Literature Review of Value at Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Literature Review of Value at Risk - Essay Example Modern financial institutions are careful to estimate the risk in relation to the magnitude of the asset and are careful to assess the levels of risk apparent from the credit quality of the company and the risk caused by the particular product. ( Hsaio 2008) . Modern Credit Risks are no longer defined by outright exposure and are currently calculated by a popular method of the Value at Risk (VaR)This method estimates the maximum amount of loss possible in a portfolio subject to certain periodic intervals and has its advantage of being comparative in nature, i.e it will allow the financial institutions in question to allocate capital more efficiently.(Chance 1979).These methods employ the risk level models of capital , which are used to estimate the profitability of capital, like the risk-adjusted capital (RORAC) or risk-adjusted return on capital (RAROC) and such models today play a pivotal rile in the management of risks inherent in the management of financial institutions. In credit risk calculation VaR or Value at risk is a single numerical estimate which is an indicator of the possible maximum loss of a portfolio over a given time horizon at a certain confidence level.This methodology developed as a response to the financial disasters in the decade of the 1990s and have obtained an increasingly important role in risk management (market, credit and operational).The attraction of using VaR for credit risk assessment thus lies in the fact that it is able to provide a single quantity that states the overall market risks faced by an institution. The criticisms have however stemmed from a recognized lack of coherence in the VaR methods and its failure to account for losses beyond a certain level and does not give due credit to the advantages of diversification by not taking into account sub-additivity. Various VaR models currently dominate the literature.These include the historical or (empirical) approach (see Van Der Vaart 1998),the Gaussian approach, the extreme value theory approach (which through the block maxima method (BMM) and the peak over threshold (POT), focuses on variables above a given threshold Also relevant here are the interest rate risks which are related to the relative value of an interest-bearing asset diminishing due to a rise in the interest rate. It can be calculated by a variety of ways to give an estimate as to how changing interest rates are impacting upon a bank's portfolioThese include the "market value of portfolio equity" method which uses market value of the assets,analysis of the shifts within the Yield curve ,the Value at Risk method, and measuring irregularities within the interest sensitivity gap of assets and liabilities. (Bower 1984). There are many main models for measuring credit risk and differ by the period at which they were used .Value at Risk (VaR) is one of the most modern methods of measuring credit rate risk and is an integral part of the modern market risk measurement framework and it aims at expressing the total market risk as a single number, i.e. to summarize the expected maximum loss over a target horizon within a given confidence interval.

Project Financial Risk Management followed in IT industry enhances the Research Paper

Project Financial Risk Management followed in IT industry enhances the success rates of Projects delivered - Research Paper Example Financial Risk Management in IT Introduction Risks management is in many ways the process of identification, assessment and prioritization of risks, which is then followed by the coordination of all economic resources necessary for the elimination or minimization, monitoring, and control of the probable impacts of uncertain events. It has been found that, risk can come from uncertainties in financial markets, legal liabilities, project failures, accidents, credit risks (Macomber 2003, p. 2). Studies indicate that, there are various project management standards, which have been under development in the project management institute, actuarial societies, ISO standards, and the national institute of standards and technology (Hodgson 2003, p.1). The approaches and objectives of hazard supervision vary greatly dependent on the hazard administration technique applied in the setting of a scheme administration.. In other studies however, hazard administration includes the ranking of the essen tial developments; hazards with the extreme loss are handled first and then the other hazard are handled in a descendent mode in order of precedence. It is pointed out that intangible management usually identifies new types of risks that have about a hundred percent probability but the management ignores because most organizations lack identification capabilities to handle such cases (King 2003, p. 2). It is recorded that relationship risk emanate when inefficient ways of collaboration is experienced. This type of hazard is known to reduce the efficiency of information workforces, effectiveness, service, excellence, product value, and excellence of earnings at the end. Thus, risk management is a subject or process that needs all manner of care to be successful. Literature review From organizational perspective, risks arise most often when businesses pursue opportunities in face of uncertainties, while being compelled by capabilities and cost. In most cases, a challenge comes when it comes to the process of finding a position based on the two dimensions, as it represents in essence itself a risk profile that may be appropriate for the initiative; acceptable to both internal and external stakeholders of the business in question. Studies affirm that, hazard and hazard administration are premeditated in nature. Regarding, information and technology studies show that, software projects have been recognized to be high-risk ventures, which are prone to many failures. Some studies argue that there are mainly two classes of risks; generic risks that are common to all projects, and project specific risks. In many cases, some of these hazards are easy to recognize and regulate or accomplish. However, in some cases, other risks are less obvious and thus very difficult to make predictions on their likelihood to occur and the impact they may cause at that time (Levine 2004, p. 32). The complication and difficulty in predictions comes because of numerous project proportions; structure, size, complexity, composition, novelty, long planning, and execution horizons. All these have a common influence on the modest of the scheme at the end; hus, any indeterminate discrepancy in this has fiscal implications. Therefore, risk management in information technology, especially software

Traditional Monoclonal Antibodies and Recombinant Antibodies

Traditional Monoclonal Antibodies and Recombinant Antibodies Introduction: Antibody is a special molecule that present in our bodies to fight against infections and stimulate immune response. Typical antibody is a Y shaped molecule consists of two H (heavy) and two (light) chains. Two antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) are linked with a constant region (Fc)(Brekke and Sandlie 2003). After the discovery of murine monoclonal antibodies produced by hybridoma cells developed by Kohlor and Milstein(Kohler and Milstein 1975), the role of monoclonal antibodies in therapeutics and clinical diagnostics are increasingly important in the last three decades (Laffly and Sodoyer 2005). The term monoclonal antibody is defined as an antibody molecule which is monospecific and derived from a single B cell clone. Results in using fully murine monoclonal antibodies in therapeutics are not ideal and problems aroused in triggering unwanted human immune responses. These problems force the generation of recombinant antibodies in the replacement of traditional monoclonal antibodies. Tailor-made recombinant antibodies fragments increase flexibility both in immunotherapy and immunodiagnostics. The application of minimal form of functional antibodies single-chain antibodies (scFvs) are the most popular form of recombinant antibodies fragments as diagnostic agents (Hagemeyer et al. 2009). In this assignment, the comparison between traditional monoclonal antibodies and recombinant antibodies as therapeutics agents and diagnostics tools will be discussed. From the example of tragedy TGN 1412, the potential risk of using recombinant antibodies in therapeutic agents should not be ignored. Finally, future perspective of recombinant antibodies in gene therapy and using polyclonal antibodies as novel immunotherapeutic strategy will be discussed. Theoretically, probably any kind of monoclonal antibodies can be produced with the aid of hybridoma technique. The continuous culture of hybridoma cells creates an inexhaustible supply of monoclonal antibodies in the laboratories by cell culture or rodent(Nelson, Reynolds et al. 2000). Its highly specificity, stability and homogeneity are ideal for diagnostics and in therapeutic purposes. After the introduction of the first FDA approved drugs OKT3 launched into the market in 1986, the results of using fully murine monoclonal antibodies in human was not promising (Chatenoud, Baudrihaye et al. 1986; Chatenoud, Jonker et al. 1986). This is because murine originated monoclonal antibodies triggered several immunogenic responses in human body. One of the problems arise is human anti-mouse antibodies (HAMA) or anti-globulin antibodies (HAGA) response (DeNardo, Bradt et al. 2003; Presta 2006) generated against the administrated murine antibodies. Studies showed that around 30-75% of patients with solid tumors and relapsed B-cell malignancies developed HAMA response after exposure to murine antibodies (Smith, Nelson et al. 2004; Majidi, Barar et al. 2009). The activation of HAMA response is mainly due to the host antibodies generated against the idiotopes of the administered murine antibodies. Moreover, rapid clearance of murine Abs shortens its serum half-life and relatively ineffective to trigger cytotoxic effect (e.g. ADCC and CDC) compared to human antibodies hindered murine Abs as therapeutics agents (Presta 2006). Based on the above unresolved problems, with the aid of genetic engineering, murine monoclonal antibodies are modified to become less immunogenic and enhance potency in therapeutics and diagnostics. Three different types of recombinant antibodies are generated: chimeric, humanized and human antibody. In chimerization, the murine variable region is fused with the human constant region forming chimeric antibodies(Presta 2006). This modification imitates the human immune system. Although chimeric antibodies is less immunogenic but may trigger human anti-chimeric antibody responses (HACA)(Baert, Noman et al. 2003). Further maturation technique is humanization (hyperchimeric). In this technique, only the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) from the murine antibody was grafted into a human constant and variable regions (Smith, Nelson et al. 2004). By resurfacing, reshaping and hyperchimerisation of hyperchimeric antibody, the antibody binding affinity improved. Although the above me thods minimize immunogenicity, but immune response result of xenografting may occur. Finally, human antibodies can be generated by transgenic mice and in vitro combinatorial libraries (Brekke and Loset 2003; Brekke and Sandlie 2003; Presta 2006). Antibodies which generated under this method are expected to be identical to human antibodies with clinical significant without any side effects. One of the examples in combinatorial library approach for the selection of antibodies is by phage display technology in which antibody variables domain are expressed as fusion protein as coated on the surface of the bacteriophages. Under combinatorial library approaches and transgenic mice, the chance of getting fully human antibodies are higher when compared to hybridoma and chimeric antibody technologies. In addition, single-chain variable fragment (scFv) and Fab fragment can be isolated (Brekke and Loset 2003; Brekke and Sandlie 2003). Therapeutics application Fc portion in an intact antibody trigger effector function which is undesirable for therapeutic applications. Therefore, for a desirable antibodies design for cytokine inactivation or receptor blockage, the main considerations of antibody design are: size, tissue penetration, distribution, half-life, effector function, affinity, stability and immunogenicity. scFv and Fab fragments are preferred as choice of preference when compared to traditional antibodies because of smallest in size, high binding affinity, specificity, good tissue penetration and reducing immunogenicity due to HAMA response. scFv and Fab antibodies have a shorter half-life than whole antibodies and this drawback can be overcome by PEGylation. In addition, the attachment of PEGylation of murine monoclonal antibody reduces HAMA response of the host after administration(Laffly and Sodoyer 2005). Applications of monoclonal antibodies are vastly employed in therapeutic agents (e.g. treatment of cancer) and in clinical diagnostic (e.g. histopathological diagnosis). Humanized mAbs (transgenic mice) (resurfacing, reshaping and hyperchimerisation, etc) Phage display technology (Fabs and Fvs) In recent years MAbs have become very important commercial reagents, and currently contribute to over 30% of biopharmaceuticals in development and production. To date, 10 different MAbs have achieved FDA approval, with others in phase III trials.4 Applications Antibody conjugates (Majidi, Barar et al. 2009) Unconjugated mAbs (Majidi, Barar et al. 2009) rAbs for cancer therapy immunohistology genetic immunotherapy(Pelegrin, Gros et al. 2004) scFv for diagnostics tools (size, immunosensor, inhibition of imnflammation and complement system) (Hagemeyer, von Zur Muhlen et al. 2009) Problems polyclonal vs monoclonal therapeutics (Haurum 2006) TGN1412 incident (Self and Thompson 2006) References: Baert, F., M. Noman, et al. (2003). Influence of immunogenicity on the long-term efficacy of infliximab in Crohns disease. N Engl J Med 348(7): 601-608. Brekke, O. H. and G. A. Loset (2003). New technologies in therapeutic antibody development. Curr Opin Pharmacol 3(5): 544-550. Brekke, O. H. and I. Sandlie (2003). Therapeutic antibodies for human diseases at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2(1): 52-62. Chatenoud, L., M. F. Baudrihaye, et al. (1986). Restriction of the human in vivo immune response against the mouse monoclonal antibody OKT3. J Immunol 137(3): 830-838. Chatenoud, L., M. Jonker, et al. (1986). The human immune response to the OKT3 monoclonal antibody is oligoclonal. Science 232(4756): 1406-1408. DeNardo, G. L., B. M. Bradt, et al. (2003). Human antiglobulin response to foreign antibodies: therapeutic benefit? Cancer Immunol Immunother 52(5): 309-316. Hagemeyer, C. E., C. von Zur Muhlen, et al. (2009). Single-chain antibodies as diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents. Thromb Haemost 101(6): 1012-1019. Haurum, J. S. (2006). Recombinant polyclonal antibodies: the next generation of antibody therapeutics? Drug Discov Today 11(13-14): 655-660. Kohler, G. and C. Milstein (1975). Continuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity. Nature 256(5517): 495-497. Laffly, E. and R. Sodoyer (2005). Monoclonal and recombinant antibodies, 30 years after. Hum Antibodies 14(1-2): 33-55. Majidi, J., J. Barar, et al. (2009). Target therapy of cancer: implementation of monoclonal antibodies and nanobodies. Hum Antibodies 18(3): 81-100. Nelson, P. N., G. M. Reynolds, et al. (2000). Monoclonal antibodies. Mol Pathol 53(3): 111-117. Pelegrin, M., L. Gros, et al. (2004). Monoclonal antibody-based genetic immunotherapy. Curr Gene Ther 4(3): 347-356. Presta, L. G. (2006). Engineering of therapeutic antibodies to minimize immunogenicity and optimize function. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 58(5-6): 640-656. Self, C. H. and S. Thompson (2006). How specific are therapeutic monoclonal antibodies? Lancet 367(9516): 1038-1039. Smith, K. A., P. N. Nelson, et al. (2004). Demystifiedrecombinant antibodies. J Clin Pathol 57(9): 912-917.

Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, and O

Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, and Outside Over There The three titles of Maurice Sendak’s famous picture book trilogy, Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, and Outside Over There, name what Judith Butler calls â€Å"zones of uninhabitability,† places of abjection that form the borders of the self as both its constitutive outside and its intimate interior. These are dangerous places in the geography of childhood, places where the child’s very life and sense of self is threatened. More frightening still, they are present places, places that exist in the same time that the child inhabits, rather than the once upon a mythical time of fairy tales and legends. Hence they are places that beckon the child to trespass the boundaries of their current lived social and material landscapes and explore. What does happen where the wild things are? What goes on in the night kitchen? What fascinations lurk outside over there? Indeed because they are the mysterious places belonging specifically to childhood, Max, Mickey, and Ida negotiate these places such that they are more comfortable and empowered within these borderlands than they are on the outside. Max becomes King of the Wild Things, Mickey is the hero of the night kitchen, and Ida rescues her sister from the goblins that inhabit â€Å"outside over there.† Even though the protagonist of each book is different, there is nonetheless the sense that this trilogy tells a developmental story, a story of the ways in which a clean and proper social body emerges or is constituted through certain exclusions, and how that which has been abjected returns in both threatening and joyful guises. Thus a reading of these stories as a developmental narrative where... ... embodiment that must be worked through in childhood—fantasies of cannibalistic consumption, of the morph-ability of bodies, of infantile sexuality—in order to construct the lived body of adulthood. But as Sendak understands, these fantasies never completely go away, but always return to haunt or thrill the adult subject as terror and jouissance. Works Cited: Butler, Judith. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of â€Å"Sex.† New York: Routledge, 1993. Kristeva, Julia. â€Å"Place Names.† Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. Ed. by Leon S. Roudiez. New York: Columbia UP, 1980. Powers of Horror. Trans. by Leon S. Roudiez. New York: Columbia UP, 1982. Sendak, Maurice. In the Night Kitchen. New York: Harper & Row, 1970. Outside Over There. New York: Harper & Row, 1981. Where the Wild Things Are. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.

Boredom †What Can Teens Do About It Essay

I have heard it time and again â€Å"I am bored! â€Å". These words have came from the mouths of many teenagers. Sure, we have the libraries, the parks, the internet cafes, the malls all around us. Yet, we still hear many teenagers around us saying that they long for something completely different than the aforementioned – something that caters more to their interests. So what can we do for these bored teenagers? You see, we have all the facilities etc. From bars to reacreational areas, places offering live music, a countless amount of shopping malls. Yet, teenagers are still bored. Thus I think it is crucial to ask the young people would like to do, then officials can plan their activities and build the venues accordingly. If we don’t, we will face the risk of continually seeing teens loitering around at the back alley or even committing crimes. More town meetings and conferences involving teenagers is vital to planning activities that they will enjoy. To simply assume that these adolescents will benefit from certain activities without asking them first will leave the place with empty centers and businesses that alienate many teens. For example, business catering to teen hobbies could be set up to host events for teenagers. Perhaps they could create some kind of contest, that would offer various skatebored equipments and apparel as prizes. The contest could include what many teenagers would enjoy: Music and Food. This way, instead of wasting money to build expensive venues to provide â€Å"entertainment† to curb teenagers’ boredom, the money could be spent on setting up activities that can guarantee success as they cater to the wants of the teens through the survey, therefore this could be done for these bored teens. As the world grows, the technology advances and companies like Apple come out with creative new devices like iPhones and iPads. When teens get caught up by these addictive trends of using iPad and iPhone, they would love to access them and use the interesting applications everyday. However, eventually their interest does not last as they would get tired of doing the same thing of staring into the iPhone or iPad screen. Instead of investing time into things that are not of much productivity, and does not help them develop any useful skill, they could first try to be creative and explore their artistic side is really great when they have nothing else to do. They could think of what things in life are really exciting or interesting to them, and think of a way they could incorporate some aspect of those things into their alone time. Once they start doing something creative,they can always go back to it, and they will never be bored. For example, they could take some free time to learn how to play a music instrument, in particular an easier one that you could easily learn by themselves at home which would be a guitar. This would help them develop an appreciation for music of they could learn well and it would bring out the more artistic side of them, instead of wasting time and getting bored from blindly following the trends of using electronic devices. Doing anything creative like learning an instrument will be beneficial to your growth as a person, it will broaden your skills and perspective on life, and it will also be fun. It begins with a recognition that every circumstance, every activity, contains within it the potential to yield value, either to us or to someone else. If we insist on always being passively entertained by life, we will find ourselves bored by much of it. On the other hand, if we can transform that expectation into a determination to make an effort to create value at every moment, we can begin to make even the most mundane experience interesting. For example, we can start up a conversation with a friend and know more about them which would enhance the friendship between the both of them. One minute you will be bored ad the next minute you will be busy talking with your friend to kill time. Talking also makes us forget about the time passing without our realisation. This also allows us to be engaged in something rather than staring into space, doing nothing which would benefit them in one way or another. Talking enhances communication skills and at least, one can bond more with her friends which would make one less bored. Engaged in the conversation, new facts about one another rise up to create a stronger bond between them. This would benefit one rather than doing nothing and feeling bored. Another way could be to eliminate boredom by looking for any interesting or purposeful activity in which you will feel energetic and less bored. A question that one may like to consider would be to think of how the activity will benefit one befoe doing something when one feels bored. Communication would make one more open-minded and an extrovert. In conclusion, there are many ways to escape boredom. But the problem here is that teenagers now do not know how to kill time. If they invest enough time to do something worthwhile such as learning how to play a musical instrument or enhancing their communication skills by conversing with a friend, they will not find themselves getting bored. Teenagers should engage in activities that they know will entertain them. For example, an avid reader can find time to visit the library rather than staying at home and watch television or do something unproductive. Thus, teenagers should know themselves and what they like and take part in activities that interest them. This will solve the problem of teenagers being bored all the time.

Mitsubishi Marketing

The article entitled ‘Mitsubishi cuts prices’ was written by Peter Roberts, and was found in The Australian Financial Review website, dated April 28, 2006 (which can be accessed at www.afr.com). The marketing concept used in the article is that of the pricing-cutting employed by Mitsubishi in its attempt to increase sales for their new products launch. PRICE-CUTTING Price-cutting is rampant in the car manufacturing industry where the only established price in the channel is the one at which the manufacturer sells. Specifically, Yadin stated that price-cutting ‘is a marketing technique involving temporary reductions in the price of a product or service, aimed at increasing market share’ (2000:300) The concept of price-cutting as a strategy means to lower prices as compared to the original price set mainly in order to increase sales (Wilmshurst and Mackay 2002:279). Alternatively, price-cutting may be used as a deliberate pull strategy in order to achieve lower costs by expanding sales. A company’s attitude to price-cutting, according to Baker (2000:63), should be influenced by its relative position in a particular market. In Roberts’ article, this marketing concept is depicted when the Australian car maker made massive price cuts across its range, as a direct response to its blunder in the company’s launch pricing strategy, particularly in the locally made 380 model. The introductory paragraph immediately pointed this out, and in the later part of the article showed how the firm was able to do this, which is by shaving dealer margins and negotiating better supply prices from Mitsubishi in Japan. In relation to the article and the way the price-cutting concept has been discussed in the lectures and in the text book, the two are comparatively alike because of the latter’s discussion of using the price-cutting strategy in already established companies, which is reflective of Mitsubishi’s position in the automobile manufacturing industry. In the same way, Mitsubishi used the price cutting concept in order to respond to excess capacity, falling market share, and dominate market through lower costs, just what the discussions in the initiating price changes similarly pointed out. The lecture notes also implied that customers are responsive to price cutting as long as the perception of brand and product value remains unchanged, which is what the article points out as the expectations of Mitsubishi regarding its increase in sales. In the automobile industry where the market dictates the selling price, this price cut is imperative of Mitsubishi. WORKS CITED Baker, M 2000, Marketing Theory: A Student Text, Thomson Learning, London. Wilmshurst, J & Mackay, A 2002, The Fundamentals and Practice of Marketing, Butterworth-Heinemann, Jordan Hill, Oxford. Yadin, D. (2002). The International Dictionary of Marketing, Kogan Page Limited, London. Â  

How a Bill becomes Law essays

How a Bill becomes Law essays THE CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS This paper deals with how bills in the state of California become laws, otherwise known as the Legislative Process. It will trace the process of a bill from the inception of an idea, to the outcome on a particular bill. Since I am majoring in Electronics Technology, Computer Repair here at American River College, I have chosen a bill related to that field. This bill is Assembly Bill 1710, Liability, and computer failures. The failure being referred to deals with year 2000 date change problem, or Y2K as it has been come to known. The Y2K problem is that of information processing using the incorrect date as a parameter. In order to save on hard disk space and the size (number of bytes or kilobytes) of software, it was decided to only refer to the YEAR part of the date without the '19'. Therefore, the date would read as follows: dd/mm/yy (e.g. 02/12/98). On the turn of the century the date parameter will read as follows: 03/01/00 and the software will misinterpret it as the 3rd of January 1900 and not 2000. This style of programming was adapted and has been used for the past 30 years and up until now. Most financial software purchased by financial institutions was developed using the Cobol (Common Business Oriented Language) with the date parameter used incorrectly or only applicable in the 20th century (using the last two digits of the year). This makes most of the worlds financial software inadequate and incorrect for the new millenium. How is that? The date parameter is used (in the incorrect format) in various crucial calculations such as calculating interest on bonds and pension funds. Hence, 30 years of programming needs to be corrected in a 6th of the time! This is a global task of greater magnitude than ever imagined. Basically all the programming of the last 30 years needs to be corrected in time for the turn of the century. It becomes even more interesting as it ...

clarence thomas essays

clarence thomas essays Although I will say that this isnt the most detailed paper it can save you come research time! Clarence Thomas is a Supreme Court Justice, who has been under criticism since the day that he was appointed. Thomas has been chastised for his views on Affirmative Action and his views on African-Americans evolution into the mainstream of our society. Chief Justice Thomas, since his appointment has been marked as a far right conservative. In the beginning of his tenure he was labeled as Chief Justice Scalias, second vote. Since then Thomas has removed himself from this shadow to show insight on his own conservative ideas. Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948 in Pin Point, Georgia. Thomas is a child of Mr. M.C. Thomas and Leola Anderson. He grew up in a single-mother household. Thomass father abandoned him and his mother, Leola, when he was two. Times were hard for his family, and his mother later sent him and his brother to live with his grandfather, Myers Anderson in Savannah, Georgia. His grandfather instilled in Clarence that education would be his key to unlocking the door to a successful life. He wanted him to overcome the color boundaries that were present during this time in Americas history. Clarence Thomas has an extensive educational background. Thomas attended an all black high school in Savannah before dropping out and enrolling at St. John Vianney Minor Seminary. Thomas withdrew at his grandfathers urging to become a minister. After his graduation form St. John Vianney Minor Seminary he was accepted to Immaculate Conception Seminary. However, he once again withdrew, this time because of the racial events that had occurred while attending. At this time Holy Cross University began recruiting black students and he was accepted. Thomas worked hard to not only succeed and graduate, but to excel in his classes. He graduated ninth in his class at Holy Cross, in 197...

French Expressions Using Champ

French Expressions Using Champ The French word un champ literally means field and is also used in many idiomatic expressions. Learn how to say sphere of activity, battlefield, having room to move, and more with this list of expressions with champ. Possible Meanings of Un Champ field (all senses)area, domainshot, frame (filming)champagne (apocope) Expressions with Un Champ un champ closcombat areaun champ dactionsphere of activityun champ dactività ©sphere of activityun champ daviationairfieldun champ davoinefield of oatsun champ de bataillebattlefieldun champ de blà ©field of corn/wheatun champ de coursesracecourseun champ de foirefairgroundun champ de manoeuvreparade groundun champ de minesminefieldun champ de neigesnowfieldun champ de tirshooting range, field of fireun champ de trà ¨flefield of cloverun champ de visionvisual fieldun champ dhonneurfield of honorun champ à ©lectriqueelectric fieldun champ magnà ©tiquemagnetic fieldun champ opà ©ratoireoperative fieldun champ optiqueoptical fieldun champ ouvertopen fieldun champ visuelvisual fieldles champscountry(side)les Champs Élysà ©esElysian Fields (mythology), street in Paris tout bout de champall the time, at every opportunitydans le champin the shot/picture (filming)en champ closbehind closed doorsen robe des champsunpeeled (potatoes)une fleur des champswild flowerhors champoff-camer ala profondeur de champsdepth of fieldsur-le-champimmediately, right awayla vie aux champscountry lifeavoir du champto have room to moveavoir le champ libreto be free to do as one pleasesLe champ est libre. The coast is clear.à ©largir le champto broaden the scopelaisser du champ quelquunto leave someone room to movelaisser le champ libre quelquunto leave someone a clear fieldmourir au champ dhonneurto be killed in actionpasser travers champsto go through/across fields/countryprendre du champsto step/stand backprendre la clà © des champsto run awayse retrouver en plein(s) champ(s)to find oneself in the middle of a fieldsonner aux champsto sound the general salute (military)sortir du champto go out of shot (filming)tomber au champ dhonneurto be killed in actiontravailler aux champsto work in the fields

Survival Guide for Online College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Survival Guide for Online College - Essay Example First, an individual can go directly to the site he wants to visit by typing the url address in the address bar. A researcher can also find a lot of interesting facts by browsing different websites which offers information on a single topic. Next, explore a subject directory. In general, there are two basic types of directories: "academic and professional directories often created and maintained by subject experts to support the needs of researchers, and directories featured on commercial portals that cater to the general public and are competing for traffic." While Infomine is a good academic subject directory, Yahoo is a famous commercial portal. A researcher can also make use of search engines in order to find the needed information. Recommended search engines include Google, Ask.com, Yahoo, MSN, and Ixquick. As there are a lot of materials in the internet, quality of research can be enhanced by querying a service solely devoted to digitized scholarly materials or books. Though th ese have not become prevalent, a good starting point is to use Google Scholar and Windows Live Academic. Other methods which can be used in exploring the "deep Web" which are not shown in search engine searches. The sites in the "deep Web" usually deal with specialized knowledge and can be a good source of information. Joining an email or discussion group will also contribute in finding information as one can ask other people on a wealth of topics. ... It should be noted that some information on the internet are outdated, developed by an amateur, or even false. Information on the internet should be evaluated thoroughly in order to produce a quality output. Upholding Academic Honesty Academic honesty is imperative in upholding the integrity of an educational institution. Thus, each student is expected to uphold the rules and regulations mandated by a college or university. Cheating and academic misconduct is detrimental to both parties. Educational institutions are misled and students rob themselves of the precious opportunity to learn. The first step in upholding academic honesty is an understanding the policies of educational institutions on academic honesty and misconducts. The knowledge of what is academically acceptable and unacceptable should be a guiding principle for each student. This section will list some of the common misconducts that a student should avoid. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited to all educational institution. Plagiarism can be in a lot of form-using another writer's word, idea, argument, phrases or sentences without proper citation, borrowing a part or the whole outline of a person's paper to write your own, and employing a paper writing service or a friend for a paper (University of Washington 2004). Misconducts are also usually associated with cheating. Students cheat when they use crib sheets, supplementary notes, or comparable aids during an examination without the approval of a professor. Communication with another student during quizzes and examinations are also not allowed. Other misconducts include: forging, changing, and altering academic records; multiple submissions; falsification of data

Strategic Management- Xerox Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Management- Xerox - Essay Example Xerox Corporation is a multinational document management firm involved in production and selling of printing related products and other services. It was founded in 1906 and produced first plain paper photocopier and became one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of the document management products and services. Its major breakthrough during recent times came during 1990s when company started to refocus and specially went on to redevelop its focus on the product orientation. It was also during this period that firm has seriously started to look for expanding into other related and unrelated businesses. Historically, Xerox has been a hard copy company means it supplied products and services which were related with hardcopy however, over the period of time, it has opted out of this business segment and is now also generating revenue from the non-hardcopy business segment. This unrelated diversification therefore has allowed the firm to increase its revenue and profitability. It is however, important to understand that unrelated diversification can benefit the firm it has the requisite expertise in management to actually strengthen the business. If management does not have the expertise and skill to actually support new business, it may become relatively unsuccessful and risky to engage into unrelated diversification activities. Xerox has ventured into financial services industry also which was a completely different business line than its traditional business. It however failed to sustain the business and was force to divest from this due to lack of knowledge and expertise to manage this business independently. (Business Week). Not having relevant skills and knowledge to manage a business which actually does not fall into the domain of senior managers therefore may be one of the key risks faced by the firms like Xerox. Over the period of time, Xerox has changed its orientation and has now become a more of a service

Body Language Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Body Language - Article Example Gestures and body language are therefore often second nature; something that we follow based on instinct and the need for survival. Therefore, when an individual is speaking or listening to another, he or she often reveals unconscious feelings or reactions through gestures and body language. Since our bodies speak the truth and our words often do not, it is important for people to learn to observe body language as well as listening to the speech of others. Body language often has an unconscious affect on the speaker or listener. If somebody speaks and demonstrates very confident body language, people are more likely to take that individual seriously, and/or believe in what that individual has to say. If another individual speaks the same speech but shows a lack of confidence with gestures and body language, people are less likely to respect or care about the information presented. Thus, whether or not an individual successfully gets a point across has a lot to do with how that individual presents his or her body language. How does the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis fit in with all of this' According to Amy Stafford, Sapir "believed that language and the thoughts that we have are somehow interwoven, and that all people are equally being effected by the confines of their language. In short, he made all people out to be mental prisoners; unable to think freely because of the restrictions of their vocabularies" (para 1). If our vocabularies are restricted, it is therefore important for individuals to have another way of expressing themselves, or of getting their main points across. This is where body language comes into play (Henslin 45). Since body language is often an initial instinctual reaction, it allows individuals to communicate on an unconscious level and get their concepts across when they lack the words to express those concepts. Stafford further states: "Whorf fully believed in linguistic determinism; that what one thinks is fully determined by their language. He also supported linguistic relativity, which states that the differences in language reflect the different views of different people" (para 3). Language is therefore important to demonstrating what an individual is thinking, and what that individual's limitations are. However, language is often relativistic from person to person, as is language ability, and therefore Whorf felt that we can get a strong feel for an individual by understanding these limitations. Stafford's article can be found at: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/language/whorf.html. Her link is very helpful and describes body language as well as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The presentation on this website helped the researcher to grasp and better understand these concepts and why they are important. Therefore, this link is very helpful when it comes to understanding body language and the issues surrounding body language. Works Cited Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach. New Jersey:Allyn and Bacon 2006. Stafford, Amy. "The Sapir-Whorf Hyp

Applied management project Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 15000 words

Applied management project - Dissertation Example The emergence of corporate communication was brought about by the need of organisations to build and maintain relationships with its key stakeholders in order to sustain the survival of the organisation's business in its respective industry. The management of communication functions has evolved from fragmented disciplines into a holistic setting. Previously, organisations have made use of communication disciplines as individual units that would serve its distinct purpose in line with the employed strategies. Through the course of communication development, organisations have realized the importance of an integrated approach towards managing communication functions. ... Aims and Objectives Communication is not just an integral factor between personal relationships and groups, it also applies to organisations. Success cannot simply be measured by performance and quality; it can be culminated through proper communication to form a clear and lucid relationship between firms and its publics. Most companies fail to see the importance of what integrated corporate communication can do to improve their businesses (Van Ruler & de Lange 2003). At present, the prevailing principle in regards to the basis of an organisation's survival in the industry depends on how it is perceived by its key stakeholders, which comprises of both internal and external publics. Internal audiences are investors, stockholders, shareholders and employees; whereas external audiences are the consumers and other members of the community such as the government, institutions and media (Argenti, Howell & Beck 2005). Such principle had been further proved by recent events such as corporate crises, recession, financial crisis and the liberalism of trade. These have led to the decisions of senior executives among leading organisations to fortify the reputation of their firms and place significant emphasis on it as one of their key strategic goals. This goal entails the process of formulating, maintaining and protecting the reputation of the firm. Such objectives are the core tasks of a corporate communication specialist. In spite of significance highlighted on the organisation's image and reputation, the purpose and the benefits provided by corporate communication is yet to be fully grasped (Marchand 1998; Van Ruler & de Lange 2003; Argenti et. al 2005). This concern has made specialists

Liberal democracy and Political Participation Essay

Liberal democracy and Political Participation - Essay Example Other political scientists state that democracy is only a structure and is not individual participation. (Budge 1996) Political participation in the process has great influence on the development of everybody's character. It is known that political participation is the "key to the transformation of people from individual (private) to citizen (public)". But it can be noticed that political participation must not be only defensive and protective measure against the political system. (Bruce 1923) There are many definition of "liberal democracy". One of them states that liberal democracy is "a form of representative democracy, where the ability of elected representative to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law". Liberal democracy is also subjected to constitution the main points of which are defense of human rights and freedoms. It also involves protection of minority groups. It can be admitted that rights and freedoms involve such categories as private property, equality before the law, privacy, etc. These rights are also called liberal rights. They are guaranteed by statutory or constitutional laws. (Gibson 2000) Liberal democracy involves also tolerance and pluralism. Different political and social views, extreme fringes can co-exist in liberal democracy. One more characteristic of liberal democracy is election, which give political parties the opportunity to obtain political power and to realize their political program in society. The next point to be discussed is specific rights and freedoms which enable citizens to participate in the liberal process. These rights are considered to be essential part of liberal democracy and its functioning. (Norris 2000) Among the most common rights it is possible to mention the following: the right to life an to secured, freedom of movement, freedom from slavery, freedom of speech and press, freedom of education and religion, freedom of assembly, independent judiciary. But in practice all rights have restrictions and limits, such as copyright and libel. Some limits relate to anti-democratic speeches and undervaluation of human rights. The explanation of these restrictions is that they guarantee the performance of liberal democracy and freedoms. (Budge 1996) The most disputable are the freedom of speech and freedom of press. Freedom of speech is always considered as integral part of liberal democracy in the modern world. It is guaranteed by the Declaration of Human Rights. Freedom of speech is understood "to protect any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used". (Norris 2000) It is one of the possible an favourable means of potical participation, because due to this freedom it is possible to discuss different thoughts and to get clear idea about some any process in liberal democracy. Individuals can express their thoughts

Argument essay for or against the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and

Argument for or against the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) - Essay Example Therefore, they share a lot in common with second generation Americans since for most of their life has been spent in the USA. Having grown up here, they would have little or no attachment to their country of origin. Usually, they are bicultural and sometimes bilingual; however, they speak fluent English (65). A good number do not have an idea they are actually undocumented immigrants. The situation is so until they apply for college or a driver’s license. Once they apply for these legal documents, they realize they do not have Social Security numbers and other documents that are needed. This paper offers an in-depth analysis of the DREAM Act and supports it. The experiences these youths go through can be discouraging. They represent broken dreams, shattered hope and lost ambitions. Since most of them have lived in the U.S almost all their lives, they complete their education here. In school, they take roles of athletes, valedictorians, class presidents and honor roll students (Perez 115). They are aspired to be teachers, doctors, scientists and engineers like all other children in America. However, the fact that they are documented immigrants, their lives change dramatically. Their day-to-day lives took a completely different course and their futures are no longer certain. They can neither work nor vote. As a matter of fact, something as ordinary as driving is a pleasure they cannot enjoy. At times, some are deported to a country they do not know at all. They are a direct result of economic and political significance. Sadly, only about 5-10% of these undocumented young high school graduates make it to college (110). This is usually because they cannot afford to pay their tuition or because they are not allowed to enroll. Typically, they do not even finish high school and thus end up in gangs and other illegal activities. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM Act) has however to the rescue of these helpless high school graduates. The DREAM Act offers a pathway for them to attain legal status for undocumented high school graduates every year. The DREAM Act was introduced by Representative Howard Berman and Senator Richard Durbin on May 11th, 2011. Today, the DREAM Act has 2 co-sponsors in the House and an overwhelming 32 in the Senate. Organizations from States in the United including California, Kentucky, Oklahoma and New York have come together in order to support the DRAM act (American Immigration Council). Many undocumented students and their classmates as well as teachers have met up with their members of congress, held rallies, sent letters and even staged hunger strikes in the hopes of making this act a reality. In June 2010, an undocumented student who studies in Harvard was held in detention. After this incident, Harvard president Drew Faust stated that these children need to be given a chance to pursue their post secondary education in their country. The DREAM act has more advantages than disadvanta ges. The DREAM act will boost the economy of the United States as well as the labor in the US. Additionally, the Act will jumpstart the process to citizenship (American Immigration Council). This will be a huge investment on human capital and service to the US. Since DREAM act beneficiaries are all high school graduates, it means that they will get decent jobs. This way, there will be more taxable income in the country and thus in return more revenue for the government. On average a college graduate earns $750,000 throughout their lifetime more than the high school graduate (American Immigration Council). In addition, the Dream Act allows talented individuals to remain in the United States (Arnold 95).

Liberal democracy and Political Participation Essay

Liberal democracy and Political Participation - Essay Example Other political scientists state that democracy is only a structure and is not individual participation. (Budge 1996) Political participation in the process has great influence on the development of everybody's character. It is known that political participation is the "key to the transformation of people from individual (private) to citizen (public)". But it can be noticed that political participation must not be only defensive and protective measure against the political system. (Bruce 1923) There are many definition of "liberal democracy". One of them states that liberal democracy is "a form of representative democracy, where the ability of elected representative to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law". Liberal democracy is also subjected to constitution the main points of which are defense of human rights and freedoms. It also involves protection of minority groups. It can be admitted that rights and freedoms involve such categories as private property, equality before the law, privacy, etc. These rights are also called liberal rights. They are guaranteed by statutory or constitutional laws. (Gibson 2000) Liberal democracy involves also tolerance and pluralism. Different political and social views, extreme fringes can co-exist in liberal democracy. One more characteristic of liberal democracy is election, which give political parties the opportunity to obtain political power and to realize their political program in society. The next point to be discussed is specific rights and freedoms which enable citizens to participate in the liberal process. These rights are considered to be essential part of liberal democracy and its functioning. (Norris 2000) Among the most common rights it is possible to mention the following: the right to life an to secured, freedom of movement, freedom from slavery, freedom of speech and press, freedom of education and religion, freedom of assembly, independent judiciary. But in practice all rights have restrictions and limits, such as copyright and libel. Some limits relate to anti-democratic speeches and undervaluation of human rights. The explanation of these restrictions is that they guarantee the performance of liberal democracy and freedoms. (Budge 1996) The most disputable are the freedom of speech and freedom of press. Freedom of speech is always considered as integral part of liberal democracy in the modern world. It is guaranteed by the Declaration of Human Rights. Freedom of speech is understood "to protect any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used". (Norris 2000) It is one of the possible an favourable means of potical participation, because due to this freedom it is possible to discuss different thoughts and to get clear idea about some any process in liberal democracy. Individuals can express their thoughts

The conventions of the horror genre to create a vision of Victorian London Essay Example for Free

The conventions of the horror genre to create a vision of Victorian London Essay Robert Louis Stevenson uses the conventions of the horror genre to create a vision of London in the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to great effect. Stevenson uses all the different conventions of horror together to create a disturbing tale of good an evil, and incorporates the features of mystery, crime and death, suspense and atmosphere. One of Stevensons most effective themes in Jekyll and Hyde is the use of mystery. Stevenson asks and sets up countless questions throughout the novel, but answers only a few. This means that the reader is continually having to answer questions for themselves, but before you have come to a conclusion, Stevenson has set out another for you to try and answer. The first question, one which lasts throughout the novel, is the background of the characters and what has happened in the past between them. At first Stevenson gives a small description of Mr. Uttersons appearance and some of his background: Mr Utterson the lawyer was a man of rugged countenance, and his few hobbies, but little background information is given about any of the characters. Utterson, Jekyll and Lanyon all seem to be close friends at the start, but throughout the novel Lanyon and Jekyll grow apart as Lanyon discovers the truth about Jekyll. Lanyon also says that what Jekyll had been prior to this had been unscientific balderdash, and that Jekyll had begun to turn wrong in mind. This shows that Lanyon thought that Jekyll may uncover something untoward. During the novel we are never actually told what Jekylls plans are, but we are able to assume that something extraordinary and peculiar is about to be revealed. We know that he is a doctor, but no specific information on what the areas of science that he practices in are, what he has achieved to make him so important, and what his current areas of work are. The Victorian audience at the time would have thought that Jekyll may have been doing something wrong ever since the mention of the door being connected to Jekylls house, as body snatchers brought dead bodies to scientists through secretive measures so that the scientists could do medical experiments. They may have thought that at the time, but is not something that comes to mind for the modern day reader, as this is a very rare event in modern times. One of the largest unanswered questions in Jekyll and Hyde is what was Sir Danvers Carew actually doing on the night he was murdered. We get the impression that Carew was intending to meet Hyde, but no definitive answer is given by Jekyll as to what both Hyde and Carew were doing there in the first place, and why it was necessary for Hyde to kill him. Carew was meant to be a kind and well respected MP, but we never know what he was doing in that disreputable part of London in the first place. As is normal in a horror novel, the use of crime and death is hugely prominent in Jekyll and Hyde, with the whole novel and interest in Mr Hyde beginning with a horrific act of violence. Mr Hyde is walking through London one evening, when he and a little girl ran into one another. This though is not the horrifying part, as after they had collided Mr Hyde trampled calmly over the childs body. Mr Hyde casually walks off, and justice is only done when Mr Enfield chases after Mr Hyde. If it had not been for Mr Enfield, then this hideous crime would have just occurred, and nothing would have been done about it. As it is, Mr Hyde pays the girls family a sum of one hundred pounds so that his name does not become disreputable. Possibly the most disturbing thing about this incident though, is the fact that Hyde shows no remorse for what he has done, and all that he cares about is his name and whatever honour that he may have had, which can also be said for many people in both Victorian times and modern day. Appearance and reputation is the most important thing, what is on the outside, yet their secret and evil side that is on the inside is overlooked. Another terrifying theme is the death of Dr Lanyon. At first Lanyon is described as a hearty and healthy man, who has a boisterous and decided manner. This though changes drastically as the novel unfolds. He is said to have grown pale, and he was visibly balder and older, yet this has only happened over a short period of time. We know that Lanyon has discovered something terrible about Jekyll, and that he is quite done with that person. We later find out what it is that Lanyon had found out, the terrible truth behind Jekyll, and his true feelings which are disclosed in Doctor Lanyons Narrative. Lanyon is so distraught after finding out the truth, that not only his mentality suffers, but his usually excellent physical state rapidly deteriorates and is shortly followed by his death. A different aspect of crime that is connected with Jekyll and Hyde is homosexual blackmail. Although Stevenson never specifically mentions homosexuality, it is fair to say that it is what the reader is meant to believe and if he had talked directly about it then he would have been thought of badly when it was first published. In Victorian times homosexuality was a crime, and was thought of a lot worse then than it is now, and it would have been thought that Jekyll was being blackmailed by Hyde and that he was homosexual. We find out that this is not the case, and that Hyde is in fact Jekylls evil side. As well as Lanyons death, there are also a number of other deaths. The first of these, Sir Danvers Carew, is described as Suspense is a very important horror them in Jekyll and Hyde, as it incorporates lots of other themes, and is what makes any horror story terrifying. Suspense is a build up of lots of different things, and the excellent use of atmosphere and mystery is what makes the novel so terrifying. Probably the greatest cause of suspense is that the reader only finds out the truth about Jekyll and Hyde towards the end of the novel. Mr Utterson is used as a cipher, as the story is told with the reader only finding out what Mr Utterson finds out. The reader is gradually able to piece bits together from what Utterson uncovers, but as facts are rarely given, only opinions, nothing is ever particularly clear. Due to all this personal opinion, we are unable to tell what is fact and what is just incorrect and what is just incorrect personal opinion. Throughout the novel we just get given what Utterson thinks and knows, and even with Lanyons and Jekylls statements, we are still unable to tell what is the truth, as both narratives contradict each other. Lanyon describes Jekylls transformations as horrific: , yet Jekyll says that they are: . Either way, the thought of the evil side of someone taking over their body is horrifying, but with this varying of opinions it leads us to think what other things described are inaccurate. Atmosphere and the descriptions of London used by Stevenson are very important aspects of horror in Jekyll and Hyde. It shows the importance for all of the different aspects, as they all closely link together. The atmosphere that Stevenson creates builds suspense and adds mystery, and the eerie atmospheric descriptions are metaphors for the crime and death that goes on throughout the novel. One of the most important descriptions of London and the positioning of places is Soho. In Victorian times Soho was an extremely disreputable part of London, and crime and indecent activities were widely linked to this part of the city. That is why it is strange that a place like Soho was positioned in the middle of the supposedly respectable west side of London. This is the same as with Hyde, as he is a bad and disreputable person among a group of important and well respected people. Throughout Jekyll and Hyde Stevenson uses vivid descriptions of the city of London to portray the eeriness of the people and events that occur. He regularly talks about the fog and mist that hung over the city, which some may say was because of the huge industrial changes that Britain was going through, but after looking deeper into the story you can tell that this is not the reason, and that Stevenson is cleverly using the idea of physcogeography. When bad and mysterious events are happening, this is shown in the weather and atmospheric descriptions that Stevenson uses. This is excellently shown by: The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city, and: a pale moon, lying on her back as though the wind had tilted her. Both these descriptions of London are implying that the city is dead, but this is only a metaphor for the terrible events that are happening in the city. The second quote occurs when Poole and Utterson are preparing to break into Jekylls cabinet, which is shortly followed by the death of Hyde and Jekyll. The first is shortly after the death of Sir Danvers Carew, and illustrates the feelings of the characters being described, in this case Utterson and Mr Guest. From Jekyll and Hyde we can tell that all of the different conventions of the horror genre are required to create a truly terrifying novel. Stevenson uses these conventions to create a vivid and horrific vision of Victorian London, with not only its physical description but of the people inside it. Mystery, suspense, crime and death and atmosphere are all incorporated and closely joined to create a truly spine chilling horror novel.

Weaknesses Of The Eurozone Economics Essay

Weaknesses Of The Eurozone Economics Essay Robert Mundell described the Bretton Woods System as Hamlet without the Prince due to the lack of a unified currency in the form of a monetary union expressed as Bancor or Unitas. Given the experience of EMU, does this analysis still hold theoretically and/or empirically? Discuss. Introduction of EMU In 1999, the European Central Bank (ECB) launched the single currency (euro) together with the foundation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The EMU is based on the existence of the euro as a common currency. The ECB supervises the implementation of a common monetary policy. At the beginning of 2002, euro replaced the national currencies of 12 member countries for all transactions. Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom joined European Union (EU) but did not join the euro. In 2004, there were ten new member countries joined the EU, five of them joined the euro. The prior monetary unions are unsuccessful as they rested on the value of metals (i.e. gold or silver). The money printed should be determined by the silver of gold stored, therefore the Metallism monetary system is a stable system since silver and gold are scarce resources. The EMU rests on the euro or chartalism, as fiat money which is issued by a central national bank. The credit level of the issuing body is important to determine the value and stability of the fiat money. The stability of the country in terms of economic and political will in turn determine the credit level. However, when the treasury is unable to finance the deficit, fiat monies can become unstable due to the temptation of the inflationary tax or seigniorage. In order to achieve and sustain the stability, the EMU needs an economic union and a monetary union. Economic union is achieved by complying with the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). The goal of SGP is to maintain fiscal stability through implementation of specific fiscal requirements among member states of EMU. The strength of the Eurozone rests completely on the credibility of the requirements set when the EMU was being implemented and the ECB was established. However, if member states are not respect or follow the set requirements, the credibility level of Eurozone will be affected and as a result negatively affect the euro. Mundells Theories The original idea of a common currency in Europe was derived from the theory of Robert Mundell on the areas of optimal currency. In his paper A plan for a European Currency in 1973, Mundell clarified the gains of European countries if they adopt a common currency. The works of Mundell have been classified into two categories by Ronald McKinnon (2004). Mundell I In 1961, Mundell published his paper entitled A Theory of Optimal Currency Areas which is rooted in Keynesian ideas. The theory of Optimum Currency Areas (OCAs) studies how countries with a monetary union and common currency adjust, if these countries are affected by asymmetric economic shocks. Mundell point out that adjustments are based on whether wages are rigid, labour mobility is limited, income transfers are difficult, and differences exist in the labour market and growth rates. Mundell claimed that when countries are in a monetary union and use a common currency, they cannot absorb asymmetric shocks properly unless, among other circumstances, labour mobility is unlimited. Mundell II In Mundells article Uncommon arguments for common currencies which published in 1973, an alternative theory is illustrated. Mundell emphasised the common currency assures an automatic and equal sharing of the risk of the fluctuation, a common currency has advantages in overcoming economic shocks. Mundell II argues that it is easier for member countries to stay inside a monetary union than outside it since the private insurance would assist against asymmetric shocks. More specifically, it will be easier for member countries to borrow in the capital markets of the monetary union when hitting by a negative shock, as a result it will be easier for member countries to smooth consumption. In addition, the exchange rate would be a source in arising asymmetric disturbances; especially capital mobility of financial market is very high. The criticism of Mundell II becomes more obvious in terms of political context. If financial markets in a monetary union provide insurance to reduce asymmetric shocks, the need to integrate national budgets for political means becomes weaker. Hence the motive to form a political union is even weaker. However, the Mundell II point out that if there is no budgetary union, it would be optimistic to say that private financial markets would provide insurance against asymmetric shocks. The financial markets will only provide insurance to those who possess high assets stock in the financial markets. Since wealth is not equally distributed, the private provision of insurance will overwhelmingly support the wealthy and keep the poor relatively uninsured. In addition, the Mundell II theory ignored the possibility that countries may involve in a position of a bad equilibrium. If there are not adequate instruments to lead the economy out of the bad equilibrium, countries would get caught in the bad equilibrium after a negative shock. It is a major problem for the future of EMU if there is no adequate instrument in a monetary union. This is reinforced by the fact that different member countries of EMU continue to work in different directions due to the absence of a political union. Weaknesses of the Eurozone In the last ten years, the euro has demonstrated that there are many efficiency gains by adopting a common currency (i.e. reduced transaction costs of exchanging currencies, eliminated exchange rate uncertainty, and increased transparency in prices), particularly if the currency becomes not only an international currency but also a global currency. However, maintaining various standards requires difficult adjustments and constant surveillance of every single member state in Eurozone. As the economic crisis has hit the world, certain Eurozone Member States Greece, Portugal and Spain are being seriously affected. The Greek tragedy is making the EU realize that highly indebted countries can put the EMU at risk and that measures must be taken without delay. Institutional Weakness Article 102.a of the Maastricht Treaty establishes that member states and the community should conduct their economic policies with a view to contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the Community. In order to guide Article 102.a, Article 103 highlights that the correct implementation of economic policies is a matter of common, stating that Member States [are to] coordinate them within the Council, in accordance with the provisions of Article 102a. Article 103 also highlights that it is important to avoid excessive deficits of each government. There is an obvious institutional weakness in terms of monetary policies. The Maastricht Treaty had defined the objectives of the ECB which is price stability. ECB has defined an inflation rate below 2% as the objective of price stability. In addition, in terms of unemployment, the rest of society is not convinced and will not easily accept the attempt of the ECB to release itself from any responsibility for unemployment. However, t he delegation of the responsibility of unemployment to the governments of each member country creates a political problem. The purposes of SGP contain that member countries should avoid excessive debt and deficits and each member country should maintain fiscal stability. There are two important two Council Regulations in SGP (i.e. Regulations 1466/97 and 1467/97). These two regulations require member countries of the EU must comply with to help contribute to the overall climate of stability and financial prudence underpinning the success of the EMU. The Council Regulation 1466/97 set out the details of stability programs (i.e. submission and monitoring regulations) and convergence programs. The ultimate purpose of the multilateral surveillance by the Council is to prevent, at an early stage, the occurrence of excessive general government deficits and to promote the surveillance and coordination of economic policies. The purpose of regulation 1467/97 is to clarify the excessive deficit procedure to deter excessive government deficits (European Navigator 1997, 2). However, the SGP is not sustainable due to the lack of accountability of the EU commission. Hence, the national governments are bound to win when conflict arises. The problem will exist as long as national governments continue to possess the sovereignty over spending and taxation. Political integration De Grauwe (2006) acknowledged that the EMU is a remarkable accomplishment, but the absence of a political union is a major weakness in the Eurozone governance. Grauwes view is consistent with the findings of Nitsch on the political integration. He conclude that political integration is not rapidly followed by economic integration (Nitsch and Wolf 1). Grauwe point out in his article that national governments holding most economic policies decision creates asymmetric shocks. The asymmetric shocks truly affect the sustainability of the monetary union. For example, member countries of the Eurozone have different competitive positions due to the uncoordinated policies of each member country in relation to national wage. Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Spain were in constant financial and economic turmoil before the adoption of the euro. The turmoil situation disappeared due to the economic booming of the past years. These five countries have barely met the requirements of monetary and economic stability and are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the stability. For the past years, these countries are not only suffering from excessive deficits and debts, but also economic unbalances (i.e. excessive current account deficits). The current account positions are becoming worse due to, among other reasons, their extremely uncompetitive trade position. As a consequence, they are beginning to blame the euro. The problem that these countries are facing originates from the fact that monetary union amplifies fiscal imbalances. Opting for devaluation of a competitive currency is not an option and the only other alternative stems from forcing differentials of bond yield reduced. In 2005 there were almost no yield differentials between the German Bund and the yields of those countries with excessive current-account deficits. In 2009, however, yield spreads has increased government default risks measured by a sudden increase in the demand for credit default swaps. Hence, the current economic crisis has demonstrated that currency risk is replaced by default risk in a monetary union. There are two reasons for this situation: 1) the sovereign debt of each member country is issued under the control of each Ministry of Finance, 2) there is no European Ministry of Finance. The Germans has proposed the creation of a European Monetary Fund, the French league has proposed the creation of a European Debt Agency which required that the Lisbon Treaty were amended or that a new treaty were negotiated. Many people blamed this situation due to the lack of a common bond market which would help to put all members together. Some people reject the suggestion based on the fact that a common bond market would lower borrowing costs for weaker countries and increase costs for stronger countries such as Germany. In addition, the common bond market would obtain the budget rights from each governments which would not be able to make national budgets by themselves. Exit clause For years some countries have not respect or followed the requirements listed in the Maastricht Treaty and are now facing extremely difficult economic situations. It is obvious in the current crisis that there is no political homogeneity among member countries from a political point of view. As a result, each member country has implemented its own particular economic model and how to conduct its own economic model. In addition, Greece, Spain, and Portugal do not truly realise that their economic models are embedded in a globalised economy and these countries need to implement a set of painful structural reforms to keep them competitive. From the economic point of view, the countries in trouble have two major common reasons. The reasons are the lack of respect for the requirements and the lack of appropriate implementation of the structural reforms required under an economic recession. Currently there are debates on what should or should not be done with these countries. However, there are not room to manoeuvre this situation under the current legal framework. Expulsion of these countries from the Eurozone is not a good choice as it would definitely hurt the image of the EU and its member countries. Many scholars, economists propose that voluntary withdrawal from only the Eurozone while staying in the EU to would be the most beneficial option. The legal framework the Treaty of Lisbon, does not provide the necessary methods to deal with problems of withdrawal, expulsion from Eurozone nor any other similar problem that might arrive soon. First, the Treaty of Lisbon has the no-bailout clause to prevent a budgetary problem in one country spilling over the EU as a whole. The no-bailout clause prohibits member countries from rescuing other countries or from accepting the debts of other countries. However, the Article 122 of Lisbon Treaty states that any member country seriously threatened with severe difficulties caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences beyond its control can receive financial assistance from other members. The question is whether a member countrys current debt crisis could qualify as an exceptional occurrence and not a man-made issue. This clause was inserted to strengthen unity and commitment of Eurozone. But the reality is that some countries are possessing extremely high level debts and defici ts far exceeding the requirements. Therefore, there are not many methods for to assist these financial troubled countries under the current circumstances. The Articles 4(2), 118, and 123(4) explicitly indicates that the process for adoption of the Euro is irreversible. Participation of the EMU becomes a legal obligation due to the irrevocability of the agreement and the monetary union process. Thus, the exit option of leaving EMU while staying in the EU is impossible. The exit option is only allowed to exit the EU and EMU altogether. In addition, there is no clear mechanism by which members could expel a fellow country. The expulsion could only be possible if the treaty were amended and provided that all member countries respond favourably to this amendment. Conclusion The EU and the Eurozone are suffering not only a financial crisis, but also a totally lack of appropriate structural reforms. The proper functioning of the EMU depends on the compliance with requirement provided in monetary and fiscal policies. Some member countries need to adopt urgently a number of structural reforms to promote economic growth of its own country and to stable euro as part of the EMU. Most importantly, the EMU should take this crisis as an opportunity to create a restructuring mechanism to strengthen and reform the economic, political foundations of the euro project.

Functional areas of Cadburys and Sainsburys Marketing :: Marketing, Business, Customer Service

Functional areas of Cadburys and Sainsbury's Marketing Cadburys marketing is very important to them, for example; every now and then, they send a sales assistant round the stores to make sure that the store has a big clump of the world famous purple â€Å"home colours† so that the Cadburys chocolate is well sold. Cadburys have released 3 posters this summer on the new range of bars of dairy milk. In 2003 they have released 5 successful posters which raised their profit margin. Over the years the way Cadburys and advertise their products has seen many changes. They're very important to Cadburys because they affect the way you think about Cadbury and their products. Cadburys look at information that has already been collected and recorded. This is known as secondary data. Cadbury also have a big website pictured below in which people can be informed of the business. Sainsbury's Marketing includes their online shopping website above and posters around the shopping malls, Sainsbury's also have a television contract with Jamie Oliver with the slogan ‘Making life taste better’. Customer services Customer service is the part of Cadburys that tries to make sure customers are satisfied with the good or service they are buying. Without customers Cadburys couldn’t survive. Cadburys treat their customers is very important. Customer services can be: Pre-sales services – services for customers before customers have made a purchase; After sales Services – services which are available to customers after they have made a purchase. Staff working in customer services deal with matters such as making sure that products are delivered on time, providing help if the

The Leader-Follower Relationship :: leadership, motivation theories

Leadership is studied and analysed so that the effective practices can be taught and applied in today’s organizations. The concept of leadership has been expanded to discuss the follower’s role in the leader-follower relationship. While leading is often considered an active role, following can have a negative connotation, especially when seen as a passive, subordinate position. However, following can be a choice, and the difference between the leader and follower is the activities, rather than abilities (Wren, p.201). An organization possesses effective followers is just as important for success as having effective leaders. Hersey and Blanchard describe this relationship as dynamic and use Situational Leadership (R) as a model for the leader’s to improve the performance of their followers. Manz and Sims describe a historical view of leader types which has evolved to view the superleader as the most effective type for our current culture. The role of the superleader is to empower followers to become self-leaders themselves. The Situational Leadership model may contain the word â€Å"Leadership†, but it is mostly about effective management practices and does not address developing the role of the follower. There is a difference between managing and leading. In Managerial Roles, H. Mintzberg describes 10 roles, grouped under the categories of interpersonal, informational and decision roles, that a manager should posses. An effective leader should have those skills as well, in addition to having an overall vision, clearly communicating those goals and motivating their followers to work towards it (Wren, p.378). Leadership is also about directing change. Without change, leadership is only management of the status quo (MacNeil, Cavanagh, Silcox, p.6). There is nothing wrong with begin a successful manager, just as there is much value to be an effective follower. The role of the follower and subordinate is very different in terms of ability and choice. Subordinates are considered passive, lacking in initiative and responsibility. The image of sheep comes to mind, where as followers are more active, and engage in more critical thinking (Wren, p.195). Robert Kelley further describes the effective followers have good self-management skills, abilities and motivation, which are exactly the same qualities apparent in effective leaders. That relationship between leader and follower is defined by the role they play, since an effective follower has the skills to switch positions with the leader.

Macbeth Essay

The first recurrent image is the dark or darkness. Dark represents evil and hell. All of our fears rise in the dark. We can see that most of the mains scenes happen in a dark place or during the night. In fact, all the murders and treasons are done in darkness as if the dark could cover and hide the horrible deeds. For example, in act I scene V l. 53 to 56, Lady Macbeth says: â€Å"Come thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry, Hold! Hold! In this passage, Lady Macbeth is thinking about Duncan’s murder, and she wants to act in darkness so she will not see the murder. In that way darkness blinds out all of the terrible things that could be done. Then, the scene of Macbeth’s vision of the dagger happens in the complete darkness so the vision of his future murder comes to Macbeth only at night when no light can bring him back to goodness. Banquo’s murder also happens in the dark. Such evil deeds could only be done in the dark. Then during Lady Macbeth’s sleep walking, the only source of light comes from the candle that she keeps by her at night. In fact, Lady Macbeth is very afraid of darkness because it makes her remember of all the deeds that happened during the night. (Here, light has a positive reassuring role. ) In this scene, she reveals all the crimes that her husband committed with her support. In conclusion, darkness intensifies the horrible deeds and murders and brings a very fearful ambiance to the play. The second image is the one of the sleep that is kind of related to the one of the dark because dark and sleep comes together. Firstly, we can see that Duncan is killed during his sleep. This fact is even mentioned by Lady Macbeth in act II scene 2 l. 15 to 16: â€Å"Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done’t. † Then, in the same scene, Macbeth says l. 46 to 47: â€Å"Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep! † Ironically, he’s going to lose his sleep as well as Lady Macbeth who will become a sleep walker. Then, Lady Macbeth relates sleep with death, when she says in act II scene 2 l. 67 to 70: â€Å"The sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures: ‘tis the eye of childhood That fears a painted evil. † The second reference to sleep in relation to death is present in act II scene 3 l. 9 to 80: â€Å"Shake off this downy sleep, death’s counterfeilt, And look on death itself! † The third image that appears in the book is the image of the light. Light in opposite of the theme of darkness is representative of purity, God, goodness, heaven etc. Light is for Macbeth a disadvantage because all his actions consist on killing people, committing deeds and crimes and he doesn’t want any light to lighten his awful actions. For example, in act I, he says: â€Å"Stars, hide your fires; Let not loight see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it done, to see. Here, we understand that his desires are so terrible that he can’t even stand the thin light of the stars that shine on them; he doesn’t even want to look at them himself probably because he feels ashamed. We can also say that through his words, Macbeth constructs a bridge between light and morality. Within the whole drama, the sun seems to shine only twice. First, in the beautiful but ironical passage in which Duncan sees the swallows flirting around the castle of death (it’s Macbeth’s ca stle when he’s going to be murdered). The second time, when at the close of the army (who wants to take revenge) gathers to rid the earth of its shame. Therefore, the reader can conclude that Shakespeare portrays darkness to establish the evil parts of the play, we can say that he employs daylight to define victory or goodness (as it said before) in the play. The fourth and last theme is the animal. We found a lot of comparaison between the characters and the animals in this play, for example: â€Å"Raven himself is hoarse† said by Lady Macbeth in act I scene V. Raven represents death. Looks like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it. † Also said by Lady Macbeth in act I scene V. She says that his husband must look nice and calm on the outside but evil inside. â€Å"We have scorched the snake not killed it. † Said by Macbeth in act III scene II, this quote means that snake represents everything that prevents Macbeth from enjoying his kingship. â€Å"And Duncan’s horses, beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, contending ‘gainst obedience, as they would make war with mankind† said by Ross in act II scene IV. Here, Ross says that Duncan’s horses were acting strange. They broke out of their stalls and started to attack anyone who came in their way. Another image appear in act III scene IV, said by Macbeth : â€Å"Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear. † Here, Macbeth is describing how the ghost of Banquo is hauting him by coming closer to him like a bear. These imageries of animals which symbolizes the different character of the play, helps to make the play’s atmosphere from supernatural nature. Shakespeare uses animal imagery to characterize, to show emotions and also to foreshadow.

Education in the Twisted Military School

Not many of the boys who enter the Carolina Military Institute as freshmen leave the school as graduates. Set in South Carolina, this is a story seen through the eyes of Will McLean, a sensitive, yet rebellious young boy, who aspires to be an â€Å"institiute man†. He is an intelligent, honest, sarcastic and incredibly funny Irish, working class youth who doesn't hide from the truth or his fears. Secondary characters Dante Pignetti, Mark Santoro, and Tradd St. Croix, come into Will's life as he studies at the institute. Tradd is a fragile young man who chooses military training to please his father. He is sensitive, loyal, and caring. Pig and Mark are the â€Å"big men† of the group. Will considers them his protectors because of their size and sense of loyality. 0n the surface, the institute apppears to be just another military school engaged in training fine southern men to defend the country during the Vietnam War. But behind the clean walls of the school and the stern faces of the upperclassmen is a horrifying secret. The Lords Of Dicipline is a book about four young men, Will, Pig, Mark and Tradd, who are trying to recieve an education in this twisted military school. It's a school where â€Å"the system† rules instead of the teachers. The â€Å"system† is run by upperclassmen, obsessed with upholding the school's reputation for turning out the finest men the country has to offer to the war. Will watches as the boys in his class are dismantled and reassembled to become military men. He watches as boys are tortured because of their differences, as they are run out of the school, and even as they are driven to the threshold of sucide. The instutite seems to change everyone who remains there. It seems to harden them, to turn them into the very men they feared as freshmen. Will fears that he too will be corrupt by the brutality that surrounds him. When Will, Tradd, Pig, and Mark discover that there is a secret oragnization called â€Å"The Ten† that upholds and enforces â€Å"The system† Will becomes determined to expose them and bring to justice the students who were their victims. The Lords of Discipline is a wonderfully chilling and realistic book with believable characters and a great story line. It strtesses the fact that one way of thinking isn't always the right way and if you feel that something is wrong, you should stand up for what you believe in. I really liked this book and I reccomend it to everyone.

JAM session topics Essay

Audio-Video mixing is an important aspect of cinematography.Most videos such as movies and sitcoms have several segments devoid of any speech.Adding carefully chosen music to such segments conveys emotions such as joy,tension or melancholy. In a typically professional video production,skilled audio-mixing artists aesthetically add appropriate audio to the given video shot. This process is tedious, time-consuming and expensive. The PIVOT VECTOR SPACE APPROACH in audio mixing is a novel technique that automatically picks the best audio clip (from the available database) to mix with the given video shot.This technique uses a pivot vector space mixing framework to incorporate the artistic heuristics for mixing audio with video. This technique eliminates the need for professional audio mixing artists and hence it is not expensive.It also saves time and is very convenient. In today’s era, significant advances are happening constantly in the field of Information Technology. The development in the IT related fields such as multimedia is extremely vast. This is evident with the release of a variety of multimedia products such as mobile handsets, portable MP3 players, digital video camcorders, handicams etc. Hence, certain activities such as production of home videos is easy due to products such as handicams, digital video camcorders etc. Such a scenario was not there a decade ago ,since no such products were available in the market. As a result production of home videos is not possible since it was reserved completely for professional video artists. So in today’s world, a large  amount of home videos are being made and the number of amateur and home video enthusiasts is very large.A home video artist can never match the aesthetic capabilities of a professional audio mixing artist. However employing a professional mixing artist to develop home video is not feasible as it is expensive, tedious and time consuming. Introduction The PIVOT VECTOR SPACE APPROACH is a novel technique of audio-video mixing which automatically selects the best audio clip from the available database, to be mixed with the given video shot. Till the development of this technique, audio-video mixing is a process that could be done only by professional audio-mixing artists. However employing these artists is very expensive and is not feasible for home video mixing. Besides, the process is  time-consuming and tedious.In today’s era, significant advances are happening constantly in the field of Information Technology. The development in the IT related fields such as multimedia is extremely vast. This is evident with the release of a variety of multimedia products such as mobile handsets, portable MP3 players, digital video camcorders, handicams etc. Hence, certain activities such as production of home videos is easy due to products such as handicams, digital video camcorders etc. Such a scenario was not there a decade ago ,since no such products were available in the market. As a result production of home videos is not possible since it was reserved completely for professional video artists.So in today’s world, a large amount of home videos are being made and the number of amateur and home video enthusiasts is very large.A home video artist can never match the aesthetic capabilities of a professional audio mixing artist. However employing a professional mixing artist to develop home video is not feasible as it is expensive, tedious and time consuming. Fig(1) PivotVectorRepresentation AESTHETIC ASPECTS Movies comprise images (still or moving) ;graphic traces(texts and signs);recorded speech, music, and noises; and sound effects. The different roles of music in movies can be categorized into :– Setting the scene(create atmosphere of time and place) Adding emotional meaning , Serving as a background filler, Creating continuity across shots or scenes, and  Emphasizing climaxes(alert the viewer to climaxes and emotional points of scenes).  The links between music and moving images are extremely important, and the juxtaposition of such elements must be carried out according to some aesthetic rules. The scientist Zettl explicitly defined such rules in the form of a table, presenting the features of moving images that match the features of music. Zettl based these proposed mixing rules on the following aspects:– Tonal matching(related to the emotional meaning defined by  Copland) Structural matching(related to emotional meaning and emphasizing climaxes defined by Copland) Thematic matching(related to setting the scene as defined by Copland) Historical-geographical matching(related to setting the scene as defined by Copland) In the following TABLE ,we summarize the work of Zettl by presenting aesthetic features that correspond in video and music. The table also indicates extractable features because many video and audio features defined by Zettl are high level perceptual features and can’t be extracted by the state of the art in computational media aesthetics. VIDEO AESTHETIC FEATURES The table shows, from the cinematic point of view,a set of attributed features(such as color and motion) required to describe videos.The computations for extracting aesthetic attributed features from low-level video features occur at the video shot granularity. Because some attributed features are based on still images(such as high light falloff),we compute them on the key frame of a video shot. We try to optimize the trade-off in accuracy and computational efficiency among the competing extraction methods. Also, even though we assume that the videos considered come in the MPEG format(widely used by several home video camcorders),the features exist independently of a particular representation format. The important video aesthetic features are as follows:– LIGHT FALLOFF : Light falloff refers to the brightness contrast between the light and shadow sides of an object and the rate of change from light to shadow. If the brightness contrast between the lighted side of an object and the attached shadow is high, the frame has fast falloff. This means the illuminated side  is relatively bright and the attached shadow is quite dense and dark. If the contrast is low, the resulting falloff is considered slow. No falloff(or extremely low falloff) means that the object is lighted equally on all sides. COLOR FEATURES The color features extracted from a video shot consists of four features:- Saturation Hue Brightness Energy MOTION VECTORS To measure the video segment’s motion intensity, we use descriptors. They describe a set of automatically extractable descriptors of motion activities, which are computed from the MPEG motion vectors and can capture the intensity of a video shot’s motion activity. Here we use the max2 descriptor, which discards 10 percent of the motion vectors to filter out spurious vectors or very small objects AUDIO AESTHETIC FEATURES Music perception is an extremely complex psycho-acoustical phenomenon that is not well understood. So instead of directly extracting the music’s perceptual features, we can use the low-level signal features of audio clips, which can provide clues on how to estimate the numerous perceptual features. LOW-LEVEL FEATURES We described here the required basic features that are extracted from an audio excerpt. Spectral centroid The spectral centroid is commonly associated with the measure of a sound’s brightness.We obtain this measure by evaluating the center of gravity using the frequency and magnitude information of Fourier transforms.The individual centroid C(n) of a spectral frame is the average frequency weighted by the  amplitude ,divided by the sum of the amplitude. Zerocrossing In the context of discrete-time signals, a zero crossing is said to occur if two successive samples have opposite signs. The rate at which Zero crossings occur is a simple measure of the frequency content of the signal.This is particularly true of the narrowband signals. Because audio signals might include both narrowband and broadband signals, the interpretation of the average zero-crossing rate is less precise. However, we can still obtain rough estimates of the spectral properties using a representation on the short-time average zero-crossing rate. Volume The volume distribution of audio clips reveals the signal magnitude’s temporal variation. It represents the subjective measure, which depends on the human listener’s frequency response. Normally volume is approximated by the root mean square value of the signal magnitude within each frame. VDR(v)=[max(V)-min(v)]/max(V) PERCEPTUAL FEATURES EXTRACTION Dynamics Dynamics refers to the volume of musical sound related to the music’s loudness or softness, which is always a relative indication, dependent on the context. Tempo features One of the most important features that makes the music flow unique and differentiates it from other types of audio signal is temporal organization(beat rate) Perceptual pitch feature Pitch perception plays an important role in human hearing, and the auditory system apparently assigns a pitch to anything that comes to its attention. ADVANTAGES Before the development of the PIVOT VECTOR SPACE APPROACH IN AUDIO-VIDEO MIXING process can be carried out only by professional mixing artists. In today’s era the development in the field of MULTIMEDIA technology is so vast as this can be seen with the releases of a number of multimedia products in the market. Products such as Digital video camcorders, Handicams greatly helped even normal home users to produce their own video. However, employing professional audio-mixing artists is not feasible since it is expensive, time-consuming and tedious. The Pivot vector space approach enables all the home video users and amateur video enthusiasts to give a professional look and feel to their videos. This technique also eliminates the need for professional mixing artists and hence saves cost. Besides, it is not time-consuming. Since this approach is fully automatic as it automatically selects the best audio clip (available from the given database) to be mixed with the given video shot ,the user need not worry about his aesthetic capabilities in selecting the audio clip. The Pivot vector space approach enables all the home video users and amateur video enthusiasts to give a professional look and feel to their videos. This technique also eliminates the need for professional mixing artists and hence saves cost. Besides, it is not time-consuming. Since this approach is fully automatic as it automatically selects the best audio clip (available from the given database) to be mixed with the given video shot ,the user need not worry about his aesthetic capabilities in selecting the audio clip. Fig(4): Application of Audio Video Mixing. APPLICATIONS In today’s INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY era ,the advances in the various IT fields such as MULTIMEDIA,NETWORKING etc is very fast.Newer and better technologies arise as each day passes. This is evident with the release of a number of Technology packed products such as portable MP3 players,digital cameras,digital video camcorders,Handicams,Mobile handsets etc. Before the advent of such technologies, activities such as Production of videos etc could be done only by professional video artists. However in today’s era,with the releases of products such as Handicams,Digital video camcorders;production of videos is easy for all the home video users and amateur video enthusiasts.As a result, a large amount of home video footage is being produced now. The PIVOT VECTOR SPACE APPROACH is a novel technique for these users since it is able to provide a professional look and feel to these videos.It eliminates the need for professional mixing artists and hence cuts down the cost ,time and labour involved.Hence,the demand for such a technique will be only increasing in the coming years .This technique will definitely have a great impact on the IT market today. CONCLUSION The PIVOT VECTOR SPACE APPROACH is a new dimension in the field of AUDIO-VIDEO mixing. Before the advent of this technology, audio-video mixing was a process carried out only by professional mixing artists. However, this process is expensive, tedious and time-consuming. This entire scenario changed with the emergence of the PIVOT VECTOR SPACE approach. Since this technique is fully Automatic, it enabled a home video user to provide a professional look and feel to his video. This technique also eliminates the need for professional mixing artists, thereby significantly reducing the cost, time and labour involved. In today’s era,a large amount of home video footage is being produced due to products such as Digital video camcorders, Handicams etc.Hence,this technique will be of great use to all the amateur video enthusiasts and home video users. REFERENCES IEEE Multimedia journal (Computational Media Aesthetics) CHIP magazine DIGIT magazine http://computer.org/multimedia/mu2003/u2toc.htm http://www.pcmag.com