None Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

None - Essay Example This normally gives room to committing fallacious reasoning whilst emotional temperament fosters it. Worldwide mainly imply to cognitive network of prevailing beliefs, attitudes, habits, memories, values and corresponding supplementary elements that are normally conditions and renders quietly meaningful the world that people dwell (Patrick, 156-198). Moreover, worldview normally emerges unobtrusively and intuitively from the pervasive influences such as cultures, language, sex and religion, politics, social and economic status. It influence normally manifest itself when an individual grow older via shaping forces of education and experience. Five characteristics of critical thinking in movie 12 are argument analysis, morality such as persuasion and obedience, manipulation, fallacies versus sound reasoning and corresponding effective Critical thinker (Patrick, 156-198). Conversely, five characteristic of uncritical thinking include contradictory perspectives, prejudices, predispositions that are manly based on the underlying barrier within their decision making and contradictory personalities that normally enrich prevailing actions and corresponding decisions of an individual. I would want argument analysis on the prevailing jury in case I was the defendant. The jury ought to embrace analyses of every the underlying in order make dependable arguments and correspondingly determine that the conclusion is imperfect based on the inappropriate reasoning via pointing out prevailing inconsistences within the judgment. Moreover, deductive reasoning will also aid in development of logic within the underlying case. Argument analysis method normally cast criticisms on the underlying second point and subsequent points via thoroughly analyzing every component

Compare and Contrast Essay Example for Free

Compare and Contrast Essay In the sixteenth century, a group of English protestant who practised a more strictly disciplined Christian lifestyle were named Puritans; they immigrated to Salem also called New England in the purpose to establish a society of their own after suffering from religious persecution in England. Arthur Millers play The Crucible and Celia Reess novel Witch Child are both similar as their story evolve around this same Puritan society of the seventeenth century in Salem, Massachusetts. The restrained and rigid Puritan lifestyle is explored in detail in both texts in which people were expected to work hard and repress their emotions and opinions. The Crucible relates very closely to Witch Child in its portrayal of a main theme within Puritanism: the witchcraft hysteria that marked the early History of America. The first similarity between Witch Child and Crucible is the portrayal of a strict Puritan religion. They were so strict that they accepted every word of the Bible as totally accurate and would not question its interpretation further, an example would be the famous Thou shalt not permit a sorceress to live (2. Moses 22, 17) upon which most of the European witch trials had already been conducted. People were repressed, as entertainment and pleasure were heinous sins in which cosmetics, games, theatres and dancing were all banned. As a result in The Crucible the witchcraft madness begins after Abigail and the girls have been caught dancing in the woods. The same scenario is echoed in Witch Child they practice not just in the forestDeborah and Hannah Vane, Sarah Garner and Elizabeth Denning and others unknown were found in a barn, dancing naked. We notice in both stories a parallel in which woods and forests are associated with witchcraft. This is demonstrated in Witch Child p121: The forest is also the realm of Satan and against him and his forces guns offer no protection This insinuates the wilderness is linked to the darkness thus forest was evil. Colourful clothing was also not allowed, this idea is repeated several times in Witch Child as people were all dressed in the dark sober clothes which mark them as Puritans This suggests puritans valued plainness in religious worship and had a lack of interest in material and artificial things as those were to distract men away from the right path. Another main concept of Puritanism is the theocracy in which their society is governed. The church represents the centre of the community and it is illustrated in both The Crucible and Witch Child. Non-attendance at church was a sin in which the person would be punished and excommunicated, losing all of his property and rights. In The Crucible, Proctor does not attend church as Reverend Hale note[s] that [he is] rarely in the church on Sabbath Day he also questions Proctors way of raising his children as only two are baptized?, and furthermore Proctor is found unable to quote the last commandment which Elizabeth reminds him that it is Adultery, John. All these statement are then held against him as incriminating evidence, whereby he is found suspicious in the Witch trial. Proctor is compared to Marys Grandmother in Witch child who always attended churcheven though she did not believe a word of what was saidshe went every Sundayshe never missed a service Unlike Proctor, Marys grandmother followed the Puritan lifestyle strictly with obedience even if it differed from her beliefs. It is ironic that Marys grandmother is said to be a witch in Witch Child but was still obedient to the puritan society, whereas Proctor is only seeking defence in Abigails false accusations but it is a whores vengeance, and you must see it!; yet both characters ended up accused and executed whether being innocent or not in the witch craft trial. Deep in the psyche of the inhabitants of Puritan society was a stigma surrounding the potential of women to become cohort of the Devil. Sexual prejudice linked witchcraft to females, and specific social circumstances made certain kinds of women particularly liable to witchcraft prosecution. Throughout Witch Child Mary is subjected to rumours in the community for her desire to wander in the forest this is apparent on p149 Such wandering could draw attention. If you were seen with him rumours are also added to her literacy skills and her knowledge on plants and their medicinal or heathen remedy uses. This was unusual to the community as puritans believed women were inferior, weak, and disregarded for their intellectual value mainly because female sexuality was associated with evil, stemming from the biblical depiction of Eve tempting Adam in the Garden of Eden. The sensual power of women was feared since they had the ability to corrupt upstanding Puritan men and leads them into paths of wickedness. Deborah Vane and Abigail William closely relate to each other being the main leaders of the Witchcraft insanity in both Witch Child and The Crucible books. Their motives for such spiteful behaviour were not justified although they had several advantages in being afflicted. The girls, who normally had a very low position in the social order, were able to act in a way that usually would have been unacceptable. Their strange and sometimes even disrespectful behaviour was blamed on the witches who were torturing them and forcing them to do so I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil! Seeing Abigails success, the other girls follow suit and with this pattern of hysterical, self-serving accusations, the witch trials get underway as the girls were excused and even pitied. I personally believe it was a way to gain attention, just like Proctor claims in Act 2 p72 Ill tell you whats walking Salem vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! In fact this whole scenario makes the girls the most powerful persons in Salem at that time, whereas in their normal lives they would not be able to have any perspective of improving their social status in the future. Since the exhibition of their affliction represented the main evidence during the trials, they were able to decide who was going to be accused and whether these persons were going to be executed or not. Whenever a person doubted the veracity of their afflictions or tried to argue with them, they would fall into fits accusing him or her of also being a witch.

The various types of Dividend policies used by companies

The various types of Dividend policies used by companies Dividend policy has drawn due attention from various researchers. One of the most famous studies in this respect is Miller and Modigliani hypothesis (1961), which asserted that the cash dividend policy is not important because it has no effect on the companys value, and as such it does not affect the company owners wealth. This is due to the fact that companies follow a Residual Dividend Policy which is based on reinvestment of corporate profits in the available investment opportunities (Van Horne 1983; Arnold 2008) with positive net present value and distribution the surplus cash as a cash dividend to shareholders. The above hypothesis aroused a lot of controversy on the part of researchers. However, the most important study that opposed it is that of Partington (1985) which claims that the companies do not follow in practice the residual dividend approach as the dividend decisions taken independently from the investment policy. Right now, controversies continue among researchers based on the subject without arriving at any decisive results This chapter will study the public dividend policy to shareholders, which is considered to be one of the most important financial decisions, in view of its direct relationship to shareholders and financing decisions and investment in the company. The chapter will also cover the alternatives to be addressed consisting of general dividend policy and theories that linked the cash dividend policy with the company market value, and therefore the company owners wealth in addition to the share dividend policy and buying back policy, besides the cash dividend policy and its relationship with the investment policy 2-2 General Dividend Policy The Company Board suggests distribute dividend to shareholders in an annual meeting (Watson and Head 2004). The main interest is to suggest acceptance and secure fair dividend for shareholders consistent with the rate of dividend decided by the company management. Therefore, in preparing dividend distribution, the mangers do not look only for current year profit, but they, instead, will look for the future earnings expected, and hence for the ability of the company to maintain a stable rate of dividend taking into consideration the systematic growth of this ratio. On their part, the investors are aware of this truth, and they look for a profit increase in a positive vision expecting throughout a stability of the future dividend. When the company achieves high profits for a particular year and do not expect the same level of profit for next years, they will make normal dividend and give additional dividend so as not to disappoint the investors hopes in the future. The profits are then divided into two dividends, a normal and an incremental dividend, to make notification to investors that this type of dividend is unexpected and would not continue in the future (Levy and Sarnat 1994). There are several alternatives for the profits dividend. The company may either distribute the profits in the form of regular cash dividends, or it may distribute profits in the form of shares dividends to shareholders. However, the above two types may be distributed at the same time. Besides that, shareholders can also obtain profits when the company tends to repurchase its shares, and considers the regular cash dividend as something quite common (Broyles 2003). The percentage of the profits distributed by the company is typically governed by several considerations. In addition to the law which prohibits the distribution of profits unless the company achieves a profit after deducting reserves, the contracts of the bonds, in case the company issues these bonds, often prevents companies from increasing the proportion of cash dividend on a certain level to secure the rights of bondholders (Watson and Head 2004). Thus, the general dividend policy may well looked upon on the basis of differentiating between the cash dividends and the shares dividend through capitalization of profits, or through buying back the companys shares. This is due to the fact that the investment policy is fixed. The company will thus detain profits to finance capital spending on growth and expansion or debt repayment, or extinguish the bonds if any, and distribute the remaining cash as a cash dividend, and also to finance any deficit in capital spending by issuing new shares or through outside borrowing. The company could detain the necessary funds to finance capital expenditure and re-buy part of the shares issued and distribute the remaining as a cash dividend. These alternatives will not affect the companys value, and therefore the wealth of shareholders, if the company is operating in market characterized by ideal, efficiency and depth (Merton and Modigliani 1961; Black and Scholes 1974; Peter 1996). In case such characteristics are absent of the market, one can expect arguments about the impact of dividend policy, particularly cash, on the value of the company, and therefore the wealth of shareholders. The second group (Gordon 1959; Blume 1980; Dyl and Weigand 1998; Koch and Shenoy 1999) believes that increasing the percentage of cash dividends would increase the companys value, thus increasing the shareholders wealth, while the third group (Litzenberger and Ramaswamy 1979; Blume 1980; Litzenberger and Ramaswamy 1982; Ang and Peterson 1985) believes that increasing the percentage of cash dividend will lead to a decline in the value of the company, thereby reducing the wealth of shareholders. These groups together with their theories will be discussed when dealing with the policy of cash dividend. The profits will be transferred to return earnings account, which is used for purposes determined by the board and the approval of the General Assembly of the company. This account is usually used to maintain a stable dividend amount of cash dividends (a systematically dividend policy). During the years where the company cannot meet the amount of normal dividend, they will tend to the return earnings account to insure any deficit. The General Assembly of the company has full authority to use this account for normal or abnormal cash dividend in whole or in part. It could also be used for company repurchase share, or for capitalization this account and distribution of share dividends to shareholders. On their part, shareholders can obtain their profits through a set of policies that can be combined in a single year, but it often takes one of the following alternatives(Watson and Head 2004): A cash dividend policy Shares dividend policy Buying back shares policy 2-3 Cash Dividend Policy The impact of cash dividend policy on current prices of the company shares is considered to be very important, not only for policy makers, but also for investors, portfolio managers, and economists interested in the performance of capital markets (Watson and Head 2004). The questions to be raised here are: Can managers maximize the wealth of the owners of the company through a particular dividend policy? (Lumby and Jones 1999) Are the companies with high dividend sold with premium? Should the shares of companies that retain their profits or distribute a percentage of its profits, be sold as well in a lesser price? The fact is that these questions were, and still are, the subjects of many applied studies. Until now, there seems no consensus on the answers to these questions. The reason is the presence of other relevant factors that affect the market value of the shares that enable us to measure the impact of dividend policy on profits alone. This means that researchers did not so far prepare both proper and adequate tests and studies to distinguish between different hypotheses. The arguments among researchers about the dividend policy focus on that part of the cash dividend to be distributed to shareholders and its impact on the companys value and therefore the wealth of the owners of the company. Miller and Modigliani (1961) see that the cash dividend does not affect the value of the company, as the companys value will not be affected by how earned profits are divided; but rather affected by the ability to achieve profits. Thus, there is no point in thinking of how to divide profits between dividends and return earnings, while thinking must be directed towards maximizing these profits through the optimal investment policy as the way by which the cookie is divided will not lead to increase its size. In the opinion of others (see, Olson and McCann 1994; Lipson, Maquieira et al. 1998), the manner in which profits are divided between dividends and return earnings affects the companys value through an increase or decrease in the demand for the company shares, as the investors with high incomes usually prefer companies without cash dividend if the value of taxes on cash dividend exceeds the taxes on capital gains, while investors typically prefer companies that cash high dividends if they do not pay taxes or who were in low category of taxes. Also, investors in growing companies may not ask the company to distribute high cash dividends and accept, instead, low cash dividends. This is because the internal return rate in these companies is usually greater than the costs of obtaining funds from sources other than return earnings, and thus maximize the wealth of shareholders through the detention of all or most of the profits and use them to finance projects which have positive present v alue. Investors in non-growing companies, on their part, look for high dividends (see, Walter 1963). From the foregoing discussion, it is viewed by many scholars that the harmony between cash dividend policy with investor wishes will affect the market value, due to any increase or decrease for the company shares emanating from this harmony or compatibility, which will be reflected on the price of its shares. The decision of cash dividend policy, particularly its cash portion, is one of the challenges facing company managers, because the distribution decision defines the funds to be given companys shareholders, and therefore the funds to remain for managers in the company to reinvest (Lumby and Jones 1999). The cash dividend policy can be considered as an action plan for the company to be followed when the company needs to make a decision regarding cash dividends, so that this plan could provide several options from which the company can choose to reach the desired goal. Such a plan is laid taking into account the following two main goals: Maximizing the wealth of shareholders and meeting the company needs to finance its investments. There are several factors affecting the decision to choose the most appropriate alternative among the alternatives available in the action plan. These factors are: legal, contractual, internal shareholders and market considerations. These factors reduce the available alternatives for the company in order to achieve its aims through a cash dividend policy practice. The available alternatives include the companys range of cash dividend policies the company could follow (Gitman 1997; Brigham and Houston 2004) . These include: Fixed dividend policy rate Regularly dividend policy Regularly low fixed dividend with special or added dividend Remaining cash dividend policy. These policies will be discussed in detail as follows: Fixed Dividend Policy Rate This percentage is determined by apportionment of dividends on profits earned. The percentage distribution of 80% of the net profits derived mean that the company will distribute 80% of its profits and reserves 20% of retained earnings. Since corporate annual profits are not fixed, adopting this policy will lead to a fluctuation in the amount of dividends because the stability of the dividends rate from non fixed profit leads to a difference in the amount of the annual dividends, which is the main criticisms of this policy. Since the fluctuation of the quantity of dividends is one of the benchmarks that measure the risks of the company and because the non fluctuation of the profits is usually seen as something positive for current and future performance of the company, the prices of company shares that follow such a policy may be adversely affected by this policy. Regular Dividend Policy The company, according to this policy, pays fixed rates as a dividend each year. For example, they may pay $0.2 per share each year, which will be fixed next years. This policy gives a positive indicator about the company because of the stability of the quantity of dividends, leading to reduce the risks of uncertainty. The companies that follow such a policy tend to increase the dividends rate whenever they feel that the increase in profits is steady and continuing in the future. Low regular fixed policy with special or added dividend Some companies follow a policy of systematic low dividend with additional dividends when the companys profits are unstable and highly volatile so that the companys profits are high in a given year but low in another, which makes it difficult for it to follow a regularly high-level profits distribution policy be able to maintain it. The company, therefore, seeks to pay low dividends characterized by being consistent and continuous and then pay other additional and unusual dividends in the years where it can secure high profits. The company thus has been able to achieve consistency and continuity in the level of profitability, which are indicators of great importance on the part of investors, who consider this as something necessary for building confidence with the company. Remaining cash dividend policy The optimal cash dividend rate for any company is best determined by the differentiation between a numbers of factors (Brigham, L. et al. 1999) Shareholders preference for cash dividend or capital gains. Investment opportunities available for the company. Optimal structure mix for the companys capital (money sources). External financing costs The last three factors combined affect the remaining dividend policy which is based on distributing cash dividends which exceeds the companys to finance all company investment opportunities that have positive present value. The company should make the following three steps when applying the remaining cash dividends policy (Brigham and Houston 2004) Identifying all the available investment opportunities which have positive present value and in which the company wishes to invest. Determining the optimal structure mix of capital that achieves the lowest cost. Using the profits to finance new projects with positive present value because of their low cost in comparison with new share issues in case they represent the best combination of capital. Based on this concept, and as long as the money needed by the company to reach the optimal mix of the capital structure is the equity funds , and not money borrowed, and as long as the need for funds exceeds the companys achieved profits and return earnings, the company will not make any dividends distribution for shareholders (Van Horne 1983). But in case the funds needed are less than the return earnings, the company will take its cash needs and distribute the exceeded money as a cash dividend for shareholders. Besides that, if the optimal capital structure mix does not make it incumbent upon the company for financing or allowing to borrow without leading to the level of damage risks of the company, the company then may distribute profits to shareholders because of lack of need and also because these profits are considered as surplus (Arnold 2008). 2-3-1 Factors affecting cash dividend policy A combination of factors affect the cash dividend policy and put pressure on the management when a dividends proposal is submitted to the General Assembly to be taken as a justification of reference for the Assembly when ratifying or adjusting this proposed. These most important of these factors are arguably (see, Damodaran 1997; Gitman 1997; Brigham, L. et al. 1999; Brigham and Houston 2004) the following: legal, contractual, internal, growth and the expected expansion, shareholders preferences for cash dividend or capital gains and capital market considerations. These factors are explained here in some details: Legal restrictions Cash dividends should not exceed the total of retained earnings plus net profits for the current year. This is known as the Impairment of Capital Rule. If the companys net profits equal to $500 thousand and it the retained earnings of $ 2 millions, then it should not distribute profits more than $ 2.5 million; but if there is retained loss within equity amounting to $200 thousands, then it should not distribute more than $300 thousands. Contractual restrictions Usually borrowing contracts restrict the amount of profits allowing the company to distribute to shareholders to ensure the rights of the lenders. When the company issues borrowing bonds, the contracts usually include both permissions and restrictions from the date of bonds issuance till bonds date off. The bonds contract often will not allow the company to distribute cash dividends only if they exceed the amount earned in a certain amount. The contract might also prevent the company from increasing the percentage distribution of normal profits or may determine the profits that could be distributed by the companys net profits for distribution. The company accepts such conditions on themselves to reduce the risks of borrowing from the viewpoint of the lender, thus reducing borrowing costs. There are also restrictions on cash dividends imposed upon issuance of the preferable shares of the company. In this respect, it is natural to restrict the distribution of any dividends to ordinary shareholders unless they pay all preferable share profits. Internal constraints The companys ability to pay cash dividends is affected by the quantity of liquid funds available, not by profits and return earnings only. Although the company could resort to borrowing for financing the cash dividend or issuing new shares to finance the dividend process, the companies often do not do that because of high costs for this decision. The company can use it in urgent cases to stabilize the amount of dividends, since the fluctuation of the value of dividends may convey a cost that could be higher than the distribution finance costs. Thus, the companys ability for cash dividends or desire to distribution is often constrained by liquid funds available. Company expected growth and expansion The volume of capital expenditure required for financing expansion and growth significantly affects cash dividend policy adopted by the company. If the company is in continuous expansion and development, using modern technology, they will need all the funds available to finance operations. On the other hand, the companies that have reached the stage of maturity are more able to distribute cash dividends than companies in growth. Shareholders preference for cash dividends or capital gains One of the management functions is to maximize the company owners wealth therefore we should take into account the owners interests when preparing the cash dividend policy. The companys ability to distribute cash profits and desire to do so are often constrained by several important factors affecting the interests of company owners (Brigham, L. et al. 1999): Tax status of the companys owners: If most of the companys owners are affluent are in high tax brackets, the company will resort to a dividends policy whereby it can reduce the impact of taxes on the shareholders profits. Investment opportunities available for company owners If shareholders can obtain returns for re-investing their profits exceeding the companys returns, the company must distribute a greater proportion of profits to enable shareholders to maximize their wealth by reinvesting these profits. But if the companys returns are more than shareholders returns, then the company must transfer the maximum part of their profit to return earnings for reinvestment in order to maximize the shareholders wealth. The steady control of former shareholders If the company tends to distribute all, or most, of profits achieved over the years, it will find itself forced to issue new shares to finance the expansion and development projects. This would first lead to mitigate and minimize the control of the companys former owners of the company; and then the profits to be gained would be reduced because of the increasing number of company owners due to the issuance of new shares. This situation could be remedied through the allocation of shares, by allowing old shareholders to subscribe for new shares, each according to his/her contribution and giving them priority in this respect. The company could also resort to another alternative, i.e. to reduce the proportion of cash dividends if they want to retain full control over old shareholders and show no inclination towards increasing the number of shareholders. Stable and clear dividend policy Investors give special importance to the stable and clear dividends policy. Also, they give special importance for the continuity of these dividends because they believe that the stability, increase, and continuity of dividends would surely lead to reduce risks from the standpoint of investors. Therefore, investors tend to discount returns of companies whose policies of distribution are characterized by stability, increase and continuity at a discount rate less than other companies. This means that they highly evaluate these companies; in other words, they ask for a less rate of returns, thereby reducing the companys capital cost. Profit information content Investors are interested in the informational content of the profits. Through these profits, they can read the management forecasts for company future profits. As the mangers have more precise information about the company investors, on their part, will give special attention to the informational content of the profits. 2-3-2 Theoretical Framework for Dividend policy and its impact on market value We can clarify the theoretical framework for the relationship between the dividend policies (cash, shares and repurchase) and market value of the company through the Irrelevant Theory was brought by M M in 1961. They suggested that there was no relationship between the dividend policy and market value. Many researchers have supported this theory, but also others have suspicion about it. The advocates researchers believe that companies should follow residuals dividend policy while the opponents researchers divided into two divisions, the first believes that there is a positive relationship between the dividend policy and the company market value, others said that this relationship is negative. The relationship between the dividend policy and the company market value is also affected by other dimensions which create a number of other theories, where we find that the uncertainty created a bird in the hand theory , the presence of taxes helped to find a Tax Effect Theory, either shareholders loyalty has created a Clientele Effect Theory, Management try to send some information through the dividend policy covered by Signaling Effect Theory, while the separation of management and owners (shareholders) has created Agency cost Theory. Therefore, we can draw the theoretical framework for the study through the following form: Theoretical Framework (figure 2-1) Share Dividend Positive Relationship Negative Relationship Irrelevant Market Value Relationship Dividend Policy Irrelevant Theory Relevant Residual Dividend Policy Bird in the Hand Theory Tax Effect Theory Clientele Effect Theory Signaling Effect Theory Agency Cost Theory Cash Dividend Share Repurchasing 2-3-2-1 Irrelevance Proposition There is a belief among many finance and economics specialists that cash dividends policy is not important because it is not relevant and does not affect the owners wealth. The source of this belief is a study conducted by Miller and Modigliani (1961). This study concluded that the dividends policy has no effect on the companys value, so the managers will not be able to maximize the owners wealth through a dividends policy. The irrelevance proposition concept for dividends policy on the owners wealth stems from the fundamental idea that companies which distribute continuous high cash dividends to shareholders and secure a little bit higher share prices (Archer, Choate et al. 1983; Lumby and Jones 1999). As a result, the investors capital gains are very limited in this company as he would receive the same returns received by other investors holding another companys shares with low dividends while its prices become high because of the return earnings, and so he obtains high capital gains which compensates the limited cash dividends. In both cases, the shareholders wealth is the profits obtained by cash dividend plus capital gains realized from rising share prices. In case there are no taxes or whether taxes on capital gains are equal, the investor will not be affected, whether the company has established cash dividends or kept the profit in return earnings and the investor has obtain capital gains when se lling his shares as a result of the rise of the companys shares by cash undistributed profits with no change in the other effective factors. This theory is based on the following assumptions (Merton and Modigliani 1961): There are no taxes, or the taxes rate on cash dividends and taxes rate on capital gains are equal. There is no transactions cost for the process of selling or buying shares so that, if the investor needs cash, he will be able to sell his shares without losing any commissions and fees instead of cash dividends. The investor is absolutely rational in his decisions. There are no agency costs. This means that the company managers that distribute low cash dividends do not use the company profits to achieve personal goals that may harm the company (Jensen 1986). The company operates under a full and efficient market, which means that the information is available and accessible to all at the same time without any costs, and the stock prices reflect information and absolutely influenced by it at the moment provided. There is no information gap, including that the company operates under a full and efficient market. The future outlook on the performance of the company is homogeneous among all investors, as so do information and expectations among managers and investors. According to irrelevance proposition, the dividend policy affects only the level of external financing required to finance future projects with positive net present value. This means that each dollar distributed to shareholders represents a capital loss of a dollar. According to this hypothesis, the only constraint to the companys market value is the companys investment policy, not the companys dividends policy followed. This is because the investment policy is responsible for future profits (Miller and Modigliani 1961). Accordingly, the companys decision on the distribution of cash or non-profit distribution would not affect the market value of the company and therefore would not affect the owners wealth. This hypothesis recommends that managers should give greater importance to the investment policy and let the dividends policy follow the investment policy, which is known the Residual Dividend Approach. The advocates of the irrelevance proposition hypothesis (Black and Scholes 1974; Miller and Scholes 1978; Merton and Myron 1982; Merton 1986; Peter 1996) adopt the idea that the investor can build his own cash dividends policy regardless of the companys dividends policy. This is known as Homemade Dividend(Merton and Modigliani 1961) where the investors can obtain income through selling part of his shares equal to the value of cash profits that could have been distributed by the company, if the company does not have cash dividends and the investor himself wishes to receive cash dividends to meet his consumer needs. He may wish also to reinvest cash dividends distributed by the company in case the investor shows no desire for cash dividends. By following this method, the investor will not be affected by the companys dividends policy, and therefore would not be compelled to abandon the stocks of companies followed by a dividends policy which is not consistent with his wishes. One of the criticisms against the irrelevance proposition hypothesis is that it cannot be practically acceptable. The theory of building a dividends policy for each investor based on efficient market, with no transaction costs for buying and selling (Dempsey and Laber 1992), is not practical. In addition, the investor will pay taxes on cash dividends or capital gains, making the adoption of a specific dividends policy for each investor something costly. Besides, the investment in companies whose cash dividends policy is consistent with the investors needs is less expensive than building a special dividends policy. The hypothesis has been built on the basis that the investor is quite rational when taking his decisions. The psychological tests have proved, however, that human beings are not rational one hundred percent with regard to decision-making. Shefrin and Statman (1984) in their study said that investors have an unreasonable preference regarding the profit dividends; this is not consistent with the irrelevance proposition hypothesis. The irrelevance proposition hypothesis is also criticised for assuming equality between the cash dividends and capital gains, while cash dividend is a cash in hand without any uncertainty risk, and the capital gains is cash in the future with a lot of risks. So, how can they be equal? The irrelevance proposition hypothesis has been built on a set of assumptions and data that have already been indicated. It is understood here that any change in these assumptions and data would naturally lead to a change in the basic hypothesis and therefore to a change in the results. Accordingly, and in practical terms, the financial markets in general do not agree with these assumptions.

Isolation in The Scarlet Letter Essay -- Scarlet Letter essays

Isolation in The Scarlet Letter      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the New Testament it states that "the wages of sin is death." Though the penalty of sin in The Scarlet Letter is not a termination of life, the evil of isolation can be a physically, morally, and socially tortuous event in Puritan society. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, are both victims of the cruel isolation from Puritan society on the basis of their sins. Hester wears her sin upon her breast where it stands as a constant reminder of her malfeasance. Shame and isolation strip her of all passion and femininity, leaving her a shell of her former self. Though Arthur's mark of shame is not visible, it is all the more tortuous for its absence. Shame and guilt feed upon Arthur's soul with slow malevolency. Only a combination of death and confession finally release Arthur from his torture.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though Hester's ostracism from society and the tortuous nature of her shame, Hester is stripped of all passion and humanity. Since society ...

Bacterial Conjugation

Bacterial conjugation is one of the basic methods by which simple organisms, such as the single-celled bacterium, reproduce. It is a very basic form of copulation that often involves a transfer of DNA but no recombination following the said transfer. It occurs following the docking together of two bacteria, a donor and a recipient. It is sex in the bacterial world. The process of conjugation is made possible by â€Å"the presence of certain plasmids in the donor bacteria that possess genes for making the proteins involved in docking and transfer.† (The Columbia encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2004) These plasmids are the ones carried forward from one bacteria to the other bacteria. A plasmid is an â€Å"extra-chromosomal† piece of bacterial DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Plasmids are maintained inside the bacterial cell, replicating fast enough until they are passed on to bacterial progeny as the bacteria divide. Plasmids are just like chromosomes. They are circular and essen tially double-stranded DNA.The distinct characteristics that set apart plasmids from chromosomes are in their size and the genes that they carry. Plasmids are much smaller in size than chromosomes. Plasmids carry only genes that are essential. Bacteria are an interesting group of organism. In order to better comprehend how bacteria multiplies, and replicates its genes, there is a need to understand its structure. Bacteria are â€Å"microscopic unicellular prokaryotic organisms characterised by the lack of a membrane-bound organelles.† (The Columbia encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2004) Bacteria are remarkably adaptable to diverse environmental conditions: they are found in the bodies of all living organisms and on all parts of the earth — in land terrain and ocean depths, in arctic ice and glaciers, in hot springs, and even in the stratosphere. Most bacteria are of one of three typical shapes — rod-shaped (bacillus), round (coccus), and spiral (spirillum). The cytop lasm and plasma membrane of most bacterial cells are surrounded by a cell wall.In bacteria, the genetic material is organized in a continuous strand of DNA. This circle of DNA is localized in an area called the nucleoid, but there is no membrane surrounding a defined nucleus. In addition to the nucleoid, the bacterial cell may include one or more plasmids. Some bacteria are capable of specialized type of genetic recombination which involves the transfer of nucleic acid by individual contact, that is, the process of conjugation. Recombination involves a â€Å"process of shuffling genes by which new combinations can be generated.† (The Columbia encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2004) Genetic recombination in bacteria may be mediated by transformation, transduction, or conjugation. In these methods, genetic transfers occur unidirectionally from donor to recipient bacteria and only a fraction of the genetic material of a donor cell is transferred to a recipient, which, on the other han d, contributes its cytoplasm as well as its entire genome. In conjugation, the genetic contribution of the donor (male) is incomplete and is genetically and physiologically determined.In so doing, â€Å"the system of conjugation is well adapted to providing information about the nature and organization of the bacterial chromosome as a whole as well as to the study of nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions. † (Burdette et. al. 1963) In E. coli bacteria, the transmissible sex factor responsible for the donor state, and thus for fertility, was called F, donor cells being F+ and recipient cell F-. From population of F+ cells, strains of a new type of donor called Hfr (for high frequency of recombination) were occasionally isolated.Both F+ and Hfr donors share the following characteristics that distinguish with F- recipients: they possess similar surface properties that enable them to pair specifically and to mate with F- cells with comparable efficiency; they have the actual or potenti al ability to transfer genetic determinants to recipients, although the nature of the determinants so transferred by the two types of donor may be of quite different kinds; each type of donor has the potentiality to mutate to the other or to the F- type; and both types are under the control of a specific genetic structure, the sex factor F.F functions as a genetic particle insofar as it is stably inheritable by progeny, is transmissible in crosses, and is the determinant of those properties that characterize donor cells. (Burdette et. al. 1963) The facts recounted above and the interpretations they have engendered may now be brought together to form a unified picture of the mating system in E. coli. The sexual differentiation of E. coli into males and females is genetically controlled by the presence or absence of a sex factor, F, that has the properties of an episome and is more akin in its behavior to temperate bacteriophage than to a normal genetic determinant.The propensities of male cells, in turn, are governed by the state in which the sex factor exists in them. F+ male cells, which harbor the sex factor in its autonomous state, preserve a continuous linkage group and, on conjugation, transfer only their sex factor and other extrachromosomal elements to females. They have the potentiality, however, to generate a spectrum of Hfr male types, each characterized by a linear, transferable chromosome the extremities of which are defined by the integration of the sex factor at one of a variety of chromosomal sites; only the proximal part of the linear chromosome is transferred with high efficiency.Such modified sex factors serve as efficient vehicles for the transport to female cells of their incorporated segments of male chromosome, with the result that stable, partial diploids for various regions of the chromosome can readily be synthesized. (Burdette et. al. 1963) Formation of the zygote extends from the initial collision between an Hfr and an F- cell to the completion of chromosomal transfer and comprises the stages of collision, effective contact formation, and chromosomal transfer.In interrupted mating, a number of different Hfr markers are selected, each is found to enter the zygotes at a different time that is specific for each marker under standard conditions. The times of entry of the various markers correspond to their order of arrangement on the chromosome and are proportional to their distances from O where O indicates the extremity (leading locus) which first penetrates the recipient cells during conjugation. The peculiarity of conjugation resides in the mechanism by which genetic transfer is accomplished.This is expressed by the fact that, when different selections are made, the different genetic characters of a given Hfr strain are transmitted to recombinants with different frequencies depending on their distances from O. The system thus lends itself to an original and convenient method of mapping, in terms of time of tran sfer. Moreover, mapping is greatly facilitated by the availability of a number of different Hfr strains that transfer different parts of the chromosome at high frequency. In all systems other than conjugation in E.coli, the only practical way of measuring the distance between genetic loci is by comparing the frequency with which recombination occurs between them. In conjugation two additional methods of measurement are available, in terms of transfer time and of the decay of P32 atoms, both of which are absolute and independent of the recombination process and so provide the means of interpreting recombinational events in physical terms. Therefore, bacterial conjugation’s significance in gene mapping exists in its capability to determine the precise positioning of genes on the genome. Studies concerning a peculiar bacterial strain, E.coli Hfr, which engaged in conjugation with surprising frequency, paved the way for its use in 21st century genetics. â€Å"By sundering conjug al bugs at various times during mating, geneticists Francois Jacob and Elie Wollman were able to determine that the male transferred a complete copy of its genome like one long piece of spaghetti. The implications of the notorious â€Å"coitus interruptus† experiment and the resulting â€Å"spaghetti hypothesis† were clear: by carefully monitoring the time at which each trait was transferred, the two researchers could determine the precise positioning of genes on the genome.In this way they plotted the first crude genomic map of a bacterium. † (Hirsch 1999, p. 145) References Burdette, WJ 1963, Methodology in Basic Genetics, Holden-Day, San Francisco. Hirsch, AE (1999, Spring). Of Flies, Mice and Men†, American Scholar, p. 145. Johnson, AD (2002, Spring). â€Å"Living with Microbes†, The Wilson Quarterly, pp. 42+. Rheinberger, HJ (ed. ) & Gaudilliere, JP 2004, Classical Genetic Research and Its Legacy: The Mapping Cultures of Twentieth-Century Geneti cs, Routledge, New York.

Achievements of the gupta empire

The Gupta Empire, which covered most parts of Northern India and parts of Pakistan, was ruled by members of the Gupta dynasty from around 280 to 550 C.E. The capital was called Paliputra which is presently known as Patna in the Indian state of Bihar.   The level of peace and prosperity that was created within the leadership of Guptas enabled scientific and artistic endeavors.According to Beye, Charles Rowan (1975), Greek culture had deep influence on the Empire of Rome. Civilization of the ancient Greeks has been greatly influential on politics, education systems, languages, philosophy, arts and science.Civilization, according to Mark Whitaker (1997), refers to contradictory relation between a ruling class and a class of producers. Egyptian civilization was brought about by different aspects. River Nile was one major contributor of the Egyptian civilization. There are various similarities in terms of achievements of the Gupta Empire to those of the Classical Greek or Egyptian civil izations.Gupta Empire and the Egyptian Empire made great achievement in artistry. Sculpture is one of the greatest artistic achievements in the Gupta Empire. The sculptors worked with wood, stone bronze and clay called terra cotta.Gupta sculptors were mainly concerned with indicating the human form gracefully and simply. Egyptians too achieved a fit in artistry in that they used the skills to construct pyramids and monuments for the pharaoh. The pyramids portrayed their true identity and rich cultural heritage.Education is one other aspect of achievement that characterized the achievement of both the Gupta Empire and the ancient Egypt. Literature of Gupta Empire is usually considered to be among the greatest achievements. Gupta writers created plays, fables, and poetry, as well as important legal and religious texts. One India classic poems called Mahabharata, reached the final form during the Gupta era MathematicsThe mathematicians of Gupta era made useful discoveries that have gre atly influenced human civilization because mathematics has become a fundamental in our day to day lifeOn the other hand, the Egyptians were very much practical in their approach to mathematics their trade required that they deal in fractions. Trade also required division and multiplication to be possible so they improvised remarkable methods to cub the situation in the number systems to help them work efficiently.Childhood education was also important in Ancient Egypt   Children would more and frequently be required to work elders in handling less onerous tasks and slowly acquiring practical skills and knowledge from their parents and guardians. By example, parents would teach them various educational principles, morals and views about life.The ancient Greeks too have made quite a number of influential contributions to western civilization. These contributions, which can also be referred as achievements of ancient Greece, include areas of philosophy, art, Agriculture, Mathematics and science. These great achievements, compared to other regions such as the Gupta Empire and the Ancient Egypt, these great achievements were being made while fighting two wars, that is, Peloponnesian and  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Persian wars.One other area where the Gupta Empire made an achievement is in the area of astronomy. Gupta astronomers came up with many discoveries about the moon, the sun, the earth and other planets. Although they relied more on Greek astronomers, Gupta astronomers too made many discoveries on their own and in many cases arrived at conclusions that were more accurate and reliable than those of the Greeks.ReferencesBeye, Charles Rowan (1975), â€Å"Ancient Greek Literature and Society†, Garden City, World History Achieve (1997), â€Å"A dialog from the Philosophy of History and theoretical history list†. Retrieved November 1, 2008 from< http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/10/029.html>Mark Whitaker (1997), â€Å"Definition of State in Civilizationâ € . Retrieved November 1, 2008 fromMr. Mitchell (1990), â€Å"Writing a Journal to Commemorate Gupta Achievements. Retrieved November 1, 2008 from< http://www.mitchellteachers.org/WorldHistory>Michael G. (2007), Ancient Greek Achievements. Retrieved November 1, 2008 from