The Biggest Part Of My Life Essay - 919 Words

The biggest part of my life, that changed me the most, is when I moved to Atlanta from Detroit. I was in the midst of becoming a teenager, going through puberty, and entering high school. It was the biggest decision I have ever made. However, it is not as bad as it sounds. Except for the fact that I had to adjust to a new environment that was nothing like home, with people whom I never met before. It was the end of my sixth grade year when my dad came to me and told me the most devastating news of my life. He was going overseas! Not only was he going to be at least thirteen hours away, but half way across the country in Dubai. Then it hit me†¦Where would I live? , Who would take care of me? , and why is he going all the way over there? Too many questions to process at one time. My dad who meant the world to me was leaving me. He was a single parent and it was just me and him since I was born. I was heartbroken. He asked me did I want to live with my mom or go to Dubai with him. 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Chalillo Dam Free Essays

FORTIS INC. AND THE CHALILLO DAM Professor Robert Sexty wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The author does not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. We will write a custom essay sample on Chalillo Dam or any similar topic only for you Order Now The author may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey. uwo. ca. Copyright  © 2011, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2011-04-29 The executive offices of Fortis Inc. overlooked the harbour in St. John’s, Canada. Ships could be seen entering and exiting through the Narrows, the outlet to the North Atlantic Ocean. It had snowed and the trees on the Southside Hills were covered with a light dusting of white. H. Stanley Marshall, President and CEO, and John Evans, chief engineer, turned away from the view and began discussing the main issue the board of directors would confront at its next meeting in January 2002. Marshall and Evans were planning a presentation on the company’s Chalillo Dam project in Belize. They believed the project should proceed, but they had to convince the board of directors. The task was to make a recommendation including supporting arguments with a defence to counter the attacks being made on the project by international environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). Fortis had to prepare for the negative publicity that would most likely occur if the project was approved. If the company was unable to make a convincing argument, it was unlikely the project would proceed. FORTIS CORPORATION Fortis Inc. was a diversified electric utility holding company headquartered in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Fortis is a Latin word meaning strong, powerful, and firm. The Fortis international banking and insurance financial firm headquartered in The Netherlands and Belgium was not associated with Fortis Inc. In 2001, Fortis wholly owned Newfoundland Power Inc. , the principal distributor of power in the province of Newfoundland, and Maritime Electric Company, Limited, the main distributor in Prince Edward Island. Other financial interests included: ? ? ? FortisUS Energy Corporation, which operated four hydroelectric generating stations in upper New York state. Fifty per cent of Canadian Niagara Power Company, which sold energy to Canadian and U. S. customers. Twenty per cent of Caribbean Utilities Company Ltd. , the sole supplier of electricity on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. S ? ? ? 9B11M026 Sixty-seven per cent of Belize Electricity Limited (BEL), the only distributor of electricity in Belize, Central America. One hundred per cent of Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL), which owned a hydroelectric plant on the Macal River in Mollejon, Belize. A non-utility subsidiary, Fortis Properties, with investments in commercial properties in Atlantic Canada. 1 Exhibit 1 is a summary of Fortis’ financial performance for the years 1997 through 2001. FORTIS’ BELIZE OPERATIONS The Fortis operations in Belize embroiled the company in a social responsibility issue that consumed substantial costs, time, and energy. Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) had been owned by the government of Belize and was the main supplier of electricity in the country. In October and November 1999, Fortis Inc. acquired 67 per cent of the company for $36 million in cash. It later acquired BECOL and a proposal by this company to develop a hydroelectric project in Belize received international attention and became a sensitive issue for management. At the time of acquisition, BEL served about 53,000 customers. It was able to meet the country’s peak demand of 44 megawatts from the Mollejon hydro plant, its own diesel-fired generation, and purchases of energy from Comision de Electricidad, the Mexican state-owned power company. During 2000, the company conducted a quarterly Customer Satisfaction Survey and received an average 85 per cent satisfaction rating. Several initiatives improved BEL’s performance, including expanded service, improved reliability, monthly visits to customers, and the implementation of convenient payment options for customers. 2 BEL enhanced its corporate image in several other ways. It reduced electricity rates by seven per cent — a move targeted at commercial customers to assist in stimulating economic activity. 3 The company deployed operational teams from Newfoundland Power and Maritime Electric to repair damage caused by Hurricane Keith in the northern coastal regions of Belize on September 30, 2000. A safety program was implemented to reduce the risk of injury to employees and the public. This included the promotion of public safety and sponsorship of safety awareness campaigns. 4 BEL was concerned about the environment and initiated a program to meet compliance with the ISO 14001 environmental standard. It completed environmental cleanups at its generating plants and some diesel plants were decommissioned. The company signed a Memorandum of Intent to purchase excess capacity from Belize Sugar Industries, which had proposed construction of an electrical generation facility fuelled by sugar cane residue. BEL continued to improve its operations during 2001. Automated billing was introduced for its now 57,000 customers. Rural electrification projects continued in partnership with the Belizean government. These projects would eventually result in the closing of the remaining isolated diesel plants. A comprehensive safety audit was conducted and was the basis for a plan to increase e mployee safety. The 1 Generating Growth 2001 Annual Report, Fortis Inc. , pp. 10-24. Electrifying Growth 2000 Annual Report, Fortis Inc. , p. 16. 3 Ibid. , 35. 4 Ibid. , pp. 4, 16-17. 5 Ibid. , pp. 4, 18. 2 This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 2 9B11M026 Customer Satisfaction Index continued high at 82. 5 per cent. The company worked with the government to develop energy resources to meet the demand for energy with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency. 6 BEL was sensitive to environmental concerns and continued to mitigate the environmental impact of its operations. In October, 2,600 customers were impacted by Iris, a Category IV hurricane which damaged 25 per cent of the distribution system, causing $4 million in damage. The company donated about $40,000 to the Belize Red Cross for relief activities and employees donated clothing, helped build shelters, and cooked and served meals to hurricane victims. 7 The economic performance of BEL is summarized in Exhibit 2. The company’s rates and minimum quality service standards were determined by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Also, the company had a license to generate, transmit, distribute, and supply electricity until 2015. At that time, it had the right of first refusal on a subsequent license and if its license was not renewed, Fortis was to be paid the greater of market value or 120 per cent of net book value of assets. 8 For Fortis, the major event in 2001 was the purchase on January 26 of 95 per cent ownership in the Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL) with the Belizean government owning the other five per cent. BECOL operated the only commercial hydroelectric station in the country at Mollejon on the Macal River. The plant produced 25 megawatts and was capable of delivering average energy of 80 gigawatt hours. BECOL’s entire output was sold to Belize Electricity under a 50-year power purchase agreement. 9 Fortis paid $103. 1 million for BECOL and considered it a good strategic fit with its operation of BEL. 10 BECOL planned to build another dam on the Macal River and that became a major issue for BEL and Fortis. THE COUNTRY OF BELIZE Belize was a sovereign, democratic state with a government operating on the principles of parliamentary governance based on the Westminster parliamentary system. Until 1973, the country was known as British Honduras. It became independent from Britain in 1981 but maintained membership in the British Commonwealth of Nations. The country was located on the eastern or Caribbean coast of Central America, bordered by Mexico and Guatemala. A low plain extended along the coast with the land rising in the interior, where mountains rose to 1,124 metres above sea level. Eighty-four per cent of the country was covered with forests and about 10 per cent had arable land. The country was 22,966 square kilometres and the climate was subtropical. The main industries were sugar, citrus, fisheries, and bananas with some timber operations, food processing, and construction. Tourism had become an increasing contributor to the economy. The largest city was Belize City, on the coast, which was the country’s commercial hub. Inland about 75 kilometres was Belmopan, the capital where the seat of government had been relocated from Belize City to escape from the storms that flooded coastal areas. The country’s population was less than 300,000. 11 The government believed that electrification was an important component in its attempts to improve the country’s economy. The possible development of another hydro plant on the Macal River, known as the Chalillo project, was critical to increasing the supply of electricity. Generating Growth 2001 Annual Report, Fortis Inc. , pp. 6, 17. Ibid. , pp. 3, 18. 8 Ibid. , p. 34. 9 Electrifying Growth 2000 Annual Report, Fortis Inc. , p. 6. 10 Generating Growth 2001 Annual Report, Fortis Inc. , p. 4. 11 â€Å"About Belize,† Government of Belize web site, www. governmentofbelize. gov. bz/about_belize. html, accessed December 29, 2008. 7 This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 3 9B11M026 THE CHALILLO PROJECT Fortis, through BECOL, had proposed construction of a dam on the Macal River in the Cayo District of western Belize at a cost of about US$27. 3 million. The site was located in an unpopulated wilderness area, part of which was in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve and the Chaquibul National Park. These areas covered most of the southern half of the Cayo District (see Exhibit 3). It would produce 7. 3 megawatts of electricity for the Belize network and regulate the water flow of the river. The control over the water flow would increase the productivity and reliability of the Mollejon hydropower station downstream. The Chalillo project included the following: ? ? ? ? ? a 49. 5-metre-high and 340-metre-wide dam on the river a reservoir with a total surface area of 9. 5 square kilometres a powerhouse at the foot of the dam an 18-kilometre transmission line from the powerhouse to the Mollejon plant ancillary requirements including an access road and construction camp. 12 Project Justification As they had been working on the project for months, Marshall and Evans quickly identified its benefits, in particular for the Belizean economy and for the citizens of the country. Most importantly, the project would increase electrical output and raise energy self-sufficiency. The second dam on the Macal River would increase the productivity of the existing electrical plant at Mollejon. The output from the two plants would reduce reliance on petroleum generation, as diesel-fuelled generators could be closed. This would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the possibility of oil spills. A large portion of Belizean electrical energy was imported from Mexico under a contract that was to expire in 2008. The Mexican system experienced difficulties and was not a stable source, resulting in power outages in Belize. The completion of the Chalillo project meant that Belize would have a more reliable and secure supply of electricity, thus stabilizing and possibly reducing prices. Alternative sources of energy were examined by the government and BEL including thermal options (diesel and gas turbines), biomass, Battery Energy Storage Systems, and solar and wind power. Studies by BEL determined that power generated from the hydro source was less expensive than any other type of power. However, BEL was committed to purchasing power from a bagasse-fuelled generation facility planned by Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSI). The facility would produce energy by burning crushed sugarcane and wood waste from nearby sawmills. There were also auxiliary benefits from the project. The dam and reservoir would control flooding on the Macal River with significant economic, health and safety benefits to downstream residents, many of whom lived in the river’s floodplain. Also, there would be a steadier supply of water for residents, especially during the dry season. Employment would be created during construction and there would be economic benefits from supplying goods and services to the project. 13 12 Information for this section was obtained from â€Å"Chalillo Hydropower Project Summary,† brochure published by Fortis Inc. , Belize Electric Company Ltd. , and Belize Electricity Limited, October 2001, p. 10. 13 Most of the information for this section was obtained from â€Å"Chalillo Hydropower Project Summary,† brochure published by Fortis Inc. , Belize Electric Company Ltd. , and Belize Electricity Limited, October 2001, pp. 7, 10, 15-17. This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 4 9B11M026 Environmental Impact Fortis, through BECOL, was sensitive to the need for an environmental impact assessment. A five-volume Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the â€Å"Macal River Upstream Storage Facility† (technical name for the Chalillo project) was submitted by BECOL to the Belizean government in August 2001. Two portions of the EIA are discussed below. The Natural History Museum, London, England, conducted a wildlife impact assessment of the proposed Chalillo project in early 2001. The report confirmed that the area which would be impacted contained a rare and discrete floral floodplain habitat. This habitat relied on the flow of oxygenated water and the seasonal flooding following heavy rain. The project would adversely impact a biologically rich and diverse area, as well as many animals inhabiting the area, including jaguar, Baird’s tapir, Morelet’s crocodile, several species of monkeys, the Central American Scarlet Macaw, and various other bird life. The report concluded that mitigation of the negative impacts of large-scale dams on wildlife was usually irreversible and that mitigation efforts were often ineffective. 14 The Natural History Museum report applied conservation criteria to three options: ? ? ? Do not build the Chalillo dam. This was the best opportunity to avoid the impact on key aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. It stated that, â€Å"This option should be considered seriously, especially if costs identified in reviews of the technical, socio-economic and environmental assessments †¦ re considered to outweigh the benefits of meeting the growing demand and utilization of electrical energy by increasingly criticised hydroelectric projects. † Select an alternative site for damming. If tributaries were dammed instead, they could potentially supply the same volume of water with less damage to the environment. But, this alternative would require technical, economic and environmental surveys. Proceed as planned. If this option were followed, it would not be possible to satisfactorily mitigate against most of the long-term impact to the environment. However, the report did identify measures that would partially alleviate some of the impact of construction and operation. 15 The report identified several measures to mitigate or offset the impact of the project, including: building roads to avoid sensitive wild plant and animal life sites, issuing safe and clear guidelines to drivers, prohibiting all hunting and settling in the area, providing fire protection, maintaining a minimum water flow in the river, and re-aerating water before releasing it downstream. 16 The concluding recommendation of the report was: Based on the rarity of the habitat, and the dependence on this habitat by several endangered species, the â€Å"No Build† option is highly recommended as the most suitable and appropriate option for the long-term viability and conservation of wildlife in Belize. 17 The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) hired AMEC, a British engineering and project management consulting firm, to prepare an environmental impact assessment of the Chalillo project. CIDA’s involvement was a form of aid to a developing country. The assessment was performed in accordance with the Belize Environmental Protection Act and the â€Å"Projects Outside Canada Environmental 14 C. M. Minty, â€Å"Preliminary Report on the Scientific and Biodiversity Value of the Macal and Raspaculo: A Wildlife Impact Assessment for the Proposed Macal River Upper Storage Facility† (Executive Summary), The Natural History Museum, London, England, May 24, 2001, http://old. probeinternational. org/catalog/pi/documents/belize/NHM9_05_01Wia15. pdf. 15 Ibid. , p. 49. 16 Ibid. , pp. 46-47. 17 Ibid. , p. 49. This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 5 9B11M026 Assessment Regulations† of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. CIDA’s report, dated August 2001, summarized the advantages and disadvantages of the project. Adverse predicted impacts were the risk to plant and animal species. There would be no predicted impact on population, tourism and ecreation, transportation and public safety, heritage and archaeological resources, water and air quality, parks and forest preserves, and aquatic resources. Positive predicted impacts would include labour force, economy, flood control, reliability of power supply, increased power self-sufficiency, and decreased cost of electricity. 18 The report’s conclusions regarding the Chalillo project on the Macal River included: 1. The project is presently the most economical option for generating power in Belize. 2. It is both technically and economically viable and will maximize the hydroelectric power generation of the river. 3. It will help decrease energy reliance on outside sources. 4. The electric utility will have the flexibility necessary to provide better service to its customers. 5. There will be significant flood control benefits to downstream stakeholders. 19 The studies called for a plan to implement the recommended mitigation measures, including the development of a contingency plan prior to construction. Also, a monitoring or compliance plan should be formulated. 0 Marshall and the Fortis management believed that the environmental impact had been adequately studied. Marshall stated that, â€Å"Fortis has undertaken a comprehensive study of the environmental implications of the Chalillo project and the benefits of the project to the people of Belize. †21 Opposition to the Project During 2001, criticisms and opposition were voluminous, some of which are listed in Exhibit 3. I n addition, several Canadian print and broadcast media carried stories, there were letters to the editor in newspapers, and protest web sites were established. Numerous environmental ENGOs campaigned against the project, including Probe International (PI), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club, the Sierra Club of Canada, the Belize Alliance of Conservation Non-Governmental Organizations (BACONGO), Humber Environmental Action Group, Humber Natural History Society, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, Action Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, Environment Coalition of Prince Edward Island, and Falls Brook Centre. In particular, Probe International carried out an aggressive campaign and coordinated the protests of other ENGOs. 2 PI was an environmental advocacy group that fought to stop ill-conceived aid, trade projects and foreign investments. It worked to give citizens the tools they needed â€Å"to stop these projects using the rule of law, democratic processes, and honest and transparent accounting. †23 It was a division of the Energy Probe Research Foundation, a well-known Canadian environmental and energy policy ENGO created i n 1980. Its tactics included letter-writing to public officials, preparation and publishing of reports and articles, media releases, speech presentations, and public demonstrations. 18 Macal River Upstream Storage Facility Environmental Impact Assessment – Part 1 Main Report† (Executive Summary), AMEC and Canadian International Development Agency, August 2001, www. probeinternational. org/chalillo/news-andopinion/macal-river-upstream-storage-facility-environmental-impact-assessment. 19 Ibid. , Main Report, p. 18. 20 Ibid. , Executive Summary, ES-2 and ES-3. 21 â€Å"News Article,† Fortis Inc. web site, November 1, 2002, www. fortisinc. com/News/Article. aspx? id=134. 22 Fortis Belize web site, Probe International, www. probeinternational. org/fortis-belize/news_and_opinion. 3 â€Å"About Us,† Probe International web site, www. probeinternational. org/node/5818#tabs-tabset-1. This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 6 9B11M026 The other main opposition came from NRDC, an environmental action group founded in 1970. Its mission was to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. It had offices in seven U. S. cities, staff of about 300 lawyers, scientists and policy experts, and about one million members. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. , a lawyer, was the main spokesperson for NRDC on the Chalillo project. 24 Probe International maintained an elaborate web site in opposition to the project. Another web site devoted exclusively to the Chalillo project was Stop Fortis! at www. stopfortis. org, which contained extensive information on the project, including photographs. Several environmental groups placed advertisements in Canadian newspapers. The wording in one advertisement included: Look her [a jaguar] in the eyes. Now explain why a Canadian company wants to destroy her home. It won’t be easy. Fortis Inc. of Newfoundland plans to profit from it †¦ with a dam that makes no sense. Look him [Stan Marshall] in the eyes. And tell Fortis CEO Stan Marshall that it is wrong to destroy one of the wildest places left in all of Central America. 25 Readers were invited to visit a web site, www. stopfortis. org, or call toll free 1-866-STOP-FORTIS. The criticisms of Fortis’ practices and the dam’s construction are summarized in Exhibit 4. Fortis, and Marshall in particular, responded to this criticism. A news release was made on November 1, 2001, called â€Å"Decision to Build Hydroelectric Dam in Belize Should Reside with Belizeans. † The main points made in the release were: ? ? ? ? Belizeans should decide on the construction of the dam. Contrary to information from ENGOs, the dam is economically feasible and will ensure a more stable energy supply. Information presented by ENGOs is misleading the media about the environmental impact of the project. Fortis is willing to review its business activities with stakeholders. 6 In a story in The Telegram on November 2, Marshall stated to a reporter that, â€Å"This bombardment in the media of misleading information is putting enormous pressure on me, attacking me personally and inundating the media with lies. † He also said, â€Å"Whatever we do as an electric company will impact the environment, but it’s a question of how well we can manage our activ ities. On balance, this project is a good one. If I felt personally that we were going to threaten an endangered species and wipe it out — no. I would not propose going ahead with it. †27 In mid-2001, the Belizean government’s National Environmental Appraisal Committee began its evaluation of the project. The Committee was comprised of nine government members and two nongovernment members representing the Association of National Development Agencies and BACONGO. In mid-November 2001, the Committee granted the environmental clearance for construction of the Chalillo dam, as the economic and other benefits of the project outweighed the environmental costs. Its decision was â€Å"conditional upon the development and signing of the Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP), which 24 Natural Resources Defense Council web site, www. nrdc. org/about. â€Å"Look her in the eyes,† advertisement, The Telegram, St. John’s, Newfoundland, October 18, 2001, D11. 26 â€Å"News Article,† Fortis Inc. web site, November 1, 2002, www. fortisinc. com/News/Article. aspx? id=134. 27 Will Hilliard, â€Å"Dam opponents misled: Fortis,† The Telegram, St. John’s, Newfoundland, November 2, 2001, A3. 25 This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 7 9B11M026 would incorporate the mitigation measures identified in the EIA in addition to those recommended during the evaluation process. †28 Opponents of the project immediately criticized the decision, claiming that the government was biased. The government members voted for the project and the prime minister had publicly supported the project. Critics also pointed out the lack of public consultation during the evaluation process. They claimed the public hearings being held after the announcement were to present or explain the decision. This approach contravened law that required public hearings with submissions from interested stakeholders. 29 The Decision and Expected Opposition Looking back over the past year, Marshall and Evans were amazed at the extent of the opposition and criticism. Even with the Belizean government’s approval, they realized that the coming year would most likely be more of the same. Some of the circumstances and challenges that Fortis’ management faced were: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Legal action seeking injunctions or stoppage of the project in the Belizean, Canadian and British court systems. Political lobbying by ENGOs of government agencies, officials and politicians in Belize and Canada. Pressures to reduce electricity prices and certainly against increasing them. Customer satisfaction measures might decline if lower prices were not delivered. Protests against the project through letters to the editor, demonstrations at Fortis properties, and petitions. More celebrity â€Å"protest† appearances. Newspaper advertising against the project. Shareholders might be concerned and there might be questions from activists at the Annual Shareholders Meeting. The social investing concept was increasing in popularity. Calls for more environmental studies and challenges from ENGOs on the accuracy of EIAs. Constant monitoring and evaluation by ENGOs of everything related to the project. Adverse media coverage. The political environment might change in Belize if a different party was elected to govern. The project had consumed a lot of time, energy and resources and Marshall and Evans wondered whether or not it was worth it. There might be less demanding projects which would add as much value to the company. They turned away from the harbour view and started to draft their report and recommendation to the board of directors. 28 â€Å"Chalillo Dam receives Environmental Clearance,† Press Release, Ministry of the Environment, November 13, 2001, http://sanpedrosun. net/old/01-453. html. 29 â€Å"Chalillo Dam – Who will benefit? † (Editorial), The San Pedro Sun, 11:46, November 22, 2001, http://sanpedrosun. net/old/01-463. html. This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 8 9B11M026 Exhibit 1 SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA FORTIS INC. 1997-2001 (In Canadian Dollars) Operating Revenues (‘000$) Operating Expenses (‘000$) Income Taxes (‘000$) Share Earnings (‘000$) Total Assets (‘000$) Book Value per Share $ Dividend per Share $ Share Price (closing) $ 1997 486,662 341,024 29,449 30,006 1,017,396 25. 58 1. 76 42. 00 1998 472,725 339,429 22,998 27,414 1,037,192 26. 09 1. 80 38. 25 1999 505,218 356,227 27,476 29,183 1,238,597 26. 21 1. 81 31. 40 2000 580,197 417,607 17,228 36,759 1,478,596 7. 89 1. 84 36. 00 2001 628,254 418,347 28,088 53,442 1,642,752 29. 97 1. 87 46. 95 Source: â€Å"Historical Financial Summary,† Generating Growth 2001 Annual Report, Fortis Inc. , pp. 58-59. Exhibit 2 BELIZE ELECTRICITY LIMITED FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 2000 AND 2001 (In Canadian Dollars) Earnings Energy Sales Revenues Power Expenses Other Operating Expenses Earnings Contributed to For tis Inc. Capital Expenditures Long-Term Debt 2000 $8. 2 m 229 GWh $63. 6 m $30. 6 m $13. 6 m $5. 5 m $21. 0 m $60. 6 m 2001 $9. 3 m 257 GWh $72. 4 m $34. 8 m $14. 2 m $6. 3 m $27. 6 m $84. 3 m Source: Electrifying Growth 2000 Annual Report, Fortis Inc. , pp. 35-36, and Generating Growth 2001 Annual Report, Fortis Inc. , pp. 3, 33-34, 38, 48. This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 9 9B11M026 Exhibit 3 SELECTED ACTIVITIES OPPOSING THE CHALILLO PROJECT DURING 2001 February 2 May 5 May 20 June 3 August 29 September 20 October 4 October 12 October 18 October 29 October 30 October 31 November 1 November 30 December 2 December 4 December 1823 December 31 Belizean newspaper, The Reporter, carries a story about a school teacher allegedly being fired because he opposed the project M. P. Keith Martin requests release of environmental impact assessment in the Canadian House of Commons Oral Question Period The Reporter carries story that proposed dam could flood Maya ruins The Reporter carries story claiming Canadians not being told the truth about the Chalillo project Probe International complains to Minister of International Cooperation about CIDA’s secrecy Harrison Ford speaks out against the proposed dam Opposition MP Svend Robinson expresses concern about project to Minister of International Cooperation Probe International and other groups write a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs calling for the government to stop supporting the dam Coalition of environmental groups launch a series of â€Å"hard hitting† advertisements in Atlantic Canadian newspapers opposing the dam Probe International writes a letter to Fortis’ board of directors regarding the company’s refusal to meet with citizens groups Greg Malone, St. John’s comedian, starts campaign to save endangered creatures National Post editorial states that what Belize needs is a free energy market rather than an uneconomical dam Harrison Ford, Robert Kennedy, and others lobby against dam that could destroy a forest at a Toronto Stock Exchange press conference Concerned citizens from across Atlantic Canada hold regional day of action in opposition to the project Environmental NGOs announce they will be contacting Fortis’ major shareholders Probe International files a complaint against CIDA’s involvement with the hydro scheme Robert Kennedy Jr. travels to Belize to support citizens opposing the dam Conservation groups claim that the Belizean government’s clearance for the hydro project is illegal Source: Compiled from Belize Fortis Campaign, pp. 13-20, Probe International web site, www. probeinternational. org/fortisbelize/news_and_opinion. This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 10 9B11M026 Exhibit 4 MAIN CRITICISMS OF THE CHALILLO PROJECT ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? The threat to wild and plant life, especially endangered species. The dam would exacerbate the water quality problems downstream. The dam might flood Maya ruins, destroying the cultural landscape. Limestone caves might drain the reservoir. The claim that the project was uneconomical and not the cheapest option. The only reason the project was viable was because BEL had a monopoly and could recover costs from captive customers. Fortis’ unwillingness to consider alternative sources, denying consumers better and cheaper electricity. The allegation that Fortis asked the Canadian government, through CIDA, to pay for a study justifying the project. It was claimed that the study was biased, involved too much secrecy, and failed to promote and ensure effective stakeholder consultation. According to environmental groups, Fortis denied them access to pertinent information and failed to consult them. Fortis would not make its own geology studies and engineering plans public or agree to an independent panel review. There was insufficient information on the impact of the project. Source: Compiled from Belize Fortis Campaign, pp. 13-20, Probe International web site, www. probeinternational. org/fortisbelize/news_and_opinion. This document is authorized to be used only in the BU111- Introduction to Business Organization course by Professor Leanne Hagarty, at the Wilfrid Laurier University from 09/10/2012 until 12/19/2012. Use outside these parameters is a copyright violation. Page 11 How to cite Chalillo Dam, Papers

Chinas Flourishing Civilization free essay sample

Gobi Desert: one of the driest in the world enter and you shall never return! Plains: Only about 12% of Chinas land is plains; most of that is in the eastern part of China. China’s Topographical Features Tibetan Plateau Himalayas: 43% of China’s land is mountainous! Tibetan Plateau: very isolated region even today! Impact of China’s Geography How would isolation help a country? What other great ancient civilizations were isolated? Impact of China’s Geography 1. Long distances and physical barriers isolated China, blocking cultural diffusion 2. Protecting China from invasion 3. Isolation contributed to the Chinese belief that China was the center of the earth and the only civilization. Timeline of China’s Earliest Dynasties The Mystery Dynasty: Xia For many years, the Xia (shee-uh) Dynasty was thought to be a part of a myth that the Chinese tell as part of their history.The Xia Dynasty was in oral histories, but no archaeological evidence was found of it until 1959. We will write a custom essay sample on Chinas Flourishing Civilization or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Xia Dynasty (2205-1806 B. C. ) Evidence finally uncovered†¦ †¢ Despite this new archaeological evidence of the Xia, they are not universally accepted as a true dynasty. Xia Dynasty (2205-1806 B. C. ) Evidence finally uncovered†¦ †¢ The founding of the Xia dynasty (2200-1766 BCE), according to Chinese tradition, reveals the value the Chinese have put on leadership†¦ †¢ Xia Yu, the founder of the Xia dynasty, was selected as the heir to the throne because he was able to control the Great Flood that had afflicted the Chinese for several years.Reading: Yu the Great Selected By Achievement†¦ †¢ Xia Yu was selected as the heir to the throne because he was able to control the Great Flood that had afflicted the Chinese for several years. †¢ †¦Even though he was not the son of the Emperor and even though his own father had been executed because he could not control the flood. Daily Life 1. The Xia were agrarian people 2. The ruling families used elaborate and dramatic rituals to confirm their power to govern. 3. The rulers often acted as shamans, communicating with spirits for help and guidance.Was He the Last Emperor †¢ Xia Jie was the last emperor of the Xia Dynasty. As a hedonist ; a notorious tyrant, the people under his reign were driven into great disaster. †¢ He ordered 3,000 to their deaths by demanding they jump into a lake of wine, just for entertainment! Xia Dynasty Banished! At last, a fuedal lord named Shang Tang led the people against this tyrant and banished him from the capital. Shang Tang Chinese civilization took shape under the†¦ Shang Dynasty 1650 B. C. –1027 B. C. What is needed to have a civilization? Oracle Inscriptions Writing had begun†¦China’s Oldest Dynasties! Is there something missing from that list? Qin Dynasty †¢ Qin Dynasty Reading Shi Huangdi wiped out the Zhou and conquered northern China uniting under central government Defeats all the feudal lords and creates an empire! †¢ Qin Dynasty Qin Dynasty Reading The First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, standardized society: weights and measures, coins, writing, and law Public Works Projects Dominated the Qin Dynasty Many public works projects were also undertaken: 1. A Great Wall was built in the north, to protect against invasions . 2.Roads and irrigation canals were built throughout the country. 3. Developed farmlands the size of the state of Connecticut enough to feed the people and a large army. Strict Social Classes unless†¦ The lower class males could raise their status by the number of heads they cut off for the emperor! Though his methods were brutal, Shi Huangdi ushered in China’s classical age. This period is called a classical civilization because it set patterns in government, philosophy, religion, science, and the arts that served as the framework for later cultures.How Did Shi Huangdi Unite China?

Psychology Of The Internet Essays (1967 words) - Social Psychology

Psychology Of The Internet Summary of the Book Today, the internet is a growing community. Millions of people from all over the world go "online" everyday to check email, research, shop, or even just interact with someone halfway around the world. As this community grows, so does the number of interactions between people. The Psychology of the Internet examines the psychology of new behavior produced by this novel method of human communication. It also delves into the business sector of the internet and how certain companies are using this medium to increase productivity within their companies and corporations. Analysis of the Book The book provides several examples of how the internet can affect the quality of an organization's production. When used in the appropriate manner, the internet can facilitate interaction between a group 24 hours a day and is only limited by the availability of a telephone line. The idea that a person must be in work and at his desk for production is becoming more obsolete as companies realize the potential of the internet. One impressive way the internet can help companies is the workgroups that can be formed internationally. A workgroup is a group of employees striving to achieve the same objective. In the traditional sense, these groups are formed in a room with notepads for each person to help them brainstorm and meetings at regular intervals until the project is complete. The internet revolution is changing all of that. The workgroups are no longer governed by the geographical positioning of its members. I found this particularly interesting because the idea of having a supervisor in Manila, a Research and Development team in Cebu, and a sales group in the United States is becoming more of a feasible possibility than ever before. The internet can also help employees overcome inhibitions that they may not be able to in person. This is due, in part, to the amount of social cues that are lost over a computer. In a chat room, for example, the two employees might know nothing about each other, other than the information they provide about themselves. Therefore, any type of social stereotypes (i.e. sexism, racism, bigotry) is less prevalent than if perceived in the real world. If the employees have never met, social irritations may not be as readily triggered than if in person. For example, if I am irritated by a person who stutters when he speaks, the chances that he will do so over the internet are relatively low. This allows me to concentrate solely on the task at hand and not be distracted by insignificant things. The book speaks of how the internet groups, in the absence of social cues and orders, had to find a group identity online. In other words, the lack of social cues also has its drawbacks. Even if the members of the workgroups concede personal information about themselves, such as their race or ethnicity, the other members might have no physical basis for the connection. So if I wanted to bond with a co-worker who was a Filipino in California, I would more likely do it in person than online. This is due to the lack of human contact and the perception that I am merely interacting with my computer and not a real person. With this in mind, workgroups must find new bases for forming group coherence. The book speaks of the studying of several different multinational workgroups. All were given the same objectives to be completed in a given amount of time. However, only a few of the groups completed the task while only one group did it in the allotted amount of time. The study showed that the groups that failed lacked consistent interaction. After the initial meeting, the members of the group did not log on regularly to converse with the group. Emails were exchanged intermittently among these groups as well. The book states that the main reason these groups failed was that the interaction, already reduced by the lack of human interaction on the computer, was limited to almost nothing. On the other hand, the group that fared the best was noted as having the most email interaction and regular group meetings. The members of the group also took it upon themselves to go beyond what was asked of them simply because they felt a great responsibility to the group as a whole. What caused this desire and cohesion within the group? According to the book, the group kept their personal lives out of the online chatting. Therefore, the members

When Most is Enough

When Most is Enough When Most is Enough When Most is Enough By Maeve Maddox It must be one of those in your face gestures of defiance. It cant be that they dont know better. Im referring to the way so many bloggers create headlines that place a most in front of an adjective that already has the superlative -est suffix: The internets Most Rudest and Obnoxious people Mumbai, India is the MOST RUDEST city in the world The Seven Most Awesomest Idol Moments This Season A Gawker Guide to the Most Awesomest Election Ever Sometimes least is used instead of most in order to compare in the opposite direction: 100 Least Awesomest Things ever Then there are the online novels: at that very moment the most awfullest, most terriblest, most unpleasantest thing imaginable happened! Such pervasive examples of incorrect usage cant be much help to readers for whom English is not the first language. English adjectives form their comparative/superlative forms in one of two ways: 1. by adding the suffixes -er and -est: dark/darker/darkest; simple/simpler/simplest; mean/meaner/meanest 2. by using the words more and most in front of the basic adjective: pleasant/more pleasant/most pleasant awesome/more awesome/most awesome I wont go into the various rules based on number of syllables and stressed or unstressed vowels. Its probably enough to know that adjectives that are short and/or easy to say, form their comparatives with -er and -est. Polysyllabic adjectives that sound clumsy with those endings form their comparatives with more and most. Sometimes the choice is a matter of individual preference. For example, one speaker may prefer handsome/more handsome/most handsome while another likes the sound of handsome/handsomer/handsomest. When in doubt, go with the more/most construction. Most awesomest is not an option for the writer who desires to write standard English. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Exquisite AdjectivesTaser or Tazer? Tazing or Tasering?Quiet or Quite?

12 Angry Men

The theme may be a life lesson that was discovered by one of the characters or it may be an evaluation that the author offers regarding an aspect of existence; in other words, a theme is a profound observation about people in general or the way the world works. Theme is primarily shown by the resolution of a conflict. Whether the conflict is between opposing forces (character vs. character, character vs. society) or is within the characters themselves (internal struggle), how a problem is solved and how the characters react sends a powerful message. As we know, the events surrounding the trial of Tom Robinson in the Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird reveal much about the character of people. Similarly, the 1957 classic movie (adapted from the play 12 Angry Men) uses a trial to explore human nature, revealing many important themes. Because both texts explore similar issues of justice (racism, social class, etc. ), they share many of the same themes, including the 12 listed below. 1. Prejudice obstructs the truth (and justice). . True understanding requires time, study, and effort. 3. Intuition can be deceptive neither dismiss initial judgments, nor trust them blindly. 4. There are many interpretations of the facts; few things are truly black or white. 5. Patient silence and loud persistence can both be powerful, at the right times. 6. One determined individual can wield great influence. 7. Courage â€Å"†¦is when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. † 8. Respect and understanding are the keys to peaceful coexistence. 9. Real leadership is not derived from titles, but from leading by example. 10. â€Å"You can never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. † A person must examine and respect who people are and where they come from if he is to truly understand them. 11. A person is often not what he or she seems to be; everyone has something inside that motivates him or her to be who they are. 2. People will go to great lengths to preserve their pride. Your task then is to select one of these themes and in a comparative essay, explain and compare how this message is revealed in 12 Angry Men and To Kill a Mockingbird, providing specific supporting examples from each text. Therefore, as you watch 12 Angry Men, you will need to take notes on the problems that the characters face, how these conflicts develop, and how they are resolved. Following the movie, you will then craft a response in which you explain how the chosen message (theme) is revealed in the book and the movie and support your conclusion with specific evidence from the film and the novel. You can draw on your own experiences and prior knowledge to judge the situations. For example, if you believed the message of the film (and the novel) is that â€Å"Prejudice obstructs truth†, you would support this conclusion with evidence from the movie and discuss how this truth is seen in life. Plan BEFORE you begin writing; use the tools provided to prepare for your essay. This assignment is worth 100 points. Your response should be well-thought out and organized, including: _ (x2) a well-crafted written introduction that funnels to your thesis (position on theme) _ (x3) organized body paragraphs supporting the thesis, showing how the theme applies to texts _ (x2) use of specific evidence and insightful interpretations of the whole stories _ (x2) a final conclusion about how the theme is revealed similarly/differently in both texts. (x1) writing free of grammatical errors that interfere with a reader’s understanding. Identifying the Characters For your writing assignment on this film you will need to identify the different jurors. We only know the names of two of them. To identify the others you can refer to them by their juror number, occupation, personality trait, or appearance. Juror #1 – foreman of the jury, an assistant coach Juror #2 – short man with the high voice who worked in a bank Juror #3 – angry man who had a son he didn’t speak to Juror #4 – wealthy stockbroker Juror #5 – demonstrated how to use the switch blade Juror #6 housepainter Juror #7 was in a hurry to leave because he had tickets to a baseball game Juror #8 – Mr. Davis, the man who persuaded the others that the boy may not be guilty Juror #9 – Mr. McArdle, the old man with the keen eyesight Juror #10 – was prejudiced against other races Juror #11 – watchmaker, a refugee from Europe Juror #12 – tall thin man with glasses who worked in advertising Funnel Method of Organization General Introduction General Conclusion Thesis about Point #1  ¶ about Point #2 Thesis Crafting Your Thesis Statement 1) What are the questions you are answering? Ex: How is the theme revealed in the text? Ex: How is this similar/different? 2) Decide what you think. Ex: Both texts use a trial to prove that everyone has something inside that motivates him or her to be who they are, but they use different people. 3) Include reasons/points with your position to show w hat you will talk about Ex: The book uses conflicts between witnesses to show people’s motives; the movie uses conflicts between jurors. ) Use transition words and phrases to make the relationship between ideas clear. Ex. Thesis: Although both the book To Kill a Mockingbird and the movie 12 Angry Men use a trial to show the theme that everyone has something inside that motivates him or her to be who they are, the book uses witnesses to show how people’s motives influence their actions while the movie uses jurors to prove this point. Introduce Texts Compare Texts

In a clear and concisely reasoned 9, which addresses the work of the Essay

In a clear and concisely reasoned 9, which addresses the work of the author, Ernest Hemingway - Essay Example Most notably, he was one of the Americans who participated in the First World War although not as a soldier. During that war, he worked as a volunteer serving as an ambulance driver a vocation that saw him seriously wounded. This essay will highlight the outstanding features that defined Hemingway’s writing style. Some of his famous works such as, â€Å"The Sun also Rises† and â€Å"The Old Man in the Sea† will be used to demonstrate the uniqueness in his style. Prior to highlighting the writing style of Hemingway, it is important to establish the background of the period in which he lived and wrote his works. Being a 20th century author, he experienced many of the defining aspects of that century. As highlighted above, one of those aspects is the first and the second world war that altered the perception of many people in the globe. Worth mentioning is the fact that Hemingway was of American origin (Bloom 67). Therefore, one of his outstanding experiences is the desperation that defined many of the American citizens after the world war. Moreover, the post war period that was defined by the emergence of individualism, materialism, pessimism and degraded moral values are aspects of life that Hemingway lived to see. Without doubt therefore, these experiences serve to define some of the common themes in his works. He underwent the radicalization of that century a factor that was also similar to many of his contemporaries. Hemingway was interested in joining the army in his earlier years, but his failed sight denied him the chance. After the voluntary venture of being an ambulance driver, during a time when many atrocities of the first world war were being perpetrated, he later joined journalism. For a period of time, he was a reporter with one of the publications in Kansas city. His career in journalism served to influence his writing style, making it uniquely distinctive from that of his

INTERPROFESSIONAL WORKING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

INTERPROFESSIONAL WORKING - Essay Example Any illness or medical condition always worsens with the advancement of age, and thus it is very necessary that the patients should be given proper treatment as and when the time is abundant. But while looking at the case study of Mrs. Ivy, it is hard not to notice the negligence of various authorities and the mention of lexis such as â€Å"waiting list† and â€Å"Social services would not get involved without proper†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Selfishness is really a very amazing temperament of a human being – My point being, since Mrs. Ivy needed tremendous care and a supervisory body while she developed her Dementia, her daughter should have let Mrs. Ivy stay at her home rather than looking for a flat or government’s care centers. And there is not a mention of what her son did for her after the part that â€Å"he lives far away†. A person can not always expect the government to stand by their ‘parent’s’ side at their time of need. After all, it is logical to say, that the government can not possibly cater all the dying people. We as humans should also realize our responsibility and thus her children should have favored her to stay with either one of them. The government of Britain has set up various trusts and policies to help the elderly (particularly with mental problems such as Alzheimer, Dementia, etc. Some of the current active policies are as follows: As Mr. Tisdall notes in his book â€Å"Children, Young people and social inclusion: Participation for What?† (2006), the chief motive behind this policy states that it is really hard for children of mentally disabled parents to cope up with their parents, economic conditions and personal lives. Therefore, the government has set up this program to help the mentally disabled parents of such children to pass along the troubled times. This program by the government is basically focused on health related issues of asylums, refugees, minorities, and

Human Growth and Development Essay Example for Free

Human Growth and Development Essay The average child begins to walk between? (C) 11and12months Source: page 85 5. According to Piaget, adaptation is made up of the two processes called? E) Accommodation and assimilation Source: internet 6. The fact that parents will provide less direction to a child who begins to show competence on a task, supports the theory of? (D) Vygotsky Source: chapter 7 7. According to the information- processing approach, children’s memories improve with age m because? (A) They get better at organizing information Source: page 26 8. Jane digs a hole in the sandbox while Jim, who is sitting next to her, fills his bucket with sand they share the shovels in the sandbox and talk about school they are engaged in? Associative play Source: internet 9. Which of the following research methods is most often used to study rare or unique situations or behavior? (B) Psychosocial Source: page 33 10. Which of the following theories describes stages of development? (C) Discontinuity Source: page 269 11. Which of the following is an example of instrumental aggression? (A) Sara pushes Joy out of the way so she can get a toy she wants to play with first Source: page 269 12. According to statistics, which group commits most of the child abuse in our country? Which theoretical perspective assumes there is a bidirectional relationship between the person and the environment? C. psychobiological Source: internet 14. A problem with longitudinal research is? C. subject to drop out Source: page 36 15. Students who have developed a mastery orientation would attribute a good grade on a test to their ability; and a bad grade on a test to? (D) Lack of effort Source: internet 16. According to recent research, which of the following has shown a correlation with age, but is NOT found only in older people? E. wisdom Source: internet 17. Compared to peer groups in middle childhood, adolescent peer groups? C. are more structured and exclusive Source: page 332 18. Which of the following indicates the -presence of empathy? C. Mollie laughs when she sees something funny on television Source: internet 19. among the parenting styles that have been studied by Baumrind, which of the following is associated with the most negative impact on development? B. authoritarian Source: page 253 20. Which of the following statements about physical growth is true? A. Physical growth is rapid during infancy, slows during early and middle childhood, and then rapid again during adulthood. Research on the growth hormone (GH) has shown that? E. vitamin C can simulate GH productivity in the body Source: internet 22. Researchers have studied the impact of late versus early maturation on adolescents ‘adjustment. Which of the pairs below have been shown to have the best adjustment outcomes? C. late maturing boys and early maturing girls Source: internet 23. One theory of biological aging suggests aging is inevitable and is caused by? C. wear and tear from normal use Source: page 538 24. An effective treatment for the side effects of menopause is? The type of hearing loss associated with aging is loss of sensitivity for C. high frequency sounds Source: page 545 34. One reason older adults experience declining eye sight is? B. a decrease in the size of the retina Source: page 543 35. Which of the following statements represents the learning approach to language development? C. Children learn language by formulating and testing hypotheses about the meaning of words and the rules of their combination. Source: internet 36. Which of the following is an example of over regularization in language development? D. We, Mommy and I went to the store. † Source: internet 37. Billy sees a beach ball and says â€Å"ball. † He sees a basketball and says â€Å"bait† He sees a soccer ball and says â€Å"baL† Finally he sees a globe on a desk and says â€Å"ball† Calling the globe a ball is referred to as? A. Categorization Source: internet 38. Noam Chomsky argued that the ability to learn language? C. is positively correlated with intelligence Source: internet 39. The first stage of language development is B. babbling Source: internet 40. An indication that we are born prepared to acquire a language is the fact that A. nfants can discriminate among all of the speech sounds used in all of the world’s languages even better than adults Source: internet 41. Studies of intelligence in adulthood have shown A. while there is some decline in information processing, there is some stability in fluid and crystallized interference Source: internet 42. Sibling rivalry tends to be worse during B. early childhood Source: page 259 43. Compared with children who have siblings, only children D. does better academically Source: page 261 44. Although the rate of divorce is high, the rate of remarriage is also high. This leads to a large number of reconstituted families referred to as B. blended families Source: page 607 45. A sexual offender is more likely to target A, an early maturing child Source: internet 46. one way to help children adjust to divorce is to? A) minimize the conflict between parents after the divorce Source: page 261 47. Researchers examining cultural influences on self esteem have found that (A) Chinese and Japanese children score lower in self-esteem than American children Source: internet 48. Children display learned helplessness if their parents C) set high standards of achievement for them, but also communicate e belief that the child is not very capable

Schizophrenia Essay -- essays research papers

Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder. It is a disease that makes it difficult for a person to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses to other, and to behave normally in social situations. People with schizophrenia may also have difficulty in remembering, talking, and behaving appropriately. Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses. About 1% of the world population has schizophrenia. In the United States, there are about 2.5 million people with the disease. Schizophrenia is the cause of more hospitalizations than almost any other illness. Schizophrenia most commonly begins between the ages of 15 and 25. Although it strikes men and women equally, the symptoms may appear later in women than in men. Very rarely, the symptoms of schizophrenia can appear before the age of 12. Childhood schizophrenia has a more chronic disease course and involves poor early language development. People with schizophrenia can have a variety of symptoms. Sometimes, these symptoms come on suddenly. Usually, though, the illness develops slowly over months or even years. At first, the symptoms may not be noticed or may be confused with those of other conditions. For example, people with schizophrenia may feel tense, be unable to concentrate, or have trouble sleeping. They often become increasingly isolated and withdrawn as their grip on reality loosens. They do not make or keep friends. They may stop caring about the way they look. Dropping out of school or doing badly at work are other early signs of schizophrenia. As the illness progresses, symptoms of psychosis develop. The person starts to act strangely and talk nonsensically. People with schizophrenia may develop paranoid delusions. Examples of this would be that they might see, feel, smell, or hear things that are not really there. They may have physical symptoms, like frowning or unusual movements, and may stand or sit in strange positions. Some people become almost motionless. Others move around constantly. The severity of symptoms will vary from one person to another. The symptoms also tend to worsen and improve. When the symptoms are improved, the person may appear to behave relatively normally, but usually there will be re... ...therapy may help person with schizophrenia learn to sort out the real from the unreal. Group therapy may help them learn to get along with others. Self-help groups may help persons with schizophrenia feel that others share their problems. The best way to prevent relapses is to continue to take the prescribed medication. People with schizophrenia may stop taking their medications for several reasons. Side effects are one of the most important reasons that people with schizophrenia stop taking their medication. It is hard for people to put up with unpleasant side effects for months or years. It is especially hard when the person feels well. It is very important to find the medication that controls symptoms without causing side effects. Convenience is also important. Some medications need to be taken two, three, or even four times a day. Others may be taken just once a day. People are more likely to remember to take a medication once a day than several times a day. Some people profer to get injections every month of long-lasting medication. Taking medications regularly is the best way to prevent repeated illness and hospitalization.

Project Management Organizational Structures Paper Essay

Introduction At the start of every project, it is important to select the organization structure. There are three organizational structures the functional, matrix, and pure project structures. Each structure has its advantages and disadvantages. All three are different and when it comes to structuring a project the project managers is in charge of deciding which organizational structure is best fit for the project. This paper will focus on functional structure, matrix structure and pure project structure. Functional Project In a functional project structure, employees are departmentalized by task similarity, and projects are performed inside the departmental unit such as accounting, marketing and human resources departments are examples of units grouped together based on the functions they perform (Murray, 2014). Functional project structure is the most successful and oldest structure. In functional project structure components are divide into two a project is assigning to a functional manager who coordinates with others to assigning the project to different departments. Each department is in charge of completing their portion of the work and reporting to the department managers. Advantage and Disadvantages Functional structure project has both advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is the flexibility and staff contributions. Employees are switched back and forth between projects. The department will be able to provide professional and technical personnel and after completion of the work it can go back to his original work. The disadvantage is that this structure is not very effective when used on more complex projects. The individual accountability is not recognized. An other disadvantages the focus is not set on the client it is focused on activities rather than function, slow responses , lack of interest and motivation in certain areas, and difficulties in communicating.Difficulties in coordination is an other  disadvantage since project manager are only responsible for part of the project and others are responsible for other parts of the project. Matrix Project The matrix structure is a combination of both the functional and pure project organizational structures. The matrix structure was evolved from the flaws of the functional and pure project structures. In the matrix structure, functional managers and project managers have the equal powers. Since both functional and project manager are equal the staff generally works under two bosses. This structure works well when more than one project is being coordinated. Advantage and Disadvantage The advantage of the matrix structure is the highly skilled and capable resources can be shared between the functional units and important strategic projects. An other advantage is that efficiency is higher. A disadvantage is that staff has to report to two bosses, which can add confusion, and conflicts may arise since both bosses have equal authority and power. The disadvantages of the Matrix structure include balancing out who is in charge of the project, failure of project due to lack of negotiating skills, and balancing time, cost, and performance. Pure project The pure project structure dedicates it resources and self-contained staff to work full time on the project. Pure project structure is mostly used on complex projects since it strongly focuses on the work and completing the project. This structure reacts rapidly to the needs of clients contrary to those in the functional organizational structure. In this structure each project manager is appointed and is responsible to conduct all responsibility associated with the project. The project manager has full authority of the of the project. Advantage and Disadvantage The pure project structure advantages are that it is clear of who has the projects authority, it access special expertise, the project is focused and prioritized, as well simplified communications. This structure allows the project to be separated from the rest of the parent system becoming a self contained unit with its own staff, administration, and tying to the parent  firm through periodic progress reports and oversight (Meredith, 2012). In this structure staffs only report to on person so decisions are made quicker. Pure project structure disadvantages are include duplication of effort, rivalries, uncertain reintegration of resources and unclear motivations and loyalties as well goals and policies can be ignored. This structure disadvantages also include the transfers in technology and the use of resources, inconsistencies, and the project taking on a life of its own. Best Method Not any of the three organization structure is better than another. Each structure has its advantages and disadvantages as discussed above. When it come into choosing which organization structure to use decision depends on what the project manager is trying to accomplish. All three structures work differently depending on the project so the project manager has to decide which organizational structure best suits that project. In doing so the factors that contribute to the project manager decision are the available resources, finances, and the timeline that project needs to be completed. For the project to be successful the project manager must compare and contrast the three organization structures and decide which is most suitable. Conclusion Organizational structures show the methods that can be used by an organization. The use of these structures determine the success and improvement of the productivity in an organization. Each structure is used to improve how organizations report and communicate with the other elements within the organization. Organizational structures are viewed as guidelines to set in place to assist task performance to all involved in the project. Functional organization, Pure Project organization, and Matrix organization are the three most popular project management structures that are still used today due to their success. REFERENCES Kerzner, H. (200). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling (10th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Meredith, J. R. (2012). Project Management: A managerial approach (8th Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. What is a functional project management structure?. (2010-2012). Retrieved from http://www.projectmanagementquestions.com/2966/what-is-a-functional-projectmanagement-structure Murray, L. (2014). The Advantages of Functional Project Organizational Structure. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-functional-project-organizational- structure-2739.html Three types of Project Management Organizations. (2010-2012). Retrieved from http://www.mypmhome.com/three-types-of-project-management-organizations/

Discovered Biological Functions Of Rna Health And Social Care Essay

Recently, the figure of ascertained biological maps of RNA has been increasing. In add-on, the range has been expanded, and therefore RNA is non merely a inactive courier of familial information from Deoxyribonucleic acid to proteins makers as had been thought earlier. It has been found that RNA plays of import functions in all of molecular biological science such as transporting familial information ( messenger RNA ) , construing the codification ( ribosomal RNA ) , and reassigning familial codification ( transfer RNA ) . It besides performs different maps which include: catalyzing chemical reactions [ 1 ] , [ 2 ] , directing the site specific alteration of RNA bases, commanding cistron look, modulating protein look and helping in protein localisation [ 3 ] , [ 4 ] . The map of RNA molecules determine many diseases caused by RNA viruses. Identifying the secondary construction of RNA molecules is the cardinal key to understand its biological map [ 5 ] . The RNA construction anticipation methods, is tremendously affected by the quality of alignment [ 6 ] . MSA significantly improves the de novo anticipation truth of proteins or RNAs structures [ 7 ] . For illustration, current RNA secondary construction anticipation methods utilizing aligned sequences is win in deriving higher anticipation truth than those utilizing individual sequence [ 8 ] . Multiple sequence alliance ( MSA ) has become widely used in many different countries in bioinformatics. Multiple alliances are present in most of the computational method used in molecular development to assist happening sequences household, predict the secondary or third construction of new sequences, RNA folding, cistron ordinance and polymerase concatenation reaction primer design [ 9 ] , foretelling maps, predict patient ‘s diseases by comparing DNAs of patients in disease find. MSA is the most natural manner to see the relation between sequences by doing an alliance between the primary sequences so that indistinguishable or similar residues will be aligned in columns. That is why this method is so called multiple sequence alliance ( MSA ) . At kernel, all widely MSA tools used to better the alignment quality of initial alliance [ 10 ] . The sequence alliance job can be considered as an optimisation job in which the aim is to maximise a marking map [ 11 ] . One chief challenge with MSA is how to gauge the quality of computer-aligned sequences. An nonsubjective map ( OF ) is required in the optimisation processes to happen the optimum alliance. The pick of nonsubjective map is critically of import in obtaining high quality alliances [ 12 ] . In add-on, OF acts an indispensable function in optimisation algorithms whereby there is a relation between the alliance mark with the mark computed by the alignment quality. MSA optimisation job is NP-complete [ 13-15 ] , which motivates, the research for heuristics [ 16 ] . Over the last decennary, the evolutionary and meta-heuristic are the recent attacks to work out the optimisation job. Consequently, most of practical MSA algorithms are based on heuristics to obtain moderately accurate MSA within moderate computational clip and normally produce quasi-optimal alliance. Many researches solve MSA job as optimisation job by utilizing familial algorithm [ 17, 18 ] , Particle Swarm [ 11 ] , ant settlement [ 19 ] , and Simulated tempering [ 20 ] . MSA job can be resolve as optimisation job based on harmoniousness hunt algorithm [ 21 ] to maximise the nonsubjective map and happen the optimum alliance. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and examined the correlativity of different nonsubjective maps utilizing standard sets of RNA datasets. The most straightforward OF is the sum-of-pairs ( SP ) score [ 3 ] , weight sum-of-pair [ ] , java [ 22 ] , Xstate [ ] and NorMD [ 23 ] . This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 introduce the multiple sequence alliance job. Section 3 explains the different nonsubjective map from the state-of-the-art. Section 4 explains the proposed methodological analysis. The rating and analysis methodological analysis that is used to measure our comparing is explained in Section 5. Last, Section 6 provides the decision and sum-up of the paper.2.0 Multiple Sequence AllianceA sequence is an ordered list of symbols from a set of alphabet S ( 20 amino acids for protein and 4 bases for RNA/DNA ) . In bioinformatics, a RNA sequence is written as s = AUUUCUGUAA. It is a twine over the set S of bases symbols Adenine ( A ) , Cytosine ( C ) , Guanine ( G ) and Uracil ( U ) : S = [ A, C, G, U ] . Alignment is a method to set up the sequences one over the other in a manner to demo the matching and mismatching between residues. A column, which has lucifer residues, shows no mutant is go oning. Whereas, the column with mismatch symbols shows that several mutant events are go oning. To better the alliance mark, the character â€Å" – † is used to match to a infinite introduced in the sequence. This infinite is normally called a spread. The spread is viewed as interpolation in one sequence and omission in the other. A mark is used to mensurate the alliance public presentation. The highest mark one is the best alliance. For lucidity ‘s interest, the generic MSA job is expressed with the following declaration: â€Å" Insert spreads within a given set of sequences in order to maximise a similarity standard † [ 24 ] . The MSA job can be divided into three troubles, which are scalability, optimisation, and nonsubjective map. Finding an accurate MSA from sequences is really hard. It is a clip consuming and computationally NP-hard job [ 13-15 ] . In fact, that complexness comes from that all three jobs must be solved at the same time. The first job is the scalability, which is to happen the alliance of many long sequences. The 2nd job is the optimisation, which is to happen the alliance with the highest mark based on a given nonsubjective map among sequences. Optimization of even a simple nonsubjective map is an NP-hard job. The 3rd job is the nonsubjective map ( OF ) , which is to rush up the computation in order to mensurate the alliance. Most modern plans for building multiple sequence alliances ( MSAs ) consist of two constituents: an nonsubjective map for measuring the quality of a candidate alliance of a set of input sequences, and an optimisation process for placing the highest scoring alliance with regard to the chosen nonsubjective map [ 25 ] .3.0 Objective mapsAligning multiple sequences is a extremely non-trivial undertaking ( in both a biological and computational sense ) whose truth in pattern depends mostly on the pick of input sequences, the cost ( or aim ) map, and the heuristics employed [ 26 ] . An of import facet of alliance mark is to set up how meaningful a given multiple alliance is. This is to find whether the aligned sequences are in fact optimum and to gauge the mark of the alliance in which there is no anterior cognition of the mention alliance. Objective map is the psyche of iterative algorithms in the sense that it determines the campaigner move to be taken to better the solution quality. In multiple sequence alliance, nonsubjective map Acts of the Apostless as the cardinal factor to command the development of an alliance into a mature one. Using optimisation algorithm to work out any job requires delegating a fittingness map. In harmony hunt algorithm, this map evaluates and ranks harmoniousnesss in the harmoniousness memory harmonizing to their tonss. Harmonies that ain good alliance mark in the harmoniousness memory are retained. In this subdivision different nonsubjective maps are studied. The pick of nonsubjective map is strictly a biological job that lies in the definition of rightness. A mathematical map able to mensurate an alignment biological quality that defines a right alliance and its expected belongingss is called nonsubjective map ( OF ) . Given a perfect map, the mathematically optimum alliance assumes to be biologically optimum. While the map defines a mathematical optimum, it is seldom that this optimum will besides be biologically optimum [ 25 ] . There are different nonsubjective maps to hit the quality of the alliance, viz. sum-of-pairs, leaden sum-of-pairs, and NorMD [ 23 ] , MstatX, amd COFFEE [ 22 ] . They are used in optimizing and iterative alliance methods to better the alliance by seeking to maximise the nonsubjective map [ 27 ] .3.0.1 sum-of-pairsPresently sum-of-pairs nonsubjective map is most widely used [ 28 ] . Carrillo and Lipman [ 29 ] foremost introduced the sum-of-pairs ( SP ) mark map, which defines the tonss of a multiple alliance of N sequences as the amount of the tonss of the N ( N-1 ) /2 pairwise alliances [ 29 ] , [ 30 ] . Although SP mark map has been widely used to measure MSA, it does n't truly supply any biological or probabilistic justification [ 30 ] . Each sequence is scored as if it is descended from the N-1 other sequences alternatively of a individual ascendant. As a consequence, evolutionary events are frequently overestimated. The job worsens as the figure of sequences additions [ 30 ] the sum-of-pairs ( SP ) mark described in [ 31 ] , [ 32 ] , [ 29 ] , [ 33 ] is used to cipher the nonsubjective map ( OF ) where there is no anterior cognition of the mention alliance. The general signifier of OF mark of alignment n sequences consist of m columns is OF = . Where is the similarity mark of the column myocardial infarction, is the spread punishment of the column myocardial infarction and is the sequence length. The similarity mark of the column myocardial infarction can be measured by the sum-of-pairs ( SP ) . The SP-score S ( myocardial infarction ) for the i-th column myocardial infarction is calculated as follows: S ( myocardial infarction ) = , ( ) where is the j-th row in the i-th column. For alining two residues x and y, the permutation matrix s ( x, y ) is used to gives the similarity mark.3.0.2 Weighted sum-of-pairsThe leaden sum-of-pairs ( WSP ) score [ 28 ] , [ 34 ] is an extension of SP mark so that each pairwise alliance mark otherwise contributes to the whole mark. A leaden SP mark map has been proposed in the manner to reflect the relationships between the sequences. The rule is to give a cost to each brace of aligned residues in each column of the alliance ( permutation cost ) , and another cost to the spreads ( spread cost ) . These are added to give the planetary cost of the alliance. Furthermore, each brace of sequences is given a weight related to their similarity to other braces. The WSP calculates a entire mark from the leaden pairwise mark of all the sequences. The undermentioned figure shows the mathematical preparation of the leaden SP mark map. WSP ( A ) = ( ) Where N is the figure of sequences, k the length of aligned sequences, is the weight given to a brace of sequences, and is the similarity cost of two symbol sequence ( ) . The cost map included spread gap and extension punishments for gap and widening spreads. The weight of pairwise aligned sequences may be proportionately score [ 35 ] , [ 36 ] harmonizing to the sum of alone information enclosed in the sequence. These weights try to diminish the influence of excess information from strongly related sequences. A weight represents a per centum equal to a per centum individuality ( PID ) calculated over each brace of aligned sequences [ 24 ] as follows ( excepting spreads ) : PID = ( )3.0.3 Normalized Mean Distancenormalized mean distance ( NorMD ) [ 23 ] is a normalized mean distance ( MD ) mark measures the normalized mean distance between the similarities of the residue braces at each alliance column, introduce in ClustalX, between similarities of residue braces at each alignment column. A mark for each column in the alliance is calculated utilizing the construct of uninterrupted sequence infinite introduced by [ 37 ] and the column tonss are so summed over the full length of the alliance. NorMD take into history the sequence information, such as the figure, length and similarity of the sequences to be aligned. NorMD is used in RASCAL [ 38 ] and AQUA [ 39 ] .3.0.4 Consistency markConsistency-based nonsubjective maps focus on improved marking of lucifers in early alliances by integrating information from of pairwise alliance. This consistence construct was originally introduced by Gotoh [ 40 ] and subsequently refined by Vingron and Argos [ 41 ] . Kececioglu [ 42 ] reformulated this job as a maximal weight hint ( MWT ) job. It was further expanded by Morgenstern [ 43 ] who proposed the first heuristic to work out this job for big cases. Consistency-based marking is used in T-Coffee [ 44 ] , MAFFT [ 45 ] , and Align-m [ 46 ] algorithms. The COFFEE [ 22 ] is a consistency-based which step optimized the figure of aligned residues that were besides aligned in planetary pairwise alliances of the same sequences. Coffee nonsubjective map which evaluates the consistence between a multiple sequence alliance and a antecedently defined library of pair-wise alliances. COFFEE required two constituents: ( I ) a set of pairwise mention alliance by utilizing any method for doing pairwise alliances, ( two ) the OF that evaluate the consistence between a multiple alliance and the pairwise alliances contain in the library. COFFEE plants by first bring forthing the pairwise library of the sequences in the alliance and so calculates the degree of individuality between the current multiple alliance and the pairwise library. COFFEE is non using excess spread punishments so that, it is non sensitive to the permutation tonss of amino acids, the mark is normalized, and the cost of similar braces is place dependent. Coffee is reflect the deg ree of consistence between a multiple sequence alliance and a library containing pairwise alliances of the same sequences. The planetary mark mensurating the quality of the alliance is computed by the undermentioned expression. Coffee mark = ( ) where Len is the length of the MSA ; Aij is the pairwise projection of sequences Si and Sj obtained from the MSA ; Wij is the per centum individuality between the two aligned sequences Si and Sj ; is the figure of residues braces that are shared between Aij and the pairwise. In add-on, utilizing chance in consistence leads to a alleged chance consistency. This hiting map is introduced in ProbCons [ 47 ] . It assigns position-specific permutation tonss based on a step of expected truth derived from a concealed Markov theoretical account. This thought is implemented and extended in the PECAN [ 48 ] , MUMMALS [ 49 ] , PROMALS [ 50 ] , ProbAlign [ 51 ] , ProDA [ 52 ] , and PicXAA [ 53 ] plans.3.0.5 POsition-Specific and consIstency-based nonsubjective function ( POSITION )POSITION [ 54, 55 ] is based on the consistence, it calculates the degree of individuality between the current multiple alliance and the pairwise library. The hiting map for POSITION is shown as under in Eq. ( 5 ) . POSITION = ( 5 ) where N is the figure of the sequences ; Aijl is the brace of residues at index cubic decimeter of the pairwise projection of sequences Si and Sj ; and Occurrence ( Aijl ) is a 0-1 binomial map of whether brace Aijl occurs in the pairwise library. W ( Aijl ) is the weight of Aijl and is assigned to the mean similarity of residue braces around index l. This is an attempt to specify the weight harmonizing to contextual information of residue braces.3.0.6 MaxZMaxZ is a statistical alliance quality mark introduced in [ 56 ] which first quantifies the grade of preservation at each alignment place and so counts the figure of significantly conserved places over the alliance. It used Zscore for mensurating the grade of preservation that is based on profile analysis [ 57 ] Then, by utilizing the importance trying method [ Using the SIR algorithm to imitate posterior distributions. ] , the statistical significance of an observed mark value is calculated. In footings of positional significance degrees, the full alliance mark is calculated.3.0.7 MstatXMstatX calculates the trident statistic of each column in the multiple sequences alliance. Then by stipulate the statistic with the flag options. It can gives many different statistical steps on columns of a multiple alliance like Shannon information, frequence counts, spread counts, and more sophisticated marking. The default statistic is a weighted-entropy which means a Shannon information based on chances computed with the sequence burdening strategy defined by [ 58 ] . Statisticss proposed in MstatX is based on [ 59 ] and [ 60 ] .3.0.8 Maximal expected truth ( MEA )Maximal expected truth ( MEA ) [ 61 ] : The basic thought of MEA is to maximise the expected figure of â€Å" right † aligned residue braces [ 62 ] . It has been used in PRIME [ 63 ] , and ProbCons [ 47 ] algorithms.3.0.9 Segment-to-segment nonsubjective mapSegment-to-segment nonsubjective map: It is used by DIALIGN [ 64 ] to build an alliance through comparing of the whole sections of the sequences instead than the residue-to-residue comparing.3.0.10 Profile markProfile hiting map uses a marking map which is defined for a brace of profile places. In add-on to SP, MUSCLE [ 65 ] uses a new profile map which is called the log-expectation ( LE ) mark. Some of these nonsubjective maps integrated into other nonsubjective maps, each have its ain advantages and disadvantages. The nonsubjective map presently used in DIALIGN that is segment-to-segment nonsubjective map is flawed [ 66 ] . On the other manus T-Coffee is excessively memory demanding [ 12 ] . Sum-of-pairs is the most popular marking method because of its comparative velocity and hardiness. The velocity advantage is chiefly because the sum-of-pairs method does non necessitate a tree [ 67 ] . Some nonsubjective maps use permutations matrices whereas other used consistence construct by involve pairwise alliance. [ 68 ] disadvantage of these permutations matrices is that they are intended to rate the similarity between two sequences at a clip merely, and in order to widen them to multiple sequences, it is common to happen that they are scaled by adding up each pairwise similarity to obtain the mark for the multiple sequence alliance [ 5 ] .4.0 Alignment QualityQ ( Quality ) is a quality map to gauge the comparing between the alliance and the mention alliance. Q mark is the figure of right aligned residue braces in the trial alliance divided by the figure of residue braces in the mention alliance. This has been termed as the developer mark [ 69 ] and SPS [ 31 ] .5.0 MATERIALS AND METHODSHarmony hunt algorithm – which is out of range of this paper – is used to happen the optimal or a close optimum alliance harmonizing to the nonsubjective map. Given a perfect map, the mathematically optimum alliance will besides be biologically optimum. While the map defines a mathematical optimum, it is seldom have an statement that this optimum will besides be biologically optimum. two type of dataset are chosen ( I ) the subset of BRAliBase which are extremely variable and suited for local MSA ; ( two ) LocalEXtR, an extension of BRAliBase 2.1, consisting large-scale trial groups and patterned on BRAliBase 2.1 ; The series of experiments has been conducted in order to analyze the relationship of the corresponding nonsubjective map mark with the alignment quality. The experiment has been done in the term of correlativity coefficient between the nonsubjective map mark and the alignment quality mark in one side and the consuming clip in another side. First, the different nonsubjective maps are used as a fittingness map in HS algorithm and the relationship between them are studied. Second compare the quality tonss of 5 nonsubjective map utilizing database In pattern, it is hence ever recommended to utilize as many different methods. hence analysis did non curtail to merely a few of the best alignment methods but aimed to utilize as many methods as possible [ 12 ] . One of the primary challenges in sequence alliance is to happen a biologically meaningful nonsubjective map. A common pick of many alliance algorithms has been the ‘sum-of-pairs ‘ ( SP ) mark, which merely takes the amount of the tonss of all pairwise alliances in a given multiple alliance. To day of the month, there is no nonsubjective map that has been every bit good accepted for multiple alliances [ 70 ] as similarity has been for pairwise alliance. Alignment quality requires a mention alliance from database benchmark. The comparing is between the trial alliance and the mention alliance and it is called here alignment quality.Performance ratingTwo scenarios are done in different manner, The first scenarios, it uses an nonsubjective map in the HS Improvising procedure and analyze the relationship between the alliance mark with alignment quality for concluding alliance. This is repeated with all nonsubjective map. The motive for mark the alliance many times in every loop was the fact that alliances generated prior to the several iterative polish are frequently rather different from the concluding alliance [ 12 ] . Second scenarios, it measures alignment mark and alignment quality for the same alliance which is the concluding alliance by every nonsubjective maps individually. Alignment mark and its quality are compared for each alliance. This seneraio is to compare the consequence of different nonsubjective map on the same alliance These experiments to cognize how strong is the relation between them in each nonsubjective map individually. A comprehensive reappraisal of all methods will non be given here, but the common nonsubjective maps will be focus on.a. Harmony hunt algorithmHarmony hunt algorithm ( HS ) is developed by Geem [ 21 ] . HS is a meta-heuristic optimisation algorithm based on music. HS is imitating a squad of instrumentalists together seeking to seek the best province of harmoniousness. Each participant generates a sound based on one of three options ( memory consideration, pitch accommodation, and random choice ) . This is tantamount to happen the optimum solution in optimisation procedure. Geem et Al. [ 21 ] theoretical accounts HS constituents into three quantitative optimisation procedure as follows: first procedure, the Harmony memory ( HM ) : It used to maintain good harmoniousnesss. A harmoniousness from HM is selected indiscriminately based on the parametric quantity called harmony memory sing ( or accepting ) rate, HMCR ?„ [ 0,1 ] . It typically uses HMCR = 0.7 ~ 0.95. Second procedure, the pitch accommodation: it is similar to local hunt. It is used to bring forth a somewhat different solution from the HM depend on pitch-adjusting rate ( PAR ) values. PAR control the grade of the accommodation by the pitch bandwidth ( brange ) . It normally uses PAR = 0.1~0.5 in most applications. Third procedure, the random choice: a new harmoniousness is generated indiscriminately to increase the diverseness of the solutions. The chance of randomisation is Prandom = 1- HMCR, and the existent chance of the pitch accommodation is Ppitch = HMCR A- PAR. The pseudo codification of the basic HS algorithm with these three constituents is summarized in Figure 1. Harmony Search Algorithm Get down Declare the nonsubjective map degree Fahrenheit ( x ) , ten = ( x1, x2, aˆÂ ¦ , xn ) Initialize the harmoniousness memory accepting rate ( HMCR ) Initialize pitch seting rate ( PAR ) and other parametric quantities Initialize Harmony Memory with random harmoniousnesss While ( t & lt ; max figure of loops ) If ( rand & lt ; HMCR ) , Choose a value from HM If ( rand & lt ; PAR ) , Adjust the value by adding certain sum End if Else Choose a new random value End if End while Measure the solution by utilizing nonsubjective map Accept the new harmoniousness ( solution ) if better Update HM End while Find the current best solution in HM End Figure 1 Pseudo Code of the Harmony Search Algorithm [ 71 ] The HS algorithm has been applied to assorted optimisation jobs [ 72 ] that include Real-world applications, Computer scientific discipline jobs, Electrical technology jobs, Civil technology jobs, Mechanical technology jobs, and Bio & A ; medical applications.B. Benchmark DatasetThree type of dataset are chosen ( I ) the subset of BRAliBase which are extremely variable and suited for local MSA ; ( two ) LocalEXtR, an extension of BRAliBase 2.1, consisting large-scale trial groups and patterned on BRAliBase 2.1 ; ( three ) Lset, a brace of large-scale trial sets representative of current biological job. The subset of the BRAliBase 2.1 are selected from the most variable dataset within the suite. They are from THI, Glycine riboswitch and Yybp-Tkoy RNA households, and contain 232 trial datasets. LocalExtR uses the same seed alliances from Rfam that BRAliBase uses and signifiers big trial groups. BRAliBase is label a trial group qi, where I is the figure of sequences for each trial set in the group. The tabular array ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) show the inside informations of the dataset and the description information about each trial set. Table 1: Trial Dataset Number of each Test Group trial Group gcvT Family THI Family yybp-ykoy Family BRALiBase 2.1 ( 232 datasets ) k5 22 69 33 k7 12 32 18 k10 3 17 12 k15 1 5 8 LocalExtR ( 90 datasets ) k20 10 10 10 k40 10 10 5 k60 10 10 0 k80 5 10 0 Entire 73 163 86 Table 2: Sequence length of each Test Group sequence length trial Group Avg. Min. BRALiBase 2.1 ( 232 datasets ) k5 109 96 k7 110 94 k10 108 94 k15 110 88 LocalExtR ( 90 datasets ) k20 115 90 k40 114 87 k60 107 81 k80 106 775.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONOne chief challenge with MSA is how to gauge the quality of computer-aligned sequences. Therefore, an nonsubjective map ( OF ) is required in the optimisation processes. The pick of nonsubjective map and heuristics is critically of import in obtaining high quality alliances [ 12 ] . In add-on, OF acts an indispensable function in optimisation algorithms whereby the alliance is optimized against a mark computed by the OF [ 2 ] . The most straightforward OF is the sum-of-pairs ( SP ) score [ 3 ] , weight sum-of-pair [ ] , java [ 22 ] , Xstate [ ] and NorMD [ 23 ] .5.1 Correlation between Objective maps Score and alignment qualityTheoretically, an OF should ever give higher tonss for alliance with better quality [ ] . In world, nevertheless, since the nonsubjective map tonss and the alliance qualities are measured utilizing different standards, incompatibility happens. Correlation between alignment quality and different nonsubjective maps score were practiced on each experimental. Correlation coefficients ( R2 ) were so computed for each nonsubjective map and Q mark of the alignment quality. Two scenarios are performed to look into the correlativity the first one where utilizing the nonsubjective map as the HS Improvising procedure, the 2nd one where mark a concluding alliance by different nonsubjective maps. ( a ) First Scenario: utilizing the nonsubjective map in the generator procedure Five experiments are carried by utilizing an nonsubjective map and compared alignment mark with alignment quality in each experiment. Each experiment has been repeated 5 times for the same dataset and the norm is calculated. In this experiment, each nonsubjective map have been used individually as a fittingness map. Then, the correlativity of the nonsubjective map mark and the alignment quality mark is calculate utilizing the Correlation coefficients ( R2 ) . Each instance has been repeated 5 tallies for same dataset and calculated the norm for each nonsubjective map theoretical accounts. The figure of loop in each tally, is fixed in all the experimental in this experiment to 10,000. 322 trials set are used and their inside informations are summarized in Mistake: Reference beginning non found HS parametric quantities and others parametric quantities are setup to default puting for all nonsubjective map. Alliance Generator OF1 Alliance Mark |qualityaˆÂ ¦Alliance Generator OF2 Alliance Mark |qualityaˆÂ ¦In this experimental BHS-MSA is used to bring forth the alliance. Within the optimisation processes the nonsubjective map theoretical accounts, sum-of-pairs, weight sum-of-pair, java, Xstate and NorMD were used individually to give the good alliance quality. The concluding alliances were measured and evaluated by comparing with the mentions utilizing the rating map Quality ( Q ) and Entire column Score ( TC ) . The mean correlativity coefficient value of all dataset is listed and the spread secret plan graphs are listed as shown in Figure 2. shows the R indicated that the java and sum-of-pairs nonsubjective map has better positive correlativity with alignment quality than others does. The relation is positive that mean when the nonsubjective map is increase the alignment quality is increase this is clear shows in the Figure 3. Table 3: Correlation coefficients ( R2 ) of option Objective maps for scenario 1 SP WSP NorMD MstatX Coffee Correlation coefficients ( R2 ) 0.9216 0.7278 0.7613 0.8259 0.9642 fig 2 copy.jpg Figure 2: Scatter secret plan of alternate nonsubjective Functions for scenario 1 ( B ) Second Scenario: step a concluding alliance by different nonsubjective maps. In this experimental, 10 experiments are transporting out and alliance are bring forthing indiscriminately. Final alliance is measured by each nonsubjective map individually. Then, the correlativity of the nonsubjective map mark and the alignment quality mark is calculate utilizing the Correlation coefficients ( R2 ) [ 12 ] . This scenario is to back up the old 1. The correlativity on different nonsubjective map on alliances is study here by another manner where the nonsubjective maps are step the same alliance together and the relationship between the alliance mark with alignment quality are studied individually for each nonsubjective map. For ocular review, matching spread secret plans for all nonsubjective maps are presented. Alliance Generator OF1 Alliance Mark |qualityaˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦OF2 Mark |qualityaˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦HS and MSA parametric quantity are fixed to same values in all experimental. The mean correlativity coefficient value of all dataset is listed in Table 4 and the spread secret plan graphs are shown in Figure aˆZ3 Table4 shows the R indicated that the java and sum-of-pairs nonsubjective map has better positive correlativity with alignment quality than others does. The relation is positive that mean when the nonsubjective map is increase the alignment quality is increase this is clear shows in the Figure aˆZ3 Table 4: Correlation coefficients ( R2 ) of option Objective maps for scenario two sum-of-pairs ( R ) wsop ( R ) NorMD ( R ) Xstat ( R ) Coffee ( R ) Correlation coefficients ( R2 ) 0.8319 0.7558 0.6762 0.8028 0.9494 fig 3 copy.jpg Figure aˆZ3: Scatter secret plans of alternate nonsubjective maps for scenario two5.2 Study of Coffee and SP Objective maps based on clip costObjective map is the most computationally time-consuming constituent of MSA alliance method. The clip complexness of calculating an nonsubjective mark additions linearly with length of alliance and the figure of sequences. Figure aˆZ shows that increasing the sequence figure lead to increase the clip cost for calculate the nonsubjective map for the java and SP nonsubjective maps. Table5: Time cost of each Test Group Test Group No. of Seqs. sequence length Avg. Time Avg. min soap SP BRALiBase 2.1 ( 232 datasets ) k5 5 109 96 125 0.16 k7 7 110 94 131 0.32 k10 10 108 94 129 0.66 k15 15 110 88 137 1.60 LocalExtR ( 90 datasets ) k20 20 115 90 172 3.52 k40 40 114 87 180 16.96 k60 60 107 81 189 42.72 k80 80 106 77 204 88.01 Based on the correlativity shown in 4, the correlativity between the alliances hiting and the alignment quality utilizing the COFFEE nonsubjective map and sum-of-pairs were better than those found utilizing the NorMd, MstatX, and WSP nonsubjective maps. Coffee and sum-of-pairs nonsubjective maps have the highest correlativity. Based on the clip cost shown in Table5: Time cost of each Test Group and figure 4, the cost clip used by sum-of-pairs is better than java nonsubjective map for all trial groups. Figure aˆZ4: Coffee and SPS Objective map clip6.0 DecisionThe alliance of multiple sequences remains a challenging job today. Here, we do non discourse possible schemes to better alliance quality, but alternatively concentrate on the maps used to measure the quality of completed alliances. The relationship of the alliance mark and alignment quality of different nonsubjective map is the aim of this paper. It is recommended to run several maps and compare their consequences to happen the most suitable one. The consequence shows that the correlativity between the alliances tonss and the alignment quality utilizing the COFFEE nonsubjective map and sum-of-pairs were better than those found utilizing the NorMd, MstatX, and WSP nonsubjective maps. Coffee and sum-of-pairs nonsubjective maps have the highest correlativity. It besides shows that the alliance marking by sum-of-pairs is better than java nonsubjective map for all trial groups in footings of consuming clip The tonss produced by sum-of-pairs and java are better correlated to the existent alliance truths than tonss produced by other methods.7.0 RecognitionThe writers would wish to appreciate the School of Computer Sciences every bit good as University Science Malaysia for their installations and aid. The writers are appreciative of the attempts of the referees for their helpful remarks.