The Aviator Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Aviator - Movie Review Example This article is a review of the movie looking into the themes, character, style and narratives. The information presented in this article is obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The primary source is through watching the films and trying it analyze the characters and finding out the themes. The secondary sources are the reviews that have been conducted by various authors on the movie. Different reviewers have given their views on the style and the representation of characters in the film. These sources were used to get the plot of the story and style used. The narrative style together with other techniques of film making is explored. The characters were then analyzed against each other (Marrett, 195). The different themes are then explored and the role each character played in the realization of these themes discussed. The movie starts when Hunges is a young boy where his mother tells him to take caution not to get a flue. Then in the year 1927, Hunges inherits his family fortune in California. He uses this fortune to design oil drilling bits a venture that made him a billionaire. Later when he was 22, he decided to invest in the film industry an area where he had a huge interest in. His first film was the silent Hells Angel which he works very hard to ensure that it turns out perfectly. His next film had some talking and was called The Jazz Singer. During this time, he also produced a sound version of the Hells Angel which became a major Hollywood hit. This was a key to entry into the Hollywood social network and he dated two Hollywood stars Jean Harlow and Katharine Hepburn. However, he did not quite fit into Hollywood and he decided to go back to designing aircrafts. He made new design and even risked his life trying out new aircrafts and flying around the globe. He even got into an accident ov er Beverly Hills when taking XF-11 for a test flight. He got major injuries that

Who is to blame for obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Who is to blame for obesity - Essay Example This essay "Who is to blame for obesity?" outlines how the American food industry has led to huge numbers of people with obesity especially children who are considered as heavy consumers. The obesity rate in America has increased, and that points a finger at fast food restaurants. Young people are at a high rate of facing obesity. When it comes to who is responsible for such cases, the blame can be directed to the consumers since they are the ones who consume such foods voluntarily [ChrisPomo 15]. Parents can also be blamed for the rise of obesity for their children because they teach their children to eat such foods and do not encourage them to exercise on a daily basis. Parents allow their children to consume unhealthy foods and watch television while playing computers endlessly. Parents play a huge role in obesity among their children since they are responsible for their lifestyles in their households. They have the main decisions on what to buy in terms of healthy or unhealthy fo ods. When parents choose to buy unhealthy foods, this has an effect on the child’s behavior in their future, as they tend to follow suit that their parents instilled in them. The blame game may also be directed to the government and fast food restaurants in the country. The government has initiatives for ensuring that people should eat sugar-free foods that taste terrible. Therefore, most manufacturers lead such foods with chemicals that improve the taste for such foods. The government has failed to pass laws that regulated the amount of additives to be used.

Measuring weak-form market efficiency

Measuring weak-form market efficiency Measuring Weak-form Market Efficiency ABSTRACT This paper tests weak-form efficiency in the U.S. market. Both daily and monthly returns are employed for autocorrelation analysis, variance ratio tests and delay tests. Three conclusions are reached. Firstly, security returns are predictable to some extent. While individual stock returns are weakly negatively correlated and difficult to predict, market-wide indices with outstanding recent performance show a positive autocorrelation and offer more predictable profit opportunities. Secondly, monthly returns follow random walk better than daily returns and are thus more weak-form efficient. Finally, weak-form inefficiency is not necessarily bad. Investors should be rewarded a certain degree of predictability for bearing risks. Efficient market hypothesis (EMH), also known as information efficiency, refers to the extent to which stock prices incorporate all available information. The notion is important in helping investors to understand security behaviour so as to make wise investment decisions. According to Fama (1970), there are three versions of market efficiency: the weak, semistrong, and strong form. They differ with respect to the information that is incorporated in the stock prices. The weak form efficiency assumes that stock prices already incorporate all past trading information. Therefore, technical analysis on past stock prices will not be helpful in gaining abnormal returns. The semistrong form efficiency extends the information set to all publicly available information including not only past trading information but also fundamental data on firm prospects. Therefore, neither technical analysis nor fundamental analysis will be able to produce abnormal returns. Strong form efficiency differs fro m the above two in stating that stock prices not only reflect publicly available information but also private inside information. However, this form of market efficiency is always rejected by empirical evidence. If weak-form efficiency holds true, the information contained in past stock price will be completely and instantly reflected in the current price. Under such condition, no pattern can be observed in stock prices. In other words, stock prices tend to follow a random walk model. Therefore, the test of weak-form market efficiency is actually a test of random walk but not vice versa. The more efficient the market is, the more random are the stock prices, and efforts by fund managers to exploit past price history will not be profitable since future prices are completely unpredictable. Therefore, measuring weak-form efficiency is crucial not only in academic research but also in practice because it affects trading strategies. This paper primarily tests the weak-form efficiency for three stocks-Faro Technologies Inc. (FARO), FEI Company (FEIC) and Fidelity Southern Corporation (LION) and two decile indices-the NYSE/AMEX/NASDAQ Index capitalisation based Deciles 1 and 10 (NAN D1 and NAN D10). Both daily and monthly data are employed here to detect any violation of the random walk hypothesis. The remainder of the paper is structured in the following way. Section I provides a brief introduction of the three firms and two decile indices. Section II describes the data and discusses the methodology used. Section III presents descriptive statistics. Section IV is the result based on empirical analysis. Finally, section V concludes the paper. I. The Companies[1] A. Faro Technologies Inc (FARO) FARO Technologies is an instrument company whose principle activities include design and develop portable 3-D electronic systems for industrial applications in the manufacturing system. The companys principal products include the Faro Arm, Faro Scan Arm and Faro Gage articulated measuring devices. It mainly operates in the United States and Europe. B. FEI Company (FEI) FEI is a leading scientific instruments company which develops and manufactures diversified semiconductor equipments including electron microscopes and beam systems. It operates in four segments: NanoElectronics, NanoResearch and Industry, NanoBiology and Service and Components. With a 60-year history, it now has approximately 1800 employees and sells products to more than 50 countries around the world. C. Fidelity Southern Corp. (LION) Fidelity Southern Corp. is one of the largest community banks in metro Atlanta which provides a wide range of financial services including commercial and mortgage services to both corporate and personal customers. It also provides international trade services, trust services, credit card loans, and merchant services. The company provides financial products and services for business and retail customers primarily through branches and via internet. D. NYSE/AMEX/NASDAQ Index It is an index taken from the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) which includes all common stocks listed on the NYSE, Amex, and NASDAQ National Market. The index is constructed by ranking all NYSE companies according to their market capitalization in the first place. They are then divided into 10 decile portfolios. Amex and NASDAQ stocks are then placed into the deciles based on NYSE breakpoints. The smallest and the largest firms based on market capitalization are placed into Decile 1 and Decile 10, respectively. II. Data and Methodology A. Data Data for the three stocks and two decile indices in our study are all obtained from the Center for Research in Securities Prices database (CRSP) on both daily and monthly basis from January 2000 to December 2005. Returns are then computed on both basis, generating a total of 1507 daily observations and 71 monthly observations. The NYSE/AMEX/NASDAQ Index is CRSP Capitalisation-based so that Decile 1 and 10 represent the smallest and largest firms, respectively, based on market capitalisation. In addition, The Standard and Poors 500 Index (SP 500) is used as a proxy for the market index. It is a valued-weighted index which incorporates the largest 500 stocks in US market. For comparison purposes, both continuously compounded (log) returns and simple returns are reported, although the analysis is based on the result of the first one. B. Methods B.1. Autocorrelation Tests One of the most intuitive and simple tests of random walk is to test for serial dependence, i.e. autocorrelation. The autocorrelation is a time-series phenomenon, which implies the serial correlation between certain lagged values in a time series. The first-order autocorrelation, for instance, indicates to what extent neighboring observations are correlated. The autocorrelation test is always used to test RW3, which is a less restrictive version of random walk model, allowing the existence of dependent but uncorrelated increments in return data. The formula of autocorrelation at lag k is given by: (1) where is the autocorrelation at lag ; is the log-return on stock at time; and is the log-return on stock at time. A greater than zero indicates a positive serial correlation whereas a less than zero indicates a negative serial correlation. Both positive and negative autocorrelation represent departures from the random walk model. If is significantly different from zero, the null hypothesis of a random walk is rejected. The autocorrelation coefficients up to 5 lags for daily data and 3 lags for monthly data are reported in our test. Results of the Ljung-Box test for all lags up to the above mentioned for both daily and monthly data are also reported. The Ljung-Box test is a more powerful test by summing the squared autocorrelations. It provides evidence for whether departure for zero autocorrelation is observed at all lags up to certain lags in either direction. The Q-statistic up to a certain lag m is given by: (2) B.2. Variance Ratio Tests We follow Lo and MacKinlays (1988) single variance ratio (VR) test in our study. The test is based on a very important assumption of random walk that variance of increments is a linear function of the time interval. In other words, if the random walk holds, the variance of the qth differed value should be equal to q times the variance of the first differed value. For example, the variance of a two-period return should be equal to twice the variance of the one-period return. According to its definition, the formula of variance ratio is denoted by: (3) where q is any positive integer. Under the null hypothesis of a random walk, VR(q) should be equal to one at all lags. If VR(q) is greater than one, there is positive serial correlation which indicates a persistence in prices, corresponding to the momentum effect. If VR(q) is less than one, there is negative serial correlation which indicates a reversal in prices, corresponding to the mean-reverting process. Note that the above two test are also tests of how stock prices react to publicly available information in the past. If market efficiency holds true, information from past prices should be immediately and fully reflected in the current stock price. Therefore, future stock price change conditioned on past prices should be equal to zero. B.3. Griffin-Kelly-Nardari DELAY Tests As defined by Griffin, Kelly and Nardari (2007), delay is a measure of sensitivity of current returns to past market-wide information.[2] Speaking differently, delay measures how quickly stock returns can react to market returns. The logic behind this is that a stock which is slow to incorporate market information is less efficient than a stock which responds quickly to market movements. SP 500 index is employed in delay test to examine the sensitivity of stock returns to market information. For each stock and decile index, both restricted and unrestricted models are estimated from January 2000 to December 2005. The unrestricted model is given by: (4) where is the log-return on stock i at time t; is the market log-return (return for SP 500 index) at time t; is the lagged market return; is the coefficient on the lagged market return; and is the lag which is 1, 2, 3, 4 for the daily data and 1, 2, 3 for the monthly data. The restricted model is as follows which sets all to be zero: (5) Delay is then calculated based on adjusted R-squares from above regressions as follows: (6) An alternative scaled measure of delay is given by: (7) Both measures are reported in a way that the larger the calculated delay value, the more return variation is explained by lagged market returns and thus the more delayed response to the market information. III. Descriptive Statistics A. Daily frequencies Table I shows the summary statistic of daily returns for the three stocks and two decile indices. The highest mean return is for FARO (0.0012), whereas the lowest mean return is for NAN D10 (0.0000). In terms of median return, NAN D1 (0.0015) outperforms all the other stocks. Both the highest maximum return and the lowest minimum return (0.2998 and -0.2184, respectively) are for FARO, corresponding to its highest standard deviation (0.0485) among all, indicating that FARO is the most volatile in returns. On the other hand, both the lowest maximum return and highest minimum return (0.0543 and -0.0675, respectively) are for NAN D10. However NAN D10 is only the second least volatile, while the lowest standard deviation is for NAN D1 (0.0108). Figure 1 and 2 presents the price level of the most and least volatile index (stock). All the above observations remain true if we change from log-return basis to a simple return basis. In terms of the degree of asymmetry of the return distributions, all stocks and indices are positively skewed, with the only exception of NAN D1. The positive skewness implies that more extreme values are in the right tail of the distribution, i.e. stocks are more likely to have times when performance is extremely good. On the other hand, NAN D1 is slightly negatively skewed, which means that returns are more likely to be lower that what is expected by normal distribution. In measuring the peakedness of return distributions, positive excess kurtosis is observed in all stocks and indices, also known as a leptokurtic distribution, which means that returns either cluster around the mean or disperse in the two ends of the distribution. All the above observations can be used to conclusively reject the null hypothesis that daily returns are normally distributed. What more, results from Jarque-Bera test provide supportive evidence for rejection of the normality hypothesis at all significant levels for all stocks and indices. B. Monthly frequencies Descriptive statistics of monthly returns are likewise presented in Table II. Most of the above conclusions reached for daily returns are also valid in the context of monthly returns. In other words, what is the highest (lowest) value for daily returns is also the highest (lowest) for monthly returns in most cases. The only exceptions are for the highest value in median returns and the lowest value and standard deviation in minimum returns. In this situation, NAN D10 (0.0460) and FARO (0.1944) have the least and most dispersion according to their standard deviations, compared with NAN D1 and FARO in daily case. From above observation, we can see that decile indices are more stable than individual stocks in terms of returns. Whats more, monthly returns have larger magnitude in most values than daily returns. Coming to the measurement of asymmetry and peakedness of return distributions, only NAN D10 (-0.4531) is negatively skewed. However, the degree of skewness is not far from 0. Other stocks and index are all positively skewed with both FEIC (0.0395) and LION (0.0320) having a skewness value very close to 0. Almost all stocks and index have a degree of kurtosis similar to that of normal distribution, except that NAN D1 (8.6623) is highly peaked. This is also consistent with the results of JB p-values, based on which we conclude that FEIC, LION and NAN D10 are approximately normal because we fail to reject the hypothesis that they are normally distributed at 5% or higher levels (see Figure 3 and 4 for reference). However when simple return basis is used, FEIC is no longer normally distributed even at the 1% significant level. Except this, using simple return produces similar results. IV. Results A. Autocorrelation Tests A.1. Tests for Log-Returns The results of autocorrelation tests for up to 5 lags of daily log-returns and up to 3 lags of monthly log-returns for three stocks and two decile indices from January 2000 to December 2005 are summarised in Table III. Both the autocorrelation (AC) and partial autocorrelation (PAC) are examined in our tests. As is shown in Panel A, all 5 lags of FARO, FEIC and NAN D10 for both AC and PAC are insignificant at 5% level, except for the fourth-order PAC coefficient of FARO (-0.052), which is slightly negatively significant. On the contrary, NAN D1 has significant positive AC and PAC at almost all lags except in the fourth order, its PAC (0.050) is barely within the 5% significance level. The significant AC and PAC coefficients reject the null hypothesis of no serial correlation in NAN D1, thereby rejecting the weak-form efficiency. In terms of LION, significant negative autocorrelation coefficients are only observed in the first two orders and its higher-order coefficients are not statistically significant. Besides that, we find that all the stocks and indices have negative autocorrelation coefficients at most of their lags, with the only exception of NAN D1, whose coefficients are all positive. The strictly positive AC and PAC indicates persistence in returns, i.e. a momentum effect for NAN D1, which means that good or bad performances in the past tend to continue over time. We also present the Ljung-Box (L-B) test statistic in order to see whether autocorrelation coefficients up to a specific lag are jointly significant. Since RW1 implies all autocorrelations are zero, the L-B test is more powerful because it tests the joint hypothesis. As is shown in the table, both LION and NAN D1 have significant Q values in all lags at all levels, while none of FARO, FEIC and NAN D10 has significant Q values. Based on above daily observations, we may conclude that the null hypothesis of no serial correlation is rejected at all levels for LION and NAN D1, but the null hypothesis cannot be rejected at either 5% level or 10% level for FARO, FEIC and NAN D10. This means that both LION and NAN D1 are weak-form inefficient. By looking at their past performance, we find that while NAN D1 outperformed the market in sample period, LION performed badly in the same period. Therefore, it seems that stocks or indices with best and worst recent performance have stronger autocorrelation. In particular, LION shows a positive autocorrelation in returns, suggesting that market-wide indices with outstanding recent performance have momentum in returns over short periods, which offer predictable opportunities to investors. When monthly returns are employed, no single stock or index has significant AC or PAC in any lag reported at 5% level. It is in contrast with daily returns, which means that monthly returns follow a random walk better than daily returns. More powerful L-B test confirms our conclusion by showing that Q statistics for all stocks and indices are statistically insignificant at either 5% or 10% level. Therefore, the L-B null hypothesis can be conclusively rejected for all stocks and indices up to 3 lags. When compared with daily returns, monthly returns seem to follow random walk better and are thus more weak-form efficient. A.2. Tests for Squared Log-Returns Even when returns are not correlated, their volatility may be correlated. Therefore, it is necessary for us to expand the study from returns to variances of returns. Squared log-returns and absolute value of log-returns are measures of variances and are thus useful in studying the serial dependence of return volatility. The results of autocorrelation analysis for daily squared log-returns for all three stocks and two decile indices are likewise reported in Table IV. In contrast to the results for log-returns, coefficients for FEIC, LION, NAN D1 and NAN D10 are significantly different from zero, except for the forth-order PAC coefficient (0.025) for FEIC, the fifth-order PAC coefficient for LION (-0.047) and third- and forth-order PAC coefficient for NAN D1 (-0.020 and -0.014, respectively). FARO has significant positive AC and PAC at the first lag and a significant AC at the third lag. The L-B test provides stronger evidence against the null hypothesis that sum of the squared autocorrelations up to 5 lags is zero for all stocks and indices at all significant levels, based on which we confirm our result that squared log-returns do not follow a random walk. Another contrasting result with that of log-returns is that almost all the autocorrelation coefficients are positive, indicating a stronger positive serial dependence in squared log-returns. In terms of monthly data, only FEIC and NAN D10 have significant positive third-order AC and PAC estimates. Other stocks and indices have coefficients not significantly different from zero. The result is supported by Ljung-Box test statistics showing that Q values are only statistically significant in the third lag for both FEIC and NAN D10. This is consistent with the result reached for log-returns above, which says that monthly returns appear to be more random than daily returns. A.3. Tests for the Absolute Values of Log-Returns Table V provides autocorrelation results for the absolute value of log-returns in similar manner. However, as will be discussed below, the results are even more contrasting than that in Table IV. In Panel A, all the stocks and indices have significant positive serial correlation while insignificant PAC estimates are only displayed in lag 5 for both FARO and LION. Supporting above result, Q values provide evidence against the null hypothesis of no autocorrelation. Therefore, absolute value of daily log-returns exhibit stronger serial dependence than in Table III and IV, and autocorrelations are strictly positive for all stocks and indices. Coming to the absolute value of monthly log-returns, only FEIC displays significant individual and joint serial correlation. NAN D1 also displays a significant Q value in lag 2 at 5% level, but it is insignificant at 1% level. Based on the above evidence, two consistent conclusions can be made at this point. First of all, by changing ingredients in our test from log-returns to squared log-returns and absolute value of log-returns, more positive serial correlation can be observed, especially in daily data. Therefore, return variances are more correlated. Secondly, monthly returns tend to follow a random walk model better than daily returns. A.4. Correlation Matrix of Stocks and Indices Table VI presents the correlation matrix for all stocks and indices. As is shown in Panel A for daily result, all of the correlations are positive, ranging from 0.0551 (LION-FARO) to 0.5299 (NAN D10-FEIC). Within individual stocks, correlation coefficients do not differ a lot. The highest correlation is between FEIC and FARO with only 0.1214, indicating a fairly weak relationship between individual stocks returns. However, in terms of stock-index relationships, they differ drastically from 0.0638 (NAN D10-FARO) to 0.5299 (NAN D10-FEIC). While the positive correlation implies that the three stocks follow the indices in the same direction, the extent to which they will move with the indices is quite different, indicating different levels of risk with regard to different stock. Finally, we find that the correlation between NAN D10 and NAN D1 is the second highest at 0.5052. Panel B provides the correlation matrix for monthly data. Similar to results for daily data, negative correlation is not observed. The highest correlation attributes to that between NAN D10 and FEIC (0.7109) once again, but the lowest is between LION and FEIC (0.1146) this time. Compared with results in Panel A, correlation within individual stocks is slightly higher on average. The improvement in correlation is even more obvious between stocks and indices. It implies that stock prices can change dramatically from day to day, but they tend to follow the movement of indices in a longer horizon. Finally, the correlation between two indices is once again the second highest at 0.5116, following that between NAN D10 and FEIC. It is also found that the correlation between indices improves only marginally when daily data are replaced by monthly data, indicating a relatively stable relationship between indices. B. Variance Ratio Tests The results of variance ratio tests are presented in Table VII for each of the three stocks and two decile indices. The test is designed to test for the null hypothesis of a random walk under both homoskedasticity and heteroskedasticity. Since the violation of a random walk can result either from changing variance, i.e. heteroskedasticity, or autocorrelation in returns, the test can help to discriminate reasons for deviation to some extent. The lag orders are 2, 4, 8 and 16. In Table VII, the variance ratio (VR(q)), the homoskedastic-consistent statistics (Z(q)) and the heteroskedastic-consistent statistics (Z*(q)) are presented for each lag. As is pointed out by Lo and MacKinlay (1988), the variance ratio statistic VR(2) is equal to one plus the first-order correlation coefficient. Since all the autocorrelations are zero under RW1, VR(2) should equal one. The conclusion can be generalised further to state that for all q, VR(q) should equal one. According to the first Panel in Table VII, of all stocks and indices, only LION and NAN D1 have variance ratios that are significantly different from one at all lags. Therefore, the null hypothesis of a random walk under both homoskedasticity and heteroskedasticity is rejected for LION and NAN D1, and thus they are not weak-form efficient because of autocorrelations. In terms of FARO, the null hypothesis of a homoskedastic random walk is rejected, while the hypothesis of a heteroskedastic random walk is not. This implies that the rejection of random walk under homoskedasticity could partly result from, if not entirely due to heteroskedasticity. On the other hand, both FEIC and NAN D10 follow random walk and turn out to be efficient in weak form, corresponding exactly to the autocorrelation results reached before in Table III. Panel B shows that when monthly data are used, the null hypothesis under both forms of random walk can only be rejected for FARO. As for FEIC, the random walk null hypothesis is rejected under homoskedasticity, but not under heteroskedasticity, indicating that rejection is not due to changing variances because Z*(q) is heteroskedasticity-consistent. As is shown in Panel A for daily data, all individual stocks have variance ratios less than one, implying negative autocorrelation. However, the autocorrelation for stocks is statistically insignificant except for LION. On the other hand, variance ratios for NAN D1 are greater than one and increasing in q. The above finding provides supplementary evidence to the results of autocorrelation tests. As Table III shows, NAN D1 has positive autocorrelation coefficients in all lags, suggesting a momentum effect in multiperiod returns. Both findings appear to be well supported by empirical evidence. While daily returns of individual stocks seem to be weakly negatively correlated (French and Roll (1986)), returns for best performing market indices such as NAN D1 show strong positive autocorrelation (Campbell, Lo, and MacKinlay (1997)). The fact that individual stocks have statistically insignificant autocorrelations is mainly due to the specific noise contained in company information, which m akes individual security returns unpredictable. On the contrary, while the positive serial correlation for NAN D1 violates the random walk, such deviation provides investors with confidence to forecast future prices and reliability to make profits. C. Griffin, Kelly and Nardari DELAY Tests The results of delay test for the three stocks and two decile indices over the January 2000 to December 2005 period are summarised in Table VIII. We use lag 1, 2, 3, 4 for the daily data and 1, 2, 3 for the monthly data. As is presented in Panel A for daily returns, Delay_1 value for NAN D10 is close to zero and hence not significant, while NAN D1 has the highest delay among all stocks and indices. The rank of delay within individual stocks seems to have a positive relationship between size and delay value, by showing that delay of LION, the stock with smallest market capitalization is lowest, while the delay of FEIC, the stock with largest market capitalization is highest. It seems to contradict with the Griffin, Kelly and Nardari (2006) study, which says that there is an inverse relationship between size and delay. One possible explanation for that is that delay calculated by daily data on individual firms is noisy. The scaled measure Delay_2 produces consistent conclusion but with higher magnitude in values. Delay_2 values are very different from zero for FARO, FEIC, LION and NAN D1. The largest increase in value is seen in FARO from 0.0067 for Delay_1 to 0.7901 for Delay_2. Therefore, Griffin, Kelly and Nardari delay measure is preferable, because the scaled version can result in large values without economic significance. As is displayed in Panel B, employing monthly data also leads to higher Delay_1 values, indicating that more variation of monthly returns are captured by lagged market returns and hence monthly returns are not as sensitive as daily returns to market-wide news. However, an inverse relationship is found this time between delay and market value of individual stocks. Therefore, monthly data provides consistent result to support Griffin, Kelly and Nardari (2006) result as one would normally expect larger stocks to be more efficient in responding to market. Similar to the result for daily data, scaled measure once again produces higher values than its alternative but it provides the same results. V. Conclusion The main objective of this paper is to test weak-form efficiency in the U.S. market. As is found by selected tests, NAN D10 and FEIC provide the most consistent evidence to show weak-form efficiency, while the deviation from random walk is suggested for other stocks and indices, especially for NAN D1 and LION. It indicates that security returns are predictable to some degree, especially for those having best and worst recent performance. The three autocorrelation tests provide different results in terms of daily returns. While the null hypothesis of random walk is rejected for NAN D1 and LION based on log-returns, it is rejected for all stocks and indices based on both squared and absolute value of log-returns, indicating that return variances are more correlated. On the other hand, results in the context of monthly returns are consistent. Monthly returns follow a random walk much better than daily returns in all three tests. Most evidently, the autocorrelation test fails to reject the presence of random walk for all stocks and indices when monthly log-returns are employed. The variance ratio tests provide supportive evidence for autocorrelation tests. Both tests find that in terms of daily return, NAN D1 and LION show a significant return dependence. In particular, variance ratios for NAN D1 are all above one, corresponding to its positive AC and PAC coefficients, thus implying positive autocorrelation in returns. Whats more, individual stocks have variance ratios less than one with FEIC and FARO both being insignificant. The above evidence conclusively suggest that while individual stock returns are weakly negatively related and difficult to predict, market-wide indices with outstanding recent performance such as NAN D1 tend to show a stronger positive serial correlation and thus offer predictable profit opportunities. The evidence regarding delay tests is consistent with earlier findings to a large extent. NAN D1 has highest delay in both daily and monthly cases, implying an inefficient response to market news. In the context of monthly log-returns, delay values for individual stocks rank inversely based on market capitalisation with larger cap stocks having lower delay, suggesting that small stocks do not capture past public information quickly and are thus inefficient. Finally, deviation from a random walk model and thus being weak-form inefficiency is not necessarily bad. In fact, investors should be rewarded a certain degree of predictability for bearing risks. Therefore, future research could be done by incorporating risk into the model. [1] Company information is mainly obtained from Thomson One Banker database. [2] Griffin, John M., Patrick J. Kelly, and Federico Nardari, 2006, Measuring short-term international stock market efficiency, Working Paper

Computers In Education :: Technology

Computer's Value in Education What is an education? Education is defined as "the knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process or an instructive or enlightening experience" (Dictionary 1).It says that it's the knowledge obtained, but does it matter where this knowledge is obtained? We now use computers in our society, which allow us to do many things. However, in today's society, children go through their entire education using the computer. There is now cyber schooling, where a child no longer attends school but learns at home in front of their computer. Should this, however, be how students learn and become educated? We, as Americans, educate our children by putting them through years of schooling. A child is suggested to go through 13 years of schooling. After graduating high school, it is greatly recommended to go further onto college to become more educated in certain areas. There are thousands of schools throughout America, however. Therefore, the students at the many schools will learn different things. We gain our knowledge through many resources during these years of learning. Teachers, other students, computers, and much more are ways we attain our education. Computers are a dynamic addition to education, and could be considered to be almost like a school in itself. Computers have advanced our knowledge greatly since we have introduced them into our society, and started to use them in our everyday lives. This being the reason we now use them greatly in schooling. Computers in schooling are used for many things. Computers enable students to share learning with others. Computers can greatly enhance the writing process of a student. It allows them to change things easily, cut things out of writing and move it to different places, add pictures, and many other attributes to writing. Computers should be compared to encyclopedias, libraries, newspapers, television and any other information tools used in the classroom. Computer knowledge does not however, replace any of the subject area skills. However, the spelling ability of a computer is much greater than most human's ability. It has almost a built in dictionary which is not like a typical human. Students need to learn to do research on the Internet, but they also need to learn to research books. Students also need to learn to use a spellchecker, but they also need to learn to spell correctly and proofread their work without a computerized grammar checker.

Traffic Problems

[pic] A research Report on Traffic problems in Big Cities (Islamabad) [pic] By: Aqsa Shahzadi (100827) Basharat Jamil (100811) Kaneez Amna (100869) Sidra Tul Muntaha (100809) Hamza Ashraf (100803) Submitted to: Mr. Naveed Ahsan Business communication BBA-3B [pic] Air University Islamabad [pic] Table of Content Contents Page No 1. Introduction3 1. 1 Core issue:3 1. 2 Purpose:3 1. 3 Scope3 1. 4 Methodology3 1. 4. 1 Findings5 3. Traffic jams in different areas of Islamabad city8 4. Causes of Traffic Problem. 9 5. Solutions to Traffic Problems10 6. Limitations11 7. References11 8. Interview Questions. 12 [pic] 1.INTRODUCTION 1. 1 CORE ISSUE: Our core issue is traffic problems at the entrance areas of Islamabad. Why mostly traffic jams in these area and how traffic is controlled in those areas by the traffic police. 1. 2 PURPOSE: People suffer a lot of problem due to traffic jam. We must give solutions to control traffic and avoid traffic jams. Students, teachers, office workers face prob lems because sometimes due to coming late they miss their meetings and face other problems as well. 1. 3 SCOPE: We are working at the entrance areas of Islamabad i. e. Barakow and Golra. Sometimes due to heavy protocols people face traffic jams.Major traffic jams are at school and office timings. We also face traffic problem on Friday. We will give solutions to the problems to solve this issue. 1. 4 METHODOLOGY: We adopted two types of methodologies which are as follow: 1. Quantitative methodology. 2. Qualitative methodology. [pic] QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY: We collect data through questionnaire. Our sample space is 30. We distributed 30 questionnaires among the students of Air University. We collected data from both male and female students. 15 questionnaires were filled by female students and 15 were filled by male students. We will also give the analysis report of our survey. pic] [pic] 1. 4. 1 FINDINGS After survey the responses of male and female students with percentage is give n below: |Â  Q. NO. |QUESTIONS |MALE |FEMALE | | | | YES | NO | YES | NO | |1. |Buses and trucks creating traffic problem. |93. 33% |6. 67% |86. 67% |13. 33% | |2. |Signals helping to control traffic. |86. 67% |13. 33% |93. 3% |6. 67% | |3. |Traffic police performing his duty well. |80. 00% |20. 00% |53. 33% |46. 67% | |4. |Long routes creating a lot of problems. |33. 33% |66. 67% |46. 67% |53. 33% | |5. |Traffic problems are cause of accidents. |80. 00% |20. 00% |93. 33% |6. 67% | |6. |More roads reduce traffic jam. |80. 00% |20. 00% |80. 00% |20. 00% | |7. |Small roads and number of cars are the causes of traffic |100. 00% |0. 00% |80. 0% |20. 00% | | |problems. | | | | | |8. |Are you satisfied from the process of selecting players for |100. 00% |0. 00% |93. 33% |6. 67% | | |different games? | | | | | |9. |More cars due to bank financing are also causes of traffic |60. 00% |40. 00% |66. 67% |33. 33% | | |problem. | | | | | |10. Old cars and trucks are creating traffic problems. |66. 67% |33. 33% |66. 67% |33. 33% | |11. |Lack of traffic sense among people is also a cause of traffic |100. 00% |0. 00% |93. 33% |6. 67% | | |problems. | | | | | |12. |Government is taking steps to avoid traffic jams. |33. 33% |66. 67% |40. 00% |60. 00% | |13. |Government is creating awareness among people about traffic. |33. 33% |66. 7% |33. 33% |66. 67% | |14. |Civil administrations fail to solve traffic problems. |66. 67% |33. 33% |66. 67% |33. 33% | |15. |Non-custom vehicles contributing to increase traffic. |80. 00% |20. 00% |100. 00% |0. 00% | [pic] The following graph is showing the responses of males in Yes/No and also in percentage. [pic] [pic] The following graph is showing the responses of females in Yes/No and also in percentage. [pic] QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY: We interviewed one of the police officers at Golra.The questions we asked from him are attached at the end of this report. [pic] 3. TRAFFIC JAMS IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF ISLAMABAD CITY [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] 4. C AUSES OF TRAFFIC PROBLEMS: 1. Small roads for the number of cars and motor cycles. 2. Broken roads in some areas as people don’t like to move from the broken part so traffic increases on rest of the road. 3. More cars due to bank financing. Now everyone can afford a car so more cars are there on the road. 4. Old cars and trucks. Government doesn’t have a clear policy about old cars and trucks. Even 30 years old cars are still running on roads like foxy & Suzuki. . Lack of traffic sense amongst the people. People don’t have traffic sense. Traffic police and media should play their role in creating traffic sense amongst the people. [pic] [pic] 5. SOLUTIONS TO TRAFFIC PROBLEMS: 1. First we have to use more often the public transport. This is the best solution. Also we would recommend to walk a little more or to ride a bicycle. 2. Have a proper public transport system and it is in our hands to reduce the use of our car every day by using public transport. 3. Make th e conditions of roads good, Make more lanes on the road and making alternative routes. 4.Create traffic awareness amongst the people though media and other sources. 5. Traffic problems can be reduced by either increasing road capacity (supply), or by reducing traffic (demand). 6. Different timing of starting and closings of offices and schools to avoid the rush in the morning, afternoon and evening on roads. 7. Make strict laws make them force able through traffic police. Government should put their best efforts to avoid traffic jams and other traffic problems. 8. Old cars should be scrapped and bank financing should be for commercial cars only. [pic] [pic] [pic] 6.LIMITATIONS: 1. Convince Problems. 2. Non availability of traffic police officer. 3. Hard university scheduled. 4. Police officer was not willing to give interview. 7. REFERENCES: ? www. google. com ? www. wikipedia. com ? Police officer [pic] 8. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. 1. What difficulties do you face in controlling the tra ffic? 2. Do people follow the rules and regulations? 3. Do people cooperate? How is their behavior? 4. How do you manage the traffic when there is a rout? 5. How do you act when there is accident and what are your precautions? 6. Rush hours create a problem for you. How do you manage?

Organizational Structures Essay

Organizations function in varied ways. Each organization is unique in its own accord and its overall design depends on two main criteria; coordination and communication. No matter what structure an organization chooses, the ultimate result is to achieve coordination between units and communicate effectively for proper decision making and implementation. The current buzz word being the networked economy and organizations, many firms are becoming more sophisticated and evolving into more interconnected entities than ever before. It is important however to note that not one single structure is the most successful one. A firms arrival at a decision to adopt a certain structure entails careful analysis of the requirements of the industry it operates in. Then only can it decide which structure suits it best. Dell, based in the US, is a truly global organization. With lead times of delivery ranging in days across the globe, Dell had no choice but to adapt a structure which complimented its nimble and lean supply chain. This resulted in them adopting a networked structure as opposed to more traditional functional setup. The main criterion is not coordination here, but the proper channels of communication which are necessary to deliver information is the cheapest, fastest and most reliable way. Moreover, product life cycles of Dell are shorter than most other products and this again meant a quick supply chain backed by the most efficient communications strategy. Dell has been able to adopt this structure quicker and has grown to an extent which many never expected it to achieve (Sviokla, 2004). Dell does have departments and functions like any other organizations; it’s the method by which they operate which is different. Each function is coordinated and communicates to achieve one primary goal; deliver the good to the customer in the shortest time possible. By having a networked organization, information travels at nearly the speed of light and decisions are thus made in a shorter time. This is what Dell required to stay on top of its competition in the PC industry and thus, it adopted the best possible structure within the industry. Toyota, based in Japan, is a name of reliability. Their automobiles are well known for cost effectiveness and long life. All this was only achieved by the top notch structure that Toyota eventually evolved into over its long history. The work at Toyota is done by divisions; teams of individuals in each ‘function’ operating on assembly lines to produce cars. This along with a just in time inventory approach has enabled Toyota to become a truly global automobile maker and trendsetter in the industry. Till Toyota adopted it, JIT was something that many, especially in the automobile industry, wouldn’t dare to emulate. Toyota realized how its inventory, being huge and with long lead times would clog up work space and result in huge costs due to rental, obsolescence etc. Thus Toyota did what Dell did but in a different manner, let the supplier remain the owner of the materials until they are needed. This called for not just a good communications setup but an exceptional coordinated effort by the firms various functions as well. A delay in one function meant a halt in the whole firm as each is dependent on the other. Thus Toyota needed a structure which was stable, coordinated and yet, able to communicate well with its suppliers as well as dealers. This came in the form of an organization which was capable of dissipating knowledge throughout its firm effectively and acts upon decisions made quickly (Choo, 2002). This means that Toyota is a matrix organization rather than a functional one which one might think it is at first glance. Secondly, it various factories internationally could be seen as SBU’s (Strategic Business Units) working autonomously yet liked to a central point. Reference http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/orgtheory.htm

Biochemical Engineering1 essays

Biochemical Engineering1 essays How would you like to examine physical properties of a wide array of different animals? Not only that but also research the processes of many organisms? If this sounds exciting, then biochemical engineering is the best career choice for you! Biochemists find many amazing things. For example, a biochemist discovered that increased flexing of a certain pelvic muscle helps to stimulate the activity in your brain. If you wanted a great job like this college is not always required. You can get internships with companies. In these internships you help out fellow scientist in there everyday duties. That can lead to self employed jobs which you control the experiments and do what you please. But this doesnt happen often, most of the time you will need to go to college for at least two years for your bachelors degree. Studies at Rutgers University for Chemistry include general chemistry for engineers, introduction to computers for engineers, engineering lectures, calculus, and physics. After you finish college the money will be rollin in. Biochemical engineers in Wisconsin make anywhere between $38,873 and $47,403 per year. For example there is a job in Madison as a product evaluation specialist for a prominent biotechnology firm. They evaluate the operation of new products and their effects. Now you see that this is a very fun, exciting, and promising job. I would recommend seeing your guidance councilor to see what local colleges would best suit your biochemical interests. Biochemistry: Protein Arrays Step Out of DNAs Shadow!, Science Service, Robert F.; 9-8-2000 http://sol.rutgets.edu/Web2000/biochem.html ...

Free Essays on Latin American Atrists

Alexis Leyva Machado, also known as â€Å"Kcho†, was born in 1970 on the Isla de la Juventud, a small island off the southern coast of Cuba. Today he is known as the island’s most internationally established artist since Wiferdo Lam. His sculptures are known for not only his hidden political meaning but also his use of materials out of the norm. He uses left over materials that have to do with the water to make his sculptures. He uses such things as old rowboats, fishing nets, oars, rafts, and other similar objects in his art. Kcho comments on the themes of his work stating â€Å"Where I grew up, all the limits were liquid.† He has been featured in more than 50 group shows and over 15 solo exhibitions around the world. He has one many awards such as the Saiz brothers prize in 1990, a scholarship from the Ludwig foundation, and the Unesco prize in 1995 awarded from Geneva, Switzerland. Although Kcho is from Cuba and is under a repressive regime his work has transcended a dictatorship country and is known in the U.S. and abroad. He was able to travel outside his home country in 1992 for the first time to participate in shows in Spain, Mexico, Holland and Belgium. Sly political references are blended into his work such as in one of his pieces from the Madrid show. This work was a series of drawings of docks, each dock in the shape of a letter that spelled out Elian, the name of the Cuban boy that survived a boat wreck and was therefore in the spotlight of mass media attention for months. Kcho currently resides in Havana and continues to put out impressive art works that are laden with his feelings and political statements that bring up to $4,000 for a drawing and up to $75,000 for just a small sculpture. His work can be viewed at www.ciac.ca/expos/kcho.html. Carmen Borrase Povedano de Mills is a painter born in Costa Rica. The artist uses fabrics and other elements such as strings, roses, and religious medals in her p... Free Essays on Latin American Atrists Free Essays on Latin American Atrists Alexis Leyva Machado, also known as â€Å"Kcho†, was born in 1970 on the Isla de la Juventud, a small island off the southern coast of Cuba. Today he is known as the island’s most internationally established artist since Wiferdo Lam. His sculptures are known for not only his hidden political meaning but also his use of materials out of the norm. He uses left over materials that have to do with the water to make his sculptures. He uses such things as old rowboats, fishing nets, oars, rafts, and other similar objects in his art. Kcho comments on the themes of his work stating â€Å"Where I grew up, all the limits were liquid.† He has been featured in more than 50 group shows and over 15 solo exhibitions around the world. He has one many awards such as the Saiz brothers prize in 1990, a scholarship from the Ludwig foundation, and the Unesco prize in 1995 awarded from Geneva, Switzerland. Although Kcho is from Cuba and is under a repressive regime his work has transcended a dictatorship country and is known in the U.S. and abroad. He was able to travel outside his home country in 1992 for the first time to participate in shows in Spain, Mexico, Holland and Belgium. Sly political references are blended into his work such as in one of his pieces from the Madrid show. This work was a series of drawings of docks, each dock in the shape of a letter that spelled out Elian, the name of the Cuban boy that survived a boat wreck and was therefore in the spotlight of mass media attention for months. Kcho currently resides in Havana and continues to put out impressive art works that are laden with his feelings and political statements that bring up to $4,000 for a drawing and up to $75,000 for just a small sculpture. His work can be viewed at www.ciac.ca/expos/kcho.html. Carmen Borrase Povedano de Mills is a painter born in Costa Rica. The artist uses fabrics and other elements such as strings, roses, and religious medals in her p...

Biography of Lucky Luciano, American Gangster

Biography of Lucky Luciano, American Gangster Charles Lucky Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania; November 24, 1897–January 26, 1962) was instrumental in creating the American Mafia as we know it today. After graduating from the gritty street gangs of New York, Luciano went on to become a henchman for the American branch of the infamous Cosa Nostra. A criminal mastermind, it was Luciano who orchestrated the unification of warring mob factions, creating the first Organized Crime Commission. In addition to taking on the mantle of the first kingpin of the modern Genovese crime family, he and his mob associates launched the highly successful and lucrative National Crime Syndicate. Lucky Luciano Known For: Charles â€Å"Lucky† Luciano was the criminal mastermind whose influence in shaping the mafia earned him the title of â€Å"father of modern organized crime.†Born: November 24, 1897 in Lercara Friddi,  Sicily, ItalyParents: Rosalia Capporelli and Antonio LucaniaDied: January 26, 1962 in Naples,  Campania, ItalySpouse:  Igea LissoniCriminal Convictions: Pandering, drug traffickingPublished Work: The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano: The Mafia Story in His Own Words (as told to Martin A. Gosch  and  Richard Hammer)Notable Quote: â€Å"There’s no such thing as good money or bad money. There’s just money. Early Years Lucianos family immigrated to the United States in 1906. His criminal career began not long after. At the age of 10, he was charged with his first crime (shoplifting). Luciano launched his first racket in 1907, charging Jewish and Italian kids in his Lower East Side neighborhood anything from one or two pennies to as much as a dime for his protection to and from school. If they refused to pay, Luciano beat them up rather than protect them. One of the kids, Meyer Lansky, refused to ante up. After Luciano failed to pound Lansky to a pulp, the two became friends and joined forces in the protection scheme. They remained friends and close associates throughout most of their lives. At the age of 14, Luciano dropped out of school and started a $7 per week delivery job, but after winning more than $200 in a craps game, he realized there were faster and easier ways of earning money. His parents sent him to The Brooklyn Truant School in hopes of straightening him out but in 1916 after his release, Luciano took over as leader of the notorious Five Points Gang, where he became acquainted with future Mafia leaders Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. In the years leading up to World War I, Luciano expanded his criminal enterprises to include pimping and drug trafficking, and while the police named him as a suspect in several local murders, he was never indicted. The 1920s By 1920, Luciano had branched out into bootlegging and illegal gambling. With financing and an education in social skills from his mentor Arnold the Brain Rothstein, Luciano and his partners were grossing over $12 million a year from the sale of illicit alcohol by 1925. Luciano, Costello, and Genovese had the largest bootlegging operation in New York with a territory that extended as far as Philadephia. By the late 1920s, Luciano had become a chief aide in the largest crime family in the country, led by Giuseppe Joe the Boss Masseria. Initially recruited as a gunman, as time went on, Luciano came to despise the old Mafia (Cosa Nostra) traditions- and especially Masserias belief that non-Sicilians could not be trusted (which ironically, turned out to be true in Lucianos case). After being kidnapped and mugged, Luciano discovered Joe the Boss was behind the attack. A few months later, he decided to betray Masseria by covertly joining forces with the second largest mafia clan led by Salvatore Maranzano. The Castellammarese War began in 1928 and, over the next two years, several gangsters connected to Masseria and Maranzana were killed. Luciano, who was still working for both camps, led four men- including Bugsy Siegel- to a meeting he had arranged with Masseria. The four men sprayed his former boss with bullets, killing him. After the death of Masseria, Maranzano became the Boss of Bosses in New York but his ultimate goal was to become the leading boss in the United States. Maranzano appointed Lucky Luciano as his No. 2 man. The working relationship was short-lived, however. After learning of a plan by Maranzano to double-cross him and wipe out Al Capone in the bargain, Luciano decided to strike first, organizing a meeting at which Maranzano was killed. Lucky Luciano became The Boss of New York and, almost overnight, he began moving into more rackets and expanding their power. The 1930s The 1930s were prosperous times for Luciano, who was now able to break ethnic barriers formerly laid out by the old Mafia. He strengthened his outreach in areas of bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, loan-sharking, narcotics, and labor rackets. In 1936, Luciano was convicted on charges of compulsory prostitution (pandering) and drug trafficking. He was sentenced to 30-50 years but maintained control of the syndicate while behind bars. The 1940s In the early 1940s at the onset of Americas involvement in World War II, Luciano struck a deal with U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence. He offered to supply information to help protect the mob-run New York docks from Nazi saboteurs  in exchange for a move to a better prison and the possibility of early parole. Luciano was transferred to Great Meadow Correctional Facility from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora in upstate New York. He continued his collaboration, known as Operation Underworld, for the remaining years of the war. In 1946, Governor Thomas E. Dewey (who while serving as Special Prosecutor was responsible for Lucianos conviction) granted the mobster a commutation of sentence and had him deported to Italy, where he was able to resume control over the American syndicate. Luciano snuck into Cuba in October 1946, where he attended The Havana Conference, a meeting of the five major crime families hosted by Lansky who already had an established presence in Cuba. The cover for the meeting was an appearance by Frank Sinatra. During the week-long conference that focused on the heroin trade and gambling activities in Cuba, and also to decide the fate of Bugsy Siegel and his Las Vegas money pit, the Flamingo Hotel, Luciano met privately with Genovese, who suggested that Luciano take on a figurehead role as Boss of Bosses while allowing Genovese to control the day-to-day activities of the syndicate. Luciano declined, saying: There is no Boss of Bosses. I turned it down in front of everybody. If I ever change my mind, I will take the title. But it wont be up to you. Right now you work for me and I aint in the mood to retire. Dont you ever let me hear this again, or Ill lose my temper. When the U.S. government got wind of Lucianos presence in Cuba, it quickly moved to have him repatriated to Italy, where he remained for the rest of his life. While he continued to profit from mob-related activities, his power and influence waned. Death and Legacy As Luciano grew older, his long-time relationship with Lansky began to falter. Luciano felt he wasnt getting his fair share from the mob. Disgruntled, he arranged to have his memoirs written- not to bare his soul so much as to set the record straight as he saw it. He outlined his exploits to writer Richard Hammer and had also arranged to meet with producer Martin Gosch about a possible film version of the project. Word of his confessional (The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano: The Mafia Story in His Own Words, published posthumously) did not sit well with Lucianos former mob associates. In 1962, Luciano suffered a fatal heart attack in the Naples airport, where he talked about the movie with Gosch. There is some conjecture that Luciano did not die of natural causes and that his death may have been a hit in retribution for his turning canary. Lucianos body was sent back to the United States and buried at St. Johns Cemetery in New York City. It is believed that Luciano was one of the most powerful men in organized crime and to this day, his influence over the gangster activity can be felt in this country. He was the first person to challenge the old Mafia by breaking through ethnic barriers and creating a network of gangs that comprised the first national crime syndicate and continued to exert control organized crime long after his death. Sources Donati, William. Lucky Luciano: The Rise and Fall of a Mob Boss. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Company, 2010.  Gosch, Martin A.; Hammer, Richard. 1974.  The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano: The Mafia Story in His Own Words. Little Brown and Company.Newark, Tim. Boardwalk Gangster: The Real Lucky Luciano. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2011.

Ecology and Environment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ecology and Environment - Research Paper Example Humans are the most advanced organisms in the ecosystem; unlike other organisms that adapt to their environment, humans normally try to make their environment adapt to their needs. In this attempt to unbalance nature, effects of human activities are always more detrimental than any other. These would include such drastic effects as deforestation and the nowadays much publicized global worming.My surrounding is an exciting place full of life and activities. Organisms live and interact with one another freely. However, occasionally, there would always be conflicts within the ecosystem. A highly agricultural terrain with lots of vegetation to show for it, the cool wet climate ensures that tea, coffee, pyrethrum, and other crops do well and are, therefore, planted in large scale. A lake lies to the eastern end and to the southern border lies a game reserve. These two are representations of the existence of all spheres of life in this ecosystem. All the basic needs that any organism would need lie within range. The presence of us humans, however, complicates issues. With humans always wanting large trunks of arable lands for themselves, they would go to any length to get what they want. This would always see to it that more animals are killed as others migrate from the area in an attempt to seek further hunting fields. From time to time, this has seen the extinction of some indigenous animals as previous reports show. From time to time, this has seen the extinction of some indigenous animals as previous reports show.

Martin Luther King jr Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Martin Luther King jr - Essay Example grew up in a society where there was a lot of segregation but he rose up against the social injustices in various ways that even saw him to be recognized as a Nobel Prize winner in the year 1964. This essay will discuss the major inspirations imparted by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his career and other activities that aimed at terminating social injustices in the U.S. To start with, Martin Luther King Jr. started reformation towards social justice at early stages in his life, something not very common to many people. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in a family of religious leaders, who advocated for social justice and fairness in the society. As a result, the young Martin Luther King Jr., initially named as Michael King was exposed to social issues that affected American populations. According to the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, the activism of his father against racial discrimination as well as the depression period in the country made Martin Luther King Jr. to be acquainted with the social injustices and economic inequalities in the country (1). Therefore, the nature of the early life of Martin Luther King Jr. made him to develop agitation for fairness to people in the society. What inspires most in this story is that Martin Luther King Jr. did not stop at that but took an initiative against the prevailing injustices . The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute points out that following the inspiration from his father as well as other religious leaders, Martin Luther King Jr. took an initiative of being ordained as a church leader and started his political activism by writing letters to editors of national newspapers while still at Morehouse College (1). This is quite inspiring because very few students can take such a bold step at their tender ages as in the case of Martin Luther King Jr. Of more significance, Martin Luther King Jr. was confident to criticize any issue that seemed not right in the

LOVE Bussines Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Management Issue Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Handwashing techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Handwashing techniques - Essay Example coli and samples taken of the bacteria count on their fingers. Both hands were involved in the experiment. Next, half the participants (three in number) were asked to disinfect their hands using only soap and water while the other half were asked to do so with the NHS standard handwash – alcohol and chlorhexidine in 1:10 dilution. Samples were taken of the fingers after disinfecting. Samples were sustained for 24 hours after which the bacteria counts were taken. It was found that for all participants, both for normal and NHS standard handwash, there was reduction in the bacteria counts post-disinfect over pre-disinfect but the normal handwash – only soap and water – porved more efficacious than the NHS standard one. It is construed that since there is no established literature on the matter there is need to further investigate if the NHS recommended handwashing technique is superior to normal ones. As this report shows, it does seem like the normal handwashing te chniques proves superior to the NHS standard. This paper investigates the efficiencies of normal handwashing techniques against that recommended by the National Health Service (NHS) UK. It should be known that handwashing is a very essential part of not only the healthcare profession but also all other professionals that somehow deal with toxic and virulent substances and organisms whenever there is possibility of such malignant materials coming into contact with the hands. Since it is the hands that humans primarily use to connect with outside materials it is these appendages that have to be thoroughly cleansed to negate the possibility of the toxicity or virulence being transmitted to other human individuals who may later come into contact with the concerned individual. This is not only for the safety of the human community within which the individual coming into initial contact with such toxicity or virulence but also of the

Strategic Choices at Toyota Corporation Assignment

Strategic Choices at Toyota Corporation - Assignment Example The company’s first truck design weighed one to one and a half ton after assembling. After the Second World War, other nations developed an interest in Toyota’s trucks due to their astounding efficiency during the war. Although they were low on speed, their involvement in the war was highly consequential in that they had eased mobility. This paper will take a broad look into the history and evolution of Toyota, the strategies it used to stay on top of the motor world and its recent strategic moves into making it the leading car brand in the World today. Toyota experienced remarkable growth during the post-war period as the United States encouraged them to venture into the manufacture of other locomotives other than those for war. Remarkably, their invention would later be used in the agricultural sector and above all in the public transport industry. As a result, this led to the designing of the Toyopet, which was one door minimized vehicle. After the withdrawn involvement of the U.S military, its production rose to two hundred and fifteen cars yearly. By the year 1965, Toyota automobile made six hundred thousand units per annum compared to eight thousands four hundred units in 1955. In its expansion process, Toyota designed a weapon carrier truck, the Land Cruiser, whose features resembled those of a jeep. On the contrary, its engine capacity was bigger than that of the Jeep by a slight margin. Its first comfort car, the Crown, emerged in 1955 with a four-power cylinder, half- liter engine capacity and a customized column shift. Th e Toyota Corona was the second luxury vehicle incepted into the Toyota stable whose manufacture growth per month increased to fifty thousand car units by 1964. Since that time, Toyota has continued to release remarkable brands into the world market. The SWOT analysis is the critical evaluation of the Strengths and Weaknesses from within an organization in relation to the external Opportunities and Threats essentially to determine its growth and development.  

Handwashing techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Handwashing techniques - Essay Example coli and samples taken of the bacteria count on their fingers. Both hands were involved in the experiment. Next, half the participants (three in number) were asked to disinfect their hands using only soap and water while the other half were asked to do so with the NHS standard handwash – alcohol and chlorhexidine in 1:10 dilution. Samples were taken of the fingers after disinfecting. Samples were sustained for 24 hours after which the bacteria counts were taken. It was found that for all participants, both for normal and NHS standard handwash, there was reduction in the bacteria counts post-disinfect over pre-disinfect but the normal handwash – only soap and water – porved more efficacious than the NHS standard one. It is construed that since there is no established literature on the matter there is need to further investigate if the NHS recommended handwashing technique is superior to normal ones. As this report shows, it does seem like the normal handwashing te chniques proves superior to the NHS standard. This paper investigates the efficiencies of normal handwashing techniques against that recommended by the National Health Service (NHS) UK. It should be known that handwashing is a very essential part of not only the healthcare profession but also all other professionals that somehow deal with toxic and virulent substances and organisms whenever there is possibility of such malignant materials coming into contact with the hands. Since it is the hands that humans primarily use to connect with outside materials it is these appendages that have to be thoroughly cleansed to negate the possibility of the toxicity or virulence being transmitted to other human individuals who may later come into contact with the concerned individual. This is not only for the safety of the human community within which the individual coming into initial contact with such toxicity or virulence but also of the

Communication in Early Childhood Essay Example for Free

Communication in Early Childhood Essay Communication is the most important factor for young children’s learning and social development. Humans have the unique skills of language and speech to enable the sharing of information, knowledge and feelings with others. Early childhood educators have an important job to nurture and support the development of communication in children. Communication skills are required in order to deliver the right message and convey it properly to the child. These involve body languages and facial expression. Without this, an educator loses the connection with a young child since one appears to be cold. As an example, when one smiles while delivering the message, the child will be more interested with what you have to offer in contrast to a stern look. Listening skills are those that are used in obtaining information and messages from others. It is imperative that you have the ability to receive feedback from the child so that you may know their needs. It helps to understand what a person thinks and feels and hence to understand the child closely. Skills for managing the process of communication will help the educator in recognising information required and developing a strong hold on the rules of interaction and communication (MacCallion, 1988). Communication has been described as the process where information is transmitted from one person to another. This includes the use of both verbal and non-verbal means to convey a message. Non-verbal communication includes facial expression as well as body language. Good communication skills involve listening, reading, writing and speaking. An early childhood educator deals with children between the ages of birth and 8years. It is at this age when the child learns to relate with others as well as society. Good communication skills are therefore essential for early childhood educators as they may influence the relationship between the teacher and children (Hubley, 1993). Teaching involves sending and receiving information from the students. Good communications skills will encourage the students to participate in the teaching process. This helps portray school as a place where the students can share ideas as well as relate with society. At this early age, most of the children perceive school as a place that separates them from their family. It is likely that most of the children at this age will prefer to stay at home rather than attend school. Good communication skills will help encourage students to appreciate school as a place of learning as well as a place they can express their own ideas (Joram, 1998). Good communication skills are essential in early childhood education. This is because at this age the child is learning how to express themselves both verbally and non-verbally. Children develop communication skills by exploring, sharing and interacting with adults through their own environment. According to recent studies, children at this age learn by observing how their parents and caretakers behave. It is therefore essential that the educator has good communication skills as this will affect how the children express themselves and learn in the future (knott, 1979). The main aim of early childhood education is to encourage academic, emotional and physical growth. However at this age the learning abilities of a child are not fully developed. In a recent study the concentration span of an adult is below 15 minutes while that of a child is less than 5 minutes. This means that the educator has to find ways to engage the child to maintain a longer concentration span. This involves the use of illustrations as well as demonstration that help capture the interest of the child. Good communication skills are essential in aiding the educators’ ability to maintain the child’s concentration span (Joram, 1998). Early childhood education involves the use of play as the mode of education. This is important in nurturing the child’s development as well as learning. Good communication skills are essential in providing an environment where the children feel free to play with each other as well as participate in the class activities. Play involves participation by the children as well the educator. It is essential for the early childhood educator to be able to create a nurturing environment where the child is confident to interact with others and express themselves. The role of the educator does not solely lie in teaching but also protecting  the child in the absence of their parents. The educator should promote the child’s wellbeing both at school and home. As an example an early childhood educator may notice that children are not interested in the book corner yet all the children enjoy story time and also enjoy looking through the books afterwards, however they will not look at the books in the designated area. With further observation and interaction with the children, it is discovered the children have a fear of the photo of a clown that is hanging above the book corner. Good communication skills cannot be ignored in providing an environment where the child feels able to express their fears openly. Listening, observing and interacting are a key role in enhancing good communication skills (Robinson, 2007). It is essential that the educator observes the children playing before participating in the play themselves. This helps the teacher understand the strengths and weaknesses of the children. It also helps the teacher avoid imposing adult ideas in the children’s play. Observation is a key aspect in developing good communication skills. It is through observation that the educator is able to take an initiative role. This means coming up with new ideas or processes that are based on the children’s ideas (McCarthy, 1996). Good communication skills can enable a teacher to organise parent teacher conferences which provide the opportunity for teacher and parents to discuss developmental skills, children’s work and to plan for future learning experiences. The educator can also engage the young child in cooperative learning where children complete a project or task. Pairs work best in kindergartens. The tasks are in such a way that success of the performance is based on the pair rather than the individual. A good educator should therefore be able to ensure that communication is established in such learning experiences (Wubbels, 1992). Use of illustrations has been shown to build the imagination of a child immensely. Good communications skills emphasis on the power of expressing yourself not only by facial and gestures but also employing other teaching materials such as illustrations. By illustrating sections of a story or particular events, children can improve their interpretation and  comprehension. Children employ responses and personal understanding when they see story characters visually. This develops a child’s imagination and the ability to visualise and interpret printed and spoken information (Hubley, 1993). The importance of communication cannot be stressed further when it comes to early childhood education. Communication skills are core of almost all activities that are practiced at this early age which dictates the type of person that one will grow to. Neither can the importance of communication skills be neglected or ignored. Effective communication promotes the interest and needs of the young child. The child will show interest only if the teacher is loaded with gestures, confidence and softness. Improving of the communication skills have been shown to bring about a tight bond between the childhood educator and the child. The most important aspects of life are greatly influenced by good communication skills. This leads to respectful and meaningful relationships between the educator and child. In order to feel and have the bliss of healthy emotions at home, there is a need to develop communication skills when it comes to children. Some educators are not worried when it comes to communication and therefore emotional attachments are rare. Emotions connect human beings in a complex fashion. It is therefore paramount that early childhood educators acquire good skills of communication to ensure that the young brain is able to gather as much as possible and express as much. In doing so, the young child would be able to learn more and the literacy and learning capability levels of the general population could reach unimaginable levels. Reference List MacCallion, M. (1998). The Voice Book. London, UK: Faber Faber. Hubley, J. (1993) . Communication Health. London, UK: Macmillan. Joram, E. (1998). Transforming obstacles into opportunity. Teaching and teacher education, 14 (2), 175-191. doi:10. 1016/S0742-051X(97)00035-8 Knott, P. (1979). Nonverbal Communication during Early Childhood. Communicating with Young Children 18 (4) 226-233 http://www. jstor. org/stable/1476648 Robinson, M. (2007). Child Development and Behaviour 0-8: A Journey through the Early Years. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press. McCarthy, P (1996). Speaking Persuasively. Sydney: Allen Unwin.

Language Learning Autobiography Example

Language Learning Autobiography Example Write a detailed account of your experience of learning English so far. Start by saying what your native language is and what other languages you know. State the order in which you learned these languages and how well you know each of them. Describe when and where you started learning English, express your feelings about learning English at each stage and provide details of what helped you in your learning, what difficulties and problems you faced and the efforts you made to improve your command over the language. Also explain what influence other people (for example, your parents, teachers, siblings or friends) had on the development of your English and on your confidence in using English. Finally, end with some advice to other students about what they should do to improve their English. I am a Malaysian Chinese girl. I grow up in a small town named as Teluk Intan situated in Perak, Malaysia. My first language is Chinese and I am a fully Chinese-based school educated. Either at home or outside, Chinese is the language I used the most. Besides Chinese, I do learnt English language since during my early childhood and Malay language during my primary school level. Although I do know the other languages, still I prefer to communicate or write in mandarin. I think I have moderated level for all this three language as I am able to express my idea verbally either in written form or spoken form. I started learning my English during my early childhood. At about the age of 3 or 4 years old, by sing nursery rhythms and English poems. I learnt nursery song in the daytime at kindergarten together with some other friends at the same age with me. Hereby, I feel very happy to learnt English. The teacher always use colourful picture and However during night time, I went to a home tuition centre and learn some English together with both my sister who is 3 to 4 years older than me. In the tuition centre, I was the youngest and I feel very shy to talk to them thought they were very nice. Besides that, the teacher also told my parents that I was too small scared that I was not able to catch up. Thus I went for a few classes only. The second stage of my English learning is during my primary school level. Since I studied at Chinese-based primary school, English language is not commonly used though it was being taught in the class. In this stages, I found that English is hard but interesting. It was hard because there are a lots of grammar and rules that I have to follow while writing. However, it is interesting as in English, there are words with the same spelling but different meaning and pronunciation, words with the same pronunciation but different spelling too. Besides that under this stage, I got a very good English teacher when I was in Standard 4 whereby he used many interesting ways to teach us English. I got motivated by the teacher and the prize for the English month quiz. This motivation pushed me until I finished my secondary school. In my secondary school, I was some how like get attracted by English language. I had even join the English language club though it is a very cold club and the teacher adviser seldom do her part guiding us to do the activity. Besides that, this motivation had also pushed me to buy English novel to read. And lastly, I become a royal fans to Rick Riordan. I do even look for every of his books and keep them as precious collection. In this stage thought I have the motivation pushing me to use more English and to love English more; I still had some difficulties and feel like going to give up English. I had such a feeling because of having difficulties in understanding of literature and the way my English teacher taught us English and literature. After Form 5, I was really gave up English language for around seven months. Until I went to Tunku Abdul Rahman College to study Form 6. In the college, I met some classmate who are English educated and cannot speak their mother tongue language. Thereby, I had to use back my English. I though my English is very good, but there, I found out that my English is the worst. All my friends cannot understood what am I going to say either. I was there for about two months and was later get involve in Kirkby International College which I am in now. Yet my English being better here, I was almost gave up as the worst English I was using. However, I was being encouraged by my lecture here to use English language more. Thus, I make my effort to improve my English language. I bought a lots of English books to improve my grammar and vocabulary. Yet, my English improved as I use Manglish a lot and what I would like to say I used to translate it from Mandarin which is my mother language to English. In conclusion, learning a second language is never be difficult. It is all depend on the determination of the person. To learn a better second language, ones need to use the language frequently. Yet, I can say that my English is the best; my English improved a lot since I used it more frequently.

The American Constitution Essay -- United States Constitution

The American Constitution The basis of all law in the United States is the Constitution. This Constitution is a document written by "outcasts" of England. The Constitution of the United States sets forth the nation's fundamental laws. It establishes the form of the national government and defines the rights and liberties of the American people. It also lists the aims of the government and the methods of achieving them. The Constitution was written to organize a strong national government for the American states. Previously, the nation's leaders had established a national government under the Articles of Confederation. But the Articles granted independence to each state. They lacked the authority to make the states work together to solve national problems. After the states won independence in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), they faced the problems of peacetime government. The states had to enforce law and order, collect taxes, pay a large public debt, and regulate trade among themselves. They also had to deal with Indian tribes and negotiate with other governments. Leading statesmen, such as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, began to discuss the creation of a strong national government under a new constitution. The United States is a republic that operates under a federalist system. The national government had specific enumerated powers, and the fifty states retain substantial endowment over their citizens and their residents. Both the national government and the state government are divided into three different branches, executive, legislative, and judicial. Written constitutions, both federal and state, form a system of separated powers. Amendment, in legislation, is a change in a law, or in a bill before it becomes a law. Bills often have amendments attached before a legislature votes on them. Amendments to the Constitution of the United States may be proposed in two ways: (1) If two-thirds of both houses approve, Congress may propose an amendment. The amendment becomes a law when ratified either by legislatures or by conventions in three-fourths of the states. (2) If the legislatures of two-thirds of the states ask for an amendment, Congress must call a convention to propose it. The amendment becomes a law when ratified either by the legisl... ... juries in some states may have as few as 6 members. The jury or judge hears the evidence for and against the defendant and then reaches a verdict. If the individual is found guilty, the judge pronounces sentence. If the defendant is found not guilty, he or she is released. In most cases, the judge determines the sentence for a defendant convicted of a crime. The judge imposes punishment that he or she feels will best serve both the offender and society. Laws may provide a maximum and a minimum sentence according to the crime involved. In some cases, the recommendation of the jury determines the sentence that may be given to the offender. The judge may put a convicted offender on probation to protect the individual from the harmful effects of being imprisoned with experienced criminals. A lawbreaker who is on probation remains free but must follow certain rules. A probation officer assigned by the court supervises the individual's conduct. A probationer who violates any of the rules of his or her probation may be sent to prison. Some judges require offenders to repay their victims, either with money or by working for them without pay.

Architect of the Byzantine Legacy Essay -- Justinianus Architecture Es

Architect of the Byzantine Legacy Byzantine Emperor Justinian was the bold architect of a revitalized Byzantine Empire that would leave a lasting legacy for Western Civilization. As much of Europe entered the Dark Ages, Justinian's vision of a restored Roman Empire would reverse the decline of the Byzantine Empire and lay a firm foundation that would allow the Byzantine Empire to survive for centuries to come. Justinian, whose full name was Flavius Anicius Julianus Justinianus, was born around 483 AD at Tauresium in Illyricum in the Balkans of present-day central Europe. He was the nephew of Byzantine Emperor Justin, the son of Justin's sister Vigilantia (Fortescue). Justinian's uncle, Justin, was the Byzantine Emperor from 518 until his death in 527. As a young man, Justin had left his home province of Dacia, going to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople to seek his fortune. He eventually rose to the position of commander of the "excubitors", the handpicked 300-soldier guard of the Byzantine Emperor. When he was selected to succeed Emperor Anastasius, he was an old man, weak in body and mind. He took the office reluctantly, writing to Pope Hormisdas in Rome, announcing his elevation to the Emperor's throne and complaining he had been chosen against his will (Evans). Justin handed over much of the duties of governing the Empire to his wife, Lupicina, and his nephew, Justinian. This power sharing arrangement would help to prepare Justinian to succeed him. Justinian worked hard and rose in position in his uncle's government. He was proclaimed consul in 521, and rose to the post of general-in-chief of the Byzantine military in April, 527. In August of the same year Justin died, and Justinian became Emperor (Fortescue).... ... Joseph E. O'Connor. Justinian I, Roman Emperor. . 1999. Koeller, David W. The Battle of Adrianople. Koeller, David W. The Empress Theodora. Halsall, Paul. Medieval Sourcebook: Corpus Iuris Civilis, 6th Century. . Jan 1996. Loffler, Klemmons, translated by Michael Waggoner. Ostrogoths. 1999. Neelin, David G. Timeline: Ancient Rome . 2000. Norwich, John Julius. A Short History of Byzantium. Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher. New York, 1998. Scheifler, Michael. The Justinian Code and the Catholic Faith. Stockoe, Mark and Kishkovsky, Leonid. Orthodox Christians in North America, 1794-1994. Orthodox Christian Publications Center. Wayne, New Jersey, 1995. Shaw, David J. A World's Eye View of the Law. UNESCO Courier, Nov 1999. p26 Whittow, Mark. The Making of Byzantium, 600-1025. University of California Press. Berkeley, California, 1996. Architect of the Byzantine Legacy Essay -- Justinianus Architecture Es Architect of the Byzantine Legacy Byzantine Emperor Justinian was the bold architect of a revitalized Byzantine Empire that would leave a lasting legacy for Western Civilization. As much of Europe entered the Dark Ages, Justinian's vision of a restored Roman Empire would reverse the decline of the Byzantine Empire and lay a firm foundation that would allow the Byzantine Empire to survive for centuries to come. Justinian, whose full name was Flavius Anicius Julianus Justinianus, was born around 483 AD at Tauresium in Illyricum in the Balkans of present-day central Europe. He was the nephew of Byzantine Emperor Justin, the son of Justin's sister Vigilantia (Fortescue). Justinian's uncle, Justin, was the Byzantine Emperor from 518 until his death in 527. As a young man, Justin had left his home province of Dacia, going to the Byzantine capital of Constantinople to seek his fortune. He eventually rose to the position of commander of the "excubitors", the handpicked 300-soldier guard of the Byzantine Emperor. When he was selected to succeed Emperor Anastasius, he was an old man, weak in body and mind. He took the office reluctantly, writing to Pope Hormisdas in Rome, announcing his elevation to the Emperor's throne and complaining he had been chosen against his will (Evans). Justin handed over much of the duties of governing the Empire to his wife, Lupicina, and his nephew, Justinian. This power sharing arrangement would help to prepare Justinian to succeed him. Justinian worked hard and rose in position in his uncle's government. He was proclaimed consul in 521, and rose to the post of general-in-chief of the Byzantine military in April, 527. In August of the same year Justin died, and Justinian became Emperor (Fortescue).... ... Joseph E. O'Connor. Justinian I, Roman Emperor. . 1999. Koeller, David W. The Battle of Adrianople. Koeller, David W. The Empress Theodora. Halsall, Paul. Medieval Sourcebook: Corpus Iuris Civilis, 6th Century. . Jan 1996. Loffler, Klemmons, translated by Michael Waggoner. Ostrogoths. 1999. Neelin, David G. Timeline: Ancient Rome . 2000. Norwich, John Julius. A Short History of Byzantium. Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher. New York, 1998. Scheifler, Michael. The Justinian Code and the Catholic Faith. Stockoe, Mark and Kishkovsky, Leonid. Orthodox Christians in North America, 1794-1994. Orthodox Christian Publications Center. Wayne, New Jersey, 1995. Shaw, David J. A World's Eye View of the Law. UNESCO Courier, Nov 1999. p26 Whittow, Mark. The Making of Byzantium, 600-1025. University of California Press. Berkeley, California, 1996.