Stack Sequential Algorithm to Analyse Adverse Drug Reaction

Stack Sequential Algorithm to Analyse Adverse Drug Reaction Amiya Kumar Tripathy, Nilakshi Joshi, Aslesha More, Divyadev Pillai, Amruni Waingankar Abstract— An adverse drug reaction (ADR) is ‘a response to a medicine which is noxious and unintended, and which occurs at doses normally used in human beings’. During the last decades it has been estimated that such adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the 4th to 6th largest cause for mortality in different countries. They result in the death of several thousands of patients each year, and many more suffer from ADRs. The percentage of hospital admissions due to adverse drug reactions in some countries is about or more than 10%. In addition suitable services to treat ADRs impose a high financial burden on health care due to the hospital care of patients with drug related problems. Some countries spend up to 15-20% of their hospital budget dealing with drug complications. The existing scenario is manual, costly, not easily portable and the findings are not reported to the responsible authorities in timely manner. To overcome these flaws of the existing system, we propose a automated ADR detecting  system. This is an interactive system platform for detecting ADR from the specified combination of drugs. If ADR is detected , the system will suggest some appropriate combination of drugs which will solve the specified purpose. The detection part of ADR is done by using algorithms like Chi-Square, PRR (Proportionality Result Ratio), Combinational.(Which are already implemented). The solution part i.e, suggesting appropriate drug combination is implemented by Sequential decoding algorithms and the stack sequential algorithm. Keywords—Adverse Drug Reaction, Adverse Drug Event, Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network, Information Component, Frequent Pattern, Online Analytical Processing Database , Operating System, Random Access Memory, Medicines and Healthcare pro ducts Regulatory Agency, World Health Organization. I. INTRODUCTION An adverse drug reaction (ADR) is an injury caused by taking medication.[1] ADRs may occur due to a single dose or long term administration of a drug or result from the combination of two or more drugs ,as this last expression might also imply that the effects can be beneficial.†ADE can be mainly caused from medication errors. A serious adverse event is any event that: Is fatal Is life-threatening Is permanently/significantly disabling Requires or longterm hospitalization Causes birth defects Requires intervention to prevent permanent impairment or damage II. RELATED WORK Study of design elements include exploration of relevant multiple outcomes (utilization and/or safety), sample size calculations, cohort accrual procedures, and the timing and method of data collection. The custom questionnaires can include those related risks potentially possible and identified, also missing information in RMPs or can be designed to address specific regulatory issues. Single data capture or multiple data capture phases enable abstraction of clinical information from medical chart review by prescribers responsible for treatment initiation in primary care, over a time frame relevant to study needs analysis plans can be tailored to address novel analytical issues and also convey thoughtful, appropriate, and comprehensive analysis of the data. Study reports have been prepared with scientific rigor to provide brief or in depth presentation of results relevant to the products safety and efficiency [4]. Before a medicine is granted a license it has to go through the strict tests and routine checks to ensure that it is acceptably safe and effective. All the medicines which are effective, can cause adverse drug reactions which in general term we say a side effect, which can range from a very minor occurrence to being very serious. For a medicine to be authorized licensed, the benefits of the medicine must satisfy all the possible conditions of the medicine causing adverse effects in patients. Many a times, it is not easy to identify if the side effect is due to a medicine, or something else. Even if it is only a suspicion that a medicine or combination of medicines has caused a side effect, the patients or doctors are asked to send the proper reports of the symptoms and drugs prescribed, to FDA. Reports received on suspected side effects are evaluated, with the information like clinical trial data, medical literature or data from international medicines regulators, for identifying previously unidentified safety issues or side effects[5]. In statistics, a confidence interval (CI) is a population parameter estimation and it indicates the reliability of an estimate. It is calculated from the observations, in principle differs from sample to sample. The frequently observed interval contains the parameter and is determined by the confidence level or confidence coefficient. Confidence intervals contains a range of values (interval) that act as best estimates of the unknown population parameter. However, in infrequent cases, none of these values may cover the value of the parameter. The level of confidence of the confidence interval would indicate the probability that the confidence range captures this true population parameter given a distribution of samples. The confidence interval contains the parameter values that, when tested, should not be rejected with the same sample. Greater levels of variance yield larger confidence intervals, and hence less precise estimates of the parameter. Confidence intervals of difference parameters not containing 0 imply that there is a statistically significant difference between the populations. III.SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE The database comprises of a combination of drugs-symptoms and the adverse drug reactions associated with them in particular. The database is a heterogeneous aggregation of the demographic, combination, drug, symptoms and reactions of ADRs. It previously consists of Information related to the drug description and attributes of the patient as well. After evaluating the patient info which involves the symptoms and the medicines the doctor has prescribed to that patient the working system would provide a safe case to the end user. These cases are consistent and can be further used by the Doctor/Pharmacist to prescribe the combinations. These safe cases would be ago ahead for the doctor about his prescription to that particular patient. These are tested cases and determine the validity of that doctor’s prescription. The probability of occurrence of an ADR and its detection for a new patient is our main goal. The input after being assessed derives a result of an ADR case. The occurrence of ADR means that the Doctor has to modify his combination of Drugs accordingly and convert an ADR case to a safe case. This should result in the doctor making changes that prove to be safe to the patient according to our system. The input given by the Doctor detecting an ADR case is then matched with the database in the available system. The Database already comprises of ADR cases found out, so when a current patient whose symptoms and the prescribed medicine by the doctor matches it leads to a ADR detection. Figure 1: System Architecture The doctor will give input to the system including the patients symptoms and the medicines prescribed by the doctor to that current patient .These information are the important factors for the detection of the ADR through the system. IV.SYSTEM FLOW Figure 2: System flow The System flow involves extracting the Database which includes the ADR cases and the safe cases. These cases are stored in the database and comprises of the drug-symptom combination. When a Doctor provides input to the system with the Symptoms and drugs, the system evaluates the validity using the PRR algorithm and provides a value which is then matched with the current records in the database of ADRs. In occurrences of safe case the doctor continues with his combination of medicines prescribed, but in the event of an ADR that is occurred the doctor realizes that a medical negligence could occur. To prevent such an occurrence he modifies his drug combination for the safety of the patient. V. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP For making experimental setup we have developed the structured database in XAMPP with MySQL and we have made front end in HTML for executing various queries. The database which we are using is the official database released by food and Drug Administration (FDA)[2]. The database is updated after every three months. Database consist complete information about Demographic data of patients, drug, indications, reactions, therapy ETC. data of 5000 patients was considered as test cases. The database which we have contains following: Drug information; Reaction information; Patient outcome information; Information on the source; Figure 3: database Screenshot This table shown below gives complete statistics about the test cases of adverse drug reaction received in various years. The test cases are reported by various hospitals, doctors, pharmacist, clinical researches, and drug manufacturers. This table shows the number of reports received by Food and Drug Association and entered into FDA Adverse Event Reporting System by type of report since the year 2003 until the end of the second quarter of 2012. Table 1: database statistics Table 1 provides information regarding the data that is present in the database[2]. Each year shows a number of new cases that were registered with the US FDA. Expedited Cases involve those which were reported as soon as it was detected. Direct Cases involve those which were reported by individuals/ independent medical practitioners. Non-expedited cases are those cases which were reported much after occurrence. The number of cases that were received by US FDA were much higher than those that were entered. Details regarding registered cases is available until the second quarter of the year 2012 only. VI. METHODS AND ALGORITHMS Proportionality Reporting Ratio (PRR) The PRR algorithm is a statistical method which is used to detect ADRs in Electronic health records and databases .The working of this algorithm relies on the fact that when an ADR (related to a particular event) is identified for a medicinal product (say medicinal product P), this adverse event is relatively reported more often in association with this product P than with any other products in the database. This gradual increase in the reporting of events for the medicinal product P in consideration is reflected in the table below based on the total number of cases stored in the database. Table 2: Contingency matrix for PRR In the table mentioned the elements calculated are the individual available cases in the available database .Therefore a given individual case may contribute to only a single cell of the table, where the cases refer to the multiple products or the adverse events[7] PRR= A/(A+B) C/(C+D) The general criteria to run the PRR are as follows: Value A is the number of cases with the defective medicinal product P involving an adverse event R. Value B is the number of cases related to the defective medicinal product P, involving any other adverse events but R. Value C is the number of cases involving event R in relation to any other medicinal products but P. Value D is the number of cases involving any other adverse events but R and any other medicinal products but P The system performs the calculations of the PRR on all the case counts instead of the ADRs to be chosen to keep the individuality between the variables used to calculate PRR so that the difference of the PRR will not be underestimated. The calculation of the PRR is done as follows: For evaluating given cases of nausea involving medicinal product ‘allopurinol l’ = 15% (e.g. 15 reports of diarrhea amongst a total of 100 reports reported with medicinal product ‘allopurino l’). For evaluating a given number of reports of nausea with other medicinal products in a database = 5%. Thus, the Proportionality Reporting Ratio is equal to 3 . The chi-square (χ2) statistics The Chi-square is a statistic, which is traditionally used in dis proportionality analyses. The Chi-square is used as an alternative measure of association between the medicinal product P and the adverse event R based on the following calculation:[8] X2= (AD-BC)2(A+B+C+D)/[(A+B)(C+D)(A+C)(B+D)] When the PRR is displayed with the X2 statistic : The PRR ≠¥ 2 The X2 ≠¥ 4 The number of indivisual cases greater or equal to 3. Stack Sequential We introduce the drug combination optimization algorithms and show how they relate to the algorithms used in sequential decoding. Fully factorial datasets, where every possible drug combination is tested, grow exponentially with the number of drugs (n). See Text S1 for the relevant equation and an example dataset. In computational terms we say that the complexity is O(an). The O-notation indicates the order of growth of an algorithm basic operation count as a function of the input size. An exponential growth is not practical for large n, therefore our aim is to find algorithms with improved efficiency, for example with a linear dependency on n, expressed as O(n). The problem of finding the optimal estimate of the encoded sequence is described as a walk through a tree. To appreciate the analogy with the search for the optimal drug combination, the tree shown in Figure 4 can be compared with the trees used in one of the original descriptions of the stack sequential algorithm [14]. An alternative version of the tree, the ‘‘trellis’’ depiction shown in Figure 5, eliminates nodes representing redundant drug-dose combinations. The stack is a sorted list of all examined combinations (best on top). Notations : A1= BACITRACIN A2= KADCYLA B1= ERYTHROMYCIN B2= RAMIPRIL S1 – the process initially contains only the list of the measurements in the absence of any drug (the root of the tree of Figure 4). Figure.4 Tree representation of the data S2 The parsing begins from the top of the sorted list. After the search completes it moves one level up in the braches of figure 4. Combinations already used are ignored for future extensions. S3 – Once the combination reaches its maximum size , the parsing ends. This is similar to reaching the top of the tree of Figure 4. Since we consider the best combination, instead of best path, we do not delete any combination from the processed list. When we find a combination been already used, we move to the next combination in the sorted list. We do not combine different doses of the same drug with each other, to limit the size of the search, but this is not an essential feature as shown in Figure 2,. The algorithm is efficient in searching combinations in which the outcome is not purely additive, because it overcomes non-linearities by backtracking to nodes in the tree. Figure.5 Trellis-like representation showing combination of the data. S1 Examine all drugs based on strength, doses and rank. S2 The best drug combination is saved from the processed list. S3 Select the best single drug and call it Cbest. S4 Take the Combination of Cbest with all other drugs, increasing the drug size by 1, measure the biological scores, and store the list of drugs of this size. At this step the algorithm moves one level upwards in the tree of Figure 4. S5 If the new combinations scores better than Cbest, this combination is used as the new Cbest and return to previous step. If no new combination scores better than Cbest, backtrack to the next best combination in the previous size, mark it as Cbest and return to the previous step. S6 Backtrack value should be limited to a specific value. S7 Repeat S4 to S6 till we find that the maximum size for the combinations is reached. VII. CONCLUSION In this system, by using PRR in association with Chi-Square, an attempt has been made to help and assist the doctors/pharmacists to perform safe drug evaluation. An experimental study using test cases and combinations from a doctor was performed and the results obtained were very promising. The system proposes a unique method for correcting the prescribed combination of drugs in case of an ADR event occurrence using Stack Sequential. The possibility of vast Patient Record data available allows for extracting the results available to the system. The approach used in this paper can be to provide an impetus and improve existing systems that provide detect Adverse Drug Reactions. In the field of Pharmaceutical and medical diagnosis, there is always the scope for uncertainty. This system has been built to provide a naà ¯ve and safe understanding of the drug combinations on the experience of doctors only, so there will always be a scope for ambiguous or uncertain diagnosis. The developed system does not give a 100% accurate results as not even the doctors can claim to do so; however, its results are promising. It can be used as a tool to complement the doctors’ knowledge and could assist them to reach a conclusion. The system will give the doctor an upper hand to decide whether to use the results evaluated from the algorithm and prevent an ADR. By using this system, many essential results can be obtained, thus reducing the effects of wrong prescriptions to some extent. With the support of various medicinal and pharmaceutical practitioners and hospitals, higher probability of getting the positive results right can be obtained. With an extensive database of medical records to mine from, this could be useful to build helpful medical assistance software that can be of great use to all doctors and pharmacists using this system. The system will also help the medical fraternity in the future by helping them in providing safer medical assistance to the patients and doctors. VIII. REFERENCES [1] Search Algorithms as a Framework for the Optimization of Drug Combinations Diego Calzolari1., Stefania Bruschi1., Laurence Coquin1, Jennifer Schofield1, Jacob D. Feala2, John C. Reed1, Andrew D. McCulloch2, Giovanni Paternostro1,2* 1 Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla, California, United States of America, 2 Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America. [2] Safety of Medicines A guide to detecting and reporting adverse drug reactions. [3] Statistical methods for knowledge discovery in adverse drug reaction surveillance G. Niklas Norà ©n. [4] Adverse drug reactions: definitions, diagnosis, and management I Ralph Edwards, Jeffrey K Aronson [5] MANUAL OF OPERATIONS ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS ONLINE REPORTING SYSTEM (ADORS) [6] An Information Technology Architecture for Drug Effectiveness Reporting and Post-Marketing Surveillance -Surendra Sarnikar , Amar Gupta, Ray Woosley(2006). [7] A multi-agent intelligent system for detecting unknown adverse drug reactions through communication and collaboration -Ayman Mohammad Mansour Wayne State University(2012) [8] ADRTrace: Detecting Expected and Unexpected Adverse Drug Reactions from User Reviews on Social Media Sites Andrew Yates, Nazli Goharian [9] Detect adverse drug reactions for the drug Pravastatin. Yihui Liul ‘Institute of Intelligent Information Processing,’ Shandong Polytechnic University, China(2012)

The Politics of Highly Radioactive Waste Disposal Essay -- Radioactive

The Politics of Highly Radioactive Waste Disposal Nuclear waste disposal is a political problem, not a technical problem.1 — Dr. Edward Teller Highly radioactive waste disposal has become one of the most controversial aspects of nuclear technology. As the amount of spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear reactors and high-level radioactive waste from defense-related processing plants has continued to mount, the issue has become increasingly contentious and politicized.2 The politicization of this issue is especially evident in the site selection process of a permanent national repository for the disposal of highly radioactive waste. Paradoxically, as the need for action has become more acute, the conflict generated by the politicization of the site selection process has delayed progress on the establishment of a permanent nuclear waste storage facility. As early as 1957, the National Academy of Sciences recommended the disposal of radioactive waste in deep underground rock as the best means of protecting public health and safety.3 However, it was not until 25 years later that the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 began the process of establishing a deep, underground permanent national storage repository for highly radioactive waste. The 1982 Act mandated that the Department of Energy (DOE) would study multiple sites in the West and select one to be ready to serve as the first national repository for highly radioactive waste by January 31, 1998.4 A second site in the East, where the majority of highly radioactive material is generated, would be designated later. The site selection process was slow and arduous due to opposition generated by states identified as potential hosts for a national radioactive... ...S Issue Brief, Congressional Research Service, December 3, 1996, [http://www.cnie.org/nle/eng-18.html], 5. 29 Mark Holt and Zachary Davis, "Nuclear Energy Policy," CRS Issue Brief, Congressional Research Service, updated December 5, 1996, [http://www.cnie.org/nle/eng-5.html], 7. 30 Will Nixon, "High Energy," E/The Environmental Magazine, [http://www.adams.ind.net/Environment.html], May/June 1995, 4. 31 Associated Press, "Court: U.S. must take nuclear waste by 1998," The Courier, July 24, 1996, A1. 32 See U.S. Congress (S. 1271), "Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996," Congressional Record,104th Congress, 2d Session. Also see U.S. Congress (S. 1936), "Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1996," Congressional Record, 104th Congress, 2d Session. 33 See U.S. Congress (S. 104), â€Å"Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997,† Congressional Record, 105th Congress, 1st Session.

Standard Costing

Introduction to Management Accounting Lecture: Albert De Jonge Student: John Alejandro Eusse Agudelo Submission date: 20/04/12 Contentpage Introduction3 Standard Cost3 History of Standard Costing4 Disadvantage of Standard Cost4 Advantage and benefits of Standard Costing 5 & 6 The relevance of standard in Brittan and rest of the world6 Overhead 7 Conclusion8 Reference and Bibliography9 IntroductionThis report is based on the relevance of standard costing in Modern Britain, the report will include so fact and evidence that standard costing is relevant or not relevant for a 21st century Britain. To clarify more on this topic and to support my argument and discussion it will be necessary to use empirical evidence such as case studies from social scientist and scholars specialised in the subject. The assignment will focus on how standard costing is relevant in the UK compare to Germany and Japan.The aim of this report will be to present an argument for and against standard -costing. My fi ndings will determine what evidence to use so that, the report will be unbiased and well presented according to the assessment task. Lastly there will be difference between standard price and standard cost, this will be made clear and explain further. My research will be done through Internet source textbooks. Standard Cost â€Å"Standard cost is usually associated with a Manufacturing Company’s cost of material and direct labour and manufacturing overhead†.Standard cost is different from Actual cost because standard cost is an estimate put together, Standard costing is a reliable technique used to manage and improve the performance of an organisation, standard costing can be seen to the same or similar to Activity based costing (ABC) but has often been criticized to be outdates and lost relevance but it was also suggested that the best techniques for controlling cost and performance management is to use ABC and standard costingStandard costing is a management tool use d to estimate the over cost of production assume normal operations in other words, the estimate cost of material, labour overheads and other cost for each unit of production or purchase in a given accounts period. The basic concept of standard costing should be discuss clearly because it form the bases of the argument s to weather standing is relevant or not in the recent times. The charted institute of management Accounting, London, defines standard costing as â€Å"the preparation of standard cost and analysing cost the causes of variation with a view to maintain maximum efficiency in production.From the above definition, there are some key words that needs to be noted and explain for clarity of this report, one of which is standard cost – which is defined by the institute of cost and work Accountants as standard cost are prepared and used to clarify the final result of a business particularly by measurement of variations of actual cost from standard cost and the analysis of causes of variation for the purpose of maintaining efficiency of executive action. History of Standard CostingFor over 100 years, standard costing has been used for valuing stock and work in progress â€Å"some historians say the origins of costing go back even further and have found evidence it was used in American Civil war by quarter master as a means of controlling cost. It doesn’t really matter when the technique was invented what is more important is that it is still in use today† â€Å"In 1989 a survey showed that standard costing was being used by more than 75% of British Industries e. g. brewing, textile, electronics and Pharmaceuticals. Disadvantage of Standard CostThere are many article and books that criticise standard costing as a technique that’s in appropriate as capital intensive industries with high level of fixed overheads. Some Journals articles from the US in recent years indicate in use and although a 100 years old has definitely survive d the test of time. It can be used effectively to those industries which are producing standardised product and are repetitive in nature , examples are transport for London, Salt industries etc. Standard costing is not suitable in situations where a variety of different ind of tasks are being done e. g. this is one of the weakness of standard costing it does not include overheads Standard cost variance report is usually prepared on monthly bases and often is released days even week after the end of month. As a consequence the information in the report may be so stale that it is almost useless. Timely frequent report that are very precise but out of date by the time they are release some companies are now reporting variances and other key operating data daily or even more frequently.If managers are intensive and use variances report as a club, morale may suffer, employees should receive positive reinforcement for work well. Increase in Labour doesn’t necessarily mean productio n will increase because output is depended on processing speed of machine. â€Å"(George Brown 2000) mentions that they can be improvements and changes which may be aided though the monitoring of variance trends though time. Trends may be monitored in order to establish whether the situation is deemed to be in control with variance fluctuating within acceptable limits.Alternatively, the variance trend may indicate an out of control situation which must be investigated with a view to improving and changing product design, production methods. Etc† â€Å"Many candidates are unable to carry out necessary computational aspects of an examination question. This is likely caused, at least in part because of a lack of understanding of physical situation which the data is intended to represent. A further problem is lack of ability to relate the physical information that has been calculated and the discussion about it relevance as a business tool in planning, control etc. Advantage and benefits of Standard Costing The benefits of using standard costing is that it can be used by management and managers as marks against which the performance of an organisation or of a department can be measured, it’s a good control tool for every activity it is not only a cost control tool but also help in help in production planning and decision making policy formulation and allows management by exception. â€Å"(George Brown,2000 ) states that it’s a useful part in management accounting tool kit which has also been increasingly questioned.The extent to which standards have a role to play in modern business is linked to the adaptation of progress, market and policies in changing business environment. â€Å" The rate of change in product type and design due to technological improvements, customer requirements and increased competition has led rapid to change in how business operate. The need to respond to customer demands for speedy availability of products, shorten ing product life cycles and higher quality standards has contributed to a number of changes in the way in which business operate.These include: Just in time system allied to flexible manufacturing systems aimed to ensure that customers demand may be satisfied on a pull though basis. Stock and work in progress Will be minimised and the business operating cycle tailored to cater for the specific customer requirements. Total quality programmes aim at continuous improvement, with the identification and elimination of non value added activities and the effective provision of added activities.Great emphasis on the value chain, from close link with suppliers of input materials and services to identification of customer needs in respect of quality, deliver and changing requirements though time. cost control standard costing system help to improve cost control and cost reduction, This involve the whole process of setting the standards second is a routine comparison and analysis of performanc e and expenditure against these standards and lastly is the ability to express and study the variations in monetary terms and implement corrective measure. (George Brow, 2000) asks what of standards in modern business? Can planning and decision making be accomplished in an effective manner without reference to some standard or based and without recourse to some measurement though time of achievements of, progress towards or variation from such standard or base? What elements of traditional stand cost will still have some relevance?This question has been raised and discussed in a number of areas in which standards may feature:† Right decision making – It provides information to the operational staff, accountant and the management about the expected utilisation of production lines, machines, vehicles, cost, of all activities and raw material & standard processing time. Performance management the target of different individuals, are fixed if the performance is according to predetermined standards.This standard can be used by managers as yardstick against which the performance of an organisation or department can be measured with this the management has no worries, the responsibilities are fixed and everybody tries to achieve his or her target and with hoe the are appraised Benchmarking standard costs are good yard stick for comparison between different plants at different locations standard develop for a production line in manufacturing company A can be compare with standard develop in another manufacturing company of the same production line.Budgeting and planning It helps the management to prepare forecast for the rest of the year and sometimes more year’s e. g 5 years etc. The relevance of standard in Brittan and rest of the world Standard costing is arguably less relevant according to authors and professional in the accounting world this method is out dated and should be replace with more up to date method such as JIT TQM and ABC. The use of standard costing is relevant to an extends however the more current method are prefer and are widely used in most manufacturing company’s. Dr. Reef Lawson, IMA vice president of research and Professor-in-Residence; Jiliang Yang, retired professor from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and Pinzhun Ding, IMA senior China advisor, formerly of the PRC Ministry of Finance and the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA). These are the researchers that worked on the evolution of the finance and accounting (F&A) function in Chinese companies and management accounting technique (costing practice) they use.The study found significant differences between the costing practices followed by most Western companies and those followed by Chinese companies. † â€Å"It has been claimed that the use of standard costing is less expensive than an actual or normal costing system (Hilton et al. , 2003). Accordingly, standard costing has been widely used for both cost control and product costing purposes as well as to evaluate performance. Overhead Standard costing techniques do not include any overheads because standard costing always include elements for fixed overhead due to a larger percentage or the total cost of a product in manufacturing plants.In this case, there are two ways of approaching overheads treatment when using standard costing in management reporting. â€Å"Whelden (1932) in the first edition of cost Accounting and actual overhead costing methods, simply record the over or under applied overhead as the difference between actual overhead cost and a standard charge to work in progress. † In 1950 W Coutts Donald (CA,FCWA) used the innovation of calendar variance as part of the overhead volume variance.The calendar variance was a self adjusting variance that allowed for the under or over absorption of fixed overhead cost due to the varying number of working hours or days in any given accounting period. Where the bu dgeted fixed overhead was broken down into twelve equal parts, the calendar variance was in effect and used to flex the fixed overhead budget. In this case on a later date it was analysed into expenditure and volume variance. The volume variance was then subdivided into capacity and efficiency or productivity variance.Separate sets of overheads variances for fixed and variable overheads were also calculated. As mentioned earlier, the calculation of a calendar as part of fixed overhead capacity variance was probably the least understood of all variance. The Puxty and Lyall and Drury surveys show that 60% and 89% of respondents respectively, reported an overhead expenditure variance. Much lower numbers (28% and 41 %) reported an overhead volume variance. This could indicate a high level of use of a contribution approach in reporting system. 1) Overhead can be completely I ignoredOr (2) assumed to be fully absorbed by some cost drivers, these are the activities that consumes resources such as machine labour hours the mileage or the truck fleet etc. Conclusion The evidence showed that standard costing is less relevant in Britain because the country is more relying on service rather than manufacturing, The way standard costing as lasted over time also suggest how useful it has been and the alternative option such as TQM,JITand ABC could not replace the standard costing in the near at the moment.It is well known among the social scientist that this process is less common and even less in the United Kingdom because of the lack of manufacturing output in all the sectors compare to other countries such as USA, China, Japan and Germany. The way the report set out it support the argument that standard costing is relevant but the threat of it being extinct is something that need to be considered, even though it as survived many years, it is inevitable that the other method will come into practice more often for the newer generation.

Vacant Chapter 9 Love

The words are ringing in my ears: â€Å"I love you.† It occurs to me I may have misheard. It's the only possible explanation. â€Å"So, you're okay? Don't listen to those girls, Emily.† I'll just pretend those three little words aren't hanging in the air – regardless of whether they were actually said. â€Å"Ethan, did you hear what I just said?† What do I say? I have no idea how to approach this, so I just stare at her wide-eyed. After a few moments, I feel warmth creeping up my thigh and realize its Emily's hand. At first, it's an attempt to get my attention, but as her hand ascends, I realize the intent is not so innocent. â€Å"We have to go. It's time to go,† I say, stilted, like Rain Man talking about his Kmart underwear. I grip the steering wheel for dear life because if I don't, the car and my life will go careening into the abyss. I've spent all this time convincing myself that Emily and I could never be anything but friends. Knowing that she may feel the same about me as I feel about her will complicate things, and I suddenly feel trapped. It's so quiet as we drive, that I hear a small plinking that would go unnoticed otherwise, but as I near the duplex, the sound the car is making increases. I briefly wonder if it's because the plink is getting worse or the quiet is just so intense. I make a mental note to find the origin of the plinking before putting too many more miles on the car. I should be thinking about the woman sitting next to me and her recent declaration instead of small pings, but I'm not†¦ I can't. If I do†¦ no. I can't think. I'm not even sure how I get here, but I'm sitting in the middle of my bed, having an argument with myself. It's no surprise that I'm winning. â€Å"She told you she loves you.† â€Å"She says she loves to cook. She loves lots of things.† â€Å"She's in there and you're in here.† â€Å"You really need to clean the ceiling fan blades.† I can't help but roll my eyes at myself. When I finally exit my room, the apartment is dark and quiet. Emily is asleep on the couch with a tight grip on the blankets. Little does she know she's gripping at my heart the same way. The notebook on the side table catches my eye, and I can't help but snoop. As I near it, I see there are several wads of paper strewn across the floor – discarded because they weren't perfect. The top piece, still clinging to life in its spiral bindings, is flawless. Dear Ethan – Sitting down to write this, I've never felt more like a young girl than I do right now. For the past two years, I've looked at you every day in hopes that someday – you'd feel for me, what I feel for you. But now I see that we perceive different things regarding our relationship. Maybe it could be classified on my part as hero worship, but I'd like to think I'm smarter than that. I think I know the difference between infatuation and love. I know there is a difference in our ages, but who cares? My heart has no idea how old your heart is. I just know that if I don't tell you, it will fester inside me, and I'll die a slow painful death. I've only ever loved my mom and never really knew what it was like to care for another person until I met you. I didn't fall in love with you that first day, but after many months of learning to appreciate your care and concern, I could see how kind your soul – your whole being is. That's when I knew another kind of love existed. It isn't the type of love between family members, or a crush, but a true love that is unconditional and lasting, a love that I can no longer hide. I know you probably don't return these feelings, but I couldn't go another second without you knowing. I understand if it makes you uncomfortable, and I'll find another place to live if you feel like we can no longer be friends. Love always, Emily I tightly clutch the notebook page in my hand. How can she do this to me? Doesn't she know what she's done? No†¦ it's not right. Not now, and without any further thoughts, I'm out the door.

Jane Eyre essays

Jane Eyre essays Jane Eyre was originally a book, by Charlotte Bronte. It has now been made into a movie. There are two versions of the movie the BPC version, which is the British version and the American version. Both movies are very good and tell the story different. The British version is more like the book. It tells most scenes from the book. The American is shorter and doesnt tell the whole story of Jane Eyres life. The American version has a bigger budget, you can tell by the settings, actors, and clothing and where it was filmed. The American version has great settings. Its looks very realistic but in the BPC version it looks at bit fake. When Jane Eyre is a young girl she is aggressive and stands up for her rights. Both actresses who play Jane Eyre when she is young are both very talented and play her part very well. When Jane is older she is shy, quiet and still very nice. Both actresses played the part very well. The actress who plays Jane Eyre in the American version was more like Jane he rself; she seemed shy, quiet and very nice. But in the BPC version the actress who played Jane seemed to be not that shy but still very nice. The camera work in the BPC version wasnt very good compared to the camera work in the American version. The actor who played Mr Rochester in the American version was older compared to the BPC version, he was more serious than the Mr Rochester in the BPC version. Mr Rochester in the BPC version was had some sense of humor and got pretty angry when he was angry. The clothing in both movies both had similar styles to each other. The clothing was a kind of Victorian style. Overall both movies where great to see. I prefer the American version better because it had Famous and talented actors. It was a great movie and it was very interesting whereas the BPC version was a bit too long and got a bit boring. ...

The Art of Candlemaking essays

The Art of Candlemaking essays Have you ever had a horrible day? Have you ever tried to set the mood, but it just wasnt right? The solution to these problems is simple. According to Rathborne Candles, the lighting of a few candles would have fixed both situations. I have found solace in candles, and would like to share the wealth. Therefore, today I would like to tell you all about the three major steps in creating hand carved candles: the dipping process, the carving process, and the finishing process. But, before I do this, I would like to give you a brief summary of the history of candles. The candle is the oldest source of supplying light, with references of candles dating back to ancient times as early as 3000 BC. Although the history of candles is not recorded, it is believed that the Egyptians produced the first candles by dipping reeds into animal fat. According to the International Guild of Candle Artisans, evidence of candle holders from as early as the fourth century B.C. have been found in Egypt, and there are several references to candles in the Bible. The smelly animal fat candles were replaced by paraffin wax candles around the 15th century according to waxed out.com. Other materials used to make candles were beeswax and spermaceti, made from the heads of sperm whales. Although beeswax is still used today, neither it or spermaceti would survive as well as paraffin. The actual art of hand carving candles originated in Germany according to soap and candles.com. It was brought to America in the nineteenth century by German immigrants, and I will now tell you how these beautiful candles are made. The first step is the dipping process. Before the dipping process can begin, the color combination of the candle must be chosen. Also, the colored wax must be heated to 175 degrees. A pre-made star shaped mold is tied to a hook and dipped into the major color of the candle. The first dip last about 45 seconds. This is done to heat the ...

The Bessemer Steel Process

The Bessemer Steel Process The Bessemer Steel Process was a method  of producing high-quality steel by shooting air into molten steel to burn off carbon and other impurities. It was named after the British inventor Sir Henry Bessemer, who worked to develop the process in the 1850s. While Bessemer was working on his process in England, an American, William Kelly, developed a process using the same principle, which he patented in 1857. Both Bessemer and Kelly were responding to a pressing need to refine the methods of manufacturing steel so it would be entirely reliable.   In the decades before the Civil War steel was produced in great quantities. But the quality of it often varied widely. And with large machines, such as steam locomotives, and large structures, such as suspension bridges, being planned and built, it was necessary to manufacture steel that would perform as expected. The new method of producing reliable steel revolutionized the steel industry and made widespread advances possible in railroads, bridge-building, construction, and shipbuilding. Henry Bessemer The British inventor of the greatly improved steel process was Henry Bessemer, who was born in Charlton, England, on January 19, 1813. Bessemers father operated a type foundry, which made mechanical type used in printing presses. He had devised a method of hardening the metal he used, which made his type last longer than type made by his competitors. Growing up around the type foundry, young Bessemer became interested in building things of metal and in coming up with his own inventions. When he was 21  years old, he devised a stamping machine which would be useful to the British government, which routinely stamped important legal documents. The government praised his innovation, yet, in a bitter episode, it refused to pay him for his idea. Embittered by the experience with the stamping machine, Bessemer became very secretive about his further inventions. He came up with a method for manufacturing gold paint to be used for decorative items such as picture frames. He kept his methods so secret that outsiders were never allowed to see the machines used to add metal chips to the paint. Bessemer Contribution to the Steel Industry In the 1850s, during the Crimean War, Bessemer became interested in solving a major problem for the British military. It was possible to produce more accurate cannons by rifling the bores, which meant  cutting groves in the cannon barrel so the projectiles would rotate as they exited. The problem with rifling the cannons commonly used was that they were made of iron, or of low quality steel, and the barrels could explode if the rifling created weaknesses. The solution, Bessemer reasoned, would create steel of such high quality that it could reliably be used to make rifled cannons. Bessemers experiments indicated that injecting oxygen into the steel-making process would heat the steel to such a level that impurities would burn off. He devised a furnace that would inject oxygen into the steel. The impact of Bessemers innovation was dramatic. Suddenly it was possible to make steel of high quality, and high quantities that could be manufactured ten times faster. What Bessemer perfected turned the making of steel into an industry with limitations into a very profitable venture. Impact on Business The manufacturing of reliable steel created a revolution in business. The American businessman Andrew Carnegie, during his business trips to England in the years following the Civil War, took special note of the Bessemer process. In 1872 Carnegie visited a plant in England which was using Bessemer’s method, and he realized the potential of producing the same quality of steel in America. Carnegie learned everything he could about steel production and began using the Bessemer Process at mills he owned in America. By the mid-1870s Carnegie was heavily involved in steel production. In time Carnegie would dominate the steel industry, and high-quality steel would make possible the building of factories which defined the industrialization of America in the late 1800s. The reliable steel produced by the Bessemer process would be used in countless miles of railroad tracks, vast numbers of ships, and in the frames of skyscrapers. Bessemer steel would also be used in the sewing machine, machine tools, farm equipment, and other vital machinery. And the revolution in steel created also created an economic impact as a mining industry was created to dig the iron ore and coal needed to make steel.   The breakthrough that created reliable steel had a cascading effect, and it would not be an exaggeration to say the Bessemer Process helped to transform all of human society.