Tim Wolfe - Resignation Address free essay sample

Introduction to the Economic Term Supply

Introduction to the Economic Term Supply In economics, the supply of a particular good or service is simply the quantity of the item that is produced and offered for sale. Economists refer to both individual firm supply, which is the quantity that a single firm produces and offers for sale, and market supply, which is the combined quantity that all firms in the market together produce. Supply Is Based on Profit Maximization One assumption in economics is that companies operate with the single explicit goal of maximizing profits. Therefore, the quantity of a good supplied by a firm is the amount that gives the firm the highest level of profit. The profit that a firm makes from producing a good or service depends on a number of factors, including the price that it can sell its output for, the prices of all of the inputs to production, and the efficiency of turning inputs into outputs. Since supply is the outcome of the profit maximization calculation, its hopefully not surprising that these determinants of profit are also the determinants of the quantity that a firm is willing to supply. Implicit Time Units It doesn’t really make sense to describe supply without mentioning time units. For example, if someone asked â€Å"how many computers does Dell supply?† you would need more information in order to answer the question. Is the question about computers supplied today? This week? This year? All of these time units are going to result in different quantities supplied, so it’s important to specify which one you are talking about. Unfortunately, economists are often somewhat lax about mentioning the time units explicitly, but you should remember that they are always there.

Limited Liability Partnership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Limited Liability Partnership - Essay Example In a general format of partnership business it is a legal practice that all partners have unlimited liabilities with respect to their business debts and if one person is declared insolvent then the other partners are bound by law to pay for his debts, loans and liabilities from their own personal assets and property. Limited liability on the other hand is not the same as other partnership concerns; it differs a lot in the liability context from other partnership businesses. With respect to the liability clauses, it is more resembling to the corporation. Limited liability means that partners have limited liabilities with respect to their debts and loans of the firm. One partner is not jointly and severally responsible for the actions and deeds of other partners and that his personal assets will not be used to pay for the liabilities of the firm or other partners. Therefore, every partner in the partnership firm will have limited liability towards the liabilities of the firm and other partners in the firm as well. This is very much same to the limited liability company in which every member of the company is responsible to pay for the liabilities of the company to the extent he has invested into the company. Therefore, a limited liability partnership can be defined in the following words: Thepartneror investor's liabilityislimitedto theamounthe/she has invested in thecompany. Thissetuptypically prevents each partner from beingheldaccountablefor the wrongdoings of another partner. Although an LLP can be used in manyfields, it is most commonly used inlawor accountingfirms. The laws relating to an LLP differ significantly betweencountries, and even from state to state. As the definition states that the liability of the partner or investor is limited to the extent of amount he or she has invested in the firm and that this type of partnership prevents one partner for being held responsible for the work of other partners. It is also stated that this partnership can be used in many fields but this sort of partnership is particularly important for professional firms. In professional firms as the size of the firm started to grow and more and more partners were needed to perform the work in the firm, there was a great threat of extra ordinary risk involved in the addition of other partners in the partnership firm where every partner is an agent of other partners and jointly and severally responsible for the work of other partners. Therefore, there is thought to be dire need of forming limited liability partnerships in the professional firms where matters relating to high financial values are very important to the firm and the firm's professional advice is being given relating to those high valued matters. If anything goes wrong due to the recklessness of one partner then other partner should not be held responsible for the wrong doings of that partner. The requirements for the formation and conduction of business as a limited liability company as mentioned in the law of United Kingdom under the respective acts are described in the following paragraphs. Set-Up The set up requirements as mentioned in t

NURSING AND SOCIAL WORK SKILLS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

NURSING AND SOCIAL WORK SKILLS - Essay Example Through science, nurses obtain the skills and technology they rely on to achieve each patients optimal health (Dougherty, L & Lister, S. 2004). In this essay I will illustrate how I worked and established a working relationship with service user TJ during my 100-day statutory placement at a primary care community setting for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems. I will consider the interactions and interventions embarked upon with the patient, critically analyzing my work practice by linking theory to practice. My work with this patient involved helping and supporting him to develop new skills and more importantly to lower his aggression towards others in the day centre. The assignment will look at the rationale for utilizing a holistic philosophy of care and employing an anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice in nursing. I will also discuss how developed a close relationship. I will divide the essay into five sections. The first will discuss the des cription of the work. The second section will analyse how relationship was established. The third section will identify anticipated and actual barriers in the relationship. The fourth will talk in depth how the relationship was brought to a close. Reflecting upon my interactions with the patient I will analyze the influence of the reflective process. Following guidance from the NMC code of professional conduct and the GSCC Codes of Practice, the names of the patients have been changed to ensure confidentiality. The placement will remain unidentified and referred to as Edwardian Day Centre. The final section will provide an evaluation of my success (if any) in establishing the relationship with TJ. The essay will than be concluded.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Established with the aim to enable people with learning disability to live independently in the society, Edwardian Day Centre considers its members (aged 18-65) as students rather than service users as this prevents labelling (Cynthia, B.

Compare Martin Luther and Jesus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Compare Martin Luther and Jesus - Essay Example However, Luther and Jesus differ considerably in the context, goals, and methods of their respective positions, which results in diverse rhetoric between the â€Å"Gospel† and the â€Å"Appeal.† On the basis of these differences, one may make claims about the roles that the two men play in their respective societies. From the beginning of Luther’s appeal to the German upper-class, one is unavoidably struck by his extreme modesty—a necessary courtesy in his period. Classifying himself as a â€Å"poor† and â€Å"insignificant† individual, Luther attributes his desire to reform the Church to the will of God and not to his own personal â€Å"arrogance† or â€Å"perversity.† In spite of this modesty, Luther continues to claim significant weaknesses in the â€Å"three walls† of the Romanists, which stand for the three arguments that the Catholic Church presents in favor of their system of maintaining Church doctrine. Knowing th at Luther is appealing to Germany’s most powerful people, and that he is being necessarily modest in doing so, it seems apparent that Luther is attempting to reform the religious institution (and its political extensions) from the inside. Undoubtedly, he sees a revolutionary approach to change as both unnecessary and as personally threatening; instead of taking Christianity and religion as such in a new direction, Luther still believes in the tenets of the Christian religion—but so strongly as to demand fundamental changes. The Gospel of Mark reveals no such modesty about Jesus, who knows he is the Son of the Lord. In Mark 8:27-33, Peter receives the revelation that Jesus is truly the Christ. Jesus tests his disciples for their belief in him as the true Christ. And, as the Son of God, Jesus is devoted to achieving fundamental changes to the ways of life of his people, both in a religious and political sense. Jesus proves to people, through his miracles in Mark 7:31-37, 8:1-10, and elsewhere of his ethos for speaking about deeply fundamental religious concepts. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus works on establishing this ethos, or credibility, while Luther seeks in his â€Å"Appeal† to both strengthen and undermine his own ethos at the same time: strengthening by admitting his own smallness in comparison to his audience, and undermining by emphasizing this smallness in the first place. Luther does not try to claim any special sort of revelation, such as the revelation that Jesus claims to have with respect to his knowledge of the world. Jesus, in contrast to Luther, is attempting to carve out an entirely new area of human life to preach to and from that to achieve a sinless world. Nevertheless, one should not forget that, like Jesus, Luther is attacking the establishment in a very harsh way. The Pope, Luther claims, is solely allowed the power of interpreting the Scriptures, which is a mistake of the â€Å"spiritual estate.† Since all Chr istians are truly of the spiritual estate, Luther believes, every one of them has the right to interpret Scriptures, and there are no differences among any of them. Accordingly, what Luther lacks in ethos, he makes up for in logical argument that appeals specifically to the educated and free-thinking social elites of his society. It is also noteworthy to see that Luther is appealing to the group of people who are on a more level playing field with the Pope that he himself is.

Intelligent Software Agent

Intelligent Software Agent Chapter 1 Intelligent Software Agent 1.1 Intelligent Agent An Agent can be defined as follows: â€Å"An Agent is a software thing that knows how to do things that you could probably do yourself if you had the time† (Ted Seller of IBM Almaden Research Centre). Another definition is: â€Å"A piece of software which performs a given task using information gleaned from its environment to act in a suitable manner so as to complete the task successfully. The software should be able to adapt itself based on changes occurring in its environment, so that a change in circumstances will still yield the intended results† (G.W.Lecky Thompson). [1] [2] [3] [4] An Intelligent Agent can be divided into weak and strong notations. Table 1.1 shows the properties for both the notations. Weak notation Strong notation Autonomy Mobility Social ability Benevolence Reactivity Proactivity Rationality Temporal continuity Adaptivity Goal oriented Collaboration Table 1.1 1.1.1 Intelligency Intelligence refers to the ability of the agent to capture and apply domain specific knowledge and processing to solve problems. An Intelligent Agent uses knowledge, information and reasoning to take reasonable actions in pursuit of a goal. It must be able to recognise events, determine the meaning of those events and then take actions on behalf of a user. One central element of intelligent behaviour is the ability to adopt or learn from experience. Any Agent that can learn has an advantage over one that cannot. Adding learning or adaptive behaviour to an intelligent agent elevates it to a higher level of ability. In order to construct an Intelligent Agent, we have to use the following topics of Artificial Intelligence: Knowledge Representation Reasoning Learning [5] 1.1.2 Operation The functionality of a mobile agent is illustrated in 1.1. Computer A and Computer B are connected via a network. In step 1 a mobile Agent is going to be dispatched from Computer A towards Computer B. In the mean time Computer A will suspend its execution. Step 2 shows this mobile Agent is now on network with its state and code. In step 3 this mobile Agent will reach to its destination, computer B, which will resume its execution. [7] 1.1.3 Strengths and Weaknesses Many researchers are now developing methods for improving the technology, with more standardisation and better programming environments that may allow mobile agents to be used in products. It is obvious that the more an application gets intelligent, the more it also gets unpredictable and uncontrollable. The main drawback of mobile agents is the security risk involved in using them. [8] [9] The following table shows the major strengths and weaknesses of Agent technology: Strengths Weakness Overcoming Network Latency Security Reducing Network traffic Performance Asynchronous Execution and Autonomy Lack of Applications Operating in Heterogeneous Environments Limited Exposure Robust and Fault-tolerant Behavior Standardization Table 1.2 1.2 Applications The followings are the major and most widely applicable areas of Mobile Agent: Distributed Computing: Mobile Agents can be applied in a network using free resources for their own computations. Collecting data: A mobile Agent travels around the net. On each computer it processes the data and sends the results back to the central server. Software Distribution and Maintenance: Mobile agents could be used to distribute software in a network environment or to do maintenance tasks. Mobile agents and Bluetooth: Bluetooth is a technology for short range radio communication. Originally, the companies Nokia and Ericsson came up with the idea. Bluetooth has a nominal range of 10 m and 100 m with increased power. [38] Mobile agents as Pets: Mobile agents are the ideal pets. Imagine something like creatures. What if you could have some pets wandering around the internet, choosing where they want to go, leaving you if you dont care about them or coming to you if you handle them nicely? People would buy such things wont they? [38] Mobile agents and offline tasks: 1. Mobile agents could be used for offline tasks in the following way: a- An Agent is sent out over the internet to do some task. b- The Agent performs its task while the home computer is offline. c- The Agent returns with its results. 2. Mobile agents could be used to simulate a factory: a- Machines in factory are agent driven. b- Agents provide realistic data for a simulation, e.g. uptimes and efficiencies. c- Simulation results are used to improve real performance or to plan better production lines. [10[ [11] [12] 1.3 Life Cycle An intelligent and autonomous Agent has properties like Perception, Reasoning  and Action which form the life cycle of an Agent as shown in 1.2. [6] The agent perceives the state of its environment, integrates the perception in its knowledge base that is used to derive the next action which is then executed. This generic cycle is a useful abstraction as it provides a black-box view on the Agent and encapsulates specific aspects. The first step is the Agent initialisation. The Agent will then start to operate and may stop and start again depending upon the environment and the tasks that it tried to accomplish. After the Agent finished all the tasks that are required, it will end at the completing state. [13] Table 1.3 shows these states. Name of Step Description Initialize Performs one-time setup activities. Start Start its job or task. Stop Stops jobs, save intermediate results, joins all threads and stops. Complete Performs one-time termination activities. Table 1.3 1.4 Agent Oriented Programming (AOP) It is a programming technique which deals with objects, which have independent thread of control and can be initiated. We will elaborate on the three main components of the AOP. a- Object: Grouping data and computation together in a single structural unit called an ‘Object. Every Agent looks like an object. b- Independent Thread of control: This means when this developed Agent which is an object, when will be implemented in Boga server, looks like an independent thread. This makes an Agent different from ordinary object. c- Initiation: This deals with the execution plan of an Agent, when implemented, that Agent can be initiated from the server for execution. [14] [15] [16] [17] 1.5 Network paradigms This section illustrates the traditional distributed computing paradigms like Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Remote Procedure Call (RPC). 1.5.1 SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol is a standard for gathering statistical data about network traffic and the behavior of network components. It is an application layer protocol that sits above TCP/IP stack. It is a set of protocols for managing complex networks. It enables network administrators to manage network performance, find and solve network problems and plan for network growth. It is basically a request or response type of protocol, communicating management information between two types of SNMP entities: Manager (Applications) and Agents. [18] Agents: They are compliant devices; they store data about themselves in Management Information Base (MIB) (Each agent in SNMP maintain a local database of information relevant to network management is known as the Management Information Base) and return this data to the SNMP requesters. An agent has properties like: Implements full SNMP protocol, Stores and retrieves managed data as defined by the Management Information Base and can asynchronously signal an event to the manager. Manager (Application): It issues queries to get information about the status, configuration and performance of external network devices. A manager has the following properties: Implemented as a Network Management Station (the NMS), implements full SNMP Protocol, able to Query Agents, get responses from Agents, set variables in agents and acknowledge asynchronous events from Agents. [18] 1.3 illustrates an interaction between a manager and an Agent. The agent is software that enables a device to respond to manager requests to view or update MIB data and send traps reporting problems or significant events. It receives messages and sends a response back. An Agent does not have to wait for order to act, if a serious problem arises or a significant event occurs, it sends a TRAP (a message that reports a problem or a significant event) to the manager (software in a network management station that enables the station to send requests to view or update MIB variables, and to receive traps from an agent). The Manager software which is in the management station sends message to the Agent and receives a trap and responses. It uses User Data Protocol (UDP, a simple protocol enabling an application to send individual message to other applications. Delivery is not guaranteed, and messages need not be delivered in the same order as they were sent) to carry its messages. Finally, there is one application that enables end user to control the man ager software and view network information. [19] Table 1.4 comprises the Strengths and Weaknesses of SNMP. Strengths Weaknesses Its design and implementation are simple. It may not be suitable for the management of truly large networks because of the performance limitations of polling. Due to its simple design it can be expanded and also the protocol can be updated to meet future needs. It is not well suited for retrieving large volumes of data, such as an entire routing table. All major vendors of internetwork hardware, such as bridges and routers, design their products to support SNMP, making it very easy to implement. Its traps are unacknowledged and most probably not delivered. Not applicable It provides only trivial authentication. Not applicable It does not support explicit actions. Not applicable Its MIB model is limited (does not support management queries based on object types or values). Not applicable It does not support manager-to-manager communications. Not applicable The information it deals with neither detailed nor well-organized enough to deal with the expanding modern networking requirements. Not applicable It uses UDP as a transport protocol. The complex policy updates require a sequence of updates and a reliable transport protocol, such as TCP, allows the policy update to be conducted over a shared state between the managed device and the management station. Table 1.4 1.5.2 RPC A remote procedure call (RPC) is a protocol that allows a computer program running on one host to cause code to be executed on another host without the programmer needing to explicitly code for this. When the code in question is written using object-oriented principles, RPC is sometimes referred to as remote invocation or remote method invocation. It is a popular and powerful technique for constructing distributed, client-server based applications. An RPC is initiated by the caller (client) sending a request message to a remote system (the server) to execute a certain procedure using arguments supplied. A result message is returned to the caller. It is based on extending the notion of conventional or local procedure calling, so that the called procedure need not exist in the same address space as the calling procedure. The two processes may be on the same system, or they may be on different systems with a network connecting them. By using RPC, programmers of distributed applications avoid the details of the interface with the network. The transport independence of RPC isolates the application from the physical and logical elements of the data communications mechanism and allows the application to use a variety of transports. A distributed computing using RPC is illustrated in 1.4. Local procedures are executed on Machine A; the remote procedure is actually executed on Machine B. The program executing on Machine A will wait until Machine B has completed the operation of the remote procedure and then continue with its program logic. The remote procedure may have a return value that continuing program may use immediately. It intercepts calls to a procedure and the following happens: Packages the name of the procedure and arguments to the call and transmits them over network to the remote machine where the RPC server id running. It is called â€Å"Marshalling†. [20] RPC decodes the name of the procedure and the parameters. It makes actual procedure call on server (remote) machine. It packages returned value and output parameters and then transmits it over network back to the machine that made the call. It is called â€Å"Unmarshalling†. [20] 1.6 Comparison between Agent technology and network paradigms Conventional Network Management is based on SNMP and often run in a centralised manner. Although the centralised management approach gives network administrators a flexibility of managing the whole network from a single place, it is prone to information bottleneck and excessive processing load on the manager and heavy usage of network bandwidth. Intelligent Agents for network management tends to monitor and control networked devices on site and consequently save the manager capacity and network bandwidth. The use of Intelligent Agents is due to its major advantages e.g. asynchronous, autonomous and heterogeneous etc. while the other two contemporary technologies i.e. SNMP and RPC are lacking these advantages. The table below shows the comparison between the intelligent agent and its contemporary technologies: Property RPC SNMP Intelligent Agent Communication Synchronous Asynchronous Asynchronous Processing Power Less Autonomy More Autonomous but less than Agent More Autonomous Network support Distributed Centralised Heterogeneous Network Load Management Heavy usage of Network Bandwidth Load on Network traffic and heavy usage of bandwidth Reduce Network traffic and latency Transport Protocol TCP UDP TCP Packet size Network Only address can be sent for request and data on reply Only address can be sent for request and data on reply Code and execution state can be moved around network. (only code in case of weak mobility) Network Monitoring This is not for this purpose Network delays and information bottle neck at centralised management station It gives flexibility to analyse the managed nodes locally Table 1.5 Indeed, Agents, mobile or intelligent, by providing a new paradigm of computer interactions, give new options for developers to design application based on computer connectivity. 20 Chapter 2 Learning Paradigms 2.1 Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) and Information Retrieval (IR) KDD is defined as â€Å"the nontrivial process of identifying valid, novel, potentially useful and ultimately understandable patterns in data† (Fayyad, Piatetsky-Shapiro and Smith (1996)). A closely related process of IR is defined as â€Å"the methods and processes for searching relevant information out of information systems that contain extremely large numbers of documents† (Rocha (2001)). KDD and IR are, in fact, highly complex processes that are strongly affected by a wide range of factors. These factors include the needs and information seeking characteristics of system users as well as the tools and methods used to search and retrieve the structure and size of the data set or database and the nature of the data itself. The result, of course, was increasing numbers of organizations that possessed very large and continually growing databases but only elementary tools for KD and IR. [21] Two major research areas have been developed in response to this problem: * Data warehousing: It is defined as: â€Å"Collecting and ‘cleaning transactional data to make it available for online analysis and decision support†. (Fayyad 2001, p.30)  · Data Mining: It is defined as: â€Å"The application of specific algorithms to a data set for purpose of extracting data patterns†. (Fayyad p. 28) 2.2 Data Mining Data mining is a statistical term. In Information Technology it is defined as a discovery of useful summaries of data. 2.2.1 Applications of Data Mining The following are examples of the use of data mining technology: Pattern of traveller behavior mined: Manage the sale of discounted seats in planes, rooms in hotels. Diapers and beer: Observation those customers who buy diapers are more likely to buy beer than average allowed supermarkets to place beer and diapers nearby, knowing many customers would walk between them. Placing potato chips between increased sales of all three items. Skycat and Sloan Sky Survey: Clustering sky objects by their radiation levels in different bands allowed astronomers to distinguish between galaxies, nearby stars, and many other kinds of celestial objects. Comparison of genotype of people: With/without a condition allowed the discovery of a set of genes that together account for many case of diabetes. This sort of mining will become much more important as the human genome is constructed. [22] [23] [24] 2.2.2 Communities of Data Mining As data mining has become recognised as a powerful tool, several different communities have laid claim to the subject: Statistics Artificial Intelligence (AI) where it is called â€Å"Machine Learning† Researchers in clustering algorithms Visualisation researchers Databases: When data is large and the computations is very complex, in this context, data mining can be thought of as algorithms for executing very complex queries on non-main-memory data. 2.2.3 Stages of data mining process The following are the different stages of data mining process, sometimes called as a life cycle of data mining as shown in 2.1: Data gathering: Data warehousing, web crawling. Data cleansing: Eliminate errors and/or bogus data e.g. Patients fever = 125oC. 3- Feature extraction: Obtaining only the interesting attributes of the data e.g. â€Å"data acquired† is probably not useful for clustering celestial objects as in skycat. 4- Pattern extraction and discovery: This is the stage that is often thought of as â€Å"data mining† and is where we shall concentrate our efforts. 5- Visualisation of the data: 6- Evaluation of results: Not every discovered fact is useful, or even true! Judgment is necessary before following the softwares conclusions. [22] [23] [24] 2.3 Machine Learning There are five major techniques of machine learning in Artificial Intelligence (AI), which are discussed in the following sections. 2.3.1 Supervised Learning It relies on a teacher that provides the input data as well as the desired solution. The learning agent is trained by showing it examples of the problem state or attributes along with the desired output or action. The learning agent makes a prediction based on the inputs and if the output differs from the desired output, then the agent is adjusted or adapted to produce the correct output. This process is repeated over and over until the agent learns to make accurate classifications or predictions e.g. Historical data from databases, sensor logs or trace logs is often used as training or example data. The example of supervised learning algorithm is the ‘Decision Tree, where there is a pre-specified target variable. [25] [5] 2.3.2 Unsupervised Learning It depends on input data only and makes no demands on knowing the solution. It is used when learning agent needs to recognize similarities between inputs or to identify features in the input data. The data is presented to the Agent, and it adapts so that it partitions the data into groups. This process continues until the Agents place the same group on successive passes over the data. An unsupervised learning algorithm performs a type of feature detection where important common attributes in the data are extracted. The example of unsupervised learning algorithm is â€Å"the K-Means Clustering algorithm†. [25] [5] 2.3.3 Reinforcement Learning It is a kind of supervised learning, where the feedback is more general. On the other hand, there are two more techniques in the machine learning, and these are: on-line learning and off-line learning. [25] [5] 2.3.4 On-line and Off-line Learning On-line learning means that the agent is adapting while it is working. Off-line involves saving data while the agent is working and using the data later to train the agent. [25] [5] In an intelligent agent context, this means that the data will be gathered from situations that the agents have experienced. Then augment this data with information about the desired agent response to build a training data set. Once this database is ready it can be used to modify the behaviour of agents. These approaches can be combined with any two or more into one system. In order to develop Learning Intelligent Agent(LIAgent) we will combine unsupervised learning with supervised learning. We will test LIAgents on Iris dataset, Vote dataset about the polls in USA and two medical datasets namely Breast and Diabetes. [26] See Appendix A for all these four datasets. 2.4 Supervised Learning (Decision Tree ID3) Decision trees and decision rules are data mining methodologies applied in many real world applications as a powerful solution to classify the problems. The goal of supervised learning is to create a classification model, known as a classifier, which will predict, with the values of its available input attributes, the class for some entity (a given sample). In other words, classification is the process of assigning a discrete label value (class) to an unlabeled record, and a classifier is a model (a result of classification) that predicts one attribute-class of a sample-when the other attributes are given. [40] In doing so, samples are divided into pre-defined groups. For example, a simple classification might group customer billing records into two specific classes: those who pay their bills within thirty days and those who takes longer than thirty days to pay. Different classification methodologies are applied today in almost every discipline, where the task of classification, because of the large amount of data, requires automation of the process. Examples of classification methods used as a part of data-mining applications include classifying trends in financial market and identifying objects in large image databases. [40] A particularly efficient method for producing classifiers from data is to generate a decision tree. The decision-tree representation is the most widely used logic method. There is a large number of decision-tree induction algorithms described primarily in the machine-learning and applied-statistics literature. They are supervised learning methods that construct decision trees from a set of input-output samples. A typical decision-tree learning system adopts a top-down strategy that searches for a solution in a part of the search space. It guarantees that a simple, but not necessarily the simplest tree will be found. A decision tree consists of nodes, where attributes are tested. The outgoing branches of a node correspond to all the possible outcomes of the test at the node. [40] Decision trees are used in information theory to determine where to split data sets in order to build classifiers and regression trees. Decision trees perform induction on data sets, generating classifiers and prediction models. A decision tree examines the data set and uses information theory to determine which attribute contains the information on which to base a decision. This attribute is then used in a decision node to split the data set into two groups, based on the value of that attribute. At each subsequent decision node, the data set is split again. The result is a decision tree, a collection of nodes. The leaf nodes represent a final classification of the record. ID3 is an example of decision tree. It is kind of supervised learning. We used ID3 in order to print the decision rules as its output. [40] 2.4.1 Decision Tree Decision trees are powerful and popular tools for classification and prediction. The attractiveness of decision trees is due to the fact that, in contrast to neural networks, decision trees represent rules. Rules can readily be expressed so that humans can understand them or even directly used in a database access language like SQL so that records falling into a particular category may be retrieved. Decision tree is a classifier in the form of a tree structure, where each node is either: Leaf node indicates the value of the target attribute (class) of examples, or Decision node specifies some test to be carried out on a single attribute value, with one branch and sub-tree for each possible outcome of the test. Decision tree induction is a typical inductive approach to learn knowledge on classification. The key requirements to do mining with decision trees are:  · Attribute value description: Object or case must be expressible in terms of a fixed collection of properties or attributes. This means that we need to discretise continuous attributes, or this must have been provided in the algorithm.  · Predefined classes (target attribute values): The categories to which examples are to be assigned must have been established beforehand (supervised data).  · Discrete classes: A case does or does not belong to a particular class, and there must be more cases than classes. * Sufficient data: Usually hundreds or even thousands of training cases. A decision tree is constructed by looking for regularities in data. [27] [5] 2.4.2 ID3 Algorithm J. Ross Quinlan originally developed ID3 at the University of Sydney. He first presented ID3 in 1975 in a book, Machine Learning, vol. 1, no. 1. ID3 is based on the Concept Learning System (CLS) algorithm. [28] function ID3 Input: (R: a set of non-target attributes, C: the target attribute, 2.4.3 Functionality of ID3 ID3 searches through the attributes of the training instances and extracts the attribute that best separates the given examples. If the attribute perfectly classifies the training sets then ID3 stops; otherwise it recursively operates on the m (where m = number of possible values of an attribute) partitioned subsets to get their best attribute. The algorithm uses a greedy search, that is, it picks the best attribute and never looks back to reconsider earlier choices. If the dataset has no such attribute which will be used for the decision then the result will be the misclassification of data. Entropy a measure of homogeneity of the set of examples. [5] Entropy(S) = pplog2 pp pnlog2 pn (1) (2) 2.4.4 Decision Tree Representation A decision tree is an arrangement of tests that prescribes an appropriate test at every step in an analysis. It classifies instances by sorting them down the tree from the root node to some leaf node, which provides the classification of the instance. Each node in the tree specifies a test of some attribute of the instance, and each branch descending from that node corresponds to one of the possible values for this attribute. This is illustrated in 2.3. The decision rules can also be obtained from ID3 in the form of if-then-else, which can be use for the decision support systems and classification. Given m attributes, a decision tree may have a maximum height of m. [29][5] 2.4.5 Challenges in decision tree Following are the issues in learning decision trees: Determining how deeply to grow the decision tree. Handling continuous attributes. Choosing an appropriate attribute selection measure. Handling training data with missing attribute values. Handling attributes with differing costs and Improving computational efficiency. 2.4.6 Strengths and Weaknesses Following are the strengths and weaknesses in decision tree: Strengths Weaknesses It generates understandable rules. It is less appropriate for estimation tasks where the goal is to predict the value of a continuous attribute. It performs classification without requiring much computation. It is prone to errors in classification problems with many class and relatively small number of training examples. It is suitable to handle both continuous and categorical variables. It can be computationally expensive to train. The process of growing a decision tree is computationally expensive. At each node, each candidate splitting field must be sorted before its best split can be found. Pruning algorithms can also be expensive since many candidate sub-trees must be formed and compared. It provides a clear indication of which fields are most important for prediction or classification. It does not treat well non-rectangular regions. It only examines a single field at a time. This leads to rectangular classification boxes that may not correspond well with the actual distribution of records in the decision space. Table 2.1 2.4.7 Applications Decision tree is generally suited to problems with the following characteristics: a. Instances are described by a fixed set of attributes (e.g., temperature) and their values (e.g., hot). b. The easiest situation for decision tree learning occurs when each attribute takes on a small number of disjoint possible values (e.g., hot, mild, cold). c. Extensions to the basic algorithm allow handling real-valued attributes as well (e.g., a floating point temperature). d. A decision tree assigns a classification to each example. i- Simplest case exists when there are only two possible classes (Boolean classification). ii- Decision tree methods can also be easily extended to learning functions with more than two possible output values. e. A more substantial extension allows learning target functions with real-valued outputs, although the application of decision trees in this setting is less common. f. Decision tree methods can be used even when some training examples have unknown values (e.g., humidity is known for only a fraction of the examples). [30] Learned functions are either represented by a decision tree or re-represented as sets of if-then rules to improve readability. 2.5 Unsupervised Learning (K-Means Clustering) Cluster analysis is a set of methodologies for automatic classification of samples into a number of groups using a measure of association, so that the samples in one group are similar and samples belonging to different groups are not similar. The inpu

Pop squad

SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 Novo. 2013. Hospitals are facing numerous amounts pressure to change. Better care has to outweigh more care and until that happens the nation will continue to face care costs issues. Medicare can be added with more choices and protection for beneficiaries. Also reform a tax treatment of health insurance to limit the tax treatment over expensive insurance products.Emanuel, Ezekiel J. â€Å"Health-Care Exchanges Will Need the Young Invincible. † Wall street Journal. 07 May 2013: A. 17. SIRS Issues Researcher. Be. 07 NOVO. 2013. With this health care exchange a lot of Americans will be able to log online and choose their own health care coverage. Also many insurance companies are scared and they are already raising premiums to protect them losses. There will be fewer people purchasing insurance. â€Å"Prescription for Change. † Economist. 29 June. 2013: 61 . SIRS Issues Researcher.Web. 07 Novo. 2013. People are not receiving the proper care that they really should be getting. Doctors are charged a fee every time they gain a patient. It is going to expand Medicaid, more people with Insurance will cause more patients seeking the treatments they need. Many employers have greatly recommended their workers to pay out of pocket to the cost of their health care. Razors, Peter R. â€Å"How Health Care Can Save or Sink America. † Foreign Affairs. July/Gag 2011: 42. SIRS Issues Researcher.Web. 15 Par. 2014. Rising health-care costs are at the core of the United States' long-term fiscal Imbalance. Social Security costs, by comparison, are projected to Increase from five percent of GAP to six percent over the same period. It Is no exaggeration to say that the United States' standing In the world depends on Its success In constraining this health-care cost explosion; unless It does, he country will eventually face a severe fiscal crisis or a crippling Inability to Invest In other areas. Foreign Affairs In this article, Peter R. Razors, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, argues that â€Å"there Is no credible path to reducing the long-term fiscal Imbalance In the United States other than directly addressing high- cost cases In health care. † pop squad By Ill-Bri-Johnson street journal. 07 May 2013: A. 17. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 NOVO. 2013. With patient. It is going to expand Medicaid, more people with insurance will cause more the core of the United States' long-term fiscal imbalance.Social Security costs, by comparison, are projected to increase from five percent of GAP to six percent over the same period. It is no exaggeration to say that the United States' standing in the world depends on its success in constraining this health-care cost explosion; unless it does, the country will eventually face a severe fiscal crisis or a crippling inability to invest in Congressional Budget Office, argues that â€Å"there is no credible path to reducing the long-term fiscal imbala nce in the United States other than directly addressing high- cost cases in health care. â€Å"

How the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Essay

In the chapter 15 as we call Sister Flowers from How the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, allows us the readers to experience the day with Margareute Johnson through her writing style as if we were experiencing it through her eyes and deep inside her thoughts. Her use of imagery, metaphors, similes and narration helps us paint and imagine a vivid picture in our own minds. Just like when Angelou is describing Sister Flowers, â€Å"Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged . . .† Her use of a simile comparing a plum helps us imagine the details such as being smooth, soft, and shiny, just as she saw Sister Flower’s dark black skin. Her use of imagery helps us experience things she saw, the smells she smelt, as if we were right there experiencing it with her. â€Å"The sweet scent of vanilla had met us as she opened the door.† As we read this we can in our heads invent in our minds how Sister Flowers house smelled like vanilla, as she was about to step into her house. Angelou gets us thinking that Sister Flowers had probably just got done baking. â€Å"They were flat round wagers, slightly browned on the edges and butter-yellow in the center.† Angelou already gave us her sense of smell, now she is using imagery to describe her sense of sight of the cookies that Sister Flowers just baked especially for Margareute. Now she is getting our mouths watering for some of Sister Flower’s cookies. Angelou with out a doubt had a good writing style using a lot of similes, imagery, metaphors, and narration to improve our ability to acknowledge every little smell, every little detail and that she saw, just pretty much everything that was going through her head as she was living it first hand.

Free Essays on Friendship †The Sail That Keeps You Going

â€Å"If you’ll do that†¦.I’ll do that†. Friendship is the most wonderful relationship that anyone can have. Ideally friend is a person who offers love and respect and doesn’t expect awards for it. To have friendship is to have comfort. For instance we will look at some pieces of literature that are about friendship. â€Å"Driving Miss Daisy†, â€Å"Oath of Friendship† and â€Å"Bridge Over Troubled Water†. â€Å"Driving Miss Daisy† is a play from the late era of Ku-Klux-Klan, when the discrimination against Jews and Blacks has shoved up its tasks. But as the peace’s dove fly through the dark skies so the friendship has fly thru hates and fleers till it get to our characters that we are going to look at. They are Hoke and Miss Daisy. Miss Daisy who is a retired teacher is 72+ years old and her ability to drive it’s kind of gone. So when she accidentally drives into the neighbors courtyard her son is constrained to hire a chauffeur for her. When a friendship it’s starting it is not needed from all to agree to become friends. But an other part can be gained by how one of them acts. For example Hoke is not obsequious. He is very wise. His strategy is to express verbal agreement in such a way that actual agreement is witheld. If Miss Daisy does not want to be driven to the Piggy Wiggly market, well then Hoke will fallow her in the car. After a while Miss Daisy a grees to be driven and eventually, she and Hoke begin to learn about one another. Neither one is quick to reveal emotion, and for a successful friendship is needed that both has to give up a little from them. But giving up has never been an option for Miss Daisy. When she goes to listen to a speech by Martin Luther King, for example, she has Hoke drive her; but although she has an extra ticket, i... Free Essays on Friendship – The Sail That Keeps You Going Free Essays on Friendship – The Sail That Keeps You Going Friendship – it’s only a word but how much does it means. Friendship as the marriage has to be unconditional. Unconditional means without conditions. Without those extra words â€Å"If you’ll do that†¦.I’ll do that†. Friendship is the most wonderful relationship that anyone can have. Ideally friend is a person who offers love and respect and doesn’t expect awards for it. To have friendship is to have comfort. For instance we will look at some pieces of literature that are about friendship. â€Å"Driving Miss Daisy†, â€Å"Oath of Friendship† and â€Å"Bridge Over Troubled Water†. â€Å"Driving Miss Daisy† is a play from the late era of Ku-Klux-Klan, when the discrimination against Jews and Blacks has shoved up its tasks. But as the peace’s dove fly through the dark skies so the friendship has fly thru hates and fleers till it get to our characters that we are going to look at. They are Hoke and Miss Daisy. Miss Daisy who is a retired teacher is 72+ years old and her ability to drive it’s kind of gone. So when she accidentally drives into the neighbors courtyard her son is constrained to hire a chauffeur for her. When a friendship it’s starting it is not needed from all to agree to become friends. But an other part can be gained by how one of them acts. For example Hoke is not obsequious. He is very wise. His strategy is to express verbal agreement in such a way that actual agreement is witheld. If Miss Daisy does not want to be driven to the Piggy Wiggly market, well then Hoke will fallow her in the car. After a while Miss Daisy a grees to be driven and eventually, she and Hoke begin to learn about one another. Neither one is quick to reveal emotion, and for a successful friendship is needed that both has to give up a little from them. But giving up has never been an option for Miss Daisy. When she goes to listen to a speech by Martin Luther King, for example, she has Hoke drive her; but although she has an extra ticket, i...

Women, Voice Pitch Authority, and Gender Bias

Women, Voice Pitch Authority, and Gender Bias Do we respond differently to the sound of a voice based on its gender? Do mens voices have more authority and are womens voices more friendly? These questions skim the surface of an overlooked aspect of gender discrimination bias that arises from how we judge a female voice, especially pitch. Typically, gender bias against women is rooted in optics. We look at hair color, body shape, size, weight, height, physical attractiveness and make assumptions. Clothing, skirt length, and style of attire provide visual cues that fuel stereotypes and feed into gender expectations. Take away sight and we still jump to conclusions, but now the pitch of a womans voice becomes the yardstick by which we measure her worth. Picture the stereotypical dumb blonde. How does she sound? Either we imagine her voice as high and squeaky, or soft and breathy like Marilyn Monroe. Its sexy, but it doesnt convey authority or increase trust. Going Low To gain authority, women have long believed that its better to pitch their voices lower. And experts have discovered that most women are following that dictum. Over the past 50 years, womens voices have dropped significantly. Although womens voices normally register a full octave higher than mens voices, today theyre just 2/3rds of an octave higher. The most prominent example of this vocal divide can be seen in the media where an enormous distinction exists between the types of products sold by female voices and those pitched by male voices. At first glance, it might appear that women and men enjoy parity based on the number of voiceovers on TV commercials. Womens voices are commonplace in commercials that sell everyday household items such as dishwashing detergent, toilet bowl cleaners, diapers, paper towels. But commercials selling big-ticket items such as cars and trucks are largely the domain of male voices. Thats because of the sexual politics surrounding how we perceive male and female voices. Writing for the UK website the New Humanist, Sally Feldman observes: [Theres] a basic difference between the way men and women tend to speak. Whereas men often breathe from their abdomen, women are more likely to constrict their voices to an upper range which allows less variety and less control. In a recent collection of essays, Well-Tuned Women, Kristin Linklater writes: â€Å"When a high voice connects with a strong impulse based, for instance, in anger or fear, it becomes shrill, strident, screechy, piercing, nasal, penetrating, sharp, squeaky or brassy and generally unpleasant to the point of causing major distress in the hearers.† Men, on the other hand, with their deeper voices and richer tones, find it easier to convey authority and control. It’s partly physiological. Men’s voices are lower than women’s because they have a larger larynx, developed in the Adam’s apple at puberty, and longer, thicker vocal folds.... Anne Karpf [author of The Human Voice] argues that men have come to assert power through their deep voices and resonant tones to such an extent that â€Å"pitch has become a weapon in the gender wars. Men in Control Look beyond TV commercials and youll see how effectively men have wielded the power of pitch in the gender wars. Ever notice there are no female announcers on game shows? asks veteran voice actor Lora Cain. None serve as announcers on TV talk shows, and very few do network promos or movie trailers two of the most prestigious and highly-coveted jobs in the voiceover industry. According to Cain, statistics bear this out. Men do 80% of the voice work while women accounting for only 20%. Why does gender discrimination exist in a field where its not how you look but how you sound? Cain feels its because those positions of clout that determine whether a voice will be male or female namely, writers and directors are held primarily by men. The key is more women writers and women directors, she observed in a recent phone interview. If there were more women writers, thered be more of a tendency to say, Lets consider a woman for this. Opening Doors for Women Voiceover professional Lora Cain is one of just a handful of women competing at the upper levels of this male-dominated field, and shes acutely aware of how the deck is stacked against female announcers and women voice actors. Theres this belief that women dont sound good in certain situations or that women dont like to listen to women. Wheres the logic in that? she argues. Women talk to each other, and women make 80% of the buying decisions in this country. But when a woman wants advice on what to buy, shes not as likely to ask her male partner as she is a female friend...or even another woman standing in line at the bathroom. Thats just what women do. So, of course, we listen to other women. We seek out each others opinions. We are  our greatest resource. Im hoping that we can change that belief little by little. Cain credits changing opinions in the industry as opening doors for women. Whats popular now is the real person sound. Its created new opportunities and thats really wonderful. But women are still shut out of certain jobs where theres an expectation that you need to have a certain weight behind your voice. Some say that women dont have that, but thats not true. She cites Randy Thomas  as a woman with vocal weight. Described as the most recognized female voice in America,  Thomas is best known as the voice of the TV show  Entertainment Tonight  and the Hooked on Phonics commercials. Thomas shattered the voiceover glass ceiling in 1993 when she became the first female announcer of the Academy Awards. Since then, shes done the Oscars at least seven times as well as the Miss America Pageant and the Democratic National Convention. Shes the first announcer male or female to hit the trifecta of announcing the Big Three Awards the Oscars, the Tonys and the Primetime Emmys in a single year. Confidence Thomas has broken out of the pack of female voice talent due to that authoritative voice, as Cain describes it. You hear it and you believe her. This authority and forcefulness is ultimately the biggest hurdle facing women in the voiceover industry and in business as well. Listeners, like clients and co-workers, are more willing to place their trust in the voice that sounds confident and assured. The Count Is In A March 2010 AdweekMedia/Harris Poll  bears out these findings. Researchers asked participants to listen to male and female voiceovers in commercials and judge them based on various criteria. When asked who sounded more forceful, 48% chose the male voiceover while only 2% chose the female. When asked who sounded more soothing, respondents overwhelmingly chose the female voiceover 48% vs. only 8% for the male. Both genders were regarded as equally persuasive with 18% choosing the male voiceover vs. 19% choosing the female. Yet when it comes to major purchases, authority seems to trump soothing or persuasive. When asked which voiceover would be more likely to sell them on buying a car or a computer, respondents chose the male voice 3-4 times more often than the female; only 7% chose the female voice in either situation. In comparison, 28% of respondents felt the male voiceover was more likely to sell them a car, and 23% felt they were more likely to buy a computer based on the male voice. The problem is that we hear gender first and form assumptions about the speaker even before we have a chance to assess timbre, pitch, speed, clarity, and other vocal qualities that might establish authority or trust. Unfortunately, hearing gender isnt all that different from seeing gender when we discriminate based on sex alone and assign characteristics to physical traits often arbitrarily, stereotypically, and unfairly. Crossing Barriers Like Thomas, Cain has come up against the structural bias inherent in an industry where voices are judged by how well they sell. Shes been taking a crack at another glass ceiling announcing TV game shows as the only woman among half a dozen candidates vying to announce the popular syndicated show  Wheel of Fortune.  When the shows longtime male announcer passed away in November 2010, Caine pushed for the producer to consider a woman. Although there are no female announcers on any games shows currently in production, Cain is optimistic, noting, We go through these cycles in the 80s and 90s women could be heard as announcers on game shows although they were mostly cable channels. When she pointed out to  Wheel of Fortune  executive producer Harry Friedman that there were no other women announcers on TV game shows today, he was willing to give her a shot. Although the person behind the voice usually remains invisible, Cains putting her thoughts forward along with her voice to make audiences aware that women are capable of doing the same quality work as men, just as they do in every other career field. Im calling attention to this, Cain explains, because we need to recognize when women cross these barriers. At the same time, however, it would be nice to have viewers listen to someone like Randy Thomas and think, Oh, she sounds great instead of focusing solely on the fact that, Oh, thats a woman. Sources Camber, Rebecca.  Why women who want to get ahead get a husky voice.  DailyMail.co.uk.Dolliver, Mark. How People React to Male vs. Female Voiceovers.  Adweek.com. 8 March 2010.Feldman, Sally.  Speak up.  NewHumanist.org.uk.Hendrickson, Paula. Choice Voice. EMMY Magazine at RandyThomasVO.com.

Genghis Khan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Genghis Khan - Research Paper Example Temujin had three brothers namely Khasar, Tumuge and Khajiun, and a sister referred to Temulen. He also had two half brothers Belgutei and Bekhter. Temujin early life just like the other Mongolian tribes was not an easy one. When Temujin was at the age of nine years, his father took him to his mother’s tribe in the neighbourhood where he was required to work for several years so that he could earn himself a bride named Borje. While his father was returning home, he was poisoned by the Tatars tribe as he had a meal with them. The Tatar tribe had been enemies of the Mongolians for a long time. After the death of Temujin’s father, Temujin returned to his homeland to take after his father’s position among the Khans. However, his father’s tribe refused to be led by a young boy but instead Yesukhei’s two windows and seven children were expelled by their father’s clan. (cultural-china.com, 2010) Hoelun and her family were left without protection and for the next several years, lived in poverty and survived by feeding on roots, fish and rodents which were hunted by Temujin and his brothers. Temujin’s mother tried all she could do to keep her family together after they were expelled by the family patriarchy when her husband died. Hoelun taught Temujin skills which were needed to survive in the desert lands of Mongolia (afe.easia.columbia.edu, 2011). During a hunting expedition, a 13 year old Temujin killed his half brother Bekhter. The incident left Temujin as the head of the household. In 1182, Temujin was captured and held a prisoner after a raid which was conducted by the Bjartskular, his father’s former allies. He stayed in captivity for more than five years. He was later released at the age of sixteen and went to look for his wife Borje. His wife Borje was still waiting for him and soon afterwards the two got married. The marriage was meant to cement a strong alliance between Temujin and other tribes. Genghis Khan also had six Mongolian wives with whom he had many children with. He also married many daughters of a foreign king who submitted to his rule (Sailer, 2003). This children and wives were not to succeed Temujin. Soon after Temujin and Borje got married, Borje was kidnapped by the Merkits and she was given away as a wife. With the help of his friends and his future enemies, Jamuka and his protector, Ong khan of the Kerait tribe, Temujin was able to rescue Borje. Nine months afterwards, Borje gave birth to a son known as Joshi. While at the age of 27, Temujin organized a ‘kuriltai’ among the Mongolians and was elected the Khan. As the leader of Mongolians, Temujin gave high office positions to his relatives and his followers who were loyal to him. (asianhistory.about.com, 2011) By 1206, Temujin was able to unite a majority of the Mongolian tribes and this was what earned him the title Genghis Khan (answer.com, 2011). With the help of his army, Genghis was able to conqu er China, Samarkand, Central Asia and even Russia. Genghis and his army raided every community that resisted, killed and enslaved men. The then captured women were distributed upon the army and raped. More often, Genghis derived pleasure in sleeping with the daughters and the wives of the enemy chiefs. (Hudson, 2011) In 1227, Genghis Khan died shortly after defeating the Tangut people. The reason for his death remained unknown to many historians. References: afe.easia.columbia.edu. (2011). The Mongols in World History. Retrieved 1st December

Work and leisure. What you think about work and leisure based on the Essay

Work and leisure. What you think about work and leisure based on the books (use reference) - Essay Example John Locke argues from the spiritual dimensions that give aspects of work some real value and meaning. For example, he says that God gave nature freely to the universe but human beings used the actions of labor to give themselves property in terms of land, plantations, and buildings to get income value. He further argues that through doing work human beings made money, which is the determinant of the value of work (Locke 36). Therefore, people draw leisure from what they have invested to create support and comfort for their existence. In summary, Locke views work as God-given aspect of life, and the support that accrue to life is due to man improving the nature that God gave. That is to say, work and leisure are gifts from God. In his view, Josef Pieper stipulates that leisure is a mare attitude of mind and a function of the soul that brings the reality of the world societies. Additionally, he illustrates that true religion has its foundations and primarily thrives on leisure (Pieper, Dru and Pieper 17). In other words, he says that leisure gives human beings the time to appreciate the nature of God, hence forming part of human culture. However, in the current society, work is killing entertainment, which will eventually destroy the tranquility of human culture. Pieper’s revelation reveals that work and leisure conflict in the principality, of which leisure is a way of appreciating God’s creation. Therefore, work builds the very elements that create leisure activities such as sports. Schumacher in â€Å"Buddhist Economics,† gives yet another dimension of viewing work and recreation. The author argues that the fundamental source of wealth is work, whose measurement is in terms of human labor. Economist view work as an unavoidable aspect that should be kept to the bare minimum (Schumacher 1). On the contrary, human beings sacrifice their leisure in exchange for income from work.