The role of bottom up and top down processes in visual perception Essay Example

The role of bottom up and top down processes in visual perception Paper Theories of perception tend to explain how the visual system operates in terms of two kinds of processes: bottom up, data driven ones, that are pre-attentive, and are a consequence of how the nervous system is structured and top down or concept driven processes which rely on experience, inference and expectations. Apart from the retina, the rest of the visual system has two way connections ( for example the interplay between the lateral geniculate nuclei and the visual cortex), and thus top down processing is an obvious implication of the manner in which the human anatomy is organised. Gestalt psychologists have described how we organise sensation to perceive separate objects: and have developed a number of rules for figure ground organisation. The basic laws of Gestalt are: proximity, similarity, closure, and good continuation. But physiological evidence for the internal existence of their laws (which they termed isomorphism and believed to be based on electrical fields in the brain) has not been found. Lashley et al (1951; cited in Eysenck, M. 1998) were unable to affect vision by disrupting the electrical fields in the cortex of monkeys. However, the grouping theories that they have described occur in perception even at short durations of less than 100 m/s, this suggests that they must be a bottom up process. We will write a custom essay sample on The role of bottom up and top down processes in visual perception specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The role of bottom up and top down processes in visual perception specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The role of bottom up and top down processes in visual perception specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Template theories suggest that copies of the objects are stored in the long term memory, which are matched against to produce pattern recognition. This theory is completely concept driven, and thus only those objects stored in memory can be seen and novel objects cannot be perceived at all. Since one object needs various templates to represent all the different shapes and sizes that result from viewing a 3D object, it requires an almost infinite numbers of templates to be stored, and accessed. Feature theorists solve the problem by breaking an image into basic features, which are compared with similar patterns in the memory. So called feature detectors, identified by Hubel and Weisel(1959, 1968) as single cortical cells, identify specific(simple) features in their receptive field such as curves, angles, or straight edges. Other complex cells respond to angles, or movement and process the information on a different level, each level adding another layer of sophistication to the visual stimulus. Typified by Selfridges pandemonium model, feature net models explain perception entirely in terms of data driven processes. They do not account for the complexity of a human environment, or explain the importance of context. Both approaches are unified in a bi-directional model of pattern recognition, such as that offered by Mcclelland, Rumelhart, and Hinton (1986; cited in Gleitman 1999). This system offers answers where there is ambiguity, and bi-directional inhibition of alternative detectors explains why priming effects result in faster reaction times. This model begins with a knowledge-driven hypothesis, which makes the visual system more sensitive to data from feature detectors. The important difference is that each level is capable of influencing any other level, in both directions, and thus the term parallel processing has be used. Thus when presented with the ambiguous dalmation figure figure, data driven processing alone is not able to organise the stimulus into a recognisable pattern, but after being told what to look for, the task is easily solved. A major achievement of our visual system is the creation of a three dimensional reality, from a flat retinal image. Depth cues describe how this is achieved. There is evidence to suggest that depth cues in simpler animals such as salamanders is innate (see Spery, 1943; cited in Coren et al, 1994). Visual cliff experiments show that depth cues are used by a wide range of very young animals (Walk and Gibson, 1961; cited in Gleitman, 1999). Binocular depth perception has been found in humans as young as four months( Granrud, 1986; cited in Coren et al 1994). However, depth perception is improved, as with dark reared kittens, through learning during sensitive periods in an animals development (see Tees, 1974; cited in Coren et al, 1994). Monocular or pictorial depth cues such as occlusion and familiar size offer information about relative distances in the world around us. Since these cues are learned they must be examples of top down processes. As evidence of this Turnbull (1961; cited in Chandler.) found that forest dwelling pygmies, unused to environments requiring long range depth perception, applied size constancy only over short distances. They interpreted a far off herd of buffalo as insects. Other learned cues are texture gradients, height in the plane, linear and aerial perspective Binocular depth cues are now believed to be physiological. These include accommodation, convergence, retinal size and stereopsis. Julesz (1959) illustrated that the visual system is able to reconstruct three dimensional perception from random dot stereograms , in the absence of any other depth cues. This occurs when the visual system is able to match and fuse the disparate images in each retina. In other words, stereopsis produces form and not the other way around. In support of this Bishop and Pettigrew (1986; cited in Coren et al, 1994) located disparity tuned detectors in the in the visual cortex of cats. Marr and Poggio (1976) solved the matching problem of how the visual system is able to match which element in each eyes view belong together, and how alternative fusional possibilities are eliminated. Evidence of neurons that respond to crossed (near) and uncrossed (far) disparities have been found in monkeys (Poggio and Fischer, 1997; cited in coren et al, 1994). Their computational theory illustrates the level of complexity that an automatic and bottom up process is capable of, and led the way for developments in object recognition. Their model of object recognition allows for a 3 dimensional representation that is independent of the observers viewpoint. Earlier models such as template matching theories were confounded by the enormous variation that any one object has in three dimensions. It is important to note that various depth cues may be used at once, and the effectiveness of a particular cue will be determined by its reliability in the past. Ittleson (1951; cited in Coren et al, 1994) presented participants with different sized playing cards in a dark room. Since all other depth cues were lacking the largest cards were perceived as being closer, thus illustrating how retinal size was interpreted in terms of past experience (familiar size). Our ability to combine depth cues then is learned. Biedermans Geon theory of object recognition (1987, 1990) is a development of computational theories. It reduces the information about the components of a visual object to 36 basic shapes or Geons, which are matched in the long term memory. The success of the theory relies on the understanding of non-accidental properties, those aspects of a perception that do not change as we look at an object from a different angles (for example symmetry, parallel lines, curvature). Biedermans theory explains object recognition as consisting of various processes. Thus patients with visual agnosia are able to recognise each separate aspect of an object: a brush made of handle and bristles, but are incapable of organising the features into a recognisable whole. However, the theory relies on bottom up processes and does not explain the importance of context in object recognition. This was illustrated by Bruner et al (1951; cited in Eysenck, M. 1998) who found that hypotheses or expectations (top down processes) might influence perception of colour. Thus playing cards of irregular colours, such as black hearts, were reported as brown or purple. The implication is that bottom up processing is used in optimal viewing conditions, and supplemented by top down processes, in less than optimal viewing conditions. Gregory (1970, 1980) a constructivist, used the Muller-Lyer illusion to illustrate how context might be applied to perception, in this case in terms of misapplied size constancy. He suggests that the line that appears as longer reminds us of the inside corner of a room, thus we interpret it as further away than the other figure. Since the retinal images are the same size, the visual system mistakenly infers that the line on the right must be bigger. Experiments reported in 1966 by Segall, Campbell and Herskovitz (cited in Chandler) suggested that the Mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ller-Lyer illusion may be absent or reduced amongst people who grow up in right-angle free environments. This would indeed be evidence for knowledge driven influence on perception. However, Gross (1992; cited in Eysenck,M. 1998) found the same illusory effect when the arrows were replaced with other shapes, that could not represent the 3D corners. Helmholtz, and later Gregory (1978) and Rock (1983) exemplify the Intelligent Perception approach. In their view, visual perception of space goes beyond the image itself to include previous experience and habitual cognitive processing strategies. The main problem with the constructivist approach is that many of the top down effects described are produced in a lab, under brief exposure in conditions removed from everyday life. As Tulving et al (1964; cited in Gleitman, 1999) found, top down processing is important under ambiguous circumstances, such as brief exposure of a stimulus, where bottom up processes are reduced in effectiveness. But we would expect that perception would be inaccurate much more of the time, if expectation plays such an important role. This just isnt the case in everyday life. Gibsons direct perception approach is a bottom up ecological theory, which suggests that automatic higher-order patterns between such elements as size, shape and distance remain the same as we move around, and are used to produce a coherent view of the world. They explain the phenomena of size and shape constancy. Thus, although the size of the retinal image may change as we move closer to the visual stimulus, other relationships between visual elements are invariant. However,Size constancy can be found even when other relationships between object and background such as texture cues are absent from the visual scene. Also, as distance cues are reduced, size constancy is also reduced, (see Holway and Boring, 1947; cited in Gleitman, 1999). Favouring one process over another in perception, as reflected in the opposition between constructivist and direct perception theories is too limiting to explain all of the evidence. Innate components exist and are important, but to achieve high levels of visual functioning, these components must mature, and experience allows this to happen. Both processes may occur together, or in sequence, but both must occur. The idea that perception is immediate and begins with primitive features has been investigated in the work of Treisman through Feature Integration Theory. She suggests that primitive features do not have to be analysed or located, they jump in to perception effortlessly. Measuring response times in visual search tasks, differences in shape, colour, orientation and direction of movement embedded in a display, are perceived very quickly. Thus a single letter O embedded in a display of many Vs can be perceived as fast as a single O between only two Vs. This indicates that the visual system doesnt have to inspect every detail to determine whether it has relevant properties and implies that this process is pre-attentive. However, perception of a collection of features is not as immediate, and when presented with features such as a colour and a letter simultaneously for 200 m/s, certain illusory conjunctions were apparent: letters were identified, but their colours were often confused or swapped (see Treismann and Gelade, 1980; cited in Gleitman, 1999). Thus indicating that coordinating several features in a stimulus requires a discrete step that occurs after that of feature identification. This stage requires active focal attention. Importantly, the process is independent of the stimulus, and involves selecting a locus in space, and integrating the features there into a perceptual object. Feature integration is less prone to error when we know which objects to expect. This aspect of the process involves attention, which is an important conceptually driven aspect of perception.

The Move essays

The Move essays Since the age of six, I knew that I was to be a dancer. The beauty of the long, graceful bodies, radiate throughout the space, as I feel my heart clench with fulfillment. I am fascinated by the lingering, yet precise movements, which the dancers seem to perform with such ease. They stretch their legs as if reaching for the heavens; grind their Pointe shoes into the floor as if to conquer hell. Perfection is captivated by the unison of the dancers. These movements are the essence of The Nutcracker, the heart and soul of dance. My motivation to dance started when I first witnessed this indescribable sight. Witnessing the beauty of The Nutcracker was an instant inspiration, which I always keep close in mind. My goal in everyday of dancing is to reach the perfection that I experienced at the young age of six. I feel my feet rush over the floor. Running across the room, the surrounding air disturbed by my increasing momentum, I think of the actions, feeling the step pulse through my body. When the first glimpse of my foot leaving the ground happens, I clench my muscles, hoping to find a center of gravity. I rise higher and higher into the air with each passing second, while my legs spread farther and farther apart, until they reach their full extension. My arms form a perfect arc as they stretch to meet above my head, which strains to look at the mirror. Toes pointed to their fullest extent, as if being pulled by some invisible string. At that one single moment, Im suspended in mid-air, until I start to fall toward the ground. I make a poised landing, stepping through, landing quietly, as if Im only a whisper. I step out, and face the mirror, out of breathe, but fully content as the thought of what just happened passes through my mind. ...

Marketing Plan for Red Bull Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Marketing Plan for Red Bull Company - Essay Example Cumulatively, the company sold over 35 billion cans worldwide to date. Red Bull is the brand name used by the Red Bull Company from Austriai. This energy drink contains several ingredients, which make it a super energy drink. These include glucose, glucoronolactone, caffeine, sucrose, taurine, and B-group vitamins (Red Bull GmbH, n.d.). This drink trades in two major brands i.e. R-B Energy Drink and R-B Sugar Free. The later is similar to the former, only that it lacks sugars. Aspartame and acesulfame K sweeteners replace this glucose and sucrose. Red Bull enjoys worldwide market coverage as well as global competition from established soft drinks players. Emerging markets for soft drinks and health concerns of consumers are some of the issues affecting the market growth and expansion of the drink. Obesity is also becoming a major threat in the soft drinks market due to the sugars they contain. This is even more challenging to this industry owing to the fact that most of its target ma rket ranges among children and the youth who are most vulnerable to obesity. However, Red Bull managed to maneuver though all these challenges to sit comfortably at the top of preferred energy drinks around the globeii. Current Marketing Situation For any firm that seeks to succeed, it is important to define a company product's position, target and segmentation. In terms of its position, Red Bull is an energy drink that increases concentration, reaction speed, and performance as well as improves people's emotional state. Consumers can find all these benefits when drinking Red Bull. During tiring days, long school days, and stressful work, people want to get a product that helps them to relax their bodies and minds. Moreover, Red Bull provides not only its regular style of beverage but also a sugar-free version for people who are concerned about their health. Red Bull's target market is active males and females between ages of 17 to 35. For this reason, Red Bull targets people in col lege, recent college graduates, and workers who also study. These types of people have active and busy lifestyles that make it hard for them to endure long days and nights. Especially for the workers who study, it is challenging to balance sports, education, clubs and jobs. Red Bull is the solution for people at the turning point in their lives because energy is important component that keeps individuals active to achieve their goals Objectives and Issues Marketing Strategy It is important for the company to have segmentation in order to market its product and have costumers. Red Bull segments its product by demographic, geographic and psychographic components. The main demographic of Red Bull is young males and females between 17 and 35 years old. The geographic component focuses on people who study at places where life is busy and rushed. Bars and clubs near or on these places are also a geographic segment, in which Red Bull concentrates. The psychographic segment includes young s tudents and professionals who have long days filled with study and work, so they get tired and stressed. They want to relax and have fun at night, enjoy the rest of the day and remain active by having energy drinkiii Distribution of Red Bull energy drink is through most gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores in the U.S. Some of the stores include Safeway, Quick Trip, Conoco, SuperSaver, and 7-Eleven. The product is also available in supercenter stores such as

Legal and ethical issues in Siemens Global Case Study

Legal and ethical issues in Siemens Global - Case Study Example The company should have faced stringent operating procedures and forced to pay heavy penalties that would have discouraged prospective perpetrators. A small amount of slightly over $ 2 billion was a slap in the face of economic crime regulators since the company’s annual sale at the time was at a figure of over 70 billion Euros. This only encouraged the company to bribe more parties. Any company that fundamentally violates the acceptable code of business conduct ought to face stiffer penalties than just mere monetary fines that the company could have deemed as ‘budget fines’ (Twomey et al., 2011).   If you were the new Chief Ethics Officer, how would you have handled the situation? Although I would have handled the situation in a more or less similar manner to the then Chief Ethics Officer, I would however, taken a slightly different approach as far as the management of rogue employees is concerned. My first approach would have been to arrange for seminars where different personalities would train and encourage the employees on the benefits of upholding acceptable ethical standards. Instead of just dismissing incompetent employees, I would have engaged them in educational seminars before demoting them to lower positions so that they could rework their way up the corporate ladder through ethical and just means. This approach would have instilled confidence in them and all other employees to work as a team towards the attainment of Siemens short-term and long-term goals (Fernando, 2010). Was the corruption justified since bribery was legal in Germany until 1999? Despite the fact that bribery was legal in Germany, there was no justification for the corruption witnessed in Siemens whatsoever. The fact that Siemens is a German company did not negate the need to operate in accordance to the internationally accepted business ethics since Siemens is an international company with subsidiaries spread across the globe. Although, the senior executives in Siemens’ case tried to justify their acts as a strategy to gain competitive advantage in the market, this still violated the internationally accepted business conducts. This is because most of Siemens’ corrupt deals were international and any company that operates on a global platform ought not to use local policies but internationally recognized ones in business operations. With all these evidences of breach of international law, it is wise to conclude that Siemens was not justified to embrace bribery and corruption as ‘company policy.’ (Twomey et al., 2011).   How does an organization make the shift to refine their ethical practices when there is such a radical change in policy? More often than not, organizations that take the bold step to ethical recovery undergo agonizing experiences though the results obtained are much pleasant. Various ways by which organizations can make the shift to refine their ethical practices exist and there is no single most approach to this course. Some organizations opt for the restructuring of the management system in an attempt to reverse the undesirable trends witnessed over a period. While this can be an appropriate approach for a dynamic and self-motivated team, the organization can seek to transform the culture of employees directly by either imposing new company policies or engaging the employees in dialogue. Ordinarily, most organizations choose the latter as it has the effect of improving employees’ trust and confidence in the company. Overall, whichever approach an organization decides to take should incorporate participation by all stakeholders (Fernando, 2010). By researching online, what have been more recent developments with Siemens Global

The Management of Organizational Diversity Essay

The Management of Organizational Diversity - Essay Example Diversity encompasses everyone. Diversity can be identified on various parameters like race, ethnicity, age, gender, physical ability, physical characteristics, income, education, parental status, marital status, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, personality types and geographic location. In the growing global scenario the diversity factor is on the increasing trend. This calls for more attention toward diversity management. There are laws like EEO, Equal Employment Opportunities that guarantee the right to everyone for employment regardless of their diversity. Diversity management improves on EEO but is not a replacement of EEO. There are certain constrains due to diversity like- the area of consideration gets limited, there could be lack of diversity in STEM position applicants. There could be negligible diversity at the top ranks. It may categorize people into certain positions. Recruiting tends to be normally done from the same source. Similarly, only one person or a group of persons coming from a set of backgrounds gets the opportunity to be groomed. It has been found that all individuals experience difficulty in interacting with colleagues, customers and others due to diversity in backgrounds like racial, gender or socio-economic. This often throws up cases of miscommunication but if they are not checked in time they could flare up into bigger problems. And there could be feelings like exclusion, mistreatment, no support or left-alone etc. that are not desirable for a healthy organization. One challenge is development of "like-me" syndrome. People coming from similar backgrounds tend to flock together. This created certain bias in the workplace and should be checked as early as possible. "[T]he "like me" syndrome can lead to a tendency to employee and work with people like oneself in terms of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, and disability." (EEOC, 1998: 27). This is a barrier for judging performances without any bias and also to get honest feedbacks. Similarly, when some groups are formed based on similarity, others are looked upon as outsiders. It has come up in researches that the outsiders do not get the same level of information, they are not included in decision making, they are given lesser opportunities to learn and perform. This gives rise to stereotyping where people intentionally or unintentionally form opinions about other groups. They also develop certain ideas regarding certain people. For example, women are too soft to become successful in administration or black people are not good employees Asian Americans are not to be accepted. The biggest challenge diversity poses is misunderstanding diverse non-verbal communications. For example a thumbs-up can be a positive sign in one culture but not so in another one and may become the cause of a rift. Sometimes the measures taken to encourage diversity by recruitment from all groups etc. can have a negative effect on the majority group as they

A Literature Review of Association Rules in Mining

A Literature Review of Association Rules in Mining Abstract Mining association rules is an essential job for information discovery. Past transaction data can be analyzed to discover client behaviors such that the superiority of business decision can be improved. The approach of mining association rules focuses on discovering large item sets, which are groups of items that come into view together in a sufficient number of dealings. Association rules are if/then statements that help uncover relationships between seemingly unrelated data in a information repository. In this paper we will show by experimental results the behavior of apriori algorithm. Weshall describes the basic concepts of association rules mining, the basic model of mining association rules. Finally, this paper describes the association rules mining and its techniques. Introduction Association rules mining is an important task in data mining. It is a popular and well researched method for discovering strong associations between variables in large databases. It is intended to discover strong rules between different variables in databases. A large amount of data can easily be analyzed to discover customer purchasing behavior which improve business behavior. The goal of the association rules mining is to identify items that are bought together by sufficiently many customers. The strong relation between different items in the market are existing like the peoples who buy milk also tends to buy bread and eggs in this sentence there is a relation between milk and bread. So association rules are used to identify these relationships between items for the improvement of business behavior. Association rules can be expressed as: R: X==>Y, where: X à ¢Ã…  Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ I, Y I, and X, it is said that if the item set X occurs in a transaction, then Y will inevitably appears in the transaction. Therefore, X is called a prerequisite for the rule; Y is the result of the rule. Support and Confidence are two different interestingness for measure. Support of an item I is the number of transactions that support (contains) I, and Confidence compares the number of times the pair was purchased to the number of times one of the items in the pair was purchased. In probability terms this is referred to as the conditional probability of the pair. For example, if a supermarket database has 100,000 point-of-sale transactions out of which 2,000 include both items A and B and 800 of these include item C, the association rule If A and B are purchased then the item C is also purchased on the same trip has a support of 800 transactions (alternatively 0.8% = 800/100,000) and a confidence of 40% (=800/2,000). A huge number of association rules can be identified if the database is large. So for minimizing association rules minimum Support and Confidence are considered, both are specified by the user which help us to and valuable rules from database. Association Rule Mining Algorithms A-priori Algorithm Principle of Apriori Algorithm: If an item set is frequent, then all of its subsets must also be frequent. Apriori algorithm is a classical and breadth first search association rules algorithm. This algorithm was first proposed by Agrawal et al in 1993.Apriori algorithm strategy is to separate association rule mining tasks into two steps: First discover frequent item sets, and the second is the Generating of Association rules, it extracts high confidence rules from the frequent item sets. The first step for mining frequent item sets the algorithm will produce a large number of Items; the algorithm will execute K iterations where K is the number of items in the second iteration the algorithm produce some frequent item sets with the first selected frequent item set. After the K iteration the algorithm produce the superset of all frequent items. Here the basic idea of generating frequent item sets is: First step, statistics the frequency of the set with an element, and identify those item sets that is not less than the minimum support, that is, the maximum one-dimensional item sets. Then start the cycle processing from the second step until no more maximum item sets generated. The cycle is: in the first step k, k-dimensional candidate is generated form (k-1) dimensional maximum item sets, and then scans the database to get the candidate item set support, and compare with the minimum support, k-dimensional maximum set is found. The apriori algorithm takes advantage of the fact that any subset of a frequent item set is also a frequent item set, therefore it reduce the number of candidates being considered by only exploring the item sets whose support count is greater than the minimum support count snf all infrequent item set can be pruned if it has an infrequent subsets. Apriorialgorithm is breadth-first algorithm, therefore if the database is too large then it suffer from a number of inefficiencies by creating a large number of subsets. Apriori algorithm uses sets intersections to determine support values. It determines the support values of all (K-1) candidates before counting the K candidates. The dataset may be too large thus the problem is that the resulted frequent item set may be exceeded with main memory and wasting of time to Figure 1: Apriori algorithm Pseudo code. Figure 2: Improved version of Apriori Algorithm Hold a large number of candidate set with much frequent item sets. So to overcome this problem the dataset is partitioned in different chunks and each chunk is treated independently. And then the resulted frequent items are merged with one extra scan. Applications: Basket data analysis, cross-marketing, catalog design, sale campaign analysis, Web log (click stream) analysis, and DNA sequence analysis. 2.1.1. Variation in Apriori Algorithm The limitation of appriori algorithm is improved by the improved version ofappriori algorithm. It is to be defined as: Suppose Ck is the candidate item set of size k, and Lk is the frequent item set of size k in the proposed approach the algorithm is improved by reduce the time consuming for candidates item set generation. Here the algorithm firstly scan all transactions to generate L1 which contains all items, and found their support and transaction ID, and then L1 is used as a helper to generate L2, L3.Lk, then generate C2 by joining L1 * L1 to construct 2-itemset C(x,y) where x,y are the items of C2. Before scanning all transaction records to count the support count of each candidate, use L1 to get the transaction IDs of the minimum support count between x and y, and thus scan for C2 only in these specific transactions. The same thing for C3, construct 3-itemset C (x, y, z), where x, y and z are the items of C3 and use L1 to get the transaction IDs of the minimum support count bet ween x, y and z, then scan for C3 only in these specific transactions and repeat these steps until no new frequent item sets are identified. FP-Growth Algorithm FP-growth algorithm is one of the latest and most efficient algorithms in depth-first algorithm. It allows frequent item sets discovery without candidates item set generation. It is a two step approaches, first build a compact data structure called FP-tree and then extract the frequent item sets directly from the FP-tree. Compared with Apriori Algorithm, FP-growth has the following advantages: To avoid multiple dataset scanning it scan only the dataset twice. It increases space and time efficiency. But its difficulty lies in large and sparse datasets, in the mining processing and recursive computations require considerable space. Applications: Basket data analysis, frequent patterns. Association Rules Applications 3.1. Market Based Data Analysis A typical and widely-used example of association rule mining is market basket analysis. It is a technique that discovers relationships between pairs of products purchased together. The technique can be used to identify the items having strong relationship. The idea behind market basket analysis is simple, simply examine the order of products have been purchased together. For example in market basket analysis the fact might be uncover that if a customer buy milkalso tends to buy breads. So using this information we might organize our store that milk and bread next to each other. For doing market basket analysis there is some couple of measures is used, which is frequency, minimum Support and minimum Confidence, frequency is the number of times two products were purchased together, and minimum Support and Confidence are discussed before. Market Basket Analysis print report about given items, for example if we need to find relationship of Milk with others Bread, Eggs and Cheeses, then market basket analysis print a reports. TheReport consists of the products name, Frequency, Support and Confidence. Market Basket Analysis: Milk Product Frequency Support Confidence Breeds 820 82% 91.1% Cheese 800 80% 23.5% Eggs 750 75% 34% The higher the confidence means that there is a probably of strong relationship between the products. In the above example confidence of Milk and Breads shows that in 91% of transactions Milk and Bread are sold together. 3.2 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Customer Relationship Management is a combination of business process and technology that seeks to understand a companys customers from the perspective of who they are, what they do, and what they are like. Here we are focusing on the CRM of banking sector, which are focused to find the preference of different customer, to provide services to the customer to enhance cohision between customers and the bank. Association rules are used to identify customer preferences and customer behavior. Conclusion Association rules mining are a popular and well researched method for discovering strong associations between variables in large databases. In this paper we have describe Association rules mining which is the important task of data mining. Then we describes techniques for the Association rules which is apriori and FP-growth algorithm, the limitation of apriori algorithm was inefficiency in case of large database by checking all k-1 items, the improve apriorialgorithm overcome this problem by finding transactions ids of every frequent item and then for k+1 set generation used that k-1 table and search only those transactions in which the current item are exist. According to this the efficiency of the algorithm is improved. Then we discuss FP-growth algorithm which is depth first search and fastest algorithm, it uses tree to find frequent item sets. In the last the application of association rules Market basket data analysis and Customer Relationship management are discussed in this pa per. References Mohammed Al-Maolegi, Bassam Arkok Jordon, An improved apriori algorithm for association rules International Journal on Natural Language Computing (IJNLC) Vol. 3, No.1, February 2014. Ruowu Zhong and Huiping Wang China Research of Commonly Used Association Rules Mining Algorithm in Data Mining 2012. S. Rao, R. Gupta, Implementing Improved Algorithm Over APRIORI Data Mining Association Rule Algorithm International Journal of Computer Science And Technology, pp. 489-493, Mar. 2012. Jiawei Lian , Michelins Kamber. Data mining: Concepts and Techniques [M]. America: Morgan Kaufman Publishers, 2000. Market basket data analysis http://www.albionresearch.com/market_basket Show-Jane Yen and Arbee L.P. Chen Taiwan An Efficient Data Mining Technique for Discovering Interesting Association Rules2010

Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Great Expectations by Charles

Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens `Lord of the Flies`, by William Golding was written in 1954 almost a century after Charles Dickens wrote `Great Expectations`, in 1860. Both of the novels are considered as being classics and have been made into films and the books while seeming completely different do have similarities although they are in different social, historical and cultural settings. The frameworks of the books are completely different, `Lord of the Flies` starts as a traditional boy's adventure story like `Coral Island`, by R.M. Ballantyne, however it is subverted to a dark, menacing story about how people behave when the constraints of society are removed. The island is a microcosm of society, and in the book we see examples of hierarchy, the social divide, human nature, and how the boys, with no adults, start to rely on their basic savage instincts. `Great Expectations` is mainly about the divides between the rich and the poor, a popular theme in the Victorian times as the industrial revolution had broadened and highlighted the divide, however both books do reflect on society, and the weakness of human nature. Both the books, while having a traditional framework, have an original element. Not many memoirs are as strange and varied as Pip's, and not many boy's adventure stories turn as dark and menacing as Golding's novel. In the opening chapters the settings of the books are contrasting, in `Lord of the Flies`, the boys are in tropical splendor, (the pool) "It was clear to the bottom and bright with the efflorescence of tropical weed and coral" (pg 17), while in `Great Expectations` the opening chapter is set in a graveyard, which is dank a... ...agwitch in his torn, coarse and disheveled state, "A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped". From this the reader can see that, although the opening chapters of both novels seem completely unrelated, in fact when the reader looks more closely, many parallels can be seen. For example though the settings are very diverse, one being a wind swept moor, and the other being a tropical island, both are menacing. Although these books were written almost a century apart, and at first seem to be on different topics, many of the key features are the same, and many of the characters posses similar qualities.

Fashion of Roaring Twenties and the Sixties

Fashion of the Roaring Twenties and The Sixties Fashion is the style prevalent at a given time. It usually refers to costume or clothing style. Everybody has to wear clothes, making fashion a part of everyday life. The way someone dresses says a lot about his or her personality, age, culture and experience. At times of economic or social change, fashion often changed. The 1920s and the 1960s are big eras were economic and social change were happening. They are both largely known for their fashion.The 1920s was also known as the Roaring Twenties due to the period’s social, artistic, and cultural energy. The twenties were right after the end of World War One and right before the Great Depression. The era was notable for inventions and discoveries, industrial growth, increased consumer demand and significant changes in lifestyle (â€Å"roaring twenties†). During the twenties, the economy of the United States evolved from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy. The Eighte enth Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, import and export of alcohol in attempt to help the social problems.Passing the nineteenth amendment gave women the political equality they had been fighting for. The twenties were also known as the Jazz Age because jazz music grew in popularity. â€Å"During the 1920s jazz music flourished, the flapper redefined modern womanhood, Art Deco peaked, and the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ended the era, as the Great Depression set in† (â€Å"roaring twenties†). The Roaring Twenties were trying to break from traditions of the Victorian way of life. Since the 1920s was a time of celebration, there were many fads.Young women’s fashion of the 1920s was both a trend and a social statement. They were labeled ‘flappers’ by the older generations. â€Å"Flapper† was a popular slang for a very young prostitute or a lively mid-teenage girl. â€Å"The image of flappers were young women who went to jazz clubs at n ight where they danced provocatively, smoked cigarettes through long holders, and dated freely, perhaps indiscriminately. They rode bicycles, drove cars, and openly drank alcohol, a defiant act in the American period of Prohibition† (â€Å"flapper†). They were seen as rude and self-assertive for their behavior. The ‘new’ woman was less invested in social service than the Progressive generations, and in tune with the capitalistic spirit of the era, she was eager to compete and to find personal fulfillment† (â€Å"roaring twenties†). Flappers as a social group were separate from other 1920s groups; their behavior was bizarre at the time. They challenged women’s traditional public roles, supporting voting and women’s rights. Some flappers weren’t into the politics. â€Å"Older suffragettes, who fought for the right for women to vote, viewed flappers as vapid and in some ways unworthy of the enfranchisement they had worked so hard to win† (â€Å"flapper†).In addition to their strange behavior, they were known for their style. Flapper style made girls look young and boyish. They had a chin-length bob hairstyle and wore straight waist dresses with a hemline above the knee. The risen hemline allowed flashing of the legs when a girl danced. They also removed the corset from female fashion. Until the 1920s, cosmetics were not accepted in American society because of its association with prostitution but flappers made cosmetics popular. High heels also came into style, 2-3 inches high.Writers and illustrators in the United States popularized the flapper look through their works, making flappers appealing and independent. Even though the flapper look and lifestyle were popular at the time, it could not last through the Wall Street Crash or the Great Depression. Another popular era for fashion was the 1960s, more commonly called The Sixties. The sixties was a movement escaping from the conservative w ays of the fifties and eventually resulted in revolutionary ways of thinking and real changes in the culture of American life (Goodwin).The Civil Rights Movement played a major role of changes in society in the 1960s, starting with Martin Luther King Jr. In 1961, John F. Kennedy was elected president, becoming the youngest president to ever hold office. The Vietnam War was a major event in the 1960s that absorbed a lot of national attention. The draft took place followed by anti-war outlook. The National Organization of Women questioned the unequal treatment of women in the society. The hippie movement arose as a result of young people not content with the generation ahead of them. The sixties was a decade that broke many fashion traditions, mirroring social movements during the period† (â€Å"fashion†). The sixties were the age of youth, who wanted change. The changes they were looking for affected education, values, lifestyles, laws and entertainment (Goodwin). There were so many young people in the sixties due to the post-war baby boom. The children had grown up and were becoming teenagers and young adults. These youths changed the fashion, the fads, and the politics of the decade (Goodwin).They dressed to convey rebellion. â€Å"The sixties began a decade which may well be recorded as one of the most fashion-conscious periods in recent history, challenging the 1890s and the 1920s† (â€Å"1960s fashion†). The hippie movement arose during the mid-1960s. Hippies didn’t focus on what others thought, they believed in ‘equality for all’. Hippie characteristics comprised of listening to rock, accepting sexual revolution and the use of drugs such as marijuana and LSD to explore alternative states of consciousness (â€Å"hippie†).Hippies were pacifists, the belief that any violence is unjustifiable, under any circumstances, and that all arguments should be settled by peaceful meanings. They participated civil ri ghts marches and anti-Vietnam War protests. â€Å"The late 1960 produced a style categorized of people whom promoted sexual liberation and favored a type of politics reflecting ‘peace, love and freedom’† (â€Å"fashion†). By 1965, hippies had become an established social group in the United States. By 1968, the hippie look was in style. Hippie’s way of dress and grooming was one way of expressing their thought of independence.Both genders wore bell-bottomed jeans, tie-dyed shirts, headbands and sandals. Women often went barefoot and braless. Teenage girls often wore fringed buckskin vests, flowing long dress, Mexican peasant blouses, gypsy-style skirts, scarves, and bangles (â€Å"fashion†). Fabrics frequently consisted of animal or paisley prints. Both men and women grew their hair out long, including men’s facial hair. Further trends included love beads, peace signs, body piercing and tattoo body art. Hippies wore clothes that they f elt communicated themselves and their individualism. Hippies repelled the post war ugliness in the world and turned the attention of fashion stalwarts towards as much natural beauty as possible† (Borade). The 1920s and the 1960s style of fashion appears to be very diverse. When observing each era’s attire they portray different looks. In the twenties, they wore dark colors opposed to the sixties where they wore very bright colors and patterns. Flappers wore tight, short dresses while hippies wore loose, floor length dresses. Flappers popularized make-up, wearing very drastic blush and lipstick. Hippies wanted to be natural so they didn’t wear any make-up.Although they seemed completely different, their motives behind their eccentric fashion were the same. They were both rebelling against the norm and trying to prove their independence. Fashion is a way of expressing personality and independence. Every person has their own sense of style and they show that through the way they dress. Everyday people get dressed, choosing clothes that they like and illustrate them best. Clothes are talked about, thought about and worn daily. Each era has a different fashion that shows up in clothes, attitude, personality and behavior.

Economic Reform essays

Economic Reform essays The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history. It ranked as the worst and longest period of high unemployment and low business activity in modern times. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. Many factors led to the onset and continuation of the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of uneven distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place later during the same decade. Money was distributed intermittently between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. Other factors included overproduction and Americans not receiving wages to purchase those goods, foreign tariffs, and the federal reserves tight money polices. Not only was the United states being affected by the economy, the people were as well. The excessive speculation in the late 1920's kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. Black Thursday became known to Americans on October 24th of 1929. Thousands of stockholders lost large sums of money. Many of these stockholders were even wiped out. Banks, factories, and stores closed and left millions of Americans jobless and penniless. During this period, Americans lost their money from banks shutting down because their money was not ensured. As the losses added up, suicide, violence, and divorce rates sky rocketed. During the Great Depression, radio brought Americans together in a mental aspect. Every Saturday night families would gather around to listen to President Roosevelts fire side chats. Since television was not invented yet, Roosevelt would give speeches over the radio to keep Americans updated on what was going on in Ameri ...

china essay essays

china essay essays The U.S. Government put a tariff on imports from the PRC because the U.S. Government must shoe that they will nit help the government of another nation that violates its citizens basic rights to life. The U.S. must prove that it will not help the government of another nation that will not let its people vote, the U.S. must also prove that it will not trade with any nation that threatens a nation that is friendly with us. The U.S. Government must show that they will not help a nation that violates a citizens basic rights to life. This is important because in the PRC some of the abandoned baby girls in orphanages have been found in "Dying Rooms". It is also important because in rural areas of the PRC, women are sold by their fathers and some women have ther tendons cut so they can't run away from the man that bought them. So, because baby girls are treated so poorly and even killed and women are being sold as property,the U.S. Government should put a tariff on Chia's products. Another reason is the U.S. Government must show that they will not help the government of another nation if it does not allow its people to vote. This is important because the PRC does not allow its people to vote.This is important because the PRC is a dictatorship controlled by a communist party. It is also important because the army of the PRC shot students who were peacefully protesting in Tiananmen Square. So, because the PRC is a dictatorship and shot students that peacefully protested in Tianamen Square the U.s. Government should put a tariff on Chineses products. Finally, the U.S. Government must prove that it will not trade with any nation that threatens a nation that is friendly with us. This is important because from time to time the PRC threatens Taiwan. Taiwan has a democracy modeled after its friend, the United States. It is also important because Tawain is a major trading partner of the U.S.. So, because the PRC threatens Tawain and Tawai...

Gender Perspective Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gender Perspective - Term Paper Example Most of the females limit their activities within the boundaries of their home in the past. On the other hand, men went outside for better prospects and opportunities. In other words, men got more exposure whereas women got less exposure in the past because of the different perceptions about the gender. Gender perspectives have been changed a lot today. Neither men, nor the women are satisfied by their present roles and they are trying to incorporate more dimensions to their gender roles today. Men are just beginning to realize that the traditional definition of masculinity leaves them unfulfilled and dissatisfied. While women have left the home from which they were imprisoned by the ideology of separate spheres and now seek to balance work and family lives, men continue to search for a way back into the family from which they were exiled by the same ideology (Kimmel, 2011, p.267) The advancements in science and technology brought many changes in human life and it also affected some of the traditional beliefs, customs and life philosophies. As the knowledge of the human increases, some of the established traditions of human life are also changing along with it. Current women are not ready to limit their lives within the boundaries of home alone. Today, they are demanding equality with males, not only in personal or professional life, but also in all the aspects of human life. The concepts about human sexuality were also changed a lot in the present century. Females no longer ready to act as an instrument or slave in the bedrooms, under the strict control of men. Earlier, the major duty of the females was to satisfy the males in sexual activities even if they may not derive any pleasure out of it. However, current females are not ready to obey such traditions and they are currently not ready to engage in one sided sexual activities which give happiness only to the males. In short, gender perspectives in the past, present and in future need not be the same. This paper analyses various dimensions of current gender perspectives focusing mainly on Asia, especially China. Gender roles Genetically, males and females have some differences which cannot be neglected when we decide about assuming certain duties to men and women. It is impossible for men to conceive whereas it is impossible for a woman to give birth to a child without seeking help from a male. In other words, mutual cooperation among men and women is a necessity enforced by the nature for sustaining life on earth. Risk taking attitudes are more among males because of their superior muscle power whereas females may possesses more soft skills than males. It is difficult for men to look after their children as their wives do. Traditionally or historically, males have the responsibility of finding the livelihood whereas the females have the responsibility of the development of children and home management. However, such concepts have changed a lot at present and all these responsibilitie s are shared equally by the male and female community at present. Professional life is no more limited to males and child management is no more limited to females. The gender perspective looks at the impact of gender on people's opportunities, social roles and interactions. Successful implementation of the policy, program and project goals of international and national organizations is directly affected by the impact of gender and, in turn, influences the process of social development. Gender is an integral component

Management Decision Making A System Approach Essay

Management Decision Making A System Approach - Essay Example Management decisions are gaining extraordinary and unprecedented importance in the present changed business situation. Governments and business houses have to think beyond the territories while making a decision. They can make an impact all over the world, and the prevailing world business trend could make immediate impact on them. Management theories have evolved and have been applied mainly to change management and control management1. System approach is another, perhaps highly effective way to apply on a company that is targeting a certain achievement2. 1. Alamarai is a flourishing company, but a system and every work in the company is done as clockwork, without any change at all in the daily routine. It has its hierarchies, branches, transport system, distribution system and works like a well-oiled machine, noiselessly. 2. It has its own performance criteria and system objectives. Its performance criteria is mainly running its huge farm, stocked with yielding cows, cooling and pasteurising this milk, make connected milk products and supply them to the decided outlets along with other food products. Alamarai had been one company who had been performing flawlessly, even though a cooling project in Saudi Arabia is not an easy matter. 3. Alamarai is ruled by its environments, political, social, cultural and religious. It is also ruled by the economic environment of the present day world. These signals, the company is unable to ignore any more. 4. It has its own humanistic and psychosocial subsystems, but till recently controlling the humanistic conditions as they are mainly from foreign countries and hence, were mainly biddable, it had found comfortable, compared to the present psychosocial subsystem, that had been brought into the company through Saudisation. 5. Alamarai's aim had been integrating these subsystems with the whole wider society. The psychosocial subsystems are not only originated from the prevailing society, but also have to be improved and bettered in the same society and Alamarai is trying to integrate them. It increases options, reduces errors during achievement and the achievement could be anything. It need not be only the highly market victory. It could be connected socially, politically and culturally to the company, for which company is either forced or willingly inspired to work for.4 System approach is one of the decision support systems, that had been in vogue for sometime and had been found unquestionably effective by many organisations and has amply proved its efficiency, mainly because it works along with its subsystems, and hence, more scope for checking, correcting, evolving and finalising5. a) Company overview: Almarai (Green Pastures), a very famous company of Saudi Arabia, a household name in diary products was established in 1976, under the direction of the Prince. It is based in Saudi capital Riyadh, with its operations spread not only in Saudi Arabia, but also through the Arabian Peninsula, covering almost all the Gulf countries. It is a pioneer in agricultural, diary processing and food distribution field. It is a well known entity with a