Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Human Resource Management - Essay Example This helps in the HR planning processes that entail incorporation of reward systems and increase of responsibilities for workers. Furthermore, the termination of services of workers also falls under the HRM department is expected to use proper channels that are fair and transparent to uphold integrity. This also includes the guiding reasons for terminating the services of an employee through effective tribunals that follow tenets of justice and equality. There are several differences between personnel management and Human Resource Management in every organization such Coca Cola Company. For example, in terms of nature relations, HRM deals with unitarist view while personnel manager leans with pluralist view. Therefore, in terms of a unitarist perspective, the HRM coordinates with the management and staff through a common vision for the establishment of a mission for the attainment of business goals. Additionally, the vision targets the achievement of mutual interest whereby the needs of corporations are met by employers and employees (Yeandle 2003, p. 123). However, with personnel management, there is a centralization of power whereby all powers are held by the top management. Therefore, this influences decision-making where all suggestions rest on the management excluding the personnel manager. Alternatively, there is a difference in leadership and management responsibilities between HRM and personnel manager. For example, while leadership style is the emphasis in personal management, in HRM it is transformational. Another difference is the contract of employment whereby there is a clear written employee contract in personnel management while HRM emphasize on one-time-long contract (DuBrin 2008, p.167). This means that there is less rigidity in the terms and conditions for employees. In other words, there is flexibility in terms of approach to the contribution of knowledge and skills for the organization. Therefore, there are numerous HRM related roles and res ponsibilities of line manager

Discrimination in Healthcare Essay Example for Free

Discrimination in Healthcare Essay The new test is whether or not certain treatment was unfavourable to the person claiming discrimination, focusing on the consequences of the treatment on the person claiming direct discrimination because of a protected attribute. Examples of direct discrimination An employer advises an employee that they will not be trained to work on new machinery because they are too old to learn new skills. The employer has discriminated against the employee by denying them training in their employment on the basis of their age. A real estate agent refuses an African man’s application for a lease. The real estate agent tells the man that the landlord would prefer an Australian tenant. The real estate agent has discriminated against the man by denying him accommodation on the basis of his race. Indirect The definition of indirect discrimination has been simplified by removing existing technicalities and providing further clarity around the factors to consider in determining whether a requirement, condition or practice is reasonable in the circumstances. Indirect discrimination will occur where a person imposes, or proposes to impose, a requirement, condition or practice that has, or is likely to have, the effect of disadvantaging people with a protected attribute, and that is not reasonable. The new test for indirect discrimination: needs a person to show that the requirement, condition or practice causes, or is likely to cause disadvantage, rather than demonstrating that they cannot comply with a requirement, condition or practice removes the requirement that the person claiming indirect discrimination must establish that a substantially higher proportion of people without the attribute that they have can comply with the requirement, condition or practice places the onus of proof regarding the easonableness of the requirement, condition or practice on the person who imposed or proposes to impose it extends the factors to be considered in determining whether a requirement, condition or practice is reasonable.

Changing Attitudes Of Ferhat Abbas :: essays research papers

Changing Attitudes of Ferhat Abbas Introduction Ferhat Abbas believed in the peaceful solution and that the French are willing to co-operate with the Algerians. With this co-operation, he thought, it was possible for all to live together. He was brought up and thought to believe in democracy and parliament, to look for these in a peaceful fashion and that the people have to be asked what to do with their country and not to be terrorised to be convinced differently. However in the 1950's we can see a clear change, a turn in his thoughts. He accepts more violent ways in order to gain what he believes in. In order to explain the change in attitudes of Ferhat Abbas it is important that we first look at his background. In 1899 Ferhat Abbas was born. He had, like many others, received entirely French education at Constantine and at the University of Algiers. After finishing his studies he had served the French Army for two year after which he founded a pharmacist shop in Setif. There he also founded a student union which was a start of his political career. Soon he was accepted into the city Council where he fought for the emancipation of Algerians from the French. In 1938 Abbas founded the Union Populaire Algà ©rienne which peacefully fought for the equal rights of Algerians and French. Believing in the possible co-operation of French and Algerians he had, fought alongside the French. Political Career During the war Abbas still continues his work towards the equality. In 1943 he wrote the 'Manifesto of the Algerian People' which was than proclaimed and several times sent to the French authorities. "The French colony only admits equality with Muslim Algeria on one level; sacrifice on the battlefields." This manifesto represented some very revolutionary ideas and proposed the equality of rights and "immediate and effective participation." Also in this manifesto Abbas continuously condemns the French oppressive colonialism and even asks for the self- determination of the whole population as a different culture. Soon afterward he wrote an addition to the manifesto in which he sees the Algeria as the country separate from France. In the book 'A Savage War of Peace' his attitude is described as following: "Of pacific temperament, although he was a skilful debater, he was no rabble- rouser..."(Horne,1979, p.40). The A.M.L On its rejection by the French governor general, Ferhat Abbas and an Algerian working-class leader, Messali Hadj, formed the Amis du Manifeste et de la Libertà © (A.M.L. ; Friends of the Manifesto and Liberty), which envisioned an Algerian autonomous republic federated to a renewed, anti-colonial France.

Periodic Performance Review Essay

DEFINITION: A periodic performance review (PPR) is a self-assessment of standards all of which are applicable to a health care organization. The Joint Commission of Healthcare Organization conducts triennial surveys of health care organizations. The PPR involves an annual assessment of an organization’s performance. The PPR show the organizations performance in relationship to the standards set forth by the Joint Commission. The standards are measured by elements of performance. Some elements of performance require a simple response of yes or no while others require multiple possible responses (e.g., compliant, partial, and noncompliant). The PPR helps determines and organizations readiness for an accreditation audit PURPOSE OF PERIODIC PERFORMANCE REVIEW An integral component in the Joint Commissions accreditation process, PPR promotes continuous standard compliance through ongoing internal monitoring. Beginning in January 2006, the Joint Commission expects organizations to conduct annual self-assessment against applicable Joint Commission standards, develop plans of action to address identified areas of non-compliance and identify measures of success in the identified problem areas to validate resolution. At the mid-cycle point, the organization is expected to share information with the Joint Commission. The staff at the Joint Commission will work with the organization to refine its plan of action to assure that the corrective efforts are on target. To address concerns about the potential discoverability of PPR information, particularly where it is shared with the Joint Commission, the Joint Commission has established three options to the full PPR, for accredited-health care organizations: Option One: The organization performs the full self-assessment, develops the plan of action and measures of success (MOS), but does not submit PPR data to the Joint Commission. At the time of the complete on-site survey, the organization provides its MOS to  the Joint Commission surveyor team for assessment. Option Two: The organization remains accountable for conducting a full self-assessment and developing plans of action and applicable MOS, but does not submit PPR data to the Joint Commission. The organization undergoes an on-site survey, which will be approximately one-third the length of a typical full on-site survey. The organization receives a report of the survey activities. Option Three: The organization remains accountable for conducting a full self-assessment and developing plans of action and applicable MOS, but does not submit PPR data to the Joint Commission. The organization undergoes an on-site survey, as in Option Two, but no written documentation or written report of the survey is provided to the organization. Nightingale Community Hospital is completing a PPR to assess the readiness of the hospital for an upcoming accreditation by the Joint Commission. This analysis will include: 1. The current compliance status of the hospital. 2. Trends evident in the case study that may cause the organization to not be in compliance with regards of patient care as set forth by the Joint Commission. 3. A review of staffing of the hospital’s patient care unit with regards of the performance improvement standard by doing the following: a. An analysis of the data to determine the staffing patterns of the patient care unit. b. A plan to develop a staffing plan to minimize the number of falls in the patient care unit. CURRENT COMPLIANCE STATUS In reviewing the data of Nightingale Community hospital, there are a number of compliance standards the hospital will need to address to remain in compliance with the Joint Commission standards which fall into several broad accreditation functions 1) Environmental Care – the environment of care is made up of several areas in terms of patient care including the he building or space, including how it is arranged and the special features that protect patients, visitors, and staff, equipment used to support patient care or to safely operate the building or space, and people, including those who work within the hospital, patients, and anyone else who  enters the environment, all of whom have a role in minimizing risks. The self-assessment noted deficiencies with interim life safety measures (ILSM) which refers to the health and safety measures that are put in place to protect the safety of patients, visitors, and staff who work in the hospital. Environmental factors that include signs and pathways to an egress point, fire protection systems including smoke detectors (specifically noted in the self-assessment), fire suppression, fire extinguishers and fire alarm systems, smoke barriers, emergency evacuation plans, in additi on to many other items that contribute to the well-being and safety of occupants in the hospital or healthcare facility. 2) Nursing leadership – this specific deficiency noted out of compliance showed inconsistencies in nurses documentation and timeliness which affected morale 3) Record of Care – this compliance standard refers to all the data and information gathered about a patient from the moment he or she enters the hospital to the moment of discharge or transfer. The particular deficiency noted is verbal orders are not authenticated within 48 hours. This particular problem is noted under on several floors within the hospital 4) Life Safety – A particularly critical standard in terms of patient care that is crucial in terms of patient and staff safety. The self-assessment noted clutter in hallways and carts in the hallways as noted in the observations during the PPR rounds. 5) Information Management – this patient care standards refers to the whether the hospital has a written policy regarding the privacy, security and integrity of health information. The deficiency noted prohibited abbreviations found in nursing notes and or physician orders as noted in the chart review conducted the PPR rounds 6) Medication Management – this is an important component in palliative treatment of many diseases and conditions. To minimize harm, the hospital needs to develop an effective and safe medication system. The hospital deficiencies with this standard was noted in the staff interviews where it was shown nurses did not follow range order policy or could explain how this is executed. It was also noted the syringes were found unlabeled in the OR and Cath labs. 7) Provision of Care, Treatment and Services (PC) – these standards revolves around assessing patient needs and planning, providing and coordinating treatment and services. Several deficiencies noted in audit included day of procedure reassessment inconsistencies and absence of documented plan of  anesthesia 8) Universal Protocol – Hospitals are charged with developing guidelines for the implementation of the universal protocol for the prevention of wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong person surgery. There were several sentinel events noted in the self-assessment which appear to demonstrate an absence of a guideline for this crucial standard. A sentinel event is an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury, or the risk thereof. These events included lung biopsy side unmarked and a knee arthroscopy site not marked. 9) National Patient Safety Goals – The National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) have become a critical method by which the Joint Commission promotes and enforces major changes in patient safety in thousands of participating health care organizations around the world. The criteria used for determining the value of these goals, and required revisions to them, are based on the merit of their impact, cost, and effectiveness. Two findings noted in the observation during the PPR included unlabeled basins and pre-labeled syringes. 10) Medical Staff – The organized medical staff and the governing body collaborate in a well-functioning relationship, reflecting clearly recognized roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities, to enhance the quality and safety of care, treatment, and services provided to patients. This collaborative relationship is critical to providing safe, high quality care in the hospital. To meet this standard and to remain in compliance, the Joint Commission (JCAHO) requires accredited hospitals to examine and evaluate performance data for all practitioners with privileges on an ongoing basis as part of their Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation (OPPE) initiative. It was noted in the interviews with the medical staff the OPPE process does not meet standards. CURRENT TRENDS IMPACTING COMPLIANCE In preparation for the audit, the self-assessment analysis included a review of current trends that may cause the organization to not be in compliance. Several major trends noted in the case study include Fire Drill History ( Environment of Care) – the data shows that the fire drills were not routinely performed in Nightingale Community Hospital that requires one drill per shift per quarter. There was an average of three drills per quarter with no consistent methodology for conducting the drills per shift  or floor. This environment of care standards observation as noted above in the previous section indicated smoke wall penetrations which could have been discovered in there were routine fire drills. Moderate Sedation Monthly Audit (Provision of Care, Treatment and Services) – Moderate sedation provides a minimally reduced level of consciousness in which the patient retains the ability to independently and continuously maintain an airway and respond appropriately to p hysical stimulation or verbal command. The data showed in the Endoscopy Department a lack of pre-sedation ASA (American Society of Anesthesiology) and no documentation plan of anesthesia noted in endoscopy. The data shows that in pre-procedure, during procedure, and post-procedure no documentation was consistently recorded. The trends show the first quarter had a high of 100% and low of 75% and a fourth quarter high of 100% and low 79%. Pain Assessment Audit (Provision of Care, Treatment and Services) – Pain assessment is diagnostic tool to measure the pain level of a patient before administration of a medication and following administration. The goal is assess the patient’s pain relief and thus the effectiveness of the therapy. The data shows that pain assessment and reassessment is consistently missing in the Emergency Department(ED). The data shows a trend of this occurring with a range of 65% to 82%. The data shows the other departments listed have a higher a level of compliance. 3E shows a range of 90% to 97%, whereas the Post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) shows a higher range of 95% to 99%. PI (Patient Injury) Data Falls 4E (Life Safety) – Falls in 4E were highly prevalent. The target goal for falls with injury is 0.62 per 1000 patient days. Several months (January, February, April, July, and November) experienced 0 falls. In contrast, the other months experienced rates varying from 1.72 to 5.6. Data suggest trends show a marked increase over the last 7 months as compared to the first five months of the year that the data was collected. The target goal for all falls is set at 3.21. This number was achieved in five months, with 2 months (January and August) experiencing 0 falls. The data for falls overall in 4E appears to conflict with the data shown for fall with injury. The data shows no falls for the month of August, however, August also reports 4.5 falls with injury. Also, the month of October shows 4.1 total falls vs. 4.37 falls with injury. This brings to mind the reporting of the data, which has to be in error. PI (Patient Injury) Data falls For the Entire Hospital (Life  Safety) – Overall, the hospitals falls and falls with injury are lower than that of 4E. That being said, trends show there is a rise in both categories over the course of the year. In total falls there were peak months in March and September showing 5.1 and 4.9 respectively. In falls with injury, three month April thru June showed no injury related falls. Overall, the falls with injury are below the target as a mean total for the year. That being said, data clearly shows a trend towards increase of falls with injury. Prohibited Abbreviations (Information Management) – The Joint Commission has sent forth a list of prohibited abbreviations that should not be used by healthcare organizations. This list includes but is not limited to medical terminology, disease states, units of measurement, and drug dosage forms. The use of abbreviations can lead to a misinterpretation of meaning which could use lead to an adverse event. The audit monitored the abbreviations â€Å"cc† and â€Å"qd† because they are the most frequently used prohibited abbreviations. Cubic centimeters are a measurement of volume and are abbreviated†cc†. It is the cubic amount required to hold 1 milliliter of water. If poorly written it can be misread as â€Å"U† for units, ml should be used instead of cc. The term qd† means once daily. However, it is often misinterpreted for â€Å"qid† which means four times daily or â€Å"qod† which means every other day. The word daily should be written out. Aggregate data for the audit included the ICU, Telemetry and floors 3E and 4E. These abbreviations should never be used. The data suggest a high prevalence of the u se of these abbreviations. The abbreviation â€Å"cc† was used far more frequently than â€Å"qd†. The monthly range for its use was 20 to 47 times monthly according to the data. By contrast the monthly range for the abbreviation â€Å"qd† was 10 to 25. The data suggest a steady trend in the use of prohibited abbreviations. Staffing Effectiveness (Nursing Leadership) – Effective staffing by definition is the competency, number, and skill set of staff in its relation to patient care and treatment. The data used by the hospital to measure effectiveness utilizes key indicators from clinical/service screenings and human resource screenings. This data is then analyzed to look at ways to access and improve staff effectiveness on a continuous basis. Clinical indicators include patient falls, patent falls with injuries, ulcer prevalence, and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). Human resource indicators include nursing care hours and overtime. The  care areas associated with this data were ICU (intensive care unit), 3E and 4E. The data suggests no trends in relationship to nursing hours and falls and nosocomial ulcers in 3E. In ICU, data shows a decrease in falls from previous year from 4.1 to 1.9 per 1000 patients. Of the 1.9, which represents seven falls, five occurred in the first quarter of FY09. VAP increased from 2.2 per 1000 ventilator days to 3.0 for current year. Trends show a decrease in falls however an increase in VAP. Trends also show a decrease in nursing care hours. In 4E, there was an increase in patient falls and nosocomial pressure ulcers. Falls increased to 4.37 per 1000 patient days as compared to 1.47 per 1000 the previous year. Trends shows there appears to be relationship with falls and nursing care hours which shows an increase. There was also a slight increase in nosocomial ulcers during the period which appears to be a relational trend. Verbal Orders Authenticated Within 48 Hours (Record of Care) – Data indicates a trend showing a decrease in verbal order authentication during the year collected. Quarterly averages show: Q1-84%, Q2-87%, Q3-73%, and Q4-81%. The first half year average is 85.5% as compared to second half year average of 77%. PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT STANDARD: STAFFING A) STAFFING PATTERNS – DATA In analyzing the data, 3E (Oncology) maintained a relative consistent range of hours in nursing care over the course of the year. Peak nursing hours were used in the month of October which corresponded with the lowest amount of fall prevalence. However, the second month with the highest amount of nursing care hours had the highest amount of fall prevalence. There is also a linear trend showing an increase in falls over the course of the year. Data shows a decrease in nosocomial ulcers over the same time period. Prevention of falls and nosocomial ulcers are a focus point of this unit due to patient population. Several staff members attended the NICHE program. The name stands for Nurses Improving Care for Health system Elders and is designed to improve recognition of age-related changes and increase nurses’ sensitivity. Nursing staff members who attended program shared knowledge with their colleagues and changes were implemented to improve patient care and outcomes. Changes included nurses prompting patients every two hours to  void while awake to decrease urgency which could lead to falling or incontinence which could lead to pressure ulcers. The unit’s nosocomial ulcers decreased from 2.76% in FY08 to 1.23% in FY09. The units’ year end falls average was 5.45 compared to previous years 5.57. The linear trend which shows an increase in falls over the course of the most current year indicates that more training is needed. 4E experienced an increase in nosocomial ulcers and falls during the past year. The relational trend in nursing hours shows an increase through the year. The trend towards ulcers also shows an increase in through the year. However, the peak month for nosocomial ulcers shows occurred during the month that the third fewest nursing hours were used. This does not indicate a relational trend. The number of falls in 4E increased sharply in the year compared with the previous year. The current year showed an increase average to 4.37 as compared to the previous year’s average of 1.47. The peak month occurred in December showing an ever increasing trend. The nursing hours increased over the course of year. Data appears to suggest a relational trend with nursing care hours and patient falls. ICU showed an increase in falls from 1.9 from the previous year’s average of 0.41. Five of the seven falls that occurred happened in the first quarter of FY09. There appears to be no correlation between nursing care hours and patient falls. VAP (ventilator associated pneumonia) increased from 2.2 per 1000 ventilator days to 3.0. This number indicates two infections versus one infection during the respective fiscal years. There appears to be no relational correlation with VAP and nursing hours. Due to the increase in VAP, the following actions were implemented that included: * VAP bundle implementation including sedation vacation * Mouth care protocol * Daily rounds with the intensivist B) STAFFING PLAN – MINIMIZE FALLS Based on the data, an initial conclusion can be drawn the number of falls decreased in 3E based on nursing staff after attending the NICHE Program and sharing information learned with colleagues the increase of falls prevalence through the year suggests more training is necessary. The other units could also benefit from more training conducted on a monthly basis with the  desired outcome to reinforce policy and to impact future accreditation reviews. Inpatient working conditions have deteriorated in some facilities because hospitals have not kept up with the rising demand for nurses. This situation has motivated some state legislatures to enact or consider regulatory measures to assure adequate staffing. These regulatory measures assign some minimum level of staffing that all hospitals must meet regardless of the types and severity of patients. The number of nurses is not always a mitigating factor in the reduction of patient falls. However, there are a number of variables which should be factored in reviewing the falls such as fatigue from mandatory overtime with patient care and time consuming but necessary administrative tasks such updating patient records and documenting physician and other medical orders etc. Model Staffing Patterns — In researching, various staffing models several require acute care hospitals maintain minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. Required ratios vary by unit, ranging from 1:1 in operating rooms to 1:6 on psychiatric units. Most state legislation also requires that hospitals maintain a patient acuity classification system to guide additional staffing when necessary, assign certain nursing functions only to licensed registered nurses, determine the competency of and provide appropriate orientation to nurses before assigning them to patient care, and keep records of staffing levels. The Joint Commission recommends all nursing units be supervised by a registered nurse. Nursing Staffing Plan Based on Type of Care — Another factor for consideration is the knowledge, skills and ability of the individual nurse. The safety and quality of patient care is directly related to the size and experience of the nursing workforce, Such as thoroughness in documentation, following protocol, and work pace. A comprehensive staffing pattern will have to take this into account in terms of reviewing the effectiveness of the individual nurses to reduce the occurrence of incidents. The chief nurse must monitor the performance of the nursing staff on a continuing and ongoing basis.

Water Quality Parameter Prediction In Stream Flow Environmental Sciences Essay

In This paper, the truth public presentation of preparation, proof and anticipation of monthly H2O quality parametric quantities is discussed when using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System ( ANFIS ) . This theoretical account analyze historical informations were generated through uninterrupted monitoring Stationss of H2O quality parametric quantities ( dependent variables ) of Johor River in order to copy their secondary property ( independent variables ) . However, the informations originating from supervising Stationss and experiment may be polluted by noise signals owing to systematic mistakes and random mistakes. This noisy informations frequently makes the predict undertaking comparatively hard. In order to counterbalance for this augmented noise the primary aim of this manuscript is to develop technique that can heighten the truth of H2O quality anticipation ( WQP ) . Therefore, this survey suggests an augmented Wavelet – Neuro-Fuzzy ( WDT-ANFIS ) based informations me rger faculty for WQP. The efficiency of the faculties was examined to foretell critical parametric quantities that affected due to the urbanisation around the rivers. The parametric quantities have been studied ; electrical CONDuctivity ( COND ) , entire dissolved solids ( T.D.S ) and TURBidity ( TURB ) . Results showed that the optimal degree of truth was achieved by doing the length of the cross-validation equal to one fifth of the information record. Furthermore, WDT-ANFIS faculty outperformed the ANFIS faculty with important betterment in anticipation truth. This consequence indicates that the proposed attack is fundamentally an attractive option, offering a comparatively fast algorithm with good theoretical belongingss to de-noise and predict the H2O quality parametric quantities. This new technique will be valuable to help determination shapers in describing the position of H2O quality, probe of spacial and temporal alterations.IntroductionWater quality mold is the footing of H2O pollution control undertaking. It predicts the inclination of H2O quality assortment harmonizing to the current H2O environment quality status, transportation and transmutation regulation of the pollutants in the river basin. In H2O quality mold, [ 1 ] reported that the turbidness was related closely to both its respiration rate and the H2O temperature. Model users will see sunlight strength fluctuation within the H2O column when imitating the eutrophication phenomenon [ 2 ] .These illustrations reflect that human intelligence uses bing cognition to cut down the figure of picks in order to raise the effectivity of theoretical account use. Each clip, they tend to change simply one or two parametric quantities. This is because if they modify many parametric quantities at the same clip, they may easy acquire lost in the use way. However, due to the size and heterogeneousness of the set possible input variables, and because of the nonlinear nature of the job, conventional methods are non assuring. To this terminal, unreal intelligence techniques ( AI ) techniques are capable to mime this behaviour every bit good as to complement the lack. Recently, AI has been accepted as an efficient alternate tool for mold of complex non-linear systems. The theoretical accounts normally do n't see the internal mechanism but build theoretical accounts to foretell H2O quality via the relationship between inputs and end products. At present, unreal intelligence techniques ( AI ) have been used intensively for anticipation in a figure of water-related countries, including H2O resource survey [ 3 ] , oceanology [ 4 ] , and air pollution [ 5 ] . The above survey attempts were usually based on an premise that the informations to be used should be dependable and accurate. However, the informations originating from probe and experiment may be polluted by noise signals due to the subjective and/or nonsubjective mistakes [ 6 ] . For illustration, the experiment mistakes may be resulted from measuring, reading, recording, and external conditions. Since these noisy signals are likely to falsify the consequences of theoretical accounts, it is a must to take them ( that is, signal denoising ) before utilizing any original informations. Signals can be denoised through the application of a set of additive filters [ 7 ] . However, one job of these filters is that they are more appropriate in additive systems than nonlinear systems. In add-on, Fourier analysis technique ( FAT ) is a classical tool for cut downing noises, but it is merely suited for denoising data/signals incorporating steady noises. Due to the noises that are unsteady in real-world instances, its application is still limited. To get the better of the jobs of traditional denoising techniques, more sophisticated techniques such as wavelet de-noising technique ( WDT ) has been proposed. WDT is utile for denoising multi-dimensional spatial/ temporal signals incorporating steady/unsteady noises. It has been widely applied to technology systems for patterns acknowledgment and cognition find [ 8 ] and [ 9 ] . However, few of these surveies were applied to H2O quality direction systems, where the H2O quality monitoring informations demands to be used for parametric quantity anticipation [ 10 ] . In this survey a WDT is proposed for cut downing noises induced by complex uncertainness. As mentioned before, there are many different types of AIs techniques among them unreal nervous webs ( ANN ) and adaptative neuro-fuzzy illation systems ( ANFIS ) have late gained attending in literature. Although ANN is rather powerful for patterning assorted existent universe jobs, it besides has its defects. If the input informations are less accurate or equivocal, ANN would be fighting to manage them and a fuzzed system such as ANFIS might be a better option. ANFIS theoretical account shows significantly higher truth and dependable in term of anticipation than ANN [ 11 ] . In this article, ANFIS faculty is proposed to foretell WQP at Johor River Basin. Furthermore, an augmented WDT-ANFIS based informations merger faculty for WQPP will present. In add-on, comprehensive comparing analysis is carried out between ANFIS and DWT-ANFIS to measure the public presentation that achieved after take the noising from the informations.MethodologySTUDY AREA Johor is the 2nd largest province in Peninsula Malaysia with an country of 18,941 km2. Johor River considers the chief river in Johor. The river flows in a approximately north-south way and empties into the Johor. The H2O quality of Johor River has been deteriorated with increasing degrees of assorted pollutants. Besides, it persists to be silted and chocked by rubbish and wastes as a effect of storage of enforcement by local-authorities. These contaminations finally flow into Johor River Estuaries, which are rich wonts that provide engendering and feeding countries for fish and domestic fowl. In this research, a survey of ANN patterning to foretell entire dissolved solids, electrical conduction and turbidness in Johor River basin is presented. These H2O quality parametric quantities were measured 60 samples within continuance 1998-2007 at chief watercourse as shown in Fig. 1. WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS In this survey, the H2O quality parametric quantities of involvements are entire dissolved solids ( T.D.Solids ) , electrical conduction and turbidness due to their importance in the Johor River and its feeder. The information appears that conduction is extremely affected due to cumulative consequence of urban land usage from upstream in the survey country. While, high concentration of dissolved solids were found in the survey country and caused H2O balance jobs for aquatic beings. Furthermore, the turbidness values exceed 300A NTU ( Nephelometric Turbidity Units ) . This poses serious jobs for the H2O intervention station located near the river. There are many parametric quantities more of import than what we selected in our survey such as COD, BOD and DO. But the scope of BOD harmonizing to the DOE monitoring station in the survey country was found between ( 1-2 ) which indicate there is non much organic waste nowadays in the H2O. Same scenario was observed in COD information which is ranged ( 10-15 ) . Therefore, this manuscript focuses on critical parametric quantities that affected due to the urbanisation around the rivers. ADAPTIVE NEURO-FUZZY INFERENCE SYSTEM ANFIS Adaptive neuro-fuzzy illation system ( ANFIS ) , foremost was proposed by Jang in 1993 [ 12 ] , can accomplish a extremely nonlinear function and it is superior to common additive methods in bring forthing nonlinear clip series [ 13 ] . Throughout this research, it was considered the ANFIS architecture for the first order Sugeno fuzzy theoretical account [ 14 ] . The ANFIS is a multilayer provender forward web which uses nervous web larning algorithms and fuzzed logical thinking to map an input infinite to an end product infinite [ 15 ] . Assuming the fuzzy illation system under consideration has two inputs, ten and Y, and one end product, degree Fahrenheit for a first-order Sugeno fuzzy theoretical account, a common regulation set with two fuzzy if.then regulations can be expressed as: Rule 1: If x is A1and Y is B1 so f1=p1 x+q1 y+r1 ( 1 ) Rule 2: If x is A2 and Y is B2 so f2=p2 x+q2 y+r2 ( 2 ) Where A1, A2 and B1, B2 are the rank maps ( medium frequency ) for inputs x and y, severally ; pi, chi and Rhode Island ( one = 1 or 2 ) are additive parametric quantities in the attendant portion of the first-order Sugeno fuzzy theoretical account. The corresponding tantamount ANFIS architecture is showed in Fig. 2, where nodes of the same bed have similar maps. ANFIS consists of five beds as follow: Optimization Scheme of ANFIS Module Parameters For each of WQP we used same architectures that presented in Fig. 2.Where, three inputs ( suspended solids, pH and temperature ) were used to foretell the TURB. One input ( T.D.S ) was used to foretell the COND, while same faculty used to foretell the T.D.S after utilized the COND as input. It is to be noted that there is no analytical method to find the optimum figure of MFs. The optimum figure of MFs is normally determined heuristically and verified by experimentation. Hence, the figure of MFs is selected in test and mistake footing. In the interim, it is noted that we have tried four types of rank map: ( a ) triangular, ( B ) trapezoidal, ( degree Celsius ) gaussian, and ( vitamin D ) bell-shaped to build the fuzzed Numberss. After a big figure of tests, as a consequence bell-shaped distributed rank map compared with the others have obtained the minimal comparative mistake. Table 1 illustrates the figure and the types of MFs that adopted in this survey to make faculties.The ANFIS faculty is trained until making certain minimal mistake or after finishing certain figure of developing era. In this survey, the less no. of loop was introduced in order to devour the clip Fig 3 depicts the alteration in Root Mean Square Error ( RMSE ) for the ANFIS faculty during preparatio n and cross- proof. It is obvious from the figure that the faculty reaches the end 300 era. WAVELET DE-NOISING Wavelet analysis represents the following logical measure after short-time Fourier transforms ( STFT ) . It is based on a windowing technique with variable-sized parts. Wavelet transform ( WT ) allows the usage of long clip intervals where we want more precise low frequence information, and shorter parts where we want high frequence information [ 16 ] . In general, the major advantage offered by ripples is the ability to execute local analysis ; that is to analyse a localised country of a larger signal. The discrete-time WT of a clip domain signal is given as [ 10 ] : ( 3 ) Where, is the female parent ripple while and are, severally, the grading and switching indices. The grading gives the DWT logarithmic frequence coverage in contrast to the unvarying frequence coverage of the STFT. This analysis method so consists of break uping a signal into constituents at several frequence degrees, which are related by powers of two ( a dyadic graduated table ) [ 16 ] . The filtrating attack to multi-resolution WT is to organize a series of half-band filters that divide a spectrum into a high frequence set and a low frequence set. It is formulated on a grading map or low-pass filter ( LP ) and a ripple map or high-pass filter ( UP ) [ 17 ] . Wavelet Multi-resolution analysis ( WMRA ) builds a pyramidic construction that requires an iterative application of grading and ripple maps to low-pass and high base on balls filters, severally. These filters ab initio act on the full signal set at the high frequence ( small-scale values ) foremost and bit by bit cut down the signal set at each phase. As in Fig.4, the high-frequency set end products are represented by the item coefficients ( Dl, D2, D3 ) , and the low-frequency set end products are represented by the estimate coefficients ( Al, A2, A3 ) . Optimum parametric quantity choice for wavelet de-noising of WQP informations When utilizing ripples to de-noise WQP information, there are many factors that must be considered. Examples of these picks are which ripple, degree of decomposition, and thresholding methods to utilize. MATLAB provides several households of ripples including the Morlet, Mexican chapeau, Meyer, Haar, Daubechies, Symlets, Coiflets and Spline biorthogonal ripples and provides farther certification about these ripple households [ 18 ] . In order to obtain perfect Reconstruction consequences, merely extraneous ripples will be considered. The extraneous ripple transform has certain benefits. It is comparatively concise, allows for perfect Reconstruction of the original signal and is non comparatively hard to cipher. The two common methods of thresholding a signal are soft thresholding and difficult thresholding which are used in the MATLAB ripple tool chest [ 9. M. Misiti, Y. Misiti, G. Oppenheim and J.-M. Poggi. Wavelet Toolbox: For Use With, The Math Works Inc ( 1996 ) .18 ] . Although difficult thresholding is the simplest method, soft thresholding can bring forth better consequences than difficult thresholding. Therefore, the soft thresholding was adopted in this survey. There are four threshold choice regulations that are available to utilize with the ripple tool chest [ 9. M. Misiti, Y. Misiti, G. Oppenheim and J.-M. Poggi. Wavelet Toolbox: For Use With, The Math Works Inc ( 1996 ) .18 ] are shown in table 2. These threshold choice regulations use statistical arrested development of the noisy coefficients over clip to obtain a non-parametric appraisal of the reconstructed signal without noise. Merely the Sqtwolog was investigated in this survey which this method uses a fixed signifier threshold, which consequences in minimax public presentation multiplied by a factor proportional to logarithm of the length of the signal. Sing to the degree of decomposition, in this manuscript we reached the decision that a decomposition degree of 4 produced sensible consequenc es after utilised test and mistake method for all faculties. CROSS VALIDATION PROCEDURE FOR ANFIS MODULE Cross proof is a exemplary rating method that provides an indicant of how good the scholar will make when it is asked to do new anticipations for information it has non already seen. One manner to get the better of this job is to non utilize the full informations set when developing a scholar. Some of the information is removed before preparation Begins. Then when preparation is done, the informations that was removed can be used to prove the public presentation of the erudite theoretical account on â€Å" new † information. This is the basic thought for a whole category of theoretical account rating methods called cross proof. The training/validation informations split can hold a important impact on the consequences of the theoretical accounts [ 19 ] . Several methods for implementing the cross-validation theory were proposed in the literature ; nevertheless, the kernel of all these methods is similar. Among these different techniques the hold-out method is adopted in this survey due to its simpleness. Most of other methods ( like k-fold and Leave-one-out ) are computationally expensive. The hold-out method is the simplest sort of cross-validation. The information set is partitioned into two sets, called the preparation set and the testing set, without any peculiar pick of the divider. As shown in Fig. 5, the map approximator is trained to suit a map utilizing the preparation set merely. Then the map approximator is used to foretell the end product values for the information in the testing set. Elect optimal length of informations for Cross Validation The job with using the cross-validation attack in our survey is choosing the length of the information set utilised. It is of import for this choice to be representatives for characteristics of both developing informations set and the expected information set in the anticipation procedure. Different length of the cross-validation informations set of one ten percent, one fifth and one tierce of the information records has been examined Fig. 6.RESULT AND DISCUSSIONSince the H2O parametric quantities were truthfully monitored over these ten old ages, the public presentation of the proposed faculties can be examined and evaluated. The public presentations of the faculties are evaluated harmonizing to Mean Absolute Error MAE. ( 4 ) Where m is the figure of proving sample, pi ( trial ) is the theoretical account end product for each parametric quantity, Ti is the existent value for each parametric quantity, I is the parametric quantity index. In this survey, for a given set of ANFIS parametric quantities, three web architectures were developed for each parametric quantity in order to obtain the optimum length of cross-validation informations set that provides the high degree of anticipation truth. The table 3 verifies that, taking one tierce of the information records was non sufficient.The chief ground for this is there was non adequate information record for the preparation procedure, which made it hard to make the mistake end. On the other manus, when one ten percent of the information was used for the cross proof procedure, the high degrees of mistake were observed. Choosing one ten percent of informations records lead to failing in observing the characteristics of the expected information set in anticipatio n procedure. It appears from the tabular array that the MAE was lessening to the about half for the ANFIS faculty that adopted to foretell the T.D.S. after using the one fifth of the information record comparing with cross-validation length equal to tierce. Furthermore, the MAE for the ANFIS that used to foretell the TURB equal to 36.54 when cross-validation equal to one ten percent, while truth ANFIS reduces this mistake to 20.52 after cross proofs equal to one fifth of information record was introduced. Same scenario was obtained in the faculty that used to foretell the COND. As complete, the optimal degree of truth was achieved by choosing the length of the cross-validation equal to one fifth of the information record. After select the optimum length of cross-validation, a comparing between the ANFIS faculties and WDT-ANFIS faculties will present in order to analyze the effectivity of the proposed faculties to foretell WQP. Fig.7 demonstrates the public presentation of the WDT-ANFIS during preparation and cross-validation procedure. It ‘s obvious in Fig. 7 that the public presentation end of was achieved in less than 100 eras, while the same end could non be achieved in Fig. 3. This consequence depicts that the WDT-ANFIS capable to devour the clip. Apparently from Fig. 8 that the WDT-ANFIS based faculty outperformed the ANFIS and was able to supply betterment in anticipation truth of TURB with MAE equal to 0.1. While, inefficient public presentation was observed harmonizing to ANFIS faculty when the MAE was exceed 20. It is apparent with the addition of noise strength ; the WQP will hold more accurate anticipation value through the informations de-noised by WDT than those without de-noising. This indicates the high quality of WDT in cleaning the information. Apparently, the ANFIS faculty that used to foretell the T.D.S was able to accomplish acceptable consequence after using natural information. This consequence figures out that the ANFIS faculty can efficaciously capture nonlinearity in input/output function. More sweetenings in anticipation of T.D.S were achieved after using WDT-ANFIS. Where the truth was betterment eight times comparing with the ANFIS faculty. Albeit the mistake while proving is consider comparatively high comparing with preparation and cross- proof stage, achieve a MAE do n't transcend 3.4 which is consider best consequence in predict the T.D.S. This consequence showed that the WDT-ANFIS faculty could be considered as the appropriate mold technique for anticipation such WQP. It can besides be observed that the WDT-ANFIS faculty outperformed the ANFIS faculty and was able to supply betterment in anticipation truth for COND. It can be noticed that the WDT-ANFIS was capable of accomplishing high degree of truth in anticipation phase equal to 2.2, while inefficient public presentation was observed harmonizing to the ANFIS faculty when the per centum of MAE exceed 25. Over all, in this research, the WDT-ANFIS can hence be declared as the best web architecture because it outperforms ANFIS. These consequences show that the WDT-ANFIS theoretical account was non merely capable of bettering the truth of WQPP but the theoretical account besides was capable of capturing the temporal forms of the H2O quality which allowed it to supply important sweetening in anticipation. As a consequence, ANFIS module become more capable to capture the moral force and the complex processes that hidden in the informations itself for WQP after augmented it with WDT. The above observation is farther illustrated in Fig.9 demoing the public presentation of WDT-ANFIS faculties while preparation, cross-validation and anticipation procedure for the WQP. It is obvious from the Fig. 9 ( a ) that the proposed faculty that adopted to foretell the COND was capable to placing the complex non-linear relationship between input and end product informations where merely one fifth of records were used during anticipation. It is clear from the figure that the maximal per centum mistake for all the trained and cross-validation records is merely 1.85 % and 1.2 % severally. While, the maximal per centum mistake for all the predicted records is merely 3.9 % . This consequence reveals that the proposed faculty able to imitating the existent behaviour of the COND in the H2O organic structure. In order to salvage clip and avoid making independent faculty to each parametric quantity, old faculty that utilized to foretell the COND will follow and examined to foretell the T.D.S. it can be noticed from Fig. 9 ( B ) that using one parametric quantity as input does non let the WDT-ANFIS faculty to hold the exposure to enough input kineticss and the chance to be suitably evaluated during cross-validation procedure. Consequently, the mistake degrees during the anticipation procedure may get down to be larger than those obtained during transverse proof. As a consequence, the system may non be able to keep the same degrees of truth for both the cross proof and anticipation procedure. Even though the degree of mistakes in the anticipation phase is comparatively high, moderately good consequence was obtained for the anticipation of T.D.S where maximal per centum mistakes during anticipation procedure did non transcend 10 % Ali et at. [ 20 ] adopted RBF-NN to foretell the TURB at Johor River Basin. High degree of mistake was obtained due to one parametric quantity was used as input to the faculty. In this portion of this paper, three parametric quantities were introduced as input to the faculty after investigated the correlativity between the inputs and end product. Fig.9 ( degree Celsius ) shows the faculty public presentation while preparation, cross proof and anticipation for TURB. It can detect that the maximal mistake in preparation procedure is falling within 0.05 % which indicates that the theoretical account able gaining control the relationships between input/output. Although the mistake of anticipation phase equal to four times the mistake in cross-validation, the faculty provides high degree of truth comparing with the other faculties that used to foretell the COND and T.D.S where the maximal per centum mistake for all the predicted records is merely 0.21 % .DecisionAdaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Infer ence System ( ANFIS ) can cover with extremely variable, lingual, obscure and unsure informations or cognition. Therefore, this manuscript employs ANFIS theoretical account as a feasible agencies to foretell three H2O quality parametric quantities ; Electrical CONDuctivity ( COND ) , Total Dissolved Solids ( T.D.S ) and TURBidity ( TURB ) at Johor River basin, Malaysia. However, legion incompatibilities in information records are observed in the informations that mensurating by Department of Environment ( DOE ) monitoring Stationss owing to systematic mistakes, random mistakes and mistakes associated with informations entry. This blunt mismatch generate noise corrupted the records of the existent value of the parametric quantities. Therefore, the truth of the ANFIS is significantly affected by such mistakes nature and forms of the monitored informations. In order to predominate over these insufficiencies, ANFIS theoretical account is augmented with Wavelet De-noising Technique ( WDT ) to better the truth. The consequence shown that the WDT can be applied successfully and lend to heighten the truth of H2O quality anticipation by synthesis it with ANFIS algorithm.RecognitionsThe writers wish to thank Department Of Environment for supplying the needed informations for developing this research and to Dr. Sundarambal Palani for her penetration and counsel throughout this research. This research was supported by the research grant for the 2nd and 3rd writers from University Kebangsaan Malaysia UKM-GUP-PLW-08-13-308.

Sun King Brewing Company

Sun King Brewing Company Strengths Sun King Brewing Company is a small, family-friendly business. The co owners of the company have an inspiring story on how they started it. Dave Colt and Clay Robinson were restaurant workers who had a passion for brewing beers. They also wanted to provide the people of Indiana with a home brew that grew their local economy. These stories inspire many locals to purchase their products and stay true to their brand.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sun King Brewing Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company has an aggressive marketing strategy that works wonders for it. It holds promotional tours and has a discount Friday, where clients get to sample free beer. Furthermore, the business has a strong public relations policy. It participates in several community events and builds a lot of clout amongst local buyers. In this Brewery, the business culture is quite homey. Employees feel like they are part of something special as they are treated with respect. The organization has also garnered the reputation of being one of the best places to work in Indiana. The company offers life and disability insurance. It also gives workers free meals at least thrice weekly and pays them relatively well.  The key strength in the firm’s product is its freshness. Sun King sells its product to individuals within Indiana, so beer gets to them in a fresh state. This approach is in line with many people’s preferences for organic and freshly made goods. Additionally, the firm is highly creative as it sells a diverse array of specialty beers. The co-founders strive to use a meticulous process that yields consistent products (Yelp 6). Weaknesses The size of the company limits its effectiveness as employees tend to be overworked. A person like Clay Robinson carries out multiple duties such as public relations, marketing, delivery, supplies and equipment management, and even play s the role of a janitor. While multitasking may endear locals to the co owner, it undermines his effectiveness in carrying out all the jobs effectively. This explains why the rate of growth of the company is rather slow.  Some of their beer brands are not popular in the state. A number of customers that have tasted brands like ESB and Wee Mac assert that they are overwhelming. The company finds it difficult to strike a balance between the diverse arrays of tastes within its target market. In an effort to appeal to a larger client base, the organization has made some of its beers bland. The product packaging is also a subject of intense debate. Some of the buyers would like to buy the beer in pints but do not have such an opportunity. Growler fillers are a great way of marketing the product but to keep customers loyal to the organization, it needs to make the beer available in more portable packages.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Opportunities Beer making can always be improved upon. A series of ingredients such as yeast or malt could be changed in order to make the product more appealing. Some clients may take Sun King beer for its sentimental value rather than its actual taste. In fact, a series of Indiana natives feel that the Brewery does not make the best beer in the state. Since it is relatively small, the organization can continue to experiment and establish a beer that many locals appreciate and love. Additionally, the company has often worn awards for its specialty beers, but the firm’s flagship brands are not as appreciated. Therefore, it needs to improve the taste of its flagship brands as this will elicit positive responses from consumers. The organization ought to consider what its top competitors make and borrow some ideas from them.  Sun King’s operating hours are inflexible and unsound for a Brewer. The organization closes during the holidays, after 5pm as well as on Sundays. While these working hours may apply to organizations that do not focus on leisure, the same is not true for Sun King. Craft beer needs to be delivered when fresh, so making it available throughout the weekend is imperative. The firm needs to consider opening on Sundays and closing on Monday. Alternatively, it needs to have a shift system that will make it more flexible. Threats Companies like Upland, which boast of having created the craft beer industry in Indiana, may step up their campaigns on the basis of this advantage. Currently, Sun King is one of the most heavily marketed craft beer makers. It needs to keep up with this momentum if it hopes to maintain its position. Such competitors could reclaim their place as pioneers and thus outsmart Sun King. The option of offering company tours can be borrowed by other competitors as it requires nothing special. Other breweries have larger spaces to accommoda te visiting clients and may also offer satisfactory customer service. This may take away some buyers from Sun King.  Price is one of the key competitive advantages for the Brewery. It offers its house growlers for $5 and then sells them at $6.50 in other premises (Yelp 6). This approach has made the company’s offerings the most affordable craft beers in the state. However, competing on price always makes a business susceptible to price wars. Its competitors may decide to take it on, and they might win due to economies of scale.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sun King Brewing Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Yelp. Sun King Brewing. 2013. Web.

A Lesson Plan for Teaching Three-Digit Place Value

A Lesson Plan for Teaching Three-Digit Place Value In this lesson plan, second-grade students further develop their understanding of place value by identifying what each numeral of a three-digit number stands for. The lesson takes one 45-minute class period. Supplies include: Regular notebook paper or a math journalBase 10 blocks or base 10 block stampsNotecards with the numerals 0 through 9 written on them Objective The object of this lesson is for students to understand what the three digits of a number mean in terms of ones, tens and hundreds and to be able to explain how they came up with answers to questions about larger and smaller numbers.   Performance Standard Met: Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent quantities of hundreds, tens, and ones; e.g., 706 equals 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones. Introduction Write 706, 670, 760 and 607 on the board. Ask the students to write about these four numbers on a sheet of paper. Ask Which of these numbers is largest? Which number is the smallest? Step-by-Step Procedure Give students a few minutes to discuss their answers with a partner or a tablemate. Then, have students read aloud what they wrote on their papers and explain to the class how they figured out the larger or smaller numbers. Ask them to decide what two numbers are in the middle. After they have had a chance to discuss this question with a partner or with their table members, solicit answers from the class again.Discuss what the digits mean in each of these numbers and how their placement is vitally important to the number. The 6 in 607 is very different from the 6 in 706. You can highlight this to students by asking them if they would rather have the 6 quantity in money from the 607 or the 706.Model 706 on the board or on an overhead projector, and then have students draw 706 and other numbers with base 10 blocks or base 10 stamps. If neither of these materials is available, you can represent hundreds by using large squares, tens by drawing lines and ones by drawing small squares.Afte r you do model 706 together, write the following numbers on the board and have students model them in order: 135, 318, 420, 864 and 900. As the students write, draw or stamp these on their papers, walk around the classroom to see how students are doing. If some finish all five numbers correctly, feel free to provide them with an alternate activity or send them to finish up another project while you focus on the students who are having trouble with the concept.To close out the lesson, give every child a notecard with one numeral on it. Call three students to the front of the class. For example, 7, 3 and 2 come to the front of the class. Have the students stand next to each other, and have a volunteer read the threesome. Students should say Seven hundred thirty-two. Then ask students to tell you who is in the tens place, who is in the ones place, and who is in the hundreds place. Repeat until the class period is over. Homework Ask students to draw five three-digit numbers of their choice using squares for hundreds, lines for tens, and small squares for ones. Evaluation As you are walking around the class, take anecdotal notes on the students who are struggling with this concept. Make some time later in the week to meet with them in small groups or- if there are several of them- reteach the lesson at a later date.