Data wharehousing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Data wharehousing - Essay Example This is a concept of OLAP mainly used when it’s being related to data mining. This is possible through pre-aggregation, an aspect of relational databases in that they not only facilitate the creation of tables, but also can manipulate them together with the data they contain. Pre-aggregation in connection with OLAP basically explains how factual information, in this sense data that has been collected can be used to come up with probability estimations used for distribution (Kozielski & Wrembel, 2009). Data mining is a concept that has been confused with OLAP for a while. These two terms, though different have been used synonymously to refer to the other. However, these are two similar but different terms when viewed critically. Data mining is a data knowledge discovery mechanism that aims at identifying, from a pool of data, sets of useful and important data that may have been ignored, classifies the data in relation to the whole set and associates it to its class. This data a nalysis concept focuses mainly on dividing the existing data into small manageable sets, as regards their relationship. On the other hand, OLAP focuses on addition of more data to a pool that is already in existence. This is made possible since OLAP gives data a multi-dimensional approach, creating summaries in different dimensions that are then added up to the original data, making it more comprehensive A general definition associated with OLAP is that which describes it as software put in place to create a platform in which the user interacts easily with a complex database accessed online and is able to prompt the database for a service which n return provides a report in a form understandable to him/her. However, there are many other definitions attached to this concept. It’s amazing that some people even used the full name of the acronym as a definition, but this is entirely questionable since it does not give gist of what the concept is or what it refers to. The most com monly used definitions are listed below (Becker, 2002). First, there is what we can call the popular definition. It’s a precise and interesting definition of OLAP as set of many spreadsheets in a package. This is just but a typical meaning, mainly used to people who have little or no knowledge in information technology. Its true OLAP is used in spreadsheets to enhance the view of data, but it’s certainly not a set or group of spreadsheets. Secondly, OLAP has been popularly defined as a report given or presented with some extra information attached to it. This is adopted from the way OLAP works, by presenting data from different dimensions with diverse interpretations. In this case, OLAP allows the database users to scan through different perspectives of an issue. Lastly, there is the technical definition attached to OLAP. It describes on-line analytical processing as enhanced, friendly browsing of similar, multidimensional data. When a user prompts a query to the softw are, it may take up to less than a minute to give an output, hence its attribution as a fast software. It also does this in levels with a set of new data for each level. MegaSave uses data marts, tools used in presenting data and facts in multi-dimensions. The best definition, therefore, for such a scenario is the last one. This is so because so far,

Value Chain Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Value Chain Analysis - Research Paper Example Organizations identify strategic advantages and disadvantages with the help of value chain analysis. Value chain refers to all the value-creating functions required for creating and delivering the goods and services to the target customers. Value chain analysis is an important tool for strategic cost management which is an important part of the management accounting. According to Porter, in value chain cost management methodology first the value chain need to be identified, and then the cost, asset and revenue need to be assigned to the value activities (Hoque, 2005). Value chain analysis involves organizations internal cost analysis, its internal differentiation analysis and vertical linkage analysis. Porters value chain model is represented below. Wal Mart, one of the largest organizations in the world not only in retail sector but among the entire private as well as public sector organizations. Wal Mart, founded by Sam Walton in 1962, started its operation in 1969; it is one of the largest organizations in terms of number of employees and revenue. There are almost 1.3 million employees working in Wal-Mart. According to estimates, there are 3400 Wal Mart stores in America till 31st January, 2007. Company is one of the most important drivers of US economy. It is further proven by the fact that every week there is almost 120 million people shop in Wal Mart. As far as sales is concerned Wal Mart is far ahead of its three major global competitors namely Carrefour (France), Home Depot (United States), and Metro (Germany). Cost management is one of the basic things in management accounting. Strategic cost management results to improved strategic performance and significant transformational change in organizational value chain. Cost management information is crucial for four important management functions, which are 1) strategic management, 2) control in management and operations, 3) planning and decision making and finally

Critical Analysis of Microsoft Monopoly Power Essay

Critical Analysis of Microsoft Monopoly Power - Essay Example Moreover, the firm will stand to benefit from the economies of production and the cost per unit of products will be lowered (Baumol & Blinder 2011). This will create entry barriers to new entrants. There are various sources of monopoly power. The first source of monopoly power is the control of an important factor of production that is fundamental in the production process (Allen 2003). A firm that has exclusive control on an important factor e.g. technology, land, or production process is likely to acquire monopoly power and hence lock out competitors. Secondly, monopoly power may also be attained from the government where the government licenses only one firm to be the sole supplier in the industry thus prohibiting entrance from competitors. The monopoly power may also be attained because of the market size i.e. where the market is small; one supplier may supply the whole market. Finally, the amalgamation and mergers of firms in the industry could also create monopoly power. Firms may merge to benefit from the economies of scale production or to avoid competition that could cause losses to the firm. Such factors may lead to monopoly in an industry (Learning & Moyer 2010). In the case of the software industry, Microsoft has enjoyed monopoly position by creating entry barriers to their potential competitors. Entry barriers arise in terms of high costs, time, quality, and lack of resources to advertise in order to make successful entry. One of the strategies that Microsoft used to lock out their competitors was the large number of applications that were necessary to make an operating system preferred by the end users (Kobie 2009). The ends users require software that can be used to execute the different functions at once and this will ensure that they get the convenience they require. It would thus expensive for a new entrant to develop software with many applications that will compete those of Microsoft (Kobie 2009). The users of computer software are also like ly to remain loyal to Microsoft application software because of the multi application that the soft ware can perform. The second way of creating entrance barrier is by entering into exclusive agreements whereby a firm will enter into agreements that prohibits the use of their competitors’ products. In the case of Microsoft, the company created exclusive agreements in which the company’s operating software would be solely used in their PC’s (Meller 2009). As a result, their competitors or potential competitors would lack the market for their software and this would make them incur heavy losses that lead to their termination or dissolution. This anti competitive strategy is not healthy for the users of the products, as they will lack a variety of products to make choices from (Mankiw 2008). They will thus be compelled to adhere to the available and little viable option. These therefore deny the consumers their sovereignty making Microsoft monopoly unjustified. In addition, Microsoft used their financial power and strength to keep their competitors at bay. Monopolists firms make large profits that is can use in lowering the selling price or giving offers that are meant to make their products cheaper compared to those of the competitors (Kobie 2009). Due to this new entrants or existing smaller competitors will be barricaded from accessing the market and hence the continuation of the

The abuse at abu ghraib happened because of basic socio-biological Essay

The abuse at abu ghraib happened because of basic socio-biological drives because humans are naturally prone to treat people who are not considered of their own - Essay Example In the United States who is the self-proclaimed protector of human rights and a country which has a multicultural society, discrimination is still a huge problem within this society. In this country hate crimes are an epidemic and a real solution towards preventing them are currently not viable since the society is not ready to transform itself and truly accept people who are different from the status quo. In 2004 an unfortunate event occurred at Abu Ghraib in which Iraqi prisoners were abused by American soldiers and civilian subcontractors. This paper describes this event and proposes that the reason the abuses at Abu Ghraib occurred is because of the basic social-biological drives of humans which makes them naturally prone to treat people who are not considered of their kind inhumanely. On April 2004 the entire globe learned about serious violation of human rights and abuse that American soldiers committed against Iraqi prisoners stationed in a correctional facility in Iraq called Abu Ghraib. The acts committed by the Americans were truly inhumane and included things such as rape, physical abuse, taking naked pictures of prisoners in extremely revealing positions, urinating on them, and sodomization with batons among other despicable abuses. The story was revealed by the media when insiders in the prison revealed the photographic evidence of the horrific things happening at Abu Ghraib. The person claimed that the army was ready to cover up the event and was going to secretly deal with the matter. The scandal created hysteria throughout America especially within governmental officials. US government officials acknowledge that the event at this prison violated the Geneva Convention which prohibits torture and cruel treatment of war prisoners. The army reported that 2 7 people are accused of being associated with abuses at Abu Ghraid, including 23 soldiers from a military intelligence

You can choose what ever you think Research Paper

You can choose what ever you think - Research Paper Example De Nittis (2008) observes that Oates places special significance on the issue of subordination of women and the feminist perspective of our male-dominated society. She finds that the story displays the theme of violence, especially on females and "male characters are the perpetrators of violence, often physical violence, upon females" (De Nittis 7). Apart from the fact that the story describes issues of violence against women, there is also the integration of fantasy over reality among young girls and how the society responds to it. It can be noted that Connie constantly displays narcissistic acts by always looking at herself at the mirror, fixing her hair time and again, and would act as if she is a matured woman and experienced with men. The repudiation comes directly from her mother who often scolds her for being so immature and contrary to her sister, June. This is where the issue of fantasy versus reality comes into play: because women toil so much in order to be recognized at a certain level by certain male categories, particularly matured men, the society reacts the against it by considering girls as sexual fantasies rather than respectable women. Oates finds a surface realism wherein she deems Arnold friend as a "symbolic Satan" (Christle 1). The roots of Connie, and females in general, being a recipient of sexual violence is because female sexuality has always been perceived based on the masculine parameters (2). For instance, it is as if that being beautiful is all that really matters for Connie - when she sees herself nicely in the mirror, she would think that she would get the kind of recognition she wants from boys. This is always ironic in a sense that the more females define their sexuality in terms of beauty and attractiveness, the more male are going to treat them indecently; and that is the sad

Cell Bio Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Cell Bio Lab Report Essay The purpose of this lab was to test the biological activity of ConA by performing a hemagglutination assay. If ConA is active then agglutination will occur due to ConA’s free receptors being able to bind to the glucose residues on the sheep’s red blood cells. If ConA is not active then no agglutination will occur. To test the hemagglutination reaction, two types of ConA solutions were compared, a purchased control ConA solution in buffer as the positive control, and a purified solution of ConA in buffer previously purified in lab. Each solution was at a 2mg/ml concentration of ConA in ConA buffer, which is necessary for ConAs biological activity. Two variables were added, Galactose and Mannose, to the ConA solution to compare the effects each had on the hemagglutination reaction. I hypothesize for ConA to be able to agglutinate the red blood cells if in the adequate concentration and if in the presence of Galactose, not Mannose. Mannose will inhibit the ConA from binding to the red blood cell’s membrane, preventing agglutination. RESULTS The reaction plate containing the ConA dilutions was incubated over the weekend and resulted in all wells being pink, appearing as if every well had agglutinated. There was a vague outline of the non-agglutinated cells in various wells. The last agglutination was observed at titer 0.0625 (1/16). Agglutination was seen in rows A, B D, and E (row A contained the control ConA, row B contained the control ConA + Galactose, row D contained the sample ConA, and row E contained the sample ConA + Galactose). In the well rows C and F which contained control ConA + Mannose and sample ConA + Mannose, agglutination did not occur at any concentration of ConA. Row G, the negative control appeared to have agglutinated as well as Row H, which contained only ConA buffer. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The results did not support my hypothesis for the biological activity of ConA. There are some sources of error that could explain the results obtained. It’s possible there was a problem with either the ConA buffer or the sheep red blood cells to allow for all wells to turn pink and appear agglutinated. Another explanation of the irregular results was there might have been cross contamination from not changing tips when transferring to different ConA concentrations, or if bubbles were introduced while diluting the ConA, making the results difficult to interpret. For wells A, B D, and E as ConA became more diluted or decreased in concentration, it became more difficult for it to effectively crosslink and agglutinate the red blood cells. Well D, the positive control that contained the purchased ConA resulted in agglutination of the first couple wells, then no agglutination as the ConA concentration decreased, similar to Row A. Wells B and E that had the Galacatose additive obtained the same titer of the control ConA because ConA does not bind Galactose. Galactose doesn’t interfere with ConA from binding to the sugar residues on the red blood cells. Mannose on the other hand, is an inhibitor to ConA’s binding sites. The Mannose in solution competed with the ConA and did not allow to bind to the sugar residues on the red blood cells as seen in rows C and F. Row G, the negative control, should have resulted in non-agglutination, similar to the rows containing the Mannose additive. The results observed showed agglutination formed in this row. Lastly, Row H should have shown non-agglutination through out because the well contained only ConA buffer, not ConA protein. In conclusion, the results did not clearly explain the biological activity of ConA with the hemagglutination assay. The experiment contained too many anomalies to get a clear determination of ConA’s functionality post purification. The results did show that a change in the concentration of ConA would alter the strength of the reaction. Also, ConA’s ability to bind to sugar residues can be affected if ConA has to compete or is inhibited to bind to a cells membrane. LITERATURE CITED Cell Biology 3822 Lab Manual, Cell Surface Glycoprotein Receptor Analysis Using Concanavalin A Lab 7. Pearson Learning Solutions. 2012: 147-154. Madeleine Zaechringer. Cell Biology 3822 Analysis of purified ConA via Hemagglutinatino Assay Lab 7: Powerpoint. 2014.

Human Growth and Development Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Human Growth and Development Research Paper Essay Abstract The following research paper will be written on schizophrenia. I will discuss what schizophrenia is. I will discuss the history behind this chronic disease. Also, who is affected by it? In addition, how common it is in some people. And, I will talk about the different types. Furthermore, I will discuss the causes of schizophrenia. If schizophrenia is hereditary? And the different types of symptoms. Also, how it is diagnosed. Lastly, I will talk over the treatment for people with schizophrenia. What is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental illness. It is considered one of the psychotic mental disorders and is described by symptoms of thought, behavior, and social problems. The thought problems associated with schizophrenia are described as psychosis, in that the persons thinking is completely out of touch with reality at times. An example of this would be, the sufferer of this disease may hear voices or see people that are not actually present or feel like bugs are crawling on their skin when there are none. The individual with this disorder may also have disorganized speech, behavior, physically rigid, significantly decreased feelings, and delusions, which are ideas about themselves or others that have no basis in reality (for example, the individual might experience paranoia, in that he or she thinks others are plotting against them when they are not). What is the history of schizophrenia? The term schizophrenia has only been in use since 1911. The word schizophrenia is less than 100 years old. Soon before that, it was deemed a separate mental illness in 1887 by Emil Kraepelin. Despite the fact that it is a more recent known disease, it has been described throughout written history. Ancient Egyptian, Hindu, Chinese, Greek, and Roman writings described symptoms similar to the symptoms of schizophrenia. During medieval times, schizophrenia, like other illnesses, was often viewed as evidence of the sufferer being possessed by spirits or evil powers. The film â€Å"A Beautiful Mind† depicts the life of a man named John Nash, a noted scientist, and his struggles with paranoid schizophrenia. In history, all people who were considered abnormal, whether due to mental illness, mental retardation, or physical deformities, were treated the same. Early theories  invented that mental disorders were caused by â€Å"evil possession† of the body, and the appropriate treatment was then get rid of these demons, through various means, reaching from innocuous treatments, such as exposing the patient to certain types of music, to dangerous and sometimes deadly means, such as releasing the evil spirits by drilling holes in the patients skull. 1996-2014 MedicineNet. 1996-2009. Schizophrenia.com. Who is affected, and who is it most common in? Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the population, corresponding to more than 2 million people in the United States and 100,000-200,000 newly diagnosed people every year. Other statistics about schizophrenia include that it affects men about one and a half times more commonly than women and that 50% of people in hospital psychiatric care have schizophrenia. Diagnosis is usually in people aged 17-35 years with the illness appearing earlier in men (in the late teens or early 20s) than in women (who are affected in the 20s to early 30s). Although there have been fewer studies on schizophrenia in children compared to adults, researchers are finding that children as young as 6 years old can be found to have all the symptoms of their adult counterparts and continue to have those symptoms into adulthood. 1996-2014 MedicineNet. What are the different types of Schizophrenia? There are five different types of schizophrenia, each based on the kind of symptoms the person has at the time of assessment. Firstly, there is paranoid schizophrenia. In this type the individual is preoccupied with one or more delusions or many auditory hallucinations but does not have symptoms of disorganized schizophrenia. On the other hand, disorganized schizophrenia is when the prominent symptoms are disorganized speech and behavior, as well as flat or inappropriate affect. The person does not have enough symptoms to be characterized as suffering from catatonic schizophrenia. On that note, catatonic schizophrenia is when the person with this type of schizophrenia primarily has at least two of the following symptoms: difficulty moving, resistance to moving, excessive movement, abnormal movements, and/or repeating what others say or do. Also, there is undifferentiated schizophrenia: This is characterized by episodes of two or more of the resulting symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior, catatonic behavior, but the individual does not qualify for a diagnosis of paranoid, disorganized, or catatonic type of schizophrenia. Lastly, there is residual schizophrenia: While the full-blown  characteristic positive symptoms of schizophrenia (those that involve an excess of normal behavior, such as delusions, paranoia, or heightened sensitivity) are absent, the sufferer has a less severe form of the disorder or has only negative symptoms (symptoms characterized by a decrease in function, such as withdrawal, disinterest, and not speaking). Overall, those are all the different types of schizophrenia, there descriptions, and symptoms. 1996-2014 MedicineNet. What Are Causes of Schizophrenia? There are many causes to schizophrenia. Rather, it is the result of a complex group of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors. Genetically, schizophrenia is very similar to bipolar disorder, in the two disorders they both share a number of the same risk genes. However, the fact is that both illnesses also have some genetic factors that are unique. Environmentally, the risks of developing schizophrenia can even occur before birth. For example, the risk of schizophrenia is increased in individuals whose mother had one of certain infections during pregnancy. Difficult life circumstances during childhood, like the early loss of a parent, parental poverty, bullying, witnessing parental violence; emotional, sexual, or physical abuse; physical or emotional neglect; and insecure attachment have been associated with the development of this illness. The environment and the beings around the child as its young can decide whether or not the person suffers of that disease. 1996-2014 MedicineNet. Is Schizophrenia Hereditary? One of the most frequently asked question about schizophrenia is if it is hereditary. Like most of the other mental disorders, schizophrenia is not directly passed from one generation to another genetically, but it is known to run in families. Consequently, the risk of illness in an identical twin of a person with schizophrenia is 40%-50% and a child of a parent suffering from schizophrenia has a 10% chance of developing the illness. So, yes schizophrenia is somewhat hereditary. 1996-2014 MedicineNet. What are some signs or symptoms of schizophrenia? When it comes to symptoms there are two different categories. There are positive and negative symptoms. Positive: Beliefs that have no basis in reality (delusions) Hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, or tasting things that have no basis in reality (hallucinations) Disorganized speech Disorganized behaviors Catatonic behaviors Negative: Inhibition of facial expressions Lack of motivation/ speech 1996-2014  MedicineNet. How is schizophrenia diagnosed? There is no test that definitively indicates that someone has schizophrenia. Therefore, health care officials diagnose this disorder by gathering comprehensive medical, family, and mental-health information. Patients have a tendency to to benefit when the practitioner takes into account their clients entire life and background. This consists of but is not restricted to the persons gender, sexual orientation, cultural, religious and ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. The symptom sufferer might be asked to fill out a self-test that the practitioner will review if the person being appraised is able to complete it. The practitioner will also either perform a physical examination or request that the individuals primary-care doctor perform one. The medical examination will usually include lab tests to evaluate the persons general health and to explore whether or not the individual has a medical condition that might produce psychological symptoms. Also, mental-health professionals are often exploring if the individual suffers from hallucinations or delusions, depression and/or manic symptoms, anxiety, substance abuse, as well as some personality disorders and developmental disorders. As a result, some of the symptoms of schizophrenia can also occur in other mental illnesses, the mental-health screening is to determine if the individual suffers from schizoaffective disorder or other psychotic disorder, depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, or a substance-abuse or personality disorder. Any disorder that is associated with bizarre behavior, mood, or thinking, like borderline personality disorder or another psychotic disorder, as well as dissociative identity disorder, also known as multiple personality disorder, which may be particularly challenging to tell between from schizophrenia. In order to judge the persons current emotional state, health-care providers perform a mental-status examination as well. In addition, providing treatment that is appropriate to the diagnosis, determining the presence of mental illnesses that may co-occur with schizophrenia is important in improving the life of individuals with schizophrenia. For example, people with schizophrenia are at increased risk of depression, or thoughts of suicide. 1996-2014 MedicineNet. What are some treatments for schizophrenia? There are a number  of helpful treatments available; medication remains the key of treatment for people with schizophrenia. These medications are often referred to as antipsychotics since they help decrease the intensity of psychotic symptoms. Many health-care professionals prescribe one of these medications, sometimes in combination of one or more other psychiatric medications, in order to maximize the benefit for the person with schizophrenia. Medications that are thought to be particularly effective in treating positive symptoms of schizophrenia include olanzapine (Zyprexa), risperidone (Risperdal), quetiapine (Seroquel), ziprasidone (Geodon), aripiprazole (Abilify), paliperidone (Invega), asenapine (Saphis), lurasidone (Latuda), and lloperidone (Fanapt). These medications are the newer collection of antipsychotic medications, also called second-generation antipsychotics. They are known for having the ability to work quickly compared too many other psychiatric medications. As a group of medications, side effects that occur most often include sleepiness, dizziness, and increased appetite. In addition to medication there are psychosocial treatments. One, Family psycho-education: In addition to educating family members about the symptoms, course, and treatment of schizophrenia, this form of treatment consists of providing family support, problem-solving skills, and access to care providers during times of crises. Secondly, there is the treatment of Social skills training: Also called illness management and recovery programming, social-skills training involve teaching clients ways to handle social situations appropriately. It often involves the person scripting (thinking through or role-playing) situations that occur in social settings in order to prepare for those situations when they actually occur. This treatment type has been found to help people with schizophrenia resist using drugs of abuse, as well as improve their relationships with health-care professionals and with people at work. Although, these are only a couple of the many options for treatment; these are some of the best. 1996-2014 MedicineNet. References: http://www.medicinenet.com/schizophrenia_pictures_slideshow/article.htmhttp://schizophrenia.com/family/sz.overview.htm http://www.medicinenet.com/schizophrenia/article.htm http://www.helpguide.org/mental/schizophrenia_symptom.htm Title Schizophrenia Authors John M. Neale, Thomas F. Oltmanns Edition illustrated Publisher John Wiley Sons, 1980 Original from the University of California Digitized Aug 24, 2010 ISBN 0471630861, 9780471630869 Length 554 pages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia