Goal Statement Essay Example for Free

Goal Statement Essay I felt my scores were mostly accurate in rating how I feel about communicating because I am not a real shy in communicating with others, so I could get up and talk, if I am prepared. Three specific public speaking goals I want to achieve during the term are; listening speaking and confidence. The goals may prove rewarding for me both professionally and personally because no matter what you do professionally you will always have to listen to somebody either co-workers or clients. You have to actually understand them. Listen to what they have to say, questions they may have listening is very much needed. Now speaking you will always have to talk with others or interact with people in any professional job the way you speak to others is how they will respond to you. And last is confidence, confidence is also needed if your profession is banking you have to have confidence when talking to people. You have to act like it’s your best friend you’re talking to, have confidence in the way you speak. Now personally you need listening either to listen to your kids or family. Speaking is important also if your family is having problems if they come to you, you need to know how to speak to them properly. You need to have confidence personally to help you go through life people with try to bring you down and you will need to have the confidence to just ignore them and keep your head held high. My dream job would have to be a registered nurse, and they provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members. They work in hospitals, physicians’ offices, home healthcare services, and nursing care facilities. The can also work in correctional facilities, schools, summer camps, and with military. Sharpened communicating skills will prove rewarding to my career because they do a lot of talking with people, like setting up plans for patients’ care, consult with doctors and other healthcare professionals, teach patients and their families how to manage their illnesses or injuries. it will help me talk with my co-workers and patients because nurses will always be talking or interacting with people. You have to be able to walk up to them with confidence and say exactly what needs to be said. Most people think nursing is just talking blood and giving shots. There’s a lot more if you cannot talk to people you will have a rough time in nursing. So communication skills are very important in my dream job. This course will help me achieve my communication goals in many ways. It will hopefully help me learn to listen and learn how to take things in and actually listen to them not just in one ear out the other. May also help me learn how to speak in front of others and not be so nerve-racking. And last help me have confidence in general. I expect my peers to encourage me when I do have to get in front of them to talk, not to bring me down. And what I expect from my instructor is to tell me what I am doing wrong, what I need to improve and last expect him to help me achieve my goals. And help me do a lot better with all of the bad communication skills I have.

Net present value Essay Example for Free

Net present value Essay This essay will discuss the net present value (NPV), payback period (PBP) and internal rate of return (IRR) approaches for a project evaluation. It is often said that NPV is the best approach investment appraisal, which I why I will compare the strengths and weaknesses of NPV as well as the two others to se if the statement is actually true. Introduction To start of, the essay will attempt to explain the theoretical rationale of the net present value approach to investment appraisal as well as its strengths and weaknesses. From there, introduce the payback period method and then internal rate of return approach, as well as to consider their strengths and weaknesses. After outlining and explaining the three different approaches, it will finish up with comparing the different three and in a conclusion. NPV Net present value or NPV is an approach used to determine the value of an investment today (present) compared to the value of the investment in the future after taking the inflation and return into account. In simpler words, it compares the value of 1 pound today with the same pound in the future. Net present value is used in capital budgeting to analyze the profitability of an investment. It is usually calculated using tables and spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel, but the main formula used to calculate net present value looks like this: Where C0 = Cash outflow at time t=0 Ct = Cash inflow at time t r = The discount rate As Ross (2013) states in his book, a project should be accepted if the NPV is greater than zero and rejected if it is less than zero. This is known as the NPV rule. However, if the NPV is equal to zero, the manager of the company has to decide whether to accept or reject depending on several factors, such as there might be a better investment to be made elsewhere that might produce higher revenue. It will be a question of opportunity cost. The whole point of the rule is that if a firm accepts an investment with positive net present value, it will benefit the shareholders, as the value of the firm will increase (considering no other circumstances) by the amount of the NPV. This is called additivity, which means that the value of the firm is simply the value of the different divisions, projects, or other entities within the firm. Alexander (2000) states that any financial asset with an NPV greater than zero is referred to as underpriced, while any financial asset with an NPV less than zero is said to be overprices. A firm or company must always consider is the concept of ‘time value of money’ (TVM). TMV means that if ? 1 is invested today, say for instance in a bank or a fund, with an interest rate of 5 per cent per annum, in one year it will be ? 1. 05 because the bank compensates the investors for borrowing their money. The same would be if you reverse the equation. ?1 in a year with the same interest rate of 5 per cent equals ? 0. 9524 today (Weetman, 2010). The reason for discounting future cash flows according to Marney (2011) are because of three factors; inflation, risk and time impatience. In all countries there is some level of inflation that needs to be accounted for. It can lead to both higher and lower purchasing power of money. Risk is very hard du make accurate predictions for in the far future, and after the credit crunch of 2007-2008, very few dare to make them on variables like inflation and interest rates. Lastly is the factor of time impatience. Since mankind is born with some level of greed, people prefer money now rather than later. This can easily be reflected by the use of credit cards and loans in general. And as long as people want to lend and borrow, there is money to be made for lenders, as incentives are required with the gratification in the form of interest. The main advantage with the net present value technique according to Ross (2013) is that is uses cash flows, it includes all the cash flows of the project and that it rightly discounts the cash flows properly. The positive aspect of it using cash flows is that it determines when the project will earn its incomes, how soon they will come as well as how sizable they are going to be. What is meant when he states that it uses all the cash flows is that it acknowledges every single cash flow, regardless of the date or the size. The advantage for the shareholders of the firm is that it shows how much they can expect to get back from an investment as it takes into account the riskiness of the project and doesn’t ignore the time value of money. However, the NPV approach those have some disadvantages as well. The main disadvantage to the net present value approach is that it is sensitive to discount rates. The computations of NPV are a summary of multiple discounted cash flows that are converted into present value terms for the same point in time. This could affect the result both positively and negatively, and as said earlier, it is almost impossible to predict what the future brings. Let’s use the example given in the article â€Å"Uses, abuses and alternatives to NPV† by Ross (1995). If the current interest rate leads to a negative NPV, but in the future the interest rate decreases and leads to a positive NPV. The management or analyzers may miss out on a good investment opportunity if they sell the project early because with the current interest rate it is considered not profitable. Another example, let’s call it project a, could be if we were trying to value an investment that could cost your firm ? 10,000 up front today and was expected to pay you back ? 2,500 in annual profits for 5 years. This will lead to a total nominal amount of ? 12,500, beginning at the end of the first year. If we use a 4. 5 per cent discount rate in the NPV calculations, the five payments of ? 2,500 equals to ? 10,974. 94 of todays pounds. If we subtract the initial payment of ? 10,000, we’re left with a net present value of ? 974. 94. Now let’s try to do use the same number with the same length of a project, but use 9 per cent discount rate and call it project b. The firm will get a payment of ? 9,724. 13, which means they’ll have a NPV of considerably less, and will in fact end up loosing ? 275. 87 when the project is finished.

Oil Blends Against Aedes Aegypti (Linn.) and Anopheles Dirus

Oil Blends Against Aedes Aegypti (Linn.) and Anopheles Dirus An in vitro study of the bioefficacy of essential oil blends against Aedes aegypti (Linn.)  and Anopheles dirus (Peyton and Harrison) by using membrane feeding apparatus Nutthanun Auysawasdi1, Sawitri Chuntranuluck1, Vichien Keeratinijakal2,  Siriporn Phasomkusolsil3 and Silas A Davidson3 Abstract This study was performed to determine the bioefficacy of plant essential oils on Aedes aegypti and Anopheles dirus. Repellency was determined by measuring reduction in feeding and mortality. A novel in vitro bioassay apparatus was developed that had a sausage-casing membrane feeding system. Mixtures of three essential oils were evaluated: turmeric (Curcuma longa), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), and orange (Citrus aurantium). The oils were mixed in pairs or all together at equal volume for a total of 10% volume and then formulated with 90% virgin coconut oil. Complete formulations were evaluated with and without an additional 5% vanillin. The formulations were applied to the sausage casing membranes and female mosquitoes provided (expose) blood meals (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 h) to assess the percentage repellency over time. The results showed that the strongest repellency was at shorter exposure periods. For Ae. aegypti, the strongest feeding reduction was with the turmer ic and eucalyptus combination and with the addition of vanillin (97.6-99.6%). For An. dirus, the strongest repellency was when all three oils were combined (98.4-99.6%). Vanillin increased the effects of repellency and mortality for all formulations and demonstrated an increased potential to enhance the bioefficacy of essential oil repellents. This study also demonstrated an in vitro membrane feeding system that can be used to screen essential oils. Keywords: Aedes aegypti, Anopheles dirus, Essential oil, Repellent, Membrane feeding system Introduction Mosquito-borne infectious diseases, such as dengue fever and malaria, are increasing each year, which may be due to the effects of global warming and climate change (Aguiar 2011). Dengue virus is primarily transmitted by Aedes aegypti (L.) mosquitoes and is the primary vector throughout the global distribution of dengue (Guzman et al. 2010). Malaria is transmitted by anopheline mosquitoes and the primary vectors are unique to different geographical locations. Anopheles dirus (Peyton and Harrison) is considered one of the most important vectors in Thailand and Southeast Asia (Sinka et al. 2011). Both of these diseases are difficult to manage because there are no available vaccines, and in the case of dengue, there are no therapeutic drugs (Halstead 2014). Efforts to control these diseases often focus on vector control and preventive strategies to minimize mosquito bites. The use of topical insect repellents applied to the skin is a proven method to reduce mosquito bites. There is a long history of using plant derived extracts to reduce mosquito bites. However, since the development of modern synthetic repellents in the 1940s, natural repellents have been largely replaced by synthetic chemicals (Debboun et al. 2006). Currently there is a renewed interest in using plant-based insect repellents due to concerns about safety and the preference for products that are considered more natural (Gerberg et al. 2007). Several essential oils and volatile compounds from a multitude of plants have been found to possess repellent properties against arthropods (Curtis et al. 1990). These plant derived chemicals often repel mosquitoes, but there is a wide variability between mosquito species (Kumar et al. 2011). Compounds that repel mosquitoes have been found in the following plant families: Graminae (Pushpanathan et al. 2006), Labiateae (Odalo et al. 2005), Lamiaceae (Ansari et al. 2000), Myrtaceae (Phukerd Soonwera 2014), Poaceae and Rutaceae (Trongtokit et al. 2005), Umbelliferae (Erler et al. 2006), and Zingiberaceae (Tawatsin et al. 2001). This study evaluated essential oils from the plants turmeric (Curcuma longa L., Family:Zingiberaceae), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus Labill, Family: Rutaceae) and orange (Citrus aurantium L. Family: Myrtaceae). It is known that turmeric contains the chemical ar-turmerone that is repellent to arthropods (Su et al. 1982). The eucalyptus plant contains important active ingredient such as 1-8, cineole, ÃŽÂ ±- and ÃŽÂ ²-pinene that can repel various mosquito species (Yang et al. 2004). Mosquito repellents are often tested by using the arm in cage technique (World Health Organization 2009). This method allows mosquitoes to feed directly on human volunteers and has several disadvantages, such as the pain and discomfort associated with mosquito feeding, the requirement for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, the limited number of candidate repellents that can be screened at one time (Deng et al. 2014). Even though the direct evaluation of repellents on human skin remains essential for evaluating repellents, artificial membrane feeding systems can serve as a useful alternative when pre-selecting candidate repellents (Luo 2014). The use of artificial membrane feeding systems is largely dependent on the types of membranes, including animal tissues, Parafilm-M ® films, and collagen membranes (Friend Smith 1987; Pothikasikorn et al. 2010). This paper evaluated the efficacy of essential oils from turmeric rhizomes (TU), eucalyptus leaves (EU) and orange peels (OR). These oils were evaluated individually in a previous study using the arm in cage method compared to the synthetic repellent DEET (N,N-diethyl 1-3 methylbenzamide 25% w/w; KOR YOR 15) (Auysawasdi et al. 2016). This study looked at the same three chemicals but combined them in mixtures to determine if there was a synergistic effect. Also each mixture was evaluated with or without 5% vanillin extract. Vanillin was added because other studies have found that it extends the amount of time that certain natural products are effective against mosquitoes (Tawatsin et al. 2001). Materials and Methods Mosquitoes rearing Ae. aegypti and An. dirus were reared in the insectary of the Entomology Department, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, Thailand. The photoperiod was maintained at 12 h light/12 h dark with a temperature of 25 ±2 °C and a relative humidity of 60-80%.Filter papers containing eggs of Ae. aegypti were placed in plastic trays (30ÃÆ'-35ÃÆ'-5 cm) with 2,500 ml of distilled water and larvae were provided fish food tablets (HIPPO ®). After one day, newly hatched larvae were diluted to about 500 larvae per tray for density and population. For An. dirus, approximately 150 eggs were added to a plastic tray and larvae provided fresh powdered fish food until pupation. The pupae of both species were collected and placed in holding cages until adult emergence. Freshly emerged adults were allowed to feed on soaked cotton pads containing a 5% multivitamin solution ad libitum. All testing was performed using five to seven day old post-emergent females that w ere denied sugar and only provided water for eight hours before testing. Preparation of plant essential oils Extracts from many of the plants are available commercially. Eucalyptus leaf oil (New Directions Aromatics Inc.,USA), Orange peel oil (New Directions Aromatics Inc., USA) and Vanillin (Borregaard Industries Ltd. Company, Norway) were purchased from Chanjao Longevity Co., Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand. Extracts from the turmeric plant were not available commercially. Therefore, turmeric rhizomes were collected from Suwan Farm, Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. Essential oils were extracted by water distillation (Charles Simon 1990). The different essential oils were blended at equal ratios for a total volume of 10% and then mixed with virgin coconut oil (Agrilife Co., Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand) using a vortex mixer (Vortex-Genie ®2, Scientific Industries, Inc., USA) (Table 1). The coconut oil was chosen because it created a formulation similar to what would be applied to human skin. All formulations were kept at room temperature before testing. Repellency assay by feeding membrane apparatus Repellency of essential oil blends was examined for Ae. aegypti and An. dirus under laboratory conditions using a membrane feeding system.Fifty 5-7 day old female mosquitoes were selected and placed in plastic cups (8 cm dia. ÃÆ'- 8 cm high) covered with netting. A membrane feeding system was used with a sausage membrane stretched over a standard membrane feeder with a surface area of 3.14 cm2 (r=1) and secured with a rubber band. Before feeding, either 10  µl of each mixture or 10  µl of coconut oil (negative control) was pipetted onto the sausage-casing membrane and spread evenly with the tip of the pipette. The treated membranes were allowed to dry and mosquitoes provided blood meals (exposed) at eight different time intervals (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 hours) after application. A water feeding jacket was used to maintain the temperature of the feeding system at 37 °C. Approximately 1.5 mL of refrigerated (25 °C) human blood (Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thail and) was added to the glass feeder and allowed to warm to 37 °C. Then screened plastic cups of 50 female mosquitoes were allowed to feed for five minutes undisturbed. After the 5-min interval the membrane feeder was removed and unengorged mosquitoes were removed. Fully engorged mosquitoes and provided a sugar source and maintained in their containers in the insectary at 25 ±2 °C for 24 hours and then the number of dead mosquitoes counted. Data analysis Each mixture of essential oils was replicated five times (n=5) andresults presented as the mean  ± standard deviation (SD). To assess the significance of differences among groups, data were analyzed as a complete randomized design (CRD) with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncans multiple range test (DMRT). A p-value of For comparison, percentage repellency was calculated for each test using the following formula: % Repellency = ÃÆ'- 100(1) Where A is the number of mosquitoes that did not feed on the treated membrane and B is the total number of mosquitoes exposed. Feeding was calculated as: % Feeding = ÃÆ'- 100 (2) Mortality was calculated as: % Mortality = ÃÆ'- 100(3) Mortality per hour = (4) Where D is the number of dead mosquitoes 24 hours after blood feeding, F is the total number of mosquitoes which fed on treated membranes, and h is the period of time that the extracts was left on the membrane. The number of mosquitoes which not feed on the membrane of each formulation was used to calculate the repellency per hour after application by the following formula: Repellency per hour = (5) Where A is the number of mosquitoes that did not feed on the membrane and h is the period of time that the extracts was on membrane. Results The efficacy of various formulations of selected essential oils (10% Total volume) with and without 5% vanillin, are presented in Figure 1. Shorter exposure times consistently resulted in lower feeding rates of both Ae. aegypti and An. dirus to all formulations. Feeding rates increased over time after application of formulations to the membranes. The addition of vanillin decreased feeding rates for all formulations. The greatest reduction in Ae. aegypti feeding was with the turmeric and eucalyptus mixture (TU:EU, Figure 1c). The greatest reduction in An. dirus feeding was with turmeric, eucalyptus, and orange mixed together (TU:EU:OR, Figure 1f). Mortality rates are also shown in Figure 1. Mortality rates were decreased based on time after application of formulations to the membranes. The greatest and most consistent mortalities for Ae. aegypti were the mixtures of TU:OR with and without vanillin (Figure 1a) and the mixture of EU:OR with vanillin (Figure 1d). The greatest mortality for An. dirus females was with the mixture of EU:OR with vanillin (Figure 1h). The percentage of repellency of all formulations against Ae. aegypti decreased with increasing exposure times (Table 2). The strongest percentage of repellency without vanillin was observed with the mixture of TU:EU (90.8-98.4%), followed by EU:OR (89.6-98.8%), and TU:OR (84.8-98.8%). The lowest percentage of repellency was observed for the mixture of all three plant extracts (TU:EU:OR, 81.2-94.8%). The percentage of repellency for all essential oil combinations with vanillin was not statistically different between any of the formulations without vanillin. The mixture of TU:EU provided the most repellency at 3.5 and 4 hours with and without vanillin. There were no statistical differences between the repellency of any formulations against An. dirus with or without vanillin, except for EU:OR+vanillin after 3 hours (Table 3). The highest percentage of overall repellency was observed for the combination of all three plant extracts (TU:EU:OR) and with the mixture of TU:OR. Overall, there were a positive correlation for formulations that produced the most repellency and increased mortality (Figure 2). For both Ae. aegypti (Figure 2a) and An. dirus (Figure 2b), the ratio of mortality per hour of formulations with vanillin was greater than without vanillin. Similarly, the repellency per hour of the four formulations with vanillin was stronger than without vanillin. Discussion Essential oils can have a significant effect on mosquito feeding rates (repellency) and mortality. For all formulations, exposure at 0.5 h after application of plant extracts to the artificial membrane resulted in greater repellency and higher mortality. Whereas, at 4 h after application there was increased feeding (decreased repellency) and lower mortality. These are consistent with many other studies demonstrating that plant extracts are volatile and lose their efficacy over time after application (Reifenrath Rutledge 1983; Rutledge Gupta 1999). The different mixtures led to different outcomes. The combination of TU:EU resulted in the highest repellency for Ae. aegypti, whilethe combination of all three essential oils (TU:EU:OR) gave the least repellency. Currently, the combination of all three extracts (TU:EU:OR) provided the greatest repellency against An. dirus. These results showed that the two mosquito species have different responses to the three plant-derived essential oils tested. It also demonstrated that the efficacy of each formulation is based on the compatibility of active ingredients and these compounds produce different effects when combined together. There are other reports showing that essential oils from plants are synergistic. Nerio et al. (2010) reported synergistic actions many plant essential oils used in this study that increased the repellency of formulations that would be expected from individual essential oils. Liu et al. (2006) found that the repellent activity of mixing essential oils from Japanes e mugwort (Artemisia princeps) and cinnamon (Cinnamomum camphora) was greateragainst Sitophillus oryzae and Bruchus rugimanus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) than that elicited by individual oils. The results also showed that the addition of 5% vanillin significantly decreased feeding rates and increased mortality. Studies have shown that vanillin reduces the evaporation rate of active ingredients and therefore extends the protection time (repellency) (Tawatsin et al. 2001). It is believed that vanillin changes the volatile composition of essential oils and also has an effect on the gustatory processes of mosquitoes (Lee et al. 2010; Ali et al. 2012). In this study the effect of vanillin was often more evident at increased time after application. It is recommended that vanillin be considered included as an ingredient for future natural product repellents. Finally this study presented a unique method to evaluate repellent formulations using a sausage membrane casing as part of a membrane feeding system. The arm in cage method has been used to evaluate many essential oil formulations (Choochote et al. 2007). While the arm in cage method is the gold standard for evaluating repellents, a membrane feeding system offers several advantages in that it can be quickly performed, standardly replicated, and does not require human volunteers. (Huang et al. 2015; Cockcroft et al. 1998). This method could be developed to rapidly screen, evaluate, and select the most promising formulations before they are tested on human volunteers. Acknowledgments This study is a research collaboration between the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand and the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, Thailand. The authors are deeply grateful to the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Science (AFRIMS) for facilitating and supporting the research. Finally, the authors thank the insectary staff; Kanchana Pantuwattana, Jaruwan Tawong, Nantaporn Monkanna, Yossasin Kertmanee, Weeraphan Khongtak and Sakon Khaosanorh for teaching and supporting this work. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. References   Aguiar M (2011) The effect of global warming on vector-borne diseases: Comment on Modeling the impact of global warming on vector-borne infections by E. Massad et al. Phys Life Rev, 8, 202-203. Ali A, Cantrell CL, Bernier UR, Duke SO, Schneider JC, Agramonte NM, et al. (2012) Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) biting deterrence: structure-activity relationship of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Journal of Medical Entomology, 49, 1370-1378. Ansari M, Vasudevan P, Tandon M Razdan R (2000) Larvicidal and mosquito repellent action of peppermint (Mentha piperita) oil. Bioresource Technology, 71, 267-271. Auysawasdi N, Chuntranuluck S, Phasomkusolsil S Keeratinijakal V (2016) Improving the effectiveness of three essential oils against Aedes aegypti (Linn.) and Anopheles dirus (Peyton and Harrison). Parasitology Research, 115, 99-106. Charles DJ Simon JE (1990) Comparison of extraction methods for the rapid determination of essential oil content and composition of basil. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 115, 458-462. Choochote W, Chaithong U, Kamsuk K, Jitpakdi A, Tippawangkosol P, Tuetun B, et al. (2007) Repellent activity of selected essential oils against Aedes aegypti. Fitoterapia, 78, 359-364. Cockcroft A, Cosgrove J Wood R (1998) Comparative repellency of commercial formulations of deet, permethrin and citronellal against the mosquito Aedes aegypti, using a collagen membrane technique compared with human arm tests. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 12, 289-294. Curtis C, Lines J, Lu B Renz A (1990) Natural and synthetic repellents. Appropriate Technology in Vector Control, 75-92[Elz Ã‚ ¤1]. Debboun M, Frances SP Strickman D (2006) Insect repellents: principles, methods, and uses, CRC Press. Deng W, Zhu N Mo J (2014) In vitro bioassay methods for laboratory screening of novel mosquito repellents. Entomological Science, 17, 365-370. Erler F, Ulug I Yalcinkaya B (2006) Repellent activity of five essential oils against Culex pipiens. Fitoterapia, 77, 491-494. Friend W Smith J (1987) The study of insect blood-feeding behaviour: 1. Feeding equipment, physical and endogenous factors, dose effect analysis, and diet destination. Memà ³rias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 82, 11-17. Gerberg EJ, Novak RJ, Debboun M, Frances S Strickman D (2007) Considerations on the use of botanically-derived repellent products. In: Gerberg EJ Novak RJ (Eds.) Insect Repellents: Principles, Methods and Uses. Guzman MG, Halstead SB, Artsob H, Buchy P, Farrar J, Gubler DJ, et al. (2010) Dengue: a continuing global threat. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 8, S7-S16. Halstead SB (2014) Stumbles on the path to dengue control. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 14, 661-662. Huang TH, Tien NY Luo YP (2015) An in vitro bioassay for the quantitative evaluation of mosquito repellents against Stegomyia aegypti (= Aedes aegypti) mosquitoes using a novel cocktail meal. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 29, 238-244. Kumar S, Wahab N Warikoo R (2011) Bioefficacy of Mentha piperita essential oil against dengue fever mosquito Aedes aegypti L. 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Phukerd U Soonwera M (2014) Repellency of essential oils extracted from Thai native plants against Aedes aegypti (Linn.) and Culex quinquefasciatus (Say). Parasitology Research, 113, 3333-40. Pothikasikorn J, Boonplueang R, Suebsaeng C, Khaengraeng R Chareonviriyaphap T (2010) Feeding response of Aedes aegypti and Anopheles dirus (Diptera: Culicidae) using out of date human blood in a membrane feeding apparatus. Journal of Vector Ecology, 35, 149-155. Pushpanathan T, Jebanesan AGovindarajan M (2006) Larvicidal, ovicidal and repellent activities of Cymbopogan citratus Stapf (Graminae) essential oil against the filarial mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae). Tropical Biomedicine, 23, 208-212. Reifenrath WG Rutledge LC (1983) Evaluation of mosquito repellend formulations. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 72, 169-173. Rutledge L Gupta R (1999) Variation in the protection periods of repellents on individual human subjects: an analytical review. 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World Health Organization (2009) Guidelines for efficacy testing of mosquito repellents for human skins. WHO, Geneva, 4 Yang YC, Choi HY, Choi WS, Clark JM Ahn YJ (2004) Ovicidal and adulticidal activity of Eucalyptus globulus leaf oil terpenoids against Pediculus humanus capitis (Anoplura: Pediculidae). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52, 2507-11. [Elz Ã‚ ¤1]It has no volume

Aspects of Human Gene Therapy :: Science Biology Genetic Essays

Aspects of Human Gene Therapy Introduction The prospect of human gene therapy was first realized in 1971 when the first recombinant DNA experiments were planned. Gene therapy can be simply viewed as inserting bits of foreign DNA into a patient’s tissue in hopes of evoking a biologic response that will effectively eliminate the targeted disease. Major advances in recombinant DNA technology have occurred over the last 20 years so that now gene therapy is becoming a reality. Gene therapeutic techniques have recently been attempted to treat patients with the genetic diseases severe combined immune deficiency (SCID), cystic fibrosis, and Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy (Donegan, 1995). The optimist foresees a time when a patient will simply receive a snippet of DNA and go home cured. There are many ethical and scientific hurdles that must first be crossed for such a dream to become reality. The technology has advanced so rapidly that many ethical questions weren’t originally addressed and accordingly are now bec oming the center of attention regarding human genetic research. Furthermore, scientists must find a way to outwit the body’s immune system which is primed to fight any foreign material such as inserted genes. There are also difficulties in getting the targeted cells to open up their molecular locks to allow the foreign genes inside. Gene therapy, like other medical advances before it, will have numerous failures before reaching its full potential. It will be important for the public, press, and medical industry to be patient in waiting for the dream of gene therapy to become a reality. Technological Aspects of Gene Therapy The underlying principle of gene therapy is the transfer of genetic material to specific cells of a patient in an effort to initiate a biological response to fight or eliminate a disease. There are two possible types of target cells, somatic cells that are non-reproducing, or reproducing germ-line cells. If germ-line cells are permanently altered, all future generations would be effected. Most of the current human genetic research involves somatic cells since the ethical ramifications of germ-line cell modification is still being debated. Some scientists have expressed concerns that even altered somatic cell genes could find their way to reproducing, germ-line cells (Donegan, 1995). Accordingly, regulations are strict in regards to somatic cell gene modification techniques so that this gene migration will not occur. Transfer of genes to target cells is usually accomplished by some sort of vector such as retroviruses, adenoviruses, or liposomes (Mulligan, 1993; Crystal, 1995).

Flaws in the Efficient Market Theory :: Economy

Flaws in the Efficient Market Theory According to the Efficient Market Theory, it should be extremely difficult for an investor to develop a "system" that consistently selects stocks that exhibit higher than normal returns over a period of time. It should also not be possible for a company to "cook the books" to misrepresent the value of stocks and bonds. An analysis of current literature, however, indicates that companies can and do "beat the system" and manipulate information to make stocks appear to perform above average. An understanding of the underlying inefficient "human" factors in the market equation is necessary in order to account for the flaw in Efficient Market Theory. Efficient Market Theory: A Contradiction of Terms Efficient Market Theory (EMT) is based on the premise that, given the efficiency of information technology and market dynamics, the value of the normal investment stock at any given time accurately reflects the real value of that stock. The price for a stock reflects its actual underlying value, financial managers cannot time stock and bond sales to take advantage of "insider" information, sales of stocks and bonds will not depress prices, and companies cannot "cook the books" to artificially manipulate stock and bond prices. However, information technology and market dynamics are based upon the workings of ordinary people and diverse organizations, neither of which are arguably efficient nor consistent. Therefore, we have the basic contradiction of EMT: How can a theory based on objective mechanical efficiency hold up when applied to subjective human inefficiency? As a case in point, America Online (AOL) offers a classic example of how investors can be misled by a company that uses the market system against itself. AOL, up until early November of this year, used an accounting system that effectively "cooked their books" and provided misleading figures on the company's performance. Instead of accounting for its promotion expenses and costs as a regular expense, as normal companies do, AOL spread them over two years. This let AOL report annual profits based on revenue figures derived from denying actual expenses (as cited in Newsweek, November 11 edition). By deferring those costs, AOL over the years reported profits $385 million greater than they would otherwise have been. The company then used these non-existent profits to promote itself as a money-making opportunity for both stockholders and potential investors, artificially increasing its stock prices. This accounting practice is perfectly legal, but the information was kept private for over two years. The company has recently announced that, effective immediately, promotion expenses will be charged to earnings as the expenses are incurred, the way a normal company does. AOL will also take a one-time special charge of $385 million for the

19th amendment :: essays research papers

AMENDMENT 19   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The amendment that I chose to do my report on is the 19th amendment. This amendment guaranteed the voting right to all of the American woman. The victory of this amendment took decades to be passed. In August of 1995 marked the 75th anniversary of the ratification of this amendment. This amendment was ratified on August 24,1920. The first three states to approve this amendment were Illinois Wisconsin and Michigan. When this amendment was first put out into the society the men and people didn’t know what to think. They mostly thought of it as outrageous to let a woman vote. A lot of people also thought of this as something that they didn’t have to worry about that it was just some stupid thing that would go away. Woman on the other hand took this matter very seriously. They often held silent vigils and hunger strikes. When the women did this they were often heckled at, discriminated against, sent to jail, and some men even physically abused them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the more famous parades that they groups of woman had was call the â€Å"SUFFARAGE PARADE†. This parade was held in New York City in 1912. New York adopted women’s suffrage in 1917. The president Woodrow Wilson started to change his mind on which side that he thought was right. He began leaning more towards the woman’s side. When he did this he made more people think that it was good what the woman were doing. On May 21, 1919 the House of Representatives passed the amendment. Just two weeks after the Senate did the same thing. Tennessee was the 36th out of 50 states to ratify this amendment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now a day’s many people would think that this would be silly and stupid, but to many women back then if was a very serious matter. 19th amendment :: essays research papers AMENDMENT 19   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The amendment that I chose to do my report on is the 19th amendment. This amendment guaranteed the voting right to all of the American woman. The victory of this amendment took decades to be passed. In August of 1995 marked the 75th anniversary of the ratification of this amendment. This amendment was ratified on August 24,1920. The first three states to approve this amendment were Illinois Wisconsin and Michigan. When this amendment was first put out into the society the men and people didn’t know what to think. They mostly thought of it as outrageous to let a woman vote. A lot of people also thought of this as something that they didn’t have to worry about that it was just some stupid thing that would go away. Woman on the other hand took this matter very seriously. They often held silent vigils and hunger strikes. When the women did this they were often heckled at, discriminated against, sent to jail, and some men even physically abused them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the more famous parades that they groups of woman had was call the â€Å"SUFFARAGE PARADE†. This parade was held in New York City in 1912. New York adopted women’s suffrage in 1917. The president Woodrow Wilson started to change his mind on which side that he thought was right. He began leaning more towards the woman’s side. When he did this he made more people think that it was good what the woman were doing. On May 21, 1919 the House of Representatives passed the amendment. Just two weeks after the Senate did the same thing. Tennessee was the 36th out of 50 states to ratify this amendment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now a day’s many people would think that this would be silly and stupid, but to many women back then if was a very serious matter.

Financial Statement Analysis of Bata Pakistan from 2005-2010

Running head: Financial Statement Analysis of Bata Pakistan â€Å"Bata Pakistan†; Financial Statement Analysis From 2005 to 2010 Anum Fatima BSc. IV Section: B Lahore School of Economics This report is submitted as partial requirement for Financial Statement Analysis of Pakistani Companies to Dr Farooq Chaudhry Abstract This paper does an in depth analysis of Bata Pakistan Limited. It includes a brief summary of accounting policies and standards of the company. The analysis revolves around financial statements, their horizontal and vertical analysis.It also includes a detailed analysis of different financial ratios to measure different aspects of the company’s performance. Weighted average cost of capital is calculated on the basis of which intrinsic value of the stock is calculated. It also includes analysis of economic value added and Du Pont. Introduction Bata Pakistan is a public limited company and it is listed on Lahore and Karachi stock exchange. The main office of the company is at Batapur, Lahore. This company manufactures all kinds of footwear with accessories sells them at its outlets.Sales are both local and export The parent company is Bafin B. V. , Netherlands whereas above it is Compass Limited, Bermuda. The financial data disclosed in the annual report has been prepared in accordance with IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) stated by International Accounting Standards Board. These standards are applied under the Companies Ordinance of 1984. The company made some amendments to account standards; some of them are effective whereas some of them will be effective in the near future.According the company’s opinion, these amendments didn’t have a significant effect on their financial statements. The financial statements follow the principle of historical cost rather than the fair value concept except some employee benefits whose details will be discussed later. All statements except the statement of cash flow are recorded at accrual basis. After giving a brief summary of accounting policies there is an in depth analysis of company’s financial statements, company’s valuation and then recommendations based on that analysis. Accounting PoliciesEmployee benefits are calculated through the defined benefit plan. A defined benefit plan basically involves a determined amount of gratuity dependent on factors like age, years of service, compensation etc. the company has an unfunded gratuity scheme for all employee excepting management. The provision for employees which are also the member of provident fund is calculated on the basis on 3 weeks basic salary for every year of service whereas for employees which are not the members of the provident fund it is calculated on the basis of 30 days gross highest salaries/wages.The actuarial gains and losses are recognized as per defined in IAS 19 over the expected average remaining working life of the employee. The company also operates pro vident fund scheme in which equal monthly contributions by the company and the employee at the rates of 8% and 10% are made to the employee and managerial staff respectively. The current taxation is calculated on the taxable income from local sales at the present tax rate after accounting for the tax credits, rebates or exemptions if any. Deferred tax is calculated by using balance sheet liability method for all temporary differences between tax bases of assets and liabilities.The carrying amount of deferred income tax asset is revised at each balance sheet date. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured at the tax rates that are expected to apply to the period when the liability is calculated on the basis of tax rates applicable on the balance sheet dates. Revenues, expenses and assets are recognized net of sales except when sales tax is recognized as part of cost of acquisition of asset and when receivables and payables include the amount of tax. Property plant and equipmen t are reported at cost minus depreciation and impairment losses which are accumulated but land is stated at cost.The method used to calculate depreciation is the reducing balance method. Recognized expenditures, related to an item of property plant and equipment, are added to the carrying amount of asset when future economic benefits are expected. To measure the impairment of non financial assets, at each balance sheet date the carrying amount of assets id revised to check for any impairment loss. If such is the case then recoverable amount of the asset is calculated. Recoverable amount is higher of an asset’s fair value less cost to sell and value in use.The company’s rubber factory represents assets that are leased out under the operating lease and that has been leased out to a third party for processing products and is included in the fixed assets of the company. Their depreciation is calculated in the same way as done for the other assets. Intangible assets are cal culated on initial recognition at cost. After that they are carried at cost minus any amortization and impairment losses that are accumulated. If such assets have finite lives then they are amortized over that life and assessed for impairment if any. The amortization mechanism is reviewed at least once every financial year.This expense is recognized in the income statement. Gain and loss from intangible assets are measures as the difference between net disposal proceeds and carrying amount of asset and recognized in the profit and loss account. The investments of the company have fixed maturity and the company intends to hold till maturity. These investments are first recognized at cost including transaction costs and then carried at the amortized cost. Stores and spares which are purchased are valued at weighted average cost whereas in transit stores and spares are valued at actual costs.Stock in trade is valued at lower of cost and net realizable value. Raw materials that is own p roduction and purchased are valued at weighted average cost whereas in transit are valued at actual cost. Work in progress is valued at the production cost. Finished goods that own production are valued at production cost on FIFO basis, purchased are valued at actual cost on FIFO basis whereas in transit are valued at the actual cost. Cost is calculated on the basis of cost of material, labor and production overheads. Net realizable value is based on estimated selling price minus estimated cost to completion and estimated cost to make sale.Provision for doubtful debts and other receivables are decided by management’s assessment of customer’s creditworthiness. It is recognized in the profit and loss account. Contingencies and commitments are also important. Contingent liabilities are disclosed when there is a possible obligation from the past due to any future event not within control of the company or when there is a present obligation from the past events but the amou nt of that obligation cannot be measured in a reliable manner. Borrowings are recognized at fair value net of transaction costs then they are carried at amortized cost.Any difference between proceeds and redemption value is recognized in the P and L account using effective interest rate method. Provisions are recognized when there is an obligation from past events and it can be estimated in a reliable manner. This amount is the best estimate while taking into account the risks. When the amount required settling a provision is expected to be recovered from a third party then a receivable is recognized if it is certain and estimate is reliable. Revenue recognition is done as stated below. The revenue from wholesale is recognized when company has delivered the product to the wholesaler.Retail sales are recognized when product is sold to the customer by cash or by credit. Customer loyalty card sales are recognized as revenue over the period that the award credits are redeemed. Profit on investment is recognized on accrual basis by using effective interest method. Profit on bank deposits is recognized on accrual basis whereas rental income is recognized on accrual basis over the duration of lease agreement. Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits with banks, other short term investments with original maturities of three months or less and bank drafts.In cash flow statement, it is cash in hand; cash in transit, bank balances and short term investments. Recognition and measurement of financial instruments is done at times when company enters the contract. Al financial assets and liabilities are measured at fair value. Major categories of assets are investments, advances, deposits, trade debts, other receivables and cash and bank balances. Financial liabilities are creditors, accrued expense and other payables. Any gain or loss is recognized in the P and L account for the period.Offsetting of financial assets and liabilities is done and the net amount is reported in the balance sheet if the company has a legal right to set off. Corresponding income and charge are also off set. The amount of loss is the difference between asset’s carrying amount and present value of the estimated future cash flows discounted at effective interest rate. Related party transactions are conducted at arm’s length just as with the third party using comparable uncontrolled price method whereas related parties are those who are able to influence the operating and financial decisions of the company.Dividends and other appropriations to reserves are recognized when these are approved. Operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting. Board of Directors is the chief operating decision maker that makes strategic decisions. Significant changes observed during the 6 year period under consideration are discussed below. In 2006, stores and spares and stock trade didn’t use FIFO or LIFO, rather purchased unit s were valued at lower of moving average cost and net realizable value. In 2007 same method was used whereas in 2008 FIFO was used for similar valuation of inventory.This change of method has been effective since. When this method was used there was a remarkable increase in the amount of stock in trade as well as cost of sales and gross profits from the previous years. Other than that no significant policy changes are observed except some minor changes in standards which according to the company’s opinion had no significant effect on financial statements, Analysis of Financial Statements First of all we will be analyzing the financial statements indirectly through financial ratios divided in feasible groups. Liquidity RatiosThe working capital of the company has shown healthy growth over the year. Working capital is useful in evaluating company’s ability to meet currently maturing liabilities. The working capital of the company is not only positive but it is growing at an average rate of 44. 46%. It also means that current assets are growing at a rate faster than current liabilities. Working capital took a jump in 2007 which proved to be a prosperous year for the company due to favorable economic conditions and the company used this opportunity in an efficient manner to gain from the situation.This shows that current assets are always in access of current liabilities which is a good indicator. Comparing working capital with the industry is not very useful because it depends on the size and scope of the company. The Current ratio is basically another way of expressing the relationship between current liabilities and current assets. Minimum it should be equal to 1 meaning that current liabilities are exactly matched with current liabilities. The company is showing good performance in this regards as the current ratio is greater than 1 and increasing steadily over the years from 1. 1 in 2006 to reach 2. 66 in 2010. This again points to the fact that current assets are covering current liabilities effectively. Inventory and accounts receivables are forming major part of current assets. It still remains to be seen that whether this growth in current assets is solely due to increasing accounts receivables and inventory and then whether accounts receivables are being collected of inventory being sold in time. The current ratio was a little behind the industry averages in 2006 but it soon caught up and is growing side by side the industry averages.Quick ratio is calculated by excluding inventory from current assets as they are considered to be least liquid assets. It is a better measure of liquidity. Quick ratio shows a significant decline from current ratio owing to the fact that inventory is a major part of the current assets. It caught u with the industry average in 2009 when it went from 0. 51 to 1. 15. This also points to the fact that low quick ratio is not an indicator of less liquidity rather it points to the nature of the business and its dependence on inventory because it is in line with industry averages.Collection period measures the length of time after which the company expects to realize cash from its accounts receivables. Company has improved from 2006 to 2010 remarkably. In 2006 it was 30 days which reduced to 11 days in 2010. A major change was in 2007 as collection period fell by 10 days. They caught up with industry averages in 2009 which is 10 days. It shows that company’s accounts receivables are enforceable and not resulting in defaults. Days to Sell Inventory is the length of time after which company realizes sales from its inventory.They have improved from 2006 to 2010, falling from 131 to 101. They are in line with industry averages of 113 days. Major improvement was again seen in 2007 when days fell from 131 to 116. This is a good achievement as inventory has increased over time. Looking at all these indicators there isn’t any cause of concern for the company in terms of liquidity. Capital Structure and Solvency Ratios Solvency means the ability of the firm to meet its long term obligations which also involves analysis of capital structure of the company that is the debt and equity mix.The debt to equity ratio of 0. 52 means that for each one rupee of equity, 0. 52 is provided by creditors. This ratio is very low showing high percentage of equity. This is in line with industry average and has decreased over the 5 year period. This ratio should be typically low for a manufacturing company which is the case for Bata. This means that the company is in good position to meet its long term obligations. The long term debt to equity ratio is even lower meaning the company is relying very little on long term debt. it is less than 1 and decreases from 0. 13 to 0. 05.It has shown a slight decrease over the years and is in line with the industry averages. Times Interest Earned measures the times for which the amount of interest can be paid out of income befo re tax. This ratio was low in 2006 but it rose from 8 to 24 times in 2007 which is a big improvement. After that it came in line with industry average of 29 times. This also points to the fact that the interest charges of the company are very low and are only less than 1% of total sales. These set of ratio indicate that the debt equity mix of the company is satisfactory. Less reliance on debt means lower risk of default.So the company is in a great position to manage its long term liabilities which are meager in quantity as compared to equity. Return on Investment Ratios Return on assets determines the amount of return when 1 Rupee is invested in assets. In 2006 it was 18. 18% which later rose sharply in 2007 to 34. 79% and maintained the position till 2010 with slight variations. Industry average has been slightly higher that is 35% but in any case the performance of company’s assets is a satisfactory and generating good return. Another side is the return on common equity be cause shareholders are interested in the returns on equity.Return on equity shows the same pattern as return on assets. It was 16. 66% in 2006, rose sharply to 43% in 2007 and then maintained steady levels until 37% in 2010. Industry average has been almost 36% so company is earning good returns as per industry. Operating Performances This set of ratio link income statement line items with sales. These basically measures profit margins in different forms. Gross profit measures the relationship of cost and sales. Gross profit margin has maintained a steady well and increased from 37% in 2006 to 41% in 2007. The usual impact of 2007 boom is not very much apparent here.Then it maintained a steady level till 2010 of 40%. This is in line with industry average of 41%. Industry averages also doesn’t show much variation over the 5 years. Operating profit margin was initially 9% in 2006 but improved to 14% in 2007 and maintained the level till 2010. Industry average has remained more or less around 14% so compared to the industry company is doing fine and generating good returns. Net profit margin was 3. 67% but improved greatly in 2007 to 9. 05%. It has improved to 10. 46% in 2010. The industry average is around 9% according to which net profit margin of the company is satisfactory.Overall operating performance shows a good picture. Asset Utilization Ratios Asset utilization relates sales to different assets and their importance lies in the fact that they are important determinants of return on investment. Cash Turnover is the firm’s efficiency in its use of cash for generation of sales revenue. This ratio shows a volatile trend. The value in 2006 is 36 fell to 16 in 2007, rose to 57. 4 in 2008 and then maintained 13% to 15% from 2009 to 2010. This can be explained by rather volatile cash and bank balances portraying varying liquidity requirement each year.Accounts receivable turnover is an indicator of how many times company has collected its receivable s in a year. This has increased steadily from 2006 to 2008 and shows a sharp rise in 2009 due to high sales and 31 in 2010. This is almost in line with industry average which is 35. this shows that the company is not having any significant problem in receivable collection. Inventory turnover is steady over the years from 2. 74 to 3. 56 in 2010. It shows that how many times inventory is sold during the year. This is in line with industry average.It may seem quite low but seasonality has a big factor in shoe business as business peaks when season changes but after that it slackens until the next change. Working capital turnover is high in 2006 and 2007 but falls in 2008 till 2010. Still they isn’t any significant difference between industry average and the company’s average. Property Plant and equipment turnover maintains a steady growth profile from 9. 72 in 2006 to 13. 73 in 2010. Industry average is also steady around 12 so that show good results. Total asset turnover varies around 2 but is steady same as the industry average. Market MeasuresPrice to earnings ratio shows that how much investor is willing to pay per rupee of the profits. It was 8. 90 in 2006 but rose to 10. 23 in 2007, rose steadily in 2008 and 2009 and rose to 17% in 2010. This increase is attributed both to increasing market share price and rising earnings per share. This too is more or less around industry average and rose above industry average in 2010. Earnings yield is the reciprocal of price to earnings. It shows the percentage of each rupee invested in stock that was earned by the company. They dipped in 2007 to 2009 but then rose above industry average in 2010.Dividend yield shows how much a company pays in dividends relative to its share price. Dividend yield is not steady but 4. 24% in 2010. This means that the dividends are not stable but they are showing growth rather than decline and has risen significantly from Rs1. 50 per share in 2004 to Rs 12 per share in 2009. Dividend Payout Rate basically shows the percentage of earnings paid to the shareholders. This ratio is quite high supporting the same growth in dividends. This ratio increased considerably to 27% in 2006 but then EPS rose significantly because of which the ratio fell to 10%.This is also in line with industry average of around 10%. Price to book value of the share has increased over time significantly indication high growth in the market value of the stock. But if we look at industry average they are also quite high showing the trend in the industry of increasing stock prices. Overall the company’s stock is performing well in the market and also its dividend policy is investor friendly and ensures high and stable returns as compared to the industry in which dividends are not very common and that too every year. Bata also gave interim dividends in 2006 in addition to the usual annual dividends.Du Pont Analysis Return on common equity is disaggregated into its component to have a better look at what drives this return on common equity. Return on common equity was 13. 57% in 2005 then increased sharply in 2007 to 42. 94% then falling to 39%, 34% and 37% in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively. The good economic conditions in 2007 were efficiently utilized by the company. It is disaggregated in profit margin, asset turnover and leverage. Profit margin is basically net income divided by sales or net income as a percentage of sales. It measures how much a company keeps out of sales revenue as earnings.Both net income and sales of the company has increased over time. The ratio increased significantly in 2007 and after that maintained same level of around 9% which rose to 10% in 2010. Then sales divided by average assets shows a steady trend over the years which show company’s ability to generate revenues from investment. This means that the growth of sales and although higher than growth in assets but still the increase is more or less proportionate. Averag e assets over equity fall in 2007 and then maintain same level till 2010. It tells how much assets are owned by the company and how much are leveraged.A low ratio indicates that the company is strong and relies more heavily on equity rather than debt. So we can say that Net income over sales or profit margins are driving the return on common equity. This points towards the strength of the company that is a stable growth in sales and also a stable growth in net income that is ensuring good returns to the shareholders. Common size Balance Sheet Common size balance sheet means all components of balance sheets as a percentage of total assets. We will start with the analysis of current assets. In this company current assets form a major part of the total assets.In 2005, they were 74. 66% of total assets, varied slightly till 2008, increased to 78. 68% in 2009 and then 82. 82% in 2010. This is a good sign but it can be an indicator of deficient investment in long term assets or property p lant and equipment. In current assets, inventory and accounts receivables form the major component of total assets. Inventory was 44. 45% in 2005, increased to 50% in 2006, decreased to 41% in 2007, increased to 55. 97% in 2008 then started to decline till 36. 56% in 2010. Stock in trade and stores and spares determine total amount of inventory.High value of inventory may be inherent to this type of business as seasonal changes induce sales and hence inventory to sale out but in any case high inventory are required to be maintained. Next major component is account receivables or trade debt which shows the good credit policy of the company as receivables have significantly decreased over the years from 23. 27% in 2005 to 0. 53% in 2010 indicating majority of sales are in cash that solves many problems. A steady level of cash is being maintained showing slight dips in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Cash is 13% of total assets in 2010.This shows that liquidity position is very strong but it can also means that company may be holding idle cash that can be invested somewhere to generate returns. Non Current assets form a small portion of total assets which means that the company is not very ambitious and doesn’t involve in expansionary operations. In 2005 they were 25% of total assets whereas they have fallen to 17. 18% in 2010. in long term assets only property plant and equipment noteworthy and constitute almost all noncurrent assets. They have declined in conjunction with total noncurrent assets.Total equity as percentage of total equity and liabilities has increased over the years. In 2005 it was 45. 278%, showed a slightly downward trend in 2006 and 2007 but rises from 63% to 65% from 2008 to 2010. It shows that company is using more equity financing as compared to debt financing. Even in debt financing, current liabilities form a higher percentage of total liabilities and equity. It was 48% in 2005, showed a significant decrease in 2008 and then 31% in 2010. It shows that the even in liabilities the company prefers to finance its assets with current liabilities and trade payables in current liabilities.Provision for taxation has shown significant increase from 0. 24% IN 2005 to 7. 47% in 2010. The major increase was from 2009 to 2010. Noncurrent liabilities form a small portion of total liabilities and equity. It was 6. 47% in 2005 and decreased to 3. 23% in 2010. This also indicates that the company is matching its current and noncurrent assets with current and noncurrent liabilities so that there is no liquidity or solvency problem. Common size balance sheet shows good financial health of the company. Common size Income Statement Analysis Common size income statement measures all income statement components as a percentage of net sales.Cost of goods sold is a major component of net sales but it hasn’t increased significantly over time showing company is employing good cost minimization measures. It was 63% in 2006 then decreased t ill 57. 62% in 2008 then increased slightly to 60% in 2010. Managing costs is not creating problems for the country. Gross profit as a percentage of sales the opposite trend of cost increases till 2008 then falls to 40% in 2010. This is a reasonable percentage of gross profit. Interest expense of the company is very low so there remains a bigger chunk for the shareholders.Next major component is operating expenses which is the only significant expense due to the requirement of maintain international standard outlets throughout the company and hiring specialized staff. But operating expenses has shown decrease over time from 29% in 2005 to 24. 80% in 2010 with slight variation in between. Profit before taxation has shown good improvement over time. It increased from 5. 05% in 2005 to 14. 27% in 2010 with a steady increase over the year. Profit after taxation has increased over the years which is also a good sign. It was 3. 03% in 2005.There was a significant increase in 2007 due to f avorable economic conditions and then that level was maintained with slight increases over the years finally 10. 46% in 2010. Common size income statement shows that the company’s profit and loss account is in good health. Balance Sheet Horizontal Analysis (Year over Year Analysis) This analysis is useful in tracking the trends of different components of balance sheet over the years and then analyze those trends. Starting with current assets, from 2005 to 2006 current assets showed a slight decrease of 0. 51%.Within current assets the major assets of the company that is account receivables and inventory decreased by large percentages whereas cash and loans showed increases. This fall in current assets may not be harmful as it may pertain to inventory sale out or realization of accounts receivables. After that there is a consistent increasing trend. From 2006 to 2007, current assets increased by 37. 87% because all major assets showed increase. They dipped slightly from 2007 t o 2008 but gained paced later. From 2009 to 2010 they increased by 43. 58% with different components showings different inconsistent trends.Noncurrent assets increased from 2005 to 2006 by 15. 82% and kept increasing each year at an increasing rate. The trend was broken in 2008 to 2009 when the increase was only 4. 49%. Property plant and equipment shows an increasing trend till 2008. After that they are increasing but at a much lower rate. Largest increase was in 2007 to 2008 of 33% indicating expansionary phase of the company. Total equity is increasing over the years at an increasing rate. From 2005-2006 it increased by 12. 84% but in the next year it increased by 39. 49% and showing a major increase from 2008 to 2009 of 47. 5%. This is a favorable trend showing that the shareholders are putting n more and more equity and less and less debt. Current liabilities show an inconsistent trend sometime decreasing and some time decreasing. Only significant current liabilities are provis ions for taxation which show significant increases over the year. Noncurrent liabilities show an increasing trend over the years but by a small amount. The overall trend is inconsistent but not unfavorable. Income Statement Horizontal Analysis (Year over Year Analysis) Net sales show a reasonable trend.From 2005 to 2006 net sales increased by 17. 54% but the rate almost double next year when net sales increased by 32. 60% as compared to previous year. This again is the result of boom year of 2007. The rate fell to 29% next year but maintained its pace. This shows that growth of sales is healthy. Cost of goods sold increases at same rate over the years as the net sales with a slight variation. Gross profit has peaked from 2006 to 2007 at an increase of 47% and then the rate normalizes. The achievement of the company lies in the fact that gross profits have increased steadily over the years.The next important item is the operating expenses that increased over the years but the company managed to decrease the rate from 28. 09% to 16. 04 in 2009 to 2010. Operating profits have shown positive increase from year over year. From 2006 to 2007, operating profits increased by 133. 98% again showing effects of favorable economic conditions of the economy. Provisions for taxation have increased at an increasing rate over the years. Profit after taxation shows the same trend. From 2006 to 2007, profit after taxation increased by 227% which shows great performance.After that rate increase lowers down significantly but rises again from 2009 to 2010 when profit after tax increases by 48. 81%. The overall year over trend is quite favorable with no major setbacks in different measures of profit such as gross profit, profit before tax and profit after tax. Statement of Changes in Equity Statement of changes in equity also shows favorable trends. From 2006 to 2007 total equity increases by 39. 49% which is again owing to economic conditions but the good thing about the company is that they profited by this big push and maintained and even improved same levels.From 2007 to 2008 equity increased by 47. 55%. It increased by 36. 57% next year and finally increased by 39. 81% from 2009 to 2010. Dividends also show healthy growth over the years showing consistent dividend policy of the company. Cash Flow Analysis Company is generating enough cash flows from operating activities to cover its investing and financing activities. In 2005 net cash flows were coming out to be negative but combined with previous cash flows the end result was still positive. From 2006 onwards the amount became positive and showed a major increase.There is a major decrease in cash flows in 2008 because of very low cash generation from operation indicating some problem in realization of receivables or sale out of inventories. There is also an increase in loss on net change in assets and liabilities and income tax paid. But the latest year of 2010 shows a favorable situation. Growth of cash flows over the years is very inconsistent. From 2005 to 2006, cash flow from operating activities is increasing by 2584. 57% which is a huge amount. Then from 2006 to 2007, cash flows from operating activities fell by 2. 5% and fell by 80% next year. Then there is a big increase from 2008 to 2009 of 1159. 73% and a fall of 48% from 2009 to 2010. Cash flow from investing activities shows same volatile trend but on average it is positive or increasing. Cash flow from financing activities decrease at a decreasing rate till 2007 to 2008. Later it increased by 300% from 2008-09 and also from 2009-10 by 49%. Total cash flows are also increasing from year to year but from 2006 to 2007, they are showing a decrease of 64%. So the only problem in the statement is the inconsistency of cash flows.Economic Value Added Economic value added is the true economic profit of the business for the year and it is very different from the accounting profit. Its basically net operating profit after tax min us weighted average cost of capital into capital invested, where capital invested is working capital plus fixed assets. Economic value added deducts cost of all charges including equity which is basically opportunity cost of the invested equity capital. This basically measures the amount that the firm has added to shareholder’s value.Because of the way EVA accounts for the equity it is a better measure to decide upon corporate goals of the company and determining performance of the management. This number is positive for the company and also showing year over year growth. From 2006 to 2007 it is showing a growth of 227. 48%. As capital invested increased, NOPAT also increased. Company Valuation One of the most important task when analyzing a company is to gauge whether the current market price of the company’s stock shows intrinsic value of the stock or whether it is overvalued or undervalued.The first step is the calculation of weighted average cost of capital or WACC . For Bata Pakistan, WACC is calculated to be 13. 83%. Next step is to apply different techniques for determining the rate at which the company is growing. The average growth rate of sales is coming out to be 26. 89%. The average growth rate of dividends is coming out to be 60. 33% which is abnormally high due to extreme values and sharp increases in the amount of dividends paid. The last technique is that of calculating growth of free cash flows.The free cash flow is basically the amount available to the shareholders after deducting all charges. Values of free cash flows is coming out to be positive but again the average growth rate is coming to be 88. 22% which is also due to extreme values attributed to uneven and inconsistent growth in the operating cash flows used in the calculation of free cash flows. So we didn’t apply the dividend growth model. In any case WACC is coming out to be less than growth rate so we used free cash flow to equity model and assumed an average g rowth rate of 12% for the sake of simplicity.The intrinsic value of the company is coming out to be 639. 08. The stock price on 31st Dec 2010 was 660. The stock seems to be slightly overvalued but this amount is not significantly different and can easily be attributed to calculation mistakes. Recommendations * The company seems to be performing satisfactorily overall as it is making significant yearly profits. * It has sound credit and dividend policy and managing its inventory effectively. * Cash flows are inconsistent but that is not creating significant problems for the company. The company has the potential to expand if it increases its investment in long term assets. It basically means that the company needs to be a bit less conservative. * The previous points follow to the fact that going for a certain percentage of debt financing may open new opportunities for the companies. * Based on the analysis and valuation, we can positively say that even if the stock is slightly overva lued it is a good buy and a good hold for those who already have it. The stock price is not very volatile. The company is growing but still it has the potential to grow further or maintain its growth; nothing less.Apart from intrinsic value, its dividend policy is very attractive and ensures good return for its shareholders. References Wild, J. & Subramanyam, K. (2008). Financial Statement Analysis (10th ed. ). McGraw-Hill Brigham, E. & Houstan, J. (2003). Fundamentals of Financial Management (10th ed. ). South Western Publisher Arifeen, S. (2010). Financial Statement Analysis of Companies Listed at Karachi Stock Exchange (2005-2010). State Bank of Pakistan, Statistics and DWH Department www. kse. com. pk www. investopedia. com www. lse. com. pk