Cost-Plus Pricing

Firms use different types of pricing strategies in determining the market price they will be assigning their products and services. Several factors are considered in making the price decisions. Some of the pricing strategies being used are premium pricing, competitive pricing, value pricing, and cost-plus pricing. It is important to choose the most appropriate pricing strategy for the products and services being offered. â€Å"Selecting a pricing strategy for [the] product is critical, because price is the most highly visible element of all marketing efforts.Consumers and competitors easily can access pricing information on goods sold at the retail level† (Giddens et al, 2005). This paper will focus on the most common pricing strategy being used which is cost-plus pricing. The said strategy will be described in detail with a scenario applying cost-plus pricing; the advantages and disadvantages will also be discussed. Cost-Plus Pricing All firms selling any type of products and /or services need to determine the right selling price in order to maximize profit.The most common and widely used pricing strategy is the so-called Cost-Plus Pricing. Most beginners in the industry use this type of pricing technique as it seems to be the easiest one to do. But before describing this specific pricing strategy, it would be best to define the terms involved in the discussion. The total amount to be spent on making the product is the cost of the product. This would include the overhead expenses as well such as employee salaries, utility bills, and other miscellaneous expenses relating to the making or manufacturing of the product.The amount the customer or the buyer pays for the product or service is the price. The price should, of course, be greater than the total cost of the product in order to earn profit. The difference of the price and cost determines the profit for that product. Value, on the other hand, is the worth of the product and/or service to the customer. Knowing these definitions and from the name â€Å"cost-plus pricing† itself, this pricing strategy can easily be described as a product pricing determined by adding an additional amount to the total cost of the product.That additional amount represents the desired profit for each product. This additional amount for the profit can be a percentage of the total cost or can just be set arbitrarily by the owner or maker of the product. There are also some considerations and things to be factored in when deciding for the final price of the product using this strategy. For one, the total cost of the product may not be a fixed amount all the time as prices of raw materials may also change every now and then.The common formula used to compute for the product price using cost-plus pricing is: Price = (Ave. Variable Cost + %Fixed Cost) * (1 + %Markup) (Wikipedia, n. d. ) Given that total product cost may change, the formula above takes that into consideration and adds a certain percent of fixed cost depending on the variability of the product cost. The percent markup is dependent on the desired markup of the product manufacturer or firm owner. The formula above is just one example of how cost-plus is done. There are actually different methods of doing cost-plus pricing.The above formula is the so-called standard markup pricing where â€Å"the selling price is the result of adding a fixed profit percentage, called markup, to the fixed cost of the product† (McCalley, 1996). The scenario below is a simple illustration of this cost-plus method: The materials used to manufacture a pen cost $10 while the labor and other overhead costs incurred per pen manufactured summed up to $5. Therefore, the total product cost is $15. The percent markup set by the manufacturing company for this pen is 50%.Therefore, the total price of the pen is calculated as: $15 * (1 + 50%) = $22. 50. The profit (markup) for the pen, therefore, is $7. 50. Another method of calculating cost -plus pricing is basing the profit margin from the selling price instead of adding to the cost. Using the same scenario above, this method is illustrated as follows: The total cost of the pen is $15 and the selling price is $50. This means that the profit margin decided upon was 33. 33% of the selling price. This percent is calculated as follows: ($22. 50 – $15) ? $22.50 = 0. 3333 or 33. 33%. The first method shown is a markup or additional amount to the total cost, while the second method is a profit margin against the actual selling price of the product. Coming up with the profit amount may be calculated differently but their concepts are essentially the same which is cost-plus pricing. Advantages One of the major advantages of cost-plus pricing strategy is the ease of calculation of the cost and price amount. There are no complex computations and formulas to be used in determining the product price.Another plus factor of this is that there is not much complex information i n order to determine the product price. Beginners or junior level managers can definitely adopt this kind of pricing strategy. If there would be an increase in the product costs, price increase would be rightfully justified with this type of pricing strategy. Moreover, if competitors would be adopting the same pricing strategy, product price differences would not be that big and could also reach a stable state (tutor2u, n.d. ). Disadvantages With advantages come disadvantages as well. Jensen (n. d. ) enumerated the following problems that may be encountered with the cost-plus pricing strategy: (1) â€Å"the price [established] may be so high that [the firm] will lose money through lost sales;† (2) â€Å"all cost-plus calculations require an estimate of sales to be accurate;† and (3) â€Å"cost-plus pricing can cause [the firm] to underprice [the] products or services – thus cheating [the] company of sales it could have earned.† Jensen (n. d. ) recommends that a better pricing strategy would be to consider the real value of the product and its worth to the customer. References Giddens, N. , Parcel, J. , & Brees, M. (2005). Selecting an Appropriate Pricing Strategy. Retrieved March 9, 2007 from http://www. extension. iastate. edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c5-17. html Jensen, M. (n. d. ). How To Avoid The Most Common Pricing Mistakes. Retrieved March 9, 2007 from http://www. 1000ventures.com/business_guide/marketing_pricing_psychology_p1_mistakes. html McCalley, R. W. (1996). Marketing Channel Management: People, Products, Programs, and Markets. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers tutor2u. (n. d. ). pricing – full cost plus pricing. Retrieved March 9, 2007 from http://www. tutor2u. net/business/marketing/pricing_costplus. asp Wikipedia. (n. d. ). Cost-plus pricing. Retrieved March 9, 2007 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Cost-plus_pricing

Assessment Task: Carbon Chemistry and Functional Groups

Assessment Task:Â  Carbon Chemistry & Functional Groups 1. Why does the carbon atom make so many covalent compounds? Carbon atoms have 4 single valence electrons, which mean they can bond to 4 other atoms. It bonds in a tetrahedral shape, or make straight, bent or ring shaped molecules when many are bonded together. The complexity allows it to bond to many other atoms. (1) 2. How is the structure of ethanol (key ingredient in vodka) different than the structure of acetic acid (vinegar) in terms of functional groups? Firstly, the structure of ethanol contains 6 hydrogen atoms, 2 carbon atoms and an oxygen atom. What is different from ethanol is that acetic acid has 2 oxygen atoms bonded to it rather than one and there are 5 hydrogen atoms on acetic acid while there are 6 hydrogen atoms on the ethanol. On the ethanol, the oxygen and a hydrogen atom bond together to form a hydroxyl group at the end of the chain while there is a carboxyl group attatched to the main chain of the acetic acid. The aldahyde functional group contains a double bond oxygen atom and a hydroxy group bonded to the end carbon. (1) 3. Draw diagrams of ethanol and acetic acid – clearly showing the shared pairs of electrons (covalent bonds). 4. Draw a structural diagram of glycine. (2) 5. Name the class of compounds that glycine belongs to and what do all of the compounds in this class have in common? Glycine is in the class of macromolecules. Ths class includes many repeated functional groups. 1) 6. Draw an organic compound that has two different functional groups. Lable these groups. Hydroxyl group on one end carboxyl group on the other. References 1. Allinotte, T. (2008). Chemical Basis of Life. Retrieved from

Ib Economics Commentary 1 †Microeconomics Essay

Rebecca Bundhun, (October 19, 2012) Cost of summer getaways hit as air ticket prices rise, The National, http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/tourism/cost-of-summer-getaways-hit-as-air-ticket-prices-rise The cost of an airline ticket can fluctuate tremendously based on a number of factors. The goal of airlines is to maximize their capacity by having the greatest number of passengers on all trips. This may however be difficult, as airlines pricing is not only dictated by their own operating costs and profit margins required but they have to consider complementary items that could have an effect on supply and demand for their product. By definition, demand theory explains the inverse relationship between quantity and price. This law explains that if the quantity available of a product or service wanted by the public is low, the price for that product or service will be high. As demand for a product or service increases, the price will increase. This law is critical as we are able to predict prices based on the demand of a product. In the case of airlines, they are able to predict that prices for their services will go up during the high travel months. People are willing to pay more for travel during the summer months, as they know that supply is limited and their available time is defined by their vacation schedules. If we were to graph this scenario, we would find that price and quantity relationship creates a maximum efficiency point called equilibrium point. The equilibrium point tells us the best combination of price and quantity. With the graph below, we can illustrate that some travelers will be forced to cancel their travel plans due to high ticket costs, just as we can identify travelers that will have to fly no matter what the cost of the fare is. However what economists tend to focus on is trying to find an equilibrium point between price and quantity. As we know, airlines provide a service to clients by connecting passengers to desired destinations worldwide. Although prices tend to be set by supply and demand, they are also exposed to externalities. An externality occurs when the actions of consumers or producers give rise to positive or negative side effects on other people, who are not part of these actions and whose interests are not taken into consideration. A perfect example of a negative externality is the rise of jet fuel. As a barrel of oil rises, the price of jet fuel also rises and consequently the price of an airline ticket also rises. Externalities can create a positive or negative demand or effect on a product or service. Price elasticity of demand is a term that helps us understand the measure of the responsiveness of the quantity demanded to changes in price. In general, if there is a large responsiveness of the quantity demanded, the demand is referred to as being elastic, if there is a small responsiveness, demand is inelastic. Airlines take advantage of the existence of inelasticity. Mr. D’Souza states in the article, â€Å"People are still flying. People traditionally plan these breaks, and regardless of the price, they fly. The demand is very, very high.† On the contrary, airlines understand price elasticity and use this well. They know that fare prices can be considered both elastic and inelastic based on the circumstance the traveler finds themselves in. Airlines study their client base, their competitors, and use patterns to predict the behavior of clients based on the condition. They know the probabilities of travelers changing to an alternative airline if their price rises, if they modify their routes, but most of all, they use price elasticity to predict the success of promotions offered by themselves or any other competitor. Airlines want to lure business by creating special values and convince unplanned tourists to take the trip. Say an average ticket price from Dallas to Las Vegas is $550.00; airlines will create a promotional price and may offer the same route for $199.00. Since the price is so low, people will often forget that they are taking an unplanned trip and will justify the trip by thinking about the cost savings realized and not of the unplanned expense. The demand curve below shows how changes in price lead to changes in the quantity demanded. Although airline tickets are considered elastic and inelastic, most economists consider it elastic unless travel is done for business use. Domestic airline travel can be substituted by bus transportation, automobile, train etc. Airline travel is elastic especially as the person’s income increases so their opportunity for travel increases and they will be more likely to afford the variation in cost.

What The Word 'Green' Means In Architecture Today Definition of Green Term Paper

What The Word 'Green' Means In Architecture Today Definition of Green Architecture - Term Paper Example While there is a specific association with the environmental living, there is also a question of the relevance to the architecture and whether it is truly eco-friendly. The systems and the aesthetics have both been altered to represent the idea of being environmentally conscious. However, many are also associating this with the trends in society, politics and in terms of the economic needs which need to be met. The result is a variety of innovative looks and materials which are being used with the statement of one living in an eco – friendly way. However, many of the structures and developments are only slightly altering the true changes that are a part of the environment and which are associated with the living that is a part of the eco – friendly associations currently in demand both politically and socially. This research paper will examine the essence of the Green Movement and the effects on architecture as well as whether this is a coined term or is being pieced in to action through the new buildings and structures created. Introduction The concept of green architecture is one which is now beginning to rise with different approaches to how buildings should match with the social priority of creating environmentally friendly buildings. The ideologies which are associated with this are inclusive of changing the internal and external structures so they match with the demands of the environmental changes for eco-friendly solutions to living. The structures and changes which are being created in response to this have built and established a variety of points that are associated with how one is able to create the right terms and approaches in response to both ecology and the social movement for green living. Examining the key term of green architecture and understanding the approaches which are associated with this have then developed a different approach to how architecture is being developed and what the associations are in terms of building the co rrect options for green living. Definition of Green Architecture The concept of green architecture has begun because of the push to take more responsibility toward the environment and the associations which have been created in terms of the Green Movement. The Green Movement is one which has taken place both socially and politically with the belief that ecological sustainability needs to be integrated into homes, lifestyles and public places. The concept of politics is one which is stating that the environment needs to be protected. However, there is also a vested interest in the economics of the green movement and the ability to buy green and live green that both politicians and individuals in society are looking toward. The concept is now one which is associated with the need and desire to live green and to state that one is in an ecofriendly area. This changes the attitudes of those in society with many that are associated with the beliefs of needing to save the environment and m ake an individual contribution to the associations which are in society (Soper, 1995). The political concepts associated with the green movement began in the 1970s with President Nixon stating that there were detrimental problems with the environment. However, the current changes began to accelerate in the 1990s when Al Green began to make statements associated with the ozone layer and how each citizen was responsible for changing the environment. This particular concept is one which was directly associated with the changes in society and the sociobiological approach associated with how one was developing within the green movement. The concept is one which is based on building a signifying system that would be able to help with those in society going green and having a better understanding

Strategic Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Knowledge Management - Essay Example s units, and work groups has been perceived to be the best strategies for capturing and spreading ideas and know-how within and without the organization. In lieu of this, and the unabated complexity and knowledge multiplicity of many organizations, Checkland’s (1999) assertion that â€Å"We see in the world many examples of sets of human activities related to each other so that they can be viewed as a whole† can be perceived to be factual and expressive of the inherent facts in many organizations despite the trivial reasons that some give for its disqualification. This paper will candidly and comprehensively analyze Checkland’s statement through an extensive review of literatures and drawing on concepts from soft systems thinking, intellectual capital, and communities of practice as well as knowledge management. Peter Checkland developed the SSM (Soft systems methodology) in 1981. The motive behind the development was to develop a strategy for evaluating intricate problem situations and ascertaining satisfactory improvements that suit such situations. According to Jennings and Wattam (1998), SSM helps in attaining improvement to the system through a multistage progression of information collection, explanation, examination, and discussion (p. 36). For instance, an organization experiencing a high labor turnover has to resolve the situation before it detriments the attainment of organizational objectives. From an SSM perspective, the realization that the organization is facing high labor turnover is in reality an outcome of a careful observation of the situation. Intricate details regarding the problem will be collected from various personnel including the HR managers and various departmental heads and recorded by the team of expertise contracted to analyze the situation which will ordinaril y involve more other members from the organization (Ali & Akdemir, 2001, p. 336). Employees will offer their opinions and attitudes regarding the situation. The qualitative

Re replay the example Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Re replay the example - Essay Example New York: Sterling." , which I started reading, and as I proceeded a number of points became clear in my mind. But as I started knowing more about the subject, a number of questions came to my mind. To resolve those questions, I started looking for more stuff in the library. I wanted to know about the economic impact of global warming and how it affects agriculture, and while doing my search with the keyword "economic impact of global warming" I found this article; " Mendelsohn, R., Nordhaus, W. D., & Shaw, D. (January 01, 1994). The impact of global warming on agriculture: A Ricardian analysis.  American Economic Review. ,  844,  753-771." which opened new horizons of thought for me. A very clear account of the impact of global warming on agriculture is given in this article. Now I started to think how after all is it possible to stay prepared for global warming as it is a growing concern these days, and one should know the consequence of this phenomenon, in order to stay prepared. So I searched the library with the keywords "preparing for global warming". This time I found this very interesting article " Sanders, S. (January 01, 2008). Preparing for a warmer world.  Western City,  84,  1, 7-10." After reading this I have come to know that improving our environment is a collective effort of a society as a whole and everyone among us should play his/her role to accomplish the task of preparing for global warming. In my opinion, writing a report of the research that I conducted using library is very rewarding. I was of the idea that there is no need to learn more about how to use a library, but after writing this report I feel to emphasize the need to learn more about how libraries are built, and how to effectively use them for our own benefits. Libraries have a complete system of their own, and one needs to know the basics of using them. This not only improves our efficiency, but also increases the yield of our research

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Research paper - Essay Example However, as with most aspects of the advanced economy, there are a number positive factors that the existence and proliferation of money provide as well as a certain number of drawbacks and disadvantages that the current system provides as well. As a function of analyzing these advantages and disadvantages, it is the hope of this author that the reader will be able to integrate a more full and complete as well as nuanced understanding of the current issues surrounding the monetary basis that society relies upon. The first disadvantage to money is the fact that it is one of the most definitive means by which individuals are judged based upon their overall worth as a human being. Due to the way in which the economy has developed and money has been placed as something of the supreme god to which all people worship, the level to which a person is able to accrue wealth has become of more importance than character, morality, or other primal determinants of human integrity (Webster, 2010). This is not necessarily the fault of money; rather it is the fault of the way in which human culture always seeks to find a way to separate one group from another and ascribe value to each and every situation that might be represented within society. With regards to the advantages of money, one can of course point to the fact that it allows a convenient and equitable means of exchange in order for individuals to purchase key resources and provide for themselves and for their families. Moreover, as compared to the prior barter economy that existed in past history, money provides something of a solid and relatively stable means of exchange that oftentimes carries an implicit value and is not dependent upon a good harvest or other key factors to determine its value. By simplifying the method of exchange, money is able to provide a degree and/or level of certainty whereas prior

Job selection Practical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Job selection Practical - Essay Example y-rated computer and information systems professional with nine years of comprehensive knowledge in organization, maintenance, development and implementation of information systems along with software to assist firms to stay competitive through training staff, supervision of security operations and giving advice to management on the probable consequences of changes in technology, in addition to broad customer care experience in a fast-paced and highly technical environment. Demonstrated track record in regard to delivering excellent quality project governance that includes the assessment of risks, status reports, project proposals and plans as well as requests for project change 4. Have you improved the telephone or email system of your organization to VOIP or an integrated messaging system? Provide a description of the procedure and the attributes that influenced the choice of the new

Final paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Final paper - Essay Example hites, hence the birth of the well known quote from one of his prominent speeches: â€Å"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.† The relation between religion and racism has been an ongoing research for a long time amongst the world’s top religious scholars. In general, my research depicts that there is a positive relation between these two contradicting topics. The outcomes of my study put forward that both the regularity of church turnout and belief salience is no longer considerably connected to racism. (b). Ingenuousness at first thought turned out not to be related to racism. However after some deep deliberations, in which important background variables such as age and education were factored in, it suggested otherwise. World religions tend to declare worldwide brotherly love yet history is beleaguered with moments in which religion has provided a good reason for all kinds of mayhem directed towards people of dissimilar race or culture. A good example of this is the holocaust. From this evidences, a significant number of historians and theology scholars argue that religion should obstinately be measured as a channel for racism. When one tries to make a synopsis of these frequent attempts, a very uneven analysis is obtained. There could be two main explanations for this. One is that there is no compromise on how to quantify religion in order to achieve consequential outcomes. Another one is that there exists two main guidelines in which one can look for a clarification of the observed relation: one can decide to employ religious factors or turn to non-religious factors .The course in which you choose to look for a clarification will affect the conclusions that are drawn up. I will start by giving a brief outline of applicable literature. This allows me to stridently differentiate the outcomes of two different studies that I

IS POLITICAL SCIENCE SCIENTIFIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

IS POLITICAL SCIENCE SCIENTIFIC - Essay Example Political science is the study of behaviour of people in regard to governance, organization and power play. As such it not only studies the public actions of political activists, but also studies the making and functioning of political institutions, structures, laws and constructs of politics. Since political science deals with observation and deductions of theories and facts from actual situations, it can be classified as a science. An empirical theory of politics, then, is an explanation of why people behave the way they do politically (The Powermutt* Project). Ancient philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates in Greece and Chanakya in India studied politics on basis of observed phenomenon. In the medieval times, Machiavelli, of the Italian Resistance movement was among the first to study politics in a systematic way. Later, with the advent of various democratic movements, and intellectual resurgence in Europe philosophers like Hume, Hobbes, Roussseau, Marx, Locke and Voltai re made vigorous studies in political science In the present times, political science is being studied both as a normative and behavioral science and is generally categorized as social science. Though research methods like statistics, stating and testing of hypothesis, drawing of inferences and supporting a political theory with observable facts, and making political analysis thereof, is commonly practiced, yet, political science is not considered an exact science like physics, chemistry, and mathematics. This is because, although, some postulates can be proved true but they are not as fixed, rigid and universally true as the Laws of Motion, Laws of Thermodynamics, Quantum Theory, etc. Political science lacks the exactness and precision with which exact or natural sciences are studied. Thus theories, concepts and their causes differ in political science unlike those of exact sciences. For example, the causes of Republicans

MARKETING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

MARKETING - Essay Example The consistent general theme in the advert is financial sobriety in the young generation. The most consistent features in the advert are saving, financial education, banking choices, giving to charity, financial issues and unemployment. The advert, feed the pig, is related with the leading article. The advert encourages saving among the young generation whereas the article talks about financial issues. There is no competition for this advertisement simply because the advertisement is a government initiative. The advert is for the American young adults who are subject to financial crippling and unemployment. The advert categorically asks the reader to teach about money and encourage teens and young adults to start saving from the little they have in piggy banks or financial institutions (ADWEEK Web). This is a good investment in that ADWEEK being a national magazine covering all issues including those relating to the teens it will thus provide a basic avenue for the advert to reach the young adults and guardians. In conclusion, I find this advert very positive to the financial aspects of the young people and the entire economy. The government initiative has placed this advertisement in the right place and therefore a worthwhile endeavor. ADWEEK â€Å"CBS’. â€Å"Moonves Eyes $4 Million Super Bowl Spot Bullish network boss sees record rates for NFL gem† Web, 16 February 2012.

Spontaneous Recovery and Extinction Essay Example for Free

Spontaneous Recovery and Extinction Essay Spontaneous recovery from extinction is one of the most basic phenomena of Pavlovian conditioning. Although it can be studied by using a variety of designs, some procedures are better than others for identifying the involvement of underlying learning processes. A wide range of different learning mechanisms has been suggested as being engaged by extinction, most of which have implications for the nature of spontaneous recovery. However, despite the centrality of the notion of spontaneous recovery to the understanding of extinction, the empirical literature on its determinants is relatively sparse and quite mixed. Its very ubiquity suggests that spontaneous recovery has multiple sources. Previous SectionNext Section Experimental extinction is one of the fundamental observations of Pavlovian conditioning. Just as the arranging of a positive relation between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) produces acquisition of conditioned responding, breaking that relation produces extinction of that responding. However, similar to many terms in the behavioral sciences, the word â€Å"extinction† is used in at least three different senses: as a procedure, as a result, and as an explanation. If we are to understand extinction experiments, it is extremely important that we keep these senses distinct from each other. One use of the term is as an experimental procedure or independent variable under the control of the experimenter, as when one says, â€Å"Following learning, we subjected the animal to an extinction procedure.† Most frequently, this is meant to refer to a procedure in which the original conditions of learning are disrupted. The most common extinction proce dure consists of presenting a stimulus alone, so that it now fails to signal the outcome. However, other procedures, such as retaining the US but arranging for it to be independent of the CS are also available and of interest (see Rescorla 2001a). Another use of the term is as an experimental result or dependent variable under the control of the animal, as when one says, â€Å"When the stimulus was presented alone, the behavior extinguished.† The prototypical example is one in which responding that was established by training deteriorates, often to a level such as that prior to learning. A third use of the term extinction is as a process or  intervening variable that is intended to provide an explanation, as when one says, â€Å"When we arranged for the stimulus to be presented alone, the behavior deteriorated because of extinction.† Normally, it is this process that is of interest. We would like to understand the basis of the change in behavior resulting from the change in procedure, whether that understanding is achieved at a conceptual or a neural level . Consequently, throughout this article the term extinction will refer to the learning process inferred when the procedure produces a particular result. When there is the possibility of misunderstanding, the phrase â€Å"extinction process† will be used. Because interest primarily centers on the learning process that occurs as a result of an extinction procedure, it is important to separate that learning from a wide variety of other effects that govern performance. The issue here is analogous to that of understanding the learning that occurs during an acquisition procedure. Elsewhere we have argued that the measurement of learning demands attention to two points in time: t1, during which the opportunity to learn is given, and then a separate t2, during which an assessment is made of that learning (see Rescorla and Holland 1976; Rescorla 1988). The comparison that indicates that learning has occurred is that between two animals (or two stimuli or responses) given a common t2 test following different opportunities for learning at t1. This comparison is superior to the common alternative of examining responding during t1, at which the animals are receiving different learning treatments. Data taken during t1 necessarily confound the differences in the current circumstances under which learning is assessed with differences in the learning that prior treatments might have produced. We have argued that for this reason acquisition curves are in fact deeply flawed as a way to measure learning. A similar point applies to the learning that occurs in extinction. In this case, we need to administer a common test for stimuli or animals given different extinction experiences, as indicated in the first portion of Figure 1. In the simplest case, we can compare responding to two stimuli (S1 and S2) at a common t2 after both have had the same initial acquisition but then differ in whether or not they were given extinction at t1. Differences in t2 test performance would then index the differences in learning that occurred at t1. Clearly, comparisons between stimuli during the t1 extinction experience are of limited value because any differences might be  the product of the current conditions of testing rather than of the memory for the learning that has occurred. That is, extinction curves are of very limited use in understanding the underlying process. Figure 1 View larger version: In this page In a new window Download as PowerPoint Slide Figure 1 Experimental designs for the study of extinction and spontaneous recovery. (A) A recommended procedure for studying extinction, in which the critical comparison is responding to S1 and S2 at a common test time when the two stimuli differ in their extinction history. (B) The design in which spontaneous recovery is sometimes inferred from the greater responding to S1 during test than during extinction. (C) A better spontaneous recovery design in which S1 and S2 are both trained and extinction, but then tested for recovery after different time periods. (D) An alternative design in which S1 and S2 are tested in a common test session, despite different times between extinction and test. In this context, the phenomenon of spontaneous recovery has a complex role. That phenomenon suggests that the results that we obtain in a t2 assessment may be quite different depending on the length of time that intervenes between the t1 extinction experience and the t2 test. It has been known since Pavlovs (1927) early experiments that the loss of behavior that results from presenting the stimulus alone at t1 is not entirely permanent. Rather, with the passage of time following nonreinforcement, there is some â€Å"spontaneous recovery† of the initially learned behavior. Introducing greater time delays between t1 extinction treatment and t2 test provides the opportunity for greater spontaneous recovery. At minimum, the phenomenon of spontaneous recovery provides some information about what process fails to account for the loss of behavior when an extinction procedure is conducted. It suggests that the loss does not simply involve the removal of what was learned in acquisition. As Pavlov noted, if an extinction procedure had erased the acquisition learning, then there would be no basis for behavior to return with time. It suggests that instead something happens during the extinction procedure that temporarily  suppresses performance while leaving some of the initial learning in place. Of course, the finding of spontaneous recovery does not imply that there is no removal of the initial learning or even that there was any learning during extinction. It only implies that some of the initial learning survives an extinction procedure. The finding of spontaneous recovery may also be taken as providing some information on the nature of the processes that suppress behavior. If one believes, as Pavlov did, that the return of behavior after nonreinforcement represents the loss of a learning process that occurred during the extinction procedure, it suggests that this learning is malleable, changing with time. That is, it suggests that one property of the extinction mechanism is its relatively lower stability with time. For both of these reasons, many have hoped to learn something about the processes underlying performance loss in extinction by an investigation of spontaneous recovery. Although there have been substantial advances in the neurobiological study of extinction in the last few years (for reviews, see Myers and Davis 2002; Delamater 2004), almost all studies of spontaneous recovery have been at the purely behavioral level. Consequently, the discussion that follows will focus exclusively on such behavioral studies. Previous SectionNext Section Designs for Studying Spontaneous RecoveryThe standard description of spontaneous recovery is that the responding that was depressed during an extinction session is partially restored in a test session that is administered after a delay. As illustrated at the second panel of Figure 1, spontaneous recovery is commonly inferred from a comparison between responding at the end of an extinction session and at the beginning of a test. Greater response in the test is taken to mean that some portion of the initial learning survived the extinction. Implicit in this interpretation is the assumption (1) that the behavior that appears on the early trials of the test session is attributable to the original learning rather than to something else, and (2) that the increase between the extinction and the test represents a reduction in the effect of the learning that occurred in extinction. To justify the first assumption, comparison really should be made between responding to an extinguished stimulus and responding to one that has never been trained prior to extinction but is still given the same  interval between extinction and test sessions in which to â€Å"recover.† Otherwise, it is possible that the increase in responding represents a general tendency to increase responding with time independently of the original acquisition; that is, it might not reflect recovery of the initial learning at all. In fact, there are only a few studies (see Robbins 1990) that have deliberately made such a comparison. But any detailed investigation of spontaneous recovery should be sensitive to this possibility. To justify the second assumption (that the increase in responding represents dissipation of the extinction learning), comparison should be made with a stimulus that has trained, but not been extinguished, and that evokes responding at a level comparable to that of the extinguished stimulus before the delay interval. For instance, one might compare, for the same animal, changes with time in a trained and extinguished stimulus and a stimulus that is only partially trained, so as to attain the same response level. It is only if the former stimulus shows greate r growth with time that one would conclude that there is a loss of the learning that occurred during extinction, as distinct from a general change in performance for any previously trained stimulus showing behavior at that level. Aside from the need to occasionally include these comparisons, the spontaneous recovery design shown in Figure 1B has the drawback of repeated testing with the same stimulus, with the consequence that different numbers of extinction trials have necessarily preceded the trials being compared. A better design, which is also frequently used, is shown in Figure 1C. In that design two stimuli are both trained and extinguished but then given different amounts of time to recovery prior to the test. This design avoids repeated testing on the same stimulus and has the advantage of an explicit test session. But unfortunately, the tests of the two stimuli differ not only in the time since extinction but also in the time since original training and in the overall test context and age of the animal. To avoid these confoundings, we have frequently adopted a somewhat different design for studying spontaneous recovery, as illustrated in Figure 1D. In this comparison, two groups of animals receive co nditioning followed by extinction and a test. The groups differ in the placement of the extinction with regard to the test. For one group (S1) the extinction occurs at a temporal distance from the test, so as to allow spontaneous recovery. For the other group (S2), extinction occurs  immediately prior to test, minimizing recovery. The evidence for recovery is then the difference in responding at the time of the common test. That allows comparison of responding during the same test session, after the same number of extinction trials, to stimuli that share the time since original training but differ in the time since their extinction. The design can be further strengthened if the two stimuli are both trained in the same animal. An especially important advantage of such a within-subject comparison between S1 and S2 is that it involves a common test session in the same animal. This means that any recovery cannot be attributed to general changes in the animals state or to differential similarity of the test conditions to those of original training. One difficulty with the standard procedure for assessing spontaneous recovery is that one part of the comparison comes from a session in which the animal is undergoing an extin ction procedure and is therefore likely to be experiencing a variety of new stimulus events that may have various emotional consequences. The presence of those new events could, in themselves, artificially depress responding to a lower level than that which is warranted by the learning that is occurring. The likely absence of those stimuli at the beginning of the test session could allow greater responding for reasons that are not central to the learning that is occurring in extinction. But the final design avoids such differences in the context of performance for the stimuli being compared. By using within-subject versions of this last procedure, Rescorla (1997a,b) has shown evidence of substantial spontaneous recovery in a variety of conditioning preparations. An example is shown in Figure 2 for a Pavlovian magazine approach situation with rats. In this preparation, S1 and S2 are counterbalanced as a 30-sec light and noise, each paired with the delivery of food and then given nonreinforcement. The result is an increase and decrease in anticipatory responding involving investigation of the food delivery site, the maga zine. A test then takes place either immediately after the last extinction session or after a delay. The comparison of interest is that between S1 and S2 in the common test session. Figure 2 clearly indicates greater recovery for the stimulus extinguished first, S1. One may note that S1 also shows more responding in the test than it did at the end of extinction; but as noted above, this comparison is flawed. Figure 2 View larger version: In this page In a new window Download as PowerPoint Slide Figure 2 An illustration of spontaneous recovery using the design shown in Figure 1D. Rat subjects were given Pavlovian magazine-approach training and extinction with two stimuli, S1 and S2, and then tested in a common session. The superior responding in S1, compared with S2, is used to infer spontaneous recovery. Of course, no procedure is without its shortcomings. In this alternative procedure for assessing spontaneous recovery, one of the stimuli must necessarily be extinguished before the other. Consequently, the order in which the stimuli are extinguished, and the interval between training and test, are both confounded with the interval of interest, between extinction and test. Although application of the design has not revealed any resulting differences in the course of extinction itself (Fig. 2), one must still be cautious about the implications of such a confounding. Consequently, it may be most wise to use both procedures C and D in any research program investigating spontaneous reco very. Previous SectionNext Section Bases for Spontaneous RecoverySpontaneous recovery is such a widespread phenomenon, both in terms of the variety of learning paradigms in which it occurs and the frequency with which it is reported, that it would be surprising if it had only one source. Indeed, many different sources have been suggested, most of which have received some empirical support. But not all of these are of equal interest in helping us understand the learning involved in extinction. Here, I attempt a rough categorization of those sources. Local Performance EffectsAs noted above, when one makes the standard comparison of responding on the final trials from extinction with that on the initial trials in a test session, one can expect that they will differ in a number of ways unrelated to the learning that occurs in extinction. For instance, the repeated evocation of a conditioned response might lead to temporary fatigue that adds to the loss of behavior. It is not uncommon to see behavior decline over the course of a conditioning session  even when reinforcement continues (see McSweeney and Swindell 1999). Similarly, the surprising deletion of anticipated reinforcement may well lead to emotional responses that have a disruptive effect on performance. For instance, the surprising omission of food can be expected to lead to frustration, which changes the stimulus environment and may evoke responses of its own (see Amsel 1958). Effects such as these might well be expected to dissipate before the beginning of the test session, hence revealing any incompleteness of the extinction process that they masked at the end of the extinction session. Although such effects may contribute to the deterioration of performance during the administration of an extinction procedure, they may have little to do with any underlying learning process. If spontaneous recovery could be accounted for solely on the basis of such effects, it would be of substanti ally less interest. Contributors of this sort to response suppression seem especially likely to affect the standard spontaneous recovery designs that compare responding to the same stimulus in two different sessions. They are less likely to contribute to recovery when it is measured as the difference in responding to two stimuli during the same test session. Indeed, part of the motivation for developing the alternative assessment of spontaneous recovery (D) was to reduce the various general differences that are confounded when responding in two different sessions is compared. Spontaneous Recovery Despite Loss of Acquisition LearningDespite the widespread agreement that spontaneous recovery indicates that the primary extinction process does not involve the erasure of the original learning, there have been some attempts to preserve an erasure theory and still explain recovery. Perhaps the most well known attempt is the suggestion by Skinner (1938) that an extended extinction session leaves the stimuli fro m the beginning of the session incompletely extinguished. Consequently, those stimuli still have some strength that can be exhibited at the beginning of the next session. Skinner seems to have believed that extinction eventually removes all of the original learning but initially leaves the session-beginning stimuli partially effective, thereby explaining spontaneous recovery. Although there is some evidence that stimuli that are explicitly presented by the experimenter at the start of a session can retain some strength when extinction takes place in their absence (see Burstein and Moeser 1971), it seems unlikely that this will fully account  for spontaneous recovery. Several experiments have found evidence of strong spontaneous recovery even when the session starting stimuli are well controlled (see Thomas and Sherman 1986) or when an extinguished stimulus is tested in the middle of a session only after another stimulus has completely lost its spontaneous recovery (see Robbins 1990). Moreover, it is hard to see why this account would anti cipate one of the basic findings of spontaneous recovery, that it increases with the passage of time. A somewhat more successful version of such an account was offered by Estes (1955) as a component of his influential stimulus sampling theory. Estes argued that what experimenters identify as stimuli can actually be viewed as constructed of many elements with occurrence that fluctuates in time. Acquisition and extinction produce changes in the associations between the outcomes and those elements over the course of trials. According to that theory, when an element is paired with a reinforcer, it immediately becomes fully conditioned; when it is presented without reinforcement, it immediately reverts to its unconditioned state. It is only the random fluctuation in the selection of elements over trials that gives the normally observed gradualness to changes in behavior. At heart, this is a theory in which extinction involves the actual erasure of learning. The important point to notice is that when trials are given in close proximity, they tend to share more elements; when trials are separated, then they sample different elements from the pool that constitutes a given stimulus. Consequently, with repeated extinction trials, performance can decrease even though some unsampled elements remain conditioned. With the passage of time, the likelihood of sampling those nonextinguished elements can increase, generating spontaneous recovery. Like the account offered by Skinner, this account correctly predicts that repeated extinction will diminish spontaneous recovery. Unlike that account, it gives no special role to session-initiating stimuli, and it can account for the growth in recovery with time. The stimulus sampling theory also correctly anticipates the occurrence of spontaneous recovery with all of the various assessment procedures. These successes demonstrate that one can account for at least some of the basic facts about spontaneous recovery even on the assumption that the extinction process involves (partial) removal of the original learning. They also highlight the fact that the observation of spontaneous  recovery does not imply that extinction must leave all of original acquisition in place. Spontaneous Recovery as an Indication That Extinction Involves Inhibition If one envisions an extinction procedure as leaving intact even a portion of the original learning, then it is natural to conclude that some new learning is occurring that is superimposed on acquisition and prevents performance. The classic candidate for such new learning has been â€Å"inhibition.† A wide variety of different kinds of inhibition have been proposed, suggesting quite different ideas about the nature of extinction. But in each case, spontaneous recovery is accounted for by the dissipation of that inhibition with the passag e of time. CS-Based InhibitionPavlov (1927) was the first to suggest that extinction involves inhibition and that spontaneous recovery is an indication that this was so. He viewed the learned inhibition that he supposed to occur during extinction as more vulnerable than the excitation that develops in acquisition to such intrusions as the presentation of a new stimulus (i.e., disinhibition) and the passage of time (i.e., spontaneous recovery). Although it is not widely appreciated, Pavlovs notion of inhibition was highly focused on the CS and was envisioned to develop independently of whether or not the reinforcer occurred. Pavlov believed that every CS presentation leads to the building up of a kind of fatigue in the neural cells stimulated by that CS, whether or not the reinforcer followed. This leads to a reduced ability of the CS to stimulate its neural targets, which would in turn lead to reduced behavior. That is, the natural consequence of repeatedly presenting the CS is a deterioration of behavior. However, during acquisition, this process is overwhelmed by the growth of an association which the CS develops with the reinforcer. With rest, the CS-based inhibition fades and responding can recover. Robbins (1990) proposed a related notion of inhibition, which he described in terms of reduced attention to the CS. He suggested that during acquisition, attention to the CS grows whereas during extinction it falls. Part of the reason for the decline of behavior in extinction is then reduced attention to the CS with the attendant loss in its ability to evoke responding. With rest, that attention partially returns. Unlike Pavlov, Robbins envisioned the effectiveness of the CS as dependent on the trial consequence, growing with reinforcement and declining with nonreinforcement. In support of this view,  Robbins (1990) found evidence, in a sign-tracking preparation with pigeons, that a CS los t its ability to serve a variety of different functions during an extinction procedure but then recovered them with time. He trained a CS simultaneously to have an excitatory association with a US and also to serve as a conditional signal that another CS would not be followed by a US. When he extinguished the excitatory association, the CS lost both properties and then regained them both with the passage of time. That result is consistent with the view that one contributor to the loss of behavior with extinction and its restoration with time may be changes in the processing of the CS per se. On the other hand, both Bouton and Peck (1992) and Rescorla (1997a) have found evidence for spontaneous recovery following counter-conditioning in which one US is replaced with another. Because counter-conditioning yields a CS that continues to produce some behavior, those cases of spontaneous recovery seem unlikely to be attributable to loss and recovery of the processing of the CS. Of course, the processes underlying spontaneous recovery after such procedures may differ from those underlying the changes after extinction. Response-Based InhibitionShortly after Pavlovs work became available in this country, Hull (1943) suggested a similar account of extinction and spontaneous recovery that focused on the response rather than on the stimulus. As part of a multiprocess account of extinction, Hull argued that each occurrence of a response leads to the building up of a fatigue-like process that is specific to that response and that reduces its subsequent likelihood of occurrence. This process contributes to the decrease in performance during extinction but dissipates with time, permitting spontaneous recovery. Similar to Pavlov, Hull seems to have believed that the changes in this response-fatigue are independent of reinforcement contingencies; indeed, he believed it left no permanent learning impact at all. That is, this particular inhibitory notion is more akin to the performance effects discussed above. It has proven difficult to confirm the most obvious implication of such an approach, that the effortfulness of the response should influence the course of extinction and spontaneous recovery (see Mackintosh 1974). But, one advantage that can be claimed for the alternative test of spontaneous recovery described above is tha t it provides a common test session in which all stimuli should share any general fatigue processes. Outcome-Based InhibitionOne way of viewing  extinction is that a CS that was once followed by an effective outcome is now followed by an ineffective one. Indeed, there is evidence that if the outcome potency is deliberately partially reduced, then behavior partially deteriorates (see Wagner and Rescorla 1972; Kehoe and White 2002). This suggests the possibility that one change that occurs in extinction involves a reduction in the memory of the outcome itself. Based on this kind of thinking, Rescorla and his collaborators (see Rescorla and Heth 1975; Rescorla and Cunningham 1978) suggested that one process that occurs in an extinction procedure is a depression in what they called the â€Å"US representation.† This led them to explore manipulations that might affect the state of the US representation independently of its association with a particular CS. By using a fear conditioning preparation in rats, they documented the phenomenon of â€Å"reinstatement† first report ed by Pavlov, that responding could be restored to an extinguished CS by separate presentations of the US alone. Although others (see Bouton 1984) have given different accounts, Rescorla and Cunningham described this manipulation as restoring a portion of the extinction-depressed US representation. They also argued that there might be a recovery in the US representation with time, leading to the phenomenon of spontaneous recovery of responding to the CS. In support of that possibility they found that, under some circumstances, recovery could be undermined by the nonreinforcement of another CS immediately prior to testing, a manipulation presumed to reduce the US representation. However, various other implications of this notion have not received support. For instance, Robbins (1990) found evidence of independence in spontaneous recovery for two stimuli that had been conditioned with the same US. Moreover, Tomie et al. (1980) reported spontaneous recovery after an extinction procedure in which the US was continued but made independent of the CS, a procedure that should maintain the US representa tion. Nevertheless, it is possible that changes in the memory for the US may make a contribution to spontaneous recovery in some preparations. Associative InhibitionMost contemporary views of Pavlovian inhibition involve not individual events but rather associations between events. For instance, Konorski (1948) argued that a variety of conditioning paradigms, including extinction, lead to the development of an inhibitory association between the CS and US that is parallel to, but the opposite of, the excitatory  associations set up during acquisition. In later writings, Konorski (1967) offered a somewhat different account, according to which inhibitory learning involves associations between the CS and a consequence that is the opposite of the US, the â€Å"no US.† Most contemporary discussions of Pavlovian inhibition implicitly accept one or the other of these views. The standard ways of detecting such associative inhibition are to ask whether an inhibitory stimulus can reduce responding to an otherwise effective excitor (a summation test) or is slow to acquire excitation if it now receives an excitatory training treatment (a retardation test; Rescorla 1969). Most contemporary evidence suggests that an extinguished stimulus does not in fact demonstrate net inhibition with either of these tests. Presumably this is because the inhibition that builds up during nonreinforcement is only just sufficient to counteract the original excitation, but does not develop beyond that level so as to generate a net inhibitory stimulus. However, there is some evidence that an originally neutral stimulus that accompanies an excitatory CS during an extinction procedure does capture inhibition, as assessed by these tests (see Rescorla 1979, 1999). Moreover, there a re some reports (see Henderson 1978) that a net inhibitory stimulus does lose some of its inhibitory properties with the passage of time, in the way required if this were to contribute to spontaneous recovery. An alternative associative basis for extinction has been proposed by Colwill (1991) and explored by Rescorla (1993). According to that account, the inhibition that develops during extinction involves associations between the stimulus and a response. These inhibitory S-R associations are envisioned as existing side by side with excitatory associations that involve the US. Consistent with this view (but not with the notion of inhibition between the CS and US), Rescorla (2001b) used outcome-specific transfer procedures to reveal that the CS-US associations maintained their full net strength after extinction, despite the reduction in responding. Moreover, he found no evidence that those CS-US associations changed in the way expected with the passage of time if they were to be the basis of spontaneous recovery. He proposed instead that extinction can involve an associative response-specific process that depresses responding but deteriorates with time. An alternative view of Pavlovian conditioned inhibition in terms of modulation has received substantial recent attention. Several investigators (see Holland 1983,  Rescorla 1985) have suggested that under some circumstances an inhibitory stimulus does not develop an association with a separate event, such as US or a response, but rather acquires the ability to control the strength of an excitatory CS-US association. This type of inhibition is not the opposite of an excitatory association but rather plays more of a hierarchical role, modulating a CS-US association. Bouton (1991) has suggested that both contextual and temporal stimuli can serve this modulatory role for a stimulus subjected to an extinction procedure. During the extinction procedure, the excitatory association is seen as remaining intact but being disabled by the presence of contextual or temporal stimuli that had accompanied nonreinforcement. With a change in either the context or the temporal stimuli, this inhibitory process is attenuated, allowing the return of performance. The phenomenon of â€Å"renewal† provides evidence for this view. If, following extinction, the stimulus is tested in a different context, there can be a substantial recovery of responding (see Bouton 1991). If one views the passage of time as analogous to changing the context, this view provides a way of conceptualizing spontaneous recovery. Differential RetrievalThe inhibitory accounts of extinction and spontaneous recovery all envision the strength of original learning as remaining unchanged throughout extinction and spontaneous recovery. They see the decrease in responding during extinction as attributable to the growth of the inhibitory process, and the increase in responding with spontaneous recovery as attributable to the dissipation of that inhibitory process. In effect, the memory for the extinction process loses strength with the pas sage of time. An alternative framework for understanding extinction and spontaneous recovery involves differential retrieval of the acquisition and extinction experiences, both of which remain fully intact. For instance, Spear (1971) and Bouton (1993) have both noted the formal analogy between interference paradigms as studied in humans and the acquisition/extinction sequence of Pavlovian conditioning. In both cases, the organism is exposed to two competing pieces of information that might be expected to interfere with each other. This led both investigators to the proposal that differential performance might reflect differential likelihood of retrieving the two experiences, rather than a weakening of stored information about either experience. According to this view, manipulations that make the  retrieval of one experience or the other more likely will result in changes in overall performance. For instance, a stimulus that accompanies extinction might serve as a retrieval cue, presentation of which would promote the retrieval of the memory for extinction. Evidence for such a process can be found in the ability of some such stimuli to diminish the magnitude of spontaneous recovery (se e Brooks and Bouton 1993). A related view, focusing specifically on spontaneous recovery, is incorporated in Devenports (1998) temporal weighting rule. According to that rule, when an animal has multiple experiences with a stimulus prior to a test, it weights those experiences according to the relative time that has passed between each and the test. In the case of acquisition followed by extinction, this means that performance will deteriorate under the currently experienced nonreinforced treatment. However, as time passes, the relative temporal advantage enjoyed by the recent nonreinforcement experience will diminish, leading to spontaneous recovery. On views such as these, there is a permanence for both the acquisition and extinction experiences; what changes with time is their relative likelihood of retrieval. As this discussion indicates, a broad range of different processes have been envisioned as contributing to the decrement in performance resulting from an extinction procedure and to the recovery from that decrement with the passage of time. Moreover, one can identify evidence supporting each idea. It seems likely that each of these may contribute to the changes in various situations. However, none of them seems sufficient to provide an account on its own. One challenge that each contributor faces is to provide an account of the demonstrated empirical determinants of spontaneous recovery. For this reason it is worth reviewing some of those determinants. Previous SectionNext Section Basic Empirical PropertiesDespite the centrality of spontaneous recovery to the phenomenon of extinction, there is actually surprisingly little well-documented information on its detailed properties. However, four features of spontaneous recovery seem to be widely accepted. Spontaneous Recovery Increases in a Negatively Accelerated Fashion Over Time Almost every description of spontaneous recovery includes the claim that recovery is greater the greater the delay between extinction and test. Indeed, there is a sense in which greater recovery with more time is a defining property.  Moreover, the form of that increase appears to be negatively accelerated. For instance, in recent years, negatively accelerated recovery has been found with eyelid conditioning in rabbits (Haberlandt et al.1978), sign-tracking in pigeons (Robbins 1990), and fear-conditioning in rats (Quirk 2002). Almost all of the potential contributors to recovery listed above appear to be consistent with such a pattern o f change. Although the various inhibitory theories make no specific predictions about how that inhibition fades with time, the negatively accelerated nature of many biological processes makes the finding unsurprising. The stimulus sampling mechanism described by Estes (1955) and the differential weighting rule proposed by Devenport (1998) also yield this expectation. Perhaps the only potential contributor that does not anticipate this is Skinners (1938) suggestion that at the beginning of the session stimuli retain their ability to evoke a response. Spontaneous Recovery Is IncompleteAlthough Pavlov claimed to have observed full recovery from extinction, most other investigators have reported only partial recovery. Even when recovery of responding appears to be complete on the first test trial, the rapid loss of responding over the course of testing suggests that recovery was actually less than full (notice, for instance, the rapid loss during testing shown in Fig. 2). The incompleteness of recovery appears to be mandated by some of the mechanisms described above. For instance, the stimulus sampling account of Estes and the weighting rule of Devenport appear incapable of allowing the impact of extinction to disappear altogether. The other mechanisms are less well-specified in this regard. Spontaneous Recovery Declines With Repeated ExtinctionIt is widely agreed that the greater the amount of extinction, the less the magnitude of spontaneous recovery after any fixed waiting time. This most frequently shows up as the reduced amount of recovery from day to day over multiple days of extinction. An illustration of that decline is shown in Figure 3, which displays results from a recent magazine-approach study with rat subjects done in our laboratory. That figure shows responding during repeated daily extinction sessions in which a 30-sec noise was presented eight times without its food pellet. Another stimulus, a light, received intervening reinforced trials. It is clear that there is repeated recovery of responding that gets smaller over the course of extinction. Figure 3 View larger version: In this page In a new window Download as PowerPoint Slide Figure 3 The decline in the magnitude of spontaneous recovery with repeated extinction. Rat subjects were given Pavlovian magazine-approach training with a noise and then repeated extinction sessions. Actually, in the absence of some better understanding of scaling issues, it is difficult to compare quantitatively the amounts of recovery for stimuli that have undergone different amounts of extinction. Clearly, if minimal extinction has occurred, there is less decrease in behavior and hence less opportunity for recovery to occur. Similarly, with massive extinction, performance may be at a floor, and hence, even substantial recovery may be difficult to detect. But most mechanisms of recovery appear to anticipate that the deeper the extinction the less the recovery. That prediction is obligatory for accounts of recovery such as that offered by Estes and by Devenport, who see repeated extinction as accumulating a relatively permanent depressive process. Data such as those shown in Figure 3 are commonly taken as consistent with this prediction. Spontaneous Recovery Can Be Brought Under Stimulus ControlThere is good evidence that the learning process that occurs during extinction can be brought under stimulus control. For instance, Rescorla (1979) reported that a stimulus present during the nonreinforcement of a previously trained excitor took on the properties of a conditioned inhibitor, suppressing responding to other excitors. Indeed, the so-called conditioned inhibition paradigm consists of little more than intermixing reinforced and nonreinforced presentations of a stimulus while signaling the nonreinforced presentations by a second stimulus. Similarly, Bouton (1991) has reported that if the context present during extinction is removed by testing in another context, then the suppressive effects of extinction are reduced and behavior is â€Å"renewed.† Brooks and Bouton (1993) have extended these observations to the responding observed in spontaneous recovery. They found (see also, Brooks 2000) that if an explicit stimulus is present during extinction of an excitor, then that stimulus has the ability to diminish  spontaneous recovery if it is presented at the time of the test. Although few theories of extinction are challenged by the observation that whatever is occurring in extinction can be brought under the control of a stimulus, retrieval theories seem like the most natural account. For instance, Bouton has argued that a stimulus present during extinction is especially good at retrieving a memory for a CS-US association. There is now substantial evidence that one stimulus can be learned as a signal of the relation between another stimulus and the US (see Schmajuk and Holland 1998). Such modulation or â€Å"occasion setting† could be the mechanism by which explicit stimuli, contexts, or even time, might activate the mem ory of a CS-US association (see Bouton 1991, 1993). Previous SectionNext Section Determinants Needing Further InvestigationIn addition to these four well-established findings, there are a variety of other manipulations that have been claimed to affect spontaneous recovery but for which there is substantially less or even contradictory evidence. This is unfortunate because the effects of many of these manipulations might be informative in identifying the contributions of particular mechanisms of recovery. The Symmetry of Spontaneous Recovery and RegressionAccounts of spontaneous recovery differ in the degree to which they treat extinction as engaging a special learning process with distinctive properties, such as the likelihood of its memory fading in time. Beginning with Pavlovs, the various proposals of inhibitory processes have tended to see them as different from excitatory process precisely in their greater instability with the passage of time. This is clearly true for the fatigue-like processes mentioned by Pavlov, Robbins, and Hull, but it also seems true o f some associative inhibition accounts, such as those described by Rescorla and Bouton. By contrast, the stimulus sampling theory of Estes and accounts that appeal to retrieval or relative weighting seem to make little distinction between acquisition and extinction processes in their inherent vulnerability to time. They see the animal as integrating two experiences that it receives sequentially in time in a similar way regardless of the identity of those processes. This means that the latter accounts anticipate that one should observe a companion phenomenon to spontaneous recovery from extinction if one were to interchange the order in which extinction and acquisition were administered.  That is, they expect to see regression of responding after acquisition if that acquisition were preceded by some sort of nonrein-forced training. The evidence for such regression is highly mixed. Notice that the simple deterioration of performance from day to day during acquisition is not sufficient to identify regression that is the opposite of spontaneous recovery. The critical obse rvation is that there is a deterioration in performance that is attributable to a prior history of nonreinforcement, just as the critical observation for spontaneous recovery is that there is an improvement with time that is specific to stimuli that have a history of reinforcement. When animals are given in sequence two reinforcement experiences that differ in reinforcer valence or frequency, there is evidence that regression in the direction of the first performance can be observed with time (see Bouton and Peck 1992; Mazur 1996). But the results are less clear when nonreinforcement of a stimulus precedes reinforcement prior to the waiting period. Some early experiments reported positive results (see Spear et al. 1965; Konorski 1967). But some more recent studies have found no evidence for regression or the opposite results (see Kraemer et al. 1991; Rescorla 2001b). Clearly it would be valuable to understand the circumstances under which one obtains either regression or its opposite if one is to evaluate the contributions of various mechanisms to spontaneous recovery. It will surely be important to distinguish among different kinds of nonreinforcement experience that might precede reinforcement. The simple exposure to a stimulus prior to any reinforcement is certain to endow it with properties different from those of a stimulus that signals nonreinforcement explicitly, as in the case of conditioned inhibition training or even extinction. But there are not sufficient data to indicate whether or not this distinction matters for the production of regression. Recovery Following Massed or Spaced Extinction TrialsThere is reason to anticipate that conducting extinction with short intertrial intervals may encourage more rapid response decrement followed by more substantial recovery. Certainly this is the expectation of accounts such as that of Hull, which emphasizes short-term fatigue-like effects, and of Estes, which emphasizes that massing of trials would yield repeated sampling of the same stimulus elements but neglect of others. Indeed, one might argue that there is a logical sense in which spaced trials should lead to slower decrement  and less recovery. Presumably widely spaced trials would allow for any recovery between individual trials, resulting in slower behavioral loss over the course of an extinction procedure but more substantial change by the time that a test for recovery is imposed. Despite the appeal of these arguments, the evidence on the impact of massing or spacing extinction trials is quite mixed. A number of investigators (see Rescorla and Durlach 1987; Cain et al. 2003) have reported that massing produces rapid loss of performance. However, Rescorla and Durlach reported no difference in the magnitude of responding in a subsequent test for spontaneous recovery and Cain et al. (2003) reported continued less responding after massed extinction even with the passage of time. To complicate matters further, Stanley (1952) reported that for an instrumental training task, massing slowed extinction on one measure and speeded it on another in an instrumental choice situation. Interval Between Learning and ExtinctionAlthough most attention has focused on the interval between extinction and the recovery test, it is also of interest to ask about the impact of the interval between the original training and extinction, as a determinant of spontaneous recovery. The retrieval theory proposed by Spear and the weighting rule described by Devenport both suggest that spontaneous recovery should be maximal when the interval between acquisition and extinction is minimized. In both cases, the intuition is that when training and extinction are close in time, it should be more difficult for the animal to recall which is the more recent. Immediately after extinction, the relative temporal recency of the nonreinforced experience should be maximal. However, as time passes, and the two experiences are more equally distant in time, they should become more equivalent in their likelihood of being retrieved. The increase in the relative likelihood of retrieving the original acquisition experience would then produce spontaneous recovery. A similar reasoning would lead to the relatively greater impact of the acquisition experience according to the weighting rule. Mechanisms of recovery that appeal to the loss of the extinction experience have no natural way to predict that the interval between training and extinction should matter. Unfortunately, there are very few attempts to examine this possibility. There is some supportive evidence from studies of proactive inhibition in humans (Underwood and Freund 1968) and from  counter-conditioning in rats (Gordon and Spear 1973), but little for the case of extinction. Recently, Rescorla (2004) has reported that a longer time interval between training and test diminishes spontaneous recovery in magazine approach and instrumental responding in rats and in sign-tracking in pigeons. One illustration is shown in Figure 4. That figure displays the results of extinction and testing with two stimuli given acquisition, extinction, and a test for spontaneous recovery in a magazine-approach procedure using rat subjects. The stimuli shared the same 48-h recovery interval after extinction but differed in that a greater interval (8 d versus 1 d) intervened between training and extinction for S1 than for S2. The two stimuli showed virtually identical behavior over the course of extinction. However, the results of a test for spontaneous recovery given 48 h after extinction show greater spontaneous recovery for the stimulus with the shorter training/extinction interval (S2). Figure 4 View larger version: In this page In a new window Download as PowerPoint Slide Figure 4 Evidence for greater spontaneous recovery with a greater interval between training and extinction. Rat subjects were given Pavlovian magazine-approach training, extinction, and a common test for spontaneous recovery with two stimuli, S1 and S2. The stimuli differed in the interval between their original training and extinction. Results such as these suggest that, consistent with some retrieval theories, spontaneous recovery may be a decreasing function of the acquisition/extinction interval. But clearly more work needs to be done on this potentially informative parameter. Previous SectionNext Section Conclusion The picture that emerges from this discussion of spontaneous recovery is one of a process that is greatly in need of further empirical investigation. The available evidence fails to identify any one proposed process as the sole basis for spontaneous recovery. However, there is also evidence in support of all of the suggestions so far offered. This, together  with the ubiquity of spontaneous recovery, encourages the belief that it is a result that is multiply determined. Perhaps this is not surprising because it seems almost certain that the response decrement that is observed in extinction itself has multiple contributors. The fact that spontaneous recovery is likely to have multiple sources limits our ability to use it to identify the learning underlying extinction. The inference that extinction does not fully remove all of original acquisition seems secure. Spontaneous recovery is joined by a variety of other phenomena, such as disinhibition, renewal, reinstatement, and augmented summation (see Reberg 1972) as a basis for that inference. But the simple observation of spontaneous recovery does not force the inference that all of original learning remains nor even that the learning that occurred during extinction fades in time. In the light of this conclusion, it is unfortunate that we do not have a clearer picture of how some of the parameters of most potential interest affect spontaneous recovery. But it suggests that if one is to use spontaneous recovery as a tool to understand the nature of the processes occurring in extinction, one cannot simply celebrate its occurrence or its failure to occur. We will have to do much more analytic experiments determining the circumstances under which it occurs in the particular extinction situation under study.

Anaphylactic Shock Critical Care Case Study

Anaphylactic Shock Critical Care Case Study Introduction (200 Words) In this project a medical case is going to be studied deeply with literature support as a case study. My topic is about an anaphylactic shock that happened to patient in hospital while I was doing my clinical placement it is a very interesting case to be considered. An evidence-based information will be provided and identified such as: the definition, the symptoms, the diagnostic features and tests, the progress and the treatment and alternatives. The benefits behind studying a case is effectiveness of delivering the information. As stated by Davis and Wilcock, 2014 that it allows the application of theoretical concepts to be demonstrated and will encourage an active learning, increasing the student enjoyment and interest of the topic and their desire to learn and it also provide a developmental key in learning skills such as problem solving, communication and team work. It is an enjoyable and challenging way of studying filled with evidence-based practice that will enhance the level of doing researches and studies that will help in future studies. Nursing Assessment (300 words) The patient has been received in Accident Emergency in resuscitation room (RR). J.A.M 52 years old Bahraini female. The patient had an insect bite in that day while she was walking in public walking area, she stopped walking and itching occurred all over the body. While driving home after the insect bite the patient felt drowsy and hit another car near her house and loss consciousness. J.A.M was brought to the unit by 999 ambulance fully awake, well oriented, alert, afebrile, no respiratory difficulties, no complains of pain, skin is warm and dry, pallor and shivering with rash on the face gave history of feeling nauseated and vomited 4 times. Vital signs Checked and recorded Temperature 37.4C, Spo2 98%, Pulse 118/Minute, BP 145/43, HGT 7.6 Mmol/L. The skin was mainly involved representing pale colour and rash on the face, the cardiovascular system represents tachycardia, and the immune system is responsible for this reaction against the insect bite. The patient denies any chest pai n, denies shortness of breath, the patient is known case of dyslipidemia on tablet Lipitor, no other history of other illness, no history of surgery and no history of any allergy. The patient can handle the basics of activity daily living such as eating, bathing, toileting, dressing and she is able walk and get out of the bed but she is not able to perform certain activities such as food preparation, housekeeping and driving a car. After the acute symptoms have been treated the family should be given health education about how to prevent possible future allergic reaction and the importance of seeking help as quick as possible if they do not know how to deal with the situation. Physical examination was done for cardiovascular system representing chest is equal in shape, no bounding or heaving, no lifting with heartbeat. Upper lower extremities are normal in color and capillary refill within 3 seconds, skin is warm periphery with no edema. S1 is heard in all sites and S2 is heard all sites but louder at base and tachycardia observed. Skin is pale, dry, soft, warm. No edema, lesions or odor, good turgor, no signs of insect bite, rashes on face. Medical Diagnosis and other pertinent medical information (500 words) When received the patient the physician has requested ECG, blood tests as following: Full blood count, Cardiac enzymes, Liver function test, Electrolytes, serum, PT + APTT, ESR. Some of the results was not approved but most of the results were normal, this table shows the most important values and abnormal findings: Date Diagnostic Test Rationale Findings 12/11/14 Electrocardiography (ECG) Can be examined to detect dysrhythmias and alternations in conduction indicative of myocardial damage, enlargement of the heart or drug effects. (Kozier and Berman, 2012) The result is Normal valves, no vegetation observed, the heart produces rapid electrical signal, tachycardia. 12/11/14 Complete blood count (CBC) The CBC identifies the total number of blood cells (Leukocytes, erythrocytes and platelets) as well as the haemoglobin, haematocrit (percentage of blood volume consisting of erythrocytes), and RBC indices. Because cellular morphology (shape and appearance of the cells) is particularly important in accurately diagnosing most hematologic disorders, the blood cells involved must be examined. (Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010) The results are normal except: WBC: 24.5 High. Platelet count: 536 High. Red cell size 20.6 High. Haemoglobin: 8.5 Low. Haematocrit: 0.27 Low. Mean cell volume, Hb, Haemoglobin Con are Low. Band forms: 15. 12/11/14 Fluid (Urea) Electrolytes Fluid and electrolyte balance is a dynamic process that is crucial for life and homeostasis. Potential and actual disorders of fluid and electrolyte balance occur in every setting, with every disorder, and with a variety of changes, that affect healthy people, (e.g., increased fluid and sodium loss with strenuous exercise and high environmental temperature, inadequate intake of fluid and electrolytes) as well as those who are ill. (Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010) Patient Fluid (Urea) electrolytes results are normal. 12/11/14 Serum Initial diagnostic test begin with serum laboratory studies, including but not limited to CBC, complete metabolic panel, prothrombin time/partial thromboplastic time, triglycerides, liver function tests, amylase, and lipase. Studies such as carcinoembrynoic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen (CA). (Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010) Liver function test are normal. Cardiac enzymes are normal. Creatinine is normal. The patient was diagnosed as having an anaphylactic shock, the case was chosen because it is very common and could happen to anyone by exposure to an allergen of any kind which is in this case an insect bite. The community may not be aware about how dangerous is developing a serious reaction from a small allergen such as insect bite. The statistics was not specified in Bahrain but in some countries worldwide: â€Å"Systemic allergic reactions to insect stings are reported by 0.3% to 7.5% of persons in the United States and Europe’’. (Ruà «ff et al., 2009) An anaphylactic reaction is an acute systematic hypersensitivity that occurs within seconds or minutes after exposure to an allergen or foreign substance. It is a result of the relationship between Antigen and Antibody, The immunoglobin E is the responsible for human allergic reaction. The person may have a hypersensitivity to the venoms of insects (hymenoptera), stings in any part of the body can trigger anaphylaxis . The signs and symptoms includes Itching, nasal congestion, chest tightness, wheezing, cyanosis, dyspnea, generalized itching over the body, urticarial, tacky or bradycardia, pallor, decreased blood pressure, circulatory failure leading to coma and death, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. (Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010) All the required tests has been done to the patient in RR except antibody screening which refers to a special protein that is found on the surface of RBC to check for RH positive or negative. (Mayoclinic.org, 2014) IV cannula inserted once received the patient, Injection Hydrocortisone 300mg IV given, Injection promethazine 50mg IV given, Injection adrenaline 0.5mg s/c given, Injection Ranitidine 50mg IV given. Patient put on Cardiac monitor, Dexamethasone 10mg IV given, old file requested, chest x-ray requested, Paracetamol 1g IV, changed the patient and kept clean, Injection rocephin 2g given on Right Arm. The physician advised to be kept on 1.5 litres of Normal Saline for 12 hours, 2-4 litres of Oxygen on nasal cannula, kept the patient covered with necessary blanket to keep her warm and comfortable. Impact of the condition on the patient’s Quality of Life (200 words) The patient may move on to anaphylaxis which is dangerous fatal stage thus the treatment did a great job in reducing this effect by using drugs such as: epinephrine (Adrenaline) which inhibits the mediator release from mast cell and basophils and protect the patient from upgrading to anaphylaxis. The hydrocortisone prevented relapse or protracted anaphylaxis. Lockey, 2014 states that the oxygen therapy will deliver the required oxygen to the patient which makes her comfortable. Promethazine will act on receptor as antihistamine which will reduce the itching and has a sedation effect will put the patient into more comfort. Ranitidine will prevent gastric acid secretion which reduces the nausea and vomiting. Rocephin is an antibiotic which inhibits the bacterial cell wall synthesis and will lead to cell death (Skidmore-Roth, 2012). Normal saline to maintain hydration of the patient. After receiving the treatment patient is feeling better, nausea and vomiting reduced, itching reduced, t he patient is comfortable with the treatment. Discussion (700 words) The patient treatment started with requesting blood tests which shows any abnormal values to be treated. Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010 advised that treatment starts with removing the causative agent which is the insect venom but the patient did not know the exact site of the bite thus physical examination clarified that there is no proof of an insect bite. Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010 admits that the patient should be given the necessary emergency support of basic life functions which was given already to the patient, Epinephrine was given as vasoconstrictive. Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010 states another drug named Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) included in treatment of this condition to reverse the effect of histamine and reducing the capillary permeability but replacement alternative was given which were Promethazine and Ranitidine that acts on H1 and H2 receptors (Antihistamine) (Skidmore-Roth, 2012). Another medication which was stated by Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010 albuterol through nebuliza tion to reverse the histamine bronchospasm if occurred. Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010 recommended that IV lines should be inserted to provide access to administer fluids and medication, IV cannula was inserted to the patient. They also state that respiratory status is measured by monitoring respiratory rate and if there is any abnormal lung sound and pulse rate any rhythm to be monitored regularly, cardiac monitor was put on the patient to assess the respiratory status and vital signs of the patient. The physical examination of the chest clarify that lung sounds are normal. Oxygen was applied to the patient to help compensate breathing pattern. The patient was assessed for previous allergies or exposure to such antigens and the understanding of the patient about this condition to prevent any future complications. Locky, R. 2014 recommended that the family should be educated about how to avoid the allergen and know the underlying causes of any allergy. Lockey, 2014 recommends that the p atient should be given an auto injector which is a syringe that automatically injects single dose of medication when triggered and to be educated about it and the necessary information such as: dose, expiry date, route of administration. Such device is given to many people that are at high risk of developing anaphylaxis only during an anaphylactic emergency. The patient and the family should be also educated about prevention of exposing to the allergen by wearing protective clothes that is covering all the skin when needed to do such sport in public area and the onset symptoms that occurs when already exposed to such allergen. As stated in Brunner and Smeltzer, 2010 there is early simple management that could be done by the patient or the relative by removing the venom or stinger of the insect when found, wound care to be done using water and soap, scratching to be avoided to prevent histamine, to apply ice on the bite site as it will reduce the swelling and decreases the venom abso rption by the body. In my opinion, the patient should be identified by wearing an allergy warning band that contains emergency information in case if the patient fainted or lose consciousness. The allergy should be documented in the patient file to avoid any further exposure to allergy and to avoid using the venom immunotherapy (VIT) which treats certain medical conditions. The patient should be monitored carefully during hospitalization because any adverse complication may occur suddenly. The patient should be referred to an allergist or immunologist to follow up regularly to maximize the quality of life. Conclusion and recommendations (100 words) An allergic reaction could develop anywhere in the nursing practice such as administering certain drug that the patient allergic to or using and device that has an allergen element. Nurses must highly prioritize the general assessment done when receiving patients specially asking for allergy for any medication or substance or any allergic reaction that occurred in the past, because we held such responsibilities to prevent any fatal complications that occurs because of anaphylactic reaction, shock or anaphylaxis. Nurses must be aware of such symptoms to detect an early reaction which could be preventable as soon as possible. This will be beneficial to the patients and nurses to deliver the maximum health outcomes. References Brunner, L. and Smeltzer, S. (2010). Brunner Suddarths textbook of medical-surgical nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Davis, C. and Wilcock, E. (2014). Teaching Materials Using Case Studies. [Online] Materials.ac.uk. Available at: http://www.materials.ac.uk/guides/casestudies.asp [Accessed 30 Nov. 2014]. Kozier, B. and Berman, A. (2012). Kozier Erbs fundamentals of nursing. Boston: Pearson. Lockey, R. (2014). Anaphylaxis. [Online] Mayoclinic.org. Available at: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anaphylaxis/basics/treatment/con-20014324 [Accessed 30 Nov. 2014]. Lockey, R. (2014). Anaphylaxis: Synopsis. [Online] Worldallergy.org. Available at: http://www.worldallergy.org/professional/allergic_diseases_center/anaphylaxis/anaphylaxissynopsis.php [Accessed 30 Nov. 2014]. Mayoclinic.org, (2014). Rh factor blood test Why its done. [Online] Available at: http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/rh-factor/basics/why-its-done/prc-20013476 [Accessed 30 Nov. 2014]. Ruà «ff, F., Przybilla, B., Bilà ³, M., Mà ¼ller, U., Scheipl, F., Aberer, W., Birnbaum, J., Bodzenta-Lukaszyk, A., Bonifazi, F. and Bucher, C. (2009). Predictors of severe systemic anaphylactic reactions in patients with Hymenoptera venom allergy: Importance of baseline serum tryptase—a study of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology Interest Group on Insect Venom Hypersensitivity. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 124(5), pp.1047-1054. Skidmore-Roth, L. (2012). Mosbys 2012 nursing drug reference. St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier/Mosby. Appendices Page 1 of 7

Development of Environmentally Friendly Amphicar

Development of Environmentally Friendly Amphicar AMPHICAR II System Specifications 1 Statement of work Our team has aimed to produce an energy efficient, environmental friendly personal consumer vehicle that is capable of travelling on road and operating as a fun filled water vehicle. The project idea of AMPHICAR II is to introduce the vehicle to the public; the first prototype will be used in crossing in the English Channel, beating Richard Bransons record set in the Gibbs Aquada. The project background given by AdSing systems engineering, world leaders in revolutionary new system development, has undertaken the challenge of developing a state of the art amphibious vehicle for the consumer market. This is defined as the first phase of the project and the budget for this phase is $80000. This phase of the project will be completed in 30 days. After completion of the conceptual design of the AMPHICAR II project, it shall be placed as a proposal put forward by AdSing to independent sub-contractors for further iterations of the system development cycle. For the successful completion of this phase of the project, we will have guided by our tutor (Bill Daniels) who is the systems Engineering Expert. The requirements of the vehicle is achieved by incorporating safety features, capability of travelling on road and water, customer satisfaction, robust design, lower operational cost, and after all the project should be completed within the budget. IEEE 1220 standard specifies the system engineering process and it is primarily targeting our product (Amphicar) oriented system, which defines the inter-disciplinary tasks that are required to our project throughout the lifecycle to transform stakeholder (Customer)needs, requirements and constraints in to our product development. Therefore our group has emphasized to bring ideas in brainstorming session and initially conducted a assessment on potential customers before beginning the conceptual design. Here we have the conceptual design of the AMPHICAR project comprises of four different stages namely System engineering and management plan, Systems requirement specification, functional analysis allocations and final stage of system specification. The project planning in fact it refers to SEMP which includes statement of work, work schedule, cost analysis, product testing methods, program management, risk management, resources required, deliverables, etc., System requirements specification stage are identified based on the needs and the project requirements. Functional analysis allocation stage comprises with functional breakdown is done to determine the system physical design overview, functional analysis and component details. At the final stage of system specification, AMPHICAR II project undergoes evalu ation and final documentation. 2. Referenced documents AMPHICAR concept http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphicar Referred on 06/01/2010 The AMPHICAR Story http://books.google.com/books?id=C-PeNY12Ss8Cpg=PT12dq=Amphicar+designei=ZQlIS5ezBpv-lASmprT3DQcd=4#v=onepageq=Amphicar%20designf=false Referred on 07/012010 IEEE 1220 Standard readings http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezlibproxy1.unisa.edu.au/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=arnumber=1631953isnumber=34216 Referred on 09/01/2010 3. Work breakdown structure (this phase of the AMPHICAR project) 3.1 Schedule In fact we have 30days time from 8th January 2010 till 8th February 2010 to complete an attractive high level conceptual design of AMPHICAR II. The Systems specification preparation towards the Amphicar project will be worked in four different stages, under each stage the preparation compiled as draft and submitted through Assign IT on weekly basis. The weekly submission would ensure the timely completion of each stages include the project plan, system requirements specification and the functional analysis allocation and the final systems specification preparation of the AMPHICAR II project to be submitted. The complete details of the schedule can be seen in the Gantt chart on 1. The cost analysis and workout is also shown on Table 1. AMPHICAR II System Specifications 3.2 Cost Sl No. Planned Tasks Budget (S$) No. of hrs Actual Cost (S$) Balance (S$) System Engineering Management Plan 20000 7 days 17850 2150 1 Statement of work 4 500 19500 2 Referenced Documents 6 3000 16500 3 Work Breakdown Structure 3.1 Work Schedule 4 1000 15500 3.2 Cost 12 1500 14000 3.3 Product Testing Methods 15 3500 10500 4 Program Management 8 1750 8750 5 Risk Management 8 1500 7250 6 Resources Required 4 2000 5250 7 Deliverables 4 1250 4000 8 Organizational Structure 4 850 3150 9 Operational Concept 4 1000 2150 Total 20000 73 17850 2150 System Requirement Specification 24000 7 days 20500 3500 10 Scope 10.1 System Overview 6 1500 22500 11 Referenced Documents 5 1250 21250 12 Needs 12 4000 17250 13 Requirements 13.1 General Requirements 8 2000 15250 13.2 System Capability 12 2500 12750 13.3 Safety Requirements 8 2000 10750 13.4 Personnel Related Requirement 8 1750 9000 13.5 Security and Privacy Requirement 10 1500 7500 13.6 Logistics related requirement 12 2500 5000 13.7 Other Requirements 6 1500 3500 Total 24000 87 20500 3500 Table 1 continued†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Functional Analysis Allocation 24000 7days 18500 5500 14 Scope 14.1 System Overview 7 1750 22250 14.2 Document Overview 4 1000 21250 15 Referenced Documents 9 2250 19000 16 Functional Analysis 24 4000 15000 17 Physical Design Overview 24 6250 8750 18 Component Details 8 3250 5500 Total 24000 76 18500 5500 Final System Specification 12000 7 days 11250 1750 19 System Description 8 2000 11000 20 Operational Requirements 5 1500 9500 21 Operational Constraints 5 1500 8250 22 System Evaluation 16 3000 4250 23 Final Documentation 12 3250 1000 Total 13000 46 11250 1000 Final Total 80000 282 68100 11900 Table1. Cost Note * 1 day = 8hrs and 5days per week (Monday to Friday) 3.3. Product testing method Product testing method is one of the most important steps in bringing out of our conceptual design of AMPHICAR II Project, which demands the recognition in the future when the product shall complete and reached at the market. The final product here is the AMPHICAR which is capable of travelling both road and water. The intention of the product testing method is to Ensure that the conceptual design of the product meets the design standards for employability, consistency, and user friendliness towards its functionality. Ensure the design meets the business goals and user needs. Ensure the design does not permit any changes at the final stage of its requirements and concept Ensure the behaviour of the system can be easily understood by the design engineers. Make sure that the design provides proper guidance to the designers to resolve any issues that may arise. Make sure that the design shall not distract the copyright of other brand in the global market. Ensure that the design is properly employed by the design engineers which can be easily interacted by the users and other products. Ensure the physical design matches up with the initial art design Ensure the safety features incorporated in the product shall always be enabling and These reviews are carried out at different phases precisely Project plan, system requirement specification, functional analysis and allocation and final system specification. At the end of each and stage a discussion session is made where all the team members and the manager (who assess the detail of design from the sub-system level to the component level), are gathered to review their respective tasks in each phase and the ideas are taken for any necessary changes of any improvement that can be done for bringing the project successful. The assessed document upon the end of each discussion will be sent as a draft to the project who verifies and evaluates the design and make a note to the manager and the team members if changes that are required for the design improvement and further evaluates after getting his job done by the team and approve the design and promote to the next phase. Thus the design of the final system specification is drawn and reviewed by the project director and approve the design for its release 4. Program management Program management is the mechanism by which the work of various operating functions within a company is integrated to create an effective business model. When program management is properly conceived and executed, it helps to execute business strategies much more effectively than an uncoordinated approach. The program manager must possess operational competencies, including project management methods and tools, to effectively manage the tactical elements of the program. Another important aspect of this core discipline set is that of becoming proficient in the specific processes and practices of the company that the program manager is a part of. Knowing how things get done, the policies and procedures that must be adhered to and who must be involved and approve various aspects of their program are critical for the successful completion of every program. During the early stages of conceptual design, it is essential that good communication between the producer and the customer be established from the beginning. The Design Engineer must fully understand the user requirements of the product to be designed. This can be achieved only we have a good communication between users. The communication modes used are Teleconference, E-mails, Fax and formal meeting between the project team members and others. Meeting agenda ( 2a) will be formatted for all meetings and distributed to all members before one day. And minutes of meeting ( 2b) are drafted and distributed to all members to follow up. The primary objective of our program management plan is to facilitate the timely integration of numerous design considerations into a functioning and Physical system that will be of high value to the user. Our program management consists of SEMP which already Stated in Gantt chart (System Engineering Management Plan), Statement of work (SOW), Work break down structure, schedule of tasks, Projecting costs for program task and interfacing with other planning activities. Our project has mentioned a configuration management plan to track the changes done from the beginning to the final review. During the later stage of our conceptual design we shall develop a comprehensive system engineering management plan (SEMP) to ensure the implementation of a program that will lead to a well coordinated and integrated product. a program is to exploit economies of scale and to reduce coordination costs and risks. programs deliver outcomes, program management is concerned with doing the right projects according to this view, successful projects deliver on time, to budget and to specification, whereas successful program deliver long term improvements to an organization design of the new product this delivers a design specification, modifications to the production factory Program and project management are both practical disciplines, Program management also emphasizes the coordinating and prioritizing of resources across project. Program management may provide a layer above the management of projects and focuses on selecting the projects, defining us in terms of their objectives and prov iding an environment where projects can be run successfully. Our organizations use the concept of Systems engineering where others use program management, ensure there are regular reviews; there is accountability, and that management of projects, allocation of resources influences the cost and success of the program. Infrastructure might cover offices, version control, and IT. A project must always have a specific end date, else it is an ongoing program. A project is designed to deliver an output or deliverable and its success will be in terms of delivering the right output at the right time and to the right cost. Program management is the mechanism by which the work of various operating functions within a company is integrated to create an effective business model. When program management is properly conceived and executed, management includes management of projects which, together, improve the Program management is the mechanism by which the work of various operating functions wit hin a company is integrated to create an effective business model. When program management is properly conceived and executed, performance of the organization. A programs success will be measured in terms of benefits. Program Management comprises a comprehensive suite of services addressing the full program life cycle and implemented by dedicated and highly skilled team members. PMP (Project Management Professional Program management practices put a continual focus on the business aspects of developing products, services and infrastructure. A skilled and competent program manager is the primary business manager on a program. We have Projects Managers that are certified and have decades of experience applying project management techniques and disciplines to client engagements in all industries. During our conceptual design phase we have scheduled a series of formal design reviews at discrete points where the design configuration involves from one level of definition to another. That is conceptual system, evolutions and design reviews. The successful implementation of system engineering principles and concepts is dependent not only on the technology issues and the process, but on management issues as well. Our BLR Engineering prepared a program management plan comprising series review meeting, audits, approval from user, risk managements, and some essential contingency plans. This program management plan guides all over activities throughout the project. 5. Risk management Risk management can therefore be considered the identification of the potential areas of risk. It is a part of the requirements and design stages in a project. Our team of experienced engineers has gone through the assessment and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities. One of the first steps of our risk management is the identification of the potential areas of risk. Risk shall include funding, schedule, and contract, relationships, political and technical. All of these hazardous shall be identified and evaluated and risk mitigation performed. Risk analysis should be performed as part of the risk management process for each project. Once a hazard identified as below, the steps of the risk managements process are as follows, Assess the current risk Define the acceptable level of the risk Decision on the response of the risk. Our risk management plan consists of four processes such as 1. Identification 2. Assessment 3. Analysis 4. Controls/Implementation 5. Responsibility As far as concerned about conceptual design process we may have these few types of risk only. Which are? 1. Technical Risk The possibility that technical requirement of the system will not be achieved. That is our design wont meets the system requirements adequately. We have planned to tackle such risk by remedial actions given in the table below 2. Schedule Risk The possibility that the project will fail to meet the scheduled milestones, such as those mentioned in our project plan. To tackle this issue we have identified possible cause and effects and of course the remedial actions to be taken respective 3. Cost Risk The possibility that the project will fail to meet the scheduled milestones and the cost of the project will go up and difficult to meet the budget. These are the probable risk that might be encountered and the contingency plan to overcome in the planning phase: Potential Risk 1 Difficulties in meeting up for our group member to discuss on the project due to different working schedule. Possible Solution to Risk1 Meeting to be done on every Saturday afternoon so the plans can be executed in the weekends before submitting the drafts. Ideally, meeting could also be schedule after 8 pm for a brief update on progress. Potential Risk 2 Group members have difficulties in meeting at convenient venue. Possible Solution to Risk2 Meeting can be done at any National Libraries or APMI campus when not only the environment is convenient for learning Potential Risk 3 Group member/s might fall sick and might not be able to meet for discussion. Possible Solution to Risk3 Work progress should be continually updated through email. Potential Risk 4 Group member/s may face problems in software incompatibility and in data sharing. Possible Solution to Risk4 Group member must work on common PC platform to avoid compatibility issues (e.g. one works on LINUX, and another one works on Mac Operating System and may result in unintended data corruption unable to read or edit documents. Better to work on common platform PC like Microsoft OFFICE and OpenProj for common means of compatibility. Any need of using unfamiliar program must be made known and shared so that each and everyone of the member can learn and use the new program. Potential Risk 5 Anyone of the Group member might encounter risk of data loss or corruption. Possible Solution to Risk5 Group member must regularly backup their data on their PC and must have a secondary means of backup (eg. Thumb drive or external hard drive). Seek advice from Mr. Bill Daniels through the discussion Board provided on course website. Initial Project Risk Assessment SNo Identify Hazard Hazard Assessment Causes Effects Implement / Controls Responsi- bility 1 Budget estimation unlikely 1. Substantial cost increase in the project 1. Source for more economical alternative to control spending. 2. Maintain strict accounting practice. Balaji 2 Unrealistic Projected timeline Frequently 1. Delay in project 2. Bad image for team 3. Loss due to time delay Strict to the time frame set for the work schedule and Gantt chart. Balaji 3 Disruption to System Equipment Frequently 1. Loss of Equipment 2. Delay in project 1. Constant backup. 2. Escalate of any unusual encounter. Rakesh 4 Manpower management Frequently 1. Delay in project 2. Overload of team member 1. Co-ordinate meeting regularly to delegate task and work discussion. 2. Meeting to be done on Saturday Lakshmanan 5 Group members have difficulties in meeting at convenient venue Likely 1. Delay in project 2. Substantial delay in all phases of the project Meeting can be done at any National Libraries or APMI campus when not only the environment is conducive for learning but laptop user could have access to internet wireless connection. Lakshmanan 6 Face problems in software incompatibility and in data sharing. Likely 1. Delay in document work 2. Delay in project Group member must work on common PC platform to avoid compatibility issues (e.g. one works on LINUX, and another one works on APPLE Operating System and may result in unintended data corruption unable to read or edit documents. Better to work on common platform PC like Microsoft OFFICE and OpenProj for common means of compatibility. Any need of using unfamiliar program must be made known and shared so that each and everyone of the member can learn and use the new program Rakesh 7 Group member might encounter risk of data loss or corruption. Likely 1. Loss of all details and documents. Group member must regularly backup their data on their PC and must have a secondary means of backup (e.g. Hard disk, Thumb drive). Rakesh 8 Vendor and Supplier co-ordination issue. Frequently 1. Delay in project 2. Bad image for team 3. Loss due to time delay Plan early and have back-up resources in the event existing vendor meet constraint. Lakshmanan 9 Having doubt in preparing draft. Frequently 1. Delay in project Seek advice from Mr Bill Daniels through the discussion Board provided on course website. Balaji Lakshmanan Rakesh Table2. Initial Project Risk Assessment 6. Resources required Resources are also a very important in the course of a project development. Availability of the different kinds of resources must be used satisfactorily. It is critical to establish a credible schedule because the timing of activities not only depends on the logical dependencies between them, but also on the availability of the required resources. Our group member has used as many as facilities available to achieve the required satisfaction of the information. The resources we use to accomplish the goal of acquiring the conceptual design of an amphibious car are, Hardware I. Computer  § To work on the project report development II. Computer peripherals  § To copy the draft data.  § To print the draft copy for verification. Software III. Core University 5.0 by Vitech Corporation  § To have the breakdown of the requirements  § To display the conceptual design through Flow Functional Block Diagram and Hierarchy Application Packages IV. Microsoft Project Professional 2003  § To create schedule for the entire project plan  § To design the chart for the work task allocation  § Ensure the time limited for the task is look upon V. Microsoft Word  § To type the final specification report of the project Facilities VI. Internet media  § To gain access to the video media regarding amphibious vehicle such as you tube  § To search related information regarding amphibious vehicle  § To gain access to the related websites  § To have communication with the project supervisor  § To have a convenient place to discuss the project development matters  § The usage of this media is vastly great VII. Money/Time Funds  § To have food/refreshments for members attending discussion for the entire project plan  § Towards the expenses like photocopying, phone calls, printing / copying  § To have transport facilities  § To make free ourselves on the discussion planned days. 7 Deliverables For our projects deliverables are the stuff/function that can be the result for the task implementation, it consists of things or stuff such as presentation (MSPowerpoint Slideshows), documentation requirements, total design documentation etc. The documents as deliverables used here are namely the System Engineering Management Plan, System Requirement, Functional Analysis and Allocation, and Final System Specification. System Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) This plan consists of the Scope of the Project, Work Breakdown Structure as Schedule, Cost and Product Testing method, Operation concept. It has to be executed in such a way to get the best result by assigning individual task to the respective team members thereby lead the project together with proper planning to bring the required outcome. System Requirements and Specifications (SRS) This emphasise the task that determines the needs for the product, users, designers, system and subsystems. It identifies the needs of each stakeholder. Functional Analysis and Allocation (FA A) This transforms the system level requirement into functions and analyse the behaviour of the system to get the desired result. And these functions are allocated into a physical design (component level). It can be seen in detail through Functional flow block diagram. Final system specification This document comprises all the above three documents which seeks approval from the Project director for the release of the design to Production. 8. Organisational structure We believe on team work, so at all phases the task has been evenly distributed to our team members according to their role. The process flow is as follows, getting the instruction from project director the task has been distributed to the Project Design engineer by the Project manager and also the whole project is monitored by the Project director. 9. Operational Concept The world is in needs of better and more effective and efficient vehicle that could save money, earth, resources and time of travelling which will be having the various good features when operates in both the environments. Keeping that in mind our Engineering team with the engineering skills would like to design an amphibious vehicle having capable of travelling both in road and water. i.e user friendly navigation system safety protection which will meet the customer needs as customer is mainly dependent on the effective and efficient transportation to commute in his day to day life. As the name goes, the designed Amphibious Car having the capability to travel both on land and on water promises to be more environmental friendly than any other amphibious car compared to existing or future market .The idea behind this is from the automobile researchers who have been done and many have succeeded but unable to market the vehicle as it still needs more work has to be done. Some engineers also did research beyond their imagination but some have succeeded and some are still a long way. The conceptual design of amphibious vehicle will be aimed to provide comfortable journey, trouble free service, energy efficient and environment friendly with Safety features for the customers and the features include well designed with double secured protection against water leak and corrosion of vehicles body parts by using the anti corrosive materials and fail safe controls , fuel efficient, operating at an economical way by giving good mileage and the vehicle would be engineered in way of reducing carbon dioxide emission and reducing pollution to Mother Nature as analysed by our expert engineers it would also benefit the market as a new breed of automobile needs many suitable workshop and fuel station. The vehicle has a robust designed in such a way it is very compatibility for both the conditions either it is in water or on the land. The vehicle will be operated as a boat when in water and navigation system made easy during high tides water currents and during windy seasons. The vehicle will be like normal cars when it operates on the road. The design of the bigger wheels will be providing a better ride in terrain, mud and snow and excellent traction capability with 4 gear power transmission and will provide excellent driving experience. The Vehicle will be designed to have a sportive external look. The look and feel of the designed vehicle is such that it would posses pleasant Interior colours , leg rooms spacious comfortable seatings and incorporating entertainment systems which ensures smooth and comfortable rides both on land and water. The vehicle would be cost effective under long run as the he vehicle has been designed in a way that would have less maintenance. The rugged a nd robust design assures reliability of the vehicle. The vehicle will equipped with a spare tyre and necessary tools. Our team has scheduled the conceptual design tasks and our expertise will fulfil every aspect of the customer requirement in terms of operational, maintenance and service needs and to make it big success in the market. 1. Scope 1.1 System overview Our project â€Å"Amphicar II† as the name suggests the vehicle is designed such that is viable both on land and water. It is a sports convertible full rear seat, well designed family size customer vehicle taking into account for the complete luxury as well as the safety of the customer. Customer can plan to drive right off a road or beach onto any lake or river as it is not only a luxurious car once on land but safely floats on water also because the bottom of the vehicle consists of rubber seals which forms a watertight seal. Some of the key design specification of the Amphicar II are: Its proficient 4 cylinder engine has 4 speed auto transmission forward speeds, Front wheels act as twin rudders for fast responsive handling, rear mounted for superior traction on the road, fitted with accelerator control system making the vehicle to run fuel economically both in road and water fitted with 2 rear lamps each and inbuilt side indicators, Speed O meter (digital) to display the ca rs speed, Coming to the functional aspect of the Amphicar II, once the doors are checked to be closed the customer can just drive into the water edge, and once when the car is into water, the customer is required to put land gear into neutral and then can use the facilities of the propeller or Amphibian jet by engaging it with the smaller stick which has three positions forward, neutral and reverse. Although virtually it is identical to the rest of the Amphibious vehicles, our Amphicar II distinct itself from other late models by having some of the technologies like heater placement, shock mountings, lower body lip and dash treatment and most importantly safety aspect is also considered like emergenc Development of Environmentally Friendly Amphicar Development of Environmentally Friendly Amphicar AMPHICAR II System Specifications 1 Statement of work Our team has aimed to produce an energy efficient, environmental friendly personal consumer vehicle that is capable of travelling on road and operating as a fun filled water vehicle. The project idea of AMPHICAR II is to introduce the vehicle to the public; the first prototype will be used in crossing in the English Channel, beating Richard Bransons record set in the Gibbs Aquada. The project background given by AdSing systems engineering, world leaders in revolutionary new system development, has undertaken the challenge of developing a state of the art amphibious vehicle for the consumer market. This is defined as the first phase of the project and the budget for this phase is $80000. This phase of the project will be completed in 30 days. After completion of the conceptual design of the AMPHICAR II project, it shall be placed as a proposal put forward by AdSing to independent sub-contractors for further iterations of the system development cycle. For the successful completion of this phase of the project, we will have guided by our tutor (Bill Daniels) who is the systems Engineering Expert. The requirements of the vehicle is achieved by incorporating safety features, capability of travelling on road and water, customer satisfaction, robust design, lower operational cost, and after all the project should be completed within the budget. IEEE 1220 standard specifies the system engineering process and it is primarily targeting our product (Amphicar) oriented system, which defines the inter-disciplinary tasks that are required to our project throughout the lifecycle to transform stakeholder (Customer)needs, requirements and constraints in to our product development. Therefore our group has emphasized to bring ideas in brainstorming session and initially conducted a assessment on potential customers before beginning the conceptual design. Here we have the conceptual design of the AMPHICAR project comprises of four different stages namely System engineering and management plan, Systems requirement specification, functional analysis allocations and final stage of system specification. The project planning in fact it refers to SEMP which includes statement of work, work schedule, cost analysis, product testing methods, program management, risk management, resources required, deliverables, etc., System requirements specification stage are identified based on the needs and the project requirements. Functional analysis allocation stage comprises with functional breakdown is done to determine the system physical design overview, functional analysis and component details. At the final stage of system specification, AMPHICAR II project undergoes evalu ation and final documentation. 2. Referenced documents AMPHICAR concept http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphicar Referred on 06/01/2010 The AMPHICAR Story http://books.google.com/books?id=C-PeNY12Ss8Cpg=PT12dq=Amphicar+designei=ZQlIS5ezBpv-lASmprT3DQcd=4#v=onepageq=Amphicar%20designf=false Referred on 07/012010 IEEE 1220 Standard readings http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezlibproxy1.unisa.edu.au/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=arnumber=1631953isnumber=34216 Referred on 09/01/2010 3. Work breakdown structure (this phase of the AMPHICAR project) 3.1 Schedule In fact we have 30days time from 8th January 2010 till 8th February 2010 to complete an attractive high level conceptual design of AMPHICAR II. The Systems specification preparation towards the Amphicar project will be worked in four different stages, under each stage the preparation compiled as draft and submitted through Assign IT on weekly basis. The weekly submission would ensure the timely completion of each stages include the project plan, system requirements specification and the functional analysis allocation and the final systems specification preparation of the AMPHICAR II project to be submitted. The complete details of the schedule can be seen in the Gantt chart on 1. The cost analysis and workout is also shown on Table 1. AMPHICAR II System Specifications 3.2 Cost Sl No. Planned Tasks Budget (S$) No. of hrs Actual Cost (S$) Balance (S$) System Engineering Management Plan 20000 7 days 17850 2150 1 Statement of work 4 500 19500 2 Referenced Documents 6 3000 16500 3 Work Breakdown Structure 3.1 Work Schedule 4 1000 15500 3.2 Cost 12 1500 14000 3.3 Product Testing Methods 15 3500 10500 4 Program Management 8 1750 8750 5 Risk Management 8 1500 7250 6 Resources Required 4 2000 5250 7 Deliverables 4 1250 4000 8 Organizational Structure 4 850 3150 9 Operational Concept 4 1000 2150 Total 20000 73 17850 2150 System Requirement Specification 24000 7 days 20500 3500 10 Scope 10.1 System Overview 6 1500 22500 11 Referenced Documents 5 1250 21250 12 Needs 12 4000 17250 13 Requirements 13.1 General Requirements 8 2000 15250 13.2 System Capability 12 2500 12750 13.3 Safety Requirements 8 2000 10750 13.4 Personnel Related Requirement 8 1750 9000 13.5 Security and Privacy Requirement 10 1500 7500 13.6 Logistics related requirement 12 2500 5000 13.7 Other Requirements 6 1500 3500 Total 24000 87 20500 3500 Table 1 continued†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Functional Analysis Allocation 24000 7days 18500 5500 14 Scope 14.1 System Overview 7 1750 22250 14.2 Document Overview 4 1000 21250 15 Referenced Documents 9 2250 19000 16 Functional Analysis 24 4000 15000 17 Physical Design Overview 24 6250 8750 18 Component Details 8 3250 5500 Total 24000 76 18500 5500 Final System Specification 12000 7 days 11250 1750 19 System Description 8 2000 11000 20 Operational Requirements 5 1500 9500 21 Operational Constraints 5 1500 8250 22 System Evaluation 16 3000 4250 23 Final Documentation 12 3250 1000 Total 13000 46 11250 1000 Final Total 80000 282 68100 11900 Table1. Cost Note * 1 day = 8hrs and 5days per week (Monday to Friday) 3.3. Product testing method Product testing method is one of the most important steps in bringing out of our conceptual design of AMPHICAR II Project, which demands the recognition in the future when the product shall complete and reached at the market. The final product here is the AMPHICAR which is capable of travelling both road and water. The intention of the product testing method is to Ensure that the conceptual design of the product meets the design standards for employability, consistency, and user friendliness towards its functionality. Ensure the design meets the business goals and user needs. Ensure the design does not permit any changes at the final stage of its requirements and concept Ensure the behaviour of the system can be easily understood by the design engineers. Make sure that the design provides proper guidance to the designers to resolve any issues that may arise. Make sure that the design shall not distract the copyright of other brand in the global market. Ensure that the design is properly employed by the design engineers which can be easily interacted by the users and other products. Ensure the physical design matches up with the initial art design Ensure the safety features incorporated in the product shall always be enabling and These reviews are carried out at different phases precisely Project plan, system requirement specification, functional analysis and allocation and final system specification. At the end of each and stage a discussion session is made where all the team members and the manager (who assess the detail of design from the sub-system level to the component level), are gathered to review their respective tasks in each phase and the ideas are taken for any necessary changes of any improvement that can be done for bringing the project successful. The assessed document upon the end of each discussion will be sent as a draft to the project who verifies and evaluates the design and make a note to the manager and the team members if changes that are required for the design improvement and further evaluates after getting his job done by the team and approve the design and promote to the next phase. Thus the design of the final system specification is drawn and reviewed by the project director and approve the design for its release 4. Program management Program management is the mechanism by which the work of various operating functions within a company is integrated to create an effective business model. When program management is properly conceived and executed, it helps to execute business strategies much more effectively than an uncoordinated approach. The program manager must possess operational competencies, including project management methods and tools, to effectively manage the tactical elements of the program. Another important aspect of this core discipline set is that of becoming proficient in the specific processes and practices of the company that the program manager is a part of. Knowing how things get done, the policies and procedures that must be adhered to and who must be involved and approve various aspects of their program are critical for the successful completion of every program. During the early stages of conceptual design, it is essential that good communication between the producer and the customer be established from the beginning. The Design Engineer must fully understand the user requirements of the product to be designed. This can be achieved only we have a good communication between users. The communication modes used are Teleconference, E-mails, Fax and formal meeting between the project team members and others. Meeting agenda ( 2a) will be formatted for all meetings and distributed to all members before one day. And minutes of meeting ( 2b) are drafted and distributed to all members to follow up. The primary objective of our program management plan is to facilitate the timely integration of numerous design considerations into a functioning and Physical system that will be of high value to the user. Our program management consists of SEMP which already Stated in Gantt chart (System Engineering Management Plan), Statement of work (SOW), Work break down structure, schedule of tasks, Projecting costs for program task and interfacing with other planning activities. Our project has mentioned a configuration management plan to track the changes done from the beginning to the final review. During the later stage of our conceptual design we shall develop a comprehensive system engineering management plan (SEMP) to ensure the implementation of a program that will lead to a well coordinated and integrated product. a program is to exploit economies of scale and to reduce coordination costs and risks. programs deliver outcomes, program management is concerned with doing the right projects according to this view, successful projects deliver on time, to budget and to specification, whereas successful program deliver long term improvements to an organization design of the new product this delivers a design specification, modifications to the production factory Program and project management are both practical disciplines, Program management also emphasizes the coordinating and prioritizing of resources across project. Program management may provide a layer above the management of projects and focuses on selecting the projects, defining us in terms of their objectives and prov iding an environment where projects can be run successfully. Our organizations use the concept of Systems engineering where others use program management, ensure there are regular reviews; there is accountability, and that management of projects, allocation of resources influences the cost and success of the program. Infrastructure might cover offices, version control, and IT. A project must always have a specific end date, else it is an ongoing program. A project is designed to deliver an output or deliverable and its success will be in terms of delivering the right output at the right time and to the right cost. Program management is the mechanism by which the work of various operating functions within a company is integrated to create an effective business model. When program management is properly conceived and executed, management includes management of projects which, together, improve the Program management is the mechanism by which the work of various operating functions wit hin a company is integrated to create an effective business model. When program management is properly conceived and executed, performance of the organization. A programs success will be measured in terms of benefits. Program Management comprises a comprehensive suite of services addressing the full program life cycle and implemented by dedicated and highly skilled team members. PMP (Project Management Professional Program management practices put a continual focus on the business aspects of developing products, services and infrastructure. A skilled and competent program manager is the primary business manager on a program. We have Projects Managers that are certified and have decades of experience applying project management techniques and disciplines to client engagements in all industries. During our conceptual design phase we have scheduled a series of formal design reviews at discrete points where the design configuration involves from one level of definition to another. That is conceptual system, evolutions and design reviews. The successful implementation of system engineering principles and concepts is dependent not only on the technology issues and the process, but on management issues as well. Our BLR Engineering prepared a program management plan comprising series review meeting, audits, approval from user, risk managements, and some essential contingency plans. This program management plan guides all over activities throughout the project. 5. Risk management Risk management can therefore be considered the identification of the potential areas of risk. It is a part of the requirements and design stages in a project. Our team of experienced engineers has gone through the assessment and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities. One of the first steps of our risk management is the identification of the potential areas of risk. Risk shall include funding, schedule, and contract, relationships, political and technical. All of these hazardous shall be identified and evaluated and risk mitigation performed. Risk analysis should be performed as part of the risk management process for each project. Once a hazard identified as below, the steps of the risk managements process are as follows, Assess the current risk Define the acceptable level of the risk Decision on the response of the risk. Our risk management plan consists of four processes such as 1. Identification 2. Assessment 3. Analysis 4. Controls/Implementation 5. Responsibility As far as concerned about conceptual design process we may have these few types of risk only. Which are? 1. Technical Risk The possibility that technical requirement of the system will not be achieved. That is our design wont meets the system requirements adequately. We have planned to tackle such risk by remedial actions given in the table below 2. Schedule Risk The possibility that the project will fail to meet the scheduled milestones, such as those mentioned in our project plan. To tackle this issue we have identified possible cause and effects and of course the remedial actions to be taken respective 3. Cost Risk The possibility that the project will fail to meet the scheduled milestones and the cost of the project will go up and difficult to meet the budget. These are the probable risk that might be encountered and the contingency plan to overcome in the planning phase: Potential Risk 1 Difficulties in meeting up for our group member to discuss on the project due to different working schedule. Possible Solution to Risk1 Meeting to be done on every Saturday afternoon so the plans can be executed in the weekends before submitting the drafts. Ideally, meeting could also be schedule after 8 pm for a brief update on progress. Potential Risk 2 Group members have difficulties in meeting at convenient venue. Possible Solution to Risk2 Meeting can be done at any National Libraries or APMI campus when not only the environment is convenient for learning Potential Risk 3 Group member/s might fall sick and might not be able to meet for discussion. Possible Solution to Risk3 Work progress should be continually updated through email. Potential Risk 4 Group member/s may face problems in software incompatibility and in data sharing. Possible Solution to Risk4 Group member must work on common PC platform to avoid compatibility issues (e.g. one works on LINUX, and another one works on Mac Operating System and may result in unintended data corruption unable to read or edit documents. Better to work on common platform PC like Microsoft OFFICE and OpenProj for common means of compatibility. Any need of using unfamiliar program must be made known and shared so that each and everyone of the member can learn and use the new program. Potential Risk 5 Anyone of the Group member might encounter risk of data loss or corruption. Possible Solution to Risk5 Group member must regularly backup their data on their PC and must have a secondary means of backup (eg. Thumb drive or external hard drive). Seek advice from Mr. Bill Daniels through the discussion Board provided on course website. Initial Project Risk Assessment SNo Identify Hazard Hazard Assessment Causes Effects Implement / Controls Responsi- bility 1 Budget estimation unlikely 1. Substantial cost increase in the project 1. Source for more economical alternative to control spending. 2. Maintain strict accounting practice. Balaji 2 Unrealistic Projected timeline Frequently 1. Delay in project 2. Bad image for team 3. Loss due to time delay Strict to the time frame set for the work schedule and Gantt chart. Balaji 3 Disruption to System Equipment Frequently 1. Loss of Equipment 2. Delay in project 1. Constant backup. 2. Escalate of any unusual encounter. Rakesh 4 Manpower management Frequently 1. Delay in project 2. Overload of team member 1. Co-ordinate meeting regularly to delegate task and work discussion. 2. Meeting to be done on Saturday Lakshmanan 5 Group members have difficulties in meeting at convenient venue Likely 1. Delay in project 2. Substantial delay in all phases of the project Meeting can be done at any National Libraries or APMI campus when not only the environment is conducive for learning but laptop user could have access to internet wireless connection. Lakshmanan 6 Face problems in software incompatibility and in data sharing. Likely 1. Delay in document work 2. Delay in project Group member must work on common PC platform to avoid compatibility issues (e.g. one works on LINUX, and another one works on APPLE Operating System and may result in unintended data corruption unable to read or edit documents. Better to work on common platform PC like Microsoft OFFICE and OpenProj for common means of compatibility. Any need of using unfamiliar program must be made known and shared so that each and everyone of the member can learn and use the new program Rakesh 7 Group member might encounter risk of data loss or corruption. Likely 1. Loss of all details and documents. Group member must regularly backup their data on their PC and must have a secondary means of backup (e.g. Hard disk, Thumb drive). Rakesh 8 Vendor and Supplier co-ordination issue. Frequently 1. Delay in project 2. Bad image for team 3. Loss due to time delay Plan early and have back-up resources in the event existing vendor meet constraint. Lakshmanan 9 Having doubt in preparing draft. Frequently 1. Delay in project Seek advice from Mr Bill Daniels through the discussion Board provided on course website. Balaji Lakshmanan Rakesh Table2. Initial Project Risk Assessment 6. Resources required Resources are also a very important in the course of a project development. Availability of the different kinds of resources must be used satisfactorily. It is critical to establish a credible schedule because the timing of activities not only depends on the logical dependencies between them, but also on the availability of the required resources. Our group member has used as many as facilities available to achieve the required satisfaction of the information. The resources we use to accomplish the goal of acquiring the conceptual design of an amphibious car are, Hardware I. Computer  § To work on the project report development II. Computer peripherals  § To copy the draft data.  § To print the draft copy for verification. Software III. Core University 5.0 by Vitech Corporation  § To have the breakdown of the requirements  § To display the conceptual design through Flow Functional Block Diagram and Hierarchy Application Packages IV. Microsoft Project Professional 2003  § To create schedule for the entire project plan  § To design the chart for the work task allocation  § Ensure the time limited for the task is look upon V. Microsoft Word  § To type the final specification report of the project Facilities VI. Internet media  § To gain access to the video media regarding amphibious vehicle such as you tube  § To search related information regarding amphibious vehicle  § To gain access to the related websites  § To have communication with the project supervisor  § To have a convenient place to discuss the project development matters  § The usage of this media is vastly great VII. Money/Time Funds  § To have food/refreshments for members attending discussion for the entire project plan  § Towards the expenses like photocopying, phone calls, printing / copying  § To have transport facilities  § To make free ourselves on the discussion planned days. 7 Deliverables For our projects deliverables are the stuff/function that can be the result for the task implementation, it consists of things or stuff such as presentation (MSPowerpoint Slideshows), documentation requirements, total design documentation etc. The documents as deliverables used here are namely the System Engineering Management Plan, System Requirement, Functional Analysis and Allocation, and Final System Specification. System Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) This plan consists of the Scope of the Project, Work Breakdown Structure as Schedule, Cost and Product Testing method, Operation concept. It has to be executed in such a way to get the best result by assigning individual task to the respective team members thereby lead the project together with proper planning to bring the required outcome. System Requirements and Specifications (SRS) This emphasise the task that determines the needs for the product, users, designers, system and subsystems. It identifies the needs of each stakeholder. Functional Analysis and Allocation (FA A) This transforms the system level requirement into functions and analyse the behaviour of the system to get the desired result. And these functions are allocated into a physical design (component level). It can be seen in detail through Functional flow block diagram. Final system specification This document comprises all the above three documents which seeks approval from the Project director for the release of the design to Production. 8. Organisational structure We believe on team work, so at all phases the task has been evenly distributed to our team members according to their role. The process flow is as follows, getting the instruction from project director the task has been distributed to the Project Design engineer by the Project manager and also the whole project is monitored by the Project director. 9. Operational Concept The world is in needs of better and more effective and efficient vehicle that could save money, earth, resources and time of travelling which will be having the various good features when operates in both the environments. Keeping that in mind our Engineering team with the engineering skills would like to design an amphibious vehicle having capable of travelling both in road and water. i.e user friendly navigation system safety protection which will meet the customer needs as customer is mainly dependent on the effective and efficient transportation to commute in his day to day life. As the name goes, the designed Amphibious Car having the capability to travel both on land and on water promises to be more environmental friendly than any other amphibious car compared to existing or future market .The idea behind this is from the automobile researchers who have been done and many have succeeded but unable to market the vehicle as it still needs more work has to be done. Some engineers also did research beyond their imagination but some have succeeded and some are still a long way. The conceptual design of amphibious vehicle will be aimed to provide comfortable journey, trouble free service, energy efficient and environment friendly with Safety features for the customers and the features include well designed with double secured protection against water leak and corrosion of vehicles body parts by using the anti corrosive materials and fail safe controls , fuel efficient, operating at an economical way by giving good mileage and the vehicle would be engineered in way of reducing carbon dioxide emission and reducing pollution to Mother Nature as analysed by our expert engineers it would also benefit the market as a new breed of automobile needs many suitable workshop and fuel station. The vehicle has a robust designed in such a way it is very compatibility for both the conditions either it is in water or on the land. The vehicle will be operated as a boat when in water and navigation system made easy during high tides water currents and during windy seasons. The vehicle will be like normal cars when it operates on the road. The design of the bigger wheels will be providing a better ride in terrain, mud and snow and excellent traction capability with 4 gear power transmission and will provide excellent driving experience. The Vehicle will be designed to have a sportive external look. The look and feel of the designed vehicle is such that it would posses pleasant Interior colours , leg rooms spacious comfortable seatings and incorporating entertainment systems which ensures smooth and comfortable rides both on land and water. The vehicle would be cost effective under long run as the he vehicle has been designed in a way that would have less maintenance. The rugged a nd robust design assures reliability of the vehicle. The vehicle will equipped with a spare tyre and necessary tools. Our team has scheduled the conceptual design tasks and our expertise will fulfil every aspect of the customer requirement in terms of operational, maintenance and service needs and to make it big success in the market. 1. Scope 1.1 System overview Our project â€Å"Amphicar II† as the name suggests the vehicle is designed such that is viable both on land and water. It is a sports convertible full rear seat, well designed family size customer vehicle taking into account for the complete luxury as well as the safety of the customer. Customer can plan to drive right off a road or beach onto any lake or river as it is not only a luxurious car once on land but safely floats on water also because the bottom of the vehicle consists of rubber seals which forms a watertight seal. Some of the key design specification of the Amphicar II are: Its proficient 4 cylinder engine has 4 speed auto transmission forward speeds, Front wheels act as twin rudders for fast responsive handling, rear mounted for superior traction on the road, fitted with accelerator control system making the vehicle to run fuel economically both in road and water fitted with 2 rear lamps each and inbuilt side indicators, Speed O meter (digital) to display the ca rs speed, Coming to the functional aspect of the Amphicar II, once the doors are checked to be closed the customer can just drive into the water edge, and once when the car is into water, the customer is required to put land gear into neutral and then can use the facilities of the propeller or Amphibian jet by engaging it with the smaller stick which has three positions forward, neutral and reverse. Although virtually it is identical to the rest of the Amphibious vehicles, our Amphicar II distinct itself from other late models by having some of the technologies like heater placement, shock mountings, lower body lip and dash treatment and most importantly safety aspect is also considered like emergenc