ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Petrobras is the largest Brazilian state-controlled oil and gas company, and its headquarters are placed in Rio de Janeiro. The company’s main fossil fuel reserves are located in two deep-sea basins, where the Campus has been developed since 1971, and Santos has been established since 2009 (De Oliveira & Pinto, 2016). On average, the company produces more than 2 million barrels of oil per day (Fortunato, Teixeira, & de Mello, 2017). The company was founded on October 3, 1953, at the initiative of Brazilian President Getulio Vargas and received monopoly rights for the exploration, production, and refining of oil in the country. In 1968, large reserves of oil were discovered in the Atlantic Ocean off the south-eastern coast of Brazil, which is the Campus Basin, developed by Petrobras in 1971 (Menezes et al., 2014). This company overcame its challenges; thus, it is recommended to invest in the given organization due to its potential for substantial growth. Organizational Analysis In 1993, Petrobras entered the Argentine market by creating a subsidiary Petrobras Argentina S.A., which was engaged in the exploration, production, transportation, processing, and sale of oil and petroleum products (Dalmonte, 2014). In 2001, the Argentine oil company Eg3 S.A. was bought with a network of 700 gas stations (Araújo & Ribeiro, 2016). In 2002, Argentina’s second largest oil producing company, Perez Companc Energía, was acquired, in addition to oil, which also dealt with gas and electricity and was part of a large conglomerate of the Perez Kompan family (Price, 2016). In 2004, all of the assets of Petrobras in Argentina were merged into Petrobras Energia S.A. In 1997, by amending Brazil’s constitution, Petrobras was deprived of a monopoly on oil and gas production in Brazil (Viglio, Marko Synésio, & Lúcia da, 2018). However, in 2015, the company’s operations were that it controlled more than 90% of the country’s oil production (De Almeida & Zagaris, 2015). Until 1997, the regulatory environment was that 100% of Petrobras’ shares belonged to the Brazilian state. By the law of August 6, 1997, the federal authorities retain control of the company by owning 50% of the voting shares plus one share (Lyra, Gomes, & Pinto, 2017). Later, Petrobras’ financial department has issued 1.415 billion ordinary or voting shares and 1.333 billion preferred shares (Pereira, Lüdke, & Amorim, 2017). A controlling stake in ordinary shares, which is 50.26%, is owned by the Brazilian federal government (Lyra et al., 2017). In addition, significant shareholders are the Brazilian Development Bank, which owns 9.87% of ordinary shares and 2.88% of preferred shares (Pereira et al., 2017). In 2010, Petrobras’s performance improved by placement of 2.4 billion ordinary shares and 1.87 billion preferred shares in the amount of $ 69.9 billion, which is the largest amount raised for one investment in the entire history of the stock market (Pereira et al., 2017). Luis Nelson Guédes de Carvalho is Chairman of the Board since September 14, 2015 (Lyra et al., 2017). Critical Incidents There was a major controversy surrounding the gi
The initial step of the audit process will entail defining the objective of the exercise. The principal aim of auditing the cash and revenue transactions is to establish their accuracy, correctness, and freedom from any material misrepresentation or misstatements. In this regard, this in-depth analysis will seek to ensure that Walmart’s accounting personnel follow proper accounting standards and procedures in recording and reporting transactions relating to cash and revenues. This involves determining whether the classification of the transactions, amounts, and disclosures made in the financial statements adhere to the international financial reporting standards and the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAPs) (Hellman et al., 2018). Once the objective has been defined and the audit plan formulated, substantive and control tests on the transactions and process will be conducted on the relevant activities for the periods under review. Steps Taken to Review Walmart’s Business Transactions Since the audit of Walmart’s cash and revenue will be seeking to obtain comprehensive insights about the transactions, it is imperative to follow a methodical and systematic procedure. The critical steps to be followed include planning, assessing the risk, developing the audit strategy, gathering evidence, and preparing the report. According to Rashid (2017), this structured approach ensures that no relevant detail or aspect of the process is overlooked, contributing to the overall credibility of the rendered opinion. The initial step will be to notify Walmart’s management and the relevant departments about the audit and formally request the documents to be used in the process. These will include previous years’ audit reports, ledgers, financial records, and bank statements to ensure all the relevant information is acquired and compliance is achieved. Plan to Utilize the Procedures The plan for utilizing these procedures will be to ascertain the quality, correctness, and accuracy of the financial information provided by Walmart. Additionally, this strategy will be used for purposes of testing the installed controls to determine their effectiveness in detecting, preventing, and mitigating the occurrence of risks, such as material misstatement. This will be succeeded by substantive tests, which encompasses the physical inspection of records, obtain confirmations, and examine the calculations. Moreover, other aspects of existence, cutoff, classification, completeness, and accuracy will be extensively explored for correctness and adherence to the specified standards. Determining the High-Risk Business Transactions The nature of Walmart’s business contributes to the complexity of the financial transactions and the considerable
Yogurt rich in proteins, calcium, and active bacteria is among the most beneficial products for humans’ health. Nevertheless, it is not as simple as it seems to be. Recently, manufacturers have started to attract the customers’ attention with flavored yogurts. Being aware of the product’s value, people decided that yogurts with fruits and berries are just as healthful as plain ones. A popular myth has grown rapidly from this idea, so it is essential for the buyers to tell the truth from the lie. Indeed, it is easy to give in to the temptation and buy a product with banana or strawberry because they are considered good for health and should intensify the yogurt’s value. However, putting fruits and berries into a dairy product makes it more perishable, which is unprofitable for manufacturers. That is why many of them select canned fruit puree or jam with huge amounts of sugar. That is why even if they claim to be “all-natural”, flavored yogurts will be much higher in sugar and carbs (Dolson, 2020). Moreover, to make the product more appealing to the consumers’ taste, manufacturers often use artificial sweeteners. Despite being free of calories and sugar, these additives negatively impact the perception of how foods taste, making natural products seem less delicious. Artificial sweeteners have been shown to decrease satiety and affect insulin secretion (Pearlman et al., 2017). Thus, despite being almost imperceptible for consumers, the changes in the list of the yogurt’s ingredients may result in health issues. The shelves of shops around the world are filled with flavored yogurts. More and more people tend to buy them instead of plain dairy products, considering them a decent replacement. However, even though their taste is delicious and intense, flavored yogurts only create an illusion of healthy nutrition. Manufacturers make these processed foods full of sugar and artificial sweeteners, which significantly decreases their nutritional value.
The Nazi implemented a number of policies that were detrimental to the wellbeing of the Jews. In 1933, the Nazi began a policy of discrimination against the Jews living in Germany. The military wing of the Nazi Party, the Storm Troopers (SA) enforced boycotts of Jewish businesses while the government stopped them from working in the education and legal institutions. In 1935 the Nazi implemented a policy that restricted Jews from serving in the national armed forces and enacted the Nuremberg Laws which denied the Jews the rights that other German citizens enjoyed. In 1938, the government issued ID cards for the Jews and forced them to use their Jewish Surnames for easy identification. In 1938, the government implemented a policy of racial expulsion that was meant to remove all the Jews from Germany. When the Nazi occupied Poland in 1939, the policy of emigration could not be carried out since the Polish Jews represented a significant portion of the population. By the start of the Second World War in 1939, the Nazi regime was seeking a final solution to what it considered to be “the Jewish Problem”. Anti-Semitism was one of the key ideologies adopted by the Nazi Party from its formation in 1919. The Nazi were convinced that the once strong Aryan race had been weakened by mixing with other races. The Jews were singled out as the race that had led to the decline of the German society. Nazi leaders proposed that Germany could only be restored to its previous prestige and power if it got rid of the Jewish community living in the country. Due to the anti-Semitism ideology, the Nazi regime was able to carry engage in the persecution of German Jews immediately after Hitler took power. The ideology led to the issuing of hundreds of decrees that were aimed at segregating the Jews and eventually expelling them from Germany. The Jewish began to experienced violence as soon as Hitler’s Nazi Party took power in 1933. The Nazi Regime had anti-Semitic ideologies and it encouraged violence against the Jews. However, the Nazi opted to use legislation in addition to the anti-Jewish violence. The legislation option was taken since it enabled the government to justify its discriminative action against a segment of its population. Legislation provided the government with an excuse to carry out oppressive action against the Jewish community. Through legislation, the Nazi Regime was able to carry out the large scale persecution of the Jewish community with the support and even collaboration of most of the German population. The legal restrictions were imposed on Jews and other groups of the society that were considered to be inferior. These restrictions were in line with the Nazi ideology that the Aryan race was superior to the other races. To keep the Aryan race pure and strong, the restrictions discriminated against the mentally and physically disabled. By engaging in eugenics, the Nazi regime hoped to create a superior race. Nazi anti-Jewish policy got progressively worse from 1933. At the beginning, the Jews suffered from limited violence and they were able to live and work in the country. However, as the poli
Introduction In the book, The Handmaid’s Tale, the republic of Gilead presents a different environment with different rules from those of the former order before the conflict and establishment of a new order. The new laws criminalize the women’s right to own property, have jobs, and even read by justifying it as a necessity to mitigate the effects of pollution that renders most women infertile and puts the society in danger of extinction. One of the strategies that the government applies in mitigation of the population’s sterility is provision of handmaids to upper class citizens for reproduction purposes. The handmaids’ main duty is to conduct coital interactions with their commanders (male masters of their households) for reproductive purposes in an event that the people refer to as ‘the ceremony’. During the ceremony, men have sex with their handmaids while their wives watch. Most handmaids comply with their duties reluctantly mainly out of fear for their lives. Offred copes with survival as a handmaid in Gilead by applying the use of calculated rebellion in her actions throughout her stay. The calculated rebellion entails keeping the old order memories alive, misbehaving intentionally during shopping, having a secret affair with the Commander outside the ‘Ceremony’ and sleeping with Nick, entertaining Ofglen’s proposal to spy on the Commander, and engaging in forbidden acts whilst visiting the Commander. Offred’s acts of rebellion It is important to note that Offred’s loss of her family owing to their attempt to escape from Gilead plays a significant role in the methods she chooses to apply in her rebellion. Offred, a handmaid who plays the protagonist in the story, finds several ways of coping with her new situation mainly through the application of calculated rebellion. This assertion means that she weighs her actions in terms of pros and cons before implementing any rebellious act. Throughout the story, she voices her rejection of the objectification of women in the society, but chooses her moments carefully during her outward projections of such rebellion. Throughout the book, there is evidence of her rebellious nature, though the acts seem trivial in relation to the gravity of her situation, and thus they do not alter the society’s sense of normalcy. One of the ways in which Offred uses calculated rebellion as a coping
Two gas pipelines are built across the Andes: one from Bolivia to the Atlantic coast of Brazil, the second – the longest in the world – from Patagonia to Buenos Aieres. This became possible because of an invention of joint-stock, limited-liability corporations. Multiple investors jointly own the company’s capital. Limited-liability because the separate existence of the company as a legal object protected the investors from losing all their wealth if the venture failed. The primary discipline on companies comes from stock markets where shares (small pieces of companies) are brought and sold. The price for a share tells how much people rely on the cost of the company in the future. Stock markets hourly evaluate the company on various aspects. The life of a stock market represents the reflection of human moods on the price of shares of a company. Optimistic buyers of stocks are bulls; pessimistic sellers are bears. There are five stages of stock market’s life that repeatedly continue as a cycle: displacement, euphoria (overtrading), mania (bubble), distress, revulsion (discredit). The three other recurrent features of stock markets are asymmetric information, the role of cross-border capital flows, and easy credit creation (banks play a role in creating bubbles). Falls and rises of Dow Jones Industrial Average – the longest running American stock market index – in 1979-2002 and its erroneous prediction by the press are presented. In the long run American stock market is the best. The average return is 4,73 percent per year; Sweden (3.71); Switzerland (3.03). Market interruptions are the result of war or revolution. “Stocks for the long run” are not a universal treatment, but better than bonds. The Company You Keep John Law of Edinburg invented the stock market bubble. Amsterdam became the capital of innovation in finances by 1690s. The world’s first central bank was the Amsterdam Exchange Bank. It solved the problem of debased coinage by creating a reliable form of bank money. The join-stock company system was invented in Amsterdam based on high risks of delivery spices by sea. United Dutch Chartered East India Company or VOC was established in 1602. The structure and functioning of the company follows. The VOC initiated the creation of stock market built in 1608. The Amsterdam Exchange Bank was found in 1609 since a stock market could not readily function without an efficient monetary system.
Introduction The film Crossroads is a very impressive example of an odyssey from a young man, fascinated by blues, to a recognized musician. This road-movie represents a striking assembly of music and drama. Beautiful music is combined with metaphorical meaning. Moreover, this film abounds in symbols and allegories and provides food for thought. Crossroads incarnates not only a journey for self-knowledge, but also deep ideas and concerns about genuine culture and music. The story is about an ambitious beginner, who is fond of blues and tries to resemble his idols, one of which is Robert Johnson, a legendary bluesman. To achieve his cherished life-long ambition and become a skilled famous musician, Eugene Martone trails an elderly African blues musician, Willie Brown. This legendary performer lives in a Harlem hospital, where Eugene gets a job. The young man seeks for a lost thirtieth song of Robert Johnson and asks Willie for help, because Brown was Johnson’s longtime friend. An Old Legend of the Devil The first example of allegory can be found in an episode when Eugene plays blues to prove that he really needs to find this lost song. Brown admits that Martone plays with no soul. “Soul” is a linking motif through the whole film. In his youth Willie came to a crossroads, where Robert Johnson had made a deal with the Devil, and exchanged his soul for fame and success of a bluesman like Robert did. In fact, it is Willie who has no soul. He is cheated and tries to return his soul, but to achieve his goal he must go to the same crossroads. “Feeling cheated by his lack of fame, Willie goes back to the crossroads to renege on the deal” (Schroeder 97). He needs to give his dues to the Devil. Thus, soul symbolizes high price to pay for intention of becoming famous and recognized. Maybe, this price is too high for an ordinary human, which is mortal. Actually, Willie manipulates Eugene and assumes that he knows the missing Robert Johnson’s tune. Martone helps him to return to Mississippi in exchange for this tune. Young Eugene lives through the lessons in want and hard living. He experiences love and betray, genuine feelings and artificial smiles. He becomes an adult man, and his lifelong dream becomes even more cherished despite obstacles he comes across. The appearance of supernatural when they reached a rural crossroads in Mississippi is a sinister omen. Willie reveals the truth that there is no missing song. He cheers Eugene up that the young man has learnt much more than any song could teach him. Brown hints that his and Robert Johnson’s gift for music were given them by the Devil. It is this ill-boding contract that makes him suffer. All of a sudden, the Devil nicknamed Scratch shows up. He declares the contract between him and Brown valid. This motif resembles an old legend about Faust who is reputed to have sold his soul to the Devil. Thus, an image of the Devil in the film is also an allegory. This cunning seducer represents burnin
Introduction The local conflict in Ukraine between the current democratic government and Eastern Ukrainian separatists, supported by the Russian Federation, has continued for more than seven years, since April 2014. In February 2022, it turned into a disastrous full-scale war between Ukraine and the invading forces of the Russian Federation; the war is continuing now. Along with the Russian Armed Forces, there are forces of self-proclaimed states of Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, which are considered temporarily occupied territories by Ukraine and other countries except for the Russian Federation. Current Events and the Humanitarian Disaster in Ukraine On February 24, 2022, Russia began its military invasion of Ukraine: after the direct command of President Vladimir Putin, its forces started to occupy and bomb Ukrainian cities. Belarus, a close ally of the Russian Federation, provided its territory as the ground for the invasion while rejecting its direct participation in the conflict. Before the invasion, Russia recognized the sovereignty of Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, self-proclaimed states in Eastern Ukraine, not recognized by Ukraine and any other UN country in the world except Russia (Mackinnon et al., 2022). Casualties are heavy: at least several thousand soldiers have died from both sides, despite accurate losses being extremely hard to calculate now (Cooper & Schmitt, 2022). At least several hundred civilians are killed; still, the Ukrainian Army continues to resist the invasion and defend their country. NATO and EU countries help Ukraine with weapons and other equipment necessary to defend the country from the Russian Army. The global community condemns the invasion: various countries and organizations break ties with Russian companies, and governmental, and non-governmental organizations. For example, scientific communities worldwide have stopped collaborating with the Russian National Academy of Sciences (Nature Editorial, 2022). Meanwhile, war threatens the global food market, as Ukraine has one of the most significant market shares, producing more than 10% of all crops worldwide (Houngbo, 2022). In that way, the conflict has brought problems to the whole world, but the most disastrous it is for both participating countries: the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Thousands of refugees started to leave Ukraine right after the invasion; some of them had left before it, as signs of the soon invasion started to appear before the actual war. Nowadays, at the beginning of March 2022, there are more than a million Ukrainian refugees worldwide, mainly in EU countries such as Poland and Hungary (News Comment: 1 Million Refugees Have Fled Ukraine in a Week, 2022). They are mostly open to refugees, considering Ukraine as their ally and aiming to help its unfortunate citizens. Before th