Monday, January 27, 2020

Time Value Analysis And The Attractiveness Of Alternative Investments Finance Essay

Time Value Analysis And The Attractiveness Of Alternative Investments Finance Essay Time value analysis The time value analysis can provide the healthcare manager with the necessary information to make important decisions concerning financial strategies. The calculations of future cash flows at specific times are used to determine the attractiveness of alternative investments. The major limitation of the time value analysis is that a small change in cash flow may result in a distorted assessment of a potential investment. Incremental cash flows should be estimated with great care to consider only those that could change if a project or investment is accepted. The time value analysis of the Pensacola Surgery Centers will explore the companys investment opportunities. The company has $50,000 in cash to invest in marketable securities. The option to invest in a bank certificate of deposit (CD) that return interest after 6 months to five years. The earned interest would be reinvested at its maturity date. The future value of a one year CD that pays 10 percent annual interest will total $55,000 at maturity (Table 1). The future value of a one year CD that pays 5 percent or 15 percent will total $52,500 and 57,500 respectively. The other considerations are the banks procedure of compounding the interest. The BankSouth offers a one year CD at 10 percent interest that is compounded semi-annually. This effective annual rate of 10.25 percent will yield a higher total of $55,125 that the annual CD. The Bank of America offers a 10 percent Certificate of Deposit (CD) $50,0000 Investment 10% Annual Interest 10% Semi-Annual Interest (10.25% effective) 10% Daily Interest (10.52% effective) 1-Year CD $55,000.00 $55,125.00 $55,257.79 5-Year CD $80,525.50 $81,444.73 $82,430.42 Table 1: Certificate of Deposit Summary. CD that compounds daily. This results in a higher yield of $55,258 with an effective annual rate of 10.52 percent. The BankSouth will likely offer a competitive rate on its semi-annual compounding CD of 10.3 percent to yield a total of $55,283. The effective annual rate becomes 10.57 percent. The Pensacola Surgery Centers can place $50,000 cash in a five year CD, and have the potential to significantly increase the earned interest. This will not allow other investments to utilize these funds during this five year period. The five year CD with interest compounded annually yields $80,525. The semi-annual interest CD totals $81,144.73, and the daily interest CD yields $82.430. The surgery clinic has the financial goal of having $200,000 available for the purchase of a patient billing system in five years. If the clinic invested a lump sum in a one year CD with 10 percent annual interest, it would need to deposit $124,184.26 today. Another choice would require the deposit of $100,000 in a five year CD with an annual 15 percent interest to result in the necessary $200,000 in funds. The Pensacola Surgery Center may consider the option of an ordinary annuity to build the funds necessary for the computer application. The ability to make yearly payments to the account rather than an initial lump sum will decrease the amount of cash flow deterred from other investment opportunities. If five annual payments of $32,000 are paid at the end of each year, the present value result is $121,305 with an annual opportunity cost of 10 percent. The increase to $138,543 will result if the interest is compounded semi-annually. The future value of the annuity that pays 10 percent interest annually is $195,363, and decreased to $176,820 if compounded semi-annually. The annual interest necessary to accumulate the necessary $200,000, by making the $32,000 yearly payments, is 11 percent. Alternatively, the annual payment of $32,759.50 with 10 percent interest is needed to reach the $200,000 in funds. If the payments are changed to $16,000 every six months, starting six months from tod ay, the future value would total $254,999 with 10 percent annual interest (Table 2). The future value of the payments with 10 percent interest compounded semi-annually yields $201,246. The $16,000 semi-annual payment schedule will accumulate the necessary funds for the capital expenditure. Annuities $16,000 Semi-Annual Payments Future Value 10 % Annual Interest Future Value 10% Semi-Annual Interest Ordinary Annuity $254,998.79 $201,246.28 Annuity Due $280,498.67 $211,308.59 Table 2: Future Value of Annuities Summary. The annuity due type is when the payments are made at the beginning of the period. This type of annuity will result in the maturity one period past the final payment. The present value of the same five annual $32,000 payments will yield $133,436 with an opportunity cost of 10 percent annually. The utilization of a 10 percent semi-annual interest rate will result in $145,470. The future value of the annuity if 10 percent annual interest is paid yields $214,899, and with 10 percent semi-annually the result is decreased to $185,661. The annual interest rate of 8 percent is needed to accumulate the required $200,000 funds with the yearly $32,000 payments. The reduced yearly payment of $29,781 is needed for an annuity with a 10 percent annual rate. The change of the payments to $16,000 every six months results in $280,499 in an annuity that compounds at 10 percent annually. This is decreased to $211,309 if the 10 percent interest is semi-annual. The annuity due with semi-annual payments r esults in a greater accumulation of funds necessary for the computer billing upgrade. The Pensacola Surgery Centers would like to lease out extra space at one location for the term of five years. This venture will cost an estimated $40,000 in initial renovations. The net present value (NPV) of the estimated lease cash flow totals $58,618 (Table 3). The future value of the five year lease cash flow is expected to total $76,223 when invested at 10 percent annually. The present value of this total yields only $47,329 (difference of $11,289) when compared to the NPV calculated initially. The inconsistency of the time value analysis is due to the incremental changes that may become magnified with end results. The manager must use reasonable judgment when interpreting these calculated results. End of Year Net Cash Flow 1 $12,000 2 $14,000 3 $ 2,000 4 $16,000 5 $20,000 Table 3: Estimated Lease Cash Flow The further analysis of the lease will determine the dollar return on the investment and include the cost of the renovations. The return on investment (ROI) of the lease cash flow and the renovations total $39,390. The percentage rate of return utilizes the internal rate of return (IRR) calculation. The expected rate of return is 16 percent which exceeds the 10 percent opportunity cost by 6 percent. The ROI calculations support the clinics financial investment in the lease agreement. The contingency plan if the clinic is unable to accumulate the $200,000 necessary for the computer improvements will require them to borrow the funds. The loan will require yearly payments of $63,094.16 for four years at 10 percent interest (Table 4). The total interest plus principal paid at the end of the loan is $252,376.64. The business will be able to deduct the yearly interest payments on their income taxes for a total of $52,376.64. $200,000 Loan Year Payment Interest Repayment of Principle 1 $ 63,094.16 $20,000.00 $ 43,094.16 2 $ 63,094.16 $15,690.58 $ 47,403.58 3 $ 63,094.16 $10,950.23 $ 52,143.93 4 $ 63,094.16 $ 5,735.83 $ 57,358.33 Total $252,376.64 $52,376.64 $200,000.00 Table 4: Loan Amortization Schedule The utilization of time value analysis aids in the financial decision making processes of the businesss investment management. The calculations attempt to represent the opportunity cost of these potential investments. The discount rate used to conduct the analysis should reflect the risk associated with the investment and the risk of the organization. Good decisions are based on the understanding of the businesss financial strategies, and the appropriateness of the analysis to these objectives. The post completion review of investment decisions should be conduct to assess the processes and results.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

What Factors affect Britains climate?

Weather is different in every country even city. Climate is the general weather conditions usually found in a particular place. Through climate we can judge the type of fruit or vegetables that grow in a certain area. The Mediterranean climate is good for growing citrus fruits and grapes. Where as the American climate is good for growing bananas and Indian and Pakistani climate is perfect for mangoes. Britain is an island country and is surrounded by sea which gives it a varied climate. We never actually know what the weather will be like, one day it might be sunny the next there might be rain. As we have such a variable climate its hard to predict in general we have warm summers and cool winters our summers our cooler than other countries because we are surrounded by sea but our winters are milder. The main influence on Britain's climate which are important are latitude , altitude ,distance from the sea, ocean currents and the prevailing winds. Latitude: Latitude is the position north or south of the equator measured from 0à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ to 90à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. If you are on the equator then your latitude would be zero. If you are near the north pole your latitude would be nearly ninety degrees north and if you are more to the south pole your latitude would be almost 90 degrees south. The further away from the equator you are the colder it is. Therefore when we compare the UK with a country such as Egypt, Egypt is always hotter because its more nearer to the equator than UK. As you can see on the diagram Egypt is more nearer to the equator than Britain and is therefore more warmer.(the diagram is not accurate jus a rough estimation of where the two countries may be) as one gets above tropic of cancer or Capricorn, the climate becomes milder, with warm summers and cold winters. This is known as temperate climate and this is what the UK climate is referred as. At points furthest away from the equator, the climate is colder and is called polar. Altitude: Altitude is the height above sea level, the higher we go the colder it gets altitude may be measured in units such as metres or miles but is usually measured in feet. When I say the higher you go the colder it gets a mere example is on top of mountain peeks, the peeks are way high up and it is much much much colder there and therefore the air there freezes into ice or snow. In Britain there are a few mountains but we are surrounded more by the sea and therefore the mountains don't have a lot of effect in Britain. Other countries such as Nepal that have a lot of mountain ranges are very cold and I personally think its because of the mountains. The temperature falls by about 1 degrees for ever 100 metres above sea level. Distance form the sea: The sea is cooler than land during summer and warmer in winter because it conducts heat slower than land and cools down slower than land in winter. Land heats up faster than sea because its denser and has a bit of metal in it which is a very good conductor heat. The centre of continents are subject to a large range of temperatures. In the summer, temperatures can be very hot and dry as moisture from the sea evaporates before it reaches the centre of the continent. Distance from the sea has a great effect on Britain as you can see on the map that Britain is surrounded by water an therefore makes our summer cooler and our winters are much milder. Prevailing wind direction: prevailing wind direction means the direction wind comes from. Winds that blow from the sea often bring rain to the coast and dry weather to inland areas. Winds that blow to Britain from warm inland areas such as Africa (a warm hot area) will be warm and dry. Winds that blow to Britain from inland areas such as the Netherlands (cold region) will be cold and dry in winter. Britain's prevailing winds come from a south westerly direction over the Atlantic. The winds are cool in the summer and mild in the winter. Because Britain's wind comes from the south west this means it brings fairly warm air because it comes from near the equator. It also brings water vapour from the ocean(as it comes over the Atlantic ocean)- and that means more rain! Ocean currents: The North Atlantic Current (North Atlantic Drift and the North Atlantic Sea Movement) is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. Ocean currents can have a great effect on tempratures either reduce it or increase it. The main ocean current that affects UK is the gulf stream. The gulf stream is a warm ocean current in the north atlantic flowing from the gulf of mexico. The gulf of mexico has a higher temprature than uk because its more closer to the equator where as uk is more futher away near the north pole. This means that the air coming from the Gulf of Mexico to Britain is also warm. However, the air is also quite moist as it travels over the Atlantic ocean. This is one reason why Britain often has wet weather. Some local factors affecting climate: There are some local factors which don't have a major affect but do in a way affect all climate such as the two following;One place may be warm and dry because it is sheletered by hills whereas another place may unmasked to wind and rain. Also electronic things, cars leting of gas and central heating also give out heat. So therefore the city is made to be more warmer than the countryside. Air mass Some part of the world is hot some is cold. The result is that the air moves around- like the air in a cold building when you turn on the heater or even the cooker in the kitchen. The air moves around the world in huge blocks known as air masses. An air mass can be thousands of km across. It can be warm or cold or any temperature but depending on where it came from. If for example an air mass comes from the north pole and moves over to the UK there will be cold and dry weather if an air mass coming from the equator (a warm dry place) there will be warm weather. Often two different air masses will meet and clash over the UK which causes sudden changes in weather. Many different air masses cross Britain. That's why our weather changes so fast but if an air mass stays very slow or stays in one place the weather stays the same for days. The weather does not change from day to day at the tropics and poles because they have the same type of air mass all year round. Conclusion: In conclusion, although many factors affect Britain some are more imporant than others. Like the direction in which the suns ray hit the earth (equator). How far away a place is from the equator (latitude) the height above sea level (altitude), the distance from the sea, the direction the winds come from and the ocean currents. But all of these are based on one major factor which I didn't mention the SUN. How the sun affects us is affected by the rotation of the earth, latitude and cloud cover. Cloud cover is affected by the wind, another important factor, and the wind is affected by what it has passed over and altitude. Mountains redirect wind or force it up to form clouds if the wind has passed over a warm sea it will warm and wet, and if it has passed over a cold land mass it will be cold and dry. The sea have a huge impact on the land masses. Minor factors such as how built up a place is can have a big impact but in small areas, and lastly the ocean currents also is realted to which sea it came from then where about the sea is(maybe near the equator). So the sun to me is main factor which affects all climste including Britain's but Britains climate is more or less linked with the factor; the distance from the sea which is as I mentioned before is realated to the sun in all ways. Where we live in britain (england) the temprature in winter is not much less than 0à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C and in summer not much higher than 32à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C in the summer. Also the weather her is damp and there may be lots of sudden changes. Rain is fairly well distributed throughout the year, with February to march being the driest period and October to January the wettest. The Lake District is England's wettest region, receiving and average of 130 inches (330 centimetres) of precipitation( different forms of water falling from the sky) each year.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

The Roles of Tonal and Segmental Information in Mandarin Spoken

Assignment 1 – Article Summary In their article, â€Å"the roles of tonal and segmental information in Mandarin spoken word recognition: an eyetracking study†, Malins and Joanisse investigate how suprasegmental features affect on-line auditory word perception. Current speech perception models have fallen short in accounting for suprasegmental features because all have been based on Indo-European languages. In this study, Malins and Joanisse extend the potential of suprasegmental features by examining the role of tone in auditory word recognition.Preliminary studies on which Malins and Joanisse based their study show that features of stress alone could not account for word constraint activation. One of the reasons that stress was a poor candidate for word constraint during lexical priming tasks was that they were situated within polysyllabic structures. Tone features, on the other hand, are situated within monosyllabic structures. Listeners of tonal languages are require d to make distinctions based on these features alone. In addition, these preliminary studies showed that tonal information was processed after segmental information.However, these propositions were brought into question as Liu and Samuel (2007) discovered that most of the preliminary studies in speech perception did not utilize contextual constraints. More recent studies seem to show that tonal features are more effective in constraining word activation when in a sentential context and segmental features more effective in word constraint in a lack of contextual information. Malins and Joanisse set out to examine the role of tonal features in Mandarin word recognition by employing the visual world paradigm.This would allow the use of eye tracking which would measure the on-line auditory processing among four competitor categories – segmental, cohort, rhyme and tonal. The segmental category shared all phonemic features except for tones, the cohort shared all but word final phon emes, the rhyme differed in onset consonant, and the tonal shared only tone. The following was hypothesized: tonal and segmental information would be accessed at very similar points in time and share equal potential for word recognition constraint.Additionally, rhyme competitors would be viewed more than unrelated items and that tonal categories would produce little interference effect with target items. Twenty-four native Mandarin speakers were chosen as participants in this study. The mean age was 28, although seven were excluded from the study due to excessive use of peripheral vision (lack of eye movement data). Experimental stimuli comprised of 27 monosyllabic Mandarin words. The unrelated distractor tones were comprised of phonologically unrelated segments.A picture array was shown on screen for 1. 5s followed by a . 5 second transition at which point the central fixation point appeared. Participants focused on the fixation point while selecting the correct target picture for the spoken utterance. When the auditory stimulus was provided, the time course was measured through observing eye movements. If there were significant interference between tone and segment, then processing times would be increased therefore suggesting comparable roles in constraining word activation.The pictures in the array provided conceptual constraint. This ensured that sub-lexical access was being observed. This visual word picture matching task was used to create an environment that demanded lexical access using conceptual constraint. This method would supplement the hypothesis by leading participants to utilize tonal information. In the tasks, the act of pressing a button demanded lexical access and the four competitor pictures provided the conceptual constraint. There were 280 experimental trials.The experimental setting was kept monolingual as to eliminate the potential for confounding effects of bilingual interference. The results of this study show that the competition be tween target words and competitors was greatest for the segmental and cohort categories. This is crucial because the segmental category diverged from the cohort in tonal information only and the cohort category diverged in segmental information. This supports the hypothesis that both tonal and segmental information show an equal role in word recognition.Furthermore, the time course information for both cohort and segmental categories were similar. This seemed to indicate that segmental and tonal information are both accessed at the same time. There were no data supporting the claim that rhyme competitors would be looked at more than the distractors. This went against the second hypothesis and was likely a result of a discontinuity between rhyming features in Mandarin compared to English. This study could help improve existing models of speech perception by providing a firmer basis for tonal processing in auditory word recognition.This might raise the question of how tonal informatio n should be represented in a speech perception model. Ye and Connine (1999) have proposed the use of ‘tonemes’ since they act as contrastive units that can be categorically perceived like their segmental counterparts. Through summarizing, I have come to a better understanding of how this study would influence the TRACE model. Particularly, how different levels of word representations are shaped by spreading activation — tonemes possibly being the newest.By accounting for suprasegmental features, a speech perception model would be much more robust and functional. One particular thought that has arisen as a result of this study is how tone recognition contrasts between the modalities of speech vs. music. Do they share overlapping neurological locations and functions? Also of interest is whether individuals with amusia (tone deafness) are able to utilize tones as contrastive units in a language? References Liu, S. , & Samuel, A. G. (2007).The role of Mandarin lexica l tones in lexical access under different contextual conditions. Language and Cognitive Processes, 22(4), 566–594. Malins, G. M. & Joanisse, M. F. (2010). The roles of tonal and segmental information in Mandarin spoken word recognition: an eyetracking study. Journal of Memory and Language, 62(4), 407-420. Ye, Y. , & Connine, C. M. (1999). Processing spoken Chinese: The role of tone information. Language and Cognitive Processes Special Issue: Processing East Asian Languages, 14(5–6), 609–630.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Bullying. - 1393 Words

The Damaging Effects of Bullying, Why It Needs to Stop, and How to Stop It There are many problems in our school system today, but the number one problem, in my opinion, is bullying. â€Å"An Analysis of School Anti-Bullying Laws in the United States,† written by Maryellen Kueny and Perry Zirkel, states that â€Å"bullying has been a persistent problem in middle level and high schools.† According to Kueny and Zirkel’s article, â€Å"an early national study found that among sixth through twelfth graders, 56% of students witnessed bullying and 71% know of a peer who is being bullied.† In the same article mentioned before, â€Å"a study of bullying in American schools found 86% of students in grade 6 through 10 engaged in bullying sometimes or more frequently.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦When people talk about bullying many questions come to mind. The main question everyone asks is, â€Å"Why are they selected to be the victim?† According to the â€Å"Australian Convert Bullying Prevalence Study,† â€Å"stud ents who are more likely to be bullied are also more likely to feel disconnected from schools and not like school, lack quality of friendships at school, be less well accepted by peers, be different in some way, have low self-esteem, and display high levels of emotionality that indicate vulnerability and low levels of resilience. When you think of a bully, what thoughts come to mind? Do you think a child just wakes up one morning and decides to pick on someone? No, a child does not just wake up one morning and say, â€Å"Hey, I think I’ll go to school and pick on someone smaller than me.† A bully, according to â€Å"Australian Convert Bullying Prevalence Study,† â€Å"believes that the use of aggression is acceptable.† With that being say many bullies are likely to come from a bad family, they see and hear things, like abuse or name-calling, in their household which makes them think it is acceptable. As bad as their home lives may be, they should seek h elp so they can work through their problems, instead of causing pain and suffering to an innocent child. Children with bad home lives believe they do not have anyoneShow MoreRelatedBullying And Bullying : Bullying1180 Words   |  5 Pages Bullying is defined as unwanted or aggressive behavior that causes someone to feel afraid or intimidated. This behavior could be something physical, verbal, or something done electronically or through social media. 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The females reported more Cyber-bullying, off-school premises, through text massages and social media outlets. The males reported a higher rate of physical bullying on the school premise than the females. Students reported the occurrence of physical intimidation preventing younger students to access hallways. Also, student’s who are perceived as â€Å"different† are target and taunted. Currently, the bullying behavior seems to be accepted by the staffRead MoreBullying : Bullying And Bullying948 Words   |  4 Pages Bullying Teasing and playing around are all part of growing up; however, what happens when it happens over and over. The Hernando County Code of Conduct defines bullying as: systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress, or physical behavior, including and threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, by a student or adult, that is severe or pervasive enough to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment; cause discomfort orRead MoreBullying : Bullying And Bullying941 Words   |  4 PagesThere are different ways to describe bullying. Stopbullying.gov states the definition of bullying is â€Å"unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.† Webster’s dictionary portrays the definition of bullying is to frighten, hurt, or threaten (a smaller or weaker person): to act like a bully toward (someone), or to cause (someone) to do something by making th reats or insults or by using force. Violenceproventionworks.org mentions A personRead MoreBullying : Bullying And Bullying1030 Words   |  5 PagesKassandra Barragan Ms. Filar English 4/ Per: 1 9 May 2017 Bullying While doing research on bullying, I found studies on subject like cyber bullying, physical bullying, and verbal bullying. Bullying is a big problem now and has been in our society for some time. What is disturbing is that school is supposed to be a place where students learn and try to get away from outside problems but sadly some see it as a battlefield or place of survival. According to Webster s Dictionary, a bully is someone