ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
One of the most outstanding differences in these two categories of students is evident when each of the group is asked questions regarding certain visual learning aid. One of the groups remains unresponsive and passive. It is only one learner out of the entire group that raised his hand not to answer the question but rather to seek clarification from the teacher on what the latter had requested them to do. When activity cards were used and followed by questions, the very students remained unresponsive and full of anxiety. They remained tense and rigid throughout the lesson. The learning process usually aims at acquisition of right knowledge that can enable students to excel in their exams. When students in the first group were taken through creative activities as part of using illustrations and develo0ping an interactive lesson, they lacked confidence in their final work because of the fear of being judged. For instance, when presenting their creative work, they were filled with fear of ending up in mistakes and they were intensely worried about their academic performance rather than their prowess in other skills. On the other hand, students in group two demonstrated overwhelming willingness to interact with their teacher compared to those in the first group explored above. In addition, there was limited or invisible element of fear in the learning process. They identified easily with the visual aids presented to them. Moreover, in terms of new ideas that were being presented to them, they were apparently not afraid. Furthermore, this group of students was allowed to exploit their talents and this made learning experience interesting for them. They seemed to participate actively without anxiety, rigidity and fear of presenting their ideas and they were not afraid to make mistakes. They were also actively involved in problem solving activities and were in a position to socialize freely with other students. Consequently, after school, they were allowed to move into streets with minimal restraint. As a result, they did not concentrate or put much effort in improving their grades. They were given time to play and when they went back to class; they seemed to participate actively in the learning process. Moreover, these students acquired problem skills and critical thinking and they were ready to face the challenge of life outside the school. The existing difference between the two groups of students can be largely attributed to the environment of learning and the manner in which learning process is initiated. While it may be prudent to appreciated individual differences among students, it is also worthy to note that a well coordinated learni
Abstract This report examines the relationship between oil prices and food prices with an objective of establishing their relationships. The rise in the price of oil greatly contributed to the increase in food prices. Since many sectors such as transportation and food-processing plants need oil to undertake their operations, increased fuel prices compelled them to increase the cost of food to meet their production costs. Introduction The prices of food depend on a number of factors that dictate the food market and production sectors. Some of the factors that dictate the prices of food include the cost of production, transportation cost, and the quality of finished products. Remarkably, production cost is greatly dependent on the cost of oil, which is a major component used in food production. An increase in the price of oil results in a corresponding increase in prices of food. Hence, control of food prices can effectively occur if the stakeholders in food industry check the cost of oil and minimize the expenditure incurred in transport, refinement, and supply of oil. Therefore, the report examines the control of food prices using oil prices. How oil prices increases food prices Complex Relationships Figure 1.1: Shows the relationship among oil, commodity prices, biofuels, and exchange rates. Source: (Harri, Nalley, & Hudson, 2009, p. 502) Food Production An increase in oil prices leads to a proportional rise in the cost of food production. Since the price of many facilities used in the process of production increase, the overall cost of production has risen. Suppliers increase the price of raw materials due to the rising cost of oil and petroleum products. The increased price of raw materials occasion due to a rise in the cost of transport used in the supply of the raw materials. According to Nazlioglu (2011), the cost of oil has a major impact on the cost of agricultural products. Since agricultural products comprise the majority of food products, an increase in their prices leads to increased production cost of food products. Increase in the Cost of Farm Inputs The cost of farm inputs such as pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides increase due to the augmented cost of oil. The rise in the cost of farm inputs is directly related to the cost of producing the inputs. Since oil is a major component used in the production of farm inputs, changes in fuel prices lead to a proportional impact on the production cost of agrochemicals, and hence, the cost of farm input increases. According to Otsuka and Yamano (2005), The effets of high cost of farm inputs are more prevalent in developing countries and affects the economic development. The high dependency on the use of oil and petroleum products implies that an increase in the price of the product translates to an equivalent rise in the cost of argrochemicals. Increase in the Cost of Transpor
Introduction Mental illness refers to all detectable mental dysfunctions that are characterized by atypical cognition, mood, or manners that lead to suffering and impaired function (Winer, Morris-Patterson, Smart, Bijan, & Katz, 2013). Stigma, on the other hand, is defined as a symbol of disgrace or disrepute; a stain or mark of blame (Pope, 2011). It manifests as prejudices against mentally ill patients. Although stigma is a damaging situation, the alienation thereof is much worse. Stigma may be categorized as self-stigma or perceived stigma. Self-stigma includes areas such as personal, social, hereditary, medical, and treatment of illness (Yang & Link, 2015). On the other hand, perceived stigma denotes how patients view the stigma that impacts the ability to cope with the emotional and physical effects of the disorder. This paper explores if the mental health care providers feel the social stigma experienced by their patients and if so what are the repercussions or importance of that. If that is the case, a suitable scale – with items related exactly to the role of primary care physician – to measure attitudes towards these patients will also be discussed. Therefore, the paper is confined to the various aspects of self-stigma. Background information Mentally ill people experience health challenges that lead to high morbidity rates and premature death compared to sane cohorts. This situation may be due to health system inadequacies like the lack of integrated care services or inadequate health insurance coverage. However, studies have also implicated poor decision-making by some physicians as another source of worsening health outcomes among these patients (Ayalon, Karkabi, Bleichman, Fleischmann, & Goldfracht, 2016). Even though the quality and efficiency of mental health care and services have improved over the past decade, therapeutic approaches have not been able to minimize stigma associated with these disorders in society as well as among physicians. Persons with mental disorders are stigmatised by the society and even by the health care givers. In this case, stigma manifests as a partiality in treatment or in patient-centred care delivery due to preconceived notions and beliefs about mental illness. Corrigan et al. (2016) noted that during the dispensation of health care to patients, physicians discriminated the patients with mental disorders in areas like referring patients for mammography, inpatient admission after diabetic crisis, and cardiac catheterisation. These patients have less regular preventive serv
The change in population demographics in America has a major impact on the type of products demanded in the market. There are more single adults in the population, which means that the products and services demanded to differ (Kotler 213). Single people consume different products and services, hence the need for companies to use demographic change factors when determining their target market. Marketers have to determine the population demographic to establish the type of products or services to provide in the market (Pride 254). The demographic shift will change consumer behavior since the market has more single adults who have different needs and expectations. It is expected that most products and services used by single adults will have a high demand in the market, hence a shift in consumer purchasing behavior (Shankar 130). Factors that influence the consumer to buy a product will change, hence a shift in the purchasing patterns since they have different lifestyles from those married. Products and services in the market are expected to change to reflect the lifestyle of the single adults in the market. Companies will recognize the market opportunity hence ensuring that they provide products and services that will satisfy their needs (Pride 64). In addition, the organization’s marketing strategy will change to ensure that the firms’ products and services are consumed in the market. The new marketing strategy will target the single adults in America to ensure that they understand the organizations’ products or services in the market and the ways they meet their needs and expectations (Shankar 272). Business-to-business markets differ from business-to-consumer since they have different modes of marketing. Business-to-business marketing has fewer distribution channels compared to business-to-consumer marketing. Business-to-consumer marketing is controlled through emotions since the business has to attract more customers by appealing to them (Pride 188). However, business-to-business marketing is business or task-oriented to ensure that each firm gets what it needs in its production process. It is difficult for organizations to establish what is ethical or unethical behavior due to the cultural difference in the market and in the
Creating the environment in which the military and their family members could adjust to the new and challenging setting is a crucial step in improving the quality of the target population’s life and creating appropriate working conditions. For this purpose, one should consider two essential tools. By using counseling and social media, one will be able to address both the psychological concerns of the target demographics and the lack of awareness among the rest of the community members. Counseling services should be deemed as a necessity. The assistance of coaches and psychologists will be imperative to encourage the military and their families to alter their behaviors and develop the skills that will help them adjust to and accommodate in the new setting. Furthermore, one should view the adoption of a financial strategy that will allow building a community capacity for providing military families with the consistent support. In other words, it is crucial to use the available social communication channels that will increase the intensity of interactions between military families and the rest of the community members. Consequently, the enhancement of community support and the further process of building the environment in which the target population will feel welcomed and comfortable will become a possibility (Stillwell, 2015). It should be noted, though, that the second concept of promoting the well-being and accommodation of the military in the new environment is fraught with technology-related challenges. Particularly, it is crucial that social workers should be capable of using the existing social networks efficiently to the advantage of the military. Furthermore, the significance of encouraging the rest of the community members to provide the support for the members of military families should be interpreted as one of the primary areas of concern for social workers. As Huebner, Mancini, Bower, and Orthner (2009) explain, there is a need for building the foundation for the active promotion of well-being of military families due to the stress and strain under which they may have been living: “the number of military service members and families impacted by Global War on Terrorism is significant” (Huebner et al., 2009, p. 216). Therefore, the active enhancement of cooperation and collaboration must be deemed as the key task for a social worker. The adoption of social networks is likely to contribute to a faster resolution of the problem. Seeing that the identified tool allows maintaining contact with all residents of the area, it should be used to raise awareness by scheduling the relevant events and inviting people to participate and even assist with the arrangement thereof; provide crucial information about the military, their families, and their needs; and introducing people to the idea of cultural sensitivity as the foundation for buildin
Introduction Britain has encountered a number of events that have dramatically affected its society and the UK international fraternity. Industrial revolution, agrarian revolution, invention of railways, Gordon riots, the suffragists, Indian mutiny, colonialism, Irish rebellion, the chartists, Thatcher, trade, and the expansion of empires, amongst other events, are part of the British history. More importantly, all these events attract the attention of the international community making Britain’s presence in the international arena more pronounced. However, in this paper, the writer considers colonialism and the 1926 general strike as two crucial events that have had enormous effects on the British society, as well as its international presence. In its simplest terms, colonization refers to the population of one or more species in a certain area. Colonialism, on the other hand, refers to “Western European countries’ colonization of lands mainly in America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania” (Marcy & James, 2003, p.5) Britain, Portugal, Spain, and Netherlands, to name a few, were some of the European nations that involved themselves actively in colonization endeavours. On the other hand, the 1926 general strike stands out as essential for consideration while business managers make vital decisions regarding the way they handle their workforce. In fact, one can perhaps benchmark the repercussions of inappropriate handling of worker’s issues with the aftermaths of 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom. As the paper unveils, colonialism and the 1926 general strike constitute two crucial events in Britain that have immensely affected the British society with the consequences of fostering the UK’s presence on the international floor. The 1926 General Strike Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 1926 called for a general strike in the UK. This strike went on for nine days consecutively. Though unsuccessful in attaining its aim, the strike attempted to “force British government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening working conditions faced by coal mines workers” (Renshaw 1975, p.158). The modern day businesses face dynamics of changing business productivity, which perhaps must prompt the managers to take interventions in an attempt to save an organization from dying. Such interventions would take a valid number of options. During the First World War, Britain saw an immense reduction in the coal output per worker. As Peter notes, “productivity was at its lowest ebb. Output per man had fallen to just 199 tonnes, in 1920 to 1924 from 247 tonnes” (2001, p.449). Amid the reduced in production, the prices of coal were also immensely dropping. As part of war repatriation strategies, Germany had resorted to exportation of free coal to Italy and France hence affecting the Britain’s coal market impeccably. Additionally, “The reintroduction of the gold standard in 1925 by Winston Churchill made the British pound too strong for effe
Introduction Globalisation is the influx of ideas, capital goods, information, and culture in a borderless society (Rajan 3). Over the decades, globalisation has been the buzzword in many economic studies. Aided by market liberalisation and the collapse of communism, economic globalisation has shortened “economic distances” among countries (Westerfield 181). This phenomenon has dominated many academic literatures, as researchers strive to understand the effects of globalisation on the global business space (Rajan 3; Westerfield 181). However, few studies have explored the extent of economic convergence in a global world. From this background, this paper explores the extent that world economies are converging. This focus draws our attention to income convergence (among developing and developed countries), financial convergence, and industrial convergence. These three analyses outline the pillars of this discussion. Financial Convergence Financial convergence partly explains economic convergence in the global economy (Kiely 89). According to Kiely (89), rich and poor nations create a financial complex where both groups of nations exhibit financial surpluses and deficits (depending on their economic power). However, since both groups of countries trade in one global market, they have to co-exist through financial convergence. For example, the Bretton-Woods system outlines one framework where different countri
Function of managers Managers of organizations are usually performing the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading other people, and controlling. The success or the failure of the organizations depends on the decisions that they make. As strategic planners, managers are endowed with the task of mapping out exactly the means of accomplishing certain objectives. For instance, if a company’s objective is to improve sales, the manager formulates the necessary steps for achieving that particular objective. These necessary steps, which are then mapped into a plan, may incorporate strategies for increasing advertising, inventory, and sales staff. After putting the plan in place, the manager then adheres to it, to achieve the objective of improving the sales of the organization. The next managerial function is organizing the activities of the organization. When a plan is in place, a manager needs to organize his or her team about the established plan. Giving assignments as well as granting authority demonstrates a manager’s capability of organizing. Staffing is another managerial function. After a manager discovers an area in the company that requires more input of resources, he or she may develop a strategy of increasing the members of staff. This is done by recruiting, selecting, and developing the workforce. A manager in a large company usually carries out this duty with the support of the human resources department. A successful manager must strive not only to plan, organize, and staff his or her team to accomplish an objective, but also he or she must demonstrate maturity in leadership. Leading the organization incorporates elements of inspiring, communicating, guiding, managing conflicts, and maintaining the company’s culture. A manager’s next function is to control what is in place. This involves a constant analysis of outcomes against objectives. He or she then takes appropriate corrective actions to ensure that the plan is kept on track. Matrix organization Matrix organization involves the use of a multifunctional team structure, which enables the horizontal flow of authority, besides its normal (vertical) flow. The name of this structure is derived from its similarities to a table (matrix) in which each constituent is included in a row and column. This structure keeps at bay the ‘one individual, one boss’ regulation of most conventional organizations. This structure is mostly applied in the management of extensive projects or product development processes. It pools out workers from a wide range of disciplines for assignment to a team without taking them out of their respective places in the organization. These workers report daily about their progress to the project or product manager. The authority of the project manager flows sideways (horizontally) across the different boundaries of the departments. The employees also report about their progress to the leader of their department. The authority of the leader of the department flows downwards (vertically) within the department. This structure is best a
Relative fluctuations of Mobil-Exxon (XOM) and market returns As the above graph portrays, XOM returns have been fluctuating considerably from the market returns over the period covered by the data. Although some of the fluctuations of the stock have been in the opposite direction to that of the market portfolio, most of the fluctuations have been in the same direction with the market. Descriptive statistics of monthly returns of General Electric (GE), General Motors (GM), IBM, and Disney (DIS) data Statistic           DIS       GE        GM        IBM      Average             0.001379  0.001361  -0.00908  0.008332 Variance            0.006539  0.004891  0.016213  0.008187 Standard deviation  0.080866  0.069934  0.127328  0.090485  The average return represents the mean of a stock’s return over a given period (Lakonishok 1994). It indicates the return that an investor could have received if his or her holding period corresponded to the period covered by the stock returns (Jensen 1968). IBM, DIS, and GE stocks have a positive average over the period covered while GM has a negative average over the same period. The average of DIS and GE is nearly the same. The variance is a measure of dispersion and it indicates how individual returns of stock vary from the mean or average return (Kothari 1995). As indicated in the above table, GM stock had the largest variance over the period followed by IBM. GE stock, on the other hand, registered the least variance over the period. The variance measures the risk of a stock (Shapiro 1986). The higher the variance the higher the risk of the related stock (Pandey 2008). Therefore, GM stock has the highest risk in this case while GE stock has the lowest risk. The standard deviation is the square root of the variance and it indicates the average dispersion of individual stock returns from the average (Jegadeesh 1993). As shown in the table, GM has the highest standard deviation and GE the lowest. CAPM model for Microsoft and GM Microsoft: R ms = 1.174(R m -R f ) + 0.043. Where R ms =expected return on Microsoft stock. 1.174 is the beta value for Microsoft stock. (R m -R f )=risk premium. 0.043 is the alpha value for Microsoft stock. GM: R Gm =1.061(R m -R f )