History with Derek Mahon Essay

History is a subject which preoccupies Mahon in many of his most important poems. I would choose particular poems because of his view towards our history and the past. His poetry presents history in a very negative light. Mahon sees the past as ‘deep-delving, dark, deliberate you would say’. In the poem Rathlin Mahon recalls historical violence on an island that is now a ‘sanctuary’ of peace and ‘through with history’. However this island in the past has witnessed ‘unspeakable violence’ with the massacre of the Rathlin women. He speaks of the ‘unnatural silence’ on the island gradually becoming ‘natural’ over the years through the island not being inhabited. Come the end of the poem Mahon is unsure ‘whether the future lies before us or behind’. Whether the violence is now behind us or is violence a continuing part of our future? In Mahons Poem Kinsale there is a welcome and a long awaited moment of light and hope. The opening line of this poem was an optimistic thought from Mahon himself by saying, ‘the kind of rain we knew is a thing of the past’. The use of imagery in this poem is both vivid and warming. The image of ‘Yachts tinkling and dancing in the bay’ is a striking image as it is both beautiful and positively uplifting. The sun is a direct contrast to the rain. The sun is an image of hope and the ‘future forbidden to no-one’ while the rain is the constant reminder of a violence filled history. Although Mahon showed a slight sense of hope he is constantly overcome with those ‘who have come so far in darkness and in pain’. In the poem A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford he uses the metaphor of mushrooms neglected in a shed to represent the victims of history. Please note! This is not an example of text written by our writers! Essaypedia.com is a database of essays that were collected at open web resources. You can use them at you own risk following the citation rules below. But we recommend you to order a custom plagiarism-free essay written just for you from one of our writers. Place an order, add your paper details and enjoy the results! You can keep in touch with your writer, check the draft of your paper and send your order for revision for free. If you are hesitating to place an order – just ask for a quote! However the both extraordinary and unbelievable picture of mushrooms with feelings is not the only reason I would choose this poem. Mahon uses the image of mushrooms neglected and forgotten to portray the misery and despair of thousands of victims who have died or survived the torturous past. ‘They are begging us you see’ to not forget them or forget what they have been through. Even the most insignificant people in history still deserve the recognition for their struggle. Small heroes from the past ‘In their wordless way’ are saying ‘Let not our naà ¯ve labours have gone in vain’. Mahon also deals greatly with the theme of isolation in this poem. The mushrooms are completely cut off from the world and their only form of light ‘Is a keyhole rusting gently after rain’. The theme of isolation is also portrayed in the poem Grandfather. The ‘Grandfather’ in the poem has completely isolated himself from family and friends. ‘Discreetly up to no good’ he leaves the house in the morning and does not return until ‘After dark’. However nothing gets by this grandfather, ‘Nothing escapes him, he escapes us all’. ‘His shrewd eyes bolt the door’ to his life and he would rather not be bothered by anyone or anything. Another good choice of poem sticking with the theme of isolation would be After the Titanic. In this poem the persona of Bruce Ismay is overcome with guilt and as a result has completely isolated himself from the world. This poem is a favourite of mine also because Mahon writes in the persona of Ismay so brilliantly. ‘Include me in your lamentations’ was the final line of this poem and it sums up what Ismay was asking for. Like the mushrooms in A Disused shed in Co. Wexford he wanted to be remembered just like those who had died in the sinking of the titanic. He believed he ‘sank as far that night as any hero’ as his life and soul died that night. He watched the ship go ‘thundering down’ and with it went his ‘costly life’. He now ‘stays in bed’ and ‘will see no-one’. Mahon allows the reader to become Bruce Ismay if only for a minute. It is amazing reading this poem. The poem Antarctica is also a great example of Mahons ability of writing in a variety of personas. In this poem Mahon writes in the persona of captain Lawrence Oates an explorer who gave his life for the lives of his fellow men. ‘I am just going outside and may be some time’ are said to be his final words. Mahons deals greatly with the theme of people in this poem. He shows that there is good in man kind and ‘At the heart of the ridiculous, the sublime’. Mahon shows that even in the worst instances of isolation imaginable, trudging utterly alone, to his death Oates action may seem entirely ‘ridiculous’ but in this case it is somewhat heroic. People in life may make some pretty foolish decisions but there might always be a good outcome. The poetry of Derek Mahon is poetry that one could not live without. With this collection of marvellous pieces his poetry will continue through generations and linger in peoples minds for some time, ‘In fact forever’.

How media violence contributes to the violence at home Essay

People have always believed that the various movies and violent dramas that are shown on TV are just but entertainment. In fact, some adults who feel that since they watched television when they were young and it had no negative effects on them tend to think that television violence cannot be a contributor to home violence. However this could not be the case in the present world. This is because the type of programs that were shown in the TVs in the early years did not contain many violent scenes as it is now. Many television programs are characterized with violent acts like abuse and rape, criminal acts and diminished trust. Indeed many researches that have been conducted clearly show that the increases in violence in the television are having a significant contribution to the violence experienced at home. Furthermore, the media portrays that problems both family and social are to be confronted with force or threats of force The effects of the violent scenes on television vary in the adults and children. Children are the ones who are highly affected since they are not able to discern what reality is and what fiction is. This makes them believe almost everything they see as being what the real world is. The present lifestyle has lead to most children spending many hours glued to the television something which itself can affect their behavior. In fact many researchers have shown that both the adults and children who spend most of their time watching television may develop the following perception. First is that there is an increase in crime even if it is not the case (Media Issues). Secondly that they can overestimate the risk of being victimized by crime and lastly they develop fear of crime which in itself sees crime as something that is all around. Some get mislead that violence rarely has negative consequences. In these programs a very high percentage of the violence acts go unpunished. In fact in some, those portrayed as heroes never get punished despite their violent acts. Furthermore, too much violence in the television leads to over aggression among children and in some adults. This has lead to an increase in violent behaviors in the world majorly due to imitation. People who see those being violent on TV try to copy them as models. This character is common among children. Studies have as well shown that children who watch violent shows and even identify with the violent characters are about twice as likely to be violent as young adults. The studies have as well indicated that men are more likely to embrace the violent acts as compared to their female counterparts. Other indicators of contribution of television violence to the home violence include increased desensitization and heartlessness (Christian answers). People tend to be more callous towards those who may have become victims of violence. In this they tend to ignore or just take easy incidences of violence claiming that they are common occurrences in television. This normalizes violence making it to look like part of daily life. Furthermore, in this way it dulls the emotion response to violence’s and its victims. In conclusion the influence of the media content on people has been openly quite evident. Anyone would agree with this. The advertisers use the media to sway consumer’s perception towards given products. This is equally the same to violence in the media which can as well sway peoples’ perceptions towards violence. Due to the above points it is clearly necessary for parents to take action against the viewing of television programs. Parents ought to talk to the children about what programs are good for them and which are harmful. Children should get encouraged to spend most of their time in sports and hobbies or friends other than watching television. Furthermore special banns ought to be put on some programs that have too much violence References Christian answers, Violence in the media – How it affects families? Accessed on August 16, 2010 from http://www. christiananswers. net/q-eden/edn-f012. html Media Issues, Research on the effects of media violence, Accessed on August 16, 2010 from http://www. media-awareness. ca/english/issues/violence/effects_media_violence. cfm

GDP †A Gross Deception

Capitalism concentrates on production of wealth more than distribution of wealth to satisfy the needs, which is secondary in their view. Therefore, the capitalist economic system has one aim, which is to increase the country's wealth as a whole, and it works to arrive at the highest possible level of production. It considers that the achievement of the highest possible level of welfare for the members of society will come as a result of increasing the national income by raising the level of production in the country, and in enabling individuals to be able to take the wealth, by being left free to work in producing and possessing it. So for capitalists the economy does not exist to satisfy the needs of every individual, rather it is focused on satisfying the needs of the wider community by raising the level of production and increasing the national income of the country. It believes that through the availability of the national income, the distribution of income among the members of society occurs, by means of freedom of possession and freedom of work. So it is left to the individuals to obtain what they can of the wealth, everyone according to what he has of its productive factors, whether all the individuals or only some individuals are satisfied. This is the so called â€Å"trickle-down effect†, a now-discredited theory of distribution which holds that the concentration of wealth in a few hands benefits the poor as the wealth necessarily â€Å"trickles down† to them, mainly through employment and as a result of investments made by the wealthy. In most cases, this policy failed, as the benefits were pocketed by a few. GNP is used widely by the capitalist nations as a measure of total production of all goods and services produced in a nation (usually annually) and central to a government’s national income accounts. GNP was introduced during World War II as a measure of wartime production capacity, since then the Gross National Product (since changed to Gross Domestic Product – GDP) has become a nation's foremost indicator of economic progress. Yet the GDP was never intended for this role. It is merely a gross tally of products and services bought and sold. However it is now widely used by policy makers, economists, international agencies and the media as the primary scorecard of a nation's economic health and well- being. Yet in this role it has many serious flaws. 1. The GDP ignores everything that happens outside the realm of monetized exchange, regardless of its importance to well-being and the society. Hence values (humanitarian, ethical, spiritual) other than material values go entirely ignored. 2. The GDP records every monetary transaction as positive, so the costs of social decay and natural disasters are tallied as an economic advance. For example the terrible effects of crime are recorded positively as adding billions of dollars to the GDP due to the need for locks and other security measures, increased police protection, property damage, and medical costs. Hurricane Andrew was a disaster for Southern Florida USA, but the GDP recorded it as a boon to the economy of well over $15 billion. 3. GDP ignores the drawbacks of living on foreign assets. Where governments have increased their spending by borrowing from abroad, this raises the GDP temporarily, but the need to repay this debt becomes a growing burden on the national economy. This downside of borrowing from abroad is not reflected in the GDP. 4. The GNP was turned into the GDP – a change that was deceptive and exploited by the Capitalist nations. Under the old measure, the Gross National Product, the earnings of a capitalist multinational firm were attributed to the country where the firm was owned and where the profits would eventually return. Under the Gross Domestic Product, however, the profits are attributed to the country where the factory is located, even though the profits won't stay there. This accounting shift has deceptively turned many struggling nations into statistical boomtowns. Statistics which are used in aiding the push for globalisation and free trade. Conveniently, it hides a basic fact: that the western Capitalist nations are walking off with the resources of poorer nations and calling it a gain for the poor. 5. Above all GDP ignores the distribution of income. In effect the GDP hides the fact that a rising tide does not lift all boats. From 1973 to 1993 in the USA, while GDP rose by over 50 percent, wages suffered a decline of almost 14 percent. Meanwhile, during the 1980s alone, the top 5 percent of households increased their real income by almost 20 percent. Yet the GDP presents this enormous gain at the top as a bounty to all. Furthermore the average number of poor people averaged more than 30 million people over the last 40 years in the US, with an average of 15% of the population being poor. In the meantime, the gross national product continued to increase drastically, over the same period. The GDP grew from $400 billions to $10 trillions from 1959 to 2000. This very large increase in the national product did not contribute to the resolution of poverty. More than 30 million people continue to be poor. Hence Capitalism superbly increases the production of products and services, and hence wealth. However this completely fails to resolve the poverty of the individuals. The number of poor people continues to grow. In reality therefore GDP as a measure of a nation’s economic well being is really a deception. It begins to explain why people feel increasingly gloomy despite official claims of economic progress and growth. In Islam, the economic problem is focused on distributing the means of satisfaction for individuals i. e. the distribution of the funds and benefits to the members of the nation or people, not on the needs which the nation or the people require without having any regard to every individual within the nation. In other words, the problem is the poverty which occurs to the individual not the poverty which occurs to the nation. The concern of the Islamic economic system is focused predominantly on satisfying the basic needs of every individual, not the study of producing economic commodity. Islam makes the subject of study, the basic human needs of man, as a human being, and the study of distributing the wealth to the members of society to guarantee the satisfaction of all their basic needs. Unlike capitalism it is aware that the treatment of the poverty of a country, through raising the level of production, does not solve the problem of poverty for individuals. Rather, Islam advocates the treatment of the poverty problems of all the individuals, and the distribution of the wealth of the country among them by addressing their basic needs first, thus motivating all the people of the country to work in increasing the national income.

Databases and Database Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Databases and Database Systems - Essay Example A database management system is a collection of programs that enables the user to create and maintain a database. In the Database Management System (DBMS), sharing a database allows multiple users and programs to access the database concurrently. Other important functions provided by the DBMS include protecting the database and maintaining it over a long period of time. Protection includes both system protections against hardware or software malfunction (or Crashes) and security protection against unauthorized or malicious access. A database typically has many uses, each of which may require a different perspective or view of the database. A multi-user DBMS, as its name implies, must allow multiple users to access the database at some time. This is essential if data for multiple applications to be integrated and maintained in a single database. The DBMS must include concurrency control software to ensure that several users trying to update the same data do so in a controlled manner s o that the result of updates is correct. These types of applications are generally called online transaction processing applications. A fundamental role of multi-users DBMS software is to ensure that concurrent transactions operate correctly. The concept of a transaction has become central to many database applications. A transaction is an executing program or process that includes one or more database accesses, such as reading or updating database records. Each transaction is supposed to execute logically correct database access is executed in its entirety without interference from other transaction. The DBMS must enforce several transaction properties. The isolation property ensures that each transaction appears to execute in isolation from other transactions, even though a hundred of the transaction may be executing concurrently. When multiple users share a large database, it is likely that most users with not be authorized to access all the information in the database. In additi on, some users may be permitted only to retrieve data whereas others are allowed both to retrieve and update. Hence, the type of access operation must also be controlled. A DBMS should provide a security and authorization subsystem. As we know, multiple users can access databases and use computer systems simultaneously because of the concept of multiprogramming. In this concurrent process, execution of processes is actually interleaved and most of the theory concerning concurrency control in a database is developed in terms of interleaved concurrency. In a multi-users DBMS, the stored data items are the primary resources that may be accessed concurrently by interactive users or application programs, which are constantly retrieving information and modifying the database. In this process, concurrency control is very much needed to avoid a certain type of problems. Concurrency control and recovery mechanisms are mainly concerned with the database access commands in a transaction. Trans action submitted by the various users may execute concurrently and may access and update the same database items. If this concurrent execution is uncontrolled it may lead to problems such as an inconsistent database, the lost update problem, and temporary update problem. Transaction failure may occur due to integer overflow or division by zero or erroneous parameter  values or logical programming errors.

Milgram Experiment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Milgram Experiment - Assignment Example In light of such revelations, the researcher exposes the entire study to some level of inaccuracy since the respondents alter their responses, as human being inherently condition themselves to behave in a certain manner to stimuli. Respondent behavior or operant behavior has widely been studied to reveal that respondents act in a certain way to fit in the expectations following psychological perception of the stimuli. The results obtained in such study must factor in some level of alteration as an assumption since respondent behavior becomes very central to the expected outcomes (McLeod, 2007). The author accounts for a way to deal with the alteration of perceptions using Milgram’s study of obedience where the procedure applied is concealed in form of a deception. McLeod (2007) argues that it is allowed to alter the respondents’ perception on the procedure but not in a material way such that the respondents remain protected in the study. The deception must be kept at its minimum possible level aimed at eliciting the expected results and avoiding alterations from respondents’ perceptions. It therefore means that the ethics can slightly be constricted but the researcher must ensure that it is not materially tampered

Business plan- Reflective report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business plan- Reflective report - Essay Example However, this paper focuses on the barriers I faced in building organizational strategies to make this business plan a successful one. There were many lessons learnt when we executed our marketing plan, we gained tremendous experience and I was able to evaluate myself as the design director of the company. Even though, we had a clear objective for carrying out organizational goals but sometimes there can be fuzziness in focusing on a specific direction. In this regard, there’s always a need to identify strategies that could give appropriate solutions in conflicting situations. In my opinion, mutual understanding among the managers is a must to make a business plan a successful one. Once, we identified the purpose of our business we were ready for its implementation. However, planning events and identifying strategies is a difficult part. I felt that in order to deploy goals and objectives to different members of the workforce communication and coordination was essential. These communicative strategies negotiate the meaning of situations where there are problems in identifying notions and solutions (Fà ¦rch & Kasper, 1984). It is also important to track changes of the desired implementation plan and strategies. Just like the statement of Benjamin Franklin, who once stated, â€Å"if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail but if you fail to track you are definitely going to fail to reach your desired future state† (Cox et al., 2014). This means that, as a project director, I had to make sure that all the scheduled tasks are checked on a regular basis in order to be successful in reaching the destiny. With time, I realized that there were actually three fundamental aspects that are needed to be examined before building a strategy to execute our business plan. Firstly, we had to determine ourselves by having a clear set of roles and

Training and development management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Training and development management - Case Study Example Training need analysis will be extremely beneficial for the Omaha warehouse workers to meet the warehouses objectives (Jean 28). Training is a tool extremely powerful for a smooth functioning of an organization, but it is usage goes hand in hand with care in order to derive all the benefits. Here is the recommendation of performing a TNA: - First,  Learn about the proficiency and needs of each employee before the warehouse invests it effort, money and time on training. It is better for needs identification the shortcomings and needs before actually imparting training an employee (Jean 30). Secondly, Experienced and skilled trainer, who possesses an amount of understanding and knowledge that is good about objectives of an organization, the abilities of an individual and the present environment, should offer training. This will help in the improvement of the program in warehouses and plants (Jean

The U.S. National Debt and GDP Growth Rate Assignment

The U.S. National Debt and GDP Growth Rate - Assignment Example Since the recession has hit the economy, around 7.2 million jobs have been lost. In 2008, 3.2 million jobs were lost and the year 2010 has beaten this record. Unemployment has now risen to 10 percent. This is making the economy worse and putting more of deflationary pressure. The additional stimulus that the government is planning to make consists of $200 billion of which only $50 billion will be spent towards job initiatives. (Whitney, M)Â  The inflation rate at the beginning of 2010 stood at 2.6 percent and has gone down to 1.2 percent by October. (Inflation Calculator) In 2009, the GDP growth rate for the economy was negative, 4.9 percent but improved and went up to positive 5 percent by the end of the year. In 2010, the rates fluctuated around 2.5 percent. (Trading Economies)Â  Fiscal and monetary policies are used to serve the economy and help it function in a better manner. These tools have always been used by the US government, but to better help the economy, they need to be adjusted. The government needs to keep a check on the interest rates and the flow of money within the economy. The monetary policy mainly controls the money supply and consists of three tools; discount rates, required reserve ratio, and government securities. The fiscal policy revolves around the interest rates and comprises of; government spending and taxes. (Willingham, P)Â  In my opinion, the government needs to reduce taxes, this will stimulate spending in the economy, which will boost production, which will create jobs and provide people with a higher disposable income. On the other hand, the government can also reduce interest rates which will increase investment, more jobs will be created, people, in general, will have higher spending money, which will further boost the economy and increase production.

Social Behavior in Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Behavior in Animals - Essay Example The while-tail is one such species. It is a medium-sized deer that is native to the United States. Most deer species, including the white-tail, live in herds. The white-tail deer will migrate depending on temperature, the phases of the moon and the barometric pressure. The white-tail socializes on the basis of sex with the exclusion of the mating season. The doe, which is the female deer, and the fawns, which are the infant deer, group together. The bucks, which are the male deer, live together segregating themselves from the does and fawns. The purpose of this is to give time to the does to bring up the fawns. The buck’s social life is all about dominance. Though they co-exist together and live as a herd, there is always that one buck that is considered to be the leader. The leading buck is supposed to be given preference when it comes to mating and any other buck that wishes to take his place must challenge him. The bucks not only challenge the dominant buck but also have ch allenges amongst themselves. If a buck wishes to challenge another male, he will lay down a scent by peeing over his tarsal glands by rub-urinating. The buck also does this as a way of inciting a female to mate with him. This is their way of communicating; the white-tail also bleats as a way of communicating. The aspect of socialization among the deer is portrayed as one of living together. Just as pointed out earlier, socialization traverses through virtually everything. The ant exemplifies a social life that is near to, if not, perfection. An army ant is mostly found in heavily forested areas that are in most cases humid. An army ant colony has three major divisions. They are the queen ant, the soldier ants, and the multipurpose soldier ants. Each of them has its own distinct duty in the colony. The duty of the queen ant is to ensure the continuity of the colony. Sarkar says that she does by laying eggs which can be as many as between 100,000 to 300,000 within a 5 to 10 day spun ( 67). The socialization of an ant revolves around the life-cycle of the colony. The life-cycle of an army ant colony has two major phases. The two phases include a stationary phase and a migratory phase. The stationary phase takes place when the queen ant is pregnant. The queen and is in most cases expected to lay over 50,000 eggs and this causes her abdomen to swell. At this stage, the colony is, in essence, stagnated at one particular place. The soldier ants divide themselves into groups. One group is responsible for the protection of the queen, another is responsible for fetching food and the other is responsible for building the nests. The multipurpose soldier and has the duty of also fetching food and making the nests for the eggs which will be hatched. The worker and also has the duty of cleaning the colony’s habitat and if necessary, expanding it. The second phase of the life-cycle of an ant is the migration. This phase is triggered by the hatching of the eggs. The ants have to migrate in search of a new habitat that will accommodate the whole colony. The integrative input of every ant is vital for the survival of the colony. It is the same unity that sees ants create ant hills which are over 10 feet high.  

What is extreme poverty To what degree would you describe meeting Goal Essay

What is extreme poverty To what degree would you describe meeting Goal 1 Target 1 of the Millennium Development Goal as a success - Essay Example With it there has been a considerable drop in incomes which resulted in additional 50 million people being left in extreme poverty in 2009. Based on the projections the global poverty which is measured at $ 1.25 a day will fall to 15 percent by 2015 and it will leave 918 million people below the poverty line. Though over the past three decades poverty has declined rapidly, but human society still faces complex and urgent challenges. Worldwide more than 1 billion people live in a state of destitution. With rise in social exclusion and inequality the problem of extreme poverty is rising. This report will take a look at the extreme poverty and the various goals regarding it. In 2013 the Board of Governors of World Bank has endorsed two new goals. First is that the World Bank Group will commit its energy into bringing an effective end to the extreme poverty by 2030. This means that that they have to reduce it to no more than 3 percent the fraction of the population of the world who are living on less than $ 1.25 percent per day. The second goal is to ensure that the benefits of prosperity will be shared by promoting income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the people. The World Bank group aim at achieving both the goal in a sustainable manner and hence help secure the long term future of the planet and its resources (Và ¶rà ¶smarty, and et.al. 2010, p. 173). The World Bank originally defined extreme poverty as individuals who are living on the equivalent of less than $ 1 per day. In 2008 it was then updated to $ 1.25 per day. In 1990 the number of people living in extreme poverty was estimated at 1.2 billion. According to World Bank the percentage of people living in extreme poverty globally will fall to no more than 3 percent by 2030 (United Nations, 2010, p. 351). In 1980s it was common for the nations to use their general economic surveys and national income accounting for identifying a poverty line (Rogers, Jalal

The evolution of human intelligence Essay Example for Free

The evolution of human intelligence Essay The evolution of human intelligence refers to a set of theories that attempt to explain how human intelligence has evolved. These theories are closely tied to the evolution of the human brain and to the emergence of human language. The timeline of human evolution spans approximately 7 million years,[citation needed] from the separation of the Pan genus until the emergence of behavioral modernity by 50,000 years ago. The first 3 million years of this timeline concern Sahelanthropus, the following 2 million concern Australopithecus and the final 2 million span the history of actual human species (the Paleolithic). Many traits of human intelligence, such as empathy, theory of mind, mourning, ritual, and the use of symbols and tools, are already apparent in great apes although in lesser sophistication than in humans. The great apes show considerable abilities for cognition and empathy. Chimpanzees make tools and use them to acquire foods and for social displays; they have sophisticated hunting strategies requiring cooperation, influence and rank; they are status conscious, manipulative and capable of deception; they can learn to use symbols and understand aspects of human language including some relational syntax, concepts of number and numerical sequence.In one study, young chimpanzees outperformed human college students in tasks requiring remembering numbers. This claim was refuted in a later study after it was noted that the chimpanzees had received extensive practice with the task while the students were evaluated on their first attempt. When human subjects were given time to practice, they substantially outperformed the young chimps. Chimpanzees are capable of empathy, having been observed to feed turtles in the wild, and show curiosity in wildlife (such as pythons)[citation needed].Homininae Around 10 million years ago, the Earths climate entered a cooler and drier phase, which led eventually to the ice ages beginning some 2.6 million years ago. One consequence of this was that the north African tropical forest began to retreat, being replaced first by open grasslands and eventually by desert (the modern Sahara). As their environment changed from continuous forest to patches of forest separated by expanses of grassland, some primates adapted to a partly or fully ground-dwelling life. Here they were exposed to predators, such as the big cats, from whom they had previously been safe. These environmental pressures caused selection to favor bipedalism: walking on hind legs. This gave the Homininaes eyes greater elevation, the ability to see approaching danger further off, and a more efficient means of locomotion (see main article for details).[citation needed] It also freed the forelimbs (arms) from the task of walking and made the hands available for tasks such as gathering food. At some point the bipedal primates developed handedness, giving them the ability to pick up sticks, bones and stones and use them as weapons, or as tools for tasks such as killing smaller animals, cracking nuts, or cutting up carcasses. In other words, these primates developed the use of primitive technology. Bipedal tool-using primates form the Hominina subtribe, of which the earliest species, such as Sahelanthropus tchadensis, date to about 7 to 5 million years ago. From about 5 million years ago, the Hominin brain began to develop rapidly in both size and differentiation of function. It has been shown that Great Ape cooperation and communication is severely impeded by their competitiveness, and thus that the apes would revolutionize their culture-bearing ability if they could just shrug off their competitiveness. It is also well known that even early hominins lacked the size and sharpness of their canine teeth that apes use as a threat signal, suggesting prehumans simply had no use for threat signals. That means they had already transcended ape competitiveness and thus developed superior cooperation and communication. There has been a gradual increase in brain volume as humans progressed along the timeline of evolution (see Homininae), starting from about 600 cm3 in Homo habilis up to 1500 cm3 in Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. Thus, in general theres a correlation between brain volume and intelligence. However, modern Homo sapiens have a brain volume slightly smaller (1250 cm3) than neanderthals, and the Flores hominids (Homo floresiensis), nicknamed hobbits, had a cranial capacity of about 380 cm3 (considered small for a chimpanzee) about a third of that of H. erectus. It is proposed that they evolved from H. erectus as a case of insular dwarfism. With their three times smaller brain the Flores hominids apparently used fire and made tools as sophisticated as those of their ancestor H.erectus. In this case, it seems that for intelligence, the structure of the brain is more important than its volume. The social brain hypothesis was proposed by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, who argues that human intelligence did not evolve primarily as a means to solve ecological problems, but rather intelligence evolved as a means of surviving and reproducing in large and complex social groups. Some of the behaviors associated with living in large groups include reciprocal altruism, deception and coalition formation. These group dynamics relate to Theory of Mind or the ability to understand the thoughts and emotions of others, though Dunbar himself admits in the same book that it is not the flocking itself that causes intelligence to evolve (as shown by ruminants). Dunbar argues that when the size of a social group increases, the number of different relationships in the group may increase by orders of magnitude. Chimpanzees live in groups of about 50 individuals whereas humans typically have a social circle of about 150 people, which is now referred to as Dunbars number. According to the social brain hypothesis, when hominids started living in large groups, selection favored greater intelligence. As evidence, Dunbar cites a relationship between neocortex size and group size of various mammals. However, meerkats have far more social relationships than their small brain capacity would suggest. Another hypothesis is that it is actually intelligence that causes social relationships to become more complex, because intelligent individuals are more difficult to learn to know. There are also studies that show that Dunbars number is not the upper limit of the number of social relationships in humans either

Struggle for Free

Struggle for Freedom Essay In the short story Flight by Doris Lessing and Dubliners: An Encounter by James Joyce, have many of the same literary techniques employed through the themes and imagery. Thematically, these two short stories are very similar because they both are about youth growing up which leads to escape or freedom during the childhood and adolescence years. Lessings story is about a grandfather who is possessive of his granddaughter and does not want her grow-up. Because of this, he tries to control her because he does not want to be alone, and most importantly because this was his last granddaughter out of four to mature. As for Joyces story, it is mainly about the relationship between Father Butler and the boys, where the boys are faced with boredom at school and are spurred by excitement found in magazine stories about the American Wild West, two young boys skip school to take a trip to The Pigeon-house. Their school boy lark and youthful egocentricism are destroyed by an encounter with an aging pervert who tells them that boys were too young to have sweethearts. In addition, both of the authors use descriptive words to create imagery, which also shows how the two stories are similar. Some examples of descriptive imagery from Flight are: and Dubliners: An Encounter is It will become apparent that this is what these stories are about when evidence is provided by referring to the each story to support these statements in the text. Similarly, the themes in both short stories illustrate flight in one case and freedom in another, during their adolescence years of the characters. This shows how the characters move on to live their life in Flight or the transition from boys to men (bigger boys) in Dubliners: An Encouter. An example of this is in Flight, when the grandfather disapproves of the granddaughter (Alice) going out with the postmasters son (Steven). With this, he runs to his daughter (Lucy) and argues that Alice is just a young girl and that she needs to stop Alice from making a mistake. On the other hand, the grandfather is the one who has made the mistake with all the watching over her, he has overlooked that she is a young woman who has fallen in love. The dialog that shows his unease at her growing up and making new life changes is below: Lucy, he said urgently. Lucy . . . Well, what is it now? Shes in the garden with Steven. Now you just sit down and have your tea. He stumped his feet alternatively, thump, thump, on the hollow wooden floor and shouted: Shell marry him. Im telling you, shell be marrying him next! pg. 386 In addition, the age of Alice is brought up, which shows that Alice is in her adolescent years and is ready to take flight. This is found when the grandfather says: Shes eighteen. Eighteen!. A similar situation occurred in Dubliners: An Encounter is when the narrator (one of the boys) says the following: The adventures related in the literature of the Wild West were remote from my nature but, at least, they opened doors of escape. The summer holidays were near at hand when I made up my mind to break out of the weariness of school life for one day at least. It is known that the story took place in their childhood years going on to their adolescent years, because the quote shows that the boys are growing up since they did not charge the younger boys. This shows that they were also growing up. As quoted in the story: Mahony began to play the Indian as soon as we were out of public sight. He chased a crowd of ragged girls, brandishing his unloaded catapult and, when two ragged boys began, out of chivalry, to fling stones at us, he proposed that we should charge them. I objected that the boys were too small, and so we walked on, the ragged troop screaming after us Swaddlers! Swaddlers! thinking that we were Protestants because Mahony, who was dark-complexioned, wore the silver badge of a cricket club in his cap. Part of this that made this so effective was the imagery. Another similarity is the imagery, and through the literary techniques, the authors utilized. From beginning to end, there are many examples of imagery; nonetheless, not all will be mentioned. With Lessings story, one can read a description that she has used and easily visualize what she is talking about. In the introduction, she describes the dovecote and it is birds with the words: tall wire-netted shelf on stilts, young plump-bodied bird, cold coral claws. Later on, there is a description of Steven thought of by the grandfather, which quotes: red-handed, red-throated, violent-bodied youth. At the end of the story, she describes the sky and the land in the eyes of the grandfather with the words: cloud of shining birds, shrill cleaving of wings, dark ploughed land, darker belts of trees, bright folds of grass, and cloud of motes of dust. As for Joyces story, he gives detailed descriptions of imagery of the day of the adventure. One scene that has several descriptions of imagery used the words: long grass, mild sunny morning, frail canvas shoes, tramload of business people, tall trees, little light green leaves. Joyce also describes Dublins commerce area as: curls of woolly smoke, brown fishing fleet, big white sailing vessel. Effective Transition Sentence Linking Ideas: Main Points connected to thesis: Back up the text referencing to story What causes these similarities and/or differences? What effect (or cost) do they have on the subjects? On society? What do the similarities and/or differences show about your subjects? About society? Concluding, This should make it a very suitable story for young people preparing for exams: Alices situation will be one that you face now or will face soon. How do you feel about this prospect? Is it scary, or exciting or both? Leaving home and becoming independent are things which most people face sooner or later.

Flow Assurance Assignment Design Engineering Essay

Flow Assurance Assignment Design Engineering Essay INTRODUCTION This report describes about the design of subsea pipeline that transfers condensate from satellite platform to processing platform. Designing of subsea pipeline and compiling this report exclusive design programme called Pipesim from Schlumberger is used. This programme used for designing and analyses for oil and gas production. And also analysis flow line and surface facility performance to produce complete production system analysis. OBJECTIVES Avoid the formation of hydrate; Screen the pipeline for severe riser slugging to avoid its occurrence; Size a slug catcher; Optimise the insulation of the pipelines Carry out an corrosion and erosion analysis Provide engineering data PIPELINE EXPLANTION The pipeline begins from satellite platform. From that platform it goes down to 400 feet into sea bed. Then pipeline laid for 6.8 miles on the sea floor. Pipeline is connected to riser and taking upto platform surface.Here that will be connected to water seperator and multiphase pump. The water seperator has to be 90 % efficiency and about multiphase pump there has three choices of 50, 100, and 200 HP with efficiency of 80 %. After multiphase pump comes down with riser about 400 feet and connected to pipeline.This horizontal pipieline laid for 5 miles.End point of this pipeline connected to riser and taken upto platform. From that platfrom, pipeline travels over the sea to processing platform for 8 miles.Every technical datas are provided in appendix 2. Schematic sketch of pipeline is given below from Pipesim: Pipeline Design Selection of Internal Diameter of Pipeline In this project, we have choice of pipeline ID size 8, 10 and 12.Condensate should have to reach in processing platform terminal with minimum pressure of 1000 psia. By doing analysis with three unlike IDs only a combined pipe size of 10 and 12 achieved minimum pressure at processing platform. For 11,000 stb/d and 6000 stb/d, minimum arrival pressure is 1425 psia and 1,109 psia respectively got from graph. For multiphase pump decided to choose 50 HP. After selection of pump and pipeline size, these have to be checked in pressure temperature profile analysis for ensuring arrival pressure at processing platform above 1,000 psia ( Shown in appendix 1). Pipeline Insulation Minimum arrival temperature of condensate is 750F at processing platform. For attaining this value, the pipeline has to be insulted due to heat transfer loss. For finding out how much insulation have to use in pipeline done through by using pressure temperature analysis. For this insulation analysis is started with thickness of 0.25 and if its not satisfied, hence we have to increment 0.25 continuously. Thickness selection can be done through by clicking in pipeline and enter values in heat transfer tab. There we can enter pipe conductivity, ambient temperature and burial depth. After entering all these values we will get an insulation thickness of 6 and minimum arrival temperature as 81.50F. These arrival temperature satisfys both processing platform temperature and formation of hydrate ( Shown in appendix 1, figure 4). Formation of Hydrate Hydrates are formed at high pressure and low temperature with combination of water and gas. Usually hydrates are formed inside subsea pipelines like plug formation. This can create major issues in oil and gas industry and resultant will be damaging of pipelines as well as processing facility. To hinder hydrates, inhibitors are used in pipelines. Widely used inhibitor is methanol. Hydrate formation condition provided in notes as follows: Temperature Temperature 1500 psia After taking amount of insulation in account for getting an arrival temperature above 750F is satisfied from above results. And keeping temperature and pressure in limited figures can control formation of hydrates in pipeline. From graph values (Shown in appendix 1, figure 4) above conditions are satisfied: Liquid flow rate corresponding pressure and temperature 6,000 stb/d: 1425 psia 81.5 0F respectively. Liquid flow rate corresponding pressure and temperature 11,000 stb/d: 1109 psia 100 0F respectively. Screening for severe riser slugging Number of factors is caused due to slug formation in riser. Some of them are given below. 1. When Pipeline elevation is slightly downward before riser connection 2. If fluid flow pattern is segregated By using PI-SS number riser slugging can be determined. Riser slugging can be conformed when number is less than 1.Then slug catcher have to be designed by using pipesim. PI-SS number can be calculated through report from pipesim. By using this simulation software can be generate two reports. Out file can be obtained from report file and flow map. Then re-run model and from that out file obtained. Low PI-SS numbers are highlighted in out file. Riser slugging happens in flow line 1. This shows that slug catcher have to be design. Design of Slug Catcher The slug catcher size is determined based on following three criteria. They are The essential to hold the major slug in future Necessity for handling liquid comes out from pig Required for store the slug where production rate is increased to 6000 to 11000 stb/d Following values are calculated from design. The output file is shown in Appendix and biggest one in one thousand slug size is originated. In this report it is calculated to 2211.168 feet. From the value we have got slug volume 2892.93 ft3. For second value taken from the liquid cleaned in front of a pig can be checked. It is clear that the minimum flow gives larger volume about 1801.512 bbl or 10114.73 ft3. Now calculated is liquid delayed when flow is increased 6000 to 11000 stb/d. This is dissimilarity in total delay between the two flow rates. That means 3201.99 bbl 2459 bbl = 742.25 bbl = 4164.0225 ft3. Therefore the pigging volume is 10114.73 ft3 (Appendix 1, Figure: 6,7,8) . Corrosion and erosion analysis Corrosion and erosion are main concern in pipelines and this have to be kept very low. When erosion occurs, it reduces pipeline diameter. This has to be replaced before when it reaches to minimum value. Corrosion is occurred due to many reasons. This is major problem in oil and gas industry. The erosion analysis is done through following steps. Software analysis is done and the plot is got from erosion velocity ratio in Y axis and total distance from X axis. From graph flow is not exceeding value one which shows that there will be no erosion occurring in pipeline. ( Appendix 1, Figure : 2) Engineering Data Flowline 1 Flowline 2 Flowline3 Size of Pipeline ( Inches) 10 10 10 Insulation Thickness 6 6 6 Riser size: 10 inches Multiphase pump: 50 HP Slugging: Yes Size of Slug Catcher: 10114.73 ft3 Erosion or Corrosion: No Conclusion Pipesim is tool used for designing pipeline and for getting exact performance in system. In this project, for flowline 1 and flowline 2 are used 10 inch pipeline size. For flowline 3, pipeline size is 12 inch. After considering flowlines sizes we will achieve minimum arrival pressure and temperature at processing platform. Formation of hydrate was eliminated by proper insulation and multiphase pump power. Slugging is found in simulation for that reason we have provided slug catcher. Analyzing erosion and corrosion proved that there will be no erosion in pipeline. Generally project is successfully designed according to requirement. REFERENCE: Pipesim Help Class notes from Dr Shuisheng. He http://www.easycalculation.com/unit-conversion/volume-unit-converter.php http://www.slb.com/services/software/production_software/prod_analysis_diagnostics/pipesim.aspx E.D.Sloan, Clathrate Hydrates of Natural Gas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrate APPENDIX 1 Figure 1: Pressure Temperature Figure 2 : Erosional velocity ratio- Total distance Figure3 : Pressure Vs Total distance Figure 4 : Temperature Vs Total distance Figure 5 : Pressure Vs Total distance ( without flow rate) Figure 6 : PI-SS Number Figure 7: Largest 1/1000 slug length Figure 8: Liquid by sphere number

The Elderly and Malnutrition Essay -- Health Nutrition Pyramid Diet

The Elderly and Malnutrition      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At any age, nutrition is vital to maintaining health and enhancing quality of life.   However, achieving good nutrition can be especially difficult for the elderly, the fastest growing portion of America's population.   Many factors, including physiological changes, changes in nutritional needs, illness and physical limitations, food-medication interactions, depression and loneliness, and food insecurity are common causes of malnutrition in the elderly.   This paper will explore factors affecting elderly nutrition, provide suggestions for obtaining and maintaining good nutrition after age 65, and describe the services available to help the elderly meet their nutritional needs.  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A number of factors influence the nutritional status of the elderly.   First, several physiological changes impact elderly nutritional requirements.   Changes in taste and smell may decrease an individual's appetite or desire for food.   Gastro-intestinal motility decreases with age and may lead to constipation, decreased nutrient absorption, and a decrease in fat and protein absorption.   Metabolism also slows with age; this results in a decrease of lean body mass and an increase in body fat (8).   Lastly, bone mass decreases, leaving the elderly vulnerable to bone fractures from falls and osteoporosis.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ultimately, these physiological changes result in different nutritional needs for the elderly.   The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences issues the Recommended Daily Allowances for healthy people over the age of 51.   However, these RDAs are limited in that they have been derived from studies of younger, healthy populations and do not account ... ...;. 5) Good Nutrition is Ageless. Egg Nutrition Center. 22 Jan. 2002 <http://www.enc-online.org/elderly.htm>. 6) Good Nutrition for Seniors Caregiver Fact Sheet. 9 Aug. 2001. National Network for Health. 22 Jan. 2002 <http://www.nnh.org/products/gnfs.htm>. 7) Home page. Meals on Wheels Association of America. 22 Jan. 2000.   <http://www.projectmeal.org/mowaa.html>. 8) "Nutrition Index."   Gerontology and Geriatric Dentistry n.d.: n. pag. Columbia University Dental Education Software. N.d. 9) A Profile on Older Americans: 2001. 10 Jan. 2002. Administration on Aging. 22 Jan. 2002 <http://www.aoa.gov/default.htm>. 10) The Warning Signs. New York State Office for the Aging. 22 Jan. 2002 <http://agingwell.state.ny.us/eatwell/warning.htm>. 11) Wieand, Jane. Telephone Interview. 22 Jan. 2002.      

sleeping at the wheel :: essays research papers

Sleeping At the Wheel The dangers of sleepiness when driving. Sleepiness affects the ability to concentrate and maintain attention and vigilance particularly when physically inactive. These effects may expose the sleepy individual to potentially dangerous consequences, particularly in sedentary and monotonous situations such as while driving a vehicle. Sleepiness is a major contributing factor to road traffic accidents. Studies of motorway accidents indicate that 20 to 25% appear to be due to drivers falling asleep at the wheel and are these are particularly likely to occur in the early morning or mid afternoon. Accidents in which the driver has fallen asleep tend to be particularly serious because of the lack of reaction of the driver to the impending collision. Furthermore, sleepy drivers report a high incidence of near-misses on the road while driving, which suggests that they have an awareness of the driving risks related to sleepiness short of being involved in an actual collision. A Gallup poll carried out by the British Sleep Foundation found that 19% of male drivers admitted to having fallen asleep while driving . Occupations such as long-haul truck driving are particularly associated with sleepiness while driving which may not be surprising given the time they spend on the road. These findings are particularly worrying because of the likelihood of a fatal accident where a large truck driven by a driver who falls asleep is involved. Many spectacular multiple vehicle collisions that have occurred on motorways have been traced to drivers falling asleep at the wheel. US government figures indicate that 31% of lorry accidents in which the driver is killed are due to sleepiness. Avoiding sleeping at the wheel. All drivers should be made aware of the serious dangers of driving when sleepy and should take active measures to minimise the risks. Drivers should not start out at all if they are sleepy. Overnight drives are a particular danger and every effort should be made to have a sleep before setting out. If a driver becomes sleepy at the wheel they should stop and ideally another driver should take over. If this is impossible they should rest and take a nap. Research has shown that a short (10 - 20 minutes) nap can be refreshing in this situation. Indeed if one has to drive on, the best measure may be to stop, have a cup of a caffeine containing drink and then a 20 minute nap.

Unique Design of the Vietnam War Memorial Essay -- American America Hi

Unique Design of the Vietnam War Memorial At the age of twenty one, a female undergraduate at Yale University named Maya Lin submitted her design for the Vietnam Memorial. Her idea for the memorial was extremely unique and controversial. After long discussions by a panel, it was chosen for construction. The design that she submitted was one that was very different in comparison to other memorials, and it was one that has a tendency to leave a lot of questions on the minds of the visitors. On the face of the memorial there is a list of all those who died or are missing in the order by which they were lost. It could seem to some one who did not understand the incident that the monument honors only those lost, but that is incorrect. Maya Lin ¹s design formed into the most unique memorial structure of its kind, which honors all who served in the Vietnam War (Colliers 23: 137). The official name given to the monument was the Vietnam Veterans memorial. In this name alone it is clear that it was not erected for the sole purpose of honoring only those who were lost in the conflict. The term KIA was the abbreviation used for those people who were killed in action, and these people represent 47,000 of the 58,000 names on the wall. The other 11,000 were soldiers who died from crashes, snake bites, illnesses, and other non-combat related deaths (Olson 227). There is no distinction made between the two groups on the monument. The structure is a v-shaped polished granite slab that unlike other monuments has no message of honor or patriotism. All of those subjects are left to the thoughts of the beholder. People often find therapy in locating the name of a companion or a loved one. The Vietnam Veterans Memori... ... NAMES OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES AND OF THOSE WHO REMAIN MISSING ARE INSCRIBED IN THE ORDER THEY WERE TAKEN FROM US ². The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is also unique in the sense that is honors all who fought, as most monuments honor only those who died. From this one could imply that the veterans were not sufficiently honored by the people of America. (Colliers 139-140) It is clear that the erection of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was a wonderful addition to the Washington Mall of monuments. There is some disagreement as to the exact meaning of the monument, but that is because in was designed for that very purpose. Maya Lin was quoted to say that she wanted a  ³quiet place, meant for personal reflection and private reckoning ² (Colliers 139) That was exactly what she gave to the country in her unique interpretation of what the monument should be.

Ded Na Si Lolo Essay

â€Å"Ded Na Si Lolo† is an independent film highlighting the different superstitious beliefs of Filipinos. The movie limits itself only to Filipino superstitions when a family member passed away. Some of these superstitions are: wearing a red colored attire when you are going to a wake is prohibited; rosary should be cut so that a family member will not be the next one to pass away; it is bad luck to take a bath at the house where the dead lies; it is bad luck to clean the house; it is forbidden to accompany guests leaving the wake; and putting a chick on top of the casket means that the dead was murdered. It is funny how we, Filipinos, keep on following them although we do not even know where all of these superstitions came from. Maybe this is because we do not lose anything every time we do these stuffs. In the movie, I see myself in the character played by Roderick Paulate which is Junee. I am the kind of person who does not usually believe in superstitions and sometimes finds them hilarious, but, just like Junee, I cannot resist following these superstitions because of the people around me. It is true that these beliefs have become part of our culture and I think there is nothing wrong with that as long as these beliefs do not cause us harm and chaos. As we follow every superstition, we should bear in mind that it is still in our hands whether we will succeed or not. Barely believing and practicing different superstitions for good luck will never be enough. Dedication and perseverance are still the keys for success and also the aid of Almighty God. With regards to the movie itself, I was completely entertained. Every actor and actress in the movie did very well. They were able to play the roles assigned to them excellently.

Life Worth Living Essay

Mysterious is what life seems to be and time seems too short for us to enjoy it. Most of us are often told to live life to the fullest but we were never told how to do so. As we grow, we continue to search on how we will make our life worth living. We tend to be adventurous to try to know the world and what we can do to say that our life is worth living. People have different perspectives on how is life worth living. For me, there are many things that make my life worth living. Life offers many challenges but through the love that I receive from my family and friends I become strong enough to face them. Love that I can receive as I live is what makes my life worth living. The opportunity to receive and share it to others really makes my life worth living. Happy moments that I spend with my loved ones also make my life worth living. They help me create good memories as I continuously live. Another one is the chance to improve myself as an individual and to have a purpose on other’s life. As I explore my potentialities, it’s worth living to have an impact on other’s life. It’s like knowing that if I leave this world, I’ll be remember by those people which I have left an impact. And life is worth living because it lets us experience failures and attain success. Failures strengthen us to face the struggles and obstacles that we will encounter while success makes room for more improvement to be an individual worthy to be called as successful. Life that I have now is worth living. I was given the chance to experience many things. I was also given the time to be with people who completes me as an individual. Enjoying life to the fullest along with my loved ones makes my life worth living. To be able to live with people who I have a purpose and to experience being loved by them makes my life worth living. Life full of mysteries is worth living although time is too short too to enjoy it, as long as long as our family and friends are there to add colors to our life and to take part in our ups and down.

Case Preview and Questions for Anagene, Inc. Essay

A start-up company struggles to understand its operating margins. How much of the large monthly fluctuations in margins is real and how much is caused by its costing system? Skim the section on The Genomics Analysis Market on pages 1-3 of the case but pay attention to the information on competitive position. Case Questions: 1. Work the Youngstown Products numerical example on the following page. (This should take only a few minutes and is basically a short refresher on a phenomenon we saw in the Bridgeton case.) Answer is inline in Youngstown case question. 2. The cartridge margins shown in Tables A and B vary from 17% to 65%. What elements of cost account for the difference between the 2000 Actual and 2001 Budget margins in Table A? What elements of cost account for the difference between the margins in the original 2001 Budget in Table A versus the revised 2001 Budget in Table B? For each element, why do you think costs changed between 2000 and 2001 between the original and revised budgets in 2001? What would you predict for each cost in the long-run? The elements account for the difference between 2000 Actual and 2001 Budget are the estimated material and scrap cost, overhead cost based on cartridge production volume. Revised material and scrap cost, overhead cost account for the difference between original and revised 2001 Budget in Table B. The estimated and actual production volume affects each element of cost. Larger volume means lower per unit cost. In long-run, the cost should approach to a steady level. 3.Kelly, Puleski, and Yeltin meet to discuss concerns about both â€Å"long-term profitability of the business† and â€Å"short-term profitability.† Discuss how well the current standard cost systems helps the board and analysts distinguish and understand these two issues. The current system doesn’t do well at estimating the cost. The estimated material and scrap cost, overhead cost depends on estimated production volume rather than capacity. The system can explain short term profitability but has difficulty to explain long term profitability. 4. Suppose sales in 2001 equal 26,000 units, as budgeted in January, and that actual manufacturing expenses turn out to equal budgeted expenses. What should Daniel Yeltin do to â€Å"devise a better way to calculate product costs and gross margins for management decision-making purposes†? (Hint 1: What are the decisions facing management and the board? Hint 2: Consider the suggestion in Activity-Based Costing and Capacity to allocate costs based on capacity, rather than based on production. What is current cartridge manufacturing capacity according to the information in Exhibit 8? What are the costs of providing that capacity according to Exhibit 7? What should Daniel Yeltin do with the cost of unused cartridge manufacturing capacity?) Basically calculating the cost based on production capacity rather than production volume. The current manufacturing capacity is 65000, while the cost of such capacity is $1,299,581. The unused cartridge manufacturing capacity should be written off as an expense. 5.Anagene expects demand for 95,000 cartridges in 2002. What changes can Anagene make to increase capacity to meet higher demand? (See information in the comments column of Exhibit 8 about additional capacity that can be added to the various manufacturing steps.) Assume employees added to increase capacity at any of the various steps cost $100,000 per employee, and assume these costs are treated as part of the overhead cost pool because they are costs of increasing capacity. Under these assumptions, how will the cost of adding capacity affect the overhead component of cartridge manufacturing costs? Youngstown Products, a supplier to the automotive industry, had seen its operating margins shrink below 20% as its OEM customers put continued pressure on pricing. Youngstown produced four products in its plant and  decided to eliminate products that no longer contributed positive margins. Details on the four products are provided below: ProductABCDTotal Production Volume (units)10,0008,000 6,000 4,000 Selling Price$15.0018.00 20.00 22.00 Materials/unit$ 4.00$ 5.00 $ 6.00 $ 7.00 DLH/unit0.240.18 0.12 0.08 Total DLH2,4001,440 720 3204,880 Plant Overhead $122,000 DL rate/hour$30 Youngstown has a traditional cost system. It calculates a plant-wide overhead rate by dividing total overhead costs by total direct labor hours. Assume, for the calculations below, that plant overhead is a committed (fixed) cost during the year, but that direct labor is a variable cost. 1. Calculate the plant-wide overhead rate. Use this rate to assign overhead costs to products and calculate the profitability of the four products. Product 2. If any product is unprofitable with this cost assignment, drop this product from the mix. Recalculate the overhead rate based on the new total direct labor hours remaining in the plant. Apply the new overhead rate to the remaining products. A is not profitable, after dropping out A, the new overhead rate will be 122000/(4880-2400) = 49.19 Product 4. What is happening at Youngstown and why? The total plant overhead is fixed, and when a product line is dropped, each product line has higher overhead allocated, and eventually Youngstown becomes unprofitable. 5. What does the situation at Youngstown (a low-tech manufacturing firm making decisions to shrink sales over time) have to do with the situation at Anagene (a high-tech firm making decisions to grow sales over time)? Anagene is facing a similar situation. If Anagene continues to use budgeted manufacturing volume when determine the cost,  Anagene might have a risk to run into the death spiral as Youngstown (dropping unprofitable product until nothing is profitable).

Essay About the Giver ‘Sameness’

â€Å"SAMENESS† IN THE GIVER What would it feel like living in a world which everyone is same and the life is monotone? In â€Å"The Giver†,written by Lois Lowry,there’s a community based on perfection and the citizens who have strict and ethic rules to prevent their community from becoming unethical and unequal. Lowry conveyed her ideas both with in advantages and disadvantages,and the diversity which citizens in the community have lost. To begin with,the main advantage which citizens have is the relief of not making any choices about their future. In Lowry’s community, future jobs for all who became 12,have already chosen by elders,and anounced in the Ceremony of Twelve. Eventhough children who are unsuccesfull in their school has their jobs guaranteed. Because of the guaranteed future,the citizens never have economical issues,so the community don’t have a value called â€Å"money†. Similarly to The Ceremony of Twelve,the citizens who are 9 years old also have a special ceremony,which every children receive a bike. Lowry emphasized that if no one is equal and have same properties,there could be war or argument which is obviously against â€Å"perfection. . On the other hand,†sameness† also has some disadvantages in the community which is â€Å"Perfect†. There are so many unknown values. Every citizen in the community is same-looking,and have a routine life just because they don’t know what a difference is. There is no color to seperate their looks from each other,and no feelings to be aware of badness of the routine life they’re living. In the novel,all the citizens must take pills to prevent their stirrings,but actually no one does know what a â€Å"stirring† is,and eventhough no one questions about it because there are no feelings. Samelike to those,the citizens never have random activities or do things which delays their daily routine. Everyone living in this community has a daily routine and never change the routine and that’s one of the strongest examples for sameness in the community. Likewise,In the community,every family unit must have two children according to the rules and one of them must be male when the other is female. The citizens aren’t aware of how inappropriate rule it is because they never judge and question just as because of the sameness in the community. Accordingly to the community in The Giver, citizens have lost their diversity which prevents being same. Riding the same bikes,wearing the same clothes,and speaking the same language,even the same words, can’t be acceptable for our world. In this community,no one has a private life,no one has a right to lie,and even all the doors are unlocked except The Giver’s door. In the beginning of the novel,the reader influences about the perfection of the community,but throughout the story,Lowry shows that the community which is based on Perfection is not perfect at all. Actually,it’s a community which is based on strict rules just to prevent people from feelings,colors,and all the values which a human must have tasted at least once during their life times. Diversity is a very important value for humans,and a community can’t be perfect without it. In â€Å"The Giver†, written by Lois Lowry, one of the major theme’s is â€Å"sameness†, which effects very deeply the life of citizens in the community based on perfection. Sameness in somewhere just as this community, can either cause disadvantages or advantages at the same time, also including the loss of diversity. Lal Saracoglu 9F

Argument Supporting Gay Marriage Essay -- Homosexual Gay Lesbian Right

Lindsey and Beth, a lesbian couple, have been living together for eleven years. Lindsey conceived two children from a sperm donor. Together, Lindsey and Beth turned their house into a loving home for their two children. One day, on the way home from the grocery store, Lindsey was killed in a tragic car accident. Before Beth could even grasp the situation, the children that she helped raise from birth had been taken away and placed into the care of Lindsey's parents, who never were a part of their lives because they did not accept Lindsey's homosexuality. In addition, the house that Beth and Lindsey lived in for eleven years was taken away from Beth. How did this happen to Beth? Well, if Lindsey and Beth could have been legally married like all heterosexual couples, Beth would have had custody of the children and would have kept the house. They would have received 1,049 protections, benefits and responsibilities that are extended to married couples under federal law (HRC). Lindsey and Beth are one example of same sex couples that live in 99.3 percent of all counties in the United States (HRC). It is estimated that 10 percent or 25 million people in the United States are homosexuals, and by law they do not have the rights that married heterosexuals enjoy. American voters have the power to change the law and prevent the sad story that Beth had to live, by voting "yes" on referendums in support of gay marriage, and "no" on bans of gay marriage. The opening scenario of Lindsey and Beth is a dilemma that is becoming more of a real situation each day. The fact is that people are forming unions regardless of the law. In all fairness, the people involved in these relationships should have the same legal rights as all other American discriminating against gay marriage. But by voting "yes" on referendums in support of gay marriage, and "no" on bans of gay marriage, our society can become one step closer to creating a more fair and just society that supports diversity and accepts people with a different life-style. Works Cited Human Rights Campaign (HRC). 26 Nov 2006. . Moats, David. Civil Wars a Battle for Gay Marriage. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2004. Rauch, Jonathan. Gay Marriage. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2004. Robertson, Donald L. Dr. "Homosexuality and Genetics." 26 Nov 2006. . "U.S. Census Figures Continue To Show National Trend." Human Rights Campaign. 27 June 2006. 26 Nov 2006. eleases/20011/U_S_Census_Figures_Continue_To_Show_National_Trend.htm.

Philosophy of Utilitarianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Philosophy of Utilitarianism - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that utilitarianism requires that the good outcome should be more than the bad. We don’t know whether his liver will surely be useful to the recipient, clearly whoever receives it can still die because of the complication of the surgery. In such situation, there is a loss of two lives and it will not be utilitarianism. The last thing is that the family is likely to suffer more if they lose such a healthy father over a risky surgery as opposed to a stranger who may get the liver and go unnoticed. A gift of health and life are among the basic needs that every human requires. Risking ones’ life never produce a good feeling. The fear in his family says it all, it will not be considered utilitarianism because family suffering is much greater even if he comes out of theater alive. There are many ways to do good without risking life. He cannot donate every part of his body because of doing good.

Splash Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Splash Corporation - Case Study Example Therefore, the Splash personnel needs to develop the product in such a way that attracts the customers of different cultures. By involving the partners in terms of examining the culture, treating the partners as family members and adopting strategic leadership and management style, the Splash has improved in the business. Developing new technology has created an impact on the business. Splash has set up the Splash Research Institute to constantly expand new products that would persuade the fast rising requirements of the customer care market by utilizing cutting-edge technology. Another change was on the development of a management team who has an immense knowledge of the preferences and needs of the customers of the Asian countries. The business believes that by creating a change in the values and difference in the customers, the business can withstand with the international competitors. The tastes of consumers differ from country to country. With the help of an effective marketing strategy they can satisfy the consumers of different countries. Strengthening the Indonesian markets will help the company to compete in the international market. The creation of an international identity will help the firm to build strong relationship with the foreign customers. The firm needs to use an effective branding strategy. Effective use of branding and distribution strategy will help the firm to find a place in the Indonesian market. A new branding strategy will help to adopt a new market segment. The business can concentrate on the men consumers and develop products for men. Strategies of the Splash products are reflected on its advertisement and products strategies. Multinational competitors of the Splash normally carried their products and had attained more mature phase of the product life cycle. So such ads were targeted to appeal to poignant aspect of their particular products.   Their ads featured good-looking and glamorous ladies, whom the men

Leadership Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Leadership Philosophy - Essay Example When a leader has lost the confidence of the team, that leader must resort to the least effective ways of getting things done. Leaders that do not have the confidence of the team must cajole and discipline unwilling employees to accomplish the stated goals of the organization. This creates a toxic relationship on the team. However, if a leader is wise enough to interact with everyone in an atmosphere charged by integrity then trust is built. Trust is one of the most liberating sensations one can experience in the workplace or in our personal lives. I believe that establishing this relationship of trust is essential because my belief is that good leaders lead best by modeling correct actions and allowing their subordinates the freedom choose to follow the effective practices modeled. One of these skills an effective leader can model the strong critical thinking skills. The effective leader must be able to cast aside assumptions about established procedures so improvements can be discovered through the use of a critical eye. Good leaders are not bound by tradition. They do follow established protocols, but are able to look beyond the immediate needs of the team or organization by firmly establishing in their minds what is most important and of greatest priority at any given time. Modeling critical thinking for a leader is essential, because this is the type of skill I expect and employee to possess and to be able to deploy on an independent basis. The good thing about critical thinking skills is they can be acquired. By being in contact often with other members of the team, a good leader can use conversations to help employees evaluate their actions in a given situation that perhaps didn’t work out well due to a lack of critical thinking. These teachable moments are important if a leader is to build leadership capacity in other members of the team. Critical thinking builds on the basis of trust

Eron Brougton Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Eron Brougton - Essay Example Judge Black ruled against the plaintiff, sustaining that the defendants had no duty of care in that particular case as the plaintiff was on private property, whose owner or representative (in this case the security guard) was entitled to order him to leave. Then the plaintiff proceeded in filing an appeal in the first instance with the New South Wales Court of Appeal, which was also unsuccessful. Honourable Justices Brownie, Hodgson, and Handley unanimously decided in favour of the respondents, sustaining the reasons behind Judge Black's judgment and also making the distinction between "duty of care" and "Good Samaritan" cases. Duty of care entails "one person [having] the care of another, such as husbands and wives, parents and persons in loco parentus who have the care and custody of infant children, hospitals and patients, prison authorities and prisoners and so on" (Broughton v Competitive Foods Australia Pty Ltd & Ors2). ... from being considered a neighbour, was deemed to be a potential trespasser, and the security guard's duty of care was owed to his employer and the customers inside the premises he was hired to guard. Points in Favour of the Respondents in Case of a Second-Instance Appeal to the HCA Should Mr. Broughton be given leave to file a second appeal, this time to the High Court of Australia, he would very likely lose again. The High Court would rule in favour of the respondents and dismiss the appeal due to the following legal principles and reasons: 1) Australia's common law does not generally allow superior courts to act without regard to binding precedent, with the exception of the High Court of Australia. Even so, in the HCA the trend has also historically been to consider ratio decidendi based on the principle of stare decisis, despite the fact that it is not necessarily bound by its previous decisions. Therefore, it follows that the High Court of Australia would be likely to rule on Mr. Broughton's appeal based on careful consideration of what has motivated its decisions in the past on similar cases. Granted, there are few similar cases within the realm of the High Court, or even within Australia itself, but one that could be considered comparable is the strange case of Dianne Maree Hackshaw v. George Shaw4. It, too, involves the matter of injuries and of trespassing, albeit in a more outright manner. Shaw was working on a farm that had a gasoline dispenser on the property. He started to notice that the levels of gasoline were dropping and suspected that someone was stealing it. He took several precautions to keep it from getting stolen again, but nothing worked. After calling the police on several occasions and finally being told that he needed to provide

Gay Marriage and its Legalities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gay Marriage and its Legalities - Essay Example For proponents of the human rights issue, the matter would appear to be rather open and shut in terms of challenging constitutionality and this issue impacts decision-making at the social level, even if this practice is discouraged in the rule of law. This division seems to maintain the gay marriage and its constitutionality while this divisional approach exists. â€Å"Consistent with the rule of law, however, the Department of Justice has long followed the practice of defending federal statutes as long as reasonable arguments can be made in support of their constitutionality, even if the Department disagrees with a particular statute as a policy matter, as it does here." (lawlib.state.ma.us, 2). In defense of those who uphold the constitution as a foundation on which to mold new social policy, leadership recognizes that policy on gay marriage stands and will remain defended providing there are no significant grounds on which to proclaim the act unconstitutional. Federal support for the program without claims of unconstitutionality put this issue much into state-level hands, with federal level support in the objective if the goal is to uphold this civil rights matter. The mid-tier court system that governs and shapes these policies is currently made up of very conservative judges and a blend of more liberal decision-makers (Chemerinsky, 3). Division at this level and lack of solid ground on which to claim opportunity for repealing federal policy halts the progress of ensuring adequate legal protection for gay marriage. Under this system, challenges to decisions made at the district level are put forward to the Supreme Court in the pursuit of discretionary review. In general, gay marriage will likely be decided at the highest levels of judicial scrutiny providing that a resolution (either for or against) is determined at the inferior levels of justice. States that allow gay marriage include California, though its momentum is continuously challenged.  

A comparative analysis of French and other local languages in Conde's Essay

A comparative analysis of French and other local languages in Conde's Traversee de la Mangrove and Chamoiseau's Chronique des sept miseres - Essay Example Condà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Traversà ©e de la Mangrove and Chamoiseau’s Chronique des sept misà ¨res will be closely analysed in this essay in order to provide a comparative analysis of the use of French and other local languages in both novels. Firstly, the narrative technique of both novels will be analysed in order to determine how the French language is presented and the message that each author wishes to portray to the reader as a result. The presentation of local languages will also be considered so that insight can be gained into how each author wishes to represent their place of birth and its culture through linguistic technique. Finally, the use of myth and fantasy will be examined so that a clear form of usage can be defined, in order to decipher its function within the portrayal of the French language. By representing a collection of different opinions, all of which question each other’s motives, Condà © provides a way of presenting collective accounts as a means of several possibilities and ways to write a novel. This free and somewhat disorderly structure may suggest that Condà © wishes to counteract typical order and demands. An argument for this case can be put forward as Condà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s female characters speak in the first person. In Mira’s first account, the first person is employed from the beginning as she explains to the reader about times during her childhood when she spent time at the river. She informs the reader that, The use of the first person is important, out of all the men represented in the novel, it is only Loulou’s son, Joby who is  «Ã‚  un garà §onnet pà ¢lot  Ã‚ »2, a description, which is rather emasculating and Xantippe who Condà © permits to speak in the first person. It is interesting to note on this point that during the classical period of ancient Greece, Xantippe was in fact a woman and wife to Socrates, a

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, Essay - 6

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, and a short paragraph Evaluation of the text below - Essay Example w implementation in the American society by exposing the flaws in the present justice system, which is crucial for ensuring equality in law application in the future. Goodman and Gonzà ¡lez present a scenario in which the police in Ferguson, Missouri apply the law discriminatively. Critically dissecting the text, racial discrimination is perpetuated using the very justice system that is expected to protect all citizens of the United States. There is overt discrimination in the manner in which the police handle individuals of different racial backgrounds, with the blacks facing the wrath of the law. It is my belief that a just legal system should ensure that laws are applied equal to all people irrespective of their races or ethnicity. Assessing the presentation, several questions emerge. Are African Americans inherently inclined to crime? Is the police department practicing racism under the cover of law implementation? Nonetheless, the voices in the in the presentation offers a cred ible argument by citing the U.S. Justice Department confirmation discrimination in the police and city courts in Ferguson, Missour. The presentation is inspiring as it hints at a possibility of improving the law to ensure a better society devoid of racial discrimination in future. Goodman , Amy and Juan Gonzà ¡lez. Michelle Alexander: Ferguson Shows Why Criminal Justice System of "Racial Control" Should Be Undone. A daily independent global news hour, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. Accessed March 12, 2015.

Social Media Is Retarding Our Communication Skills Essay Example for Free

Social Media Is Retarding Our Communication Skills Essay Social Media is Retarding our Communication Skills According to Cara Pring, writer and author of thesocialskinny. com, as of May, 2012, 62% of adults use some form of social media. If you observe any post secondary classroom before instruction begins, you’ll see the majority of students engrossed in some type of social media. We have become more comfortable engaging in the digital world than we are with the people right in front of us. Social media has allowed us to become more connected yet, potentially, more disconnected than ever before. Social media is creating a generation of â€Å"over-sharers†. This need to over share can also create a dangerous environment. We have become very comfortable telling the world things, which in years past, would have been considered private information. Facebook allows you to check in at a destination or share vacation photos in real time. While this need to over share can seem harmless, we are unwittingly telling sinister people that we are not home or maybe that we are home alone. We are slowly losing our ability to determine what information to keep private and what information to share. Social media is creating a false sense of connection and an atmosphere of friendship. According to Cara Pring, in 2012 Facebook had 845 million monthly active users and there was an average of 750 tweets made per second. We are doing a lot of communicating but are we really saying anything of value. The more â€Å"friends or followers† a person has the more popular they may feel. Unfortunately popularity does not equate to friendship. Social media only requires us to have surface relationships and does not require meaningful conversation. True friendship requires investing in a relationship through quality time with open and honest face-to-face communication. As a society we have come to value frequent communication rather than meaningful conversation. In an article written by Susan per Danko for Forbes magazine, about 7% of communication is based strictly on words while the other 93% is based on nonverbal communication, also known as body language. The words â€Å"I’m fine† may not always mean that everything is okay. Having the ability to hear and observe non-verbal cues allows you to understand more clearly the meaning behind the words. An email, text message or tweet can never really replace a telephone or face-to-face conversation that allows you to receive these nonverbal cues. Taking the time to build relationships through meaningful conversation will create friendships for lifetime instead of just acquaintances for today. Social media has created a generation with an addiction to over sharing, a need for popularity and a desire for constant communication. This ability to interact with other people 24/7 has driven us to simply share information rather than requiring us to develop relationships. We have moved away from social gatherings with face-to-face conversations in lieu of chat rooms and instant messaging. I do not look forward to the day when we will never have to physically interact with another human being.

Fire Prevention and the Federal Government Essay Example for Free

Fire Prevention and the Federal Government Essay Many government agencies make fire prevention as part of their mission. America has the highest fire death rate is the highest in the world. Fires kill 3,700 and injure over 20,000 people each year. Property loss is about $11 billion per year. The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has helped to reduce fire deaths by half. They have contributed to fire prevention and suppression more than any other government agency. In 1974, Congress established the United States Fire Administration . Their mission is to provide national leadership to local fire and emergency services. It is a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA became part of the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003. Their mission is to â€Å"reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters† (â€Å"About USFA†, n. d. ). The Department of Homeland Security was formed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Their primary mission is to protect the country from terrorism. Since the USFA was created for the sole purpose of the prevention, preparedness, and response to fires and other emergencies, it has contributed the most to the cause. â€Å"America’s fire death rate is one of the highest per capita in the industrialized world† (â€Å"About USFA†, n. d. ). Thus, it is still an improvement since more than twenty years ago. In 1971, 12,000 people and 250 firefighters died as a result of fires. USFA continues to make our communities and society safer today. Reference U. S. Fire Administration. About the U. S. Fire Administration. Retrieved August 3, 2008 from http://www. usfa. dhs. gov.

Working Capital Versus Capital Expenditure Management Finance Essay

Working Capital Versus Capital Expenditure Management Finance Essay The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of firms capital expenditure on their working capital management. Net Liquidity Balance and Working Capital Requirement for determination of working capital requirement and developed multiple regression models. The empirical research found that organisations capital expenditure has a significant impact on working capital management. The study also found that the firms operating cash flow, which was recognized as a control variable, has a significant relationship with working capital management. Capital forecasting in a downturn environment where change is rapid. Incorporating dynamic forecasting to measure the impact of key uncertainties and risks on the portfolio of projects is crucial. The findings increase the knowledge base of working capital management and will help companies manage working capital efficiently in growing conditions associated with capital expenditure. 1.1 Working capital for accountants, investors and managers is the short-term health of a company. Working capital equals current assets minus current liabilities. Current accounts are accounts that the company collects or are due in the next year. Making a capital expenditure will have several effects on the companys working capital, depending on the transaction. However, in certain cases, there may be no impact; it is important to understand why. Corporate finance basically deals with three decisions: A) capital structure decisions, B) capital budgeting decisions, and C) working capital management decisions. Working capital management is a very important component of corporate finance since it affects the profitability and liquidity of a company. It deals with current assets and current liabilities. The decision-making process on the level of different working capital components has become frequent, repetitive, and time-consuming. Working capital management is recognized as an important concern of the financial manager due to many reasons. For one thing, a typical manufacturing firms current assets account for over half of its total assets. For a distribution company, they account for even more. The maintenance of excessive levels of current assets can easily result in a substandard return on a firms investment. However, firms with inadequate levels of current assets may incur shortages and have difficulties in smoothly maintaining day-to-day operations. Efficient working capital management involves planning and controlling current assets and current liabilities in a manner that eliminates the risk of inability to meet due short term obligations on one hand and avoids excessive investment in these assets on the other hand. Capital forecasting in a downturn environment where change is rapid. Incorporating dynamic forecasting to measure the impact of key uncertainties and risks on the portfolio of projects is crucial. Analyzing and quantifying the impact of risks and delays at project and portfolio level. Governance and control over capital expenditures, Portfolio prioritization. Determining the optimal decision making level for capital allocation decision (corporate level vs business unit level vs hybrid model). 1.2 Working Capital Estimates The analysis includes estimates of all investments required for a project. The project may require increases (or decreases) in cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, or inventory. 2.1 Capital expenditure Whenever we make an expenditure that generates a cash flow benefit for more than one year, this is a capital expenditure. Examples include the purchase of new equipment, expansion of production facilities, buying another company, acquiring new technologies, launching a research development program, etc., etc., etc. Capital expenditures often involve large cash outlays with major implications on the future values of the company. Additionally, once we commit to making a capital expenditure it is sometimes difficult to back-out. It has been found that managers spend a considerable time on day-today working of capital decisions since current assets are short-lived investments that are continually being converted into other asset types (Rao, 1989). In the case of current liabilities, the firm is responsible for paying obligations mentioned under current liabilities on a timely basis. Liquidity for the on-going firm is reliant, rather, on the operating cash flows generated by the firms assets. Corporations are looking for new ways to stimulate growth, improve financial performance, and reduce risk in todays challenging economic climate. Funds tied up in working capital can be seen as hidden reserves that can be used to fund growth strategies, such as capital expansion. Cash flows locked in stock and receivables can be freed up by understanding the determinants of working capital. Many organizations that have earned profits over the years have shown the efficient management of working capital (WCM). Broadly, industry characteristics, firm-specific characteristics, and the financial environment are recognized as determining factors of both capital expenditure and working capital. In addition to the growth, leverage, and the size of a company, type, and size of expenditures, such as finance and operating and capital expenditures, have different impacts on capital expenditure and working capital. 2.2 Portfolio Approach in Capital Budgeting Portfolio approach to achieve capital efficiency and organisational alignment can yield immediate positive cash-flow results for companies. Typically companies view capital expenditures through a cost and benefits filter that focuses largely on ROI and IRR type measures. Whilst these measures are relevant, companies that do so often do not necessarily link these to the strategy of the company. They also do not prioritise capital expenditures in terms of their effect on strategy and shareholder value. We believe that by using a portfolio approach companies could: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Increase returns on invested capital by understanding which projects contribute most to shareholder value and lie on the project efficiency frontier à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Have a holistic portfolio view of the return of the capital of the entire company à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Improve the strategic and organizational alignment of projects à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Make informed decisions on where to invest scarce cash resources. 2.3 Capital Budgeting Decisions: Stage 1: Decision Analysis Decision-making is increasingly more complex today because of uncertainty. Additionally, most capital projects will involve numerous variables and possible outcomes. For example, estimating cash flows associated with a project involves working capital requirements, project risk, tax considerations, expected rates of inflation, and disposal values. We have to understand existing markets to forecast project revenues, assess competitive impacts of the project, and determine the life cycle of the project. If our capital project involves production, we have to understand operating costs, additional overheads, capacity utilization, and start-up costs. Consequently, we can not manage capital projects by simply looking at the numbers; i.e. discounted cash flows. We must look at the entire decision and assess all relevant variables and outcomes within an analytical hierarchy. This analytical hierarchy is known as the Multiple Attribute Decision Model (MADM). Multiple attributes are involved in capital projects and each determinant in the decision needs to be weighed differently and their relationship with each other determined. Several techniques are available to arrive at a financial decision regarding a capital expenditure project. These include: the net present value method. This method discounts all cash flows to the present using a predetermined minimum acceptable rate of return as the discount rate. If the net present value is positive, the financial return on the project is greater than this minimum acceptable rate and indicates the project is economically acceptable. If the net present value is negative, the project is not acceptable on economic grounds. the internal rate of return method. The internal rate of return is defined as the discount rate that makes the net present value of a project equal to zero. It is the highest rate of interest that a company could incur to obtain funds without losing money on the project. the equivalent annual cost method. When considering alternative proposals, it may be that only costs are involved. In such situations, a choice of alternatives can be made by determining which has the lowest equivalent annual cost. Under this method, capital expenditures are converted to their equivalent annual cost and added to the annual operating costs. Equivalent annual cost is the annual amount that would repay the capital over the life of the project at a specified discount rate. It is similar to an annual, level repayment schedule for a mortgage. The alternative with the lowest total cost would be the most attractive (ignoring intangibles). the payback method. This method estimates the time taken to recover the original investment outlay. The estimated net cash flows from a proposal for each year are added until they total the original investment. The time required to recoup the investment is called the payback period. Projects with a shorter payback period are preferred to those with longer periods. the discounted payback method. The discounted payback period is the number of years for which cash inflows are required to (a) recover the amount of the investment and also (b) earn the required rate of return on the investment during that period. In this method, each years cash inflow is discounted at the required rate of return, and these present values are cumulated by year until, their sum equals, the amount invested. Projects with a shorter discounted payback period are preferable to those with longer periods. the accounting rate of return method. The accounting rate of return is a measure of the average annual income after tax over the life of a project divided by the initial investment or the average investment required to generate the income. It is important to note that this method assesses net income and not cash flows which are used in the other methods. Stage 2: Option pricing In financial management, consideration of options within capital budgeting is called contingent claims analysis or option pricing. For example, suppose you have a choice between two boiler units for your factory. Boiler A uses oil and Boiler B can use either oil or natural gas. Based on traditional approaches to capital budgeting, the least costs boiler was selected for purchase, namely Boiler A. However, if we consider option pricing Boiler B may be the best choice because we have a choice or option on what fuel we can use. Suppose we expect rising oil prices in the next five years. This will result in higher operating costs for Boiler A, but Boiler B can switch to a second fuel to better control operating costs. Consequently, we want to assess the options of capital projects. Stage3: Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Discounting refers to taking a future amount and finding its value today. Future values differ from present values because of the time value of money. Financial management recognizes the time value of money because: Inflation reduces values over time; i.e. Rs.1, 000 today will have less value five years from now due to rising prices (inflation). Uncertainty in the future; i.e. we think we will receive Rs. 1,000 five years from now, but a lot can happen over the next five years. Opportunity Costs of money; Rs. 1,000 today is worth more to us than five years from now because we can invest Rs 1,000 today and earn a return. 3.1 Quantitative Analysis and Estimates : The foundations for good capital planning are reliable forecasts of the following parameters like competitive technology, marketing opportunities, likely actions by competitors and governments, sales volumes, selling prices, operating costs, changes in working capital, taxes payable and capital costs of equipment. Effective management of capital expenditure decisions, therefore, requires that controls be designed and operated to ensure that projections are realistic at the time decisions are made. Reliable estimates and forecasts are vital to the capital investment decision. The degree of precision necessary for the estimates related to the capital expenditure decision depends on: the stage of evaluation of the project (i.e., in early stages less precision is needed), the sensitivity of the projects economics to the level of accuracy and timing of each of the elements within the estimates, and the similarity of the project to others already undertaken. 3.2 Planning Horizon of a project: It is often difficult to estimate the life of a project (i.e., its planning horizon). The criterion is the continued ability to generate satisfactory cash flows or other intangible benefits. The economic life of a project is the lesser of its physical life, technological life or product-market life. Physical Life of Project Technical life of the Project Market life of the product to be manufactured depends upon: Detailed Market Research/Study Competitive Factors Price Estimation and Determination Organisation Market Position Maintenance Property related costs Depreciation Plant Administration, Service Department Costs 4.1 Research Objectives Overall objective. The overall objective of this research study is to investigate capital expenditure on a project and consequently working capital requirement and there relationship. Working capital measured in terms of net liquidity balance and working capital requirement (WCR). Specific objectives. are to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Investigate whether there is a relationship and type of relationship between capital expenditure and the firms working capital (W.C.). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Describe the relationship between the nature of expenditure and the working capital. To investigate the impact of different factors affecting the working capital on net liquidity balance and working capital requirement. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Investigate the existing literature on working capital management to highlight the recent trends. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Understand the applicability of NLB and WCR as a measure of working capital management. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Investigate the relationship between corporate performance and working capital management. 4.2 Literature Review The chief financial officers of most companies spend most of their time and effort on day-today working capital management. Still, due to the inability of financial managers to properly plan and control the current assets and current liabilities of their companies, the failure of a large number of businesses can be attributed to the inefficient working capital management. Working capital is the most crucial input and the success or failure of an organization can be rightly attributed to the quality and efficiency in the management of working capital (WC) or net current assets (NCA). Account receivable management models and inventory management models were used in approximately 65 % of companies. The management of the working capital, stresses the need for the development of a viable system with the dual finance goals of profitability and liquidity, only such models will assist practicing financial managers in their day-to-day decision-making. Over the years, many researchers have focused on determining the optimal level of each component of working capital. It was found that the working capital literature is rather limited and that the management of short term resources is not understood too well. Thus, the consensus in academia seems to recognize the paucity of theory concerning the management of financial resources due to the inherent difficulties in the development of a working capital decision model, while accepting the normative needs for a more critical examination. The tendency of firms with low levels of current ratios to have low levels of current liabilities. 5.1 Methodology The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a very important aspect of financial management known as working capital management. The study will show the relationship of capital expenditure on firms working capital management and its impact. This chapter of the research deals with the analytical framework of data analysis, which describes the firms and variables included in the study, the distribution patterns of data, and applied statistical techniques in investigating the relationship between working capital management and capital expenditure. 6.1 Data Collection Since the study is based on financial data, the main source of data was financial statements, such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements of listed companies for the period from 2000 to 2005. The reason for restricting the time period to six years was that the latest data for the study was available for these years. In addition, annual reports of companies have been used in order to understand the company back ground and industry. 6.2 Sample Selection The study uses secondary data of listed companies in the stock exchange. Companies with missing data are excluded from the study. The study also excludes the financial and securities sector companies, as their financial characteristics and use of leverage are substantially different from other manufacturing companies. The working capital requirements and capital expenditure of a manufacturing organization is widely different from trading, financial and securities sector companies. 6.3 Variables In addition to identifying capital expenditure, the study undertakes the issue of identifying all factors that affect the working capital management. Most of the determinants identified in the investigation have been taken from the existing literature on working capital management. The study takes into account of all the variables discussed below. Variables, which include dependent, independent, and control variables, have been used to investigate the test hypothesis. 6.4 Independent Variables Capital expenditure (CAPEX) is identified as one of the independent variables and includes expenditures incurred by firms for acquisition and upgrading/renovating physical assets, such as land, buildings, machinery, vehicles, and equipments. Capital expenditures are added to assets account and depreciated against profits over their economic life as Deferred Revenue expenditure( DEFEREX). Capital expenditure is incurred by a company when buying new, fixed assets or in adding value to existing assets to increase their economic lives. Capital expenditure includes buying the value of assets, carriage inwards, insurance, legal costs, and all costs needed for acquiring assets ready for use. Managers pay careful attention to capital expenditure decisions, since they are very costly and irreversible. Operating expenditure (OPEX) is the cost of ongoing operations, product or system. Unlike CAPEX, firms meet OPEX continuously. Operating expenditures are written off against profit for the period. They are Revenue expenditure (REVEX) which includes salaries, wages and facilities expenses, such as rent, rates, electricity, etc. Finance expenditure (FIEX) is cost incurred on debt capital. Interest incurred on debentures, bank loan and other long term liabilities are recognized as finance expenditures. 6.5 Dependent Variables NLB = (cash and cash equivalents + short-term investment) (short-term debt + commercial paper payable + long-term debt a year term). These are considerations of the financial decisions of a company, regardless of the operation cycle. Thus, it is called as net liquid balance. WCR = (accounts receivable + inventories) (accounts payable + accrued expenses +other payable), which relate to the working cycle and are called working capital requirements. 6.6 Control Variables In addition, firms operating cash flow (OPCASH), extracted cash flow statement, growth (GRO) of the firm measured by sales, leverage measured by total long-term debt capital and divided by equity (D/E). All the above variables have relationships that affect working capital management. These relationships might vary over variables, companies and industries based on business strategy, economic environment, and financial environment. 7.1 Hypotheses Development Working capital management is traditionally rated by current ratio, quick ratio, and net working capital. According to Shulman and Cox (1985), these traditional ratios dont consider the going concern of the company and net working capital does not measure the correct value of liquidity. They classify net working capital into working capital requirement (WCR) and net liquidity balance (NLB) in order to predict the financial crisis of a company. WCR is measured in order to evaluate the management of working capital, and NLB is considered with the capability of raising and allocating capital respectively. NLB is better than traditional indicators in terms of predicting crisis and liquidity of a company. The basic purpose of this study on working capital management to evaluate the impact of capital expenditure on working capital. Thus, this study will categorize expenditure of a firm into three types: a) Operating expenditure, b) Capital (investment) expenditure, and c) Finance expenditure. However, except capital expenditure, operating and finance expenditures will be considered on accrual basis, not on the cash basis, because incurred expenditure will determine working capital management of the company. When a company has growth opportunities, it needs to acquire fixed assts (pay capital expenditure) relevant to future growth plans. Thus, incurred or expected capital expenditure is positively correlated with NLB. With growth opportunity, a company can increase the holding cash, since it manages working capital efficiently. Under such circumstances, terms to pay operation-related liabilities are lengthened and operation-related receivables can be accelerated in collection, causing less demand on working capital. Expected capital expenditure is negatively related to WCR, and firms with a higher growth rate pay more attention on the management of capital expenditure. Hypotheses A- Capital expenditure is positively related to NLB Hypotheses B- Capital expenditure is negatively related to WCR 8.1 Model Specification This study uses panel data regression analysis of cross-sectional in order to test the hypothesis. A use the pooled regression type of panel data analysis. The pooled regression, which is also called the constant coefficients model, is one in which both intercepts and slopes are constant, where the cross section from a data and time series data are pooled together in a single column, assuming that there are no significant cross section or temporal effects. The general forms of our models are:t NLB Decrease in WCR H1a= NLBit = ÃŽÂ ²0 + ÃŽÂ £ ÃŽÂ ² X + ÃŽÂ µ (1) H1b= WCRit = ÃŽÂ ²0 + ÃŽÂ £ ÃŽÂ ² X + ÃŽÂ µ (2) WCR: working capital requirement of firm I at time t; i = 1, 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..no. of firms NLB it: net liquidity balance of firm i at time t; i = 1, 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.no. of firms ÃŽÂ ²0: the intercept of equation ÃŽÂ ²i: coefficients of X it variables X it: the different independent variables for working capital management of firm i at time t t: time = 1, 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦,6 years. ÃŽÂ µ: the error term Specifically, when I convert the above general least squares model into my specified NLBi = ÃŽÂ ² OPEXi + ÃŽÂ ² FIEXi + ÃŽÂ ² CAEXi + ÃŽÂ ² M/Bi+ ÃŽÂ ² Gti + ÃŽÂ ² D/Ei + ÃŽÂ ² OCASH + ÃŽÂ µ (3) WCRi = ÃŽÂ ² OPEXi + ÃŽÂ ² FIEXi+ ÃŽÂ ² CAEXi + ÃŽÂ ² M/Bi+ ÃŽÂ ² Gti + ÃŽÂ ² D/Ei + ÃŽÂ ² OCASH + ÃŽÂ µ (4) Where: NLB = (cash cash equivalents + short term investments) (short term debt + commercial paper payable + Long term debt year term) WCR = (accounts receivable + inventories) (accounts payable + other payable). WCR equals net working capital NLB. ÃŽÂ ² = coefficient of regression, OPEX = operating expenditure FIEX = financial expenditure CAEX= capital expenditure M/B = market to book value ratio D/E = total debt to total assets Gt = sales growth OCASH = operating cash flow in firm ÃŽÂ µ = the error term These findings are consistent with hypothesis H1b. Operating expenditure and interest expenditure also have a positive significant relationship with working capital requirement. 9.1 Conclusions and Recommendations Working capital management attracts less attention of the management than capital budget and expenditure, capital structure in financial management in the ordinary course of business. Working capital management relates to the findings of sources of short term finance and investments in short term assets. Working capital management deals with profitability and the risk of the company. Inefficient working capital management results in over investment in working capital and reduces the profitability of the firm. On the other hand, inefficient management of working capital leads to an insufficient amount of working capital and results in financial difficulty, putting the company at risk. The optimal level of working capital, which is a trade off between risk and profitability, can be affected by both internal organizational characteristics and various outside factors. Existing literature has paid little attention to many factors that determine the working capital. This research investigated some of the factors such as capital expenditure, operating expenditure, finance expenditure, leverage, performance and operating cash flow. This research paper uses NLB and WCR as proxies for working capital in order to assess working capital management with capital expenditure and other influencing factors. Empirical results show that capital expenditure has a significant effect on working capital management. This finding will help a companys management manage working capital efficiently. The findings can be used as a benchmark for managing working capital and evaluating performance. Through this paper it was able to find out that operating cash flow has a significant impact on a companys working capital management, consistent with conclusions in previous research/literature. By conducting the same study on each business sector separately, managers can understand specific behavior of a companys working capital in relationship with capital expenditure. Since the model is a general model, it might not be able to be applied or might not give the same findings in specific business sectors. Moreover, further research can be conducted on the same topic in different countries. Working capital management policies can be compared between developing and developed countries in order to determine the correct management policies. 14) Capital expenditure decisions are very crucial and not easily reversible. Substantial amount of money is blocked in capital expenditure decisions. Hence such decisions have to be taken very carefully with a lot of deliberations.