Disater Recovery Plan Essay

Appoint coordinator/project leader, if the leader is not the dean or chairperson. 1. Determine most appropriate plan organization for the unit 2. Identify and convene planning team and sub-teams as appropriate (for example, lead computer support personnel should be in the team if the plan will involve recovery of digital data and documents). 3. At the unit level a. scope – the area covered by the disaster recovery plan, and objectives – b. assumptions 4. Set project timetable 5. Obtain approval of scope, assumptions and project plan, if the leader is not the administrator. Step Two – Conduct Business Impact Analysis In order to complete the business impact analysis, most units will perform the following steps: 1. Identify functions, processes and systems 2. Interview information systems support personnel 3. Interview business unit personnel 4. Analyze results to determine critical systems, applications and business processes 5. Prepare impact analysis of interruption on critical systems Step Three – Conduct Risk Assessment 1. Review physical security (e.g. secure office, building access off hours, etc.) 2. Review backup systems 3. Review data security 4. Review policies on personnel termination and transfer 5. Identify systems supporting mission critical functions 6. (Such as flood, tornado, physical attacks, etc.) 7. Assess probability of system failure or disruption 8. Prepare risk and security analysis Step Four – Develop Strategic Outline for Recovery 1. Assemble groups as appropriate for: Hardware and operating systems Communications Applications Facilities Other critical functions and business processes as identified in the Business Impact Analysis 1 For each system/process above quantify the following processing requirements: Light, normal and heavy processing days Transaction volumes Dollar volume (if any) Estimated processing time Allowable delay (days, hours, minutes, etc.) Detail all the steps in your workflow for each critical business function Identify systems and application Component name and technical id (if any) Type (online, batch process, script) Frequency Run time Allowable delay (days, hours, minutes, etc.) Identify vital records (e.g., libraries, processing schedules, procedures, research, advising records, etc.) Name and description Type (e.g., backup, original, master, history, etc.) Where are they stored Source of item or record Can the record be easily replaced from another source (e.g., reference materials) Backup Backup generation frequency Number of backup generations available onsite Number of backup generations available off-site Location of backups Media type Retention period Rotation cycle Who is authorized to retrieve the backups? 1 Identify if a severe disruption occurred what would be the minimum requirements/replacement needs to perform the critical function during the disruption. Type (e.g. server hardware, software, research materials, etc.) Item name and description Quantity required Location of inventory, alternative, or offsite storage Vendor/supplier 7. Identify if alternate methods of processing either exist or could be developed, quantifying where possible, impact on processing. (Include manual processes.) 8. Identify person(s) who supports the system or application 9. Identify primary person to contact if system or application cannot function as normal 10. Identify secondary person to contact if system or application cannot function as normal 11. Identify all vendors associated with the system or application 12. Document unit strategy during recovery (conceptually how will the unit function?) 13. Quantify resources required for recovery, by time frame (e.g., 1 pc per day, 3 people per hour, etc.) 14. Develop and document recovery strategy, including: Priorities for recovering system/function components Recovery schedule Step Five – Review Onsite and Offsite Backup and Recovery Procedures 1. Review current records (OS, Code, System Instructions, documented processes, etc.) requiring protection 2. Review current offsite storage facility or arrange for one 3. Review backup and offsite storage policy or create one 4. Present to unit leader for approval Step Six – Select Alternate Facility ALTERNATE SITE: A location, other than the normal facility, used to process data and/or conduct critical business functions in the event of a disaster. 1. Determine resource requirements 2. Assess platform uniqueness of unit systems 3. Identify alternative facilities 4. Review cost/benefit 5. Evaluate and make recommendation 6. Present to unit leader for approval 7. Make selection Step Seven – Develop Recovery Plan The steps for developing the Recovery Plan are listed below in outline form to demonstrate how a unit may choose to organize their Disaster Recovery Plan. 1. Objective Establish unit information 2. Plan Assumptions 3. Criteria for invoking the plan Document emergency response procedures to occur during and a fter an emergency (i.e. ensure evacuation of all individuals, call the fire department, after the emergency check the building before allowing individuals to return) Document procedures for assessment and declaring a state of emergency Document notification procedures for alerting unit and university officials Document notification procedures for alerting vendors Document notification procedures for alerting unit staff and notifying of alternate work procedures or locations. 1 Roles Responsibilities and Authority Identify unit personnel Recovery team description and charge Recovery team staffing Transportation schedules for media and teams 1 Procedures for operating in contingency mode Process descriptions Minimum processing requirements Determine categories for vital records Identify location of vital records Identify forms requirements Document critical forms Establish equipment descriptions Document equipment – in the recovery site Document equipment – in the unit Software descriptions Software used in recovery Software used in production Produce logical drawings of communication and data networks in the unit Produce logical drawings of communication and data networks during recovery Vendor list Review vendor restrictions Miscellaneous inventory Communication needs – production Communication needs – in the recovery site 1 Resource plan for operating in contingency mode 2 Criteria for returning to normal operating mode 3 Procedures for returning to normal operating mode 4 Procedures for recovering lost or damaged data 5 Testing and Training Document Testing Dates Complete disaster/disruption scenarios Develop action plans for each scenario Plan Maintenance Document Maintenance Review Schedule (yearly, quarterly, etc.) Maintenance Review action plans Maintenance Review recovery teams Maintenance Review team activities Maintenance Review/revise tasks Maintenance Review/revise documentation Step Eight – Test the Plan 1. Develop test strategy 2. Develop test plans 3. Conduct tests 4. Modify the plan as necessary Step Nine – Maintain the Plan 1. Review changes in the environment, technology, and procedures 2. Develop maintenance triggers and procedures 3. Submit changes for systems development procedures 4. Modify unit change management procedures 5. Produce plan updates and distribute Step Ten – Perform Periodic Audit 1. Establish periodic review and update procedures

Actions That Contribute To Achieving Food Security Environmental Sciences Essay

In this new epoch, 38 % of Earth ‘s surface is left for agribusiness intent to pattern the cultivation of dirt for bring forthing harvest every bit good as raising farm animal for human usage and ingestion. Cropland which grows works harvest and rangeland ; croping animate being farm animal depend on healthy dirt. However, dirts are going infertile in many part of the universe due to assorted causes. Soil eroding is the particular causes of dirt debasement. Under the cognition of agricultural harvest scientific discipline and production ; scientists prove several agriculture schemes to forestall dirt debasement by the rule and patterns of cropping system ; that is harvest rotary motion, contour agriculture, intercropping, terrassing, windbreaks and preservation cultivated land. Crop rotary motion is jumping the harvest planted that can reconstruct to dirty together with fight plague and diseases Contour agriculture is seting along contour lines of inclines assisting in cut downing eroding on hillsides. Intercropping is blending harvests such as strip cropping can supply foods and cut down eroding. Terracing, cutting stair stairss or patios are the lone manner to farm highly steep hillsides without doing monolithic eroding. It requires labour-intensive to make, but has been a pillar for centuries in the Himalayas and the Andes. Windbreaks are the rows of aggressive trees around harvest plantings provide shelterbelts, cut downing eroding by air current. Conservation cultivated land is about no-till and reduced-tillage agriculture leaves old harvest residue on the land alternatively of ploughing it into dirt. This covers the dirt, maintaining it in topographic point. Here, maize grows up out of a â€Å" cover harvest. † Therefore, by following the rule of cropping system, there will hold an addition in dirt birthrate and productiveness. Hence, we can cultivate the mass production of output which encourages the solution to nutrient security against dirt debasement. Like that, agribusiness has proven much scientific cognition towards response and version of clime alteration to guarantee the stableness in agricultural nutrient security production. Adaptations such as altering seting day of the months and taking longer season assortments are likely to countervail losingss or farther addition outputs. Engendering for response to CO2 will probably be necessary to accomplish strong fertilisation consequence assumed in the harvest surveies. This is an undeveloped chance and the chances for choosing for CO2 response are good. However, efforts to engender for a individual feature are frequently non successful, unless other traits and interactions are considered. Engendering for tolerance to climatic emphasis has already been to a great extent exploited and assortments that do best under ideal conditions normally they besides outperform other assortments under emphasis conditions. Breeding specific assortments for specific conditions of clime emphasis is hence less likely to meet success. Some versions to climate alteration and its impacts can hold negative secondary effects. For illustration it relates to agricultural chemical usage. An addition the usage of pesticides and weedkillers is one version to increased insects, weeds, and diseases associated with warming. Runoff of these chemicals into prairie wetlands, groundwater, and rivers and lakes could endanger drinking H2O supplies, coastal Waterss, diversion countries, and water bird home ground. The broad uncertainnesss in clime scenarios, regional fluctuation in clime effects, and interactions of environment, economic sciences, and farm policy suggest that there are no simple and widely applicable version prescriptions. Farmers will necessitate to accommodate loosely to altering conditions in agribusiness, of which altering clime is merely one factor. Some of the possible versions more straight related to climate include:Sowing day of the months and other seasonal alterations:Plant two harvests alternatively of one or a spring and autumn harvest with a short fallow period to avoid inordinate heat and drouth in summer solstice. For already warm turning countries, winter cropping could perchance go more productive than summer cropping.New harvest assortments:The familial base is really wide for many harvests, and biotechnology offers new potency for presenting salt tolerance, plague opposition, and general betterments in harvest output and quality.Water supply, irrigation, an d drainage systems:Technologies and direction methods exist to increase irrigation efficiency and cut down jobs of dirt debasement, but in many countries, the economic inducements to cut down uneconomical patterns do non be. Increased precipitation and more intense precipitation will probably intend that some countries will necessitate to increase their usage of drainage systems in order to avoid implosion therapy and water-logging of dirts.Cultivated land patterns:A heater clime will speed up the decay of dirt organic affairs by bacteriums and Fungis. Loss of organic affair reduces the capacity of dirts to hive away H2O and foods indispensable for works growing. Tillage patterns that incorporate harvest residues in the dirts would probably battle this loss and better dirt quality.Other direction accommodations:Virtually all constituents of the farming system from seting to reaping and to selling might be modified to set to climate alteration. In visible radiation of the above, the agricultural sector faces assorted challenges. While intensification and variegation of agribusiness is a critical tool to procuring nutrient for local people, in the absence of clear apprehension of their impacts on agribusiness, they can every bit good be debatable. Albeit measures to cut down the usage of fertilisers, to increase organic inputs and to deploy new assortments of harvests are suggested as better agronomic patterns, more lucidity is required sing their impacts on clime. Livestock sector is besides one of the rule causes of nutrient security due to climate alteration. For illustration, its consequence will be chiefly related to heat emphasis, low provender quality, deficit of H2O and cyclonal conditions. The causes of these effects are shown as follows.Temperature additionCan take to lower fresh fish productiveness in the Lowlandss ( e.g. lower transporting capacity in cervid ranching ) Decrease feed intake taking to low productiveness ( E.g. low milk output ) Lower productiveness in domestic fowl and increase mortality rate ; Higher plague and disease incidenceCyclone consequenceIncreased harm to livestock lodging Loss of animate beings More attending to the demands of animate beings The Response and Adaptations Measures of Livestock sector may change the environment to minimise the host consequence of climatic alteration. Cooling, shading and lodging are graphic analogies. The hereafter of agribusiness depends on agricultural research and engineering transportation. Since, agricultural biotechnology signifiers portion of research and development, it is truly a aggregation of scientific atomic techniques, including familial technology, used to better workss, animate beings and micro-organisms. Throughout history societies have been concerned with holding a safe and abundant nutrient supply. Our ascendants have learned to better their harvests and farm animal by engendering them to be tougher and supply more nutrient. As a consequence, now most of our harvests and farm animate beings ‘ expression and gustatory sensation are different compared to centuries ago. Today, harvests and farm animal can be modified even more exactly through biotechnology. In short, agricultural biotechnology signifiers portion of the tools for productiveness, quality and green infirmary to fulfill nutrient security. Agricultural biotechnology is a new subject of biological science incorporating with technological scientific discipline for obtaining maximal benefits to adult male and other signifiers of life. It is the development and usage of new engineerings that have brought a go oning addition in agricultural productiveness, quality and green productiveness in footings of bettering wellness and diminishing environmental hazards. An illustration are shown below The image below shows the scientific every bit good as the tool of agricultural biotechnology for several utile applications for advancing productiveness Quality and green productiveness. Hence, biotechnology is tool of productiveness, quality and green productiveness in several sectors. Such as in wellness attention service ; Invention and productiveness in wellness attention are being led by biotechnology Creation of new categories of therapeutics Antibodies Cloned Proteins Mapping/sequencing the human genome Deoxyribonucleic acid fingerprinting Vaccines Infectious diseases Cancer and chronic diseases Control of diabetes with Humalina or Homologa Pharmacokinetic Plant Biotechnology is the survey of works that can be modified to convey approximately many types of alterations which can be advantageous refering nutrient security to consumers, the nutrient industry, husbandmans and people in the underdeveloped universe. Familial alteration can besides lend towards a more sustainable signifier of agribusiness and convey environmental benefits. Tissue civilization is one of the good theoretical accounts of the above apprehensions that are about the cultivation of works tissues or variety meats on specially formulated alimentary media. Tissue civilization is seen as an of import engineering for developing states or the production of disease-free, high quality seting stuffs and the production of unvarying workss Genetically modified nutrients are made from works or microorganisms that have had led to one or more features changed in changing their cistrons ; for illustration a works might hold its cistron modified to do it resistant to peculiar works diseases to better its nutrient quality or to assist it turn faster Therefore, Plant Biotechnology is a chief beginning of productiveness, quality and green productiveness. It is a value added to satisfy nutrient security for the universe population by Bettering gustatory sensation and visual aspect. Better colour, longer shelf life, more sugar/starch etc. Bettering nutritionary qualities Oil seed with reduced concentrated fat content. Enhancing processing and harvest home ( cheaper faster cleaner ) Alteration of tomatoes to detain maturation has led to cheaper tomato merchandises. Increasing ability to contend insects, disease and weeds Increased virus opposition Decreased pesticide usage Herbicide tolerance Resistance to drouth or environmental emphasis Benefits for parts of the universe where the demand for nutrient is increasing significantly and there is non plenty good cultivable land. Transgenic Organisms is a particular method of biotechnology for increasing positively about productiveness and quality facets where the production of transgenic beings involves the injection of foreign DNA into an egg. The egg is so fertilized and placed inside a alternate being which carries the transgenic being to term. Transgenic workss can be produced with works cell civilization. Foreign DNA is used to transform disassociated works cells that are so grown in civilization. Green productiveness of biotechnology is termed as green biotechnology under which it enhances environmental protection ; some illustrations are ; Cleaning up pollution through Bioremediation: â€Å" The usage of bugs to digest and change over unwanted waste stuff into harmless substances † Cleaning oil spills utilizing populating being Produce biomass for bioenergy intents or to change over biomass to biofuel. Biomass refers to workss or animal-based stuffs such as harvest, harvest residues, trees, carnal fats, byproducts and wastes obtained from agribusiness, wood and industrial and municipal beginnings. Agro security is at that place most of import undertaking to heighten nutrient security. Like any other sector of agribusiness, the nutrient industry is at hazard from Agro terrorist act and bio-terrorism. Agro terrorist act in the nutrient processing industry refers to the knowing sabotage or taint of a nutrient merchandise during processing, storage or distribution with the purpose to do physical injury to the individual who eats the nutrient, every bit good as economic injury to the nutrient production sector and to the economic system. Whereas biological terrorism is the calculated release of viruses, bacteriums, or other sources ( agents ) used to do unwellness or decease in people, animate beings, or workss. For this ground ; biosafety and biosecurity is biotechnological tool for put into pattern of nutrient security. It has ever been impossible to wholly extinguish all hazards. However, hazards can be managed and minimized in two ways: By implementing programs that deter knowing taint and therefore forestall it and By observing jobs early in the event that they do occur and holding a system in topographic point to cover with the state of affairs so that inauspicious effects are kept to a lower limit. Prevention of agroterrorism in the nutrient industry focuses on the â€Å" 3P ‘s † – Plant, Personnel and Procedures. These same rules can be applied to on-farm security every bit good. Security at the works or production installation means restricting entree. This can be done by a assortment of methods including utilizing fencings, Gatess, security guards, locks, ID badges for employees, security cameras, etc. If the works has a research lab, the research lab must keep the security of any biohazards, pathogens and toxins that are present. The works must besides decently shop and utilize any toxic chemicals they may hold such as cleansing supplies and pesticides. Farms must besides take particular attention in keeping the security of toxic chemicals used in production. Secure storage is an of import issue. Farm chemicals in the incorrect custodies can go arms. The 2nd â€Å" P † refers to forces. Food industries should: Carefully test their employees Supervise and proctor employees in their day-to-day work assignments Provide and require usage of exposure badges or other signifier of positive designation for their employees Restrict entree to research lab installations, to agents and to computing machine systems Provide employees developing in nutrient security or nutrient defence processs Monitor unusual behaviour of any employee Have policies in topographic point sing the wellness of employees and when they can or can non work Train forces in processs for covering with visitants and the populace so that entree is limited or prevented. Many of these patterns for the nutrient industry are besides good patterns for the farm, including restricting entree or visitants to the farm. The 3rd â€Å" P † stands for processs. Food industries must be prepared to cover with merchandise meddling and other malicious Acts of the Apostless. They must hold policies and processs in topographic point for covering with visitants. They must be able to follow their merchandises – where ingredients or nutrients came from and where they are directing the merchandise by maintaining accurate records and coverage imports. Companies should hold a scheme in topographic point for originating callbacks if necessary. They must hold a process for look intoing leery activity. Food industries should continually measure their policies and processs to be certain they have the best programs possible for guaranting safety and covering with exigencies. In nutrient industries every bit good as in other countries of agribusiness, the keys to success for nutrient defence include: Supplying preparation for employees and increasing their consciousness of the importance of nutrient safety Having programs in topographic point for exigencies Have unfastened lines of communicating and coverage within the company and Planing procedures and systems with agroterrorism hazards in head. To promote nutrient seurity, the United Nations should do proviso of equal fund through administrations like FAO to construct international pact. International pact is a new, binding international instrument between states that trade with works familial resources for nutrient and agribusiness such as SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre. It scopes internationally agreed model for the aggregation, preservation, generation, regeneration, word picture, rating, and certification on endangered species for sustainable usage by being stored in the cistron bank. Besides, it aims as the carnival and just sharing of benefits derived from their usage, in harmoniousness with the Convention on Biological Diversity, for sustainable agribusiness and nutrient security. As some 10,000 old ages ago, agribusiness began, with the independent Neolithic revolutions around the universe in â€Å" Centres of beginning † for illustration, barley and wheat were domesticated in the Near East, rice in Sout h-East Asia, the murphies in the Andes, millet and sorghum in Africa, and maize in Central America. Nevertheless, due to Agriculture international pact based on Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing, non on exclusivity, they built relationships among states. They have been swapped non merely the cistrons within their harvests but besides carnal contained in their local assortments. Hence, now such harvest and animate being have propagated worldwide for domestication that made better colony of life possible, and human populations grew tremendously, in many topographic points taking to metropoliss, and with metropoliss, civilization. Population denseness led coevals after coevals to travel over the following hill. The above figure shows the development of Treaty ‘s Regulating Body that harvests have spread all over the universe, and overpoweringly Food security towards an mutualist universe. Therefore ; International pact fund acts as a beginning of support for advancing communicating and squad work among universe states. ( Gerald Moore and Witold Tymowshi ( 2005 ) )

Investigation of a business development proposal for a centre store in Essay

Investigation of a business development proposal for a centre store in the business - Essay Example earned from the newly rented premises Expected income: these are the actual earning that are expected to be generated from the new premises Build up factor: it is the percentage of the maximum possible income that the managers of the business hope to make in the first few years after start up Cost of sales: these are the expenses that incurred in order for the business make sales and may include cost of raw materials and transportation cost among other costs. Net cash flow: this is the difference between the total expenses and the total income that the business generated; it is the money that the business was left with after paying its expense (Day, 2012, p26). Discount factor: this is the rate at which the management of the business depreciates the capital goods in the premise; the depreciation rate is done on an annual nominal rate Present value of net cash flow: this is the cash flow of the business that has been adjusted for depreciation. The purpose of this report is to analyse the financial viability of expanding the business by renting additional floor space and setting up branded boutiques for brand name such as Maine and Gucci, Principles, Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Timberland and Calvin Klein among others. Initial conclusion The net present value of the business expansion of Bristol stalls is 1, 399, 500 US dollars for the first three years after start up while the estimated cost of investments in terms of fitting and design total to 900, 000 US dollars. This shows that there is a difference of 499, 500 US dollars, this means that the business will have repaid the start up costs fully and made some significant profit margins despite not operating at the full capacity. According to calculations in the net cash flows that have not been adjusted for depreciation, the figures shows an upward trend which is encouraging as it shows the business will be able to increase its capacity to generate revenue if the trend continues. This will happen despite the inc rease in most of the other related costs apart from the miscellaneous costs, which are estimated to remain constant throughout the first three years after start up. Therefore, using the financial information generated by the cash flow, it is financially viable for the business to expand its operations by renting adjacent spaces in Bristol store. Sensitivity analysis One of the reasons that informed the above decision is the total costs that would be incurred in running the new business premises, these costs are relatively low as compared to the expected income that the new floor space will generate. The total expenses per quarter in the first year are 433, 375 US dollars, this is below the expected income of 540, 000 US dollars, subtracting these two figures one gets 106, 625 US dollars, which is the residue that remains after the basic expenses have been deducted. If the value of total costs was any figure above 540, 000 US dollars, then the business would have been left with a neg ative residue. For instance if the total costs were 600, 000 US dollars per quarter, then the residue would have

People Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

People Management - Essay Example The other role of human resources is orientation into an organization where after hiring; an employee is expected to familiarize him or herself with the organization and its functions and operations (Durai 2010, p.180). In this case, human resource management plays its role in orientation, where it acquaints its employees with aspects of the organizations so that the employee is comfortable in the organization and ready to work based on the information that is passed on to him or her during this process. Human resource managers provide information on the basics and other information that an employee collects and creates in the process of working in then organization, but most of it is the basics that are provided at orientation. The third important role of human resource managers is training and development, where it provides employees with skills and knowledge to perform their tasks and fulfil their duties responsibly and as per organizational objectives. In this role, human resourc e development provides training for new employees who lack in experience and provide training for employees with experience, but whose jobs are dynamic in that they are undergoing change (MacDonald, n.d). Line managers are similar to human resource managers in that they manage their own employees but with the only difference, which that implies that they have necessary skills to act as supervisors and solve problems that the employees might encounter (Sunny-tbadesha, 2010). Line managers have the responsibility of maintaining a working environment that can be said to be open concerning the absence of discriminative practices and harassment (Manchester Metropolitan University, n.d, p.5). Elements of Recruitment and Selection Process The key aspects if the recruitment process entails well documented steps that are only charged to human resource managers and they include human resource planning, job analysis, staffing, orientation, training and development, performance appraisal and ot hers. Some are more significant than others are and the first is job analysis, which entails mapping out the availability of a job opening and knowing, and comes up with job description. The importance of indicating clear job specification in any organization cannot be over emphasized as it is of critical value to all. Compiling of job descriptions lies squarely within the human resource manager, who is charged with the role of hiring personnel based on tasks to be carried out in the organization (Gitman et al., 2009, p.206). A clear-cut description highlights what the organization expects from each employee as it entails the details of personnel roles and duties. This saves time and resources that could have been otherwise lost in the confusion created by mixed roles and disorganization within the company. Therefore, effective job descriptions provide efficient communication channels within an organization since every employee is aware of their role. Similarly, the employees become aware of the company’s mission and vision, as well as explaining how each of them fits into the organization’s future. Moreover, clear job specifications help in weeding out unqualified applicants while ensuring the recruitment of qualified personnel (Deb, 2006,

Future Employment and Graduate Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Future Employment and Graduate Studies - Essay Example Contact Information (address, phone #, website, email): Reply to advertisement at http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=JHV7YS6WRQRM5GPSH97&sc_cmp1=js_jrp_jobclick&IPath=JRKV0C Our trans-disciplinary teams in Early Childhood Services provide treatment and support to over 1,000 families each year through our community and home-based services. Trans-disciplinary teams may include Educators, Social Workers, Nurses and Speech, Physical, and Occupational Therapists   Job Description: evaluation and monitoring of children to determine physical and mental development. These professionals document activities and record information, track progress and formulate individual therapy plans. Child development specialists also work with a child’s parents to evaluate their ability to carry out the therapy plan. They may interact with parents one-on-one or in group settings. Providing counseling and bringing groups of parents together for mutual emotional support are important aspects of the child development specialist’s job. Contact Information (address, phone #, website, email): reply to advertisement at http://careers.nyp.org/new-york-jobs/Child-Life-Specialist-Masters/709363?nt=1&bid=&utm_source=Simply-Hired&utm_medium=SEM/PPC&utm_content=NY-70855&utm_campaign=Professional-Management Work with families and/or children. Employers include cooperative extension; non-profit and private agencies; faith-based organizations; consumer and business agencies and organizations; and federal, state, and local government. Program focus in Child & Family Studies or in closely related fields such as s in social work, counseling, and marriage and family therapy. Name of Program and Focus: Master of Education Curriculum and Instruction – Early Childhood Education. Guides students to extend their pursuit of excellence as teachers of young

Shamoon incident at Aramco Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Shamoon incident at Aramco - Case Study Example This was the first malware used by the hacktivism front and hence the company’s network was not in a position to handle the complexity of this virus. Indeed, unlike other malware whose impact cannot overcome the antivirus set in the company’s network, the technology used in Aramco was way below that of the hackers. The network system in Aramco offers security to theft of data but has no capacity to handle annihilation manifested by Shamoon. In addition, the company’s anti-hacking and firewall software is incapable to deal with such technologically advanced malware like Shamoon. Moreover, the company’s IT and computer systems policies require a review. Sadly, the network system of Aramco allows multiple users to access both unclassified and classified information at the same time, which jeopardizes the security of the system as seen in the Shamoon attack. In addition, Aramco’s network allows its employees and expatriate employees to run information s ystems and then divulge such information that acts as leeway to cyber-attacks. Indeed, the company needs to review and update its IT policies and computer systems for purposes of dealing with such complicated malware as Shamoon (Mashat, 2012, p.1). Otherwise, the ease to access, lack of proper authorization, and use of ancient anti-hacking and firewall software, jeopardizes the security of Aramco’s network system. How the Attack Happened One group of hackers has claimed responsibility over the Shamoon attack on Aramco. The group, Cutting Sword of Justice asserts that the cyber-attack took place beginning Wednesday, Aug 15, 2012 at 11:08 AM and was complete within a few hours (Fisher, 2012, p.1). Although, this information is not certain, there are clear indications that lead to this assertion. Indeed, in the same day after Cutting Sword of Justice asserted this, Saudi Aramco confirmed that part of its computer system used by its employees is under cyber-attack courtesy of a c omputer virus. Alternatively, several antivirus vendors Kaspersky Lab, Symantec, McAfee confirmed the existence of such a virus and named it Shamoon or Disttrack (Higgins, 2012, P. 16). Indeed, the hackers took the virus from another computer package and dropped it off in the Aramco’s computer system. We may need to define the details of this virus to reinforce our understanding on how this attacked happened. Shamoon or Disttrack is a legitimate software driver with a digital signature inside its package. Specifically, the virus is referred to as W32. Disttrack and ha distinct security components. Indeed, W32.Disttrack has a dropper that played a major role in creating and providing the original infection. Subsequently, the dropper significantly dropped other modules in initiating the attack. In addition, the W32.Disttrack has a wiper whose main responsibility in the attack was to destroy the network of target system, Aramco. Moreover, the wiper has the capability to enable u ser-mode applications to read and write to disk sectors of other systems (Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, 2012, n. p). As such, it is most applicable in overwriting the computer's Master Boot Record. Indeed, the wiper deleted all the existing drivers and overwrote the signed one in Aramco’s network. Most significantly, the W32.Disttrack entails a reporter, which was significant in reporting the success of the attack to the attacker. The reporter takes back all the details

The past, present and future of standards in software engineering Essay

The past, present and future of standards in software engineering - Essay Example This paper will review the evolution of standard software engineering, and how users are affected by this evolution process. The advancement in technology is making it easier for these organizations to be more effective and more advanced. Standards in software engineering have reached a level where, anything is possible. The creation of programs that seek to identify all the would-be users’ needs has revolutionised the way things work in the modern world. Operations are carried out with ease. The effectiveness and precision with which these operations are carried out is growing (Mall 2009). Writing software, to some, is a profession from which they earn their living. Standards range from local invented, to international standards that help software be accepted globally. These are the de facto standards which enable people to operate software that is acceptable throughout the world. Government entities in the world approve of these standard-setting organizations. Some organizations have recognition that reaches the whole world when it comes to setting software standards. The International Organization of Standardization is one of the few. It is abbreviated as ISO. It is a representation of many international bodies. This progress has enabled software standards to have global acceptance (Puntambekar 2009). The evolution of software standards can incorporate the understanding of much more than local industries present in the world. At present, this demand is growing with each passing day. Therefore, soon enough, the future for software engineering will reach its peak (O’Regan 2012). This advancement will enable people to get extra work complete, while taking less time. This is what everybody wants because effectiveness is the aim of this progress. Through the ISO/IEC, many software standards are set and developed to help the global community get through some of the programs that exist. An example of standard in software is the

Business information analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business information analysis - Case Study Example Secondly, this process also ensures that once a business is established, it begins to operate immediately. This owes to the fact that the business is operating under the umbrella of another established and reputable company. However, it is imperative to note that just because a company operates as a franchisee does not necessarily mean that it will have increased sales. This is despite the reduced cost of operation and better market environment. There are various other factors, which should be considered in ensuring that the company makes more profits. They include issues of prices and quality. With customers being so sensitive on matters of prices, it would be imperative that a given business enterprise considers being a price leader. This is a competitive advantage especially where the business is facing a lot of competition. Market research is vital for the purpose of understanding the tastes and preferences of the customers. This ensures that the company provides the required goo ds to the market. Qualitative and quantitative researches ensure that the companies conduct an objective marketing research that addressing the needs in the market. Task 1 Every business aims at obtaining accurate and valid evidence about the target customers. This becomes imperative owing to the fact that there is need to ensure that the business meets the actual needs of the customers (Berghoff 2012, p.90). the latter differ in terms of tastes and preferences making it difficult for the businesses organizations, to respond to their need. The current case of Kidz Sportz is therefore not an isolated one, but a reflection of the market challenges that many companies go through. The company is said to have received more than 100,000 new children who require different equipment and services. However, the management grapples with the issue of lack of enough knowledge on the tastes and preferences of these children. Unless something is done urgently, the company will not be able to provi de objective services to this large number of clients. To assist in solving the stated challenge, the following recommendations are vital: Conducting a market research This is explained as the process through which a company with the assistant of qualified market research team obtains information about the needs, attitudes and motivations of the customers, for the purpose of serving them in the best way possible (Boudreaux 2000, p.3). It is also a way of establishing what the customers know about the market, to enable a company to plan in terms of prices. It is imperative to note that the world of business has become increasingly competitive, prompting management to implement new strategies for success. This information provides a given company with competitive advantage over its main rivals (Bradley 2007, p.89). Secondly, it is a strategy through which the company is able to attract and also retain the customers to the advantage of a given business institution. A market research is also advantageous in the sense that it provides the company with the market size. In the above scenario, the number stands at 100,000 children. This enables the company in its logistical work. For instance, it is able to know the number of equipment and space needed to accommodate all the children. However, the market research is a process that requires funds and qualified personnel. To receive the information needed, both the qualitative and quantitative techniques become important. The Kidz Sportz for instance should carry out its qualitative and

Diversity in Racial, ethnic and cultural history Essay

Diversity in Racial, ethnic and cultural history - Essay Example There is a growing need for the government agencies and leaders, businessman, educators, and the society in general, to look at these racial differences that are not thought of in the past. Because of globalization, we come to accept this diversity, and for economic reasons, we realize the interdependence of each others lives. The growing economic system that is due to globalization .and advanced technology has accelerated the need to understand cultural differences and accept it as a way of life. I am a Caucasian by race with a French background. Being a Caucasian, I am proud of my ethnicity. The whiteness of the skin or being fair skinned as a passport to the American culture, is something new to me. Caucusus, the land where we lived, is blessed by nature, and for a long time, supplied the Russians with oil. Because of this relation, Caucasians developed a racial communist background, but we now belong to the ex-communists world. It is only now that I learned that the cohesiveness of my people is an influence of the Soviet system, and with the collapse of the system, people became closer because they feared of the uncertainty of their future, and â€Å"they have fallen back to ethnic solidarity to counter feelings of insecurity†(Henze, Paul, n.d.) Caucasus, is home to forty ethnic groups for many years, so its culture and ethnicity is a mixture of all these. Dr. Takvul, Ufuk, who made a sociological analysis of the Caucasia culture, said this race is characterized by ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is a tendency to view groups or cultures different from its own perspectives. It is an attitude that tends to believe of its own superiority. But having a French background makes my identity more colorful. Like the U.S., the immigration laws of the French country are tainted with racial prejudices. The existence of several laws makes the lives of minority groups difficult because of xenophobic attitude. Xenophobia is the extreme hatred for foreigners, and based

Soviet Sports and the relation to politics in the cold war Research Paper

Soviet Sports and the relation to politics in the cold war - Research Paper Example Similarly, this spirit of competition was not merely limited to those states/actors that supported the West/NATO with reference to capitalism over communism. Instead, the Soviet Union actively sought to promote the superiority of its system of government through the use of its various techniques to include: the arms race, the space race, advances in technology, and prowess displayed through expertise in sporting events. This analysis will work to research the level and extent to which the Soviet Union promoted sport as a means of spreading ideology throughout the world.1 Furthermore, the analysis will seek to answer the question of how this â€Å"threat† was understood by the United States and its allies. Similarly, the understanding of sport as a means towards a political end will be examined as a function of how the Soviet Union viewed these activities. However, before such an analysis is thoroughly performed, it is necessary to delve into an explanation of how the Soviet Un ion developed and fielded some of the most talented athletes that the 21st century has had to offer. Similarly, the research will work to show how the Soviet Union used sport as a means to domestically foster ideas relating to Communism, teamwork, collectivism, physical education, resourcefulness, as well as encouraging elements of national pride and patriotism. In this way, the paper will analyze the extent to which Soviet policies and ideologies directly affected the cultivation and development of the raw talent that it subsequently introduced to the world. Similarly, the scope of desired outcomes that the Soviet Union hoped to achieve from the implementation of such a broad and overarching commitment to sports will be analyzed. Development, Ideology and Vision Prior to the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union was only represented in two international sporting unions. This was mainly due to the fact that the Soviet Union had been dedicating all its resources to marshal ac tivities involving preparing troops for the front lines. However, the arrival of peace after 1945 allowed the Soviet Union to continue to focus on building up their armed forces while fostering a robust sporting and physical fitness culture. These activities were noticed by the remainder of the world and many American observers of the time noted the rapid growth and dynamism that was portrayed by the Soviet sporting teams. One observer noted, â€Å" The Central Committee of the Soviet Union had the following to say with regards to the role that sport should play in the lives of the citizen, â€Å"Physical culture must be considered not only from the standpoint of physical education and health and as an aspect of the cultural, economic and military training of youth (the sport of rifle marksmanship and others), but also as one of the methods of educating the masses (in as much as physical culture develops will power and builds up endurance, teamwork, and resourcefulness and other v aluable qualities), and in addition, as means of rallying the broad masses of workers and peasants around the various Party, soviet, and trade union organizations, through which the masses of workers and peasants are to be drawn into social and political activity†

Paul Tillich Response to Modern Criticism Essay Example for Free

Paul Tillich Response to Modern Criticism Essay The later part of 20th century witness a renewed question of empiricism in philosophy of religion. The question is concerned with what patterns a religious reasoning and religious language should take in determining the existence of God, the belief in God, the reality of a good God and the existence of evil. The approach is championed by logical positivism based on verification principles of ascertain meaning only by sense experience. The Modern Empiricism as discussed in this paper covers the period of tale end of 1500 AD to the end of 1800 AD, that is 16-19 century. This course explores the themes of Paul Tillichs philosophical theology, with special attention to his analysis of meaning and its apparent loss in modern society. The course will also evaluate Tillichs response to the problem of meaninglessness and his effort to interpret the Christian message. WHAT IS EMPIRICISM? According to John Scott Gordon Marshall, empiricism, in philosophy, is â€Å"the attitude that beliefs are to be accepted and acted upon only if they first have been confirmed by actual experience†. This broad definition accords with the derivation of the name from the Greek word empeiria, meaning â€Å"experience. † Primarily, and in its psychological application, the term signifies the theory that the phenomena of consciousness are simply the product of sensuous experience, i. e. of sensations variously associated and arranged (Andrew M. Colman: 2003:242). It is thus distinguished from Nativism or Innatism. Secondarily, and in its logical (epistemological) usage, it designates the theory that all human knowledge is derived exclusively from experience, the latter term meaning, either explicitly or implicitly, external sense-percepts and internal representations and inferences exclusive of any superorganic (immaterial) intellectual factor. Empiricism is thus opposed to the claims of authority, intuition, imaginative conjecture, and abstract, theoretical, or systematic reasoning as sources of reliable belief. Its most fundamental antithesis is with the latter (i. e., with Rationalism, also called intellectualism or apriorism). Forms of Empiricism According to Catholic Encyclopedia empiricism appears in the history of philosophy in three principal forms: (1) Materialism, (2) Sensism, and (3) Positivism. a. Materialism: Materialism in its crudest shape was taught by the ancient atomists (Democritus, Leucippus, Epicurus, Lucretius), who, reducing the sum of all reality to atoms and motion, taught that experience, whereof they held knowledge to be constituted, is generated by images reflected from material objects through the sensory organs into the soul. The soul, a mere complexus of the finest atoms, perceives not the objects but their effluent images. With modern materialists (Helvetius, dHolbach, Diderot, Feuerbach, Moleschott, Buchner, Vogt, etc. ), knowledge is accounted for either by cerebral secretion or by motion. b. Sensism: All materialists are of course sensists. Though the converse is not the case, nevertheless, by denying any essential difference between sensations and ideas (intellectual states), sensism logically involves materialism. Sensism, which is found with Empedocles and Protagoras amongst the ancients, was given its first systematic form by Locke (d. 1704), though Bacon (d. 1626) and Hobbes (d. 1679) had prepared the data. Locke derives all simple ideas from external experience (sensations), all compound ideas (modes, substances, relations) from internal experience (reflection). Substance and cause are simply associations of subjective phenomena; universal ideas are mere mental figments. Locke admits the existence, though he denies the demonstrability, in man of an immaterial and immortal principle, the soul. Berkeley (d. 1753), accepting the teaching of Locke that ideas are only transfigured sensations, subjectivizes not only the sensible or secondary qualities of matter as his predecessor had done, but also the primary qualities which Locke held to be objective. Berkeley denies the objective basis of universal ideas and indeed of the whole material universe. The reality of things he places in their being perceived and this perceivedness is effected in the mind by God, not by the object or subject. He still retains the substance-reality of the human soul and of spirits generally, God included. Hume (d. 1776) agrees with his two empiricist predecessors in teaching that the mind knows only its own subjective organic impressions, whereof ideas are but the images. The supersensible is therefore unknowable; the principle of causality is resolved into a mere feeling of successiveness of phenomena; its necessity is reduced to a subjective feeling resulting from uniform association experienced in consciousness, and the spiritual essence or substantial being of the soul is dissipated into a series of conscious states. Lockes sensism was taken up by Condillac (d. 1780), who eliminated entirely the subjective factor (Lockes reflection) and sought to explain all cognitional states by a mere mechanical, passive transformation of external sensations. The French sensist retained the spiritual soul, but his followers disposed of it as Hume had done with the Berkeleian soul relic. The Herbartians confound the image with the idea, nor does Wundt make a clear distinction between primitive concepts (empirische Begriffe, representations of individual objects) and the image: Denken ist Phantasieren in Begriffen und Phantasierenist Denken in Bildern. c. Positivism: Positivists, following Comte (d.1857), do not deny the supersensible; they declare it unknowable; the one source of cognition, they claim, is sense-experience, experiment, and induction from phenomena. John Stuart Mill (d. 1870), following Hume, reduces all knowledge to series of conscious states linked by empirical associations and enlarged by inductive processes. The mind has no certitude of an external world, but only of a permanent possibility of sensations and antecedent and anticipated feelings. Spencer (d. 1903) makes all knowledge relative. The actual existence of things is their persistence in consciousness. Consciousness contains only subjective feelings. The relative supposes the absolute, but the latter is unknowable to us; it is the object of faith and religion (Agnosticism). All things, mind included, have resulted from a cosmical process of mechanical evolution wherein they are still involved; hence all concepts and principles are in a continuous flux. d. Classical Empiricism: Classical empiricism is characterised by a rejection of innate, in-born knowledge or concepts. John Locke, well known as an empiricist, wrote of the mind being a tabula rasa, a â€Å"blank slate†, when we enter the world. At birth we know nothing; it is only subsequently that the mind is furnished with information by experience. e. Radical Empiricism: This was advanced by William James, an American pragmatist philosopher and psychologist, based on the pragmatic theory of truth and the principle of pure experience, which contends that the relations between things are at least as real as the things themselves, that their function is real, and that no hidden substrata are necessary to account for the various clashes and coherences of the world. James summarized the theory as consisting of (1) a postulate: â€Å"The only things that shall be debatable among philosophers shall be things definable in terms drawn from experience†; (2) a factual statement: â€Å"The relations between things, conjunctive as well as disjunctive, are just as much matters of direct particular experience, neither more so nor less so, than the things themselves,† which serves to distinguish radical empiricism from the empiricism of the Scottish philosopher David Hume; and (3) a generalized conclusion: â€Å"The parts of experience hold together from next to next by relations that are themselves parts of experience. The directly apprehended universe needs, in short, no extraneous transempirical connective support, but possesses in its own right a concatenated or continuous structure. † The result of this theory of knowledge is a metaphysics that refutes the rationalist belief in a being that transcends experience, which gives unity to the world. According to James there is no logical connection between radical empiricism and pragmatism. One may reject radical empiricism and continue to be a pragmatist. Jamess studies in radical empiricism were published posthumously as Essays in Radical Empiricism (1912). According to him, it is only if it is possible to empirically test a claim that the claim has meaning. As all of our information comes from our senses, it is impossible for us to talk about that which we have not experienced. Statements that are not tied to our experiences are therefore meaningless. This principle, which was associated with a now unpopular position called logical positivism, renders religious and ethical claims literally nonsensical. No observations could confirm religious or ethical claims, therefore those claims are meaningless. Radical empiricism thus requires the abandonment of religious and ethical discourse and belief. f. Moderate Empiricism: More moderate empiricists, however, allow that there may be some cases in which the senses do not ground our knowledge, but hold that these are exceptions to a general rule. Truths such as â€Å"there are no four-sided triangles† and â€Å"7+5=12† need not be investigated in order to be known, but all significant, interesting knowledge, the empiricist claims, comes to us from experience. This more moderate empiricism strikes many as more plausible than its radical alternative. BRIEF HISTORY OF EMPIRICISM The first Empiricists in Western philosophy were the Sophists, who rejected such Rationalist speculation about the world as a whole and took man and society to be the proper objects of philosophical inquiry. Invoking skeptical arguments to undermine the claims of pure reason, they posed a challenge that invited the reaction that comprised Platos philosophy Plato and to a lesser extent Aristotle were both Rationalists. But Aristotles successors in the ancient Greek schools of Stoicism and Epicureanism advanced an explicitly Empiricist account of the formation of mans concepts or ideas. For the Stoics the human mind is at birth a clean slate, which comes to be stocked with ideas by the sensory impingement of the material world upon it. Yet they also held that there are some ideas or beliefs, the â€Å"common notions,† present to the minds of all men; and these soon came to be conceived in a nonempirical way. The Empiricism of the Epicureans, however, was more pronounced and consistent. For them mans concepts are memory images, the mental residues of previous sense experience; and knowledge is as empirical as the ideas of which it is composed. In medieval philosophy, most medieval philosophers after St. took an Empiricist position, at least about concepts, even if they recognized much substantial but nonempirical knowledge. The standard formulation of this age was: â€Å"There is nothing in the intellect that was not previously in the senses. † Thus St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) altogether rejected innate ideas. Both soul and body participate in perception, and all of mans ideas are abstracted by the intellect from what is given to the senses. Mans ideas of unseen things, like God and angels, are derived by analogy from the seen. The 13th-century scientist Roger Bacon emphasized empirical knowledge of the natural world and anticipated the polymath Renaissance philosopher of science Francis Bacon (1561–1626) in preferring observation to deductive reasoning as a source of knowledge. The Empiricism of the 14th-century Franciscan Nominalist William of Ockham was more systematic. All knowledge of what exists in nature, he held, comes from the senses, though there is, to be sure, â€Å"abstractive knowledge† of necessary truths; but this is hypothetical and does not imply the existence of anything. His more extreme followers extended his line of reasoning toward a radical Empiricism, in which causation is not a rationally intelligible connection but merely an observed regular sequence. In modern philosophy, the earlier and unsystematically speculative phases of Renaissance philosophy, the claims of Aristotelian logic to yield substantial knowledge were attacked by several 16th-century logicians, and, in the same century, the role of observation was stressed. One mildly skeptical Christian thinker, Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655), advanced a deliberate revival of the empirical doctrines of Epicurus. But the most important defender of Empiricism was Francis Bacon, who, though he did not deny the existence of a priori knowledge, claimed that, in effect, the only knowledge that is worth having (as contributing to the relief of mans estate) is empirically based knowledge of the natural world, which should be pursued by the systematic, indeed almost mechanical, arrangement of the findings of observation and is best undertaken in the cooperative and impersonal style of modern scientific research. Bacon was, indeed, the first to formulate the principles of scientific induction. A Materialist and Nominalist, Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), combined an extreme Empiricism about concepts, which he saw as the outcome of material impacts on the bodily senses, with an extreme Rationalism about knowledge, of which, like Plato, he took geometry to be the paradigm. For him all genuine knowledge is a priori, a matter of rigorous deduction from definitions. The senses provide ideas; but all knowledge comes from â€Å"reckoning,† from deductive calculations carried out on the names that the thinker has assigned to them. True knowledge is thus not merely a priori but also analytic. Yet it all concerns material and sensible existences: everything that exists is a body. The most elaborate and influential presentation of Empiricism of this period was made by John Locke (1632–1704), an early Enlightenment philosopher, in the first two books of his Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690). All knowledge, he held, comes from sensation or from reflection, by which he meant the introspective awareness of the workings of mans own mind. Locke confused the two issues of the nature of concepts and the justification of beliefs. His Book I, though titled â€Å"Innate Ideas,† is largely devoted to refuting innate knowledge. And even so, he later admitted that much substantial knowledge—in particular, that of mathematics and morals—is a priori. He argued that infants know nothing; that if men are said to know innately what they are capable of coming to know, then all knowledge is, trivially, innate; and that no beliefs whatever are universally accepted. Locke was more consistent about the empirical character of all mans concepts and displayed in detail the ways in which simple ideas can be combined to form complex ideas of what has not in fact been experienced. One group of dubiously empirical concepts—those of unity, existence, and number—he took to be derived both from sensation and from reflection. But he allowed one a priori concept—that of substance—which the mind adds, seemingly from its own resources, to its conception of any regularly associated group of perceptible qualities. Bishop George Berkeley (1685–1753), a theistic Idealist and opponent of Materialism, applied Lockes Empiricism about concepts to refute Lockes account of mans knowledge of the external world. He drew and embraced the inevitable conclusion that material things are simply collections of perceived ideas, a position that ultimately leads to phenomenalism; i. e. , to the view that reality is nothing but sensations. He accounted for the continuity and orderliness of the world by supposing that its reality is upheld in the perceptions of an unsleeping God. The theory of spiritual substance involved in Berkeleys position seems to be vulnerable, however, to most of the same objections as those that he posed against Locke. The Scottish Skeptical philosopher David Hume (1711–76) fully elaborated Lockes Empiricism and used it reductively to argue that there can be no more to mans concepts of body, mind, and causal connection than what occurs in the experiences that he has of them. For Hume all necessary truth is formal or conceptual, determined by the relations of identity and exclusion that hold between ideas. Voltaire imported Lockes philosophy into France; and its Empiricism, in a very stark form, is the basis of sensationalism, in which all of the constituents of human mental life are analyzed in terms of sensations alone. A genuinely original and clarifying attempt to resolve the controversy between Empiricists and their opponents was made in the critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), drawing upon Leibniz and Hume. With the dictum that, although all knowledge begins with experience it does not all arise from experience, he established a clear distinction between the innate and the a priori. He held that there are a priori concepts, or categories—substance and cause being the most important—and also substantial or synthetic a priori truths. Although not derived from experience, the latter apply to experience. A priori concepts and propositions do not relate to a reality that transcends experience; they reflect, instead, the minds way of organizing the amorphous mass of sense impressions that flow in upon it. Lockean Empiricism prevailed in 19th-century England until the turn to Hegel occurred in the last quarter of the century. To be sure, the Scottish philosophers who followed Hume but avoided his Skeptical conclusions insisted that man does have substantial a priori knowledge. But the philosophy of John Stuart Mill (1806–73), logician, economist, and Utilitarian moralist, is thoroughly Empiricist. He held that all knowledge worth having, including mathematics, is empirical. The apparent necessity of mathematics, according to Mill, is the result of the unique massiveness of its empirical confirmation. All real knowledge for Mill is inductive and empirical; and deduction is sterile. On similar lines, the philosopher of evolution Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) offered another explanation of the apparent necessity of some of mans beliefs: they are the well-attested empirical beliefs of his ancestors from whom he has inherited them, an evolutionary revival of the doctrine of innateness. Two important mathematicians and pioneers in the philosophy of modern physics, W. K. Clifford (1845–79) and Karl Pearson (1857–1936), defended radically Empiricist philosophies of science, anticipating the Logical Empiricism of the 20th century. In contemporary philosophy The most influential Empiricist of the 20th century was the great British philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), who at first was Lockean in his theory of knowledge—admitting both synthetic a priori knowledge and concepts of unobservable entities. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), the influential pioneer of the school of Linguistic Analysis, convinced Russell that the truths of logic and mathematics are analytic; and Russell then came to believe, with Hume, that the task of philosophy is to analyze all concepts in terms of what can be directly present to the senses. In this spirit, he tried to show that even the concepts of formal logic are ultimately empirical though the experience that supplies them may be introspective instead of sensory. Doctrines developed through the collaboration of Russell and Wittgenstein yielded the Logical Positivism of the German philosopher Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970) and of the Vienna Circle, a discussion group in which that philosophy was worked out. The Empiricism of Logical Positivism is especially evident in its restatement of the fundamental thesis of Humes philosophy in a form known as â€Å"the verification principle,† which recognizes as meaningful and synthetic only those sentences that are in principle verifiable by reference to sense experience. BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF PAUL TILLICK Paul Johannes Tillich was born at Starzeddel in the province of Brandenburg, Germany, on Aug. 20, 1886. He spent his early years at Schonfliess, where his father was a Lutheran clergyman. He studied at the University of Berlin, received his doctorate from the University of Breslau in 1911, and earned his degree in theology at the University of Halle in 1912, the year he became a clergyman in the Lutheran church. During World War I Tillich served as a military chaplain. From 1919 until 1933 he taught at the universities of Berlin, Marburg, Dresden, Leipzig, and Frankfurt. His opposition to the Nazis cost him his job in 1933, and he went to the United States to become professor of philosophical theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He remained there until 1955, when he became a professor at Harvard University. From 1962 until his death on Oct. 22, 1965, he taught at the University of Chicagos divinity school. The brilliance and complexity of Tillichs thought were expressed in his lectures, sermons, and books. The most difficult of his works is ‘Systematic Theology, on which he began working in 1925. It was published in three volumes from 1951 to 1963. His books of sermons, beginning with ‘The Shaking of the Foundations (1948), present his thoughts more clearly for a wider audience. Other works include ‘The Protestant Era (1948), ‘The Courage to Be (1952), ‘Dynamics of Faith (1957), and ‘The Eternal Now (1963). Like Spinoza, he was a â€Å"God-intoxicated man† who wanted to help his fellow human beings recapture a relevant and dynamic religious faith. EMPIRICAL ARGUMENT 1. The Existentialism of God Empiricists believe that experience is of primary importance in giving us knowledge of the world. Whatever we learn, according to them, we learn through perception. Knowledge without experience, with the possible exception of trivial semantic and logical truths, is impossible. A more moderate form of Empiricism is that of the substantive Empiricists, who are unconvinced by attempts that have been made to interpret formal concepts empirically and who therefore concede that formal concepts are a priori but deny that categorial concepts, such as â€Å"substance,† â€Å"cause,† and â€Å"God,† are a priori. In this view, formal concepts would be no longer semantical, pertaining to the relation of words to things; they would be, instead, merely descriptive or purely syntactical, pertaining to the relations between ideas. On this basis â€Å"God,† would not be an entity alongside other entities but a device for arranging a mans factual beliefs about the world; the concept â€Å"God† would thus play a structural and not an informative role. The Response of Tillich: Tillich was a central figure in the intellectual life of his time both in Germany and the United States. It is generally held that the 20th century has been marked by a widespread breakdown of traditional Christian convictions about God, morality, and the meaning of human existence in general. In assessing Tillich’s role in relation to this development, some critics have regarded him as the last major spokesman for a vanishing Christian culture, a systematic thinker who sought to demonstrate the reasonableness of the Christian faith to modern skeptics. Others have viewed him as a forerunner of the contemporary cultural revolution, whose discussions of the meaning of God and faith served themselves to undermine traditional beliefs. Tillich himself believed he was a â€Å"boundary man,† standing between the old and the new, between a heritage imbued with a sense of the sacred and the secular orientation of the new age. He asserted that his vocation was to mediate between the concerns voiced by faith and the imperatives of a questioning reason, thus helping to heal the ruptures threatening to destroy Western civilization. He believed that from the beginning life had prepared him for such a role, and his long career as a theologian, educator, and writer was devoted to this task with single-minded energy. Theological systems, developed by Paul Tillich, were based on the concept of symbol. In it Tillich, a Rationalist asserts that â€Å"there are concepts not derived from or correlated with experienceable features of the world, such as â€Å"cause,† â€Å"identity,† or â€Å"perfect circle,† and that these concepts are a priori (Latin: â€Å"from the former†) in the traditional sense of being part of the minds innate or natural equipment—as opposed to being a posteriori (Latin: â€Å"from the latter†), or grounded in the experience of facts. On the other hand, a Rationalist theory of knowledge holds that there are beliefs that are a priori (i. e. , that depend for their justification upon thought alone), such as the belief that everything must have a sufficient reason or that a process cannot exist by itself but must occur within some substance. Such beliefs can arise either from intellectual intuition, the direct apprehension of self-evident truth, or from purely deductive reasoning. His Protestant Principle: Apparently developed from the insight he had gained at Halle as a norm in analyses of religion and culture, the meaning of history, and contemporary social problems. Tillich’s love of freedom, however, did not make him forget his boyhood commitment to a rich and satisfying religious tradition; and how to enjoy the freedom to explore life without sacrificing the essentials of a meaningful tradition became his early and lifelong preoccupation. It appears as a major theme in his theological work: the relation of heteronomy to autonomy and their possible synthesis in theonomy. Heteronomy (alien rule) is the cultural and spiritual condition when traditional norms and values become rigid, external demands threatening to destroy individual freedom. Autonomy (self-rule) is the inevitable and justified revolt against such oppression, which nevertheless entails the temptation to reject all norms and values. Theonomy (divine rule) envisions a situation in which norms and values express the convictions and commitments of free individuals in a free society. These three conditions Tillich saw as the basic dynamisms of both personal and social life. In his search for solution concerning the meaning of human existence, Tillich, using his most widely read books, The Courage to Be and Dynamics of Faith, argued that the deepest concern of humans drives them into confrontation with a reality that transcends their own finite existence. Tillich’s discussion of the human situation in these books shows a profound grasp of the problems brought to light by modern psychoanalysis and existentialist philosophy. The publication of his Systematic Theology made available the results of a lifetime of thought. The most novel feature of this work is its â€Å"method of correlation,† which makes theology a dialogue relating questions asked by man’s probing reason to answers given in revelatory experience and received in faith—theonomy’s answers to autonomy’s questions. The dialogue of Systematic Theology is in five parts, each an intrinsic element in the system as a whole: questions about the powers and limits of man’s reason prepare him for answers given in revelation; questions about the nature of being lead to answers revealing God as the ground of being; questions about the meaning of existence are answered by the New Being made manifest in Jesus Christ; questions about the ambiguities of human experience point to answers revealing the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life process; and questions about human destiny and the meaning of history find their answers in the vision of the Kingdom of God. The Being of God According to Leonard F. Wheat, the statements of Paul Tillich such as: God does not exist. He is being-itself beyond essence and existence. Therefore to argue that God exists is to deny him, God is the symbol for God and The God of theism is dead seem to represent him as an â€Å"atheistic theologian† as some critics put it, but a closer look at Tillichs position makes him appear less controversial. He argued that Tillich’s oft-repeated assertion that God is not a being, but being-itself. is the only possible definition of God because all other options turn God into a Supreme Being that is something less than God. If God is not being-itself, he is, in fact, in as much bondage as the old Greek gods were in bondage to fate a King indeed but only a puppet-king. Thus, his motivation for defining God as being-itself is to protect the transcendence of God from idolatrous misconceptions, not to cover his atheism with silly word tricks. Much the same goes for his talk of symbols. Tillichs remark that God is the symbol for God lead many to conclude that he regarded God as merely symbolic (i.e. , not real), says Wheat. However, Tillich was simply conveying the fact that human language can never fully grasp the ineffable glory of God, since our superlatives become diminutives when applied to God. However, Tillich argued that language is capable of pointing to the reality God in a symbolic fashion, although it is never identical with that reality. Thus, symbols are truly glorious things, because they allow us to describe the indescribable, opening up levels of reality that are closed to literal language. With this in mind, his talk of the God above the God of theism makes more sense. The God of theism is the symbolically-conceived God that is forever transcended by the True God. Far from being a nonsensical phrase designed to trick people into believing, this is Tillichs way of affirming both the validity of theological speech and the complete otherness of God. Thus, while the form of Tillichs doctrine of God is certainly unconventional, I think its substance lies comfortably within the Christian tradition. REFERENCES Andrew M. Colman: Oxford Dictionary of Psychology, Oxford University Press, New York, 2003. Bacon, Francis, Viscount Saint Baron of Verulam: The Nature of Things. Anthony M. Quinton, University of Oxford, 1950 David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, (1739) in Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encoyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclop? dia Britannica, 2010. Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason, in Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclop? dia Britannica, 2010. John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, vol. 2 Oxford University, England 1690 John Scott Gordon Marsall: Oxford Dictionary of Sociology, Oxford University Press, New York, 2005. John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, (1843) in Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclop? dia Britannica, 2010. Radical Empiricism: Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclop? dia Britannica, 2010. W. H. Walsh, Reason and Experience (1947); and H. H. Price, Thinking and Experience, 2nd ed. (1969) in Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclop? dia Britannica, 2010. Internet Sources Empiricism: retrieved from http://www. theoryofknowledge. info/sources-of-knowledge/ empiricism/ http://www2. warwick. ac. uk/fac/soc/philosophy/people/faculty/longworth/keyideasrationalismempiricism. pdf Catholic Encyclopedia: Empiricism. Retrieved from http://www. newadvent. org/advert/99001 f. htm Leonard F. Whea: (March 09, 2006) Was Paul Tillich an Atheist? retrieved from http://woauthority. blogspot. com/2006/03/was-paul-tillich-atheist. html on 24/10/2012.

What Is Decision Support System?

What Is Decision Support System? DSS can be defined as use of computer application that can help managers, staff members, or people who interact within the organization to make decisions and identify problems by using available data and communication technology. Origin Of DSS In 1960 J. C. R. Licklider wrote a paper on his observation of how the interaction between man and computer can improve the quality and competency in recognising and problem solving. His paper proved to be like a guide to many future researches on DSS. In 1962 with use of hypertext online system helped in storage and retrieval of documents and creation of digital libraries. SAGE (Semi Automatic Ground Environment) built by Forrester is probably the first data driven computerised DSS. In 1964 Scott Morton built up an interactive model driven management decision system which could help managers make important management decisions. In 1970 John D.C. Little noted that the requirement for designing models and system to make a management decision was completeness to data, simplicity, ease of control and robustness, which till date are relevant in improving and evaluating modern DSSs. By 1975 he built up a DSS called Brandaid which could support promotion, advertising, pricing and product r elated decisions. In 1974 the focus was on giving managers with information which was from accounting and transaction processing system with use if MIS(Management Information Systems) but MIS was found to not helping out managers with making key decisions. Hence in 1979 Scott Morton and Gorry argued that MIS just primarily focused on structured decisions and hence the system which also supports unstructured and semi-structured decision should be termed as Decision support systems. In s nutshell developments:- 1960Æ’Â   Building model-driven DSS 1970 Æ’Â   Theory developments Mid 80s Æ’Â  Implementation of financial planning systems, spreadsheet DSS and Group DSS. Early 90s Æ’Â   Evolving of Data warehouses, Executive Information Systems, OLAP and Business Intelligence. Mid 90s Æ’Â  Knowledge-driven DSS and the implementation of Web-based DSS Types Of DSS: Model Driven DSS `Quantitative models provide the most basic level of functionality. Model driven DSSs use small data and parameters provided by the DSSs users usually managers to help them in analysing a problem and generate statistical, financial report and simulation model to help the decision makers. Model driven DSSs question can help organisational processes to answer the WHAT IF question and thus help them forecast the effects of changes in business process. Ferguson and Jones production scheduling application was also a model-driven DSS but Scott-Mortons in 1971, production planning management decision system was the first widely discussed model-driven DSS. Data Driven DSS Data driven DSS are systems which makes use of companys mostly internal data and sometimes external and real time data to help organisations make decisions. Usually the data comes in form of databases or data warehouse which allows queries and data retrieval tools and analysis to make decisions. Richard Klaas and Charles Weiss at American Airlines developed one of the first data-driven DSS. An example of data driven DSS can be use of digital maps or the GIS( Geographic Information System). Communication Driven DSS Communication Driven DSS helps in decision making to internal group of people by sharing of information and enabling communication between them. Most basic example can be the threaded email between a group and complex example can be video conferencing. In communication driven DSS communication technologies is most important component of its working architecture. In recent years internet provided vast possibilities to communication driven DSS. Groupware bulletin video and audio conferencing are few of the technologies used for communication Driven DSS. Document Driven DSS Document driven DSS uses the organisations documents such as policies, procedures, processes, specifications, historical, stored documents and processing technologies to give documental analysis and enhance decision making. This type is system is usually targeted at larger base of users. Internet greatly increases the availability of all required documents and hence helps in development of document driven DSS. Knowledge Driven DSS Knowledge Driven DSS are used usually by managers to help them with management advice or to choose products or services. These DSSs can be just a standalone computers with applications which are expert in particular domain along with its understanding so as to solve the problems of that particular domain. Artificial intelligence is vastly used by such application to help Knowledge driven DSSs. Now a days Knowledge Driven DSS coupled with intelligence systems are used at medical diagnostic centres, fraud detection and scheduling manufacturing operations. Web-based DSS Computerized DSSs capabilities were extended with emergence of internet and world-wide web. With passing time HTML developed and TAGS and tables further helped in enhancing Web-based DSS. With all these developments web-based DSS became main platform for all types of DSS to develop. Corporate have started using intranet for knowledge management and support information exchange between various departments. The server that is having the DSS application is connected to the computer by a network through the TCP/IP protocol. Recently application service providers introduced enterprise knowledge portals that combined information portals, knowledge management, business intelligence and communications-driven DSS in an integrated Web environment. Benefits of DSS Improves efficiency Helps in faster problem solving Helps in interpersonal communication Promotes learning Increases organizational control Provides new evidence in support of a decision Creates a competitive advantage over competition Encourages exploration and discovery on the part of the decision maker Reveals new approaches to thinking about the problem space Helps automate the managerial processes. Cost reduction and enhance profit. Disadvantages of DSS Over dependency for Decision making Assuming it to be correct. Unanticipated effects Deflect personal responsibilities Information overload. Conclusion DSS is still and evolving technology. The types of DSS mentioned are just few of the many DSS which are around and help organization in decision making. Many of the types of DSS are subsets of previously researched and created DSS with added functionality and/or requirements. A very brief span of historical data has been used to portray DSS evolution and growth in early years. All the scientists, researchers and professors then set up a base for future DSS to develop and build upon to enhance and simplify decision making. By understanding how DSS evolved over the period of time and how its still being developed helps us in understanding how and where the future DSSs are heading and what to expect next in this fast emerging technology. Of the types discussed Web based is the most rapidly growing and improving DSS. Recent developments in internet, computers and communication devices are helping Web-based DSS application to divulge into various other fields. DSS and DSS application continues to take advantage of any and all emerging technologies in artificial intelligence, databases, data warehouses, human interaction with computers which can help improve it more and simplify decision making. Sources/References:: http://www.bestpricecomputers.co.uk/glossary/decision-support-systems.htm http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/decision-support-system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_support_system http://dssresources.com/history/dsshistory.html Vitamin E: Functions and Metabolism Vitamin E: Functions and Metabolism Vitamin E is one of 4 fat-soluble vitamins. The vitamin is formed by plants, and has eight unlike isoforms separated into two classes of four vitamins each. The compounds include of a 6-chromanol ring and an isoprenoid side chain.The group bond to the R1, R2 and R3 position on the 6-chromanol ring verify whether the vitamin is acknowledged as alpha, beta, gamma, or delta.(www.exrx.nt, 2011) A large body of the study now focuses on the alpha tocopherol form of vitamin E, which is the most biologically active (Tiidus, P. M., and M. E. Houston, 1995, Traber, M.G., 1999). Recently gamma tocopherol has been a subject of importance by countless researchers. Vitamins are a vital source of life. Vitamins are any organic that is essential for many living things to obtain a normal healthy living. (Dorling Kindersley, 1998) Dietary Function Vitamin E is an essential part of cellular membranes whose main role is to protect the cell alongside to oxidation, Within cells and organelles vitamin E is the first line of defence against lipid per oxidation. The vitamin also acts as a very important function in providing elasticity to red blood cells as they travel through the arterial system. Artificial vitamin E nominates dl-alpha-tocopherol, is less expensive from the naturally occurring form, d-alpha tocopherol. The expected/natural form of the vitamin is synthesised only by vegetation and is found mostly in plant oils. Vitamin E is also present in large numbers in the chloroplast and as a result the leaf of most plants.The fat-soluble property of vitamin E allows it to be stored within the fatty tissues of humans and animals. Therefore a diet that includes meat supplies additional vitamin E. However, the amount of vitamin E obtained in a high protein meat complete diet is less than the quantity supplied by a plant source. Metabolism Absorption and Bioavaliability Absorption of vitamin E is highly reliant on the same process that develop during fatty acid digestion and metabolism. A lack of any component of these transporters will reduce carrier structure and in turn vitamin E absorption. vitriol acids are a measured essential for vitamin E absorption and micelle formation. Once formed, the micelle is then able to cross the undiluted water layer and discharge its contents into the enterocyte. A contemplation of the flow pressure of vitamin E through the enterocyte has been elusive to researchers (Traber, M.G., 1999). The ingested Vitamin E is quickly vacant from the bloodstream, into tissues as blood concentrations of vitamin E in humans and animals have minute relation to the quantity within the body. Vitamin E is fat soluble; food intake could potentially persuade its bioavailability, it is claimed that the alpha-tocopherol has the highest bioavailability. The lower bioavailability of Vitamin E is form a typical vitamin E supplement, and the changeability which is experimented when consumed, this suggest that vitamin e is poorly absorbed through the body with low-fat meals. Vitamin E can be improved by food reinforcement makes Vitamin E more bio-available .Bioavailability of vitamin E, is influenced by the increase of risk in coronary heart disease. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that is vital for our bodies, to preserve optimum health and in people diets. Vitamin E is extensive and in all kinds of foods. Most vitamin E comes from vegetable oil and products made from them like margarine and salad dressings. It is important for youth,in order to maintain their health. It aids in protecting red blood cells, defends the body against oxidative damage and helps avoid damage of both vitamins A C. Having vitamin E as part of a well balanced diet can reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, also slows down the effect of Alzheimers disease when consumed in high dosage Once in the blood 15 to 45% of the total vitamin E intake can be absorbed by the cells. Transport Upon reaching the bicollateral exterior of the enterocyte vitamin E is packed into chylomicrons and then elated throughout the body via the movement. Within five minutes of arrangement chylomicrons are broken down by lipoprotein lipase and the contents are isolated towards a range of paths. The vitamin E in the chylomicron equilibrates both with (HDLS) and (LDLS) ( Groff, J.L., Gropper S.S., and Hunt S.M 1995). HDLS all circulate lipoproteins which eventually receive vitamin E, as HDL fervently relocates the compound to the lipoproteins at a rate equivalent to 10% of the plasma vitamin E per hour (Traber, M.G., 1999). The vitamin E remaining in the chylomicron becomes a chylomicron remnant and travels back to the liver for re-uptake in a process that has garnered much research, but so far is poorly understood. Once in the liver the vitamin E is packaged into Very Low Density Lipoproteins (VLDL) and excreted back into the circulation. Being the most biologically active of the eight vi tamers, (Groff, J.L., Gropper S.S., and Hunt S.M 1995, Kanter, M.M. 1998, National Academy of Sciences. 2000, Traber, M.G., 1999, www.exrx.nt), alpha tocopherol is sequestered by the liver and constitutes over 80% of the total vitamin E packaged into the VLDL and secreted by the liver (Traber, M.G., 1999, www.exrx.nt). The predominant transfer of the alpha vitamer is performed by alpha tocopherol transfer protein (ATTP). As the VLDL are broken down by lipoprotein lipase, Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) are formed and from these lipoproteins the vitamin E is transferred to HDL and eventually incorporated into either circulating lipoproteins or peripheral tissue. Any of the previously mentioned lipoproteins have the ability to transfer vitamin E to the tissue as needed (Groff, J.L., Gropper S.S., and Hunt S.M 1995, Traber, M.G., 1999, www.exrx.nt). A final mechanism for vitamin E is uptake by the peripheral tissue from the chylomicron via lipoprotein lipase activity. Unlike re-uptake o f vitamin E by the chylomicron remnant, uptake of the vitamer by peripheral tissue is better understood. After vitamin E has been transferred to the LDL from the chylomicron two receptors (LDL dependent receptor and LDL independent receptor) within the tissue play a key role in the uptake of vitamin E into the cell (Traber, M.G., 1999, www.exrx.nt). Storage Vitamin E is a lipid soluble vitamin and therefore over 90% of total body vitamin E is found in the adipose tissue (National Academy of Sciences, 2000, Traber, M.G., 1999, www.exrx.nt). Over 90% of these pools are found as a part of an adipocyte fat droplet whereas the remaining amount is found mainly in adipocyte cellular membrane. The storage ratios of vitamin E are also very difficult to alter. It takes over two years to alter the ratio of alpha to gamma isoforms. Previous studies have shown that the ratio is altered as the alpha vitamin replaces the gamma vitamin, which is reduced by 70% (Tiidus, P. M., and M. E. Houston, 1995, www.exrx.nt). Concentrations of vitamin E cover a wide range in body tissues. In the plasma the concentration of vitamin E is approximately 27 umol/l. Within skeletal muscle protein the vitamin E concentration varies considerably depending upon the type of muscle (National Academy of Sciences, 2000). Although a large majority of vitamin E is found in adipo se tissue (230 nmol/g wet weight) (National Academy of Sciences, 2000) there isnt an organ that function to store and discharge vitamin E. The actual means regarding vitamin E release from the tissue is unknown at this time. While it seems likely that vitamin E is released during lipolysis associated with exercise this may not be true. Research has shown that even during times of weight reduction vitamin E is not released from the adipose cells (Traber, M.G., 1999). Therefore, the factors that regulate bioavliability of vitamin E from adipose tissue are not known. Requirements As it is unknown how much vitamin E should be consumed by adults, it is aid that according to the (RDA) that men whould have a Vitamin E intake of 15 mgs and 10 mgs for females.(S.Frances,2006) Only natural alpha-tocopherol can typically provide supplements of Vitamin E, and only existing one stereo-isometric form. The need for vitamin E increases as people diet consist of more polyunsaturated fats and oils as the oils in Vitamin E needs a source of antioxidants to help absorption/and protection. Vitamin E is largely contained in raw oils. In 1968 the RDA for vitamin E was established at 300 IU (300 mg) for a 65 kg adult male ( National Academy of Sciences. 2001).The detailed RDA is listed in table 1 and table 2. This daily level is difficult to reach unless a diet high in polyunsaturated fatty acids was consumed ( Tiidus, P. M., and M. E. Houston1995)From 1 mg of vitamin E approximately .3 ( Traber, M.G., 1999) to .5 is in the alpha vitamin form and therefore readily absorbed. The o ther vitamers are not stored as efficiently and usually excreted ( Tiidus, P. M., and M. E. Houston1995, Traber, M.G., 1999). Therefore a new RDA was set based on the alpha-tocopherol form of the vitamin. In 1989 the RDA for Vitamin E was set at 10 mg alpha tocopherol for men and 8 mg of alpha-tocopherol for women (Traber, M.G., 1999, www.exrx.nt). In the year 2000 all RDA values were in the process of being replaced by Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). The DRI has been established at 15 IU of alpha-tocopherol. The revised DRI levels are the same for both men and women ( Packer, L.1997, www.exrx.nt). Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) In 1968, the recommended dietary allowance for vitamin E was established at 300 IU (300 mg) for a 65 kg adult male ( National Academy of Sciences. 2001. The other vitamins are not stored as efficiently and usually excreted (Tiidus, P. M., and M. E. Houston1995, Traber, M.G., 1999). In accordance to information resourced from Traber, M.G. in 1999 , there was a new recommended dietary allowance which was set based on the alpha-tocopherol form of the vitamin. In 1989 the RDA for Vitamin E was set at 10 mg alpha tocopherol for men and 8 mg of alpha-tocopherol for women. Deficiency Anaemia, muscle necrosis, and foetal death have been observed in over fifteen different vitamin-E-deficient animal species.(www.exrx.nt) .Humans who have fat mal-absorption suffer from the same symptoms shown in rats, but to a lesser degree. These manifestations are exhibited early in childhood. Some of the symptoms include decreased sensory perception, muscle weakness, scoliosis, and muscle structural abnormalities. These symptoms can usually be reversed using vitamin E supplementation ( Tiidus, P. M., and M. E. Houston1995, www.exrx.nt)) Vitamin E deficient diets fed to adult humans have resulted in the formation of very few deficiency symptoms. (Bunnell R.H., E. De Ritter, S.H. Rubin 1975, www.exrx.nt) has shown that prisoners performing strenuous physical labour while fed a vitamin-E deficient diet for 13 months exhibited no deficiency symptoms. A diet full of vitamin E may lower the risk of cancer and the likely hood of death, in part through oxidation and inflammation. Lacking vitamin E concentrations in the blood; people die more often and than people with a high blood concentration (s.Frances, 2006).Through research and development of vitamin E has an effect on helping slowing down the loss of function that occurs in Alzheimers disease when taken in excessive dosages. Toxicity Vitamin E toxicity has not often been acknowledged in humans. Doses up to 1600 I.U. have been usually administered in study with no clear unpleasant side effects. Toxicity may be complex since there is a wide variant in daily blood vitamin E levels. Increasing vitamin E levels in muscle tissue is especially difficult to attain and therefore toxic levels are difficult to achieve. Meydani et al. ( Karlsson J.,1997, www.exrx.nt) given 800 I.U. of vitamin E to subjects for a period of 48 days and only saw a 37% increase in plasma alpha tocopherol levels (www.exrx.nt). The tocopherol binding protein is most commonly said to manage the quantity of vitamin E that can be physiologically stored. High levels of vitamin E are likely excreted by the body. Conclusion In conclusion vitamin E may help reduce oxidative stress and lipid per oxidation of cellular membranes. The current Dietary Recommended Intake for vitamin E meets the needs of most individuals can be achieved through a healthy diet, and eating plan. In April 2000 The National Academy of Sciences according to Packer, L. In 1997 established an intake maximum of 1100 I.U for synthetic and 1500 I.U. for natural vitamin E. These maximum levels are approximately one hundred times the Dietary Recommended Intake. Vitamin E supplementation by both active and non active individuals is widely employed. The choice to supplement or not supplement a diet with vitamin E is an option. REFERENCE LIST Bunnell R.H., E. De Ritter, S.H. Rubin. Effect of feeidng polyunsaturated fatty acids with a low vitamin E diet on blood levels of tocopherol in men peroforming hard physical labour. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 28:706-711, 1975. Clarkson P. M. Antioxidants and physical performance. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr 35: 131-141, 1995. Class notes on vitamins and minerals. Dr. Mariam Farhad, 2011 Groff, J.L., Gropper S.S., and Hunt S.M. The Fat Soluble Vitamins. In: Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. Minneapolis: West Publishing Company, 1995, p. 284-324. Hartman, A., A.M. Neiss, M. Grunert-Fuchs, B. Poch, and G. Speit. Vitamin E prevents exercise-induced DNA damage. Mutat. Res. 346: 195-202, 1995. http://consumerlab.com/RDAS viewed 15.05.2011 http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminE.asp viewed 13.05.2011 http://www.exrx.nt/nutrition/antixidants/vitaminE.html viewed 15.05.2011 Karlsson J. Exercise, muscle metabolism and the antioxidant defense. World Rev. Nutr. Diet. 82:81-100, 1997. Packer L. Protective role of vitamin E in biological systems. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 53:1050S-1055S, 1991. Rokitski, L., E. Logemann, A.N. Sagredos, M. Murphy, W. Wetzel-Roth, and J. Keul. Lipid peroxidation and antioxidative vitamins under extreme stress. Acta. Physiol. Scand. 151: 149-158, 1994 Traber, M.G., 1999. Vitamin E. In: Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. Ninth Edition. Edited by Maurice Shils, James Olson, Moshe Shike, and A. Catharine Ross. Baltimore: Williams Wilkins, 1999 p. 347-362. Watt, T., T.T. Romet, I. McFalane, D. McGuey, C. Allen, and R. C. Goode. Vitamin E and oxygen consumption. Lancet. 2: 354-358, 1974. T., T.T. Romet, I. McFalane, D. McGuey, C. Allen, and R. C. Goode. Vitamin E and oxygen consumption. Lancet. 2: 354-358, 1974.