Case Study Essay Example for Free

Case Study Essay Why is it important to get the patient’s assessment of health care quality? Does the patient have the expertise to judge the health care he or she receives? The patient is the customer. If the patient â€Å"perceives† that the health care received is inadequate, then he or she may go elsewhere the next time these services are needed. Although patients may not have the expertise to judge some aspects of 2 health care, they can judge appearances of competence, improvements in the way they feel, how they are treated, the cleanliness and comfort of the environment, and timely responses to service requests. . How might a hospital measure quality? Measuring quality in a service setting such as a hospital can sometimes be dif? cult. One obvious way is to keep track of the number of patient complaints—or even lawsuits. Some other measures that could be used include, but are not limited to, the following:  ¦ Average time for nurses to respond to a patients’ call  ¦ Average time spent by patients in intensive care  ¦ Average recovery time after surgery  ¦ Average condition of patients upon discharge  ¦ Change in patient condition between admission and discharge  ¦ Number patients per staff member 3. Using the steps in the table in the case discuss how each might apply to FCGH. To answer this question, one must remember that the product provided by FCGH is health care. However, it must also be remembered that the hospital’s staff (nurses, physicians, lab technicians, etc. ) are the suppliers of that service. Thus, quality of service will depend a great deal on the staff—their motivation, attention to details, morale, level of caring, etc. Quality to the Customer:  ¦ Is conformance of the service provided compared to established quality standards? Is quality of the hospital’s health are service compared with that of competitors? Quality Costs:  ¦ Have the costs of quality been measured and have possible areas for cost savings been identi? ed? Design Review:  ¦ Do procedures exist to review patient treatment for quality? Are these procedures being carried out? Product Quali? cation:  ¦ Have procedures been established and followed to qualify new treatme nts before they are used on patients? Product Liability:  ¦ Has each treatment been scrutinized regarding safety and are appropriate records kept? Does a written plan exist for dealing with major problems regarding patient? Process Capability:  ¦ Has the effectiveness and risk of each treatment been measured, and is that information used in selecting treatments? Incoming Inspection:  ¦ Is incoming material inspected? Are staff members evaluated before being hired? Are records of these evaluations kept? Supplier Quality:  ¦ Are suppliers and staff members made aware of their quality responsibilities? Are records kept on nonconformance? Process Control:  ¦ Has the hospital developed policies for controlling treatments and lab tests? Have employees been trained to follow these policies? Inspection and Test Planning: Do inspection and test plans exist for all services provided and are records maintained on the results? Are all test procedures and equipment regularly checked for accuracy? Quality Performance Indicators:  ¦ Are quality performance indicators regularly published throughout the hospital and made available to employees? Employee Involvement Program:  ¦ Are employees involved in quali ty improvement through some process such as quality circles? Multifunctional Quality Improvement Team:  ¦ Has a quality improvement team covering all functional areas been established to monitor quality work and to work o improve it? Quality Business Plan:  ¦ Has quality been integrated into the hospital’s business plan—and from there into the overall strategic plan? 4. How can the value of a human life be included in the cost of quality control? Placing a cost on a human life is, of course, dif? cult. However, even companies that manufacture goods must deal with this if there is the possibility that a defective product could result in death. In a hospital setting death is always a possibility due to unforeseen complications or adverse drug reactions. The best approach for FCGH may be to follow whatever policies and rocedures will produce the least chance of patient death. 5. There are certain parallels between the evaluation of health care quality and educational quality. How are customer surveys used to evaluate the quality of teaching at your institutions? How are the results used? Are any other measures available to assess educational quality? What improvements would you suggest to the current system? Teaching evaluations are the â€Å"customer surveys† of education. They are used by faculty and administrators to improve curriculum and teaching methods, to evaluate faculty performance, and to bestow teaching awards. There is general agreement, however, that student evaluations of teaching are insuf? cient assessments of education quality in and of themselves. Students may give high marks to teachers based on personality, lax administration of the class, or the level of dif? culty of the course (easy grades). Further, how can students (who are just learning) judge whether the appropriate material is being taught? On the other hand, the student perceptions should not be ignored. A professor who is very knowledgeable about a subject, but who cannot communicate that knowledge is of little use to the educational process. Therefore, in assessing educational quality, multiple measures of performance should be used, including:  ¦ Teaching evaluations completed by students  ¦ Peer evaluations by faculty  ¦ Surveys of employers  ¦ Surveys of alumni  ¦ Ranking of departmental performance by other deans or industry  ¦ Placement data  ¦ Overall student evaluations based on assessments of total curriculum, rather than individual courses or teachers. QUALITY CLEANERS This case can be used to address several issues and objectives:  ¦ All employees throughout the process must be involved.  ¦ Employees must be accountable for the quality of their work. In service organizations, determining the attributes that de- ?ne quality service, and the corresponding question of how to measure quality can be dif? cult, but must be done,  ¦ The student should have suf? cient understanding of SPC to determine when, where, and how it should be applied.  ¦ Small increases in prevention and appraisal cost wi ll result in large decreases in total cost of quality.  ¦ Records are kept to maintain accountability of the employee to determine bonuses, additional training required, or possible dismissal. Another problem area identi? ed would include quipment (cleaning machine, presses) not functioning properly. These records would also indicate areas where future improvements should be directed. Given below are some points that should be included in the case analysis. 1. Inspections should occur throughout the process with each worker checking his or her work and previous activities also. The astute students will also recognize the capability of using the customer as an inspector. When the garment(s) is brought into the store, the customer should be asked if there are any spots or stains that may require special attention, repairs eeded, special requests, etc. Getting this information from the customer will greatly increase the probability that the service provided meets the customer’s expectations. The counter person and the marker should be checking the garments closely for foreign objects, rather than leaving this for the cleaner, because this has the greatest potential dam age in terms of dollars and dissatis? ed customers. A load ruined by an ink pen would impact 10–20 customers and cost several thousand dollars in claims. 2. Allow for some student creativity. Possibilities would include he counter person, marker, and assembler initialing the ticket at a designated point. The cleaners and pressers could use special shaped (circle, square, triangle, etc. ) punches to punch the identi? cation tag pinned in the garment. Another option would be for the cleaners and pressers to use small plastic tags (as sometimes seen on bakery items) placed on the hanger. Whatever the solution, it should achieve the objective of accountability and require limited time and supplies cost. 3. The additional workload must be tracked over time. Time consumed must be matched with the number of complaints.

Drug Diversion Court: Case Study

Drug Diversion Court: Case Study Introduction According to the Australian Association of Social Workers AASW, social workers are committed to three core social values: respect for persons, social justice, and professional integrity. Social workers have strong commitments to human rights and social justice, taking into consideration the client, family, and the community needs. In court, they are mainly witnesses of fact or supporters for the client. It is important to understand how human social workers work within the law system, and how they can help more their clients. Magistrate Court’s Intervention Programs have several courts that seek to tackle the original causes for crime in order to diminish the chances of recidivism. According to the Courts Administration Authority of South Australia website, the Drug Court is in the Adelaide Magistrate Court. The Drug court aims to diminish or/and stop drug use, and prevent recidivism. It involves intensive judicial supervision, mandatory drug testing, strict bail conditions, increasing penalties, and treatment and support services for drug abuser, in order to break the cycles of using drugs and crimes. According to some studies, the Drug court programs are having a positive influence in diminishing re-offending. The Drug Court Program is 12 months with clear and concise rules, and defendants have to comply with them throughout the program, or they are sent to custody This paper will provide a first, a case synopsis by describing a case proceeding observed in the Drug Diversion Court. Second, there will be a description and identification of the legislation used on the offences. Third, in intervention there is a description of the court’s ruling and its purpose. Fourth, the possible social work skills and roles in John’ case will be explained. Finally, social justice and ethical issues regarding the case will be described. Case Synopsis The Drug Diversion Court is located in room 17, on the third floor of the Magistrate Courts of Adelaide. To enter this room, people have to ask permission to the security guard. There are approximately 20 chairs, which are occupied by a small number of lawyers, and the rest by offenders. The plaintiff seats at the right, and the defendant seats on the left side of the room. When the judge enters and leaves the room everyone has to stand as a symbol of respect. The secretary would give the judge all the cases folders, meanwhile another staff member would read the summary of the case, describing facts, such as the number of drug tests taken, and if they were negative or positive. The judge would give encouraging words to those who passed, or sentences to those who failed the drug treatment program. Reviewing cases was fast. Every offender had to bring their folder, and the lawyer would sit next to them. The prosecution did not say anything unless she was requesting more information. Th ere was also a police officer next to the prosecutor, hearing particular cases. Unfortunately, this day the court was only hearing reviewing cases, but the prosecution provided me with a copy of John’s case. John started the 12-month Treatment Intervention Program on 2014, and was ended when he removed his home detention anklet and left a few weeks later. During his time in the program, his drug tests resulted positive in cannabis, consumed large quantities of alcohol, recorded a home detention breach, did not go to MRT, and lost his program folder. According to the Legal Services Commission of South Australia, the court proceedings would have been the following: before the defendant appears in court, he should have legal advice. The secretary would introduce the case, the police prosecutor would outline the facts of the case (given to the defendant before the hearing), and if debated, the defendant could question the facts another day. After hearing the facts, John pleaded guilty to the multiple offences. The prosecution then would continue by providing his criminal record in court (which includes felonies since he was 14 for obtaining money to buy drugs) and the prosecution would expla in any injury, loss or damaged caused by John. After reading the facts of the case, describing the offences and personal circumstances of the defendant, the prosecution requested immediate sentence of imprisonment. Then, the defendant’s lawyer argued that Frawley’s youth and lack of history of adulthood are mitigating factors, suggesting a non-parole period in his sentence, and finding that there is potential for rehabilitation. After considering all relevant factors of the case, the judge decided to give him a sentence of imprisonment, convicting each offence. In total we has sentenced to 25 months imprisonment. Identification The judge considered s.11 of the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act, and he considered that other sentences than imprisonment would be inappropriate in John’s case. John was charged with multiple offences which he pleaded guilty. There were five charges for serious criminal trespass and theft. According to the Consolidation Act 1935, he was punished under 20A (a) home invasion, which is criminal trespassing. An offence (other than a serious firearm offence) is regarded a serious offence if the maximum penalty of imprisonment is at least 5 years. In the Criminal Law Consolidation Act (1935) Section 170 Serious criminal trespass in residential buildings is a maximum of 15 years, and if aggravated, imprisonment for life. Section 170a Serious criminal trespass in occupied residential building is maximum 3 years, and if aggravated, 5 years. Section 134 Theft’s penalty is maximum 10 years. Under the same act, in 19B there can be a deferral of sentence for rehabilitation and other purposes, adjourning the proceedings, and granting bail according to the Bail Act 1985. The judge applied 19B when he postponed John’s sentence, and allowed him to enter into the intervention program. He was under the 12-months program of drug intervention. A drug treatment order may be requested by defendants with alcohol or drug problems, and who had pleaded guilty, other than sexual offences. If DTO is suspended or breached, the offender has to normally finish his sentence in custody. One of his crime was breaching the curfew of the bail conditions imposed by the Youth court. Under the Bail Act of 1985 SA, s17 (1) states that non-compliance with bail conditions is an offence, and guilty of max. $10,000 or imprisonment for 2 years. Finally, the judge applied section 18A in sentencing for multiple offences: â€Å"it states that if a guilty defendant has committed several offences, the crown can sentence him with one penalty for all or some of them, without exceeding the total amount of each offences’ penalties.† In total, the judge sentenced him 25 months imprisonment. Intervention After taking into consideration the facts and the personal circumstances of John, the judge decided to sentence him with imprisonment, and to convict each offence. The judge explained that he must impose a sentence and deter him from reoffending, and others from offending. The judge said that John is now an adult and he must take responsibilities of his action, even more so if they are serious crimes. Breaking into the victims’ home is a serious and frightening experience for them, which they could suffer for many years, if not their entire life. He is likely to commit another serious offence if not punished, which is suggested by his criminal record. In regards to the prosecution asking for a non-parole period, the judge fixed a low parole-period because of his age and the lack of being in adult custody. By balancing these factors with the gravity of these offences, the judge gave him a non-parole period of one year. The courts try to solve social justice issues, the effects of poverty, and the professional and rehabilitation services instead of imprisonment. The Drug’s Court main goal is denunciation and rehabilitation. At the beginning, the defendant had the opportunity to rehabilitate, but after breaking the program’s conditions, he was fixed a prison sentence. Therefore the court illustrates how their main goals are reached. Social Work Role John is 19 years old and has been reported alcohol and drug history since he was 10 years old. He started stealing and breaking into houses to obtain money to buy drugs since he was 14. He had a traumatic difficult childhood after his father died, and his mother put him into the State care, which he had multiple placements while growing up. His mother had serious psychiatric and drug history. Because of his history, in order to make progress and have a brilliant future, he will need assistance required by trained counsellors. John had a limited education, thus it is recommended that he studies and finds a job in order to avoid being in State run institutions. Social workers could help him to calculate and invest in his future, and determine long-term goals to achieve behavior change. Also, Koning Kwant (2008, 64) argue that social workers can address issues like poverty, unemployment, problems with the police, and lack of healthy relationship in abusers’ life. Social workers could run programs to improve Frawley’s social skills and repair his relationships. Regarding his youth, John could have had help from social workers in order to cope with his traumatic childhood, and maybe prevent his drug addiction. According to Times (2006, p2) social workers should have a heavier involvement with children of drug abusers. For example, in Scotland 5% of all children under 16 have a drug using parent (Times 2006, p3). In addition, Dennis et al (2013, 160) argue that social workers are key for identifying individuals who are prone to be drug addicts, and to treat them with time ahead. Social workers could have had a positive role on John’s life if he was given counselling since he was put into foster homes. There should be a better treatment of these children, in order to empower their future. In John’s case, the social worker can help him by getting him into a program to stop taking drugs in less coercive circumstances. John failed the twelve month program, and it would be necessary to go further into his case and discover the reason for this failure. As Kennedy suggests (2012, 122) the social worker could be a counsellor, rehabilitation consultant, or a drug policy manager. Social workers consider that any person highly motivated can be a law-binding citizen if they receive adequate counselling, and chances to receive academic, vocational, and social education opportunities (Brownell and Roberts 20022). Therefore, John still has potential to change and live peacefully in society, under the right guidance of social workers. Human service workers can also have several roles in courts and tribunals: as witness, lay advocates by assisting in making applications, prepare submissions, and appear on the client’s behalf before tribunals (Jo Brocato Wagner 2003, 123). The social worker could be a supporter, arbitrator, negotiator, conciliator, and facilitator (Kennedy et all 2012, 122). Moreover, it would be necessary to help John, because the sentence might have been too rigid. Social workers can motivate John to demand and respect for his human rights. Social workers can help John to review his sentence because it was too rigid for a chronic abuser, and it is inadequate punishment for not following the conditions of the program. Social justice and ethical issues John started the 12-month Treatment Intervention Program, and was ended when he removed his home detention anklet and left a few weeks later. During his time in the program, he had positive drug test results in cannabis, and consumed large quantities of alcohol. Social workers could regard this not as John’s failure to comply with the rules; instead than the judicial system is not providing him with the just opportunity to succeed, due to the rigidity of the program. Regarding concerns of social justice, law is insufficient and sometimes compromises human service values. One main concern is that rehabilitation of the addict is many times less important than the primary goal of societal protection. For example, relapse is regarded as a violation of the program’s conditions, and the person is withdrawn from the program. But, relapse is a common effect among drug addicts, and it is part of the process to achieve sobriety (Burman 2004, 200). The intervention program seems unfair if they are aiming to change the offender’s behavior, but they are putting obstacles to achieve it. Furthermore, Koning et al (2008, 67) argue the emphasis should not be on complete abstinence of using drugs, rather in the improvement of quality of life in drug-prone cities, and more access to rehabilitation treatments for addicts. Therefore, John should fight for his right to be give a real opportunity to change. He is a chronic abuser since he was 10, and a ri gid and harsh program won’t provide him with the tools to succeed. Substance abuse programs are a good alternative to incarceration, but they need to be adapted for substance abusers and their long-lasting recovery. According to the Courts Administration Authority of South Australia website, there is research stating that abusers who have been imposed treatment are as likely to succeed as those who entered voluntarily. On the other hand, Burman (2004, 199) suggests that coercive programs lead to short-term success, because the social control can compromise the willingness to behavioral and attitude change. Furthermore, Jo Brocato Wagner (2003, 123) argue that social workers have the ethical concern of obeying the law and in promoting the client’s self-determination. They claim that true change in behavior must be voluntary, and that the intervention program should change to be more consistent to values of self-determination and social justice. In order to succeed, the authors claim that offenders need to establish their own objectives, and to learn how to solve their problems, and achievement should be based on their own goals, not imposed ones. Another concern is the proportionality in sentencing, where the punishment cannot be greater than the offence. In John’s case, it seems unfair to be punished by imprisonment. Although he had a positive result in the drug tests, he did not commit a crime against another person, and imprisonment won’t help with his recovery, it could make it worse. Social workers would consider it unfair to have a rigid intervention program, without second chances, and to have a harsh penalty of imprisonment if failure to follow the program. Incarceration does not seem proportional as a punishment as a result of not following the conditions of the intervention program. Conclusions There are social expectations to denounce crimes and rehabilitate offenders. The public wants to see a decrease in crime rates, and feel more save in the community under a punitive system. The judge convicted John of each of his offences with imprisonment after not following the conditions of the program. Social workers would suggest a more rehabilitative based model, where the needs of the offender are also met, and there is a better balance of priorities in society. Consequently, in order to protect the client’s human rights and achieve social justice, social workers would recommend not having a rigid program, where there is no need of complete abstinence, and there is more self-determination in their goals. They believe, that under a voluntary program, there would be true change in drug abuser offenders, and could promote a better quality of life and society well-being. But it is also important to consider the ethical issues of the individual, as well as the rights of the other members of society. If the results of intervention programs have resulted in a reduction of crime, it is important to continue to develop this kind of programs. But, on the other hand, the cases when these programs have failed, need to be revised, in order to understand better the reasons for this situation and make the necessary changes. Obesity: Causes and effects Obesity: Causes and effects This paper is to inform one how important it is to be educated on the causes and affects of obesity. It will answer how one can catch the early signs of obesity and detect the symptoms in themselves or others. There are many causes for obesity and it is important to know these causes so that one can prevent the disease from affecting their lives. Obesity can affect ones social, psychological, health, and health and wellness lives. Obesity can be a fatal disease causing many deaths not only in America but around the world. Obese people have many disadvantages in life. Some can not get health insurance if they are too overweight, they make on average, less money than people who are not obese. Preventing obesity in society can save many lives around the world. Physical education, healthy eating habits and regular exercise can be a key prevention of obesity. The teaching system around America needs to take a stronger role in the health and prevention of this disease, but the key people i n ones life in preventing obesity is the parents. Parents play a key role in a childs life, they must regulate what their children eat and the activities they participate in each day. Preventing obesity is not a one day job, it is a long process and a lifestyle. Obesity Obesity is a growing problem in our world and is one of the most rapidly growing diseases in children, teens and adults. Obesity has many definitions and many ways in which it can be interpreted. There are also many signs and symptoms of obesity which give doctors and parents time to prevent the fatal disease. Many things cause obesity in children, teens and adults and the effects can be deadly. People need to start noticing signs and take action for, not only themselves, but for their children as well, for a happier, healthier, and more normal life. Obesity is a growing concern in our world and in some cases can be predicted in infants. There are patterns amongst infants that show signs of obesity. Infants that grow faster than others have a greater risk of becoming obese than infants that do not grow as fast. Fast growing children, whether it be in height or weight gain, are more likely to be overweight later on in life. There is no set evidence that infants who grow faster become obese but faster growing infants do eat more food. Growth is driven by a childs appetite and dietary intake is a main risk factor in obesity. Studies have shown that the older the obese child is, the more likely that child is to become obese as an adult. Studies have proven that 25-80 percent of obese children become obese as adults (Lissau, 2007). Obesity is a very harmful disease that can be prevented, but will require a lot of work from the whole family. Childhood obesity is defined as having a body mass index equal to or more than the eighty fifth percentile of the age and gender (Whitaker, Wright, Pepe, Seidel, Heights 2008). Obesity is an imbalance between energy expenditure and dietary energy intake. Many people in society often have mistaken obesity and being overweight as the same thing. Being overweight means that the body mass index is over twenty five, and being obese means the body mass index is over 30. The only similarity between being overweight and obese is the fact that both can harm a persons health. Weight gain occurs when you take in more calories than your body uses during a certain time period. If the food you eat provides more calories than your body needs, then the calories that are left over transfer into fat. There are three stages to childhood obesity: late fetal development with overweight at birth, during the rebound period at five and six years old, and during the adolescence. (Whitaker, Wright, Pepe, Seidel, Heights). It is important to catch obesity early in these stages or it may become more difficult. There are many reasons as to why kids around the world are obese. Diet, physical activity, and familial psychosocial environment are three risk factors for childhood obesity. A cause for obesity can be early infant weight gain. This is a risk factor for childhood and adult obesity (Cole 2007). Smoking while pregnant reduces the birth weight of an infant but it increases post natal weight gain which is a cause of obesity. (Cole 2007). When a child gains a lot of weight early on, it is a sign that they will become obese rather than gaining weight at a steady pace. In an issue of Acta Paediatrica, it shows that watching television, having obese parents, and having a high birth weight increases the chance for obesity (Elanson-Albertsson Zetterstrom, 2005). In most cases it is not the childs fault that they are overweight but the parents of that child. The parents are the strongest factor for childhood obesity and both parents are equally effective. The lifestyle a parent gives their kid is a major factor as to how one will grow up. If a parent does not enforce exercise and physical activity they are more likely to become obese. Eating habits are a large factor in whether or not a child becomes obese. If the parent does not control the foods they eat and how much they eat the risk of obesity rises. Some parents buy a lot of junk food for the house and when children are hungry they will be more likely to choose junk food rather than a healthy snack. It is twenty-five to thirty percent more likely that children with obese parents will become obese themselves. When children grow up in an environment with bad eating habits they are thirty-three percent more likely to become obese as young teenagers (Cole 2007). Eating habits do not just come from parents, but can be caused by emotions as well. As a teenager there are many different situations that can occur in life, these may be new experiences or changes that a teenager can experience. Their changes and experiences can really cause a change in emotions, especially when a teenager is going through puberty. Some teenagers overeat because they are depressed, angry, or even because they are bored. Adolescents who suffer from depression are at a greater risk of becoming obese, and staying obese. Women usually tend to be more emotional and as teenagers they are going through many new experiences that can cause these emotions. A study shows that women at ages six to twelve are three times more obese now than they were thirty years ago. Two main factors to consider when decreasing the chances for obesity are dieting and activity. These help balance each others energy and help people live a healthier lifestyle. A way to protect children from obesity is to breast feed them. A formula fed baby has a higher risk of being obese. â€Å"Two alternatives to explain recent obesity trends are programming of appetite has changed, and appetite in some children is up regulated. And Programming of appetite is unchanged, but hungry children now get overweight due to the obesogenic environment.† (Cole, 2006 pg 3). The San Jose study focused on decreasing the amount of time spent in front of the television, and they increased the amount of physical activity in children and saw a decrease in obesity and the chances for obesity in the children. When the children watched less television the intake of sugar and carbonated beverages decreased. The children ate more fruits and vegetables throughout the day, when they spent time watching T.V. The children that were studied also had a change in their attitudes. The children seemed happier and more willing to do physical activities in there everyday lives. They also had an increase in there social lives and found they were more will to make new friends and it was easier to expand the groups of friends they had. (Lissau, 2007). Mossberg conducted a study in 1989 involving a number of obese children. After forty years Mossberg did a follow up with those children and found that a large number were still obese. Mossberg also found that these adults had a normal food intake and this shows that methods for reducing obesity and being overweight should be started at a young age. It is much harder to reduce obesity in adults than to start when one sees the first signs of obesity in children. Another main cause of obesity is environmental factors. In the world today the environment really has a huge impact on peoples lives especially when it comes to teenagers. In the modern world, technology has really come a long ways; so children and teenagers are relying more on technology to keep them entertained. This can be harmful to their health. Teenagers today are spending a lot more time interacting with technology than they should. These sedentary behaviors include video games, television, movies, and internet. Children who watch television and videos have been found to have a higher body mass index. By watching television and playing video games, the energy balance in a person decreases the energy expenditure, reduces resting metabolic rate, and increases energy intake. Also, many people eat while watching TV and are not doing any physical activity to work off what they eat. This allows the food to sit and turn to fat, increasing the chances of obesity. There are many commer cials on television that advertise fast food and restaurants making it more likely for a person to go buy these foods rather than cook a healthy meal (Nowicka 2007). Television viewing has been linked to obesity, smoking, poor fitness and raised cholesterol in adulthood. Reducing television viewing and increasing physical activity may not be enough to reduce the chances of obesity. Gender, age, ethnicity and body mass index are variables in how much they are related to sedentary behavior. Most children and teenagers also tend to eat out at fast food restaurants more often than they should. In result of this, they have less control over how much fat, sugar, and salts are in the foods they are eating. Fast food restaurants are also staying open even later than before. With these restaurants staying open late it really accommodates the food cravings that teenagers may have no matter what time of the day it may be. These fast food restaurants also encourage super-sizing your meals for a better deal, which adds more unnecessary calories and it proves to be cheaper. Children experience money now as an important part of life so if it appears that super sizing a meal will save some money they are going to feel that it is a better deal even though in the end it is really harmful to their health. Fast food restaurants are very common choices for families because they are so busy that do not have time to sit down and eat a home cooked meal so they stop and get something quick. W ith this busy schedule it creates a change in the eating habits that the children had before they got their license or got more involved. Hilde Bruch was one of the first people to say that obesity was not just related to body mass index and weight. It affects many psychological aspects of a person such as psychiatric health, psychiatric disorders, social maladjustment, and conflicts and tension in relations to the family of that person (Elanson-Albertsson Zetterstrom, 2005). The psychological complications of obesity are most related to teenagers. Research has shown just how important it is to teenagers to maintain a physical appearance, athletic skills, and be accepted with what one wears (Lissau, 2007). People who are obese are proven to have friends who are also obese. It is also proven that obese people do not make as much money as people who are â€Å"skinny† or not obese. They have a lower self esteem and have a harder time developing relationships with other people (Lissau). Young teenage girls in our society today are obsessed with their body image. This obsession can come from many different sources. Teenage girls may feel pressure from peers about their physical appearance because each person has different features that make them who they are. Often times people feel jealous because there is always someone in school that they wish they could look like. Girls become very competitive when it comes to the way that they present themselves and it can be a challenge if they feel someone has a better body. Not only is there pressure from peers that cause an obsession in body appearance, but the celebrities they see on television, or in movies have an impact as well. These women shown in the media are portrayed as what everyone should look like. In the United States, the amount of obese teenage women almost doubles that of obese men. Studies have shown that more than one-third of women are obese. Girls spend more time talking on the phone and listening to music while boys spend more time watching television and playing video games. Boys are also involved in more physical activity at all ages. Decreasing sedentary behavior in children can be just as effective as increasing the physical activity in a person (Nowicka, 2007). The school environment is a key place to start with obesity prevention. The schooling systems, especially in America, have low priority on healthy eating. Schools lack food and healthy meal support and the staff is unmotivated to add extra activities and lectures about nutrition. There is little supervision to what students are eating. In the United States vending machines are located in roughly 98 percent of the schools. (Lissau 2007) Removing vending machines will help decrease the chances of having junk food and carbonated drinks. Schools need to start preventing obesity by bringing activities to the children and making them a requirement. The only time children in school are not sitting down is during breaks or during physical education. In most cases a physical education class is less than an hour and only a few times a week. The length of time should be increased each week and the amount of times the breaks occur should be increased as well. Also, many students are enrolled in after school day care programs and by putting more physical activity into after school events would decrease the chance for obesity (Lissau). Physical activity has a major impact on body composition and metabolism making it a key treatment and prevention of obesity. It increases energy expenditure maintains lean body mass, and increases mobilization as well as burning body fat. Physical activity also has other benefits. One must have physical activity for normal growth, development of cardio respiratory endurance, muscle strength, flexibility, motor skills, and agility. Activities such as: walking, jumping, and weight lifting help bone development as well. Physical activity in children and adolescence has not just been proven to be a good thing. It also has some downfalls as well. Changes in energy expenditure or energy intake can occur at critical times in development in infants or adolescence and it can result in energy imbalance. Physical activity can have a different impact on different groups, such as male and female, ethnic groups, active and inactive. Different individuals will be impacted differently. World Health Organization recommends a minimum of thirty minutes a day of moderate physical activity. Moderate physical activity is defined as activity that requires three to six times as much energy as the energy needed in a resting state ( Nowicka, 2006). For children and adolescence, World Heath Organization recommends an additional twenty minutes of vigorous physical activity at least three times a week. Vigorous physical activity requires more than six METs, such as jogging and running at least 8.0 km per hour (Nowicka, 2006). Nordic Nutrition Recommendations recommends an hour of activity should include moderate and physical intensity but it can be divided out throughout the day (Nowicka). A study conducted by the National Weight Registry shows how maintaining a healthy diet and physical activity affects overweight and obese people. They studied successful and unsuccessful weight loss treatments. Ones dietary intake and the amount of physical activity are the main weight maintainers in adults and children. Adults maintain weight easier with more physical activity than children need. Having a low fat intake works better than physical activity for maintaining weight in children. The study also showed that the heavier and younger the subject was, the more weight that was lost. Boys also had a tendency to lose more weight than females in the long term weight maintenance. Catching the early signs of obesity gives one the opportunity to prevent the disease. Managing obesity is based on lifestyles where physical activity and behavior is a key target. Physical activity is a key treatment and prevention to obesity and should be a main focus of children and adolescence. Obesity is also decreased by sleeping longer, high education of your parents, and having more siblings ( Elanson-Albertsson Zetterstrom, 2005). It is important to have a variety of activity each day. Getting only one form of activity each day will only work certain muscles in the body. A popular form of activity for obese patients has been resistance training. Resistance training helps improve musculoskeletal fitness. Working various muscles is a key solution to decreasing body fat and lowering the amount of obesity in the world. Physical education classes may be the only way some children get any activity throughout the day. Physical education teachers are very important role models for children and it is important for them to stress the importance of physical activity (Nowicka, 2006). The table below shows how a child can get in the suggested one hour of physical activity each day. If one gets in an hour a day it can be a major factor to prevent obesity in the world. Limiting time spent watching television and playing video games has reduced the amount of overweight children. There are many ways to get in one hour of physical activity each day. Walking to school and then home from school is a great way to exercise for twenty to thirty minutes. Also, cleaning a room in the house allows you to be moving and bending over. Climbing stairs is a great way to get in physical activity, walking to a friends rather than driving, going shopping and walking the do g. Avoiding rides to school, watching television, and avoiding playing video games will help accomplish ones goal of completing the one hour recommended amount of exercise each day (Nowicka, 2006). Table 2 Examples of how everyday activities can be accumulated during a common day Example 1. How can a child accumulate 1 h of everyday activities Walks to school- 10 min Plays during breaks- 20 min Walks home from school- 10 min Cleans room- 10 min Walks to meet friends- 10 min Total 60 min Example 2. How can a child accumulate 1 h of everyday activities Rides bike to school- 5 min Walks and talks during breaks- 20 min Rides bike home from school- 5 min Goes shopping- 10 min Walks the dog- 20 min Total 60 min In the Untied States 15.5% of teenagers are overweight. Being overweight as a teenager can lead to three different diseases as an adult these can be type two diabetes, sleep apnea, and heart attack. A heart attack is not as common as the other two, but can still be dangerous. The first disease is type two diabetes. This is a disease that affects the metabolism when a person eats sugar, which is the bodys main source of fuel. If a person has type two diabetes, it is very difficult for their body to keep a normal glucose level. If this disease is not treated correctly it could be life threatening. As of right now there is no cure for type 2 diabetes, but there are many things that can be done to help control it. A person can eat healthier foods, and add some type of exercise to their daily routine. It is best to get this under control as a teenager, because as a teenager it is easier to change a persons lifestyle, and it will be more effective in the future. A disease can be very harmf ul a person in the future. Sleep apnea is another disease that is a major risk in a persons life and can cause early death due to obesity. Sleep apnea is a serious breathing disorder which can cause a person to stop breathing for short periods of time during sleep, and cause drowsiness during the day. Obesity also causes blood pressure to rise, and because of the high blood pressure it causes the heart to over work, and weakens the heart muscle. This causes the blood vessels to harden, which creates a greater chance of getting a blood clot increase, which makes it more likely to have a stroke or heart attack. Even though there are medical situations that can harm a person as a result from obesity; there are some beneficial medical treatments. Gastric bypass surgery is an option for many people to lose the weight fast. Many people these days are turning to gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass surgery is a permanent treatment to help obese people lose a certain amount of weight. This surgery is more common for adults, but some doctors feel that it could be helpful for teenagers as well. Gastric bypass surgery makes the stomach smaller, and allows food to bypass the small intestine. It helps a person feel full faster than usual, and results in fewer calories being absorbed, which leads to weight loss. A study was held where Leptin was infused in rats when they were born and they grew up to be leaner adults. Leptin is a hormone that regulates the body weight and metabolism. Although this raises ethical issues, giving newborns a shot of leptin when born will set them up for a more lean future. This may seem dramatic when there are healthy and natural ways of preventing obesity. Different organs of the body have drives or cravings for different types of food. The brain has the highest energy requirement of any of the organs. The total consumption of the brain is forty percent of newborn infants and twenty five percent in children and ten percent in adults. Because America has so many types of food available, the choice of fat and carbohydrates are around forty five percent each. ( Elanson-Albertsson Zetterstrom, 2005). Foods that are high in fat and sucrose are more satisfying than other types of foods and it is easier to overeat and become obese. Sucrose that is in a fluid has more potential to trigger your appetite than sucrose in a solid food (Elanson-Albertsson Zetterstrom, 2005). Obesity is an imbalance between energy expenditure and dietary energy intake. There are many variables that cause obesity in our society and there are many affects that go along with this disease. Preventing obesity must be started at a young age and parents must take action in giving their child a healthier lifestyle. Teens must avoid the pressures of society and be smart about the health choices they make. In order to make progress in preventing obesity schools need to educate the children more about its causes and its deadly affects, but most importantly how to prevent it. Keeping a healthy diet and regular exercise decreases ones chance of obesity and will help one live a healthier and happier life. References Cole, 2007, Early causes of child obesity and implications for preventions, 2-4, Retrieved April 12th 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=6hid=108sid=5536f511-b9fc-4551-9d4a-44b312dac852%40sessionmgr106 Cole, Bellizzi, Flegal, Dietz, 2000, Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey, Retrieved April 11, 2008, http://www.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/320/7244/1240 Deforche, De Bourdeaudhuij, tanghe, debode, hills, bouckaert, 2004, Role of physical activity and eating behaviour in weight control after treatment in severely obese children and adolescents, Retrieved April 12th, 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=11hid=114sid=adeb569d-7792-42b8-a6e3-94f22e8572f1%40sessionmgr104 Erlanson-Albertsson and Zetterstrom, The global obesity epidemic: Snacking and obesity may start with free meals during infant feeding, 1523-1531, Retrieved April 18th, 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=14hid=113sid=5536f511-b9fc-4551-9d4a-44b312dac852%40sessionmgr106 Lissau, 2007, Prevention of overweight in the school arena, Retrieved April 12th, 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=16hid=114sid=adeb569d-7792-42b8-a6e3-94f22e8572f1%40sessionmgr104 Nowicka, Dietitians and exercise professionals in a childhood obesity treatment team, 23-29, Retrieved April 18th, 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=21hid=116sid=5536f511-b9fc-4551-9d4a-44b312dac852%40sessionmgr106 Nowicka, Physical activity-key issues in treatment of childhood obesity, 39-45, retrieved April 11th 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=10hid=8sid=5536f511-b9fc-4551-9d4a-44b312dac852%40sessionmgr106 Schwartz and Brownell, Actions Necessary to Prevent Childhood Obesity: Creating the Climate for Change, 78-87, Retrieved April 12, 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=28hid=116sid=5536f511-b9fc-4551-9d4a-44b312dac852%40sessionmgr106 Whitaker, Wright, Pepe, Seidel, Heights, 2008, Predicting Obesity in Young Adulthood from Childhood and Parental Obesity, Retrieved April 11, 2008, https://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/337/13/869. Yaussi, The Obesity Epidemic, 105-108, Retrieved April 13th, 2008, http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=32hid=16sid=5536f511-b9fc-4551-9d4a-44b312dac852%40sessionmgr106

Encoder Viterbi Matlab

Encoder Viterbi Matlab Implementation of Convolutional Encoder and Viterbi Decoder Using Matlab and FPGA Abstract Channel coding is widely used in digital communication. By using channel encoding methods we can minimize signal noise and signal interference in our system. These techniques also utilize less bandwidth for error free transmission. In our project we have implemented convolutional encoder and viterbi decoder for channel coding. Convolutional encoding is vastly used for error correction in digital communication. We have implemented these techniques on matlab and performed a lot of simulation to check their performance. Chapter 1 DIGITAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM INTRODUCTION Early communication was based on implicit assumption that messages signal is continuous varying time signal waveform. Such continuous time signals are referred as analog signals and there corresponding information sources are called analog sources. Analog signals are transmitted using carrier modulation over communication channel and accordingly demodulated at receiver. Such communication system is called analog communication systems. In digital transmission analog source output is converted to digital form. Message can be transmitted using digital modulation and at receiver demodulated as digital signal. The basic feature of digital communication system is that during finite interval of time it sends a waveform from possible number of waveforms. Important measure of system performance in digital communication systems is probability of error. 1.2 WHY DIGITAL COMMUNICATION Digital communication is preferred over analog communication because digital circuits have a less probability of distortion and interference than analog. Digital circuits are reliable than analog and have low cost. Digital hardware is more flexible to implement than analog. In digital signals time division multiplexing is simpler then FDM in analog signals. DIGITAL COMMUNICATION In digital communication system functional operations performed at both transmitter and receiver should be expanded to add messages signal bias at transmitter and message signal synthesis or interpolating at receiver. Additional functions include redundancy removal and channel encoding and decoding. 1.3.1 Source Nature Information is knowledge. Information can be of two types either analog or digital. We can collect information through listening or watching. Receiver newer know what it will receive in advance but only when some source generates an output towards it. The main responsibility on any communication channel is to send error less information towards receiver. 1.3.3 Source Encoder/Decoder What is source encoder? It is a technique which changes an analog signal into sequence of bits. This sequence of bits that is produced can also be used for the reconstruction of the signal. These bits contain information about the original signal. If we use this encoding technique it can also be helpful in appropriate bandwidth utilization. The sequence of bits is such that it can be used for data compression. 1.3.4 Quantization It is a process in which we sample the amplitude of a analog signal. Irreversible mechanism in which we erradicate redundant bits is called QUANTIZERS. The disadvantage of quantization is that it introduces noise in the sampled signal. Whereas while sampling distortion donot occur. But inspite of all that, quantizers and quantization is still widely used in determining the bit rate. And in any coding procedure of speech, amplitude quantization is the most important step. X8 X7 X6 X5 X4 X3 X2 X1 Figure 1.2: 8-level quantization 1.3.5 Modulation and Demodulation What is modulation and demodulation? Modulation is a process in which a baseband signal is mixed with a carier and converted into bandpass signal. And demodulation is a process in which original signal is recovered from modulated signal. And modulator and demodulators perform the above information. The modulator changes the signal into the form representing the required information. And reverse operation is performed by demodulator. The purpose of these devices is to produce and convey messages with minimum bit error rate. NOISE IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS Noise refers to something which is always present in the entire communication world. Noise is something that can be created or produced from variety of possessions. If noise is present in any system it makes the system ambiguous and less efficient. It also makes our receiver capability less efficient. And therefore also confines the transmission rate. Noise can be minimized by efficient designing technique which is not desired through different methods such as filtering. Noise which is caused by the thermal motion of electrons in all dissipative resistors is called thermal noise. These electrons are also responsible for thermal noise as a zero mean Gaussian random process. CHAPTER 2 CHANNEL CODING 2.1 INTRODUCTION Channel coding is used in communication system to improve the signal reliability in communication systems. By performing channel coding we can protect our signal from different types of noises and distortion. These methods of signal processing are tools for accomplishing desirable system tradeoffs. By using large scale integrated circuit and high speed digital processing methods it had made possible to provide as much as 10db performance improvement at much less cost. Shannon showed that by the addition of redundant bits to source information we introduce a method to minimize error in channel without disturbing information transmission rate provided that the information rate is less than channel capacity. Average number of information bits per unit time can be reduced by using function of the speech code. Minimum number of information bits should be transmitted. The input to encoder is the output of speech code. Radio link performance is improved by using Channel coding in mobile communication by the addition of redundant bits to source information. At the transmitter channel code maps the digital information which is produced by a data source into a form that can be decoded by the receiver with minimum errors. Channel coding mechanism insert noise to the codes in a controlled manner by adding extra bits so that the receiver can do detection and correction in a noisy channel. Channel codes which are produced are classified as block codes and convolution codes The hamming distance (minimum), dmin of a code is used as criteria for determining error correction ability. The minimum hamming distance is defined as smallest value of d. if minimum hamming distance is dmin ,(dmin -1)bit errors can be detected and we correct the integer [(dmin-1)/2] bit errors .raw data transmission rate can be reduced additional coded bits. Using Error-Correction Codes These codes are very useful to use.Without implementing these codes in our communication system our data delievered will be very noisy and corrupted.Below is the graph which showz comparison between uncoded and coded data error performance. Chapter 3 CONVLUTIONAL CODING INTRODUCTION TO CONVOLUTIONAL ENCODING The idea is to make all code word symbols to be the weighted sum of the input message symbols. And that is similar to the convolution used in linear time invariant systems where the output of system is found, if you know about the input and impulse response. So in convolutional encoder we usually get the output of the system, by convolving the input bits. Basically, convolutional codes do not reduce much noise as compared to an equivalent block code. In most of the cases, they generally offer more simple implementation upon block code of same power. The encoder is a simple circuit which contains the memory states and feedback logic, normally supported by XOR gates. The decoder is usually implemented in software. The Viterbi algorithm is the most favourable algorithm which is used to decode convolutional codes. It is found that they generally give good results in environment of lower noise. OVERVIEW OF CONVOLUTIONAL CODES Convolution codes represent one method within the general class of codes. Channel codes which are also called error-correction codes allow reliable communication of an information sequence over that channel which adds noise, bring in bit errors, or otherwise deform the transmitted signal. These codes have many applications which include deep-space communication and voice band modems. Convolutional codes are commonly prà ©cised by the following three parameters; (n, k, m). n = output bits k = input bits m= memory registers L=constraint length The quantity k/n which is called code rate is a measure of the capability of the codes. Usually range of n and k is from 1 to 8 and range of m is from 2 to 10 and the code rate from 1/8 to 7/8 except for deep space application where the code rates as low as 1/100 or even longer has been engaged. Often the manufactures of the Convolutional code chips specify the codes by the following parameters n, k, L. The quantity L is the constraint length of the code and is defined by Constraint length, L = k*(m-1). The constraint length L stand for the bits in the encoder memory that effects the production of n output bits. The constraint length L is also indicated by the letter K. 3.2.1 CONVOLUTIONAL ENCODING ENCODER STRUCTURE Convolutional codes protect by adding unwanted bits as any binary code. A rate k/n Convolutional encoder develops the input series of k-bit information symbols through one or more binary shift registers. The convolutional encoder calculates every n-bits representation (n > k) of the output series from linear process on the present input symbol and the contents of the shift register(s). Therefore, a k-bit input symbol is processed by a rate k/n convolutional encoder and computes an n-bit out put symbol with every shift update. Figure shows a non recursive convolutional encoder having rate of 1/2. For the encoder above, shows state variations and resulting output code words. Sequence U for the message sequence m=1 1 0 1 1 Solution Table 3.1 Branch word at time ti u1 u2 State at Time ti+1 State at Time ti Register Contents Input Bit mi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 U = 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 POLYNOMIAL REPRESENTATION Sometimes, the encoder characters are characterized by initiator polynomial. Representation of an encoder can be done with a set of n initiator polynomial, one for each of the n modulo-2 adders. Each polynomial is of degree K-1 or less and tell about the connection of encoding shift register to that modulo-2 adder as the connection vector normally do. The coefficient of all the terms is either 1 or 0 of the degree polynomial depending upon whether connection exists or doesnt. For example in figure 4.1, we can write the generator polynomial g1(X) for the upper connections and g2(X) for the lower connections as follow. g1(X) = 1+X+X2 g2(X) = 1+ X2 The output sequence is found as follow U(X) = m(X) g1(X) interlaced with m(X) g2(X) Let the message vector m = 101 as a polynomial is represented as m(X) = 1+ X2 Then output polynomial U(X), of the figure 4.1 encoder can be calculated for the input message m is given as under. m(X) g1(X) = (1+ X2 )( 1+X+X2) = 1+X+X3+X4 m(X) g2(X) = (1+ X2 ) (1+ X2 ) = 1+ X4 m(X) g1(X) = 1+X+0X2+X3+X4 m(X) g2(X) = 1+0X+0X2+0X3+ X4 U(X) = (1, 1) + (1, 0) X + (0, 0) X2 + (1, 0) X3 + (1, 1) X4 U = 11 10 00 10 11 We demonstrated the encoder with polynomial initiators as also described for cyclic codes. Graphically there are three ways in which we can look at the encoder to gain better understanding of its operations. These are (a) State diagram (b) Tree diagram (c) Trellis diagram 3.2.2 STATE DIAGRAM Convolution encoders are finite-state technology. Hence state diagram offers significant insight into their performance. The states showed in the diagram symbolize the probable contents of right most K-1 stages of register, and paths represent the output symbols coming from such state changes. The states of registers are nominated as a=00, b=10, c=01 and d=11. There are only two conversions originating from every state, corresponding to two probable input bits. Output branch word is written next to every path state that is linked with the state transition. In below figure, we have used the complete line which denotes a path linked with input bit, 0 and a doted line is to a path with an input bit, 1. Observe that it is impossible in a single transition state to move forward from a given state to any random state. 3.2.3 THE TREE DIAGRAM One cannot easily use the state diagram for tracing back the encoder transitions as a function of time because it has only one disadvantage i.e. it cannot maintain the history record while the state diagram fully characterize encoder. State diagram is the advance form of tree diagram; it adds the dimensions of time than tree diagram. As the custom these trees also traverse from left to right at each bit inputs and each branch of the tree is describing the output branch. Following rule can be used to find the sequence of codeword; for an input bit of zero, its related branch word can be obtained by advancing to subsequent rightmost branch in the up direction. For an input bit of 1, its branch word can be obtained in the down direction. If we assume that the major contents of encoder are zeros, the diagram shows if initial input bit to the encoder is set to zero, the output will be 00 and if the initial input bit is a one, the output will be 11. Also if the initial bit input is one and next input is zero, the next output bit is one; the next output branch word is 01.By following these steps we observe that input bit stream 11011 traces bold line on the tree. This path matches to the output codeword sequence 1101010001. CHAPTER 4 VITERBI DECODER 4.1 VITERBI DECODING ALGORITHM This algorithm was revealed by Viterbi in 1967. The Viterbi algorithm performs maximum likelihood decoding. By taking benefit of the structure in the code trellis it also reduces the computational load. The benefit of Viterbi decoding is that its difficulty is not a function of the information of symbols in the code word sequence. The algorithm includes calculating a distance, or measure of resemblance b/w the received signal, and every the trellis paths entering each state at the same time. Those trellis paths that could not possibly by candidates for the maximum likelihood choice, viterbi algorithm removes them from consideration when two paths are entering the same state then the one having the best metric is selected and that path is called the surviving path. This choice of surviving path is carry out for every state. The complexity of the decoder is reduced by the remove paths with maximum unlikeliness. The decoder continues in this way to go forward into the trellis and making decision by eradicating the slightest likely paths. In fact in 1969, Omura also demonstrated that the Viterbi algorithm is maximum likelihood. The objective of selecting the optimum path can be articulated by selecting codeword which as minimum distance metric. 4.2 EXAMPLE OF VITERBI CONVOLUTIONAL DECODING Binary Symmetric Channel is assumed for simplicity thus hamming distance is a suitable measured distance .A similar trellis which we are using in encoder can also be used in decoder, as shown in figure 4.5. We set up at time t1 in 00 state referring to trellis diagram. Flushing in encoder is very important because it tells the decoder about the starting state because in this example there are only two likely transitions departing any state and not all the branches need to shown firstly. The full trellis structure starts after time t3. Central idea following the decoding procedure can be demonstrated by seeing the figure 4.1 encoder trellis in contrast with the figure 4.2 decoder trellis. It is suitable at each time interval, for the decoder to label every branch with hamming distance b/w the received input code symbols and the current transition word matching to the same transition at encoder end. The example in figure 4.2 shows the equivalent codeword sequence U, a message sequence m, and a noise distorted received sequence Z = 11 01 01 10 01 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. . Code symbols that will come from the encoder output which are results of state transitions are the encoder branch words As the code symbols are received they are accumulated by the decoder and are labeled on trellis branch. That is for each and every branch of the decoder trellis it will be marked with a matrix of likeliness i.e. Hamming distance. From the received sequence Z, we observe that code symbols received as the convolutional output at time t1 are 11, shown in figure 4.2. With the aim of labeling the decoder branches at time t1 with the least Hamming distance metric, we glance at the encoder state diagram figure encoder trellis. At this point we observe that a state 00-00 transition gives an output branch word of 00, but we are receiving 11. Consequently, on the decoder trellis we label 00—00 transition with hamming distance of 0. Observing encoder trellis, a state 00—10 transition yields an hamming distance of 1 with the output of 11. Hence, on the decoder trellis, we also label the state 00—01 transition with a Hamming distance of 0. So, the metric entered on the decoder trellis branch tells compares the corrupted and correct distances received associated with the branch transmitted with the branch word. To all intents and purposes, these metrics describes a correlation. The decoding algorithm finds the minimum distance path in order to correctly decode the data. The foundation of Viterbi decoding is that between any two paths which are ending up to the same state, path with minimum hamming distance will always be selected and other one will be discarded. Its example can be seen in figure 4.3 below. 4.3 Decoder Implementation In the decoding context the transitions during any of the time interval can be combined into 2^v-1 disjoint cells, where each cell is dissipating four of the possible transitions, where v is called the encoder memory. 4.3.1 Add-Compare-Select Computation Starting with the K=3, 2—cell example, figure 4.4 below shows the logic unit that corresponds to cell 1. The logic executes the special purpose calculation called add-compare-select (ACS). The state metric is calculated by adding the previous-time state metric of state a, to the branch metric and the previous-time state metric of state c, to the branch metric, this fallout in two possible path metrics as candidates for the new state metric. These two results are compared in the logic units of figure 4.4. The biggest likelihood (smallest distance) of the two path metrics is saved as the new state metric for the state a. Also shown in the figure 4.4 is the cell-1 add compare select logic that tells the new state metric and the new path history. This ACS process is also performed for the paths in other cells. The oldest bit on the path with the smallest state metric forms the decoder output. 4.3.2 Add-compare-select as seen Trellis Consider the same example for describing viterbi decoding. The codeword sequence was U = 1101010001, the message sequence was m = 11011 and received was Z = 1101011001. Figure 4.5 give a picture of a decoding trellis diagram. Most important point in the decoding through trellis tree is its hamming distance. This is the distance between received code symbols and their equivalent branch words. Trellis tells the value at every state x and for each time to time t1 to t6. We do ACS operation when we have two transitions ending up to the same state. And we get these types of situations after t4 transition and after that. For instance at time t4 the value for the state metric is obtained by incrementing sate t3. Similar operation is done for the state t2. The ACS process chose the minimum hamming distance path which also has maximum likelihood. The paths with minimum hamming distances are shown with bold lines and the paths with minimum likelihood are shown with faded lines. Trellis trees a re always observed from left to right. At any time when we want to check our decoder output we initiate with those states which has smallest paths. If we look at the figure below we can see that at time t6 path with minimum hamming distance has survived with distance =1. CHAPTER 5 SIMULATION METHODOLOGY 5.1 MATLAB SIMULATION 5.1.1 CONVOLUTONAL ENCODER VERTERBI DECODER We have implemented Convolutional encoder and viterbi decoder as source code. Matlab code also compares our viterbi decoder output with the built in decoder output by comparing bit error rates in our project. Making Matlab code and generating different code words for different symbols using convolutional codes and then decoding them with errors using viterbi decoder was the first step in our project. We have taken input from the user which will be coded by the convolutional encoder. Here we have generated random bits. Then the coded data will be decoded at the viterbi decoder. At the decoder side we have corrupted different bits by simply inverting them manually. Just to check what will be the bit error rate if different bits will be corrupted. Then we have compared our built in decoder function with our decoder code efficiency. In the receiver side we have used viterbi decoding algorithm to decode the transmitted signal. After these two steps (encoding and decoding) original data is obtained, which have errors if low SNR is used. 5.2 VHDL SIMULATION Our second step regarding to this project was to make synthesizable code of encoder and decoder in vhdl. For this we have used modelsim. Here we have implemented same logic as we used in matlab. 5.3 FPGA In the end we have burned our code in field programmable gate array. We made a synthesizable code in vhdl of our matlab logic and implemented on fpga. MATLAB RESULTS Here is the result of our matlab codes. If one bit is corrupted data_str = 111011010101000001111101101010101000101100111011010001000100011001111111110101100010101111100101010011101011101001000110 conv_code_str = 100110010001000010001000111100000011001010100100000100100010011000101100101000010111100110010001000010110011111100111011011101011111001010101010111001001000000111001110011000011010110111111000110010111101110100100001110100101111111100110101 msg_rec = 11101101010100000111110110 101010100010110011101 10100010 0010001 10 011 1111111010110001010111110 0101010 01110101110 1001000110 Message/ber retrieved with Verterbi_link_cont1 ber = 0 Message/ber retrieved with Vitdec ber =0 If two bits are corrupted data_str = 100010111000000011101000101100010010100110101101110110110010001100010010010011111001100001101000001001111000101011011101 conv_code_str = 100011001110011110011100011000001101111100101100100000010111010110111110010011110101010000010100000001000101011101111110101011010111010110111110100110111101110010011111001111000011001100101100011011101111000010011100100000100001001001100100 msg_rec = 10001011100000001110100010110001001010011010110 1110110110 0 10 001100010 010010011111001100001101000 001 0011110001 010110 11 1 0 1 Message/ber retrieved with Verterbi_link_cont1 ber = 0 Message/ber retrieved with Vitdec ber = 0.2667 if 3 bits are corrupted data_str = 101100011101110010110100100110010010001010111010011011111000000000110110000110101111100000100010100011001001111110001100 conv_code_str = 100110010111010011100100000111111110011011001011100101110101100000111110101101100010011000010010100011010001110100011100011110000000101011000101101110110101010110011010111001000000100101001110010101001101000001101111000100101001101101010111 msg_rec = 1110011111 01110 0 1 0 11010010011011 0 01010101011101 000 111 011 10 00100000110110100110111010100000100010 11011001110 0111110101100 Message/ber retrieved with Verterbi_link_cont1 ber = 0.1750 Message/ber retrieved with Vitdec ber = 0.2000 As the errors in bits increases bit error rate also increases. Appendix A Matlab Code %*********************************************************************************** %** CONVOLUTIONAL ENCODING TRELLIS DIAGRAM IMPLEMENTATION %************************************************************************************ function [code]= Conv_Enc(message1) % K=3 Length of Shift Register % # of states = 2^(K-1) = 4 % State can be considered as first two or last two bits of the shift register % 1/n Convolutional Encoder, Rate = 1/2 % n= length of generated codeword for i=1:length(message1) message(i)= num2str(message1(i)); end state=00; next_state=00; code1=[]; message=[message 00]; message=[message]; for t=1:length(message) inp= message(t); state=next_state; if(state==00) if(inp==0) next_state=00; outp=00; else next_state=10; outp= 11; end elseif(state==10) if(inp==0) next_state=01; outp=10; else next_state=11; outp= 01; end elseif(state==01) if(inp==0) next_state=00; outp=11; else next_state=10; outp= 00; end elseif(state==11) if(inp==0) next_state=01; outp=01; else next_state=11; outp= 10; end end code1= [code1 outp]; end for i=1:length(code1) code(i)= str2num(code1(i)); end % code=code1; %*********************************************************************************** %***************** DECODER IMPLEMENTATION*********************** %************************************************************************************ function [messa

Effects of Cocaine :: Papers

Effects of Cocaine Physical effects of cocaine use include constricted peripheral blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. The duration of cocaine’s immediate euphoric effects, which include hyper-stimulation and mental clarity, is dependent on the route of administration. The faster the cocaine is absorbed, the more intense the high and the shorter the duration of action. The ‘high’ from snorting may last 15 to 30 minutes, whilst that from smoking may last 5 to 10 minutes. Increased use can reduce the period of stimulation. This euphoria is followed by depression and craving for more of the drug. Some users of cocaine report feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. In rare instances, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter. There is no way to determine who is prone to sudden death. Short-term physiological effects include raised hear rate, hyperactivity and restlessness. Blood pressure of the user is also increased and the pupils dilate. There is a great risk associated with cocaine use whether the drug is snorted, injected or smoked. Prolonged cocaine snorting can result in ulceration of the mucous membranes of the nose and can damage the nasal septum enough to cause it to collapse. The injecting drug user is at risk for transmitting or acquiring HIV infection/AIDS if needles or other injection equipment are shared. Hepatitis is another danger from the use of needles to inject cocaine. Cocaine smokers suffer from acute respiratory problems including coughing, shortness of breath, and severe chest pains with lung trauma and bleeding. In addition, it appears that compulsive cocaine use may develop even more rapidly if the substance is smoked rather than snorted. Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that interferes with the reabsorption process of dopamine, a chemical messenger associated with pleasure and movement. Dopamine is released as part of the brain’s reward system and is involved in the high that characterizes cocaine consumption. An appreciable tolerance to the

Peace in Islam :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frederick Denny, the keynote speaker of the night spoke on Islam and its moral responsibility and how Muslims need to educate. He was a very intelligent man and great speaker, but he was too philosophical for the students in the audience. I was one of those misfortunate souls who could not understand where he was going. He hit on many key points that connected the current problems of Islam and ideas of liberation theology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He stressed that Islam is and always will be a monotheistic, ethical religion. I agree with this statement and with the education of the youth and the world, others will see that Islam is not evil or that much different from Christianity in faith. In his randomness he also hit on the ideas of sin. In Islam Ma’arvt and Mounkar are the Islamic terms for what Christians call sinless and sinful acts or the expectable and not expectable behaviors. From these aspects of faith one can seek justice and morality through God, the one who wills and acts justly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Spiritual morality and justice are filtered from God and should not be questioned. We should take what he gives us and use it responsibly. Doing what is right and just in the eyes of the lord will draw one closer to the almighty. Closeness to the Creator is the ultimate of all Muslims and with understanding and education all will see that this is the goal of all the Abraham faiths. All 3 believe that happiness comes from love for him. He asks only that we should â€Å"spend of our substances out of love for him alone.† Meaning moral duty enacted out of duty for him, â€Å"for god’s sake first.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Doing all things through the lord first and then showing and educating the people, the world and Muslims alike in the ways of the lord can reach peace in Denny’s opinion. There are struggles with-in Islam itself with the more radical liberation theology. They take their faith to the extreme and segregate their own. Find peace from with-in, find peace amongst your brothers, and then find peace amongst your neighbors in order to accomplish Takwa (avoidance of unethical). There will be a great deal of suffering. Denny does not Denny does not deny that. He says along with many Muslims that suffering with the principle of faith. Arming oneself with the glory of God will maintain your spirits and ultimately lead you to peace.

Disagreements Between Experts in Natural Sciences

What are disagreements? Often an image of an argument between friends or spouses is associated with this word. However, this is very stereotypical because the word can have many interpretations. Disagreements occur in forms other than between individuals. For example, the argument between religion and atheism is a disagreement between two schools of thoughts, and the conflict between the scientist and the public on global warming is a disagreement between two communities of people. These disagreements sometimes narrow our perspective on the issue at hand.It prevents us to see the world with an open-mind to try and work through the conflict. Although this is true, can disagreements aid the pursuit of knowledge? To what extend does disagreements in natural and human sciences aid the pursuit of knowledge? In what ways are the pursuits of knowledge different in human and natural sciences? Human sciences study and interpret experiences, activities, constructs, and artifacts associated wit h humans. While natural science gives us insight into the world with the lack of the â€Å"human factor†.Although the human science is generally known to be less â€Å"scientific†, due to the fact that not all variables can be controlled, it is by no means the lesser of the two areas of knowledge. But because of this added â€Å"human factor†, the results from human science experiments normally have a larger deviation from the mean. This means more trials and larger sample sizes are required to overcome this disadvantage. Is there a difference between the disagreements in human and natural sciences? Some theories in human sciences are asserted without a way to disprove it.An example of a theory that is not able to be falsified is Freud’s theory on the ego-superego-id structure of human behavior. Any story could be made up about a patient to explain their psychological problems through the basis of ego, superego, and id, but it does not prove the cause of the disorder. Human science theories in general posit some facts about the internal behavior of an individual based on their outward behavior, and then predict future actions on the basis of the internal facts. We have now disproved Freudian psychology, because it is highly unlikely.But have we really disproved it? The fact that ego, superego, and id do not relate to anything definite prevents scientists to study each individually, thus there is no way to prove or disprove the theory. These unfalsifiable theories lead to a list of theories that could be true, but could not be proven true or false. This prevents the elimination of wrong theories; instead we mark them as â€Å"unlikely†. How do we know which theory to accept as the truth? Thus, a disagreement between two theories in the human sciences can never be resolved with hard evidence.It is rather resolved by weighing the likeliness of the prospect, a very unscientific way to gain support. This is the reason it is harder to reach the truth through the process used by the human sciences. However, this does not mean knowledge cannot be gained from disagreements in human sciences. In fact, it is easy to gain knowledge of trends in observed data, but it is extremely hard to reach the right conclusion based off the data. Theories in natural sciences are known for their falsifiability.They are created to encompass the evidences already present, instead of inferring evidences based on the theories as mentioned in some cases in the human sciences. When there is a disagreement between two theories in the natural science, although there is not always a definite â€Å"winner†, there are always definite â€Å"losers†. If the theory can give an explanation for all of the evidence then it wins a temporary victory. I say temporary because new evidences can emerge that the old theory does not encompass. This is the way to falsify a theory.For example, Newton’s law of gravitation was supplanted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity when it failed explain the motion of extremely small and extremely large objects. It is when none of the theories provide an explanation for the evidences that we can continue the pursuit of knowledge. Science makes progress precisely because there are disagreements. Without these internal conflicts, science does not renew its basis, and is cold and dead. Just because during the disagreement a theory came out as the â€Å"loser†, does not mean the theory is discarded forever.A â€Å"loser† can undergo small modifications to provide an improved fit to the evidence. Theories might be defeated now but later come out as the new winner. As a scientifically minded individual, I understand that I should not always trust the current paradigms in science. I learned that just a century ago we did not believe that we could land on the moon. Looking back at it now, this belief was absurd. We landed on the moon only sixty-six years after the Wright Brothers. This is the reason as a student I enjoy intentionally creating disagreements when it comes to scientific concepts.These healthy competitions between scientific ideas are what weeds out the weak hypotheses from the strong ones. In the long run, this ability to falsify is what leads humans to discover knowledge and uncover the truth. So in the case of natural science, disagreement leads to a truth to the best of the knowledge at the time. Disagreements in science do not only occur in the form of conflicts between theories. Scientists often produce controversial discoveries that the general public do not want to accept. Why is it in our human nature to resist change?Most of the time change leads to knowledge, but it is almost like we are trying to protect ourselves from the facts. For example, there are many people out there that deny global warming. This is due to the fact that the media puts the spotlight on the controversial scientists that are mostly con fined to non-participants in global climate science. Since their theories are often not published in the scientific journals, they resort to the media to gain support for their ideas. Their poorly evidential theories gain support from the public because most of them trust these â€Å"experts†.I know I stated before that we should never regard anything as impossible, but this is absurd because the theories are asserted without evidence. People are against putting funds to resolve this â€Å"fake† problem, thus prohibits the pursuit of knowledge. Can we ever assert anything without evidence in science? According to the scientific method, an inductive method, any statements must start with observations and evidences in nature. Based on the scientific method, nothing can be asserted without evidence. But the scientific method is only exclusively used in a perfect world, or when you are in elementary school through high school.In the real world of science many researchers d o not follow the scientific method to a tee. They are able to assert a falsifiable statement instead of a hypothesis before their research, and during their research will try to disprove their statement. Although I believe this opens the results to a lot of conformational bias, it is widely used in the scientific community. Disagreements in science do not only occur in the professional field. Many students seek the pursuit of knowledge through classroom discussions. In biology class this year, we were talking about telomeres. I asked Mr.Creighton â€Å"If we age because our cells chop off the ends of our DNA after each replication, how can we produce sperm and eggs which create a baby with young DNA? † This question led to a whole class discussion on the theories of aging. Although there were many disagreements, at the end of the class period, I found myself to have a better understand of the process of aging and cellular division. If the whole class decided that the cutting of telomere was the only theory to the process of aging, then there would not have been arguments, and I would not have gained any new knowledge.Disagreements come in many forms. From verbal arguments to all-out war, disagreements permeate our society. Most of the time they are known to reverse the pursuit of knowledge because it closes the participant’s mind to further ideas, but disagreements in science are different. Scientists understand that their ideas improve with the criticism of their peers, and that is the only way science can advance. However, this does not mean that all disagreements in science promote the pursuits of knowledge, because there are certainly different forms of disagreements in science.Disagreements in humans sciences tend to create a deadlock because none of the ideas can be disproved. The deadlock can be only solved through â€Å"popularity† contests. This can be easily demonstrated in politics. Politicians claim that their policies are the best for the United States. Since there are no ways to disprove them, they are selected mostly depending how they are viewed by the public. Disagreements can occur between two scientists and their theories or ideas, this is constructive because it allows mutual aid to improve their hypotheses. But some disagreements in science can be unconstructive.This is especially true when the public is misinformed and actively prevent the pursuit of knowledge. The public has a need to know the truth. I believe people have to be able to think for themselves and be able to identify pseudo-science from real science. They have to able to identify demagogues from people who are trying to create a better future. Does science have an absolute truth? I do not think so. Science is not a religion, but an instrument for people who want to discover the world through an organized fashion. I appreciate its willingness to entertain disagreements to pursue knowledge.

Ion and Pb2+ Ions Essay

Experiment 14 Topic Purpose Procedure : Qualitative analysis : To determine the cations and anions of inorganic substances : (a) Solids KA1 and KA2 are simple salts. Carry out the following experiments with solid KA1 to identify its cation and anion. (b) You are then required to carry out a few experiments to identify the cation and anion present in solid KA2. In all the experiments, the reagent should be added gradually until no further change is observed. Deduce what you can about KA1 and KA2. Observations should include details of colour changes, precipitates, and tests on gases evolved. Tests on KA1 Test (a) Add dilute hydrochloric acid to a small amount of solid KA1, then warm gently. (b) Dissolve solid KA1 in distilled water and filter. Use separate portions of the filtrate for the following tests. (i) Add aqueous sodium hydroxide, then in excess. (ii) Add aqueous ammonia, then in excess followed by aqueous ammonium chloride. (iii) Add aqueous iron (III) chloride, then warm. (iv) Add aqueous silver nitrate, followed by dilute nitric acid. (v) Add aqueous disodium hydrogen phosphate. (vi) Add aqueous potassium chromate (VI) followed by dilute hydrochloric acid. Observation Solutions smells like vinegar. Deduction Solution contains CH3COO- ions. A white precipitate is formed. Solution turns cloudy and a white precipitate is formed. Solution contains either Pb2+ ions, Zn2+ ions or Al3+ ions. Solution contains either Pb2+ ions or Al3+ ions. Solution contains CH3COO- ions. Solution contains CH3COO- ions. Solution contains Pb2+ ions. Solution contains Pb2+ ions. Solution turns brown and a white precipitate is formed. A white precipitate is formed. Solution turns white and a white precipitate is formed. A yellow precipitate is formed. Identity of KA1: KA1 contains Pb2+ ions and CH3COO- ions. Tests on KA2 Test (a) Add concentrated hydrochloric acid and test for gas(es) evolved by using lime water. (b) Dissolve KA2 in dilute nitric acid. Use separate portions of the solution for the following tests. (i) Add dilute sodium hydroxide. (ii) Add potassium hexacyanoferrate (II). Observation Lime water turns chalky. Deduction The reaction releases carbon dioxide gas. Solution contains CO32- ions. A blue precipitate is formed. Solution turns dark brown. Solution contains Cu2+ ions. Solution contains Cu2+ ions. Identity of KA2: KA2 contains Cu2+ ions and CO32- ions.