals runs at higher levels of at least $3.5 Billion each year. However, these cost estimates do not take into account the additional cost in terms of the extra wages and salaries incurred while causing and correcting such messes (Spinewine, Fialova Byrne, 2012). Throughout history, pharmacists have played a pivotal role in ensuring an improved patient health through appropriate prescription and dispensing of the right brand of medicine. Through improved disease management techniques and therapy practises, effective spending in healthcare activities, and enhanced adherence leads to improved quality of life (Haga et.al, 2013). In order to influence the brand of medicine to prescribe for a particular patient, the pharmacist should acquire a deeper comprehension of the patients’ medical condition. Most often, the pharmacist relies entirely on the information obtained from the technician, which helps them provide additional base for the patient’s safety (O’Connor, Gallagher O’Mahony, 2012). In order to obtain the required accuracy, it is important for the technician to observe strict adherence to the system based procedures when obtaining the information regarding a patient’s medical condition. In cases where the technician experiences unusual or any form of abnormalities, it is their responsibility to inform the pharmacist, to enable them prescribe and dispense the right brand of medicine (Allen Ansel, 2013). The Scope of Practise in Pharmacy The scope of practise for different pharmacists varies from one country to another, depending on the prevailing state laws. The governing board of pharmacy also plays a pivotal role in determining the extent to which professional pharmacists can exercise their powers, and ability to influence the type of prescription. There are sets of regulation in various countries, which permit the pharmacists to exercise their powers as professional within specific areas within the medical care system (Law et.al, 2012). On the other hand, other countries have laws that encourage a broader approach to service delivery within the medical service delivery. The pharmacist may therefore take part in different parts of the medication, ranging from diagnosis, prescription, drug dispensation as well as monitoring. The pharmacist therefore has a wide range of options and opportunities, during which they can influence the prescription of a given medicine (Abood, 2012). Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is another aspect of enabler, through which pharmacists acquire an opportunity to influence the prescription. In the modern world of health care system, the practise of pharmacy has advanced from the initial practise of dispensing medicine and offering counselling sessions to offering more detailed clinical patient care services. In cases where a pharmacist meets restraining conditions in which they are unable to offer a wider spectrum of services to their patients, they often lack satisfaction from their jobs (Allen Ansel, 2013). Eradication of fraudulent prescription The main source of medical errors often emanate from fraudulent prescriptions, some of which are out of human intervention, while the rest may be unintentional. In order to take control of the process and make the relevant decision regarding the prescription, pharmacists should understand what constitutes fraudulent practises and work towards eradicating them. Fraudulent prescriptions are caused by legitimate practises, in which patients decide to make alterations to their prescriptions to suit their personal interests (Declerck Simoens, 2012). In such cases, the patient may show preference for a particular brand of medicine, and insist that they be treated with the same. In other experiences, patients may also alter prescriptions depending on the cost incurred, in which they either opt for cheaper brands, or prefer more expensive brands due to their perception of higher quality and efficacy. A pharmacist may use their influence in such cases to discover the fraud and alter the prescription, and dispense the right medicine depending on the patient’s conditions (Cornes, 2012). In addition to cases of alteration, pharmacists also have the technical and professional skills to discover the validity of prescription pads. One of the most conspicuous methods of identifying the validity of such prescription pads may involve subjecting the contact information to a rigor of scrutiny, to determine if they bear the name of the bearer. Such details may include the surnames, contact phone number as well as the registration number (Campanelli, 2012). Professionally, stealing a prescription pads translates into an automatic medical error and a potential adverse reaction. In situations where the pharmacists discover such anomalies, there are a number of professional measures that can be employed to influence the brand of medication prescribed and dispensed. Pharmacists ensure that they apply strict rules, in which only the state authorised individuals or prescribers can write prescription orders. The state authorized person is defined by the state a trained physician, dentist, veterinarian, podiatrist, as well as other state registered practitioners. For instance, there are states with strict rules in which other health professionals such as physician assistants and nurses to participate in conducting prescriptions under supervision or instruction by the pharmacist in charge. Similarly, other states also permit a sense of autonomy for the mid-level practitioners (Law, et.al, 2012). The pharmacist therefore has a duty to understand the prevailing laws regarding the state provisions on drug prescription, before determining one. This helps them avoid cases of assumption, in which they perceive that every prescription given for the controlled substances is inappropriate. A pharmacist who obtains a prescription whose validity attracts signs of doubt or appears invalid in any way, it is professional to undertake affirmative steps aimed at establishing the authenticity of the prescription holder (Cornes, 2012). In cases where the pharmacists have doubts about the contact information, they may have to use the prescriber’s contact office, other than the patients contact information. A telephone call to the office creates an additional time in the prescription process, during the concerned parties may address the gaps in the existing prescription. This way, the pharmacist not only gets a chance to influence the types of medication prescribed, but also adheres to t he legal requirements, including state laws regarding the use of drugs. References Abood, R. R. (2012). Pharmacy practice and the law. Jones Bartlett Publishers. Allen, L. V., Ansel, H. C. (2013). Pharmaceutical dosage forms and drug delivery systems. Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Campanelli, C. M. (2012). American Geriatrics Society Updated Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults: The American Geriatrics Society 2012 Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 60(4), 616. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC. (2012). CDC grand rounds: prescription drug overdoses-a US epidemic. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 61(1), 10. Cornes, P. (2012). The economic pressures for biosimilar drug use in cancer medicine. Targeted oncology, 7(1), 57-67. Declerck, P. J., Simoens, S. A. (2012). European perspective on the market accessibility of biosimilars. Biosimilars, 2, 33-40. Dylst, P., Vulto, A., Simoens, S. (2013). Demand-side policies to encourage the use of generic medicines: an overview. Expert review of pharmacoeconomics outcomes research, 13(1), 59-72. Garcia-Gollarte, F., Baleriola-Julvez, J., Ferrero-Lopez, I., Cruz-Jentoft, A. J. (2012). Inappropriate drug prescription at nursing home admission. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 13(1), 83-e9. Gibberson, R. A. D. M., Yoder, C. D. R., Lee, C. D. R. (2012). Improving Patient and Health System Outcomes through Advanced Pharmacy Practice. A Report to the US Surgeon General. University of the Incarnate Word Pharmacy Review, 1(2). Haga, S. B., Burke, W., Ginsburg, G. S., Mills, R., Agans, R. (2012). Primary care physicians’ knowledge of and experience with pharmacogenetic testing. Clinical genetics, 82(4), 388-394. Law, M. R., Ma, T., Fisher, J., Sketris, I. S. (2012). Independent pharmacist prescribing in Canada O’Connor, M. N., Gallagher, P., O’Mahony, D. (2012). Inappropriate Prescribing. Drugs aging, 29(6), 437-452. Rolland, Y., Andrieu, S., Crochard, A., Goni, S., Hein, C., Vellas, B. (2012). Psychotropic drug consumption at admission and discharge of nursing home residents. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 13(4), 407-e7. Rotenstein, L. S., Ran, N., Shivers, J. P., Yarchoan, M., Close, K. L. (2012). Opportunities and Challenges for Biosimilars: What’s on the Horizon in the Global Insulin Market?. Clinical Diabetes, 30(4), 138-150. Spinewine, A., Fialova, D., Byrne, S. (2012). The role of the pharmacist in optimizing pharmacotherapy in older people. Drugs aging, 29(6), 495-510. How to cite Moving from prescribing medications by brand name to INN, Essay examples

CTI Logistics Limited

Question: Analysis of all the statements published by CTI Logistics Limited namely the balance sheet, profit and loss account. Answer: Introduction A companys financial position as on a particular date and its income statement for the year ended states how a company has performed during the year in question and what is its financial position as on a particular date with regards its assets and liabilities position and shareholders funds. Various ratios when compared with the previous years figures makes it clear what changes has taken place and whether it is for the benefit of the company as a whole or not. The income statement shows how well the company has performed a compared to its last years profitability figures and how much earnings per share it has been abe to contribute to its stakeholders (CTI Logistics Limited, 2015). The cash flow statement states the changes that has taken lace in the cash and cash equivalents of a company through various kinds of activities such as cash flow from operating activities, investing activities and financing activities. And lastly the equity position which clearly shows how much of shares have been added to the fund. CTI Logistics is a transportation company also providing logistics and business services, listed in the Australian Stock Exchange. The company also has the largest A1 grade security monitoring system located in Western Australia and is the leader in the supply of commercial alarms, cctv cameras and various other security access control devices. Thus the said company has a varied number of areas to work (Damodaran). The current years performance as compared with its performance in the year 2014 has been disappointing. Profits per se it saw an almost 50 percent downfall in its profits as compared to last year. A detailed analysis of the financial position, income statement and cash flows is as stated below (CTI Logistics Private Limited, 2016). Statement of Financial Position as at 30th June 2015 The financial position of an entity is determined by the balance sheet. It clearly discloses the position of the assets and the liabilities of an entity as on a particular date. It reflects the summary of all the account balances such as that of inventories, debtors, creditors, short term borrowed funds and so on at the end of a reporting period. It is basically the tool to show the equity position of an organization which is a difference between the assets and the liabilities shown (Bajkowski, 1999). On analysing the financial position of the company as at 30th June 2015 the following are the requisite data that has been derived: Current asset: $ 35,277,387 Non Current Asset: $ 125,128,143 Current Liabilities: $ 31,641,093 Non-Current Liabilities: $ 66,604,785 Stockholders Equity: $ 62,159,652 The Current asset position has bettered as compared to last year. The liquidity position is better in the current year as it is clear from the statements that the position of cash and cash receivables has improved 1.71 times as compared to the previous year. The company has less inventory to carry which is also a positive sign as it lead to less stock obsolescence and it clearly shows that not much money is stuck in the stock (NACVA, 2012). Companys non current position has been positive enough with additions in land and buildings, plant and equipments and motor vehicles with some minor disposals which is very insignificant. The significant addition in the plant and machinery ha been due to the acquisition of a subsidiary company by CTI Logistics. The company has also declared a land and building for sale The sudden increase in the value of the intangible assets is due to the acquisition of a subsidiary company which led to addition to its goodwill value. However CTI Logistics has taken huge amount of bank loans this year which has an interest bearing expense on the income statement .Its loan position has almost doubled as compared to its previous years figures(Nissim, Penman, 2003). Ratio Analysis of Various Items of the Balance Sheet Type of Ratio 2015 2014 Liquidity Ratios Current Ratio 1.08 1.54 Cash Ratio 0.19 0.13 Solvency Ratios Debt to asset ratio 0.61 0.47 Debt to capital ratio 0.52 0.39 Debt to equity ratio 1.58 0.91 Interest Coverage Ratio -12.2 times -6.1 times Capital Gearing Ratio 0.58 0.45 On analysing the above mentioned ratios the financial position of the company is clear. The company is in a safe liquidity position presently. An ideal current ratio is that of 1, and the company has reported that of 1.08. This is a clear indication to the fact that the company has enough assets in its kitty so as to pay off its liabilities on demand. CTIs current ratio is not to high also so as to hurt the companys bottom line (Kothari, 2004). Cash ratio is generally not used for the analysis of the companys health however some investors may even calculate this ratio on a conservative approach even thought eh same is not very reliable. The cash ratio has improved from 13% to 19% which may be a carrot in the stick to attract the conservative investors to invest in CTI Logistics Limited (Gill, Chatton, 2001). Companys ability to meet its long term liabilities is measured via the solvency ratios. It provides the investors with an overview of the fact that whether the company has abilities to pay its interest and other fixed expenses on a consistent basis without facing much problems. The most basic ratio is that of debt to asset ratio which shows how much of asset the company owns via its debt funds (Elliot, Elliot, 2011). The same has increased by a good 15 percent from last year to the present year in discussion. This makes it clear that the company has acquired some new assets from which it has used its debt funds. Thus the companys financial leverage has increased though still at a decent level to attract the investors to invest in the company (Jun, 2013). Capital dilution is very important aspect. More issue of equity shares dilutes the ownership of a company, thus lowering the earnings per share component. Thus a higher debt capital ratio clearly states the percentage of total capital of a company via debt funds. CTI Logistics Limiteds debt to capital ratio has increased from a 39 percent to 52 percent however the increase is not too significant to hurt the financial position of the company or lead to much dilution of ownership. However the dividend amount is hurt a bit due to an increase in the interest expense component. But the same ratio makes it attractive enough for the present investors to continue with their investment in the company as well as welcome new entrants as investors (Liston, 2014). However even though the above two mentioned ratios show a positive sign for the investors yet the companys debt equity ratio of 1.58 currently reveals a very sad position of the company that creditors have claims on all the assets of th e company and even after the same their total claim will not be met. This forces the potential investors to take a back step while putting in their money and also a driving factor for present investors to withdraw. The same was better last year. Thus the entity should try to minimize usage of its debt funds and if required issue more shares in the market to improve its debt equity position. Last years position was still good enough at 0.90 versus this years position. Also its interest coverage ratio is in red which portrays a very sorry picture for the lenders. This ratio is calculated to show how well the company can meet its interest expense, which has deteriorated further in the current year . This is the biggest yardstick to hold back the investors from chipping in their money (Lan, 2012). Income statement for the year ended 30th June 2015 The important data derived from the income statement which would enable to provide how well the company has performed as compared to its last year are as under: Particulars 2015 (in $) 2014 (in $) Total Operating revenues 10905518 15918662 Cost of Goods Sold 1052571 855463 Total Profit 8647989 14090456 Non-Operating gain or loss 9909 4486 Earnings per common share 9.25 15.50 On looking at the income statement the same does not seem to be too lucrative. The operating income has fallen down by a good 30 percent dipping the profits and the EPS also by 40 percent. The fall in the EPS has been mainly due to a fall in the profits as there has not been any significant issue of new shares. Apart from this certain ratio analysis will give a better picture to decide upon the performance of the company (McClure, 2014). Type of Ratio 2015 2014 Profitability Ratio Gross Profit Margin 20 13.52 Operating Profit Margin 1.84 1.62 Net Profit Margin 1.46 1.43 Return on Assets 0.037 0.089 Return on Equity 0.095 0.18 Te above mentioned ratios of the two years ending 30th June 2015 and 30th June 2014 clearly shows the dip in the profits of the company. Although the gross profit margin has increased by a good 50 percent but the over all operating profit has dipped and so has the return on assets and equity. In the current year the company has not been able to utilize its asset base to its full so as to get adequate returns a compared to last years ROA figures. Also the amount of income that the shareholders expect from the company has also shown a downfall of around 45 percent which is eye catching and alarming as well. Though even in such a situation the company has declared dividends to keep the investors interest growing (Grimsley, 2003). Cash flows for the year ended 30th june 2015 On studying the cash flow position of CTI Logistics Limited the following data is extracted: Particulars 2015 2014 Net Cash flow from Operating Activities 13087868 11614905 Net Cash Flow from Investing Activities (33085249) (13757380) Net Cash Flow from financing Activities 23846753 (47047) Cash flow per share 0.20 0.18 It has to be well understood that a cash flow statement does not show the profitability of a company. It simply shows how the cash and its equivalent has been utilized by the company in various activities such as operating, financing and investing. Therefore presentation of this statement helps the users to find some answers to its questions like has the company been able to generate enough cash from its operating activities to meet its daily expenses and make timely payments to its creditors , does the company generate cash for expanding its business in the future and lastly can it pay dividends to its investors (Das, 2010). Cash from operations shows how much liquid cash the company has been able to generate from its day to day operations Cash from investing activities shows what kind of investments the company has made which would enable to generate revenues in future. For example a decision to buy any fixed asset such as an equipment or plant and machinery is an investing activit y as the investment in such areas will generate benefits for the entity in future. Thus a negative cash from investing activity is preferable. Lastly cash from financing activity shows how much cash the entity has generated by borrowing more funds or through the issue of shares as well as the amount of outflow incurred in paying off debts, buybacks or distribution of dividend (www.wiley.com, 2013). CTI Logistics has reported an increase in the operating cash flow of 13 percent which is a positive sign. It clearly shows that the day to day activities of the company has enabled generation of adequate liquid cash balance for the company The cash flow per share shows how much the company can fund using its internal money than depending upon the external debt funds. Thus the cash flow per share shows an increase though minimal but this is a positive sign. It has acquired a new business towards end of the financial year which is a positive sign too as the revenues from the said investment is expected to be seen in the current year which may help to boost the performance of CTI Logistics (Quinn, 2010). As compared to last years investing activity the current year has seen a robust investment policy in place. A total increment of 1.4 times has been published and the results of such investments are likely to be felt in the upcoming years. The current year has shown a huge amount of borr owings which has put an interest expense pressure on the entitys financials which is not a good sign. Last year there was more of debt servicing hence reducing the expense on the interest portion (Shelton, 2012). Stockholders equity section The shareholders equity fund of CTI Logistics shows a positive trend. Compared to last years equity balance the current years position shows an increase in the equity by 6 percent thus the company has not diluted much of its ownership this year as compared to its last year. There has been a dip in the retained profits amount because of a dip in their distributable profits. The company even though published profits lower by 40 percent as compared to the previous years performance still it distributed adequate dividends to its investors. This practice forced it to borrow more funds and increase the debt as well as interest burden for the company (Robinson et.al. 2009). Thus although the investors are happy with the dividends but looking at a long term scenario this can be negative for the organization. They should have retained and ploughed back the profits which would have enabled CTI Logistics to utilize more of own funds than borrowed. The number of outstanding shares for the year e nded 2015 has been 65830691 and that for the year 2014 has been 63746681, thus only a 0.03 percent increment which is instrumental to the fact that the company has prevented much of dilution of ownership in the current year. It basically connotes the net of asset and liabilities of a balance sheet that belong to the stockholders of an organization. CTIs stock position in the current year has not been lucrative enough to attract new investors or to make the current investors happy. Distribution of dividend is taken as an optimistic approach through a lay mans eyes otherwise in such a situation where the company has reported less profits , it should not have distributed the same as dividends and saved that amount for further investment in the company and thus saved on the finance costs (Fridson, Alvarez, 2011). Conclusion However on a detailed analysis of all the statements published by CTI Logistics Limited namely the balance sheet, profit and loss account, cash flow statement and the stock holders equity statement it is very clearly visible that the companys shares are still very lucrative. The acquisition of Logico Operations Group Limited and its wholly owned subsidiary G.M. Kane Sons Pty Ltd in June 2015 will surely yield good profits for CTI in the present year. The increase in the financing activity of the concern has put tremendous pressure on its interest coverage ratio as is visible above yet the same may be fruitful in the year 2016. The solvency ratios above portray a very dismal picture of the company but on studying the kind of acquisitions CTI Logistics Limited has made makes it a good investment option. The solvency ratio does not depict the company moving towards insolvency , it just shows that the present scenario is risky. It doesnt seem that the organization would have any liquidi ty crunches in the near future as per the result of the cash from operating activities and its current ratio position. Seeing its past performances it can also be relied upon the fact that the investments made in the current year would be in income generating assets which would justify the increase in the financing activities. Thus on reviewing the present performance and its past records, the stock has become risky but at the same time investors can think about pitching in their money for CTI Logistics seeing its current scenario. References Accounting Information: Chapter 13, The Cash Flow Statement and Decision, pp. 492-535. CTI Logistics Private Limited, 2016, viewed 28th April 2016.. CTI Logistics Limited, 2015, Annual Report 2015, viewed on 23rs May 2016.. Liston, H., 2014, How to read and analyse an Income Statement, viewed on 23rd May 2016. Quinn, M., 2010, How to Understand an Income Statement, viewed on 23rd May 2016.

Taobaos Success free essay sample

The most successful C2C E-business platform in China Chenlei Shi 865313 IT IS 600 Professor Robert Testa, Jr. September, 18, 2010 Taobao’s Success 2 Abstract With the great speed of economic globalization, E-Business is developing in a surprising speed through the wide-spread of information technology. Nowadays, there are a lot of big E-business corporations such as Amazon, E-bay focus on different E-business model and field. However when these international companies carving up the global market, some local enterprises also growing up and want to share this big cake.Taobao (www. taobao. com), a Chinese-based company which is a leading platform for C2C personal transactions, was founded in 2003 by the 450 million investment from world’s best B2B company——Alibaba. Taobao is a typical example of China E-business style. Taobao paid a lot of efforts in order to China and Asia’s market dominance, during a lot of difficulties and challenges especially in the competition with E-bay. We will write a custom essay sample on Taobaos Success or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But some problems still exist in Taobao’ credit system and logistics model. These tough problems also exist in each E-business companies.Hence, how to fix these problems still needs development of information technology. Taobao’s Success 3 Taobao’s background and business model In May 10, 2003, Taobao was founded by Alibaba Group and specialized in C2C e-commerce (Consumer to Consumer Model). Alibaba was founded in Hangzhou in 1999, after nearly a decade of development, has grown into the worlds largest online trading exchange market and the business community. Up to now, Taobao is the biggest Internet retail and business district in Asia, own more than 200 million registered users, accounting for 80% of online shopping market in China.Merely in 2009, transactions amounted to 50 billion dollar. However, if the Taobao’s success only attribute to its excellent â€Å"pedigree†, it would be ridiculous. Today’s Taobao E-business is more than just buying and selling of products and services through the means of digital media, E-business encompasses e-commerce and a whole lot more. For example, its E-business includes both front and back-office applications that from engine for modern business. Unlike some other corporate entities-based business, Taobao is redefining old business models through the aid of technology. Their business are the use of Internet and other networks and information technologies to support electronic commerce, enterprise communications and collaboration, and Web-enabled business processes both within an internetworked enterprise, and with its customers and business partners. Taobao’s Success 4 The competition with E-bay E-Bay is another famous C2C business platform, and in Sept. 27, 1999, e-Bay established eBay-Each. net in order to the expansion in China market. EBay-Each establishment was even earlier than the establishment of Taobao(May, 2004).Thus, at first, Taobao had to face that they lost not only the opportunities and but also a great part of flow market. But in 2004, merely after Taobao’s establishment one years, Taobao surpassed Each. net and been the first C2C platform in China. Then in 2006, it became the biggest shopping online website in Asia. So let us make some comparison between Taobao and Each in several aspects. First, in business strategy, both eBay each. net and Taobao choose free business at first. But eBay-Each. net gave up this attractive business strategy and began charging to the virtual shop. However, when eBay-Each found they were losing their customer rapidly, they return to their former strategy to avoid more losing. Taobao always adhere free charge so that absorbing more customers and virtual shop. Second, Taobao was the first platform which use third-party payment platform——Alipay. That means Taobao pay attention to safety problem. With the introduction of the real-name authentication system, Taobao made distinguish between individual users and the business user authentication. But eBay-Each did not used PayPal system in China market because of a variety of reason.Until 2005, this Taobao’s Success 5 problem was solved by eBay-Each, but without doubt, eBay-Each lost its advantage in credit transaction. Third, eBay-Each used advertisement blocking tactics to fight Taobao. In 2003, the biggest three portal in China (Sohu, Sina, 163) made a deal with e-Bay that they would never use Taobao’s advertisement. To fix this problem, Taobao use a lot of traditional medium such as newspaper, TV or subway stops, bus, road advertising. Moreover, Taobao also made a co-operation with Yahoo, using Yahoo’s search bid, investing 2 million keywords.Then Taobao increased the keywords to 3 million, and the hits up to 6million in one day. That made Taobao beyond its opponent in two key indicators, accounting for the initiative in future competition. Furthermore, another difference in Taobao’s advertisements, their membership in the trading process could feel lively culture of family. Fourth, eBay-Each and Taobao had a significant understianding gap in market positioning. EBay-Each have their global strategy and want to do business with the people who are 30-40years old. While Taobao’s strategy is localization, and its target population was also younger than its counterpart.Last but not least, Taobao encouraged their buyer and seller makes private transaction, and supported a convenient platform. One example is the communication tool for members in a timely manner Live Messenger. If the user enters a shop, just the owner is also online, then, they can chat with each other through sending and receiving messages. Live Messenger with a view transaction history, to understand Taobao’s Success 6 each other credit, personal information, avatars, multi-chat tool, chatting with other general features. In contrast, at first in order to preventing buyer and seller avoiding trading commissions, eBay-Each did not allow to leave the true underline contacting ways. That made a big security risk in future development. At the end, people knew the results about this competition in 2008, Taobao occupied approximately 80% share of the whole online shopping market, and began the biggest C2C e-business platform in Asia. EBay-Each switched their target, turning into the main global purchasing markets in transition in order to avoid confrontation directly to Taobao. Secrets of Taobao’s victoy in ChinaFirst of all, without eBay-Each effort in market cultivation in first several years in China, Taobao could not be growth at such amazing speed. The original reason of eBay’s failure probably was they were too successful in the past. So eBay totally copied the American model to China. That led a strategic error. EBay is a global strategic for high-salary and white-collar people to provide personal e-commerce platform in international trading. So did eBay-Each, their slogan was â€Å"to provide both a local and global online trading platform. † eBay CEO, Whiteman, once said: â€Å"Our 27 markets in the world are successful.In China, the 28th markets, we will still success with our firmly established policy. † Taobao’s Success 7 In detail, based on the comparison above, two fatal flaws led to eBay-Each collapse. Firstly, with Clayton M. Christense research, asymmetric information, although eBay hired native manager team, Yibo Shao and Haiyin Tan, the mother company still wanted to set up a global platform to meet different customer needs in China, that would inevitably lead to inherent strategic contradiction, because the two types of customer demand cannot be satisfied together. In additional, eBay-Each spent one year and a lot of money, at Sept. 7, 2004, completed the global eBay trading platform. Even in this situation, because of the mother company have an asymmetric information problem. They just exchanged executives again and again. Secondly, Service is not good. Probably it is unfair to use the word â€Å"not good† or â€Å"bad† to describe eBay. In some way, eBay-Each merely want to provide the best services in the world. But this all involved with its global business model. Because of C2C website should not only support a platform for seller and buyer, but also a safe Taobao’s Success 8 rading environment. A security third-party payment tools is essential. However, eBay’s best friend, PayPal support multi-currency payment, then, because of China’s foreign exchange control policy, PayPal delayed in introduction until 2005. This is only one example, other useful tools such as Skype (a tool could meet communication needs among customer) also cannot be introduction in China market. In contrast, Taobao’s original reason of this wining is its well-know background and flexible tactics. Taobao gain a lot of benefits from its mother company both on money support and human resource. Alibaba is a mature business group in B2C e-business field. It is worth noting that the C2C market in China actually is a mixed market. Some B2C also mixed in this market, that made Taobao was able to apply sophisticated Alibaba previously successful experience in China. Furthermore, Alibaba borrowed seven experts in e-commerce to play company’s executives. Another winning method is Taobao’s flexible policy.At the beginning, when eBay-Each mastered most of stock market, Taobao did not fight with eBay-Each for the existing stock, but mining incremental market in C2C business. That measure made Taobao captured almost 90% of new e-business users. New crisis There is no denying that Taobao can say currently the most successful Internet business platform, and its prospects for future development are promising people. Of Taobao’s Success 9 course, Taobao is also facing many problems. The most important problem is its credit system.As newly survey, Taobao still fights with reputation spam. Online shopping has become the younger generation’s main spending channel. Everything can be found at a cheaper cost and with home delivery, saving on cab fares. But individual’s accounts safety become more and more important in this time. Moreover, the 3G technology made Taobao have to upgrade their server for customer requirement. Taobao’s campaign will never end if they still want to expand their market.

Like Water for Chocolate essays

Like Water for Chocolate essays A critique of the film Like Water for Chocolate The novel Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel has won many hearts as well as awards when first published in 1989 in Spanish and 1992 in English. In the novel Esquivel encompasses us with the sweet aroma of the imagination and creativity. Unfortunately, this can not be said of the feature film that was based on the book. Como agua para chocolate was released as a Mexican language film in 1993 featuring English subtitles. Although the subtitles were provided to help the Spanish-illeterate to understand the film, it was just as confusing to follow the plot with them. Like a bad cook standing behind his/her cuisines, Esquivels integrity is questioned here. Although directed by Alfonso Arau, the screenplay was provided by Esquivel herself. Unfortunately, Esquivel should have quitted while being ahead instead of marinating the novel into a tasteless movie. Most books thrive on the readers imagination which quickly gets digested away when it comes to the widescreen. Although some films have complimented books very well (Jurassic Park, the Green Mile, etc.) Como agua para chocolate sports a genre of simply Bad and ends up giving the viewer a bad taste in their mouth. Although being known as a blockbuster film, it lacks the magic of what books can capture which most expensive special effects of Hollywood cannot. Perhaps what can be blamed for the success of the novel is that the novel had no limitations to the reader, rather, the reader directs his or her screenplay in his/her head with an unlimited amount of budget required. In Como agua para chocol ate the viewer is constantly spoon-fed with the interpretations of the director; whether it be depicting the scene inaccurately or failure to shoot the scene entirely. The film shoots out totolaritarian ideas what you see is what you get and theres no ifs or ands about it wheth...

Example Sentences of the English Verb Bend

Example Sentences of the English Verb Bend This page provides example sentences of the verb Bend in all tenses, including active and passive forms as well as conditional and modal forms. Base Form bend / Past Simple bent / Past Participle bent / Gerund bending Present Simple The L joint bends the Y joint. Present Simple Passive The Y joint is bent by the L joint. Present Continuous Watch out! You are bending the rod too much. Present Continuous Passive The rod is being bent by the L joint. Present Perfect The wind has bent that pole. Present Perfect Passive That pole has been bent by the wind. Present Perfect Continuous I have been bending the metal for 20 minutes. Past Simple She bent that metal rod. Past Simple Passive That metal rod was bent by Jack. Past Continuous I was bending backward when she walked in the door. Past Continuous Passive The Y joint was being bent by the L joint when it snapped. Past Perfect She had bent the frame before I touched it. Past Perfect Passive The frame had been bent before I touched it. Past Perfect Continuous He had been bending over for an exercise for 10 minutes when she walked in the door. Future (will) George will bend the rules for you. Future (will) passive Im sure the rules will be bent. Future (going to) They are going to bend the rules this time. Future (going to) passive The rules are going to be bent this time. Future Continuous I will be bending down to pick it up in three minutes. Future Perfect It will have been bent a number of times by the time the test is over. Future Possibility It might bend if you try hard. Real Conditional It will bend if you try hard. Unreal Conditional If it bent, we would replace it. Past Unreal Conditional If it had bent, we would have replaced it. Present Modal You should bend it back. Past Modal Jack must have bent this frame. Quiz: Conjugate with Bend Use the verb to bend to conjugate the following sentences. Quiz answers are below. In some cases, more than one answer may be correct. That pole _____ by the wind.I _____ backward when she walked in the door.The frame _____ before I touched it.The L joint _____ the Y joint.Im sure the rules ______Â  next week.George _____ the rules for you if you ask him.She _____ that metal rod last week.The rules _______ this time.That pole _____ by the wind.Watch out! You _____ the rod too much. Quiz Answers has been bentwas bendinghad been bentbendswill be bentwill bendbentare going to be benthas been bentare bending

How Do We Create a Set of Priorities in Relation to Population and Assignment

How Do We Create a Set of Priorities in Relation to Population and Environment - Assignment Example It has got to do with the anticipated returns, the risk that becomes potentially faced and the timing of the returns (McMullin-Messier 34). To be able to create a set of priorities, one must have the ability to see what tasks are more vital at each moment and give such tasks more of their energy, time and attention. When one focuses his or her efforts on those top value activities, one can have meaningful and significant, long term consequences. Provision of healthcare should become a priority for all nations worldwide. This is because a great percentage of loss of life is as a result of either lack of or poor health care. This issue also gets surrounded by many political, institutional and environmental constraints. This influences decision making in the health care section because, during the process, there are numerous interest groups and weaknesses in democratic voting mechanisms. If health care does not become a priority, then many parties manipulate the decisions that pertain to the provision of health care and vary the quality of care distributed among the population. This may be extremely risky for a nation because if the population is not healthy then there is a reduction in production. Prioritizing healthcare will lead to better care, affordable care, and healthy people. This will improve health outcomes and increase the effectiveness of care for all populations (McMullin-Messier 89). More resources should be alloc ated to the healthcare sector in terms of money, manpower, machines, and researchers. More opportunities should also get provided for those that are interested to study medicine in order to avail more manpower for this sector. Environmental movements worldwide should also be prioritized because the key goal of such organizations improves the environment and maintain what is still good. They tackle environmental issues worldwide that deal with climate change, air pollution, water pollution, human encroachment, and deforestation.

Experimental economics summary paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Experimental economics summary paper - Essay Example This can be better understood in the example provided by the authors to a person who is trying to lose weight through diet and how he/she must regard a simple piece of chocolate not as a single reward with very few cost staked but an overall threat that affects his/her consumption in the future. This provided view of linked together concepts of self-signals â€Å"bundles together similar rewards in the foreseeable future, putting the expectation of getting them at risk in the current choice† (Hofmeyr et al., p.4). Thus, the subjects overall perception of what causes addiction is reduced with the instinctive knowledge that sonsumption of such at one point affects future consumption. Findings The results reveal that in comparing smokers with non-smokers, those included in Forced who are smokers will choose LL if they are compelled to correlate their present choices to its effect in the future. This shift from an SS reward preference was seen significantly in smokers than non-smo kers. Some variables were also reported to give more credit to the overall results of the study. In smokers, it may be noted that African-Americans were recorded to low probability of selecting LL while increased age would prefer LL. In non-smokers, higher income leans toward LL and higher baseline choose SS. There were two patterns determined in the study.

Lies, Lies, Lies Essay Example for Free

Lies, Lies, Lies Essay The white lie is an age old embellishment that has different reasons for being told. When it is all said and done a white lie is still a lie. A lie told with perfectly good intentions. A lie told to spare someone’s feelings. A lie about something trivial, which will have few consequences if you’re caught. A minor, polite, or harmless lie, a white lie is considered harmless as opposed to a black lie which is evil. Anything that is not accurate is a lie. There are a million reasons to tell a social white lie. Being nice leads to lying to prevent hurting someone’s feelings and it is commonly used by all. The baby in a stroller and the mother looks up, it is natural to say â€Å"What a cute baby† It could be the ugliest baby; yet the need to make a charitable response leads to a lie. Or Men say â€Å"I love you too† a white lie commonly told by men. The boss has on a dress that looks horrible, â€Å"What a beautiful dress† would someone tell the boss her dress is ugly. These are just examples of how we get caught up and we feel the need to say something positive instead of telling the truth. Lying begins early, if you observe children most know how to fib at the age of 4. By 6 they stop fibbing and begin lying. Watching and observing their parents, they gain insight in imitating their parents in the art of deception, they are told how to lie to relatives about gifts they may not like, and thus starts the white lies. The proverbial lie is used in our society to make small talk, to have someone show favor, when we greet someone, and we often lie to ourselves, â€Å"I am going to get up each day and walk.† I’ve said it, and I know I want to but I don’t. Salesman says anything you want to hear to sell a product. The doorman says â€Å"Have a good day†, no tip, doesn’t care if you even live another day almost every white lie is because of what a person wants to achieve with that white lie. It is almost second nature to living how we deceive, the Landlord I mailed that check yesterday. I lost my debt card can’t make the payment today will call as soon as I get my replacement! *I can’t come in today I have diarrhea; you’re going to the movie matinee. Researchers have been studying deception for decades, trying to figure out why we tell lies. It seems that our capacity for deceit appears nearly endless. That doesn’t mean we just tell a lie to hear it there is a purpose for the madness. Still lying is generally regarded as immoral and distasteful, â€Å"No one likes being lied to,† says former FBI agent and lying expert Joe Navarro. â€Å"We use lies to grease the wheels of social discourse.† Says University of Massachusetts psychologist Robert Feldman.

How Surface Area to Volume Ratio Affects the Rate of Heat Loss :: Depression and Suicide

How Surface Area to Volume Ratio Affects the Rate of Heat Loss Aim The aim of this investigation is to answer the following questions: Why do elephants have trouble cooling down? And why do mice have trouble keeping warm. Apparatus 5x cans (5 different sizes) 1x Bunsen burner 1x heatproof mat 1x Thermometer 1x Ruler 1x Kettle 1x Stopwatch 1x Tripod 1x Gauze 1x Clamp and stand Plan ==== * Label each can from A to E in ascending order, A the biggest and E the smallest. A representing the mouse and E representing the elephant. * Measure and record the height and diameter of each can. * Fill can A to the top with boiling water out of the kettle. * Bring the water back up to a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius, to make sure it is a fair test and that all the cans start from 100 degrees Celsius. * Use a clamp and stand to hold the thermometer inside the can, position it so that the bulb of the thermometer is in the centre of the can. * With a stopwatch ready to start timing, switch off the gas to turn off the Bunsen burner and start timing. * Read and record the temperature on the thermometer every two minutes for twenty minutes. * Repeat this for all of the other cans, twice for each one and make a recording of all the temperatures, and work out the averages. Safety ====== * Always wear safety glasses during the practical to protect the eyes and avoid any hot water being splashed into them.

Bipolar Disorder Essay

Over the years there have been many misconceptions about what bipolar disorder is, what the symptoms are, and how it is treated. Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. A person who has â€Å"mood swings† does not automatically qualify them for a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. The characteristics of bipolar disorder are significant shifts in mood that go from manic episodes to deep depressive episodes in waves and valleys that never end. Nearly 2% of Americans have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, more commonly known as manic depression. Scientists are constantly studying the possible causes of bipolar disorder. Most scientists agree that there is not one single cause, but is caused by a combination of biological and environmental factors. Even though it has not been proven that bipolar disorder is hereditary, it does tend to run in families. Children with a parent or sibling who has bipolar disorder are much more likely to develop the illness, compared with children who do not have a family history. Bipolar patients are more likely to use mind altering drugs to try and self-medicate therefore making diagnosis a harder process. â€Å"Doctors diagnose bipolar disorder using guidelines from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). To be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the symptoms must be a major change from your normal mood or behavior† (Youngstrom, E., 2012, October 23). Below is a chart demonstrating the different mood changes and behavioral changes between a manic and depressive episode. It was once thought that there were only two types of bipolar disorder, but now the disease has been broken down even further into several different disorders. Bipolar I disorder is the most severe form of the illness with  extreme manic or mixed episodes that last at least a week. â€Å"Bipolar I disorder is characterized by at least one manic episode during your lifetime. Usually there are depressive episodes as well that last two weeks, however you do not need to have a history of depression to be diagnosed with bipolar I disorder. Bipolar II disorder is defined by experiencing both a hypo-manic and a depressive episode. To meet the criteria for bipolar II, a previous episode of depression is necessary, along with symptoms of less intense mania lasting at least four days† (Caponigro, J., Lee, E., Johnson, S., & Kring, A., 2012). Cyclothymia is defined by a pattern of chronic and frequent mood changes. These mood changes are not as extreme as those experienced in manic epi sodes. The diagnosis is based off of how much of the time some type of changed move is present. Most people diagnosed with Cyclothymia tend to feel very â€Å"up† or very â€Å"down† at least half of the time. This diagnosis is not considered until those mood fluctuations have continued for a very long time: generally one year for adolescents and over two years for adults. These episodes must last for at least two years without more than two months of a stable mood during that time to qualify for this diagnosis. Bipolar NOS or not otherwise specified is the diagnosis that covers forms of bipolar that don’t fall into any of the other categories. The mood episodes are extreme enough to be classified as manic, hypomanic, or depressive but do not meet the duration requirements for bipolar I, bipolar II, or cyclothymic diagnosis. Bipolar disorder cannot be cured, but it can be treated effectively long-term. Because it is a lifelong illness, long-term treatment is essential to control symptoms. It is essential to receive the correct diagnosis to receive the most effective treatment. Medication is the most effective treatment for managing symptoms of bipolar disorder and extending periods of mental and physical wellness. Most often, the first medicines used are called mood stabilizers. â€Å"Since the early 1960’s, lithium has been the most commonly used mood stabilizer† (Fink, C., & Kraynak, J., 2013). Some other medications that are prescribed for the treatment of bipolar are Trileptal, Topamax, and Neurontin. Because it is believed by some that bipolar disorder is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, these medications have been effective in treating bipolar disorder, but they are not considered effective treatments for bipolar symptoms. Antipsychotics  medications are used to reduce psychotic symptoms and lowering irritability, and they can be the fastest way to treat an acute manic episode. Antipsychotic medications are usually stated during an acute manic phase while the patient is in the hospital, and used as a maintenance treatment after the patient is released. The biggest hurdle in treatment of bipolar disorder is ongoing treatment. When patients are diagnosed correct ly and started on the correct medications it is vital for those medications to be continued by the patient. Many bipolar patients feel that once their mood has stabilized that they are â€Å"cured† therefore they stop taking the medication. In conclusion, receiving a bipolar diagnosis does not have to be the end of the world. Many brilliant and upstanding people have been diagnosed and effectively treated for bipolar disorder. It is important to have regular visits with a psychiatrists to discuss your medications and side effects. Blood tests are sometimes ordered to check the levels of your medications and the response of your body to these medications. It is important to stay on the prescribed medications and to try and keep a normal daily routine. A support group and supportive friends and family are vital in maintaining a good balance between the highs and lows. Even though there is not a cure, it is possible to live a happy and productive life. References Caponigro, J., Lee, E., Johnson, S., & Kring, A., (2012). Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc. Fink, C., & Kraynak, J., (2013). Bipolar Disorder for Dummies 2nd Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Youngstrom, E., (2012, October 23). Myths and Realities about Bipolar Disorders. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/news/press/release/2012/10/bipolar-disorder.aspx

Contemporary Issues in Food and Nutrition for Adolescents Essay

Contemporary Issues in Food and Nutrition for Adolescents The importance of establishing health promoting practices during childhood and adolescence has long been recognized by nutritionists and other health professionals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate further the issues relating to adolescents’ diets and contributing factors. Contributing factors include the increase of fast food consumption, unconventional meal patterns and lack of exercise. During adolescence, the influences on eating habits are numerous. The growing independence of adolescents, increased participation in social life and a generally busy schedule of activities have a great impact on food intake.? In the September 2007 issue of ‘Health Promotion International’, a survey of 18,486 secondary school students at 322 schools across all Australian states (except Western Australia) has found that a significant proportion of students fall short of current, national dietary and physical activity recommendations for teenagers. A new study suggests that as teens enter adulthood, they are more likely to skip meals, resulting in a very unconventional meal pattern. Breakfast is frequently neglected and omitted more often by teenagers as they enter high school as they see it as an unnecessary hassle. These diets are likely to be bizarre and unbalanced. Though appetite is great, meal times tend to be irregular due to pre-occupation with school, other social activities or even a part time job. Therefore snacking in between meals is common. Skipping breakfast, for example, can lead to greater levels of hunger later in the day, causing overeating, or the choosing of heavy foods that fill you up faster, but may lack nutritional values. For teenage girls, lunch is usually skipped as a way of controlling weight. As adolescents go through puberty, they are bound to feel more pressured by their peers about the shape and size of their body, sexual development, and their general appearance. Due to this pressure, they are more likely to be self-conscious, resulting in unstable diets. These diets are usually also caused by the increasing amount of junk food consumption. The increase in junk food consumption is an important factor in a teen’s diet. This could be due to the increased independence and responsibility for food preparation that adolescents face during this developmental transition. Fast food, such as McDonalds, is a quick, easy and tasty option for aging adolescents who may have a busy day-to-day schedule and who may be used to relying on parents to prepare their meals. Also published in the September issue of Health Promotion International, a survey indicates that secondary school students between the ages of 12 and 17 are consuming far too much junk food and not enough vegetables and fruit. The survey found that only 20% of students were meeting the daily requirement of four serves of vegetables while 39% were eating the recommended three daily serves of fruit. â€Å"Our survey found consumption of unhealthy/non-core foods was high, with 46% of students having fast food meals at least twice a week, 51% eating snack foods four or more times per week, and 44% having high-energy drinks four or more times per week,† states Dr Victoria White, from the Centre of Behavioural Research in Victoria. The survey findings also highlight the need for secondary students to spend more time being physically active and less time in front of the television and computer. The problem of childhood obesity has recently skyrocketed, mainly in the Western nations. Established in an online article on the website ‘For Parents, By Parents’, approximately 16-33% of children and teens are considered obese. While obesity is one of the easiest medical conditions to diagnosis, it can be one of the most difficult to treat. The same online article also states that poor diet and lack of exercise results in over 300,000 deaths every year. â€Å"We found that only 14% of students engaged in recommended levels of physical activity and about 70% exceeded recommended levels of sedentary behaviour,† Dr Victoria White once again states. Current recommendations state teenagers should do at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity every day and spend no more than 2 hours per day using electronic media for entertainment. Unhealthy weight increases during adolescence have been associated with fasting insulin, increased levels of cholesterol and risk factors for heart disease and systolic blood pressure in young adulthood. Since adolescent obesity is a significant predictor of overweight status in adulthood, it is important to identify dietary behaviours early on that are associated with unhealthy weight gain in order to create effective interventions. It has been investigated that the three of the largest factors in adolescents’ diets include their unconventional meal pattern, increasing of junk food consumption and lack of exercise. The increased snack food intake and lack of required exercise result in a very disproportioned and unbalanced diet, which eventually leads to other fatal diseases such as risk of heart failure. Therefore, adolescents’ diet should be observed carefully to avoid an unhealthy epidemic.

How to Create Setting in Fiction

How to Create Setting in Fiction At the mention of setting, the novice writer may think that it’s just a minor detail. Just mention where the story is taking place and the time and be done with it. Wrong. The setting can make or break a story. If you don’t keep the reader grounded as to where the characters are, the time of day and their surroundings, you’ll lose that reader before they’re finished with the first chapter. It’s not enough to have compelling characters acting out some fascinating story. The reader needs to know where, when and how in order to truly get involved in the story line. The first thing in creating a story is to establish where it’s taking place. By that I don’t mean a statement that the characters are in Miami, Florida. That’s not going to hold a reader. You have to know Miami. Know its streets, the way it smells, sounds and how hot, cold or humid it is. Describe the buildings and the streets. Show how the foliage is there. Place the reader there and make them feel as if they know the place intimately. Show them how it feels to breathe in the heat and humidity. How it feels to dress for work in the morning and have your silk blouse immediately wilt and stick to your body from the humidity. How they deal with the traffic down there. Is it set in a seedy neighborhood or an affluent subdivision? Description of the location lends itself to the impression of the story. As soon as you mention a ghetto-like area, the reader automatically assumes something bad is going to happen. The more details you include, the more the reader is goin g to identify with your setting. A timeline is important so that the reader understands when this is all taking place. You can’t just start the action and expect the reader to know what time of day or year it is unless you let them know. If it’s historical then you’ll need to show details of that period of time, which means research. It’s just as important to show current time. Don’t assume the reader knows, show them. Show the time of day also, nighttime suggests caution while daylight implies freedom. By using time as well as location, you can create a sense of where the story is going. Remember not to allow your description of the setting to read like a brochure. You’re going to lose your reader when they’re forced to read where and when the story is taking place in a narrative paragraph. A skillful writer shows the setting by including it in the natural pace of the storytelling. He’ll describe location through his character’s thoughts. Include it in a dialogue between characters. Show it during action. Details about the setting should never be obvious. It should be interwoven into the story in such an inconspicuous way that the reader knows details of where, when and how without ever being conscious of being told so. This may seem minor but when creating effective setting, you must know what you are talking about. As soon as the reader detects something incorrect or out of place, they’re going to put that book down. For example, showing Miami with a snowstorm in the winter will definitely jolt a reader to reality and force him to reconsider reading any more by a writer who obviously doesn’t know where Miami is located and the fact that snow just doesn’t happen there. Write about something you are familiar with or else be prepared to do research to get accurate facts into the story. The setting is just as important as the creation of characters and dialogue. A good writer will devote just as much care and attention to setting as to the rest of the story.

Beh 225 Assignment Diagnosis and Treatment

Assignment: Diagnosis and Treatment Beh 225 July 10, 2011 Assignment: Diagnosis and Treatment According to the American Psychiatric Association, there is a fifteen percent prevalence of mental disorders in the United States. Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive, is a mental disorder. Symptoms of bipolar disorder include extreme highs and extreme lows with periods of normal mood in between. Manic symptoms are being extremely active, talkative, distractible, unlimited hopes with no follow through, aggression, hostility, and violence.Depressive symptoms are feeling overwhelmed and worthless, loss of interest, insomnia, loss of concentration, and suicidal thoughts. Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. Roughly, 29,000 people commit suicide each year. Bipolar Disorder can create marital and occupational problems as well as financial dismay. Mood disorders are thought to be caused by nature and nurture. Biological factors that may lead to a bipolar episode are chemical imbalances in the brain, hormonal imbalances, and inherited traits. Physiological factors that may lead to a bipolar episode include maladaptive cognitive distortions. The text defines this as â€Å"an illogical and maladaptive response to early negative life events that leads to feelings of incompetence and worthlessness that are reactivated whenever a new situation arises that resembles the original events. † (Morris and Maisto,2005) Studies suggest that women are two to three times more likely to have a mood disorder than men. Being diagnosed with bipolar disorder is a lifelong and reoccurring illness. There are different types of bipolar disorder. The symptoms of bipolar I are severe mood swings from manic to depressive that lasts at least seven days. Bipolar II occurs when mood swings are less manic, or hypomania, and shift back to depressive. When one’s symptoms are not determined to be either of these the disorder is called bipolar disorder not otherwise specified. These symptoms are not as fierce as the I and II characterization. Cyclothymiacs is a mild form of bipolar disorder. These milder forms of symptoms continue to shift over the course of two or more years. When a person has four or more episodes a year they are referred to as a rapid cycler. Although the onset of this disorder usually occurs in the twenties and thirties some children are also diagnosed. Children are more likely to be diagnosed early if they have two parents with the disorder. The child’s odds increase up to seventy-five percent in some cases. Many bipolar patients self medicate with drugs and alcohol. This action can trigger or prolong the symptoms. Bipolar disorder patients are at a higher risk for many diseases. These diseases include heart disease, diabetes, obesity, migraines, and thyroid disease. When one suspects they have bipolar disorder, a doctor needs to be consulted.The doctor will perform a physical examination, interview the patient, and order testing. There is no test for bipolar disorder but these tests will rule out other ailments. After reviewing all tests and lab reports a mental health evaluation will be preformed. Family history will be taken as well as interviewing the family of said patient. Bipolar patients tend to seek help in the depressive state rather than the manic state. This disorder is treated with medications and psychotherapies. Over the course of treatment, several medicines may be tested. The first choice of treatment is a mood stabilizer.The FDA approved lithium in the 70’s for treatment of mania. In 1995, the FDA in treating mania approved depakote. Recently, the FDA in treating bipolar disorder approved an anticonvulsive medication. Anti convulsive medicines are lamictal, neurontin, topomax, and trileptal. Atypical antipsychotic, or second generation, medicines are also used occasionally. These medicines are zyprexa, abilify, seroquel, risperdal, and geodon. These medications relieve sudden and severe mania symptoms. Anti depressants are used in treating the depressive side of bipolar disorder.Prozac, paxil, Zoloft, and wellbutrin are all examples of anti depressants. Mild side effects to medicines include headache, rashes, and heartburn. These side effects usually go away as one get used to taking the medicine. Serious side effects can occur, as with any medicine, such as tardive dyskinesia. This is uncontrollable muscle movement, usually around the mouth, that needs to be discussed with a doctor. In addition to medication, psychotherapy is recommended. These therapies include cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and social rhythm therapy.

Environmental Microbiology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Environmental Microbiology - Assignment Example The reason as to why they are considered together is for human convenience and not as a reflection of their biological, evolutionary or ordered relationships. It is also important to note that algae are also known to be phototropic. Lenntech.com (1) asserts that almost all algae are eukaryotes and the exact nature of their chloroplasts which contains DNA is different in different lines of algae. Cyanobacteria are a classification of organisms traditionally incorporated among the algae though they have a prokaryotic cell structure and they conduct photosynthesis directly within the cytoplasm and not in specialized organs. Expertscolumn.com (1) categorically explains the significance of algae. Economically, Phytoplankton from algae is a source of food to many aquatic living things such as fish and also provides oxygen to their surrounding environment. The desmids help in analysis of water contamination or pollution. Another example is the brown algae. The brown algae contain alginic acid which is a source of lginites. Algae have negative effects as much as they have many uses. A typical scenario is that when a huge increase of algae occurs, a ‘red tide’ occurs. This is characterized by the ocean changing its color to red in certain areas as a result of the pigment coming from the algae. In conclusion, more research should be done to discover more areas through which algae can be utilized as opposed to their negative effects. This can be attributed to the fact that algae will always exist within our society and the more ways of utilizing them in our lives, the better. Expertcolumn.com. â€Å"The Significance of Algae in Economy and Environment as well as Its Harmful Effect†.7 Jan. 2011. Web.27 Oct. 2011

Phenomenology light in religious building Essay

Phenomenology light in religious building - Essay Example Look at the unparallel beauty of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow designed by Postnik Yakolev and built between 1555 and 1561. Look at the magnitude of the Notre Dame in France worked upon by numerous architects. Head towards Istanbul, Turkey and bask your eyes upon the Hagia Sophia mosque with its intriguing history. The Nidaros Cathedral, the most beautiful cathedral in Norway, probably in all Scandinavian Peninsula;Â  Or the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, an exceptional work of creative genius (Florin Nedelcu, 2008). Remember the anticipation and the excitement you experience as a child when your father takes you out to buy a new toy. At this point I am that child. However after a lot of deliberation on the basis of personal as well as architectural preference The Church of light by Tadao Ando and the Shah Mosque in Iran are the religious structures my essay will focus upon. Church of Light by Tadao Ando Being a student of architecture the work of Tadao Ando has always been one that I have greatly admired. I had initially associated Tadao Ando’s accomplishment for receiving the 18th Prtizker Prize as a result of his notable work and the fact that he had accomplished great architectural credibility being a self-taught designer. However looking at his vast body of work and his artful use of natural light and landscape, from all of his work the design that is my favorite is the Church of Light. I had always had great feelings of respect for Ando’s ability to design the church of light within a limited budget. Not only was that the case but during the course of his work there existed a strong possibility that the church would end up with no roof. I strongly believe that the work of an architect is a mere depiction of his personality. Isn’t that just what the core essence of architectural phenomenology all about? Feelings that are so strong that they are imprinted on the structure that a person designs. The Church of Light is not just a brilliant piece of architectural genius but it is the tangible proof of Tadao Ando’s resilient, diligent and creative strength of character. Tadao Ando, as an architect is brilliant but as a person he is a source of great inspiration for me. He fills my heart with joy and a longing that perhaps one day I can grow into a person that not only excels in his work but receives the admiration and respect of millions around the world. That being said I can clearly recall the reason for my insistence to go visit Ibaraki during my family trip to Japan. I had seen various pictures of The Church of light as any student of architecture during the course of his work would have. However seeing the actual structure was a minor motivation for me to explore Ibaraki. I remember a certain disagreement that I had prior to my trip with my father. The details of which are hazy but I clearly remember the bad and restless mood I had been in. I remember dragging my feet and wanting to get away from everyone with little regard about where I was headed towards. It was with this black mood that I made my way towards the Church of light. At some point I thought I had gotten lost. If I recall correctly I didn’t particularly care. At some point I angrily muttered a few unappreciative words to Ando for selecting such a confusing location. This was when I ran into an old Japanese man. He smiled at me and said something in Japanese. His

NAFEMS UK conference 2014 that was hold in Oxford, UK 10-11 June 2014 Term Paper

NAFEMS UK conference 2014 that was hold in Oxford, UK 10-11 June 2014 - Term Paper Example Computer-aided engineering is the use of software and tools to enhance the user’s productivity. Computer-aided engineering tools such as the MuSES IR Signature Prediction by ThermoAnalytics and the Solidworks tools by Bassauult Systems as illustrated on the UK conference. The future of computer-aided engineering aims at developing programs that can share data with each other and eradicating manual involvements, cross-checking, and the checking of errors. Manual attributes are regarded as a low-value utilization of an engineer’s time where organizations cannot maximize their resources using the manual approach. The future of computer-aided engineering seeks to automate most non-value tasks to enable engineers complete challenging tasks in the least time possible (Hsieh & Tsai, n.d). According to the presentations by Altair, TranscenData, and Enginesoft among others, the new development of the computer-aided programming seeks to converge most approaches as the computer-aided design by adding a central database to increase automation levels. The presented software and tools such as the ESTECO Enterprise Suite indicate that engineers will be able to load numerous data entries into the database that can hold all recurrent data and insert it where necessary in a keystroke. Engineers are choosing the use of the computer-aided engineering will convert project documentation into various regional standards and languages to facilitate cross-border collaborations. The computer-aided engineering initially included simulation and optimization and was once regarded as a specialty task that required advanced development and research. Today simulation through the finite element analysis has drastically evolved into a relevant part of an engineer’s design. The impact of simulation can be observed in everything from packaging of

Infinity Computer Systems Distributed Database

Infinity Computer Systems Distributed Database CHAPTER 1 Company Profile Company Profile: Infinity computer systems is a Sri Lanka based company engaged in selling computers, computer components and software applications to the local buyers. The company had pledged to provide the local market with the latest in products in IT for an affordable price as they appear in the world market, gaining an edge over its competitors. This well known secret has been the formula of success of the company to achieve rapid growth in a short time span. Company has wide range of computer hardware and software products on offer to the customers. One key market sector that the company is aiming to spread their reach in future is mobile handheld devices such as smart phones. Having started the business in 1999 with just two employees, today Infinity computer systems has grown into one of the biggest IT and computer components vendors in Sri lanka and in the South Asian subcontinent. Currently the company has 3 branches One in Mumbai, India and one in Kandy; a town in central part of Sri lanka and the head quarters situated in Colombo and employ 102 full time staff in all three branches. Infinity computer systems has a market share of about 30% in Sri lanka. Furthermore company has realize the benefits of the boom in IT sector in India and is aiming to expand the Mumbai branch to serve as a major computer hardware and software vendor in India to increase the revenue. Colombo head office and Mumbai branches maintains two large warehouses for storing directly imported products. Mumbai branch also directly engage with suppliers and manufacturers for buying stocks with minimal supervision form the Colombo head office. Kandy branch depends on Colombo head office for obtaining stocks and when dealing with major decisions. At Infinity computer systems theres a qualified sales and customer service team available to provide customers with expert product selection assistance and support. They try to keep an open dialogue with customers, so feedback and suggestions are always welcomed and highly appreciated. Be it a hard core gamer, student, small or medium sized business or an IT professional, Infinity Computer System has the right solution to cater every IT need. Current System: Due to the popularity of the company, Everyday a large number of business transactions are carried out at infinity computer systems outlets, resulting in heavy usage of databases and database applications. Stock maintenance, Human resource management as well as and sales and marketing departments all rely on database systems in day to day operations in Infinity computer systems all 3 branches. Currently Infinity computer systems utilize a centralized database system with relational database architecture to store data. The central database system is located in Colombo head office branch. Colombo, Mumbai and Kandy branches access the database in real time through the company WAN in day to day operations. The database system consists of following major tables which are related to other sub tables. Employees Stocks Sales Database manages separate tables for each branch that are logically related to above three main tables. The basic structure of the database table architecture is as follows. Both Mumbai branch and Kandy branch share Colombo central database. Disadvantages of Current System Due to the centralized nature of the current system, company faces number of difficulties and uncovered the following disadvantages. The main disadvantage of the current systems is single point of failure. If central database fails all the branches affect by it and all business activities comes to a halt. Furthermore breakdown in WAN line also affect the accessibility to the network. Slow access time is a major concern as well. Because, all three branches access the database simultaneously, current database systems has difficulties in processing queries quickly leading to frustration by many users. This affects negatively the fast phased nature of the infinity computer systems working environment as well as customer serving time. The sluggish nature of the current system is not appropriate in any mean to the upcoming expansions of the India branch that the company management is planning to execute in near future. specially, Mumbai branch will need a database which has quick access and has the ability to sustain a rapid growth in both capacity as well as demand. Areas Where Current System Lacks Security Current WAN network has a huge security hole as none of the site is protected by a firewall. This allows hackers and other malware programs such as worms to penetrate in to the network easily and it pose a great threat to the data at rest as well as those which are travelling on the network. The current system does not use any type of encryption when transferring data between remote sites and the main site. This pose a great threat for data such as Passwords and usernames as user authentication is done at the main site (Colombo) rather than the local sites. Lack of encryption means, anyone who intercept data get the access to user authentication information. Furthermore, the absence of encryption pose a threat to other data that transferred between main and remote sites as results for use queries. Because company database stores data that is vital and confidential to Infinity computer systems. If the data such as sales records and price listings fall in to rival business organizations hands, they can gain advantage over Infinity computer systems. User authentication system of the current database system has less than adequate authentication mechanism which grant access to all areas of the database system with single point of authentication. This pose a threat to data as staff of the company with all levels of position have the easy access to almost all of the company data. Solution To overcome the problems currently faced by Infinity Computer systems, a distributed database system can be implemented. In a distributed database environment, database is distributed over many locations where end users have quick access. Configuration and advantages of the new database system will be described in the next chapter. CHAPTER 2 Distributed Database Distributed database is a collection of multiple, logically interrelated databases distributed over a computer network. In a distributed database environment, users have the ability to access data from different sources that are located at multiple locations. When a database is distributed over many locations, it produces the challenge of retrieving the data from many locations and present it to system user. Furthermore managing the database becomes a critical function as well. This is where distributed database management system (DBMS) comes in to play. DBMS is a software system that manages the Distributed Database and provides the access mechanism to the users of the database. By tightly integrating with various systems and databases in a distributed environment, DBMS make the distribution transparent to the user. Infinity Computer Systems Distributed Database Overview Depending on the current geographical distribution of the branches and the WAN architecture, Infinity Computer Systems database can be distributed in to three branches to maximize the productivity and access times as well as obtaining many other advantages over existing centralized database. Out of many available, There are two major types of database design architectures we can consider when designing our company database system. They are, Multiple Site Processing, Multiple Site Data architecture using either Homogenous or Heterogeneous Distributed Database Management Systems(DDBMS). Out of above two architectures we will implement Homogenous Multiple Site Processing, Multiple Site Data architecture for Infinity Computer Systems distributed database. A distributed Multiple Site Processing, Multiple Site Data Multiple Site Processing, Multiple Site Data (MPMD) scenario refers to type of database that is fully distributed with multiple data processor support which includes transaction processors at multiple sites. When all the sites of the logically related distributed database utilize and integrates the same type of Database Management System(DBMS) at all sites of the distributed network its called Homogenous DBMS. Infinity Computer Systems Distributed Database Architecture Combining the concepts described above new distributed database architecture of the company can be demonstrated as below. As shown in the figure 4 and 5 in the new architecture, Both Mumbai and Kandy branches will maintain a copy of the database that consisting of records related to their respective branches. Colombo branch will maintain two databases. one includes data related to Colombo branch and a main database which will hold records related to all three branches. The new distributed database use relational database architecture. With this new architecture each branch will get the ability to access their very own database which is located locally. With this implementation, processing of the data also will be decentralized to all three branches. Apart from accessing the locally located database, both Kandy and Mumbai branches will be able to access the main database that is located in Colombo head office. The distributed database management system (DDBMS) will consist of Distributed Query Processor(DQP), that handles distributed queries, a Distributed Transaction Manager (DTM) for processing distributed transactions, a Distributed Metadata Manager (DMM) for managing distributed metadata, a Distributed Integrity Manger (DIM) for enforcing integrity among the various components of the distributed database system and a Distributed Security Manager (DSM) for enforcing security constraints across the database. LANs of all three branches were redesigned To facilitate the modifications to the new distributed database architecture, following section describes each LAN site with their new features and configurations. New LAN Architecture of Colombo Site Colombo branch function as the heart of the new distributed database system. As Colombo branch handles all management and financial decisions its important for Colombo branch to have access to data quickly. For this purpose, Colombo LAN is revamped as shown in the following figure to facilitate the functions of new distributed database. Being a company that is engaged in selling state of the art computers, accessories and networking products, its important to have faster access to database as well as fast access to different interconnected nodes within the LAN itself for this purpose Colombo site LAN is completely redesigned to facilitate the new database system. The old token ring based topology was replaced with a new Gigabit Ethernet LAN with Star topology. Gigabit Ethernet provides data rate of up to 1000 Mbp/s for LAN data. The new database server and backup server is implemented as a separated segment in the LAN. The separation is done through the router. The switches that connect Accounting and human resource department, Sales department and Warehouse department connects to a central switch, which in return connects to the router. Database server and Backup server connects to a switch, which in return connects to the router which also has the built-in firewall capability. The router segments the database section of the LAN form the other sections. This way it helps to reduce the congestion in the Local LAN. It helps faster access to database within the Colombo LAN itself as well as faster processing for incoming queries that are coming from other branches through WAN. The addition of the firewall protects the internal LAN form unauthorized access. This helps to protect the data of the company. The backup server provides continuous back up facility to the database. It helps to recover database in an event of a failure of the main database. New LAN Architecture of Mumbai Site Mumbai branch function as the second important branch after Colombo head office. Furthermore with managements intention to expand it in future to facilitate more storage and attain more sales targets that covers a larger customer base, makes it essential to have a good infrastructure in the LAN at Mumbai branch. For this purpose, Mumbai branch LAN also revamped as shown in the following figure to facilitate the functions of new distributed database and future additions. Mumbai branch LAN also revamped with an architecture similar to that of the Colombo LAN. The old network topology of Token Ring based architecture is replaced with a new STAR Topology Gigabit Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet provide the faster access to data within the LAN, which is much need in day to day communication within the organization. Furthermore it lays the foundation to future expected expansions to the Branch. The router segments the LAN area consisting of distributed database from that of the other areas of the LAN. This helps to prevent congestion and improves the data transfer efficiency of the LAN as well as providing faster a access to data for both local and distributed queries. The router is equipped with a built in firewall which protects the internal LAN from unauthorized access, thus protects the valuable data of Infinity computer systems. Database server is connected to a backup server which backs up the data of the main database server. It helps to recover the main server in an event of a failure. New LAN Architecture of Kandy Site Kandy branch also revamped to facilitate the new changes to the database system. The architecture of the LAN is nearly similar to that of the other two branches. following figure shows the new architecture. The most notable addition to Kandy branch is the addition of the T1 line which replaced the previous ISDN line that connects the branch LAN to the company WAN. The T1 line provides the faster access to distributed data as well as internet. This makes it easier for all branches as it provides same speed of access to all three branches data without creating any bottle necks. The LAN is designed as a Gigabit LAN using a Star topology which provides fast data transmission within the LAN. The router has built-in firewall which protects the internal LAN form intrusions. The database server section of the LAN is segmented using the router. This helps to control the congestion and allows the faster access to data for local and distributed queries. Backup database server provide data backup functionality for main database server which helps in quick recovery of the main database server in an event of a failure. New Features of the Proposed WAN Network architecture and Distributed System There are few new features were introduced to the existing WAN network to make it compatible with Distributed database system and address certain security holes that presented in the existing WAN. Firewalls have been introduced to each local site to protect each LANs of all three branches. This feature address the issue of network being exposed to Worms and hackers threats. Firewalls block malicious traffic that are not authorized to enter any segment of the Infinity computer system network while allowing legitimate traffic to access any part of the network ISDN line that connected Kandy branch to the WAN has been replaced with a high bandwidth T1 line. This allows the distributed queries to access Kandy branch data at the same speed as the of the other two branches; Colombo and Kandy as well as Mumbai branch being benefitted from accessing the other two sites data much faster than the existing ISDN line. Each LAN of all three branches have been introduced with a new LAN segment which consists of distributed database and processing systems and it was segmented through the router to reduce the congestion so that both local and remote data traffic gets the ability to access the database faster. Security Enhancements Provided by New System The new system is designed to provide encryption for user authentication data. This prevents the data interceptors from understanding the data related to user authentication and authorization. The proposed system is designed with a multi level security control system. Multilevel security controls ensure users cleared at different security level access and share the companys distributed database in which data is assigned different security levels. This prevents the lower level staff from gaining access to data that are not relevant to them and it ensure the security of the data. Advantages of the New Database System There are number of advantages of the new distributed database system. The most significant advantage of the new system is, speed. with having locally available database for each branch there is no longer a need to connect to the Colombo head office database during day to day operations giving fast access to data that is located at each branch LAN. Fast access to database means rapid operations in all task in the company environment as well as quick service for customers. Having redundant data in two company branches apart from Colombo head office means higher availability. Even if a failure occur in the main branch database, it has the ability to quickly recover from the regional branches. In the same manner should a failure occur in a regional branch database, it has the ability to recover from main database in Colombo branch with minimal downtime. The distributed architecture of the database reduce the strain on the main database servers as workstations connected each branchs database server shares the processing workload between them. this result in faster processing of queries. There will be a tremendous reduction in network traffic as well. In the old configuration, company WAN was highly utilized for database traffic. specially Colombo branch received a huge amount of database traffic every day. with the new configuration, branch offices are no longer needed to utilize the WAN to access database. This frees up the WAN traffic and allow all branches to utilize it for other more critical tasks. As the database query processing is distributed between branches, there is no longer a need to maintain high cost high-end servers for processing. This reduces company expenditure in long run. New database system provides the ability to expand both in quantity and processing power. This provides the platform to carry out planned expansions for Mumbai branch without having to worry about recourses and infrastructure. Removal of Reliance on a Central Site. In the existing centralized system, both remote branches of the company as well as Colombo branch is depend on same database that is located in Colombo. But the proposed system eliminates this reliance and provide a independent database system for each branch with the ability of also connecting with the databases of the other branches through the Distributed database management system and eliminates single site of failures. With fragments as the unit of distribution in the new architecture, a transaction can be divided in to several sub queries that operates on fragments. This increases the degree of concurrency or parallelism in the system. Possible Problems in the New Architecture Complexity The new distributes database system hides the distributed nature of the system from the user. Though it provides an acceptable level of performance, reliability and availability is more complex than the existing centralized database architecture. The fact that certain data, specially Colombo and Mumbai stocks related data are replicated in Colombo and Mumbai branches, ads an extra level of complexity when dealing with synchronization between these elements. So the software must be designed to handle the data replication adequately, if not it will lead to degradation of availability, reliability and overall performance of the entire system. Cost The increased complexity of the new distributed database architecture leads to higher costs in hardware and software resources as well as maintenance costs. Difficulties in integrity control Validity and consistency of stored data is referred to as Database integrity. Integrity is usually is expressed in terms of constraints, which are consistency rules that DBMS is not allowed to violate. Enforcing integrity constraints requires that defines the constrains but that are not related to actual update operation itself. In a Distributed DBMS environment like the proposed Infinity computer systems architecture, the processing and communication cost that are required to enforce such integrity constraints may be prohibitive. Security Unlike the centralized DBMS system which the access can easily be controlled, new Distributed database system which consists of fragmented and replicated data which are located at multiple sites, the security control is more challenging. Furthermore the network itself needs to be made secure in order to protect the data that travel between three branches. CHAPTER 3 Detailed structure and functionality of distributed database In this chapter, structure of the distributed database of infinity computer systems and the functionality of the distributed components will be discussed in greater detail. Table Format There are three major tables used in the database architecture. They are Employees, sales and stocks. Following is the table format for each table. As shown in the figure 7, Employees, Sales and Stocks tables are fragmented and located at all three branches according to the relevance of the site where the data is accessed most often. This architecture make the data access time faster and keep the communication costs down. Furthermore data of the Stocks_CMB, are vertically fragmented and located at the Mumbai branch database site with the table name of Stocks_CMB_FRG. During the fragmentaion of Stock_CMB all attributes of the Stock_CMB table were allocated in to Stocks_CMB_FRG except UNITPRICE attribute, because it is irrelevant to INDIAN territory thus it reduce the wastage of storage space due to repetition of irrelevant data. The purpose of allocating Colombo head office Stock data in the Mumbai site is to allow faster access because Mumbai branch of Infinity computer systems, run its own warehouse and deal with manufacturers and suppliers directly. This makes it important fir Mumbai branch have the ability to access the Colombo stock data very often and quickly so that both branches can maintain a healthy stock for everyday business. Colombo branch retains a copy of the Stocks tables related to Mumbai site as well as maintaining its own stock table related to Colombo stocks. In this new design, Sto ck_MBI table that is located in the Colombo head office site is configured to synchronize with Stock_MBI table, two times a day, during midday and then at the end of the working day. In a nutshell, following is the way the database is distributed across three branches. Employees and Sales Tables that were previously located in the Colombo branch, were fragmented according to the relevancy where data items are physically belong and located at their relevant branches. Stock_MBI is replicated at Mumbai (Stock_MBI_LCL) site while retaining a exact copy in Colombo branch Stock_KDY table is transferred to Kandy site from its previous position of Colombo Stock_CMB table is Vertically fragmented and located a copy at Mumbai branch. Data Allocation Method There are four methods to consider when choosing a data allocation method for proposed distributed database architecture for Infinity computer systems. They are, Centralized Fragmented Complete Replication Selective Replication Out of the above methods, we use Selective Replication as the data allocation method for proposed distributed database architecture. Selective Replication is a combination of Fragmentation, replication and centralized data allocation methods. In this method some data items are fragmented to maximize high locality of reference and others, which are used at many sites and are not frequently updated, are replicated; otherwise data items are centralized. This approach gives combination of advantages of all the other three methods. Using the selective replication method, we will only be distributing data related to Kandy and Mumbai branch to their respective branches while keeping a main database at Colombo branch which will consist of records related to all branches. This will serve as a redundant database as well as a central repository where all data related to companys all three branches can be easily retrieved. Following section describes how the above distribution was done by using relational algebra. Fragmentation of Database for Allocation of Data at Various Sites When distributing a database across multiple sites, one of the main factors need to consider is the fragmentation of database items such as Tables. Fragmentation consists of breaking a relation in to smaller relations or fragments and storing the fragments at different sites. By fragmenting, data can be distributed to the sites where they used more often. There are two approaches to distribute database elements across multiple sites. They are, Distribute one copy of each database table in all sites Distribute portions of the selected tables that are important to local sites In our company case we will be using the second method mentioned above. In that method we will be distributing only the data in the three main tables that are related to each site (Branch). When fragmenting data in a table there are three techniques used. They are, Horizontal fragmentation Vertical fragmentation Hybrid fragmentation For our company distributed database we use both horizontal and vertical fragmentation to distribute table data among three branches. More precisely, For Employee table and Sales table we use Horizontal fragmentation and for Stocks_CMB table we use Vertical Fragmentation. The reason for using vertical fragmentation for stock table is because Mumbai branch deals with manufacturers and other vendors who provides hardware and software stocks directly to Mumbai branch. Horizontal Fragmentation In horizontal fragmentation, certain rows of the tables are put in to a base relation at one site, and other rows are put in to a base relation at another site. In other words, the rows (tuples) of a relation are distributed to many sites as disjointed fragments. In infinity computer systems database, we use the horizontal fragmentation as follows, to fragment Employees and sales tables. When selecting the criteria to horizontally fragment the Employees and Sales tables is the relevance of data to the location. As shown above, the current employee table, we fragment by considering the BRCODE field. BRCODE indicates the branch where the employee works. By doing so we can build three new tables out of the above database table and allocate them to each of the 3 branches of the company. We can horizontally fragment employees table in to 3 separate logically related tables as follows. Using relational algebra to do the horizontal fragmentation of Employees table To do the above horizontal fragmentation of employees table in to three tables we can use relational algebra SELECT operation. Our intention is to fragment the table in to three small fragments so each table would contain Employees related to their respective branch. To achieve this, Relational algebra operations are, Employees_CMB = SELECT(Employees_Table) WHERE BRCODE = CMB Employees_MBI = SELECT(Employees_Table) WHERE BRCODE = MBI Employees_KDY = SELECT(EMP_TABLE) WHERE BRCODE = KDY Executing the above three formulas results in following three table fragments: Employees_CMB (contains 2 tuples) Employees_MBI (contains 2 tuples) Employees_KDY (contains 1 tuple) Relational algebra operation for fragmenting Sales Table We can divide sales tables in to three fragments through the SELECT algebra operation as follows and it will result in three tables containing sales data related to each of the three branches. Sales_CMB = SELECT(Sales_Table) WHERE BRCODE = CMB Sales_MBI = SELECT(Sales _Table) WHERE BRCODE = MBI Sales_KDY = SELECT(Sales _Table) WHERE BRCODE = KDY Vertical Fragmentation Vertical Fragmentation works by splitting a table between attributes. Vertical fragmentation is used in situations where some sites needed to access the attributes of the tables of many data items in a table. This fragmentation is more difficult than horizontal fragmentation as more options exist. The fragmentation can be achieved by either Grouping attributes to fragments or Splitting relations in to fragments For fragment Colmbo branchs Stock_CMB Table, we use the first method mentioned above. Relational algebra operation for Vertical fragmentation of Sales_CMB Table For vertical fragmentation, relational algebra Project operation is used. We fragment the above table to form a new table called Stocks_CMB_FRG. This new table will contain all the attributes of the above table except UNITPRICE. Following is the relational algebra Project operation. Stocks_CMB_FRG = PROJECT(Stocks_CMB) TOCKCODE, ITEMNO, QTY, S LASTIN, NEXTIN Executing the above operation will result in creating the following table. Stocks_CMB_FRG Data Model The data model consists of three layers called schemas. Each schema defines a set of views that database can be seen. The three schemas are, External schema layer Represents the view of the database that users and/or applications might see Conceptual schema layer At this level the database objects such as tables, columns, views, and indexes are defined. These definitions provide mappings to the next level of the model, which is where the physical layout of the database is defined. Internal schema layer This layer defines the actual layout of the records and fields. Distributed databases of all three branches are modeled according the above structure and all three branches maintain their own set of the above model. In local sites, when users access the data stored locally, they access them as defined in the external Views. Conceptual schema maps the logical structure of the tables to Internal Schema which defines the physical storage of data on the discs. The abov Infinity Computer Systems Distributed Database Infinity Computer Systems Distributed Database CHAPTER 1 Company Profile Company Profile: Infinity computer systems is a Sri Lanka based company engaged in selling computers, computer components and software applications to the local buyers. The company had pledged to provide the local market with the latest in products in IT for an affordable price as they appear in the world market, gaining an edge over its competitors. This well known secret has been the formula of success of the company to achieve rapid growth in a short time span. Company has wide range of computer hardware and software products on offer to the customers. One key market sector that the company is aiming to spread their reach in future is mobile handheld devices such as smart phones. Having started the business in 1999 with just two employees, today Infinity computer systems has grown into one of the biggest IT and computer components vendors in Sri lanka and in the South Asian subcontinent. Currently the company has 3 branches One in Mumbai, India and one in Kandy; a town in central part of Sri lanka and the head quarters situated in Colombo and employ 102 full time staff in all three branches. Infinity computer systems has a market share of about 30% in Sri lanka. Furthermore company has realize the benefits of the boom in IT sector in India and is aiming to expand the Mumbai branch to serve as a major computer hardware and software vendor in India to increase the revenue. Colombo head office and Mumbai branches maintains two large warehouses for storing directly imported products. Mumbai branch also directly engage with suppliers and manufacturers for buying stocks with minimal supervision form the Colombo head office. Kandy branch depends on Colombo head office for obtaining stocks and when dealing with major decisions. At Infinity computer systems theres a qualified sales and customer service team available to provide customers with expert product selection assistance and support. They try to keep an open dialogue with customers, so feedback and suggestions are always welcomed and highly appreciated. Be it a hard core gamer, student, small or medium sized business or an IT professional, Infinity Computer System has the right solution to cater every IT need. Current System: Due to the popularity of the company, Everyday a large number of business transactions are carried out at infinity computer systems outlets, resulting in heavy usage of databases and database applications. Stock maintenance, Human resource management as well as and sales and marketing departments all rely on database systems in day to day operations in Infinity computer systems all 3 branches. Currently Infinity computer systems utilize a centralized database system with relational database architecture to store data. The central database system is located in Colombo head office branch. Colombo, Mumbai and Kandy branches access the database in real time through the company WAN in day to day operations. The database system consists of following major tables which are related to other sub tables. Employees Stocks Sales Database manages separate tables for each branch that are logically related to above three main tables. The basic structure of the database table architecture is as follows. Both Mumbai branch and Kandy branch share Colombo central database. Disadvantages of Current System Due to the centralized nature of the current system, company faces number of difficulties and uncovered the following disadvantages. The main disadvantage of the current systems is single point of failure. If central database fails all the branches affect by it and all business activities comes to a halt. Furthermore breakdown in WAN line also affect the accessibility to the network. Slow access time is a major concern as well. Because, all three branches access the database simultaneously, current database systems has difficulties in processing queries quickly leading to frustration by many users. This affects negatively the fast phased nature of the infinity computer systems working environment as well as customer serving time. The sluggish nature of the current system is not appropriate in any mean to the upcoming expansions of the India branch that the company management is planning to execute in near future. specially, Mumbai branch will need a database which has quick access and has the ability to sustain a rapid growth in both capacity as well as demand. Areas Where Current System Lacks Security Current WAN network has a huge security hole as none of the site is protected by a firewall. This allows hackers and other malware programs such as worms to penetrate in to the network easily and it pose a great threat to the data at rest as well as those which are travelling on the network. The current system does not use any type of encryption when transferring data between remote sites and the main site. This pose a great threat for data such as Passwords and usernames as user authentication is done at the main site (Colombo) rather than the local sites. Lack of encryption means, anyone who intercept data get the access to user authentication information. Furthermore, the absence of encryption pose a threat to other data that transferred between main and remote sites as results for use queries. Because company database stores data that is vital and confidential to Infinity computer systems. If the data such as sales records and price listings fall in to rival business organizations hands, they can gain advantage over Infinity computer systems. User authentication system of the current database system has less than adequate authentication mechanism which grant access to all areas of the database system with single point of authentication. This pose a threat to data as staff of the company with all levels of position have the easy access to almost all of the company data. Solution To overcome the problems currently faced by Infinity Computer systems, a distributed database system can be implemented. In a distributed database environment, database is distributed over many locations where end users have quick access. Configuration and advantages of the new database system will be described in the next chapter. CHAPTER 2 Distributed Database Distributed database is a collection of multiple, logically interrelated databases distributed over a computer network. In a distributed database environment, users have the ability to access data from different sources that are located at multiple locations. When a database is distributed over many locations, it produces the challenge of retrieving the data from many locations and present it to system user. Furthermore managing the database becomes a critical function as well. This is where distributed database management system (DBMS) comes in to play. DBMS is a software system that manages the Distributed Database and provides the access mechanism to the users of the database. By tightly integrating with various systems and databases in a distributed environment, DBMS make the distribution transparent to the user. Infinity Computer Systems Distributed Database Overview Depending on the current geographical distribution of the branches and the WAN architecture, Infinity Computer Systems database can be distributed in to three branches to maximize the productivity and access times as well as obtaining many other advantages over existing centralized database. Out of many available, There are two major types of database design architectures we can consider when designing our company database system. They are, Multiple Site Processing, Multiple Site Data architecture using either Homogenous or Heterogeneous Distributed Database Management Systems(DDBMS). Out of above two architectures we will implement Homogenous Multiple Site Processing, Multiple Site Data architecture for Infinity Computer Systems distributed database. A distributed Multiple Site Processing, Multiple Site Data Multiple Site Processing, Multiple Site Data (MPMD) scenario refers to type of database that is fully distributed with multiple data processor support which includes transaction processors at multiple sites. When all the sites of the logically related distributed database utilize and integrates the same type of Database Management System(DBMS) at all sites of the distributed network its called Homogenous DBMS. Infinity Computer Systems Distributed Database Architecture Combining the concepts described above new distributed database architecture of the company can be demonstrated as below. As shown in the figure 4 and 5 in the new architecture, Both Mumbai and Kandy branches will maintain a copy of the database that consisting of records related to their respective branches. Colombo branch will maintain two databases. one includes data related to Colombo branch and a main database which will hold records related to all three branches. The new distributed database use relational database architecture. With this new architecture each branch will get the ability to access their very own database which is located locally. With this implementation, processing of the data also will be decentralized to all three branches. Apart from accessing the locally located database, both Kandy and Mumbai branches will be able to access the main database that is located in Colombo head office. The distributed database management system (DDBMS) will consist of Distributed Query Processor(DQP), that handles distributed queries, a Distributed Transaction Manager (DTM) for processing distributed transactions, a Distributed Metadata Manager (DMM) for managing distributed metadata, a Distributed Integrity Manger (DIM) for enforcing integrity among the various components of the distributed database system and a Distributed Security Manager (DSM) for enforcing security constraints across the database. LANs of all three branches were redesigned To facilitate the modifications to the new distributed database architecture, following section describes each LAN site with their new features and configurations. New LAN Architecture of Colombo Site Colombo branch function as the heart of the new distributed database system. As Colombo branch handles all management and financial decisions its important for Colombo branch to have access to data quickly. For this purpose, Colombo LAN is revamped as shown in the following figure to facilitate the functions of new distributed database. Being a company that is engaged in selling state of the art computers, accessories and networking products, its important to have faster access to database as well as fast access to different interconnected nodes within the LAN itself for this purpose Colombo site LAN is completely redesigned to facilitate the new database system. The old token ring based topology was replaced with a new Gigabit Ethernet LAN with Star topology. Gigabit Ethernet provides data rate of up to 1000 Mbp/s for LAN data. The new database server and backup server is implemented as a separated segment in the LAN. The separation is done through the router. The switches that connect Accounting and human resource department, Sales department and Warehouse department connects to a central switch, which in return connects to the router. Database server and Backup server connects to a switch, which in return connects to the router which also has the built-in firewall capability. The router segments the database section of the LAN form the other sections. This way it helps to reduce the congestion in the Local LAN. It helps faster access to database within the Colombo LAN itself as well as faster processing for incoming queries that are coming from other branches through WAN. The addition of the firewall protects the internal LAN form unauthorized access. This helps to protect the data of the company. The backup server provides continuous back up facility to the database. It helps to recover database in an event of a failure of the main database. New LAN Architecture of Mumbai Site Mumbai branch function as the second important branch after Colombo head office. Furthermore with managements intention to expand it in future to facilitate more storage and attain more sales targets that covers a larger customer base, makes it essential to have a good infrastructure in the LAN at Mumbai branch. For this purpose, Mumbai branch LAN also revamped as shown in the following figure to facilitate the functions of new distributed database and future additions. Mumbai branch LAN also revamped with an architecture similar to that of the Colombo LAN. The old network topology of Token Ring based architecture is replaced with a new STAR Topology Gigabit Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet provide the faster access to data within the LAN, which is much need in day to day communication within the organization. Furthermore it lays the foundation to future expected expansions to the Branch. The router segments the LAN area consisting of distributed database from that of the other areas of the LAN. This helps to prevent congestion and improves the data transfer efficiency of the LAN as well as providing faster a access to data for both local and distributed queries. The router is equipped with a built in firewall which protects the internal LAN from unauthorized access, thus protects the valuable data of Infinity computer systems. Database server is connected to a backup server which backs up the data of the main database server. It helps to recover the main server in an event of a failure. New LAN Architecture of Kandy Site Kandy branch also revamped to facilitate the new changes to the database system. The architecture of the LAN is nearly similar to that of the other two branches. following figure shows the new architecture. The most notable addition to Kandy branch is the addition of the T1 line which replaced the previous ISDN line that connects the branch LAN to the company WAN. The T1 line provides the faster access to distributed data as well as internet. This makes it easier for all branches as it provides same speed of access to all three branches data without creating any bottle necks. The LAN is designed as a Gigabit LAN using a Star topology which provides fast data transmission within the LAN. The router has built-in firewall which protects the internal LAN form intrusions. The database server section of the LAN is segmented using the router. This helps to control the congestion and allows the faster access to data for local and distributed queries. Backup database server provide data backup functionality for main database server which helps in quick recovery of the main database server in an event of a failure. New Features of the Proposed WAN Network architecture and Distributed System There are few new features were introduced to the existing WAN network to make it compatible with Distributed database system and address certain security holes that presented in the existing WAN. Firewalls have been introduced to each local site to protect each LANs of all three branches. This feature address the issue of network being exposed to Worms and hackers threats. Firewalls block malicious traffic that are not authorized to enter any segment of the Infinity computer system network while allowing legitimate traffic to access any part of the network ISDN line that connected Kandy branch to the WAN has been replaced with a high bandwidth T1 line. This allows the distributed queries to access Kandy branch data at the same speed as the of the other two branches; Colombo and Kandy as well as Mumbai branch being benefitted from accessing the other two sites data much faster than the existing ISDN line. Each LAN of all three branches have been introduced with a new LAN segment which consists of distributed database and processing systems and it was segmented through the router to reduce the congestion so that both local and remote data traffic gets the ability to access the database faster. Security Enhancements Provided by New System The new system is designed to provide encryption for user authentication data. This prevents the data interceptors from understanding the data related to user authentication and authorization. The proposed system is designed with a multi level security control system. Multilevel security controls ensure users cleared at different security level access and share the companys distributed database in which data is assigned different security levels. This prevents the lower level staff from gaining access to data that are not relevant to them and it ensure the security of the data. Advantages of the New Database System There are number of advantages of the new distributed database system. The most significant advantage of the new system is, speed. with having locally available database for each branch there is no longer a need to connect to the Colombo head office database during day to day operations giving fast access to data that is located at each branch LAN. Fast access to database means rapid operations in all task in the company environment as well as quick service for customers. Having redundant data in two company branches apart from Colombo head office means higher availability. Even if a failure occur in the main branch database, it has the ability to quickly recover from the regional branches. In the same manner should a failure occur in a regional branch database, it has the ability to recover from main database in Colombo branch with minimal downtime. The distributed architecture of the database reduce the strain on the main database servers as workstations connected each branchs database server shares the processing workload between them. this result in faster processing of queries. There will be a tremendous reduction in network traffic as well. In the old configuration, company WAN was highly utilized for database traffic. specially Colombo branch received a huge amount of database traffic every day. with the new configuration, branch offices are no longer needed to utilize the WAN to access database. This frees up the WAN traffic and allow all branches to utilize it for other more critical tasks. As the database query processing is distributed between branches, there is no longer a need to maintain high cost high-end servers for processing. This reduces company expenditure in long run. New database system provides the ability to expand both in quantity and processing power. This provides the platform to carry out planned expansions for Mumbai branch without having to worry about recourses and infrastructure. Removal of Reliance on a Central Site. In the existing centralized system, both remote branches of the company as well as Colombo branch is depend on same database that is located in Colombo. But the proposed system eliminates this reliance and provide a independent database system for each branch with the ability of also connecting with the databases of the other branches through the Distributed database management system and eliminates single site of failures. With fragments as the unit of distribution in the new architecture, a transaction can be divided in to several sub queries that operates on fragments. This increases the degree of concurrency or parallelism in the system. Possible Problems in the New Architecture Complexity The new distributes database system hides the distributed nature of the system from the user. Though it provides an acceptable level of performance, reliability and availability is more complex than the existing centralized database architecture. The fact that certain data, specially Colombo and Mumbai stocks related data are replicated in Colombo and Mumbai branches, ads an extra level of complexity when dealing with synchronization between these elements. So the software must be designed to handle the data replication adequately, if not it will lead to degradation of availability, reliability and overall performance of the entire system. Cost The increased complexity of the new distributed database architecture leads to higher costs in hardware and software resources as well as maintenance costs. Difficulties in integrity control Validity and consistency of stored data is referred to as Database integrity. Integrity is usually is expressed in terms of constraints, which are consistency rules that DBMS is not allowed to violate. Enforcing integrity constraints requires that defines the constrains but that are not related to actual update operation itself. In a Distributed DBMS environment like the proposed Infinity computer systems architecture, the processing and communication cost that are required to enforce such integrity constraints may be prohibitive. Security Unlike the centralized DBMS system which the access can easily be controlled, new Distributed database system which consists of fragmented and replicated data which are located at multiple sites, the security control is more challenging. Furthermore the network itself needs to be made secure in order to protect the data that travel between three branches. CHAPTER 3 Detailed structure and functionality of distributed database In this chapter, structure of the distributed database of infinity computer systems and the functionality of the distributed components will be discussed in greater detail. Table Format There are three major tables used in the database architecture. They are Employees, sales and stocks. Following is the table format for each table. As shown in the figure 7, Employees, Sales and Stocks tables are fragmented and located at all three branches according to the relevance of the site where the data is accessed most often. This architecture make the data access time faster and keep the communication costs down. Furthermore data of the Stocks_CMB, are vertically fragmented and located at the Mumbai branch database site with the table name of Stocks_CMB_FRG. During the fragmentaion of Stock_CMB all attributes of the Stock_CMB table were allocated in to Stocks_CMB_FRG except UNITPRICE attribute, because it is irrelevant to INDIAN territory thus it reduce the wastage of storage space due to repetition of irrelevant data. The purpose of allocating Colombo head office Stock data in the Mumbai site is to allow faster access because Mumbai branch of Infinity computer systems, run its own warehouse and deal with manufacturers and suppliers directly. This makes it important fir Mumbai branch have the ability to access the Colombo stock data very often and quickly so that both branches can maintain a healthy stock for everyday business. Colombo branch retains a copy of the Stocks tables related to Mumbai site as well as maintaining its own stock table related to Colombo stocks. In this new design, Sto ck_MBI table that is located in the Colombo head office site is configured to synchronize with Stock_MBI table, two times a day, during midday and then at the end of the working day. In a nutshell, following is the way the database is distributed across three branches. Employees and Sales Tables that were previously located in the Colombo branch, were fragmented according to the relevancy where data items are physically belong and located at their relevant branches. Stock_MBI is replicated at Mumbai (Stock_MBI_LCL) site while retaining a exact copy in Colombo branch Stock_KDY table is transferred to Kandy site from its previous position of Colombo Stock_CMB table is Vertically fragmented and located a copy at Mumbai branch. Data Allocation Method There are four methods to consider when choosing a data allocation method for proposed distributed database architecture for Infinity computer systems. They are, Centralized Fragmented Complete Replication Selective Replication Out of the above methods, we use Selective Replication as the data allocation method for proposed distributed database architecture. Selective Replication is a combination of Fragmentation, replication and centralized data allocation methods. In this method some data items are fragmented to maximize high locality of reference and others, which are used at many sites and are not frequently updated, are replicated; otherwise data items are centralized. This approach gives combination of advantages of all the other three methods. Using the selective replication method, we will only be distributing data related to Kandy and Mumbai branch to their respective branches while keeping a main database at Colombo branch which will consist of records related to all branches. This will serve as a redundant database as well as a central repository where all data related to companys all three branches can be easily retrieved. Following section describes how the above distribution was done by using relational algebra. Fragmentation of Database for Allocation of Data at Various Sites When distributing a database across multiple sites, one of the main factors need to consider is the fragmentation of database items such as Tables. Fragmentation consists of breaking a relation in to smaller relations or fragments and storing the fragments at different sites. By fragmenting, data can be distributed to the sites where they used more often. There are two approaches to distribute database elements across multiple sites. They are, Distribute one copy of each database table in all sites Distribute portions of the selected tables that are important to local sites In our company case we will be using the second method mentioned above. In that method we will be distributing only the data in the three main tables that are related to each site (Branch). When fragmenting data in a table there are three techniques used. They are, Horizontal fragmentation Vertical fragmentation Hybrid fragmentation For our company distributed database we use both horizontal and vertical fragmentation to distribute table data among three branches. More precisely, For Employee table and Sales table we use Horizontal fragmentation and for Stocks_CMB table we use Vertical Fragmentation. The reason for using vertical fragmentation for stock table is because Mumbai branch deals with manufacturers and other vendors who provides hardware and software stocks directly to Mumbai branch. Horizontal Fragmentation In horizontal fragmentation, certain rows of the tables are put in to a base relation at one site, and other rows are put in to a base relation at another site. In other words, the rows (tuples) of a relation are distributed to many sites as disjointed fragments. In infinity computer systems database, we use the horizontal fragmentation as follows, to fragment Employees and sales tables. When selecting the criteria to horizontally fragment the Employees and Sales tables is the relevance of data to the location. As shown above, the current employee table, we fragment by considering the BRCODE field. BRCODE indicates the branch where the employee works. By doing so we can build three new tables out of the above database table and allocate them to each of the 3 branches of the company. We can horizontally fragment employees table in to 3 separate logically related tables as follows. Using relational algebra to do the horizontal fragmentation of Employees table To do the above horizontal fragmentation of employees table in to three tables we can use relational algebra SELECT operation. Our intention is to fragment the table in to three small fragments so each table would contain Employees related to their respective branch. To achieve this, Relational algebra operations are, Employees_CMB = SELECT(Employees_Table) WHERE BRCODE = CMB Employees_MBI = SELECT(Employees_Table) WHERE BRCODE = MBI Employees_KDY = SELECT(EMP_TABLE) WHERE BRCODE = KDY Executing the above three formulas results in following three table fragments: Employees_CMB (contains 2 tuples) Employees_MBI (contains 2 tuples) Employees_KDY (contains 1 tuple) Relational algebra operation for fragmenting Sales Table We can divide sales tables in to three fragments through the SELECT algebra operation as follows and it will result in three tables containing sales data related to each of the three branches. Sales_CMB = SELECT(Sales_Table) WHERE BRCODE = CMB Sales_MBI = SELECT(Sales _Table) WHERE BRCODE = MBI Sales_KDY = SELECT(Sales _Table) WHERE BRCODE = KDY Vertical Fragmentation Vertical Fragmentation works by splitting a table between attributes. Vertical fragmentation is used in situations where some sites needed to access the attributes of the tables of many data items in a table. This fragmentation is more difficult than horizontal fragmentation as more options exist. The fragmentation can be achieved by either Grouping attributes to fragments or Splitting relations in to fragments For fragment Colmbo branchs Stock_CMB Table, we use the first method mentioned above. Relational algebra operation for Vertical fragmentation of Sales_CMB Table For vertical fragmentation, relational algebra Project operation is used. We fragment the above table to form a new table called Stocks_CMB_FRG. This new table will contain all the attributes of the above table except UNITPRICE. Following is the relational algebra Project operation. Stocks_CMB_FRG = PROJECT(Stocks_CMB) TOCKCODE, ITEMNO, QTY, S LASTIN, NEXTIN Executing the above operation will result in creating the following table. Stocks_CMB_FRG Data Model The data model consists of three layers called schemas. Each schema defines a set of views that database can be seen. The three schemas are, External schema layer Represents the view of the database that users and/or applications might see Conceptual schema layer At this level the database objects such as tables, columns, views, and indexes are defined. These definitions provide mappings to the next level of the model, which is where the physical layout of the database is defined. Internal schema layer This layer defines the actual layout of the records and fields. Distributed databases of all three branches are modeled according the above structure and all three branches maintain their own set of the above model. In local sites, when users access the data stored locally, they access them as defined in the external Views. Conceptual schema maps the logical structure of the tables to Internal Schema which defines the physical storage of data on the discs. The abov