Saturday, August 31, 2019

Periodontal Therapy And Glycemic Control Health And Social Care Essay

What affects 25.8 million people of all ages and 8.3 % of the U.S population? Diabetes. It is estimated there are 18.8 million people diagnosed with another 7 million undiagnosed. 1 The effects of diabetes can be mitigated with rigorous control and high conformity with medical regimen, be it tradition insulin replacing for type I diabetics or peripheral moving drugs that suppress glucose production by the liver or aid to increase insulin production which are most common in Type II diabetic patients. The difference in the two types of diabetes and their direction is beyond the range of this treatment. Suffice it to state that with uncontrolled diabetes patients are at really high hazard of microvascular disease ; including but non limited to: neuropathies, nephritic disease, and sightlessness. In add-on an increased hazard of MI, stroke, possible demand for limb amputations, and periodontic disease. Dental research workers have proposed that IL-1I? , IL-6, and CRP from periodontic inf ection might lend to the entire inflammatory load. ( 2 as cited in4 ) It is from this thought that a two manner relationship between diabetes and periodontic disease stems. So direction ends in respect to diabetes is to keep glycemic control as near to normal as possible to avoid inauspicious effects and maintain overall wellness. With about 1 in 10 people enduring from diabetes it is of import as a wellness professionals and clinicians to acknowledge these wellness hazards in our dental patients and work in concert with their primary attention supplier to advance glycemic control in order to assist keep overall wellness, in add-on to unwritten wellness. There is great chance in garnering a thorough medical history from patients to place possible symptoms: frequent micturition, utmost hungriness and thirst, weariness, weight loss, alterations in vision, prickling or numbness in custodies and pess, frequent infections ; and refer patients who we suspect as possible undiagnosed diabetic patients. Although medical physicians are the lone 1 ‘s qualified to name and handle diabetic patients. The intent of this literature reappraisal is to look at a possible chance that tooth doctors may hold to assist in glycemic control and thereby aid patients to hold better overall general wellness. Patients Presentation Patient M, a 39 Indian male presented to clinic 2CDB on July 2, 2012 with a main ailment of shed blooding gums and a loose tooth. Critical marks were BP1 135/90 BP2 126/90 with a pulse rate of 83. He is 5'11 † and 180lbs. A thorough medical history was undertaken and the patient reported history of high blood pressure, thorax strivings, diabetes, and occasional pyrosis. Patient unclear/uncertain of timeline and stated he had been having medical intervention for a few old ages and was uncertain of his current medicines or doses and reported to seldom supervising blood glucose. Patient studies smoking history of 7 battalion old ages and quit 15 old ages ago. Patient denies intoxicant ingestion and studies his dental history as exigency visits, coppices more than one time day-to-day and ne'er flosses. Patient studies trouble masticating nutrient due to shed blooding gums. During a reappraisal of systems the patient studies frequent hungriness and abdominal hurting. IOE/EOE ( aside from teething ) was within normal bounds. A medical consult was sent for a more thorough history including: history of disease, current medicines, HgbA1c, and specific recommendations for intervention. An assignment was scheduled for two hebdomads with the patient informed for demand of returning with medical consult prior to intervention. The patient cancelled the assignment due to failure to have the medical consult and stated he would return to the clinic or put an assignment when he had it completed. The patient returned to the clinic on November 11, 2012 and was seen by another pupil tooth doctor and once more was sent with a medical consult to obtain complete history including: medicines and HgbA1c. The patient returned on December 12, 2012 with the completed consult. His doctor reported a history of high blood pressure, lipemia, and type II DM. His diabetic medicines included: Metformin 1000mg BID, and Prandin 2mg TID before repasts. HTN controlled with Lisinopril 20mg daily, Simvastatin 10mg for lipemia, and Omeprazole 20mg daily for reflux. CBC values of note were: WBC 11,400 cells/mcL ( marginal normal to high ) , hemoglobin 11.8 g/dL ( somewhat low ) , and an HgbA1c of 10.3 ( highly uncontrolled ) . In perspective normal HgbA1c degrees for non-diabetics autumn below 5.7 % and diabetic control is considered at or below 6.5-7 % . So 10.3 % is highly uncontrolled and puts the patient at hazard for diabetic complications discussed earlier including periodontic disease. Intra-oral test found shed blooding on light force per unit area at fringy gum, history of injury of 8, and 9 which had been splinted to 10,11 antecedently with a semi stiff wire and acrylic which contributed to plaque keeping and trouble keeping country clean. Mobility was found on the undermentioned dentition: 12,13,14,25,26 ( category 3 mobility ) , 3, 18,23, 32 ( category 2 mobility ) , and 4,7,8,15,17,20,27 ( category I mobility ) . 6,7,8,9,10,11 were hard to measure due to splinting of the dentition. Probing deepnesss showed terrible periodontic disease with deepnesss making 10+mm but in most countries 5-8mm examining deepnesss with category II and category III forking engagement. So presently the patient is considered chronic terrible periodontic disease and high hazard for uncontrolled diabetes ( which is a lending hazard factor for periodontic disease ) . Literature Review A clinical inquiry that is presently a popular country of research is if non-surgical periodontic intervention can assist in glycemic control? The PICO formulated is as follows: P- Diabetic Patients with periodontic disease I- Diabetic patients with perio disease having non-surgical grading and root planing C- Diabetic patients with perio disease having no therapy O- Glycemic control measured by HgbA1c A hunt was conducted through the NYU research portal via Medline/PubMed utilizing keywords of diabetes and grading and root planing. Merely free full text articles were included in the consequences, which limited the consequences down to merely 4 hits. So the hunt was revised to the keywords periodontic intervention and diabetes to which 106 articles came back. Titles were assessed and 3 articles were selected for the literature reappraisal.Article I: Decrease in HbA1c degrees following non-surgical periodontic therapy in type-2 diabetic patients with chronic gerneralized periodontal disease: A periodontist ‘s role.3Published in the Journal of Indian Society of Periodontology in 2012, Hungund and Panseriya looked at both clinical parametric quantities of non-surgical therapy along with metabolic parametric quantities as measured by HgbA1c both at baseline, and at three and six months. The purpose of the survey was to utilize HgbA1c measurings in respects to effectual periodonti c intervention on glycemic control. The survey was a prospective instance control clinical survey comparison and experimental group of 15 type II diabetics and control group of 15 non-diabetics. In order to be included in the survey ( experimental group ) done by Hungund the patients had to: be between 30-70 old ages of age, and have presence of type II DM with HgbA1c a†°?6.0 % , FBG a†°?126mg/dl, and random blood glucose a†°?200mg/dl. In add-on to the confirmed diabetes diagnosis the patients had to hold clinical diagnosing of moderate generalized chronic periodontal disease ( ALOSS 4-6mm in all quarter-circles ) and radiographic bone loss of 30-50 % . All patients had to hold a†°?10 dentitions per arch no to include the 3rd grinders, no anterior perio intervention. Besides patients had to consent and commit to followup and could non have or hold any medicine alterations for two months before or during the survey. Patients to be excluded were: any presence of systemic disease that would act upon the patients periodontic disease or haemoglobin degrees in the blood, any disposal of anti-inflammatory antibiotics for four hebdomads prior to the survey, curre nt tobacco users or holding smoked within the last five old ages and pregnant adult females or adult females who intended to be pregnant during the six months of the survey. In looking at the inclusion criteria it was used really efficaciously to insulate the independent variable of non-surgical intervention. In the diabetic patients it was important to hold no medicine changes straight predating or during the survey because that could hold greatly confounded the consequences. In add-on anyone with disease that would/could modulate a patient ‘s periodontic disease were excluded, as were tobacco users a confounding hazard factor for periodontic disease. After the standards were applied they had an experimental group of merely 15 patients with a control ( non-diabetic ) of 15 patients. Although the control in this instance was non-diabetic patients alternatively of diabetics non having periodontic therapy it still efficaciously isolates periodontic therapy in diabetic patients as a possible causative agent to cut down glycemic burden. The job is that it introduces prejudices due to effect-modification. It may over-estimate the glycemic consequence be cause it fails to look at diabetic patients non having periodontic therapy. All of those patients prior to having non-surgical therapy were given unwritten hygiene direction, information on periodontic disease and supra-gingival prophylaxis, followed by scaling and root planing during a subsequent visit.The consequences of the survey found statistical significance for decrease of the followers: plaque index, shed blooding index, and gingival index. Probing depth decreases were important in both groups from baseline to three months and baseline to six months, but non important from three to six months. The PD were: 3.16 A ± 0.65 at baseline to 2.72 A ± 0.39 and 1.67 A ± 0.43 at three and six months. HgbA1c degrees were merely found to be statistically important from baseline to six months. The values at baseline were 8.18 A ± 1.56, and 7.20 A ± 1.37 and 6.73 A ±1.07 at three and six months in the diabetic group.In decision, the survey found important decrease in both exam ining deepnesss and glycated haemoglobin ( HgbA1c ) in diabetic patients. From baseline to six months the survey found a decrease of 18.5 % in the HgbA1c degrees. The article concludes that being as it seems a bipartisan relationship between both uncontrolled diabetes and periodontic disease and improved periodontic disease with improved control of diabetes it is clinically of import to work in coordination with the patients physician as a squad to accomplish better metabolic control of diabetes.3The surveies chief failing was the highly little sample size. With an experimental and control group of merely 15 people each ; the survey decidedly can non be generalized to the population as a whole, besides due to geographic/ethnic restrictions of intervention groups. It besides is of import to observe that all survey participants were seeking either diabetic intervention or periodontic intervention, so it can non needfully be considered a random sampling of diabetic or periodontic patie nts. But the decisions of the survey if implemented would make no injury to the patients.Article II: Does Periodontal Treatment Improve Glycemic Control in Diabetic Patients? A Meta-analysis of Intervention Studies4The 2nd article reviewed authored by Janket, Wightman, and Baird was a meta-analysis that looked at intercession surveies to see if periodontic intervention improves glycemic control in diabetic patients. To happen possible surveies they did a hunt utilizing Medline, Cochrane, and Medicine Reviews by the American College of Physicians Journal Club for articles published in English with hunt footings geared toward diabetes, periodontic disease, glycemic control, and HgbA1c. To be included the survey had to be an original intercession where causal illation could be made, the survey had to be a least 2 months, either the primary or secondary result had to be step of glycemic control by HgbA1c, and autumn within the day of the month scope of 1980 and Jan. of 2005 in English.T en surveies were included and all had non-surgical periodontic therapy as intercession with some of the surveies besides including rinses or systemic antibiotics, which could hold perchance confounded the consequences. A statistical trial for heterogeneousness was ran and the included surveies were deemed to be rather homogeneous. The 10 surveies combined to include 456 type I and type II diabetics and came up with non-significant difference in HgbA1c of 0.38 % average decrease. When dividing up type I and type II patients it appeared that type II diabetics consequences generated stronger effects of periodontic intervention on glycemic control but still was non-significant statistical mean decrease of 0.71 % ( limited to type 2 diabetics ) , so the meta-analysis could non reject the void hypothesis that periodontic intervention does non impact glycemic controlThe treatment suggested that future surveies be done to specifically aim type 2 diabetic patients, and that due to multi-fact orial nature of both periodontic disease and diabetes that other lending factors such as smoke, BMI, and diet be adjusted to accomplish a more balanced randomisation. The meta-analysis station hoc showed that a sample size of at least 246 patients were needed to detect a 10 % lessening in HgbA1c. Since HgbA1c reflects long term glycemic control survey continuances should at least be 2 months if non longer. In add-on and most significantly that the periodontic intercession should ensue in clear periodontic betterment because an uneffective intercession may be no different that non-intervention. 4This survey although neglecting to happen a statistical significance did a good occupation at proposing possibilities for future surveies.Article III: Consequence of Periodontal Treatment on Glycemic Control of Diabetic Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis5 In 2010 Wijnand, Victor, and Bruno performed a systematic reappraisal and meta-analysis on the consequence of periodontic intervention on glycemic control in diabetic patients. The intent of the survey was to make a systematic reappraisal of intercession surveies and see if periodontic intervention affects the wellness of diabetic patients through bettering their blood sugar control compared with diabetic patients enduring from periodontic disease but non having intervention and holding at least a 3 month follow up. The writers searched Medline and Cochrane utilizing keywords runing from periodontic disease or periodontal disease or periodontic infection and diabetes or diabetic or diabetic patient. To be selected for inclusion in the reappraisal the surveies had to run into the undermentioned standards: original probe, intercession surveies with diabetic patients with periodontal disease split into intercession group to have therapy and control group to have no therapy, continuance of 3 months or more with results related to metabolic control in worlds topics. The original hunt found 639 eligible articles, which were finally narrowed down to five surveies to be included in the reappraisal and have informations extracted to be analyzed. From the surveies selected the chief characteristics of participants was extracted: features of the population, type of diabetes and its control and continuance, periodontic diagnosing, and intercession. Through assorted statistical trials the meta-analysis was performed. After rating the survey found that HgbA1c can be reduced in type 2 diabetic patients on mean by 0.40 % average decrease with CI of [ -0.77, -0.04 ] through periodontic therapy when compared to command topics. The writers advise cautiousness of the consequences for the undermentioned grounds: deficiency of heterogeneousness in surveies non generalizable to the full population, the little figure of surveies ( N=5 ) , study design defects due to selection prejudice by puting those avoiders of intervention in a control group, and besides 2 surveies used metabolically controlled patients which could perchance decrease the consequence. Besides many of the surveies concomitantly used systemic or local antibiotics, which could act upon the result and confound existent consequences of merely non-surgical therapy. The survey suggests the demand for farther intercession surveies and asserts that the intervention of more terrible signifiers of periodontal disease could be more good in footings of HgbA1c due to an increased inflammatory load and what I would name more room for betterment. Further suggestions for future surveies include: a big individual blind RCT of diabetics with moderate to severe periodontal disease, a follow up period of 6 months or longer, a sample size big plenty to analyse and distinguish between moderate to severe periodontal disease. 5SynthesisSo through the reappraisal of the anterior the little intercession survey by Hungund found a important difference of glycemic control betterment of 18 % reduction3 when compared to the two meta-analysis surveies, which found differences of average HgbA1c decrease 0.70 % 4 ( non-significant ) and a average HgbA1c decrease of 0.40 % 5 ( important ) after follow up. That is a prodigious difference in decrease, which could hold been du e to the fact that in article 1 with a intercession group of 15 topics which is excessively few patients to hold sufficient power and the non-diabetic control which introduces consequence alteration.All three surveies stress the importance of continued surveies in the country of diabetics and periodontic therapy in respects to glycemic control. So it rests upon us as tooth doctors to do a clinical judgement. In all world those patients who have the most to derive and better are those that are least controlled which absolutely describes Patient M.Conclusion & A ; Recommendation for TreatmentWhen trying to use the literature reappraisal to Patient M described antecedently there are a few troubles unique to the patient state of affairs. Patient M is presently a hack driver who is really busy and often naturals or disappoints antecedently scheduled assignments. In add-on in talking to the patient on his nutrition and nutrient consumption he states that many times due to his occupation h e has to run and catch fast-food which many times he admits is non the healthiest option. Besides in taking his medicines and eating his repasts they are fickle and at different times each twenty-four hours doing glycemic control that much more hard. At last interview he seldom if of all time checks his blood sugar. At his current degree of 10.3 ( HgbA1c ) he has the most to perchance derive in respects to betterment of glycemic control due to periodontic therapy. But, even using the possible betterment from the reviewed articles at best 18 % decrease would go forth him at approximately 9.0 and at a average decrease of 0.5-0.7 % that was found in the two meta-analysis surveies ( one being non-significant ) still besides leaves him extremely uncontrolled at around 9.5. In add-on everything we are presently taught in the course of study is that any HgbA1c over ~8.5 should merely have exigency attention until under control due to possible infections and delayed lesion healing.The troub le in comparing the literature reviewed to the patient is that every bit stated before he may be on the high terminal of uncontrolled and have a more terrible periodontic position. Which harmonizing to Teeuw et Al that intervention of generalized terrible periodontal disease could be more good in footings of glycemic control of diabetic patients.5 At this clip the most of import thing along with expeditious intervention of terrible periodontic status following initial glycemic control, including extractions of dentitions with poor/hopeless forecast and non-surgical therapy to diminish bacterial burden and inflammatory procedure. The tooth doctor should work closely with the primary attention supplier and patient, along with a dietician to assist Patient M. achieve glycemic control through diet and exercising and a healthy life style. Until that clip patient instruction is necessary where he is pre-contemplative phase and non presently desiring to alter.To this point, as stated in th e patient ‘s dental history, he merely sees the tooth doctors for what he considers to be exigency visits. Attempts to hold the patient return to clinic for clinical exposures, followup on glycemic control with physician, intervention planning, has been near to impossible. The patient when contacted has stated he is excessively busy to come in and will name when he has a opportunity. So every bit far as long-run forecast for both glycemic and periodontic control it is highly guarded to hapless at this point due to low conformity of patient.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony government was able to be, at least partially, simultaneously theocratic, democratic, oligarchic, and authoritarian. It was able to be partly theocratic because of the doctrine of the covenant, which stated that the whole purpose of government was to enforce God’s laws. God’s laws applied to everyone, even nonbelievers. Everyone also had to pay taxes for the government-supported church. This meant that religious leaders held enormous power in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They were able to effectively control who was admitted to the church by conducting public interrogations of people who claimed to have experienced conversion. The last reason it was partially theocratic was one of the main governors, John Winthrop, believed he had a â€Å"calling† from God to lead the Massachusetts colony. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was partially democratic for a couple of reasons. First, the freemen elected the governor and his associates each year. The freemen also voted for a representative assembly called the General Court. The Colony was also partly an oligarchy. It was an oligarchy because only Puritans could be freemen and were eligible to vote. Puritans were even more limited because religious leaders could control who was admitted into the church. Finally, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was partially authoritarian. This was partially because many of the residents were Puritans. Puritans shared in the â€Å"Protestant Ethic†, which involved serious commitment to work and to engagement in worldly pursuits. Everyone was held to these standards because of this. Everyone was expected to do this, even if they weren’t Puritan.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Globalisation of Trade Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Globalisation of Trade - Literature review Example The very idea eliminated international trade barriers which in turn intensified liberalised cross border trade. As Cairola (2007) points out, developed countries dramatically increased their production levels during the 1950-70 by through international diffusion of mass production and assembly lines; hence, there arose a need for finding new markets to supply excess products and services. Companies believed that exporting of these excess items to foreign needy markets would be a potential strategy to promote growth (ibid). In addition, intra-firm trade also contributed to the current international trade. On the other hand, developing nations also supported the idea of internationalisation of global production since they find it as a way to enhance their growth by supplying raw materials and labour to multinational enterprises. As the author points out, between the 1960s and the 1980s, developing economies started to change their focus from import substitution to export promotion poli cies with intent to enhance economic stagnation. They also gave specific importance on their industrial development. Thus, developing economies eventually began to integrate into the global trading system even though their participation is still lower as compared to other developed economies (ibid). In order to take advantages of the trade liberalisation, organisations today are trying to become less hierarchical and more decentralised. Undoubtedly, multinational corporations obtain more advantages of trade globalisation as they get free access to global markets despite cross border barriers. In order to enhance foreign investments, governments are promoting development of transnational corporations. Even though countries like China put obstacles to foreign investment, currently they are softening their attitude towards multinational enterprises. Globalisation critics argue that multinational corporations take unfair advantages over poor countries by exploiting their physical resour ces and labour. This criticism seems to be true to some extent while analyzing regions like Africa and Latin America. As Domer (1999) points out, African countries still remain underdeveloped whereas the Latin American region is still dependant on Western economies. The author points out that the African economy’s growth rate stood at around 2% over the 1984-1993 period and this poor rate was not enough to meet even increasing needs of the African population (ibid). The increased European influence and lack of an effective leadership significantly contributed to Africa’s stunted growth. Weakening commodity prices was the major growth impediment to Latin American countries in 1990s; and many of the Latin American countries still heavily depend upon capital inflows from industrialised countries due to their huge external debts (ibid). Arguments for globalisation of trade The process of trade globalisation has benefited economies across the globe to obtain uninterrupted s upply of different goods and services and take advantages of improved overseas facilities. Some of the benefits of globalisation are listed below. 1. Improvement in international relations As a result of globalisation of trade, the concept of global economy came into existence which in turn enhanced the growth of different segments of the international market. In addition, the globalisation process resulted in the creation of a global market and a global system of production. Evidently, capital marketers also enjoy far reaching benefits of globalisation as this concept has led to the integration of financial systems. With the emergence of globalisation, dramatic developments took place in the area of telecommunications media which

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Refer to the Project Data provided on Blackboard by the Instructor Statistics

Refer to the Data provided on Blackboard by the Instructor. The data shows student enrolment in a private college from 1965 to 2005 - Statistics Project Example By viewing the graph, we observe that the student enrolment has been constantly non decreasing over the past 40 years. The trend line is almost a straight line. If we form an equation with year as independent variable (1965 as 1 and 2005 as 41), the regression equation so formed is y=51.46x+1773.228 with R2=0.935. Almost 94% of the dependent variable enrolment is based on the year (for every increase in the variable year, there is a corresponding increase in the variable enrolment). The student enrolment is constantly increasing over the year and for only few years it got a slight decrease say during the years 1968, 1971, 1972 and 1984. For all the other years the enrolment never came down even for a single year. Stem-and-leaf plots use the original data values to display the distributions shape. The plot for enrolment visualizes the positive skew statistic seen in the descriptives table; the values cluster uniformly in a range of 2000 to 3000, then disperse gradually for the forthcoming years. From the above boxplot, the median is somewhere around 2800 and we observe that more values are above median. Also Mean>Median>Mode. So the distribution is positively skewed. Most of the years had admission above 2800. There is one outlier that is, the 41st observation which has a value 4465.64. This indicates that the last year that is, 2005 the enrolment is much more than the average enrolment. This may have an influence on skewness. From the above table of descriptive statistics, it is clear that the minimum is 1900 and the maximum is 4465.64 with range 2514.643. The median is 2782 and the mean of enrolment is 2854.04. The standard deviation is 637.48 with coefficient of variation nearly 22%. It is reliable data since the coefficient of variation is not above 25%. So the data is somewhat consistent. The skewness is 0.693 is close to 0 and the kurtosis is 0.0147 which is more close to 0. So, the distribution is almost normal and it is

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Intelligent Building Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Intelligent Building - Assignment Example e process is very vital when designing an intelligent building and they are designed to meet the social and environmental needs and have enough availability of resources. Intelligent buildings help people work more effectively and efficiently and it is, therefore, easy to cope with the social and technological changes. These intelligent buildings are designed by the architectures those have knowledge and skills on the same and not anyone who can do that. To come up with an intelligent construction is not easy, but with the help of today’s technology, things have been simplified. To bring out an intelligent building, it must be well designed, constructed and implemented. This will attract many people leading to high demand hence high profitability. The main reason for every organization is to earn income. An integrated construction helps people carry out their businesses easier by integrating all the processes and resources together and this saves time and energy. The total time that is expected to be used to accomplish a job is reduced hence saving energy. Technology has reduced manpower and labor hence making work easier and faster. Design: This process requires more work and thus, a little more cash. The resource executives have to learn on how to justify the added costs for longer design time, additional processes and non-standard equipment (Smith, 2010). This step requires more interaction with new designers for them to make design work easier. Even though they find it difficult, they have to forge the relationships with members of a design team. This helps them get new ideas that help them in designing process and these other members of the team also make contributions during the whole process. This step is the most critical stage since it is from the design where by contractors come up with an intelligent building and if the design is not excellent, the total results will not be excellent too. Construction: In integrated design process, there are

Monday, August 26, 2019

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in Tourism-Related Hospitality Dissertation

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in Tourism-Related Hospitality Establishments in Beijing, China - Dissertation Example ignificance of the Study 9 1.4 Purpose and Research Questions 9 Chapter 2 – Review of Relevant Literature and Research 12 2.1 Reasons Why Customer Relationship Management is Important for Tourism-Related Hospitality Establishments 13 2.2 Information and Computer Technologies and Customer Relationship Management Systems 15 2.3 Forces that Influence Customer Relationship Management Implementation Efforts in Organisations 17 2.4 Customer Relationship Management in Restaurants 18 2.5 Customer Relationship Management in Airlines 20 Chapter 3 – Methodology / Methods Used 23 3.1 Research Approach for the Dissertation Project 24 3.2 Preparation of a Literature Review 25 3.3 Design and Administration of the Survey Questionnaire 26 3.4 Analysis of the Survey Data 27 Chapter 4 – Data Analysis and Discussion 31 Chapter 5 –Conclusions, Recommendations and Suggestion for Further Work 122 Appendix A – Survey Questionnaire 125 Appendix B – Raw Data for the S urvey 135 Bibliography/ References 146 List of Figures Figure 4.1: Histogram depicting location of Tourism-Related Hospitality Establishments from Beijing Included in the Survey 34 Figure 4.2: Histogram depicting Annual Turnover of Hospitality Establishments in Beijing 36 Figure 4.3: Pie Chart depicting Number of Employees at Hospitality Establishments in Beijing Included in the Survey 37 Figure 4.4: Histogram depicting Designation of those responding to Survey Questionnaire from Hospitality Establishments in Beijing 38 Figure 4.5: Pie Chart depicting Departmental Affiliation of those responding to Survey Questionnaire from Hospitality Establishments in Beijing 39 Figure 4.6: Pie Chart depicting Satisfaction with Efforts made for Implementation of CRM Initiatives at Hospitality Establishments in Beijing 40 Figure 4.7:... From the research it can be comprehended that it is now important for hospitality establishments from around the world to understand how best to effectively manage relationships with customers. Times are difficult, and the rapidly changing business environment is highly competitive. Thus, it makes sense to try to retain customers and to make the right impression on all those who have had a first experience with a hospitality establishment, especially for establishments serving clients combining business with pleasure who may return. It is far more expensive to try to attract new customers than to try to retain the existing and during tough and competitive times, it is best for hotels to try to ensure that its clientele remain loyal. Thus, although academic literature and practical implementations of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) do not present a clear indication about what CRM is, it is clear that to know the customers and to serve them better it is important for a hospitali ty establishment to present superior interactions and knowledge about the customer. The use of information and communications technologies with data mining for knowledge gathering is now apparent in many hospitality establishments for supporting Customer Relationship Management and formulation of management strategy. Because CRM is about getting to know customers and their needs better, it is about implementing specific Information and Communication technology projects within an organisation to process organisational data to deliver knowledge about customers and their needs.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Interview with the Lieutenant Detective Ricky Rivera Assignment

Interview with the Lieutenant Detective Ricky Rivera - Assignment Example The interview that has been conducted focuses on his professional as well as personal life so as to draw a conclusion in terms of the factors that have affected the career and goal of Rivera. The assignment even reveals his bravery in handling juveniles and his various other success stories that have made him what he is in the present scenario. On the other hand, the assignment would even comprise of certain other interview questions in terms of preferred role and responsibilities of Rivera in the future. The interview would even outline the current role of the individual and the ways in which this role would help him in the long run. The assignment is a thorough analysis of the interview conducted with Ricky Rivera and details of which would be mentioned in the below-given sections. The interview has been conducted with Ricky Rivera who is presently part of the Passaic police department. He is working in this department for many years and is currently posted as a lieutenant detective. He has handled many complex cases and even has been rewarded with appraisals or promotion. The address of the police department in which Rivera is working is 330 Passaic Street New Jersey 07055. When interviewed Ricky Rivera stated that he still does not possess any college degree and he said that this degree did not matter much for him in the career path. He said that he was only focused towards entering into a profession that would help him to utilize his skills and would also enable him to serve the country in some way or another. Rivera was always dedicated towards his job with more of attention towards reducing crime from the region which was under his control. Rivera in the interview said that individuals who want to set their career as a detective need to only hold a high sc hool diploma or GED. He even stated that all that is required in this career path is to be dedicated towards the job role and to be passionate towards the work.  Ã‚  

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business plan - Essay Example The critical success factors in the business include high quality nutritious burgers that are all natural and organic, reliability in service delivery, high quality sales staff, and strategizing an effective strong brand building that is associated with high quality, nutritious and uniquely flavoured burgers. The funding required to kick-start the business is ?658,000. With favourable performance, the projected sales will be ?950,000, ?1050000, and ?1160000 in the three consecutive years. Profit before taxation will be ?330,000, ?413,700, ?647,500 for the three consecutive years respectively. Background Healthy Bite Burger restaurant is a new start up business founded by [Names] who came up with the idea for a unique organic burger restaurant for their love and passion of healthy eating and the increasing trend towards health awareness. They wanted to provide a range of healthy organic burgers that are not only satisfying but also healthy, adding value to the customers. The three fou nders pride in their professional experience within the food industry. One of the founders has five years culinary experience and skills within a health oriented restaurant business, another has four years sales and marketing experience with the a grocery store, while the other one has extensive five years experience in website development, search engine optimisation skills, and online marketing. With their love for burgers, and their passion for healthy lifestyles, the three partners developed the idea for a healthy burger restaurant. Healthy Bite burger Restaurant will therefore be a restaurant mainly focused on providing unique healthy organic burger to the widening health conscious people. This unique burger will be a nutritious all natural organic burger targeting the health conscious population. The product will mainly be segmented based on flavours: that is beef, fish, duck, lamb, vegetables and chicken and, all bearing the brand name Healthy Bite Burger. Mission Statement: T o support healthy living among a wide array of people by providing burgers made from all natural healthy high quality organic products in a manner that is focused on adding value to people’s lifestyles Vision Statement: To be the leading provider of all natural nutritious organic burgers in Oxford region Values and Principles of the business: The business is founded on four core values and principles: Integrity in all business dealings, service to customers and their health, respect for individuals and striving for excellence. Earnest and Young projections for the period 2011 to 2020 shows that consumer spending on restaurants would rise by 12% over the period (Ernest & young, 2011:3), and consumers would still tend towards healthy all natural foods (Huxley, Land, Lobley, 2011:37; de Groot, 2012). Most Burgers available in the market are based on highly processed meat products which in most cases often lose big amounts of their nutritional value. While there are other organic burgers in the market due to the commitment of most fast food chains to adopt healthier foods (Paddock, 2008), Healthy Bite Burger Restaurant differentiates itself in that it not only provides information on nutritional content within its menu, but focus on providing a unique burger

Friday, August 23, 2019

Labour education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Labour education - Essay Example Labour forces are the engines of creation and production capital of every nation. Their knowledge, skills and competence are paramount in the performance of their roles and duties for their respective employees-- the latter being expectant of their positive contribution in achieving companies’ goals and targeted key results in exchange for wages. As forces for development, labor education is significant to keep them abreast and updated to new systems of operations and new policies which may directly and indirectly affect them (Gahan & Bell, 1998). This essay will explicate the meaning of labour education; identify the themes of Canadian labour education; and the developments or changes of labor practices in Canada. Labour Education Labor education is defined as the transfer of knowledge and skills focused for workers who are members of a certain union or association. In Canada, labor education was established since 1963 which was intended for those who wanted to improve and strengthen their competence as well as competence as workers (Canadian Labor Congress, 2009). Many of those who availed further education also aimed at improving their organizational management skills and leadership to make them committed in the protection and promotion of their rights as labor forces or as workers (CLC, 2009).

Relationships between African Americans and Latinos in the Church of Essay

Relationships between African Americans and Latinos in the Church of Christ - Essay Example How important is a religion to you? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant How important is religion in your family? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant How important is religion in social life? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant Cultural Aspects How much is culture related to religion? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant How much is religion related to culture? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant Which is more important to you? Culture Religion How important is the ethnic difference in the context of religion? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant What is the influence of cross cultural communities on religion? (King, 18) Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant How do you assess the influence of religion in promoting leadership qualities for acculturation? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant How much can the cross culture problems be overcome by the influence of church? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant How much is the influence of the church in the context of language? Very Important Important Marginally Important Not Important Irrelevant Very Irrelevant

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Six Basic Strategy Essay Example for Free

Six Basic Strategy Essay A Broad Differentiation strategy maintains a presence in both segments of the market. Competitive advantage is gained by distinguishing products with an excellent design, high awareness, and easy accessibility. RD competency is developed that keeps designs fresh and exciting. Products keep pace with the market, offering improved size and performance. Prices are above average. Capacity is expanded as higher demand is generated. Mission Statement Premium products for the industry: our brands withstand the tests of time. Our primary stakeholders are customers, stockholders, management, and employees. Tactics †¢ Research Development: We will keep our existing product line, and introduce at least one more line, maintaining a presence in both segments. Our goal is to offer customers products that match their ideal criteria for positioning, age, and reliability. †¢ Marketing: Our company will spend aggressively in promotion and sales in both segments. We want every customer to know about our superb designs, and we want to make our products easy for customers to find. We will price at a premium. †¢ Production: We will grow capacity to meet the demand that we generate, avoiding second shift/overtime when possible. After our products are well positioned, we will investigate modest increases in automation levels to improve margins, but never at the expense of our ability to reposition products and keep up with segments as they move across the perceptual map. †¢ Finance: We will finance our investments primarily through stock issues and cash from operations, supplementing with bond offerings on an as needed basis. When our cash position allows, we will establish a dividend policy and begin to retire stock. We are somewhat adverse to debt, and prefer to avoid interest payments. We expect to keep assets/equity (leverage) between 1.5 and 2.0. We measure performance in terms of market share, market cap, ROA, and profits.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Difference Between Traditional File Systems Information Technology Essay

Difference Between Traditional File Systems Information Technology Essay Wikipedia, The traditional filing system is a method of storing and arranging computer files and the information in the file. Basically it organizes these files into a database for the storage, organization, manipulation, and retrieval by the computers operating system. For this method, a file name is assigned to a file in order to secure storage location in the computer memory or data storage devices such as hard disks or CD-ROMs are used to maintain the physical location of the files. By this file name a file can be further accessed. Whether the file system has an underlying storage device or not, file systems typically have directories which associate file names with files, usually by connecting the file name to an index in a file allocation table. A new concept for file management is the concept of a database-based file system. Files are identified by their characteristics, like type of file, topic, author, etc (DBMS) consists of software that operates databases, providing storage, access, security, backup and other facilities. This system can be categorized according to the database model and the type of computer that they support such as a server cluster or a mobile phone, the query language(s) that access the database, such as SQL or XQuery, performance trade-offs, such as maximum scale or maximum speed or others. Some DBMS cover more than one entry in these categories, e.g., supporting multiple query languages. Meanwhile database management systems are usually accessed in a client-server manner, where the database client and the server are located on different machines (in a local area network). Both systems deal with information management. File-based System File-based systems were an early attempt to computerize the manual filing system. File-based system is a collection of application programs that perform services for the end-users, such as updating, insertion, deletion adding new files to database etc. Each program defines and manages its data. When a computer user wants to store data electronically they must do so by placing data in files. Files are stored in specific locations on the hard disk (directories). The user can create new files to place data in, delete a file that contains data, rename the file, etc which is known as file management; a function provided by the Operating System (OS). Advantages of traditional file based system Disadvantages of traditional file based system No need of external storage Provides less security. No need of a highly technical person to handle the database. Redundancy is more. Processing speed is high as compared to DBMS Less integrity. High complexity in updating of database. Table 1.1.1 Database Management System The improvement of the File-Based System (FBS) was the Database Management System (DBMS) which came up in the 60s. The Database Management System removed the trouble of manually locating data, and having to go through it. The user could create a suitable structure for the data beforehand, to place the information in the database that the DBMS is managing. Hence, the physical organizing of files is done away with and provides the user with a logical view of the data input. A database is a collection of interrelated information stored in a database server; these data will be stored in the form of tables. The primary aim of database is to provide a way to store and retrieve database information fast and in an efficient manner. Advantages Control of data redundancy Although the database approach does not remove redundancy completely, it controls the amount of redundancy in the database. Data consistency By removing or controlling redundancy, the database approach reduces the risk of inconsistencies occurring. It ensures all copies of the idea are kept consistent. More information from the same amount of data With the amalgamation of the operated data, it is possible to derive additional information for the same data. Sharing of data Database belongs to the entire organization and can be shared by all authorized users. Improved data integrity Database integrity provides the validity and consistency of stored data. Integrity is usually expressed in terms of constraints, which are consistency rules that the database is not permitted to violate. Improved security Provides protection of data from unauthorized users. It will require user names and passwords to identify user type and their access right in the operation including retrieval, insertion, updating and deletion. Enforcement of standards The integration of the database enforces the necessary standards including data formats, naming conventions, documentation standards, update procedures and access rules. Economy of scale Cost savings can be obtained by combining all organizations operational data into one database with applications to work on one source of data. Balance of conflicting requirements By having a structural design in the database, the conflicts between users or departments can be resolved. Decisions will be based on the base use of resources for the organization as a whole rather than for an individual person. Improved data accessibility and responsiveness By having integration in the database approach, data accessing can cross departmental boundaries. This feature provides more functionality and better services to the users. Increased productivity The database approach provides all the low-level file-handling routines. The provision of these functions allow the programmer to concentrate more on the specific functionality required by the users. The fourth-generation environment provided by the database can simplify the database application development. Improved maintenance Provides data independence. As a change of data structure in the database will affect the application program, it simplifies database application maintenance. Increased concurrency Database can manage concurrent data access effectively. It ensures no interference between users that would not result any loss of information or loss of integrity. Improved backing and recovery services Modern database management system provides facilities to minimize the amount of processing that can be lost following a failure by using the transaction approach. Disadvantages Complexity A difficult software. All users must be familiar with its functionality and take full advantage of it. Therefore, training for the administrators, designers and users is required. Size Uses a substantial amount of main memory as well as large amount of disk space in order to make it run efficiently. Cost of DBMS A multi-user database management system may be very expensive. Even after the installation, there is a high regular annual maintenance cost on the software. Cost of conversion When moving from a file-base system to a database system, the company is required to have additional expenses on hardware acquisition and training cost. Performance As the database approach is to cater for many applications rather than exclusively for a particular one, some applications may not run as fast as before. Higher impact of a failure Increases the vulnerability of the system due to the centralization. As all users and applications reply on the database availability, the failure of any component can bring operations to a halt and affect the services to the customer seriously. The difference between TFS and DBMS Balajee B. (2005), There are number of characteristics that differ from traditional file management system to database management system. In file system approach, each user implements the required files for a specific application to run. (Example: in a sales department of an enterprise, one user will be maintaining the details of the number of sales personnel in that department and their grades. These details will be stored and maintained in a separate file. Another user will maintain the salary details of these sales personnel and the detailed salary report will be stored and maintained in a separate file. Although both of the users need the data of the salespersons, they will be having their details in separate files and they need different programs to operate their files.) When such data is isolated in separate files, it is difficult to access data that should be available for both users. This will lead to wastage of space and redundancy or replication of data, which may lead to c onfusion, as sharing of data among various users is not possible and data inconsistency may occur. These files will not be having any inter-relationship among the data stored in these files. Therefore in traditional file processing every user will be defining their own constraints and implement the files according to their needs. In database approach, a single store of data is maintained that is defined once and then accessed by many users, as database belongs to the entire organization and can be shared by all authorized users. The essential characteristic of database approach is that the database system not only contains data but it contains complete definition or description of the database structure and control. These definitions are stored in a system catalog, which contains the information about the structure and definitions of the database. The information stored in the catalog is called the metadata, it describes the primary database. Hence this approach will work on any type of database for example, insurance database, Airlines, banking database, Finance details, and Enterprise information database. But in traditional file processing system the application is developed for a specific purpose and they will access specific database only. But the processing speed in TFS is high compared to DBMS. The other main characteristic of the database is that it will allow multiple users to access the database at the same time and sharing of data is possible. The database must include concurrency control software to ensure that several users trying to update the same data at the same time, it should maintain in a controlled manner. In file system approach many programmers will be creating files over a long period and various files have different format, in various application languages, where duplication of data can occur. This redundancy in storing same data multiple times leads to higher costs and wastage of space. This may result in data inconsistency in the application; this is because update is done to some of the files only and not all of the files. Moreover in database approach multiple views can be created; External view User/Application view, Conceptual view Logical view, Internal view Details about the structure of data and physical storage of information. View is a tailored representation of information contained in one or more tables. View is also called as Virtual table because view does not contain physically stored records and will not occupy any space. A multi-user database whose users have variety of applications must provide facilities for defining multiple views. In traditional file system, if any changes are made to the structure of the files it will affect all the programs. Therefore, changes to the structure of a file will require to change all programs that access the file and whereby data dependence will be lost. But in the case of database approach the structure of the database is stored separately in the system catalog from the access of the application programs. This property is known as program-data independence. Database can also be used for continuous storage for program objects and data structures that resulted in object oriented database approach. Traditional systems suffered from impedance mismatch problem and difficulty in accessing the data, which is avoided in object oriented database system. Database can be used to represent complex relationships among data as well as to retrieve and update related data easily and efficiently. Hence DBMS does not automatically remove redundancies, but help to control redundancy. It is possible to define and enforce integrity constraints for the data stored in the database. The database also provides facilities for recovering hardware and software failures, as it has automatic and intelligent backup and recovery procedures. It reduces the application development time considerably when compared to the file system approach and availability of up-to-date information of all the users. It also provides security to the data stored in the database system and maintains integrity. A highly technical person will be required to handle the database, while for TFS, it is not so. File-based systems are very dependent upon the application programmer. Any required queries or reports have to be written by the application programmer. Normally, a fixed format query or report can only be entertained and no facility for ad-hoc queries if offered. DBMS has data independence. The way information is stored and the way information issued is independent of each other. File-based systems also give tremendous pressure on data processing staff, with users complaints on programs that are inadequate or inefficient in meeting their demands. Documentation may be limited and maintenance of the system is difficult. Provision for security, integrity and recovery capability is very limited. Whereas, DBMS has control over security as it provides tools such as use of User Code, Password / Privileges and Roles to ensure security of data. Data, Field, Record, and File are the main components of Database environment. Briefly explain those. Data Webopedia (Anon., n.d.), Distinct pieces of information usually formatted in a special way. All software is divided into two general categories: data and programs. Programs are collections of instructions for manipulating data. Data can exist in a variety of forms as numbers or text on pieces of paper, as bits and bytes stored in electronic memory, or as facts stored in a persons mind. Strictly speaking, data is the plural of datum, a single piece of information. In practice, however, people use data as both the singular and plural form of the word. The term data is often used to distinguish binary machine-readable information from textual human-readable information. For example, some applications make a distinction between data files (files that contain binary data) and text files (files that contain ASCII data). In database management systems, data files are the files that store the database information, whereas other files, such as index files and data dictionaries, store adminis trative information, known as metadata. Field Webopedia (Anon., n.d.), A space allocated for a particular item of information. A tax form, for example, contains a number of fields: one for your name, one for your Social Security number, one for your income, and so on. In database systems, fields are the smallest units of information you can access. In spreadsheets, fields are called cells. Most fields have certain attributes associated with them. For example, some fields are numeric whereas others are textual; some are long, while others are short. In addition, every field has a name, called the field name. In database management systems, a field can be required, optional, or calculated. A required field is one in which you must enter data, while an optional field is one you may leave blank. A calculated field is one whose value is derived from some formula involving other fields. You do not enter data into a calculated field; the system automatically determines the correct value. A collection of fields is called a record. Record Webopedia (Anon., n.d.), In database management systems, a complete set of information. Records are composed of fields, each of which contains one item of information. A set of records constitutes a file. For example, a personnel file might contain records that have three fields: a name field, an address field, and a phone number field. In relational database management systems, records are called tuples. Some programming languages allow you to define a special data structure called a record. Generally, a record is a combination of other data objects. For example, a record might contain three integers, a floating-point number, and a character string. In database management systems, a complete set of information. Records are composed of fields, each of which contains one item of information. A set of records constitutes a file. For example, a personnel file might contain records that have three fields: a name field, an address field, and a phone number field. Figure 1.2.1 Source Author Anon., File Webopedia (Anon., n.d.), A collection of data or information that has a name, called the filename. Almost all information stored in a computer must be in a file. There are many different types of files: data files, text files, program files, directory files, and so on. Different types of files store different types of information. For example, program files store programs, whereas text files store text. What is the Importance of DBMS in a Defense Organization and in an Education Department? Defence Organization Benjamin (n.d.), A Database Management System (DBMS) is a set of computer programs that controls the creation, maintenance, and the use of the database with computers of an organization and its end users. It allows organizations to place control of organization-wide database development in the hands of database administrators (DBAs) and other specialists. As organizations develop with time, their adoption to the latest technologies in the computer field becomes a necessity. A Defence organization is no different. In these turbulent times, when national security is more important, providing all Defence personnel with access to the latest technology and education opportunities not only directly contributes to Defence capability but also improve the defence personnels career development. Hence the importance of a DBMS in such an organization like Defence is vital. Because Database administrators could use this system to configure and operate databases as the software provides high level, privileged database access. But the management should restrict use of this software to authorized personnel. One function of the database administrator is to create particular views of information stored in the database that are unique for each type of user. For example, one officer will have a different view of information in the database than another, say Senior officer. The different user groups will also have different abilities to add, modify, or delete information. The database administrator is responsible for providing users with access to the appropriate level of information. The primary risk associated with database administration is that an administrator can alter sensitive data without those modifications being detected. A secondary risk is that an administrator can change access rights to information stored within the database as well as their own access rights. Database security is the last line of defence. So it deserves greater focus on the protection of private data from both internal and external. The sensitivity and classification of the information stored in the database form the basis for establishing controls. A database that stores confidential information may require a more significant control environment than a database that stores non-sensitive information. Management should consider the security and performance implications of the security options available with modern database management systems. Database security professionals and information security and risk management professionals could adopt a security strategy in DBMS to: 1) Align database security policies with information security policies; 2) Ensure well-defined and formalized database security procedures; 3) Enforce role separation; and 4) Apply advanced security measures such as database auditing, monitoring, database encryption, data masking, and vulnerability assessment to all critical databases that store private data. The DBMS can provide long-term benefits for the Defence organization reducing duplication of data and making it easier for HR to update personnel records. If not for DBMS, each time there was a personnel change, trainers would have to go through their entire content to make the necessary changes. Now, replacing Brigadier Xs picture in the content library with Commodore Ys picture can be automatically replicated through all relevant programs. Thereby reduce its expenditure on storage. But, initial training will be required for all programmers and users. Even though database systems are complex, difficult, and time-consuming to design, there is greater data integrity and independence from applications programs and Education Department Sue Bushell (2004), To improve teaching and learning with the help of modern information and communication technology eLearning is beneficial to education, corporations and to all types of learners. It is affordable, saves time, and produces measurable results. E-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The Information and communication systems, whether networked or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process. E-learning services have evolved since computers were first used in education. There is a trend to move towards blended learning services, where computer-based activities are integrated with practical or classroom-based situations. E-learning is essentially the computer and network-enabled transfer of skills and knowledge. E-learning applications and processes include Web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual classroom opportunities and digital collaboration. Content is delivered via the Internet, intranet/extranet, audio or video tape, satellite TV, and CD-ROM. It can be self-paced or instructor-led and includes media in the form of text, image, animation, streaming video and audio The definition of e-learning varies depending on the organization and how it is used but basically it involves electronic means of communication, education, and training. Regardless of the definition you chose to use, designers, developers, and implementers make or break the instructional courses and tools. E-learning is simply a medium for delivering learning and like any other medium, it has its advantages and disadvantages. E-learning covers a wide array of activities from supported learning, to blended or hybrid learning (the combination of traditional and e-learning practices), to learning that occurs 100% online. As per wikipedia.org, the worldwide e-learning industry is estimated to be worth over $48 billion US according to conservative estimates. Developments in internet and multimedia technologies are the basic enabler of e-learning, with consulting, content, technologies, services and support being identified as the five key sectors of the e-learning industry. E-learning is naturally suited to distance learning and flexible learning, but can also be used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, in which case the term Blended learning is commonly used. E-Learning pioneer Bernard Luskin argues that the E must be understood to have broad meaning if e-learning is to be effective. Luskin says that the e should be interpreted to mean exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional, extended, excellent, and educational in addition to electronic that is a traditional national interpretation. This broader interpretation allows for 21st century applications and brings learning and media psychology into the equation. E-Learning can also refer to educational web sites such as those offering learning scenarios, worksheets and interactive exercises for children. The term is also used extensively in the business sector where it generally refers to cost-effective online training There are many advantages to online and computer-based learning when compared to traditional face-to-face courses and lectures. There are a few disadvantages as well. Advantages of eLearning (Anon., n.d) E-learning is beneficial to education, corporations and to all types of learners. It is affordable, saves time, and produces measurable results. Cost effective E-learning is more cost effective than traditional learning because less time and money is spent traveling. Since e-learning can be done in any geographic location and there are no travel expenses, this type of learning is much less costly than doing learning at a traditional institute.   Flexibility Flexibility is a major benefit of e-learning. E-learning has the advantage of taking class anytime anywhere. Education is available when and where it is needed. E-learning can be done at the office, at home, on the road, 24 hours a day, and seven days a week.   Learners  like e-learning because it accommodates different types of learning styles.  They have the advantage of learning at their own pace. Students can also learn through a variety of activities that apply to many different learning styles. Learners can fit e-learning into their busy schedule. If they hold a job, they can participate in eLearning right at their desk. If the learner needs to do the learning at night, then this option is available while in their pajamas and do the learning if they desire.   Personalized learning E-learning encourages students to peruse through information by using hyperlinks and sites on the worldwide Web.  Learners are able to find information relevant to their personal situations and interest. E-learning allows selection of  learning materials that meet their level of knowledge, interest and what they need to know to perform more effectively in an activity.   E-learning is more focused on the learner and it is more interesting for the learner because it is information that they want to learn. E-learning is flexible and can be customized to meet the individual needs of the learners. Develops knowledge E-learning helps develop knowledge of the Internet. This knowledge will help learners throughout their careers. E-learning encourages students to take personal responsibility for their own learning. When learners succeed, it builds self-knowledge and self-confidence Disadvantages of eLearning Access One disadvantage of eLearning is that learners need to have access to a computer as well as the Internet. They also need to have computer skills with programs such as word processing, Internet browsers, and e-mail. Without these skills and software it is not possible for the  learner to succeed in eLearning.   E-learners need to be very comfortable using a computer. Slow Internet connections or older computers may make accessing course materials difficult. This may cause the learners to get frustrated and give up.   Software and files Another disadvantage of e-learning is managing computer files, software comfortability and learning new software, including e-learning. For learners with beginner-level computer skills it can sometimes seem complex to keep their computer files organized.  The lesson points you to download a file which the learner does and later cannot find the file. The file is downloaded to the folder the computer automatically opens to rather than a folder  chosen by the learner. This file may be lost or misplaced to the learner without good computer organizational skills. High motivation E-learning also requires time to complete especially those with assignments and interactive collaborations. This means that students have to be highly motivated and responsible because all the work they do is on their own. Learners with low motivation or bad study habits may not complete modules and may fall behind Isolation Another disadvantage of e-learning is that students may feel isolated and unsupported while learning. Instructions are not always available to help the learner so learners need to have discipline to work independently without assistance. E-learners may also become bored with no interaction with instructors or classmates.   Without the routine structures of a traditional class, students may get lost or confused about course activities and deadlines. Instructor may not always be available when students are studying or need help Conclusion Today many technologies can be, and are, used in e-learning, from blogs to collaborative software, E-Portfolios, and virtual classrooms. Most e-learning situations use combinations of these techniques. Even though the hardware and software start-up are costly, the advantages are; reduced data redundancy, reducing updating errors and increased consistency, greater data integrity and independence from applications programs, improved data access to users through use of host and query languages, improved data security and availability of facilitated development of new application programs and ability for intensive research are the benefits of DBMS. Task 2 Draw an Entity Relationship Data Model which describes the content and structure of the data held by the Medi Check Hospital. Produce the resulting tables of above Medi Check Hospital and clearly indicating the primary and foreign keys. Data Tables Doctor DoctorID (primary) Lname Fname Address Phone Pager Specialty Location Availability Patient PatientNo (primary) PatientFirstName PatientLastName PatientAddress PatientTelNo PatientDob PatientMaritalStatus PatientDateRegistered Appointment AppointmentNo (primary) PatientName Date/Time PatientTelNo Symptom SymptomCode (primary), SymptomName Description Treatment TreatmentTitle (primary) TreatmentType Duration Status TreatmentCost Medication MedicationNo (primary) MedicationType SideEffect Dosage Frequency Severity MedicationBrandName MedicationManufactureName MedicationManufactureAddress MedicationManufactureTel Normalize these tables to ensure that are all in BCNF. Show the steps you have taken in normalizing the tables. UNF Medication (DoctorID, Lname, Fname, Address, Phone, Pager, Specialty, Location, Availability, PatientNo, PatientFirstName, PatientLastName, PatientAddress, PatientTelNo, PatientDob, PatientMaritalStatus, PatientDateRegistered, AppoinmentNo, PatientName, Date/Time, PatientTelNo, SymptomCode, SymptomName, Description, TreatmentTitle, TreatmentTyp

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Building Management System to Save Energy

Building Management System to Save Energy 1. Introduction of BMS Building Management System (BMS) is to control and monitor building services systems in an efficient way by centralizing the control of individual systems ( 1.1). The systems include HVAC, Fire Services Lift, Escalator, Lighting, Electrical Distribution, Steam Hot Water, and Plumbing Drainage. The main function of BMS is centralized control monitoring and fault management. So it has another name call Central Control and Monitoring System (CCMS). The other functions are enhance interface connectivity between systems, service response to customer, operator control of systems and graphical display to make the control of system more users friendly. Improve energy efficiency and operational efficiency. Allow capacity for future upgrades expansions and automation. And related system Building Automation System (BAS) will be use on BMS. 2. Basic BMS Design 3-Levels BMS Architecture ( 2.1): l Management Level User can configure and monitor plant performance. Anticipate future trends, improve efficiency, and analyze management report. l Automation / Controller Level The location with greatest technical control requirement, and differentiate one from others. Controllers automatically perform their tasks from I/P and to O/P. Controllers can communicate with each other (Peer-to-Peer). Event based operation. The devices can function at the highest efficiency and no repetitive information is transmitted. Controllers only react with the Management Level when plant goes out of limits, and adjustments are made through a user interface. l Field / Floor Level Information is gathered through sensors and other intelligent devices. The information will be sent back to the controllers. Third party equipment is integrated into the Automation and Field levels with control at the Management level. Centralized Architecture: Centrally controlled system ( 2.5) A control system in which transmission is to a central computer and the reliance of all controls on a central computer. Distributed Architecture: Distributed control ( 2.6) A control system in which control computations and intelligence are made at different locations and the result coordinated. System Architecture: The constraints of BMS are network expansion, the limited variety of topologies and transmission media. The solutions are mixing of communication media (twisted pair, power line, radio, infra-red, fibre optics, coaxial). Complete implementation of OSI model. Using free topology, user-friendly software and development cost. System Topology Topology affects system redundancy, communication protocol and system response time. The common system topologies such as: Bus, Star, Tree, Ring and Mesh. Bus Topology ( 2.7) All devices are connected to a central cable, call the bus or backbone. The advantage is much less cabling requirements. The brands using include Ethernet, Profitbus, ControlNet, LonWorks. Star Topology ( 2.8) All devices are conned to a central hub. Star networks are relatively easy to install and manage, but bottlenecks can occur because all data must pass through the hub. Cable fault affects one device only. But communication hub fault affects all devices. The brands using include Ethernet, Profitbus, ControlNet, LonWorks. Tree Topology ( 2.9) The topology combines characteristics of linear bus and star topologies. It consists of groups of star-configured workstations connected to a linear bus backbone cable. Tree topologies allow for the expansion of an existing network, and enable schools to configure a network to meet their needs. Device at the highest point in the hierarchy controls the network. The brands using include Ethernet, Profitbus, ControlNet, LonWorks. Ring Topology ( 2.10) All devices are connected to one another in the shape of a closed loop, so that each device is connected directly to two other devices, one on either side of it. Same as bus network with both edges connect. The brands using include Token Ring, FDDI, Profitbus. Mesh Topology (Fig 2.11) Network topology which combines more than one basic topology such as bus, ring, or star. Good for redundancy. It will use lots of cable to connect every device with every device. Considerations in Topology Layout for automating building with vast amount of points require well-designed network segmentation, in order to achieve a good performance infrastructure. Well designed structured network by using repeaters, bridges or even better using routers to improve network reliability and simplify network troubleshooting. Some reasons why segmenting a network is important: Isolation of individual network segments in order to limit the propagation of a single fault to one segment and prevent this single fault from spreading out over the entire network. Different nodes demand different communication media and different network speeds but they all need to communicate with each other, which requires and interconnection between the different networking media. Increase the number of possible nodes in a single network and increase the number of possible nodes in a single network. Keep local traffic within one segment in order to avoid network traffic overload conditions which will make service like HVAC, lighting malfunction. BMS Configurations There are three types configurations using in BMS: 1. Conventional configuration Server workstations daisy chained with DDCs (usually using RS-485). Typical RS-485 Controller Level network ( 2.14) relatively low bandwidth (around 9600 bps). The limited nodes around 100, and the distance is lower than 1200m. Only for data transmission. Controller Level Network 2. Ethernet-Based configuration Use Ethernet as transmission media. Servers, Workstations and DDCs on the same Ethernet platform. Typical Ethernet-Based Network ( 2.15) with high bandwidth (typical 1Gbps backbone). Use IP Technology means open platform for various applications. Virtually no distance limitation. Always use for data, voice video systems. Ethernet-Based Network 3. Hybrid configuration ( 2.16) Non-hierarchy architecture with combination of different independent networks and interfaces. Various network topologies. Hybrid Configuration Networking Protocol Protocol ( 2.17) is a set of rules, which allows computer/controllers/devices to communicate from one to another. Proprietary Protocols developed by systems or computer manufacture to communicate to their OWN hardware and software over a recommended network. Open Protocols opening up protocols means disclosing procedures, structures, and codes and allowing other system developers to write interfaces and share data on their network. Acceptance of an open protocol depends on its quality, features, and services provided. 2.17 Protocol The OSI Seven Layer Model ( 2.18) Each layer has a defined set of functions. The model provides a useful common reference to communicate protocol. Most communication protocols including those used in our field today use either all or some of the seven layers of the OSI model. 1. Network-capable Applications produce DATA. 2. Each protocol layer adds a header to the data it receives from the layer above it. This is called encapsulation. Encapsulated data is transmitted in Protocol Data Units (PDUs). There are Presentation PDUs, Session PDUs, Transport PDUs etc. 3. PDUs are passed down through the stack of layers (called the stack for short) until they can be transmitted over the Physical layer. 4. Any layer on one machine speaks the same language as the same layer on any other machine, and therefore can communicate via the Physical layer. 5. Data passed upwards is unencapsulated before being passed farther up. 6. All information is passed down through all layers until it reaches the Physical layer. 7. The Physical layer chops up the PDUs and transmits the PDUs over the wire. The Physical layer provides the real physical connectivity between machines over which all communication occurs. 2.18 OSI Seven Layer Model The Physical layer provides for physical connectivity between networked devices. Transmission and receipt of data from the physical medium is managed at this layer. The Physical layer receives data from the Data Link Layer, and transmits it to the wire. The Physical layer controls frequency, amplitude, phase and modulation of the signal used for transmitting data, and performs demodulation and decoding upon receipt. Note that for two devices to communicate, they must be connected to the same type of physical medium (wiring). Ether to Ether, FDDI to FDDI etc. Two end stations using different protocols can only communicate through a multi-protocol bridge or a router. The physical layer is responsible for two jobs: 1. Communication with the Data link layer. 2. Transmission and receipt of data. The Datalink Layer is the second layer of the OSI model. The datalink layer performs various functions depending upon the hardware protocol used, but has four primary functions: 1. COMMUNICATION with the Network layer above. 2. SEGMENTATION of upper layer datagrams (also called packets) into frames in sizes that can be handled by the communications hardware. 3. BIT ORDERING. Organizing the pattern of data bits before transmission (packet formatting) 4. COMMUNICATION with the Physical layer below. This layer provides reliable transit of data across a physical link. The datalink layer is concerned with physical addressing, network topology, physical link management, error notification, ordered delivery of frames, and flow control. Network Layer establishes and terminates connections between the originator and recipient of information over the network. Assign unique addresses to each node on the network. The addresses identify the beginning and end of the data transmission packets. Outbound data is passed down from the Transport layer, is encapsulated in the Network layers protocol and then sent to the Datalink layer for segmentation and transmission. Inbound data is de-fragmented in the correct order, the IP headers are removed and then the assembled datagram is passed to the Transport layer. The Network layer is concerned with the following primary functions: 1. Communication with the Transport layer above. 2. Management of connectivity and routing between hosts or networks. 3. Communication with the Datalink layer below. Transport Layer maintain reliability on the network and enhances data integrity by delivering error-free data in the proper sequence. It may use a variety of techniques such as a Cyclic Redundancy Check, windowing and acknowledgements. If data is lost or damaged it is the Transport layers responsibility to recover from that error. Functions: 1. Communicate with the Session layer above. 2. Detect errors and lost data, retransmit data, reassemble datagrams into datastreams 3. Communicate with the Network layer below. The session layer tracks connections, also called sessions. For example: keep track of multiple file downloads requested by a particular FTP application, or multiple telnet connections from a single terminal client, or web page retrievals from a Web server. In the World of TCP/IP this is handled by application software addressing a connection to a remote machine and using a different local port number for each connection. The session performs the following functions: 1. Communication with the Presentation layer above. 2. Organize and manage one or more connections per application, between hosts. 3. Communication with the Transport layer below. The Presentation layer handles the conversion of data formats so that machines can present data created on other systems. For example: handle the conversion of data in JPG/JPEG format to Sun Raster format so that a Sun machine can display a JPG/JPEG image. The Presentation layer performs the following functions: 1. Communication with the Application layer above. 2. Translation of standard data formats to formats understood by the local machine. 3. Communication with the Session layer below. The application layer is the application in use by the user. For example: a web browser, an FTP, IRC, Telnet client other TCP/IP based application like the network version of Doom, Quake, or Unreal. The Application layer provides the user interface, and is responsible for displaying data and images to the user in a recognizable format. The application layers job is to organize and display data in a human compatible format, and to interface with the Presentation layer. Message Frame Format Fig 2.19 Message Frame Format Master-Slave Protocol (2.20) The control station is called master device. Only master device can control the communication. It may transmit messages without a remote request. No slave device can communicate directly with another slave device. 2.20 Master-Slave Protocol Peer-to-Peer Protocol (2.21) All workstations are loaded with the same peer-to-peer network operating system. Each workstation configured as service requester (client), service provide (server), or even BOTH. 2.21 Peer-to-Peer Protocol Client-Server Protocol (2.22) Client workstation are loaded with specialized client software. Server computers are loaded with specialized server software designed to be compatible with client software. 2.22 Client-Server Protocol The CSMA/CE Protocol is designed to provide fair access to the shared channel so that all stations get a chance to use the network. After every packet transmission all stations use the CSMA/CD protocol to determine which station gets to use the Ethernet channel next. CSMA/CD likes a dinner party in a dark room: Everyone around the table must listen for a period of quiet before speaking (Carrier Sense). Once a space occurs everyone has an equal chance to say something (Multiple Access). If two people start talking at the same instant they detect that fact, and quit speaking (Collision Detection). IEEE 802.3 standard covers CSMA/CD. Switched Ethernet nodes are connected to a switch using point-to-point connections, When a frame arrives at the switch, the control logic determines the transmit port. If the transmit port is busy, the received frame is stored in the queue which is a First-in First-out (FIFO) queue. The memory to store pending frames is obtained from a shared memory pool. In case the memory is full, the received frame is dropped. Networking Cables Copper wire pairs are the most basic of the data media. †¢ Two wire untwisted pair The insulated wire conductors run in parallel, often in a moulded, flat cable. Normally used over short distances or at low bit rates, due to problems with crosstalk and spurious noise pickup. Performance in multiple conductor cables is enhanced by dedicating every second cable as a ground (zero volt reference), and by the use of electrically banetworkced signals. 1. A single wire is used for the signal transmission/reception 2. A common reference level/point is existed between the transmitter and receiver 3. It is the simplest connection technique but it is sensitive to noise, interference, loss, and signal reflection 4. It is suitable for short distance and low data rate application (Normally less than 200Kb-meter/s) †¢ Twisted Pair The insulated conductors are twisted together, leading to better electrical performance and significantly higher bit rates than untwisted pairs. UTP is unshielded, like telephone cable, whilst STP is shielded and capable of higher bit rates. Systems using banetworkced signals obtain the highest bit rates. 1. Twisting or wrapping the two wires around each other reduces induction of outside interference 2. 1 to 5 twists per inch is quite typical †¢ Cheap and moderate bit rate applications 3. For a few km distance the bit rate can be up to 10Mb/s, and 100Mb/s can be achievable for short distance applications like 100m 2.23 Two wire untwisted pair and Twisted Pair Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP): †¢Composed of two of more pairs of wires twisted together †¢Not shielded †¢Signal protected by twisting of wires †¢Impedance of 100W †¢Recommended conductor size of 24 AWG 2.24 Unshielded Twisted Pair Cat5e: 100MHz ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.1 Cat6: 250MHz Cat7: 600MHz Undercarpet: †¢Susceptibility to damage †¢Limited flexibility for MACs (move, add and change) †¢Distance limit of 10m †¢Avoid in high traffic areas, heavy furniture locations, cross undercarpet power on top at 90 degrees 2.25 Cat3, Cat5e and Cat6 Cable Screened Twisted-Pair (ScTP): †¢Characteristic impedance of 100 W †¢Four pair 22-24 AWG solid conductors †¢Mylar/aluminum sheath around all conductors †¢Drain wire that must be grounded 2.26 Screened Twisted-Pair Shielded Twisted Pair (STP): †¢Composed of two pairs of wires †¢Metal braid or sheathing that reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) †¢Must be grounded †¢Characteristic impedance of 150 W †¢Conductor size is 22 AWG †¢Electrical performance is better than UTP (300MHz bandwidth) †¢More expensive †¢Harder to handle thick and heavy 2.27 Shielded Twisted Pair Coaxial Cable (Coax): Composed of insulated center conductor with braided shied. It provides high degree of protection against EMI. †¢Because the electrical field associated with conduction is entirely carried inside the cable; problems with signal radiation are minimized very little energy escapes, even at high frequency. †¢There is little noise pick up from external sources. Thus, higher bit rates can be used over longer distances than with twisted pairs 2.28 Coaxial Cable Series 6 (Video): †¢Characteristic impedance of 75 ohms †¢Mylar/aluminum sheath over the dielectric †¢Braided shield over the mylar †¢18 AGW solid-center conductor 2.29 Series 6 Series 11U (Video): †¢Characteristic impedance of 75ohms †¢Mylar/aluminum sheath over the dielectric †¢Braided shield over the mylar †¢14 AWG solid-center conductor or 18 AWG stranded-center conductor 2.30 Series 11U Series 8: †¢50 ohms characteristic impedance †¢Multiple mylar/aluminum sheath over the dielectric †¢Multiple braided shield over the mylar †¢11 AWG solid-center conductor 2.31 Series 8 Series 58 A/U: †¢50 ohms characteristic impedance †¢Mylar/aluminum sheath over the dielectric †¢Braided shield over the mylar †¢20 AWG solid-center conductor 2.32 Series 58 A/U Fibre Optics: Higher bandwidth and much lower signal loss than copper conductors. It used in the backbone or in horizontal runs of huge control network. †¢The data is carried as pulses of light from a laser or high-power LED. †¢Optical fibre is non-electrical, hence is completely immune from electrical radiation and interference problems. It has the highest bit rate of all media. †¢The fibre consists of an inner glass filament, contained inside a glass cladding of lower refractive index, with an outer protective coating. In a step index fibre, there is a sudden transition in refractive index. A graded index fibre has a gradual transition from high to low index, and much higher performance. †¢Most common fibres are multimode, where the inner fibre is larger than the wavelength of the light signal, allowing multiple paths to exist, and some dispersion to limit the obtainable bit rate. In single mode fibres, the inner fibre is very thin, and extremely high bit rates (several Gbps) can be achieved over long distances. 2.33 Fibre Optics Multimode Fibre: Composed of a 50 or 62.5 micron core and 125 micron cladding. It commonly used in horizontal and intrabuilding backbones. It has distance limitation of 2000m. Often uses a light-emitting diode (LED) light source. †¢The center core is much larger and allows more light to enter the fiber †¢Since there are many paths that a light ray may follow as it propagates down the fiber, large time dispersion may occur which results in short distance applications or bandwidth reduction †¢Because of the large central core, it is easy to couple light into and out of the this type of fiber †¢It is inexpensive and simple to manufacture †¢Typical value: 62.5/125 Multi-Mode Graded Index †¢It is characterized by a center core that has non-uniform refractive index †¢The refractive index is maximum at the center and decreases gradually towards the outer edge †¢The performance is a compromise between single-mode step index fiber and multi-mode step index fiber 2.34 Multi-Mode Fibre Singlemode Fibre: It composed of a 6 or 9 micron core and 125 micron cladding (say8/125 or 9/125). It used for distances up to 3000m. It uses a laser light source. †¢Small core diameter so that there is essentially only one path that light may Take care,as it propagates down the fiber †¢ There is minimum time dispersion because all rays propagating down the fiber with the same delay time and results in wider bandwidth (i.e. high bit rate) †¢ Because of the small central core, it is difficult to couple light into and out of the this type of fiber †¢ It is expensive and difficult to manufacture †¢ Typical value: 9/125 2.35 Singlemode Fibre 2.36 LAN Media Technology Analysis Open System The definition of open system is that system implements sufficient open standards for interfaces and services. It is supporting formats to enable properly engineered components to be utilized across a wide range of systems and to interoperate with other components. And that system in which products and services can be mixed and matched from set of suppliers; and supports free exchange of information/data between different systems without inserting gateways or proprietary tools. Some benefits from Interoperability: †¢Devices can be shared among different subsystems. †¢Reduce cost, shorten installation time, and reduce complexity as parts are being reduced. †¢Devices in different subsystems can interact with each other; therefore, new breed of applications can be created easily. †¢Owners can choose the best-of-breed products from different manufacture. †¢Elimination of gateway dependency, especially during system upgrade. †¢Allow move-add-change relatively easy, hence lower life-cycle costs. The characteristics of open system are well defined, widely used, preferably nonproprietary interfaces/protocols; Use of standards which are developed/adopted by recognized standards bodies or the commercial market place; and definition of all aspects of system interfaces to facilitate new or additional systems capabilities for a wide range of applications. The different between proprietary protocols and open protocols; For Proprietary protocols, most manufactures have their own proprietary protocols within their systems, so no communication between Systems unless a gateway is deployed. For open protocols, it allows systems of different manufacturers to communicate. Systems communicate with each other. 2.1 BMS Open System Modbus: A high-level protocol for industrial networks developed in 1979 by Modicon (now Schneider Automation Inc.) for use with its PLCs. It is providing services at layer 7 of the OSI model. Modbus defines a request/response message structure for a client/server environment. It is the most commonly available means of connecting industrial electronic devices. Several common types of Modbus: l Modbus RTU n A compact, binary representation of the data. l Modbus ASSII n Human readable more verbose. l Modbus/TCP n Very similar to Modbus RTU but is transmitted within TCP/IP data packets. 2.37 Modbus 2.2 BMS Open System ARCent: Attached Resource Computer NETwork (ARCnet) was founded by the Data point Corporation in late 1970s. ARCnet was one of the topologies used early on networking and is rarely used as the topology of choice in current LAN environments. ARCnet, however, still is a solid, functional and cost effective means of networking. Each device on an ARCnet network is assigned a node number. This number must be unique on each network and in the range of 1 to 255. ARCnet manages network access with a token passing bus mechanism. The token (permission to speak on the network) is passed from the lowest number node to higher number nodes in ascending order. Lower numbered addresses get the token before the higher numbered addresses. Network traffic is made more efficient by assigning sequential numbers to nodes using the same order in which they are cabled. Choosing random numbers can create a situation in which a node numbered 23 can be a whole building away from the next number, 46, but in the same ro om as numbers 112 and 142. The token has to travel in a haphazard manner that is less effective than if you numbered the three workstations in the same office sequentially, 46, 47, and 48, and the workstation in the other building 112. With this configuration, the packet stays within the office before venturing on to other stations. A maximum time limit of 31 microseconds is allotted for an ARCnet signal. This is also called a time-out setting. Signals on an ARCnet can travel up to 20,000 feet during the 31-microsecond default time-out period. You can sometimes extend the range of an ARCnet by increasing the time out value. However, 20,000 feet is the distance at which ARCnet signals begin to seriously degrade. Extending the network beyond that distance can result in unreliable or failed communication. Therefore, the time-out parameter and cabling distance recommendations should be increased only with great caution. An ARCnet network is used primarily with either coax or twisted pair cable. Most older ARCnet installations are coax and use RG-62 A/U type cable terminated with 93 Ohm terminators. Twisted pair (UTP) installations are newer and use stranded 24 or 26 gauge wire, or solid core 22, 24, or 26 gauge type cable terminated with 100-Ohm terminators. Many ARCnet networks use a mix of both coax and UTP cabling. UTP cable is simple to install and provides a reliable connection to the devices, whereas coax provides a means to span longer distances. Typical ARCnet installations are wired as a star. ARCnet can run off a linear bus topology using coax or twisted pair as long as the cards specifically support BUS. The most popular star-wired installations of ARCnet run off two types of hubs: 1. Passive hubs cannot amplify signals. Each hub has four connectors. Because of the characteristics of passive hubs, unused ports must be equipped with a terminator, a connector containing a resistor that matches the ARCnet cabling characteristics. A port on a passive hub can only connect to an active device (an active hub or an ARCnet device). Passive hubs can never be connecte