Knowledge and knowledge management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Knowledge and knowledge management - Essay Example Knowledge management practitioners and scholars acknowledge that there exist knowledge that is hard to articulate and grasp. Most of these scholars to approach the issue by a taking the representational point of view and trying to represent that which is not representable, that is, trying to make hard the soft knowledge. However, knowledge as a soft or hard quality brings out a clear perception that this is not the right understanding in knowledge management. Wenger (1999), in his understanding of knowledge management, uses shared artefacts and social processes as his case study to explain individual’s reification and participation in understanding KM If we concur that experience and interaction with individual’s milieu necessitate the learning process, then it is also easier to concur that learning involves explicit and tactic knowledge. Argote and Ingram (2000) emphasizes that the main key attribute to knowledge is that it exists in the head of individuals, and it only becomes information when it is on paper or any other medium. The original knowledge, however, remains in the author’s mind and an ideal world it is only transmitted to the readers mind through this medium. According to Grover and Davenport (2001), progresses today has seen to it that knowledge is put on record inform of stories. The above sentiments created sparks among the knowledge practitioners who questions the form that the knowledge takes in the story. With other such as Woods and Prusak (1999) wondering on whether the soft knowledge is transforming to be harder. During articulation and understanding there is always some levels of abstraction. In order to retrieve something back, the soft knowledge is necessary. Kidd (1999) explains that an individual who concentrates on the hard aspects of knowledge, mostly newcomers, can only comprehend a story at its superficial level. He further illustrates that the interpretation

Two short essays Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Two short essays - Assignment Example As technologies progress and science-based approaches in finding evidences prior to decision making increase, some women experiencing monthly menstrual cycle are holding on to the hope of becoming finally free from the discomforts linked to menstruation. At last, it was found that menstruation can be controlled, and just like how the principle of taking a pregnancy pill works, women can also suppress the natural menstrual blood flow each month. However, there are prevailing concerns on this; especially on the issue of how â€Å"natural† is this approach prior to finally seeing women taking it into great account (Thomas & Ellertson, 2000, p.923). Concerning this, the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research (2007) argued that menstruation is not a disease; hence, it should not be suppressed to flow naturally in the woman’s healthy life. The medicalization of the menstrual cycle is both beneficial and might be destructive at some point. It is beneficial when the act itself is done in order to correct a defective menstrual cycle. However, if its primary aim is to suppress the natural menstrual cycle of a woman, then it is another story. The impact of medicalization of menstrual cycle on women’s sense of well-being is a great point to consider. In the first place, it is natural for a woman to undergo a menstrual cycle each month. This is significantly true to almost all healthy with mature reproductive potential women or girls around the world. Suppressing it therefore does not make sense. Estrogen and progesterone hormones are essential actors for this phenomenon to take place. However, these hormones are also important for the proper functioning of a women’s physical body. In fact, the lack of these hormones leads to some women on their menopausal stage to experience various discomforts, physical, emotional and psychological (Love, 2000; Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, 2007). Women are different from men.

The Many Types of Anxiety Disorders Essay Example for Free

The Many Types of Anxiety Disorders Essay There are many different types of anxiety disorders which can vary from obsessive compulsive disorder, Post traumatic-stress disorder and the many different types of phobias. Even though there are many different types of anxiety disorders they all are mostly built off the same emotion of anxiety or excessive nervousness. Although we all may feel nervous when put into an uncomfortable position and get nervous or anxious, those with the disorder go through a completely different set of emotions. Just to touch basis in depth on a few different disorders, here are a few types of anxiety disorders along with what they are and how it affects the person. * Generalized anxiety disorder: this anxiety affects the person by making him/her worry about life in general, with no real reason to be worried. People with this type of anxiety disorder tend to always expect disaster and can’t help but to worry about family, money, work and or school. Medication is known to help people who tend to have a lot of difficulty coping with everyday life. It’s known that most that are medicated for generalized anxiety disorder starts off on a low dosage and then works to be taken completely off. Another form of treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy. Which is the person learns about what types things sparks or triggers the effects of their anxiety. This type of therapy is known to help patients not worry so much. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This type of anxiety disorder is known to follow someone after they have experienced a traumatic event (sexual assault, unexpected death of loved one, past war experience) People who have this disorder tend to have thoughts or memories of the traumatic event. It is also well known that people with this disorder tend to become â€Å"emotionally numb† Symptoms: * Difficulty falling or staying asleep * Avoiding people, places, things or situations that remind them of the event * Suffer from flashbacks, hallucinations amp; nightmares * Difficulty concentrating Rapid breathing * Muscle tension Treatment: * Medications such as antidepressants. Psychotherapy is used to help patients learn ways to control or manage symptoms and or develop ways of coping with the disorder. * Exposure therapy: has the patient re live the past traumatic event, this is known the help the patient overcome their past and current worries and fears. There are many other different types of anxiety disorders that vary in effects (long term and short term), what the person deals with on a daily basis, along with many different types of treatments. All anxiety disorders are similar and dissimilar within many ways and can really vary from person to person.

The Three Types Of Impulse Turbine Engineering Essay

The Three Types Of Impulse Turbine Engineering Essay A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid or air flow. The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft with blades where the moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they rotate and impart energy to the rotor. Examples of early turbines are windmills and water wheels. Turbines usually have a casing around the blades that contains and controls the working fluid. Working fluid contains kinetic energy (velocity head) and potential energy (pressure head) and these working fluids may be compressible or incompressible. A compressor or pump is a device similar to a turbine but operating in reverse. The turbines produce almost all electric power on Earth. Most jet engines rely on turbines to supply mechanical work from their working fluid and fuel as do all nuclear ships and power plants. Aircraft engines also use the turbine powered by their exhaust to drive an intake-air compressor, a configuration known as a turbocharger (turbine supercharger). Turbines could also be used as powering system for a remote controlled plane that creates thrust and lifts the plane of the ground. They are as small as soda can, yet still strong enough to move objects with a weight of 100kg. THE TURBINE PROCESS If high-velocity steam is blown on to a curved blade and the steam direction changes as it passes across the blade. The steam will impart a force to the blade as a result of its change in direction across the blade. Now if the blades were free, it would move off in the direction of the force. The principle of steam turbine is where a number of blades were fixed around the circumference of a disc and the disc is free to rotate on a shaft. Steam is then blown across the blades which cause the disc rotates. To increase the rigidity of the blades, the top of the blades are connected together. By means of the nozzles, the high pressure steam is made to give up some of its energy to produce a large increase in kinetic energy of the steam. The steam thus leaves the nozzles at a high velocity. It passes from the nozzles over the blades and thus the turbine disc rotates. The power is then generated at the shaft. The number of nozzles which are in use act as a load to the turbine and so the hi gher the load requires that more steam must be used to sustain the load. Therefore, more nozzles are put into the used. The turbine described is a simple turbine which is also known as de Laval turbine. This type of turbine usually rotates at a very high speed and this high speed will produce a centrifugal force. This turbine is usually small in size and, hence produces small power output. Due to the high speed of rotation, a direct drive between drive between the turbine disc and external equipment is not generally possible. For this reason, a reduction gear box is installed between and turbines of the turbine disc and external equipment. A problem in steam turbine development has been to reduce the speed of rotation and at the same time to make full use of the energy in the steam, thus larger size and higher power output is produce. There are two basic types of turbines which is the impulse turbine and the reaction turbine. THE IMPULSE TURBINES These turbines change the direction of flow of a high velocity fluid jet and the resulting impulse spins the turbine and leaves the fluid flow with diminished kinetic energy. The pressure in the fluid of the turbine rotor blades remains constant. Before reaching the turbine the fluids pressure head is changed to velocity head by accelerating the fluid with a nozzle. Impulse turbines do not require a pressure casement around the runner since the fluid jet is prepared by a nozzle prior to reaching turbine. The transfer of energy for impulse turbines uses the Newtons second law. There are three different types of impulse turbines which are the Velocity compounding turbine Pressure compounding turbine Pressure-velocity compounding turbine THE REACTION TURBINES These turbines develop torque by reacting to the fluids pressure or weight. The pressure of the fluid changes as it passes through the turbine rotor blades. The reaction turbines require a pressure casement to contain the working fluid as it acts on the turbine stage or the turbine must be fully immersed in the fluid flow (wind turbines). The casing contains and directs the working fluid and, for water turbines, maintains the suction imparted by the draft tube. Multiple turbine stages may be used to harness the expanding gas efficiently for compressible working fluids. The transfer of energy in the reaction turbine uses the Newtons third law. Purple Moving blades Blue Velocity Red Pressure Brown Fixed blades THE VELOCITY COMPOUNDING TURBINE IN IMPULSE TURBINES Steam is expanded in a single row or nozzles in this type of turbine. The high velocity steam leaving the nozzles passes on the first row of the moving blades where its velocity is only partially reduced. Then, the steam leaving the first row of moving blades passes into a row of fixed blades mounted in the turbine casing and this row of fixed blades serves to redirect the steam back to the direction of motion such that it is suitable for entry to the second row of moving blades. The steam velocity reduces partially in the second row of the moving blades. A slower turbine is resulted due to only part of the velocity of the steam is used up in each row of the blades. Blue Velocity Red Pressure Green Nozzle Purple Moving blades THE PRESSURE COMPOUNDING TURBINE IN IMPULSE TURBINES The steam enters a row of nozzles where its pressure is only partially reduced and its velocity is increased in this type of turbine. The high velocity steam passes to a row of moving blades where its velocity is reduced. The pressure is again partially reduced and its velocity is again increased when the steam passes into a second row of nozzles. The high velocity steam is then passed to a second row of moving blades where its velocity is again reduced. Next, the steam then passes into a third row of nozzles and so on. All pressure drops occur in the nozzles but the pressure remain constant in each turbine stage. The turbine run slower since steam velocities will not be so high due to only part of the pressure drop occurs in each stage. All stages, however, are coupled to the same shaft, with the result that there is no loss of output. Green Nozzle Purple Moving blades THE PRESSURE-VELOCITY COMPOUNDING TURBINE IN IMPULSE TURBINE A combination of the pressure compounding turbine and the velocity compounding turbine will give a pressure-velocity compounding turbine. In this type of turbine, the steam is partially expanded in a row of nozzles where its velocity is increased. The steam then enters a few rows of velocity compounding turbine and then to a second row of nozzles where its velocity increases. The steam then enters another few rows of velocity compounding turbine and so on. All the pressure at the nozzles decreases. Generally, the diameter from the inlet to the exhaust increases in all multistage turbines. This is because the specific volume increases as the pressure of steam falls. A greater area will be required to pass the steam for continuity of mass flow and this can be done by either increasing the diameter of the turbine discs or increasing the height of the blades. A greater area will be required to pass the steam in order to preserve the mass flow if there is depreciation in velocity. Blue Velocity Red Pressure Green Nozzle Brown Fixed blades Purple Moving blades DIFFERENCES OF THE TURBINES There are many differences that can be stated between the 3 types of impulse turbine. The 3 types of impulse turbine are the: Velocity compounding Pressure compounding Pressure-velocity compounding The differences between these turbines can be classified in terms of: Structure of the turbine The process of the turbine The pressure change in the turbine The velocity change in the turbine Structure of the turbine The structure of the velocity compounding turbine is it consists of a turbine then to a moving blade and a fixed blade. The structure then continues with a second row of moving and fixed blades. The structure of the pressure compounding turbine is it starts from a turbine and then to a moving blade then to a second row of turbine and moving blades and so on. Besides that, the structure of the pressure-velocity compounding turbine is the combine of both of the structure of the velocity compounding turbine and pressure compounding turbine. The process of the turbines High velocity steam from the nozzles passes thru the moving blades then to the fixed blade and the second row of moving and fixed blade in the velocity compounding turbine. In the pressure velocity turbine, the high velocity steam from the nozzles passes thru a moving blades and the low velocity of steam enters another turbine and then to a second row of moving blades and so on. Whereas in the pressure-velocity compounding turbine, the steam from the turbine enters a row of moving blades then a fixed blade and then another row of moving blades. The steam finally then enters another turbine and the process is repeated. The pressure change in the turbine The pressure in the velocity compounding turbine remains constant throughout. In the pressure compounding turbine, the pressure decreases partially when it passes the rows of turbine. Furthermore, the pressure in the pressure-velocity compounding decreases partially then it passes thru the row or turbine and remains constant until the second row of turbine where the pressure decreases partially again. The velocity in the turbine The steam velocity reduces partially in the rows of the moving blades in the velocity compounding turbine. A slower turbine is resulted due to only part of the velocity of the steam is used up in each row of the blades. Whereas in the pressure compounding, the velocity decreases partially when its pass thru the blades but increases back when passing the nozzles. Finally, in the pressure-velocity compounding turbine, the velocity decreases in the turbine and remains constant when passing the blades. The velocity is again decreased when passes thru a second row of turbine. CONCLUSION The steam turbine has greatly improved the energy conversation in our daily lives. There are still future developments oh the steam turbines in order to improve efficiency. Development are now developing turbine which requires a smaller input but produces a bigger output.

Dr. Martin Luther King Essay -- essays research papers

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With his constant pursuit for civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped bridge the gap between races during the 1960Õs. (It was) His unique approach of using nonviolent protests (to) helped create an awareness of the inequalities the African Americans had to endure during this time period. In 1963, King went to Birmingham, Alabama to engage in a nonviolent protest (there), yet before he could perform the (protest à  use synonym such as rally or something) he was arrested. While King was in the prison he wrote Letter from a Birmingham Prison. By reading this letter one can easily see that aside from being ahehe civil rights crusader, King was also an incredibly intelligent and articulate man. In the letter he brought up each issue he felt needed to be addressed and used solid evidence to defend his case on every issue. Even though the letter contains many different strong points, his two strongest arguments he makes are explaining why he was in Birmingh am and the defending of his Ã’untimelyÓ actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (change sentence doesnÕt flow)The first issue King addresses is the claim he was nothing more than an Ã’outside agitatorÓ. He says that he can not be considered an outsider anywhere within the boundaries of the America. Moreover, He explains that he had a business tie in Alabama and had promised them he would 1 engage in a nonviolent protest. He feels that a injustice anywhere is... Dr. Martin Luther King Essay -- essays research papers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With his constant pursuit for civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped bridge the gap between races during the 1960Õs. (It was) His unique approach of using nonviolent protests (to) helped create an awareness of the inequalities the African Americans had to endure during this time period. In 1963, King went to Birmingham, Alabama to engage in a nonviolent protest (there), yet before he could perform the (protest à  use synonym such as rally or something) he was arrested. While King was in the prison he wrote Letter from a Birmingham Prison. By reading this letter one can easily see that aside from being ahehe civil rights crusader, King was also an incredibly intelligent and articulate man. In the letter he brought up each issue he felt needed to be addressed and used solid evidence to defend his case on every issue. Even though the letter contains many different strong points, his two strongest arguments he makes are explaining why he was in Birmingh am and the defending of his Ã’untimelyÓ actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (change sentence doesnÕt flow)The first issue King addresses is the claim he was nothing more than an Ã’outside agitatorÓ. He says that he can not be considered an outsider anywhere within the boundaries of the America. Moreover, He explains that he had a business tie in Alabama and had promised them he would 1 engage in a nonviolent protest. He feels that a injustice anywhere is...

Platos Dialectical Cut in Socrates Soul in The Being of the Beautiful

Plato's Dialectical Cut in Socrates' Soul in The Being of the Beautiful Within the spectrum of the political realm, one of the most important philosophical questions arises, "What is the best regime?" It is obvious that the best regime is one of complied consent. There still seems to be difficulty in deciding the best means to the desired end. Politics, the ruling force, operates in the realm of opinions. Its counterpart, philosophy, is an attempt to replace opinions about political things. This "political science" is the process of acquiring political knowledge for the guiding of political life. The transformation from opinions to knowledge is through the dialectic method. This "political science" is not without its problems. It is plagued by relativism and nihilism. These problems tend to make politics unreceptive to philosophy. What philosophy is is best seen in a confrontation between the philosopher and the city. It is by no small coincidence that these two conflicting views are seen in different characters in The Being of the Beautiful. The obvious question now becomes "Why does Plato make a dialectical cut in Socrates' soul between Theaetetus and Young Socrates?" In answering this question it becomes central to assume that the being of the beautiful is not contained in one character, and for that matter, may not be a character at all. It is crucial then to take up the characteristics of both Theaetetus and Young Socrates in relation to what the beautiful is. In so doing, it will provide the basis for political knowledge. To begin, Theaetetus is a youth just returned from battle. War, being the harshest of all teachers places one under the duress of necessity. This is a fo... ...nd this. He says that "all has been said in a measured way... but this is hard to take in" (Statesman, 293e). The Stranger explains that the rule of law is for one class and is corrupt, imperfect and seditionary. Through the questioning of the laws, the foundations of the one are seen. Politics and philosophy are not natural enemies. Both Theaetetus and Young Socrates understand the ideas to some extent. The goal now is to make each receptive to the other. Both make distinctions between men and gods. They can each understand the concept that something merely "is". Within each character separately a vice is seen but when combined dialectically, the possibility of a true political philosophy is possible. Perhaps Socrates sees in both of them the idea of the philosopher and he wants to see it generated as proof of a permanent condition of human nature.

Eye Vision Case 10-11 Essay

Eye Vision Inc, a long-standing medical device manufacturer, has signed a contract to sell Holland Hospital the Clear View Laser and a two-year separately priced maintenance plan for $1 million and $0.2 million respectively. On a when-and-if available bais, Eye Vision Inc. will provide software updats that is embedded with the Laser to maintainance purchasor. The software has never been sold without Laser for its functional necessity. In this memo, as explained below, we conclude that: 1. Eye Vision’s arrangement with Holland Hospital is not within the scope of ASC 985-605, Software: Revenue Recognition. 2. The deliverables in this arrangement are the Clear View Laser, embedded software, and maintenance plan, respectively. 3. The Clear View Laser together with embedded software and maintenance plan will be accounted for as separate units of accounting, respectively. 4. The laser with the embedded software will be recognized immediately. The maintenance plan will be recognized on a straight-line basis over the length of the contract. 1. Is Eye Vision’s arrangement with Holland Hospital within the scope of ASC 985-605, Software: Revenue Recognition? The agreement between Eye Vision and Holland Hospital is not within the scope of ASC 985-605, Software: Revenue Recognition. According to ASC 985-605-15-4(e), subtopic ASC 985-605 does not apply to transactions and activities for â€Å"software components of tangible products that are sold, licensed, or leased with tangible products when the software components and nonsoftware components of the tangible product function together to deliver the tangible product’s essential functionality.† In the situation of the agreement, the clear view laser represents the tangible component, while the software component comes embedded internally within the laser. The case states, that the laser has never been sold without the software because the software is essential to its functionality in performing medical procedures. We would like to consider both the Clear View Laser along with the embedded software as one tangible product. Further, ASC 985-605-15-4(f) goes on to state any â€Å"undelivered elements that relate to software that is essential to the tangible product’s functionality in (e)† would be considered out of scope. The maintenance plan, if purchased, would be defined as an undelivered element that relates to the software that is essential to the tangible product’s function. Therefore, we conclude that ASC 985-605 is not with in the scope of the arrangement and ASC 605-25, Revenue Recognition: Multiple-Element Arrangements should be used for proper rvenue recognition. 2. What are the deliverables in this arrangement? The three deliverables in this arrangement between Eye Vision and Holland Hospital are the Clear View Laser, the embedded software and the maintenance plan. According to ASC 605-25-15-2, deliverables within contractually binding arrangements include products, services, or rights to use assets. Beyond that, ASC never defines what a deliverable is. Thus, determining whether the elements are separate deliverables is a matter of judgment. In this case, the Clear View Laser is the main product sold by Eye Vision and is definitely a deliverable. The software provides Clear View Laser with additional functionalities other than what the laser alone could have done. Additionally in the future after the updating performed by the maintainance plan, the embedded software is necessary to perform the latest medical procedures for which the laser will be intended to, it should be considered another separate product or deliverable. As to the maintenance plan, it is sold by Eye Vision separately as an after-sale service, making it the third separate deliverable. Alternative / Opposing Approach One could argue that the Clear View Laser together with the embedded software is one deliverable. Both of the laser and the software cannot stand on their own as a separate deliverable. The ideas supporting this argument are as follow: 1. The Clear View Laser has never been sold without the embedded software. 2. Without each other, either the Clear View Laser or the embedded software provides no value to their customers. Although this alternative position sounds reasonable, we uphold our conclusion above because in this arrangement the laser and the software are equally important in terms of functionality. We should consider them two separate products, even though they have never been sold separately and provide no value to customers independently. 3. On the basis of the responses to Question 1 and 2, what are the units of accounting in this arrangement? The two units of accounting listed under the agreement between Eye Vision and Holland Hospital are the Clear View Laser and the mai ntenance plan. According to ASC 605-25-25-5, â€Å"In an arrangement with multiple deliverables, the delivered item or items shall be considered a separate unit of accounting if both of the following criteria are met.† The first criterion under ASC 605-25-25-5 states, â€Å"The delivered item or items have value to the customer on a standalone basis. The item or items have value on a standalone basis if they are sold separately by any vendor or the customer could resell the delivered item(s) on a standalone basis.† In the case, the Clear View laser is sold only with the embedded software for proper functionality. In the event the sale is isolated, the software and laser have no independent value to the consumer considering the safety reasons of the medical devices. The standalone trascation of these two parts are infrequent, therefore we conclude that the Clear View Laser and software will be accounted for as one unit. Regarding the maintenance plan, it does have stand alone value to the consumer. Any past or new owner of the laser can choose to purchase the maintenance plan independently for additional servicing as needed. We conclude this has a standalone value to the consumer and should be accounted for as its own unit. The second criterion states, â€Å"If the arrangement includes a general right of return relative to the delivered item, delivery or performance of the undelivered item or items is considered probable and substantially in the control of the vendor.† The agreement states that there is no general rights of return. Therefore this is not applicable. Each unit of accounting must be evaluated accordingly for the proper revenue recognition technique. Alternative / Opposing Approach It can be argued that when the Clear View Laser with the embedded software and maintenance plan are purchased together, they can all be accounted for as one unit. This is based off the idea that the maintenance plan has no stand alone value to the consumer in the event the Clear View Laser is not purchased in unison. According to ASC 605-25-25-3, â€Å"In applying the guidance in this Subtopic, separate contracts with the same entity or related parties that are entered into at or near the same time are presumed to have been negotiated as a package and shall, therefore, be evaluated as a single arrangement in considering whether there are one or more units of accounting. That presumption may be overcome if there is sufficient evidence to the contrary.† Further this is supported by the criteria listed above in ASC 605-25-25-5. Even with supporting code, we reject this consideration due to the fact that previous owners of the Clear View Laser can purchase the maintenance plan at any given time. Therefore the maintenance plan can have stand alone value as listed initially. 4. On the basis of the responses to Question 3, discuss the revenue recognition accounting literature that would be applied to each unit of accounting identified in this arrangement. The first unit of accounting that we will consider is the laser containing the embedded software. Recognition of revenue will occur immediately upon the sale of the laser. As per ASC 605-10-S99: â€Å"Revenue generally is realized or realizable and earned when all of the following criteria are met: 1. Persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists 2. Delivery has occurred or services have been rendered 3. The seller’s price to the buyer is fixed or determinable 4. Collectibility is reasonably assured† In connection with the sale to Holland Hospital, $1 million (the cost of the laser with embedded software) will be recognized immediately as all four criterion have been satified. As for the second unit of accounting, we will consider the maintenance plan that was purchased for two-year coverage. Unlike the laser, recognition of revenue for the maintenance plan will not occur at the time of sale since the plan does not meet all the four criteria under ASC 605-10-S99 due to the fact that the services have not been rendered upon sale. According to ASC 605-20-25-3: â€Å"Sellers of extended warranty or product maintenance contracts have an obligation to the buyer to perform services throughout the period of the contract and, therefore, revenue shall be recognized in income over the period in which the seller is obligated to perform. That is, revenue from separately priced extended warranty and product maintenance contracts shall be deferred and recognized in income on a straight-line basis over the contract period except in those circumstances in which sufficient historical evidence indicates that the costs of performing services under the contract are incurred on other than a straight-line basis. In those circumstances, revenue shall be recognized over the contract period in proportion to the costs expected to be incurred in performing services under the contract. This leaves some ambiguity as to whether revenue shall be recognized on a straight line basis over the two-year contract or recognized in proportion to the costs expected to be incurred in performing services during the two-year contract. The audit team recommends recognizing the revenue on a straight line basis over the two-year period. In connection with the sale to Holland Hospital, $200,000 (the cost of the maintenance plan) will be recognized ove r the two years, $100,000 in 2010, $100,000 in 2011. There may be an instance where the maintenance plan will produce negative revenue. If such case arises, guidance is provided by ASC 605-50-45-6. â€Å"Negative revenue may arise from the application of the guidance in this Subtopic to cash consideration given by a vendor to a customer or from transactions or changes in estimates that are required to be characterized as a reduction of revenue by other Subtopics in the Codification. The Examples in Section 605-50-55 discuss some of those Subtopics and underlying circumstances that could result in negative revenue. This Subtopic addresses whether the negative revenue amount should be recharacterized as an expense in the vendor’s income statement.† If this scenario occurs, 605-50-55 (too many Subtopics to list all here) will provide the guidance necessary to proceed. Alternative Approach: If Eye Vision, which has been in business for over twenty years, has recognized its revenue from maintenance plans in a way other than the straight-line method, they could qualify under the portion of ASC 605-20-25-3 that states, â€Å"†¦ circumstances in which sufficient historical evidence indicates that the costs of performing services under the contract are incurred on other than a straight-line basis. In those circumstances, revenue shall be recognized over the contract period in proportion to the costs expected to be incurred in performing services under the contract.† and continue doing so. Also, regarding SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) Topic 13: 605-10-s99-1, there are examples given that could support the recognition of revenue for the maintenance plan as services are rendered. â€Å"Supply or service transactions may involve the charge of a nonrefundable initial fee with subsequent periodic payments for future products or services. The initial fees may, in substance, be wholly or partly an advance payment for future products or services. Therefore, the up-front fee and the continuing performance obligation related to the services to be provided or products to be delivered are assessed as an integrated package. In such circumstances, the staff believes that up-front fees, even if nonrefundable, are earned as the products and/or services are delivered and/or performed over the term of the arrangement or the expected period of performance and generally should be deferred and recognized systematically over the periods that the fees are earned.† (A systematic method would be on a straight-line basis, unless evidence suggests that revenue is earned or obligations are fulfilled in a different pattern, in which case that pattern should be followed.) Since Eye Vision â€Å"will offer, on a when-and-if available basis, new treatment applications for the Clear View Laser†, the â€Å"pattern† could be deemed â€Å"when available† (or when delivered).