If fine glass needles are used to manipulate a chromosome inside a living cell during early M phase, it is possible to trick the kinetochores on the two sister chromatids into attaching to the same spindle pole. This arrangement is normally unstable, but the attachments can be stabilized if the needle is used to gently pull the chromosomes so that the mictotubules attached to both kinetochores (via the same spindle pole) are under tension. What does this suggest to you about the mechanism by which kinetochores normally become attached and stay atached to microtubules from opposite spindle poles? Is this finding consistent with the possibility that a kentochore is programmed to attach to mictotubules from a particular spindle pole? Explain your answer.

In early 2012, the spot exchange rate between the Swiss Franc and U.S. dollar was 1.0404 ($ per franc). Interest rates in the U.S. and Switzerland were 0.25% and 0% per annum, respectively, with continuous compounding. The three-month forward exchange rate was1.0300 ($ per franc). What arbitrage strategy was possible? How does your answer change if the exchange rate is 1.0500 ($ per franc).

When early stage startups look for funding (choose all that apply):

a. They tend to issue preferred stock to founders and employees, and common stock to investors.

b. Angels and VCs often provide better funding opportunities than crowdfunding.

c. Friends and family are often the first stop, because they believe in the founders

d. Some banks may provide secured loans and/or venture debt

e. Grant funding can create problems on the cap table through high dilution.

The Enron failure and bankruptcy in early 2001 has become a symbol of corporate unethical behavior. It also cast a very dark shadow over the accounting industry, since Arthur Andersen, the largest accounting firm in the world at the time, was the company's auditing firm. Arthur Andersen was implicated in the illegal activities being carried on by Enron, since they failed to disclose accounting irregularities to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Since ethical behavior is one of the foundations of the accounting industry, I believe that it is important for students to understand what happened and why it happened in the Enron case.

A movie was directed by Alex Gibney called “Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room.” It chronicles the rise and fall of Enron, who was responsible for it, and the shock waves that were sent throughout the world when the company collapsed. A DVD of the movie is available through the PCC library and in various places on the Internet (do a Google search on the movie title) and I would like all of you to see it and report on what you learn from it. Please focus on the impact of the case as it relates to the accounting industry, your feelings about the important topic of business ethics, and what has happened to the industry as a result of the Enron debacle. What was the effect of the Enron scandal upon the accounting industry? What was the effect of the scandal upon business in general? What were your impressions of the movie and the scandal?

Your paper should be between 500 and 1,000 words in length. Please cite any references you use. The paper should be submitted using good writing standards.

Judy Dench took up the government offer on the “Special Early Retirement Programme” and received a lump sum payment of J$3.5M. After clearing her mortgage and credit card debts she has J$1.5M remaining. She saw an advertisement recently in the local newspaper where JMMB was offering three investments offer to the public as follow:

If Judy wants to invest only J$1,000,000; which one of the investment products based on calculations would you recommend her to invest in?                                                       

B. John Travolta plans on investing the following cash flows at the beginning of each year:

            Year                Cash Flow

            2019                $30 000

            2020                $40 000

            2021                $60 000

            2022                $90 000          

            2023                $20 000

How much would John accumulate at the end of 2023 if the interest rate is compounded annually at an interest rate of 9.8%?

In the early 20th century, the French Canadian microbiologist Félix d’Hérelle used a virus called a bacteriophage (“phage”) to successfully treat some diseases caused by bacteria, such as dysentery and cholera. Subsequent experiments with “phage therapy” yielded mixed results; however, and enthusiasm quickly waned—especially once antibiotics became available in the 1940s. The therapy is not currently approved in the United States.

Phage therapy involves obtaining a pure culture of a disease-causing bacterium and exposing samples of the culture to different phages to see which ones kill the bacterium. The successful phage is then administered to a patient. For skin infections, the phage is applied directly to the infected area. For systemic diseases, the phage may be given orally or delivered intravenously.

Imagine you are part of a hospital medical team conveyed to treat Jerry, a 71-year-old diabetic patient, who has been suffering from a persistent infection on his foot. His doctor has tried multiple topical antibiotics, but the infection continues to worsen, so the doctor admitted him to your hospital for a new intravenous antibiotic treatment. To Jerry’s relief, the infection cleared up; however, two weeks later, the infection returned—worse than ever. Jerry’s doctor explains that the bacterium causing the infection is a multidrug resistant strain and that Jerry’s foot will need to be amputated.

Jerry’s sister, a nurse, mentions that she studied bacteriophages and asks the doctor whether phage therapy is a treatment option.

As a member of Jerry’s medical team, answer these questions:

• How would you respond to Jerry’s sister?

• Which type of phage would be used for phage therapy: a lytic or a lysogenic phage?

• What are the drawbacks of phage therapy? What are the advantages?

A Business Dilemma

Subway, the fast food restaurant franchise, announced in early 2018 it planned to bring back the “$5 Footlong” promotion. Hundreds of Subway franchise owners protested the promotion saying that they cannot afford to sell the footlong sub sandwiches for $5. You'll want to review the Subway webpage featured in the Chapter 8 module.

Assume that the costs related to a Subway footlong and a Subway franchise include the following

Question #1:  Bob owns a subway franchise and he is furious at the thought of offering $5.00 footlongs. His comment was “they cost us $5.41 each so we will be upside down on each sub sold. I’ll lose my shirt!”. Do you agree or disagree with Bob that this idea should be immediately rejected without any further analysis? If you don’t agree with Bob, why do you think further analysis is required?  

Question #2: What are the relevant and irrelevant costs in this pricing decision? (hint: there are 6 relevant costs)

Question #3: Can you think of any other reasons/factors besides the costs listed above that might be relevant to the pricing decision to offer the $5.00 footlongs? Use your imagination.

Ricardo is aware that he should save as much as possible early in his career while his personal responsibilities are minimal. Therefore he has adopted an aggressive savings plan – put aside $1,500 in his TFSA at the beginning of each month for a year. (He has never contributed to a TFSA and has sufficient contribution room.) Ricardo’s savings are expected to earn 2% per annum, compounded semi-annually and he will make his first contribution 6 months from today. How much will he have in his TFSA in 2 years’ time if no further contributions are made?

Hi,

Working through a chapter on sampling distributions and getting stuck very early on something that must be so simple the book didn't see fit to explain properly.

Example: In a certain population 30% of people are of blood type A. A random sample of size 5 is drawn. Therefore the population proportion with type A is p = 0.3.
The possible values of pˆ are 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.

Why are these the possible values of p^? The numbers given create 5 intervals - is it because we have a sample of 5? If the sample was 10, would the possible values changed? It makes sense to me that they would, but my book doesn't go this way, the next paragraph shows that P(0.2 ≤ pˆ ≤ 0.4) increases as the sample size increases so it seems that the 'possible values' haven't moved.

Could anybody explain to me what is the story with the 'possible values' pf p^ here?

Thanks a lot