SYSTEMS AND DATABASES - COURSEWORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

SYSTEMS AND DATABASES - COURSEWORK - Essay Example Solution: A database solution would ensure better storage, addition, modification and deletion of resident records so that bed allocation is handled better. Bed allocation would not only help the care manager but also the placement officer to know the affordable rates for the beds for fund approval process. Databases namely Oracle or MySql server can be used for storing and retrieving the records of beds and residents. Problem definition: The nurse records are not well maintained for immediate allocation and is very difficult to know the availability of the nurses for resident allocation and assignment. Even their weekly payment hours are sometimes faulty. Solution: A database system with alerts (triggers) would be largely helpful in knowing the reorder level for nurse’s availability and their filling up with buffers so that patients are taken care and attended at all times. Solution: An information system should be well connected with the pharmacist who would ensure better and timely delivery of drugs for use by the home. Again the proposal for an interconnected system like that of ERP is most useful in such cases. It would not only manage the various elements but would also reduce their operation cycle time in terms of effort and time taken by the various actors like the care manager, nursing manager and others to accomplish a task. As the hospital demands quick and timely action to keep up with the patient’s medical demands, an ERP system would ensure effective data transfer and reduce their lead times (Ballou, 2002). Solution: The updation of records are essentially required for fetching the exact state of the patients at all times. The system must reflect that at every point of time as to the status of the patient. A database solution would ensure better management of the home and ensure a reflection of the

Article Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Article Critique - Essay Example It is difficult to argue with the position Adler takes. Today’s media reports are filled with stories of children as both victims and authors of serious crimes. Both scenarios indicate that children are exposed to conduct that entirely adult in nature, with the result that the innocence of childhood is lost. Adler writes of the measures that parents and adults in general take to protect children from crime. These measures involve a stream of â€Å"hyper-vigilance† . (Adler) Fear of crimes against children are unrealistic given that there are diseases that claim the lives of children far more frequently than crimes. (Adler) This is perhaps the only point that Adler makes that invokes dissension. Fear of crime against children can never be underestimated. Children are vulnerable to crime and require adult protection and supervision. When a child is given free licence to traverse on his or her own, they are always potential victims. However, Adler is right in his observation that children have become hostages and imprisoned in their homes. There are parents who attach a leash to their children at the mall to guard against abductions. (Adler) Today’s adults have taken protection to the extreme. Children are cautioned to the point of exhaustion against the harm that can befall them. In one case, Adler notes that one family went beyond merely setting alarms in the cars and in their home. They have even fixed alarm systems on members of the family. (Adler) These kinds of measures cause undue fear and alarm for children and are entirely unnecessary. The best approach to guarding against the risk of harm is to ensure that small children are never left without adult supervision. There is no logical reason for raising the alarm with small children. Adult responsibility toward small children includes protecting them from

Water Decontamination Methods Advantages and Disadvantages

Water Decontamination Methods Advantages and Disadvantages Outline Abstract In Malaysia, for the past many years, drinking water treatment was only limited to water disinfection by using chlorine; however it had been concluded that its use in potable water treatment can be harmful to human health.(Subedi, et al., 2012) Following the development in drinking water treatment, conventional methods in three different technologies are available to have more purified water. They are biological, physicochemical and advanced oxidation process (AOPs) technologies. Each of the technologies has different roles in purifying water and they can be combined to treat drinking water as well. In this assignment, the lists of methods of each technology are stated and some of the main processes are discussed, including the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. For biological technology, slow sand filtration and perchlorate processes are discussed in 3a.For physicochemical technology, coagulation process is discussed in details in 3b. Lastly, the advanced oxidation proces s, AOPs, include both photochemical and non-photochemical oxidation. The fenton system and photocatalytic processes which are categorized in photochemical oxidation are discussed in 3c. Introduction Safe drinking water that free of contaminants is essential to human health and development issue at national, regional and local levels. Its accessibility is human’s rights and a component of effective policy for health protection. (who et al) Therefore, there are many drinking water regulations and acts set by specialized agency such as WHO to have standard on safe drinking water to give awareness to public and thus limit the levels of contaminants. The national primary drinking water regulations and number of regulated contaminants shown in Figure 2.1 and Figure 2.2 in appendix 2.According to the regulations and standards, the characteristics of safe drinking water are contaminants free, natural minerals rich, alkaline pH, taste good and odorless. Firstly, microbiological and chemical contaminants in drinking water may cause acute or chronic health effects or undesirable aesthetic properties when present at excessive concentrations. Microbiological contaminants refer to path ogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and protozoan parasites. Chemical contaminants refer to toxicity, inorganic and organic chemicals. The other contaminants are pesticides, herbicides and radioactive materials (radionuclide). Besides that, pH of water should be maintained from 6.5 to 8.5. This is because alkaline water is able to neutralize stored acids and help in eliminating toxins. Because of these, various types of technologies of drinking water treatments are introduced to minimize the deleterious effects of contaminated drinking water on human health. Details of contaminants by National Secondary Drinking Water Standards and details of contaminants and potential health effects by National Primary Drinking Water Standards as shown in Figure 2.3 and Figure 2.4 respectively in appendix 2. In the following, three different technologies which are biological, physicochemical and advanced oxidation process (AOPs) are introduced to treat drinking water to a safety level s o that human health is ensured. The goal of all of the developed water treatment technologies is to remove turbidity as well as chemical and pathogenic contaminants from drinking water source in the most affordable and expedient manner possible. 3.Content 3a.Biological Technology Water used for drinking and household use, even water from a ground water supply, should be treated before it is used to ensure it is safe and aesthetically pleasing. One innovative method of water treatment is biological water treatment. Biological drinking water treatment is one technology that has the potential to further many of these objectives. This technology is based on the ability of microorganisms – specifically non-pathogenic bacteria – to efficiently catalyze the biochemical oxidation or reduction of drinking water contaminants and produce biologically stable water. (Snoeyink, 1984) .Biological drinking water treatment is often used in combination with other chemical and chemical processes including ozonation and filtration. There are some types of biological drinking water treatment such as slow sand filtration, rapid biological filtration, ozone-enhanced biological filtration and granular activated carbon biological adsorption. Firstly, the slow sand filtration is a type of centralized or semi-centralized water purification system. A well-designed and properly maintained slow sand filter (SSF) effectively removes turbidity and pathogenic organisms through various biological, physical and chemical processes in a single treatment step. According to (Patrick J. Evans, 2010), slow sand filtration involves very low filtration rates (e.g. 0.04 to 0.10 gpm/ft2) through sand media without pre-oxidation or pre-disinfection (Awwa, 2005). During initial operation of slow sand filtration, a layer of biological matter will be produced on the surface of filter media by the separation of organic matter and other solids. This layer is called as schumutzdecke which acts as the predominant filtering mechanism. It supports the biological matter that works as the primary biofiltration process to remove BDOC, pathogenic microorganisms, and particulates (Page, 2006).To maintenance the slow sand filtration process, periodic scrap ing and removal of the top layer of sand are needed. Besides that, there is another more precise term to replace slow sand filtration which is called biological filtration (SBF) since the biologically active schmutzdecke is an integral part of this process. Besides that, the advantages of slow sand filters is very effective in improving the microbiological and physicochemical qualities of water and it is very easy to operate and maintain. The disadvantages of slow sand filters are vulnerability to clogging when the incoming water is of high turbidity. When dealing with such waters, pre-treatment, such as sedimentation or roughing pre-filtration is required. Next, biological perchlorate or nitrate process. Perchlorate and nitrate have the ability of being anaerobically biodegraded to chloride and nitrogen gas. (Patrick J. Evans, 2010) stated the process involves addition of an electron donor such as acetic acid plus nutrients to water to promote biochemical reduction of biological perchlorate or nitrate process. Moreover, perchlorate and nitrate act as the terminal electron acceptors for respiration by these bacteria. As a result, BPNP vary from the predate biological drinking water treatment processes that are aerobic and employ aerobic bacteria that use oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor for respiration. BPNP can be employed in diverse arrangement including packed beds, fluidized beds, and membrane systems. BPNP is followed by an aeration process to promote aerobic biodegradation of assimilable organic (AOC) and biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) in combination with a filtration process for turbidity removal. 3b.Physicochemical Technology Physicochemical drinking water treatment is frequently used in the area of drinking water treatment. This technique is applied to remove the heavy metals, oils and suspended matters. This physiochemical drinking water treatment technique is used to treat drinking water in order to become process water. According to (Spellman, 2009)the steps that are under this technique are coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, disinfection and arsenic removal from drinking water. The coagulation process that occurs in this drinking water treatment technique will be discussed in details in this assignment. The definition of coagulation is the destabilization of colloidal particles.(L.Droste, 1997)The particles are coated with a chemically sticky layer that enables them to stick with each other, forming a large molecule and settle in a short period of time. The ability of an agent to agglomerate the tiny particles found in water is directly related to its charge. The other factor that will affect the ability is the size of synthetic polymers. The most common materials that are used to coagulate the water are alum (aluminum sulfate) and iron salts. (L.Droste, 1997) stated that the multivalent characteristic of these coagulants effectively attracts them to charged colloidal particles and their high insolubility helps to ensure their removal from the water to a high degree. When coagulant such as alum is being added into the water, a chemical reaction that produces positively charged will occur. This reaction will indirectly reduce the electrical charges of the particles and hence form a sticky substance which also known as floc. In this reaction, turbidity, color and microorganisms can be removed easily. The formation of floc is the primary step of coagulation process. For perfect efficiency, intimate, rapid mixing of the water must be done and coagulant must be present. After mixing, the water should be stirred slowly so that the particles can stick to each other forming a large molecule. According to (Spellman, 2009) , the factors that will affect the coagulation process are pH, turbidity, temperature, alkalinity and he use of polymers. The degree to which these factors affect coagulation process relies on the type of coagulant use. The condition of raw water, optimum pH to coagulate the water and other factors must be taken into account before making decision on which chemical to be used. According to(E.Manathan, 2009), the main advantage of using this technique is lower cost compared to biological treatment. It requires less worker force and able to settle the issues regarding toxic materials effectively. On the other hand, it has its disadvantage too, which is require careful operator control and use up huge amount of energy. 3c.Advanced Oxidation Process (AOPs) Advanced oxidation process (AOP) is an oxidation process which affects water treatment by generating a sufficient quantity of hydroxyl radicals.(Goi, 2005) Hydroxyl radicals (†¢ OH), are non-selective reactive species, helps to oxidize pollutants into mineral end-products, yielding CO2 and inorganic ions.This process can treat those organic pollutants with high chemical stability and low biodegradability which cannot be treated by conventional techniques. Basically, refractory compounds cannot be removed efficiently by conventional biological processes, but AOPs will do and help to improve the overall compound removal efficiency in water treatment. Refers to Figure3.1 in appendix 2, in biological systems, AOPs are used as pre- and post-treatment. The pre-treatment improve wastewater biological treatability by common microorganism whereas post-treatment is targeted on the contaminants removal which not completely done during the biological treatment. (Cesaro, et al., 2013) Organic contaminants such as halogenated hydrocarbons (trichloroethane, trichloroethylene), pentachlorophenol (PCP), detergents, pesticides, etc can be destroying by this process easily. Besides, the inorganic contaminants (cyanide, nitrite, and sulfide) can be oxidized by this process. Non-photochemical and photochemical methods are used to generating the OH radicals. These two methods are as shown as table below: Fenton system In Fenton system, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) acts as an oxidation agent. When hydrogen peroxide presents in excess, Fe (II) oxidizes to Fe (III) within few seconds or minutes and hydroxyl radicals will be generated. The reactions are as shown as below: Fe2+ + H2O2 → Fe3+ + OH– +.OH The catalyst used in this process is iron salts which generate ferric ion, Fe2+as the Fenton’s reagent. Besides, ozone (UV-light) and transition metal salts are used.Mostly, ironsalts are used as transition metal salts. (Munter, 2001)Under the UV-radiation, the felton’s reagent undergoes oxidation processes that utilize activation of H2O2, has high efficiency to treat the hazardous organic pollutants that present in water. (Albert, 2010) Fenton reagent uses in wastewater treatment to convert the contaminants to harmless compound such as carbon dioxide and inorganic salts. This Fenton’s oxidation is the most efficient method in removing effluent toxidity and color compare to coagulation-flocculation process. It helps to decrease the rate of chemical oxygen demand (COD), aromatic compounds, and total polyphenols in the wastewater. However, Fenton process also can be combined with coagulation to reduce flocs settling time, amount of COD, and enhanced color removal. Photo-Fenton-type oxidation is a process when Fe3+ ions added to H2O2/UV process, resulted Fe (OH)2+ complex in pH3 condition. Fe3+ + H2O →Fe (OH)2+ + H+ Fe (OH)2+ ↔ Fe3+ + OH When Fe (OH)2+ will further decompose into .OH and Fe2+ ions with the presence of UV light. Fe(OH)2+hv→ Fe2+ + .OH This type of reaction very relies on UV irradiation to start up the .OH generation. Besides, this UV irradiation can mineralize organic pollutants completely. Efficiency of Fenton/Fenton-like reagents with UV irradiation can be increased by efficient use of light quanta and photo-reduction of ferric ion.(Munter, 2001) Photocatalytic oxidation Photocatalytic oxidation is an alternative AOP method which introduced high energy (photons of ultraviolet light,UV) into the treatment system. Besides that, it is a potentially green chemistry drinking water treatment process. Throughout the whole process, no reagents are added and only relatively harmless catalyst TiO2 and sunlight (source of UV) is needed. Solid titanium dioxide, TiO2 is used as the photocatalyst leading to chain reaction for the production of HO. free radicals. (E.Manathan, 2009) When the surface of TiO2 is irradiated with ultraviolet radiation, â€Å"holes† (h) are generated at sites where excited electrons (e) are produced: TiO2 +hv → TiO2 (h + e) The surface holes may take electrons from dissolved hydroxyl ion to produce reactive hydroxyl radicals on the TiO2 surface: TiO2 (h) + OH → OH. Refers to theFigure 3.2 in appendix 2, solar disinfection (SODIS) and solar photocatalytic disinfection (SPCDIS) are appropriate technologies for water disinfection of Cryptosporidium oocysts at household level. Cryptosporidium species are protozoan parasites that infect humans and causes diarrheal disease by the food-borne or waterborne routes. Cryptosporidium is capable to survive in the environment for long periods and even treated water is not guarantee to be safe from these infective parasites. Therefore, SODIS and SPCDIS are introduced to deactivate these microorganisms to reduce the risk of infection. SODIS and SPCDIS are both using the same method to reduce the oocyst viability. Both of them involve storing contaminated drinking water in transparent containers that are placed in direct sunlight before consumption.The disinfection effect of sunlight only occurs at temperatures exceeding 45 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. Therefore during cloudy conditions, this process may take a longer time to ensure the safety of the drinking water. Photocatalytic disinfection, SPCDIS uses the non-toxic photocatalyst, TiO2 to enhance and accelerate the inactivation rate of the parasites. For SPCDIS, the photocatalyst particles would have to be removed after solar exposure and before consumption. Due to this additional step, the probability of compliance within communities in developing countries is low and lead to the inefficiency of the treatment. In order to overcome this problem, this photocatalyst,TiO2 has been isolated onto some form of coated flexible insert, which would reside permanently within the SODIS reactor. Due to the effectiveness of the cheap, flexible insert coated with the non-toxic photocatalyst TiO2, the photocatalytic oxidation is recommended since it enhances the diminution of the oocyst viability by as much as 50%. 4.Conclusions The three technologies in treating contaminated drinking water used different methods to purify water. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages. They have faced respective challenges in terms of added research and development. Some of the common challenges are techniques for effective removal of emerging contaminants, synthetic chemicals and pesticides, as well as problems in dealing with spills of chemicals in navigable rivers and lastly the development of sustainable treatment. The challenge involving technological development is the needs of economic, appropriate, relevant and sustainable developing technology. (Ray Jain, 2011) In fact, three of the technologies can be combined to bring the greatest efficiency in water treatment process. For biological technology, the slow sand filtrationand perchlorate processes are discussed. The biological treatment is environmental friendly but the limitation of the processes are low effectiveness when the turbidity of water source is hi gh. For physicochemical technique, the method discussed is coagulation, one of the challenges it meets is large amount of energy consumption; whereas its future prospect could be get use of solar energy which is environment friendly. For AOPs, fentonand photocatalytic process are discussed. Both of the processes still need a further research about the fundamental concepts and reaction mechanism. It is because there are still much remain to be done in terms of maximizing its efficiency, by enhancing the performance-related properties of oxide materials. 5.References /abstract 1 /intro 2,3 *4+WHO *5+natural regulations *biological /physico 6,7,8 carson /aops9,10,11,12 /13,14,15,16,17,18 (6) /conclu19 1

Industrial Revolution :: essays research papers

American dream promises equal opportunity to pursuit one’s happiness, personal wellbeing, and reward for all those Americans and immigrants who endure, overcome, and ultimately prevail hardships. However during the era of American Industrialization, many people were exploited and forced to work or else face starvation. New inventions increased the rate of production and the efficiency of the workers, thus greatly increasing profit. Success of capitalism further promoted continuation of exploitations lead on by few rich that are influential. American Industrialization had a negative effect on many groups of people, who were pursuing the great American Dream, and yet oppressed by selfish, greed driven upper class. With the introduction of the machinery, factory owners no longer needed â€Å"skilled† craft workers for production of factory goods. The machines performed faster, better and with more reliability. At most jobs in factories required neither great strength no sp ecial skills any more. The owners thought women could do the work just as well as or better than men. In addition, they were more â€Å"docile† and â€Å"compliant†. Therefore, many women workers were hired during the progressivism era. Even though the wage was low, working hours were long and working condition was less than satisfactory, these women had no choice but to work, for they need to support their family. The tale of Rose Stokes is a good example. The factory owners were getting richer and richer, by cutting wages, and providing less compensation for his workers. Many times, women went on strike to protest the wage cut and hour increase. Nevertheless, it proved useless, because of the rapid influx of poor immigrants arriving into United States from Europe: to earn a living, these immigrants were willing to accept even lower wages and poorer working conditions. Women in America did not have the right to vote until the year 1920. If women fought harder for thei r right to vote and gained suffrage earlier, I believe that women would have had a louder voice in the society, in turn better raise awareness of the exploitation and demand better treatment. In colonial America, most manufacturing was done by hand at home. Relationships between the employer and workers were generally harmonious. They worked side by side, shared the same interest and held similar political views. However during the era of American Industrialization, as towns grew in cities, the demand for manufactured goods increased. Employers no longer worked with his employees.

Epistemology and Descartes Essay

In both Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Descartes’ The Fourth Meditation, they discuss truth; what it is, where it comes from and how to differentiate it from falsehood and error. Plato’s paper is more metaphorical and uses imagery to paint a picture of his idea of truth, while Descartes’ is more straight forward, and uses examples. These papers are written very differently but are, at the same time, very similar when it comes to content. Although it’s not word for word, these two papers complement each other very well when it comes to defining truth and explaining its origin. In Allegory of the Cave, Plato’s view is that our senses, such as sight, skew our understanding of true knowledge. We are, for all intense and purposes, chained at the neck and ankles, unable to move. Our world is a cave lit by a fire disguised as the sun. We only see what is before us: our shadows, our falsities and errors. However, on the rare occasion that we break free from our chains, we are able to experience true knowledge. We understand the world around us and realize what we once thought we knew isn’t real. We view things in a new perspective, a new light†¦sunlight. This is what Plato believes truth is. The cave where men are chained is, essentially, a mask, hiding Earth’s true identity. Once that mask is taken off, we know Earth’s true identity, we understand. One may relate being ‘unchained’ to an epiphany, or divine intervention. It’s an experience of something so pure, so insightful; you know it to be true. And once we have experienced this pure truth, we must return to the cave populated by shadows and lit with an artificial sun. We must do to this so we can share our true knowledge with others, so they too, may one day be ‘unchained. ’ In The Fourth Meditation, Descartes rationalizes God’s Will, and all of imperfections, through a series of questions and answers. In this paper, Descartes describes God as the source of goodness, truth and being. He is infinite. The opposite of God, Descartes states, is nothingness. So, since we humans exist, Descartes explains we must be somewhere in between these two extremes. We are neither infinite, nor are we nothingness. We are finite, as God willed us to be. We consist of ‘being’ and ‘non-being. ’ And  any imperfection we may have is not a result of our being, rather our non-being†¦our error, in other words. Descartes says that when we know we know something, we are 100 percent sure about it. We have no feelings against it. It’s a sudden realization, an epiphany perhaps. And in this state, our judgments are certain and true. Descartes also talks about how we can not know anything certainly, without looking at the whole picture. For example, scientists cannot expect to prove or disprove God’s existence by looking at specific, finite things in the universe. Or if people try to disprove God by saying there is evil in the world, they aren’t looking at the big picture. For, in the big picture, Descartes thinks there would be an explanation, a purpose for evil. So even though Plato and Descartes give very different types of explanations about truth, and it’s origin, they come to similar conclusions. They both view truth as something beyond our ordinary senses. They both suggest taking a look at the bigger picture to find truth (being unchained/understanding God’s infinite being). And they both agree that, when the truth is know, it needs to be shared.

Globalization, Ethics and Islam Essay

Ian Markham in his book stated his view of religion and its value to human race. Just like the view of Said Nursi, his source of ideology, he firmly believed in world peace that is founded on deep religious ethics. For Markham, all religions of the world have responsibility and authority in keeping moral ethics alive in the society. This is contrary to the view of Alasdair MacIntyre who claimed that â€Å"there are adequate non-religious alternative foundations for ethics† (p. 66); Aristotle who said that moral assertion is â€Å"an intelligible framework† (p. 68); and other names in history like Kant, Hume. Globalization therefore, will make its sense in the absence of hate and war, and in upholding ethical values instituted in religious beliefs worldwide. Though he accepts justification for ethics of other religion, yet he believes that Islam faith could draw clearly the idea of ethical system. Religions of the world should establish its own paradigm of ethics for Markham puts it, â€Å"†¦ because moral factors should (and in practice – do) shape our public life† (p. 68). He further added, â€Å"The basic commitment to decency in our public discourse is a moral judgment that the public square needs. † Furthermore, Markham also believes that the place of religion is private and not public, which he meant that the State should not control the citizens’ beliefs and practices but the same should not allow any public expression of religious belief for â€Å"public disorder would ensue† (p. 67). Therefore, as Markham tried to explain, religion has greater responsibility in maintaining world peace if it holds to the principles of morality and ethicss; for only when faith made sense, ethical framework would not have any sense either. Comparative Analysis of Markham’s View and Thomas Michel’s on Issue of Ethics and Globalization Thomas Michel the advocate of Catholic faith believes that there are similarities in his view and that of Markham on issue of religion and world peace, which he called â€Å"the ethics of peace† (p. 37). He recognized the contribution of these two great persons to the topic. Pope John Paul II on World’s Day in 2002 delivered a message that proposed, â€Å"True peace must rest on †¦justice and forgiveness† (p. 37). Pope explained that peace in form of ‘cease-fire’ only amplify the issue; while peace may be attained by getting to the â€Å"heart of the conflict and try to heal human relations† (p. 38). He added, when there is oppression or injustice peace is impossible. The resolution for world peace according to Pope is justice in forms of moral virtue and legal guarantee; these, he believed are the elements of international system of relations among peoples – â€Å"full respect for rights and responsibilities† (p. 38). This concept is closely related with the idea presented by Markham in which, religion has to stand on idea of having moral and ethical standard established and practiced in the society. Markham clearly emphasized in his book that the world â€Å"needs deeply committed orthodox, exponents of each tradition to outline an ethical system that is both true to the beliefs and practices of that tradition† (p. 65). The Pope emphasized in the message the importance of justice and forgiveness as virtues people must embrace to have peace. Qur’an teaches about patience, which is a predominant virtue in that book. Yusuf 12 verse 90 of Qur’an says, â€Å"One who is mindful of God and patient indeed God will not forfeit the recompense due to those who do good. † Work Cited Markham, Ian S. and Ozdemir, Ibrahim. Globalization, Ethics and Islam: The Case of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi. Burlington, USA: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. , 2005