What makes a good leader using Advocate leadership style Research Paper

What makes a good leader using Advocate leadership style - Research Paper Example This paper is going to be concerned with advocacy style which is the strongest from of leadership. Advocates are committed to accomplish whatever mission they have set out using all the available means. They take responsibility for failure and share success and would suffer for the sake of the group. The paper is going to argue that a leader using advocacy leadership style which is the norm in the social work can become a good leader by being assertive, dedicated, humble, flexible and able to use different strategies to get results. In addition he must possess skills such as capacity to inspire, communication skills, leading by example, self-awareness, able to manage conflict among others. Introduction Every successful organization has a successful leader behind it. The problem is that there has not been an agreement among theorists as to what constitutes successful leadership. The trait theorists would argue that it is the innate qualities of leaders that make them successful; the b ehaviorists would argue that it is the behavioral characteristics that make a leader to be effective while still others believe that effective leaders possess certain skills. For ages, we have heard many individuals from different organizations being named as great leaders; for example, Bill Gates and Nelson Mandela. What is leadership and what makes these leaders effective? This is what this paper will try to answer using the advocate leadership style. Effective Leadership Leadership is defined by Stanfield (2009 p. 5) as â€Å"directing behavior of others towards accomplishment of some common objective†. In other words, it is the ability to influence others towards an accomplishment of some set goal. Leadership is often used interchangeably with management or administration but the two concepts mean two different things. While leadership involves influencing people, management involves planning, organizing and controlling. A good manager needs to be a good leader but a good leader does not necessarily have to be a manager. Some people become leaders due to their power to influence or charisma and not because they have management skills. However, good management skills can help in becoming an effective leader. Organizations require good leaders in order to function effectively and beat competition. There are many types of leadership in organizations such as the idealists, diplomats, mentors, achievers, innovators, enthusiasts, and advocates (Northouse, 2010). All of them have different styles of leading but the focus will be on the advocates. The advocate type of leaders according to Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2012, p. 207) are highly committed to the goals of the organization and are most of the times skilled administrators. These are the strongest leaders in any organization as they handle a great deal of responsibility without being too dominating. Moreover, they take their responsibility very seriously and would go to great heights to ensure organizati onal goals or the group missions are achieved (Stanfield, 2009). They are thus willing to suffer for the sake of the team provided they get to where they are heading to. They also do not avoid conflicts and take tasks head on. They are willing to take responsibility for any failures or mistakes but when it comes to achievements, they are shared among all members. Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2012) also consider such leaders as straight-forward and have great concern for the well being of all members in the organization. All these attribute make advocates great leaders and their style is most needed especially in social work where great deal of advocacy is required. So what makes a

Offenders and Psychology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Offenders and Psychology - Coursework Example In the Table â€Å"Profile Characteristics of Disorganized Asocial Offenders† it is evident that there are a number of characteristics, which are appropriate in the process of offender personality’s studies. The status of the personalities in their communities is determined with respect to the following features: they have a limited intelligence, are involved in unskilled work and have a few contacts with other members of the community. These persons show the following types of post-offense behavior, such as turning to the place, where the crime was committed; having a visual collage of criminal events etc. After that, when the crime was committed, a disorganized criminal can hardly change a place of his residence, because he is used to his familiar environment. It is possible to differentiate a disorganized asocial offender from the organized nonsocial offender. The former offender would commit his crimes at night, as a rule. For this type of offenders, it is very impo rtant to be understood and supported. Establishment of positive relationship with this personality is very beneficial in the process of investigation. Moreover, the interviews are more effective with these offenders at night, when it is their â€Å"best time†. The features of the organized nonsocial offender can be interpreted in the following way: this type of the offender would be more organized in his daily life. They are lonely persons and they do not want anyone else around them. These persons have an average level of intelligence and they can be active members of the society. These offenders can have his personal relationship and he can even make a good impression (Interview with S. Milena Halterman, 2010). This type of offenders can go to many other places, which are far away from their neighborhood. Post-offense behavior of the organized nonsocial offenders is as follows: he is interested in the consequences of the crime, committed by him. Moreover, â€Å"organized  crime  scenes  reflect  a  high  level  of  control  by  the  offender  where restraints  are  used  and  the  body  is  disposed  of  in  a  thought out  manner, usually  transported  to  another  location  from  where  the  murder  took  place† (Holmes& Holmes, 2009). During the interview sessions, it is relevant to confront these offenders directly, because they are afraid of direct facts. A single-interview strategy is one of the most appropriate for them. These offenders can tell everything sincerely during the interviewing. Therefore, it is appropriate for the criminologists to focus on the peculiar personal features of the offenders in order to determine possible options of serial crime prevention and a proper investigation conduct of every particular case. Thus, the modern paradigm of criminology should be focused on researches and studies, which are concentrated on the peculiar aspects of offendersâ⠂¬â„¢ behaviors. Question 2 In the modern paradigm, it is very important to know that there is a strong relationship between social and psychological issues of the criminals and the actions committed by them. Psychological  profiling has been developing since 1940 and this field was developed for investigation of serial crimes (Schlesinger 2009). The basic points, outlined in this field of study are: characteristics of the  offender,  time factors, modus  operandi, offender’s  and  signature and  staging (Holmes & Holmes, 2009).  There is a great need to take into account organized vs.  disorganized

Psychology and Conducive Learning Environment Essay Example for Free

Psychology and Conducive Learning Environment Essay Discipline is one of the basic requirements of a civilized life. Every society has to set certain norms for people to follow. Everything in this world is governed by a definite set of laws. If everything goes on in a definite routine and the discipline is maintained then there would not be any chaos anywhere. Discipline is the backbone of the national unity. Citizens of disciplined nations can work more smoothly and are filled with the spirit of unity, brotherhood and co-operation. However, discipline does not mean strictly, the withdrawal of personal liberty and authority: on the other hand it provides one with the guideline to use its freedom in a right manner. But that too is possible only if they do not take law in their own hands. Anywhere we go discipline is necessary in any institution whether it is an educational institution, or even in the political field, in social or religious matters, even on street and even while you are sitting in your own house. But unfortunately we note that discipline in our schools and colleges has perished. Students do not show respect to their teachers, misbehave in the classroom, organize strikes and try to take law in their hands. So an atmosphere of indiscipline is created which is a great setback not only to the individual, but to the nation also. Moreover, the teachers themselves do not show any discipline. They are also busy in strikes as to show their discontent against their pay scales, their posts and that affects their quality of teaching. Similarly discipline is an important component of political and social life. Until and unless everybody follows the rules and regulations proper satisfaction cannot be achieved. Anywhere you will find people out of their offices. Govt. employees busy in chatting, ladies busy in knitting at the hours of their duty. All workers show indifference to their duties and hence the work and unattended files keep on accumulating. So if each person imposes on himself or herself discipline and performs his or her duty with devotion, there will be no problem. Even in public places, people create chaos due to indiscipline behavior. People often show lack of law and order, while boarding buses etc. Black-marketing and hoarding and adulteration are also some of the examples of indiscipline. Eve-testing is another example of irresponsible behavior on the part of our youth. In the political sphere also, personal ambitions do come on the way and therefore they pose danger to the society. Discipline is important even in domestic life. If children are grown up in an atmosphere of love and brotherhood, they tend to be good citizens. It is the duty of parents to raise their children in an atmosphere conducive for everybody. The children from divorced parents and from broken homes are generally indiscipline. Therefore, parents should bring up their children in a disciplined manner. Discipline In School School discipline is the system of rules, punishments and behavioral strategies appropriate to the regulation of children and the maintenance of order in schools. Its aim is to create a safe and conducive learning environment in the classroom. A disciplined student is in compliance with the school rules and codes of conduct. These rules may, for example, define the expected standards of clothing, timekeeping, social behavior and work ethic. The term discipline is also applied to the punishment that is the consequence of breaking the rules. The aim of discipline is to set reasonable limits which protect students from harm and teach them what is safe and what is not. Discipline At Home Children are learning how to behave and need parents and caregivers to help them during that process. Because they are always learning, they will misbehave. Psychological studies show that behaviors are more effectively shaped by rewarding positive behaviors than by punishing negative ones. Spanking may have the short-term effect of stopping an undesired behavior, but it may have long-term consequences. Spanking by parents or others may cause harm by teaching children to use violence and by showing them that those who should love and protect them have the right to physically hurt them. The best way for parents to prevent challenging behaviors is to support positive behaviors. How can they do this? Use any opportunity as a teachable moment to talk about simple rules about behavior Put those rules into action. Follow through with praise for following instructions or consequences for disobeying. Discipline is the training of the mind and character; the exercise, development and control of the character, intended to produce obedience and orderly behavior. The definition above is apt enough for the type of discipline intended for the young people at school. The need for disciplining young people cannot be over-emphasized. A wise saying goes â€Å"Spare the rod and spoilt the child†. An undisciplined child becomes a spoil child. The disciplining does not necessarily involve the use of cane. It should normally take the form of corrections by the educators through the setting of good examples and verbal corrections. It is the repeated and deliberate tendencies to incorrigibility that should involve punishments from the educator. These punishments should also be corrective and directly related to the offence. The question then arises; who is to discipline the child, the school or the home? The unequivocal answer is both the school and the home. The efforts of these two agencies to direct the life of the child should be complementary. The all-round development of a person cannot be achieved if one of the parties withdraws its own contribution. Before a child is of school age the discipline is solely the business of the home. At that stage, a child is already in the preparatory stage of being potentially bad or good child. The mind of the new born child being so flexible has had certain impressions made on it. The child learns to act and behave mainly through imitation. These picked-up acts and behaviour which a child goes to the school will form the foundation upon which the school is to be built. Hence the school either inherits a light or a heavy job in this regard. Some schools are lucky to have under their care children who are already good natured and the school only needs to build and improve upon this good foundation. On the other hand the school may inherit other types of children who are real problems. For them â€Å"Please use a soft voice†, instead of â€Å"Stop yelling! † Discipline is a must at home and in school. So in todays society, it is very essential to live with co-operation, and brotherhood amongst each-other. Absence of discipline may lead to failure and backwardness of nation. But one can overcome these problems if everyone follows a personal code of conduct and maintain self-discipline for prosperity of the nation.

Effects Of Good Oral Hygiene Health And Social Care Essay

Effects Of Good Oral Hygiene Health And Social Care Essay This paper aims to review the literature surrounding the chosen intervention of oral hygiene. Specifically the effects of good oral hygiene of ventilated patients in a critical care environment. The intervention was selected after the author completed an 8 week placement in an ICU department and to improve evidence-based practice. To retain anonymity the name of the hospital will not be disclosed this complies with the NMC code of professional conduct (2008). It was based on an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) that specialized in the care of level 2 and 3 patients with neurological problems. The majority of the patients on this unit were on advanced respiratory support such as ventilators as well as having with support other vital organ systems. It was noted by the author during the placement that there was a high incidence chest infections. This may have been related to the patients oral hygiene despite the unit adhering to a strict cleansing regime and trust policy/protocols. Firstly, the department adhered to the current recommendations outlined by National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2008). NICE states that to reduce the risk of pneumonia in patients on a ventilator patients should be in a semi upright position. Also that some sort of antiseptic is used within the mouth care routine for the patient. These are very vague guidelines and the writer feels further investigation is needed to claify what is best standard practice for mouth care. Intensive care patients have complex oral care needs, inadequate oral care can predispose ICU patients to nosocomial infections such as pneumonia (Ruffell and Admcova, 2008). Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) is defined as a nosocomical pneumonia that develops in a patient who has been on mechanical ventilary support (intubated) for 48 hour or more (Hutchins et el, 2009), it is a recognised problem in intubated patients, as well as a important cause of morbidity and mortality. In European Prevalence of Infection in ICU study (Vincent et al, 1995) VAP was the most frequent infection accouting for 45% of all infections in ICUs Recent evidence indicates the colonization of the mouth with respiratory pathogens may contribute to VAP. VAP has been associated with increase morbidity, higher mortality rates, increased healthcare cost and longer hospital stays(Hutchins et el,2009).VAP is the leading source of death due to nosocomicalinfection in ICUs (Berry, 2007) Upon reflection, it was observed that there was a high prevalence of VAP on the ward despite the use of high impact interventions such as ventilator care bundles prescribed on the ward. (Saving Lives, 2007) The Health Act 2006 Code of Practice also states that the NHS organisations must audit key policy and procedures for infection control.This included brushing with toothpaste and a small toothbrush, chlorhexidine rinses, suctioning, checking cuff inflation, humidification of and a semi recumbarant positioning. This underpins the rational for selecting the nursing intervention of oral mouth care in VAP prevention. The author felt by reviewing the relevant literature surround the use over mouth care products and associated research the extent to which current literature support or question current evidence based guidelines, could anything else be done to prevent all these infections. Gash defined a literature review as a systematic and thorough search of all types of published literature in order to identify as many items as possible that are relevant to a particular topic (Gash, 2000). Due to the time constraint and the limited number of words allowed the search has been specifically narrowed down and utilised the appropriate and relevant literature. The key words used in the search were oral hygiene and intensive care, with the variants of oral decontamination, mouth care, intubated and mechanically ventilated. The research strategies for selecting literature to review for this paper involved the following databases where searched using EBSCO CINAHL, OVID MEDLINE, Cochrane Library search engines this returned 10224 hits, The search was then narrowed through filtering to only include the core clinical journals or academic papers. The inclusion criteria included research studies and reviews which focused on the oral hygiene in a intensive care setting, articles in this review where published in the last 10 years, focused on adults and written or translated into English. This produced 123 papers, with a search manually finding only 9 that where relevant and will be discussed below. Oral Hygiene effective removal of plaque and debris to ensure the structures and tissues of the mouth are kept in a healthy condition (DOH, 2001). Effective oral health care makes an important contribution to peoples physical, psychological and social well being (Major, 2005). Maintaining oral health in the critically ill patient is imperative in reducing the risk of nosocomial infections and improving patient comfort and discharge outcomes. Critically ill patients are at great risk for poor oral health as many are elderly, undernourished, dehydrated, immunosuppressed, have a smoking or alcohol history, are intubated or on high-flow oxygen, and are unable to mechanically remove dental plaque.(AUS, 2003). Mircoaspiration may occur in patients with a depressed conscience level and reduced cough effort ability, or with a ill fitting or a partially deflated fitting cuff around the endotracheal tube. Critically ill patients lack of spontaneous movement of the tongue movement of the tongue and jaw, infrequent swallowing, and ability to brush teeth because of ventilation equipment as early as 24 hours after ICU admission. (2) Having read through all the research it is evident that studies are contradictory. For example Hutchins (2009) believes the gold standard of oral hygiene is suctioned toothbrushes every four hours followed by Chlorhexidine mouth wash. This reduced VAP by 90% in their study over three years, however can this study be valid as there was no control group or randomization. Furthermore, is research completed in America transferable to the UK. This study was not designed as a RCT but rather as a quality improvement initiative. There was also no numbers of the study size only that all patients ventilated where included over a period of time. Therefore, it could be argued that this study required a sample to measure findings, also completed in America where they have a different a private health care structure and high budgets and funding. Hutchins states the oral hygiene should be completed every 4 hours but The Essence of Care (2001) document emphasises the importance of assessing individu als, in relation to how their oral hygiene can be maintained with its best practice bench mark: All patients/clients are assessed to identify the advice and/or care required to maintain and promote their individual oral hygiene (DOH, 2001). So to do Mouth care on a patient every 4 hours when it needs to be done every hour is unethical, And if the patient only needs mouth care twice a day and your completing every 4 hours this is a waste of nursing time. Maintaining patient safety when administrating mouth care so not to dislodge the endotractcal tube, failing to remove all the toothpaste and mouth wash, putting the patient at risk of aspiration, are all expressed concerns by nurses as concerns when doing mouth care. These reasons as well as patient comfort all influence the nurse to the frequency of mouth care (Berry and Davidson, 2006). Unfortunately, emphasis on the provision of oral care hygiene is allocated as a low priority in nursing duties and student teaching(Berry and Davidson, 2006) although considered to be a basic nursing practice it is relegated to the bottom of the list of duties when caring for a complex intensive care patient. A paper written in 2003 found that Reinforcing proper oral care in education programmes, de-sensitizing nurses to the often-perceived unpleasantness of cleaning oral cavities, and working with hospital managers to allow sufficient time to attend to oral care are recommended.(Furr et el, 2004) Nurse education in oral health practice has remained relatively unchanged for 120 years, and qualified staff lack of adequate knowledge of oral health. In a systematic review (Berry, 20?) sites that nurses in the absence of evidence based guidelines to direct best practice, perform oral hygiene according to individual preferences and historical patterns. These are normally a combination of product availability and nurses previous experience. But the NMC The Code Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (NMC 2008): You must deliver care based on the best available evidence of best practice., although nurses are unclear about what is the best practice, there are many unclear studies and vague guidelines when it comes to Oral hygiene.. The benefits of oral decontamination in reducing VAP have been reviewed in a recent meta-analysis published by the British Journal of Nursing (BJN) This is a peer reviewed journal meaning that to publish within it, others of the same standing have read and agreed with its findings (LoBiondo and Wood, 2002). Toothbrushes/ Mouth swobs The use of the toothbrush in the mechanical removal of plaque, even in the intubated patient, has been proven to be superior to the swab,(AUS)(10) although electric toothbrushes are preferable, their cost, size and the potential for cross-infection limits their use AUS, (2003). Hutchins et al, (2009) research an icu where they had a ventilator bundle that included the use of suction tooth brushes. Swob sticks have been reported as ineffective in removing debris between the teeth and gum borders (Berry at el, 2007) although it was suggested that the use of foam swabs soaked in Chlorhexidine if a toothbrush is considered inappropriate. Although some research shows that mouth swobs should never be used due to them falling apart in the mouth (?)studies indicate that swabbing is the preferred method of oral care in the ICU (Furr et el, 2004) Tooth brushing with a child sized brush is superior to form swobs in removing dental plaque and bacteria in nurse administered oral care (Furr et el, 2004) Mouth wash Although few have been tested in the critical care population, the mouth care rises include chlorhexidine, sodium bicarbonate, hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate In a study conducted by Chan (Chan et el,) published in 2007 they found that the oral decontamination of vented patients using antiseptics is associated with a lower risk of VAP(Chan et el, 2007) but they did not reduce mortality or duration of mechanical ventilation or stay in hospital. Although in (Panchabhai et el, 2009) found that use of chlorhexidine did not reduce the amount of VAP compared to the control group, although both groups had reduced numbers of infection, but it did reduce the length of ICU stay. This may have been because they used potassium permanganate as a control rather than a placebo, also when the study was in progress periodic briefing of ICU nurses regarding the importance of mouth care and regular supervision and auditing where done so may have contributed to the decrease of VAP and length of stay. Chlorhexidine is the most investigated and recommended oral care product for preventing VAP.(Senol et el, 2007), although not all studies have found this. There have been reported cases of allergic reactions to Chlorhexidine. (?) Chlorhexidine may also cause brown discolouration to the teeth. (?) . Other ways of helping reduce are To reduce the incidence of VAP incline the head up to 35 percent, interruptions to sedation and the use of subglottic suctioning of secretions. Patients are also but on Tazocine Senol et el (2007) describes that an organised approach to VAP prevention can reduce the rate of VAP. A ventilator bundle is a group of interventions for the intubated patient found to be effective in the reduction rate of VAP. This included elevating the head, sedation vacations, prophylaxis for peptic ulcers and DVT thrombosis. At present there is a review in China underway that is look at Oral hygiene care for critically ill patients to prevent ventilator associated pneumonia, for the Cochrane library. Unfortunately at the time of writing this hasnt come to print (Shi et el, 2010) Berry et el (2007) systematic review concluded need more research Conclusion As indicated in (Marra et el, 2009) to control VAP in the ICU, it is not sufficient to implement 1 measure, or even an ventilator bundle, but rather it requires a culture change involving the entire ICU team. The writer feels that rather than just good oral hygiene to prevent VAP, The ventilator bundle seems to have good results. Education for all ICU nurses, prescribed mouth care products, and valid and reliable assessment tools are needed. The Writer feels that the reading and the literature search have extended their understanding of the key concepts, theories and methodologies surrounding oral decontamination, they have an increased awareness and knowledge and understanding of mouth care and are in a better position to make an informed choice about what practice to use.

Fly Away Peter :: essays research papers

'The characters of Imogen, Ashley and Jim counter the despair created by war'. Discuss. This idea of a countenance between the peaceful world of the sanctuary and the the chaotic world of war is one adapted by many, and with good reason. Through his novel, Malouf seeks to convey to the reader various themes. This is cleverly done in a number of ways, just one of which is this juxtaposition of the relationship between Imogen, Ashley and Jim and how it represents a peaceful world, and the 'despair created by war', its destructive nature and the effect it has on the world. The bond between Imogen, Ashley and Jim is founded on their passionate interest and love of the birds, and the individual gifts that each brings to that interest: Jim's special knowledge, Imogen's photography and Ashley's sense of the land and nature. The relationship between the three reflects the calm, balanced and tranquil order of the natural world. Their appreciation of the 'primitive power' of the bush represents a harmony, it goes 'beyond mere convention or the law'. Malouf, in creating such a powerful representation of the natural world, has prepared us well for the impact of war. The relationship established between Imogen, Ashley and Jim in the first half of the novel is skilfully juxtaposed with the trauma and upheaval of war in the second half. It is indeed a stark contrast to the tranquility of the sanctuary. The 'catastrophe' and 'madness' of the war hearlds Jim's 'fall from innocence'. This provides a dramatic contrast in mood, setting and action from the harmonious peace of the sanctuary section. The 'natural cycle of things' that Jim has been so in tune to has disappeared with the disturbance and destructive nature of war. Throughout the latter half of the novel, during which Jim is caught like a fly in the web of war, the layers of discontent are evident - disharmony is a constant theme. This is made far more apparent through the way in which Malouf uses Jim as a reference to the old world, when everything was ordered and followed a pattern. Jim was there because of the unnatural act of war, but as 'a kind of private reassurance for himself alone', there is 'the presence of the birds'. This allows him 'to find his way back at times to a natural cycle of things that the birds still followed undisturbed'.

Gonorrhea Essay -- STD Sexually Transmitted Disease

Approximately 1 million new cases of this disease are reported each year in the United States, and public health experts estimate that an additional million or more gonorrhea infections go unreported each year. Although these numbers seem very large, the disease occurs less frequently now than it did in the early 1980s. The rate of infection among young unmarried people between the ages of 15 and 24, however it remains very high. Study results released in 1988 by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute for Health Policy estimate that $ 1 billion is now being spent each year in the United States for the diagnosis and treatment of gonorrhea. Gonorrhea is caused by bacteria. It is almost always spread through sexual activity involving direct contact with mucous membranes. It is readily transmitted through vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse. The cervix, the urinary tract, the mouth, and the rectum provide ideal points of entry for the disease. In woman, the most common site of infection is the cervix . In men , it is the uretha . The infection can be spread from a man’s penis to the throat of his sex partner , it is much less likely that a man will contract or spread the disease by performing oral sex on a female partner . This disease can also be passed from a mother to her baby during childbirth The greatest danger for the newborn is blindness , but this can be prevented by placing a few drops of sil...

MBA Database Management Essay

A1. Differentiate between Traditional File System & Modern Database System File Base system were the traditional systems which has been replaced now by modern database systems. All database application are using the Modern day database management systems now a days . The difference between the these two technologies given below. File-based System File-based systems were an early attempt to computerize the manual filing system. File-based system is a collection of application programs that perform services for the end-users. Each program defines and manages its data. However, five types of problem are occurred in using the file-based approach: Separation and isolation of data When data is isolated in separate files, it is more difficult for us to access data that should be available. The application programmer is required to synchronize the processing of two or more files to ensure the correct data is extracted. Duplication of data When employing the decentralized file-based approach, the uncontrolled duplication of data is occurred. Uncontrolled duplication of data is undesirable because: i.Duplication is wasteful ii.Duplication can lead to loss of data integrity Data dependence Using file-based system, the physical structure and storage of the data files and records are defined in the application program code. This characteristic is known as program-data dependence. Making changes to an existing structure are rather difficult and will lead to a modification of program. Such maintenance activities are time-consuming and subject to error. Incompatible file formats The structures of the file are dependent on the application programming language. However file structure provided in one programming language such as direct file, indexed-sequential file which is available in COBOL programming, may be different from the structure generated by other programming language such as C. The direct incompatibility makes them difficult to process jointly. Fixed queries / proliferation of application programs File-based systems are very dependent upon the application programmer. Any required queries or reports have to be written by the application programmer. Normally, a fixed format query or report can only be entertained and no facility for ad-hoc queries if offered. File-based systems also give tremendous pressure on data processing staff, with users’ complaints on programs that are inadequate or inefficient in meeting their demands. Documentation may be limited and maintenance of the system is difficult. Provision for security, integrity and recovery capability is very limited. Database Systems: In order to overcome the limitations of the file-based approach, the concept of database and the Database Management System (DMS) was emerged in 60s. A database is an application that can store and retrieve data very rapidly. The relational bit refers to how the data is stored in the database and how it is organized. When we talk about database, we mean a relational database, in fact an RDBMS – Relational Database Management System. In a relational database, all data is stored in tables. These have the same structure repeated in each row (like a spreadsheet) and it is the relations between the tables that make it a â€Å"relational† table Advantages: A number of advantages of applying database approach in application system are obtained including: Control of data redundancy The database approach attempts to eliminate the redundancy by integrating the file. Although the database approach does not eliminate redundancy entirely, it controls the amount of redundancy inherent in the database. Data consistency: By eliminating or controlling redundancy, the database approach reduces the risk of inconsistencies occurring. It ensures all copies of the idea are kept consistent. More information from the same amount of data With the integration of the operated data in the database approach, it may be possible to derive additional information for the same data. Sharing of data Database belongs to the entire organization and can be shared by all authorized users. Improved data integrity Database integrity provides the validity and consistency of stored data. Integrity is usually expressed in terms of constraints, which are consistency rules that the database is not permitted to violate. Improved security Database approach provides a protection of the data from the unauthorized users. It may take the term of user names and passwords to identify user type and their access right in the operation including retrieval, insertion, updating and deletion. Enforcement of standards The integration of the database enforces the necessary standards including data formats, naming conventions, documentation standards, update procedures and access rules. Economy of scale Cost savings can be obtained by combining all organization’s operational data into one database with applications to work on one source of data. Balance of conflicting requirements By having a structural design in the database, the conflicts between users or departments can be resolved. Decisions will be based on the base use of resources for the organization as a whole rather that for an individual entity. Improved data accessibility and responsiveness By having an integration in the database approach, data accessing can be crossed departmental boundaries. This feature provides more functionality and better services to the users. Increased productivity The database approach provides all the low-level file-handling routines. The provision of these functions allows the programmer to concentrate more on the specific functionality required by the users. The fourth-generation environment provided by the database can simplify the database application development. Improved maintenance Database approach provides a data independence. As a change of data structure in the database will be affect the application program, it simplifies database application maintenance. Increased concurrency Database can manage concurrent data access effectively. It ensures no interference between users that would not result any loss of information nor loss of integrity. Improved backing and recovery services Modern database management system provides facilities to minimize the amount of processing that can be lost following a failure by using the transaction approach. Disadvantages In split of a large number of advantages can be found in the database approach, it is not without any challenge. The following disadvantages can be found including: Complexity Database management system is an extremely complex piece of software. All parties must be familiar with its functionality and take full advantage of it. Therefore, training for the administrators, designers and users is required. Size The database management system consumes a substantial amount of main memory as well as a large number amount of disk space in order to make it run efficiently. Cost of DBMS A multi-user database management system may be very expensive. Even after the installation, there is a high recurrent annual maintenance cost on the software. Cost of conversion When moving from a file-base system to a database system, the company is required to have additional expenses on hardware acquisition and training cost. Performance As the database approach is to cater for many applications rather than exclusively for a particular one, some applications may not run as fast as before. Higher impact of a failure The database approach increases the vulnerability of the system due to the centralization. As all users and applications reply on the database availability, the failure of any component can bring operations to a halt and affect the services to the customer seriously Q2. What is the disadvantage of sequential file organization? How do you overcome it? What are the advantages & disadvantages of Dynamic Hashing? Disadvantage of Sequestial file organization: A file that contains records or other elements that are stored in a chronological order based on account number or some other identifying data. In order to locate the desired data, sequential files must be read starting at the beginning of the file. A sequential file may be stored on a sequential access device such as magnetic tape or on a direct access device such as magnetic disk. Contrast with random file. Dynamic Hashing: Advantages The main advantage of hash tables over other table data structures is speed. This advantage is more apparent when the number of entries is large (thousands or more). Hash tables are particularly efficient when the maximum number of entries can be predicted in advance, so that the bucket array can be allocated once with the optimum size and never resized. If the set of key-value pairs is fixed and known ahead of time (so insertions and deletions are not allowed), one may reduce the average lookup cost by a careful choice of the hash function, bucket table size, and internal data structures. In particular, one may be able to devise a hash function that is collision-free, or even perfect (see below). In this case the keys need not be stored in the table . Disadvantages Hash tables can be more difficult to implement than self-balancing binary search trees. Choosing an effective hash function for a specific application is more an art than a science. In open-addressed hash tables it is fairly easy to create a poor hash function. Although operations on a hash table take constant time on average, the cost of a good hash function can be significantly higher than the inner loop of the lookup algorithm for a sequential list or search tree. Thus hash tables are not effective when the number of entries is very small. (However, in some cases the high cost of computing the hash function can be mitigated by saving the hash value together with the key.) For certain string processing applications, such as spell-checking, hash tables may be less efficient than tries, finite automata, or Judy arrays. Also, if each key is represented by a small enough number of bits, then, instead of a hash table, one may use the key directly as the index into an array of values. Note that there are no collisions in this case. The entries stored in a hash table can be enumerated efficiently (at constant cost per entry), but only in some pseudo-random order. Therefore, there is no efficient way to efficiently locate an entry whose key is nearest to a given key. Listing all n entries in some specific order generally requires a separate sorting step, whose cost is proportional to log(n) per entry. In comparison, ordered search trees have lookup and insertion cost proportional to log(n), but allow finding the nearest key at about the same cost, and ordered enumeration of all entries at constant cost per entry. If the keys are not stored (because the hash function is collision-free), there may be no easy way to enumerate the keys that are present in the table at any given moment. Although the average cost per operation is constant and fairly small, the cost of a single operation may be quite high. In particular, if the hash table uses dynamic resizing, an insertion or deletion operation may occasionally take time proportional to the number of entries. This may be a serious drawback in real-time or interactive applications. Hash tables in general exhibit poor locality of reference—that is, the data to be accessed is distributed seemingly at random in memory. Because hash tables cause access patterns that jump around, this can trigger microprocessor cache misses that cause long delays. Compact data structures such as arrays, searched with linear search, may be faster if the table is relatively small and keys are integers or other short strings. According to Moore’s Law, cache sizes are growing exponentially and so what is considered â€Å"small† may be increasing. The optimal performance point varies from system to system. Hash tables become quite inefficient when there are many collisions. While extremely uneven hash distributions are extremely unlikely to arise by chance, a malicious adversary with knowledge of the hash function may be able to supply information to a hash which creates worst-case behavior by causing excessive collisions, resulting in very poor performance (i.e., a denial of service attack). In critical applications, either universal hashing can be used or a data structure with better worst-case guarantees may be preferable Q3. What is relationship type? Explain the difference among a relationship instance, relationship type & a relation set? A3. A relationship type R among n entity types E1, E2, †¦, En is a set of associations among entities from these types. Actually, R is a set of relationship instances ri where each ri is an n-tuple of entities (e1, e2, †¦, en), and each entity ej in ri is a member of entity type Ej, 1≠¤j≠¤n. Hence, a relationship type is a mathematical relation on E1, E2, †¦, En, or alternatively it can be defined as a subset of the Cartesian product E1x E2x †¦ xEn . Here, entity types E1, E2, †¦, En defines a set of relationship, called relationship sets. Q4. What is SQL? Discuss. Q5. What is Normalization? Discuss various types of Normal Forms? Q6. What do you mean by Shared Lock & Exclusive lock? Describe briefly two phase locking protocol? MI0034 – Database Management System – 4 Credits Assignment – Set- 2 (60 Marks) Answer all the Questions Q1. Define Data Model & discuss the categories of Data Models? What is the difference between logical data Independence & Physical Data Independence? Q2. What is a B+Trees? Describe the structure of both internal and leaf nodes of a B+Tree? Q3. Describe Projection operation, Set theoretic operation & join operation? Q4. Discuss Multi Table Queries? Q5. Discuss Transaction Processing Concept? 10.2 Describe properties of Transactions? Q6. Describe the advantage of Distributed database? What is Client/server Model? Discuss briefly the security and Internet violation? .