Financial Managment course project Research Paper

Financial Managment course project - Research Paper Example Discussion of the family riches would involve studying the personal, professional and the financial initiative that makes the family rich. Financial initiative Finance initiative represent a step taken by an individual by showing his willingness to remain strong in gaining market share while trumping the existing competition. The Rothschild family has taken a financial initiative to ensure that they remain economically afloat. One of the major financial initiative taken by the family is the maximizing their concentration in bank investment. Since the foundation by Amschel Rothschild the family has continued, sharpen their ways of bank investment because of the realization that it fetch them more money (Nasar, 2000, p.636). The concentration in banking activities has helped the family in developing better ways of increasing their wealth through their investment. For instance, the family have branches across the UK and US something that has helped in increasing their market share. Esta blishing branches in the richest zones around the world is enough financial initiative that would have acted as a pinnacle for the wealth of the family. The branches helped the family into reaching a wider market thereby raising their acquisition from the market. Another financial initiative witnessed by the family in the early 20th century is their involvement in other investment activities. After the realization that only one type of investment would not serve well, the family went flexible by exploring other investment activities. The family decided to expand their operations by investing in railway, coal, iron working, oil and metallurgical investments (Golden, 2012, p. 67). This change in the strategy assured the family of success since a failure in one activity would have been compensated by the success of another. It is true that diversification in the investment activities helped the family a bid deal especially after the Nazi seized their Austrian banking house. Without the investment in other acitivities, the family would have suffered some sort of downfall. The family has also included in their operation, the provision of government securities. Another financial initiative applied by the family is the expansion of its operation to include government securities and industrial companies. The two, government and industrial companies represent the pillar of any economy; hence, their inclusion means the family has also established themselves as a pillar in the economy. Inclusion of government as one of the clients represents one of the strongest financial initiative that a company can make. It is often difficult for the government to suffer downfalls hence a deal with them is an initiative towards staying rich as long as the government remains in position. The government is the last resort for any activity occurring in a country; hence, including them in investment means the family have strengthened their acquisition in the territory. Further, another fi nancial initiative is the inclusion of the bigger industrial companies in their investment activities. This also assures the family of a lasting wealth since the other big industrial companies would do anything within their effort to avoid downfall. The financial initiative taken by the family, in including the big names in their investment list, means that their downfall would mean the downfall of the global economy. It is difficult for the

Persuasive speech on child sex abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Persuasive speech on child sex abuse - Essay Example The immediate impact could be adverse, but in the long run, the future of these children is put into test especially the kind of adult people they become. III. National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) in 2007 reported that of all the cases confirmed or substantiated as either child neglect or abuse, 9.3 percent of them were related to sexual abuse (â€Å"The national centre for victims of crime† web). These figures translated to a total of 83,800 victims in that year alone. This is a worrying trend in the modern world, despite reports indicating of a declining trend in this problem. This number represents a high number of children who have to suffer for no cause under the arms of people who are supposed to be offering them protection and love. Such reality should raise alarm to all of us since at one particular time we will be parents in case we are not are already. None of us I am sure would want their children to suffer sexual abuse or molestation. IV. Thesis Statement: due to the numerous negative effects associated with child abuse, there is needed to implement laws that will ensure that children are treated properly without worry. First I will discuss the effects of child sexual abuse, followed by proposed solutions to the problem, which would be focused on promoting good treatment among the children. Finally, I will share on the various benefits associated with adopting laws meant to oversee proper treatment of children in the society. I. Disturbing figures indicate that 1.6% or 16 out of every one thousand children suffer from rape cases, as reported by the Bureau of Justice Statics report. Annually, close to 16% of the youth in the United States are sexually abused. Results from different studies in 1986, 2000, 2002 and 2005 reveals similar results that 63% of women who had suffered sexual abuse by a family member also reported to have been

Use of Literary Elements in Slaughterhouse-Five Essay Example for Free

Use of Literary Elements in Slaughterhouse-Five Essay Slaughterhouse-Five 1993. The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter. Choose a novel, play, or long poem in which a scene or character awakens thoughtful laughter in the reader. Write an essay in which you show why this laughter is thoughtful and how it contributes to the meaning of the work. English author George Meredith wrote, â€Å"The true test of comedy is that it shall awaken thoughtful laughter.† Slaughterhouse-Five would have been quite the comedy in Meredith’s eyes, because it is an extremely satirical work. Satire is writing that ridicules human weakness in order to bring about social reform. Ridicule, in this case, is humorous mockery of something, making people thoughtfully laugh about the situations which these characters find themselves in. In the Kurt Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse-Five, the main character Billy wants only to have a normal American life, but his studies to become an optometrist are interrupted by his being drafted into the army during World War II and, as a prisoner of war, experiences the tragic bombing of Dresden. Then, he begins regular travels to the planet Tralfamadore. He also begins to become â€Å"unstuck in time;† he is time traveling. This essay discusses the use of satire in Slaughterhouse-Five to communicate to the reader the themes which are addressed in the book. In chapter four of Slaughterhouse-Five, satire is used through the comic depiction of a war film depicting the process of dropping bombs, all the way from mining the materials needed to make the bombs, to dropping them, to the planes landing back where they came from (74-75). This film, though, is described as it played backwards, as if somebody is rewinding a VHS cassette. Comic relief is the inclusion of something humorous often to heighten the emotional impact by means of contrast. The war film, when played backwards, conveys a very serious topic, but is lightened by the diverting and comical description of the reverse playing of the film. Comic relief is used to make the reader laugh and pay attention to what in other situations would be a very dry and boring scene, and likely think about it later. This part of the story addresses the destruction of war, a main theme  of Slaughterhouse-Five. By the use of comic relief, the reader is forced not to ignore the scene for fear of having to think about the destruction of war, satirically pointing out the reader’s distaste for tough topics such as the destruction of war. It also explicitly, yet not grossly, highlights the destruction of, specifically, dropping bombs as a wartime tactic. Farce is a comedy characterized by improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and broad satire. In Slaughterhouse-Five, one of the many instances of farce is the character Howard W. Campbell, Jr. (128-131). Campbell is an ex-prisoner of war who has turned his support to the Germans and is trying to form a unit of Americans who shift their allegiance to the Germans to fight against the Russian Communists. In his ridiculous and highly symbolic outfit, he tries to appeal to the American prisoners of war his ideas that the Germans are fighting for many of the same purposes as the Americans: against the Communists. Because of the outrageous and funny nature of Campbell, one is forced to think about the rash idealism which he stands for. Farce in this situation is used to denounce the metanarratives that are taught in war. It first emphasizes the craziness of the German ideal, and then the dogmatic wills of the Americans who do anything to reiterate their hatred for Communists. Then, when Edgar Derby, the leader of the American prisoners of war, stands up to speak against Campbell, the section is used to denounce the post-World War I anti-German metanarrative. Black comedy is the combining of morbid and serious topics with elements of low comedy to underscore the senseless futility of life. It is used as a form of comic relief in Slaughterhouse-Five while Billy is on a plane on the way to the convention of optometrists (155-156). His father-in-law asks the barbershop quartet to sing his favorite song. The song is quite comical and uses lots of low humor, such as cursing and parodying Polish accents. This reminds the author of a very serious time when Billy saw a Polish man being hanged in the street during World War II for having sexual intercourse with a German woman. The reader is pulled in by the funny song which is then related to the very serious topic of racial discrimination and hate. This connects to the theme of the terribleness of racial hatred. Irony is something that is opposite of what is meant, what is supposed to happen, or what makes sense. In Slaughterhouse-Five, irony occurs in the Kilgore Trout story about Jesus (109). He is a nobody, and for fun, the Romans crucify him. Then, they realize that he is the son of God and that he was an unfortunate person to kill. This causes the reader to rethink everything they have thought about the the gospel of Jesus Christ and free will, and also to laugh about their ignorance of this new idea of what really happened in the beginning of the New Testament. The theme addressed by this short story is that nobody is completely sure of what is going on, and somebody else such as God must be in charge, thus, there is no free will. Many themes are addressed in Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, like the denunciation of the metanarratives popularized during war, the disagreement with the legitimacy of the destruction of war, the horribleness of racial hatred, and the lack of free will. These topics are discussed in Slaughterhouse-Five through the use of humorous elements such as black comedy and farce. One may choose to think about these very important themes, and maybe they will affect one’s life.

Types Of Data Compression Computer Science Essay

Types Of Data Compression Computer Science Essay Data compression has come of age in the last 20 years. Both the quantity and the quality of the body of literature in this field provide ample proof of this. There are many known methods for data compression. They are based on different ideas, are suitable for different types of data, and produce different results, but they are all based on the same principle, namely they compress data by removing redundancies from the original data in the source file. This report discusses the different types of data compression, the advantages of data compression and the procedures of data compression. 2.0 DATA COMPRESSION Data compression is important in this age because of the amount of data that is transferred within a certain network. It makes the transfer of data relatively easy [1]. This section explains and compares lossy and lossless compression techniques. 2.1 LOSSLESS DATA COMPRESSION Lossless data compression makes use of data compression algorithms that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. This can be contrasted to lossy data compression, which does not allow the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. Lossless data compression is used in many applications [2]. Lossless compression is used when it is vital that the original and the decompressed data be identical, or when no assumption can be made on whether certain deviation is uncritical. Most lossless compression programs implements two kinds of algorithms: one which generates a statistical model for the input data, and another which maps the input data to bit strings using this model in such a way that probable (e.g. frequently encountered) data will produce shorter output than improbable data. Often, only the former algorithm is named, while the second is implied (through common use, standardization etc.) or unspecified [3]. 2.2 LOSSY DATA COMPRESSION A lossy data compression technique is one where compressing data and its decompression retrieves data that may will be different from the original, but is close enough to be useful in some way. There are two basic lossy compression schemes: First is lossy transform codecs, where samples of picture or sound are taken, chopped into small segments, transformed into a new basis space, and quantized. The resulting quantized values are then entropy coded [4]. Second is lossy predictive codecs, where previous and/or subsequent decoded data is used to predict the current sound sample or image frame. In some systems the two methods are used, with transform codecs being used to compress the error signals generated by the predictive stage. The advantage of lossy methods over lossless methods is that in some cases a lossy method can produce a much smaller compressed file than any known lossless method, while still meeting the requirements of the application [4]. Lossless compression schemes are reversible in-order for the original data can be reconstructed, while lossy schemes accept some loss of data in order to achieve higher compression. In practice, lossy data compression will also come to a point where compressing again does not work, although an extremely lossy algorithm, which for example always removes the last byte of a file, will always compress a file up to the point where it is empty [5]. 2.3 LOSSLESS vs. LOSSY DATA COMPRESSION Lossless and lossy data compressions are two methods which are use to compressed data. Each technique has its individual used. A compression between the two techniques can be summarised as follow [4-5]: Lossless technique keeps the source as it is during compression while a change of the original source is expected in lossy technique but very close to the origin. Lossless technique is reversible process which means that the original data can be reconstructed. However, the lossy technique is irreversible due to the lost of some data during extraction. Lossless technique produces larger compressed file compared with lossy technique. Lossy technique is mostly used for images and sound. 3.0 DATA COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES Data compression is known as storing data in a way which requires fewer spaces than the typical. Generally, it is saving of space by the reduction in data size [6]. This section explains Huffman coding and Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) compression techniques. 3.1 HUFFMAN CODING Huffman coding is an entropy encoding method used for lossless data compression. The term means the use of a variable-length code table for encoding a source symbol (such as a character in a file) where the variable-length code table has been derived in a particular way based on the estimated probability of occurrence for each possible value of the source symbol. It was developed by David A. Huffman while he was a Ph.D. student at MIT, and published in the 1952 paper A Method for the Construction of Minimum-Redundancy Codes [4]. Huffman coding implements a special method for choosing the representation for each symbol, resulting in a prefix code (sometimes called prefix-free codes, that is, the bit string representing some particular symbol is never a prefix of the bit string representing any other symbol) that expresses the most common source symbols using shorter strings of bits than are used for less common source symbols [5]. The technique works by creating a binary tree of nodes. These can be stored in a regular array, the size of which depends on the number of symbols, n. A node can be either a leaf node or an internal node. Initially, all nodes are leaf nodes, which contain the symbol itself, the weight (frequency of appearance) of the symbol and optionally, a link to a parent node which makes it easy to read the code (in reverse) starting from a leaf node. Internal nodes contain symbol weight, links to two child nodes and the optional link to a parent node. The process practically starts with the leaf nodes containing the probabilities of the symbol they represent, and then a new node whose children are the 2 nodes with smallest probability is created, such that the new nodes probability is equal to the sum of the childrens probability. With the 2 nodes combined into one node (thus not considering them anymore), and with the new node being now considered, the procedure is repeated until only one node remains, the Huffman tree [4]. The simplest construction algorithm is one where a priority queues where the node with lowest probability is given highest priority [5]: 1. Create a leaf node for each symbol and add it to the priority queue. 2. While there is more than one node in the queue: Remove the two nodes of highest priority (lowest probability) from the queue. Create a new internal node with these two nodes as children and with probability equal to the sum of the two nodes probabilities. Add the new node to the queue. 3. The remaining node is the root node and the tree is complete [7]. Figure (1). 3.2 LEMPEL-ZIV-WELCH (LVW) COMPRESSION Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) is a data compression algorithm created by Abraham Lempel, Jacob Ziv, and Terry Welch. It was published by Welch in 1984 as a development of the LZ78 algorithm published by Lempel and Ziv in 1978. The algorithm is designed to be fast to implement but is not usually optimal because it performs only limited analysis of the data. LZW can also be called a  substitutional  or  dictionary-based encoding algorithm. The algorithm normally builds a  data dictionary  (also called a  translation table  or  string table) of data occurring in an uncompressed data stream. Patterns of data (substrings) are identified in the data stream and are matched to entries in the dictionary. If the substring is not present in the dictionary, a code phrase is created based on the data content of the substring, and it is stored in the dictionary. The phrase is then written to the compressed output stream [8]. When a reoccurrence of a substring is found in the data, the phrase of the substring already stored in the dictionary is written to the output. Because the phrase value has a physical size that is smaller than the substring it represents, data compression is achieved. Decoding LZW data is the reverse of encoding. The decompressor reads the code from the stream and adds the code to the data dictionary if it is not already there. The code is then translated into the string it represents and is written to the uncompressed output stream [8]. LZW goes beyond most dictionary-based compressors because it is not necessary to keep the dictionary to decode the LZW data stream. This can save quite a bit of space when storing the LZW-encoded data [9]. TIFF, among other file formats, applies the same method for graphic files. In TIFF, the pixel data is packed into bytes before being presented to LZW, so an LZW source byte might be a pixel value, part of a pixel value, or several pixel values, depending on the images bit depth and number of colour channels. GIF requires each LZW input symbol to be a pixel value. Because GIF allows 1- to 8-bit deep images, there are between 2 and 256 LZW input symbols in GIF, and the LZW dictionary is initialized accordingly. It is not important how the pixels might have been packed into storage; LZW will deal with them as a sequence of symbols [9]. The TIFF approach does not work very well for odd-size pixels, because packing the pixels into bytes creates byte sequences that do not match the original pixel sequences, and any patterns in the pixels are obscured. If pixel boundaries and byte boundaries agree (e.g., two 4-bit pixels per byte, or one 16-bit pixel every two bytes), then TIFFs method works well [10]. The GIF approach works better for odd-size bit depths, but it is difficult to extend it to more than eight bits per pixel because the LZW dictionary must become very large to achieve useful compression on large input alphabets. If variable-width codes were implemented, the encoder and decoder must be careful to change the width at the same points in the encoded data, or they will disagree about where the boundaries between individual codes fall in the stream [11]. 4.0 CONCLUSION In conclusion, because of the fact that one cant hope to compress everything, all compression algorithms must assume that there is some bias on the input messages so that some inputs are more likely than others, i.e. that there will always be some unbalanced probability distribution over the possible messages. Most compression algorithms base this bias on the structure of the messages i.e., an assumption that repeated characters are more likely than random characters, or that large white patches occur in typical images. Compression is therefore all about probability.

Problems with the Maastricht Treaty and its Goal to Unify Europe :: European Europe History

Problems with the Maastricht Treaty and its Goal to Unify Europe My position is in opposition of the unification of Europe as proposed under the Maastricht Treaty, as being beneficial to Europe. We will prove beyond a reasonable doubt the uselessness of the treaty. The main principal of the Maastricht Treaty is European Unity. Unity is a nice warm hearted word which infers working towards a goal in harmony. The Maastricht Treaty sounds like an ideal proposal on paper, but in reality it can't work. In order to adopt the treaty several countries will have to make sacrifices. No body likes to make sacrifices. Countries with advancing economies like Germany will have to slow down to accommodate country's with poorer economic systems. Nations like England will have to merge their high currency rate with country's such as Italy, whom are infamous for their treasured currency the Lira. No one likes to get the short end of a stick - Why should these countries give up some of their prosperity to help others? Sure it will be quite an honourable effort but greed is an undisputable human characteristic (and we are talking about the merger of former economic rivals now in full cooperation!) Ultimately, these countries concerned with their own interests in mind will disregard the treaty. For example, during the last several weeks in defiance of the treaty Britain lowered it interest rates while Germany raised theirs. Both to accommodate their own separate economies! This sort of unity does not seem to me to set an example from which to abide by in the future. Under the Maastricht Treaty one body will govern and regulate both economic and political concerns. I find it hard to comprehend how one governing body can do the work of twelve individual governments in a continent whose culture and society are so diverse. If the nations now are incapable of settling their internal problems how can shifting the immense burden to a smaller less experienced group do anything but further complicate the situation. Sure it may be easier to decide upon a coarse of action - but controversial issues may only intensify or multiply if not carefully and appropriately addressed. The proof of such a failure between various ethnic groups and a detached government is the current intensifying conflict between different ethnic group in Yugoslavia, right next door to Greece. The Maastricht treaty also provides for the joint creation of a

Floor Exercise :: Exercise Physiology

Floor Exercise   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Floor exercise is a sequence of tumbles, leaps, and balances, which make a gymnastics performance. No equipment is used, only a mat and open space. At competitions, judges look for good posture, proper technique, continuity, and variety.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Floor exercise builds confidence and character. Your self confidence increases as you learn body control. As you become involved you will gain self discipline. You will learn valuable lessons about exercise, eating correctly, and getting the proper amount of rest, leading to a healthy and longer life. Competitive acrobatics have various levels at which people can participate and gain recognition for achievements. Most important, floor exercise is fun. More challenging the than other activities. Tumbling is considered the basis of all acrobatics. Although it is not one of the four Olympic competitive events, tumbling is important because the skills you learn will help you perform the other events. For example, the basic forward roll can also be performed on the balance beam and in the floor exercise, and is important even when learning the vault and the uneven bars.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The best way to learn floor exercise is through progressions. A progression is a step by step method of learning skills, beginning with the easy ones and gradually mastering the more difficult ones. If you wanted to learn a forward somersault, you would not just start out trying to do the somersault. Instead, you would learn a whole series of skills one by one, moving along to the next one only after you mastered the first. It is important to be patient when learning floor exercises through progressions. Do not move on to the next skill in the progression until you and your coach have determined that you are ready. This method will allow you to learn a large number of skills while having fun and developing confidence. If you find a skill to be particularly difficult to learn, perhaps you are trying to take too big of a step, or too many, in your progression. Ask your coach for assistance. She or he can almost always give you smaller steps that will help you reach your goal. In learning acrobatics or any other sport it requires that you also learn the language of the sport. The language of acrobatics is quite complicated. For example, a forward roll is done on the ground, but a forward somersault or salto is done in the air. Someone might think that you have learned a front flip, but you will know that this is really a salto.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Floor exercise is fun and one of the best overall physical fitness

Importance of Accounting Ethics Essay

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that judge human beings on wrongs and rights concerned with the nature of value and the standards by which human actions can be judged .The term is also applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles. Accounting is the mechanism that offers information regarding the financial position of the organization or business. This type of information is critical to investors as it provides them with important and detailed information that could turn out to be the determining factor as to their decisions to invest or not to invest in a particular organization. Accounting in business is one of the most important departments. Ethical and professional accounting forms a clear financial image of a business, and allows managers to make informed decisions, keepsinvestors abreast of developments in the business, and keeps the business profitable. (Osanyin, 2008) In accounting, there is the professional ethics that guides the accounting profession. Accountants are expected to adhere to the set ethical standards which are designed to ensure that they behave in a way which is ethical and consistent. For most professional accounting organizations, accountants are certified in order to comply with ethics and they are stripped off their certificates if they fail to abide with ethical codes. Therefore, it is common to find unethical behavior in accounting profession. Some of the forms of unethical behavior in accounting are, Providing erroneous information regarding expenses incurred in business Giving out false information on expenses purposely is unethical. In accounting profession, the accountant should always provide the correct information regarding any expenses as failure to do so make the financial status of the business to be false. This affects the profit and loss reports of the business and consequently affecting the performance of the business in the long run. Exaggerating business revenue In accounting practices, all revenue in the business should be reported correctly as this can hurt investors in the company, the tax payers who may be caught up in governments bail outs and the workers at the company. By showing the correct revenue generated, this reflects the true financial position of the company. Misuse of business funds Accountants access most of the funds in the organization and it is unethical to misuse them. This can lead to the closure of the business and eventually leads to the loss of jobs and investments. Accountants should never misuse business funds and if they use it should be reported in the books of accounts and debited clearly. Some of the reasons why ethics is important in accounting are;- Confidentiality: People need to have confidence in accountants and the services they provide. Failure to do so leads to uncertainty in investors, shareholders and the work force in the organization. If the quality of the accounting is unprofessional this leads to low confidence with the stakeholders of the organization. Professional Competence: Ethics in accounting ensures that the accountants maintain professional knowledge and skills at the level required to ensure that a client or employer receives competent professional service. This is exhibited by acting diligently and in accordance with applicable technical and professional standards when providing professional services. So as to maintain law and regulations governing the accounting profession, accountants should always observe the professional ethics in their profession.