Gambling: poker and slot machines Essay

Gambling is a game in which winning is completely or mostly dependent not on the art of play, but on luck. It has long been recognized as an adult pastime but in recent years, however, gambling has increased significantly among adolescents who have grown up in a culture more tolerant to gambling than any previous generation. Movies, TV shows, and more acceptable online betting have helped embed gambling in youth culture. Poker tournaments and lotteries have become social activities at university campuses that best assemble friends and create enormous interest among them. For many people, such gambling activities are harmless, but for others, a simple game of chance may turn into a serious problem or life-impeding addiction. Although many students may feel that they are in control of the situation, unconsciously their behavior is changed, and is in the hands of arbitrary betting. Young and ambitious students are heavily affected by long-term gambling, not realizing its dreadful payoffs. These can result in unexplained absences at home and university. These threaten their academic performance, lead to financial bankruptcy and moreover, have negative impact on overall health. Gambling is one of the oldest avocations of humankind. Due to the cave drawings illustrating gambling and the dice that have been found during archeological excavations, historians believe that gambling existed even in tribal societies. Gambling is also mentioned in the mythology of ancient Greece. According to one of the legends, after defeating the Titans, Zeus and his brothers Poseidon and Hades became masters of the universe. They decided to throw dice in order to divide the universe among them. King Henry VIII, known for his intelligence, was also an avid gambler. In spite of this he banned gambling in his country after he discovered that his soldiers were playing more than practicing. In more recent history, people played to predict the abundant of harvest. On the other hand the attitude towards gambling of the most popular religions is mostly negative. Nowadays gambling is classified as a highly addictive compulsive disorder with neurological causes. People believe that a string of losses makes a win more likely. They believe that a winning hand should always substitute a losing hand. This is what they tend to believe, but their beliefs do not create more chances of winning. The brains of people anticipating a win in casinos appear to react much like those taking euphoria-inducing drugs. Neuroscientists claim that the parts of the brain that respond to the prospects of winning or losing money while gambling are the same as those that appear to respond to cocaine and morphine. Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to map the brain responses of twelve men while they participated in a game of chance involving winning or losing money. They found that in the gambling experiment, blood flow to the brain changed in ways similar to that seen in other experiments during an infusion of cocaine in subjects addicted to that drug and to low doses of morphine in drug-free individuals (â€Å"Gambling Affects Brain Like Drugs†). Gambling seriously captures the whole brain and has a strong negative impact on it. Ann Klinestivet from Milton, W. Va provides a vivid illustration of brain damage from slot machines (Lehrer). Having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease; she was desperate to find something that might calm the tremors caused by the terrible disease. She found relief in slot machines, but from time to time she needed more doses to stay calm and that is when she became an addict. Parkinson’s disease is caused by decreased dopamine, but slots machines served as a medication for Klinestivet, imitating the effects of dopamine, as it plays a core role in brain pleasure. She had lost huge amount of money and it could not continue any longer, so she was forced to stop. Her tremors worsened, though her addiction to gambling vanished. One of the biggest problems of gambling is that it may start off as innocent competition, for example, two teens playing a computer game, and one saying that he can beat his rival several times in a row or something of the sort. This might end up with further intensive competition, or turn into some kind of situation where money or anything of value will be included. The game itself seems to be not illegal or really addictive, but that is the proposal of the teen what involves gambling. Typically, student gambling involves lotteries, card games, and slot machines. It is said among students that gambling has been popularized and glamourized by poker games. Poker games have huge increase on television shows and all over the world in the twenty-first century. It is one of not many games that involve the individual skills of playing along with cards dealt. Many young poker players that took place in the World Series of Poker with the help of luck won the biggest tournaments in their lifetime and that serves as a motivation for beginners who are just starting. Students tend to think that poker may change their lives, and make them popular, moreover, reduce the need to study. An example could be Joe Cada, who at age twenty one, which is considered to be a legal age in the United States for gambling, became a winner of the Main Event at a poker tournament and received more than eight million dollars. Adolescents gamble for fun; to socialize, to relax, and to have the adrenaline rush in their bodies from time to time. They also gamble to escape home and university problems, to alleviate feelings of loneliness, and disconnection. Addicted gamblers care about nothing, but the game and its winnings. They may not get enough sleep, miss out all the daily activities; their main goal is to be in the game and try to win as much as they can. Usually the result is against them, because when losing a small amount of money, they try to gain it back and start gambling for more and more. It comes to the point when they realize that no money is left and they have lost quite a fortune. The most dreadful nightmare begins after they borrow money and bury themselves in debts. The National Council on Problem Gambling has estimated that approximately 6% of college students have a serious gambling addiction. A little over 5% suffer from bankruptcy and debts caused by regular gambling. Since 1975, the proportion of adults â€Å"who never gambled† has dropped from 1 in 3 to 1 in 7 (â€Å"Gambling & Spending†). Students who became the victims of gambling and lose most of their savings or even their parents’ money have higher rates of depression and noticeable changes in their behavior; they become less willing to be involved in any activity and most of their thoughts are related to gambling. ABC News has recently published a story about one college student, Ryan. Every single day, not depending on the activities he was busy with, he returned home until midnight and gambled on online poker sites till five in the morning. He eventually stopped doing anything and gained over 40 pounds, moreover, he could lose as much as $25,000 in a single night. Ultimately, his parents found out that he stole money from their savings and lost most of it, they decided to pull him out of university and now he is left with a $10,000 debt. Nowadays, a major issue in gambling among students is that the dedication to gaming is so important; they simply start spending nights in casinos, or other places gambling, in the meantime, forgetting about their family and studying. The urge to gamble is so addictive, that it becomes the most important daily activity. For instance, I have conducted a survey among students in the University of New York in Prague, and five students out of twenty four who filled out the survey claimed that they gamble several times a week and it affects their academic success. Only four students stated that they had never gambled in their lives, and all of them were females. My personal opinion is that women are less reluctant to gambling in general; they simply do not develop strong passion towards gambling. The same students who claimed that their academic performance is influenced by gambling, also acknowledged that gambling alters their relationship with relatives and friends. Instead of spending time with people who are willing to help you any time you are in need of it, they preferred to waste time in vain. Most of students who gamble in order to gain some profit, do not realize that â€Å"the house always wins† (Ocean, 2001). The ones who do not stop gambling even when losing, wait for the sweet win; the feeling of victory is so satisfying that most young gamblers are willing to expect it for long. The survey reports that sixteen students, which is almost 70% of people surveyed, after a win have a strong desire to come back and win more. Analyzing results of my survey it is clearly indicates the support of world statistics, even though later after survey, students confessed in not truly answering some of the questions. Some students are ashamed of their gambling habit and that slightly influences the results. Many addicted students realize that gambling addiction will cause serious problems in future life and to prevent it, they seek different treatments in the early steps of addiction. As the gambler’s mind is open to absorption and imaginative involvement, it can effectively be treated by hypnosis. This kind of therapy is considered not only to treat gambling addiction, but also to end depression and relieve stress. Hypnosis therapy helps gamblers to diminish their urge to gamble, and as a result, the players can decrease their addiction. In addition, hypnosis therapy teaches and helps a person to change his opinion about gambling. While the person is changing his mind about gambling, therapists try to develop new behaviors in the patient. They try to help the person to organize his day and fulfill it with activities not related to gambling. If the person is married, therapists try to make that person more related to his family and spend the time with his children, if he has them. For those who gamble because of tedium, therapists try to find other ways or activities to make them interested. It may also happen that the patient changes his mind, but gambling thoughts will still exist at a rudimentary level. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for problem gambling is also considered as an option for quitting gambling. It aims to alter threatening of gambling behaviors and thoughts, such as rationalizations and false beliefs. It helps gamblers deal with uncomfortable situations rather than escape them through gambling. Main goal of the therapy is to change ones thoughts toward gambling and look at it in a new way. Ben’s story is presented for illustrative purposes. Ben as a child believed that number seven was his lucky number, and throughout his student years he became an addictive gambler. He would always bet on his favorite number when he had a chance. Loss of all his money did not stop him and it continued to worsen. Linette, Ben’s cognitive behavioral therapist, helped him realize that his thought of number seven being his lucky number is an error that have occurred in his brain since childhood (Hartney). The other way to help preventing problem gambling could be effective awareness events and programs on gambling. Such kind of events and programs engage university and college students in a humorous and informative way. Coordinators of these programs explain the real chances of winning and losing, introduce the symptoms of problem gambling and offer certain ways to keep gambling safer. One of my friends who was just staring to get involved in the world of gambling, realized that the further it goes, the stronger he suffers from gambling. He decided to visit several awareness events on gambling. Later he told me that the program itself is made in a way to distract students from heavy gambling and explain all the negative effects of it. The reason it works out for most of the students who attend events is because hosts of those events repeat terrible affects so many times that it stays in gamblers’ mind for long. For many years student gambling has been a major topic of discussion. Much research and surveys have been conducted to understand the main reasons for students gambling. Clinical counselors and specialists claim that there are some ways to gamble responsibly, such as setting a time and a budget limit, accepting losses as the cost of entertainment and never borrowing money to gamble (Wallisch). However, the practice shows that even if gambling is done responsibly and handled in a proper way it is still harmful fun. Regrettable consequences of gambling include money problems, neglect toward responsibilities and loved ones, physical and mental health problems and even suicide risk. Thus, universities should have the opportunity to educate students and their parents on the risks of gambling and create an environment where the association of problem gambling with financial and interpersonal problems is clearly understood.

Inequality in the Workplace, Still- Harriet Martineau

Inequality in the Workplace, Still. HARRIET MARTINEAU Harriet Martineau, the founding mother of sociology, was a very accomplished female. She was, among other things, a feminist, Unitarian, critic, social scientist, and an atheist. She began many methodological, theoretical and substantive studies that would now be considered the study of sociology. She analyzed women’s rights, disability, education slavery, history, health and religion within her lifetime. Long before Marx, Weber, or Durkheim, Martineau also studied and wrote about social class, suicide, forms of religions, domestic relations, delinquency, and the status of women† (Gordon). Her neglect by sociologists in later years is a perfect example of how academic sociology has excluded women sociologists from its study. Martineau stated that, â€Å"an American woman's life is equal to that of a slave's, (in that) they were both given indulgence rather than justice. † (Berleant) Harriet saw that women were denied education and had only one option and duty in the United States: marriage. Her attitude towards the injustice of women would most suit the feminist theory which focuses on analyzing gender inequality and promotes women’s rights, interests and issues. A recent incident, showing the inequality women still face today, occurred when a female was denied equal treatment at the workplace causing a gender discrimination lawsuit. Monday March 15th, 2010, a federal judge announced a $2. 5 million discrimination verdict in favor of Michelle Maher, who was forced out of the Fresno Fire Department’s training academy. Maher, a single mother, former professional mixed-martial arts fighter and certified EMT with 13 certificates in firefighting skills, was clearly qualified for the job at hand but apparently the fire training academy supervisors continuously focused on asking her personal questions and setting her up to fail certain tasks while unfairly grading her exam. Maher sued the Fire Department in 2008 due to the discrimination she faced. Maher says, â€Å"A supervisor repeatedly asked about my divorce and suggested that I was not giving my full effort in the academy because I was a single mother† (Ellis). She was also told that because she scored below an 80% on a midterm, she would have to resign or be fired from the academy, therefore she resigned. â€Å"After the three-week trial last fall, jurors said they believed Maher was not given adequate time to prove herself at the academy. They felt the evaluations were inconsistent since the men in the academy were given extra chances to improve in weak areas and nobody from the Fire Department could pinpoint the department standards† (Ellis). It is likely that Maher will win her lawsuit and the city of Fresno will have to pay $2. 6 million plus another million for attorney fees. The judge concluded that the evidence was â€Å"very substantial† in Maher’s favor. Martineau suggested â€Å"improving women’s position in the workforce including education, nondiscriminatory employment and training programs. † She also promoted â€Å"women’s admission into medical school and the importance of physical fitness and exercise for girls and women†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Soc, 10) In this case, Martineau was right on queue with the goals Maher set in working with the Fire Department. Maher was qualified physically and academically but unfortunately faced discrimination. The feminist theory concerning gender inequality and sexuality sees gender stratification as â€Å"benefiting men and the capitalist system. Sexuality is linked to gender inequality†¦ and that male dominance is especially harmful because it results in men controlling women’s sexual behavior† (Soc, 172). If Maher had applied to another profession, appropriate for her sex, her personal business and lower test grade wouldn’t be an issue. For her to apply for a â€Å"man’s job,† was bold and daring and unnecessary actions to prove she was inadequate was a poor risk the Fire Department chose to play. â€Å"All feminists agree that men and women should be valued equally, women should have more control over their lives and gender inequality can be remedied by changing political, economic, family and other institutions as well as everyday interactions, attitudes and behaviors† (Soc, 172) Change needs to occur and gender equality is possible through equal civil rights and opportunities. Women have been internalized to achieve the womanly roles based on gendered socialization. Teaching young girls how to be passive and maternal while promoting boys to take on the dominant roles and taught to strive to achieve educational and career success is how the gender inequality begins. Martineau was raised in a Unitarian community which focusing on rationalism, individualism and democracy. Amazingly Martineau, along with her seven brothers and sisters, received equal education until college when it came time for a higher education for the boys only. Being the feminist that she was, she wrote an anonymous article, â€Å"On Female Education† for a Unitarian journal expressing â€Å"Women's intellectual inferiority to men is based on women's lack of mental training, others' expectations of women, and women's circumstances rather than women's ability† (Berleant). Later her brother found out she wrote the article and said, â€Å"Now, dear, leave it to the other women to make skirts and darn stockings, and you devote yourself to this† (Webster. du). And indeed, Martineau was destined to become is monumental figure in sociology and to feminist history. Maher’s skills exceeded the qualifications for the Fire Department but the one opportunity she wasn’t given was the pinnacle for her demise. In the end, I’d say she won, since she made her voice heard and was awarded some major bank from her lawsuit! Work Cited Benokraitis, Nijole V. Soc + Review Cards + Bind-in Printed Access Card. Wadsworth Pub Co, 2009. Print Berleant, Riva. â€Å"Harriet Martineau: Biography and Bibliography. †Ã‚  Brycchan Carey – Home Page. 2004 Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . Gordon, Marshall. â€Å"Martineau, Harriet. †Ã‚  A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. Encyclopedia. com. 18 Mar. 2010  . â€Å"Harriet Martineau. †Ã‚  Webster University. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . Ellis, John. â€Å"Ruling Backs Woman's Suit against Fresno Fire Dept. †Ã‚  Covering Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley in Central California – Fresno Bee. 15 Mar. 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .

A Study of the Barriers of Implementation of Accounting Information System: Case of Listed Companies in Tehran Stock Exchange

Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 76-85, Feb 2011 A study of the barriers of implementation of accounting information system: Case of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange 1Accounting Mahdi Salehi1 Abdoreza Abdipour2 and Management Department, Islamic Azad University, Takestan Branch, Iran, 2Payame Noor University, Andimeshk Branch, Iran [email  protected] com Abstract: Accounting information system is one of subsystems in management information system that is very important in all companies. The current study reviews barriers in implementation by postulating six hypotheses of accounting information system (middle managers, human resources, organizational structure, environmental factors, financial issues, and organizational culture) in companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange. Finally, some results were obtained in this manner: barrier of organizational structure with 26 percent, middle managers with 26 percent, human resources with 25 percent, environmental factors with 21 percent, organizational culture with 19 percent and finally financial issues with16 percent were identified as barriers factors influencing on the establishment of accounting information systems in listed companies on Tehran Stock Exchange. Generally to eliminate these barriers, management, financial managers and staff must be trained practically by experienced teachers in accounting information systems to use the specialist and professional managers, to lengthen position of managers, to clear financial issues, to inform benefits of system establishment to company's managers. By giving reward to managers and staff try to encourage these people to use the new system. To justify staff that the establishment of new system would be their advantages; by the lever of reward, to encourage staff to compete in learning and work with the system in staff and learn to compete with systems that can accelerate performing and implementing the system. Key words: Accounting information systems, Corporate accounting system, financial system 1. Introduction Today, dramatic changes have occurred in the field of Information Technology (IT) and its progress has been so pervasive so that it has created changing trends in different in areas. The most important features of it are; high speed data processing, extremely high accuracy, and high speed access to information, to be up-to-date, the possibility of electronic exchange of information, high quality, very cheap and declining price. By considering these factors there will be no need to justify the use of IT in today's world (Salehi et al. , 2010a). Addition in accounting has to use and apply all or some of the new techniques in their services and obligations. So, providers of information especially accountants, should be the providers of advanced and high-quality information so that their services to be bought in high prices. Otherwise, in the future they will not have any place. Accounting information System (AIS) is developed between one or two or more units of a company to achieve a specific goal (Salehi et al. , 2010 b; Salehi and Alipour, 2010). It contains small sub-systems that support larger systems, includes people, methods, information and software and information technology infrastructures (Romney and Barrett, 2003). System consists of a set of incorporated components that are affiliated to achieve one or several particular goals in a way that, if one or more input can enter in it, one or more output exits (Frederick, 1984). AIS is a completely designed system for the production, collection, organization (processing), storage, retrieval and dissemination in an institution, organization or any other defined areas of society. AIS can helps business units and solve short-term problems of managers in the areas of final price, cost and cash flow through providing information to support and supervision of companies in the dynamic and competitive environment, and to help the integration of these companies and the operational considerations and strategic programs in long term (Mitchell et al. 2000). Progress in the fields of accounting, information technology and information systems during the past two decades suggest conditions to consider the role of accounting information system. For example, the evolution of active database technology, implementing new models, such as accounting resources and factors of planning resources and allowing accounting information to attract financial old data. 76 Available literat ures show little evidence of developing AIS within medium companies. In fact considerable evidences suggest that financial accountings n medium companies are the main source of information and management (McMahon and Davies, 1994). Advantages of JIT The advantages of the JIT philosophy are many. Giunipero et al. , (2005) say that JIT has led to several benefits which include lower production cost, higher and faster throughputs, better product quality, reduced inventory costs, and shorter lead times in purchasing. According to an American study of U. S. Manufactures, companies can expect improved performance in lead times, quality levels, labor productivity, employee relations, inventory levels and manufacturing costs (White, Pearson, and Wilson, 1999). Fullerton and McWatters (2001) summarised benefits in to five categories: quality benefits, time-based benefits, employee flexibility, accounting simplification and firm profitability. The increase in performance is usually attributable to a decrease in inventory levels, smoother production flow, lower storage cost and ultimately a decrease in average cost per unit (Hall, 1989). Callen et al. , (2000) reported that JIT plants have significantly less WIP than non-JIT plants. JIT plants also store fewer finished products and have lower variable and total costs than the non-JIT equivalent. Callen et al. , (2000) further found that JIT plants are significantly more profitable than non-JIT plants, but are neither successful at minimizing WIP and costs nor maximizing profits. It is possible to observe that traditional performance measurement system is inconsistent with JIT system benefiting from technological innovations at a maximum level and also that it prevents or hides broad-based effectiveness of new production methods. In this sense, the restrictions of traditional measurement system in JIT environment might be listed as follows: 1. Continuous development in production process is basic element in JIT manufacturing environment. To reach this aim easily, it’s intended to make flow of production possible with minimal parties and decreasing stock levels to a minimum. Yet, production and productivity measures of traditional understanding have reported that the productivity is low when small-lot production is made (Drury, 1990). For this reason, traditional accounting system suggests increasing batch capacity rather than decreasing lot size, which leads to raising stock levels, long supply process, increasing cost and declining customer satisfaction (Mcnair et al. 1990). As in standard costing, appropriate operational control of traditional accounting system cannot be carried out in today’s production environment (Allott, 2000; Cheatham and Cheatham: 1996; Ezzamel, 1992). Besides, due to the reliability and consistency of manufacturing processes in JIT environment, deviations do not exist or exist in qui te low level and it also leads to less use of deviation analyses. JIT manufacturing system changes will bring about changes in information requirements (Upton, 1998). As it is known, normally traditional performance, reporting is prepared monthly or weekly and cannot detect on time real reasons of processes that are not realized as expected. Yet, in JIT production system there is a possibility of short production cycle, so it requires information for the problems coming out in accordance with one-day or â€Å"real time† principal. 2. 3. Ahmad et al. , (2004) presented potential benefits and performance improvements achieved through JIT implementation. The summary of main benefits of JIT is listed below: 1. 2. 3. . 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Reduced process time, setup time and lead time; Reduced raw material, wip and finished goods inventory levels and lot size; Improved machinery and reduced machine breakdowns and downtimes; Minimized space requirement; Improved flow of products; Lowered production costs; Simplified production processes; Improved quality; Improved flexibility, multifunctional ability, motivation and problem solving capability of emplo yees; 10. Increased productivity and performance; 77 11. Improved consistency of production scheduling; and 12. Increased emphasis on supplier integration Following are the main objectives of the study: 1. 2. Identify barriers in the establishment of AISs in companies. Provide strategies for the establishment of the obstacles companies AIS in listed companies on TSE. 2. Theoretical issues and review of literature IT is a company's key infrastructure that includes physical information technology infrastructures, information technology of human resources to get information (technical and managerial skills), and technology of irreplaceable resources (Bharadvj, 2000). An important study problem in management accounting and concern about AIS decision-making with organization regarding the need for information is communication and control of accounting information system. Computer system is based on a process that supports financial data for decision-making tasks of managers within the frame of coordination and control of company's activities that in the researches of different studied models, between accounting information system with technology organization, organization's structure and organizational environment have been studied (Chen and Hall, 1994). AIS is an important mechanism of an organization that is vital for effective management decision-making in controlling organization (Zymrmn, 1995). Generally, AIS is classified in two categories: a: effective decision-making for information that is largely for control of organization and b: to facilitate information that is mainly used for coordination of organization in decision-making are used (Kern, 1992). Effectiveness of AIS to increase system integration is to improve internal communications throughout the organization (Huber, 1990). Top management team with various planning and management information system influences on strategic performance (Gil, 2009). Behavioral changes following Joint development show AIS support and participation of users that has been influencing on in accounting information system development and improved financial performance, which eventually lead to successful troubleshooting cost accounting system, are based activities (Alden burg et al. , 2009). About the productivity of information technology within the information systems in public accounting is that a small number of respondents aware of the technology components were the major component of respondents information technology data, but not the information system Accounting and usefulness were aware of the development and effects in this study started the organization, human resources management and knowledge of technology and acceptance of data were evaluated (Madshary, 2008). Comparative advantage as a model of efficiency value accounting information systems research for scholars is significantly effective and that represent the financial resources and human resources as the two basic pillars of research and development supplement industry regarding information systems that are accounting absolute superiority ensures business operations (Eles, et al. , 2008). Management stress on critical factors in success to implement organizational resources planning systems suggests that the selecting appropriate time, completing the project by one management, training personnel, superiority of project results in comparison with other projects, use of consultants, management interaction with users, the use of project control committee, shows the difference between successful and unsuccessful projects (Bradley, 2008). Test of textual factors and the impact of characteristics of technology on implementing auditing decisions is in such a way that the use of computer techniques by experienced auditors shows that companies which have experienced the ability of influencing on implementation of new technology using long-term budgets, have assed different courses through indirect control of the software (Curtis and Payne, 2008). Intelligent business systems and measuring, its effects in connection with business processes and organizational performance when measuring performance is important as information technology systems through specialized texts and literature is outstanding (Bashir, et al. , 2008). Test of the influence of international investors on the quality of accounting information demonstrates that the choice right of investment and increasing work quality of international investors on the quality information has influenced on Russian accounting companies (Baguya, 2008). Current economic and the traditional model of accounting reports: challenges and opportunities ahead of AIS researches prove that the economy in real condition can accelerate measurement and evaluation of business. Decision-making processes as a 78 new business model results in decrease of internal and hidden processes. Therefore, AISs together with research literature have been successful in development of new models to accelerate accounting processes (Vasarahly and Els, 2008). Organizational determining factors acceptance and implementation of information technology in mean companies: private and public companies shows that limiting factors in the implementation and information technology overhaul, reform arranged, changes, lack of qualified personnel and Run the same technology and information systems quality are essential (Muyanu and Brook, 2007). Strategic Planning of information systems: case study in inancial services companies in Germany represents that lack of scientific literature in implementation of strategic information systems planning, data transfer isn't mainly due to scientific literature, although scientific literature inspiring, in practice to run strategic planning, information system not included. Professional characters of management and different resources are of scientific characters. Thus the role of management in the information technology practice through the opinions of staff need more experience (Tabnar, 2007). More regulatory practices on information technology function of information technology organizations and business sector common understanding with the goals are associated with information technology. For example, active participation in the committee information technology, trade balance, decisions regarding technology information and understanding of strategic policies and administrative information technology in successful exploitation of information technology projects (Buyan et al. , 2007). Appropriate review between designing of AIS and performance of commercial units by analyzing strategies explains that high performance of commercial units depends on a wide range of accounting information systems (Boolean, 2007). Study of integrated information systems literatures of management accounting with consideration to the existing strengths within the framework of management accounting elements, new integrated information systems of accounting results in more development and understanding of theatrical frameworks in this regard. It identifies research gaps and suggests using research opportunities with different patterns and different methods. Ranking of AISs on performance of medium companies in Malaysia after study of 310 companies through electronic questionnaire showed that, a significant and important part of medium companies in Malaysia placed in high rank, and only a limited number of medium companies because of low organizational performance were in low level of accounting information systems (Nur Azizi and Kynk, 2005). Factors of users' concentration, measurement, and report making, quality of provided management information, reviewing and checking group work of outcomes affect the quality of accounting information (Hong-Jiang, 2005). To develop and spread of AIS a special team should be organized for designing input and output concepts and processing stored information so that company's decisions for main outputs and comparing of them with computer information to be possible and achievable (Romney and Stein, 2003). Future development of AIS in investment shows that the successes in avoiding risking the capital of companies are of five categories as: 1- clear and bright offers. 2 – Internal changes in institution investment. 3 – The variety of variables and repeating information change 4 – More use of information for supportive decisions support 5- world-wide impacts on investment. These evidences are good reasons for the judge and further research in the future and development of AIS (Gavyn et al. , 1997). Mistry (2005) found that, though JIT has been widely implemented, interest in documenting its impact on financial performance and productivity was generated during last few decades. For example, Inman and Mehra (1993) established the link between JIT benefits and bottom line financial measures. Olsen (2004, cited in Swamidass, 2007) is stated that â€Å"lean/JIT firms tend to have better return on equity†, since lean/JIT is associated with low inventories. However, according to Fullerton and McWatters, (2002), the use of financial performance measures under the present competitive market conditions appears unsustainable due to various reasons. Therefore, performance measurement system of a corporate using JIT production system should support basic variations such as increasing product or service quality, continuous development and reducing the losses (Hendricks, 1994). 79 Chart (1): General Plan of Financial Automation 3. Research methodology The statistical society of the study includes the financial managers of the companies listed on Tehran Stock exchange (TSE). For this purpose, a number of 442 companies were selected from TSE website. From the entire number of the selected companies 36 companies were omitted from the list of listed companies of TSE following the session of Security Subscription Board on June 10, 2008. Eventually, the study was concentrated on 406 companies from 36 different industrial sectors. The statistical community in this research could be all of companies all over the country, but with different directions and limitations of the personal facilities and we limited statistical community and selected 100 companies listed on TSE. Research data collection instrument is a questionnaire which has been standardized in the academic community and validity of it considering the opinions of specialized literatures and comments of expert managers in relevant areas were analyzed and its validity is acceptable. In order to determine the proper size of the specimen and calculate the Cronbach ? coefficient a pre-testing process was conducted. The methodology of the process was as follows: A number of 13 questionnaires of which narration style had been confirmed were distributed by the researcher among the financial managers of the admitted companies of TSE as an initial specimen. The original data showed that, on average, the affectivity of financial expenses in order to establishing an internet financial reporting was rated at 13. 90 with the standard deviation of 4 within the range of 5-25. In the society average comparison test, with the constant number of 15 (the middle point of the above range), at least, a number of 86 persons at 5% error rate provided 80. 26 percent level of ability. In order to testing of hypotheses, T-Test was employed in the study which it fits to the testing of hypotheses. Research hypotheses H1: middle managers prevent the establishment of AIS in financial units. H2: organizational structure prevents the establishment of AIS in the company's financial units. H3: organizational culture prevents the establishment of AIS in financial units. H4: financial problems prevent the establishment of AIS in the company's financial units. H5: labor prevents the establishment of AIS in financial units. H6: environmental factors influencing on AIS prevent the establishment of the company's financial units. 4. Data analysis In this section, demographic information of participants based on research experience and education level is presented in Table 1. 80 Table 1: General information of participants Item Variable Diploma Educational background B. A M. A Field of the Study Accounting Management Lee than 5 years Experience 6-10 years 11-15 years Manager Designation deputy expert clerk Testing of hypotheses Frequency 26 59 12 59 38 62 28 7 11 7 41 38 Percentage 26. 80 60. 80 12. 40 60. 80 39. 20 63. 90 28. 80 7. 20 11. 30 7. 20 42. 30 39. 20 H1: middle managers prevent the establishment of information systems in the company's financial units. In order to testing of the first hypothesis, One sample T-test is employed which the detail has presented in Table 2. Table 2: The results of testing first hypothesis Test Value=20 First hypothesis Middle managers H0: M = 20) (H1: = M> 20 degrees of freedom T Significant level 0. 001 Information contained in Table 2 shows the level of significant 0. 001, and since the significant level is less than 0. 005 shows the acceptance of hypothesis, so H0 is rejected and H1 is approved. H2: organizational structure prevents the establishment of accounting information system in the company's financial units. Table 3 shows the results of testing of hypothesis, according to the results of Table 3 the research hypothesis is accepted. Table 3: the results of second hypothesis The second hypothesis Organizational structure HO: M = 7) (H1: = M; 7 Test Value=7 Degree of freedom T Significant level 0. 001 Table 3 shows 0. 001 level of significant, and since the significant level less than 0. 005 is accepted, hypothesis H0 is rejected and, H2 is approved. Therefore, organizational structure is one of the barriers of the establishment of AIS in companies listed on TSE. 81 H3: organizational culture prevents the establishment of accounting information systems in financial units. For the above hypothesis single-sample T-test using SPSS software with confidence level of 0. 095 used and the results are mentioned in Table (4) Table (4): the results of testing third hypothesis Test Value=12 The third hypothesis Organizational culture HO: M = 12) (H1: = M; 12 degree of freedom T Significant level 0. 001 Information contained in table (4) shows significant level of 0. 001, and since the significant level less than 0. 005 is, hypothesis H0 rejected, so H3 is approved. Therefore, organizational culture prevents the establishment of AIS in companies based in financial units of companies. H4: financial problems prevented the establishment of accounting information system in the company's financial units. Table (5): the results of fourth hypothesis Test Value=6 Fourth hypothesis Financial problems HO: M = 6) (H1: = M> 6 degree of freedom T Significant level 0. 001 Information contained in the table (5) show 0. 001 level of significant, and since the significance level less than0. 005, H0 rejected, therefore, financial problems prevent the establishment of AIS in companies listed on TSE. H5: Labors don’t prevent the establishment of AIS in financial units. For the above hypothesis one- sample T-test, using SPSS software with confidence level of 0. 95 is used and the results are mentioned in Table (6). Table (6): the results of testing fifth hypothesis Test Value=17 fifth hypothesis Labors HO: M = 17) (H1: = M> 17 degree of freedom T Significant level 0. 001 Information contained in the table (6) shows 0. 001 level of significant, and since the significance level less than0. 005, H0 rejected, so H5 is approved. Hence we can say that issues related to human resources are of barriers in the establishment of accounting information system in companies located in stock exchange. H6: environmental factors affecting accounting information system prevent the establishment of accounting information system in companies' financial units. For the above hypothesis single- sample Ttest using SPSS software with confidence level of 0. 95 used and the results are mentioned in Table (7). 82 Table 7: Results of testing sixth hypothesis Test Value=12 sixth hypothesis Environmental factors HO: M = 12) (H1: = M; 12 degree of freedom T Significant level 0. 001 Information contained in the table (7) shows 0. 001 level of significant, and since the significance level less than 0. 05, is accepted, H0 rejected, so H6 is approved. Hence, we can say that environmental factors can also regard as barriers in establishment of accounting information system in companies located in stock exchange. 5. Conclusion and Discussion: Middle managers prevent implementation of AIS in companies listed on TSE. Results of above hypothesis through single-sample T-test with confidence level of 0. 95 r epresent the acceptance of this hypothesis of the research. It means that middle managers are of affecting barriers in failure of implementation of accounting information system in companies located stock exchange . There is a meaningful relation between middle managers and implementation of accounting information system. Further, environmental factors prevent the implementation of AIS listed companies on TSE. Results of the above hypothesis through single-sample T-test with confidence level of 0. 95 represent the acceptance of this hypothesis in the research. It means that organizational structure is one of affecting barriers in failure of implementing AIS in companies listed on TSE. There is a meaningful relation between and between organizational structure and implementation of AIS. By the way the results reveal that organizational culture prevents the implementation of AIS listed companies on TSE. Results of the above hypothesis through single-sample T-test with confidence level of 0. 95 represent the acceptance of this hypothesis in the research. It means that organizational culture is one of the affecting barriers in failure of implementing accounting information system in companies located in stock exchange. It means that there is meaningful relation between organizational culture and implementation of accounting information. The authors come to conclusion that several barriers lead to implementation AIS on listed companies on TSE. In such a condition it seems that without solving these problems the Iranian companies do not enjoy of advantages of AIS, so it cause very big problem in near future. In order to solving these problems all together from top managers to simple clerk should give hand in hand and at least reduce these problems in competition world. 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Women in the Renaissance Essay Example for Free

Women in the Renaissance Essay â€Å"What was life like for Renaissance women? † â€Å"If you were a woman in that time, would you have liked it? † and â€Å"How was the treatment towards women? † Questions like these keep pestering my mind as I research about the Renaissance. It is preposterous at how little freedom women were given compared to this day and age. Not only that, it is clear and obvious that men in the 14th to 16th century in England were given special privileges, while females were not. This is absurd. Women should have been treated as equals with men and without inferiority. The English Renaissance was a period of time filled with great injustice, harsh treatment, and unfair consequences. The life that most women live currently is a luxury compared to the Renaissance since females may major in whatever career she wants, choose who she wants to marry, and in general, make her own decisions. Yet, it has not always been this way. In the Renaissance, females were deemed inferior to males and there were laws that restricted women’s rights. For example, Protestantism â€Å"underscored women’s wifely and maternal roles and simultaneously closing down religious orders that had heretofore offered women a realm for their exercise of spiritual and social power† (Smith 25). Men could not even give females any power, even if was just religious powers. Any authority for females was looked down upon, for men believed women would misuse it since â€Å"as inheritors of eve’s sinfulness, women were pronounced disobedient, lustful, and physically foul† (Smith 25). Females were assumed that way so thus were the inferior gender and treated differently. As males were superior, it was accepted that they had the higher authority so their wives and daughters followed his orders. The daughters had no say to who her father married her to. The main purpose of daughters was as a bride. If they could not marry or lacked the dowry to become nuns, they had to find work (â€Å"Women† 324). Almost all girls were not allowed to decide who they could wed. Their father mainly chose the groom and marriages were often a matter of business. It did not matter whether or not his daughter loved the guy. In addition, the fathers expected â€Å"certain values for girls: chastity, obedience, and silence† These were thought to prepare daughters for their second stage of life, as a wife (â€Å"Women† 324). Chastity was needed because girls could not be married without it, obedience for listening to the betrothed, and silence to not argue with the husband. Sometimes, young girls married men twice or three times their age (â€Å"Women† 324). Imagine having a spouse as old as one’s father, or worse, grandfather! In nobles, the girls had their husbands chosen already at the age of ten or eleven. After five or six years, on the actual wedding, they would meet each other for their first time (â€Å"Women† 324). They were usually married to men with power and wealth; the main reason of the wedding meant sharing a lord’s property or a noble name and continued success. Many women married men they barely knew, or never met. After following her father’s orders, she then had to obey the demands of her new husband (â€Å"Women† 324). Women in the family had different roles depending on what social class they were. The roles of mostly upper class women consisted of different struggles than that of lower class women. For example, upper class women were, â€Å"placed [with] crippling limitations [on] developing artistic or intellectual skills a woman might possess† (â€Å"Women in the Renaissance†). If a woman had sophisticated abilities and wealth, there were more marital offers that came from other nobles. Also, the girls, from a young age, were taught needlework, etiquette, and other talents. In the lower classes, women tended to have â€Å"less freedom of movement in lower classes; they were always handicapped by the physical strains and dangers of constant childbearing and by endless hard labor to provide for [the] family† (â€Å"Women in the Renaissance†). Most of the lower class had to do all their work themselves instead of hiring helping hands or servants since the majority could not afford it. All the cooking, shopping, and cleaning were usually done by the females. They had no time for etiquette and needlework but for other labors in the household. Marriage in households was not the best either. â€Å"Man ruled, women was his property, and he was free to humiliate, strike, and even murder her† (Gail 40). That sounds harsh but it happened. The husbands were even able to murder their wives if their wives were caught in adultery. Adultery was consistently viewed as a wife’s crime; punished by execution and viewed as treason† (â€Å"Women† 317). It was not unheard of for the husband to kill her since divorce did not exist. It seemed that it was always the wife’s fault for seducing other men (â€Å"Adultery†). Regularly, men engaged in sexual relations outside marriage without having to be killed. Women were often married as a matter of business and not by love so of course they would be unhappy and unsettled in their relationships with their husbands. Most tended to simply submit their lives and deal with the marriage. Others refused to accept their fate and looked to satisfy their own desires elsewhere. Yet, â€Å"for a woman who gives into her desires is thought to be deviant; however, the male supremacy in early modern England only perpetuates the female desire to be unbound by societal expectations† (â€Å"Adultery†). Would it not be frustrating to have to be with a man one did not love? Since males controlled females, it was only predictable that women would want to rebel. There were women who wanted to express their opinions but in other ways. The only way â€Å"women could rise [was] through education and struggle† (Gail 42). It was only reasonable that women could finally be noticed through their intellectual abilities. However, â€Å"most men of the day, including churchmen, scholars and educators, stood together against women, and constantly spoke of them with contempt† (Gail 42). Males believed it ridiculous for women to be able to have a formal education instead of learning how to be a proper wife. In spite of all this, the Renaissance was known as the time of the rise of women. It was Spain that â€Å"was known as the country of learned women† due to the Saracen influence (Gail 42). The Saracen women were â€Å"granted spiritual equality to men and women† because of the Prophet Muhammad, whose followers invaded Spain in 711 (Gail 42). Juan Luis Vives, a tutor in Spain, educated Queen Isabella’s four daughters and then traveled to England, where he stirred interest for educating girls (Gail 43). He published books that supported schooling for girls. He began this idea and others took it up. The notion of having almost all females literate was a new thing. Not everyone agreed but there was a slight change. â€Å"During the Renaissance women lost economic power, but, at least briefly, gained status and opportunities for education† (â€Å"Did women have a renaissance? †). The women would finally have literacy instead of lighter, more informal material. Not only that, the time of questioning of women’s inferiority was the beginning of â€Å"Querelles des Femmes,† or the disputes about women (â€Å"Women† 325). â€Å"The educated daughters of humanists, businessmen, and clergy wrote to counter arguments for female inferiority and subordination to men† (Nym Mayhall 45). The women were finally taking actions for their treatment. No more would they keep waiting on men. One such woman was Christine de Pisan who wrote Livre de la cite des dames, or Book of the City of Ladies (Nym Mayhall 45). This was the first important impact of a woman to this discussion. Pisan argued about the schooling and training of women and how it was what made them inferior to men. Not only that, she disputed that â€Å"women’s subordination resulted not from women’s natural inferiority but from men’s envy of women’s virtue† (Nym Mayhall 46). Men know what females can achieve and feel threatened by the competition! That is why there is subordination between the genders. Other European women elaborated upon these opinions. Some include the French writer Marie de Gournay, British playwright Aphra Behn, and Venetian poet Lucrezia Marinella (Nym Mayhall 46). Many early feminists wrote texts that â€Å"contradict[ed] notions of women’s inferiority inherited from classical authors and Christina texts and arguing that women were fully human, not restricted by their natures or biology† (Nym Mayhall 46). This led more females and males to participate in this heated discussion. The idea of equality between genders was beginning to change for the better bit by bit. There were famous females who began to defy men and act upon their beliefs. Some wrote and published their views, others simply followed their dreams that men had taken away, and a few noblewomen used their wealth and status to influence things. The females showed that women were as good as men, whether they liked it or not. For instance, Isabelle d’Este was a noblewoman who was the Marchesa of Mantua. She was not only a patron of the arts, but [also] an inspiration to great artists [like Titian and Da Vinci]† (â€Å"Isabelle d’Este†). To name a few other women, there was the French writer Marie de Gournay, Venetian poet Lucrezia Marinella, and British playwright Aphra Behn (Nym Mayhall 46). These people tried to defend the reputation of women and show the excellence in females by creating literal works. Further women such as Italian Gaspara Stampa and French Louise Labes wrote poetry, romances, stories, novels, and plays (â€Å"Women† 326). Many other females wrote but compared to males, the published works were little. Yet, it’s the thought that counts. Women writers published their thoughts and opinions. Life in the English Renaissance was comparably challenging to that of our current life. There were more limitations and expectations for females. It would terrify most girls in this day and age to marry at such young ages and not even know who the groom is! What if he was twenty years older? Such things were one of the many worries of girls in the Renaissance, alongside with household chores and duties. It was all because of the chance of being born female. Four hundred years from the Renaissance, there is finally equality between both genders. Though there may sometimes be evidence of inferiority, overall females have the freedom to choose and decide what they want and never have to be restricted by rules. There is no need to fear the consequences of reading a book in public or disobeying one’s father in a matter of marriage.

Data Structures Role In Programming Languages Computer Science Essay

Data Structures Role In Programming Languages Computer Science Essay Data Structure is logical and mathematical model to store data.So there are basic benefits of data structures: The memory space is properly used.It helps in data protection and management. It is used to organize data in such a way that the insertion deletion,searhing i.e manipulation of data is done with minimal complexity , and that gives a efficiet performance of our computing. By using data structures data can be easily, and efficiently exchanged; it allows portability, comprehensibility, and adaptability of information. Data structures are used in most programming allowing efficient management of large amounts of data.Data structures are the organizing element in software design, for some programming languages, and design methods. Data structures are based on a computers ability to store, and retrieve data from anywhere in memory; record, and array structures are based on using arithmetic operations to compute the address of the data. The storing of addresses within the structure is called linked data structures. Specific program languages offer built in support for specific data structures, (i.e. one dimensional arrays are used in C programming, and hash tables are used in Pearl). An array is a type of data structure. An array is a data structure consisting of a number of variables, having the same data type. A single variable name is given to an array to associate with the variables. Arrays are used by programmers as a means of organizing many data items into a single data structure. Elements of the array are written, and recognized by using subscript, which is parenthesis after the array name. The use of arrays simplifies the writing of a program by allowing the grouping of similar data, rather than writing each item in the program code, saving time, and money. An example of an array would be days of the week: Initialize data table day_table(1) = Sunday day_table(2) = Monday day_table(3) = Tuesday day_table(4) = Wednesday day_table(5) = Thursday day_table(6) = Friday day_table(7) = Saturday End All high level languages share a set of intercepted framework of data structure that composes the languages. These common data structures are strings, arrays, I/O, Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists, Trees, Graphs, Hash tables, and Vectors. Most programming languages feature some sort of library mechanism that allows data structure implementations to be reused by different programs. Modern languages usually come with standard libraries that implement the most common data structures. Examples are the C++ Standard Template Library, the Java Collections Framework, and Microsofts .NET Framework. Data Structures in C Language : A data item refers to a single unit of values. For example, a studentà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s information may be divided into four items/properties GRNO, name, class, and semester. But the GRNO would be treated as unique/ item. Data are also organized into more complex types of structures. There are two types of data structure are available : Linear 2. Non-Linear. Linear Structures: In this type of data structure we perform insert, delete, search,update operations sequentially or in an order (like Ascending/Descending). for example you have a list having 5 elements containing A,B,C,D,E,F values if u want to find that on which location E is store in this list, you must compare E with A,B,C,D and finally with E along this you must perform an increment to counter. After that you will find the actual location of your required/search item with the help of counter in this example the value of counter=4. Examples of Linear Data Structures are as follows: * Array * Linked List * Queue * Stack 1. Non-Linear: In this type of data structure we perform Traversing, insert, delete, search, update operation randomly. # Examples of Non-Linear Data Structures are as follows: * Tree * Graphs. Data Structure operations: The following four operations play a major role in this text. 1. Traversing: Accessing each record exactly once so that certain items in the record may be processed.( This accessing and processing is sometimes called visiting the record.) 2. Searching: Finding the location of the record with a given key value, or finding the locations of all records, which satisfy one or more conditions. 3. Inserting: adding a new record to the structure. 4. Deleting: Removing a record from the structure. 5. Sorting: Arranging the records in some logical order . Some Data Structures and their use in programming Languages: STACK: A stack is a last in, first out (LIFO) abstract data type and data structure. A stack can have any abstract data type as an element, but is characterized by only two fundamental operations: push and pop. The push operation adds to the top of the list, hiding any items already on the stack, or initializing the stack if it is empty. The pop operation removes an item from the top of the list, and returns this value to the caller. A pop either reveals previously concealed items, or results in an empty list. A stack-oriented programming language is one that relies on a stack machine model for passing parameters. Several programming languages fit this description, notably Forth, RPL, PostScript, and also many Assembly languages (but on a much lower level). Some languages, like LISP and Python, do not call for stack implementations, since push and pop functions are available for any list. All Forth-like languages (such as Adobe PostScript) are also designed around language-defined stacks that are directly visible to and manipulated by the programmer. C++s Standard Template Library provides a stack templated class which is restricted to only push/pop operations. Javas library contains a Stack class that is a specialization of Vectorthis could be considered a design flaw, since the inherited get() method from Vector ignores the LIFO constraint of the Stack. ARRAYS: An array can be defined as the finite ordered set of homogeneous elements.Finite means that yhere are specific number of elements in an array, ordered means that elements are arranged in a sequence so that the first,second,thirdà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦nth element. In pure functional programs it is common to represent arrays by association lists. Association lists have the disadvantage that the access time varies linearly both with the size of the array (counted in number of entries) and with the size of the index (counted in cons nodes). QUEUE: A queue is a particular kind of collection in which the entities in the collection are kept in order.It is based on First-In-First-Out (FIFO)principle. In a FIFO data structure, the first element added to the queue will be the first one to be removed. A queue is an example of a linear data structure. LINKED LIST: It is a method of organizing stored data in a computer memory or on a storage medium based on the logical order of the data and not the physical order. All stored data records are assigned a physical address in memory that the computer uses to locate the information. A linked list arranges the data by logic rather than by physical address. Memory Management: One of the most important functions of a programming language is to provide facilities for managing memory and the objects that are stored in memory. C provides three distinct ways to allocate memory for objects: Static memory allocation: space for the object is provided in the binary at compile-time; these objects have an extent (or lifetime) as long as the binary which contains them is loaded into memory Automatic memory allocation: temporary objects can be stored on the stack, and this space is automatically freed and reusable after the block in which they are declared is exited Dynamic memory allocation: blocks of memory of arbitrary size can be requested at run-time using library functions such as malloc from a region of memory called the heap; these blocks persist until subsequently freed for reuse by calling the library function free These three approaches are appropriate in different situations and have various tradeoffs. For example, static memory allocation has no allocation overhead, automatic allocation may involve a small amount of overhead, and dynamic memory allocation can potentially have a great deal of overhead for both allocation and deallocation. On the other hand, stack space is typically much more limited and transient than either static memory or heap space, and dynamic memory allocation allows allocation of objects whose size is known only at run-time. Most C programs make extensive use of all three. Where possible, automatic or static allocation is usually preferred because the storage is managed by the compiler, freeing the programmer of the potentially error-prone chore of manually allocating and releasing storage. However, many data structures can grow in size at runtime, and since static allocations (and automatic allocations in C89 and C90) must have a fixed size at compile-time, there are many situations in which dynamic allocation must be used. Prior to the C99 standard, variable-sized arrays were a common example of this (see malloc for an example of dynamically allocated arrays). Automatically and dynamically allocated objects are only initialized if an initial value is explicitly specified; otherwise they initially have indeterminate values (typically, whatever bit pattern happens to be present in the storage, which might not even represent a valid value for that type). If the program attempts to access an uninitialized value, the results are undefined. Many modern compilers try to detect and warn about this problem, but both false positives and false negatives occur. Another issue is that heap memory allocation has to be manually synchronized with its actual usage in any program in order for it to be reused as much as possible. For example, if the only pointer to a heap memory allocation goes out of scope or has its value overwritten before free() has been called, then that memory cannot be recovered for later reuse and is essentially lost to the program, a phenomenon known as a memory leak. Conversely, it is possible to release memory too soon and continue to access it; however, since the allocation system can re-allocate or itself use the freed memory, unpredictable behavior is likely to occur. Typically, the symptoms will appear in a portion of the program far removed from the actual error, making it difficult to track down the problem. Such issues are ameliorated in languages with automatic garbage collection.

Hydrological Impacts of Wimbleball Reservoir

Hydrological Impacts of Wimbleball Reservoir An Evaluation of the hydrological impacts of Wimbleball Reservoir using the IHA approach A river acts both as a source and carrier of water for supporting and sustaining the biological diversity and integrity of the aquatic, wetland and riparian species and natural ecosystems. To accomplish these functions, it is necessary that river water meets some essential qualitative and quantitative parameters and the stream-flow exhibits the dynamics and hydrological attributes comparable to that of natural or unaltered river flows (hydrologic regime). This hydrologic regime is the lifeline of freshwater ecosystem and all diverse variety of aquatic riparian species are for long accustomed and adapted to the characteristic temporal, spatial and hydrologic variation of water flow cycles attributable to the natural or unaltered water flow. Unfortunately, this regime and its naturally configured variation patterns get disturbed failing to absorb the stresses induced by our ever-increasing demands and environmentally irresponsive use of water. To evaluate the shifts in the pre and post-reservoir hydrologic parameters, the effect of Wimbleball Reservoir have been analysed based on the long-term flow-patterns of the downstream discharge of the reservoir. The analysis was conducted by a very robust statistical model called the IHA model. Both long term differences and RVA analysis show substantial impacts of manmade reservoir control on the biota of the Exe-catchment. Introduction Water bodies like rivers, streams, channels, etc. serve a dual function being essential source points for our day-to-day water requirements as well being its transporters or carriers by flowing in and channelling water downstream to the river beds, catchments and agricultural fields in the process supporting and sustaining the biological diversity and integrity of the aquatic, wetland and riparian species and natural ecosystems. Our earth is also called the ‘water planet’ as water forms approximately 70% of its total surface (The Ground Water Foundation,2003) but only a part of it is available for our use. This realization has long back prompted us to take up some water management practices. In the beginning, water management practices were very much focused on issues like water quality and flood control measures and the overall strategy was never so broad to include other aspects like water quantity, stream flow management and restoration (BD, Richter, etal,1997)2. However, issues pertaining to water quantity, flow, restoration, etc. gradually started to get prominence in our policy framework following a landmark order passed by the US Supreme Court identifying the separation of water quality from water quantity and flow as an artificial distinction and recommending incorporation of both water quality and quantity objectives in a broader and comprehensive water management policy framework (US-EPA, 2002)3. Water quality, quantity flow conditions are in way inseparable features considering the fact that the amount of flow in a river effects many issues of water quality and water quantity at the same time. Therefore, the assessment on the wholesomeness of water in any system is essentially dictated by the above conditions of quality, quantity and flow characteristics. Going by this approach broadens the overall water policy framework making this a comprehensive management initiative. This shift in water management approach necessitated re-configuration of the erstwhile single or limited objective driven practice of flood storm water control thereby embracing a comprehensive initiative of total ecosystem management restoration having multi-utility potentials. This system is very important and effective because this takes into account the sustainable use of water resources or ‘water takings’ and their possible restoration (Dept. of Fisheries Oceans, Canada, 2002)4. Under the ambit of this, it is necessary that river water meets some essential qualitative and quantitative parameters and the stream-flow exhibits the dynamics and hydrological attributes (hydrologic regime) comparable to that of natural or unaltered river flow (Richter D. Brian etal) 5. This hydrologic regime or ‘natural flow regime’ is the lifeline of freshwater ecosystem and all diverse variety of aquatic riparian species are for long accustomed and adapted to the characteristic temporal, spatial and hydrologic variations of water flow cycles attributable to the natural or unaltered water flow. Unfortunately, this regime and its naturally configured variation patterns get disturbed (Allan David HinzLeon, SNRE, 2004)6 failing to absorb the stresses induced by our ever-increasing water takings demands and environmentally irresponsive use of water. In fact, this is the point where human intervention or controls and water integrity issues found themselves in a highly confronting and conflicting platform. Increased water demands compelling human actions like construction of water reservoirs, dams, impoundments, etc. for storing and using water for domestic, energy and hydropower, artificial parks and various other uses have started taking their toll on river waters and water bodies substantially degrading the quality, quantity and importantly squeezing the downstream water flows(Benue, A. C. 1990). This flow reduction in rivers consequential to manmade flood and irrigation control practices like reservoirs and dams are found to alter the natural hydrologic regime bringing in a series of impairments to overall ecosystem and also opening up a new front in the field of river and hydrology studies. This paper aims to assess the variations in the hydrological parameters of a river system specifically attributable to impacts of man-made interventions or controls like reservoirs. Primarily, the research ambition is to identify and evaluate the degree of alterations in the hydrologic profile by analysing the long-term historical as well recent water flow records representative of the pre-impact and post-impact period of construction and commissioning of a typical reservoir. An emerging computer tool called the ‘IHA’ (Indicators of Hydrologic Alterations) has been applied to generate scenarios and analyze the data. The records and data needs for this study have been sourced from an existing gauging station in the Exe river of South-West England strategically selected to represent the influence of the ‘Wimbleball Reservoir’. Natural Flow Regime Hydrologic Alterations – Ecological Significance The concept of natural flow regime is based on the understanding that aquatic and riparian organisms depend upon, or can tolerate arrange of flow conditions specific to each species (Puff etal, 1997)7.For example, certain fish species moves into safer floodplain areas during floods to feed and escape from attacks of other species occupying the main water body thereby adapting a mechanism to survive and carry on all by itself. This in a way indicates that if flooding occurs at the right time of the year, and lasts for the right amount of time, these fish populations will benefit from the flood event finally. Again as a contrast to this case, other species may be adversely affected by the same flood. With the development of the science of hydrology, it has been confirmed with a good degree of confidence that hydrologic regime with all its natural and temporal variations (both intra-annual and inter-annual) are needed to maintain and restore the natural form and function of aquatic ecosystems. However, this prerequisite is not in line with the traditional water management practice which is functionally attuned to influence and dampen natural fluctuations with the objective to provide steady and undisturbed supply of water for different in-stream and out-of-stream activities(Richter et al., 2003) . Moreover, for intervening and containing extreme drought and flood events, the traditional water management initiatives rather relied on moderating and limiting flow fluctuations. Many studies indicate ‘natural flow regime’ as a determinant toing-stream flow needs of a water body. For example, (Richter et al,1996) and (Puff et al. 1997) generalized that natural flow conditions may indicate and determine in-stream flow requirements. There exists a correlation between stream-flow and other physicochemical characteristics critical to ecological integrity of streams and rivers(Puff etal., 1997). Precisely, flow can be associated to some direct as well indirect or secondary impacts and as such flow characteristics can be used as surrogates for other in-stream indicators and ecosystem conditions and importantly the components of a flow regime as shown infigure-1, are very much accessible to scientific inquiry (IFC, 2002,Poff et al. 1997, Richter et al., 1996) . Any disruption, fragmentation and dilution of this natural regime of water-flow leads to ‘Hydrological alteration’ and in general, this can be defined as any anthropogenic disruption in the magnitude or timing of natural river flows (Biosciences, 50-9, 2000). The natural flow regime of a river is dependent on various factors including rainfall, temperature and evaporation when considered in a broader geographic scale or macro-scale and is also influenced by the physical characteristics of a catchment at the catchment level or micro-scale(Rash et al, 1988) . As mentioned earlier, river flow regimes are also affected directly and indirectly by human activities. Such human interventions disrupting natural flow of a river through construction and operation of reservoirs and dams have the potential of triggering a series of undesirable consequences like extensive ecological degradation, loss of biological diversity, water quality deterioration, groundwater depletion, and also more frequent and intense flooding(Puff et al, 1997). Reservoir are built to store water to compensate for fluctuations in river flow, thereby providing a measure of human control of water resources, or to raise the level of water upstream to either increase hydraulic head or enable diversion of water into canal. The creation of storage and head allows reservoirs to generate electricity, to supply water for agriculture, industries, and municipalities, to mitigate flooding and to assist river navigation(Rash et al. 1988). The biological effects of hydrologic alterations are often difficult to disentangle from those of other environmental perturbations in heavily developed catchments as identified by Rosenberg et al. (Environmental Reviews 5: 27–54, 1997) . The impacts of large-scale hydrological alteration include habitat fragmentation within rivers (Dynes us and Nilsson 1994) , downstream habitat changes, such as loss of floodplains, riparian zones, and adjacent wetlands and deterioration and loss of river deltas and ocean estuaries (Rosenberg et al. 1997)36,deterioration of irrigated terrestrial environments and associated surface waters (McCall 1996) . Hydrological alterations also bring another indirect or secondary impacts on the genetic, ecosystem and global levels. They can cause genetic isolation through habitat fragmentation (Pringle 1997) , changes in processes such as nutrient cycling and primary productivity (Pringle 1997, Rosenberg et al. 1997),etc. With the realization of the importance of natural flow regime and the possible dangers posed by human alterations, there emerged a relatively new and promising water and ecology management paradigm. Many researchers started seeing this as a very comprehensive and sound management option and on many occasions stressed regarding the urgency of protecting or restoring natural hydrologic regimes (Sparks 1992;National Research Council, Doppler et al. 1993; and Dynes us Nilsson 1994) . Effective ecosystem management of aquatic, riparian, and wetland system requires that existing hydrologic regimes be characterized using biologically-relevant hydrologic parameters, and that the degree to which human-altered regimes differ from natural or preferred conditions be related to the status and trends of the biota(BD, Richter, etal, 1997). Ecosystem management efforts should be considered experiments, testing the need to maintain or restore natural hydrologic regime characteristics in order to sustain ecosystem integrity. Only some limited studies have closely examined hydrologic influences on ecosystem integrity and this is mainly because most of the commonly used statistical tools are poorly suited for characterizing hydrologic data into biologically relevant attributes(BD, Richter, etal, 1997). Without such knowledge, ecosystem managers will not be compelled to protect or restore natural hydrologic regime characteristics. However, recently, there have been some significant developments in the field of hydrological studies and importantly few robust computer statistical tools and models like IHA Range of Variability Approach (RVA) using the (Indicators of Hydrologic Alterations, BD, Richter, etal, 1997), Wetted Physical Habitat Simulation System (PHABSIM Model, Jowett, 1997)35, Flow Incremental Methodology (FIM), other Hydrologic Modelling Software like GAWSER, Ontario Flow Assessment Techniques (OFAT), etc. are now known to exist(Jowett, 1997). The following sections attempt to evaluate and assess the possible effects of hydrological alteration specifically induced by human interventions or activities. A very useful computer model called the model (available at Freshwaters.com) has been used for generating and evaluating the effects of flow variations. The ecological zone considered for analysis in this paper is the ‘Exe river Estuary’ region and the gauging station selected is 45001 Exe at Thorverton. The Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) Method – Approaches Application The evaluation and assessment of the flow regime of the Exe-river system and the variations it witnessed after the construction of the ‘Wimbleball Reservoir’ have been accomplished by the application of Avery detailed computer-modelling tool known as the IHA or ‘Indicators of Hydrologic Assessment’ model. The software basically takes birth from the concept of integrity and wholesomeness of the ‘natural flow regime ‘and is configured and capable of determining the relative transformations and variations in this natural flow regime subject to any natural or artificial modifications or alterations (BD, Richter, etal, 1997). At first, it requires defining and identifying a series of biologically-relevant hydrologic attributes that characterize intra anointer-annual variations in water conditions which are further processed for a robust statistical variation analysis after isolating the data-sets to represent two different periods resembling the pre-impact and post-impact scenarios (Rosenberg, et al, 2002). The Nature Conservancy is now the custodian of this statistical tool, which is very useful for assessing the degree to which human activities have changed flow regimes (US-EPA, 2002). Brian D. Richter and et al. from the Nature Conservancy (Richter D. Brian, etal, 1996-97) have identified four basic for this analysis and they are: (I) Define the data series (e.g., stream-gauge or well records) for pre- and post-impact periods in the ecosystem of interest. (ii) Calculate values of hydrologic attributes Values for each of 32ecologically-relevant hydrologic attributes are calculated for each year in each data series, i.e., one set of values for the pre-impact data series and one for the post-impact data series. (iii) Compute inter-annual statistics Compute measures of central tendency and dispersion for the 32 attributes in each data series, based on the values calculated in step 2. This produces a total of 64 inter-annual statistics for each data series (32 measures of central tendency and 32 measures of dispersion). (iv) Calculate values of the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration -Compare the 64 inter-annual statistics between the pre- and post-impact data series, and present each result as a percentage deviation of onetime period (the post-impact condition) relative to the other (there-impact condition). The method equally can be used to compare the state of one system to itself over time (e.g., pre- versus post-impacts just described); or it can be used to compare the state of one system to another (e.g., an altered system to a reference system), or to compare current conditions to simulated results based on models of future modification to a system. The same computational strategies will work with any regular-interval hydrologic data, such as monthly means; however, the sensitivity of the IHA method for detecting hydrologic alteration is increasingly compromised with time intervals longer than a day (Richter. Brian, etal, 1996-97). Detection of certain types of hydrologic impacts, such as the rapid flow fluctuations associated with hydropower generation at dams, may require even shorter (hourly) interval. They have also suggested that ‘the basic data for estimating all attribute values may preferably be daily mean water conditions (levels, heads, flow rates). Hydrologic conditions in general can vary in four dimensions within an ecosystem (three spatial dimensions and time).However, the three spatial domains can be scaled down to one with the assumption that only one spatial domain exists at any strategic location over time in a river system. Restricting the domain to one specific point within a hydrologic system (like any measuring point in river) makes it simple for us to identify specific water conditions with one spatial and one temporal domain. These events may be specific water conditions like heads, levels, rate of change, etc. (Richter Brian, etal, 1996) whose temporal variations can be recorded and assessed from that particular spatial point or from a single position. Such temporal changes in water conditions are commonly portrayed as plots of water condition against time, or hydrographs. Here, we seek to study and analyse the variations in hydrologic conditions using indicators and attributes, which should essentially be biologically relevant as well as responsive to human influences or modifications like reservoir and dam operations, ground water pumping, agricultural activities, etc. at the same time (Richter D. Brian, etal,1996,). Importantly, a variety of features or parameters of hydrologic regime can be used and functionally superimposed (Sense South wood 1977, 1988; Puff Ward 1990}40 to virtually represent and finally characterize the physical habitat templates (Townsend Hilde, 1994)43 or environmental filters (Sense Eddy 1992)42that shape the biotic composition of aquatic, wetland, and riparian ecosystems. The IHA method is based on 32 biologically relevant hydrologic attributes, which are divided into five major groups to statistically characterize intra-annual hydrologic variation as showman Table-1. These 32 attributes are based upon the following five fundamental characteristics of hydrologic regimes: 1. the magnitude of the water condition at any given time is measure of the availability or suitability of habitat, and defines such habitat attributes as wetted area or habitat volume, or the position of water table relative to wetland or riparian plant rooting zones; 2. the timing of occurrence of particular water conditions can determine whether certain life cycle requirements are met, or influence the degree of stress or mortality associated with extreme water conditions such as floods or droughts; 3. the frequency of occurrence of specific water conditions such as droughts or floods may be tied to reproduction or mortality events for various species, thereby influencing population dynamics; 4. the duration of time over which a specific water condition exists may determine whether a particular life cycle phase can be completed, or the degree to which stressful effects such as inundation or desiccation can accumulate; 5. the rate of change in water conditions may be tied to the stranding of certain organisms along the waters edge or in pounded depressions, or the ability of plant roots to maintain contact with phreatic water supplies. A detailed representation of the hydrologic regime can be obtained from these 32 parameters for the purpose of assessing hydrologic alteration. Importantly, all the parameters having good ecological relevance do not call for any parameter specific statistical analysis and all of them can be processed by single and unique approach like they (Kozlowski 1984; Bustard 1984; Puff Ward 1989)46. Also, because certain stream-flow levels shape physical habitat conditions within river channels, it is needed to identify some hydrologic characteristics that might aid in detection of physical habitat alterations. (Richter D. Brian, etal, 1997). Sixteen of the hydrologic parameters focus on the magnitude, duration, timing, and frequency of extreme events, because of the pervasive influence of extreme forces in ecosystems (Gaines Denny 1994)48 and geomorphology (Leopold1994)49 and other 16 parameters measure the central tendency of either the magnitude or rate of change of water conditions (Table-2). The rationale underlying the five major groupings and the specific parameters included within each are described below. Table-2: Summary of various Hydrological Groups Groups Descriptions Number of total Hydrologic Parameters 1 Magnitude of monthly water conditions 12 2 Magnitude duration of annual extremes 10 3 Timing of annual extremes 02 4 Frequency duration of high low pulses 04 5 Rate frequency of change in conditions 04 Group-1: Magnitude of Monthly Water Conditions This group includes 12 parameters, each of which measures the central tendency (mean) of the daily water conditions for a given month. The monthly mean of the daily water conditions describes â€Å"normal daily conditions for the month, and thus provides a general measure of habitat availability or suitability. The similarity of monthly means within a year reflects conditions of relative hydrologic constancy, whereas inter-annual variation (e.g., coefficient of variation) in the mean water condition of a given Month provides an expression of environmental contingency (Colwell 1974; Puff Ward1989). The terms constancy and contingency as used here refer tithe degree to which monthly means vary from month to month (constancy),and the extent to which flows vary within any given month(contingency). Group-2: Magnitude and Duration of Annual Extreme Water Conditions The 10 parameters in this group measure the magnitude of extreme(minimum and maximum) annual water conditions of various duration, ranging from daily to seasonal. The durations that we use follow natural or human-imposed cycles, and include the 1-day, 3-day, 7-day(weekly), 30-day (monthly), and 90-day (seasonal) extremes. For any given year, the 1-day maximum (or minimum) is represented by the highest (or lowest) single daily value occurring during the year; thematic-day maximum (or minimum) is represented by the highest (or lowest) multi-day average value occurring during the year. The mean magnitudes of high and low water extremes of various duration provide measures of environmental stress and disturbance during the year; conversely, such extremes may be necessary precursors or triggers for reproduction of certain species. The inter-annual variation (e.g. Coefficient of variation) in the magnitudes of these extremes provides another expression of contingency. Group-3: Timing of Annual Extreme Water Conditions This group includes 02 parameters one measuring the Julian date of the 1-day annual minimum water condition, and the other measuring the Julian date of the 1-day maximum water condition. The timing of the highest and lowest water conditions within annual cycles provides another measure of environmental disturbance or stress by describing the seasonal nature of these stresses. Key life cycle phases (e.g. Reproduction) may be intimately linked to the timing of annual extremes, and thus human induced changes in timing may cause reproductive failure, stress, or mortality. The inter-annual variation in timing of extreme events reflects environmental contingency. Group-4: Frequency and Duration of High and Low Pulses This group has 04 parameters include two, which measure the number of annual occurrences during which the magnitude of the water condition exceeds an upper threshold or remains below a lower threshold, respectively, and two, which measure the mean duration of such high and low pulses. These measures of frequency and duration of high- and low-water conditions together portray the pulsing behaviour of environmental variation within a year, and provide measures of the shape of these environmental pulses. Hydrologic pulses are defined here as those periods within a year in which the daily mean water condition either rises above the 75th percentile (high pulse) or drops below the25th percentile (low pulse) of all daily values for the pre-impact time period. Group-5: Rate and Frequency of Change in Water Conditions The four parameters included in this group measure the number and mean rate of both positive and negative changes in water conditions from one day to the next. The Rates and frequency of change in water conditions can be described in terms of the abruptness and number of intra-annual cycles of environmental variation, and provide a measure of the rate and frequency of intra-annual environmental change. Assessing Hydrologic Alteration In assessing the impact of a perturbation on the hydrologic regime, we want to determine whether the state of the perturbed system differs significantly from what it would have been in the absence of the perturbation. In particular, we want to test whether the central tendency or degree of inter-annual variation of an attribute of interest has been altered by the perturbation (Stewart-Oaten et al.1986)55. The assessment of impacts to natural systems often poses difficult statistical problems, however, because the perturbation of interest cannot be replicated or randomly assigned to experimental units (Carpenter 1989; Carpenter et al. 1989; Hulbert 1984;Stewart-Oaten et al. 1986)66. The lack of replication does not hinder estimation of the magnitude of an effect, but limits inferences regarding its causes. However, the IHA method is robust and can be easily adapted to more sophisticated experimental designs. A standard statistical comparison of the 32 IHA parameters between two data series would include tests of the null hypothesis that the central tendency or dispersion of each has not changed. However, this null hypothesis is generally far less interesting in impact assessments than questions about the sizes of detectable changes and their potential biological importance. A standardized process for assessing hydrologic impacts is included within the IHA software. The Range of Variability Method (RVA) is another analysis frame in which to assess change in structured manner. This method of determining hydrologic alteration is based on the theory that there is natural variability in stream-flow. The RVA software would plot and determine whether an activity, such as water taking, would alter the stream-low outside this normal variability. Significant alteration would occur if the stream-low regime were altered more than one standard deviation from the natural variability, which may have ecological consequences. Development of Pre- and Post-Impact scenarios When adequate hydrologic records are available for both there-impact and post-impact time periods, application of the IHA method will be relatively straightforward using the statistical procedures described above. When pre- or post-impact records are nonexistent,include data gaps, or are inadequate in length, however, various datareconstruction or estimation procedures will need to be employed. Examples of such procedures include the hydrologic record extension techniques described by Searcy (1960) and Alley Burns (1983).Hydrologic simulation modelling or water budgeting techniques can also be used to synthesize hydrologic records for comparison using the IHAmethod (Linsley et al. 1982)73. Accounting for Climatic Differences Climatic differences between the pre- and post-impact time periods obviously have the potential to substantially influence the outcome of the IHA analysis. Various statistical techniques can be used to test for climatic differences in the hydrologic data to be compared. When the IHA analysis is to be based upon actual hydrologic measurements rather than estimates produced from models, a reference site or set of sites uninfluenced by the human alterations being examined can be used as climatic controls (Alley Burns 1983). For example, stream-gauge may exist upstream of a reservoir thought to have impacted study site. Analyses can establish a statistical relationship between stream-lows at the study site and at the upstream reference site using synchronous pre-dam data sets for the two sites. This relationship can then be used to estimate the stream-low conditions that would have occurred at the study site during the post-impact time period in the absence of the reservoir. IHA Application- Description of Study Site As mentioned earlier, the principal motive of this study is tantalize and evaluate the impacts, if any, of human interventions like reservoir operations on the overall sanctity and natural integrity, i.e. the natural hydrologic regime of water bodies like rivers. Here the operation of a well know reservoir in the south-west coast of Britain called the ‘Wimbleball reservoir’ has been identified as the human intervention point which is sufficiently used to store and supply water to cater to human needs like hydropower, drinking water supply, etc. (SW-Environment Agency, 2003)81 and eventually it ends up regulating a river system in the process. The down-stream water body and habitat, which is expected to come under the influence of the alterations resulting from the Wimbleball reservoir operations, considered here is the Exe-river estuary system. The main motivation for selection of the above reservoir and the river system happens to bathe strategically located river monitoring system (gauge-station),which falls in the influence zone. This station is designated as‘No.45001-Exe at Thorverton’ having a grid reference of ‘21 (SS) 936016’ (NRFA Data Holdings, 2005)66. Figure-2 (enclosed) shows diagrammatic representation of the Exe-river catchments area along with the positions of the river and reservoir. The national authority NRFA, describes the monitoring station as â€Å"Velocity-area station with cableway and flat V-Crump profile weir constructed in 1973 due to unstable bed condition† (NRFA, 2005)66. There also exists minor culvert flow through mill u/s of station included in rating. Notably, Low flows are affected significantly by the operations of the Wimbleballreservoir post-1979 and by exports to the Taw catchment. Station iscontrol point for operational releases from Wimbleball (NRFA DataHoldings, 2005)66. The headwaters drain Exmoor and the geology is predominantly Devonian sandstones and Carboniferous Culm Measures, with subordinate Permian sandstones in the east, Moorland, forestry and arrange of agriculture (NRFA Data Holdings, 2005)66. The Exe Estuary is partially an enclosed tidal area composed of both aquatic (marine, brackish and freshwater) and terrestrial habitats. The Estuary makes an important contribution to the diversity of British estuaries by virtue of its unspoilt nature, international conservation importance, recreational opportunities and high landscape value(SW-Environment Agency, 2003) . This Estuary flows through an open landscape with gently rolling hills on either side. It is shallower than many estuaries in the south west of England, so the tide plays significant role, wit