Case 1 paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Case 1 paper - Essay Example From the data in Tables A, B, C, E, F, and I, sufficient information was obtained to forecast revenue and cost for the business and for the Coors wholesale business being contemplated. Analysis of the initial customer, the industry demand, projections in market share, investments and costs, including a break-even analysis were conducted. The study concludes that Larry should take the opportunity to apply for the contract, and should not spend more than about $6,800 in availing of information from Manson. The principal problem which this analysis addresses is whether or not Larry Brownlow should apply for the Coors wholesale distributorship for a two-county area in Southern Delaware. The determining criteria for this is will be the fixed and variable cost study and the break-even analysis at the end of discussion, but also considered are the targeted customers, industry demand, market share, investments, and costs incurred. The secondary problem is to determine which research would be source from Manson and Associates to support a decision for the market potential of a Coors beer wholesale distributorship, but at the same time minimize the cost of acquiring this information. The industry demand is arrived at through the per capita approach and the taxes paid approach. The per capita approach involves the calculation of overall consumption in the industry, based on the historical data on the consumption per person and the growth of the target segment of the population that consumes the product. In Table 1 below are shown the US and Delaware per capita (i.e. per head or per person) consumption, while Table 2 shows the growth of the population in the two counties which comprise the market area. By multiplying the rate of consumption per person in Table 1 with the corresponding number of persons estimated in Table 2, then the result (in Table 3) is the estimated total consumption in units. This describes the total industry demand for the

Newspaper Synopsis Architect System

Newspaper Synopsis Architect System B. Brief description on project background. (.i.e. problem context, rationale, description of problem area, nature of challenge) Newspaper plays a major role in shaping public opinion during any incident. Newspaper provides information on politics, economics, art, culture and entertainment and in the current panorama of the media every newspaper organization is representing all significant news with a Graphical Synopsis, as it increase the readership of the newspaper organization and for doing so every time newspaper organization has to contact the graphical designer and they take a huge amount of money for creating the synopsis which bounds the newspaper organization and ultimately it results in the waste of resources for the newspaper organization. Moreover, Newspaper design is well known as a key factor in readership. Every article in the newspaper must be properly expressed and placed to give reader the joy of logical comprehension. The current era bursting with superior newspaper organizations facing each other and also with the potential readers with broad mind and great thoughts giving challenge to thos e organizations through their hunger to gain knowledge with demanding good presentation of the information. The presentation of the newspaper is very artistic job as it can burn up the minds of the crowd. The job in the current scenario is very complicated and essential. The designing procedure of any news paper is very hectic and time consuming job. Right from deciding the content of each page to the printing there is a huge labor and man power involved. The persons involved in designing procedure need to be taken care as they have a lot load and decisions to make about many things before publishing the news. The problem context above requires an integrated tool which can help the newspaper organization in generatin Graphical Scenes without including the graphical designers by utilizing resources inside the organization which will save there time and money. The tool will help in many ways and could turn out to be a revelation for the organizations and also for the employees. This is the core Information Technology task to transform the complicated work in to a simpler job and for pursuing this task I am proposing the newspaper designing tool Newspaper Synopsis Architect System. The tool is a complete package to assist newspaper designers in efficiently performing their job. Rationale: Because of the existence of the identified problems, there is a serious need for creating such a tool. BasicallyNewspaper Synopsis Architect System will be having two major modules. First one will be Synopsis Architect System which has library that will contain already designed graphics/scenarios based upon the crime which can be edited by the designer person such as a terrorist attack, a murder, a bank robbery, bomb blast, any type of serious accidents, etc. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System will be used to create graphical scenarios for such incidents. Moreover, there will be tools available like color picker, color fill, different shapes, adding text, adding picture, adding lines etc. that will help the person to edit and design the crime scenario/cartoons etc The second module of the system is Newspaper Architect System which will assemble the news and articles and help the news paper designers to generate the prototype ready to publish. The software would generate the prototype of the news paper and any computer literate can use the software to just fill in the news by browsing the contents. The designer can fill in the details as per the appropriate sections available within the software such as the front page, editorial page, sports page etc. The designer would also have the option to set priority to the news i.e. what will be the main headlines, which news is not of much importance etc. All the sections of the prototype will be editable providing the designer with the option of changing the priority and position of a particular headline anytime he/she wants thus making the software very flexible to use. The prototype generated will also have the option to include various advertisements. The positioning of the advertisement would be done by the tool itself based on the size and the news associated with it. There will also be an option to edit the visibility of the advertisement i.e. which advertisement must be highly visible so as to be placed as a header etc. The most distinct feature of the tool would be the use of templates. There will be ready made templates available within the software for special occasions like Hariraya, Diwali, Christmas, and Chinese New Year etc. The user will just have to choose a template from a list, fill in the details and the paper would be generated. The benefits gained from this project are: Tangible benefits: Newspaper organization will be able to create scenarios for all kind of incidents without any extra efforts. Role of the graphical designer becomes almost zero as anyone from the organization after a short training can use the tool and can create the scene very easily. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System Saves the resources of the organization in terms of time and money and effective use of the resources present in the organization It is a packaged integrated tool which can do the task of many different tools. The designer can also edit the previously saved scenarios and can save the scenario in various file formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc. This tool offers flexibility and extendibility- user build the scenario by selecting those templates that are relevant to their disciplines. The newspaper organizations would have the opportunity to generate the user acceptable designs to represent the news without wasting much resources and efforts. The placement of the news articles can be decided very easily as a simulated blank newspaper will be present for developing the design. The tool going to be developed will be very flexible, it will allow users to make the changes in the final design; users can add some important news by deleting or shifting some non essential news etc. The generated designs can be uploaded on the server to circulate among the organizations different departments and also on the website to launch an E-paper which exactly simulates the original newspaper for the internet readers and ultimately increasing the number of readers. The proposed system would be a tool to assist the design editors and subordinates to make their job simpler and effective and ultimately increasing the level of output for the organization. Provide templates that incorporate effective instructional strategies. Intangible benefits: The newspaper organizations using the tool obviously on better edge as compare to their competitors still doing the manual labor. The designs can be made one day advance and organizations can check out the feedback prior to publishing. Description of Problem Area: The major problems Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is going to address are: Newspaper provide information on politics, economics, art, culture and entertainment with a pictorial representation but in some cases it is not possible for them to arrange original photographs for some incidents which occurs at very remote places or the incident such as a terrorist attack, a murder, a bank robbery, bomb blast, any type of serious accidents, etc. Generally newspaper organization hires graphic designers for creating the graphical scenario which is the only choice for the newspaper persons for making the graphical scenario. The graphic designers take huge amount for creating the graphical scenario and also consume much time for creating a single scenario as they use different multimedia tools. For creating a single scene different tools are required such as for making the graphics CorelDraw is used then for giving effects in that graphics and producing backgrounds Photoshop is used. Previously created scenario cannot be reused as it cannot be edited. The Newspaper Synopsis Architect System will be the tool for making the newspapers; thus it needs to be full with all possible article designs (article templates). The Newspaper Synopsis Architect System will need to be complete in itself thus it need a very thorough understanding of the procedure of the news paper publication and also a good technical knowledge. To maintain the flexibility of the system it needs a proper guidance as news publication job and paper designing job is not much known to a non media person. The need is to create a suitable structure comprising of the appropriate components for making a good system. The framework is crucial as it could be used for different publications and brands as per the respective environments. The establishment of the framework will require in-depth understanding of some of the theories or concepts manifested in some technologies. For example theories of providing template require technologies such as CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) and its associated algorithms are essential to ensure highly reliable software. The current process of creating the scenarios is not so flexible. Target Audiences User is one of the main concerns on how and why a system is been developed, for this current system, the target users have been categorized into two types: The software is mainly focusing on the organization engaged in printing and publishing the news paper. It can also be used by organizations publishing monthly or yearly newsletters. Moreover it is introduced for the newspaper media persons for creating graphical synopsis for different types of incidents and also for creating cartoons required in there newspaper or magazines. On the other hand, the tool could also be used by general computer user for creating the scenario of any type of incident. Nature of challenge Newspaper Synopsis Architect System has challenges in all sorts of categories. The primary challenge is to propose an integrated system for creating Graphical scenarios for various incidents. Since the tool is the very first of its type, so making it very user friendly, interactive and attractive is also one of the challenges. The next developmental challenge is creating a major generalized library that will contain many types of graphics that will be suitable for creating graphical scenarios for any kind of incident. Giving various editable options to the graphics and representing the graphics in such a way that it will give the realistic view of the incident is another challenge. The challenge is to prove Individual templates for different type of typical scenario and for generating prototype, allowing the user to easily incorporate a variety of multimedia elements such as graphics, interactive questions, etc. The next challenge in building this system is to replace the conventional designing procedure which will employ better technologies to improve on the features of existing system of news paper designing. Providing a better system for complete prototyping before publishing, thorough research is needed. The challenge is to make an efficient algorithm for better utilization of the space available. Since the domain of the project is very new to me as all the procedures inside the newspaper organization is considered confidential and I need to learn about it before starting or even thinking about the technical aspects. C. Brief description of project objectives. (i.e. scope of proposal and deliverables) Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is a newspaper designing and content management tool and it is ought to wrap the trouble areas that I have opened in the preceding section. The system is being shaped to offer the newspaper producers with the glowing layout and integrated information so as to permit them to obtain proper output. Moreover the system can help in increasing the qualities of the product for the graphical designer, newspaper manufacturers and ultimately get the organization benefited. At the end of the project the deliverables are: Soft cover documentation of the system Hard cover documentation of the system A prototype of the system application on CD The Core Main Functionality of the system The main objective is to make full use of the resources and tools available, in order to come up with All-in-one scenario creator tool that meets the user or clients requirements and which is user friendly, interactive and attractive and gives graphical representations of information or Knowledge. To develop graphing software which represents the information in the form of lines, boxes, arrows, and various symbols and representing a concept, objects, activity, place or event by illustration. Tool that allows the user to create graphical synopsis which are used anywhere where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly, such as signs, maps, journalism and education and also used to show graphical scenario of the weather, as well as maps and site plans for newsworthy events, and graphs for statistical data. Individual templates need to be designed for different type of typical scenario and the template that allow the user to easily incorporate a variety of multimedia elements such as graphics, interactive questions, etc. the user would select the templates that apply to their discipline or particular case, and use them as building blocks to create an entire scenario. Instructional guidelines on how to develop the scenarios using the input tool and templates. The core idea is to build completely utilization of the assets and tools accessible, in order to approach a complete newspaper designing tool that assembles the user or clients necessities and also supplies a user friendly, interactive and attractive representation of information or Knowledge. To develop designing software that characterizes the information in the form which readers actually require. To make a software gadget that permits the newspaper designers to generate newspaper prototype ready to publish and also increasing the quality of journalism and education. Individual templates need to be designed for different type of news articles and the template that allow the client to effortlessly incorporate a variety of elements such as providing coloring, interactive data representation feature, etc. the designers just need to pick the templates that pertain to their discipline or choice, and use them as building blocks to create an entire prototype for the newspaper. To guide the designers on how to develop the newspaper prototype using the input tool, templates with applying the experts knowledge. Core functionalities included in the Newspaper Synopsis Architect System: Synopsis Architect System: Templates: This part of the system includes various types of Individual templates with different categories for creating different type of typical scenario and also include sample scenario of each category. Template Categories:- Crime Scenarios Terrorist attack Murders Bank robbery Bomb blast Hijack Accidents Entertainment Comics General Scenarios 3. Inbuilt library:- This part of the system includes a library that contains collection of stencils and different stencils include various graphics related to the incidents that generally occur in our day to day life. 4. Search Shapes: Search option provides powerful search capabilities to locate the right shape, located in the library. 5. Graphic Editing: User can edit the graphics as per his or her requirements with the editing options such as rotation handles for rotating the graphics, Selection handles for resizing graphics(can be resize to any extent), etc. 6. Add text to graphics: Although some drawings make a point all by themselves, its often helpful and sometimes necessary to add text to the shapes. Text can be added and related to the shapes easily. Newspaper Architect System: 7. Article Templates: This part of the system comprises a range of category in arranging articles of the news with particular template providing sample of each type. Example Article Template Categories:- Single column news with space for graphics space for picture Multiple column news with space for graphics space for picture space at left space at centre etc News with special watermarks 8. Toolbox: It will Includes various design generation tools like tables, color picker, different geometrical shapes, etc. that makes easy to design the newspaper that fulfills the user presentation and documents. 9. Image Generation: the prototype of the newspaper that will be designed by the designers will be saved as image format. FAQ and Help A long list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding the tool will be available for the both major module. A help file system is also included in case the user has problems using the system. Enhanced functions- Additional Features Synopsis Architect System: Making own library: User has the option to create their own library and can save the graphics created by them in the library and can also import images from outside into their library and can use the images while creating the scenario. File formats: Allows saving the scenario in different file formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc. Grid size and ruler measurements: Scale measurement is provided for scenario the scenario creation. Privacy: The system will provide a privacy option where the user can secure the scenario created by him/her, so that no other person can edit the scenario without the permission of the scenario creator owner. Sample Scenarios: Provides sample scenarios that are integrated with data to get ideas for creating your own scenarios, to realize how data provides more context for many diagram types, and to determine which template the user want to use. Sample video clips: User will be provided with sample video clips of how to design a scenario so that it becomes simpler for first time user for creating a scenario. Newspaper Architect System: The Tool would be a completely generalized one where all the functionalities will be according to the needs and environment of the organizations. Inbuilt library of Prototypes: This part of the system includes a library that contains collection of different generalized prototypes for the newspaper includes a variety of sample news articles placed at appropriate place. Special Features-Advanced Features: Synopsis Architect System: Toolbox Module: Includes various drawing tools like pencil, color picker, color fill, different shapes, etc. that makes easy to design new graphics that match the user presentation and documents. Email: Provides the facility of emailing the scenario directly. Customizability The system will enable a certain level of customizability, for example, while writing the text in the scenario, user can choose English (Malay alphabets included), Chinese, Tamil and Hindi as per requirement. Newspaper Architect System: The Newspaper Architect System would offer for the backup of the server data so that the collated data can be used in future and also this would help in building tenable software. The companies can amalgamate their own prototype of the newspaper from the available options and can save it for regular use. The designers would be able to upload the common pages of the generated prototype of the newspaper on the web server so as it can be distributed to the different branches of the news publications easily. It will be very flexible system as it provides the option to edit the generated prototypes and customize as per the need. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is thought to be a generalized software tool and to permit maximum customization of the features according to the needs of the newspaper organizations need is the main objective of the system. Limitations of the scope: For this Synopsis Architect System tool, parameters are set to limit the scope of the project only for the solutions and functions mentioned above, in other words, functions which are not listed above will not be implemented or included in the system, it is to be reminded that these possible features or functions will also not be included in the system as well: System is not platform independent, as I am choosing .Net as the programming language for my system so it can be run only on the system with windows as the operating system. Newspaper Architect System is a newspaper designing tool and the libraries of templates I will create not necessarily considered to be complete as the articles of the newspaper are very much dynamic in nature. Newspaper Architect System is just a designing assistance tool and it wont be able to create the prototypes dynamically; it needs someone to use it and integrate his human knowledge with its theory based principles of designing. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is thought to be a software system of its own and when the tool would be used by the organizations there would be no means to assimilate the system with any other system being utilized by the organization. Though, the newspapers organizations can have their own software or system to use the composed designs for other applications. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System wont supply for this requirement. Other learning objectives: Synopsis Architect System is the very first of its type, so by doing this project I will have to research for various other graphic designing related domains and doing this would be a benefit for me in the future. Till now I was just using the various designing tools but now my task is to develop a tool that should be user friendly, interactive and attractive and that will be a great opportunity and a good learning experience for me. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System encompasses a distinctive sphere i.e. News Presentation and Publication; by doing this project I will have to explore for this sphere and this would supply me a prospect to discover and investigate the Publication Medias news representation policies and this would be an advantage for me in the future. Developing library based systems is not new to me but bearing in mind the generalization need of the system, I will have an occasion to discover the issues permitting me to explore the potential of this area. The tool being projected is to have a bunch of features of a variety of classes such as templates and various color schemes, default prototypes and so on. To incorporate these features together into a system is going to be a good learning experience. I believe that this project could be built with the .net framework and to learn and tap the vast prospective of this expertise would compose me more rationalized and resourceful professional. D. Brief description of the resources needed by the proposal.(i.e. hardware, software, access to information / expertise, user involvement etc.) Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is being anticipated as a Library based system and in addition its domain is practically distinctive and dissimilar for a computer science student and thus I would require a lot of study and understand the domain. For the development of this tool I will need to meet people from a variety of backgrounds and fields. The planned system is paying attention on the implementation of IT to reduce the job complexity of the printing media and thus I require to have a comprehensible perceptive of both the fields. In order to understand the graphical designing, printing policies and principles of the media, I am planning to interrogate the news editors and designers. These interviews would be paying attention at discovering how IT can be used to assist the experienced design editors talent and moreover how can I reduce the complexity with enumerating the job efficiency with accuracy and precision. To recognize the potential and the expectations of the educational institute from the proposed system, I am planning to interview some of the students and lecturers involved in publication of the college news letter. I would like to discover suitable information via the data gathering techniques such as questionnaire and Interview. Hardware Requirements: Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 2 or later or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (or higher) required 500 megahertz (MHz) processor or higher 512 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher CD-ROM: 52X CD-Rewritable drive DVD-ROM: 8X DVD drive Minimum 800600; 1024768 monitor resolution or higher recommended Keyboard and Mouse Software Requirements: In order to carry out the development of this project, many software are needed, these include Microsoft Windows XP, which shall be the operating system for the project to be developed; authoring tools such as Adobe Photoshop, visual studio.net 2005 and Macromedia Flash will also be needed in order to come up with the interactive user interface and objects. List of software required for the project: Net framework visual studio.net 2005 crystal reports(built in with visual studio.net 2005) CSS(Cascading Style Sheet) OS-Microsoft Windows XP professional. Microsoft Expression studio. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Macromedia Flash 8.0 Corel Draw 11 Access to Information and Expertise Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is the very first of its type, so for developing it I need to do a lot of research. In order to gather the sufficient and necessary information prior to the project, some resources will be needed, these resources may be people from different backgrounds, or reference books. In terms of gathering information from people and expertise of that particular area, face to face interviews and questionnaires are both sufficient methods. Because of that, certain people to be interviewed are: Lecturers Lecturers obtain deeper understanding towards specific technical areas in terms of computing or design, interviewing specific lecturers who specialize in specific areas can be beneficial to the project. Media persons: Since the project is mainly developed for the newspaper persons, so a face to face interview with the newspaper persons who are concern with the graphic designing and printing publication in the organization would also provide me a better insight of the of the requirements for this tool and also gather more detailed information. User Involvement User involvement is the key concept in the development of useful and usable systems and has positive effects on system success and user satisfaction. To reduce the software project failure user involvement is must. The users involved are also the one that test the system, and gives evaluations. Following are the users involved: Supervisor Media persons Graphic designers Printing Publication persons Lecturers Friends or Course mates The other information or the data sets required: The industry principles are to be identified in advance to build up the application according to the standards for the designing of the newspaper. But I am not up to snuff to do so the application would fail in various environments which are definitely disagreeable. The different cyber regulations and commitments are to be recognized as the system has to deal with the newspaper presentation for the crowd so a dignity should be maintained. For the organizations whose staff I would interrogate, I would oblige their current designing techniques and formula and I may and may not use them for my project. E. Academic research being carried out and other information, techniques being learnt.(i.e. what are the names of books you are going to read / data sets you are going to use) In concerning about Newspaper Synopsis Architect System, research is much important for the system and thorough the research is, more are the probability of development of a practical and satisfactory application. The project has diversity of supplies and I would need support on various topics and from all kinds of the resources. I have to comprehend and discover the newspaper designing policies for enhanced understanding of the project. I necessitate gaining knowledge of the project management and software engineering techniques for supervision and construction the project in a accurate and corrective manner. I too have to discover the concepts and principles of the engineering. After having established what I need to know by defining the scope of what I need to find out and my research plan by determining how I can get the information, I must conduct my research now. Academic Research: The project requires a good understanding of the graphics designing and generating prototyping as the system contains an inbuilt library which will be th Newspaper Synopsis Architect System Newspaper Synopsis Architect System B. Brief description on project background. (.i.e. problem context, rationale, description of problem area, nature of challenge) Newspaper plays a major role in shaping public opinion during any incident. Newspaper provides information on politics, economics, art, culture and entertainment and in the current panorama of the media every newspaper organization is representing all significant news with a Graphical Synopsis, as it increase the readership of the newspaper organization and for doing so every time newspaper organization has to contact the graphical designer and they take a huge amount of money for creating the synopsis which bounds the newspaper organization and ultimately it results in the waste of resources for the newspaper organization. Moreover, Newspaper design is well known as a key factor in readership. Every article in the newspaper must be properly expressed and placed to give reader the joy of logical comprehension. The current era bursting with superior newspaper organizations facing each other and also with the potential readers with broad mind and great thoughts giving challenge to thos e organizations through their hunger to gain knowledge with demanding good presentation of the information. The presentation of the newspaper is very artistic job as it can burn up the minds of the crowd. The job in the current scenario is very complicated and essential. The designing procedure of any news paper is very hectic and time consuming job. Right from deciding the content of each page to the printing there is a huge labor and man power involved. The persons involved in designing procedure need to be taken care as they have a lot load and decisions to make about many things before publishing the news. The problem context above requires an integrated tool which can help the newspaper organization in generatin Graphical Scenes without including the graphical designers by utilizing resources inside the organization which will save there time and money. The tool will help in many ways and could turn out to be a revelation for the organizations and also for the employees. This is the core Information Technology task to transform the complicated work in to a simpler job and for pursuing this task I am proposing the newspaper designing tool Newspaper Synopsis Architect System. The tool is a complete package to assist newspaper designers in efficiently performing their job. Rationale: Because of the existence of the identified problems, there is a serious need for creating such a tool. BasicallyNewspaper Synopsis Architect System will be having two major modules. First one will be Synopsis Architect System which has library that will contain already designed graphics/scenarios based upon the crime which can be edited by the designer person such as a terrorist attack, a murder, a bank robbery, bomb blast, any type of serious accidents, etc. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System will be used to create graphical scenarios for such incidents. Moreover, there will be tools available like color picker, color fill, different shapes, adding text, adding picture, adding lines etc. that will help the person to edit and design the crime scenario/cartoons etc The second module of the system is Newspaper Architect System which will assemble the news and articles and help the news paper designers to generate the prototype ready to publish. The software would generate the prototype of the news paper and any computer literate can use the software to just fill in the news by browsing the contents. The designer can fill in the details as per the appropriate sections available within the software such as the front page, editorial page, sports page etc. The designer would also have the option to set priority to the news i.e. what will be the main headlines, which news is not of much importance etc. All the sections of the prototype will be editable providing the designer with the option of changing the priority and position of a particular headline anytime he/she wants thus making the software very flexible to use. The prototype generated will also have the option to include various advertisements. The positioning of the advertisement would be done by the tool itself based on the size and the news associated with it. There will also be an option to edit the visibility of the advertisement i.e. which advertisement must be highly visible so as to be placed as a header etc. The most distinct feature of the tool would be the use of templates. There will be ready made templates available within the software for special occasions like Hariraya, Diwali, Christmas, and Chinese New Year etc. The user will just have to choose a template from a list, fill in the details and the paper would be generated. The benefits gained from this project are: Tangible benefits: Newspaper organization will be able to create scenarios for all kind of incidents without any extra efforts. Role of the graphical designer becomes almost zero as anyone from the organization after a short training can use the tool and can create the scene very easily. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System Saves the resources of the organization in terms of time and money and effective use of the resources present in the organization It is a packaged integrated tool which can do the task of many different tools. The designer can also edit the previously saved scenarios and can save the scenario in various file formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc. This tool offers flexibility and extendibility- user build the scenario by selecting those templates that are relevant to their disciplines. The newspaper organizations would have the opportunity to generate the user acceptable designs to represent the news without wasting much resources and efforts. The placement of the news articles can be decided very easily as a simulated blank newspaper will be present for developing the design. The tool going to be developed will be very flexible, it will allow users to make the changes in the final design; users can add some important news by deleting or shifting some non essential news etc. The generated designs can be uploaded on the server to circulate among the organizations different departments and also on the website to launch an E-paper which exactly simulates the original newspaper for the internet readers and ultimately increasing the number of readers. The proposed system would be a tool to assist the design editors and subordinates to make their job simpler and effective and ultimately increasing the level of output for the organization. Provide templates that incorporate effective instructional strategies. Intangible benefits: The newspaper organizations using the tool obviously on better edge as compare to their competitors still doing the manual labor. The designs can be made one day advance and organizations can check out the feedback prior to publishing. Description of Problem Area: The major problems Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is going to address are: Newspaper provide information on politics, economics, art, culture and entertainment with a pictorial representation but in some cases it is not possible for them to arrange original photographs for some incidents which occurs at very remote places or the incident such as a terrorist attack, a murder, a bank robbery, bomb blast, any type of serious accidents, etc. Generally newspaper organization hires graphic designers for creating the graphical scenario which is the only choice for the newspaper persons for making the graphical scenario. The graphic designers take huge amount for creating the graphical scenario and also consume much time for creating a single scenario as they use different multimedia tools. For creating a single scene different tools are required such as for making the graphics CorelDraw is used then for giving effects in that graphics and producing backgrounds Photoshop is used. Previously created scenario cannot be reused as it cannot be edited. The Newspaper Synopsis Architect System will be the tool for making the newspapers; thus it needs to be full with all possible article designs (article templates). The Newspaper Synopsis Architect System will need to be complete in itself thus it need a very thorough understanding of the procedure of the news paper publication and also a good technical knowledge. To maintain the flexibility of the system it needs a proper guidance as news publication job and paper designing job is not much known to a non media person. The need is to create a suitable structure comprising of the appropriate components for making a good system. The framework is crucial as it could be used for different publications and brands as per the respective environments. The establishment of the framework will require in-depth understanding of some of the theories or concepts manifested in some technologies. For example theories of providing template require technologies such as CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) and its associated algorithms are essential to ensure highly reliable software. The current process of creating the scenarios is not so flexible. Target Audiences User is one of the main concerns on how and why a system is been developed, for this current system, the target users have been categorized into two types: The software is mainly focusing on the organization engaged in printing and publishing the news paper. It can also be used by organizations publishing monthly or yearly newsletters. Moreover it is introduced for the newspaper media persons for creating graphical synopsis for different types of incidents and also for creating cartoons required in there newspaper or magazines. On the other hand, the tool could also be used by general computer user for creating the scenario of any type of incident. Nature of challenge Newspaper Synopsis Architect System has challenges in all sorts of categories. The primary challenge is to propose an integrated system for creating Graphical scenarios for various incidents. Since the tool is the very first of its type, so making it very user friendly, interactive and attractive is also one of the challenges. The next developmental challenge is creating a major generalized library that will contain many types of graphics that will be suitable for creating graphical scenarios for any kind of incident. Giving various editable options to the graphics and representing the graphics in such a way that it will give the realistic view of the incident is another challenge. The challenge is to prove Individual templates for different type of typical scenario and for generating prototype, allowing the user to easily incorporate a variety of multimedia elements such as graphics, interactive questions, etc. The next challenge in building this system is to replace the conventional designing procedure which will employ better technologies to improve on the features of existing system of news paper designing. Providing a better system for complete prototyping before publishing, thorough research is needed. The challenge is to make an efficient algorithm for better utilization of the space available. Since the domain of the project is very new to me as all the procedures inside the newspaper organization is considered confidential and I need to learn about it before starting or even thinking about the technical aspects. C. Brief description of project objectives. (i.e. scope of proposal and deliverables) Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is a newspaper designing and content management tool and it is ought to wrap the trouble areas that I have opened in the preceding section. The system is being shaped to offer the newspaper producers with the glowing layout and integrated information so as to permit them to obtain proper output. Moreover the system can help in increasing the qualities of the product for the graphical designer, newspaper manufacturers and ultimately get the organization benefited. At the end of the project the deliverables are: Soft cover documentation of the system Hard cover documentation of the system A prototype of the system application on CD The Core Main Functionality of the system The main objective is to make full use of the resources and tools available, in order to come up with All-in-one scenario creator tool that meets the user or clients requirements and which is user friendly, interactive and attractive and gives graphical representations of information or Knowledge. To develop graphing software which represents the information in the form of lines, boxes, arrows, and various symbols and representing a concept, objects, activity, place or event by illustration. Tool that allows the user to create graphical synopsis which are used anywhere where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly, such as signs, maps, journalism and education and also used to show graphical scenario of the weather, as well as maps and site plans for newsworthy events, and graphs for statistical data. Individual templates need to be designed for different type of typical scenario and the template that allow the user to easily incorporate a variety of multimedia elements such as graphics, interactive questions, etc. the user would select the templates that apply to their discipline or particular case, and use them as building blocks to create an entire scenario. Instructional guidelines on how to develop the scenarios using the input tool and templates. The core idea is to build completely utilization of the assets and tools accessible, in order to approach a complete newspaper designing tool that assembles the user or clients necessities and also supplies a user friendly, interactive and attractive representation of information or Knowledge. To develop designing software that characterizes the information in the form which readers actually require. To make a software gadget that permits the newspaper designers to generate newspaper prototype ready to publish and also increasing the quality of journalism and education. Individual templates need to be designed for different type of news articles and the template that allow the client to effortlessly incorporate a variety of elements such as providing coloring, interactive data representation feature, etc. the designers just need to pick the templates that pertain to their discipline or choice, and use them as building blocks to create an entire prototype for the newspaper. To guide the designers on how to develop the newspaper prototype using the input tool, templates with applying the experts knowledge. Core functionalities included in the Newspaper Synopsis Architect System: Synopsis Architect System: Templates: This part of the system includes various types of Individual templates with different categories for creating different type of typical scenario and also include sample scenario of each category. Template Categories:- Crime Scenarios Terrorist attack Murders Bank robbery Bomb blast Hijack Accidents Entertainment Comics General Scenarios 3. Inbuilt library:- This part of the system includes a library that contains collection of stencils and different stencils include various graphics related to the incidents that generally occur in our day to day life. 4. Search Shapes: Search option provides powerful search capabilities to locate the right shape, located in the library. 5. Graphic Editing: User can edit the graphics as per his or her requirements with the editing options such as rotation handles for rotating the graphics, Selection handles for resizing graphics(can be resize to any extent), etc. 6. Add text to graphics: Although some drawings make a point all by themselves, its often helpful and sometimes necessary to add text to the shapes. Text can be added and related to the shapes easily. Newspaper Architect System: 7. Article Templates: This part of the system comprises a range of category in arranging articles of the news with particular template providing sample of each type. Example Article Template Categories:- Single column news with space for graphics space for picture Multiple column news with space for graphics space for picture space at left space at centre etc News with special watermarks 8. Toolbox: It will Includes various design generation tools like tables, color picker, different geometrical shapes, etc. that makes easy to design the newspaper that fulfills the user presentation and documents. 9. Image Generation: the prototype of the newspaper that will be designed by the designers will be saved as image format. FAQ and Help A long list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding the tool will be available for the both major module. A help file system is also included in case the user has problems using the system. Enhanced functions- Additional Features Synopsis Architect System: Making own library: User has the option to create their own library and can save the graphics created by them in the library and can also import images from outside into their library and can use the images while creating the scenario. File formats: Allows saving the scenario in different file formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc. Grid size and ruler measurements: Scale measurement is provided for scenario the scenario creation. Privacy: The system will provide a privacy option where the user can secure the scenario created by him/her, so that no other person can edit the scenario without the permission of the scenario creator owner. Sample Scenarios: Provides sample scenarios that are integrated with data to get ideas for creating your own scenarios, to realize how data provides more context for many diagram types, and to determine which template the user want to use. Sample video clips: User will be provided with sample video clips of how to design a scenario so that it becomes simpler for first time user for creating a scenario. Newspaper Architect System: The Tool would be a completely generalized one where all the functionalities will be according to the needs and environment of the organizations. Inbuilt library of Prototypes: This part of the system includes a library that contains collection of different generalized prototypes for the newspaper includes a variety of sample news articles placed at appropriate place. Special Features-Advanced Features: Synopsis Architect System: Toolbox Module: Includes various drawing tools like pencil, color picker, color fill, different shapes, etc. that makes easy to design new graphics that match the user presentation and documents. Email: Provides the facility of emailing the scenario directly. Customizability The system will enable a certain level of customizability, for example, while writing the text in the scenario, user can choose English (Malay alphabets included), Chinese, Tamil and Hindi as per requirement. Newspaper Architect System: The Newspaper Architect System would offer for the backup of the server data so that the collated data can be used in future and also this would help in building tenable software. The companies can amalgamate their own prototype of the newspaper from the available options and can save it for regular use. The designers would be able to upload the common pages of the generated prototype of the newspaper on the web server so as it can be distributed to the different branches of the news publications easily. It will be very flexible system as it provides the option to edit the generated prototypes and customize as per the need. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is thought to be a generalized software tool and to permit maximum customization of the features according to the needs of the newspaper organizations need is the main objective of the system. Limitations of the scope: For this Synopsis Architect System tool, parameters are set to limit the scope of the project only for the solutions and functions mentioned above, in other words, functions which are not listed above will not be implemented or included in the system, it is to be reminded that these possible features or functions will also not be included in the system as well: System is not platform independent, as I am choosing .Net as the programming language for my system so it can be run only on the system with windows as the operating system. Newspaper Architect System is a newspaper designing tool and the libraries of templates I will create not necessarily considered to be complete as the articles of the newspaper are very much dynamic in nature. Newspaper Architect System is just a designing assistance tool and it wont be able to create the prototypes dynamically; it needs someone to use it and integrate his human knowledge with its theory based principles of designing. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is thought to be a software system of its own and when the tool would be used by the organizations there would be no means to assimilate the system with any other system being utilized by the organization. Though, the newspapers organizations can have their own software or system to use the composed designs for other applications. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System wont supply for this requirement. Other learning objectives: Synopsis Architect System is the very first of its type, so by doing this project I will have to research for various other graphic designing related domains and doing this would be a benefit for me in the future. Till now I was just using the various designing tools but now my task is to develop a tool that should be user friendly, interactive and attractive and that will be a great opportunity and a good learning experience for me. Newspaper Synopsis Architect System encompasses a distinctive sphere i.e. News Presentation and Publication; by doing this project I will have to explore for this sphere and this would supply me a prospect to discover and investigate the Publication Medias news representation policies and this would be an advantage for me in the future. Developing library based systems is not new to me but bearing in mind the generalization need of the system, I will have an occasion to discover the issues permitting me to explore the potential of this area. The tool being projected is to have a bunch of features of a variety of classes such as templates and various color schemes, default prototypes and so on. To incorporate these features together into a system is going to be a good learning experience. I believe that this project could be built with the .net framework and to learn and tap the vast prospective of this expertise would compose me more rationalized and resourceful professional. D. Brief description of the resources needed by the proposal.(i.e. hardware, software, access to information / expertise, user involvement etc.) Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is being anticipated as a Library based system and in addition its domain is practically distinctive and dissimilar for a computer science student and thus I would require a lot of study and understand the domain. For the development of this tool I will need to meet people from a variety of backgrounds and fields. The planned system is paying attention on the implementation of IT to reduce the job complexity of the printing media and thus I require to have a comprehensible perceptive of both the fields. In order to understand the graphical designing, printing policies and principles of the media, I am planning to interrogate the news editors and designers. These interviews would be paying attention at discovering how IT can be used to assist the experienced design editors talent and moreover how can I reduce the complexity with enumerating the job efficiency with accuracy and precision. To recognize the potential and the expectations of the educational institute from the proposed system, I am planning to interview some of the students and lecturers involved in publication of the college news letter. I would like to discover suitable information via the data gathering techniques such as questionnaire and Interview. Hardware Requirements: Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 2 or later or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (or higher) required 500 megahertz (MHz) processor or higher 512 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher CD-ROM: 52X CD-Rewritable drive DVD-ROM: 8X DVD drive Minimum 800600; 1024768 monitor resolution or higher recommended Keyboard and Mouse Software Requirements: In order to carry out the development of this project, many software are needed, these include Microsoft Windows XP, which shall be the operating system for the project to be developed; authoring tools such as Adobe Photoshop, visual studio.net 2005 and Macromedia Flash will also be needed in order to come up with the interactive user interface and objects. List of software required for the project: Net framework visual studio.net 2005 crystal reports(built in with visual studio.net 2005) CSS(Cascading Style Sheet) OS-Microsoft Windows XP professional. Microsoft Expression studio. Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Macromedia Flash 8.0 Corel Draw 11 Access to Information and Expertise Newspaper Synopsis Architect System is the very first of its type, so for developing it I need to do a lot of research. In order to gather the sufficient and necessary information prior to the project, some resources will be needed, these resources may be people from different backgrounds, or reference books. In terms of gathering information from people and expertise of that particular area, face to face interviews and questionnaires are both sufficient methods. Because of that, certain people to be interviewed are: Lecturers Lecturers obtain deeper understanding towards specific technical areas in terms of computing or design, interviewing specific lecturers who specialize in specific areas can be beneficial to the project. Media persons: Since the project is mainly developed for the newspaper persons, so a face to face interview with the newspaper persons who are concern with the graphic designing and printing publication in the organization would also provide me a better insight of the of the requirements for this tool and also gather more detailed information. User Involvement User involvement is the key concept in the development of useful and usable systems and has positive effects on system success and user satisfaction. To reduce the software project failure user involvement is must. The users involved are also the one that test the system, and gives evaluations. Following are the users involved: Supervisor Media persons Graphic designers Printing Publication persons Lecturers Friends or Course mates The other information or the data sets required: The industry principles are to be identified in advance to build up the application according to the standards for the designing of the newspaper. But I am not up to snuff to do so the application would fail in various environments which are definitely disagreeable. The different cyber regulations and commitments are to be recognized as the system has to deal with the newspaper presentation for the crowd so a dignity should be maintained. For the organizations whose staff I would interrogate, I would oblige their current designing techniques and formula and I may and may not use them for my project. E. Academic research being carried out and other information, techniques being learnt.(i.e. what are the names of books you are going to read / data sets you are going to use) In concerning about Newspaper Synopsis Architect System, research is much important for the system and thorough the research is, more are the probability of development of a practical and satisfactory application. The project has diversity of supplies and I would need support on various topics and from all kinds of the resources. I have to comprehend and discover the newspaper designing policies for enhanced understanding of the project. I necessitate gaining knowledge of the project management and software engineering techniques for supervision and construction the project in a accurate and corrective manner. I too have to discover the concepts and principles of the engineering. After having established what I need to know by defining the scope of what I need to find out and my research plan by determining how I can get the information, I must conduct my research now. Academic Research: The project requires a good understanding of the graphics designing and generating prototyping as the system contains an inbuilt library which will be th

Differences Between Male and Female Orientated Magazine Articles Essay

Investigating the Difference Between Male and Female Orientated Magazine Articles For my investigation I decided to take stories sent in by readers to the magazines FHM and Cosmopolitan. FHM is aimed at men aged around 16 to 30, while Cosmopolitan is aimed at women of the same age. I thought it would be interesting to look at the differences between the two formats because I read FHM quite a lot, and some female friends of mine read Cosmopolitan, and I have often wondered what and how many differences and indeed similarities there are between the two magazines. I was also interested in the different ways similar topics were portrayed for the two different sexes. It helps me understand some of the language and gender issues I dealt with last year in English Language, and that is why I chose a stories page, it tells me more about the people who actually read the magazines than the people who write them. The stories I hoped would reflect the people who wrote them, and therefore the people who bought and read the magazines. It is also interesting for me because I want to become a magazine journalist when I leave university. Doing this investigation allows me to take a more in-depth look at what kind of people enjoy these kinds of magazines, and also it gives me a chance to look at the way these types of articles are presented in magazines, looking at things such as layout. I aim to find differences between the subject matter of the letters, the lexis used by the writers, the differences in grammar, the layout of the letters pages in the magazines and the general tenor of the stories. I also aim to reach a conclusion as to what... ... and "freezing my arse off". These slangy informal descriptions are very suitable for the FHM stories but hardly sensible for the Cosmopolitan story. Overall the articles conform closely with my hypothesis. The variances in the tenor were often and obvious. The male stories also conformed to my hypothesis in that they were competing as an incentive to win a prize, whereas the woman was not. The subject matters also matched my hypothesis. The male stories use mostly a different style of writing to the female articles, and indeed these contribute to them having very different effects on the reader. I think that my investigation has been a success. I have proved many of my hypotheses and my aim has been met. There is a large difference in male and female orientated magazine articles, in both style and substance.

Free Will or Predestination: Who Controls Our Fate?

â€Å"If you can hold it in your hands then you can fold it by commands but if its fate to understand , fate cannot wait and is unmanned, the decisions you make will lend fate a hand. †- Unknown After analyzing the manuscript ,Macbeth, it can be said that fate is not determined by pre-destination but by free will. This is proven when Macbeth takes his fate into his own hands by killing his cousin, King Duncan, in order to become king of Scotland. It is a dispute started by Christians that has traveled throughout different time periods, races, and religions. Are our lives already planned out or do we hold the key to our own fate?The King James bible says that pre-destination and free will can Co-exist but many choose one extreme or the other. In the story of Macbeth, the main character is visited by three witches who prophetize that he will become king of Scotland but do not give details as to how or when he will take the throne. (p. 17 lines 59-63) Under the influence of his w ife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth does not wait for the prophecy to unfold and freely kills his cousin King Duncan in order to take control of Scotland. Throughout the play, his ambitions and insecurities lead him to freely become a murderer in order to get what he wants in life.As previously stated, the argument of free will or predestination has been around for centuries and is rooted in religion. The theory behind predestination is that God has already predetermined who will get into heaven and has planned everyone’s life out for them. Every decision made, no matter good or bad, was determined by God before you were born. (David Bennett. ) Those who believe in predestination are often classified as Calvinists, after John Calvin who is the man behind many of the predestination theories, or Reformed theologists.Free will is defined as, â€Å"The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion. † (Merriam-Webster diction ary) In terms of religion, free will is the idea that gives each individual the opportunity to choose what they will believe in and make the decision to follow Christ or not. The theory behind free will is that one can act on his or her own without having their fate predetermined for them. In Macbeth’s case, he acted upon free will by taking fate into his own hands rather than waiting to see how his life would unfold.The witches role in the play is key because without their prophecy, Macbeth would have continued on living his life normally. Although it may have been controversial during the time period, the witches role is important because they add another dimension to the play, a sense of mystery. The weird sisters, as they are often referred to as, bring a supernatural feel into the play because of their appearance and abilities It is because of them that the story is set into motion and the audience witnesses the fall of Macbeth and the blood trail that he leaves in his w ake.Although some readers choose to fault the witches with the fate of Macbeth, it is ultimately his fault because he makes the final decisions to commit the murderous deeds. They planted the seeds but Macbeth nurtured them, allowing them to grow into something bigger than himself and everyone else around him. Macbeth’s misinterpretation of the prophecy shows his weak character, which allows Lady Macbeth to manipulate him into doing what she feels should be done. He believes everything he hears to be true and after the murder of Duncan, he commits crimes without hesitation.Every decision that Macbeth made was of his own mind and action unlike Banquo who says, â€Å"Sometimes we hear favorable things that may bring us to harm. † While Banquo was also intrigued by the prophecies, he did not allow them to take over his life. In fact he says, â€Å"New honors come upon him like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould But with the aid of use. †(p. 20 lines 15 7-159) From this statement, the audience could gather that Banquo feels that these positions are unnatural to them.If Macbeth was in the right frame of mind instead of being driven by greed and deadly ambition, he might have experienced the same feelings as Banquo. The murders committed by Macbeth were justified in his mind as something that just â€Å"had to be done†. Immediately after the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth expresses his deep sorrow and regret. (p. 34 lines46-51) This guilt begins to drive him insane and he becomes extremely paranoid. Lady Macbeth expresses her need to make the murder of King Duncan happen so that they can gain the titles they deserve in Scotland. p. 28 lines 53-65) In modern day interpretations, Lady Macbeth is sometimes seen as the fourth witch because she too plays an important role in Macbeth’s downfall. While it is ultimately his final decision to commit these murders, she also planted deadly seeds in his head. Impatience, selfishnes s, and greed allow Macbeth to become victim of his own desire. Macbeth’s careless use of free will eventually led to his wife’s death and his lords turning their back on him. While he had high hopes for his reign, he was eventually the cause of his own demise.

Anatomy and Physiology Comprehensive Final

The 2000-Meter Row: A Case in Homeostasis Adapted from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science* by Nathan Strong At the start 1. Recall that Jim's heart and respiratory rate are increased, he was sweating and that his mouth was dry before the raise began. Explain what is happening to his autonomic nervous system (including which division is the most active) and specify exactly how those ANS responses are creating the symptoms noted.What changes do you think are occurring in the digestive and urinary systems at this time? (8 points) In his autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic division was the most active before and during the race because it is what prepares your body for extra somatic activity. It activated as he was preparing for the race because he was becoming more stressed and nervous. It started in the sympathetic center located in his hypothalamus, and from there led multiple places causing his symptoms.His increased heart rate started when the cardioacceler atory center in the Medulla oblongata sent impulses down the spinal cord to the preganglia and ganglionic neurons of the Cervical and T1-T3 spinal cord segments, then the cardiac and pulmonary plexuses, which then leads to the heart and increases the rate at which it pumps. At the same time, his respiratory rate increased similarly. Impulses sent down his spinal cord through the preganglia and ganglionic neurons of the Cervical and T1-T3 spinal cord segments, to his cardiac and pulmonary plexuses, which then led to a higher breathing rate.The sweating is another response to the activation of his fight or flight mode, the sympathetic division. His body perceived his nervousness as a sign that there is a threat and he may begin to exert more energy and in turn become hot, so it prepares for that by sweating in an effort to cool his body. His postganglionic fibers began to innervate his sweat glands by releasing acetylcholine and activating his muscarinic receptors. The cause of his dr y mouth was his preganglionic fibers which ascend to his superior cervical sympathetic ganglia and inhibited his salivary glands.Finally, during a time where the sympathetic division of the ANS has been activated, the blood flow to the digestive system will be restricted and temporarily restricts digestive activities. Then, in the urinary system, kidney functioning is reduced, the detrusor urinae muscle of the bladder wall relaxes as the internal urethral sphincter contracts, which overall suspends the urinary system. One minute in 2. Consider the power stroke of rowing from the perspective of the actions at the shoulder and elbow joints.Create a table that shows what muscles, under control of what nerves, pull on what bones to cause each action. Be sure to include the action of fixating the shoulder blade and pulling it back. The first column for your table must be the action. This column should describe what is occurring in both English and anatomical terminology (see chapter 9). But only include those actions needed to row the boat. Points will be deducted for unneeded actions. See example below*. (15 points) Action| Muscle| Origin | Insertion | Nerve|Maintain Handle Height:Angular motion of the humerus at the shoulder| Deltoid| Clavicle, spine and acromion of scapula| Deltoid tuberosity of humerus| Axillary Nerve| Pulls Together The Shoulder Blades:Adducts and rotates scapula downward| Rhomboidmajor and minor| Spinous processes of C7 and T1-T5| Medial border of scapula| Dorsal Scapular Nerve| Pulling The Handle Toward Your Body:Flexes the forearm at the hinge joint of the elbow| Biceps brachii| Long head at supraglenoid tubercle of the scapula through the intertubercular groove, short head at coracoid process of scapula| Radial tuberosity| Musculocutaneous Nerve| Pushing The Handle Away From Body:Extend the forearm at the hinge joint of the elbow| Triceps brachii| Lateral head at posterior side of humerus, medial head at distal radial groove of humerus, lo ng head at margin of the glenoid cavity| Olecranon process of the ulna| Radial Nerve| 3. Now, pick one of those muscles and trace their control from the appropriate brain structure all the way to the NMJ. Be sure to include all intermediate structures, synapses, plexuses and nerves. (8 points) Movement of the deltoid begins in the cerebrum of the brain, but more specifically: in the frontal lobe, the premotor cortex is relaying instructions to the primary motor cortex.The primary motor cortex contains the upper motor neurons whose axons will travel down the pyramids of the medulla oblongata and synapse on lower motor neurons in the anterior gray horns of spinal cord segments C5-C6. From there, the ventral rami of spinal nerves C5-C6 form the superior trunk of the brachial plexus, which splits into two divisions. We will follow the posterior division that supplies to extensor muscles. This posterior division then runs into the posterior cord from which the axillary nerve is derived. The axillary nerve’s motor end innervates the deltoid through its neuromuscular junction. 4. Rowing full speed is putting maximum demands on Jim's muscles.What metabolic process is providing most of the energy for Jim’s muscles at this point and why do Jim's muscles feel like they are burning? (5 points) As Jim’s muscles are at maximum demand, his mitochondria are unable to produce the needed ATP through aerobic respiration because oxygen is unable to diffuse fast enough into his muscle fibers. At this time anaerobic glycolysis takes the lead as the metabolic process producing two-thirds of the ATP needed so that his muscles can continue contracting. However, during glycolysis, there is soon more pyruvic acid produced then can be used at the time. That pyruvic acid gets converted to lactic acid, which is an organ acid that is able to dissociate in body fluids.The lactic acid breaks up into hydrogen ions and negatively charged lactate ions that lowers intracellul ar pH and causes a burning sensation in his muscles. 5. Trace the sensation of pain in Jim’s left Quadriceps muscle from the receptor to perception in the brain. Be sure to include the nerve and all intermediate structures involved in relaying this sensation. (8 points) When Jim felt a pain sensation in his Quadriceps muscle, it began with the local nociceptors being activated. A signal was then transmitted from his nociceptor neurons, through the dorsal root ganglia where the cell bodies are located. Then, the signal is processed through the Central Nervous System, reaching the interneurons and being relayed to the brain through the lateral spinothalamic tract.The lateral spinothalamic tract and interneurons end in the ventral nuclei of the thalamus, where third-order neurons process and relay the painful sensation to the primary sensory cortex. 6. Since the end of the first minute, Jim has decreased the demands his muscles are making. What metabolic process is now providing most of the energy for his muscles? What muscle protein has been storing Oxygen for this activity? (6 points) Now that Jim has decreased the demand on his muscles, they are able to function primarily on aerobic metabolism, breaking down pyruvic acid to produce ATP. However, he is still working at a high level of energy, which will require a lot of oxygen. Myoglobin, an oxygen-binding protein helps to supply some of the needed oxygen for aerobic respiration. 7. What energy molecules is Jim’s body consuming?What might Jim have done the night before to increase his endurance today? (4 points) During the race, Jim was using broken down glucose from the glycogen reserves in his sarcoplasm. A good way to improve endurance during a race is to eat a meal full of complex carbohydrates. These carbs provide energy the next day because they take longer than almost any other food to be broken down, and as they are slowly digested they continue to provide energy throughout the race. 8. Id entify the components of the homeostatic control system that is keeping Jim’s body cool and then explain specifically how that system works, including the messaging system involved. (8 pts)The homeostatic control system that maintains body temperature is called thermoregulation. The system has a control center known as the thermoregulatory centre that’s located in the hypothalamus. There are two sets of temperature receptors that send information to the control center. One monitors the core by looking at the temperature of the blood that flows through the brain, and the second monitors the external temperature through the receptors in the skin. Once his body temp rose above 37. 20C, the higher temp stimulated his heat loss center. There are then two effectors that were at work lowering his body temperature. First, the smooth muscle of his arterioles supplying the skin relaxed, which caused vasodilation.Second, his sweat glands became more active and began cooling his s kin surface. Finally, as his body regains its normal body temperature and that information gets to the hypothalamus, the control center becomes dormant. 9. Recall that Jim could see boats on either side of him. Trace the image of those boats to perception. (Include all focusing, transduction, transmission and perception processes and structures) (10 points) As Jim was rowing and watching the boats beside him, the first step was reception. This happens as light is entering his eyes and the lens is focusing it onto the fovea of his retina, which is where his photoreceptors are located.The second step is transduction, during which the rods and codes are converting the electro-magnetic energy into electro-chemical nerve impulses. This is the step that allows the light energy to move across our optic nerve and be processed in the brain. That step where his nerve impulses are sent to his primary visual cortex is called transmission. The next step, selection, is where feature detector cell s are working to break up the image. Then during organization, through multiple visual perceptual principles, the information is being reassembled into a way that we can understand it. The image goes to both our temporal and parietal lobes so that we can identify and determine where the object is located.Finally, the interpretation stage is where the boats he saw where both identified and given meaning. 10. Jim has stopped rowing and his muscles are now at rest. Why are his heart and breathing rates still so high? (3 points) His rowing competition took a lot of energy and oxygen. Once it was over, his body needed to restore what was used during his exercise. A higher breathing rate brings more oxygen into the lungs, and a higher heart rate pumps blood so that the oxygen can get into the blood stream then into the muscles. Oxygen in the muscles will allow restoration of the ATP levels. 11. Why did Jim lose 4 pounds during this event? What tissue/body material was lost and will this b e a â€Å"permanent† weight loss? (5 points)About half a pound out of Jim’s four-pound loss could have been the glycogen reserves in his muscles that were depleted, but most of the weight loss was due to water loss while he was sweating during the race. Both of these things will be restored in his body though, causing the weight loss to only be temporary. Works Cited â€Å"Breathing Rate And Heart Rates After Exercise. † LiveStrong. Demand Media, Inc. , 14 Jul. 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Chapter 6 – Visual Perception. † Oup. n. p. , n. d. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. PDF file. â€Å"Homeostasis. † BiologyMad. IHW, Mar. 2006. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Keeping Your Autonomic Nervous System Healthy. † DrWilson. The Center For Development. June 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. â€Å"Muscles Used In A Rowing Machine. † LiveStrong.Demand Media, Inc. , 3 May, 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. â€Å"The Body Can Use Glycogen As An Energy Source When Aerobic Exe rcise Lasts How Long? † LiveStrong. Demand Media, Inc. , 7 Jul. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. â€Å"The Brachial Plexus. † UpState. Health Science Center, n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. â€Å"What Is Most Of The Weight Loss From When Individuals Lose Weight Quickly? † LiveStrong. Demand Media, Inc. , 28 Apr. 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. â€Å"Why Do You Sweat When You’re Nervous? † WiseGeek. Conjecture Corporation, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. â€Å"Why You Should Load Up On Good Carbs The Night Before A Big Game. † FitDay. Internet Brands, Inc. , n. d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

Guava fruit Essays

Guava fruit Essays Guava fruit Essay Guava fruit Essay The intestinal digestive enzymes alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase are plays a vital role in the carbohydrate digestion. One antidiabetic therapeutic approach reduces the post prandial glucose level in blood by the inhibition of alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase enzymes. These can be an important strategy in management of blood glucose. The aim of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical bioactive compounds of the methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves, its in vitro anti-diabetic activity.The assay results suggests that the presence of bioactive compounds, could be responsible for the versatile medicinal properties of this plant including diabetes, the extract exhibit the dose-dependent increase in inhibitory effect on alpha-glucosidase enzyme (upto 89. 4%), and alpha-amylase enzyme (upto 96. 3%). The current study proves that the antidiabetic activity of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves by in vitro studies. * Keywords Psidi um guajava; Phytochemical; alphaglucosidase; alpha-amylase Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a complex and a diverse group of disorders that disturbs he metabolism of carbohydrate, fat and protein. The number of diabetes mellitus cases has been increasing worldwide in recent years. In 2000, the world health organization estimated a total of 171 million of people with diabetes mellitus from the global population, and this report projected to increase to 366 million by 2030 (Wild et al. , 2004). With a long course and serious complications often resulting in high deathrate, the treatment of diabetes spent vast amount of resources including medicines, diets, physical training and so on in all countries.Thus searching for a new class of compounds is essential to overcome diabetic problems. There is continuous search for alternative drugs (Syamsudin, 2010). 15 Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Psidium guajava Linn. (Myrtaceae) is commonly known as Peru or Guava in Engli sh. The Psidium guajava leaves are used in the treatment of diarrhoea, cough, stomachache, dysentery and decoction of the leaves for cholera patients, toothache and gum boils. The leaves showed hypoglycemic, cardioprotective, myocardial depressant, antimicrobial, antispasmodic actions (Ross, 1999).Inhibition of alphaamylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes can be an important strategy in management of post prandial blood glucose level in type 2 diabetes patient (Ali et al. , 2006). Thus, objective of the present study is to investigate the phyto chemical, invitro antidiabetic activity of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves. reducing sugar, tannins, flavonoids, steroids and alkaloids by using standard phytochemical procedures (Evans, W. C and Evans, T. 2003). In vitro methods employed in antidiabetic studies Inhibition of alpha-amylase enzyme A starch solution (0. 1% w/v) was obtained by stirring 0. g of potato starch in 100 ml of 16 mM of sodium acetate buffer. The enzyme solu tion was prepared by mixing 27. 5 mg of alpha-amylase in 100 ml of distilled water. The colorimetric reagent is prepared by mixing sodium potassium tartarate solution and 3, 5 di nitro salicylic acid solution 96 mM. Both control and plant extracts were added with starch solution and left to react with alpha- amylase solution under alkaline conditions at 25? C. The reaction was measured over 3 minutes. The generation of maltose was quantified by the reduction of 3, 5 dinitro salicylic acid to 3amino-5- nitro salicylic acid.This reaction is detectable at 540 nm (Malik and Singh, 1980). Materials and Methods Plant material and extraction The fresh leaves of Psidium guajava were collected locally and authenticated by the department of Botany, St. Joseph College, Trichy. The shade dried Psidium guajava leaves were powdered mechanically and stored in an air tight container. The extraction was carried out by hot percolation method using Soxhlet apparatus. The solvent used was methanol. Abo ut 100 gm of powder was extracted with 600 ml of methanol. The extract was concentrated to dryness under controlled temperature 4050Â °C.The percentage yield was found to be 10. 15%. The extract was preserved in refrigerator till further use. Phytochemical Screening For preliminary phytochemical analysis the freshly prepared crude methanolic extracts of leaves were tested for the presence or absence of phytoconstituents such as 16 Inhibition of alpha-glucosidase enzyme The inhibitory activity was determined by incubating a solution of starch substrate (2 % w/v maltose or sucrose) 1 ml with 0. 2 M Tris buffer pH 8. 0 and various concentration of plant extract for 5 min at 37Â °C.The reaction was initiated by adding 1 ml of alpha-glucosidase enzyme (1U/ml) to it followed by incubation for 40 min at 35Â °C. Then the reaction was terminated by the addition of 2 ml of 6N HCl. Then the intensity of the colour was measured at 540nm (Krishnaveni et al. , 1984). Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. A pp. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Calculation of 50% Inhibitory Concentration (IC50) The concentration of the plant extracts required to scavenge 50% of the radicals (IC50) was calculated by using the percentage scavenging activities at five different concentrations of the extract.Percentage inhibition (I %) was calculated by I % = (Ac-As)/Ac X 100, (Shai et al. , 2010). where Ac is the absorbance of the control and As is the absorbance of the sample. Table 1 Phytochemical analysis of methanolic extract of Psidium guajava leaves S. No. Phytochemical Constituents Name of the Test Mayer s test Dragondraff test Wagner Test Molish Test Fehling Test Benedicts Test Lead Acetate Ferric chloride. Ammonia Salkowaski H2So4 Liebermann s Burchard Test H2So4 Ammonia Shinoda s Test Ferric chloride Sodium chloride Borntrager s test Methanolic Extract + + + + + + + Condensed Tannin + + + + + _ Alkaloids 2 3 4 5 6 Carbohydrates Tannins Pseudo tannins Chlorogenic acid Steroidal Glycosides Anthocyanin Steroid al Glycosides Saponins glycosides Flavonoids Flavones Phenols Coumarin Phytochemical constituents Results The preliminary phytochemical screening tests for the methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaves (Table 1) revealed the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, flavones, tannins, steroidal glycosides, phenols and coumarin. Any of these secondary metabolites, singly or in combination with others could be responsible for the anti-diabetic activity of the plant.There was a dose-dependent increase in percentage inhibitory activity against alphaamylase enzyme. At a concentration of 0. 2 ml of plant extract showed a percentage inhibition 27. 8% and for 1. 0 ml plant extract showed inhibition of 96. 3% (Table 2). The Psidium guajava methanol extract revealed a significant inhibitory action of alpha-glucosidase enzyme. The percentage inhibition at 0. 2-1. 0 ml concentrations of Psidium guajava extract showed a dose dependent increase in percentage inhibition. The percentage inhibition var ied from 89. 4% 31. 7% for highest concentration to the lowest oncentration (Table 3). 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 +++= High; + = Present; ++ = Moderate; = Absent Table. 2 In vitro antidiabetic activity of alpha-amylase method S. No 1 2 3 4 5 Concentration of Sample (ml) 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 % of Inhibition 27. 8 48. 9 62. 5 87. 2 96. 3 17 Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Table 3 In vitro antidiabetic activity of alpha glucosidase method S. No 1 2 3 4 5 Concentration of Sample (ml) 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1. 0 % Of Inhibition 31. 7 53. 9 68. 2 76. 5 89. 4 Discussion Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder with increasing incidence throughout the world.Insulin is a key player in the control of glucose homeostasis. Lack of insulin affects carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism (Rajiv Gandhi and Sasikumar, 2012). Management of diabetes without side effects is still challenge to the medical community. It was proposed that inhibition of the activity of such alpha-amylas e and alpha-glucosidase would delay the degradation of carbohydrate, which would in turn cause a decrease in the absorption of glucose, as a result the reduction of postprandial blood glucose level elevation (Rhabaso Lhoret and Chiasson, 2004).In the present study, research has been carried out to evaluate the preliminary phytochemical investigation and the potential of methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaf in inhibiting alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase. The present finding of Phytochemical screening of the plant extract confirmed the presence of several bioactive compounds like alkaloids, flavones, tannins and phenols which could be responsible for the versatile medicinal properties of this plant. The present finding reveals that Psidium guajava efficiently inhibits both alpha18 mylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes in vitro in a dose dependent manner. The aqueous extracts from Syzygium cumini seeds and Psidium guajava leaves both showed a dose dependent inhibitory effect on a lpha-amylase activity (Karthic et al. , 2008). The antidiabetic action of Psidium guajava can also be attributed to the intestinal alpha-amylase and alphaglucosidase inhibitory activity. Further studies are required to elucidate whether Psidium guajava have antidiabetic potential by in vivo for validating the traditional claim of the plant.In this present study we evaluated in vitro alpha amylase and alpha glucosidase activity of crude methanol extract of Psidium guajava leaves. The plant showed significant inhibition activity, so further the compound isolation, purification and characterization which is responsible for inhibiting activity, has to be done for the usage of antidiabetic agent. Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to Dr. P. Selvaraj, Chairman, Shivani Group of Institutions, Trichy, whose spacious heart cheered our efforts to process this venture properly, successfully to complete the task.Also we extend our thanks to The Secretary, The Principal and The Staff membe rs of the SSK Polytechnic College, Trichy, Tamilnadu, India. References Ali, H. , P. J. Houghton, and Soumyanath, A. 2006. J. Ethnopharmacol. 107: 449-455. Evans, W. C. , and Evans, T. 2003. Pharmacognosy, 5th Edn. , Cambridge University Press, London, 336-93. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci (2013) 2(2):15-19 Karthic, K. , K. S. Kirthiram, S. Sadasivam, and Thayumanavan, B. 2008. Identification of amylase inhibitors from Syzygium cumini Linn seeds. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 6:677- 680. Krishnaveni,S. , B.Theymoli, and Sadasivam,S. 1984. Food Chem. 15: 229. Malik,C. P. , and Singh, M. B. 1980. Plant Enzymology and Histoenzymology, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, p. 278. Rajiv Gandhi, G. , and Sasikumar, P. 2012. Antidiabetic effect of Merremia emarginata Burm. F. in Streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Asian. Paci. J. Tropi. Biomedicine. 2: 281-286. Rhabaso Lhoret, R. , and Chiasson, J. L. , 2004. Glucosidase inhibitors. In: Defronzo R. A, Ferrannini E, Keen H, Zimmet P. (Eds. ), Inte rnational Textbook of Diabetes Mellitus, Vol. 1, third ed. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. , UK, pp. 901-914. Ross, I. A. 1999. Medicinal Plants of the World, Chemical constituents, traditional and modern medicinal uses. Human Press Inc. , Totowa, NJ. 263-272. Shai, L. J. , P. Masoko, M. PMokgotho, S. R. Magano, M. A. Mogale, N. Boaduo, and Eloff, J. N. 2010. South African J. Bot. 76: 465 470. Syamsudin,S. , 2010. Standardization of extract of Leucaena leucocephala (lmk) De Wit seeds by -glucosidase inhibitor. Int. J. Phytomedicine. 2. 430-435. Wild, S. , G. Roglic, A. Green, R. Sicree, and King, H. 2004. Global prevalence of Diabetes estimates for the year 2000 and projections for 2030. Diabetes care. 27:1047-1053. 19

Quality Management in Healthcare

Quality Management in Healthcare Introduction The need for quality management in healthcare facilities is an issue that many stakeholders have been fighting for over the years. According to Arias (2000, p. 87), quality healthcare is one of the major pillars of the economic development within a given country. People should have access to quality and affordable healthcare in order to remain strong and healthy.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Quality Management in Healthcare specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the current society, there are numerous diseases that may affect people of different social classes, and this may reduce their productivity. It is because of this that many stakeholders, including the government and nongovernmental agencies, have been able to come up with ways of improving service delivery at various healthcare institutions within the country. In the United States, the federal government, in close connection with private non -profit making organisations such as Mayo Clinics, has improved the healthcare standards within the country. Mayo has been using numerous quality management tools in order to improve its service delivery. Currently, the hospital is using ISO 9001 principles to improve the quality of its services. Background of Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic is one of the largest non-profit making private healthcare institutions in the world that offers a wide range of medical services to various people across the country. In defining Mayo Clinics, Charantimath (2006, p. 78) says, â€Å"The Mayo Clinic is the world’s oldest and largest integrated multispecialty group medical practice, combining clinical practice, education, and research at the regional, national, and international levels for the benefit of individuals with routine as well as complex health care needs.† From this definition, it is clear that The Mayo Clinic offers more than just medical services to the American population. It i s an integrated team of multispecialty medical practitioners who are focused on offering medical services, educating young people interested in joining the medical practice, and maintaining a high level of research in various areas of health.Advertising Looking for case study on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Founded in 1889 by William Worrall Mayo and his sons, this foundation currently employs over 3,800 physicians, and about 60,000 allied health staffs in various hospitals within the United States and all over the world. It has experienced massive growth over the years to become the largest and one of the most reputable healthcare centres in the world. As stipulated in their mission statement, Mayo is not just focused on offering quality healthcare to the people, but it is also concerned with finding the best ways of managing some of the emerging health complications by engaging its staffs in re search. With its headquarters in Rochester, Minnesota, Mayo Clinic has become one of the most reliable healthcare institutions in North America. Its efforts in research and development has enabled it become one of the most successful non-profit making healthcare organisations in the entire region. Quality Management System at Mayo Clinic (Strengths) At Mayo, the management has always been focused on offering quality healthcare to all the patients who visit the facility with various health complications. When William and his sons started this facility, they were interested in offering quality healthcare services to the American people. However, this organisation experienced numerous challenges as the field of medicine started experiencing changes due to technological advancements (Donabedian 2003, p. 34). The organisation had to adapt to the emerging technologies in order to maintain the quality service provision to the patients. The dynamic leadership at this organisation has seen i t transform in line with the technological advancement and various other changes in this field to become one of the most reputable organisations in the world. Always emphasising on quality delivery of healthcare services, this organisation has six attributes of an ideal healthcare delivery system as defined by the Commonwealth Fund which forms its main strength (Charantimath 2006, p. 44).Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Quality Management in Healthcare specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Information Continuity Information continuity is one of the most important ingredients of quality healthcare provision within a healthcare facility (Wheeler Grice 2000, p. 81). At Mayo clinic, all departments are interconnected using personal computers and local area networks that make information transfer very efficient. Once a client’s information is fed into the system at the reception, all the relevant departments can access the information on demand. Any adjustment made in the information at any of the departments will be reflected in other relevant departments. This means that the speed and reliability of data transfer has become highly efficient. It has helped improve the quality of services offered within the facility. The information is managed from a central database as shown in the diagram below. Care Coordination and Transitions At Mayo, there is a clear system that allows for patient care coordination among various practitioners. There are cases where a patient suffers from multiple health complications that may require practitioners in different fields. The management has developed a system where this cannot be done without any form of strain. A medical doctor in one department can easily communicate with another doctor in a different area of specialty of the medication that has been offered, and the steps that should be taken to address other complications. Such closely coordinated co mmunication between the practitioners eliminates any possibility of misunderstanding among the doctors. System Accountability Mayo Clinics have adopted a total care policy on all the patients who visit their facility as a way of improving the quality of services they deliver. According to Lighter (2011, p. 33), many medical practitioners have worsened the health of their patients through careless acts due to relaxed management systems at the institutions. This is not the case at Mayo Clinic.Advertising Looking for case study on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More At this facility, every medical officer is held accountable for any service rendered, and if any mistake arises from any of the departments visited by the patient, then the officer who offered the service is always held responsible as per the organisation’s policies and principles. Peer Review and Teamwork for High-Value Care The peer review and teamwork system was introduced at this facility to help promote teamwork and responsibility within various departments. Under this system, practitioners in a specific field have the responsibility to review works of peers in that department with the aim of maintaining the best practice in their field. Any changes taking place in that specific field would be shared by the members in order to enhance its application within the facility. The focus of this strategy is to offer high value care by improving skills and competencies of the individual members of the staff. Continuous Innovation In the current dynamic world, innovation is one o f the most important tools that an organisation can use in order to ensure that it offers continuous quality care to its clients (Kelly 2003, p. 45). At Mayo Clinic, the management knows that the only way of achieving its vision is to maintain innovativeness in its service delivery. This has been made possible by the research unit of this firm. The researchers have been interested to identify the emerging trends in this field of healthcare and to develop mechanisms of dealing with it in order to ensure that this firm remains dynamic. It has come up with new ways of addressing various issues that at the facility in order to maintain superior quality delivery (Lighter Fair, 2000, p. 44). Easy Access to Appropriate Care According to Horch (2003, p. 78), healthcare is one of the basic needs in the modern society, and it should be easily accessible to members of the public. When offering healthcare services, it is necessary to ensure that clients have the capacity to access their informa tion and understand their health conditions as soon as it is determined by the practitioners. This is one of the factors that Mayo Clinic has been determined to improve its service quality in the market. The Clinic has developed a communication system in all its clinics for easy retrieval of information and reliable communication with the patients. The above attributes have been considered ideal for a standard healthcare facility such as Mayo Clinic. This has made this healthcare facility one of the most preferred institutions in North America. The above strengths have seen a rise to the Mayo brand in the healthcare sector within this region. They are considered an integrated team of medical experts who are focused on identifying any health complication, informing their patients about their complication, suggesting ways through which such complications can be addressed, and using the strategy that the patients chooses to address the problem. This creates a feeling among the patients that at this facility, they have a voice, and can make their own independent choices about how they should be treated based on their personal preferences. This strength has helped this firm expand its operations beyond the United States. It has also made it easy for it to raise funds from the well wishers who have now trusted it as one of the leading healthcare provider in North America. In most of its campaigns, this firm has received massive support from the public, not just because of the fact that it is a non-profit making healthcare facility, but also because of the quality of care it offers (Lighter Fair 2004, p. 67). The management of Mayo Clinic knows that its strengths in offering quality healthcare largely relies on its ability to retain highly qualified and motivated team of experts who are specialised in various fields. Although this is a non-profit making organisation, maintaining this kind of staff needs a strategy that would help in making them comfortable so that t hey do not consider quitting the facility. This can only be achieved through good remuneration. Mayo Clinic is one of the best paying private hospitals to various health experts. The working environment is positively designed to promote integration, socialisation and teamwork among all the employees, creating a community where everyone has an emotional attachment with other members of the organisation. This has helped minimise the rate of employees’ turnover, the fact that has helped it to retain its highly qualified staff. Using Principles in ISO 9001 to Improve Quality of Services at Mayo Clinic From the discussion above, it is clear that Mayo Clinic is one of the best non-profit making private healthcare firms in service delivery within North America. The firm has been determined to embrace the best practice principles in the industry in order to match or even exceed the quality of healthcare offered at some of the best hospitals in the world. The management of this facili ty has been benchmarking its services with that of the leading hospitals in the world such as John Hopkins Hospital and Cleveland Clinic (Lloyd 2004, p. 44). In 2010, CNN, one of the leading news agencies in the world, ranked it as the third best healthcare facility in the world in overall medical treatment and quality services to its clients. Despite this success, it is a fact that this facility needs to maintain continuous improvement in order to maintain its glorious position as one of the leading healthcare facility in the world. Although this firm is ISO certified, it needs to give more focus to the principles of ISO 9001:2008 as it seeks to improve on its quality of service in the market. There are nine principles that will help Mayo Clinic to advance its current systems, and find ways of expanding its capacity to offer improved services to all the patients that visit the facility. The principles of ISO 900:2008 that have been applied by Mayo Clinic include the following. Cust omer focus This is the first principle of ISO 9001:2008 that Mayo Clinic has been using to improve the quality of services offered to its customers. Mayo Clinic clearly understands that all other healthcare facilities in the regions where it operates are competitors. For this reason, it has always found ways of attracting customers to its facility. To achieve this, it has taken a customer-centric approach in its management. It focuses on ways through which its clients can be offered customised quality healthcare whenever they visit the facility (McLaughlin, Johnson Sollecito 2012, p. 77). This involves active engagement of the clients when offering them care in order to ensure that they get the service in the manner they consider appropriate. Every client is always treated as a unique entity with unique needs. This way, the firm has been able to develop a personal relationship with clients who visit the facility. Leadership Leadership is the second principle that Mayo Clinic has us ed in order to improve the quality of its service delivery to the clients. As stated previously, this facility has a responsibility of managing its top doctors in a manner that would convince them to remain loyal to the firm. This can only be achieved through effective leadership (Mohanty, 2008, p. 56). The management unit has embraced transformational leadership characteristics in order to maintain high moral and loyalty of every member of the organisation. The leaders have developed best approaches of positively challenging the current capacity of its workers with the view of making them reinvent themselves into better service providers in their respective field. The management realizes that it has a responsibility of making every employee feel valued within the firm. It is only through this that employees will feel committed to the firm and develop a responsibility of coming up with new approaches of undertaking their duties. The managers at Mayo appreciates that their position i s meant to offer service to the employees. They seek to offer guidance in case of challenging factors in the environment, and in all the cases, they ensure that they integrate easily with all the employees of different ranks within the organisation (Geisler, Krabbendam Schuring, 2003, p. 66). There is an open communication system at Mayo Clinic as shown in the model below. Involvement of people One of the basic principles of ISO 9001:2008 used at Mayo Clinic is the need for involvement of people in undertaking various tasks and in making decisions. According to Morfaw (2009, p. 97), every human being has his or her worth that makes him or her special over the rest. The problem is that in most of the cases, some people are always belittled to the extent that they feel useless. The management at Mayo Clinic appreciates the fact that the firm can only become innovative if people are involved actively in the development of plans and in their execution. Creativity and innovation is no t a preserve for the top managers, the intelligent staff or any other special groups within an organisation. It is a natural force that comes out of a person irrespective of the position held or academic excellences when faced with new challenges in the workplace (Okeyo Adelhardt 2003, p. 78). By involving every member of the organisation in decision making, the management of Mayo Clinic has given them the opportunity to be creative in their respective fields in order to come up with superior ways of addressing various issues in the workplace. This has helped in improving the quality of services that are offered in this organisation at various levels. Process approach The process approach is another principle of ISO 9001:2008 that Mayo Clinic has been using to improve the quality of its services. Success and failure are two possibilities that an organisation can experience when dealing with various issues in its normal operations. One of the factors that separate failure from succe ss is the approach that is taken in the process of undertaking a specific activity. Many organisations have failed to implement good plans because they used wrong approaches. Deciding on the best approach to use will involve embracing technology and innovativeness whenever it is necessary. Oleske (2009, p. 96) advises that it is important to ensure that the management devolves decision making to the departments. At Mayo Clinic, each departmental heads has a plan that is always followed when implementing various policies within their departments based on their local needs. This hospital has been focused on choosing the process approach when implementing new policies (Sollecito Johnson 2013, p. 89). System approach to management The principle of system approach to management has gained popularity in many successful organisations around the world, and Mayo Clinic is one of the firms that have actively used this principle in their operations. According to Spath (2009, p. 78), an organi sation is a system of people with different skills, experience, knowledge, and talents. All these factors define an organisation and the approach it takes when addressing various activities in the market. System approach to the management is a principle in ISO 9001:2008 that emphasises on the need to involve other members of the organisation in the management process. At Mayo Clinic, before coming up with a decision on how different tasks should be undertaken, the responsible managers always make efforts to understand the ideas of other people, especially those that are directly involved in the implementation of some of these policies are very important. They always form part of the management system, especially in decision making. Their views are regarded as important when making decisions that will affect them or their tasks. This not only motivates them, but also ensures that the approach taken is the most practical one. This approach has helped this giant organisation to devolve some of the operational and tactical plans to departmental levels in order to help find local solutions to local problems at these facilities. Continual improvement Continual improvement is probably one of the most important principles in the ISO 9001:2008 that Mayo Clinic has emphasised on at all its departments. According to Stamatis (1996, p. 63), success should not be considered a destination because it is a process that has no end. Continuous success is what should be regarded as a true success because any missteps that a successful firm makes would lead to a failure that may wipe away past successes. With this in mind, Mayo Clinic has maintained continuous improvement in its service delivery in order to retain its prestigious position as one of the best hospitals in the world. All the good strategies that this firm uses have been under continuous improvement to enable it offer even better services. If this firm was ranked third in 2010 among the best hospitals, it means that there are other areas that it should improve on in order to become the best. Continual quality improvement that has been embraced by Mayo Clinic may be a challenging task, especially when a firm believes that it has exploited some of the best imaginable strategies. However, Steiger (2001, p. 68) says that there is always a way of improving the best, and the only difficult task is to identify how this should be done. This should be a continual process as shown in the diagram below, and the management at Mayo Clinic has been determined to apply it in order to improve its customers’ experience whenever they visit the facility. Factual approach to decision making Factual approach to decision making has been another popular principle of ISO 9001:2008 that Mayo Clinic has been using to enhance its ability to offer quality products. Some policies can appear very attractive on a piece of paper, but when it comes to implementation, they may become impractical. This is one of the reas ons why some firms fail to achieve their objectives in the market. When the plan lacks the factual information, or practicality, then it will remain a plan that cannot be implemented (Wan Connell 2003, p. 56). This simply means that the plan will be useless to the organisation, and all the resources that were used in its development will be a waste. The management at Mayo Clinic acknowledges the importance of ensuring that its decision making process is based on factual information. Care has always been taken to ensure that only the practical plans based on the factual information from the field are developed. This means that decision making should not be a preserve of the top executives. The main role of the top executive when planning for operational and tactical plans would be to ensure that the operational and tactical plans are in line with the strategic plans of the firm. If they realise that a section of the plan does not work within the strategic objectives of the organisat ion, they should give advices on how to make adjustments in order to realise the desired goals. As Kelly (2003, p. 75) notes, this will help in coming up with practical and realistic plans that can easily be implemented by respective departments. Mutually beneficial supplier relationships This is the last principle of ISO 9001:2008 that Mayo Clinic has actively used to improve the quality of its products. The research by Charantimath (2006, p. 32) shows that one of the major challenges that firms face in the current market is the increasing strength of the suppliers. Dealing with a strong supplier may be a serious challenge to a firm, especially if the supplier controls a major share of the market for the supplies. Such a supplier may set terms which are unfriendly to the firm as a way of gaining quick success before the industry is invaded by other players. Mayo Clinic has found ways of developing a mutually beneficial relationship with all its suppliers in order to ensure that it is able to get all the needed products at friendly terms. To achieve this, the firm has always created a partnership with these suppliers. It strives to make these suppliers feel that they are in a form of relationship where they need each other’s support. This way, their suppliers always view them as partners that need their protection, other than customers that should be exploited. Through this strategy, this firm has been able to deliver its products to the clients at reduced prices. Previous Quality Management Tools at Mayo Clinic The above nine principles are very vital for Mayo Clinic when implementing ISO 9001:2008 in its management strategies. This does not mean that other strategies that this firm was using previously will be discarded when implementing the above recommendations. Some of the strategies that this firm was using before included Six Sigma. Although some scholars claim that Six Sigma is a complicated quality management strategy that is gradually being ou tdated, it still remains to be one of the important tools that should not be ignored by the management. At Mayo, this has been an important quality management tool for many years. This tool could probably provide the answer to the question on how to improve the current best practices within this firm. Mayo Clinic has also found the Commonwealth Fund Commission to be an important quality management tool that has helped it remain competitive in the market. The six principles that have enabled this firm become strong in the market, as discussed on the section above, were based on the best practices as defined by the Commonwealth Fund Commission. Other important principles that this firm has been using in the past include John Ovretveit’s Principles, which the firm has since reduced its application within its system preferring to emphasise on ISO 9001:2008. Conclusion Quality management in the field of healthcare has become one of the most important tasks that define the success of a firm. Mayo Clinic has realised that it has a responsibility to its clients to offer quality healthcare to all the patients. To achieve this, the organisation has been using the industry’s best practice in order to ensure that its services meet the industry standards. It has been determined to employ some of the important quality measures in its management system. The Commonwealth Fund Commission principles on quality management have been one of the major quality management tools used by the firm in the past. However, the firm must now fully implement the principles of ISO 9001:2008 in order to achieve even greater success in this competitive industry. List of References Arias, K 2000, Quick reference to outbreak investigation and control in health care facilities, Aspen Publishers, Gaithersburg. 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Spath, P 2009, Introduction to healthcare quality management, Health Administration Press, Chicago. Stamatis, D 1996, Total quality management in healthcare: Implementation strategies for optimum results, McGraw-Hill, New York. Steiger, H 2001, Risk control and quality management in neurosurgery, Springer, Wien. Wan, T Connell, A 2003, Monitoring the quali ty of health care: Issues and scientific approaches, Kluwer Academic, Boston. Wheeler, N Grice, D 2000, Management in health care, Stanley Thornes, Cheltenham.