Computer Network and Intense Financial Pressure

Introduction: CareGroup was established in 1996 from a three-way merger of several hospitals in the eastern Massachusetts area. The merger was driven by the intense financial pressure and competitiveness in the healthcare community. CareGroup was the second largest hospital group in the area, and was a force to be reckoned with in the war of medical costs that included healthcare providers and employers. Problem: On Nov 13, 2002, a researcher executed an application without terminating it, which caused huge data communication traffics and led to a network crash. The network crash could not be fixed internally and the CIO at CareGroup had to call experts from Cisco for help the next day. While Cisco engineers were fixing the problem, CareGroup employees resorted back to paper based forms as a costly and unorganized replacement to their networked computers. The network was restored five days after the crash and post-crash repairing commenced to help recovery and further potential crashes. Problem Analysis: The source of the collapse was an â€Å"out of spec† network. CareGroup integrated its multiple operating systems into a state-of-the-art IT system. However, not well managed were the incremental changes to the network. This lack of control compromised the paths over which data flowed. That, combined with an experimental application that had been left unmonitored in a production environment, were the underlying causes for the network failure. CareGroup lacked a standardized operational flow to streamline, control, monitor, and document activities of users and researchers. There was little control and IT governance on common users to access or make changes to the network configuration. Right after the outage, several changes were made by various users without synchronization and documenting, which worsened the outage situation. Solutions: The following are the proposed options to help solve the aforementioned problem: 1. CareGroup can implement a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and Contingency Plan (CP). The DRP describes the road map through which CareGroup must deal with unpredictable, unpreventable, or potential catastrophic events. the contingency plan acts as backbone for disaster recovery and allows for a complete recovery cycle. CP would require careful preparation and planning in order to allow CareGroup the ability to get back to a working state of affairs. 2. CareGroup should redesign the company network infrastructure to employ Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). A multi- VPN approach would enable CareGroup to maintain independency (separate virtual LANs) for their business partners. 3. Combine both options 1 and 2. 4. Outsourcing the network services. Recommendation: I recommend that CareGroup implement a disaster recovery plan, as well as adopt formal oversight of network changes and a prohibition against developers testing in a production environment.

Book Report The Corona Project by Curtis Peebles

CORONA Project: Curtis Peebles, the first US spy satellite, provides readers with new decoding information on how the first American satellite was used for information gathering. Through his book Corona Project: America 's First Spy Satellite, the author provides details on the birth of the satellite program by observing the Corona project from the late 1940' s until project declassification and project exhibition. information. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Curtis Peebles starts with the basics and makes it easier to understand somewhat complicated programs by building readers' knowledge about what is currently shown in the text. It is not just a corona project. From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, Peebles led readers to the government sector to undertake an internal review of the decision-making process of the President and other major public directors. One of the most impressive parts of this book is reference to Peebles' long-standing personal memos and dialogue by project personnel. A hand-held snapshot collected by the author, depicting individual engineers and other persons involved in the project. More personalized accessories for project related personnel Curtis Peebles provides readers with new decryption information on how to use the first US satellites for information gathering. Through his book Corona Project: America 's First Spy Satellite, the author provides details on the birth of the satellite program by observing the Corona project from the late 1940' s until project declassification and project exhibition. information. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The main driving force of the project came from the launch of Sputnik I. As the Soviet Union seems to be far away, the authors explain how the project was robbed by the Air Force. They did not use WS - 117L for the development of corona satellites and handed the duties to the CIA It was. The goal that Peebles break the history of Corona project was achieved. I have foun d that this information is very rich and sometimes a bit overwhelming, but it is not difficult to understand. From various camera lenses to the overall success of the Corona project, the author has successfully demonstrated the detailed history of the project and the tasks performed by the satellite. As an image analyst, I found that the information provided by the satellite function is completely attractive. Only one runway can be identified from the start of the plan, and just ten years later you can count the aircraft on the runway. The big achievement of this project over the 12 years is definitely improved resolution from 40 feet to 6 feet (though it will be 2 feet). This kind of progress, nearly 300% improvement has never been experienced in such a short time.

Changes in the history of the world since 1400 C Essay

Changes in the history of the world since 1400 C - Essay Example This paper examines social exclusion/oppression and environmental degradation under a number of headings which include Social, Economic, Cultural and Political. It critically evaluates the causes of these issues and problems in history and then links them to the two major evils that have been identified in history. Social Exclusion Social exclusion has been a major part of the interaction between people of different social and racial backgrounds. Around the 15th Century, Europeans by far, had the best technology and military mights amongst humans. They set out to discover other lands, however, this process came with a lot of social exclusion which saw the exploitation and oppression of people from other racial origins in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Europeans began a system of internal colonization in Asia2. This was done by establishing trade posts in the various ports in modern Indonesia, China, Japan, the Arabian Peninsular and India. The Europeans used their presence in these p orts and posts to exploit Asian labor which was used to produce goods and products that were bought at very cheap prices at those ports and sold at very high prices in Europe. They also sold manufactured goods at very high prices to the locals and made high profits. ... Aside the colonization of the various parts of the continents, there was the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Spaniards started to buy Black African slaves as early as 1510 and this began the trend of slavery which saw millions of Black Africans being sent across the Atlantic to work perpetually for the benefit of European farm owners3. These slaves were not given anything more than what they needed to survive and were made to work from morning to evening all the days of their lives till they dropped dead for no rewards. They were effectively excluded from the many luxuries that reverted to their European masters. Economic Exploitation Economic exploitation affected people who were less privileged as well as the natural environment. The clash of European civilization and the other civilizations around the world led to so many forms of economic exploitations. Of course the exploitation of people in the Southern continents by Europeans brought in a lot of economic benefits to Europe. Th e Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the colonization of peoples in Africa and Asia gave the European nations access to wealth without a requirement of accountability in these lands. They only exploited and made massive wealth in these nations. After colonization was abolished, the Europeans living in the Americas, Australia, and South Africa continued to hold on to the wealth of the masses and this is a form of social oppression and exploitation. Even in other parts of the world where people of the same race and color live together, there are many places where the few rich people hold and control much wealth. It is common to find nations in Africa and Asia where leaders and a few elite, control up to 90% of the wealth of the land. This forms some kind of economic exploitation which is

Education Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Education Paper - Essay Example In Germany, while the states have the major control, a national coordinating agency keeps a check and ensures a high degree of comparability between the states. In the United States the major control and financial support falls under the jurisdiction of the state and local governments. In Japan, even though the centre has control, the teachers and the school districts are allowed to develop their own curricula as long as they are within the prescribed guidelines (Stevenson & Nerison-Low, n.d). The Japanese curriculum has a balance between academic and non-academic subjects, but they ensure that at least a third of the time at school is spent on subjects such as music, arts and crafts, homemaking, physical education, and special activities such as school clubs. Many elementary schools have their own standard of grading their students. Attendance at high school is not compulsory in Japan. In high school, students are separated into academic and vocational tracks in Japan. The teachers believe that their goal of instruction is exposure and not mastery. In Japan about 175 school periods per year are spent on the Japanese language and about 105 periods each for math’s and science. In Germany, the curriculum guidelines within each state provide a uniform basis for instruction. The guidelines include the content, learning objectives, and instructional periods required of each type of school. In Germany the greatest number of instructional periods is spent in learning the German language and mathematics. Sciences, math’s and language studies take up 27 hours of a total of 40 instructional hours per week (Stevenson & Nerison-Low, n.d). Teachers in Germany have the option to revise and supplement the content of the curriculum depending upon the socio-economic and cultural background of each student. The German educational system is divided into distinct levels (Hyperstudy, 2007). Elementary school is called Grundschule and is preceded by voluntary

Exam paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exam paper - Essay Example In this regard, the 30,000 residents of the suburb will form part of the clientele base, and more during the summer when most students of UD will not be in session. Indeed, Mike has evidence that sales are higher during the summer. For this reason, the resident of this suburb should also be part of the initial marketing strategy. In addition, the franchise should develop future marketing plans with an intention of ensuring that they created customer loyalty with the Delawareans living in this suburb. In effect, Mike will have customers in his Scoop Shop all year round. The area where the franchise plans to locate its operations is undergoing developments and changes. In this case, the franchise will have a few competitors at the introductory stage. However, Mike’s shop will offer more products than those offered by these competitors, which makes his products differentiated. In this case, a marketing strategy that the franchise will design at first must aim at publicizing these differentiated products and creating an impression that customers will experience more value for their money. In addition, the strategy must sustain value to ensure that the franchise had a long-term sustainability advantage due to expected future direct and indirect competition. In effect, the marketing strategy should aim at creating a customer base that was loyal and making it challenging for new competitors to venture into the same market. The franchise has set its grand opening for the months of February, March, and April. During the month of April, Ben & Jerry will hold the Free Cone Day, which is the only promotion it has mandated. During the designing of the marketing strategy, Mike should take advantage of this day and ensure that the grand opening culminated with this day. All along, the franchise should project itself as an organization that operated in an environmental and socially conscious approach, which goes hand-in-hand with the hippy image of Ben & Jerry. The fran chise has a potential to grow due to the opportunity it offers in terms of catering services. Although this is not in Mike’s immediate plans, it would be important for Mike to launch the catering services during the promotion period so that he can start acquiring a customer base for this service. In this regard, Mike will establish the service in the initial launch, which will be cheaper than launching it later. Qn. 2 Statement of the Franchise’s Objectives Mike’s franchise is getting into a mix of existing and new market. Consequently, his objective in the first six months of business should aim at maximizing the market share for his franchise, which he will have to capture from the existing direct and indirect competitors. In line with this, it is evident that the franchise’s target population is aware of the products that Mike intends to introduce to the existing market. In this regard, 70% of a random sample of adults in the US between the age of 18 a nd 64 years old was aware of the ice cream sold by Ben & Jerry. On the other hand, Mike’s other objective in the first six months should not be a revenue-oriented one since he is bringing differentiated products into the market. In this case, he has hot beverages, which most of his potential customers are not aware that a Scoop Shop sells. Hence, the franchise sh

Safe Injecting Facilities Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Safe Injecting Facilities - Term Paper Example These Safe injections sites also known as drug consumption rooms (DCRs), safe injection rooms, and supervised injection sites/facilities/centers, began in Europe in the 1980s. They now exist in cities in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia. The first safe injection site in North America, Insite, began operating as a pilot project in Vancouver, BC in 2003, and was recently given the go-ahead to remain open after a Supreme Court battle with the federal government (Keen, 2003). Injection drug use continues to be associated with an array of significant health and social consequences throughout North America. These consequences are tied directly to the consumption of illicit drugs of unknown potency and composition, and the sharing of contaminated injection equipment; and indirectly, through unprotected sex with drug injectors, and through injectors’ immersion in black-market pursuits that result frequently in violent exchanges with criminals and the police. Keen (2003) states that in the United States, injection drug use accounts for approximately 25% of all cumulative AIDS cases nationwide, but closer to 50% of all cases in several northeastern States. The number of new HIV infections reported nationwide among injectors increased 300% in the 1990s, from 6,474 new infections in 1993, to 13,969 in 1995, 17,344 in 1998 and 18,882 in 1999. Disease Injectors also suffer from very high rates of hepatitis C infection – 90% of people who have injected for 5 years or more are infected - and from endocarditis, an acute infection of the heart valves that is not commonly seen among young adults. Fatal and nonfatal drug overdose (OD) is also a prevalent medical problem among injectors, and hospital emergency rooms throughout the country attend to ODs virtually everyday. Emergency room (ER) visits involving heroin alone doubled from 33,900 in 1990 to 70,500 in 1996. Some medical experts have recently declared that the United States is in the midst of another heroin epidemic. On the other hand, injectors are known to use primary care services erratically and only after they are very sick, which drives up health care costs (Drug Policy expert Committee, 2000). The argument for safe injection sites Several research studies have shown that safe injection sites have advantages for drug injectors and for the community including reduction in many of the harmful aspects of drug use on the individual (spread of infections, risk of overdose) and to society (drug-related crime, public exposure to drug injecting paraphernalia), as well as positive benefits (increase in education about safety among injectors, more drug users accessing treatment and other services). Extensive research has been conducted at Insite in Vancouver, with positive results. The argument against safe injection sites Critics have argued against the introduction of safe injection sites largely based on the principle that drug addiction is wrong, and should not be condoned in any way. The political focus on reducing harm to drug users deflects the focus from where it belongs, which is on the prevention and treatment of drug abuse. Introducing safe injection sites is seen as a step towards drug legalization, and undermines law enforcement principles and practices. Researchers conclude that police surveillance may end up scaring away the very people North America's first sanctioned safer injecting facility is intended to help. While there have been methodological criticisms of the evaluation studies supporting safe injection sites, and Insite in particular, critics on the other side argue that there is no substantial basis for these criticisms. Ultimately, the strong views on both sides

Goal-line Technology Design Process Technical Research Paper

Goal-line Technology Design Process Technical - Research Paper Example Different football stakeholders around the world have made the calls for the technology. These calls have intensified since 2010 in the English Premier League (EPL), recent World Cup games, and the just concluded Euro 2012. However, the calls to implement the technology started in 2000 after referee error in judging penalty shootout between Nigeria and Cameroon enabled the latter to win the Africa Cup of Nations (BBC Sport, 2012). The television replays showed that the ball completely went over the goal line after hitting the cross bar but the referee failed to award the goal. Similar errors were also reported in the EPL and the recent World Cup (Conway 2012). The notable matches that have led to intensified calls for the technology include Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur (2005), Germany and England FIFA World Cup (2010), and Ukraine and England in Euro 2012.   Hawk-Eye Company, based in England, developed the goal-line technology. The company has offered similar services i n other games such as tennis and cricket. FIFA has adopted the use of the technology and plan to implement it during the 2014 World Cup, hosted in Japan. It is notable that several other companies are also working on developing this technology under different names. FIFA plans to use Goal Control system in 2014 World Cup while the EPL already contracted the Hawk-Eye Company to provide the service in the current season.   The goal-line technology (GLT) is aimed at assisting match officials in making decisions. on when to award or deny goals in cases when it is not very clear whether the ball has crossed the goal line (FIFA 2012). The technology provides information in relation to whether the ball has completely gone over the goal line. Match officials use the information to make their final decisions. The societal need the technology seeks to serve is therefore to eliminate the errors that referees make while officiating matches (FIFA 2012). Awarding a goal wrongly to one team rema ins the greatest injustice in competitive football matches. In addition, refusing to award another team a goal when the ball has completely passed the goal line also hinders the chances of such teams from winning the games and this is a great unfairness to the team and players. The Goal-line Technology Product Design and Operation The Hawk-Eye Company created their first technology in the year 1999. The company has continued to improve the product over the years through testing and application. The company has experience in developing the technology as it has created similar ones for tennis and cricket games. The technology is founded on triangulation principles (FIFA 2012). It integrates pictorial images and timing statistics. The technology uses high speed video cameras put at different locations around the field of play. However, most of the cameras are normally located near the goal. The technology integrates high frame rate cameras, which triangulate and follows the trajectory of the ball. It has software, which also calculates the location of the ball (FIFA 2012). The software does this through pinpointing the