ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Measurement of Perceptual Effects of Afterimages Afterimages are defined as “optical illusions, particularly well perceived when fixating an image for an extended period of time and then looking at a neutral background, where an inverted copy of the original stimulus appears” (Ritschel & Eisemann, 2012, p. 529). The mechanism of afterimage perception is complex and not entirely understood. However, it is considered that afterimages are mainly defined by retinal kinetics (Spillmann & Werner, 2012). The purpose of the project is to explore further into the mechanisms of human brightness perceptions in the situation of changing luminance. Aims and Research Questions The research aims to detect electrophysiological correlates of afterimages in humans and to report possible oscillatory responses of the visual system. The findings will allow the researchers to substantiate the explanation of mechanisms leading to visual after-effects in brightness perception. The project will aim to answer the following questions:  1. How does the degree of image contrast affect the recovery from a bleach?  2. How does the time of exposure affect the recovery from a bleach?  3. How can oscillatory responses be modified by a contrasting phenomenon against dark and bright backgrounds? Methodology To achieve a greater level of findings’ generalisation, a simple randomised sampling technique will be used. The estimated total number of participants is 100-150. The quantitative design methodology will be used, and the experiment will be administered in two phases. Initially, participants will be exposed to vertical grading images with gradually decreasing contrast. On the second stage, they will be exposed to higher-contrast images during a longer period (10-15 seconds). The results of the two experiments will be compared. The data about oscillatory responses, as well as stationary patterns, will be recorded via electroencephalography (EEG). The subjective perceptions, as well as demographic data, will be collected by using questionnaires. Statistical Procedures The linear regression will be administered to control confounding variables, i.e. age, gender, etc., to reduce possible biases associated with them. The given tool allows examining the links between distinct covariates (demographic and multicultural indicators) and a numeric outcome (perceptional and retinal response to a breach). The statistical analysis of the results obtained in the two experiments will be carried out with independent measures t-test. The given tool allows identifying if the means of two gr
Introduction Since the infamous 9/11attacks, the United States has increased its efforts in dealing with the threat of terrorism. According to experts, security forces across the country consider the war on terrorism as their top priority (Feiffer, 2003). Homeland security is an issue that concerns everyone in the United States, regardless of their political affiliation, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or economic status. Studies have established that the American government has received massive support from various sources that include the media and the international community towards reducing the threat of terrorism. According to reports by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the government has doubled its budgetary allocation towards the fight against terrorism since the 9/11 attacks (Wolf, 2007). The attacks provided a clear picture of the huge threat that the United States has to deal with in terms of domestic terrorism. According to the FBI, domestic terrorism refers to acts of violence committed by Americans or permanent residents of the country on their fellow citizens. This tactic is commonly used to instill fear in people in order to achieve goals related to religious or ideological issues (Feiffer, 2003). Experts argue that people involved in domestic terrorism often get their inspiration from things such as social injustices, racial discrimination, or lack of political goodwill among others (Wolf, 2007). The United States has some of the highest levels of diversity in terms of ethnic composition, religious beliefs, and social classes. These factors often promote the culture of radicalization that is a huge contributor to domestic terrorism (Wolf, 2007). Discussion Despite the numerous efforts made by the government to address the threat of domestic terrorism, experts argue that the country still faces a huge challenge of improving on the current security measures. One of the main factors associated with this challenge include globalization, technological advancements, and freedom of speech (Feiffer, 2003). A number of people have acquired permanent residency in the United States. Experts believe that such individuals often contribute towards the rising
Problem Statement Insolvency proceedings influence economic growth and stability throughout the world. The cost, time, and outcome of these measures determine the rate at which an organization recovers from the debt burden by using liquidation, reorganization or liability enforcement to repay secured creditors. Although countries are interdependent economically, they use different approaches to resolve insolvency. Introduction SMEs Adopted by the Dubai SME The economy of Dubai is highly dependent on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Indeed, SMEs represent 95 per cent of all establishments in the Emirates. Moreover, 40 per cent of the total value-add generated in Dubai comes from SMEs (Yanes-Estévez, et al., 2018). They also provide 42 per cent of jobs, which is why the government is keen to ensure they do not fail. Any issues arising due to insolvency are sorted quickly by relevant authorities to ensure economic stability in Dubai and the UAE at large. Aims and Objectives of the Analysis The main aim of this analysis is to look at how Germany, USA, and Norway resolve insolvency and compare them to the UAE. Insolvency or bankruptcy often evokes negative associations with failure and shame, and potential entrepreneurs can be deterred from starting a new venture by it (Yanes-Estévez, et al., 2018). Indeed, the possibility of going bankrupt is the greatest fear associated with starting a business, ranking higher than irregular income and job insecurity. If a government creates a proper framework for the resolution of insolvency, many people will be interested in starting businesses, and this will stimulate economic growth. Thus, the objective of this study is to look at how the US, Germany, and Norway handle insolvency concerns with a view to influencing current measures undertaken by the UAE government. Countries to be Included to the Analysis As already mentioned, the countries to be included in the Analysis are the United States, Germany, and Norway. These three “high-income countries” are in different parts of the world, including North America, Western Europe, and Northern Europe. Therefore, their inclusion in this analysis provides global insight. Notably, it is relatively easy doing business in these countries judging by their respective ease of doing business and getting credit indices. Table 1 (separate Excel file) summarizes the profile of each country; it includes the ease of doing business and getting credit indices at the bottom. The ease of doing business for USA, Germany, Norway and UAE are 8, 24, 7 and 11 respectively. The getting credit index for all the four countries is 3, 44, 85 and 44 respectively. These data are provided in country profiles available on the World Bank website (World Bank, 2018). A screenshot of Table 1 is included below, and the data also reflect the information from the country profiles prepared by the United Nations (2018). Table 1. Countries’ Profiles. Source: a screenshot. Getting Credit in USA, Germany, Norway, and the UAE: Policies Involved Summary of the Section
Night of the Living Dead, which was directed by George Romero, has long become a classical example of such a cinematographic genre as thriller. The plot of this film revolves around a group of people, who are forced to barricade themselves in a farmhouse in effort to save their lives from re-animated zombies. The film starts, when siblings Johnny and Barbara go to an old cemetery in Pennsylvania in order to see the grave of their father. Yet, when the brother and sister arrive at the cemetery, they are attacked by a stranger, who subsequently kills Johnny. Barbara escapes from him into a farmhouse, where several other people take shelter: a married couple with their daughter, two teenagers, and a young man, called Ben. They have been driven into this place by ghouls, who have been re-animated by some unknown force. All of them have to hide in the cellar as it is too dangerous to go outside. By listening to radio reports they learn that this area is teaming with zombies, whose bite is contagious. They begin to argue over the plan of action. Ben insists that they should not stay in the cellar, as the zombies can break into it at any moment. Eventually, they do try to flee the house; yet, nearly all of them perish in this attempt. Ben, the only survivor, retreats into the cellar and waits through the night. When the posses come to the rescue, they mistakenly take Ben for a zombie and shoot him. The film ends with the scene of pyre, in which the bodies of ghouls are being burnt. Since the time of its release, Night of Living Dead came under the close scrutiny of critics throughout the world. George Romero explores a great number of social and political issues in this film, for instance, the sufferings of American soldiers in Vietnam, the anxiety of the society that lives in the Cold-War world. Yet, it seems that the overarching idea of this film is that there are no pure forms of good and evil and that such a worldview inevitably leads to isolation and fatal mistakes. George Romero tries to prove this argument in different ways: first of all, he shows how seemingly good and decent people can transform into monsters, especially if they are put into extreme conditions. To a great extent, the ghoul’s bite, which turns a person into monster, is supposed to demonstrate that each of us has a darker side that can reveal itself against our will. Ben’s accidental death is another detail, which indicates that good and evil do not exist in absolute form. The posses, who come to the farmhouse, are willing to slaughter every zombie that they find in this area. It does not even occur to them that there may be survivals. In fact, Ben falls victim to their haste and indiscrimination. Inability to see good qualities in other people results in death and destruction, and this is the core idea, which George Romero wanted to emphasize. One should bear in mind that horror movies and thrillers traditionally have happy endings, but George Romero chose to depart from
Software professionals continue to face various complex challenges while implementing Scrum. In a bid to seek answers to this difficult situation, software professionals have shown realistic approaches that have helped various software industries make Scrum an Agile progress. The previous progress on software development will continue as long as software professionals and stakeholders do not relent on their passionate spirit of initiating change. However, with the current multi-team projects and determination, Agile will succeed from project to project and help transform the entire software industry. In order to succeed with Agile, it requires software professionals to create an understanding of not only the mechanics of the process, but also a motivated team. The team should always be ready to face new challenges as it accomplishes one task. The Scrum methodology entails various difficulties such as the development of large and complex software programs that demand a high level of concentration and skill. A small mistake can easily break a program at its final stages of completion. Relaxation of a team member during a production process can allow serious errors and complicate the entire process (Ghilic-Micu, Stoica & Uscatu, 2014). With the kind of efficiency and effectiveness that Scrum has demonstrated in previous projects, it is strengthening the weak lines and minimizing the possibility of errors persisting for a long time. One of the possible ways to ensure the continuity of software development entails splitting the entire process into short spurts. This aspect means that all focus will be redirected on a small set of frameworks. This simple way makes teams come out smart in terms of production without having to introduce new measures or skills. Working in short spurts improves a team’s ability to concentrate and realize every possible error before the commencement of a project. Consequently, production goes up and damages are reduced by the highest margin possible. Another measure is through avoiding the extensive use of overtime in a bid to increase production. Software industry demands a lot of brainwork as opposed to physical energy (Drury-Grogan & O’dwyer, 2013). This aspect means that productivity through overtime can only be possible within a short span after which the mind is exhausted. Intellectual fatigue sets in and it becomes hard to master every detail at a desired rate. Production declines and errors escalate within even one week of overtime. Iterative process entails splitting long software development cycle into shorter sections to inc
Baradacco’s text article talks about dreams and how they are the inner source of inspiration for leaders. The author tries to show how dreams can go wrong and ruin an individual’s life. This is elaborated by Arthur Miller’s play, The Death of a Salesman which brings out the two sides of a dream. The prepositions revealed are that dreams are provoking and that they are also deeply disturbing. The text relies on the play to expound the dream metaphor but focuses on the negative beat of dreams that go wrong. The aspects and the ideologies given in the Baradacco’s article are supported in the paper. The author’s point of view is that dreams that go wrong devastate families, leaders, and organizations. From the play used in the article, dreams can be clearly stated, dominant or single, based on a multitude of aspirations and hopes. I concur with the idea that dreams give hope and aspiration and that they can be many or single. According to Badaracco “dreams are slow acting poisons” (2006). Dreams can break a man and literally eat them away, destroying the relationships one had because of an unachievable dream set by the individual. According to Redpath (1998), dreams give human beings ideas that are at best, pure imagination, if not impossible. From the text, Willy has a dream of his family and the career as a salesman from where he has to divide his time between his career and his family. Long separations can cost a relation as seen in the article. In my view, this is absolutely true because relationships need companionship and this can only be achieved through closeness. Hope keeps people going because they believe things w
Introduction Personal hygiene has been one of the most lucrative industries since the dawn of time. Various texts found by archeologists in the ruins of ancient civilizations of Rome, Greece, China, and India indicate that humans were always concerned with healthy appearances and matters of personal beauty (Balaji & Baskaran, 2018). While personal care products in ancient times were available only to the select few individuals belonging to the higher echelons of the society, modern economy recognizes the value of low and medium-income customers as well as their needs for quality care. Appearances play an important role in modern societies, often being the factor that determines success in finding a life partner or scoring a job. Although traditionally, women constituted the larger portion of the market for skin care products, men aged between 17 and 35 represent a largely untapped market potential (Balaji & Baskaran, 2018). The purpose of this report is to analyze potential advertising strategies, cultures, and subcultures, that can be used to promote an affordable line of personal care products for this subset of the population. What Are Personal Care Products? Personal care products include a wide variety of items used in day-to-day beautification and hygiene routines. These include cosmetics, sunscreens, shaving tools and creams, deodorant sticks, soaps and bathing products, toothbrushes and toothpaste, skin and hair care products, nail polish, fitness products, and various other items. Historically, men used less personal care products when compared to women. However, a modern man cannot exist without utilizing certain products, such as (Balaji & Baskaran, 2018):   * Toothpaste and toothbrushes.   * Deodorants.   * Body gels and shampoos.   * Razors and shaving products. Since dental hygiene products can be considered a subcategory of their own, it is recommended to focus on deodorants, body gels, and shaving products for this advertising campaign, as these three groups of products are associated with the image of modern men, which the target population represents. Message Appeal Personal care products are associated with several potent messages that can be used in marketing. These messages are healthiness, cleanliness, and sex appeal (Moriarty et al., 2014). The latter is particularly attractive for younger men, as evidenced by the success seen by the AXE line of products, which uses humor and sex appeal to attract male customers. However, AXE is a relatively expensive brand, meaning that our advertising campaign will also need to focus on the availability of the product to low-income customers. Healthiness is associated with the sport, wh
Computer games can provide a platform for virtual world interaction with brands. Advertisement through computer games can either be Advergaming or In Game advertisement (Sever 2). The Polo Cup in Turkey was used by some brand sponsors as a medium for advertizing (Sever 1). Volkswagen brand used this platform for advergaming. Race paths and cars were branded (Sever 1). In specific, Volkswagen used the indicative game advertisement to achieve the advergaming marketing. This form of brand integration allows production to occur within the game area. An internet 3D game Polo Cup virtual game was also provided on the www.ntvmsnbc.com website and participants competed for awards (Sever 4). Consequently, participants in the game area were able to interact with the brand. Needs were addressed particularly when the brand advertisement information was made visible to players in the form of the brand logo and messages. The experience with the brand increased exposure in due course. The marketer gained advantage over other traditional approaches since brands drew attention of the participants in a playful way in real time and over-the-time (unlimited exposure). Volkswagen brand was behind organizing for the game under the tag of the Polo Cup and the gamers contested on branded cars in order to win a prize. Permission for brand inclusion by marketers entailed paying the game publishers to integrate the brand during production (Sever 2). Consumer experience in the virtual advergaming provided them with an opportunity to participate in Polo Cup as much it’s not in the real car and track. This is regardless of prior real driving experience or competing. Participants appreciate the Volkswagen contribution towards the competition and may convince them to opt for the brand over others during their shopping. Alternatively, consumers (as competitors
The Epic of Gilgamesh enables the reader to identify the cardinal virtues that could be valued in the ancient world. In particular, one should speak about courage, moderation, and a sense of justice. The author highlights the importance of these virtues by describing the transformation of the major characters, especially Gilgamesh. The protagonist acquires these positive qualities in the course of his journey, and the readers can see these changes in his behavior. This is the main question that should be discussed in this paper. This epic poem emphasizes the importance of temperance by contrasting the behavior of Gilgamesh during different periods of his life. In the beginning, he is a portrayed as a strong, yet the ruthless person who does not care much about the needs of other people. This is how he is described by the author, “As king. Gilgamesh was a tyrant to his people” (Mason 12). Moreover, he exercises his kingly right to choose ‘a virgin bride’ (Mason 12). However, through his friendship with Enkidu Gilgamesh learns to value the needs of other people. Moreover, he sees that moderation is vital for a king. Therefore, the author of this poem illustrates the benefits of moderation by describing the positive changes in the behavior of the protagonist. Nevertheless, temperance or moderation is not the only virtues that the main character develops in the course of the journey. Much attention should be also paid to courage. As it has been said before, Gilgamesh is described as a powerful warrior, but one can say that he has courage or fortitude. It should be taken into account that his quest for eternal life could be motivated by the fear of death. The author of this poem highlights the importance of fortitude through the words of Enkidu who reminds Gilgamesh that he should be courageous. One should refer to the following quote, “Don’t be afraid, said Gilgamesh. We are together. There is nothing we should fear” (Mason 28). To a great extent, Enkidu makes the protagonist discover true courage. In the course of his journey, Gilgamesh learns to accept his mortality and in this way, he rejects some of his fears. Nevertheless, one should also mention the sense of justice which is also one of the cardinal virtues. Overall, one can argue that Gilgamesh begins to appreciate the importance of justice while interacting with Enkidu who is not afraid of confronting a goddess Ishtar that oppresses people. Moreover, this character is not afraid of Ishtar’s curse (Mason 45). In turn, Gilgamesh understands that a ruler is supposed to protect people who are under his command. Admittedly, such a concept as justice is mention in the text of the poem, but the readers can that fairness plays a key role in this text. Thus, it is possible to argue that the Epic of Gilgamesh is supposed to be a moral lesson for the readers. This literary work prompts people to reject arrogance, indulgence, and egoism. The author wants to show through his quest Gilgamesh changes of various aspects of his behavior. In the