Law of Equity and Trusts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Law of Equity and Trusts - Essay Example The first determination of the presence of a trust is with regards to a written declaration of it. There is no written declaration for the purposes of s. 53(1)(b) of the Law of Property Act (LPA) 1925 with regards to the home. The only written declaration of the trust is Uncle David’s Will. Thus, if Lorraine has to establish an interest, it must be under the rules ofPettitt v Pettitt(1970) later affirmed by Lloyds Bank v Rosset(1991), by way of resulting or constructive trust. This would result in an equitable interest for Lorraine. Resulting trusts are formed when there is a contribution made to the purchase price, which, in this scenario is not the case.The facts do not say whether she actually contributed to the purchase price by way of outright sum or through mortgage payments, both of which are accepted ways of establishing an interest in the house, and thus, it is presumed that Jonathan was the sole proprietor of the house. Lorraine joined him as a young girlfriend, and for that reason, her interest has to be established by way of constructive trust, which is formed in the presence of an oral assurance on which reliance has been made by the claimant to her detriment (see Lloyds Bank). The promise made by Jonathan can be easily evidenced as it was in the presence of witnesses. In 2009, he declared, â€Å"all of my property including our lovely barge home is as much yours Lorraine as it is mine†. This takes the form of an oral promise, and judging from the fact that it was made on several occasions, Lorraine can establish that it amounts to an interest of some kind in the property (Ungarian v Lesnoff (1990) and Eves v Eves (1975)). Thus, the second step for Lorraine in order to establish her equitable interest in the property would be to prove that she relied upon the promise to her detriment. Lorraine spent a considerable amount on structural repairs and decoration, to the tune of 65000 pounds and contributed half of her salary to

Black Swan Essay Example for Free

Black Swan Essay Speech problems are serious hardship for children as they have to cope not only with medical aspects of the problem, but also with social exclusion and mockery. David Mitchell in his book tends to recreate the childhood from the child’s viewpoint, to transmit feelings, emotions, doubts and anxieties of children. Moreover, the author decided to show the life and hardships of a boy suffering from stammer. Children always feel embarrassed when they stammer as they think they may be mocked at. The world of children with speech problem is delicate and fragile; therefore, they are vulnerable to more stresses and anxieties. They are less confident and more reserved. That is what the author is willing to show in his book. Jason Taylor, the main character, is a common teenager who was born in a village in Worcestershire in the year of 1982. Though he is unremarkable in appearance, he is aspiring poet. He is highly gifted child with rich inner world. Jason tells the story about his school days, about problems with parents and his elder sister who irritates him constantly. However, Jason has speech problem – he has a stammer and this fact makes him feel embarrassed and unconfident. Like all children Jason has secrets from his parents and school friends. He hides the fact that he is a poet and his poetry is written under the name of Eliot Bolivar. (Mitchell 2006) The author starts his novel from explaining and examining the social status of childhood. The first chapters are devoted to analyzing why some children are called by their first names, some children by â€Å"sort of respectful nicknames like ‘Yardy’†, wheras others by their surnames and some by ‘piss-take nicknames like Moran Moron or Nicholas Briar whos Knickerless Bra. . It’s all ranks, being a boy, like the army†. Mitchell shows that children are other people in the world. The book is an interesting and exciting story of a 13-year boy whose parents divorce. The author provides detailed overview of his anxieties, thoughts and reflections. Actually, the author details on the first year of his life after the divorce. It is discovered the Jason’s father has another woman. As for me, the most impressive part of the book is when Mitchell writes about Jason’s stammer stressing that this speech impediment causes lots of problems for young boy as he has to â€Å"think one sentence ahead, and if you see a stammer-word coming up, alter your sentence so you wont need to use it†. Jason is a very sensitive and vulnerable personality and he is afraid of being labeled as â€Å"Stutterboy†. He hides his stammer and fears that his school friends and teachers would become aware of his speech problems. The author impressively conveys Jason’s inner anxieties and feelings to the readers. The book is poignant as the author is struggling to keep the tension and intrigue at the desires level. (Mitchell 2006) I think that the book is a mix of genres as the author refers to social realism when showing that children with speech problems may suffer from social exclusion, and romanticism when conveying Jason’s inner struggle. Mitchell vividly depicts Jason’s family life. Mitchell shows his best qualifications of a caricaturist. He has a better ear for the smarmy and the self-important, like Jasons father, than for the more softly spoken. For example, he claims at the dinner table: â€Å"The principle, o daughter of mine, is a universal constant. If you dont keep records, you cant make progress assessments. True for retailers, true for educators, true for the military, true for any systems operator. One bright day in your brilliant career youll learn this the hard way and think, if only Id listened to my dear wise father. How right he was†. Actually, Jason gets the best lines in the novel. The author chooses the child character to show the different consciousness, different attitudes and perception of the problems and anxieties. Mitchell defines childhood as inevitably the age of false notes and brashness. He outlines that children shouldn’t be allowed too much knowingness. Jason is well-educated and quick-witted boy and his perception of the world is rather fresh and original. For example, Jason thinks: â€Å"Woods dont bother with fences or borders. Woods are fences and borders. The world won’t leave things be. Its always injecting endings into beginnings. The crows parascended up and off†. (Mitchell 2006) Jason is also very observant and shrewd. When he sees that his father meets his brother-in-law, he mentions: â€Å"Each was wearing the jersey the other’d given him for Christmas†. In such a way the author restore the slang of Black Swan’s school children. (Mitchell 2006) I like the way Jason depicts love and affection, when a girl attracts him, he says: â€Å"Magnets dont need to understand magnetism. Listening to houses breathe makes you weightless†, etc. But the striking sentences and snatches of dialogue are too often waylaid by cutesy apercus – â€Å"The earth’s a door if you press your ear against it† and the narrator’s wish to be too cunningly callow. (Mitchell 2006) Speaking about what I have learnt from the book, firstly, I want to say that the book has made me more aware about the world children with speech problems live in. I am really impressed by Taylor’s pretence to see beyond his childhood. I think that boy is too clever and intelligent for his age, though he shouldn’t hurry to become old. The book is very informative as it reveals the reality of life: children wit stammer may undergo mockery and social exclusion. A child may be excellent student and talented personality, though children would laugh at his speech impediment. The author teaches us to be more tolerate and to think and only then to act. Moreover, I see psychological changes occurring with children after parents have divorced. I found out that children became more reserved and failed to display their true feelings and emotions. And I think that Jason’s stammer is apparent consequence of parent’s divorce. (Mitchell 2006) David Mitchell wants, in my opinion, to do a very ambitious thing in this novel, which is to write a book about a young adolescent and the young adolescent as natural poet as though it was written by a young adolescent, but he hasn’t quite found the voice for it. A young adolescent finding his voice by experimenting with other voices is a useful device for a novelist. But a young adolescent is even more promising for contemporary fiction because he is someone who doesnt want to be too accessible or too unpopular. Mitchell’s fans should see this as a transitional novel in what is already an intriguing career. The book is filled with Jason’s insights and revelations. The adult world is obsessed with fame and erotic life, and, therefore, Mitchell’s book is of great importance as it teaches people to be more patient and tolerate towards children with speech and health problems. The book is very impressive and it remains nobody indifferent. Mitchell shows that children are strongly affected psychologically when parents decided to divorce. Mitchell’s book covers all these problems stressing that children psychologically suffer from parental split up and their speech problems may become more severe. The book is surely the ambitious study of adolescence. (Mitchell 2006) The book is relevant to the course â€Å"Communication Science† as the auhtor discusses speech probems of Jason Taylor, in particular, stammer and its psychological affect on child’s behavior. Mitchell shows that speech problems make children feel shy and self-conscious. Ccommunication is playing nowadays one of the most important roles in society because it is the core source of mutual understanding among people. Communication is the greatest luxury given to people. Works Cited Mitchell, David. Black Swan: A Novel. Random House, 2006.

Identifying the Pharmacological Properties of Unknown Drugs

Identifying the Pharmacological Properties of Unknown Drugs The experiment aimed to establish the pharmacological attributes of drug (B2) which is relatively unknown to many people. A more important thing to consider is the effect of Antagonistic in blocking the effects of B2. Another thing of utmost value is the question which tries to explain whether the effects and usefulness of B2 can actually be replicated in other drugs. It is paramount to understand that B2 is a drug which brings side effect as a result of interaction with the digestive substance from Pseudo-Cholinesterase. Another area of interest is the hindering of b2 effects by the introduction of an inhibitor known as cholinesterase; it is not clear whether it can actually hinder the potential effect of. The receptor factor of B2 is also considered important. Introduction There exist two categories of pharmaceutical drugs; agonist and antagonist. Agonist drugs acts on the principle that it binds itself to the receptor substance of the respective cell. Normally agonists exists in form of hormones or neurons a fact that makes them very popular in the human body. In this scenario the unknown B2 drug belongs to the agonist category. On the other hand antagonists operate on the reverse principle of the agonists in that they tend to block the receptors. In order to evaluate and asses the pharmacological properties of B2 it is vital to examine two unique properties; efficacy and potency. Efficacy refers to the overall capacity of a drug to produce the desired effects. Potency on its part refers to the level of response that is generated by a drug. The higher the potency the lower the response level of a particular drug. For instance in order to generate a 50% response value, the dosage of the drug being administered needs to quite high. The experiment is composed of two distinct phases; phase2 and phase3. Phase2 focused on establishing the effect of administering a selective antagonist dosage on the two substances; chlorphenamine and Atropine. As a result Atropine appeared to be blocked primarily because it is exhibit antagonistic attributes towards muscurinic and nicotinic receptors. On the other hand chorphenamine appeared to inhibit the effects of histamine more because it blocks autocoid histamine receptors remain blocked. In order to determine the blockage effect of B2 it was necessary to thoroughly test the selective dosage. This will allows for easier identification of the actual receptors which not works with B2 but those that blocks it affects. Another aspect examined in phase2 is related with how other agonists mimic the effect of B2. In this case it was vital to evaluate and compare the behavior of log-dose curves with the sole aim of deriving both the efficacy and the potency values. Phase 3 involved the use of pseudocholiesterase from horse blood and an esterase inhibitor known as physostigmine. Cholinesterase action involves hydrolyzing the ester bond found in acetylcholine. Basically there exists two categories of cholinesterase; acetyl-cholinesterase and pseudo-cholinesterase. Another substance used in this phase is carbachol which is rather resistant to the effect of esterase digestion. This means that its presence is used to protect or inhibit the digestion of acetycholine, histamine and B2. In addition an interaction between an antagonist like physostigmine and agonist substance will result in an increase in ED50. In some cases this can be attributed to the ever increasing potential of grugs by many people. Methods An organ bath is initially setup in presence of an ileum tissue from a guinea pig. Prior to using the tissue, a Petri dish is first filled with ringer solution and then subjected to oxygen supply. It is paramount to note that the tissue lacks any spontaneous patterns but rather it is characterized by contractions. The ileum tissue contains substances such as 5Ht, H1, nicotinic and muscurinic receptors. These substances are easily affected by contraction. In addition ileum tissue experience relaxation probably due to the fact that it lacks both beta and alpha receptors. In order to produce good result the tissue required to be attached to a transducer using a threading string. Additionally this tissue was submerged in ringerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s solution at a room temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. In a normal scenario the addition of an agonist may cause the ileum to contract; this tension would be amplified by the transducer, which would then record the trace of response on a computer. Each test was preceded by a complete wash out of the drug. Oxygen supply needs to quite constant in order to sustain the life of the cell. Data from the races is used to plot the graph which shows the behavior of each agonist in response to the effect of log-dose. Results For B2 laced with Chlorphenamine 1 in 10000 dilutions Emax was 98/% while ED50 was 1.0X10-6M. For B2 laced with atropine 1 in 5000 dilutions, Emax and ED50 were 4.4 x 10^-6 and 72% respectively. It is evident that competitive antagonism was dominant. It is as a result of Atropine blocking specific masculine receptors. It means that B2 is a cholinergic agonist, which might be either acetylcholine or Carbachol. Mimicry effect: B2 Gave an Emax value of 90% and an ED50 value of 1.44 x 10^-6M. The values for Acetylcholine were 60% and ED50 value of3.1 x 10 ^-6 M. However. Carbachol gave a high efficacy 100% Emax value and an ED50 value of 3.0 x 10^-6M. Additionally Histamine gave Emax and ED50 50% and4.4 x 10 ^-6M respectively. The lowest point was recorded while using Serotonin which had an ED50 value of 7.5 x 10^-6 and an Emax value of 21%. Acetylcholine in the presence of physostigmine Tthe Emax was 100% and the ED50 1.310^-7 while Carbacho was 98.4% Emax and ED501.710^-6. However in the presence of physostigmine EMAX was 100% and the ED50 was 6.010^-7. Conclusion Both the mimicry graphs of B2 and Carbachol exhibits similar characteristics hence the same ED50 values Despite this there is no enough evidence to establish what exactly what the receptors acts on. When antagonistic atropine was used the ED50 of the respective B2 was considerably reduced. This mainly occurred at both the selective and effective dosage levels. It can be concluded that B2 indeed acted on cholinergic receptors. This is given more strength by the increase in ED50 reduction in potency level. To get even more definite results chlorphenamine was used as the sole histaminergic antagonist. Results indicated that both the effective and selective dose of Chlorphenamine had no antagonistic effect on B2. Additionally the potency did not reduce. It is evident that [emailprotected] does not in any way acts on histaminergic receptors. Thus it is prudent to argue that B2 does indeed acts upon cholinergic receptors Experiment 2 Purpose: To demonstrate the pharmacological properties of unknown drug B16 Experimental phases (phase 1 and phase 2) are essential in determining these properties.Key attributes investigated include selective and effective dose of Atropine, Atropine and B2, effective and selective dose of Chlorphenamine, Chlophenamine and B2, Mimicry of B2 , digestion by pseudo-cholinesterase on B2, protection by Physostigmine of B2, and potentiation of B2. Acetylcholine is regarded as an acetic acid such as ester of choline. It acts on cholinergic synapses to propagate nerve impulses. Acetylcholine has high and equal potency for muscurinic and nicotinic receptors. It is also highly susceptible to breakdown by cholinesterase. Carbachol which is is agonist of the muscurinic and nicotinic receptors is more potent on nicotinic receptors. In addition it is not broken down by Cholinesterase. Health applications of Acetylcholine includes but not limited to the treatment of Glaucoma.Its treatment remedy is based on the contraction principle; causes contraction of circular muscle in the eye leading to an increase in output of aqueous humour. Obtained from Atropa belladonna also known as deadly nightshade, Atropine which is alkaloid in nature serves to block the cholinergic receptors. Medical applications of Atropine involve dilation of the pupil which is most common during examinations of the eyes. Another substance Chlorphenamine is rather antihistamine in nature and thus it blocks histamine receptors. It clinical uses involve the treatment of allergic reactions such as itching. (Youngson, 1999) Physostigmine is regarded as being one of those substances that tends to bring reversible cholinesterase inhibition. Since Physostigmine normally interferes with the breakdown of Acetylcholine , its overall effects is significantly ppextended. Major medical use encompasses the boosting of the muscle tone of people with Myasthenia Gravis (Youngson, 1999). Effective dose of atropine The purpose of the first experiment was to identify the effective dose of Atropine. Three doses of atropine were added to Acetylcholine; Acetylcholine with atropine 1/1000, Acetylcholine with atropine 1/10000 and Acetylcholine with atropine 1/5000. The three concentrations of atropine (1.4 x 10^-10M, 2.88 x 10^-10M and 1.4 x 10^-11M) were first carried out on both carbachol and acetylcholine. The three specimens showed a shift in the dose response curves to the right. This makes the drugs to appear to be below potent as they tend to increase their ED50 values. The results prove that both acetylcholine and carbachol are blocked by atropine. After observing results from graphs used in the experiment, it is evident that there is a distinct shift in all the dose response curves to the right. This helps to lower the potency of the drug at all concentrations. Selective dose Atropine The aim of this section of experiment is to establish whether the effective dose of Atropine is also a selective dose. In this case histamine was titrated with the three concentrations of atropine to identify if histamine is actually blocked antagonist. In a normal scenario histamine ought not to be antagonized by atropine. Instead there should not be a significant shift in the dose response curve or reduction in potency. However at high dose concentration, atropine can indirectly block histamine. To analyze the selective dose of atropine, three different concentrations of atropine were used on histamine. The 1/5000 and 1/1000 dilutions of atropine i.e.1.4 x 10^-10M and 1.4 x 10^-9M became the histamine to shift to the right. This shows that high concentrations of atropine can cause an indirect antagonistic affect to histamine. Despite this, the 1.4 x 10^-11M (1 in 10000 obtained was found to be 2.310-6M. Actually dilution does not reduce the efficacy or the potency of histamine. Additionally the dose of 1.4 x 10^-11M (1/10000 dilution of atropine) does not shift histamine to the right thus retaining its ED50 value. This dose of atropine is both effective and selective for cholinergic agonist such as acetylcholine and Carbachol. It effectively blocks acetylcholine and carbochol especially when the affect on histamine is not great. Consequently the effective and selective dose for Atropine was resolved to be 1.4 x 10^-11M. It means Atropine did not affect Histamine activity. Atropine and B16 Aim of the experiment was to find the impact of both the effective and selective dose of Atropine (110-7M) on the unknown drug B16. The effective and the selective dose were obtained by testing different concentrations of atropine on acetylcholine, carbachol and histamine. A distinct shift in the dose response curve to the right was found when administering the 1.4 x 10^-11M of atropine to unknown drug B16 there was. Therefore this dose of atropine result in drug B2 appearing to be less potent by lowering its ED50 value. It is clear that drug B2 is capable of acting upon cholinergic receptors. This is primarily because the effective and selective dose of atropine that was determined previously blocked the actions of drug B2. In effect it makes it to appear to be less potent and reducing its ED50 value. This means that Atropine was blocking Cholinergic receptors, which B2 acts on. Hence it may be deduced that B2 is a cholinergic agonist, and it may be Acetylcholine, or Carbachol. Effective dose of Chlorphenamine Experiment aim was to find out an effective dose of Chlorphenamine-an antagonist of histamine receptors. An effective dose will decrease the potency of histamine; however the same dose should not affect the Emax of histamine. Histamine when free of antagonist Emax was 100% while ED50 was 3.510-6M. However histamine when added to Chlorphenamine 1/ 10000 dilutions an Emax became 96% and an ED50 became 1.010-5M. This means that with the lesser dose of the antagonist the efficacy will be increased, while the potency will be decreased. The remarkable shift to the right confirms a decrease in potency with only a 4% variance in Emax. This is evidence that the effective and selective dose has shifted histamines Log-dose response curve to the right thus decreasing potency. Selective dose of Chlorphenamine Acetylcholine was in two different concentrations of Atropine. Chlorphenamine on its part does not result in the shift of the graph to the right. Additionaly this shift does not result in the reduction of potency. In addition, there was a small shift of the curves to the left with the addition of Chlorphenamine which may be due to re-sensitization. On the other hand as there is no shift to the right of the dose response curves with the addition of Chlorphenamine. It will be possible to realize that it is not antagonist towards Acetylcholine Effective and selective dose of Chlorphenamine on B2 The aim of experiment was to determine whether the effective and selective dose for Chlorphenamine was able to competitively antagonise the unknown drug B2. Results indicate three combinations; B2 only, B2with Chlorphenamine 1 in 10000 dilution, and B2with Chlorphenamine 1 in 5000 dilution. Consequently the display of Emax`s is 98%,92%, 100% and respectively.The respective ED50 values are 2.2 x10-6M, 1.010-5M, and 7.010-6M respectively. From the results it can be demonstrated that the effective and selective dose of Chlorphenamine did not have any considerable effect on the drug B2.This shows that B2 is not acting on the autocoid receptor H1. Mimicry of B2 with other muscurinic agonists Aims to study the mimicry effects of muscurinic agonists as wellas study parallel efficacy and potency of unknown drub B2. The mimicry data appears to express that B2 mimics Carbachol as it has a similar ED50 value. In essence, B2 gave ED50 90% and Emax 1.44 x 10^-6M while Carbachol was ED50 100% and Emax 1.00 x 10^-6M. That saids it is not enough proof to ascertain that B2 acts on receptors. The cholinergic antagonist Atropine was used because whenever it decreased the ED50 of B2 at the effective and selective dose then this would confirm the B2 acted upon cholinergic receptors. An affirmative result proved that B2 acted upon cholinergic receptors as the ED50 increased and the potency decreased. In order to confirm this, Chlorphenamine was used as a histaminergic antagonist. The effective and selective dose of Chlorphenamine had no antagonistic effect on B; it failed to reduce the potency. It means that B2 does not act upon histaminergic receptors. Thus it can be concluded that drug B2 acts upon cholinergic receptors Digestion by pseudo-cholinesterase/protection by physostigmine The effects of Acetylcholine explain that when presented alone a 100% response is guaranteed.. In another perspective, Acetylcholine by pseudo-esterase gave a 0% response. However with the addition of Acetycholine, esterase, and physostigmine 95% response was acquired. Basically it means that Acetycholine is prone to the digestion by Pseudo-Cholinesterase obtained from the horseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s blood. Additionally it is protected from being digested by physostigmine. When carbachol was treated with both blood esterase and physostigmine each every response was almost identical yielding only a 10% discrepancy. Evidently is not in any way capable of being digested into blood esterase. As a result, physostigmine is not suitable to be used to block the digestive effects of the esterase. Other results (from graphs 1.5,1.6 and 1.7) indicate that B2 was indeed broken down by blood esterase suggesting that it is potentially digestible by the former. Indeed if blood esterase were to be added to drug B2 alone, esterase would immediately digest drug B2 reducing its reaction to approximately 0%. However when an indirect agonist such as physostigmine is used, drug B2 is capable will be able to produce a significant. One thing to note is that the blood esterase virtually broke down all of drug B2. Relevant indications appear to reveal that the concentration of drug B2 is slightly low. This explains the minimal response of drug B2 to blood esterase. Another substance that was broken down and digested by blood esterase was acetylcholine. Additionally, physostigmine effectively inhibited the effects of the blood esterase on both acetylcholine and drug B2. This result helps to explain the mimicry phenomenon; drug B2 mimics the procedures of acetycholine as well as acting upon the cholinergic receptors. By studying graph 1.8, there is revelation of the effects of histamine when treated with both blood esterase and physostigmine. From the data available it is evident that all four responses appear to be quite identical with only a 5-10% discrepancy. Graph 1.7, reveals that blood esterase does not digest histamine. This means that histamine would need physostigmine in order to block the digestive effects of the esterase. Potentiation From graph 1.9 it appears that physostigmine is acting as an indirect agonist towards Acetylcholine. This is because there is an obvious potentiation;the Emax leaped from 86.2% to 100% while at the same time the ED50 increased slightly with a shift left from 1.310^-7M to 3.010^-7M In graph 2.0 there is no potentiation of Emax or ED50. This helps to explain the fact that physostigmine does not work as an indirect agonist towards Carbachol. In essence the Emax for both trails are almost identical the same as for ED50 which runs very close Physostigmine raises thee Emax but fails to lower the ED50. It is manifested by the fact that physostigmine acts as an indirect agonistThere is increased level of Emax to B2 mainly due to re-sensitisation occuring through-out the experiment as well as biological variance of the tissue Summary The antagonist Atropine appears to act on the unknown B2 drug which is associated with bringing about competition for inhibition factors. The same case applies to B2 cholinergic agonist. In another analysis Chlorphenamine appears to lack proper antagonistic effect on B2. Again B2 fails to directly act on autocoid H1 receptors. From these findings it is evident that B2 is a Cholinergic Agonist. The fact that carabcol and histamine were not digested in blood esterase while acetylcholine got digested means that B2 is indded acetylcholine. The two attributes provides some of the unique agonistic properties of a pharmacological drugs.

Ecotourism in South American Countries: Has the Agenda Changed? :: Essays Papers

Ecotourism in South American Countries: Has the Agenda Changed? In many South American countries, there is a program in effect called Ecotourism. When the idea was initially though of, many of the developing countries of South America, had very poor economies as well as many suffering people. To act as a means of improving the status of these poor countries, the idea of Ecotourism was developed. In essence, Ecotourism is a program that permits tourists to visit and explore countries in South America while contributing their foreign capital to local economies. For the tourist, this is a great opportunity to see places of the world that have not been destroyed or inhabited by many. Though the idea of Ecotourism was one with good intentions, the local people in the countries where Ecotourism has been in effect are not gaining much at all. For this reason, I do not think that Ecotourism should be a continuing program in these countries. If the native people (whose best interest was at heart initially) are not benefiting from Ecotourism, then w hy has it been allowed to exist? The answer is simple: greed and selfishness. History of Ecotourism: The idea that led to Ecotourism emerged in the late sixties when people like Oswaldo Muà ±oz, now president of the Ecuadorian Ecotourism Association, started guiding tourists around their countries to view natural wonders. Many companies began to set up lodging near parks and reserves and even began to develop tours of those areas. The vision of showing off exotic plants, animals and the overall natural beauty of countries like Ecuador also attracted them. Yet early on, this did little to help the local economies. It actually contributed to other problems: In Ecuador, half of the country's rain forest disappeared, and environmental groups and other organizations promoting ecotourism flocked to places where endangered species, including many indigenous populations, lived. But with the growing environmental awareness of the seventies and the realization that large resorts like Acapulco and Cancun were devastating to the environment, both governmental and non-governmental organiza tions began to look for ways to both protect the environment and stimulate local economies. Thus ecotourism was born. Ecotourism Today: Ecotourism began in hopes of developing local economies in South American countries while attracting tourists to the natural beauty and exotic wonders of the land. The Vermont-based Ecotourism Society defines it as "responsible travel to natural areas, which conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people. Ecotourism in South American Countries: Has the Agenda Changed? :: Essays Papers Ecotourism in South American Countries: Has the Agenda Changed? In many South American countries, there is a program in effect called Ecotourism. When the idea was initially though of, many of the developing countries of South America, had very poor economies as well as many suffering people. To act as a means of improving the status of these poor countries, the idea of Ecotourism was developed. In essence, Ecotourism is a program that permits tourists to visit and explore countries in South America while contributing their foreign capital to local economies. For the tourist, this is a great opportunity to see places of the world that have not been destroyed or inhabited by many. Though the idea of Ecotourism was one with good intentions, the local people in the countries where Ecotourism has been in effect are not gaining much at all. For this reason, I do not think that Ecotourism should be a continuing program in these countries. If the native people (whose best interest was at heart initially) are not benefiting from Ecotourism, then w hy has it been allowed to exist? The answer is simple: greed and selfishness. History of Ecotourism: The idea that led to Ecotourism emerged in the late sixties when people like Oswaldo Muà ±oz, now president of the Ecuadorian Ecotourism Association, started guiding tourists around their countries to view natural wonders. Many companies began to set up lodging near parks and reserves and even began to develop tours of those areas. The vision of showing off exotic plants, animals and the overall natural beauty of countries like Ecuador also attracted them. Yet early on, this did little to help the local economies. It actually contributed to other problems: In Ecuador, half of the country's rain forest disappeared, and environmental groups and other organizations promoting ecotourism flocked to places where endangered species, including many indigenous populations, lived. But with the growing environmental awareness of the seventies and the realization that large resorts like Acapulco and Cancun were devastating to the environment, both governmental and non-governmental organiza tions began to look for ways to both protect the environment and stimulate local economies. Thus ecotourism was born. Ecotourism Today: Ecotourism began in hopes of developing local economies in South American countries while attracting tourists to the natural beauty and exotic wonders of the land. The Vermont-based Ecotourism Society defines it as "responsible travel to natural areas, which conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people.

Letter of Intent for a Language Program

Greetings! I am a freshman international student and would like to apply for the offered Paris Summer Program for the main intent of obtaining purposive and applied education on the French language. I have fulfilled the necessary prerequisites for the aforementioned course—French 205 (â€Å"A†) —and is currently taking up French 206. Additionally, I have passed DALF test, a French language proficiency test administered by the government of France. You will also find that I am well versed in the following languages— French, Spanish, Bulgarian and English— and has a good standing in academics with 3 A’s and a B+ in my previous semester. The Paris Summer Program would enable me to upgrade my French linguistic level and at the same time, absorb and understand better the intricate French culture. Such advanced linguistic skills are necessary prelude to my preparation for a future career in international diplomacy, more specifically as country representative at the European Council.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Requisites of the career include units in International Studies and Political Science Program and such program require advanced linguistic skills and exposure abroad. Aside from scholastic considerations, my interest in the program lies on experiential learning on French culture—- history, arts literature and music— and language integration. Hoping for your consideration regarding my application. Thank you very much.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Essay

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, as discussed in Darden Business Publishing Case UVA-F-1479, appears to be at a crossroads. After years of astronomical growth, the company find its share price plummeting in the midst of discoveries about faulty accounting practices. The following paper examines several issues behind the sudden decline First, the historical income statements and balance sheets are examined to determine the financial health and current condition of the company. This is followed by an analysis of key financial ratios across time and versus industry standards. Next, the paper addresses if Krispy Kreme is financially healthy at year-end 2003 and, if so, what accounts for the firm’s recent share price decline. The paper concludes with a discussion of the intrinsic investment value in the company. Income Statement and Balance Sheets Close review of the income statement leads to some noteworthy conclusions. The first quarterly column of the 2004 income statement shows that the company gained thirty-four million dollars in discontinued operations from the sale of the Montana Mills venture. In the same quarter the firm lost approximately twenty-four million dollars. It is likely that this maneuver was made to deflect attention from or make up for the company’s poor performance and mounting losses. Generally, this is not a sign of a healthy company but rather signals an alarm since the loss in that quarter was closer to fifty-eight million dollars when not considering the sale. Krispy Kreme may have been struggling to make ends meet through its operations, and perhaps the company hoped to make up lost income through the sale of a venture. Furthermore, operating expenses were increasing while net income was decreasing. In May 2004, the company had seven million dollars in closing costs and still showed losses. An aggressive expansion strategy did not result in enough income to cover these costs. Additionally, quarterly comps decreased dramatically. From May 2003 to May 2004, operating income dropped from $23,702 million to $18,636 million. This decrease is even more pronounced when examining the quarters ending in August. Krispy Kreme’s balance sheet is no less indicative of poor financial health, particularly with a substantial increase in year over year long-term liability figures. The two major contributors to this increase in long-term liabilities include Krispy Kreme’s revolving lines of credit and its long-term debt. First, the revolving lines of credit greatly increased from nothing in fiscal year 2002 to eighty-seven million dollars in fiscal year 2004, demonstrating a burgeoning dependence by Krispy Kreme on outside finance to support operations. Second, long-term debt increased from 3,912 million in 2002 to 48,056 million in 2004. This anomalous and significant increase in long term debt could mean that Krispy Kreme is having trouble paying off its debt. After analyzing both the income statement and balance sheet an initial assumption can me made that Krispy Kreme does not appear to be financially healthy. The next step of understanding this case is to determine how financial ratios extend our understanding of the abovel statements. Financial Ratios The following financial ratios were analyzed: quick ratio, current ratio, return on assets, return on equity, net profit margin, receivables turnover, inventory turnover, asset turnover, cash turnover, debt-to-equity, and times interest earned. These ratios are included in a time series (Case Exhibit 7) raise and in a cross-sectional chart of quick-service restaurants (Case Exhibit 8). To begin, the time series ratios are detailed in Figure 1. Starting with the liquidity ratios we noticed some significance in the changes of the current ratio. The increases in the current ratio in 2003 and 2004 signal that Krispy Kreme is borrowing over the long term, not the short term, resulting in an increase of cash affecting assets. The current liabilities would not be affected by this increase in cash or long term. This corroborates the balance sheet, as with the current ratio rise we see a gain in cash and cash equivalents plus a gain in long term debt. Figure 1. Krispy Kreme Analytical Financial Ratios The debt-to-equity ratio in 2003 and 2004 imply the company is also using more long-term debt from shareholder equity to run the company. In 2004, the balance sheet shows a jump in the number of share of common stock. The selling of more stock to pay for long term debt is not usually a good signal to investors. It may mean a corporation wants more cash to finance activities, which in conjunction with other figures could mean it is trying to offset some losses. A lower times interest earned ratio may also mean fewer earnings are available to meet interest payments and that the business is more vulnerable to increases in interest rates. This ratio has declined dramatically since 2002. Negative findings of the company are apparent when looking at the activity ratios. The receivables turnover ratio has been declining since 2001. This decline in receivables turnover implies that company is not being as efficient in the collection of accounts owed as it should be. Not collecting the credit in a timely manner means that they are not gaining interest for the firm, but potentially giving others a free loan for the time being. Furthermore, the asset turnover ratio for Krispy Kreme has been declining since the company went public in 2000. As seen in Figure 1, the ratio was at a high in 2000 at 2.10 and is not at 1.01 in 2004. This lower asset turnover ratio signals that the company is not doing well in using its assets to generate sales. The final subcategory in the time series ratio analysis are the profitability ratios, which show some positive signs for Krispy Kreme. The return on assets ratio is relatively stable at 8.64% in 2004. Krispy Kreme is still doing relatively well by using current assets to generate income. Unfortunately, the return on assets has come down from a high of 10.33% in 2002, a signal to investors that Krispy Kreme is not ameliorating its use of assets to create income. However, the operating profit margin ratio displayed a steady increase for the company, resulting in more operating income for every dollar of sales. The increasing net profit margin also shows Krispy Kreme is generating more profit for every dollar of sales. The change from 6.81% to 8.58% in 2004 shows that Krispy Kreme is now making another 1.7 cents per dollar of sales. Examination of the financial ratios between Krispy Kreme and its peers in the quick-service restaurant industry reveals a few key facts about the company’s financial state. Foremost is the relatively high liquidity index of the corporation as measured by both the quick and the current ratios. Compared to a respective mean of 0.80 and 1.17 for each aforementioned ratio, Krispy Kreme weighs in at 2.72 for the former and 3.25 for the latter – approximately three times the average. As these figures measure a firm’s ability to pay bills in the short term without stress, it may not be farfetched to suggest Krispy Kreme has liquefied many of its assets to satisfy the doubts of short-term creditors. This band-aid solution may be short-lived, however, since current assets and liabilities are never a dependable tool for forecasting. Exorbitant liquidity also suggests an ineffective use of cash and other short-term assets and a lack of borrowing power. The other noteworthy aspect of these industry ratios is the low level of turnover on both receivables and inventory. Krispy Kreme’s receivables turnover ratio of 9.70 is about four times smaller than the mean of 37.51 for most quick-service restaurants. This is possibly an indication of the firm’s inability to collect on its due bills. Inventory turnover for the corporation is at a ratio of 17.76 versus the industry mean of 64.70, also about four times less than standard. Low inventory turnover can signify a poor management of said inventory. Combined with poor cash management, this spells trouble for investors. Nevertheless, there is a redeeming factor for the corporation, although given the looming sale of several stores, it may not be one that lasts very long. The profitability ratios of Krispy Kreme are comparable to those within the industry, and a good set of such ratios is a reflection of how efficiently a firm uses its assets and how well it manages its operations. In order for Krispy Kreme to make good on these numbers, it will need to convince creditors of its long-term solvency and improve its turnover. At the end of fiscal year 2003, the financial health of Krispy Kreme is neither stellar nor abysmal. The company has several indications of future tribulations that it needs to sort out, but from a financial standpoint it is relatively in good standing and could be said to pass the litmus test of profitability. Some symptoms it needs to examine include its acutely high short-term solvency. Does the firm find itself liquefying at an excessive rate to satisfy short-term creditors? If so, the company needs to reduce the scale of its operations and cut costs until longer-term loans are able to be secured. At that point, it may be able to grow again without the burden of investor and media hype. Furthermore, the firm needs to apply pressure to its debtors and try to improve its receivable turnover ratio. In this way, Krispy Kreme may be able to raise more capital and manage its assets more effectively. Finally, with the increased scrutiny and speculation concerning the company’s financial reporting, it should seriously address these concerns and restore investor confidence before stock prices continued to decline. Stock Price Evaluation Given Krispy Kreme’s mixed financial health, what accounts for sharp decline in it’s share price? On May 27, 2004 Krispy Kreme announced poor results for the first time in its history as a public company. Earnings were down 10% due to the trend toward low carbohydrate diets, or at least as reported by the company . Krispy Kreme decided to divest Montana Mills for $40 million in stock and also planned to close three of its new Hot Doughnut and Coffee shops. The Wall Street Journal published a negative story on the accounting principles that Krispy Kreme used for franchise acquisitions. The company also had to pay Michigan franchise’s top executive $5 million as part of a severance package. On July 29th, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) launched an informal investigation on â€Å"franchise reacquisition’s and the company’s previously announced reduction in earnings guidance.† In September 2004, Krispy Kreme announced that it would reduce number of new stores from 120 to around 60. In the beginning of 2005, the company announced previously issued financial statements for fiscal year ended 2004 would be restated to correct certain errors. Krispy Kreme then delayed the filing of its financial reports until the SEC’s investigation had been resolved. Numerous problems, both salient and hidden, tarnished once-optimistic forecasts for Krispy Kreme, changing it from a solid company to a risk. Investors have now lost confidence and the share price has steadily dropped. Although the company’s actual financial health may have been more benign, public perception has been sullied nearly irreparably. Intrinsic Investment Value Barring incisive and insightful financial analysis, there must be a source of intrinsic investment value in the company which can be gleaned from financial statements. The perceived quality and expectations of the investors hass a strong influence on this innate value. If the investors feel that a company will be profitable the intrinsic value will likely increase and vice versa. Intrinsic value also has much to do with brand image, as in Krispy Kreme’s distinctive green and red vintage logo, it’s â€Å"Hot Doughnuts Now† neon sign and the perceived quality of the doughnuts. These accoutrements drive traffic and sales, two key indicators of a food service company’s health. Furthermore, the central Krispy Kreme retail concept, The Factory Store, is a prime contributor to intrinsic value. Krispy Kreme creation of â€Å"a doughnut theatre† illustrated by custom machinery and doughnut viewing areas is a significant point of distinction from its competitors by offering more than just a product but a complete experience. These subtle differences add to the Krispy Kreme mystique, which adds a level of perceived quality. Conclusion The brief history of Krispy Kreme since its IPO in 2000, reveals a company that has already seen its ups and downs. These undulations characterize the growth of many such firms. Several conclusions on the state of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts can be drawn from the Darden School case. First, Krispy Kreme is a company that is moderately healthy, but seems to be turning for the worse. Second, a time series profitability ratios suggest good health, but peer-to-peer current and quick ratios show a startling scramble to meet short-term obligations. Third, in an era of high-profile accounting scandals, clandestine reporting practices scare off investors, leading to Krispy Kreme’s decline in share price. Finally, Krispy Kreme may be able to trade on its brand equity to leverage poor financial practices.