Popular Products That Originated From Christmas

Christmas is filled with traditions and unique decorations not seen throughout the rest of the year. Many Christmas favorites also have nonreligious roots. Here is the origin of many well-known Christmas items. Christmas Tinsel Around 1610, tinsel was first invented in Germany made from genuine silver. Machines were invented that shredded silver into thin, tinsel-sized strips. Silver tinsel tarnishes and loses its shine with time, so artificial replacements were eventually invented. Candy Canes The origin of the candy cane goes back over 350 years when candy-makers both professional and amateur were making hard sugar sticks. The original candy was straight and completely white in color. Artificial Christmas Trees Towards the end of the 1800s, another variation of the traditional Christmas tree appeared: the artificial Christmas tree. Artificial trees originated in Germany. Metal wire trees were covered with goose, turkey, ostrich or swan feathers. The feathers were often died green to imitate pine needles. In the 1930s, the Addis Brush Company created the first artificial-brush trees, using the same machinery that made their toilet brushes! The Addis Silver Pine tree was patented in 1950. The Christmas tree was designed to have a revolving light source under it and colored gels allowed the light to shine in different shades as it revolved under the tree. History of Christmas Tree Lights Learn about the history of Christmas tree lights: from candles to inventor Albert Sadacca, who was 15 in 1917 when he first got the idea to make safe Christmas tree lights. Christmas Cards Englishman John Calcott Horsley popularized the tradition of sending Christmas greeting cards, in the 1830s. Christmas Snowman Yes, the snowman was invented, many times over. Enjoy these whimsical pictures of snowman inventions. They are from actual patents and trademarks. There are also a number of snowmen designs seen on Christmas trees and ornaments. Christmas Sweaters Knitted sweaters have been around a very long time, however, there is one certain type of sweater that delights us all during the holiday season. With lots of red and green colors, and reindeer, Santa, and snowman decorations, the Christmas sweater is both loved and even despised by many. History of Christmas On December 25, Christians traditionally celebrate the birth of Christ. The origins of the holiday are uncertain, however by the year 336, the Christian church in Rome observed the Feast of the Nativity (birth) on December 25. Christmas also coincided with the winter solstice and the Roman Festival of Saturnalia. While Christmas is a centuries-old tradition, it was never an official American national holiday until 1870. The House and Senate passed a bill introduced by Rep. Burton Chauncey Cook of Illinois that proposed making Christmas a national holiday. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill on June 28, 1870.

The Masque Of The Red Death - 1093 Words

The Masque of Allegory Many writers of literature incorporate symbolic references in their works throughout history and today. One romantic poet and storywriter in particular is excellent in the use of allegory in his poems and stories. This unique writer’s name is Edgar Allan Poe and his tale â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† is one of his most well known pieces of allegoric writing. Although there are numerous symbols in this story, the seven rooms and the fact that death is inevitable are the two most complex symbols that have a deeper meaning, which provokes the reader to think because without carefully considering the clues and content of the story, one would not understand the significance of these symbols. The seven rooms used for the masquerade in Prince Prospero’s castle are an allegory of the stages of life. The chambers are bizarrely lined up from east to west. The order of the rooms is blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. Also, the â€Å"windows were of stained glass whose color varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations of the chamber into which it opened† (Poe 2). Each room’s window is the same color as the room and its decorations, except for a very important one. The blue room symbolizes birth and the beginning of life. It also indicates the innocence of the unknown. It is understood through critical thinking and considering uses of symbolism over the ages that the blue room is an allegory for birth because the symbol of east andShow MoreRelatedThe Masque Of The Red Death Essay1572 Words   |  7 Pagesshort story form and inventing the modern detective story† (Slova ). In eighteen forty, Poe released one of hi s more well-known gothic short stories, â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death.† In â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† Poe relies heavily upon the use literary devices such as allegories, symbolism, and narration to convey his overall theme of how death and mortality are inevitable. Poe was considered to have completely mastered the art of Gothic writing. It is believed by many that his inspiration came fromRead MoreThe Masque Of The Red Death1592 Words   |  7 Pagesexcellent example of this struggle in his short story â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†. While a deadly plague is ravaging his country, a prosperous prince, quite appropriately named Prospero, takes a thousand of his fellow elites into seclusion at an abbey, where he later holds an elaborate masquerade. It is then towards the end of this masque, held in an imperial suite of brilliantly colored but bizarre rooms, that the plague, known as the ‘Red Death’, finally makes its way into the abbey, inevitably killingRead MoreThe Masque of the Red Death2065 Words   |  9 Pagesall up. But before she died she gasped out .’Any excuse will serve a tyrant.’ I chose THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Edgar Allen Poe as my short story. The theme that I selected from that story is Mortality. Thesis Statement on Mortality: Even though fear of the unknown is scary, should mortality actually be something we fear? Death effects everyone the same. It ends life for all equally and death is life’s only certainty. Some of the literary elements Edgar Allen Poe uses in this storyRead MoreThe Masque of the Red Death914 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† by Edgar Allen Poe is an eerie short story about the â€Å"Red Death†, Poe’s twist on the Black Plague. This plague swept across an unknown kingdom killing many people as it went. There were sharp pain, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution. Poe had two main themes for readers to think about. These themes were proven through five main symbols: The ebony clock in the black room, Prince Prospero in the abbey with his friends, the colorsRead MoreThe Masque Of The Red Death1788 Words   |  8 PagesDeath is inevitable in the human life cycle, so how does one attempt to avoid it? Symbolism is defined as the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. Edgar Allan Poe wrote a short story called, â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death.† The majority of people believe he is referring to the black plague that has struck the kingdom. Prince Prospero decides to let the kingdom â€Å"peasants† take care of themselves while himself, knights, and chosen women isolate themselves in Prospero’s castle. A little whileRead More The Masque of the Red Death879 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† is an extraordinary story of many elements that can grasp any readers attention. This story targets more of the emotions and actions of the characters, creating more of a fathom. Edgar Allan Poe wrote this story from his own perspective and perhaps succeeded in getting the reader to some what relate to the characters focusing on the feelings. The point of view Poe wrote this in makes a clear understanding. The point of view Edgar wrote this in is very effectiveRead MoreThe Masque Of The Red Death1679 Words   |  7 Pages Power in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† â€Å"Frail humanity can never escape the ravages of time†. Humans are born and will eventually die; it’s the cycle of life. No one can prevent death, but it does not stop people from trying to prolong life. Fate is inevitably predetermined; death is our predetermined fate. In the allegory â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†, written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1842, Poe teaches that death is predestined and that you cannot avoid fate. Poe focuses in on an unusual characterRead More Conflict in The Masque of the Red Death920 Words   |  4 Pages Conflicts affect the mood of the main characters in a story, by expressing the insecurities, Death,† a couple of conflicts are exposed throughout the piece. In the story â€Å"The Masque of the Red,† a couple of conflicts are expressed throughout this piece. The conflicts man versus fate and man versus himself are the conflicts that are displayed several times within this story. From major conflicts to minor conflicts, this story clarifies the problems that Prince Prospero faces within himselfRead MoreSymbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death708 Words   |  3 PagesDeath is something everyone frets on a daily basis. Edgar Allan Poe stresses how death is an unavoidable reality in his short story â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†. Prince Prospero, a lying, cowardly, untrustworthy leader pretends to be helping his town as people are suddenly dying off from the Red Death, when he is actually just protecting himself and leaving his town helpless. This story is shown through the use of many symbols and events. Ultimately Poe utilizes symbolism in order to convey theRead MoreThe Masque Of The Red Death Analysis1117 Words   |  5 Pageshorrorerous descriptions. In â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death ¨, Edgar Allan Poe uses symbolism to portray the mood of death and despair with imagery though his descriptions of time, fear, and obliteration to develop the theme of the story . This is more than just a simple horror narrative. Throughout the story, the Masque of the  ¨Red Death ¨ corresponds with the uses of symbolism to portray the mood of death and despair. To break the title apart, the key image of the  ¨Masque ¨ implies a historic view of a

Ectasy And Addiction Essay Example For Students

Ectasy And Addiction Essay Club Drugs: Ecstasy In developing prevention efforts that target young people, prevention managers must design strategies to counter the increasing use and widespread availability of the club drug Ecstasy. Known as the party drug, Ecstasy is both a stimulant and a hallucinogen, and its effects are potentially life-threatening. Because it is inexpensive and easily accessible, Ecstasy is gaining in popularity. As reported in the Monitoring the Future Study (National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA 1999), 3.6 percent of 12th graders, 3.3 percent of 10th graders, and 1.8 percent of 8th graders said they had used the drug in 1998. From 1991 through 1998, use by college students increased from 0.9 percent to 2.4 percent and by adults, from 0.8 percent to 2. 1 percent (NIDA, Facts About MDMA, 2000). What Is Ecstasy? Ecstasy is the street name for methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a chemical substance that combines methamphetamines with hallucinogenic properties. It is also known as X-TC, Adam, Clarity, and Lovers Speed. Like all club drugs, Ecstasy is a combination of other illicit drugs. Because many different recipes are used to make Ecstasy, the risk of death and permanent brain damage are heightened when some substances are combined. It is available in tablet, capsule, or powder form; some manufacturers of the drug package it in capsules or generic tablets to imitate prescription drugs. The average cost is between $7 and $30 per pill. Among the variations of the drug is a new substance, Herbal Ecstasy, that is composed of ephedrine (ma huang) or pseudoephedrine and caffeine from the kola nut. Sold in tablet form, this drug may cause permanent brain damage and death (NIDA, Club Drugs: Just the Facts, 2000). What Side Effects Are Produced by Ecstasy? Ecstasys effects can last up to 24 hours. The drug produces immediate side effects, and somesuch as confusion, depression, sleep problems, anxiety, and paranoiacan occur weeks after it is taken (NIDA, Community Drug Alert Bulletin on Club Drugs, 2000). Because Ecstasy alters serotonin levels in the brain, researchers have found that chronic use can lead to long-term or permanent damage to those parts of the brain critical to thought, memory, and pleasure (NIDA, Facts About MDMA, 2000). Psychological Effects Psychological effects are confusion, depression, sleep problems, severe anxiety and paranoia, euphoria, enhanced mental and emotional clarity, hallucinations, sensations of lightness and floating, depression, paranoid thinking, and violent, irrational behavior. Physical Effects Physical effects are muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, faintness, chills/sweating, dehydration, hypertension, loss of control over voluntary body movements, tremors, reduced appetite, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, seizure, and malignant hyperthermia (increase in body temperature).

Strategies to Build Culture Essays - Educational Psychology

Strategies to Build Culture Building relationships in the classroom is an essential part of any instructor's career. Having healthy teacher to student and student to student relationships is an effective way to help prevent academic failure, social conflict and quarrelsome behavior. For students to learn in an effective manner they need to feel comfortable, loved and accepted in their learning environment. Davidson and Lang (1960) reported that ?students who felt liked by their teachers had higher academic achievement and more productive classroom behavior than did students who felt their teachers held them in lower regard? (p.30). Students prefer teachers who are warm and friendly. More important, positive teacher-student relationships, in which teachers uses strategies that are associated with more positive student responses to school and with increased academic achievement. Truax and Tatum (1966) found that ?children adjusted more positively to school, teachers, and peers when teachers displayed empathy and positive regard for children? (p.457). Teachers must build strong and successful teacher student relationships based on their student?s personalities and instructional strategies. Incorporating a positive environment, encouraging students, and having an open, honest communication line and teacher student interaction, showing mutual respect between teacher and students is so vital on so many levels. Showing interest and caring for students will create a trusting and genuine bond with them and in most cases they will reciprocate, establishing a win-win situation for both student and teacher. Strategies Get to know your students. Each of your students has separate personalities, which is why it is important for you to know them as individuals. A unique way to know more about your students is to have them keep a personal journal that is meant for only you to read, unless otherwise instructed. Also, have several minutes set aside once a week at the beginning of class to allow your students to read a journal entry aloud if they are willing to volunteer. The journals will give you a good sense of each of your student's personalities, and if journal entries are read aloud it will also give other students in the classroom a chance to better understand one another. Show appropriate manners, and expect to receive the same. When students and teachers feel that they are respected and not treated unfairly, the relationships in the classroom will grow at a positive rate. Simple courtesy such as saying "thank you," "please" and "you're welcome" will show each of your students that you respect and appreciate them, and it will encourage them to treat you with the same courtesy. Activities Create group activities. Students love to have fun in the classroom regardless of age. Having group activities in the classroom every other week, give or take is very beneficial to students. Not only do they give you a chance to connect with your students, they also help build student-to-student relationships. For instance, play the ?Name Chain? so the students can learn each other?s names, and begin getting acquainted. Create a ?Student Directory? in which all students along with their skills and interests are listed. The directory point students in the right direction when they need special assistance on a topic, and instruct students to rely on each other. Have students create ?Wanted Posters? in which they describe what makes himself or herself a good friend. The posters will be hung in the hallway or around the room. Finally, involve the student?s parents. If the students are not of adult age, their parents should be involved in their education. Reminding the parents of upcoming events, tests and assignments that are due is an effective way for your students to succeed. Also, if there is a concern or any good news, it is important to pass this information on to the parents in order for them to issue praise or properly resolve the concern. This strategy will help you build relationships with the student?s parents as well as the students. References Davidson, H., & Lang, G. (1960). Children Perception of Their Teacher's Feelings Towards Them. Journal of Experimental Education, 18-50. Tatum, C. R., & Truax, C. B. (1966). An extension from the effective pyschotherapeutic modle to constructive personality change in preschool children. Childhood Education , 42, 456-462.

East Asian Politics

Introduction The quest for understanding East Asian politics compelled earlier philosophers to focus on political economy and political culture in their explanations, but this approach left the study of political systems, in East Asia, underdeveloped, which allowed the emergence of new and current approaches.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on East Asian Politics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The new approaches focus on the changes, characteristics, and future expectations of East Asian governance. In addition, the new approaches explain the nature of unipolar powers, â€Å"especially in the one-party regime, one-man rule, and the oligarchical unipolar system† (Yung-Myung, 2003, p. 45). The political elites dominated the political unipolar systems, which gradually changed to plural democracy and authoritarianism triggered by diminished revolutionary zeal and growth of civic society. The viewing of East Asi an, as an independent sphere and the only determinant of global stability, limited the approaches of both political economy and political culture. Theoretical approaches in the study of East Asian security For the last fifteen years before 2008, both Taiwan and East Asia experienced a deteriorating relationship although there was economic independence. In 1990, there seemed to be a political reconciliation, but the continued misunderstanding and differences in political objectives and future political prospects aggravated deterioration of the close relationship between the two regions (Hayes, 2001, p. 274). The two sides feared political challenge of their central interest by each other. For instance, Beijing feared Taipei would shut the door on its quest for unification and Taipei, on the other hand, feared that Beijing would restrain it to the point that negotiations on China’s terms would become inevitable (Hayes, 2001, p. 274). The approach used here involved the assertio n of sovereignty and protection of interest by each state. In this case, Taiwan asserted its sovereignty and expanded its international space while Beijing developed and improved its military capacity enabling enforcement of diplomatic quarantine to Taipei. The wrong turn of events against what the United States expected caused considerable worry, in Washington, because the two sides would ignore the United States’ appeal for the cessation of restrains and conflicts.Advertising Looking for essay on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Yung-Myung observes â€Å"†¦the failure of the United States appeal for peace would entrap the United States in a war with China† (2003, p. 50). This fear of the appeal failure led to the application of the dual deterrence security approach in which the United States conveyed both warnings and reassurance to Beijing and Taipei. New features of Asian security In the post Cold War, the United States focuses and approaches Asian security from a regional perspective a symposium on East Asian security. In this recent approach, defense officials, senior military officers, and policy makers engaged in peaceful security discussion and negotiations between the opposing nations. The symposium â€Å"strengthens bonds among military and security professionals, allowing them to share perspectives on counter-terrorism and other security issues of importance to their nations† (Hayes, 2001, p. 275). This feature of regional security ensures promotion of tighter security cooperation, and quick identification of security threats affecting the entire regional security, which is different from what happened during the Cold War whereby, there was no cooperation of nations regarding regional security. Another feature of the post-Cold War is the unveiling of the Warsaw pact in which Europe and East-West Asian military stopped confrontation. The nations opted for contin ued bilateral military alliance of the United States with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines (Hayes, 2001, p. 279). Moreover, the United States and Japan share strategic plans against china, which was not the case during the Cold War era. The recent China’s strategic trajectory strategy threatens the national security of both Japan and the United States. US foreign policy The US views China as a revisionist power interested in building and developing military capacity, for its own interest, in order to challenge the status quo in the regions of East Asia, and thus the US opposes the move.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on East Asian Politics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To counter the effects of China’s strategy, the United States proposes to deploy and enhance US Pacific Command (Yung-Myung, 2003, p. 47). The adoption of this United States’ policy helps to diffuse the politic al insecurity and the threat posed by China to the East Asian countries. In addition, the perception of China to have an escalating annual expenditure on defense weapon development, including nuclear weapons, causes the United States of America to increase extra strategic counter pressure to China. Adoption of the United States’ policy of pressurizing China to reduce it annual funding, on the manufacturing of nuclear weapons, helps in reducing the superiority of China among the East Asian countries, thus promoting peace in the East Asian region. Role of the United States in the region Being a super power, in the region the United States helps in regulation of development of nuclear weapons in such countries as China which if not checked could lead to an increased security threat. United States in the East Asian region advocates for peaceful dispute resolution through peaceful discussions between the warring countries. For instance, Hayes argues, â€Å"Washington, D.C. has no stake in the substance of whatever resolution might occur. Process is what is essential† (2001, p. 285). In this case, the United States places a role in peace negotiation among nations of the East Asian region. Conclusion Politics of many nations, in East Asia, revolve around the Cold War, and future political prospects of these nations depend on the post-Cold War strategies to end conflicts and encourage economic growth and development. Although many philosophers and scholar perceive global stability and peace as dependent on peace and security development in East Asian region, peace and security in other regions of the world also determine global stability and security and thus US as a super power strives to appeal and mediate peace negotiations between warring nations of the world.Advertising Looking for essay on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Reference List Hayes, L. (2001). Introduction to Japanese Politics. New York, NY: Paragon House Press. Yung-Myung, K. (2003). Understanding East Asian Political Systems. Journal of East  Asian Studies, 3(1), 45-50. This essay on East Asian Politics was written and submitted by user Maxx Bates to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Enhancement And Minutiae Extraction Of Touchless Fingerprint Science Essay Essays

Enhancement And Minutiae Extraction Of Touchless Fingerprint Science Essay Essays Enhancement And Minutiae Extraction Of Touchless Fingerprint Science Essay Essay Enhancement And Minutiae Extraction Of Touchless Fingerprint Science Essay Essay Abstract Touch based feeling techniques generate batch of mistake in biometric designation. The solution for this job is touchless fingerprint engineering. They do non have any contact between the detector A ; finger. Although they cut down the jobs of touch based finger prints, other troubles are limited useable country and difference Problem due to perspective deformation in finger print. The Proposed method for touchless fingerprint. Image sweetening and minutiae extraction is introduced. Image sweetening is largely required preprocessing system for finger based biometric system. Normally the touchless device is holding a individual camera and two planing machine mirrors which reflecting side positions of a finger. From this we get three images usually frontal left and right finger. Experimental consequence shows that the enhanced images increase the biometric truth. Index footings pyramidal method, Gabor, touchless fingerprint, thinning, standardization, finger sweetening, adaptative histogram. I Introduction A fingerprint is composed of ridges and vales. Ridges have assorted sorts of discontinuity such as ridge bifurification and ridge terminations, and short ridges, islands and ridge cross over s. Among this discontinuity, ridge bifurification and ridge stoping are normally used in fingerprint identification/verification system and are called minutiae [ 1 ] .For the processing of fingerprint images two phases are of polar importance for the success of biometric reorganisation: image enhancement/feature minutiae extraction. The traditional fingerprint processing engineerings are applied instantly after feeling. But a better thing is an optional image sweetening in fingerprint images. In realistic scenarios though, the quality of a fingerprint image may endure from assorted damages, caused by tonss and cuts, moist or dry tegument, detector noise, fuzz incorrect handling of detector and weak ridge, valley form of the given fingerprint, etc. the undertaking of the fingerprint sweetening is to antagonize the aforementioned quality damages and to retrace the existent fingerprint form as hint to it original as possible. [ 2 ] Fingerprints are acquired by contact of the finger on paper or a glass home base. This frequently consequences in partial or debauched images due to improper finger arrangement, skin distortion, slippage, smearing or detector noise some of the touch based are shown in fig 1. A recent touchless device that can bring forth three assorted representation of fingerprint this new feeling engineering removes many of the jobs stated above [ 3 ] from wear and tear of surface coating. To get the better of these sorts of jobs, a touchless fingerprint feeling engineering has been proposed that do non hold the contact between a detector and a finger. Therefore, the fingers and ridge information can non be changed or distorted as it will be free of skin distortion. Besides, it can capture fingerprint images systematically because it is non affected by different s kin conditions or latent fingerprints. Figure: 1. Distorted images acquired from a touch-based detector. Recently, several companies and research groups have developed touchless fingerprint detectors and acknowledgment systems [ 4 ] [ 6 ] . TST Group developed a touchless imaging detector ( BiRD III ) which uses a complementary metal-organic-semiconductor ( CMOS ) camera, and ruddy and green visible radiation beginnings to get fingerprint images [ 4 ] . Song et Al. [ 5 ] proposed a detection system with a individual charged-coupled device ( CCD ) camera and dual ring-type blue illuminators to capture high contrast images. Besides, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation proposed another touchless attack conveying the visible radiation through the finger [ 6 ] , geting fingerprint forms under the surface of skin utilizing visible radiation with a wavelength of 660 nanometer. However, such feeling systems [ 4 ] [ 6 ] have an built-in job as they use merely a individual capturing device, such as CMOS or CCD cameras. when capturing an image utilizing a individual Camera, the geometrical declarati on of the fingerprint image decreases from the fingerprint centre towards the side country [ 7 ] . Therefore, false characteristics may be obtained in the side country and it reduces the valid and utile part for hallmark. Furthermore, if there is a position difference between images due to thumb peal, it reduces the common country between fingerprints and degrades system public presentation. To work out this job, 3-D touchless feeling systems utilizing more than one position have been explored [ 8 ] [ 11 ] . TBS [ 8 ] used five cameras placed around a finger to capture nail-to-nail fingerprint images and generated a 3-D fingerprint image utilizing the shape-from-silhouette method. They so unwrapped the 3-D finger image onto a 2-D image by utilizing parametric and nonparametric theoretical accounts to do rolled-equivalent images [ 9 ] . Fatehpuria et Al. [ 10 ] proposed a 3-D touchless device utilizing multiple cameras and structured light light ( SLI ) . The structured visible radi ation forms are projected onto a finger to obtain its 3-D form information and 2-D unfolded images are generated by using Springs algorithm and some station processing stairss. Besides, the Hand Shot ID system was developed to get a 3-D form of a manus with fingers by sewing images from 36 cameras [ 11 ] . Although all these methods attempted to work out the jobs in touch-based detectors and get expanded fingerprint images with less skin distortion, they did non raise much involvement in the market because of much higher costs compared to conventional touch-based detectors. Sing the above observations, we adopt a new touchless feeling strategy utilizing a individual camera and a set of mirrors. The mirrors work as practical cameras, therefore enabling the gaining control of an expanded position of a fingerprint at one clip without utilizing multiple cameras. The device consists of a individual camera, two planar mirrors, light-emitting rectifying tube ( LED ) -based illuminators, and a lens. Two two-dimensional mirrors are used to reflect the left and right side position of a finger. In this paper we proposed a new method to heighten the touchless finger print and to pull out the minutiae informations. II. SYSTEM DESIGN: To get the better of the position difference job and the restriction of a individual position, some touchless fingerprinting systems capture several different positions of a finger by utilizing multiple cameras. However, utilizing multiple cameras increases the cost and size of a system. Therefore, we adopt a new detection system which captures three different positions ( frontal, right, and left ) at one clip by utilizing a individual camera and two planar mirrors. Figs. 2 ( a ) and ( B ) show the paradigm and conventional position of the device. As shown in Fig. 2, two mirrors are placed next to the finger and reflect the right and left side positions of the finger. Then, the frontal position and two mirror-reflected positions are captured by a individual camera at the same time. A mirror-reflected image is regarded as the flipped image taken by a practical camera placed at a different way compared to the existent 1. Therefore, we can capture three different positions of a finger print utilizing merely one Fig. 2. Proposed device. Prototype of the device. ( B ) Schematic position of the device. Camera and besides avoid the synchronism job bing in multiple camera-based systems. In add-on, to obtain high-quality fingerprint images, we need to see several optical constituents in order to plan the device. The specifications of the optical constituents are as follows: Camera and lens: We use a 1/3-in progressive scan type CCD with 1024 768 active pels, where the pel size is 4.65 ten 4.65 m. This camera offers a sufficient frame rate of 29 Hz, therefore avoiding image blurring caused by typical finger gesture [ 31 ] . Besides, we use simple equations [ see ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) ] to plan an equal lens for our system. ( 1 ) ( 2 ) Where degree Fahrenheit is the lens focal length, P and Q are the lens-to-object and lens-to-image distances, severally, and M is the optical magnification. Normally, the needed image declaration for touch-based detectors is 500 dpi. Therefore, to guarantee a 500-dpi spacial declaration in the fingerprint country and to cover three position fingerprints, the optical magnification parametric quantity M, the lens to image distance, and field of position ( FOV ) are determined as 0.1, 170 millimeter, and 50 tens 38 millimeters, severally. By making this, we can capture three position images with 500-dpi declaration at one clip. Besides, the deepness of field ( DOF ) of the lens ranges from -2.6 to +2.6 millimeter at a given working distance and it usually covers the half deepness of a finger. Light: Sing the coefficient of reflection of human tegument to assorted light beginnings, we used annular white LED illuminators and a set base on balls filter which can convey green visible radiation to heighten the ridge-to-valley contrast. Besides, the illuminators are placed perpendicular to the finger to take the shadowing consequence. Diffusers are used to light a finger uniformly. Foreground separation Gabor filtering Standardization Pyramidal method Thining Minutiae extraction Figure: 3. Overall flow chart of the proposed method Mirror: Two planar mirrors are positioned following to the left and right side of the finger and the mirror size is determined to cover the maximal thumb size. To supply plenty overlapping country between frontal- and side-view images, the angles of the mirrors are determined 15 through empirical observation. Besides, the mirrors can be used as nog to put a user s finger steadfastly on the device. III. PROPOSED Method: In this subdivision, we explain the Enhancement method for synthesising an expanded fingerprint image from frontal- and side-view images. The overall strategy of the method is presented in Fig. 3 the method is chiefly composed of six phases ( foreground separation, standardization, Gabor filtering, pyramidic method, thinning, and minutiae extraction ) . In foreground separation we will make the morphological operation, in standardization we pre-process the image etcaˆÂ ¦ Foreground separation: Using morphological operation we use the eroding followed by dilation, this can be done up to needed clip. Mathematical morphology is a method used for treating the digital images on their [ 19 ] DILATE map will returns the dilation of Image given. This operator is normally known as FILL, EXPAND, or Turn It can be used to make full holes of a size equal to or smaller than the structuring component with binary images, where each pel is either 1 or 0 , [ 15 ] [ 19 ] dilation is similar to whirl. It can be used to handily implement the vicinity upper limit operator with the form of the vicinity given by the structuring component. Used with greyscale images, the ERODE map is accomplished by taking the lower limit of a set of differences. It can be used to handily implement the vicinity lower limit operator with the form of the vicinity given by the structuring component. Standardization: The procedure of taking the effects of the detector noise and gray-level background due to thumb force per unit area differences. The aim of this phase is decrease the dynamic scope with grey graduated table between ridges and vales of the image.Normalization factor is calculated harmonizing to the mean and the discrepancy of the image. Each and every pel in the fingerprint image has to be processed to happen the average value. The mean value of all the pels is deliberate i.e, the average value. By comparing the average value with the current pel the replacing can be performed. Standardization facilitates the subsequent processing stairss. Let G ( I ; J ) denote the normalized gray-level value at pel ( I ; J ) . The normalized image is defined as follows: Where, M0 and V AR0 denote the coveted mean and discrepancy value, severally. Most fingerprint images on a live-scan input device are normally of hapless quality. The fingerprint image is smoothed with an norm or average filter. Gabor filtering: A Gabor filter is a additive filter used in image processing for border sensing. Frequency and orientation representations of human ocular system are similar to those of Gabor filter and it has been found to be appropriate for the texture representation and favoritism. The Gabor filters are self similar utilizing this we can bring forth all filters parent ripple by the dilation and rotary motion its impulse response can be shown by harmonic map and they are multiplied by a Gaussian map [ 16 ] [ 21 ] Because of the multiplication-convolution belongings ( Convolution theorem ) , Where And In this equation, I » represents wavelength, I? represents orientation, I? represents the stage beginning, I? is the sigma [ 16 ] of the Gaussian envelope and I? represents the spacial facet ratio, D ) Pyramidal method: Pyramid decomposition requires resizing ( scaling, or geometric transmutation ) . To make our Gaussian and Laplacian like pyramids, we define the cut down ( I, K ) and expand ( I, K ) operations, which lessening and increase an image in size by the factor K, severally. During cut down, the image is ab initio low-pass filtered to forestall aliasing utilizing a Gaussian kernel.2. The latter s standard divergence depends on the resizing factor, which here follows the lower edge estimate of the corresponding ideal low-pass filter, [ 18 ] . We ab initio cut down the original fingerprint image FP by a factor of in order to except the highest frequences. In a farther measure, we Table 1 Pyramidal edifice procedure Pyramidal decomposition Gaussian like Laplacian-like G1=reduce ( fp, k0 ) G2=reduce ( g1.k ) L1=g1-expand ( g2, K ) L2=g2-expand ( g3, K ) Reduce the image size by a factor K for three times. This is besides outlined on the upper left manus side of Table I. To make images incorporating merely band limited signals of the original image, we expand the three images by factor and subtract each of them from the following lower degree. Cutting: The THIN map returns the lineation of a bi-level image the of an object in an image the consequence is a byte type image in [ 17 ] which outline part are set to two and all other pels are zero. Minutiae extraction: A characteristic extractor finds the ridge terminations and ridge bifurcations from the input fingerprint images. If ridges can be absolutely located in an input fingerprint image, so minutiae extraction is merely a fiddling undertaking of pull outing remarkable points in a cut ridge map. However, in pattern, it is non ever possible to obtain a perfect ridge map. The public presentation of presently available minutiae extraction algorithms depends to a great extent on the quality of the input fingerprint images. Due to a figure of factors ( deviant formations of cuticular ridges of fingerprints, postpartum Markss, occupational Markss, jobs with acquisition devices, etc. ) , fingerprint images may non ever have chiseled ridge constructions. A dependable minutiae extraction algorithm is critical to the public presentation of an automatic individuality hallmark system utilizing fingerprints. Minutiae are extracted from the thinned image by utilizing the Crossing Number algorithm. Pi a 0 or 1 in the 3*3 Neighbor of P Characteristic of CN CN Fictional character 0 Isolated point 2 End point 4 Bifurcation point IV Experimental consequences: For the experimental consequences we acquired 100 set of finger print images, each set contain frontal, left and right position images. One of the used images set is shown in the Fig: 4.1 and the enhanced image is besides sown in the Fig: 4.2. The minutiae extraction consequences besides expressed in Fig: 4.3. The most definite index of touchless image quality is the figure of true minutiae to boot extracted. Figure: 4.1 Input images Figure: 4.2 Enhanced image Figure: 4.3 Minutiae Human experts prove that the more true minutiae extracted from the enhanced image. The touchless fingers are better than the conventional touch based fingers, that decision can be deviate from the consequences. The finger print quality look intoing methods compare the foreground size of the fingers. Here foreground means the good quality parts of the finger print. The foreground size steps are tabulated as follows: Table I Average INCREASING Rate OF FOREGROUND SIZE IN TERMS OF EACH Measurement Quality measuring Average addition rate of foreground size Standard divergence [ 12 ] 28.65 % Coherence [ 13 ] 33.72 % Gradient based method [ 14 ] 30.81 % However we can anticipate that our enhanced image can be doing high public presentation when position difference image are matched. The Table I shows the consequence of our enhanced image. V Decision AND FUTURE WORK This paper proposes a new method for touchless fingerprint detection images. To acquire the better minutiae extraction, the three fingerprints ( frontal, left, right ) are enhanced utilizing Gabor and pyramidic method. For experimental consequences, the enhanced fingerprints are holding better enhanced ridges and vales. Besides minutiae extraction besides handled. The consequences are analysed and described in tabular arraies and graph format. In this paper we limits the research work up to minutiae extraction, his research can be continued on mosaicing of the three enhanced images. Feature work can be done on the same construct. Harmonizing to the consequence, it is concluded that the proposed system generate better sweetening on touchless fingerprint than the bing methods.

Influences of Language on Society Research Paper

Influences of Language on Society - Research Paper Example However, for a term to qualify as slang for a particular group of people it has to be accepted by everyone. The people for whom it is meant for must feel comfortable enough using it as part of who they are. This is because slang is usually an embodiment of a people’s attitudes, practices, and beliefs. It should make people feel close to each other because of what they have in common. Slang can grow big and even spread to other subcultures and clans based on how popular it has become in the region of its use. It has no limits whatsoever. The requirement for one slang term to survive is that it must be adopted and taken in by as many people as possible. When slang becomes extensive, it is even adopted into society as part of the formal and standard language. Now, slang is so much a distinguishing factor of many groups of people that the effect it has in today’s society is immense and impossible to ignore. Sadly enough, the impact is greatly marked by class separation amon g people who use different types of slang according to their clans of origin. History of slang Slang was invented to reduce the fast-changing rate of both written and spoken language altogether. In the Middle Ages several writers came up with varied pronunciations and dialects which were branded the name ‘slang’. ... After all, criminals need to speak in their own coded language which no one, but themselves can understand. However, when its usage began to spread the society as a whole became alarmed. As more and more people adopted the English Criminal Cant, the intellectuals became concerned for the education of their children. Teachers advised their pupils not to indulge in the English Criminal Cant (then, already slang), claiming that it was misuse of English Slang started to be used in well-known plays by scriptwriters. Due to British colonialists many people knew most slang words all over America and Britain. Events such as the civil war enhanced the spread of slang as well, Scholars were embracing the new language with a positive attitude. â€Å"Slang as a wholesomeof common humanity to escape the form of bald literalism and express it illimitably (Thorne, 26). Slang was developing a new status during that time. People no longer associated it as a language of criminals and foreigners. Afte r the World War 1, society craved entertainment and what better what to entertain that to use slang. Now slang has been diversified in America to suit the needs of different cultures. One of the most common types of slang is the African-American slang. The root of all forms of slang is embedded in other languages. Slang shamelessly borrows words from other languages and twists, others would say corrupts, those into words much simpler, perhaps shorter, and much more easily understood. In short, slang borrows other languages’ words and changes them into something more comfortable for a set group of people. Majority users of slang in society today Slang is highly widespread in the society today. As mentioned earlier,

Pirated Software Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pirated Software - Essay Example In fact, it is estimated that 36% of all the software currently used is stolen (Journal of Business 2004). Instead of benefiting consumers, pirated software adds to consumer burden because the profit loss from the sales of this software is being passed on also to them by manufacturers in terms of higher prices (Piracy 2007). Software piracy is defined by Microsoft as the "mislicensing, unauthorized reproduction and illegal distribution of software, whether for personal or business use" (Protect yourself from piracy 2007). It should be noted that once an individual purchase a software from the copyright holder, the package include an end user license agreement (EULA) which provides the software a protection against copyright infringement. It is understood that once a consumer open the software and install it in his/her computer, he will adhere to the EULA. In the common knowledge, pirated software is often understood as counterfeit software which is bought from an illegal seller which reproduced it. This practice is very common in Mexico and China where software is reproduced and packaged in CD cases featuring the original design from the copyright holder. In countries where copyright infringement is often overlooked, pirated software are sold openly in markets. However, pirated software goes beyond purchasing from an illegal seller who reproduced it for a profit.

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

Environment - Research Paper Example The people hunted animals, fished, herded cattle, and grew food. Hence, nature enabled Man’s survival. Modern years have witnessed an increasingly great divide between nature and mankind in part due to a rational development of language that seems to have made its indigenous roots indistinguishable. So the transformation in our relationship with nature throughout history is marked by a development in newer modes of communication and expression. As mankind made its progress towards civilization, he distanced himself from his primitive roots that sought everything from nature. And they developed language so much to erase its historical roots in the natural context. Hence, although language traces its origination from animism, it cannot be returned to its original form because human developments over the years have contributed to changes that cannot be reverted back to basic pictorial communication. Philosophers have sought to explain the downfall of nature and the human being’s alienation of ecological world around us. Starting from Greek thinkers till the present times, philosophers have attempted to find the reasons for Man’s isolation is his links with nature. It is thought that Man’s changing ideas regarding the world including his emphasis on non-sensorial realm resulted in society’s mistrust of sensory experience thus increasing the distance between Man and nature. The gap between Man and nature is considered to have caused by the mental landscape and context that was created by civilizations in order to harbor the separation of Man from nature. Two of the oldest civilizations that led towards separation are the Hebrew and the Greek civilizations. The Hebrew civilization, according to Abram, planted the seeds of spirituality and religiosity as a dominant concept over nature (95). The Greek civilization on the other hand promoted ideas and phil osophy thereby raising the divide that eventually led to the estrangement

Case Study The Salad Bar Marketing Essay

Case Study The Salad Bar Marketing Essay The salad bar financial model will be based on the business concept of managing for the best, and planning for the worst. The projections of the first year will anticipate for a sales volume below average, salad cost above average, and seat turn below average. This will help us ensure adequate financial planning to cater for a ramp-up period that is reasonable, success of the business, and ensure that the business is not under-capitalized (McKeever 2008). Our financial plan is based on the assumptions that there will be a slow-growth economy that will be recovering from an economic decline. It also assumes that the business will experience a modest growth in the future. The Salad Bar business intends to increase profit margins per day. The businesses aims at reducing the variable operation cost as well as achieve a double growth rate annually. The Salad Bar marketing strategy will be aimed at developing visibility among the members of the community. This strategy will be achieved through a targeted advertising campaign. There will be advertisements placed in various newsletters. Its hoped that the advertisements will yield a reasonable amount of product enquiries since they are beleaguered toward the target population that uses Salad Bar products/services (Young 2007). The Salad Bar Marketing Objectives Salad Bar aims at reducing market costs as a sales percentage. The business intends to maintain steady and positive growth every month. In addition, Salad Bar plans to experience new customers increase and consequently have them as long-term customers. Marketing Strategy The Salad Bar marketing strategy will be aimed at developing visibility among the members of the community. This strategy will be achieved through a targeted advertising campaign. There will be advertisements placed in various newsletters. Its hoped that the advertisements will yield a reasonable amount of product enquiries since they are beleaguered toward the target population that uses Salad Bar products/services (Abrams Kleiner 2003). Target marketing The Salad Bars target population includes the middle class clients and the upper-class clients. The middle-class population has minimal disposable income. It recognizes that its expensive to get salad from a salad bar but its prepared to incur expenses though they will attempt to minimize them. On the other hand, the upper-class clients are characterized by high income level and its willing to have salad from a bar. This strategy will require a different menu for the two groups since the upper-class salad menu will be cost prohibitive for the middle class population (McKeever 2008). Positioning The Salad Bar will position itself as a high quality, innovative salad business. The members of the society will recognize the high quality and unique service/product offerings of The Salad Bar. The Salad Bar competitive edge will be founded in  its customer inventive and customer approach to members of the society. The Salad Bar customer attention will make it different from other salad bars that have a lot of demand. The disadvantage of having a high demand is that the business experiences a decreased pressure to accommodate extra clients. When The Salad Bar will start having plenty of customers, we will modify our business plan in order to handle them effectively McKeever (2008). The Salad Bar will approach the market as if there is considerable competition between the different product providers. We aim at making customer satisfaction our priority, and through this, local clients will come to be pleased about the attention given to their need and establish long-term relationshi ps with The Salad Bar. The main objective is to position The Salad Bar as the premier Salad business within the area, authorizing a market share majority in four years. The marketing strategy will aim first at creating customer awareness concerning its products, build up a customer base, and focus on building customer referrals and loyalty (Young 2007) Marketing Mix The Salad Bar marketing mix will consist of pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion approaches. The pricing scheme of the business is based on per person or per bowl charge. The Salad Bar aims at making product deliveries for customer far from the shop. On the other Hand, advertising and promotion will be done through television and radio adverts as well as brochures (Young 2007). Marketing Research Several focus groups were established and held during the initial marketing plan development phase so as to gain insight into a number of potential customers. The groups provided useful insight into potential customers decision making. Additional dynamic market research source is a feedback system based on a proposal card system. The proposal card will have numerous statements that clients are asked to rate as per a given scale. There will be numerous open ended questions that will enable a client to offer constructive criticism freely. The Salad Bar will focus on implementing suggestions that are reasonable so as to improve its product offerings as well as demonstrate its commitment to customer suggestions (Abrams Kleiner 2003).

Customer Lifetime Value Essay

Marketing Engineering for Excel is a Microsoft Excel add-in. The software runs from within Microsoft Excel and only with data contained in an Excel spreadsheet. After installing the software, simply open Microsoft Excel. A new menu appears, called â€Å"MEï€ ´XL.† This tutorial refers to the â€Å"MEï€ ´XL/Customer Lifetime Value† submenu. Overview Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) represents a metric of a customer’s value to the organization over the entire span of that customer’s relationship with a firm. Short-term sales influence CLV, but so do overall customer satisfaction, the churn rate in the segment, and the costs to acquire a new customer and retain an existing customer. The CLV approach helps firms answer such questions as: How much is my customer base â€Å"worth†? Taking into account observed churn rates, how many of the currently active customers will still be active in a few years? How much is a customer worth, depending on the segment to which he or she belongs? If acquiring a new customer costs $150, after how many periods can we recoup this investment? Customer lifetime value analysis considers your database at a segment level, using the answers you provide to the following questions: How many segments do you have in your database, and how many customers per segment? For a given period, how much is a customer worth, on average, in each segment (margins and costs)? What is the likelihood that a customer in segment A will switch to segment B during the next period? Getting Started A CLV analysis allows you to use your own data directly or a template preformatted by the MEXL software. The next section explains how to create an easy-to-use template to enter your own data. If you want to run a CLV analysis immediately, open the example file â€Å"OfficeStar Data (CLV).xls† and jump to â€Å"Step 3: Running analysis† (p. 4). By default, the example files install in â€Å"My Documents/My Marketing Engineering/.† Step 1 Creating a template Using the interactive assistant In Excel, if you click on MEï€ ´XL ï  § CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE ï  § CREATE TEMPLATE, a dialog box appears. This box represents the first step in creating a template to run the CLV analysis software. The first dialog box prompts you to use an interactive assistant. Unless you are already familiar with the methodology, you should select â€Å"yes.† Listing segments The first step of the template generation process requires you to label and list the segments that you want taken into account. Enter the names of segments to which a customer can belong. Press ENTER or click the â€Å"Add to list† button to add it to the â€Å"List of Segments.† Note that a segment of â€Å"lost customers† always appears in your list. This segment has the following properties: There is no activity by these customers (margins and costs equal 0). It entails an absorbing relationship state. As soon as a customer reaches this segment, he or she stays there forever. In other words, there is 100% chance the customer stays in that segment in the next period, and all other transition probabilities will be equal to 0%. After entering all your segments (at least one), click the OK button to proceed to the next step of the template creation process. Clicking on the OK button generates a template. Not using the interactive assistant You may skip this intermediary step and create a blank template. When you are prompted to use the interactive assistant, just click â€Å"no.† The following dialog box appears: When you click OK, you generate a new blank spreadsheet. You must enter the segment labels manually in the spreadsheet. In this example, if you update the names of the segments in cells B6, B7, and B8, the names of the segments automatically update in the other cells of the spreadsheet. Entering your data In this tutorial, we use the example file â€Å"OfficeStar Data (CLV).xls,† which in the default conditions appear in â€Å"My Documents/My Marketing Engineering/.† To view a proper data format, open that spreadsheet in Excel. A snapshot is reproduced below. A typical CLV analysis spreadsheet contains: Number of customers per segment. As of today, how many customers does the company have in each segment? Gross margins, or the average margins that the company expects from a customer over each period (e.g., year, quarter), on the basis of the segment to which this customer belongs during that period. In the OfficeStar example, a customer who belongs to the â€Å"Warm Customer† segment should generate $15 of gross margins on average during the next period (e.g., first quarter). Marketing costs, or how much money the company plans to spend per customer during the next period, according to the segment to which this customer belongs at the beginning of the period. Typically, active customers are followed more closely, receive more attention (e.g., direct marketing solicitations, sales representatives visits), and cost more to the firm. Transition matrix, which summarizes the likelihood a customer will switch segments during each period. This matrix should be read horizontally, and each line sums to 100% (because all customers appear in some segment). In the OfficeStar example, an active customer has a 75% likelihood of remaining in the same segment and a 25% chance of switching to the warm customer segment. A customer’s behavior during the previous period determines into which segment that customer is classified, and his or her segment membership then determines the marketing dollars the company should allocate to that customer in the next period. In the OfficeStar example, a customer who belongs to the â€Å"Active Customer† segment generates $90 of gross margins per period (e.g., quarter). Step 3 Running analyses After entering your data in the Excel spreadsheet using the appropriate format, click on MEï€ ´XL ï  § CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE ï  § RUN ANALYSIS. The dialog box that appears indicates the next steps required to perform a CLV analysis of your data. CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE – V130522 5/10 Number of periods: Specify the number of periods for which you want a detailed CLV analysis. Note that this choice does NOT affect the CLV computations, because the value of a customer always gets estimated over an infinite time horizon (though as time passes and discount rates apply, future revenues have less relative impact). The number of periods affects only the level of output. Discount factor: Indicate the discount rate to apply for the value of a dollar spent or received in the future as compared to the current period. A discount rate of 15% means that $100 profit in the next period is only â€Å"worth† $85 in today’s dollars. A greater discount factor reduces the impact of future revenues on CLV computations and thus focuses on shortterm  profits. You should increase the discount rate for turbulent or rapidly evolving markets, in which conditions change rapidly and future revenues therefore are highly uncertain. Setting: Select either Transactional or Contractual depending on the nature of the product or service you are modelling. Contractual models imply the existence of a contract between the transacting parties (e.g., a mobile phone contract between the provider and consumer). Contractual relationships imply continuous transactions and a known end to the contract. Transactional models imply discrete transactions with no implied end to the relationship. For use with our CLV model, the impact of this setting will affect the first period of the analysis. A Contractual setting implies no loss/gain in first month (since the customer is under contract) while the Transactional setting will reflect loss/gain in the first month. The discount factor gets applied after each period, regardless of how you define a period. If you define a period as a quarter, a discount factor of 15% translates into an effective yearly discount rate of almost 48% (15% discount rate applied four times per year). Remember to take this multiplicative effect into account when selecting an appropriate discount factor. After selecting these options, you must select the cells containing the data. First, the software asks for ranges of the current segment sizes and profits and costs for each segment, including a row dedicated to permanently lost  customers. If you use a template generated by Marketing Engineering for Excel, it has already pre-selected the cell ranges. Second, the software asks for a square range that shows the likelihood that a customer in each segment (row) will switch to each segment (column) in the following period. The newly generated spreadsheet contains the results of your CLV analysis. Step 4 Interpreting the results Customer lifetime value The last column of the CLV table outputs the expected CLV of a customer who currently belongs to a given segment, determined by summing the stream of all future gross margins, minus all future marketing costs, and taking into account both the discount factor and the likelihood of customers switching from one segment to another. These figures also appear in the â€Å"Lifetime Value† chart, shown below. A customer with a negative CLV actually means a loss of money for your firm. Number of customers per segment The next table (and chart) shows how many customers will be in each segment at each period of time in the future. The time horizon displayed on the chart matches the number of periods you specified in the â€Å"Run Analysis† options. Note that the â€Å"Lost Customers† segment is not displayed. In most applications, all customers eventually become lost customers, and over sufficient time, all other segments become empty. Customer base’s lifetime value The third table in the â€Å"CLV Analysis† sheet, labeled the Customer Base’s Lifetime Value, summarizes the future stream of revenues and marketing costs over a specified number of future periods (whether cumulative or not) at the global level. Some key elements of this table plot in the third (and last) chart of the spreadsheet. In particular, the Discounted Net Margins (cumulated) provide an answer to the question: â€Å"Over the next x periods, how much is my customer base worth?† Retention rates The final tables depict the likelihood that a customer will belong to any segment in any period of time in the future, depending on the segment to which he or she currently belongs. There are as many tables as there are segments in the analysis. In most applications, all customers eventually join the â€Å"Lost Customers† segment. The probability of belonging to that segment thus slowly reaches 1 (100%), and the probabilities of belonging to any other segment trend toward 0 over time.

Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Discrimination Essay

â€Å"We all decry prejudice, yet are all prejudiced. † Herbert Spencer. One of the greatest problem that our world faces is prejudice, we discrimination and stereotype those that we find not to be the same as us or even slightly different. In some form or another we all have experience some form of stereotype or discrimination. It has an effect on the way we think and act. Here we try to understand the reason for prejudice, why we stereotypes and discrimination that has continue to affect out world. What is prejudice? â€Å"Prejudice is the act of judging an individual of a certain group based on perceived notions about that particular group. Prejudice is linked to discrimination but prejudice is an attitude whereas discrimination is the action associated with that attitude. †(Prejudice 2001). Many times we dislike something or someone just because they look or act differently from us. â€Å"A group that you are a part of is called your in-group. Ingroups might include gender, race, or city or state of residence, as well as groups you might intentionally join, like Kiwanis or a bowling league. A group that you do not identify with is called your outgroup. † ( Feenstra, 2013) everyone belongs to a certain group and we all know who is in our group and those that do not fit in our groups. Most time adult do not realize when they somehow out a person from there groups, but some do it intentionally. When we out a person from our group we really do not take the time to get to know or find out who they are, but we tend to pass judgment on them anyways. â€Å"Stereotypes are beliefs about the characteristics of particular groups or members of those groups. †( Feenstra, 2013) people tend to place into categories things and people, gathering them together without learn who or what they are. For example; that everyone that speaks Spanish is Mexican, when in reality there is a total of 21 Spanish country and they do not all speak the same Spanish. When we stereotype people into groups, we form opinion about them without getting to know there person, this sometime causing prejudice and discrimination against them. â€Å"They not only reflect beliefs about the traits that characterize the typical member of a group but also contain information about other qualities, such as social roles, the degree to which members of the group share a quality, and emotional reactions. Stereotypes imply a substantial amount of other information about a person besides what is immediately apparent and generate expectations about individual group members beyond the current situation ). One important time frame in the world would be the holocaust were the Jewish people were separated from other people because they were believed to be lower than the German and the cause of their problem lead them to torture and abuse the Jewish people as well as kill thousands of Jewish men woman and children. The people that suffer the most from prejudice and any form of discrimination are woman and children especially those living in third world country were at time it is the root of wars. I have been lucky not have been affected by any form of prejudice or discrimination. But as a teen in high school there was always that one person that felt like stereotyping a few people to try to hurt them. Only thru education can we combat any form of stereotypes, discrimination and Prejudice. In conclusion stereotypes, discrimination and Prejudice has influence the way people think and act. It has been the cause of suffering to those effected, as well as the cause of war and separation. Prejudice is a form of ignorance; it is a lack of knowledge, a lack of understanding toward others. Thru education and tolerances we can learn to accept other no matter where they.

Common Ground Among Them †Creative Writing Story

Common Ground Among Them – Creative Writing Story Free Online Research Papers Common Ground Among Them Creative Writing Story At the first night, I knew my three roommates: Stephanie, Alicia and Katherine. Stephanie, a slim girl, snow-white skin made her very popular in boys. She was called school-flower. I heard from Alicia that Stephanie used to be smacked by the elder girl from the middle school when she was in primary school, because the boys in middle school were crazy for her, and she almost grabbed of their attention from other girls. Of course, she began to make a boyfriend in a young age. That was the reason I think she was a superficial girl and I didn’t have a good feeling about her. When the boys knew Stephanie would study in middle school, some of boys even begun to plan that how to pick up her. However, it was not so easy to do, because the number of the boys who wanted to pick up her could around the earth three rounds. Alicia, a little bit fat, her skin was quite dark and she was not so tall. She was an opponent to Stephanie, but Stephanie was her good friend. Maybe the boy wanted to get close to Stephanie through Alicia, so she was quite popular as well. And Katherine, umm†¦she was so quite that you would ignore her exist. She was that kind of gracefully quiet girl. She didn’t like t o talk, but listened to us. However, I found a common ground among them: studied badly, but yearned for the love can remember to the end of their lives. In the first night, Stephanie positive talked to me first. â€Å"Hey, Michelle, have you ever made any boyfriend before you came to this school?† Stephanie asked me. â€Å"No. I don’t have so much time to know one. How can I make a boyfriend?† I asked return back. â€Å"You mean you spend all the time on the books?† her tone raised several tones. I didn’t deny and nodded my head. â€Å"Ok. Tell me frankly have you ever loved someone before?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I mean did you heart beat fast when you saw a boy?† â€Å"Of course not. It’s too dramatic. How can you love a stranger at the first sight, you know nothing about him. Can you sure he is a good guy?† â€Å"Oh, my god! I can’t believe I am living with a cold-blood girl together. Dear Michelle, don’t be too dull. Every girl dreams to be loved by someone. Doesn’t tell me you haven’t thought about it before!† â€Å"Yes, that is who I am! Don’t you feel the job of being a student is study?† â€Å"Are you kidding? Study? Are you crazy that you’ve never imagined your boyfriend?† â€Å"What’s wrong?† â€Å"What’s wrong? That’s a big big wrong. You need to leave the books. Books are not your whole life, book worm.† â€Å"But I want to study some knowledge. That’s the reason I come here.† â€Å"All right, I’ll tell candid to you that love is a vast knowledge that no book can teach you how to do it, even the adult can’t handle it well. You have to grow up one day. Girl, woke up, you will face it some day.† â€Å"How many boyfriends you have made so far?† She leaned her head and her finger moved up and down, after a while. â€Å"I think it’s about seven.† She peacefully said. â€Å"Seven?† â€Å"Why you look so surprised? Your eyes are so round that I can put a nut in it.† â€Å"Do you want to imply that you understand love a lot?† â€Å"Maybe.† She proudly said. â€Å"So what’s love?† â€Å"That’s easy. It means you treat me well, then I treat you well too.† â€Å"Stephanie, friends also can treat each other like this, just like you and Alicia, does it mean you guys need to fall in love?† â€Å"Take it easy, Michelle. You’re still young. I can understand. You can’t accept this so fast.† â€Å"It’s absurd. If he doesn’t treat you well, then you won’t love him any more, right?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"If he treats you well at the same time, he has another girlfriend; do you still stay beside him?† â€Å"Um†¦then I would consider whether he worth me paying much love on him. For example, I would see he whether is rich. Even he doesn’t love me any more, if he still treats me well. I can use his money to buy what I like to buy. Remember, if man is an earning money machine, then girl should be a wasting money machine. In addition, Michelle, nowadays, there is a popular saying in girls: ‘marry a rich man is better than study well in school’!† † â€Å"Is she reading the actor’s lines?† that’s my first reflection. Although I’d heard this kind of words so many times from media I’d never thought that I would hear that from my friend’s mouth. I was shocked. The feeling liked the ship crushed into a cold mountain. Ice freezes my body from head to foot from sky.† â€Å"You don’t want to set up your own business? Haven’t you made an aim for your life?† â€Å"Of course, I have, married a rich husband and be a wealthy wife. That’s simple. It’s hard to work outside, why you don’t I choose a comfortable way to spend my life?† â€Å"Your opinion is so special.† â€Å"Me? Lots of people have the same thought as mine. They just don’t express it so plain and directly like me.† â€Å"Ling†¦Ling†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Our conversation was ended by the mobile phone, which was from her boyfriend. He called her to have a date in the weekend. There was no surprise that her boyfriend was from a wealthy family. Actually, she told me a lot, but I only could remember these. After the weekend, when I saw her again, a spanking new delicate ring was worn in her right hand. I heard from Alicia that this ring cost 1,000 RMB. â€Å"Being a rich guy’s girlfriend is so great.† I heard another girl in my grade after she saw the ring. Do you think this is a good phenomenon that a girl advocates money worship? How their parents taught her? At the end of that year, when we finished the text, my questions couldn’t store any more. I really hoped I could change her vulgar mind. â€Å"Stephanie, do your parents know that?† I curious asked. â€Å"My parents?† she sneered, â€Å"Hug, they are absolutely this kind of people. Can you believe that my mom even encourage me finding a rich man as husband.† â€Å"Ah?† I couldn’t believe my ears. â€Å"Don’t be so surprise. Michelle, I believe you were born in a content family; I used to be as well. But everything has changed since my family became rich. He didn’t like going home any more. He loves staying outside, not come home and see my mom and me. My mother always cried when he was not at home, I used to naà ¯ve think that it was caused by my mark, so I worked very hard in a period and that made me became the top student in my school, but it didn’t change too much. Later, I knew that dad had some women outside. From then on, I swear I must spend all the men’s money. That’s my family. If my father was not rich, my family wouldn’t in this situation. Sorry, Michelle. I didn’t plan to tell you this. I know you are so pure as a piece of white paper. I hope you won’t violate any spot, just not like me. I know I am terrible.† I knew I should say, â€Å"No, you are still a good girl.† Such words to console her, but I just couldn’t burst out. I was too shock to say anything. I looked at her. She looked unconfident any more, instead of sorrow. I still remember her eyes clearly. It was a pair of numb and dim eyes. Her language was slipslop like a bottom of water, not sweet but not bitter, either. She used the simplest words to describe her past, but her words like drooping a stone into a still lake, the surface floated bunches of ripples in my heart. Before that, I considered she was a shallow girl, who only loved money in her mind. I used to think that my entire peer should be focus on their study and their families’ supervisor their mark, but Stephanie opened a window and led me to another new world. That was my first time to see Stephanie’s case. This talent girl could change like this, which was not all her fault. â€Å"Then who should take this responsibility?† I couldn ’t help asking myself. When I am writing in here, Stephanie makes me recollecting myself at the age of eight. At that time, my parents quarreled horrible, I have forgotten how fear I was when they were arguing, but I remember clearly that their argument made me felt like at the end of the world. Suddenly, I think I begin to understand her. There is nothing worse than the child see their parents separate. The situation that Stephanie met even worse. I don’t know how she felt when she faced her father. At least, she wouldn’t believe the story that the prince and princess live happily forever in fairy tale. A three-people family, like a pedicab, no matter which wheel was broken, the consequence was severe. I thought if I met the same situation with her, what should I do? Do I think her behavior is the best way to solve the problem? Stephanie was right. I wouldn’t learn this from my text book. My text books never taught that I should take responsibility to my self, my family and the whole society. That moment, I felt my high mark was useless. It couldn’t help me to solve this complicated spot. High mark couldn’t let me understand the adult’s emotion world. The most ridicule thing was they always request us study well, but ignore the basic thing. Do they think high mark can represent everything? I was worried that our next generation might meet the same embarrassing situation with us! However, Stephanie transferred to another school after Junior One. Before she left, she wrote a message to me that asked Alicia to give me: I wanna marry a common boy. When I saw it, my tear was suddenly rolling in my eye pit. She was a victim of her family. Research Papers on Common Ground Among Them - Creative Writing StoryPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayThe Spring and AutumnHip-Hop is ArtThe Hockey GameMind TravelCapital PunishmentStandardized TestingUnreasonable Searches and Seizures

Idioms and Expressions for the Verb Talk

Idioms and Expressions for the Verb Talk Talk is a common verb in English which can also be used as a noun. Talk is also used in a wide variety of idiomatic expressions. Listed below you will find an idiom or expression with talk with a definition and two example sentences to help to understand through context. Big Talk Definition: (noun) exaggerated claims Hes full of big talk, but he rarely does what he claims. Is that just big talk, or do you think its actually true? Give Someone a Talking to Definition: (verbal phrase) speak strongly to someone, berate someone She gave her daughter a talking to after she got home after midnight. Come in this room! You need a talking to! Heart-to-heart Talk Definition: (noun) serious discussion Jane and I had a great heart-to-heart talk last weekend. Now I understand her. Have you had a heart-to-heart talk with your wife yet? Jive Talk Definition: (noun) something stated that is obviously not true Come on Tim! Thats just jive talk. Stop the jive talk and tell me something interesting. Money Talks Definition: (idiomatic phrase) the most important thing is money Dont forget that money talks, so everything else doesnt matter. In the end money talks so your business needs to be profitable as soon as possible. Pep Talk Definition: (noun) a short discussion intended to motivate someone The coach gave the players a pep talk during halftime. My wife gave me a pep talk to help me with my job interview. Straight Talk Definition: (noun) a discussion that is completely honest, often discussing difficult issues Tom gave me straight talk at the meeting which I appreciated greatly. Id like to hear some straight talk on the investment opportunities. Talk a Blue Streak Definition: (verbal phrase) speak quickly and at length Maria talked a blue streak at the party. It was hard to say anything. Be careful when speaking with Tom, he talks a blue streak. Talk Big Definition: (verb) make large claims and boasts Take everything he says with a grain of salt. He talks big. Youre talking big today. Could you please be a bit more realistic? Talking Head Definition: (noun) expert on television The talking heads feel the economy is going to improve. They hired a talking head to represent them on TV talk shows. Talk Like Nut Definition: (verbal phrase) say things that make little sense Dont talk like a nut! Thats crazy. Shes talking like a nut. Dont believe a word she says. Talk On the Big White Phone Definition: (verbal phrase) to vomit into the toilet Doug drank too much so hes talking on the big white phone. Shes in the bathroom talking on the big white phone. Talk Through Ones Hat Definition: (verbal phrase) speak carelessly and tell lies Hes talking through his hat. Dont believe a word he says. Unfortunately, Jane often talks through her hat, so you cant believe anything. Talk to Hear Ones Own Voice Definition: (verb phrase) speak in order to hear oneself, find joy in speaking too much Henry talks to hear his own voice. It gets boring after a while. He lost a few of his friends because he talks to hear his own voice. Talk Turkey Definition: (verbal phrase) talk serious business, talk frankly Its time to talk turkey about the business. Peter, we need to talk turkey. Talk Until You Are Blue In the Face Definition: (verbal phrase) speak at length without influencing others Theres no need to try to convince her. Youll just talk until you are blue in the face. I talked until I was blue in the face, but it didnt help.

Acid base and redox titration of vitamin C Lab Report

Acid base and redox titration of vitamin C - Lab Report Example 1:1 Moles of vitamin C 0.0031938mol Mass of vitamin C 0.564g Percent of vitamin C in the tablet 85.5% Table 2:The table below summarizes the results if the redox reaction experiment Data Trial Mass tablet used 0.67g Molarity of I3- (moles/L) 0.0990mol/l Initial volume of I3- (mL) 4.1 mL Final volume of I3- (mL) 28.6 mL Volume of I3- used 24.5 ml Moles of I3- used 0.0024mol Vitamin C: base molar ratio 1:1 Moles of vitamin C 0.0024mol Mass of vitamin C 0.43 g Percent of vitamin C in the tablet 64.18 % The equations used to find the answers in the trials are written bellow, Equation for table 1 C6H8O6(aq) + NaOH(aq) -> H2O(l) + Na+(aq) + C6H7O6-(aq) Equation for table 2 C6H8O6(aq) + I3-(aq) -> 3 I-(aq) +C6H6O6(aq) + 2H+(aq) Discussion/Conclusion:Chemical properties of substances initiate reactions. The reduction property of vitamin C, for example, is responsible for the chemical’s property to initiate reactions with other chemicals. The acid has a high tendency to donate electron s to other chemicals forming a basis for reactions. Based on stoichiometry and known information of a chemical in reaction with vitamin C, elements such as the number of moles and even mass of vitamin C can be determined from a reaction that can be either an acid base reaction or a redox reaction. The acid base reaction involved sodium hydroxide solution, the base in the reaction, and vitamin C, the acid. The equation for the reaction is given as follows C6H8O6(aq) + NaOH(aq) -> H2O(l) + Na+(aq) + C6H7O6-(aq) Vitamin C was oxidized in the process while sodium hydroxide was reduced. The redox reaction is on the other hand represented by the following equation, C6H8O6(aq) + I3-(aq) -> 3 I-(aq) +C6H6O6(aq) + 2H+(aq) The oxidation reaction is given by the following equation C6H8O6(aq)->C6H6O6(aq)+... Chemical properties of substances initiate reactions. The reduction property of vitamin C, for example, is responsible for the chemical’s property to initiate reactions with other chemicals. The acid has a high tendency to donate electrons to other chemicals forming a basis for reactions. Based on stoichiometry and known information of a chemical in reaction with vitamin C, elements such as the number of moles and even mass of vitamin C can be determined from a reaction that can be either an acid base reaction or a redox reaction. The acid base reaction involved sodium hydroxide solution, the base in the reaction, and vitamin C, the acid. The equation for the reaction is given as follows C6H8O6(aq) + NaOH(aq) -> H2O(l) + Na+(aq) + C6H7O6-(aq) Vitamin C was oxidized in the process while sodium hydroxide was reduced. The redox reaction is on the other hand represented by the following equation, C6H8O6(aq) + I3-(aq) -> 3 I-(aq) +C6H6O6(aq) + 2H+(aq) The oxidation reaction is given by the following equation C6H8O6(aq)->C6H6O6(aq)+ 2H+(aq) The reduction equation is given by I3-(aq) -> 3 I-(aq) From the chemical equation, vitamin C is oxidized while iodine ions are reduced. The accurate titration is the acid base reaction. This is because it offers the same percentage composition as indicated on the vitamin C tablet used. The experiments offered different results. While the redox reaction yielded a percentage composition of 64.19 percent, the acid base reaction yielded 85.5 percent. The difference in the numbers could be due to a number of errors. The first type of error that could have led to the difference is inaccurate measurement of the reactants. Such could occur in measuring readings in the titration process for the redox reactions.

Chipotle in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chipotle in China - Essay Example Emerging markets like China with more than one billion consumers give the western restaurant chains a great opportunity to expand their foot prints. In this paper, we are going to address the possible negotiation and ethical challenges that the food chain Chipotle is going to face as they start business in China. Chipotle Business Model Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. runs restaurants in the United States. The company also has international presence through restaurants in Toronto and London. Currently as of the end of 2011, the number of stores stands at 1,230. It also owns one ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen. The company tries to find the best class of ingredients for making great tasting foods. Chipotle has shown very quick growth over the last half decades. The company plans to introduce around 155 to 165 new restaurants in 2012 (Annual Report 2011, 3). Chipotle restaurants’ list of options has only a few items like, ‘burritos, burrito bowls, tacos and salads’. But customers have the liberty to decide from ‘four different meats, two types of beans and a variety of extras such as salsas, guacamole, cheese and lettuce’. So, there are in fact adequate varieties. Chipotle restaurants draw a lot of consumers. So the outlets frequently have lines. But it has been capable to serve more than 300 buyers an hour at some places (Annual Report 2011, 3-4). Chipotle’s cooking techniques are traditional in nature. They marinate and grill meats, hand-cut produce and herbs, make fresh salsa and guacamole, and cook rice in small lots all over the day. The kitchen’s planning more closely is similar to the design of high-end restaurants. Every Chipotle restaurant has a â€Å"restaurant manager, an apprentice manager, one or two hourly service managers, one or two hourly kitchen managers and an average of 20 full and part-time crew members† (Annual Report 2011, 4-5). Certain key ingredients (‘beef, pork, chicken, beans, rice, sour cream, and tortillas’) are purchased from a small number of suppliers. Chipotle does not buy raw materials straight from cultivators or other suppliers. It has selected and endorsed all of the suppliers from whom ingredients are purchased. Chipotle owns and operates 22 regional distribution centers. The necessary commodities are sent to the restaurants from these distribution centers (Annual Report 2011, 6). Chipotle’s profitability varies from quarter to quarter due to seasonal factors. The average restaurant sales and profits touch the bottom in the first and fourth quarters. The biggest challenges for Chipotle are staffing new restaurants and finding sites for new restaurant (Annual Report 2011, 6-8). Recently the news has emerged that Chipotle may include some Asian cuisine into their menu. It intends to do so through ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen. The cuisine will include not just Chinese or Japanese, but also Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese (Steinmetz). Chain Restaurants Industry in China and Chipotle The Chinese consumer food services market has grown from US$133.6 billion in 2004 to US$ 294.4 billion in 2009. As a result the market has grown at a CAGR of 12.5% over the five year period. The market is expected to grow to $449.3 billion in 2014. The factors effecting this growth are strong economic growth of China with rapid urbanization and increasing disposable income that changed lifestyle and consumption patterns. There is a general tendency among the urban population that they tend to spend time at work and in social activities. So they save time by avoiding the meal preparation task (My Decker Capital, 3). The fast food market is a very important segment of the consumer food market. This segment has grown to a US$69.4 billion market in 2009 and is expected to grow to US$113.1 billion in 2014. The growth of the fast food industry is mainly driven by the increasing working population. The key characteristic of the fast food service restaurants are their low cost. This factor also serves as a key competitive advantage (My Decker Capita

Counseling Needs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Counseling Needs - Essay Example The diagram on the next page illustrates the framework to be followed by me as the counsellor. The figure shows the interrelationship between the client and the counsellor, within the content and process influences that impact upon the individual, with the collaboration and intervention of the counsellor. I should work closely with policy makers in the organization, based on the theory by Savickas, Van Esbroeck and Herr that career guidance is a socio-political instrument for advancing organizational goals while helping the individual to realize a personally satisfying career (Patton & McMahon, 2006:231). The policy makers set the organizational system, which functions inside the social and environmental/societal systems. Working in the system side by side with the individual is the counsellor, who uses a collaborative and negotiating technique that makes up the pro-active approach. The counsellor finds out the policies and objectives in the organization, and helps the individual to adjust to the constantly changing organization.

Hebrew Bible Essay Example for Free

Hebrew Bible Essay I attended the First Baptist Church this last week. The message the pastor shared was from the book of Proverbs. This is the Old Testament of our scriptures. This is the Hebrew Bible which is regularly used in the Baptist Church. The passage taught this week was â€Å"32 My children, listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways. 33 Listen to my teaching and be wise. Dont turn away from it. 34 Blessed is the one who listens to me. He watches every day at my doors. He waits beside my doorway. 35 Those who find me find life. They receive favor from the Lord. † (Proverbs 8:32-35). The Old Testament was incorporated into the service by the Pastor in way of introduction. The pastor will stand before the congregation and ask them to turn to a certain passage. The passage he directed us all to this week was Proverbs 8:32-35. The passage is talking about finding wisdom wisdom in the Lord. The Pastor taught on how that passage is just as true to the listener today as it was in times past. When we find that wisdom we listen to that wisdom and we remain obedient to that wisdom then we receive favor from the Lord. This applied thousands of years ago when the Hebrew King David wrote the Proverbs and it applies today. The writings of the Hebrew Bible are as applicable today as they were thousands of years ago. The God of our Bible Old and New Testaments is the same today and yesterday. Applying the lessons from His scripture is the right thing to do -as much today as yesterday. Verse 33 in the reading directs the reader to not turn away from wisdom. That applies to everyone’s life. Makes no difference if one is a believer in the writings of the Hebrew Bible or not. Hanging on to wisdom is a smart thing to do. Bibliography Proverbs. (2009). Bible Gateway. New International Readers Version. Retrieved 20 March, 2009, from, http://www. biblegateway. com/passage/? book_id=24chapter=8version=76

Reduction in Force :: essays research papers

The Role of Length of Service in a Reduction in Force Organizations participating in a reduction in force (RIF) are typically reacting to an economic reason. A poorly designed and executed RIF procedure is fraught with potential litigation possibilities. Using â€Å"†¦length of service with the company or in a job classification is the most common, easiest, and most objective standard† (Wildman-Harrold).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Any RIF is subject to potential lawsuits. Considering the number of employees involved, the amount of potential damages can easily escalate. Consequently, RIF decisions need to be consistent, uniformly applied, and based on objective measures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using seniority has several advantages. It is a quantifiable measurement that is readily understood and appreciated by employees. Using Seniority can also aid in the positive perception that employees have in their organization by valuing loyalty. Seniority can also reduce the liability that comes with age discrimination. One survey indicated that age discrimination claims are twice as frequent as any other claim in a RIF. (Wildman-Harrold)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While using seniority as a RIF measurement tool has distinct advantages, companies that use seniority as the sole measurement tool for a RIF put themselves at a disadvantage. These companies are potentially at risk for not retaining productive and high performing, less senior employees. Companies that create a hybrid of measurements that include skill set analysis and performance based measurements, along with seniority will be better served. Considerations of Gender, Race, Age, and Other â€Å"Protected Class† Designations State and Federal laws protect employees from unlawful termination based on gender, race, and age. It is estimated from the â€Å"Displaced Worker Survey† that over 2.4% of all employees displaced in the mid 1990’s filed a discrimination claim with the EEOC (Harriet Zellner, 1998, p.1). Understanding this large potential risk, employers must be cognizant of the effect that any RIF will have as it relates to this protected class. To understand the potential implication of a RIF on the employer’s protected class, the employer should conduct â€Å"statistical pre-testing of RIF lists† (Harriet Zellner, 1998, p.1). In this process the employer would conduct a mock RIF to develop lists of employees both before and after the RIF. These lists would provide the statistical data for the workforce composition, from which a statistical analysis of patterns in the data are completed. From this data, the organization must make an assessment whether the statistics represent a disparate impact on a protected class. If a disparate impact exists, the organization needs to determine if the impact is statistically significant, is the RIF process fair, impartial, and caused by a business need?

Finance Analysis Essay

Nike continues its lead based on this test. | †¢ Both companies have a ratio higher than the dangerous 1. 0 acid test ratio. Both companies are able to pay their current liabilities. †¢ This test shows that Under Armour is more financially stable. †¢ Another conclusion that can be based on this test is that Under Armour`s current assets are more dependent on inventory than Nike`s current assets| Conclusion: Basing ourselves on the acid test ratio we concluded that both companies have no liquidity issues and are able to maintain their liquidity far above the required minimum. There was a change in the leading position from 2009-2010. Nike improved their liquidity and took the lead. Another conclusion about the business styles of the two companies is the fact that Under Armour keeps a higher dependency of current assets on inventory, which is more typical for retail store businesses. 2. Profitability | Comparison between Nike & Under Armour| | 2010| 2009| Gross Profit Margin| The gross profit margin of both companies is almost the same. Still Under Armour show a higher GPM than Nike. There are no large fluctuations in the GPM which is always a good sign for the stability of the companies. | The gross profit margin of both companies is almost the same. Still Under Armour show a higher GPM than Nike. | Net Profit Margin| Nike leads in the net profit margin categoryThere is an apparent difference between the leadership in GPM and NPM | Nike leads in the net profit margin categoryThere is an apparent difference between the leadership in GPM and NPM| Ratio of Net Sales to Assets| Under Armour leads in this categoryUnder Armour has a higher effectiveness of assets in respect to sales. Under Armour leads in this categoryUnder Armour has a higher effectiveness of assets in respect to sales| Rate Earned on Total Assets| Nike is the leader in this categoryNike maintains a higher return on its investments which means that its management team is more effective. | Nike is the leader in this categoryNike maintains a higher return on its investments which means that its managem ent team is more effective. | Conclusion: Both companies show a big gross profit margin during both years. The lack of fluctuations in the GPM suggests that there were no major changes in the sports apparel industry and its development is fairly stable. The huge differences in net profit margin show that the marketing/administration costs of sports apparel companies are big. This also implies that operating costs and cost of goods sold of sports apparel companies is relatively low. Under Armour has a lower Rate Earned on Total Assets and a smaller growth based on a year to year comparison. This may be a result of bad managerial decisions or less effective managerial team. Based on the leverage Nike is a better choice for investment in comparison to Under Armor. 3. Solvency | Comparison between Nike & Under Armour| | 2010| 2009| Solvency Ratio| Both companies have solvency ratios that are far above the critical 20%. Nike has a little bit higher solvency ratio than Under Armour. The problem is that the solvency ratio of Nike has fallen with almost 2% for one year. | Both companies have solvency ratios that are far above the critical 20%. Nike has a little bit higher solvency ratio than Under Armour. Working Capital| Nike has a much larger working capital which is understandable based on the size of the two companies. Nevertheless Under Armour shows a larger percentage increase in Working Capital in comparison to 2009 (UA 24% Increase, NIKE – 18% Increase)| Nike has a much larger working capital which is understandable based on the size of the two companies. | Conclusion: Nike & Under Armour show a high solvency ratio which means that they are capable of meeting their debt obligations. The solvency ratio in Under Armour is lower, but on the other hand the company shows a fairly constant rise in these criteria. Nike lost some of its solvency during 2010. The size of the two companies and the stage of development in which they are result in large differences in the amount of working capital. Again Under Armour shows a higher growth of working capita, 24% compared to the 17% growth in Nike. 4. Cash flow adequacy | Comparison between Nike & Under Armour| | 2010| 2009| Cash flow adequacy ratio| Nike clears its cash problems and increases its cash flow adequacy ratio to a sufficient level. In contrast Under Armour loses its advantage and falls below the critical 1. ratio. A sign of potential liquidity problems in the future. | Under Armour showed a sufficient amount of cash to cover its obligation during the year. In comparison Nike fell under the 1. 0 level which is a sign of potential liquidity problems| Conclusion: There are a lot of changes in both companies based on these criteria. Nike raised their cash flow adequacy ratio to normal levels that may increase the trust in the company. On the other hand Under Armour shows a disturbing 2010 Cash Flow adequacy ratio that may be a sign for future liquidity problems. . Asset utilization | Comparison between Nike & Under Armour| | 2010| 2009| Cash flow adequacy ratio| Nike clears its cash problems and increases its cash flow adequacy ratio to a sufficient level. In contrast Under Armour loses its advantage and falls below the critical 1. 0 ratio. A sign of potential liquidity problems in the future. | Under Armour showed a sufficient amount of cash to cover its obligation during the year. In comparison Nike fell under the 1. 0 level which is a sign of potential liquidity problems|