Ode to the west wind †questions and answers Essay

What is the tone of Stanza I? Explain. Stanza I has a tone of calm and sensuality created in it. The poet is only depicting the real image he sees in front of him, explain the monotony of an Autumn Day â€Å"conversing† with the Wind. There are no feelings involved in the depiction of the nature. How is the wind both destructive and preserver? Shelley characterizes it as a destructive and fearsome force, yet it is also a harbinger of the inevitable coming of Spring. It is, therefore, both Destroyer and Creator, and Shelley sees the West Wind as a symbol of the regeneration which will follow the destruction and â€Å"death† of Winter. The West Wind is celebrated as a harbinger of new creation, manifested in Spring, and also feared for its destructiveness and great power. Æ’Ã ¦What is the tone of Stanza II? How does the author describe the clouds? In Stanza II we find the poet to be rather uncertain and concerned with the violence and terror of air storms. This would also be the tone of this stanza. Shelley seeks to emphasize the terrifying darkness of the storm scene, with its darkness and associations with death. The clouds are described as being dark, stormy, foreshadowing a bad, ill – tempered mood or aura. Why is the poet using the imagery of waves in this poem about the Wind? What is the relationship between the Wind and the waves? The waves are powerful just like the winds are. They forcefully hit anything they encounter. The Wind and the waves disturb the monotony of nature, annoying and disturbing it, sharing this way one similar characteristic. The waves’ power is similar to the one that the Wind has. What is the author asking for in Stanza IV? Shelley likes himself, to a leaf, a cloud, and a wave, subject to the force of the West Wind, and asks to be borne aloft with it. He is asking, in effect, for a return to the raw power and energy he felt and knew as a child. In other words, Shelley is asking the force that provides inspiration to act through him. How does Shelley want to be used by the wind in Stanza 5? What should his role in society be? How do you feel about this poem? At this point Shelley makes the direct connection with his need to be inspired by seeing the wind’s force, and the impact made by the wind on forests, creating harmonies in his own mind and verse. The wind as a form of inspiration will enable him to spread his message across the universe. He hopes that radical social change or rebirth of personal inspiration could be accomplished without violence. I agree with him about accomplishing things without violence, but I am not so sure about the way he describes or wants to achieve it. The final effect of the poem is ambivalent, a mixture of depression and hope. I notice a certain degree of uncertainty in him. He characterizes the wind and the clouds as being violent, spreading terror, and dangerous, while I think that is a very preposterous opinion he has, and should make it obvious that that is just his opinion, and it is not necessarily true because other people might think differently. I sense insecurity in him, and with his poem is transmitting it to the reader. Natural phenomenon has nothing to do with his capabilities as a person. He is getting old, and that is life! I believe he is being very stubborn and unreasonable to ask for power, force, and energy from the Wind, and at the same time give negative qualities to it.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Application and Human Factor

Unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, is one of the latest aircrafts recently being utilized by the United States Military. Its conception has provided Air Force pilots with assurances of safe return after a combat mission, a feat never before attained in warfare’s history. Since its invention in the 1920’s, several technological advances have been made; extending flight distance and duration capabilities, and pay loading armaments comparable to those of manned fighter jets. Since UAVs are usually controlled by an external pilot on Ground Control Stations, or GCS, it is unavoidable for this system to be faced with human factors, sometimes resulting in mission failures, at times even in aircraft crashes. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Applications and Human Factor Recent technology has introduced to us a new form of aircraft in aviation. Perhaps due to the increasing incidents of aircraft accidents during these past decades, which often resulted in the deaths of even the most experienced pilots, airline conglomerates and military authorities had painstakingly searched for the completion of the invention of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles, or UAV. In this paper, we shall be witnesses to a technology that has the potential to virtually eliminate pilot casualties, whether in war, espionage missions, or even in commercial flights. We shall also see how human factors affect such technology, in terms of control and manipulation of the aircraft, and the causal possibilities of human error in accidents. Background The United States’ Department of Defense defines the UAV as, â€Å"powered aerial vehicles that do not carry a human operator, use aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift, and can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely† (Bone, 2003, p. 2). United States’ war on terrorism has put UAVs missions as important in the gathering of intelligence data. Its unquestionable successes in the wars in Iraq, Kosovo, and Afghanistan had opened the military minds on its advantages during wartime. Missions that used to be reserved for Air force top guns, now the UAVs are slowly taking the front seat. UAVs have two obvious advantages over manned aircrafts: first is, they are found to be cost efficient; and it eliminates the dangers faced by the pilots’ during missions (Bone, 2003, p2). Bone cites a number of reasons on the seeming delay of the technology of UAV. One is because the technology to effectively fly a UAV mission has only recently been made available. Another is due to the Air Force’s slowly fading silk scarf syndrome, which gave preference to manned over unmanned flight missions, thus allowing for the UAV to gain more flight hours. Yet another is due to the earlier absence of a global crisis, which could have allowed for a quicker invention of the UAV due to the extreme shortage in the U. S. military of an espionage aircraft (2003, p. 5). UAVs size varies from a few centimeters in length to that of a 747 jet liner. U. S. Department of Defense currently has in its possession five types of UAVs: The Predator and Global Hawk of the Air Force; the Pioneer by the Navy and the Marines; the Hunter and the Shadow by the Army (Bone, 2003, p2). Despite the notion that UAVs have only recently been developed in the United States, it has been in existence in aviation for almost a century. UAVs were first tested in 1920, during World Wa r 1, but the United States did not put it into combat action. It was Germany who had laid the foundations on this technology during World War 2, with the invention of the V-1 Flying bomb. But it was to be in the Vietnam War that UAVs were first used as an espionage plane, with AQM-34 Firebee. Firebee epitomized what the UAV should be: versatile, easy to operate, transportable to other areas, and can easily be converted to payload missiles. In a speech by former President Bush in December of 2001, he had expressed his belief in the UAVs technology, particularly The Predator, as the future of warfare; as stated in a report to the American Congress in 2003 by Elizabeth Bone: This unmanned aerial vehicle is able to circle our enemy forces, gather intelligence, transmit information instantly back to commanders, then fire on targets with extreme accuracy†¦We’re entering an era where unmanned vehicles of all kinds will take on greater importance† (p. 7). U. S. Military U. A. V. s 1. MQ-1 Predator: It is about half the size of an F-16 fighter jet, a tail shaped like an inverted V, and is 27 feet in length and 7 feet high. It reaches a maximum altitude of 25, 000 feet, but for the fitted video cameras to work at its best, it needs to be at about 10,000 to 15,000 feet in altitude. Its take off and landing capabilities are similar to that of the normal aircraft, with the pilot on ground control. The Predator’s main job is airborne reconnaissance and accurate target pinpointing. It is equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR, enabling it to see through bad weather conditions. Newer models also have capabilities to launch smaller UAVs to carry out varying missions. Each Predator unit’s estimated cost is $4. 5 million, and $30 million for the whole system (Bone, 2003, p. 25). 2. RQ-2 Pioneer: This UAV is the only type on the Navy’s and Marine’s arsenal (Bone, 2003, p. 29). It was obtained by the U. S. Navy in 1986 from Israel after proving its worth with their war with Lebanon. RQ-2 Pioneer is about half the size of the Predator, at 14 feet in length, and its maximum attainable altitude is 15,000 feet. It can remain airborne for 5 hours straight, and since its acquisition, it has accumulated over 23,000 flight hours giving suppo rt to the Navy and the Marines. The cost of Pioneer is estimated at $250,000 to $1 million, depending on the payload (Bone, 2003, p. 30). 3. RQ-5 Hunter: The Hunter weighs 1,600 lbs, is capable of flying at 25,000 feet altitude, and can stay airborne for 12 hours straight. It is equipped with E-O/IR sensor which enables it to fly in night missions. Recently, plans have been made to use Hunter to act as a reconnaissance to a squadron of attack helicopters, such as the Apache and RAH-66 Comanche, to maximize the helicopters’ attack zone. In 2002, a successful experiment was made wherein Hunter’s control was linked to the mainframe computers of the Apache’s during flight missions. The success of the experiment greatly maximized Apache’s efficiency during battle conditions. Weapons payload includes the Brilliant Anti-Armor submunition, or BAT, an effective annihilator of tanks and armored personnel carriers. Hunter’s cost with payload is $1. 2 million, ad the whole system at $30 million (Bone, 2003, p. 33). 4. RQ-7 Shadow 200: Shadow 200, a product of AAI Corporation, is 11 feet in length and has a wingspan of 13 feet. It was strategically designed for brigade operations, thus its range is only 30 nm and has a flight duration of 4 hours. And although its maximum attainable altitude is 14,000 feet, it works best at only under 8,000 feet altitude. The Shadow is equipped with an E-O/IR sensor video camera for day or night missions, and has the capability to transmit data to ground control in real-time. The Shadow cost is pegged at $350,000 while the whole system is at $10. 7 million (Bone, 2003, p. 36). 5. FQM-151 Pointer: All the branches of the U. S. military have, in the past, tried to develop their own type of hand-launched Pointer that measures around 6 feet in the last 15 years, and some of them had been on war missions, particularly in gulf War and Dessert Storm. However, the design officially approved by the Military is the AeroVironment’s Pointer UAV, which weighs 10 pounds, and has a wingspan of 9 feet. It can stay afloat for 90 minutes and has an up to 3-mile operational distance from ground control, within altitudes of 100-300 feet. Pointer UAVs have been best-suited for pay loading experimental miniscule sensors and have been a popular choice for Drug Enforcement Agency, National Guard, and Special Operations Forces (Bone, 2003, p. 37). 5. RQ-4 Global Hawk: This UAV is by far the most expensive ever produced, with per unit cost amounting to $75 million (Bone, 2003, p. 39). It specializes in high altitude, long duration flights that provides near real-time videos of large geographical sections. It is also the first ever UAV to make a successful trans-Pacific flight, when it travelled from California to Australia in April 22-23, of 2001 (Bone, 2003, p. 37). Its effectivity was tested in Afghanistan, when it flew more than 50 combat missions accumulating more than 1,000 combat hours, despite still being on its experimental stage. Global hawk is about the size of a corporate jet, measuring 44 feet in length and weighing 26, 750 lbs. Its maximum altitude limit is almost double than that of a commercial liner, at 65,000 feet, and is capable of flying over 35 hours without refueling. However, Global Hawk’s most apparent advantage is its capability of taking off, flying, and landing autonomously in any kind of weather. Commanders in the battle field aptly call this UAV as, â€Å"the theater commander’s around-the-clock, low hanging surveillance satellite† (Bone, 2003, p. 38). Global Hawk’s pay load consists of a 2,000 pound group of sensors, which is much larger than on any of the previous UAVs. it includes an all weather SAR with a Moving Target Indicator capability, E-O digital camera, IR sensor, and a Signals Intelligence Sensor, or SIGINT, making it a virtually multi-intelligence UAV (Bone, 2003, p. 8). As a testament to its technological superiority, Global Hawk’s radar-sensors and IR cameras were able to accurately pinpoint Iraqi targets in March 24-27, of 2002, despite of having a near-zero visibility on the ground due to a relentless sandstorm in Iraq. 6. Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle: UCAV is the first ever unmanned aero-system designed primarily and purely for combat missions. It is similar in size to the Air Force’s Predator, at 27 feet in length and a wingspan of 34 feet. Equal to manned fighter jets in weaponry and stealth capabilities, the U. S. Armed Forces plan on having one-third of its deep-strike fighter jets be unmanned by the year 2010 (Bone, 2003, p. 42). Due to its 1,000 to 3,000 pound-weapons payload, UCAV’s primary combat mission would be SEAD, or Suppression of Enemy Air Defense, to be followed by precision targeting of enemy installations. 7. Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical UAV: Commonly known as VTUAV Fire Scout, it is a helicopter-looking design intended as a replacement for the Pioneer. It is about 23 feet in length, with a maximum altitude of 20,000 feet and maximum flight duration of 6 hours. Its maximum distance of operations is 110 nm from the control ship and has a speed of 115 knots (Bone, 2003, p. 43). UTUAV Fire Scout, unlike the Pioneer which utilizes a net in order to be recovered in a ship, ha the capability of autonomously taking off and landing through the use of sensors. Fire Scout is an unmanned equivalent of the commercial-use Schweitzer helicopter, it ahs an E-O/IR sensor that also serves as a laser targeting designator. It is also capable of mine-detecting, and is equipped with Hellfire missiles. Fire Scouts are being utilized in special operations support and homeland security services (Bone, 2009, p. 4). 8. Dragon Eye: it is the opposite of the Global Hawk in terms of range and size. Being a 5-pounder, with just a 45 inch wingspan UAV, the Dragon Eye can provide marines with over-the-hill surveillance of enemy troops, making it an ideal UAV for urban warfare, chemical, as well as biological-oriented missions. It is portable enough to fit in a backpack and can be launched by hand or with a bungee cord. This UAV can stay aloft for 1 hour, at a height of 300-500 feet, with speeds of up to 40 mph. Because of its small frame, its production cost which includes three planes, is only at $90,000 (Bone, 2003, p. 7). 9. Dragon Warrior: Resembling a small helicopter of about 105 inches long and flight range of 50 miles, and maximum duration of 3 hours, this will be a vertical take off and landing UAV designed for surveillance in urban areas. It will also be equipped with E-O/IR sensor camera and a laser target designator. 10. A-160 Hummingbird: The Hummingbird is also an unmanned helicopter designed to have longer flight duration and distance over the other models, with a range of 2,000 nm and a duration lasting for 48 hours, respectively. With its maximum flight altitude of 30,000 feet and a speed of 130-140kt, it will greatly assist in surveillance, targeting thru laser designation, communications relaying, weapons delivery to infantries, and special operations missions (Bone, 2003, p. 49). 11. Scan Eagle: Boeing’s UAV can be optionally launched from a ship, on land, or even from a submarine. The idea if to have a horde of 4-foot UAVs linked directly on a submarine for reconnaissance purposes. 12. Eagle Eye: This type of UAV takes off like a helicopter, and then flips its rotor blades to fly like an airplane. Its speed is up to 220 knots and has a distance of 300 miles. This type of UAV is suited for patrolling the coastline, locating ships in distress, and also has the capability to transmit videos to command centers. Production cost for the Eagle eye is at $3 million per plane (Bone, 2003, p. 50). 13. Micro Air Vehicle, MAV: unlike the UAVs, MAV is only inches in length, and production costs would be in the thousands and not in millions. As an example, the Organic Air Vehicle, or OAV, measures only 9 inches wide. It has a ducted fan design, and carries an E-O sensor, which comes in infrared or acoustic models. Because of its very small size, MAVs can be programmed for watch-and-stare missions on enemy troops while on air, and also while on land. These MAVs can autonomously lift off and land on itself. Modifications have also been done, resulting in the advent of UCAR, or Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft. These will have the capability as a reconnaissance to ground troops, as well as offensive purposes. It will also be capable of system-linking with other manned and UAVs for performing synchronized attacks (Bone, 2003, p. 51). Human Factor in UAV Flights Since unmanned flights have slowly been gaining popularity in both military and commercial uses, perhaps it will be sooner than we expect for UAVs to replace manned flights permanently. It would be wise for us to give insights on issues concerning cognitive factors affecting the pilots, especially since accident occurrences in UAV flights have been proven to be over thirty times more common than in manned aircraft flights (McCarley & Wickens, 2005, p. 2). It is also possible for UAV pilots to be manning more than one aircraft simultaneously, entailing never-before-encountered workload pressures. Manual v Automated Flights 1. It has been widely accepted that the effect of automation has not resulted in the elimination of human workload but the introduction of new ones, forcing the pilots to develop new strategies (McCarley & Wickens, 2005, p. 4). The changing of strategies is often the result descriptive of an imperfect system, not of the computer software type, but of the factors that even a perfectly-running automation system would not be able to detect, such as the icing of an UAV wing. 2. The present UAV take off and landing automated procedures differ according to the model. Such that the Hunter and the Pioneer require an on-site external pilot; the Predator to be controlled on a separate aircraft within the Ground Control Site; while there are some cases, as in Global Hawk, where full automation is integrated. These differences seem to be significant, take off and landing errors make up for a majority of accidents attributed to human factors; Hunter with 67% and the Pioneer with 78%, both are externally controlled (McCarley & Wickens, 2005, p. ). 3. An external pilot of a UAV basically relies on computer imagery in controlling the aircraft. The visual quality of the imagery, however, has the possibility of being diminished due to factors affecting bandwidth, resulting in poor resolution or a delay in image uploading. Situations such as these may prejudice overall aircraft control and visibility of air traffic. This poses a clear danger in military missions, more so in the planned commercial implementation of autonomic control of commercial flights. 4. On way of solving the problem stated in #3 is by the use of enhanced reality, or synthetic vision (McCarley & Wickens, 2005, p. 7). In this system, images from the actual camera shots of a UAV will be converted to display landmarks on a given terrain, thus creating a virtual reality world that the external pilot can manipulate. The problem with this system is that pilot’s over reliance on synthetic imagery would lead to a possible neglect of some natural landmarks not visible in the imagery system. Thus, using this method would be beneficial for the UAV performance but comes with a potential risk. . One of the resulting effects of separating the pilot from the aircraft is that the pilot would be denied of his real-time sensory reactions otherwise available in a manned aircraft, and that he would have to rely on computer monitors provided for by the cameras onboard the UAV. Hence, we can conclude that the external pilot only functions in a relatively sensory isolation from t he UAV he is controlling. It would be of utmost importance for the developers to design an alarms system to keep the pilots abreast of the real-time environmental situations and probable system failures. . Since UAV pilots are not in danger of injury or death in the event of their aircraft crashing, this could, in theory, prove to be a big difference in the pilot’s risk-taking decisions, such as in going through a flight plan on a bad weather. Sensory isolation factor could be magnified during these situations (McCarley & Wickens, 2005, p. 10). 7. The accepted norm during long endurance UAV flights had been to switch control among different external pilots within a single flight. This process usually takes on three types: First is the transfer of UAV control from one Ground Control Station to another; second is through the transfer of control from one team of operators to another, within the same GCS; and last is through the transfer of control from one pilot to another within the same team. It has been documented that a significant number of UAV accidents happened during the transfer from one pilot to another, because the GCS taking over control of the UAV was not properly briefed beforehand (McCarley & Wickens, 2005, p. 0). 8. Instances of a total failure of the Ground Control Station-UAV communications link would prove to be disastrous. This scenario can be considered as a human factor because of the need for the Automated Traffic Center, or ATM, to be aware of the default programs of the UAV system in order to properly manage air traffic within their area. It would also be of the utmost importance for the external pilots themselves to be aware of the comm unications link failure as quickly as possible. 9. Researches on whether experienced manned pilots are better operators than novice manned pilots have ended in differing conclusions. Although generally, as the experiments revealed, experienced manned pilots reached the desired level of performance in landing and basic maneuvering skills faster than that of the novice’s. Other studies, however, based on the Army’s Job Assessment Software System, or JASS, revealed that piloting skills does not constitute a great deal in UAV operations, thus making the selection of top pilots as UAV operators insignificant (McCarley, & Wickens, 2005, p. 3). 10. Questions on medical qualifications of the UAV operator should also be brought into light. Since physical factors concerning high altitude temporary mental perception failure does not concern AUV pilots, still some type of medical fitness qualifications must be practiced. These must be able to determine if: the said qualifications should be more stringent or less for the UAV pilo ts; and, work duration limits should be established for long endurance missions. 11. Since the pressures and work load of a UAV pilot differs from that of a manned aircraft, and since formal training in flight schools are usually focused on instructing pilots for manned vehicles, which constitute less amount of time on simulations and more on the actual flight, the need arises for a training more attuned to giving more flight simulations to pilots of UAVs. This should be able to determine up to what extent trainee pilots should spend time on simulations in order to obtain a UAV certification. 12. Technological researches must be made to improve on the controls of the external pilot. At present, the controls of the UAV are similar to that of a radio-controlled hobbyist’s plane. This design poses a problem in the directional movement of the UAV with respect to the controller. As such, when the UAV and the pilot differ in position by 180 degrees, a rightward movement on the rudder will result in leftward movement of the UAV, and vice versa. Control rudders must be made to conform to the principle of human motion compatibility as to avoid further confusion for the pilot (McCarley & Wickens, 2005, p. 6).

Beauty Defined

What is beauty? How can an abstract concept such as beauty be defined? That question has been pondered for ages. An anonymous person once said â€Å"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder†. Beauty means something different to everyone but there is a general agreed-upon standard of beauty in our society. As defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, beauty is â€Å"the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit : LOVELINESS †.It has also been defined as â€Å"the phenomenon of the experience of pleasure, through the perception of balance and proportion of stimulus. It involves the cognition of a balanced form and structure that elicits attraction and appeal towards a person, animal, object, scene, music, idea, etc†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The philosophical discipline of aesthetics aims to understand the nature and meaning of beauty. Two kinds of beauty were distinguished by composer and criti c Robert Schumann ; natural beauty and poetic beauty.Natural beauty is found in the examination of nature and poetic beauty in man’s cognizance. According to Schumann, in music or other art forms, both types of beauty exist. A familiar theory holds that beauty is the appearance of things and people that are good. Our society judges the physically attractive as â€Å"good†. The popular quote â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder, â€Å" maintains that beauty is entirely personal. Beauty can be found in nature as well where â€Å"beauty as goodness† holds true.An Alaskan glacier, a ruggedly dry mountain range, or a field of wildflowers can all be said to be beautiful. Most people find beauty in nature, from a newly fallen leaf in autumn, a tadpole metamorphosing to a frog, or a butterfly fluttering in a field. Formal studies done in the United States have discovered that facial symmetry is a key factor in determining the beauty of human appearance. To have facial symmetry suggests that a person has no apparent inherited flaws. Other studies suggest that a specific height and length of cheekbones is a strong indicator of physical beauty.These studies were conducted by scientists who asked volunteers to rate a series of photographs on the basis of beauty. The attributes common to all images rated beautiful were then picked out. Dr. Devendra Singh, of the University of Texas at Austin, discovered the waist-to-hip ratio, which is considered an indication of beauty in women of most cultures. This holds that a woman whose waist circumference is 70% of her hip circumference is considered beautiful and is also an indicator of her fertility. Greek philosophers were the earliest to theorize beauty.Pythagorus saw a strong connection between mathematics and beauty. The Pythagorean School maintained that objects proportioned to the â€Å"golden ratio† seemed more attractive. People whose facial features are symmetric and proportioned are ra nked as more attractive than those who are not, according to the golden ratio. The ancient Indians believed that anything that is always new is beautiful. A survey conducted by London Guildhall University of 11,000 people showed that (subjectively) good-looking people earn more.Less attractive people earned, on average, 13% less than more attractive people, while the penalty for overweight was around 5%. The term â€Å"beautiful people† is used to refer to those who closely follow trends in fashion, physical appearance, food, dining, wine, cars, and real estate, often at a considerable financial cost. Such people often mirror in appearance and consumer choices of the characteristics and purchases of rich Hollywood characters. Beauty is truly a subjective concept that is difficult to prove or define.

PROPOSAL ON CLOUD STORAGE SERVICE Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

ON CLOUD STORAGE SERVICE - Research Proposal Example Moreover, the proposal further includes indication of the main idea of the Cloud Storage Service that will allow the individuals, professionals, and organizations to understand different technicalities and processes associated with the proposed service. Lastly, the research proposal includes identification and discussion of anticipated benefits for organizations along with brief conclusion of the proposal. It is anticipation of the researcher that the proposed idea will be very beneficial for organizations and will facilitate them in improving and enhancing their different processes and procedures by managing huge volumes of data effectively. INTRODUCTION Due to economics of scale, cloud storage is services that are inexpensive and more consistent than services directly controlled by the ‘end user’. Nonetheless, they as well raise several security and confidentiality issues, as big suppliers become entrusted with mass of potentially ‘sensitive’ records.... ier's resources to execute custom applications; and SaaS (Software as a Service), where clients utilize software that functions on the suppliers infrastructure† (Sandrs, p. 10). Cloud storage services generally come under classification as either private or public. Within a private cloud, the infrastructure is controlled and held by the client and positioned on-premise - to be precise, within the clients region of control. Especially, this indicates that access to customer records is within its control and is simply in the hands of trusted parties. Within a public cloud, the infrastructure is held and supervised by a cloud supplier and is positioned within the supplier's area of control. This indicates that client records are outside its control and un-trusted parties could potentially use it. Storage services founded on public clouds offer clients with scalable, as well as dynamic storage. Because of shifting their records to the cloud, clientele can avoid the expenditure of b uilding and keeping a private storage infrastructure, choosing instead to pay a supplier as a function of its requirements. For the majority of clients, this offers quite a lot of advantages together with accessibility - being capable to access records from everywhere - and trustworthiness - not having to be afraid of backups - at a comparatively lesser cost. Although the advantages of utilizing a public cloud infrastructure are obvious, it initiates considerable safety and confidentiality threats. Actually, it appears that the major obstacle to the implementation of cloud storage is concerned about the privacy and reliability of records. Whereas, until now, clients have been ready to trade privacy for the ease of software services, this is not the case for businesses and governments

Leadership in Health Care Organizations Practicum Coursework

Leadership in Health Care Organizations Practicum - Coursework Example As a charge nurse at Medical Telementary Unit, Bayshore Medical Center, I have power over the other nurses at the unit as their leader. I am responsible for providing guidance on administering care to new patients and patients who have special needs. I am also supposed to address any questions that both patients and nurses may have regarding care or any other issue of importance at the workplace. In terms of the roles that nurses play at the hospital, I have a responsibility of guiding them, giving them moral support and motivating them to do their job professionally. I am supposed to document the performance of the nurses, counsel them when their performances are unsatisfactory and perform evaluations on their jobs. I am supposed to provide leadership in every case when in the hospital and help where I can in home problems that affect their work output when they are in hospital. I have to serve the nurses by addressing the problems and fears that they may have so that they can serve patients well (DelHousaye & Brewer, 2004). Based on Servant Leadership: The Seven Distinctive Characteristics of a Servant Leader by Darryl DelHousate & Bobby Brewer, my responses compare to the view power in the sense that a leader must first be a servant to the people that he leads. Therefore, my responses fit in to this in the sense that as a charge nurse, I am a servant leader to the nurses and the patients who are under my wing. The nurses do not serve me; rather I serve them as their leader. The nurses serve the society by acting as healthcare leaders when promoting healthy living and helping treat diseases or offer intervention measures. In this respect, I have to show humbleness and love when leading. I also have to trust and empower my nurses to fulfill their responsibilities (DelHousaye & Brewer, 2004). My reasons compare and contrast the secular view on power. My view agrees with the secular view on power that I should guide my followers

Afro-Colombian Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Afro-Colombian - Thesis Example An estimated 100,000 slaves were imported before the year 1600. The Spanish settlements of Cauca Valley which were known for its richness in gold and North Antioquia benefited most from this steady supply slaves since, by 1560, the Indian laborers were no longer easy to come by.  Slaves were regarded as an important asset since they were cheap and the work they were required to do was labor-intensive. Women were not spared either from the back-breaking work at the open-cast mines. Both male and female miners worked in groups called cuadrillas (or gangs), each led by a captain. They were also in agriculture and looked after cattle in the haciendas in Cauca Valley. In as much as they were also used as artisans, domestic servants and laborers in large haciendas in the Caribbean plains, their main occupation was mining.  According to Wade, the harshness with which slaves were treated varied according to the epoch and the region in which they were posted. However, some of them were gi ven the opportunity to buy their own freedom, especially the women and children. Most slaves were also able to farm, mine or sell goods for their own benefit on a specific day in a week. Some slave owners even granted their own slaves freedom. Sexual relationships between white men and black women led to a new ‘race’ of people who could neither be classified as being white, slave nor Indian and constituted about 60% of the population in New Granada by the 1770s. Some slaves fought for their own freedom, perhaps when the working conditions became unbearable and fled to uncontrolled areas where they formed villages and fortified them for their defense against the Spanish military.  The first revolt took place in 1530 in Santa Marta, Colombia. The slaves completely burnt down the town. Even after it was rebuilt in 1531, it was again burnt down in 1550 in another slave revolt.  

Risk Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Risk Management - Research Paper Example Identification and Description of Risk Management Issue Medical malpractice is a major risk management issue affecting most teaching hospitals. Medical professionals can define medical malpractice as the inaccurate administration of healthcare services to a patient. In most cases, this always result to harm in patients as the mistakes made by the medical professionals at times can lead to devastating effects like death or disabilities to the patient. In teaching hospitals, most professionals are still students who are undergoing training on various grounds by using the patients who register at the hospital for medical purposes as their tests subjects. The effects of Medical malpractice by a practicing practitioner who is not yet qualified can at times be disturbing because they range from wrong dose calculations, wrong dose prescriptions to wrong injections that the doctor did not prescribe (Baker, 2010). Discussion of Steps That Have Been Set In Place to Address the Issue To address the issue of Medical malpractice in major teaching hospitals, various steps are incorporated. ... Secondly, the hospitals have employed enough physicians who monitor patients before they undergo medical procedures to avoid Medical malpractice that may lead to excessive pain, emotional distress, or death to a patient. In addition, the physicians explain the rehabilitation process of patient to make them mentally prepared and avoid the emotional distress that are caused by the medical procedure he has undergone. Thirdly, medical professionals are required to conduct a thorough research on the patient’s history to avoid Medical malpractice from the medical professionals’ side that might lead to the unexpected death of a patient. Lastly, ‘failure mode effect analysis’ has been introduced in most teaching hospitals to avoid Medical malpractice that leads to delayed treatment of patients visiting the center for medical purposes, therefore, improving the quality of healthcare services administered to patients (Joint Commission on Accreditation Health., 2011). Discussion of How an Organization Has Determined a Path to Remedy the Problem Organizations have taken various paths to remedy the problem of Medical malpractice by laying emphasis on the patient’s consent before passing patients through various medical procedures that are risky, but are also essential in the diagnosis of a patient’s ailment. The consent allows the medical professionals to touch and administer required medication to a patient, and frees him or her from the discomfort or consequences caused by the treatment administered to patients by will (Joint Commission on Accreditation Health., 2011). The organization has also laid emphasis on the informed consent to make the client aware of the various stages that he or she will undergo while

Critical analyse the paper's purpose Assignment

Critical analyse the paper's purpose - Assignment Example It then examines the causative factors using the hypothetical testing model before making recommendation projected to help educators curb the menace. According to Guo (2011), the key factors leading to plagiaristic behaviors include moral capability, awareness, and academic integration, accounting education, pressures, new technology, institutional support, cultural influences and demographic variables. These hypothesized factors were put into a conceptual model in order to test and ascertain or disqualify them as causative agents as well as to identify any connections among them through a series of questionnaires analysis. The questionnaire was divided in three sections depending on the hypothesized factors, extent of the plagiarism and the demographic factors relating to the respondents. The findings indicated a high degree of co-relation between the hypothesized constructs producing many statistically significant connections which were broadly consistent with the hypothesis. Never theless, research findings were surprising since new technology failed to relate to other constructs and the results were inconsistent with past studies creating a gap that needs to be addressed through further research (Guo 2011). Finally, the paper recommends that educators should take into consideration the effects of student’s cultural background on their propensity to plagiarize; in addition, to focusing on the ethic centric models of learning and integrate students into their academic life. The study sets out to examine students awareness of plagiarism and concludes that some of them ignore the concept altogether because they do not appreciate its gravity as an offence. While others use sources and share information among each other, but do not understand at what point using sources can turns into plagiarism (Granitz & Loewy 2001). Students who are not well integrated in the school system tend to plagiarize more often as an attempt to fit in the system. Moreover, variou s pressure thrust upon accounting students such as parental expectations, especially if they fund the student’s education my also increase a student’s propensity for plagiarism. Similarly, the rigours associated with accounting exams in the UK especially because of the many exam bodies tend to intimidate students and forces them to find easy way out through plagiarizing (Renard 2000). Analysing from a demographic standpoint, the study show that male students are more likely to cheat than female ones; additionally, high rate of plagiarism among students was suggested to be inversely proportional to age with younger scholars being more prone to cheating. Technology was also found to have a positive relationship with plagiarism owing to the wealth of data available on the internet, which students can access and apply in their work with hardly any reading involved. The solution to technology based plagiarism presents a complex situation despite the fact that the tools and software required to address the problem can be found in the same technology (Evans 2006). Currently, many institutions apply plagiarism-detecting tools like turnitin to ensure they police their students’ essays and discourage the vice (Mulcahy & Goodacrep 2004). Notwithstanding, students can still counter this by either using one of an assortment of online software that can paraphrase their essays and prevent detection through

Sales & Purchasing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sales & Purchasing - Case Study Example This paper reflects on a sales report and an action plan by John Ziegler, a newly promoted sales manager working for Arapahoe Pharmaceutical Company based in Dallas. The market territory occupied in Dallas by Arapahoe pharmaceutical is very ripe with a high number of health facilities and physicians. The amount of physicians contacted by the company throughout the year totaled to fifteen thousand and one hundred, 15,100 as shown in table 2 above. This reflected in the enterprise performance in the total number of sales attained for the year. Totals sales for the year reached an impressive figure of three million, five hundred and fifty-nine thousand, 3,559,000. Sales numbers of this magnitude indicate the excellent effort made by the company’s sales department. It is appropriate to note the significant improvement of sales representatives’ performance from the previous year. Arapahoe pharmaceutical’s annual sales increased from two million, eight hundred and fifteen thousand, 2,815,000, for the last year. This indicates an improvement of over twenty-five percent, 25.3% (Summer, 2013). Marty Nakai topped the sales representatives’ performance list by managing to sell products worth six hundred and twenty-five thousand, 625,000. Dick McClure, Bill Morrison and Tom Jones were other top performers each managing to sell products worth over five hundred and fifty thousand. Peggy Doyle was bottom of the performance list. This is because she was new and had only been active for four months. Another rookie sales representative was Larry Palmer, who managed to sell products worth one hundred and eighty-one thousand after being active for a period of eight months. Jared Murphy managed to sell products worth three hundred and seventy-five thousand for the whole year. Almost all sales people performed well in terms of sales during the year (Summer, 2013). All member of Arapahoe Pharmaceutical Company sales team improved on

Industrial Property Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Industrial Property Rights - Essay Example The first software patent ever granted is probably a patent for a "computer having slow and quick access storage, when programmed to solve a linear programming problem by an iterative algorithm, the iterative algorithm being such that (...)" applied for in 1962 by British Petroleum Company . The patent relates to solving simultaneous linear equations. The USPTO has traditionally not considered software to be patentable because by statute patents can only be granted to "processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter". In particular patents cannot be granted to "scientific truths" or "mathematical expressions" of them. This means that most of the fundamental techniques of software engineering have never been patented. The USPTO maintained this position, that software was in effect a mathematical algorithm, and therefore not patentable into the 1980's. The position of the USPTO was challenged with a landmark 1981 Supreme Court Case, Diamond v. Diehr. The case involved a device that used computer software to ensure the correct timing when heating, or curing, rubber. Although the software was the integral part of the device, it also had other functions that related to real world manipulation. The court then ruled that as a device to mold rubber, it was a patentable object. The court essentially ruled that while algorithms themselves could not be patented, devices that utilized them could. This ruling wasn't as straightforward as many would have liked, forcing many electronic device makers into the courts to establish that their inventions were in fact patentable. Due to different treatment of federal patent rights in different parts of the country, in 1982 the U.S. Congress created a new court (the Federal Circuit) to hear patent cases. The new circuit rejected rulings from some parts of the country, and nationalized others. For example, the court made patents generally easier to uphold by presuming patents were valid unless proven invalid and weakening the defense of non-obviousness. This court allowed issues, such as patentability of software, to be treated uniformly throughout the US. Due to a few landmark cases in this court, by the early 1990s the patentability of software was well established, and in 1996 the USPTO issued Final Computer Related Examination Guidelines. See Software Patents under United States patent law. Also in 1998, the U.S. court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in the case of State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. (1998), upheld as valid a patent directed to a computer-implemented business method designed to perform financial calculations and data processing for mutual fund investments. This case was important because prior to this decision, it was widely believed that business methods and systems were not patentable. The State Street case made clear that business methods were to be evaluated in the same manner as any other type of process. In 2000, the JPO followed suit and revised its Guidelines to allow for the patenting of computer-implemented business methods when there is clear "involvement of inventive step." Europe The European Patent Convention (EPC) serves as the basis for a harmonized system of patent protection for all members of the European Union. European patents have the same effect as patents granted by each nation under its own national patent laws. Article 52(1) of

Finance assignment1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Finance assignment1 - Essay Example 64400 36000 28400 Since the least payment to be paid by Alresford to Gibson under third option, i.e., 28400, it is advisable to go ahead with third option. (d) Under Imputation system, the tax payable by the company is deductible for the tax computation of shareholders. The imputation system, when the company's tax is avoided the calculation will be as follows: Operating cash flow north south total cost of capital market value 12000 12000 24000 18% 4320 12000 8000 20000 18% 3600 16000 8000 24000 18% 4320 20000 4000 24000 18% 4320 PART B The Cost and Benefits of Debt Introduction Among the various sources of capital, debt is an important and popular source of long term fund for small as well as big firms. Other sources include equity and preference shares and retained earnings. Debt is a long term arrangement with a lender by a company to avail finance on a certain set of conditions. The lender may be banks and financial institutions, public, and other corporations issuing debt securities. The company can avail debt capital in various forms such as bonds, long term loans from banks and financial institutions etc. Bond is the most common form of debt security issued by a corporation. Bonds are issued by governments also in time of financial crisis. Debt is the least cost and hence the most popular source of capital for corporations. In addition to that it has many advantages. As bonds are the common form of debt capital, bonds and debt are often used interchangeably. Moreover, the attributes of bonds as a source of long term capital are similar to any other de bt capital. Therefore, the following discussion of cost and benefits of debt is common to bonds and long term loans. Cost of Debt Debt is a long term agreement with a lender (bank or public) by a...The company can avail debt capital in various forms such as bonds, long term loans from banks and financial institutions etc. Bond is the most common form of debt security issued by a corporation. Bonds are issued by governments also in time of financial crisis. Debt is the least cost and hence the most popular source of capital for corporations. In addition to that it has many advantages. As bonds are the common form of debt capital, bonds and debt are often used interchangeably. Moreover, the attributes of bonds as a source of long term capital are similar to any other debt capital. Therefore, the following discussion of cost and benefits of debt is common to bonds and long term loans. Debt is a long term agreement with a lender (bank or public) by a company to avail funds on the condition that interest shall be paid by the latter to the former during the period of debt and the principal shall be paid at the end of maturity period. The interest to be payable by the company to the lender is known as the cost of debt. In other words, cost of debt is the interest payable by the company to the lender for using the latter's hard earned money. The interest payment is to be made annually or semi-annually depending upon the terms of agreement.

Online Information system Essay Example for Free

Online Information system Essay Nowadays, technology has reached its highest level and is in the phase of developing more with the new innovations. Innovations that helps a lot of people to have a more convenient way to do enormous job to be done in a short period of time. Almost public high schools like Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School (BLMNHS) are still handling their student record by means of using file document in a manual manner. The grades of the student are computed and recorded manually which it took time for the teachers to be done. Especially when a high school’s population increases annually, the ease of data handling needs more effort to taken care off. The manual saving of files in BLMNHS needs more file cabinets in order to save their school records. There are cases that some files are being lost and never been find or have been misplaced. There are also incidents that teachers are having mistakes in writing their student grades and records and they have to make a way to reedit the data and give them a lot of time and effort. As one of the first web-based of information system in computer technology in education, Online Student Information System (OLSIS) is made for educational establishment to manage student data. It is a database controlling student records, information, schedules, subjects, and grades. Information System (IS) helps users to become instructive, which means making it easy for them to organize, analyze, search and use old information to create new ones. As an order, it focuses on exploring the interface between Information Technology (IT) and Computer Science (CS). Computer Science (CS) focuses on information technology which is a software development. While Information Technology (IT) is involved with the manipulation, storage of data and information, and management of computer systems with companies, universities, and other organizations. The developers chose Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School (BLMNHS) as their client because they need technology assistance. Since the populations of the students in BLMNHS are increasing yearly they decided to make this website to facilitate the keeping of records of each student. This project is an online student information system made for BLMNHS in order to manage their student data that should be handled for their school needs. The system helps especially those incoming first year students to inquire online. It also helps the faculty and the school administration in terms of handling of records. They can also upload their class and teacher schedules. The students can have their own account wherein they can view their grades, schedule and activities. Parents can also have an access of their child account. The faculty and the school administration can also have their own accounts for data handling. This online information system is created for schools that are in need of data handling. This project will benefit the school in terms of grade record handling for the teachers, accessible grade records for the student and their parents and other data that the school needed to be handled online. Project Context The developers decided to apply this web information system to BLMNHS because the purpose of the developers is to help them ease their job and to enhance the productivity of every person involved in school management. At present, the school management and it’s all procedures are done manually. It creates a lot of problems due to the wrong entries of adding data which causes duplication and redundancy of student record and grade setup. Since their data are stored in file cabinets, searching for data adds a lot of time for them to find it out. The developers proposed this system to maximize and minimize this kind of manual arrangement of data for the users to have a convenient way of handling their data. The system will solve the problem such as mistakes through proper checks and validation control methods in checking of student record, teacher’s record, grading reports. Purpose and Description The proposed system is an online school portal for BLMNHS that will help school teachers in handling their student’s data. It is a convenient way to access their data because it can be viewed over the internet. The confidentiality of their files is still maintained through the use of faculty no. and password in order to avoid from intruders. The privacy of the proposed system should also maintain for the school’s policies in the confidentiality of their school records. The students can also have an access in their school performances, school activities, health record and class schedules, these records can be viewed on their student profile. In this system, the parents have also their account wherein they can monitor their children’s records, like they can view their children’s grade, schedules, health record and their activities in school. The main purpose of the developed system is to give an ease of use in data handling in order to have a more efficient way of adding, deleting and editing of the data that should be managed and maintain. It woul help the client into a convenient way of accessing their data throughout the internet. This would benefit the students and teachers of Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School (BLMNHS), the parents, other public high schools. The users should also have the knowledge of browsing the internet especially the said website. The developers used a web designing software in order to build an interface and functionalities for the future users of the system. A Server is also used to view the created website over the internet. For data handling we use database software that could handle and manage a large amount of data. Objectives The main objective of the said project is to develop a web information system that will computerize and organize different modules in Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School (BLMNHS). Specifically it aims to: 1. Identify the present student information system used by BLMNHS in terms of: 1. 1 facilities and resources 1. 2 technology utilization 2. Provide a better service for the students and faculty of BLMNHS with the following features: 2. 1 Submission of grades 2. 2 Viewing of Schedules and Subjects 3. Determine the level of acceptance of the developed web services among faculty and students of Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School relative to: 3. 1 user interface 3. 2 compatibility functionality in terms of browser 3. 3 contents components 4. Perform beta testing on the developed web services. Scope and Limitation The developers would like to improve and build up the web information system for BLMNHS. The study will focus on the transformation of manual Online Student Information System of BLMNHS. The aim of the project is to concentrate on data handling of records of each student like grades, subjects, schedules, and medical record. Each student’s parent would also have their own account in which they could access their child’s grade records and schedules. Students are not able to edit or manipulate their records within the website, instead, the website administrator are the only one who can edit this data. Parents should register first their accounts via their child’s designated LRN, but they can create their own username and password in order to secure their accounts. Faculty could also have their own account wherein they are the one’s who record each of their student’s school performances, in terms of grades and class schedules. They could also upload their files but this data are only seen by their co-faculty members and also by the website administrator. The website administrator accesses all data that the website should maintain. It is also responsible for user requests wherever they could have problems in their profile. The entrance examination will not be covered by the study for the reason that the examination should not be taken online due to the possibilities that it may have leakage during the examination. Definition of Terms These terminologies were gathered by the researcher for better and clearer understanding about the study. It also sets as reference for each system’s functionalities. Backend. Backend is everything that happens before it gets to your browser. A backend can be very simple or very complicated. [1] It is hidden by a user and can only access by the administrator of the system. It is where the data are being stored and operated. Client-server. It describes the relationship between two computer programs in which one program, the client, makes a service request from another program, the server, which fulfills the request It serves as the administrator’s task to manipulate and control the system through peer-to-peer or network. [7] It is a correlation of program that fulfills request and delivers the response, and vice versa that creates a one line process. Database server. Database server is the term used to refer to the back-end system of a database application using client/server architecture. The back-end, sometimes called a database server, performs tasks such as data analysis, storage, data manipulation, archiving, and other non-user specific tasks. [4] It is a kind of internet service that provides databases for websites; it acts as the backend of the system. Data Flow Diagram (DFD). A data flow diagram (DFD) shows how data moves through an information system but does not show pogram logic or processing steps. [2] It also illustrates the data flow of each function of the system. It also shows on how each data has been processed and the corresponding end users of this system. Domain name. Provides the ability to refer to IP devices using names instead of just numerical IP addresses. Allows machines to resolve these names into their corresponding IP addresses. [2] It also serves as an identification name for the website. Frontend. It is the part of the web that you can see and interact with. The Frontend usually consists of two parts: the design and frontend development. [1] It also serves as the user interface of the system. It is accessed by the user. IP (Internet Protocol). A packet-switching technology that is deisgned to get packets from point A to B in whatever way is most effective, without the user necessarily having any ability to know what route will be taken. [3] It acts as the address number of each data from a computer that has been sent to another computer. It also sets as identification for each computer in the internet. Text Editor. A text editor is a computer program that lets a user enter, change, store, and usually print text It is a programming tool used for editing plain text files. [8] It is used mostly for webpage designing and integration. Web host. Hosting (also known as Web site hosting, Web hosting, and Webhosting) is the business of housing, serving, and maintaining files for one or more Web sites. [9] It is a kind of Internet service that allows orgranizations to make their website accessible via World Wide Web. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED SYSTEMS In this chapter presents the related studies that have been done over the past years. This includes the foreign studies, local studies and the technical background which includes the software that will be used throughout the process of creating the study. Related Systems The Degif developed the system â€Å"School Management System† for KokebeTsebah Secondary School†. It has been shown that the system effectively registers students along with parental information, easily retrieves information about a student and generates the required reports such as transcript, report card and timetable. In addition to generating a feasible master timetable it produces a timetable for each teacher. Furthermore it has been shown that the web application of the system helps attendance recording by the homeroom teacher and parents can view the status of their children using the Internet or Intranet of the school. Most educators like the systems if they work smoothly and help students learn, according to teachers and teacher-union representatives. Brian Lewis, chief executive of the International Society for Technology in Education, a Eugene, Ore. , professional group, says the systems can foster a strong home-school connection and allow busy parents to be involved—and let them step in early if a child is struggling. Bill Erneste, a math teacher for 20 years, says one of the biggest advantages these systems have over paper grade books is that parents and teachers are communicating without even a phone call. At Park Hill High School in Kansas City, Mo. , where he teaches, he likes posting links to instructional materials that students and families can use at home. Plus, teachers say online reporting makes it easier to collaborate and share information. Other teachers, however, regard posting grades and assignments as an administrative burden, especially for inexperienced educators who often need to spend more time planning lessons and managing their classrooms. Some parents misuse the systems by trying to micromanage their childrens work or overreacting to minor missteps, creating extra work for teachers. Also, problems arise when schools use multiple programs that dont share data, requiring teachers to enter data more than once. [10] The developers found out that there are related systems that exist outside the country so it is a proof that â€Å"Online Student Information System for Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School† is convenient to use and lastly, it can improve the services of the school to its students. The Student Information system Via-Wapsite was developed to provide a system in wap-based information retrieval system of student. The system has also provided an alternative, efficient and reliable system that provides an easier way to access student information system and verify grades through mobile phones. And also the developers want to provide a system that has a key access and menu-driven interface for students and also for the administrator. [11] On the other study the developers developed the online submission of grades of the faculty to the registrar and the online viewing of student’s grades. It will diminish the hassles in walking right through the registrar office. The system developed only in authorized persons. [12] The Online Student Information System for F. L Vargas College Tuguegarao City cited that maintaining student’s records manually is a very difficult task and time consuming. The said school are still using filling cabinet to store their files, there are some incident that some of the files are lost. [13] The Student Information System of Southgate Institute of Malvar is specifically about the arrangement of different modules into one whole school system. One of the objectives of this study is to remove the deficiencies of current system and build up new computerized system, it shall be faster and will able to produce results of various queries. [14] The developers found out that the system has its potential to provide greater conveniences and accessibility to the students since student can access information despite of their location and time at their convenience. All these systems are related in the sense that systems aimed to lessen the problems encountered by the students, faculty and other respondent during enrollment and school days. The preceding review shows the transition from a manual system into a computerized system. As similar applications for the enlistment process have not been implemented yet in Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School the results of this study may provide additional information on the subject and may become an effective tool to push the computerization of many transactions done in school. The study shows that the proposed system is feasible and had a chance to be implemented. The proposed system was developed and concentrated only in high school. The difference of the proposed system from other system that has been done is that it is made exclusively for a certain High School. Nowadays the existing school online websites services are made only for tertiary levels. The developers want to bring the benefits of technology to high schools in which students can have their own accounts and also for their parents. Teachers, administration and staff have their own accounts also for their school monitoring activities, updates and grade records. The system is comprised of a newer networking technology technique, thus a faster and real time online student information system. Technical Background In building a website there are different softwares that can be used in which it should includes programming language, database and server. Here are the programs that are used in order to build the Online Student Information System of Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School. The PHP Hypertext Preprocessor allows web developers to create dynamic content that interacts with databases. (Mike Chapple, 2008). The proponent used this language for the ease of making website. The language was one of the most recommended in terms of making websites. PHP is also great for creating database-driven Web sites. Most web hosting providers support PHP for use by their clients. It is originally designed to create dynamic web pages. PHP is very fast and lightweight. MySQL It is an open source RDBMS package for back end tool for managing the database as this allows users to manage the database very efficiently and controls data redundancy and inconsistency. It allows enforcing various data integrity constraints on the data being entered into the tables. Database can be accessed using GUI provided by the system (Angela Bradley, 2006). MySQL serve as the database of the system. The proponents believe that MySQL was the most reliable to managing database because most of the web developer used it. Database can be accessed using GUI provided by the system. MySQL helps the proponents to accumulate the appropriate records in the database. It helps to handle the whole data and information in the certain school. Apache Server is a web server software program notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. Apache was the first viable alternative to the Netscape Communications Corporation web server (currently named Oracle iPlanet Web Server). Typically Apache is run on a Unix-like operating system, and was developed for use on Linux. Apache is developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the Apache Software Foundation. The application is available for a wide variety of operating systems, including UNIX, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Novell NetWare, OS X, Microsoft Windows, OS/2, TPF, and ComStation. Released under the Apache License, Apache is open-source software. (Robert McCool, February 2013) Apache Server was the most popular server software on the Web so that the researcher decided to use this server. This server serves as the temporary server for our websites. It enables a computer to host one or more websites that can be accessed over the Internet using a Web browser. It supports PHP so the developers use this as server. Apache is popular when it comes in Web Hosting because it is open source and free to use. CHAPTER III DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the methodological study for creating the proposed system. It includes the methodologies, requirement specification, user interfaces, software interfaces, performance requirements, system overview, and system architecture. System Analysis and Design The Online Student Information system of Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School access the student and faculty school information. It also improves the user’s accessibility in their information, and convenience in data handling and manipulation. System Design The following diagrams are the system design followed by the developers in order to achieve the necessary data that should be processed on the system. Figure 1 shows the general flow of the data accommodated within the system. It is compose of four entities wherein it sets as the user of the system, in each entity there are several operations that should be undergone. These processes are the functions of the system to imply on the actual operation of the system. Figure 1. Context Flow Diagram Figure 2 shows the registration process of a user to the IS wherein the system admin generates the newly registered user’s to its database. The users can have their own account. Figure 2. DFD of User Registration Figure 3 illustrates the data flow diagram of the grading system of BLMNHS that can handled by the system. The grades of the student to be computed by their teachers are from their assignments and their examinations. The grade that has been computed can be view by the student’s profile and also to their parent’s profile. Figure 3. DFD of Grading System Figure 4 shows the data flow on handling the student’s health record. The BLMNHS’s P. E. teacher is the one who is in charge of handling the health record of the students. Figure 4. DFD of Student Health Record Figure 5 shows the flow of submitting of schedule. The admin will submit the schedules in both teachers and student. And the teachers and students can view their schedules on the web, the same with the parents they can view the schedule of their children. Figure 5. DFD of Schedule System Implementation The Online Student Information System for BLMNHS was deployed over the web through a web server. The system’s main feature was implemented only for BLMNHS student, parents and faculty. The developers used web hosting for their system to be accessed via online by the students. The administrator is the one who maintain and update the system. The users of the site should have internet access in order to explore the said system. Project Concepts To meet the needs of the proponents in data handling specially the developers sets an objective in order to achieve a goal in creating the system. Figure 10 shows the Homepage of the Web Page. The users can see the Announcements, history, and admission policies of the school. Figure 10. Homepage Figure 11 shows the login page in order to have security on their profiles. Their student’s Information should be confidential and to avoid from intruders. For newly registered users they have to fill up some important details to fulfill the information that are needed by the school. The information that entered by the users can remain confidential generated by the system administrator. Figure 11. Log in Page Figure 12 shows the Student’s profile wherein they can view their grade record, Class schedule, school activities uploaded by their teachers; they can also submit their assignment. Their health record and status can also view on their profile. This data are manipulated by their P. E. teachers who are in charge in their health maintainability. The student account record can be view by the system. Figure 12. Student Profile Figure 13 shows the teachers’ profile that has the authority to view their student profile. They are also the one who upload schedules, school activities, student grades and class standings. Teachers can also compute their student’s grade on the website and sent it throughout the designated profile. Figure 13. Teacher’s Profile Figure 14 shows the Parent’s portal that have an access to their child’s class standing, grades, schedule, and health record. They can view the school activies of the school of their child. They can also send a message to the system admin. Figure 14. Parent’s Portal Figure 15 shows Rapid Application Development (RAD) whereby, it is use mostly by information systems and website to describe the process of building the system. The first phase is to define the problems of the school that we are using for our study. The developers also identify the possible solutions for the problem and how to help them in the most convenient way of data handling. The second phase is Analyze wherein the developers analyze the software to be use to create the system. The developers will also analyze the flow of the system throughout the operation of the system. The next phase is Design developers will now formulate design for the data flow of the system and also the design of the user interface that the user will view on the proposed system. This will help the users to easily understand and explore the system on the rest of the system operation. Develop is the fourth phase to follow by the developers, here the system’s design, operation and processes are being develop in order to improve the system’s performance. Here the user interface of the system and the functions should be developed to have a more efficient system to be use. It will also identify the possible risk that system will undergo. The next phase is to test the system if it is functional and can be used by the actual users. It will also test the website if it is effective and the other functions are usable. The last phase is support, as the system has been test and has no possible malfunction that has been identified it is now ready for the users to use throughout the net. The maintainability of the system should be operated in order to have a well created system. It will limit the system future risk within the operation. Development Model Figure 15. Rapid Application Development Development Approach The developers are referring to use the top-down approach. In this approach the developers has the overview of the system wherein it focuses on the formulation of the system. Top-down approach breaks down some parts of the system into categories which is essential for the developers. The IS are consisting of different divisions on different function that will be used by the users of the system. Each division should be identified to know the functionalities of each system for the appropriate users. Software Development Tools The developer prefered using open source software tools, since it is more accessible and free than using proprietary softwares. For front end software tools, we use html and css for the website interfaces. For the special website functionalities we use javascript. In order to code these softwares we use a text editor for the entire coding operation of the system. For the backend of the system, we use PHP for website conditions and also functionalities, in order to implement database within the website we use MySql. At first the developers worked offline in order to test the website’s effectivity with the use of XAMPP. For the live implementation of the website, the developers prefer to buy domain name, web host, and the database server. For the users who can access the website faster than using free web hosting sites that might commits problems in accessing the website. The developers also use Filezilla to import the files and links that has been use for the website within the net. Project Teams and their Responsibilities Each team members actively participated in every task all throughout with their own responsibilities in developing a web system. Some specified partitions of project task are as follows: Irish Opena is responsible in designing and development of the project. Angelica Montero is responsible for congregation of information, data and other related facts that would help in the development of the study. Lester Cueva is responsible for organizing group meetings, places, times, dates, communication requirements, etc Budget Cost Management Plan Table 9 shows the expense that has been used for the system. These are suggested to be bought in order to have an easier and accessible website for the user. Domain name is an identification string for the website so that it would be easier to be search by the web. Web host is a web service wherein it helps the website to be accessed by the users. Database server is a computer program that provides database services for the website that allows handling the data within the web. These preferences are bought to make a website implemented throughout the World Wide Web. Table 9 Budget Cost Verification, Validation and Testing Plans The system will test its functionalities with the use of server to test if it is actually works throughout the internet. As this test has been done, it will now evaluated by the faculty, parents and students of Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High school. Questionnaire. Preparation and construction of the questionnaire were done by reviewing concepts related from books, journals, theses and electronic resources. The responses provided by the respondents were given weights of 0 to 5 with 0 as lowest to 5 as highest rate. Corresponding verbal descriptions were also proided in different areas. The following scale was used to interpret and analyse the results: RateVerbal Interpretations 5 Exemplary 4Good 3Satisfactory 2 Needs Improvement 1 Poor 0 Unaacceptable/Absent, N/A A total of (40) respondent evaluated the system having number (5) as the highest possible rating and number (0) as the lowest. The scale used has the corresponding values such as 5 for exemplary, 4 for good, 3 for satisfactory, 2 for needs improvement, 1 for poor and 0 for unacceptable. The total points of the evaluation has corresponding verbal equivalent rating the system’s performace for the user. The respondents in the conducted survey were the faculty and students in Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School (BLMNHS) and parents for they are the target user of the proposed system. In testing the system, the proponents used the content testing which involves checking of the human-interface of the web. In our system we check errors in font types, screen layout, colors, graphic resolutions and other features that may affect the end-user experience. Next is the white- box testing which is said to be very applicable in testing web architecture web. This type of testing is used to find navigational and structural structures in the system. Lastly, testing the end-user environment or the browser compatibility testing web [3] (Glenford J. Myres, Art of Software Testing. Second Edition. John Wiley Sons Inc, New Jersey, 2004). In this part of testing, the proponents focused in configuring the compatibility of the browser, operating system, and the programming language used in the system. Table 10 present’s respondents profile based on gender where in female got the highest frequency of 24 and having a percentage of 56% while male having a percentage of 44% and got the lowest frequency of 16. Table 10 Respondents Profile in terms of Gender Gender Frequency Percentage Male 16 44% Female 24 56% Total 40 100% CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter will discuss the result and analysis of the development and testing of the program in tabulated format. Screenshots of the system are also included in this chapter. Observation 1. The proponents have collected the desirable information from Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School (BLMNHS) which was used in developing the system suited in the need of the said school. The proponents noticed that the school had a problem in their record management method. They manually handled the files and information they have and sometimes they are having hard time in accessing it. Figure 16 shows the homepage of the website. It is divided into 4 major portals, the Student, Parent, Faculty, and Admin. Figure 16. Homepage To solve the problem, the proponents had designed and developed the system that can be used to manage and record the information of the students. Hereby, the developers identify the present student information system used by Bernardo Lirio Memorial National High School in terms of: 1. 1 facilities and resources As the system has been tested and evaluated the developers observed that the facility of staff should be increased in order to better serve the student population. It also decreases the time required to access and deliver student records. 1. 2 technology utilization By means of the new technology, the said institution offers more convenient transactions contrasting in their manual system beforehand. 2. Provide a better service for the students and faculty of BLMNHS with the following features: 2. 1 Submission of grades Submission of grades is more convenient than the manual system of grades. Figure 17 the subject to be graded. The faculty can choose the subject that they would like to upload the grade of their students. As they choose their designated subjects they can now search their students name a

Treatment of the Kurds by Saddam Hussein: History

Treatment of the Kurds by Saddam Hussein: History 1. Background Saddam Hussein was the President of Iraq for nearly a quarter of a century, from 1979 to 2003. The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and deposed Saddam Hussein after defeating his military forces in a bloody and expensive war. The former dictator is currently in captivity and facing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The country is still under the occupation of the USA and its allies and is going through very difficult times, a period of violence, political turmoil and economic deprivation. Iraq has undergone intense political turmoil, debilitating and prolonged wars, economic deprivation and internecine strife for nearly three decades. The country has an overwhelmingly Arabic Muslim population, who belong to two religious sects, the Shias and the Sunnis. In addition to these two groups, the Kurdish people, who are Shias by faith, but not Arabs, inhabit the north of the country. The Kurds have been in constant conflict with Saddam’s Ba’athist government for many years over religious and political issues. There have been numerous allegations of violent and extensive persecution of the Kurds, including the use of chemical weapons and nerve gas, by government forces. Thousands of Kurds have supposedly been killed and buried in mass graves by the army during Saddam Hussein’s regime; the atrocities against Kurds is one of the main crimes against humanity for which he is facing trial. The focus of the dissertation specified to the researcher, as part of academic course requirement, is to investigate and analyse the factors responsible for the treatment of the Kurdish population by the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein. It is a topic of immense social and political significance and a properly thought out and well conducted research assignment might well provide a fresh perspective on the issue and be of help to social scientists and academia. 2. Definition of Research Issues The successful conduct of this research assignment and the preparation of the dissertation will be influenced by a proper appreciation and handling of the different issues needed for carrying out relevant and ethical social research. The topic under investigation is evocative and contemporaneous. It is difficult for involved people and external observers to be impartial and objective about the issue, considering the enormous amount of material generated by media and other observers. Saddam Hussein, after years of dictatorial rule, appears to be a man condemned by popular perception, his statements in court considered to be no more than the ranting of a cornered and beaten megalomaniac. A perusal of recent media reports in the western press show him in the worst possible light and very little appears on the positive sides of his character or his regime. The website â€Å"Saddam Hussein’s Philanthropy of Terror† (2004) and many similar ones refer to him as â€Å"The Butcher of Baghdad†, (Murdock, 2004) among other pejoratives. Saddam Hussein has had an extraordinarily long term as President of Iraq. The western media and the US government, especially during the term of Ronald Reagan, have supported him in his war against Iran after the deposition of the Shah. His conflict with the west commenced with his attack on Kuwait 1990 and ended with his defeat and deposition in 2003. It is of immense importance to thus define the various issues of the research assignment. These will need to deal with the political and religious affiliation of Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athist regime, the religious, political and social differences between the Iraqi regime and the Kurds, the nature of the atrocities carried out on the Kurds and the reasons for these atrocities. The research issues, framed as questions can thus be as detailed below: What were the political and religious affiliations of Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athist Party? What were the religious, social and political differences between the Iraqi regime and the Kurds of Iraq? What was the nature of atrocities carried out by the Iraqi regime on the Kurds? What were the reasons for the carrying out of these atrocities? A specific articulation of the issues will thus enable the researcher to focus on the core issues involved in the dissertation, conduct the investigation and gather evidence accordingly. Social research involved the interaction between ideas and evidence. Ideas help social researchers make sense of evidence, and researchers use evidence to extend, revise and test ideas.(Ragin, 1994) 3. Research Methodology The research methodology to be used for particular assignments depends, to a great deal on the inclination and affinity of the researche for particular techniques available within the broad framework of rules followed for social research assignments. The importance of secondary research is essential for an assignment with such a broad canvas, encompassing, inter alia, social mores, religion and politics, dominant and inferior groups, repression and atrocities. A number of books, texts, journals and magazines on Saddam Hussein, Iraq and the Kurdish issue are available in hard and electronic format, many of which are listed in the bibliography. It will be essential to peruse these texts, in reference with the research issues to arrive at findings generated from information available in secondary sources. The appropriate research methodology for the purpose of this assignment needs to take care of the discussed facts and be tailored accordingly. An article on â€Å"Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Social Research† by Nedra Kline Weinrich, first published in 1996 details a methodology, wherein a balanced and well thought out mix of quantitative and qualitative research techniques could well be the most appropriate methodology for conducting this assignment An examination of the quantitative and qualitative paradigms will help to identify their strengths and weaknesses and how their divergent approaches can complement each other. In most cases, researchers fall into one of the two camps, either relying exclusively upon objective survey questionnaires and statistical analyses and eschewing warm and fuzzy qualitative methods, or using only qualitative methodologies, rejecting the quantitative approach as decontextualizing human behaviour. However, it is widely accepted that each approach has positive attributes and that combining different methods, if handled properly, can result in the best of both techniques. (Weinrich, 1996) Research techniques used for quantitative analysis aim to achieve objective results and eschew subjective interpretation. The respondents are generally selected through random sampling in a statistical manner aimed at achieving a response from the selected sample, which will be representative of the total population. Qualitative research methods are vastly different and concentrate on working with smaller groups known as focus groups. These focus groups are selected with great care but later subjected to intensive questioning and interviewing by trained researchers who are very well versed in qualitative techniques. It is the job of these researchers to ensure that their respondents are able to provide them with subjective and interpretative data, which would have never come out with quantitative techniques. There are however some techniques wherein it is possible to integrate qualitative and quantitative methods in research. In the first approach, qualitative methods contribute to the development of quantitative instruments, such as the use of focus groups in questionnaire construction. The second model consists of a primarily quantitative study that uses qualitative results to help interpret or explain the quantitative findings. In the third approach, quantitative results help interpret predominantly qualitative findings, as when focus group participants are asked to fill out survey questionnaires at the session. In the fourth model, the two methodologies are used equally, in parallel to cross-validate, and build upon each others results. †¦ may operate under one or more of these models; the approaches are not mutually exclusive. (Weinreich, 1996) It is felt that integrating quantitative and qualitative research methods will lend depth and clarity to this research assignment. Using multiple approaches can be time-consuming, labour-intensive and expensive, but also possibly the most productive. In addition to obtaining information from primary sources like official websites and journals, the researcher also proposes to carry out a detailed questionnaire based survey of 20 Iraqis for obtaining primary information on the key issues. The respondents can be sourced with the help of the Iraqi embassy. It is anticipated that there will not be much difficulty in obtaining agreeable respondents once the purpose of the study and the research credentials are clarified. As the sample population is not very large the questionnaires will have to focus on the research issues and on obtaining a qualitative response. This could be done either by framing 20 open ended questions focusing on research issues or by using 20 questions with multiple choice answers. Multiple choice questions will allow respondents to chose their response from a set of answers and be useful in preparing a tabulated response. The researcher is in favour of using a range of leading open ended questions but will have to use excellent interviewing skills, either personal or outsourced to get authentic responses. The code of ethics will be followed strictly both during the framing of the questionnaire and the conduct of the interviews. The right of the respondents to privacy and confidentiality will be strictly observed as well as their wish to answer questions. The findings of the primary research and the findings obtained from a study of the secondary literature will need to be matched and cross tallied for support or contradiction to arrive at logical supported findings and thence to conclusions. 4. Limitations of Study A number of constraints could arise during the course of the dissertation that could in some ways affect its final quality. The researcher has already started reading the data available from secondary sources and does not anticipate any problems to arise from unavailability of secondary data. However the possibility of missing out on some important information due to lack of time or knowledge does exist. The researcher proposes to interview 20 people to obtain responses on issues relevant to the matter under investigation. This is still a grey area as no respondents have been finalised yet but the researcher does not anticipate much difficulty in obtaining these responses. The subject proposed for investigation has multiple has multiple perspectives, evidenced by the large number of theories. The study will require time and perspicacity for a proper and acceptable result. The researcher proposes to make sincere efforts to examine the issue from different perspectives. The availability of more time would have possibly thrown up more data and a larger primary information sample leading to more accurate data for analysis and solutions. Bibliography Crano, W. D., Brewer, M. B. 2002. Principles and Methods of Social Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Kazemzadeh, M. 1998. Thinking the Unthinkable: Solving the Problem of Saddam Hussein for Good. Middle East Policy, 1(1), 73-86. Kelsay, J. 1993. Islam and War: A Study in Comparative Ethics (1st ed.). Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=26085894 Murdock, D, 2004, â€Å"Saddam Hussein’s Philanthropy of Terror† Retrieved October 23, 2006 from www.husseinandterror.com Palys, T., Lowman, J. 2001. Social Research with Eyes Wide Shut: The Limited Confidentiality Dilemma. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 43(2), 255. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5001041487 Ragin, C, 1994, Constructing Social Research, Pine Forge Pr, ISBN: 0803990219 Rezun, M. 1992. Saddam Husseins Gulf Wars: Ambivalent Stakes in the Middle East. Westport, CT: Praeger. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=107022508 Simons, G. 1996. Iraq From Sumer to Saddam (Second ed.). Basingstoke: Macmillan. Retrieved October 25, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=97576434 Zinger, I., Wichmann, C., Gendreau, P. 2001. Legal and Ethical Obligations in Social Research: The Limited Confidentiality Requirement. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 43(2), 269. Weinrich, N.K., 1996 Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Social Marketing Research, Social-Marketing.com, Retrieved October 21, 2006 from www.social-marketing.com/research.html

Depression and suicide attempt

Depression and suicide attempt Suicide is the most destructive behavior of human. There are many risk factors that make people commit suicide. Some are biological that genetic and neurotransmitters may play a role in risk for suicide. Some are clinical that mental disorders, particularly mood disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and certain personality disorders contribute to suicidal behaviors. Some are psychosocial that lack of social support and sense of isolation also increase the risk of suicide (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, n.d.). These factors are important to understand why people have suicidal behaviors. For example, the suicides in Hong Kong can be explained by clinical and psychosocial factors which range from psychiatric illness and a history of past suicide attempt to unemployment and the absence of social support (Shuiyuan et al., 2006). Among different risk factors, major depression is a significant one that it is both the strongest risk factors for attempted suicide in adults and yout hs. People suffered from depression are at a greater potential to attempt suicide. Lets define depression for the purposes of subsequent discussion. It is the most common mental disorder. Clinical depression is generally acknowledged to be more serious than just sadness or normal depressed feelings. It is characterized by a severely depressed mood that persists at least two weeks, with at least five defining features (Robert, James Susan, 1996). For example, people with depression may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, etc. The depressed mood often leads to constant negative thinking and sometimes substance abuse. Extreme depression can culminate in its sufferers attempting or recurrent thoughts of death and committing suicide. The increased risk of suicide by depression is caused by its association with suicidal ideation. This depression-suicidal ideation link has been documented in research studies conducted with Asian adolescents. In a study of Korean high school students (Rebecca Vivien, 2006), depression was found to be the strongest and most consistent predictor of suicidal behaviors. Students who had high scores on depression were 5.31 times more likely to report suicidal ideas and 3.19 times more likely to attempt suicide, as compared to those with low scores. It shows that depressed people have a higher chance to think about suicide whether or not they intend to act on these thoughts. The risky people to commit suicide, however, are not those who are severely depressed because they often do not have the energy to harm themselves. It is when their depression lifts and they gain increased energy that they may be more likely to attempt suicide. Nevertheless, the link between depression and suicide attempt is not solely a direct causal relationship, but in fact, it is a complication of depressive illness in combination with other risk factors to trigger the suicide attempt. To begin with, stressful life events combined with depression may lead to suicide. Those stressful events often precede a suicide attempt. They may include death of a relative, breakup, loss of a job, etc. They are rarely a sufficient cause of suicide, but they often act as precipitating factors in young people (PreventionLane, .n.d.). On the other hand, sociodemographic factors are often associated with depression. The combination of them brings about suicide attempt. For example, females are strongly associated with depression that they are more predisposed to depression compared to males. Females are also strongly related to suicide attempt that they are more likely to attempt suicide than males that there are three female attempts for each male attempt (Chris, 2010). Intriguingly, it shows that gender, as a sociodemographic factor, has influences on depression and suicide attempt as well. In other words, it is the antecedent that triggers the happening of depression and suicide attempt. The effect of gender on depression and suicide attempt may stem from gender stereotypes and identity roles (Christina, 2004). There are different social expectations for males and females that females are encouraged to express their feelings while males are not, hence increase the chances of depression being triggered by social factors, such as loss of friends. So females are more likely to suffer from depression, which in turn, lead to subsequent suicide attempt. Besides gender, age also has a significant relationship with depression and suicide attempt. People in two age groups are more vulnerable to depression and suicide attempt which are adolescent and elderly respectively. Their risks of suicide are very high, especially the adolescent. Suicide of adolescent has become a global issue that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, in both developed and developing countries (World Health Organization, n.d.). While in Hong Kong, the trend of adolescent suicide is on the rise in recent years with an average annual growth of 10%, while the first 8 months in 2010, youth suicide figures have been comparable with the 2009 full year figures. So far this year, there were 26 young people under 25 years old committed suicide cases and 30 cases of suicide attempt were rescued (The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong, 2010). For the suicide attempt of adolescents, depression is the major risk factor. There are a couple of reasons why adolescents develop depression. It can be family problem because they dont have a good relationship with the parents. It may be a reaction to a disturbing event, such as a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend or failure at school. There is also a personality predisposition to depression. Adolescents who have low self-esteem and feel little sense of control over negative events are particularly at risk to become depressed when they experience stressful events. There are some more sociodemographic characteristics that are potential risk factors for depression and suicidal attempt, such as marital status, sexual orientation and employment status. Divorced people, homosexuals and unemployed people are both found to be strongly linked to depression and suicide. These factors, combined with gender and age are crucial to understand the problem of suicide deeply and find out the kind of people who are vulnerable to suicide attempt From another perspective, comorbid disorders in depression are also associated with suicide attempt. In one study investigating comorbid disorder in depression (James et al., 2010), specific comorbid anxiety, personality, and substance use disorders are found to be strongly associated with suicide attempt. For anxiety disorder, it is panic disorder comorbidity in depression to have a threefold increase of suicide attempt when compared to depression without panic disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder is another comorbidity that associated with suicide attempt. Moreover, personality disorder comorbidity in depression also highlights the risk of suicide attempt. Borderline avoidant, paranoid, and schizoid personality disorders comorbid with depression are all associated with higher rates of suicide attempt. Especially borderline personality disorder, it increased the odds of suicide attempt by seven times. Among the comorbid disorders in depression, substance use disorders are worthy for further discussion because it is the most common comorbidity in depression. People turn to drugs to help them feel better when they feel depressed and overwhelmed with life. It is a way of self-medicating which can lead to substance abuse. The chemical balance in the brain of the people will be affected by substance abuse, intensifying feelings of depression and sadness (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. n.d.). It will wind up as a vicious circle that substance abuse leads to increasingly severe depression. The depressed mood contributes to suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempt. Therefore, substance abuse disorder comorbidity in depression is indeed a high risk factor for suicide attempt. After depressed people resort to substance abuse, their odds of suicide attempt will increase over time because they will become more depressed. Last but not the least, a history of past suicidal ideation and previous suicide attempts are also strong risk factors for suicide attempts. They are one of the most consistently identified risk factors for future suicide attempts in depression (Sokero et al., 2005). A male attempted suicide in the past is more than thirty times more likely to complete suicide, while a female with a past attempt has about three times the risk (PreventionLane, .n.d.). The combination of depression and other risk factors contribute to suicide attempt. Some sociodemographic factors such as gender and age is significant in the development of depression, which in turn, prompt the onset of suicide attempt. Comorbid disorders in depression also increases the risk of suicide attempt. These factors will be helpful to identify the people who are at risk of suicide attempt and more importantly, provide an insight of specific measures of suicide prevention and intervention for the depressed people in the long term.