ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Two neighboring crones, antique and gray, Together talk’d at close of day One said with brow of wrinkled care, “Life’s cup, at first was sweet and fair, On our young lips, with laughter gay, Its cream of brimming nectar lay, But vapid then it grew and stale, And tiresome as a twice-told tale, And so in weary age and pain Its bitter dregs alone remain” The other with contented eye, Laid down her work and made reply: “Yes, Life was sweet at morning tide, Yet when the foam and sparkle died, More rich, methought, and purer too Its well-concocted essence grew, Even now, though low its spirit drains, And little in the cup remains, There’s sugar at the bottom still, And we may taste it, if we will. This poem by Sigourney has a rhyme scheme in the form of a couplet stanza — two consecutive lines of poetry that typically rhyme and have the same meter. It looks like AA, BB, AA, CC, DD, EE, FF, GG, DD, HH. The Difference in the Two Old Women’s Thoughts about Aging The poem describes two completely different visions of life. One woman considers her age to be a period of wilting and resignation. There is no future for her anymore; all the joys of life are in the past. Now only fatigue and sadness from old age await her humbly. The second woman gratefully accepts this stage of life. She is ready to plunge into the well-deserved calmness and come to terms with the state of affairs. She sees the path of life as an adventure with a good ending to be enjoyed. Comparison with sugar at the bottom represents many good things to come at the end of the journey. With the past years comes the wealth of the spirit and the understanding of the value of the soul. All that is superfluous is removed, but the purest remains. The first woman cannot understand that each stage of life has unique wisdom and should be accepted only with heartfelt gratitude. The poem is aimed at a philosophical understanding of the value of life and the onset of old age. The inevitability of this process can be very frightening, which is normal. Sullen resignation and bitter complaints are not the best way to cope with the fast pace of time. Only inner harmony and a willingness to see the bright sides can get rid of the constant feeling of sadness about missed opportunities. Fortunately, there is still life to explore this philosophy of happiness.
Introduction Terrestrial plants are primary producers in an ecosystem, and as such, they utilize light energy from the sun to manufacture food in a process called photosynthesis. To be specific, the Sun’s spectrum that is useful for this process is that emitting photons that fall within the visible spectrum with wavelengths ranging between 380 and 750 nm. Among the plant biologists, this spectrum is known as Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), i.e. µmole m -2 s -1 . Under normal circumstances, the rate of photosynthesis would be enhanced by an increase in light intensity. A plot of the rate of photosynthesis against PAR would assume a curvilinear trend as shown in figure 1. Figure 1 of net photosynthetic rate versus PAR (Givinish, 1988) Since sunlight is the basic component for photosynthesis, in an ecosystem characterized by a diversity of plant species, competition is inevitable. Natural selection is the order of the day and hence the species with the best survival techniques would survive. Plants develop adaptive features that are often manifested biochemically, morphologically and physiologically to optimize on the capture of sunrays. Terrestrial plant species can be categorized as either “shade tolerant or shade intolerant (sun plant)” (Horn, 1971). With these two categories, we can distinguish these terrestrial species characteristics qualitatively as summarized in appendix 1. Within each category, the gravity of tolerance or intolerance differs significantly amongst the different species. For instance, we explore two varieties of species, beech sugar and maple tree, which are both shade tolerant. Nevertheless, the former is relatively more shade tolerant (Huisman & Weissing, 2001). Shade tolerant species would optimize their rate of photosynthesis under limited light relative to its counterpart (see graph 1). In a niche where light is the limiting factor, the composition of the resulting species is a factor of aggressiveness to light of the co-occurring species. In a typical “temperate deciduous forest ecosystem, very little light penetrates to the forest floor where seedlings and saplings of the new generation of trees are located” (Larcher, 1995). As a result, these understory species derive their light from sunflecks, diffused light and the sunrays that pierce through to the ground thanks to the gaps created due to tree-falls. In an effort to comprehend the plant dynamics with respect to varying light intensity, Woods’ case study was conducted in Michigan. Basically, this region
Company Background and Fundamental Values The Bin-Shihon Group is located in Saudi Arabia and was founded by Bin Shihon in the year 1950. The company has its headquarters in the city of Riyadh and has established successful businesses in the sectors such as transport, real estate, household, tire and battery, machinery and trucks, and joint ventures. The company has diverse interests in different sectors of the economy and operates within the codes of integrity, business excellence, accountability, and entrepreneurship. The fundamental values of the company are customers, people, stakeholders, and business partners (Bin-Shihon Group par. 2). Major Divisions of the Company The major divisions of the group operate under different company names such as BBG Group FZE, Bin-Shihon for Household, Bin-Shihon Real Estate Holding Company, Aliur Laud Transport Company, Al-Mohtaraf, and Al-Hloul Heavy Equipment Company among others (Bin-Shihon Group par. 3). The share of each division is summarized in the table below. Division              Percentage Share (%) Tire and Battery      37.95                Household             6.50                 Real Estate           24.11                Transport             15.60                Trucks and Machinery  20.71                 From the above table, it is apparent that the tire and battery sector has the highest share of 37.95 followed by the real estate sector. The household sector has the least share of 6.50 of the total value of the Bin-Shihon Group (Bin-Shihon Group par. 5). The share per division is summarized in the pie-chart below. Specific Focus: The Tire Industry Players and Competition in the Tire Industry The main players in the Saudi tire industry are Bridgestone, Michelin, Bin-Shihon (Bin-Shihon Commercial Company and BBG Group FZE), and Goodyear. The Goodyear Company has market share of 32% followed by Bridgestone at 27.9%. The Bin Shihon Group occupies th
Montgomery (2012) provides valuable advice and case studies in her book to support her main argument: it is not the strategy itself that matters, but the leader’s ability to be a successful strategist. As the author points out, there is no successful sustainable strategy because the market and the industries demand changes (Montgomery, 2012). Although she does point out that it is crucial to consider the company and the industry, they are not the only factors that will eventually influence your decision-making and its outcomes, it is the approach that matters, and the ability to adjust, to change and invent new strategies if needed. As surprising as it might sound, many companies do not profoundly think about the aim of their business or its uniqueness (Montgomery, 2012). The author argues that an unclear understanding of what your company is trying to reach, what it will be in the next ten years, and how external and internal forces drive it can be fatal (Montgomery, 2012). The leader’s confusion about the company’s aims leads to wrong decision-making at the lower levels, including marketing, production, service, and other levels that need to base their decisions on a shared goal. Still, it cannot, because this goal does not exist. That is why, Montgomery (2012) argues, strategy and leadership are inseparable; strategy cannot be completed because it is a process that drives the company towards its aims. It cannot be finished because it is part of the firm’s course, which is the strategist (Montgomery, 2012). The
The purpose of this proposal report is to provide background information on capital budgets and analysis of the capital budget prepared for River County. In addition, this report provides considerations that the county must take into account for going ahead with the investment. Organizations prepare capital budgets mainly for planning out their capital requirements and resource allocation. The use of capital budgets is common and justified on the basis of the information that could be presented in a specified format for a better understanding of long-term business requirements (Finkler, 2010). Capital budgets provide both financial and non-financial information related to expected cash inflows and outflows of a business. This information is provided over a period of projection either on a quarterly basis or annually. Cash inflows are generally in the form of cash receipts resulting from the use of the company’s assets. Cash outflows, on the other hand, are cash payments that the company makes for acquiring these assets or upgrading / maintaining them. The non-financial information included in the capital budget covers the justification of capital investment, time schedule, and estimated lifetimes of capital investments (Finkler & McHugh, 2008). This information is used for carrying out the capital budgeting process to estimate the feasibility of capital investment based on its expected net cash flows. In the case of River County, its proposed capital investments for the next year have been considered for the preparation of a capital budget. The capital budget is presented in the following: Capital Budget                                                                                                                                                                                                  Capital Items       Time Schedule  Number of Units            Estimated Life  Per Unit Cost  Total Cost Garbage Trucks      Year 1         2                          10              150,000        300,000    Bulldozer           Year 1         1                          8               240,000        240,000    Riding Lawn Mowers  Year 1         3                          5               16,000         48,000     Activity Center     Year 1         1                          40              650,000        650,000                                       Total Cost to be incurred  1,238,000       The capital budget above provides relevant information pertaining to the capital investment decisions that River County is considering. The first column provides a list of capital items that the company plans to acquire. The time schedule set for these investments i.e. next year. Information related to the exact dates of completion of acquisitions is not available, which could have also been added to the above budget table. The third column indicates the number of units that the county aims to acquire. The fourth column is the estimated life of capital items listed in the budget. Since there is no salvage value of any item, therefore, it has not been indicated. The next column indicates the per-unit cost of eac
The concept of a quota is rather simple; as a rule, it implies that the members of the U.S. population who have been experiencing social injustice, particularly, African Americans, should be offered opportunities to advance in the workplace, educational environment, etc. (Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004). Although often viewed as the prime example of reverse discrimination, racial quotas must be interpreted as the attempt to level the chances of all members of the American population to execute their irrefutable rights. Indeed, quotas are often erroneously viewed as an attempt at providing African American people with opportunities that others do not have. However, it must be borne in mind that the specified members of the U.S. population are already discriminated against and, therefore, often do not have the societal and financial advantages to gain access to proper education, well-paid jobs, etc. Therefore, introducing quotas into the contemporary American job market serves only as of the means of giving all parties involved equal chances to succeed. Without quotas, African Americans would be deprived of their only opportunity to compete in the economic and educational environment, as well as explore the associated opportunities. Quotas provide the African American population with extra opportunities, yet they only allow making their chances at success be close to those of the rest of the U.S. population. Discrimination may take a variety of forms. It d
Influence of Jomina’s Ideas on Development of U.S. Military Thinking in the First Half of Nineteenth Century Jomini’s ideas had a massive influence on the development of the United States’ military thinking in the first half of the nineteenth century. According to Tucker (45), during this time, the United States was trying to develop an organized military system but lacked strong philosophies that would guide them. Peskin (24) says that the United States’ military heavily borrowed some of the Jomina’s concepts. One of the main military concepts that the United States army borrowed from this war strategists was the need to always be on the offensive. He argued that it is better to attack than to be under attack. He believed that it takes an enemy a lot of time and resources to reorganize itself if it is attacked when it least expected. This is one of the main concepts that the American military has embraced since then. In the First World War and the Second World War, the United States used this tactic and it enabled it to achieve success. Jomini’s war concepts are based on 4 maxims, all of which the United States’ military has embraced in modernizing its way of war. The first one is the need to strike an enemy successively upon decisive points (Tucker and Fredriksen 113). This is meant to suppress the enemy and make them unable to respond. The second maxim is to engage the factions of the enemy with bulk. Bulk gives the army an upper hand in terms of strength of numbers. This second maxim supports the third one which emphasizes using mass at decisive points. It holds that when attacking an enemy at a strategic point, using a large number of officers is highly encouraged (Waddell 48). Finally, Jomina emphasizes on the need to have proper timing and the right energy. All these concepts were embraced by the United States’ military in the first hal
In their article, Wenzel, Tucker, Hambarsoomian, and Elliott (2006) investigated cases of violence against impoverished women, their frequency, and preventative measures. The authors examined sexual, physical, and psychological types of violence, along with the probability of their interconnection. The population studied in the article consisted of women from 18 to 55 years old living in poor conditions and suffering from economic difficulties. The participants had no problem with communicating and understanding English. They had no considerable mental damage. All the females who took part in the research were experiencing economic hardship. The researchers emphasized the necessity of interviewing such a population since it is under a greater threat of violence than females living in better conditions (Wenzel et al., 2006). The sample selected for the study included women who were currently economically disadvantaged. The authors pointed out that this group is more vulnerable and experiences more cases of violence than women who are in economically better conditions. They also noted a disparity between impoverished women in shelters and females in housing, the latter showing fewer reports of violence. The researchers constructed their sampling frame based on another study performed with the assistance of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The sampling frame was defined by 51 local facilities: “homeless emergency shelters, transitional living facilities, single-room occupancy hotels, board-and-care facilities, detox and rehabilitation facilities, mental health facilities, and HIV and AIDS transitional homes” (Wenzel et al., 2006, p. 825). In all, 898 females were engaged in the interviews: 438 from low-income housing conditions, and 460 living in shelters. Two groups of females were excluded from the sampling frame: homeless women and women from domestic violence shelters. The former group was left out since it was impossible to distinguish its members, although the authors admitted that women in this group might face more serious risks of violence. The latter group was not considered in the sampling frame because the researchers did not have access to their place of residence. If the researchers had chosen to interview only females from battered women’s shelters, it would have made cluster random sampling complicated. In that case, the number of participants would have been considerably lower, which would have made the research less reliable. Not all impoverished women suffering from violence go to
It seems reasonable to state that nowadays, the ways people can communicate with each other are considerably diversified and vary, which results from the availability of many Internet tools, apps, and devices. Modern communication – the way how individuals establish and maintain relationships – is affected by the mentioned factors to a great extent, and, of course, there are is a plethora of advantages within the scope of the issue. There is an opinion, according to which apps serve as a foundation for essential types of conversations – starting from romantic and ending with business ones. Wortham states, “I’ve has some of my most emotional ally intimate and honest conversations with friends and romantic partners on mobile devices.” Indeed, it might be suggested that modern apps alleviate plenty of barriers that could have appeared during real-life communication. This is likely to lead to confidence and composure while interacting with others. The described position is supported by a substantial number of experts. For instance, Thompson claims, “Today’s tools make it easier for us to find connections – between ideas, pictures, people, bits of news that were previously invisible.” The latter thought seems to be rational, given the fact that the primary idea of these tools is to unite the world, as well as to provide everyone with the opportunity to communicate without distance concerns. An online community is now a vital prerequisite for creating universal connections between people who are set apart due to different aspects – politics, job issues, etc. It may be summarized that in the framework of the theme given, both Thompson and Wortham are solidary as their chosen statements support each other and allow developing the appropriate rationale and a coherent train of thought. Works Cited Thompson, Clive. Smarter Than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better . A Penguin Random House Company, 2013. Wortham, Jenna. “I Had a Nice Time With You Tonight. On the App.” The New York Times , 2014, Web.
Creating a rewarding environment within an organization allows sustaining the levels of motivation in staff members and convince them to use corporate values and ethical standards when making workplace decisions. As a result, a company will thrive and evolve, improving its services and communicating with all of its stakeholders effectively. However, building an environment where the company’s members are inclined to perform outstandingly well is impressively challenging because of the urgent need to integrate all factors defining the corporate strategy into the analysis. By studying the specifics of a rewarding environment in the context of the Emirates Group, one will understand what issues organizations have to handle in the modern economic setting and what strategies can be deployed to satisfy the needs of diverse stakeholders. Because of the financial risks that the Emirates Group has been facing recently, the company will need to revisit its current approach toward encouraging high-quality performance by reconsidering the current schedule and creating a less stressful setting in which staff members have to perform. Context of the Reward Environment at the Emirates Group At present, the Emirates Group has been employing a rather elaborate approach that is fully congruent with its values and standards. The organization has been using a traditional system of employee encouragement and motivation by providing the standard benefits package. In addition, the Emirates Group has been focusing on the promotion of safety and the enhancement of technological progress that makes the process of data processing and sharing within the team easier. The focus on communication among team members can be interpreted as one of the Emirates Group’s key assets. Unfortunately, the current approach toward meeting staff’s needs lacks diversity and does not take the individual needs of employees into account. Combined with the lack of career options and the increasingly high rates of workload, the Emirates Group organizational setting can be described as rather tense. The Emirates Group: Internal and External factors SWOT                  *