Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Calculate Energy Required to Turn Ice Into Steam

Calculate Energy Required to Turn Ice Into Steam This worked example problem demonstrates how to calculate the energy required to raise the temperature of a sample that includes changes in phase. This problem finds the energy required to turn cold ice into hot steam. Ice to Steam Energy Problem What is the heat in Joules required to convert 25 grams of -10  °C ice into 150  °C steam?Useful information:heat of fusion of water 334 J/gheat of vaporization of water 2257 J/gspecific heat of ice 2.09 J/g ·Ã‚ °Cspecific heat of water 4.18 J/g ·Ã‚ °Cspecific heat of steam 2.09 J/g ·Ã‚ °CSolution:The total energy required is the sum of the energy to heat the -10  °C ice to 0  °C ice, melting the 0  °C ice into 0  °C water, heating the water to 100  °C, converting 100  °C water to 100  °C steam and heating the steam to 150  °C. To get the final value, first calculate the individual energy values and then add them up.Step 1: Heat required to raise the temperature of ice from -10  °C to 0  °C Use the formulaq mcΔTwhereq heat energym massc specific heatΔT change in temperatureq (25 g)x(2.09 J/g ·Ã‚ °C)[(0  °C - -10  °C)]q (25 g)x(2.09 J/g ·Ã‚ °C)x(10  °C)q 522.5 JHeat required to raise the temperature of ice from -10  °C to 0  °C 522.5 JStep 2: Heat required to convert 0  °C ice to 0  °C waterUse the formula for heat:q m ·ÃŽâ€Hfwhereq heat energym massΔHf heat of fusionq (25 g)x(334 J/g)q 8350 JHeat required to convert 0  °C ice to 0  °C water 8350 JStep 3: Heat required to raise the temperature of 0  °C water to 100  °C waterq mcΔTq (25 g)x(4.18 J/g ·Ã‚ °C)[(100  °C - 0  °C)]q (25 g)x(4.18 J/g ·Ã‚ °C)x(100  °C)q 10450 JHeat required to raise the temperature of 0  °C water to 100  °C water 10450 JStep 4: Heat required to convert 100  °C water to 100  °C steamq m ·ÃŽâ€Hvwhereq heat energym massΔHv heat of vaporizationq (25 g)x(2257 J/g)q 56425 JHeat required to convert 100  °C water to 100  °C steam 56425Step 5: Heat required to convert 100  °C steam to 150  °C steamq mcΔTq (25 g)x(2.09 J/g ·Ã‚ °C)[(150  °C - 100  °C)]q (25 g)x(2.09 J/g ·Ã‚ °C)x(50  °C)q 2612.5 JHeat required to convert 100  °C steam to 150  °C steam 2612.5Step 6: Find total heat energyHeatTotal HeatStep 1 HeatStep 2 HeatStep 3 HeatStep 4 HeatStep 5HeatTotal 522.5 J 8350 J 10450 J 56425 J 2612.5 JHeatTotal 78360 JAnswer:The heat required to convert 25 grams of -10  °C ice into 150  °C steam is 78360 J or 78.36 kJ.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

The Lost German Slave Girl by John Bailey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Lost German Slave Girl by John Bailey - Essay Example German families in the New Orleans area claimed that Sally was in fact the child of immigrants who had died and that the girl was subsequently indentured by an unscrupulous owner and later sold into slavery. The main question raised by the piece is whether Sally really was a German girl or whether she was just a clever slave who was grabbing at her once chance for freedom. The fact that the color of a person's skin was the basis of whether they could be enslaved or not shows the racism that was at the heart of this culture. It is fascinating that the case revolved around the fact of whether Sally was German, and thus not deserving of slavery rather than the fact that slavery was morally objectionable per se. The idea that color and slavery were indelibly linked was starting to be threatened by the inter-breeding that had been occurring between slaves and whites for generations. By this time, just a decade before the American Civil War would end slavery, many slaves looked as white as their masters. Thus the very basis of slavery - the supposed inferiority of black races - was called into question by the continuum of color that then existed in America. The lack of certainty as to race was reflected within the legal system, in which slaves were regarded as property and yet, paradoxically, could also have legal representation within trials. Thus if a slave was accused of murder he/she had the right to legal representation, although as the author shows, the degree to which this right was enforced depended very much upon individual circumstances and the judge who was available. Bailey essentially shows a society that is ripe for change. The mysterious origin of Sally Miller reflected the complexity of race that was characteristic of America by the mid nineteenth-century. The simple duality of "slave" and "master" was increasingly being challenged on an ethical and legal basis. Slaves could buy their freedom and many tried to make their way to Northern states where slavery was already abolished. The idea that the identity of a person was set as "slave" or "non-slave" is shown to be too simplistic by the case of Sally Miller. If Miller was indeed of German origin, then a person could move from non-slave to slave because of bad luck and unethical businessmen. If a slave was lucky, earned enough money or had an enlightened master, he could become a non-slave. To conclude, the fact that the case was never resolved in a concrete manner shows the history is often not as certain as many people would like. The actual origin of Sally Miller will probably never be known now, any more than it was proved in the court case. What emerges is the terrible manner in which immigrants were treated in America at this time, even those from supposedly privileged countries such as Germany. The book also shows the complex legal environment of America at the time, and gives a view of the legal position of slaves that has seldom been considered before. Ultimately the book shows the mystery of human nature and identity, especially racial identity. If a slave is more white than her master, what is the basis for the slavery if it is based upon the supposed superiority of whites over blacks The answer was that slavery was based upon cruelty and exploitation rather than any rationally identified differences between races.

Friday, November 1, 2019

Answer the Questions 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Answer the Questions 2 - Essay Example For instance, a structure also helps in creating internal divisions and functions, in formalisation, in departmenalisation, for team-building, in clarifying authority and position power. It is worthwhile to mention that an organisation’s managerial structure is visually represented by organisation chart that identifies all aforementioned characteristics. A Vertical Functional structure is one in which information flows from top-to-bottom and bottom-to- top and where all decision making powers are enjoyed by a firm’s Owner, President or CEO. The organisational chart portrays total number of departments and their directors, divisional heads and managers that work under top management and that are handed over key responsibilities for conducting business operations. The Divisional structure is also known as Product or Program structure because here the departments are grouped on basis of organisational output that could either be a good or service. Indeed, in such type of structure, each product division has all necessary, though small, departments such as Marketing, Production, Finance, IT etc. The matrix structure is actually a combination of various aspects of vertical and divisional chain of command simultaneously in a business organisation. In fact, this type of structure is quite helpful because it facilitates interaction and internal communication among employed personnel in corporate setting. In addition, the structure has dual chain of authority. The next structure is known as Team Approach where managers group employees into teams to ensure greater employee participation in business affairs, organisational flexibility, delegation and authority of tasks to lower managerial levels and greater coordination. In other words, this team structure promotes mutual accountability and responsibility about company goals and objects, which

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Bridging the Gap Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bridging the Gap - Assignment Example On nursing education, the study is vital in reviewing the techniques and physiology of wound healing. Nursing students, while still undergoing training need equipment with full information that relate to the larval therapy as a strategy in debridement of wounds (McFarland & Smith, 2014). Because of the efficiency of larval therapy in aiding treatment of chronic wounds, practicing nurses need an update on the vital features of the technique. Patients who have chronic ulcer wounds may require an enrolment on larval therapy as an intervention plan of management. As a nurse in a general surgical unit, there are diverse methodologies through which I can share the information about larval therapy. Assuming the role of a mentor to my peers in matters that revolve around larval therapy in the management of wounds is an important method (Nickitas, 2014). It will present the opportunity to showcase the procedure and the benefits associated with larval therapy. Another strategy for ensuring that the peers have the full information about larval therapy is by publishing a pamphlet that will act as guidance to the intervention

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Eight Principles Of Total Quality Management Information Technology Essay

The Eight Principles Of Total Quality Management Information Technology Essay Total Quality Management is a process that ensures continuous improvement for an organisations future. It is a management system with customer satisfaction as a continual goal. It is TQMs goal to integrate a sense of quality into the culture of how an organisation is run. It hopes to merge different internal branches of an organisation (finance, Communications, RD etc.) and link them all with quality being their main goal, with a view to continual customer focus. This system of management contains 8 principles which are vital in implementing this strategy into an organisations culture. These principles combined with effective leadership should result in a company doing The Right Things Right, First Time. TQM stems from the principle that It is easier to control systems than it is people. Companies depend on their customers to keep them in business. It is essential that a company can keep their customers happy by ensuring that the products received are fit for their intended use. It is also very valuable if a company can foresee future customer needs to ensure they keep the customer base in the future. Here the company can ensure that all its new objectives are customer satisfaction based and can later apply measuring techniques to see if their approach is effective (customer surveys etc.) Leadership Total quality should be adopted into the culture of the organization so proper leadership should create an environment where this is possible. The objectives should be clearly laid out with an emphasis on customer satisfaction. A leader should ensure that all employees are fully aware of their importance to the organisation and should eliminate fear and promote trust. Involvement of People Every person within the organisation must be utilized for their specific skills so everyone is contributing to the organizations goals. This helps create a sense of unity and purpose and leads to a better working environment. This leads to people being accountable for their work and serves as a baseline for quality. It involves people sharing ideas and practices and leads to better trouble shooting. Process Approach The objectives should be clearly outlined and all personnel should be aware of hoe the process will be managed and undertaking. This removes the waste of resources and ensures all efforts are placed on defined essential tasks. This helps increase the rate of work and processes are finished faster. If the process has been properly defined and it has to be repeated, the exact same system can be used as it has been documented and this will further increase efficacy of the work in the future. Systems Approach to Management If you can define interrelated systems, they can be correlated and run under one management guise. Running these various operations under one system leads to more effective work and allows the system to be monitored more easily and have data compiled on the systems efficacy. Through this monitoring continual improvement can be scored and documented. By aligning different departments within an organisation, more focus can be placed on key goals and confidence in the work will be widespread. This can lead to greater results faster. Continual Improvement This is to be a permanent goal for every process undertaken within the organisation. By training staff to use the various continual improvement tools available, a company can leap on an improvement opportunity before others. This could possible open up a new customer market that was previously unavailable. Factual Approach to Decision Making Decisions should be made based on analysis of sound data and intensively researched information. This removes poor decision making from an organisation and sets a baseline for decision making in the future. This can also help the ability to demonstrate how effective past decisions were by checking factual data. The factual data can help access the outcome of the decision and help removes decision making based on intuition alone. Mutually Beneficial Supplier relationship A relationship based on mutual benefits is very healthy and ensures that both parties have each other interests in focus. This will help create value for both companies if some parameters are set correctly. Open communication must be maintained and key objectives and future plans must be known to both parties. If both parties can pool their resources and both have a strong view towards customer satisfaction then waste of resources can be minimised and activities can be improved on both sides. Implementing TQM: TQM is a complex management system that will require a lot of input from all people involved in the company. However, the most important initiating step is to get full commitment from the companys senior management. Without this a proper plan cannot be devised and TQM will not work. A quality team or quality council must be set up among senior managers. Here ideas can be exchanged and improvements to specific parts of the company devised. Here it will also be decided who is to implement certain changes and a system of quality reporting must also be set up. There should be a quality improvement team and also a quality planning team set up. These teams should contain people who represent all areas of the organisation and have a high standard of knowledge of their individual departments. It is essential that the individual department are not run separately, but rather as one large system to ensure full communication remains and key objectives can be achieved faster. Once senior management have become involved the next step is to make middle management aware of the transition. This will involve meeting between middle management and the personnel who report to them. Here all staff will be educated about the forthcoming move to TQM and a series of plans will be set in motion. Here the staff should constantly retrain and each department should develop new experts to keep a focus on continual improvement. A mission statement of the organisations quality policy is a great way to start. From here a series of plans and a systematic approach can be developed to convert the companys operations to one of total quality. This change is very serious and without full commitment and proper planning can fail easily. The first thing a company must do is assess their current state. Here a management audit is a valuable tool and can easily identify the companys health. If the company is in poor health (quality standards low, reactive decisions, and poor managerial skill) then TQM will be near impossible to implement. However, if a company can agree that its current level of management, organisational culture and work ethos are suitable to TQM, then the process can develop from here. Benefits of TQM: Once an organisation has been converted to a system of total quality management, the organisation may be able for ISO 9000 accreditation. This is an internationally recognized standard of quality that has a major impact on how your organisation itself and the process that are undertaken are viewed by the public/possible customers. Having this accreditation will also greatly benefit the organisation from a financial point of view. Getting insurance for large companies can a massive financial burden and being ISO 9000 approved means you are more likely to be insured. This will help protect the organisation from possible liable action. The main benefits internally are a new streamlined system for operations. Increased workmanship due to work ownership/accountability and this leads to constant quality. Increased readiness for the future market and a removal from a reactive decision making process and overall improved stability within the market and increased staying power. Disadvantages of TQM: A main concern of implementing total quality management is the initial set up cost. Here employees will have to attend training that will take away from their usual duties and cause a dip in productivity. Due to all the changes implementing TQM will cause, there is a school of thought that thinks employees will doubt the security of their positions. This may lead them to becoming resistant to change and as a result, slow down the implementation stages and the efficacy of TQM. The results which are desired from TQMs implementation may also take years to see, this can lead the employees feeling that their input was of little use and the project was a waste of time. TQM can also tie a business to a certain set of plans that may span years. This can lead the company down an inflexible route when it comes to future prospect and developments. Instead of the company continually focusing on the goals TQM was supposed to tackle, the main focus in put on finishing the implementation stage. As a result, the company ends up with a major organisation change but the highlighted problems still exist and more time will have to be delegated to solving these at a later time. This again all leads to a drop in current productivity and the business retains its previous efficacy with no notable improvements being recognisable.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Of mice and men :: English Literature

Of mice and men =============== "Of mice and men" is a very touching film of hopes dreams and friendship. Adapted from the novel by John Steinbeck. The film is about two friends, Lennie and George, with a dream of great times with their own land and house. But there is a another story intertwined with theirs, about what people think of women. The two stories together will hold you in an array of emotions from joy to sorrow, and pride to guilt. This film if full of brilliant acting and meaningful uses of light and props. Of the two stories we will look at the one about women. We open the film with a man sitting in the shadows. Little light is coming in through the slits in the wood he is leaning on. He looks depressed and upset and bows his head as if he's trying to recall his memories of what went wrong to lead to this depression. And then we are suddenly in a field with early evening light filling a beautiful landscape, the main focus of our attention is of the woman running across the picture, she's white with brown hair wearing a torn red dress. As she runs we can see she's trying to run away form something or somebody, she's crying and the only sound we hear is her distressed breathing like she wants to cry but is holding the tears back. She looks like she has been attacked, although the dress is torn we only see a petty coat and not any flesh so this suggests that it might not have been sexual. But we can't really say for sure. The red dress represents passion so this says it could be sexual. We the see the two main characters running so we now think that they are connected to this. We never see this woman again in the whole of the story. The next woman we find is first only known as 'Curly's wife'. She first comes into the story when she enters the bunkhouse where Lennie and George have only just arrived and are unpacking. She's wearing a flowery dress which could be seen as innocent as it is cool colours and doesn't reveal much of her figure. Her hair is also in a very feminine style again to show innocence. "I'm looking for curly" she says, almost as if she needs an excuse for being there. But also at the same time using it in an almost flirty sort of way trying to see how the new boys will react. "He was in here a minute ago, but he left" George replies cutting off

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Hetrogenetiy of Problem Behavior in Male Adoloscents Essay

Often an incorrect interpretation or prognosis of an abnormal or extraordinary behavior pattern can draw the line between what is normal and acceptable, and what can suddenly be classified as a disorder or a disease. This paper aims to study the similarities between certain behaviors, and what factors can acts as differentiators between the two. The paper also emphasized how critical correct assessment is for correct prognosis, and that a treatment may thus, vary greatly from one disorder to another. Key concepts including â€Å"delinquency†, â€Å"antisocial behaviour†, â€Å"conduct disorder†, â€Å"conduct problems† and â€Å"externalising behaviour disorders† are often used interchangeably, however these concepts are far from identical (Connor, 2004). These are different definitions from different perspectives of psychology such as juvenile justice, clinical diagnostic/medical settings, psychometrics, and personality/social psychology in order to have a more complete understanding of antisocial behaviour and other related behaviours (Connor, 2004). Disorders that bear similar symptoms Antisocial behaviors are any acts that violate social rules and the basic rights of others. They include conduct intended to injure people or damage property, illegal behavior, and defiance of generally accepted rules and authority, such as truancy from school. These antisocial behaviors exist along a severity continuum. Disruptive Behaviour Disorder is used to describe a set of externalizing negative behaviour that co-occur during childhood; and which are collectively known as: â€Å"Attention-Deficit and Disruptive Behaviour Disorders† as outlined in the referred to collectively in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). The following are three subgroups of externalizing behaviors: †¢ Oppositional Defiant disorder (ODD) †¢ Conduct Disorder (CD) †¢ Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Conduct Disorder is aggression toward people and animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness, theft, and other serious social rule violations. Oppositional Defiant Disorder is characterized by negativistic, hostile, and defiant behaviors, such as losing one’s temper, arguing, defying rules, deliberately annoying others, blaming others for one’s behavior, and displaying anger or vindictiveness (Childhood Antisocial Behavior and Adolescent Alcohol Use Disorders). ADHD A mental disorder of childhood is at least three times as common in boys as in girls, characterized by persistent inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity. Brief History of Disorder classification In the medieval times, any deviation from norm was dealt with contempt, and any extraordinary behavior shown by people were said to be possessed by an evil spirit. Later, following Darwin’s theory of human evolution, Morel’s idea of degeneration was used to explain criminal behaviour. According to this concept, criminals were less evolved than normal human beings and that all psychopaths exhibited some degree of criminal behaviour. Physician and phrenologist Carl Otto (1824) was the one who initiated the evolvement of the term psychopathy. Although his method was scientifically invalid, he started the trend of what would be called psychopathy as a set of personality traits. The term â€Å"psychopathic† was first used by J. L. Koch (1891) to describe personality disorders as a result of biological causes. K. Birnbaum (1909) first used the term â€Å"sociopathy†, because it was felt that environmental factors were causes of the personality. Now, psychopathy, as defined by Hare’s revised Psychopathy Checklist, is associated with both personality traits and overt behaviour. (Source: How Does Conduct Disorder correlate with Phsychopathy) What are the factors in the patient’s history that will help determine whether the adolescent has a certain disorder or he is simply â€Å"acting out, and will eventually outgrow such behaviours Most of these disorders are generally and holistically classified as antisocial behavior. Antisocial behaviors tend to be consistent across social settings, such as school and home environments (Dishion et al. 1995). Although the inclination towards serious antisocial behaviors is quite steady across the lifespan, the manifestations of this propensity vary according to developmental stages. This concept has been termed â€Å"heterotypic continuity† (Moffitt 1993, extracted from Childhood Antisocial Behavior and Adolescent Alcohol Use Disorders ). For example, antisocial behavior that is interpreted as irritability and impulsivity in younger children may become criminal behavior once these children reach adolescents or adulthood. Antisocial behaviour is a heterogeneous phenomenon and encompasses a wide variety of behaviours and definitions as mentioned above. One way to distinguish subtypes of antisocial behavior is from the developmental perspective where current classification system (APA, 1994; Lahey et al. , 1998) and developmental pathways (Hinshaw, Lahey, & Hart, 1993; Loeber, 1990; Moffitt, 1993; Nagin, Farrington, & Moffitt, 1995; Patterson, Capaldi, & Bank, 1991; Shaw, Bell, & Gilliom, 2000) feature two different subtypes of antisocial behaviour: child-onset (also early-starter, aggressive-versatile) and adolescent-onset (late-onset, non-aggressive). This paper focus on adolescent on-set behavior, from the perspective of developmental pathways. Despite the extent of information gathered on Psychopathy, little is known about its developmental nature. Presumable, there are certain risk factors or distinct developmental pathways which correlate them to other groups of delinquents. Knowledge of such developmental risk factors will greatly enable psychologists and researchers related to this field to deal with the serious problem of Psychopathy. Some risk factors of psychopathy include a history of abuse, parental antisocial characteristics and related factors. It is also widely believed that phsychpathy is manifested at a young age (Hare 1991, Hart and Hare 1997, extracted from Individual and Familial risk factors for Adolescent physchopathy). However this does not mean that psychopathy manifested in adulthood has been developing in an early age. Certain risk factors are identified in the assessment and prognosis of a disorder. Risk factors are generally associated with earlier events or conditions that are associated with a negative outcome which has been caused or influenced (McBride, Individual and Familial risk factors for Adolescent physchopathy 1998). This includes factors which act within the environment of the individual, and may be casually or indirectly linked to a negative outcome are also referred to as risk factors. Thus, serious assessment of anti-social behavior in an early and timely intervention may be able to mediate these risk factors. Loeber and Stothamer Lober (1996) indicate that these conditions are cumulative and may lead to ‘stacking’, and may become resistant to change if not interrupted or mediated (Moffit 1990). It is important to understand that dynamic or changeable risk factors (such as knowledge about a childhood aggressive condition) are important in early identification of an adolescent disorder. Factors such as poor parenting or poor parental monitoring are important to be identified at an early age and thus can be monitored and treated, preventing it from becoming a an aggressive and adolescent delinquency in the future (Loeber and Stothamer Lober 1986). These factors are mutable through treatment, and prevents the accumulation of antisocial behavior in aggressive adolescents (Kazdin 1987). Twentieth century theorists report that parental care is a key characteristic in the development of child behavior. Theorists have suggested that poor family attitudes and interactions fail to provide the attachments that could leverage children into socialized life-styles (e. g. , Hirschi, 1969). Poor home environments manifest antisocial characteristics in their children and associate them with disengaging themselves from their environment (e.  g. , Sutherland and Cressey, 1974). Reports based on two adolescents studies have addressed this issue. Both studies have used data collected by the Youth in Transition project from adolescents at ages 15 and 17 years (Bachman and O’Malley, 1984). Delinquency related to parent-adolescent interaction was studied by Liska and Reed (1985); their analyses suggest that attachment or interaction with parents inhibits delinquency, which in turn, promotes school attachment and stronger family ties. Wells and Rankin (1988) considered the effectiveness of various dimensions of direct control on delinquency; their analyses suggest that restrictiveness, but not harshness, inhibits delinquency, however these studies do have their limitations as they were made using the same database, but none of the same parameters to conclude the relationship between the variables (adolescent studies from Youth in Transition project extracted from Mc Cord Family Relationships, Juvenile Delinquency, And Adult Criminality). Many suggest that psychopathy disorders, such as antisocial behavior, are also genetically inherited (Hare 1993.  Forth and Burke 1998, Lykken 1995, (source: Individual and Familial risk factors for Adolescent physchopathy 1998). Parents who are psychopathic also behave violently towards their children, thus instilling seeds of similar behavior into them. Children who have displayed signs of aggressiveness also may not culminate into aggressive adolescents with disorders or psychopathy as suggested by studies done by White, Moffits, Earls, Robins and Silva, 1990 (Individual and Familial risk factors for Adolescent physchopathy 1998). Aggression in a proportion of boys emerges early in life and is usually accompanied by ODD symptoms (Loeber et al.  , 2000, extracted from Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorder: A Review of the Past 10 Years, Part I). DSM-IV prescribes that the diagnosis of CD should not be made when behaviors are in reaction to their immediate external environment or influences, an example would be of an aggressive adolescent living in a high-crime area (Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorder: A Review of the Past 10 Years, Part I). There is a consensus among delinquency studies of both official and self-report data, showing an increase from childhood through adolescence in the prevalence of nonaggressive CD behaviors (Achenbach et al.  , 1991; Stanger et al. , 1997); these include behaviors such as theft, breaking-and-entering, and fraud (e. g. , Loeber and Farrington, 1998; Loeber et al. , 1998a). More studies show that the prevalence of clandestine conduct problems increases from childhood through adolescence (Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber, 1998). However, studies also give evidence that certain forms of aggression (such as physical aggression) has shown to decrease during the same period (Lahey et al. , 1998; Loeber and Hay, 1997; Loeber et al., 1991). However, more violent forms of aggression, such as robbery, rape, and attempted or completed homicide, tends to develop more during adolescence (Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorder: A Review of the Past 10 Years, Part I) What are the important factors that the clinician should assess? Often during clinical assessment, when investigation is conducted, external factors and information from parents and key influencers are extracted to determine the behavior of children and adolescents. It is, however, important to understand that children and youth in subject are essential informants regarding CD because their covert acts are not always noticed by adults. It is essential to combine the important informants diagnosis and results to establish the correct diagnosis and assessment, however much of this is missing. Even minor changes or difference in diagnostic criteria can produce large variations in prognosis leading to incorrect assessment and treatment of disorders. A comparison of DSM-1II and DS2v1-III-R diagnoses on the same sample showed that between DSM-III and DSM-III-R ODD became 25% less prevalent and CD became 44% less prevalent (Boyle et al. , 1996; Lahey et al. , 1990 extracted from: Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorder: A Review of the Past 10 Years, Part I). Diagnostic Assessment The assessment of Conduct Disorder, for example, requires collecting data from multiple informants, such as parents, teachers, colleagues, in different settings using varying methods over time, in order to develop more realistic assessment and information about the subject in question. Contact with medical, school, social service, and juvenille justice personnel should be established to obtain more realistic informationd . A history of the patient should be gathered including the patient’s prenatal and birth history, substance abuse by the mother, maternal infections, and medications taken during as well as post-pregnancy. The adolescents’ history should cover problems of attachment, temperament, aggression, oppositional behavior, attention, and impulse control . Complete investigation of any physical and sexual abuse, both as a victim and perpetrator, should be dealt with in detail. DSM-IV target symptoms, and the course of their development, should be reviewed. The quality and quantity of peer relationships should be assessed . Obtaining information about the patients’ performance at school is imperative. Data from intelligence testing, achievement test, academic performance, extra-curricular behavior, and interaction as well as other behavioral reports should be gathered and analyzed. Referral for intelligence testing, speech and language assessment, testing for learning disability, and neuro-psychiatric testing may further help in establishing relevancy of the diagnosis and further prognosis and assessment. Family assessment is an essential part of the evaluation and should include details of the family’s stlye of coping and dealing with situations; socioeconomic status of the family as well as history of social and economic stressors, social support, rehabilitation etc should be obtained. How the parent has been dealing with adolescent, managing his behavior, and addressing the disorder’s relevance to the adoloscents’ life should be investigated. Any sign of parent’s harshness towards the adoloscent, abuse/neglect, and any abnormal inconsistency should be noted. A history of family antisocial behaviors, including incarceration, violence and physical or sexual abuse of the patient or other family members should be investigated as all of these have effects on the adolescents’ ultimate behavior and development. The family should be screened for any history of ADHD, CD, substance use disorders, specific developmental disorders (i. e. , learning disabilities), or any other personality disorders. Also included are any information on adoptions and placements in foster care and institutions and any behavior experienced there by the patient. An evidence of a physical evaluation specifically within the last twelve months is necessary for prognosis. Physical condition including pulse rate is useful or any medical history is important so that treatment can be planned accordingly. Other medical and neurological conditions, with especial focus on central nervous system (CNS) pathology (head injury, seizure disorder, or other CNS illness), chronic illnesses, etc should be evaluated. Any other relevant medical examinations should be conducted during the assessment. As mentioned above an interview with the patient, which can precede the parental interview, should cover the same aspects that are covered in the interview with the family; these include family history, the patient’s personal substance use and sexual history (including sexual abuse of others). DSM-IV target symptoms may be detected by interviewing parents and other informants, and perhaps not directly from the patients’ interview. A close observation of the patient’s capacity for attachment, trust, and empathy; tolerance, anger and expression should be conducted during the interview; the patient might convey his/her capacity to show restraint, accept responsibility for actions, and experience of guilt. A close assessment of factors such as cognitive functioning; mood, affect, self-esteem, and suicidal potential; presence and quality of peer relationships (loner, popular, drug-, crime-, or gang-oriented friends); and disturbances of ideation (inappropriate reactions to the environment, paranoia, dissociative episodes) may be the factors which can differentiate the CD from other disorders .