ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The statistics by the Center of Disease and Control gives an alarming view about the existing circumstances as far is obesity is concerned. The fact that there has been an increase in obesity in both adults and children raises concerns of what can be done so as to ensure that the number of obese people is kept down. The fact that the scenario has come to a point that it has become a national epidemic means that the government has the responsibility of doing everything possible to ensure the issue is well handled. The question of whether the government should regulate the food business should be answered after weighing the pros and cons not regulating the food business. It is clear that though the resultant of not controlling food business has brought about an epidemic, there is also the benefit to organizations of an available market of work out DVDs, gym memberships and also dinners that are frozen. In terms of financial contribution, it only means that the organizations that are offering these services are also contributors to the economy and through the activities some obese people are also benefiting. The government also needs to access the successes of the solutions that these organizations have so as to know whether there is need to regulate the food business. For what would be the reason of regulating the business if there are more financial benefits and the people who engage in the solutions are getting the help they need? Economically, if the government decides to regulate the business and success to reduce obesity, these organizations may be forced to lay off the workers or even close down. If that happens, there would be economic Implications on the people who were dependent on these businesses. On the other hand, the fact that grocery st
Introduction The book The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick presents an alternative world, where Japan and Germany won the Second World War. Enemy territories were occupied by the victors, and a delicate balance was established. The metaphorical symbol of this equilibrium in the novel is the former United States territory divided into three parts. There is the West – the Great Nazi Reich, the East – the Pacific States (Japan), and the Center – the Neutral Zone (the States of the Rocky Mountains and most of the Midwest that was ignored only because no useful resources were found on its territory. The war ended in 1947, and the plot of the book unfolds 15 years after these events. Presenting a complex alternative world, this book focuses on such themes as power, memory, politics, social segregation, and the role of the literature, the consideration of which helps the reader to understand the ideas and messages conveyed by the author. Themes Power One of the main themes of the given book is power over the system and people. What if Germany won the Second World War? One may suggest chaos, destruction, atrocities, and humiliation of people. In Dick’s novel, everything is different. In the world of victorious fascism, it seems that only the key players on the world stage have changed, dictating to other countries their conditions. Devoid of culture and crushed by Japan, America does not have power over the world, while Germany rules, taking leading positions in all sectors up to space (Gioia). Fascism has already seized the Earth, and the leaders are attracted by the expansion of other planets. At the same time, busy with its issues, Germany no longer conducts such an aggressive dictatorship, and the common people are living quite well. If this is totalitarianism, then it is extremely moderate. People are not limited significantly, even censorship is practically non-existent as a book stating that the Allies won World War II becomes a hit of sales (Dick 36). Thus, the author reconsiders the concept of power, and it seems that his message is that the authorities always tend to control people and the system. Memories The majority of characters presented in the book vaguely remember that everything was different in former times. Most survivors of the terrible war and their descendants have adapted to a new way of life and even thinking, seeking solace in the idea that everything is not so bad, and it could be even worse (Jordison). It seems that all of them – both defeated and victorious – feel the inferiority and inhumanity of this new world. The reader may note some new, unfamiliar, and exciting thoughts in their minds that there are other ways of development, and it is not too late to stand up for them. Someone came to this independently after experiencing humiliation and resentment, while others pushed a book written by a man from the Hig
Quoting Bruce Olav Solheim (2006) and in his book, The Vietnam War Era: A Personal Journey , the slogan of any war, the Vietnam War included, can be as follows: “Pay any price, bear any burden”, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” (p. 51). War is a nightmare, a horror. Nowadays, still, there live people who have suffered this nightmare and brought this horror in their hearts. These people live among us, they are the same as we are, and they are absolutely different from us, they are veterans of the Vietnam War. Luckily, we have managed to have a talk with a veteran of Vietnam, Mr. David Locker. The interview was conducted on February, 9, 2010 in Mr. Locker’s house. This was a tête-a-tête conversation, a dialogue between an interviewer (the author of the present paper) and the interviewee (Mr. Locker). The interview was held in informal atmosphere since the participants were in friendly relationship; Mr. Locker has been our neighbor for many years already. As he stated, he took part in military action with the US forces as a private soldier in Vietnam, at the military base at Long Binh. Our interview report will be presented in the form of the summary with necessary inscriptions of direct speech of Mr. Locker. When we asked Mr. Locker about the way he happened to take part in the Vietnam War, he said that he was drafted but, anyway, at that time he thought that it was his destiny as he wanted to serve his country. He was a “lightheaded and romantic youth” as he described himself. He said: “I had no ties, nobody to tell me not to go there. Unmarried and unattached, I was just a silly boy who was eager to become a hero. I had never suspected that war was not an adventure, it was hell on the Earth”. At
Lifelong learning occurs when we undertake learning activates all along our lifetime, in the aim of improving our working skills, become competent or improve the acquired knowledge. Learning can occur within social, cultural, personal or employment point of views. I therefore concur that lifelong learning is very necessary for global change and growth, since it is a procedure for upgrading knowledge, abilities, interests, skills or qualifications. According to Selwyn et al (2006), this form of learning occurs from the pre-school age and goes beyond retirement age. When there is development of competence and knowledge, people become motivated and consequently find ways of adapting to the knowledge-based societies. Global growth depends on the rate at which people actively participate in solving social, cultural and economic challenges. As a result, various form as for lifelong learning provides chance to control major future aspects (Selwyn et al, 2006). Some of these forms of learning include formal learning. It mainly concern ranked or grading learning for instance, most people ensure they are educated to university level. On the other hand, informal learning is acquisition of vocational skills, mainly utilized by specialized people already in career fields. Non-formal learning can also be the intergenerational learning where those of the older generations can learn new skills with the purpose of keeping in line with new generation. A good example of this form of upgrading is learning computer related skills to integrate well with the current dynamic technological platforms. One may also learn to play a new instrument in the market to strengthen interaction with children or friends. Informal learning is thus the highest contributor to global growth. In line with European Commission (Stephanie et al, 2007), there are many different reasons why one should take on informal learning but eventually, all rationale are in support of global growth. The informal learning opportunities must be available to every willing citizen on an on-going basis, to cater for human interests and economic growth at all stages of livelihood. Developing and developed countries consider lifelong learning as a key factor of enhancing global change and specifically global growth. Today various international agencies such as UNESCO, Departments of Internal as well as International Developments, United Nations and World Bank are in the forefront of advocating lifelong education systems, in support of integrated economical ideas for people with diverse specialties (Stephanie et al, 2007).
In recent years when life is busy and schedules are hectic, tourists or travelers are choosing destinations, which are Eco friendly and has ordinary attractions for their annual, weekends or fortnight holidays. Pollution is one of the biggest issues these days, so as part of the world citizen people along with their partners and children want to witness the natural way of life in the form of Agritourism. Most of the tourist’s typical holiday attractions are high ways, sky scrapers, visiting museums and urban way of life. However, to get unique and life time experience, Agritourism is the good offer for a change. Agritourism is the combination of a farm way of life education, adventure, typical or traditional culinary and an experience for those who are homesick and stuck in city life. The commercial enterprise of a vineyard, ranch or any farm is Agritourism. It not only generates the income for farmers but also educates the visitors, but it does provide enjoyment as well (Agritourism N.D). In any working farm Agritourism not only helps farmers to earn extra money, but it provides a suitable and appropriate way of ranch life, and increase vineyard or farm supplement income. It can be earning from farm stays, classes, fairs and festivals organized by local farmers, farms, which grow Christmas tree, patches of pumpkin, fishing, etc. to get money (Agritourism n.d). Agritourism is completely different from fast city life. It is comparatively slower and contains leisure time activities. It’s not only help people to enjoy the farm life, but to appreciate and understand the farmer’s way of life. Like, enjoyable and fresh air long walk at vineyards, and then get the opportunity to taste the wine as well. Visitors can ride horses, walk through rivers, take a hay rides, sleigh ride, picking apples and other seasonal fruits and taste honey. Rural tourism is a segment, which is referred as nature, recreation or ecotourism based tourism. If we check the Ecotourism and Agritourism, then we will find that it has many aspects, which are overlapping each other. Sometimes those aspects occur or happen at the same time. The term Ecotourism is protected the low scale areas and fragile responsible to travel. On the other hand, Agritourism is described as, it involves activities, which are based on agricultural, which invites or attracts visitors to the ranch or farm. When we use the name Agritourism then there are many peopl
Impact The world we live in has experienced many changes over the past and these have come about mostly as a result of the principles that many people, from different fields, have come up with. Among these are the Art of war by Sun Tzu and the Principle of war by Carl von Clausewitz. The main question that arises from this is whether these principles apply and work every time and in different circumstances. Another question is also raised on whether we have reached the end of coming up with new principles that are helpful in improving our lives. In the art of war, Sun Tzu gives the principles which he noted were crucial for the success and operation of the army. In the text, Sun Tzu was appointed the General of the Army by Ho Lu, who was the King, due to the ability to handle an army; that he had displayed. The victories and the fame of Sun Tzu went hand in hand till he came to share in the might of the King. Sun Tzu came up with five constant factors which an individual must consider in order to succeed in battle. These factors are heaven, earth, moral law, the commander, and method and discipline. Each of these factors stands for specific things, which are crucial for success to be achieved. The principles set out by Sun Tzu were successful then; this raises the main question of whether, in these current times, they can still be successful when applied (Tzu 5). Principle The Principles of war is a book that contains the principles of war that Carl von Clausewitz acknowledged were crucial for the success of an army in any battle that they got involved in. The principles came to be employed by different armies across the world in enforcing wise tactical warfare which ensured their successes in the battles that they were engaged in. The principles of war left behind for Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia led him to enjoy many victories against different nations that He and his allies had a conflict with, for example, the victory against the alliance of Austria, Sweden, Russia, and Saxony. Clausewitz mentions in the book that during the time of war, firmness and calmness should be maintained even though this may be hard to do. The question of whether these principles can be applied in other areas apart from the military area arises. Goals In the Goal, the question is raised on the importance of deductive thinking when it comes to the practicality of the principles that have been in existence. The importance of logical stepwise decision making is stressed. The question of whether we have come to the end of discovery is answered. Everything that is claimed to be a discovery is noted as something that has been existence since time immemorial, and that it is just an encounter that has occurred. The book is about Alex Rogo who is a plant manager in a company that is not operating at its full capacity and is experiencing a lot of difficulties in meeting its targets. Questions are recognized as a main method of learning since it allows a person to deductively think in order to come up with solutions to the challe
How CAPM can be used to estimate the cost of capital for real investment decisions Real investment decisions are very different from financial investment decisions. Financial investment decisions are concerned with financial instruments, which are usually traded on stock exchanges. This makes it easy to estimate the expected returns on such investments. In contrast, real investment decisions involve real assets such as land, technology, people, and other and other tangible assets. These assets pose difficulty in estimating the required returns. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) provides a solution to this problem. It states that investors require to be compensated both for taking a risk and for holding their money for a given period. The CAPM formula is: Expected Return = Risk-Free Rate + ß(Expected market return-Risk Free rate) In this case, ß represents the Asset Beta. This figure shows how easily the asset returns respond to changes in the market returns. Large ß shows that the asset’s returns are highly dependent on market returns, while small ß indicates that the asset’s returns are independent of the market returns. In the case of Ameritrade, the estimated Asset Beta is 2.06. This figure is very high. It reflects the fact that the returns on the proposed investment are highly dependent on the market returns. This is very risky. The result is that investors will require to be compensated highly for taking this risk. This is reflected in the resultant high cost of capital (22%). The Cost of Capital can be estimated using CAPM provided the Asset Beta, expected Market Return, and Risk-Free Rate is known. In the case of Ameritrade, the asset beta has to be estimated from comparable firms. The risk-free rate is taken as the return on government securities of the same length as the intended investment period. Risk-Free Rate and Risk Premium estimates for Ameritrade My estimate for the Risk-Free Rate is 6.61%. This is the Annualized Yield to Maturity on 30Year government bonds. The reason I chose 30-year bonds as opposed to other short-term bonds is that this is a long-term investment decision. The company is planning to spend a lot of money on this project while expecting returns for an equally long period. Thus, this is the best proxy for the Risk-Free rate. My estimate for the Market Risk premium is 7.2%. I obtained it by computing the difference between the Average Annual Returns of Long term bonds and Large Company stock between 1929 and 1996. I chose 1929-1996 from 1950-1996 because the latter period is shorter than the former. Therefore, the 1926-1996 period is likely to give more accurate results than 1950-1996. Computation Large Company Stocks- Long Term Bonds = 12.7% – 5.5% =7.2% Steps for computing the asset beta for purposes of calculating t
Introduction Important changes in the legal system to deal with abuse and violence meted on children, allowed children to offer uncorroborated testimony in sexual abuse cases. As a result, more preschoolers are allowed to provide statements in criminal cases where they are often the victims. In particular, in cases of sexual abuse involving a child, the child is allowed to testify both as the victim and as a witness. However, in the recent past, the question of reliability and credibility of children’s report has raised fundamental concerns especially when there is little medical evidence or adult eyewitness testimony. In such cases, the defense normally argues that, suggestive repeated interviews by the law enforcement officers and parents influence children witness reports. Although some previous studies highlight the strengths of the memories of children, most studies highlight the weaknesses of young children’s memories. This implies that their memories, and by extension, their reports can be modified by suggestions of the interviewers. Accordingly, repeated interviews about a true or false event affect the accuracy and reliability of children’s reports (Bruck, Ceci, & Hembrooke, 2002, p. 520). Research on the young children’s suggestibility provides intriguing insights with regard to how contextual factors children’s reports. Suggestive interviewer techniques have deleterious effects on the memory of the children. The Main Findings of the Articles Suggestibility in children is more pronounced in younger children than in older children. Bruck et al. study involved a review of previous research in assessing the issues of reliability and credibility of preschool children reports during repeated interviews (2002, p. 527). The study reviewed interviews that involved suggestive and non-suggestive techniques with sixteen preschoolers. The interviews comprised of five repeated sessions with two true events and two fictional events being addressed using both suggestive and non-suggestive techniques. For interview one, no suggestive techniques were used while, interviews two and three employed suggestive techniques. Interview four involved use of a puppet to interview the children while interview five involved a different interviewer. In all the interviews, the children were required to give a full account of the events. According to the results, one fictitious and one true event produced positive outcomes. Similarly, one fictitious event and one true event produced negative outcomes (Bruck et al., 2002, p. 539). From these results, the authors concluded that false and true narratives produce similar assent results in all suggestive interviews. The major finding of this article is that suggestive interviewing influences a child’s responses: increased assents and fantastic details, for both false and true events (Bruck et al., 2002, p. 548). Thus, it is difficult to determine the accuracy of children’s reports in suggestive interviews. In contrast, Principe, Kanaya, Ceci, and S
For decades, literacy teachers have argued about the best methods and approaches for teaching reading. Some of them were found ineffective and, therefore, were discarded, while others proved to be more effective and underwent further development. To understand the state of literacy in the United States nowadays, it is necessary to look back at the past. It appears that some methods suggested over 100 years ago parallel many of those recommended nowadays. This fact demonstrates that the search for the most efficient approaches to teaching reading has preoccupied educators for a long time. In colonial times, reading material for children was based on Christian, Protestant, and Puritan values. The earliest reader was the Horn Book, a printed introduction to Christianity for children, made of wood with the transparent horn used to protect the alphabet and verses (Barry, 2008). The Horn Book offered an oral, spelling approach to reading, called “the alphabet method.” This method was the primary approach applied to reading instruction until about 1820. It was focused on “knowledge of the alphabet, recitation, spelling bees, oral reading, elocution and memorization of Bible verses” (Shearer, Carr, & Vogt, 2018, p. 10). Shortly before 1690, the New England Primer was designed and published. Along with the alphabet, the textbook included verses, rhymes, and stories, which were still religious and developmentally inappropriate for young children. In the second half of the 19 th century, the need for educated people increased as the result of the Civil War, Gold Rush, and the Industrial Revolution. Educators, Horace Mann in particular, criticized incomprehensible words and tedious topics of essays (Barry, 2008). Thus, the approach towards teaching literacy was gradually changed, and a new type of readers was created. In 1841, the Eclectic series of William Holmes McGuffey was published. It consisted of 55 lessons with pre-reading activities, stories for children, and comprehension questions. The readers “were focused on alphabet knowledge, phonics, syllables, and sight words, and stories were written at increasingly difficult reading levels” (Shearer et al., 2018, p. 11). The stories spread cultural and religious values. However, some of them contained information about history, biology, astronomy, and so on. Around the time of the Civil War, “phonic” readers started to appear. They emphasized the sounds that letters made instead of merely their names. These readers used an approach that transformed letters into sounds and then blended the sounds (Barry, 2008). By the end of the 1800s, educators developed synthetic phonics approaches, which are widely applied in the 21 st century. Such readers followed a certain sequence: first, using pictures, teach the letter names and their sounds; second, sound out and blend words; third, orally read sentences and stories containing words with the letters and sounds learned (Barry, 2008). At about this time, the material also changed, and reading series commonly included a primer and five or six graded readers. The first female author, whose se