Natural Language Generation Essay -- Computer Science

Natural Language Generation Abstract Natural language generation is a relatively new field in computer science. The two main questions to be solved are "what to say" and "how to say it." What to say includes answering questions not specifically asked by the user, and remembering previous statements made by the user and by the program itself. How to say it involves construction of logical sentences, use of pronouns, and sentence fragments. When speech synthesis is used, it also involves producing intelligible word rhythm, emphasis, and pauses. A new, exciting extension of speech synthesis is the inclusion of "emotion" in speech. User: ELIZA: Men are all alike In what way? They’re always bugging us about something or other Can you think of a specific example? Well, my boyfriend made me come here. Your boyfriend made you come here. He says I’m depressed much of the time. I am sorry to hear you are depressed. It’s true, I am unhappy. Do you think coming here will help you not be unhappy? I need some help; that much seems certain. What would it mean to you if you got some help? Perhaps I could get along with my mother. Tell me more about your family. My mother takes care of me. Who else in your family takes care of you? My father. Your father. You are like my father in some ways. What resemblance do you see? Natural language generation is the generation of printed text as well as synthesized speech. The transcript above is from a system that generates "psychoanalytic" responses to user input. This system is called ELIZA, and was developed at MIT in the 1960s. The program illustrates some of the issues of natur... ...gories such as pitch, voice speed, loudness, and pause length. She wrote a program that output these changes based on the emotion that it was asked to portray. Sample output from this program can be found online. When "emotion" can be output regularly in speech synthesis, a new breed of natural language applications will begin! Natural language generation is a young and exciting subject. There is still much research to be done to find the best way of representing a grammar, and providing a program capable of remembering previous statements, interpreting user input, speaking in sentences and sentence fragments, and providing a "natural" conversation. Even newer is the possibility of adding "emotional flavor" to synthesized speech. The windows that are opened by these studies present such a vast landscape of new applications that it is impossible to imagine them all.

The Affirmative Action Plan

The following Affirmative Action Plan is a response by Company XYZ to a growing concern for providing equal opportunity to all prospective and current employees. XYZ is a industry leader and therefore has the express responsibility to set an example for affirmative action. In addition to a commitment to complying with all state and federal laws, XYZ is also firmly committed to a diverse workplace environment, and a workplace free of any manifestation of discrimination. XYZ is therefore dedicated to making appropriate changes to our policies and procedures wherever necessary, in order to comply with the law and to comply with our company mission. This Affirmative Action Plan is an expression of such willingness to make changes. The proposals contained herein pertain specifically to the following changes. First, we propose equal opportunities for men and women concerning maternity and paternity leaves of absence. We also want to reassure all employees that their jobs remain secure during their leaves of absence. Second, we have been increasingly aware of a lack of diversity at the upper management levels of our corporation. XYZ proposes to increase workplace diversity at this crucial level of the company by ensuring equal opportunities for promotions by women, minorities, and people with disabilities. Third, XYZ remains firmly committed to equalizing salaries, compensation rates, and benefits for all employees and XYZ will not tolerate discrepancies between the salaries of workers in the same position. This Affirmative Action Plan will not only defend our commitment to equal opportunity but will also outline the steps we propose to remedy the current situation and to increase diversity at XYZ. With regards to maternity and paternity leave, we assure all female employees that maternity leave will consist of a paid leave of absence for the duration of between twenty and thirty weeks. The leave of absence does not have to be taken in consecutive days and may be broken up into segments. Due to widespread concern, XYZ is expanding company policy to include male workers for eligibility for paternity leave. It is our belief that fathers should participate fully in every stage of their child's development and therefore XYZ wishes to facilitate this process. Any male employee who seeks paternity leave will be granted a leave of absence equal in length and equal in compensation with their female counterparts. The lack of diversity evident at upper management levels of XYZ is a growing concern among all employees. XYZ has managed to retain a diverse workforce at every other level of our operation except for upper-level management and therefore we realize the necessity for change as well as the possibility to implement change. This Affirmative Action Plan in part proposes that promotions be made with conscientious attention paid to recruiting management staff who are as of now underrepresented. Under-representation will be defined according to the workforce population as a whole, and secondarily, according to the demographics of our community. We believe that equal representation at upper management levels is of the utmost importance because of the significance of the decisions made at that level. Finally, XYZ ensures all employees that equal pay for equal work remains a top priority. While XYZ does comply with state and federal regulations regarding equal pay for equal work, we feel that far more can be done to balance out the discrepancies between compensation and benefit rates for male and female employees. Gender in particular remains a major factor determining pay rates. Again, upper-level management is the sector most affected by unequal compensation rates. This Affirmative Action Plan sets forth a guideline for easing XYZ into a salary-equity program that will result in a steady increase of pay for underpaid employees without discrimination against employees who are already earning the target salaries.

Venture Capital Funding Essay

The determinants of Venture Capital Funding: Performance of US Venture Capital Firms against European VCsProblem Statement:Over the last decade, many researchers have praised the influence of Venture Capital (VC) as a key driver of entrepreneurism, start-ups, innovation and economic growth (Da Rin et al., 2006; Cumming, 2014). VC has long been studied and observed in the United States, it is for these positive reasons that the EU have outlined the development of VC as a major policy priority (EVCA, 2001). It is only within the last 20 years that the European Market has moved from being perceived as an â€Å"emerging market† in terms of VC, and that even by the start of the 21st Century, the aggregated investment volume was ˆ12 billion which was less than 25% of the American investment volume at that time (Hege et al., 2003; EVCA, 2001). Due to the relatively recent development of VC in Europe, there is a large gap in the existing research as to the effectiveness and influe nces of VC in Europe. Certainly Popov & Roosenboom, (2013) bemoan the fact that the majority of existing research into venture capital typically focuses its attention on the United States. Thus, there is a real shortage of effective empirical studies into the behaviours and qualities of European VC. Jeng and Wells (2000) support this view, explaining that factors such as the contracting, organisation of VC firms, exit decisions, and â€Å"the peculiarities of Europe† are not fully understood, nor has the features that European markets share with American ones have not been made in strong detail. Thus, this dissertation will provide a comparative study into the American VCs and European VCs. This micro-level study will to address the gap in existing research of the rate of return for VC in the US and the EU, possible the most influential emerging markets for venture financing.Purpose Statement:This research will look to examine the performance of US venture capital firms again st European venture capital firms to identify whether a gap exists between the two groups and to determine whether European VCs ca improve the rates of return from total investment based on funding frequency and other variables. The main objectives of this dissertation are: To determine if there is a gap in the levels of performance amongst American VC and European VC paying particular attention to the type of exit and rate of return. To explore whether any gap could be the result of major differences in the contractual relationship between VCs and startups in these regions or from the use of key tools that assert an active role of VCs in the process of value creation. To identify any relevant policy determinants including regional tax, investment protection/treaty, Intellectual property rights, and financial regulation. To determine whether US VCs have better screening skills than European VCs and whether this produces a higher degree of turning initial investments and funding frequency into successful ventures. Importance of the Study This research looks to address the gap in the existing research into the emergence of VC in European markets, and looks to benchmark this against VCs in the United States. Researchers, data providers, and trade associations have all observed the notable gap in existing research into VC in Europe (Da Rin et al., 2006; Cumming, 2014). Trade associations have even pointed to this gap in understanding as a primary factor that causes them to hesitate with early-stage financing. This dissertation study will also be significant as it will look to provide a critical, microeconomic analysis of the main drivers and influence of successful VCs in America and observe these against VCs in Europe, exploring contractual features and firm characteristics to define and quantify the determinants of VC returns. This will look to address the gap in existing research in the European VC sector and provide a greater understanding of VCs in Europe. Proposed Research Method A combination of quantitate and qualitative research tools will be used to complete this study. Research data will be found using a range of sources, including the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developmen (OECD) and other key institutions with data on several policy factors. These data sources will provide information on an expansive range of portfolio organizations, key investments and valuations. Quantitative data analysis will be completed using the statistical package software SPSS. The statistical package software benefits the cleaning and transformation of the data. Following the completion of the data collection stage, the researcher will analyse the raw data and assemble the results into a data matrix. This data matrix with contain the details of the study with key information sorted into columns, variable and values. The data matrix will then be used for statistical calculations and used for the analysis of the results. This dataset will allows the researcher to study organisation’s performance in terms of Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the investment amongst the initial investment to the final value of the firm. This study will also aim to quantify the influence of VCs on project profitability in Europe and compare this to the United states. A valuation-based measure of the rate of return will be used to examine the characteristics of European VCs against US VCs. independent variables to be studied will include age (the time elapsed since the VC raised the first fund), Regional (does the VC only invest in their own country), Companies (the number of companies in the VCs portfolio), Duration (the average investment duration in years), and, finally, the taxation policies of the US and Europe. The following equation will be used to calculate estimated values (V1) for the first stage valuation for all European organizations: Qi = V1i=I1i. Here Qi represents the initial value for company, whereas i is the multiple of the initial investment. The average Qj ratio will be determined of all selected studies. Research Hypotheses The research will also use the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: European VCs performance is positively correlated with the rate of return of the investment between the initial investment and the final valuation of the project/firm. Hypothesis 2: increased continuity of VCs engenders a stronger relationship which reduces barriers to financing and will increase returns. Hypothesis 3: European Venture-backed companies could benefit from the presence of alternative investments besides independent VCs. ReferencesBlack, B. S., Gilson, R. J. (1998) ‘Venture capital and the structure of capital markets: banks versus stock markets, Journal of Financial Economics, 47, pp. 243-277. Cumming, D. (2014) Public economics gone wild: Lessons from venture capital, International Review of Financial Analysis, 36, pp. 251-260. Da Rin, M., Nicodano, G., Sembenelli, A. (2006) ‘Public Policy and the reaction of active venture capital markets’, in Journal of Public Economics, 90, pp. 1699-1723. EVCA (2001) A Survey of Private Equity and Venture Capital in Europe, Yearbook 2001 Green, J. (2004) â€Å"Venture capital at a new crossroads†, Journal of Management Development, 23(10), pp. 972 – 976. Hege, U., Palomino, F., Schwienbacher, A. (2003) Determinants of Venture Capital Performance: Europe and the United States, LSE Working Paper, 1, pp. 1-40. Jeng, L. A., Wells, P. C. (2000) ‘The determinants of venture capital funding: evidence across countries’, Journal of Corporate Finance, 6, pp. 241-289. Popov, A., Roosenboom, P. (2013) ‘Venture Capital and New Business Creation’, Journal of Banking & Finance, 37, pp. 4695-4710.

Surprising or Not Surprising

Surprising or Not Surprising Surprising or Not Surprising Surprising or Not Surprising By Maeve Maddox Ive become aware of the inexplicable use of the phrase not unsurprising in contexts in which a simple unsurprising is called for. For example: Unpresidential, But Not Unsurprising Its extremely unfortunate yet not unsurprising that such an attack occurred. Annoying but not unsurprising. In each of these examples, the sense is that something might have been expected and is therefore not surprising. Placing not in front of unsurprising garbles the meaning. Something is either surprising or not surprising. surprising: adj. Causing surprise or wonder by its unexpectedness The word unsurprising may be used instead of the phrase not surprising. The OED doesnt bother to define unsurprising as not causing surprise, but it gives this illustration of its use: Adaptations of Dickenss works..are meant to make you feel good. This is unsurprising, as..it could be argued that this is exactly how Dickens intends you to feel. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Exquisite AdjectivesUsed To vs. Use ToUsing "zeitgeist" Coherently

An Ultimate Guide to Writing a Cause and Effect Essay Outline

An Ultimate Guide to Writing a Cause and Effect Essay Outline Writing an outline for your cause and effect essay will help you understand better what you are going to write about. Read the article to learn more. Cause and effect essays are popular ways of helping students understand the relationship between various events. They’re extremely popular in history classes, although students are certainly going to encounter them in English and writing classes as well. English and writing classes are often geared towards helping students be better at critical thinking in general, and cause and effect essays can serve as excellent critical thinking exercises in general. HOW TO WRITE A  CAUSE  AND EFFECT ESSAY When writing a cause and effect essay which generally requires the writer to illustrate a scenario in which one or more actions or events ultimately cause or caused certain effects to occur, the student should create and follow an outline. To illustrate an essay of this sort, below is an outline for a cause and effect essay for a fairly simple topic that pertains to a general writing composition course – Success: Causes of Success:  Diligence; talent or intelligence; high level of education; networking and making good, intelligent choices in life. Effects of Success:  Wealth and a potential increase in one’s quality of life; happiness and fulfillment. The writer can focus on just one cause and one effect, or a combination of the two. The writer can focus on just one cause and one effect, or a combination of the two. Every cause and effect essay should consist of no less than five paragraphs: Introduction paragraph At least three body paragraphs Conclusion paragraph TOP 50 CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY TOPICS Outline: Cause and Effect Essay on the Topic Success INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH The first paragraph of the essay introducing the subject and informing the reader what the paper is essentially about (5-7 sentences): Topic Sentence – the purpose of the topic sentence is to simply introduce the topic or subject being examined. Thesis Statement – the main idea or purpose of the essay. Your first paragraph may sound like this: Although it is a rather ambiguous term, â€Å"Success† has specific causes and effects. For one, it is caused by one’s persistent diligence on a project or occupation, etc. In turn, success has certain effects, or consequences, as well: one is financial wealth. 3 BODY PARAGRAPHS Illustration of causes and effects. In this section of the essay, the student will show how diligence causes success and illustrate the effects of success on the individual – ultimately explaining at length their Thesis Statement from the first paragraph. To better convey the argument, the student may begin with explaining the topic being examined – perhaps including a definition, a source providing additional perspectives, etc. In this case: What is the success? What does it look like? How is it identified? What does it mean? What are its social, emotion and spiritual implications? Next, once the reader understands the context in which the term is being examined, the student should transition to a paragraph showing how diligence causes success. Perhaps a famous example (like a self-made millionaire) would suffice, or even some other scenario. But the writer should explain how a person could work hard to achieve personal success. This part is for demonstrating and explaining the effects of success – like it leads to financial wealth, or it leads to a better quality of life because a person is fulfilled in their accomplishment and is happy. CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH In this section, the student not only summarizes the essay – its topic’s causes and effects – but can also help the reader better understand the context of a term, an event in history, etc., by providing a few other examples of the term’s causes and effects. If you are looking for cause and effect essay examples here is a great one CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY EXAMPLE: GREAT DEPRESSION Need a cause and effect essay? Place an order  and our writers will help you write a well-structured essay on any topic.

Professional Map-D-PartA Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Professional Map-D-PartA - Assignment Example Band 2 relates to issues led and advisers roles of human resource. Band 3 of the framework illustrates the cooperative and consultant partnership. Finally, band 4 outlines colleague, client leadership, and coaching of the staffs (Stanford, 2013). The bands explain the different levels and demonstrate contributions and competencies. Hence, the framework adds value to human resource by providing a perfect harmony between professional areas and promotes good relations. In addition, it benefits organizations through comprehensive approaches to ensuring a competent team by enabling efficient transitions between bands, behaviors, and professionalism. The map adds value to Human resource by supporting employees to acknowledge necessities for achievements. Organizational application helps personnel to plan and execute efficient services based on behaviors, knowledge, and skills. The tool helps analyze professional areas to establish a perfect balance between organizational resources in order to achieve short and long-term strategies while meeting changing customer needs (Peacock, 2009). The core areas comprise of strategies, insights, and solutions that enable Leading HR. They refer to possible areas where professional promotes reasonable ideas and solutions. The strategies broadly outline efforts to improve organizational understanding and give opportunities for development of comprehensive approaches and HR skills (Stanford, 2013, p. 132). Besides, the strategies, insights, and solutions address resource management including time, skills, and potentials of enhancing their sustainability. Currently, I am working on band one at Shell Development Oman. My responsibilities include client support and administrative assistance. Particularly, I handle data management, inventory tracking, and assistance to other employees. Shell Development Oman promotes coordination and administration of the firms interests across the

Individual case study analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual case study analysis - Essay Example Government spending was reduced and the ‘National Wage Partnership Programme’ was signed. As a result, wage increases were limited at 3 percent for three years. The comparative low wages and the fact that it was not rising, as in other countries, attracted FDI. With lower wages and higher productivity than the rest of Europe, Ireland attracted foreign direct investment (FDI). The economic transformation, that was taking place in the country, where a direct result of the political transformation. The protectionist policies, tariffs and subsidies, had created an economy where exports fell and per capita income was low. There was no FDI and the economy in general was bleak. However, as political powers opened up the economy to foreign trade and investment, the economy improved. In the 1980’s, the government was following a fiscal policy that was conservative, to meet with the criterion set by the Economic and Monetary Union. The annual budget deficit and the level of national debt were lowered to create the environment for FDI. Whereas previously the government was involved in key sectors such as energy, communication and transport, by the early 2000s, government involvement got limited to the state-owned enterprises such as Aer Lingus (airlines), electricity distributor ESB, natural gas distributor Bord gas, etc. With the opening up of the market, particularly with its exports to the US rising, the Irish GDP grew at a rate of 9.9 percent during 1996 and 2000. That the political system of a country can influence the economy through appropriate policies and laws can be best demonstrated through examples. The growth of the Irish economy in computer software was a result of the government’s responsiveness and political will. When Microsoft decided not to locate a key web hosting operation in Ireland in 1998, because of the insufficient connectivity, the government responded by