Cash Pooling

Name: Dina Mohanna Rbea’an Subject: Cash Pooling Supervisor: Dr. Nasser Abu Mustafa University: NYIT? Cash Management: Cash pooling Abstract The role of the corporate cash manager has been continuously revised over the past few years, as a result of the demand for more effective and efficient ways to support the core needs of the organization. This has resulted in new responsibilities for the corporate treasurer and cash manager. The cash management function is demanding more accurate and continuous information on its cash position to provide responsive forecasting data and handling, so that availability of liquidity at the right time and price can be ensured. So this paper studies the Cash Management concept and focus on the cash pooling and whether it’s applied in the Middle East. Introduction The objectives of cash management are straightforward – maximise liquidity and control cash flows and maximise the value of funds while minimising the cost of funds. The strategies for meeting such objectives include varying degrees of long-term planning requirements. Also, like everywhere in the world, much treasury activity in the organizations is concentrated on cash management. This includes financing the corporation, administration of debts (loans, bonds, commercial papers, etc. ), good relationships with the banks, payments to suppliers and collections from customers, control of foreign currency and interest positions according to the company’s needs for finance, and finally the reporting and technical support of all these functions. The use of cash pooling as a global standard for concentrating cash into the main bank account of the firm has very quickly found favour in corporations. Cash pooling enables corporate groups to minimize expenditure incurred in connection with banking facilities through economies of scale. Under a cash pooling arrangement, entities within a corporate group regularly transfer their surplus cash to a single bank account (the â€Å"master accountâ€Å") and, in return, may draw on the funds in that account to satisfy their own cash flow requirements from time to time. The master account is usually held by the parent company or by a â€Å"Treasury Company â€Å"established specifically for this purpose. Depending on the type of cash pooling arrangement, the participating entities may transfer either their entire cash surplus (â€Å"zero balancingâ€Å"), or cash exceeding a certain surplus level (â€Å"target balancingâ€Å"). In general, all entities participating in the cash pooling arrangement will be liable for any negative balance on the master account, irrespective of the amount they have contributed. Transfers and draw-downs of funds to and from the master account by the participating companies have the nature of the grant and repayment of intra-group loans. In addition to physical cash pooling there is also â€Å"notionalâ€Å"(also known as â€Å"virtualâ€Å") cash pooling. This does not involve the physical transfer of funds, but rather the set-off of balances of different companies within the group, so that the bank charges interest on the group‘s net cash balance. This optimizes the position of the group as regards interest payments, but does not achieve optimal allocation of liquid funds as between the group members. Notional cash pooling will not result in the creation of intra-group loans, since funds are not physically transferred. As such, many of the risks outlined in this brochure do not apply to a purely notional cash pooling arrangement. In practice however, a notional cash pooling arrangement will frequently involve the grant of cross-guarantees and security by the participants to the bank, in order to maximize the available overdraft facility. To this extent, many of the risks outlined in this article could be relevant, even if the cash pooling arrangement is predominantly notional in nature. The specific structure of individual cash pooling arrangements can vary. For example, transfers to the master account may be undertaken by each participating group member individually or may instead be undertaken automatically by the bank on the basis of a power of attorney given by the relevant group company. In addition to the facility agreement with the respective bank, each participating group company will usually enter into â€Å"cash pooling agreementâ€Å". These agreements must be carefully structured in order to minimize the risks of civil or criminal liability of the participating group companies and their officers. Tax issues must also be carefully considered when structuring cash pooling agreements. Types of cash pooling Banks generally offer the following types of cash pooling: ?zero-balancing cash pooling, ?notional cash pooling, ?multicurrency cash pooling, ?Cross-border cash pooling. ?Zero -balancing cash pooling : Real cash pooling is based on a transfer from bank accounts to a master account, with balances on all bank accounts except the master account being zero at the end of the working day. It means this money physically ‘moves’ from the junior accounts to the master account. Real cash pooling requires companies to keep careful records of cash transfers, interest received and paid, and records of investments. Structure of a â€Å"Zero-Balancing-Pool† ?National pooling: Requires a company’s subsidiaries to use branches of the same bank, usually in the same country; although with the adoption of the euro, single-currency cross-border pooling has become rather common in Europe. All the excess and deficit balances in the company’s subsidiary accounts are summed each day to calculate the net interest earned or due. Funds are not actually transferred; rather, they are simply totalled for the purpose of calculating interest. Banks usually require credit facilities to support any deficit balances in the pool. National pooling generally requires extensive cross-guarantees among subsidiaries which many companies find very difficult to implement. Some countries disallow national pooling . among them are the United States, Germany, Mexico, Japan and Brazil. In countries where national pooling is not allowed, the zero balance pooling method must be used. Structure of â€Å" National pooling† ?Multicurrency cash pooling: Bank account balances in different foreign currencies are swapped to one agreed currency, which is the base for the interest rate calculations. ?Cross-border cash pooling Cross-border cash pooling helps corporations avoid the bureaucracy intrinsic to transferring cash across countries and different clearing systems, as well as different legal entities and the headache associated with the additional inter-company loan administration. While there is a selection of solutions in the marketplace, most of these operate on an interest enhancement basis where corporations are rewarded for servicing their liquidity through their chosen bank, but the bank is unable to achieve a balance sheet offset due to the complexity of multiple jurisdictional and regulatory barriers. Czech banks now offer cross-border pooling, both notional and real, for accounts in the domestic Czech koruna, euro, US dollar, Central European currencies (such as in the Slovak koruna, Hungarian forint and Polish zloty) and pound. These principles are used both in the Czech Republic and in the rest of Europe, and are therefore similar; any differences are the result of the legal requirements of each country. As mentioned above, the Czech Commercial Code does not recognise anything like ‘concern’ or a product like cash pooling. It is necessary to fulfil several conditions to prevent problems concerning taxation and reporting to minority shareholders. It is practically impossible to implement a cash pooling agreement between companies without a majority share. It is normal practice that a cash pooling system has to be agreed by a general meeting of the company and there is a strict requirement for signed control agreements. Sometimes, it is necessary to change the company articles of incorporation. †¢Reasons of Cash pooling : Reduction of financing costs on group level, -Improvement of investment-deposits by using economies of scale, -Simplification of liquidity-management on domestic level, -Reduction of expenses for financial intermediaries through centralization, -Improvement of planning cash flows through coordination of financial cycles, -Optimization of your financial image by decreasing external financing and better use of internal financial potentials, -Break-Even at about EUR 200'000 permanent liabilities on the accounts. Cash management in the Middle East: As in the rest of the world, cash management in the Middle East is benefiting from automation. How is this affecting different sizes of corporate, and what does the future hold in this area? The Middle East region, which includes countries like UAE, Oman and Qatar, has kept pace with the growth in such business ambitions and cash management is also not to be left out of this race to riches, as businesses continually explore opportunities to make more money, more profits and reduce costs. The excellent growth climate in countries like UAE, fuelled by ambitions and visions of the rulers and the business community, has resulted in opportunities, growth of infrastructure, access to international and other funds through opening up and freehold real estates, trading environments, the presence of more ‘free zones', creating a healthy and open competition for the survival and growth of the fittest, etc Multi-national corporate Middle East, especially the UAE, has recently seen an influx of many multi-national companies (MNCs) setting up their regional offices, treasury offices, marketing offices, etc. n UAE and managing the global operations. To attract such MNCs into the region, financial and general free zones plus offshore financial centers have sprung up everywhere with the intentions of inviting the best of MNCs to come and have their shops opened in these countries. The absence of tax regimes has added to the attraction in these markets. These companies typically need 24 hour Internet access, sweeping and pooling of funds and balances across banks and branches, competitive FX and deposit rates, competitive temporary overnight overdraft interest rates and credit interest on overnight floats. The ideal location of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the global map, the growth of communication, infrastructure, Internet, etc. have led to the explosive growth of such companies in the region Local corporate GCC is predominantly dominated by a number of local corporate or companies or family owned businesses, which are typically owned by large local/national families of businessmen. Most of these families have very successful and historic track records and have been associates/local representatives/agents for most of multinational brands from all over the world. The local regulations for a sponsor from a national has been a great aid in ensuring that the multinationals tie up with these local corporate for mutual success of business lines. While the MNC does the production, transport, marketing support, service association, etc. , the Local Corporate typically takes the local marketing and sales realization risk, like any MNC agency. This combination of MNCs and local corporate has worked very well historically in the GCC with the result that there is a successful association of MNC brands and families in the GCC. In many of these countries, the lack of restrictions such as taxes, financial regulations to publish books of accounts and audit, etc. have made the operations of such corporate mostly family driven. Recently, and especially in the last four to five years, GCC business families have started expanding into other countries in the region and also into countries in East and North Africa and other parts of the world, where investments in assets and business yields good and long-term returns for the business houses. In other words, the local corporate have been the opposite of the MNCs coming and operating into the GCC, and typically such local corporate are slowly growing and reaching the sizes of MNCs, albeit the growth into other competitive countries like Singapore, UK, other parts of Europe and the US have been very limited or generally non-existent. Mid-sized trading companies GCC has been historically characterized by a host of mid-sized trading companies, thanks to the general economic growth, healthy competition, absence of taxes and rules regime and a general absence of governmental red tape. Today, people of most GCC nationalities could come and start a business in any of the Free Zones in their own name, or if they choose to partner a national, they can start the business anywhere in these countries, with very limited capital and resources. The laws and business conditions have been very conducive for the mushrooming growth of such mid-sized companies, which have thrived, in the general economic upswing in the Middle East. While it is extremely difficult to list out the number of these companies, it is generally felt among banking community that the number of mid-sized corporate or companies (along with the small and medium enterprises (SMEs)) might currently be in the region of 15,000 numbers in UAE alone. This brings an exciting opportunity for smart entrepreneurs who thrive on such opportunities as also for smart bankers who have built a portfolio of such assets and relationships. On the cash management front, such small companies do not have many demands except that they require immediate and urgent funds clearance, remittances for payments, overnight float interest, good interest rates for deposits, etc. Many of them are also computer or Internet savvy and would be happy to use such online services to transact with their banks. Small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs have been the sleeping giants in the GCC business world, but they have now woken up to be a mid-sized monster. While banks are repeatedly facing the ever-decreasing margins (be it in interest rates, commissions, charges or any form of income to the bank) in the MNC and large corporate segments, it is the SME that has come as the boon for the dwindling revenues of banks. SMEs have been the ideal examples for the usual risk philosophy of ‘higher the risk, higher the return'. SME segment today offers the highest interest rates and margins in terms of lending – sometimes as high as 600 to 800 basis points over LIBOR/DIBOR, not to mention the amount of charges and commission. The risks of such SMEs have been mastered by many banks to offer an excellent basket of spread-out lending while keeping an eye on high margins. These SMEs will be the lifeline of banks in the next six to 10 years, and I personally believe that among the corporate income of banks, SMEs will represent the largest amount of this income. They could represent 70-80% in four to five years from now. This is an educated guess on what may happen, based on what is happening today. †¢Economic overview: There has always been a strong correlation between crude oil prices and the state of the Middle Eastern economies. With oil receipts accounting for 90% of government revenues in several Gulf countries and public projects dominating the markets, economic growth is largely dependent on the local government's expansionary policies. In view of the oil industry's cyclical nature, governments have become cautious in planning their annual budgets. An IMF study revealed that the Middle East countries, which were the beneficiaries of windfall oil export revenues in 2000-01, are using these gains prudently so as to be well equipped to deal with any sudden fall in oil prices over next few years. In addition, the governments have recognised the importance of economic diversification, and are now encouraging economic activity in sectors other than oil. Much of this effort has gone into developing manufacturing, trading, and tourism. Figure 1: Regional Macroeconomic Data and Forecasts †¢Financial Environment: The Gulf countries offer some of the most liberal financial environments, with fully convertible currencies, stable exchange rates, minimal exchange controls, and nil-to-low tax regimes. The relative political stability and increased economic cooperation between regional countries are some of the positive developments that attract big players to look at the Middle East as a viable investment alternative. Many of the Middle East countries that carefully protected themselves against the threat of foreign investors for so long are now inviting foreign capital to diversify their economies. Even the highly conservative states, such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, are gradually extending investment and ownership rights to foreign nationals. Free-trade zones, which were pioneered by the UAE and are now a common feature of all Gulf countries, have been instrumental in providing sole ownership and control to foreign investors. Apart from simplified registration and licensing procedures, free-trade zones offer tax holidays and world-class infrastructure facilities; thus, they are attracting new investors. †¢Banking System: The banking activities in the Middle East are largely domestic. The financial sector is engaged in a whole range of activities, from traditional public sector-dominated banking to state-of-the-art project finance and investment banking. Some banks are starting to obtain ratings from international agencies to pave the way for a more regional role. The governments have also been attempting to strengthen the banking sector by recapitalizing the domestic banks and ensuring that international capital requirements are met. There is a move towards encouraging smaller banks to merge and to develop domestic capital markets. Overall, there are many ongoing reforms designed to develop a sound banking system. The banking system in the Middle East is relatively flexible, and allows the opening and operation of a wide variety of accounts. However, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia do place some restrictions. Details of possible account structures are given in Figure 2 below. †¢Clearing System: All the countries in the Middle East, except for Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have a manual clearing system. Saudi Arabia has a real-time settlement system called the Saudi Riyal Interbank Express (SARIE). The SARIE is capable of interfacing with the electronic banking platforms of clearing participants for the online settlement of transactions. In the UAE, the Central Bank has recently introduced a real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system to facilitate interbank payments. Some other regional countries are also considering introducing such systems. The settlement days for manual clearing depend on the local practices and the level of sophistication in each country. The average time to clear a local currency cheque ranges from one to three working days in major cities. Outstation cheques take anywhere from between five and 10 working days for realization. Foreign currency cheques take between five and 15 working days to clear. The lack of automated clearing and settlement systems has hampered the automation of payment services, such as high-volume and low-value payments. Banks have worked around this by accepting payment instructions electronically, and then effecting payment through cheque printing or bank-to-bank transfers. †¢Liquidity Management Products: The availability of several account types is further augmented by a liberal regulatory framework that supports the setting up of domestic and cross-border concentration and pooling structures. In Saudi Arabia, there are no explicit laws on various aspects of liquidity management set-ups. Egypt allows pooling and cash concentration between resident and non-resident accounts, and also between two different legal entities. Bahrain and the UAE also permit pooling and cash concentration among different legal entities. However, it is advisable to seek legal opinion before establishing a liquidity management structure. †¢Cash Management Overview: As the regional markets grow in sophistication, there is a corresponding need for corporate to improve their operational efficiency and cost competitiveness. Over the last year, several banks have introduced electronic banking services – both Internet and non-Internet based – to provide services ranging from simple account information to transaction automation. Despite the presence of the underlying framework, locally owned corporate have been slow to subscribe to electronic banking mainly due to fears of loss of control. Even multinational corporations (MNCs) have been unable to implement an efficient and integrated cash management system due to low volumes and a lack a full array of cash management products and services with the banks. Figure 2: Cash Management for the Middle Eas †¢Current Practice by Corporate, and Trends in Cash Management: The concept of cash management is fast catching on in the region. With an increasing number of companies looking beyond their domestic frontiers to sustain growth, there is a need to optimize costs and manage risk. While MNCs have the concept filtered down from their group offices, large professionally-managed domestic companies with a well-diversified portfolio are increasingly looking at cash management as an important risk management tool. In the Middle East, companies are looking at online banking information and the automation of transaction processing by the use of an integrated banking platform, preferably interfaced with their back office system. This trend is growing as companies adopt enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Cash management requirements among corporate vary depending on the size and nature of operations. MNCs and large corporate look for more comprehensive cash management tools involving non-resident accounts, interest-bearing deposit accounts, cross-border cash concentration, and notional pooling. Also, those corporate with clearly defined collection and payment processes perceive accounts payable as a non-core business activity and look to outsource these services to banks. Meanwhile, the huge middle-market corporate, which are not really geared towards full automation, are limited to piecemeal use of electronic banking services. Banks offer varied cash management services and product ranges. In general, the international banks, which have a better regional network and offer more sophisticated electronic banking platforms and domestic and cross-border liquidity mechanisms compared to domestic banks, are clearly the leaders in cash management business. Domestic banks score better on in-country branch networks †¢What Does the Future Hold For Cash Management in the Middle East? Direct debits: Wherein based on a standing debit authority, utility and other bills will be directly raised by utility companies to banks who will debit the customer account and pay. †¢Bulk upload of salaries to debit cards and withdrawals through ATMs specially located in customer premises. †¢Complete debtor/invoice payments follow up on behalf of customers to ensure that invoices are collected in time. †¢Complete and automatic link up of all payments for purchases/supplies, wherein banks will automatically pay for the purchases made by customers, based on invoice details uploaded automatically. Secured payment gateways between the top 100 to 200 companies in the world, wherein a global clearing player (could be a top class global bank) will act as a central clearing bank for such companies and any funds or payments for them will be routed through the clearing bank globally. †¢Conclusion: The economic stability and the world class infrastructure offered by the Middle East makes it an attractive destination for setting up of shared service centers (SSCs). Locations such as Bahrain and Dubai have already emerged as preferred centers for setting up of regional hubs covering the Middle East and some African countries. Banks in the region are waking up to the tremendous potential of e-banking, and are investing heavily in technology. The next few years present exciting times for the business and service providers, as the new and existing players gear up to meet the challenges being offered by the New Economy On corporate cash management in the GCC, V. P. Nagarajan, executive director at Emirates Trading Agency – Ascon Group says: â€Å"Corporate cash management is an important tool of corporate finance today and, as days pass by, cash management will be the centre point around which the functions of finance will revolve. If we have a financial crystal ball and look into the future, we can visualize a corporate cash manager juggling his financial resources across the world in a computer the size of his palm. At the press of a button, he will be traveling over the notional financial super highway (which should take about a few seconds to reach the other parts of the globe and the universe) for a virtual reality decision across. Some of the easier decisions in those days will be there will no physical currencies (saves a lot of printing and paper expenses), no multiple branches of banks (all of them will be operating from internet or computer driven global centers), and still there will be the cash management sales bankers who will come and try to sell what they do not have. † Hopefully corporate cash management will see a world of change as we move forward. †¢References: 1-http://www. gtnews. com/article/6920. fm Cash Management in the Middle East Rajeev Babel, HSBC Global Payments and Cash Management 2-http://www. gtnews. com/article/4172. cfmCash Management – The Middle East PerspectiveVenkatesan Thiagarajan, Barclays 3- Essentials of treasury management second edition (association for financial professional) . 4- De Gidlow, R. , Donovan, S. (2005), Cash Management Techniques. In: The Treasurer’s Handbook 2005, Act, London 5- Heezius, D. , Polak, P. (2006), Country Guide: The Czec h Republic. In: The Treasurer’s Handbook 2006, Act, London.

Biopsychosocial Paper Essay

Family Composition Steven currently lives with foster parents. There is another teen age male in the home. According Steven’s file prior to this placement he lived with his biological father, and prior to residing with his biological father Steven was placed in group homes and foster placements, having been previously been removed by CPS from his parent’s care due to substance abuse issues. Steven receives a weekly a weekly 2-hour visit with his biological mother that is supervised by an agency monitor. According to social worker’s case notes these visit take place at a local dinner. Steven is also eligible for weekly observed 1-hour visits with his biological father. However, social worker has written in his case notes that father can no longer make the visits with biological mother due to the fact that he now works graveyard shifts. Social worker’s quarterly report states that â€Å"the mother has had difficulty refraining from discussing inappropriate topics involving her family court case and related topics with Steven during visits. † Also, the mother would some times get defensive when redirected away from discussing these topics. The social worker also wrote in the Quarterly Report that Steven appeared to enjoy visiting with his mother, and would often ask her for things that his foster parents have already said he could not have until he earned it. But the biological mother has been supporting the foster parent’s by not giving into Steven’s begging. According to the Quarterly Report Steven’s foster parents have noticed that his behavioral difficulties at home appear to coincide with his supervised visits with his biological mother. Household Composition According to Steven’s file he has lived in his current placement since March 2, 2007. This home consists of the foster parents, and another teenager placed through the agency mental health program. Quarterly Report states that Steven’s foster father is the primary caregiver. Foster father has told social worker that Steven lies and manipulates the truth and then gets in trouble for this. Social worker states in his case notes that Steven does not appear to think that he is doing anything wrong. Overall, the social worker feels that Steven is comfortable in this home. According to the Quarterly report Steven’s foster father mainly works with him on talking care of his hygiene consistently. As part of an agreement to earn extra cash, Steven is expected to bathe, brush his teeth, apply deodorant, and comb his hair daily. Developmental/Current Health There is no information about Steven’s birth or early development. According to file Steven had a physical examination on April 27, 2007 and was â€Å"diagnosed as a well adolescent†. The doctor commented that he has a history of ADHD and Depression. Steven received new glasses in May 2007. Steven also had a dentist appointment on April 26, 2007 during which he had two cavities filled. Also according to Steven’s file, he has been prescribed psychotropic medications. These include Abilify and Ritalin. Mental Health According to file, Steven has been diagnosed with ADHD, Cognitive Disorder NOS, and Anxiety Disorder NOS. He is currently taking medications for these disorders. He presents with some of the classic ADHD symptoms such as inattention, restlessness, and impulsivity even when he is on his medication. The social worker stated that he is a â€Å"strange kid† and that he can’t or won’t look you in the eyes. He appears to lack self-esteem and self confidence. According to quarterly report, Stevens though process is scattered, and he is mentally and emotionally younger than his chronic logical age of fourteen. Social worker writes that is Steven does not get his way, he shows frustration by pouting, excessive questioning asking why he can’t get his way, and slamming doors. According to case notes, Steven has broken his glasses, a laundry basket, a DVD player, a PlayStation, and has punched a hole in the wall. Steven seems to lack social skills. Intake notes state that he has had a history of physical aggression towards peers at school, and that he is impulsive. Steven’s file indicated that he has been involved in a group through his WRAP services provider to help him with socialization skills, and he attends these meeting on a weekly basis. Steven also receives EMQ Wraparound services for his mental health needs. Quarterly Report states that Steven has an EMQ facilitator that coordinated these services. He receives therapy services once a week contracted through EMQ Family Services. In addition, he has two behaviorists who visit him once a week to work on behavior contracts. Steven is prescribed psychotropic medication. His psychiatrist also works for EMQ. Because these service providers are part of EMQ Wraparound program, Steven is supported with a whole network of specialists who cater to his specific mental health needs. Sexual History According to Steven’s social worker, he is starting to become interested in girls, and likes talking to them and getting their attention. Alcohol and Substance Use History Steven has no alcohol or substance abuse history, but his father has had problems with alcohol. This is why Steven was placed in protective custody. Educational History Steven is currently in the ninth grade at a local public high school. According to his file he has an active IEP that places him in a special day class for the emotionally disturbed (SDC/ED) children. Social worker writes that Steven can handle the class work and homework, but struggles emotionally and behaviorally during class. According to the social workers report, Steven’s last teacher noted that he has difficulty staying in his seat as well as disturbing the students in the class with his talking. According to Stevens IEP he falls within average range in reading, math, written language and oral expression. However, he has difficulty with listening comprehension, handwriting size and spacing, organizing, maintaining focus, and handling frustration. Prevocation skills listed as areas of concern on Steven’s IEP were task completion, social skills and follows directions. Also on the IEP as area’s of need include written language. According to Steven’s IEP, he is able to write multiple paragraphs, but lacks proper writing conventions. The IEP also shows that Steven is passing all his classes with a GPA above a 3. 0. Social worker states that Steven does not want to be in special education classes because it is â€Å"not cool†.

Plastic – Boon or Bane

Did you know the very first plastics were produced by German chemists in the 19th century via a fermentation processes. Plastics are everywhere! Plastics are â€Å"one of the greatest innovations of the millennium. The fact that plastic is lightweight, does not rust or rot, helps lower transportation costs and conserves natural resources is the reason for which plastic has gained this much popularity. Plastics are everywhere and have innumerable uses! Plastics are durable, lightweight, and reusable. Also, the are used in packaging many goods. Did you know that if the Titanic was made of plastic, it might still be cruising around the world? Below, I will discuss some of the countless number of ways that plastics change your life:Plastic has replaced metals and glass as the primary material used.Used in pillows and mattresses (cellular polyurethane or polyester)Used in cars and hi-tech computersThey provide good insulation for the wiring and are durable in extreme weather conditions.They provide as a good non-reactive medium as water pipes.They are light weight and colourful.Safe for children when they are food grade plastics.Ordinary plastics cause health hazards to humans when eaten in them. Handy as disposable bags, carry bags, wrapping paper, etc. â€Å"Plastic has benefited our society in a number of ways. In fact, plastic has helped in advancements in satellites, shuttles, aircraft, and missiles. As a result, civilian air travel has improved, as well as military air power and space exploration. In addition, the building and construction, electronics, packaging, and transportation industries have all benefited grea tly from plastic. † Did you know that researches are trying to make a television (made of plastic) that will roll up in your living room? Plastic – Health and Environmental Hazards Although plastic has many positive influences in everyday lives, there have been instances when plastics have posed some health and environmental hazards. Most plastics do not pose any health or environmental hazards, but some monomers that are used in manufacturing plastics, have been proved to cause cancer. Even though recycling continues to reuse plastics, most plastics do not rot and cannot be reused. Unfortunately, this has become an environmental problem: Where will the plastic be disposed? But, many researchers hope to find a solution to this dilemma in the future. When every plastic can be broken down, plastic will truly become the most useful product! Plastic – BaneNon biodegradable.Obstruct underground water percolation.Microbes cannot destroy them.Produce harmful gases when burnt.Plastic bags thrown into the open drains and sewers clog them and cause stagnation of water, which in turn poses health hazardsDisposable syringes, drip bottles, blood and urine bags and other medical accessories when disposed off in an irresponsible manner, cause a lot of serious health problems.Animals sometimes feed on plastics and die painfully as plastic chokes their digestive and respiratory tracts. What we can do: Avoid using plastic bags for shopping. Avoid disposing plastic bags with organic wastes. Avoid using plastic chairs and tables. Plastic is made of crude oil. So lesser usage of plastic saves the crude oil. Plastic from Plants: Is It an Environmental Boon or Bane? Plant-based plastics are beginning to replace petroleum. But as the price drops and usage rises, will the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Facts:-More than 2. billion plastic bottles partially made from plants * PlantBottle from the Coca-Cola Co. is made by converting sugars from sugarcane farmed in Brazil into the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) * Most importantly from Coke's point of view, none of the six other major varieties of plant-based plastic can keep the carbonation from leaking out.PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA Plastic waste is recycled in India in an â€Å"unorganized† way. 60% of the plastic-waste collected and segregated gets recycled back into materials for further processing into consumer products, while the balance is left unutilized. Regulations and legislations are being enforced in two States of India viz. Haryana and Himachal pradesh, while a National Plastic Waste Management Council Task Force has been set up by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment of Forests, with the association of Department of Petroleum and Chemicals, Ministry of Urban Affairs, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and various groups/associations of plastic manufacturers. Scope is there for the recycling/management of plastic waste, as an `organised activity’ in India Municipal solid waste in India contain 1-4 per cent by weight of plastic waste. India’s rate of recycling of plastic waste is the highest (60%) in the world as compared to other countries (China 10%, Europe 7%, Japan 12%, South Africa 16%, USA 10%). As a source of hazard to environment, plastic account for 16% of chlorine in the environment and have 54 carcinogens, polythene bags for disposal if burnt irresponsibly releases highly toxic gases like phosgene, carbon monoxide, chlorine, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, besides deadly dioxin. Polymers are gradually replacing natural materials like metal, timber and fibres and thereby conserving the natural environment. Polymers are now finding diversified uses through blends and alloys and giving higher standards of performance and life cycles to various products. Plastics waste forms a wide range. Predominantly it is film packaging and polythene carry bags, followed by blow moulded containers, and broken and discarded moulded items. POLICY MEASURES IN INDIA Various policy measures are being taken to check the nuisance caused by plastic waste in India, through there is no definite policy and legislation ramed in respect of mitigating the plastic waste in the country. These are – Regulations and legislation: (a) Until recently there has been no definite environmental policy and legislation framed in respect of plastic waste in India. The plastics waste gets generated, collected, traded, and reprocessed by known methods into useful products, thereby supplementing supply3 of raw materials, and at economic price. However, a HP Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 1995, has been introduced by the Government of Himachal Pradesh. The Act appropriately envisages prohibition of throwing or depositing plastic articles in public places and to facilitate the collection through garbage in identifiable and marked garbage receptacles for non-biodegradables, placed at convenient places. Haryana State has announced a Bill (1997) on Non-biodegradable Garbage on similar lines as that of Himachal Pradesh. The National Plastics Waste Management Task Force of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, has recommended a strategy and action programme of Plastics Waste Management in India. b) Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India have issued criteria for labeling `plastic products’ as `Environmental Friendly’ under its `Ecomark’ Scheme, in association with the Bureau of Indian Standards. One of the requirements for plastic products, is that the material used for packaging shall be recyclable or biodegradable. (c) The Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi (BIS) has issued guidelines on recycling of plastics waste including code of practices for collection, sorting through conventional practices continue to be adopted and accepted, need has been voiced to upgrade these, both by the authorities and NGOs. However, while formulating Indian standard specifications for various plastic products, used for critical applications like plastic piping system, water-storage tanks, packaging for food articles, a clause is included which reads â€Å"no recycled plastics waste shall be used†. An exercise has also been carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Forest in association with Bureau of Indian Standards to include use of recycled plastic waste wherever appropriate in the manufacture of plastic products and this should be specified accordingly in the relevant Indian Specifications. (d) The Prevention of Food Adulteration Department of the Government of India, has issued directives to various catering establishments to use only food-grade plastics, while selling or serving food items. Rules have specified use of `foodgrade’ plastic, which meets certain essential requirements and is considered safe, when in contact with food. The intention is to check possible contamination, and to avert the danger from use of recycled plastic. The Scheme announced in February, 1995 is being implemented in cooperation with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) which has formulated a series of standards on this subject. The Bureau of Indian Standards Sub-committee PCD 12. 17 is charged with formulating guidelines, codes and specifications for recycling of plastics. Two documents, viz. , â€Å"Guidelines for Recycling of Plastics â€Å" and `Recycled Plastics for Manufacture of Products, Designation’ have been finalised. (e) The Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi had assigned a study on â€Å"Status of Waste Plastics Recycling in NCR Delhi† to Shri Ram Institute for Industrial Research Delhi. Among the conclusions of this study, the following deserve particular mention: – There is need to formulate and enforce code of good practice both for the processor and the consumer. In particular, standards need to be laid down for products from various plastics waste including the co-mingled one. – Directives should be imposed for a periodic air quality and health/hygienic check in the reprocessing units. (f) During September 1996, (and earlier during September, 1994) a National Conference on `Plastics and Environment’ was organised at New Delhi, by FICCI and Plast India Foundation. It was during the Conference that the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India announced the setting up of National Plastics Waste Management Task Force, with representations of Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Urban Affairs, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Plast India Foundation, The All India Plastics Manufacturers Association, All India Federation of Plastics Industry, NOCIL, IPCL, and experts from BMTPC, FICCI and CII. The Task Force has submitted its report (August 1997) and drawn Strategy and Action Programmed for Plastics Waste Management in India. (g) A National Association of PET industry has recently been formed by PET manufacturers and users in India which is expected to look after the organized collection and recycling of PET bottles/containers waste. CONCLUSION Plastic Waste Management has assumed great significance in view of the urbanization activities. Plastic waste generated by the polymer manufacturers at the production, extrusion, quality control ; lab. Testing etc. , stages, as well as, by the consumers require urgent disposal and recycling to avoid health hazards. Various strategies are being devised to mitigate the impact of plastic waste in India. Banning plastic bags oversteps the role of government The Huntington Beach City Council voted 4-3 on Oct. 4 to authorize an environmental impact report on the possible effects of banning plastic grocery bags in the city. The study is the next step in the council’s ill-advised crusade to eradicate single-use plastic grocery bags from within city limits and impose a fee of 10 cents per bag on shoppers who opt for paper bags from merchants. The proposed ban would be unwise, invasive and overreaching public policy because it attempts to use the coercive means of government to alter behavior and because it imposes a new fee on shoppers in Huntington Beach — the equivalent of a new tax. Residents of Surf City should be offended. Technically non-partisan Mayor Joe Carchio and council members Don Hansen and Matthew Harper voted against the proposal; all three are Republican, though the council is technically nonpartisan. Council members Connie Boardman, Keith Bohr, Joe Shaw and Devin Dwyer voted to move forward with authorizing the EIR. We find it peculiar that Mr. Dwyer would vote for such a policy, given that he describes himself as a conservative Republican. The council selected Rincon Consulting to conduct the study, which will cost nearly $30,000. The city will front the money for the report, but it is to be eventually borne by local environmental groups. The city will also pay an additional $10,000 in printing and copying costs for the study. Legislating personal behavior This second vote brings the council closer to making a bag ban a reality. But before proceeding, council members supporting the proposed ordinance ought to reconsider and ponder several questions: Is there sufficient evidence to suggest plastic bags actually have a significant impact on the environment compared with socalled reusable bags? Is it the role of the local city council to legislate personal behaviors and purchasing choices? Is it fiscally prudent to impose a paper-bag fee on residents? The Huntington Beach council majority is pursuing a reckless policy that will have a negative economic impact on the community and be a blow to the individual liberties of residents. Voters ought to reach out to City Hall, and, if that does not work, hold the council members who support the bag ban accountable at the ballot box.

Environmental policy and energy in the next 30 years Research Paper - 1

Environmental policy and energy in the next 30 years - Research Paper Example It is forecast that by 2025 natural gas will occupy the second position among all energy sources to be used worldwide. Much of the natural gas demand will be met by supplies from unconventional sources such as shale and rock formulations and it is estimated that its contribution will be almost 30 percent of total global production and the gas from shale and rock can meet world demand for next 250 years based on the current demand levels. China will witness the largest growth in gas consumption through 2040 amounting to nearly half of Asia pacific non-OECD consumption growth. Oil and natural gas together will meet 60 percent of the world energy needs. Demand for coal will reach at its pinnacle around 2025 and then will continue to decline due to shift toward non-polluting or lesser carbon emitting energies. Overall, oil, gas, and coal together will account for almost 80 percent of the energy needs of the world. Renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and bio-fuels will registe r strong growth and likely to meet around 4 percent global energy demand by 2040. Hydropower and wind energy will show the fastest growth among the renewable energy sources – likely to register 8 percent a year growth. ... Nuclear energy is likely to grow at 2.2 percent a year worldwide and will have a checkered growth after Fukushima mishap in Japan (ExxonMobil, 2012). Below mentioned graph shows world energy consumption pattern between OECD and non-OECD countries. Source: http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/world.cfm In 2008, transportation sector consumed 27 percent of the total world energy demand and will grow at the rate of 1.4 percent until 2040. Major consumption or increase in demand will be from non-OECD countries as more and more people are adopting personal mode of transportation. Lesser population and economic growth in the OECD nations through 2040 will restrict the energy growth in the transportation sector at lowly 0.3 percent against likely growth of 2.6 percent per year in the non-OECD countries. Over the next 30 years, hybrid vehicles will become the mainstream vehicles for transportation needs and it is expected that by 2040, hybrid and other fuel efficient vehicles will constitute 50 percent of all light duty vehicles plying on the road. Commercial transportation energy needs through 2040 will also rise by 45 percent (ExxonMobil, 2012). Below mentioned chart shows likely consumption of energy in the transportation sector in OECD and non-OECD countries from 2008 through 2035. Source: http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/world.cfm Environmental Impact Burning of fossil fuels release huge amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that lead to the greenhouse effect in which, gases such as carbon-dioxide, methane etc. absorb the heat and then release it back to the earth atmosphere (International energy agency, 2012). Due to higher consumption of fossil fuel (coal, oil, and gas) in next 30 years, the levels of global

English Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

English Language - Essay Example The work has a great implication on the lives of many people. The narration of the death of Mandela was accompanied with numerous statins of his achievement and his requirement to all people. Every person or institution wanting to live the legacy left by Mandela would be moved by the text since it reminds each and every person of the importance of being willing to sacrifice for the sake of the world. The author realises this fact and puts into perspective the most influential events in the life of Nelson Mandela. The main purpose of the text was creating an editorial that would reflect the actual life and times of Nelson Mandela. Additionally, the author seeks to enlighten the reader of the steps undertaken by Mandela to become one the global recognised leaders for their efforts to bring peace and save humanity. The text has no limitation on the suitable audience since its representation and content are appropriate for very person interested in understanding why Nelson Mandela was held with high regard. However, in highlighting his objective, the author uses the responses of leaders and other people in the society on Nelson Mandela. The article starts by the author explaining the mood that was expected at the funeral. They then mention the significance of the burial of Nelson Mandela3. The text assesses the audience present at the funeral, the mood of the actual day of the funeraland the days before the funeral. The author is quick to confirm that international leaders led by the US President, Barack Obama, were presented at the send-off ceremony and delivered moving speeches on how exceptional Mandela was4. The text also analyses the general feeling of the people of South Africa on their perception Mandela. The text then diverts from the funeral to the life and times of the Nelson Mandela. Significant events such as the

Workable methodology Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Workable methodology - Research Proposal Example After data collection, editing, coding of similar themes, classification and tabulation of the data will be essential for efficient analysis. Descriptive and inferential analysis will be employed to measure and determine the relationship that exists among the variables. The researcher will also observe on research ethics by ensuring that the anonymity of respondents will be observed (Gregory, 2003). Cross-sectional survey design is concerned with relationships that exist, options that are held, and the processes to be taken. In this regard, the current phenomena will be well articulated upon by this design. Arguably, the current situation of the trend of women offenders is alarming and needs to be looked at with caution. For example, the study will try to focus on variables that contribute to women offenders. Equally, the design will also hypothesis on the possibility of reducing recidivism for women offenders by adopting prelease and reentry programs. The cross section of respondents will be selected to represent women offenders and service providers from several correction centers under the Alabama Department of Corrections. The study will use random sampling method in a bid to select correction centers under the Alabama Department of Corrections and purposive sampling will be used to select appropriate respondents from both the current women offenders and former incarcerated women. In collecting data, the study will utilize questionnaires in obtaining information from officers in the correction centers. This is crucial in that it will help to obtain wide range of information from the correction staff, and within the shortest time (Bryman & Bell, 2003). On the side of obtaining information from current and former women offenders, the study will use interview guide to obtain information about their experiences during their time in prison. Validity and reliability of the

Software development practice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Software development practice - Research Paper Example An estimate of timeline completion of the project XII. Significant risks that may impact the project XIII. Conclusion and justification of the project XIV. References I. Introduction Computer forensics deals with the identification of any legal evidence using the computers, as well as other forms of digital storage devices. After collecting, the evidences are put through a thorough forensics examination to obtain and recover the information the investigators need. The computer forensic investigation chiefly involves the investigation of the computer crimes, the cyber crimes, and also during a court hearing. Subsequently, there is utilization of the later function of computer forensic investigation by the courts of the United States and also of the European Union as evidence of digital crime cases (Volonino & Anzaldua, 2009). II. The Proposed Project of Computer Forensics The proposed project is based on a software program that can easily retrieve any specific data from the hard disk drive of any computer. This is because the hard disk acts as a form of storage device for the computer. Thus, there is storage of most data and also files in this hardware device. Moreover, for any forensic investigator to obtain any sort of digital evidence, they must first look for the details from the computer hard disk. Therefore, the hard disk is one of the chief vital components of the computer because it contains most of the computers’ files, data and also important documents. Consequently, there is a great significant in the development of a software program for easy and quick retrieval of data contained in the hard disk. Moreover this project of computer forensic works in conjunction with the software of data recovery program. The data recovery program works by recovering any form of lost data by the computer (Volonino & Anzaldua, 2009). III. The Objectives and what the Project Intends to Deliver The main reason for the development of this computer forensic project i s to assist in the quick and effective investigation procedures required during a forensic investigation. For instance, the main part of the computer forensic is chiefly the utilization of the computer hard disk to access any information. This is because hard disks are capable of storing large amount of information about anything. Therefore, because the computer hard disk is capable of storing millions of data on anything, it becomes very tedious for the forensic investigator to search for the exact data that is needed for the investigation (Volonino & Anzaldua, 2009). Moreover, this action needs a lot of time and thus consumes time. Therefore, for the investigator to be competent and to easily access all the details from the hard disk, the forensic investigator needs to implement this computer forensic project. Thus, the chief reason for the development of this computer forensic project is to assist the investigators in easing the procedures of the investigation. Therefore, the com puter project is about how the forensic investigator is capable of obtaining and easily retrieves data from any hard disk of a computer system to be utilized in the investigation procedures. The investigator will find this project extremely helpful to him and also to the court when handling any form of forensic cases. Thus the project focuses majorly o the improvement of the hard disk devices. Additionally, this project will focus on the fundamental process of retrieving information from a given hard disk

Cyber Security A Homeland Security Dilemma Research Paper

Cyber Security A Homeland Security Dilemma - Research Paper Example The worldwide web is an information system that involves a planet-wide scope and grid. The interconnectedness of computers allows more vulnerabilities on the part of those connected to the grid and creates a problem in the case of an attack. There should be more cooperation in the international context by sharing information about criminals and their clandestine activities. There goes the question whether the job of Homeland Security Department is a dilemma or the department itself is a dilemma. Secretary Janet Napolitano has confessed that she herself doesn’t use email because email is a collector of all sorts of viruses. If people want to be secured, they have to shun email. What good is technology then? If the secretary of Homeland Security says that the best way to be secured is to shun email instead of accepting that her department cannot provide security to cyberspace, then it is better to conclude that Homeland Security is itself a dilemma. The method to be used will be collecting data and information from various databases of private and government institutions. Qualitative and quantitative data will be collected from a sample population composed of the staff from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The questionnaires will be emailed to the participants and their responses will be inputted into a database. The responses will be compared with the findings of the literature review and the research conducted in the past by authors on the subject of cyber security and the complex tasks of the Department of Homeland Security.

How are schools agencies of empowerment and disempowerment Essay

How are schools agencies of empowerment and disempowerment - Essay Example A disempowered state arises when there is subjugation, discrimination and domination based on race, sex, social class, poverty etc. As vehicles of empowerment, schools play a vital role in the "development of a properly trained and socialized citizenry" (Dornbusch, Kristan & Lin, 1996). Schools have two most important purposes in the society. Firstly they teach "cognitive skills" which is an integral part of technical education. Secondly, they help in sorting individuals in different job categories depending on their skills (Dornbusch et al., 1996). Various reforms have been made by the American government for improving the quality of education and increasing the student's achievement level. "In March 1994 the U. S. Congress passed the eight National Education Goals for the year 2000", under which some important rules were passed: Schools should be attended by all children, all the children should be literate and "every school would promote partnerships that would increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children" (Hanushek & Jorgenson, 1996, p. 3). The legislation, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), passed in 2001 re-authorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 (Hess & Finn, 2004, p. 3). NCLB's major tenets were to think over the problems faced by schools, to research on the current means of improving schools, "suggest new ways of thinking ", and "help prioritize the challenges and make recommendations when possible (Juvonen, Le, Kaganoff, Augu stine, & Constant, 2004, p. xv). Research shows that parents become less involved with children's school homework and other activities as they become older (p. xix) "Several studies show that, when parents do not monitor and stay involved, their young teens are at elevated risk for compromised school achievement and conduct problems "(p. 86).The school reforms objectives was to "offer interventions for the lowest -performing children" (p. xix). These reforms are important for empowerment which in turn helps the students to acquire knowledge "outside their immediate experience in order to broaden their understanding of themselves, the world, and the possibilities for transforming the taken-for-granted assumptions about the way we live" (Irwin, 1996, p. 5). It helps them to get critical thinking skills that make them question the prevalent social setup and not accept it on face value (p. 5). Empowered teachers would be the ones who "understand systems of domination and work to transform oppressive practices in society" while respecting the "dignity of others" (Irwin, 1996, p. 13). Schools as disempowering agencies perpetuate social discrimination .They sustain a "system of structured inequality" (Dornbusch, et al., 1996). Student's class, race, ethnicity can generate a different set of treatment by schools. "The students with the greatest needs are often given the worst education" (Irwin, 1996, p. 64). Even though there is much hype about "all persons being equal in our democratic documents, we have not yet internalized this concept as a society" (p. 65). Even though, meritorious students get advantages in "status attainment" and students with lower social order can ride over their shortcomings through education, research shows that students with higher "social origins" get the benefit of status attainment (Dornbusch, et al

Leaders are made not born Essay Example for Free

Leaders are made not born Essay Good morning honorable judges, fellow debaters and audience My name is .. and I am here with my team members .. to address the issue â€Å"are leaders born or made and we are in favor of leaders are made. We will discuss eight points to support our argument. There’s a common misconception that some people are born as natural leaders and others simply don’t have it. Although it’s true that people are born with different talents, different abilities and different potential, it’s also true that we as human beings are incredibly versatile. There are skills and lessons that we all can learn to continue growing and developing both as leaders and as people Thats because leadership is an apprentice trade. Leaders learn about 80 percent of their craft on the job. They learn from watching other leaders. And choose role models. Leaders improve by getting feedback and using it. The best leaders seek feedback from their boss, their peers and their subordinates. Then they modify their behavior so that they get better results. They learn from trial and error and from experience so when something fails, a true leader learns from experience and puts it behind him. The only failure they recognize is the failure to learn from experience. If leaders are made then why we have business schools and universities, and why we study business degrees? Through different process of learning, we learn to take decision, control the situation sensibly, being responsible Rajiv Gandhi of India was made leader who was a pilot ; did not like politics. Even during 1989 elections, he said publicly that he was zero in politics.

Internet of Things Paradigm

Internet of Things Paradigm Introduction According to 2016 statistical forecast, there are almost 4.77 billion number of mobile phone users in globally and it is expected to pass the five billion by 2019. [1] The main attribute of this significant increasing trend is due to increasing popularity of smartphones. In 2012, about a quarter of all mobile users were smartphone users and this will be doubled by 2018 which mean there are be more than 2.6 million smartphone users. Of these smartphone users more than quarter are using Samsung and Apple smartphone. Until 2016, there are 2.2 million and 2 million of apps in google app store and apple store respectively. Such explosive growth of apps gives potential benefit to developer and also companies. There are about $88.3 billion revenue for mobile application market. Prominent exponents of the IT industry estimated that the IoT paradigm will generate $1.7 trillion in value added to the global economy in 2019. By 2020 the Internet of Things device will more than double the size of the smartphone, PC, tablet, connected car, and the wearable market combined. Technologies and services belonging to the Internet of Things have generated global revenues in $4.8 trillion in 2012 and will reach $8.9 trillion by 2020, growing at a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 7.9%. From this impressive market growth, malicious attacks also have been increased dramatically. According to Kaspersky Security Network(KSN) data report, there has been more than 171,895,830 malicious attacks from online resources among word wide. In second quarter of 2016, they have detected 3,626,458 malicious installation packages which is 1.7 times more than first quarter of 2016. Type of these attacks are broad such as RiskTool, AdWare, Trojan-SMS, Trojan-Dropper, Trojan, Trojan-Ransom,Trojan-Spy,Trojan-Banker,Trojan-Downloader,Backdoor, etc.. http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/internet-things-much-exposed-cyber-threats/#gref Unfortunately, the rapid diffusion of the Internet of Things paradigm is not accompanied by a rapid improvement of efficient security solutions for those smart objects, while the criminal ecosystem is exploring the technology as new attack vectors. Technological solutions belonging to the Internet of Things are forcefully entering our daily life. Lets think, for example, of wearable devices or the SmartTV. The greatest problem for the development of the paradigm is the low perception of the cyber threats and the possible impact on privacy. Cybercrime is aware of the difficulties faced by the IT community to define a shared strategy to mitigate cyber threats, and for this reason, it is plausible that the number of cyber attacks against smart devices will rapidly increase. As long there is money to be made criminals will continue to take advantage of opportunities to pick our pockets. While the battle with cybercriminals can seem daunting, its a fight we can win. We only need to break one link in their chain to stop them dead in their tracks. Some tips to success: Deploy patches quickly Eliminate unnecessary applications Run as a non-privileged user Increase employee awareness Recognize our weak points Reducing the threat surface Currently, both major app store companies, Google and Apple, takes different position to approach spam app detection. One takes an active and the other with passive approach. There is strong request of malware detection from global Background (Previous Study) The paper Early Detection of Spam Mobile Apps was published by dr. Surangs. S with his colleagues at the 2015 International World Wide Web conferences. In this conference, he has been emphasised importance of early detection of malware and also introduced a unique idea of how to detect spam apps. Every market operates with their policies to deleted application from their store and this is done thru continuous human intervention. They want to find reason and pattern from the apps deleted and identified spam apps. The diagram simply illustrates how they approach the early spam detection using manual labelling. Data Preparation New dataset was prepared from previous study [53]. The 94,782 apps of initial seed were curated from the list of apps obtained from more than 10,000 smartphone users. Around 5 months, researcher has been collected metadata from Goole Play Store about application name, application description, and application category for all the apps and discarded non-English description app from the metadata. Sampling and Labelling Process One of important process of their research was manual labelling which was the first methodology proposed and this allows to identify the reason behind their removal. Manual labelling was proceeded around 1.5 month with 3 reviewers at NICTA. Each reviewer labelled by heuristic checkpoint points and majority reason of voting were denoted as following Graph3. They identified 9 key reasons with heuristic checkpoints. These full list checkpoints can be find out from their technical report. (http://qurinet.ucdavis.edu/pubs/conf/www15.pdf)[] In this report, we only list checkpoints of the reason as spam. Graph3. Labelled spam data with checkpoint reason. Checkpoint S1-Does the app description describe the app function clearly and concisely? 100 word bigrams and trigrams were manually conducted from previous studies which describe app functionality. There is high probability of spam apps not having clear description. Therefore, 100 words of bigrams and trigrams were compared with each description and counted frequency of occurrence. Checkpoint S2-Does the app description contain too much details, incoherent text, or unrelated text? literary style, known as Stylometry, was used to map checkpoint2. In study, 16 features were listed in table 2. Table 2. Features associated with Checkpoint 2 Feature 1 Total number of characters in the description 2 Total number of words in the description 3 Total number of sentences in the description 4 Average word length 5 Average sentence length 6 Percentage of upper case characters 7 Percentage of punctuations 8 Percentage of numeric characters 9 Percentage of common English words 10 Percentage of personal pronouns 11 Percentage of emotional words 12 Percentage of misspelled word 13 Percentage of words with alphabet and numeric characters 14 Automatic readability index(AR) 15 Flesch readability score(FR) For the characterization, feature selection of greedy method [ ] was used with max depth 10 of decision tree classification. The performance was optimized by asymmetric F-Measure [55] They found that Feature number 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 were most discriminativeand spam apps tend to have less wordy app description compare to non-spam apps. About 30% spam app had less than 100 words description. Checkpoint SÂ ­3 Does the app description contain a noticeable repetition of words or key words? They used vocabulary richness to deduce spam apps. Vocabulary Richness(VR) = Researcher expected low VR for spam apps according to repetition of keywords. However, result was opposite to expectation. Surprisingly VR close to 1 was likely to be spam apps and none of non-spam app had high VR result. [ ] This might be due to terse style of app description among spam apps. Checkpoint S4 Does the app description contain unrelated keywords or references? Common spamming technique is adding unrelated keyword to increase search result of app that topic of keyword can vary significantly. New strategy was proposed for these limitations which is counting the mentioning of popular applications name from apps description. In previous research name of top-100 apps were used for counting number of mentioning. Only 20% spam apps have mentioned the popular apps more than once in their description. Whereas, 40 to 60 % of non-spam had mention more than once. They found that many of top-apps have social media interface and fan pages to keep connection with users. Therefore, theses can be one of identifier to discriminate spam of non-spam apps. Checkpoint S5 Does the app description contain excessive references to other applications from the same developer? Number of times a developers other app names appear. Only 10 spam apps were considered as this checkpoint because the description contained links to the application rather than the app names. Checkpoint S6 Does the developer have multiple apps with approximately the same description? For this checkpoint, 3 features were considered: The total number of other apps developed by same developer. The total number of apps that written in English description to measure description similarity. Have description Cosine similarity(s) of over 60%, 70%, 80%, and 90% from the same developer. Pre-process was required to calculate the cosine similarity: [ ] Firstly, converting the words in lower case and removing punctuation symbols. Then calibrate each document with word frequency vector. Cosine similarity equation: http://blog.christianperone.com/2013/09/machine-learning-cosine-similarity-for-vector-space-models-part-iii/ They observed that the most discriminative of the similarity between app descriptions. Only 10% 15% of the non-spam had 60% of description similarity between 5 other apps that developed by same developer. On the other hand, more than 27% of the spam apps had 60% of description similarity result. This evidence indicates the tendency of the spam apps multiple cone with similar app descriptions. Checkpoint S7 Does the app identifier (applied) make sense and have some relevance to the functionality of the application or does it appear to be auto generated? Application identifier(appid) is unique identifier in Google Play Store, name followed by the Java package naming convention. Example, for the facebook , appid is com.facebook.katana. For 10% of the spam apps the average word length is higher than 10 and it was so only for 2%-3% of the non-spam apps. None of the non-spam apps had more than 20% of non-letter bigram appear in the appid, whereas 5% of spam apps had. Training and Result From 1500 of random sampling data 551 apps (36.73%) were suspicious as spam. [ ] Methods Automation We used Checkpoint S1 and S2 for data management due to its comparability and highest number of agreement from reviewers. Due to limitation of accessibility for collect description reason only 100 sample was used for the testing. We have automated checkpoint S1 and S2 according to following algorithm. Collected data were used log transformation to modify. This can be valuable both for making patterns in the data more interpretable and for helping to meet the assumptions of inferential statistics. To make a code most time consuming part was description collection which takes more than two weeks to find and store. The raw data directed the description link for appID. However, many of them where not founded due to old version or no more available. So we searched all this info manually from the web and founded description was saved as a file which named as appID. (Diagram.) This allowed us to recall the description more efficiently in automation code. S1 was automated by identified 100 word-bigrams and word-trigrams that are describing a functionality of applications. Because there is high probability of spam app doesnt have these words in their description, we have counted number of occurrence in each application. Full list of these bigrams and trigrams found in Table 1. Table 1. Bigrams and trigrams using the description of top apps play games are available is the game app for android you can get notified to find learn how get your is used to your phone to search way to core functionality a simple match your is a smartphone available for app for to play key features stay in touch this app is available that allows to enjoy take care of you have to you to can you beat buy your is effortless its easy to use try to allows you keeps you action game take advantage tap the take a picture save your makes it easy follow what is the free is a global brings together choose from is a free discover more play as on the go more information learn more turns on is an app face the challenges game from in your pocket your device on your phone make your life with android it helps delivers the offers essential is a tool full of features for android lets you is a simple it gives support for need your help enables your game of how to play at your fingertips to discover brings you to learn this game play with it brings navigation app makes mobile is a fun your answer drives you strategy game is an easy game on your way app which on android application which train your game which helps you make your S2 was second highest number of agreement from three reviewers in previous study. Among 551 identified spam apps, 144 apps were confirmed by S2, 63 from 3 reviewers and 81 from 2 reviewer agreed. We knew that from pre-research result, total number of words in the description, Percentages of numeric characters, Percentage of non-alphabet characters, and Percentage of common English words will give most distinctive feature. Therefore, we automated total number of words in the description and Percentage of common English words using C++. Algorithm 1. Counting the total number of bi/tri-grams in the description From literature [], they used 16 features of to find the information from checkpointS2. This characterization was done with wrapper method using decision tree classifier and they have found 30% of spam apps were have less than 100 words in their description and only 15% of most popular apps have less than 100 words. We extracted simple but key point from their result which was number of words in description and the percentage of common English words. This was developed in C++ as followed. Algorithm 2. Counting the total number of words in the description int count_Words(std::string input_text){ int number_of_words =1; for(int i =0; i if(input_text[i] == ) number_of_words++; return number_of_words; } } Percentage of common English words has not done properly due to difficulty of standard selection. However, here is code that we will develop in future study. Algorithm 3. Calculate the Percentage of common English words(CEW) in the description Int count_CEW(std::string input_text){ Int number_of_words=1; For(int i while(!CEW.eof(){ if(strcmp(input_text[i],CEW){ number_of_words++; } else{ getline(readFile, CEW); } } return number_of_words; } Int percentage(int c_words, int words){ return (c_words/words)*100 } Normalizaton We had variables between [ min, max] for S1 and S2. Because of high skewness of database, normalization was strongly required. Database normalization is the process of organizing data into tables in such a way that the results of using the database are always unambiguous and as intended. Such normalization is intrinsic to relational database theory. Using Excel, we had normalized data as following diagram. Thru normalization, we could have result of transformed data between 0 and 1. The range of 0 and 1 was important for later process in LVQ. Diagram. Excel spread sheet of automated data(left) and normalized data (right) After transformation we wanted to test data to show how LVQ algorithm works with modified attributes. Therefore, we sampled only 100 data from modified data set. Even the result was not significant, it was important to test. Because, after this step, we can add more attributes in future study and possible to adjust the calibration. We have randomly sampled 50 entities from each top rank 100 and from pre-identified spam data. Top 100 ranked apps was assumed and high likely identify as non-spam apps. Diagram. Initial Results We used the statistical package python to perform Learning Vector Quantification. LVQ is prototype-bases supervised classification algorithm which belongs to the field of Artificial Neural Networks. It can have implemented for multi-class classification problem and algorithm can modify during training process. The information processing objective of the algorithm is to prepare a set of codebook (or prototype) vectors in the domain of the observed input data samples and to use these vectors to classify unseen examples. An initially random pool of vectors was prepared which are then exposed to training samples. A winner-take-all strategy was employed where one or more of the most similar vectors to a given input pattern are selected and adjusted to be closer to the input vector, and in some cases, further away from the winner for runners up. The repetition of this process results in the distribution of codebook vectors in the input space which approximate the underlying distribution of samples from the test dataset Our experiments are done using only the for the manufactured products due to data size. We performed 10-fold cross validation on the data. It gives us the average value of 56%, which was quite high compare to previous study considering that only two attributes are used to distribute spam, non-spam. LVQ program was done by 3 steps; [ ] Euclidean Distance Best Matching Unit Training Codebook Vectors 1. Euclidean Distance. Distance between two rows in a dataset was required which generate multi-dimensions for the dataset. The formula for calculating the distance between dataset Where the difference between two datasets was taken, and squared, and summed for p variables def euclidean_distance(row1, row2): distance = 0.0 for i in range(len(row1)-1): distance += (row1[i] row2[i])**2 return sqrt(distance) 2. Best Matching Unit Once all the data was converted using Euclidean Distance, these new piece of data should sorted by their distance. def get_best_matching_unit(codebooks, test_row): distances = list() for codebook in codebooks: dist = euclidean_distance(codebook, test_row) distances.append((codebook, dist)) distances.sort(key=lambda tup: tup[1]) return distances [0][0] 3. Training Codebook Vectors Patterns were constructed from random feature in the training dataset def random_codebook(train): n_records = len(train) n_features = len(train [0]) codebook = [train[randrange(n_records)][i] for i in range(n_features)] return codebook Future work During writing process, I found that data collection from Google Play Store can be automated using Java client. This will induce number of dataset and possible to improve accuracy with high time saving. Because number of attributes and number of random sampling, result of the research is appropriate to call as significant result. However, basic framework was developed to improve accuracy. Acknowledgement In the last summer, I did some research reading work under the supervision of Associate Professor Julian Jang-Jaccard. Ive got really great support from Julian and INMS. Thanks to the financial support I received from INMS that I can fully focused on my academic research and benefited a great deal from this amazing opportunity. The following is a general report of my summer research: In the beginning of summer, I studied the paper A Detailed Analysis of the KDD CUP 99 Data Set by M. Trvallaee et. al. This gave basic idea of how to handle machine learning techniques. Approach of KNN and LVQ Main project was followed from a paper Why My App Got Deleted Detection of Spam Mobile Apps by Suranga Senevirane et. al. I have tried my best to keep report simple yet technically correct. I hope I succeed in my attempt. Reference Appendix Modified Data Number of Words in thousands bigram/tr-gram Identified as spam(b)/not(g) 0.084 0 b 0.18 0 b 0.121 0 b 0.009 1 b 0.241 0 b 0.452 0 b 0.105 1 b 0.198 0 b 0.692 1 b 0.258 1 b 0.256 1 b 0.225 0 b 0.052 0 b 0.052 0 b 0.021 0 b 0.188 1 b 0.188 1 b 0.092 1 b 0.098 0 b 0.188 1 b 0.161 1 b 0.107 0 b 0.375 0 b 0.195 0 b 0.112 0 b 0.11 1 g 0.149 1 g 0.368 1 g 0.22 1 g 0.121 1 g 0.163 1 g 0.072 1 g 0.098 1 g 0.312 1 g 0.282 1 g 0.229 1 g 0.256 1 g 0.298 0 g 0.092 0 g 0.189 0 g 0.134 1 g 0.157 1 g 0.253 1 g 0.12 1 g 0.34 1 g 0.57 1 g 0.34 1 g 0.346 1 g 0.126 1 g 0.241 1 g 0.162 1 g 0.084 0 g 0.159 0 g 0.253 1 g 0.231 1 g

Stem Cells -- Ethics, Research, and Regulation Essay -- Embryonic Stem

Stem Cells -- Ethics, Research, and Regulation I. Introduction: â€Å"Embryonic stem cell research offers both great promise and great peril.† - President George W. Bush, Aug. 9, 2001 Stem cell research is not new but only recently has it become widely known to the public because the benefits of the technology are coming closer to reality; the field of stem cell biology is advancing at an incredible pace with new discoveries being reported in scientific literature on a weekly basis. Scientists first announced a method of growing embryonic stem cells in a laboratory in 1981, but the cells were from a mouse. It wasn’t until five years ago that James Thomson (pictured to the leftP3) at the University of Wisconsin- Madison announced that he was able to isolate cells from the blastocyst of an early embryo.5 From research he gathered in the fields of applied reproductive biology and mouse embryology, he was able to develop the first human embryonic stem cell lines. At the same time as Mr. Thomson, John Gearhart (pictured to the rightP4)reported the first derivation of human embryonic germ cells from the primordial germ cells located inside the fetal gonadal tissu e that is key in the development of eggs and sperm. Dr. Gearhart, working at Johns Hopkins University with other prominent stem cell researchers, was then able to develop pluripotent stem cell lines by isolating stem cells from early human embryos and grow them in culture. Most recent research is focusing on two types of stem cells: pluripotent cells and adult stem cells that have been in clinical use for use but just recently were discovered to be able to develop into cells that have many of the characteristics of neurons. But even with all the information known alrea... ... the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. 4. National Institutes of Health Online. 27 August 2001. National Institutes of Health Update. 5. National Institutes of Health Online. September 2002. Stem Cell Primer. Pictures related to topic may be foud at: P1. http://www.americanfieldguide.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec01/stem_cells.html P2. http://www.stemcellresearch.org/ P3. http://www.jsonline.com/lifestyle/people/aug01/jamie05080201.asp P4. http://www.stemcellresearchfoundation.net/Research/Gearhart.htm P5. http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell/primer.htm P6. http://www.klaj.nu/bilder/glasyrkonst/embryo.jpg P7. http://organtx.org/images/stem%20cells%20022301.jpg P8. http://www.firstivf.com/ivf.htm

The Hike Up Poly Mountain :: Descriptive Essay About A Place

The Hike Up Poly Mountain Our journey begins on a foggy and cool Monday morning in late September. The group of freshman English students wait eagerly at the gate to Poly Canyon anticipating the adventures to come. Once Professor has taken roll and explained what is in store for the impending hike, we start walking up a rocky path. Immediately I feel like I am in nature. I am reminded of all the camping and hiking trips I went on as a child and I feel at peace. But something in the sky keeps bothering me, the fog. I was expecting to be able to stand on top of Poly Mountain and see the entire city of San Luis Obispo. I brought my camera along hoping to take beautiful pictures of the city and send them home to my family. But the thick fog above my head reminds me that this probably will not happen. I try to take the ominous fog off my mind and continue examining the land. We walk past the dry creek bed of Brizzolara Creek and it becomes obvious we have not had a significant amount of rainfall in months. A fellow hiker points out several deer on the canyon side, the first sign of wildlife. I can hear birds chirping in the distance but cannot see any because of the dense fog. I am hit on the nose with a drop of dew falling from a Coast Live Oak and another drop falling from a Eucalyptus tree. The air is still and the sun remains hidden behind the fog. We walk farther into the canyon and come across several manmade structures. A small footbridge over a gentle stream and a rock arch inviting hikers into the hills are reminders of what man can do to enhance nature’s beauty. The path gets steeper and narrower and as we climb higher, the fog gets thicker. I am still hoping the fog will fade away enough so that I can experience the beautiful views I was expecting. Our hike up Poly Mountain becomes much more strenuous and we stop every few minutes to catch our breath. We are no longer hidden underneath The Hike Up Poly Mountain :: Descriptive Essay About A Place The Hike Up Poly Mountain Our journey begins on a foggy and cool Monday morning in late September. The group of freshman English students wait eagerly at the gate to Poly Canyon anticipating the adventures to come. Once Professor has taken roll and explained what is in store for the impending hike, we start walking up a rocky path. Immediately I feel like I am in nature. I am reminded of all the camping and hiking trips I went on as a child and I feel at peace. But something in the sky keeps bothering me, the fog. I was expecting to be able to stand on top of Poly Mountain and see the entire city of San Luis Obispo. I brought my camera along hoping to take beautiful pictures of the city and send them home to my family. But the thick fog above my head reminds me that this probably will not happen. I try to take the ominous fog off my mind and continue examining the land. We walk past the dry creek bed of Brizzolara Creek and it becomes obvious we have not had a significant amount of rainfall in months. A fellow hiker points out several deer on the canyon side, the first sign of wildlife. I can hear birds chirping in the distance but cannot see any because of the dense fog. I am hit on the nose with a drop of dew falling from a Coast Live Oak and another drop falling from a Eucalyptus tree. The air is still and the sun remains hidden behind the fog. We walk farther into the canyon and come across several manmade structures. A small footbridge over a gentle stream and a rock arch inviting hikers into the hills are reminders of what man can do to enhance nature’s beauty. The path gets steeper and narrower and as we climb higher, the fog gets thicker. I am still hoping the fog will fade away enough so that I can experience the beautiful views I was expecting. Our hike up Poly Mountain becomes much more strenuous and we stop every few minutes to catch our breath. We are no longer hidden underneath

The Great Saljuq Sultanate :: essays research papers

The Great Saljuq Sultanate! Although the Turks had played an important role in the Islamic world, before the 11th century, the arrival of the Saljuq Turks marks a new era in Islamic history. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of the Saljuq Turks’ in Islam. In doing so, the paper will be divided in two parts. The first part will present the historical background of the arrival of the Saljuqs and their participation in Islamic politics. The second part will discuss the contribution of the Saljuq administrative system to Islamic politics. Turks had been participating in the Islamic politics well before the 11th century. For example, the Mamluks and the Ghaznawids were from Turkish origin. What made the Saljuqs distinct from these earlier Turks is how they have penetrated Islamic politics. Before the 11th century, Mamluks and the Ghaznawids were slaves recruited as individuals and took power from inside. However, the Saljuqs came in as organized tribal groups and conquered the Persia and much of the border lands.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Saljuq conquest marked the beginning of Turkish rule in Persia. This rule arguably lasted until 1925. In 426/1035, the Saljuq brothers Toghril Beg and Chaghri Beg led the Saljuq tribe to move into Khurasan. The brothers battled against the Ghaznawids to take over Khurasan. According to the course reader, the Khurasan population accepted the Saljuq rule just as they had earlier accepted the Ghaznawids. Five years later the Ghaznawids regrouped and waged war against the Saljuqs. The Ghaznawids were defeated and never came back. The Beg brothers ruled together until the death of Chaghri Beg in 452/1060. Morgan notes that this shared power between the two brothers was â€Å"in accordance with the Turkish conception of the nature of political sovereignty, which the Saljuqs had brought with them from central Asia.† After they had defeated the Ghaznawids from Khurasan, the brothers perceived that their major threat was the Buyids in western Persia and Iraq. It did not take long for the Saljuqs to eliminate the Buyids from Persia and Iraq. Toghril conquered Baghdad in 447/1055 and restored the Sunni rule. Consequently, Caliph Qa’im granted the title of Sultan on Toghril. Although the Buyids and the Caliph coexisted in Baghdad, their relationship was not based on the Caliph’s consent. The Buyids knew that most of their subjects in Baghdad were Sunni and half of their army were of Turkish origin whom may ally with the Sunnis.

Corporate Governance Essay

1. Business Decision; that compares the costs and benefits of manufacturing a product or product component against purchasing it. If the purchase price is higher than what it would cost the manufacturer to make it, or if the manufacturer has excess capacity that could be used for that product, or the manufacturer’s suppliers are unreliable, then the manufacturer may choose to make the product. This assumes the manufacturer has the skills and equipment necessary, access to raw materials, and the ability to meet its own product standards. A company who chooses to make rather than buy is at risk of losing alternative sources, design flexibility, and access to technological innovations. Determination whether to produce a component part internally or to buy it from an outside supplier. This decision involves both qualitative and quantitative factors. Qualitative considerations include product quality and the necessity for long-run. Business relationships with subcontractors. Quanti tative factors deal with cost. The quantitative effects of the make-or-buy decision are best seen through the relevant cost approach. 2. They Budget for many reasons; to control spending, to set goals, to control the direction of the company, and to run effectively. Controlling spending is an obvious reason. Setting goals is another. For instance, if x department meets a goal, they may get a budget increase (which can lead to an increase in wages for that department). Allocating monies to a department makes that department want to be more efficient with their money. Budget managers can control the direction of the company by giving or not giving money to certain parts of the company. For instance, in an oil company, a budget manager might give a lot of money to the Exploration department to find new oil, but cut back on the Logistics department. Budgeting is a great way to both force a company to run efficiently and to find out if they are actually doing it. If a department or region is consistently over-budget, they will need to be looked at as to why. If another region is consistently under-budget, maybe they are being allocated too many resources that could go somewhere else. DELOITTE 3. Company boards, executives, and management are investing more and more time and resources on issues of sustainability – such as carbon (greenhouse gas emissions), energy efficient technology, water use, cleantech, and biodiversity, to name just a few. An important part of the global push towards sustainability practices involves a need to account for, and report on, sustainability – sometimes referred to as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. On this page, we maintain a history of developments in sustainability reporting requirements and practices, tracking its gradual adoption on both a voluntary and mandatory basis, and also consider the wider integrated reporting initiative being led by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) (previously the International Integrated Reporting Committee) was formed in August 2010 and aims to create a globally accepted framework for accounting for sustainability, bringing together financial, environmental, social and governance information in an â€Å"integrated† format. The IIRC brings together a cross section of representatives from corporate, investment, accounting, securities, regulatory, academic and standard-setting sectors as well as civil society. It comprises a Steering Committee, a Working Group and a three taskforces (dealing with content development, engagement and communications, and governance). The IIRC is chaired by Professor Mervyn King, Chairman, King Committee on Corporate Governance and Former Chairman, Global Reporting Initiative. Membership includes Hans Hoogervorst (IASB Chairman), Leslie Seidman (FASB Chairperson), Maria Helena Santana, (Chairperson, IOSCO Executive Committee), Gà ¶ran Tid strà ¶m (IFAC President), Jim Quigley (former global Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte), and many others. Paul Druckman is Chief Executive Officer. The objectives for an integrated reporting framework are to: * support the information needs of long-term investors, by showing the broader and longer-term consequences of decision-making * reflect the interconnections between environmental, social, governance and financial factors in decisions that affect long-term performance and condition, making clear the link between sustainability and economic value * provide the necessary framework for environmental and social factors to be taken into account systematically in reporting and decision-making * rebalance performance metrics away from an undue emphasis on short term financial performance * bring reporting closer to the information used by management to run the business on a day-to-day basis. * The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has released a finalised ‘prototype’ of its integrated reporting framework and reaffirmed the expected timing of the issue of a consultative document as it moves towards finalisation of the framework by the end of 2013. * The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has launched an ‘Integrated Reporting Emerging Practice Examples Database’, which contains integrated reporting examples from businesses around the world.