Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Advertising - Essay Example Goods and services offered to the public can be introduced or promoted. This can help business enterprises to increase sales, maximize profits, inform society, and build the image of goods and services, among many other advantages. Promotion of goods and services through advertisement makes consumers to be aware of specific products or services in the market. Information is important to consumers especially regarding to brand name, price, manufactures, trade mark and any other key details. These enhances making of right choices by consumers when buying a commodity or service. Today’s world is competitive and selling commodities or services is a challenge without effective advertising. The target audience is normally the focus when planning for and advertisement. The effectiveness of an advertisement therefore depends on the method used to reach the target audience. Creativity is very important when designing for an advertisement. Originality, artistic, attractiveness, are some of the attributes a good advertisement should posses. It’s said that what people see or hear captures their psyche and this leads to preferences change. When advertisement is done on a regular basis, higher demand for goods and services is generated which by extension demands for equivalent supply of the goods or services demanded. Demand and supply dynamics should be monitored carefully, so that they remain at equilibrium always. Promotion is found in nearly all places imaginable and where one least expects it.   Some advertisements are very conspicuous and divergent, while others may be faint but the human eye tends to take notice of them. Costs of promoting goods and services are more often than not catered for by sponsors who use various traditional media initially identified such as use of newspapers, magazines, television commercials, radio advertisements, outdoor advertising, direct mail or new media such as blogs,

Nursing assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nursing - Assignment Example Meanwhile, public-private interventions include the 5-a-day Consortium. Methods used to analyze the intersectoral/interagency collaboration and public–private partnerships include the social determinants of health which analyze the units of interventions, intersectoral/interagency and inter-program relationships, public–private partnerships, and capacity to influence policy. Findings of the study found out that interviewees assumed that the price of fruits and vegetables is too high, particularly for the poorest among the population. Access to fruit and vegetable content of school meals are slow and availability of fresh fruit is scant. The 5-a-day Consortium has addressed acceptability and improvement of quality and access to fruits and vegetables. Despite proposed solutions to increase intake of fruits and vegetables among Chilean population and to enhanced partnerships between interlocal agencies and public and private sectors, conflicts between commercial and social interests still occur and created a significant effect on public policies. As documented by the WHO, increasing individual fruit and vegetable consumption to up to 600 g daily would reduce the worldwide burden of ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, esophageal, lung and colorectal cancer, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, chronic pulmonary obstructive diseases, and other chronic noncommunicable diseases. In addition, the study also affect the collaboration between interlocal agencies and different sectors as political actions are also important determinants of health in resolving issues related to oppression of underserved Chilean in terms of fruit and vegetable consumption. Based upon the social determinants/pathway of Chilean population, deep inequities are observed between income levels, ethnic groups, regions affecting mainly women, children and underemployed workers; food intake are affected by global trends in

IMAX Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

IMAX - Case Study Example IMAX originated in the market since 1967, was popular among all the business organizations. IMAX was the first company in the world getting involved in producing all characteristics of large format films (MPAA, 2009 Case Facts In 1994 Wechsler and Gelfond had purchased the long established business of IMAX Corporation from its traditional owners. The company was purchased for 80 million by the new owners. However, observing the growing competition in the market of movie theaters, the new owners launched the shares for the company to the public in 1994, in order to raise more capital for further business growth of IMAX. The investors who invested in the company started to face high volatility in their profits due to uneven business conditions of IMAX. At this juncture it became a primary matter of problem for all the investors and analysts to forecast sure economic surplus for the company in future in the presence of such growing uncertainties. At the time of the purchase the stock va luation of IMAX in NASDAQ was $196 million while in December 2008 its worth came down to $125 million. Despite of the large number of IMAX theaters in more than 40 countries in the world, the business of the company is decrementing over time (Chakravarty, 2002). Internal and External Constraints The commerce of IMAX is facing several internal and external limitations that have made the analysts worry about the long term success of its business. Internal Constraints The theaters of IMAX may lose its popularity and brand worth because its strategic managers only concentrate in non educational entertainment Hollywood movies. Further, the CEO’s of the company are in a dilemma to sell IMAX to some large media partners like Sony, Time Warner or Disney. The officials are also in a dilemma to release the Hollywood movies in both regular and large formats in IMAX. It is also a matter of internal constraint for the firm managers to analyze the requirement for further rise in Hollywood movie releases in IMAX theaters (Olijnyk, 2002). External Constraints Figure 2: Growing Substitutes of Movies (Source: IVEY, 2009) The number of movie viewers is higher than any other entertainments, as the ticket prices for movies are comparatively low. But it should be analyzed that the growing numbers of substitutes in the market of entertainment have lowered the aggregate movie viewers. Figure 3: Rising number of DVD Consumption in U.S. (Source: IVEY, 2009) The above schedule shows that the total DVD use in U.S. increasing with time, greater use of DVD has lowered visitors in movie theaters. Figure 4: Increasing Movie Ticket Prices (Source: IVEY, 2009) The falling Gross Domestic Product and increasing prices of movie tickets have lowered the total number of theater audiences, although the theater owners virtually find their revenues increasing. Statement of Criteria (Objectives) The objectives of business that IMAX should exhibit for its economic prosperity in future are: To bec ome a niche player in the competitive market of movie theaters. To diversify its operations. To augment the brand loyalty and tap more potential clients. Situation Analysis The context of situation analysis will help the readers

Whirlpool Leadership Approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Whirlpool Leadership Approach - Essay Example attracting and retaining talent; the achievement of this target would help to improve the performance of the firm’s finance sector, which is a key part of the organization. In 2006, a strategic plan was introduced for supporting the recruitment and development of talent across the organization, especially in the firm’s finance department; the specific plan was mainly based on the firm’s existing leadership approaches, as explained below. The leadership approach used for increasing the performance of Whirlpool, mostly through the improvement of the organization’s existing strategies for recruiting and retaining talent in the finance department, can be characterized as transformational since it is highly based on the participation of the employees in the successful implementation of the relevant plan (Stadtler, Schmitt, Klarner and Straub 45). The specific approach has been combined with the Six Sigma model, which has helped to focus on the organization’s weaknesses and to cover most severe organizational gaps. One of the most emergent organizational needs that the firm’s leader had to face was the lack of effective strategy for the development and the training of employees in finance department. The organization’s CFO decided to introduce a series of changes ‘focusing on building organizational capabilities, processes, and talent’ (Frigo, Rapp and Templin 30). However, the above strategy would be successful only if it was carefully planned and monitored. In order for the strategy’s success to be secured, the following practice was used: emphasis was given on three different areas, ‘technical capabilities, career development and leadership’ (Frigo, Rapp and Templin 30). Leadership has been considered as the most important part of the relevant project mostly because of the following issue: the successful update of the firm’s existing practices in regard to the recruitment, the development and the retention of talent has been depended, as

Sex difference and mathematical reasoning Essay Example for Free

Sex difference and mathematical reasoning Essay The main aim of the study was to determine whether mathematical reasoning is influence by sex of a person due to inconsiderate admission criteria that was adopted in United States for awarding scholarships to students irrespective of sex. In order to achieve this, the study selected sample population from both genders for students who were 13 years and above. The study was a result of the argument that males tend to dominate in mathematical aptitude test, which was evidenced by John Hopkins talent search in 1971 to 1979. Hence, Benbow and Stanley had to carry out this study to prove whether the argument was true and whether there was link between sex and ability to have good mathematical reasoning. Benbow and Stanley in this study investigated sex difference at the high level possible of the mathematical reasoning ability. The study was started by first identifying two groups of students who had the best mathematical reasoning from various mathematical aptitude test that they had taken. The study adopted two procedures where the first one involved identification and selection of students who took part in John Hopkins talent searches campaign from 1980 to 1982 (Benbow, Stanley, 1983). The students who were found to have the highest intellectual ability and below 13 years were given college Scholarship aptitude test, (SAT) to determine their mathematical reasoning. Consequently, the second procedure involved conducting nation-wide talent search and selecting those students who were below 13 years and were willing to take SAT. The results of this study indicated that students who were 13 years of age and below had high mathematical reasoning as evidenced by high scores in SAT, the mathematical part of the test. In addition, the results found that males scored far much high compared to females and thus support the prediction of the study that sex difference play important part in mathematical reasoning for children below 13 years. The evidence from the study indicated that those who scored 400 marks in SAT, males were more than female in the ratio of 1.51:1 and those who scored 600 marks or more the boys to girsl ration was 4.1:1, which showed that males had better mathematical reasoning compared to girls at the age of 13 (Benbow, Stanley, 1983). Consequently, nationwide talent search had the similar results with boy to girls’ ratio increasing to 12.6:1 for those that score 700 marks or more. The significance level Null distribution is the study probability distribution when null hypothesis is considered and regarded to be true. This means that null hypothesis it proved using null distributions. In this case, the alternative hypothesis is rejected. However, where the study does not support the null hypothesis, the said concludes by rejecting the null hypothesis at a given level of significance. Therefore, 0.05 significance means that the null hypothesis was rejected at 95% level of significance. The standard deviation error helps to determine the level of unbiased data and results of a given study and thus it becomes very important in any study. In this study, the standard error was important to determine the level of errors and thus improve the level of data reliability. Similarly, the confidence interval is used as the measure of reliability of the estimates obtained in the study. This helps to indentify if the data is misleading or within the significance level. References Benbow, C. P., Stanley, J. C. (1983). Sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability: More facts.  Science,  222(4627), 1029-1031. Source document

Development of the Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale

Development of the Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale (PHQ) is an eighty-two items measure, divided into five clinical components (Kroenke, Spitzer Williams, 2001). PHQ is used to assess mood, anxiety, somatoform inclination, alcoholism and disorders related to eating habits. PHQ is found to be beneficial in primary care settings because of the early screening and detection the disorder. Responses ranging from â€Å"not at all to nearly every day† and score from 0 to 3 points. Respondents asked to mark his/her feelings they gone through by the past two weeks. PHQ has three shorter versions; one with nine items derived from the original version called Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale-9 (PHQ-9), eight items and two item versions are called PHQ-8 (Kroenke, Strine, Spitzer, Williams, Berry Mokdad, 2008)and PHQ-2 respectively. Zung Depression Inventory (Zung, 1965) is a 20 items self-rating depression inventory for diagnosis depression in psychiatric settings. Where, 20 items divided into 10 negative statements and 10 positive statements, included affective, somatic and psychological symptoms of depression. The response format ranged from 1 (a little of the time) to 4 (most of the time) points scale and the diagnostic scores divide into category of four. Scores ranging between 20-80 points, where, less than50 regarded normal, less than 60 as having mild depression, less than 70 as having major depression, while 70 and above regarded as severe major depression. Besides the adolescents and adult depression measures, there was a need to have measures for assessing depression in geriatric people. There is not much work done on this issue. Depression is not a process of aging, though somewhat people affected by it in their late life. The reason could be retirement from jobs, impairment in daily routine, cognitive functioning, and decreased quality of life (Blazer, 2009). Among other measure of depression available, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is uses commonly in hospitals and by other health care professionals (Yesavage, Brink, Rose, Lum, Huang, Adey Leirer, 1983). GDS is developed by Yesavage (1982) in a dichotomous yes/no format, has two measures one is long form consisting 30-item questionnaire, while other is short form consisting 15-item questionnaire. GDS assessed the intensity of depression, participant felt in the preceding week (Greenberg, 2007). Children depression scales are significant components of assessing depression and their mental health. Children’s self-report measures of depression are relatively newer addition although fastest emerging in clinical psychology because of the importance of the issue. Weinberg Depression Scale for Children and Adolescents (WDSCA) is a 56 items, dichotomous response format measure developed for assessing depression in children and adolescent aged 5-21 years. Another commonly used questionnaire is Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale Modified for Children (CES-DC) is a derivation of adult CES-D. CES-DC is a 20 items measure with the same statements although the wordings related to children’s level of comprehension (Faulstich, Carey Ruggiero, Enyart Gresham, 1986). One more measure for addressing depressive symptoms in terms of behavior and feelings in childrens is Childrens Depression Scale (CDS)-3rd Ed. CDS is a 50 item scale developed for the childrens 7 to 18 years of age. CDS has two depression and pleasure scales with separate forms for boys and girls (Poznannski, Cook Carroll, 1979). Multi-score Depression Inventory for Children (MDI-C) is developed for childrens age ranging between 8-12years. MDI-C is 79-items original scale and 47-items short version with true/false response format. MDI-C addressed children’s mood, affect, behavior, self-esteem, social interaction, defiance, and learned helplessness. Moreover there is another children inventory developed named Child Depression Inventory (CDI). CDI is an extension of BDI, with 27 items and 10 items scale for children and adolescents. The age is ranged between 7-17 years. CDI covers broad spectrum of child’s behavior, emotional problems in home and school living for preceding 2 weeks. Likewise, Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) developed by Angold Costello (1987) assess the child’s recent feelings and affect. MFQ is a 33-items long form and 13-items short form, and score ranging between 0 (not true) to 2 (true) points. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY Use of self administered diagnostic tool for depression has been increased these days as a quick and reliable step in measuring depression for accurate treatment regimen in patients with chronic illnesses. An analytical approach employed in the development of the Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale (DCIS) i.e. the item selection and the method of assessing the individual’s level of Depression was based on a theory. In the case of present scale the theory was that of Beck’s (1967). The theory holds that cognitive distortions, dysfunctional beliefs and negative thoughts about an experience are responsible for having depression (Compass Gotlib, 2002). Mental and behavioral problems interlinked and begin because of the negatively twisted thinking processes. Furthermore, depression has four major components that are affective, cognitive, behavioral and biological. The present study carried out in two phases, where the first phase involved in development of the DCIS scale whilst second phase in validation of the newly developed scale. Phase I Development of the Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale The development of scale involved following steps: Step 1: In-depth interview with chronically ill patients from various hospitals, view-points of health professionals and people from different community settings. Participants: Three different samples were taken for this step in which 30 participants (20 females and 10 males) of health professionals, 30 people (15 females and 15 males) from different community settings and 30 chronically ill patients (13 females and 17 males) from various hospitals of Karachi were recruited as respondents. Procedure: Health care professionals: 30 (20 females and 10 males) health care professionals (e.g. doctors, psychologists nurses) were approached. Their age ranged between 25-40 years. Initially a brief verbal presentation was given them about purpose of the study. Then they were requested to provide their view points for depression that could be their observation or experience in their lives (Annexure A, English) and (Annexure B, Urdu). Following instruction was given along with two sheets of paper. â€Å"Depression isa mental state described by one’s feeling of sadness, loneliness, hopelessness, low self-esteem, and self-reproach†. They were allowed to express their views easily in any language i-e English or Urdu. People from community settings: 30 participants (15 females and 15 males) from different community settings i.e house wives, office workers, teachers and students from colleges and universities of Karachi were approached. Their age ranged from 18-45 years. Initially the reason of the study was extensively explained to them. Then they were requested to provide their view points about depression that could be their observation or experience in their lives (Annexure A, English) and (Annexure B, Urdu). Following instruction was given along with two sheets of paper. â€Å"Depression isa mental state described by one’s feeling of sadness, loneliness, hopelessness, low self-esteem, and self-reproach†. They were allowed to express their views easily in any language i-e English or Urdu. Chronically ill patients: 30 chronically ill patients (13females and 17 males) were approached from different hospitals of Karachi. Their age ranged between 28-48 years. They were extensively and clearly explained the purpose of study and the reason for interview to put them in ease. They were further explained about confidentiality. A semi-structured in-depth interview was done on each chronically ill patient individually that explored their perspective, cognitions, feelings and behaviors about their illness in general and specific situations of life. They were asked open-ended questions (Annexure C), such as â€Å"how are you feeling today?† Their responses were recorded for further analysis. Results: The information explored during semi-structured in-depth interview with patients was summarized and analyzed. The point of views provided by health professionals and people from different community settings used for content analysis. The data from patients, heath care professionals and people from different community settings was qualitatively analyzed and common and relevant content was retained and uncommon content discarded. Step 2: item writing and selection Initially pool of the items were generated through quantitative analysis by using the definitions provided by the chronically ill patients, health professionals and people from different community settings (step 1) Few items from established measures of depression such as Beck depression inventory (1967) were selected and those selected items were culturally relevant items as well. Primarily the selected items were translated in Urdu then included in the item pool (step 2). Before given the item pool to the experts for rating, the content of the items was closely scrutinized by the researcher and supervisor to find out major weaknesses. Omissions and inclusions according to their relevance in each component were made and repetitive items and ambiguous items were deleted. Then, to determine the construct validity of the final scale the panels of judges/psychologists were asked to scrutinize items of the scale keeping in focus the Beck model of Depression. Psychologists were given printed material on the theoretical model of Depression as proposed by Beck (1967), that explained briefly and precisely the three aspects of depression, along with few sample items from already developed scale of Beck depression Inventory. After giving the material on Beck’s (1967) theory they were requested to rate each item on a 1 to 5 rating scale according to its relevance in each of the three components (Annexure D). They were asked to give an item a score of 1 if it is not at all related to the component/concept in question and give a rating of 4 or 5 if the item seems to be highly related to the component/concept in question. The items that had an average rating of 4 and above were selected and the items that had rating below 4 were discarded. Psychologists were replied back with their expert perspective in an objective manner to rate the formulated items for each component of the scale. Finally selected items were reduced to 28 total items (Annexure E). Step 3: Pilot Study Sample: A pilot study carried out by using the judge’s and psychologist’s rated scale and with the purpose of to evaluate the adequacy of scale and to make needed alterations accordingly. The sample of 60 (31 males 29 females) chronically ill patients and they were conveniently selected from various hospitals of Karachi. The age ranges of participants were between 18 to 50 years. Procedure: A 28 itemed scale was administered (Annexure F) on the participants with a demographic form in which they asked to write their name, age, education and illness. Those participants selected for pilot study who can comprehend Urdu easily. Further they were required to identify vague, repetitive, and difficult to understand items. Result: Finally selected scale after pilot study reduced to 18 items (Annexure G). Item those were difficult to understand, and vague for majority of the participants were excluded. Step 4: factor analysis and item total correlation Sample: To find out factor analysis and item total correlation, final Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale (18 items) was administered on 270 (154 males, 116 females) chronically ill patients from various hospitals of Karachi. Their age ranged between 18- 50 years and they were conveniently selected. Procedure: Later than taking the written permission from hospital’s authorities, participants were explained about the details and purpose of the study along with a short demographic form, consent form (Annexure I) and final Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale. Only those participants were included who volunteer to participate thus they could self-report the questionnaire. They were then requested to choose the one option of all eighteen items on DCIS, about which they think most related to their feelings during past six months. The choice of options was from strongly agree, agree and disagree to strongly disagree. Phase II: Validation of Chronic Illnesses Scale The second phase involved in determining the newly developed scale’s psychometric properties. Item total correlation, alpha internal consistency, split half reliability and convergent validity was calculated Reliability Analysis Sample and procedure: For test re-tests reliability a sample consisted of 60 chronically ill patients (26 females, 34 males), age ranging from 18-50 years, recruited from various hospital of Karachi and for internal consistency analysis sample consisted of 270 chronically ill patients (103 males, 90 females) with the age range of 18-50 years from different hospitals of Karachi. The Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale was administered twice on participants at an interval of one week. Test re-tests reliability found out by computing Pearson r by using SPSS IBM version 22. Those participants comprehend easily the language of the scale were selected. For calculating internal consistency (item-total correlation inter-items correlation) Cronbach’s alpha was computed and for split half reliability all items were divided randomly into two equal sets, then split-half reliability estimated by the proportion between these two total scores. Validity Analysis To assess the convergent validity the two scales were administered along with DCIS on 100 chronically ill patients selected from various hospitals of Karachi, age ranging between 18 to 50 years. Only those participants were selected who were bilingual or easily comprehend English language. The two scales used for assessing convergent validity were, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD; Hamilton, 1960) Procedure: Participants were asked to complete the Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale with Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was used by the administrator. Measures: The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) is a 20-item self-report rating scale that assesses mood, somatic complaints, interactions with others, and motor functioning. It’s a 4-point rating scale, scores ranges from 0-3 (rarely or none of the time=0, some or little of the time=1, occasionally or a moderate amount of time=2 and most or all of the time=3). The final score spans from 0 to 60, with a higher score indicating high intensity of depression. People with a final score of 16 or lower are identified as non-depressed; however, the higher are typically identified as a depressive ‘case’ (Annexure I). Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD; Hamilton, 1960) is a 17-item, multiple choice clinician/health professional’s observation rating scale, design to assess the severity of depression in terms of mood, somatic complains, work and activity, sleep and insight. It’s a type of semi structured interview. Score ranging from 0-52, where score more than 23 indicative of very high intensity of depression, 19-22 high intensity, 14-18 moderate intensity, 8-13 mild and lower than 8 indicative of no depression (Annexure J). Cut off Scores In order to find out classificatory indices of DCIS, quartile 1, quartile 3 and intra-quartile had been calculated of eighteen items of the scale i.e. mild, moderate and severe level of depression in patients with chronic illnesses. Result: After computing the eighteen items of DCIS, the classificatory indices of the scores are, 0-16.25 indicates minimal depression, 17-25 indicates mild depression, 25-33 indicates moderate depression and more than 33 points indicates severe level of depression. Operational Definitions: Depression: Depression generally a state of mood characterize by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy dejection and a despondent lack of activity. Depression causes changes in view, emotion, behavior, and physical well-being. It is a widespread, intricate and complicated disorder, (Horwath, 2004). Reliability: Reliability of a test is referring to the consistency of a test.A test is reliable when it produces consistent and steady results over time (Phelan, Wren, 2005). There are different types of reliability in which, test re-test reliability is a correlation between the scores of same group test at two different times on same test. This type of reliability uses to evaluate consistency of a test over time. Inter-rater reliability achieved by given a test to more than one judges for rating. The ratings then compare to establish the consistency of a test. Internal consistency reliability is correlation between items of the same test. Split half reliability is correlation between two halves of one test to assess the internal consistency of a test. Parallel-forms reliability is measured by comparing the correlation of scores of two different tests used for assessing same construct. These two tests administered at same time on same sample Validity: Validity is one of the basic attributes of a test. Validity is a degree to which a test is measure what claims to measure (Cronbach, 1971). A test would be considered valid when it efficiently measures the specific characteristic that it means to be measure. There are four common types of estimation validity. Predictive validity is referring to the accuracy that how well a test guesses the future performance. The usual method is use to measure the approach to predict the future behavior solely on the basis of obtained scores. Criterion related validity used to predict future or current performance on a test. Content validity is referring to the extent to which how much a test represents every single item of the same construct. Construct validity refer to the extent to which a test measure a theoretical construct or attribute. Convergent and discriminant validity are two type of construct validity in which construct validity refers to which a test positively correlate with other measu re of same construct while discriminant validity refer to a test does not correlate with other measure of different construct (Campbell Fisk, 1959a).

Telecommunications :: Telephone Radio Television Microwave Satellite

The transmission of words, sounds, images, or data in the form of electronic or electromagnetic signals or impulses. Transmission media include the telephone (using wire or optical cable), radio, television, microwave, and satellite. Data communication, the fastest growing field of telecommunication, is the process of transmitting data in digital form by wire or radio. Digital data can be generated directly in a 1/0 binary code by a computer or can be produced from a voice or visual signal by a process called encoding. A data communications network is created by interconnecting a large number of information sources so that data can flow freely among them. The data may consist of a specific item of information, a group of such items, or computer instructions. Examples include a news item, a bank transaction, a mailing address, a letter, a book, a mailing list, a bank statement, or a computer program. The devices used can be computers, terminals (devices that transmit and receive information), and peripheral equipment such as printers (see Computer; Office Systems). The transmission line used can be a normal or a specially purchased telephone line called a leased, or private, line (see Telephone). It can also take the form of a microwave or a communications-satellite linkage, or some combination of any of these various systems. Hardware and Software Each telecommunications device uses hardware, which connects a device to the transmission line; and software, which makes it possible for a device to transmit information through the line. Hardware Hardware usually consists of a transmitter and a cable interface, or, if the telephone is used as a transmission line, a modulator/demodulator, or modem. A transmitter prepares information for transmission by converting it from a form that the device uses (such as a clustered or parallel arrangement of electronic bits of information) to a form that the transmission line uses (such as, usually, a serial arrangement of electronic bits). Most transmitters are an integral element of the sending device. A cable interface, as the name indicates, connects a device to a cable. It converts the transmitted signals from the form required by the device to the form required by the cable. Most cable interfaces are also an integral element of the sending device. A modem converts digital signals to and from the modulated form required by the telephone line to the demodulated form that the device itself requires. Modems transmit data through a telephone line at various speeds, which are measured in bits per second (bps) or as signals per second (baud). Modems can be either integral or external units. An external unit must be connected by cable to the sending device.