King Priam of Troy

â€Å"Come inside the wall, child; here you may fight on to save our Trojan men and women† was the last attempt King Priam of Troy had in keeping Prince Hector from going out of their walls to go head to head with Achilles.He was speaking not only as a king but also as his father. This was the final plea of the king who already foresaw the doom that Troy was meeting. Priam had already declared that Hector would die if he went out there. He could only plead with his son not to go out and give Achilles the glory that he was seeking in his invitation for a battle between them.Priam used different arguments to keep Hector from going out to face Achilles. In this situation, the readers could feel the desperation of Priam that represented the desperation of the entire city. The readers, as they sense the desperation of Priam would empathize with the old king and rally behind the prince of Troy. The king basically presented the directions by which the story would go into.Priamâ€℠¢s argument included that if Hector did not go out to meet Achilles, he could still fight, together with the Trojan army, for the women and men of the city.He would not let Achilles have his glory. He would show his father pity by not going outside. On the other hand, if Hector went out, Priam already knew what would happen: â€Å"my sons brought down, my daughters dragged away, bedchambers ravaged, and small children hurled to earth in the atrocity of war, as my son’s wives are taken by Achaeans’ ruinous hands.†The final words a father could say to his son, who was about to meet his death, was something that moved the readers into rallying for Hector. Before, Achilles may have been the protagonist but this speech turned the tables around and the readers empathized for the fate of the Trojans and sees Prince Hector as significant in their lives.   This speech made Hector’s death more meaningful and heartbreaking for the readers. It was something that ma de the climax of the epic more dramatic and heart wrenching that was attributed to Homer’s storytelling.Book 23Achilles was seen as a brute that killed Hector in his animalistic rage. It was evident that before Hector died, Homer already depicted him as the prince, the son, the husband and the father.Hector was all these things to the Trojans and yet Achilles was just seen as a great warrior. The glory that was meant for Achilles could not be fully appreciated because he was not all the things Hector were. It seemed that the readers would think that it should have been Hector who had won the battle instead of Achilles.When the ghost of Patroclos appeared to Achilles, the readers were reminded of why Achilles killed Hector. It was to avenge his dear friend and cousin. It reminded the readers of the emotional side of Achilles who was also heartbroken when Hector murdered Patroclos. Even if it was accidental, this confusion provided for this epic a tragedy.Patroclos appeared and urged Achilles to retrieve his body from the Trojans because he apparently could not crossover without a proper burial. It showed the human side of Achilles more than emphasizing on the character of Patroclos.However, it did show him and how he depended on Achilles, even in the moments in his afterlife wherein he was crying out to Achilles to let his soul rest. He accused Achilles of neglect when he had died when in reality, Achilles mourned for him and even murdered Hector because of him.However, the bottom line of the passage served its purpose for getting the readers’ sympathy for Achilles. He was not just some prince-murderer. He was Patroclos’ avenger.The fact that it was Hector who had accidentally killed him was played a powerful part of the epic. It was further established when Patroclos made Achilles remember the depth of the consequence of his death: â€Å" Never again will you and I, alive and breathing, huddle side-by side, apart from loyal comrades, maki ng plans together—never.†AgamemnonAegisthus, the lover of Agamemnon’s wife Clytaemnestra, spoke the passage. It was in response to the recrimination of the chorus because of the joy he found in the murder of his cousin, Agamemnon himself. The chorus was made out of the elderly people in the council. They were rebuking him for his adulterous affair with Clytaemnestra.In the passage, he was going against the chorus with words and actions. He talked down to the elders in language and nonverbal manners. He felt that he had every right to considering what his family, especially his father had been through because of Agamemnon’s father.His speech expressed the rage he had and how he did not care nor was he afraid of the things that would follow as he saw this time as the time for avenging his family. Agamemnon’s family had put down his family in such a horrible manner and it was time for Aegisthus to put down everyone else because of it. He was showing ho w he had the upper hand now and it indicated his pride and confidence for the situation.The passage regarded the threats he had for the Chorus of Elders and for anyone who would come against him. He came like a bully who was willing to put down anything. During this time, it seemed that he had consolidated for himself the power that his father was fighting for. However, this time it seemed that he was going to rule with an iron hand.He was especially not going to make it easy on those who sided with Agamemnon and those who rebuked him, â€Å"You’ll learn, in your late age, how muck it hurts to teach old bones their place.† He threatened them with captivity and deprivation of food. He saw that it was fit for the chorus because of how they looked down on him, despite the fact that he was responsible for a murder.He was oblivious and contained a self-righteous image that he validated because of a past that had left him embittered. He thought that he was the one in control as he threatened to teach them a lesson the hard way. However, this was seen to be a foreshadowing of his own downfall in the end.While readers understand his rage, they were also turned off by his arrogance and disrespect. It showed how his bitterness had pulled him to the dark side and how it was understandable and acceptable if he did not get what he had always wanted.Pericles’ Funeral OrationThucydides revealed in Pericles’ funeral oration the casualties of war. It reflected on the humanity that was involved and affected because of war. In this passage, he was talking about a plague that overtook the area. People were dying everywhere and it just painted a devastating scenario, â€Å"sight of people dying like sheep through having caught the disease as a result of nursing others.† People could not help because it was an infectious disease and there was a sense of hopelessness that aroseThis passage was also heartbreaking in the manner by which human lives w ere at stake and no one could really do anything about it if they were not willing their own lives. It was a tragedy because of the number of the people who died and how no one could do anything about it because if they did they would also die.

Mobile Intelligent Tutoring Systems Education Essay

Mobile intelligent tutoring systems have the possible to present low-priced, one-to-one aid to scholars outside of the traditional schoolroom and computing machine lab scenes. The focal point of this paper is to sketch the usage of Mobile Intelligent Tutoring Systems in back uping the Mathematics human coachs in secondary schools and the function that nomadic devices can play in circulating and back uping the cognition gained by intelligent coachs. The paper reviews desktop Intelligent Tutoring Systems and how the same can be used in nomadic devices. The concluding portion of the paper examines the challenges faced in the development of Mobile Intelligent Tutoring Systems. The general public presentation in mathematics among secondary school pupils in Kenya has non been impressive for many old ages ( KNEC, 2000 ) . Much has been done and said with purposes of bettering public presentation with small success including debut of â€Å" Strengthening of Mathematics and Science in Secondary Education ( SMASSE ) Undertaking † , launched in Kenya in 1998 and funded by Japan authorities. It is aimed at the betterment of mathematics and scientific discipline instruction through In-service Training ( INSET ) for instructors ( Nancy, Alice, 2007 ) . Poor public presentation is attributed to several factors among them attitude of pupils and instructors, deficiency of learning installations such as books and unequal remedial or follow-up tutoring in most schools. Whereas there is demand to assist scholars develop a deeper conceptual apprehension through such techniques as tutoring when they are larning a new sphere ( Lane, 2006 ) , that is desiring. Mathematicss is a hard capable both to learn and larn. Mathematicss is besides a topic, which requires difficult work, and batch of pattern – the paramount facets for larning mathematics. Learning mathematics comprises foremost having facts, rules, and so larning how to use them ( Garry, 1996 ) . Teachers may desire to pass more clip with pupils but human resource is normally the chief restraint due to high student-to-teacher ratio witnessed in schools. The broad usage of cell phones in society has led research workers to look into methods to use nomadic devices in instruction ( Castells, 1999 ) . Presently, there are around 16 million cell phone endorsers in Kenya with the figure projected to travel up following licensing of 4th Mobile operator – YU ( Communication Commission of Kenya ) . Harmonizing to Brown ( 2003 ) and Kam etal ( 2009 ) , the nomadic device has been argued to be an appropriate tool for educational bringing in the development states. The statement behind this is that nomadic device is low-power device that can be used in topographic points without electricity. Although nomadic device such as cell phone is mostly purchased for voice communications – which users rely on for their societal and economic demands – it is besides able to run educational package that support visuals and voiceovers ( as cited in Kumar, 2009 ) . Most of all, the cell phone is the fastest turning engineering platform in the development states. There are 2.2 billion nomadic phones in developing parts like Africa and India, as compared to merely 11 million desktops ( CNN, 2009 ) . Teaching pupils on a one-to-one footing significantly influences the grade of cognition and accomplishment retained by the pupil. Bloom ( 1984 ) suggests that one-to-one tutoring is the most effectual scheme known, by and large giving two standard divergences better public presentation than traditional direction. For the intent of this paper, the term â€Å" nomadic device † comprise of criterion cell phones, smart phones ( those using an operating system supplying voice services every bit good as extra informations processing applications ) , and personal digital helpers ( PDAs ) – supplying informations treating without voice capablenesss. Whereas laptop computing machines are portable, users interact with them in ways that are more similar to desktop computing machines than they do with smaller devices e.g. usage of keyboard. Therefore, it does non fall under ‘mobile device ‘ class.Table 1.1 Comparisons of Desktop and Mobile Tutoring SystemsDescriptionDesktopMobile DeviceInterface Full size keyboard Multi-window design Small Keyboard Single-window design Display 14+ inch show 2-5 inch show Connectivity Ethernet, Wi-Fi Wi-Fi, Cellular Delivery Standalone Client merely Use Classrooms and computing machine labs Anywhere and anytime2. Intelligent Tutoring SystemHafner ( 2000 ) defined Intelligent Tutoring System ( ITS ) as â€Å" educational package incorporating an unreal intelligence constituent. The package tracks pupil ‘s work, orienting feedback and intimations along the manner. By roll uping information on a peculiar pupil ‘s public presentation, the package can do illations about strengths and failings, and can propose extra work. † ITSs have been used to help pupils with prep, trial pickings, and appraisal ( ISTE, 2007 ) . An ITS can be used to enable the pupils work independently, to better their apprehension of constructs within related sphere, and to take advancement of job work outing ability for each of them ( Martin, 2001 ) . On the other manus, an ITS can be able to help non merely the pupils but besides the instructors in developing and managing classs ( Shin, Norris and Soloway, 2006 ) . Harmonizing to Korhan ( 2006 ) , â€Å" Intelligence involves mental capablenesss such as the logical thinking ability, planning, work outing jobs, believing abstractly, groking thoughts, and larning † . Furthermore, it is related to creativeness and personality of the individual harmonizing to psychological science. Conversely, mathematics is as a incubus for many pupils. This may take to pupils doubting their creativeness, endowment, and motive when analyzing mathematics. In this sense, the tutoring systems must hold the capableness of existent instructors, and it must move like human coach in a categ ory. Information technologies can raise up the effectivity of learning mathematics in a category ( Kinshuk, 2002 ) and hence regarded as one of the topics in Artificial Intelligence ( AI )3. Background of ITSComputers have been used in instruction since 1960s ( Martin, 2001 ) . Intelligent Tutoring Systems are computing machine systems designed for support and betterment of acquisition and learning procedure in the sphere cognition. Even though Intelligent Tutoring Systems began with Computer-Aided Instruction ( CAI ) , they differ from them in some ways. First, the interfaces, in CAIs, are of all time inactive for each pupil and the information presented to each pupil is precisely the same for all the clip ( as cited in Mitrovic et al. , 2007 ) Harmonizing to Koedinger et Al. ( 1995 ) , ITSs use the cognition for pedagogical procedure so that the system tries to find what the pupil knows or does non cognize. Contrary to ITSs, CAIs have premises about what the pupil knows. Therefore, the same course of study is presented to pupils in CAIs, even though the predating cognition is necessity for a pupil. The other difference between them, harmonizing to Koedinger et Al. ( 1995 ) , is with the feedback system. Some CAIs have the capableness of inquiring inquiries to pupils. However the feedback system of them is limited to indicant of whether the pupil reply was right or incorrect, merely. ITSs, on the other manus, attempt to find the pupils ‘ failings on a subject utilizing the sphere and pupil theoretical account as shall be depicted in subdivision 4 below. Most Computer-Based Instructional ( CBI ) applications and systems, including ITS, still shack chiefly on the desktop. Harmonizing to Eamon ( 2004 ) , ITS have been shown to be extremely successful in bettering pupil acquisition in the schoolroom. When ITS is integrated into school course of study, pupils use the coachs during school hours in computing machine labs and schoolrooms. The enlargement of the desktop ITS to the nomadic learning universe of Mobile will, doubtless, supply great benefit for pupils and instructors likewise. A nomadic intelligent coach has the possible to present the important advantages of intelligent tutoring systems to a broad audience of scholars and spread out coach usage to exterior of computing machine labs and schoolrooms therefore supplying robust and flexible acquisition chances to pupils â€Å" anyplace † and â€Å" anytime † ( Farooq etal, 2002 ) . It will besides be of aid for pupils on the move such as nomads who may non acquire adequate human tutoring in category besides heightening student-centred acquisition.4. How Intelligent Tutoring Systems WorkITS for mathematical jobs was planned and designed to ease pupils in acquisition and name on pupil ‘s mistakes and efficaciously generate accounts for those mistakes ( Burns, Capps, 1988 ) and offer a pupil monitoring system that includes learning advancemen t and relevant statistical informations. The end of ITS is to supply the benefits of one-on one direction automatically and be efficaciously. Like any other preparation simulations, ITS enables participants to pattern their accomplishments by transporting out undertakings within extremely synergistic acquisition environments. However, ITS goes beyond developing simulations by replying user inquiries and supplying individualised aid. Unlike other computer-based preparation engineerings, ITS systems gauge each scholar ‘s actions within these synergistic environments and develop a theoretical account of their cognition, accomplishments, and expertness. Based on the scholar theoretical account, ITSs tailor instructional schemes, in footings of both the content and manner, and supply accounts, intimations, illustrations, presentations, and pattern jobs as needed ( James and Sowmya, 2007 )Intelligent Tutoring SystemStudent ModelExpert ModelEnvironmentInterfaceDirection ModelFigure 4.1 Intelligent Tutoring System ModelIntelligent tutoring systems have their foundation in the unreal intelligence, more specifically adept systems, and computing machine assisted direction subjects. Burns et Al. ( 1988 ) depict the â€Å" intelligence † of this package as the aggregation of the five subsystems shown in F igure 4.1 above. The first is an adept theoretical account stand foring the sphere cognition or capable affair expertness. This cognition comprises the apprehension of the capable affair that an expert has in the tutored country i.e. adept theoretical account merely represents the expert cognition and the ability to work out jobs within a sphere. The 2nd theoretical account is the pupil ‘s. This theoretical account represents the cognition, accomplishments, behavior and other properties of a pupil larning the sphere. This theoretical account let the ITS know who it ‘s learning ( James et al. , 2007 ) and tries to find pupil ‘s mental provinces. This faculty generates the pupil theoretical account with all information about the single scholar. It provides the information such that what the pupil knows or does non cognize, any misconceptions, grade of forgetfulness, concluding accomplishments etc. ( Korhan, 2006 ) The 3rd is the direction theoretical account, which is responsible for acknowledging pupil input and reacting to student actions i.e. enables the ITS to cognize how to learn, by encoding instructional schemes used by the tutoring system. The teacher theoretical account selects the most appropriate instructional intercession based on the cognition of a pupil ‘s accomplishments, strengths and failings, participant expertness degrees, and pupil acquisition manners. Additionally, the teacher theoretical account may besides take subjects, simulations, and examples that address the pupil ‘s competency spreads. It is besides known as pedagogical or coach faculty ( Martin, 2001 ) The 4th is the instructional environment or sphere that provides support to the scholar. It consists of the activity and tools, and to some widen the state of affairs, provided by the system to ease acquisition. The last constituent is the interface, an indispensable constituent that provides the agencies by which the user can pass on with the system. It is the integrating of the theoretical accounts that separate ITS engineering from other signifiers of computer-aided direction ( Heffernan, Koedinger and Aleven, 2003 ) . Harmonizing to Trojahn et Al. ( 2002 ) , ITS have the informative attack in which direction is understood to be the transmittal of cognition necessitating the teacher/instructor to supervise the pupil invariably, particularly in the job work outing procedures. It takes into history the capacity for acquisition and the cognition of the pupil in that topic. ITS ‘s are adapted to each pupil by agencies of their diagnostic accomplishments which examine the pupil ‘s cognition and the structuring and presentation of cognition. They besides make usage of a assortment of techniques to keep the user ‘s attending ( equated to human coach motive ) and ease the transmittal of the coveted cognition. Intelligent developing systems besides portion this attack, although in these instances the procedures are aimed more towards specific job resolution activities. The coach guides the direction procedure harmonizing to traditional patterns ( UPGRADE, 2002 ) . Knowledge is a cardinal to intelligent behaviour and, hence, ITSs are said to be knowledge-based because they have: ( I ) sphere cognition, ( two ) cognition about learning rules and about methods for using those rules, and ( three ) cognition about methods and techniques for pupil mold ( S. Stankov et al. , 2007 ) It is of import to observe that ITS is an interdisciplinary field that investigates how to invent educational systems that provide direction tailored to the demands of single scholars, as many good instructors do ( Conati et al. , 2002 ) There are three types of cognition that an intelligent coach ( human or unreal ) needs to hold to be able to help pupil acquisition: ( I ) cognition about the mark instructional sphere, ( two ) cognition about the pupil, and ( three ) cognition about the relevant pedagogical/instructional schemes.5. Mobile Intelligent Tutoring SystemHarmonizing to Brown ( 2009 ) , Mobile ITSs have non received extended research. There has been small research aimed at placing how to accommodate the desktop coachs and which facets of the coach to alter, as facets of desktop coachs require alteration for nomadic device content bringing. The bringing of ITSs on nomadic devices in Kenya has the possible to supply the important advantages of intelligent tutoring systems to a wider audience of scholars therefore assisting in bridging the digital divide. Some secondary schools provide Internet and computing machine entree to pupils but a deeper appraisal reveals that the presence of engineering does non compare to effectual usage of the engineering ( Yong et al, 2006 ) . Among the several factors impeding usage is the student-to-computer ratio in schools. For those schools with computing machines, it is reported that no school has one computing machine for each pupil with the lowest computer-to-student ratio being about 3-to-1 ( Christopher et al, 2007 ) . On the other manus, about all pupils can entree the nomadic phones doing it possible for schools to do usage of handheld calculating to organize engineering usage between place and school for the pupils. This tendency is besides nailing of the possible that nomadic and hand-held devices have to present a one-to-one calculating solution to the instruction community ( Quinn, 2000 ) . By utilizing nomadic devices, schools without the fiscal resources to put in and keep big computing machine labs can hold the ability to supply scholars with ITS engineering. One singular virtue is that pupils can easy transport the coachs between place and school besides sharing the nomadic ITSs between pupils in the same school therefore enabling ‘everywhere ‘ and ‘anytime ‘ acquisition ( Facer, Faux, McFarlane, 2005 ) . The portability of nomadic ITSs extends coach usage to exterior of computing machine labs and traditional schoolrooms, thereby supplying flexible larning chances to pupils at place, after school, and in other locations ( Vahey et Al, 2004 ) . With the promotion of nomadic device engineering, there is besides the possibility for nomadic ITSs to put to death as standalone applications, as opposed to client-server web based, thereby extinguishing the demand for an Internet connexion, either wired or radio. Harmonizing to the research conducted by Brown ( 2009 ) to find whether nomadic intelligent tutoring system provide larning additions greater than standard instructional activities, it was found out that pupils utilizing the tutoring status did see an addition in post-test public presentation greater than pupils that did non utilize the coach ( utilizing paper and pencil ) . As a consequence, it can be concluded that a nomadic ITS can supply larning additions greater than standard direction.6. Related WorkIn the early 1970s a few research workers defined a new end for computer-based direction. They adopted the human coach as their educational theoretical account and sought to use unreal intelligence techniques to recognize this theoretical account in â€Å" intelligent † computer- based direction. Personal human coachs provide a extremely efficient larning environment ( Cohen and Kulik, 1982 ) and have been estimated to increase average achievement results by every bit much as two Intelligent Tutoring Systems standard divergences ( Bloom, 1984 ) . The end of ITSs would be to prosecute the pupils in sustained logical thinking activity and to interact with the pupil based on a deep apprehension of the pupils ‘ behaviour. From 1990s, research on teaching method in the mathematics recognized that pupils learn mathematics more efficaciously, if the traditional acquisition of expressions and processs is supplemented with the possibility to research a wide scope of jobs and job state of affairss through ITS ( Schoenfeld, 1990 ) . In peculiar, the international comparative survey of mathematics learning ( Baumert et al. , 1997 ) , has shown that learning with an orientation towards active job work outing outputs better larning consequences in the sense that the acquired cognition is more readily available and applicable particularly in new contexts and that a contemplation about the job work outing activities and methods outputs a deeper apprehension and better public presentation. Harmonizing to James and Sowmya ( 2006 ) , Carnegie Learning developed a suite of ITSbased â€Å" cognitive coachs † in secondary-level mathematics. The systems, based on earlier research carried out by John Anderson and Ken Koedinger at Carnegie Mellon University, were tested in selected secondary school and pupils showed 50- to 100-percent betterment in job resolution and usage of equations, tabular arraies, and graphs. Eric and Jorg ( 2003 ) developed ActiveMath ITS used in job resolution, rule-based systems, cognition representation, user mold, adaptative systems and adaptative hyper-media, and diagnosing. ALEKS ( Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces ) is an on-line ITS aimed at tutoring Geometry and Business Mathematics classs ( Anderson, Reder, Simon, 1996 ) . It is web based and therefore requires Internet connexion for it to be accessed. MathITS ( Korhan, 2006 ) is an Intelligent Tutoring System for mathematics instruction at undergraduate and graduate degree and employs the conceptual map mold technique ( Hwang, 2003 ) . It is a student-centred system, which supports synergistic acquisition.7. Challenges Faced in Developing Mobile ITS Applications for Mathematics TutoringIt is easier said than done for teachers, school decision makers, and even parents to see nomadic devices as being utile for educational intents because they have been predominately used for societal intents including phone communicating and text messaging. The current educational system produces lesson programs, larning activities, and appraisals based upon traditional educational theoretical accounts. However, the debut of nomadic devices enables pupils to interact and join forces with one another in ways non antecedently realized. Therefore, teachers must now find how to plan lessons and activities structured around this mobility and accurately q uantify the consequences of the usage of the engineering. The usage of nomadic devices besides raises inquiries that relate to the execution of the engineering, viz. the hardware and package. Previous tests of nomadic larning applications reveal that concerns sing device ownership, battery life, and web connectivity can greatly impact the acquisition results of pupils ( Facer, Faux, and McFarlane, 2005 ) . While these issues may be viewed by some as policy instead than research, it can be argued that an apprehension of these issues could supply information to inform the design of the applications themselves. For illustration, cognizing that pupils may non hold dependable Internet connexions may do a interior decorator to make a standalone application or one that requires periodic synchronism for it to work decently. Interestingly, research workers implementing and proving nomadic larning applications have noted that there is possible for nomadic larning applications to be alongside traditional instructional tools ( Vahey et al. , 2004 ) . While the usage of nomadic larning applications can be transformative, it is necessary to understand and see the bing acquisition environment in which it is intended. While there are surely cases in which a Mobile larning application can supply an experience non possible without the engineering ( Chen, Kao and Sheu, 2003 ) , it seems sensible, and even likely, that this engineering can co-exist and back up traditional paper-based methods. Representation of diagrams and limited sum of text poses a challenge. As a consequence, the teachers should make up one's mind on which content could best be presented in nomadic device. The diagrams representation is limited by screen size.8. DecisionMobile ITS execution will assist to better mathematics public presentation in Kenya Secondary schools. However, certain research countries such as its development, statute law issues, interface, instruction and acquisition schemes and architecture ( hardware and package ) should be addressed in order to recognize the benefits of Mobile ITS. By so making, Kenya will tout of m-Learning and therefore will make more pupils assisting to bridge the digital divide spread.

Analysis of USEC Inc.

USEC is the world’s leading supplier of enriched Uranium to nuclear power plants. Due to the expiration of long term energy cost savings contracts, USEC is examining the possibility of taking on a new project called the American Centrifuge Project. This project will utilize a different process for Uranium enrichment, which is the core business process of USEC. The new technology process uses much less energy, which will reduce manufacturing costs and keep USEC on the leading edge of technology in the enrichment market space. As with any major energy industry project, the ACP project comes with a huge price tag of around $1. billion. Investment of this size cannot be made without due analysis. We have taken in to account all the details given while calculating key statistics for this project. A thorough analysis is in the best interests of USEC as the project will provide them with the freedom to implement new technologies in the uranium enrichment process in their own plant. W ithout this, USEC is constrained to lease the government owned plants which usually comes with its own restrictions. We will be calculating the individual cash flows of its existing Paducah operations and the ACP project it is planning to invest in.Our decision will be based on the incremental NPV and IRR. This report will walk us through all the important aspects of our analysis and ultimately to our final decision of whether accepting or rejecting the project. Background USEC is pursuing ACP for several reasons, most of which can be attributed to an increasing gain by its competitors in the market space. USEC’s long term contract for a lower cost power supply for their current process had expired. This left USEC with much higher costs for electricity, which is heavily used in the current process for Uranium enrichment, gaseous diffusion.This jump in energy cost reduced the margins USEC was receiving on sales, as compared to their competitors. This is driving the need to com e up with an alternative solution to the current process. The ACP technology is being looked at because it could give a competitive advantage to USEC against its competitors. ACP will lower the production costs and improve USEC’s technology position in the market. If the company takes on the ACP project, USEC will reach 6. 5 million units in production by 2013. A minimal level of maintenance would be required due to the improved technology and better facilities.ACP would also double the size of USEC as a whole. Cash Flow Calculations We are providing below the assumptions and other calculations we used while computing the WACC and the cash flows. * Net working capital of 5% of sales will be used for both Paducah and ACP project * Inflation is assumed to be 3% * Flotation costs are ignored for cost of equity. * We assume a risk-free rate of 5. 09%. This number comes from the current yield of the 30 year T-bond as shown in Exhibit 5. * 50% reduction in enrichment cost start fro m year 2011 (for ACP project).Without the 50% reduction, the enrichment cost in 2011 would have been $50. 15. We are going to start at 50. 15/2=$25. 07 (50%) from year 2011 as enrichment cost and from there it will again increase at the rate of inflation which is 3%. In 2011, the total capacity will be 3. 5M (2. 5M from ACP and 1M from Paducah). While calculating the enrichment cost for the year 2011, we used the reduced cost for the ACP capacity which is 2. 5 million and the original enrichment cost for the scaled down Paducah plant capacity which is 1 million. * Change in NWC for 2006 will be 0.The NWC will be recovered at the end of he final period which is at the end of year 2025. * The CAPEX and the depreciation cost for the Paducah plant in the year 2011 will be prorated to the reduced capacity of 1 million while calculating the cash flow for the ACP project. * Market Risk Premium will be assumed as 6% * CAPEX for Paducah, Paducah depreciation, and lease expenses are fixed and prorated where required but is not adjusted for inflation. Weighted Average Cost of Capital To calculate the weighted average cost of capital, we first calculated the market value of debt and equity.The case exhibits provided the necessary data to calculate the market value of debt and equity. The weight of debt and equity were calculated to be around 32 and 68 percent respectively. Appendix will provide the detailed steps we used to calculate the WACC, individual cash flows for Paducah and ACP and the incremental cash flows. A risk free rate of 5. 19%, a Beta of 1. 3, and a market risk premium of 6% were used to calculate the cost of equity using CAPM. For cost of debt, we used the given 9. 04%. We came up with the after tax WACC of 10. 57%Analysis and Recommendation. We are comfortable in using the WACC as the discount rate for cash flow calculation. NPV calculation using the WACC as the discount rate will provide us some idea about whether this project is at least worth or not f or the cost of capital. But to make our final decision, we would really look at the incremental IRR and NPV to see how much more or less it comes up when compared to the discount rate. We will be expecting an IRR which is at least 2 percent above the discount rate as a justification to recommend a project of this size. We calculated the NPV for ACP to be $1,910,199,999. 1 which is greater than the NPV for Paducah at $1,615,996,848. 88. The incremental internal rate of return and NPV of this project are 13. 12% and $294,203,150. 14 respectively. The incremental IRR of 13. 12% is 2% more than the discount rate of 10. 57% (or WACC in our case). Current stock price of $10. 80 is based on USEC’s current business model. We believe that the current stock price is undervalued as it does not reflect the potential of the ACP project. As a result, the stock price will increase. So based on the NPV and incremental IRR, it would be in USEC’s best interest to accept ACP.The ACP proj ect will help the firm to double its capacity and improve the technology to gain the competitive advantage in the industry. The long term prospect of USEC will be bright as a result of ACP project. Though the ACP plant will be completely depreciated at the end of its life cycle of 15 years, it will provide USEC with more opportunities to further improve on the technology which has proved profitable already and to invest in more lucrative future projects which will ultimately improve the financial bottom line of the organization.

Quantitative Methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Quantitative Methods - Assignment Example For calculating the monthly expenses for the both types of mortgages first the nominal interest rates should be used to calculate the effective annual interest rates. This is done by using the following formula: I=(1+r/x)^x-1 In order to obtain the effective annual rates the Microsoft Excel formula was used: EFFECT(nominal_rate,npery), where nominal_rate is the annual nominal rate and npery is the number of compounding times per year. These values were calculated in Microsoft Excel using the formula: PMT(rate,nper,pv,fv,type). Rate is the interest rate of the mortgage, Nper is the total number of repayments for the loan, in this case 300 months (25*12), Pv is the present value of the total repayments that are to be made, Fv is the future value that one wishes to attain after the last repayment, in this case 0 and lastly Type indicates whether the repayment is made at the beginning of the month (0) or at the end (1), in this case we assume it is made at the start of the month so 0. In order to evaluate the Interest Only Mortgage option we must first calculate the effective annual interest rate on the deposit placed in the sinking fund. This will be done in the same way as for the Repayment Mortgage. The results are presented in the table below: The monthly cost Interest Only mortgage consists of the interest paid over the mortgage period and the amount accumulated in the sinking fund.... epayments for the loan, in this case 300 months (25*12), Pv is the present value of the total repayments that are to be made, Fv is the future value that one wishes to attain after the last repayment, in this case 0 and lastly Type indicates whether the repayment is made at the beginning of the month (0) or at the end (1), in this case we assume it is made at the start of the month so 0. In order to evaluate the Interest Only Mortgage option we must first calculate the effective annual interest rate on the deposit placed in the sinking fund. This will be done in the same way as for the Repayment Mortgage. The results are presented in the table below: Nominal interest rate on deposit in sinking fund Number of compounding periods per year Effective annual interest rate on deposit in sinking fund 5.50% 1 0.055 5.75% 1 0.0575 6.00% 1 0.06 6.25% 1 0.0625 6.50% 1 0.065 6.75% 1 0.0675 7.00% 1 0.07 7.25% 1 0.0725 7.50% 1 0.075 7.75% 1 0.0775 8.00% 1 0.08 8.25% 1 0.0825 8.50% 1 0.085 8.75% 1 0.0825 9.00% 1 0.09 The monthly cost Interest Only mortgage consists of the interest paid over the mortgage period and the amount accumulated in the sinking fund. In order to calculate the monthly payment into the sinking fund using Excel the PPMT(rate,per,nper,pv,fv,type) formula was used where rate is the interest rate per period, per is the period, nper is the total amount of payments in the sinking fund, pv is the present value of the mortgage, fv is the future value expected in our case 0 and type indicates when the monthly payments are due in this case we assume that they are made at the beginning of the period so we take the value 1. The results are listed below: Annual interest rate Number of years in the loan Amount of loan Payment into investment plan 5.50% 25 350000

A Most Undisciplined Profligate Crew Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Most Undisciplined Profligate Crew - Essay Example hich went against the organizational structure is the fact that this second professional section of the army was based on requirements and crass materialistic thoughts. Management of the army was also not strong as we can see that there was a huge communication gap between the Continental Army officers and the legislatures of New Jersey. The dysfunctional attributes of the Continental Army also comes into focus when we see the difference in protest and opinion among them during speaking against the legislatures. George Washington was also right to think that the people working in the army did not actually realize the purpose they are serving. The Pennsylvania Militia mutinied in the year 1780. The main cause of their mutiny was very much similar with that of the protests which were shown by the Continental Army in the year 1779. Winter in Pennsylvania is ruthless and it becomes very hard to stay alive in that state without proper protection. Very much like what happened to the Continental Army soldiers in the northern region, here the Pennsylvania soldiers were suffering to a huge extent because winter had set in 1780. They were facing the lack of supply in food and clothing without which surviving the winter would be a myth. Morristown is one of the coldest regions in this state and this is why the soldiers spending days here suffered the most. On the other hand, the mutiny which was led by the Continental Army soldiers also added to the fuel. Their success against the President of the country and drawing attention of the legislatures inspired the other regiments to protest for their demands. Their march towards Princet on was a symbolic protest against the negligence from the government. US government promised many facilities to the soldiers when the country was lacking people to join the army, but in reality those facilities were not given properly. Both the officers and soldiers of the Continental Army were promised many things while joining the brigade. In

Alkaline phosphatase enzyme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alkaline phosphatase enzyme - Essay Example The enzyme acts by splitting off phosphorous creating an alkaline pH. Even though the physiological function of the alkaline phosphatase enzyme is not clear it still plays a vital role in the phosphate metabolism. A gene known as ALPL gives instructions for making the alkaline phosphatase enzyme. The role played by alkaline phosphatase enzyme is very important. It helps in the growth and development of bones and teeth. It is active in many other tissues in the body such as liver and kidneys. The enzyme plays an important role in the growth and development of bones and teeth. It is also active in many other tissues, particularly in the liver and kidneys. This enzyme operates as a phosphatase; it means that helps in removing clusters of oxygen and phosphorus atoms from other molecules. This enzyme is also important for recycling phosphate in the living cells. It is common in tissues that transport nutrients including intestine and kidney. In addition to the above mentioned function, alkaline phosphatase is one of the essential elements for the process of mineralization. In this process, minerals such as calcium and phosphorus are deposited in the developing teeth and bones. The process of mineralization is important for the formation of teeth which can endure chewing and grinding and for formation of bones that are strong and rigid. According to a research undertaken by Prof. Herbert Fleisch and Prof. Gideon Rodan in an article published under the name of â€Å"In searching a bone quality marker. What about Bone Mineral Density?† the biological role of alkaline phosphatase enzyme in mammals includes the following: The first three are articulated in a tissue-specific manner. The last one is ubiquitous but is abundant in liver, bone and kidney. The gene sequence of isoenzymes of alkaline phosphatase shows that the nascent polypeptide has a short signal sequence of 17 and 21 residues of amino-acid and at its c terminal site a hydrophobic

Strengths, Weaknesses and Strategies for Sugar Bowl Essay

Strengths, Weaknesses and Strategies for Sugar Bowl - Essay Example Sugar Bowl can effectively take maximum advantage of this student presence in order to increase their visitation to the business especially on some of the slow nights (Hamermesh and Zalosh, 9). Additionally, it is important to realize that since its opening, Sugar Bowl has been experiencing slow growth, having been in the industry for only one year; generally, restaurants and bars often take close to five years in experiencing solvency. Sugar Bowl boasts of a good target market that comprises of many graduate students and young professionals who will enhance its growth and success. Some of the goals regarding the operations of Sugar Bowl include an inability to retain some of its competent sales staff. This means that the company is often left with the option of having its unused capacity being supplemented by other outside workers. Additionally, the company has a problem with compensating its staff in order to elicit maximum support from them. In improving the compensation criteria, the company can be in a better position to enhance their staff morale while reducing the high turnover that it faces. Additionally, the company has high training costs and theft cases, which are said to be emerging from within. Through such activities as effective staff training and motivation, the company will enhance its success and performance, something that will aid in its achievement of goals and objectives. Through effective staff empowerment initiatives, Sugar Bowl will experience reduced daily operations for its management teams (Hamermesh and Zalosh, 10). The company’s inability to predict its sales revenue in the most effective way has also been a major weakness in its growth prospects. Some of the opportunities that Sugar Bowl is facing in its growth and success are largely depended on the need to capture new markets presented by the target marketing, who are students and other young people generated by the universities available in this area.