Technology in an ERP Implementation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Technology in an ERP Implementation - Essay Example The company also shows interest in its overall progress as the management wants to implement ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system for increasing the efficacy of its processing. Previously, the company made use of MRPII (Materials Resource Planning) system, however, in 2000, the management acquired ERP system (Edwards and Humphries 2005, 144). The new system proved to be a failure because of a number of problems identified by the investigative team. Organizational and technical changes are required to be implemented so that the newly developed system is according to the needs of the users. Training must also be given. This paper evaluates the case study in terms of change management and implementation of ERP successfully. PowerIT’s Acquisition Strategy of ERP The company consisted of an IT department but that department lacked the expertise required for the development of a software of that scale for which, the company required a software (Edwards and Humphries 2005, 147). ... This solution opts because software development expertise is high, application domain expertise is high, however, local company knowledge is low (Edwards and Humphries 2005, 147). The third-party vendor is the most suitable choice for the company as the company does not have to rely on its own IT staff that is good at local company knowledge but lack the other two expertise. Company’s local knowledge can be attained but the expertise of software development and application domain must be there in order to get the software developed according to the requirements of the company. The case writers assert that the "areas of relative strength" of this option rank as "High", "High", and "Low" because the third party vendor is expert for the first two fields, so high is ranked and lack local knowledge to a certain extent, so low is ranked. Major Problems before and after Implementation PowerIT faced many problems before and after the implementation of ERP system. During the selection and implementation phases of the project of ERP, the management of PowerIT showed concern towards inefficient working of the old system that was MRPII. The management also identified a problem with the MRPII system, which was that it was an antique system and because of its usage, they were left behind as compared to their competitors (Edwards and Humphries 2005, 148). Therefore, they showed unwillingness for the old system’s further improvement. When the management accepted the system, they evaluated the system’s inadequacies to fulfill all the requirements of the business. In addition, the newly developed system and its requirements asked for an additional budget that was not previously set by the company (Edwards and Humphries 2005, 149).  

Scientific Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scientific - Essay Example 180). The latter permits replication of plasmid in host cells while drug-resistance gene is essential in allows growth of host cells by destruction of antibiotics especially carbenicillin. The use of restriction enzymes, in obtaining cloning sites through cleaving of the vector acts as the initial step in insertion of foreign DNA (Seviour and Nielsen, 2010, p. 365). Sticky ends especially single-stranded ends can results from cleavage of palindromic sequence GAATTC by EcoRI (Russell et al., 2013, p. 393). The resultant single-stranded ends have hybridization ability with similar EcoRI pieces of DNA. Using the principle, scientists take sequences of foreign DNA for cloning and mix them with cleaved vectors after digestion with EcoRI (Brown, 2013). After hybridization of the plasmid and foreign DNA through the sticky ends, the next step involves sealing with phosphodiester linkages to form recombinant plasmid. DNA ligase enzyme remains imperative in the sealing process. Consequently, the aforementioned replication origin, resistance gene, and DNA fragment remains present on the newly created recombinant plasmids that collectively forms circular library. The inherent recombinant plasmids have each of them possessing unique foreign DNA fragment. Subsequent stage involves addition of E. Coli bacteria that acts as host cells to the recombinant plasmids. At this stage, the study has made the cells permeable to DNA through treatment with CaCL2. Some cells resist taking recombinant plasmids while others do through a process known as transformation. Thereafter, the researcher pours the E,Coli cells into an antibiotic carbenicillin plate nutrient agar. It is important to note that only cells that have resistance to carbenicillinin antibiotic would grow in the agar as opposed to the rest. Growth and multiplication of the aforementioned cells remains possible at 37

Proessionals Responsibility To The Society Essay Example for Free

Proessionals Responsibility To The Society Essay Professionals should not restrict their work to their work place only. Instead they should extend it to the community in which they operate. Professionals can be involved in the society in many ways which include education, economic empowerment and creation of international links. Professionals have a wider understanding of the contemporary affairs. This knowledge can be used to educate the society on its civil rights, how to respond to social challenges and enlightening them on the national and international affairs. The society expects the professionals to use their knowledge and understanding of these matters to help them to be better braced to face challenges in the society. Education can be done through seminars, awareness meeting and mobilizations in order to enable the people to live together harmoniously. The society needs awareness in matters of gender parity, respect for religious and racial differences within the community and other social matters as may be violated in the society. Another area of education is how to utilize the natural resources sustainably since ignorance of such a serious matter can cause drastic effects on people. Â  Professionals can also contribute to the economic empowerment of the society through many ways. They can either directly or indirectly take part in activities aimed at developing people economically in the society. They can do this by proving the necessary conducive environment that can enable people in the society to realize their full potential. In empowering people, professionals have the obligation to enlighten the society on the factors of production available to them and how to look for market for their goods. They can also contribute directly by building schools, factories and medical facilities where people in the community can access them easily. Professionals are in a better position, due to their experience and knowledge, to identify talents in the society. Such talents can be developed and promoted in order to enable be people to live to their potentials. Organization of sporting activities and meet people campaigns are some of the activities which can be used to achieve this. At the same time professionals can use their knowledge to provide carrier counseling for students within the community in which they work. This can help them in choosing their carriers hence empowering them economically in future. Â  Professionals can help to link the society with the outside world. Since they have a better understanding of the culture, believes and economic activities of other people, they can enlighten the society not only on how to interact but also areas of interaction that can realize maximum returns out of such interactions. They can be involved in exchange programs in fields of education, business and culture to mention but a few. This can promote international understanding and cooperation among different countries. Â  Journalists are supposed to provide information to the society. However, this can be difficult in societies where the living standards are low. It becomes difficult for people to access the information due to poverty levels. At the same time some in some countries there is lack of freedom to journalists. They are limited on what they can report. While fighting for their rights, they should fight for the rights of the society as well. Â  Teachers on the other hand are supposed to reduce illiteracy level in the society but this is made difficult by the fact that education is expensive in some countries. Cultural reasons also water their efforts to lighten the society through education. Â  Lawyers can be of benefit to the society by promoting civil rights in the society but their work is hindered mostly by cultural and reasons. Some practices which violate human rights are in most cases valued highly by people in the society. Failure to report of injustices committed in the society also contributes to the difficulties the lawyers face in carrying out their responsibility to the society. Â  Reference: 1). www.internews.org/global/gov/default.shtm 2). www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/resources/2005/07/

Co Evolution Of Humans And Disease Organisms

Co Evolution Of Humans And Disease Organisms Co-evolution is a situation where two or more species influence each others evolution reciprocally by applying selective pressures on each other. Genetically speaking, co-evolution is the change in genetic composition of one species in response to the genetic change in another. This can lead to evolutionary arms races, a classic example being the interaction between plants and insects. The development of a gene for chemical defences that is harmful to the insect by the plant will put a pressure on the population growth of the insect, and the insect will try to overcome this by evolving something to detoxify them, the plant will in turn evolve a stronger defence and so on, without either side winning (Ridley 2004). There are different types of interactions between organisms (Maynard Smith 1998). Among some are: Competition, where 2 species compete for a limited amount of a common essential resource and one or the other will be eliminated. For example, lions and cheetahs both feed on similar prey, so they are negatively affected by each other because they will have to compete for food. Mutualism, where the presence of one species stimulates the growth of another, and both sides benefit from the relationship, such as animals like cow and bacteria within their intestines. Cows benefit from cellulase produced by bacteria to help digestion while bacteria benefit from having nutrients supply from the cows. Parasitism, host-pathogen co-evolution, interaction between humans and disease organisms is an example of this, where a parasite benefit from its host at the cost of the host. In the mid-nineteenth century, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace determined the mechanism of evolution as natural selection. Species and population do not remain fixed, but they change over time. Individuals of a same species show differences in phenotype, such as difference in height, colour, or defences against enemies. These can be passed on through generations. In a community, members of the same species will need to struggle for limited resources and avoid predators for survival. Those with an advantage in phenotype will survive better and therefore be able to reproduce more successfully. One way to recognize natural selection in a population is by using the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium to measure the allele frequencies and genotype frequencies, on the assumption that it is an ideal population with large population size and random mating, lack of mutation and migration. There are three main types of selection: Directional selection, where the phenotype at one end of the distribution is selected for and the other end selected against. Stabilizing selection, where the intermediate phenotype is selected for while those at both extremes are selected against. Disruptive selection, where the phenotypes at both extremes are favoured simultaneously. In addition to natural selection, other factors that could alter allele frequencies are like mutation, migration or genetic drift that might eventually lead to speciation, which is the formation of new species (Klug, Spencer et al. 2007). Disease organisms are called pathogens, causing diseases by infecting or infesting another organism. They are often described as parasite, because they benefit from living in or on a host, at the cost of the host and can be anything from microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses to parasitic worms like tapeworms. To discuss the interaction between humans and disease organisms, we first have to look at how humans protect themselves against infection. The first line of defence of humans against pathogens is physical barriers. The intact skin of humans serves as an impenetrable barrier to pathogens and the acidity of sweat also hinders growth of bacteria. However, pathogens can still get inside the human body and this is where the immune system comes into play. There are two mechanisms of the immune system, namely the innate immunity and the adaptive immunity. Innate immunity is the inborn ability to defend ourselves without prior learning experience and this includes phagocytes such as monocytes and neutrophils where they can eat up the pathogens, and inflammatory cells such as eosinophils and basophils that trigger local inflammation at the infection site. On the other hand, adaptive immunity is the immune response that needs to be acquired through experience and it has exquisite specificity and immunological memory. The cells working under adaptive immunity are like cytotoxic cells that kill infected cells and B cells that produce antibody to destroy pathogens. On the timeline of evolution, humans, or Homo sapiens have only been around for less than 2 million years, while worms have been around for about 750 million years. The complexity of the innate immunity in humans today is due to evolution as time passes and more species of pathogens appeared, because only the fittest individuals survived the infection to reproduce and pass on their genes to the next generation. Innate immunity provide immediate defence against infection but it only recognises prominent differences between own cells and the pathogens, therefore responding to pathogens in a generic way. Thus, innate immunity works closely together with adaptive immunity which can give long term specific immune response due to memory cells. For example, immunity for malarial parasite will not give immunity for bacteria that causes tuberculosis (Davey, Halliday et al. 2001). Exposure to a certain pathogen in varying degrees also has affect on the genetic evolution of the immune system. One example is a cluster of genes that plays an important role in the recognition and presentation of non-self antigens to the cells of the immune system called the HLA (human leucocyte antigen), also known as major histocompatability complex (MHC) has been found to have associations with diseases like leprosy and tubercolosis (May and Anderson 1983). In a human population exposed to more of the diseases shows a higher diversity on the HLA genes. Disease organisms have different generation times. For example, the bacterium Escherichia Coli can reproduce in just twenty minutes under ideal circumstances, while the HIV (Human Immunodificiency Virus) can generate 10 billion new virus particles in a day. So in the course of the humans life, these pathogens can go through hundreds and thousands of generation, evolving to become better adapted and acquiring counter-defence to the humans immune system. Some important features of the co-evolution of humans and disease organism arise from this huge difference of reproductive rates. Pathogens usually possess certain adaptations to resist humans from trying to remove them and they are very much dependant on humans as their hosts for essential resources to survive, grow and reproduce. They must be able to find a new host before their current one dies or make their transition by means of vector species. The activity of the pathogens will to some extend reduce the fitness of humans or even kill them. There is a varying degree of harm that a pathogen can cause to humans, and this property is called virulence. For the same species of pathogen, some individuals might be totally unaffected by it while some might get infection that could be mild to serious or even killed by it. Virulence of one pathogen can be measured as the percentage of infections that leads to death. The bacterium Vibrio cholera was one the most virulent human pathogens, with a virulence of 15 percent until the appearance of HIV, which has a virulence of over 90 percent, meaning that 90 percent of infected people die (Davey, Halliday et al. 2001). There are different phases in which a disease organism can adapt to its host. The first phase being accidental infection, that is the first contact of the pathogen with a new species of host. Many human diseases are caused by pathogens that infect animals such as rabies, SARS and bird flu. Host changes are promoted by frequent contact between humans and animals such as keeping a pet. The second phase is the evolution of virulence after the pathogen has successfully invaded a new host. In this phase evolution of virulence happens rapidly because the pathogen is not be well adapted to the new host and will try to overcome the immune response by the host. The third phase occurs the pathogen has been persisting in the new host for some time and tries to reach an optimal virulence. Virulence that is too high either kills the host too quickly resulting in less time to reproduce successfully , reduce the chances of the host interacting with other hosts therefore reducing transmission or ind uces an immune response that react too strongly, while mildly virulent strains will be cleared by the immune system too quickly (Stearns and Koella 2008). An example of co-evolution between the immune system of humans and disease organism is shown in flu virus. When a large proportion of the population has developed immunity to a certain strain of flu virus, the spread of the virus will be prevented until it has evolved by mutation or re-assortment. This is called antigenic drift, where a variety of strains are created until one can infect people who are immune to the pre-existing strains. If a virus is produced that has entirely new antigens, everyone will be susceptible thus causing a major pandemic. Possibly one of the best-known cases for co-evolution of humans and disease organisms is the evolution of humans for the sickle cell trait to protect against severe malaria. Sickle cell disease is caused by a change in shape of haemoglobin, causing red blood cells to be distorted and encounter problems when passing through blood capillaries. Homozygous individuals do not survive for long and rarely reproduce while heterozygous individuals produce sickle shaped red cells and normal ones but barely develop any symptoms of the disease. One would assume that the allele frequency of sickle cell would reduce in a population but this is not the case. It has been found that heterozygotes for sickle cell have an advantage over normal individuals because the sickle shaped red cells reduce the ability of the parasite Plasmodium to grow and multiply. Another example that can be given is the evolution of the bacterium such as Mycobacterium tubercolosis, which causes TB. Strains of the TB bacteriu m have evolved recently that is resistant to all drugs, namely the multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains. Depending on the changes in human population, the bacteria can change its virulence accordingly. Some pathogens are willing to trade-off virulence with transmission, keeping virulence low so that transmission between hosts can happen. However, if the host becomes abundant or the immune system is suppressed as in the case of AIDS, then the pathogen may evolve a higher virulence. Co-evolution simply means the evolution of one species in response to that of another species. However, co-evolution does not indicate dependence on one another. Humans are not dependant on parasites for survival, and the other way around. Co-evolution of humans and disease organisms has produced many fascinating variations, whether in humans or the disease organisms. The studies on this can aide us in gaining understanding of health and diseases as disease organisms remain a major cause of mortality, especially in the under-developed regions of the world.

Sound Waves Essay -- physics acoustics sound

What is a sound wave? A sound wave is produced by a mechanical vibration, such as a tuning fork. The vibrating object causes the surrounding medium, such as air, to vibrate as well.The wave travels through the medium to a detector, like your ear, and it is heard.As with any type of wave, a sound wave is also described by it's wavelength, amplitude, period, and frequency. WAVELENGTH is the distance from one point on the wave, to the next identical point, or the length of one part of the wave. AMPLITUDE is the distance from the midpoint to the place of maximum displacement. FREQUENCY is the number of cycles that occur in one second. It is also the inverse of the period. PERIOD is the time it takes for a wave to complete one full cycle. It is also the inverse of frequency. Sound waves are longitudinal waves that consist of high and low pressure areas called condensations and rarefactions, respectively. Since sound waves are longitudinal waves, the particles of the medium oscillate parallel to the velocity of the wave. The individual particles do not travel along the wave. They only oscillate back and forth and the wave still propagates through them. The speed of sound depends on the type of medium that the wave is traveling through. In air, the speed of sound is about 340 m/s or 760 mph for a normal spring day. The speed also depends on the temperature of the medium. The formula used to figure out the speed of sound, in air, on any given day is; v = 331 m/s + 0.6T where v is the velocity of the wave, T is the temperature of the air in degrees celcius, 331 m/s is the speed of sound at 0Â °C, and 0.6 is just a constant. So as the temperature increases, so does the speed o... ...99. Health Issue of the Month: Middle Ear Infection. March 1999. 12 Apr. 2003. Sight and Hearing Association. Hecht, Eugene. Physics: Algebra / Trig. 2nd ed. Brooks/Cole, 1998. Henderson, Tom. Sound Waves and the Eardrum. 17 Aug 1998. 10 Apr 2003. Kurtus, Ron. Sound Waves. 18 Feb 2002. 10 Apr 2003. Russel, Dr. Dan. Longitudinal and Transverse Wave Motion. 12 Apr 2003. Serway, Raymond A. and Robert J Beichner. Physics for Scientists and Engineers. 5th ed. Brooks/Cole, 2000.

Hydric Soils as a Part of Water Treatment in Wetland Systems Essay

Hydric Soils as a Part of Water Treatment in Wetland Systems Most basically, a hydric soil is defined as "A soil that is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part (Kent, 1994, p. 26)." Included by this definition in the United States Department of Agriculture/Soil Conservation Service's list Hydric Soils of the United States are all of the poorly drained and very poorly drained soils and most of the somewhat poorly drained soil series. Hydric soils are further categorized into two major groups: mineral soils and organic soils. Histosols (organic soils) typically contain at least 46 cm of organic matter in the upper part of the soil profile. They are grouped by the degree to which plant material and fibers are decomposed. Most decayed are the saprists (muck), followed by hemists (mucky-peats and peaty mucks), and fibrists (peats), the least decomposed. (Folists, the fourth group of organic soils, are not regarded as hydric soils because the organic part is not inundation or saturation derived.) Mineral soils ordinarily have less organic matter in the upper part of the soil profile than histosols. To be considered hydric soil, a mineral soil must meet specific drainage and water table criteria that indicate at least 15 consecutive days of saturation or 7 days of inundation during the growing season. Hydric mineral soils include soils in the Aquic subgroups, Aquic suborders, Albolls suborder, Salorthids great groups and Pell great groups of vertisols (Kent, 1994). In the field, hydric soils are distinguished by indicators displayed within the root zone. These include histosols, histic epipedons, high organic matter content in the surface hori... ...aton, C. K. Smoley, 216 p. Kadlec, Robert H., and Robert L. Knight, 1996, Treatment Wetlands: Boca Raton, Lewis Publishers, 893 p. Kent, Donald M., editor, 1994, Applied Wetlands Science and Technology: Boca Raton, Lewis Publishers, 436 p. Landers, Judith C., and Barbara A. Knuth, 1991, Use of Wetlands for Water Quality Improvement under the USEPA Region V Clean Lakes Program: Environmental Management, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 151-162. Mitsch, William J., and Gosselink, James G., 1993, Wetlands, Second Edition: New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 722 p. Simmons, Robert C., Arthur J. Gold, and Peter M. Groffman, 1992, Nitrate Dynamics in Riparian Forests: Groundwater Studies: Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 21, pp. 659-665. Singer, Michael J., and Donald N. Munns, 1996, Soils: An Introduction, Third Edition: Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall, 480 p.

Chemistry-Precipitation Essay

My unknown chemical is sodium iodide. This was determined by testing the chemical with cations such as silver nitrate, cobalt (II) nitrate, and copper nitrate. It was also tested with anions: sodium iodide, sodium carbonate, sodium oxalate, and sodium phosphate. It was tested to see if the product will yield a precipitate or solid (cloudiness, power, or crystals) and any color changes that are very similar to the products/changes when all the known cations and anions were tested for changes. First of all, sodium iodide is an anion, it was determined that the unknown chemical was an anion because it did not react with any of the anions. Since the unknown did not react with the anions, it did not produce a solid or precipitate. This is chemically true because the new products will both contain NO3, or nitrate, and NO3 is aqueous with all cations. When the unknown was tested with silver nitrate a solid was produced, but also the color was a light yellow that is quite similar to the description of the product of sodium iodide added to silver nitrate (a dull but light yellow). This color was not exactly similar to the colors formed from other combinations as they were â€Å"slightly yellow† for the formula 2AgNO3(aq)+NaCO3(aq) –>AgCO3(s)+2NaNO3(aq) , â€Å"white† for 2AgNO3(aq)+NaC2O4(aq) –>AgC2O4(s)+2NaNO3(aq) , and â€Å"yellowish† for 3AgNO3(aq)+Na3PO4(aq) –>Ag3PO4(s)+3NaNO3(aq). A solid was formed in both situations due to a cloudy substance that formed with the silver nitrate + sodium iodide and the unknown + silver nitrate. It makes sense that a solid was formed because: AgNO3(aq)+NaI(aq) –>AgI(s)+NaNO3(aq) On the back of the periodic table it states that if the anion I- is part of the compound then cations like Ag+ and Pb2+ will form a solid with it. Since it is AgI, a solid is clearly formed. When the unknown was tested with cobalt (II) nitrate a solid was not produced and there was no color change it was the same light pink as originally, similar to the description of the product of sodium iodide added to cobalt (II) nitrate which was same light pink as the original color of the mixture. A solid was not formed in both situations because: Co(NO3)2(aq)+2NaI(aq) –>CoI2(aq)+2NaNO3(aq) According to the back of the periodic table it states that if the anion iodine is part of the compound then cations like Ag+, Pb2+, Hg22+, and Cu+ will form a solid with it, but iodine with all other cations form an aqueous solution. Therefore, since cobalt is not listed as one of the cations that iodine forms a solid with, no solid would be formed which is exactly what happened when sodium iodide was added to cobalt (II) nitrate and no other combination with cobalt (II) nitrate. Since sodium iodide in combination with cobalt (II) nitrate was the only one involving cobalt (II) nitrate that did not have a reaction it proves that the unknown is one of the two. But, since it has been proven that unknown is an anion, sodium iodide is our only option. When the unknown was tested with copper (II) nitrate a solid was produced, but also the color was a dark orange-yellow that was not too cloudy. This description is basically the same as the description of the product of sodium iodide added to copper (II) nitrate which was â€Å"dark yellow/range tone, copper color, slightly cloudy†. A solid was formed in both situations because it was slightly cloudy in both situations. Cu(NO3)2 (aq)+2NaI(aq) –> CuI2(s)+2NaNO3(aq) According to the back of the periodic table it states that if the anion iodine is part of the compound then cations like Ag+, Pb2+, Hg22+, and Cu+ will form a solid with it. Therefore, since copper is listed as one of the cations that iodine forms a solid with, a solid would be formed which is exactly what happened when sodium iodide was added to copper (II) nitrate. Since sodium iodide in combination with copper (II) nitrate was the only combination to form a dark yellow/orange color of all 4 anions in combination with the cation copper (II) nitrate sodium iodide seems the only option for the unknown. It is also not probable that the unknown is copper (II) nitrate because if there is a precipitate and a color change, it would not be the same color because different formulas yield different reactions like the colors formed. They are all unique.