Computational Intelligence Methods

ii) Describe the process that has been followed to implement a Multi-layer Perceptron for handwritten digit recognition as presented in the lecture (the code is included in the accompanying Jupyter Notebook ipynb file). Experiment by changing the network's architecture (number of neurons in hidden layer and number of hidden layers) and comment on how the accuracy of the network is affected by these changes.

Use a two country supply and demand diagram to illustrate how, starting from completely free trade, a tariff on wool blankets affects both the domestic and foreign markets for blankets. Label the important geometric areas in your diagram and explain how the tariff changes the consumer and producer surpluses in both countries as well as the well-being of other relevant groups.

In 2017, Congress enacted a bill that 1) reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and 2) allowed the immediate write-off of capital spending. 3) disallowed the expensing of interest paid on debt. Discuss at a high level, how each of these changes will likely affect your valuations. (e.g. stock price, P/E ratio, ROR, WACC).

A refrigerator using R-12 as the working fluid

keeps the refrigerated space at 2158C in an environment at

308C. You are asked to redesign this refrigerator by replacing

R-12 with the ozone-friendly R-134a. What changes in the

pressure levels would you suggest in the new system? How

do you think the COP of the new system will compare to the

COP of the old system?

• Explain the purpose of an enterprise system for a large company
• Describe three types of enterprise systems.
• What is customer lifetime value (CLV)?
• What are two challenges of legacy (old) systems?
• Why do companies migrate to enterprise systems?
• Explain the challenges of enterprise system implementation.
• Explain the three types of changes needed when an enterprise system is implemented.

Research has shown that several biases can have an effect on performance appraisals. Choose three of the bias effects described in your readings (e.g., similar-to-me, physical attractiveness, age, etc.), and describe how an a organization can make systemic changes (i.e., do not just suggest that individuals change their thinking) to avoid these bias effects in performance appraisals.

Conch Republic Electronics is a midsized electronics manufacturer located in Key West, Florida. The company president is Shelly Couts, who inherited the company. The company originally repaired radios and other household appliances when it was founded more than 70 years ago. Over the years, the company expanded, and it is now a reputable manufacturer of various specialty electronic items. Jay McCanless, a recent MBA graduate, has been hired by the company in its finance department. One of the major revenue-producing items manufactured by Conch Republic is a smartphone. Conch republic currently has one smartphone model on the market and sales have been excellent. The smartphone is a unique item in that it comes in a variety of tropical colors and is preprogrammed to play Jimmy Buffett music. However, as with any electronic item, technology changes rapidly, and the current smartphone has limited features in comparison with new models. Conch Republic spent $1.2 million to develop a prototype for a new smartphone that has all the features of the existing one but adds new features such as Wifi tethering. The company has spent a further $250,000 for a marketing study to determine the expected sales figures for the new smartphone. Conch Republic can manufacture the new smartphone for $210 each in variable costs. Fixed costs for the operation are estimated to run $5.3 million per year. The estimated sales volumes are 64,000, 106,000, 87,000, 78,000, and 54,000 per year for each of the next five years, respectively. The unit price of the new smartphone will be $515. The necessary equipment can be purchased for $38.5 million and will be depreciated on a seven-year MACRS schedule. It is believed the value of the equipment in five years will be $5.8 million. Net working capital for the smartphones will be 20 percent of sales and will occur with the timing of the cash flows for the year (i.e., there is no initial outlay for NWC). Changes in NWC thus will occur first in year 1 with the first year’s sales. Conch Republic has a 22 percent corporate tax rate and a required return of 12 percent. Shelly has asked Jay to prepare a report that answers the following questions:

6) what is the payback period of the project?

7) What is the profitability index of the project?

8) What is the IRR of the project?

9) What is the NPV of the project?

10) How sensitive is the NPV to changes in the price of the new smartphone?

11) How sensitive id the NPV to changes in the quantity sold?

12) Should Conch Republic produce the new smartphone?

Kaelea, Inc., has no debt outstanding and a total market value of $165,000. Earnings before interest and taxes, EBIT, are projected to be $9,900 if economic conditions are normal. If there is strong expansion in the economy, then EBIT will be 24 percent higher. If there is a recession, then EBIT will be 31 percent lower. The company is considering a $46,500 debt issue with an interest rate of 5 percent. The proceeds will be used to repurchase shares of stock. There are currently 5,500 shares outstanding. Assume the company has a market-to-book ratio of 1.0.
a. Calculate return on equity, ROE, under each of the three economic scenarios before any debt is issued, assuming no taxes. (Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answers as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)

b. Calculate the percentage changes in ROE when the economy expands or enters a recession, assuming no taxes. (A negative answer should be indicated by a minus sign. Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answers as a percent rounded to the nearest whole number, e.g., 32.)

Assume the firm goes through with the proposed recapitalization and no taxes.

c. Calculate return on equity, ROE, under each of the three economic scenarios after the recapitalization. (Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answers as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)

d. Calculate the percentage changes in ROE for economic expansion and recession. (A negative answer should be indicated by a minus sign. Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answers as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)

Assume the firm has a tax rate of 40 percent.

e. Calculate return on equity, ROE, under each of the three economic scenarios before any debt is issued. Also, calculate the percentage changes in ROE for economic expansion and recession. (A negative answer should be indicated by a minus sign. Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answers as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)
f. Calculate return on equity, ROE, under each of the three economic scenarios after the recapitalization. Also, calculate the percentage changes in ROE for economic expansion and recession, assuming the firm goes through with the proposed recapitalization. (A negative answer should be indicated by a minus sign. Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answers as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)

Scenario

You are the nurse working triage in the emergency department (ED). This afternoon a woman brings in her father, ALI, a 72-year-old who is a retired doctor. The daughter reports that over the past several months she has noticed her father has progressively had problems with his mental capacity. These changes have developed gradually but seem to be getting worse. At times he is alert, and at other times he seems disoriented, depressed, and tearful. He is forgetting things and doing things out of the ordinary, such as placing the milk in the cupboard and sugar in the refrigerator. He had difficulty finding objects in the kitchen and at times forgets where his room is.

This morning he thought it was nighttime and wondered what his daughter was doing at his house. He could not pour his coffee, and he seems to be getting more agitated. ALI reports that he has been having memory problems for the past year and at times has difficulty remembering the names of family members and friends.

A review of his past medical history (PMH) is significant for hypercholesterolemia and coronary artery disease (CAD). He had a myocardial infarction (MI) 5 years ago. ALI’s vital signs (VS) today are all within normal limits (WNL).

Case study discussion

Please answer the following questions.

1. Discuss three cognitive changes seen in several elderly patients?             

2. You know that age-related changes in the elderly may influence cognitive functioning. Name and discuss two.

3. You understand that other disorders may have presentations similar to dementia. Name one and discuss it

4. Discuss four patient behaviors you would associate with depression.

5. What patients’ behavior would you associate with delirium? Discuss three.

6. What are the behaviors associated with dementia? Identify three.

7. You know that there are four main types of dementia that result in cognitive changes. List two types.

8. How can the level or degree of the dementia impairment be determined?

9. How do you manage a patient who is showing some signs of agitation and aggression? Discuss two skills.

10. Discuss four nursing interventions for patients who are experiencing disturbed thought processes, impaired memory, and disturbed sensory perceptions.