Developing Yourself as an Effective Human Resources or Learning and Development Practitioner Essay

Today’s human resources department are in each and every company, one of the important aspect for human resources is to develop an emphasis and educate their human capital, in order for more efficiency and effectiveness for the company. The Charted Institute Personal Development â€Å"CIPD† covers the implication of profession map which assists for better results in companies. The profession map captures the knowledge and behaviors that human resources need to improves and sustain the value for the organization to meet its requirements, the professional map is divided into three segment where each segment defines. First segment Profession areas: contains ten activities that human resources apply for the employee to gain knowledge. Performance and reward: Assist in create and sustain a high achieving organization culture environment by carrying programs that prize and recognize the productivity and capabilities of the employee. Through motivation, employee enhances their skills and performances and experience to receive a reward for an outstanding performance. For example; American Express Company, any agent who meet the quality of the call center and deliver the message in a professional way, by having high quality and quantity calls, the agent will be recognized and rewarded for this outstanding performance. Another example; in Ithamar Bank any employee who has a creative and innovative idea will get rewarded, this is an appreciation from the bank to encourage the behavior of brainstorming, which might lead the company to huge success. Learning and development: Learning and development is a subdivision of human resources department, which objects to develop and to educate group and individual performance by increasing and enhancing knowledge and skills. For example; Direct English institution provided me for a course in human resources course â€Å"CIPD† in order to have improved effect company by applying the benefited knowledge from the course. Developing the human capital to have a better outcome performance and experience and knowledge helps the company to have improved outcome. Learning and development is part of an organization’s management strategy which is designed to align with the organization’s general vision and goals. Organization design: confirms the company’s structure design is according to company’s goals for both the long run and for the short. Organization development: ensures that human resources applies its strength and improving its weakness to develop the organization by changing its activities through align strategies with the company’s objective. Resourcing and talent planning: ensure that the human resources the use its assets in useful and efficient and productive approach for achieving company’s objective. Employee engagement: ensures that to improve the communication skills in the work environment for greater productivity and greater contribution toward the company’s objective through leadership Employee relations: enhance the relationship between the employees and manage it through the company’s structure through policies and code of conduct and rules and by relevant law. Service delivery and information: Ensures the quality and informatio n of the customer through human resources by applying project management to enable effective and cost-efficient service delivery throughout the company. Learning and managing human resources function: Ensures that the leadership is to hence the maximizing the contribution by supporting and developing others, by acting as a role model in the organization. Strategy insight and solutions: develop a strategy that aligns with the company’s vision by improving the understanding of the organization. Second segment behaviors: The Profession Map Behaviors define the capabilities for human resources profession. Human resources need to carry and achieve related role to reach the level of professionalism, the role requires specific competencies to be proven at each band level throughout the human resources path. Courage to challenge: Shows courage and confidence to speak up skillfully and to challenge others, even when challenged with resistance or unfamiliar circumstances. For example; you have to prepare a presentation for an important meeting for the first time, the person needs to overcome this challenge and break their fear of a failure, by putting the trust in their self for this accomplishment. Role model: Regularly leads by example. Acts with honesty, A role model is a person other individuals look up to in order to help define appropriate behaviors. Role models can be either positive or negative. For example, positive role models offer a variety of supportive or valuable behaviors and actions. On the other hand, the negative role models offer examples of injurious or troublesome failure behaviors and actions. Curious: Future concentration, create an evolving and innovative ways to add value to the organization. Decisive thinker: Establishes the ability to investigate and understand data and information. Using knowledge and information in a structured way to recognize opportunities. Skilled influencer: Reveals the ability to inspire and to gain the necessary commitment and support from the organization. Personally credible: create professionalism through joining commercial and human resources expertise to add value to the organization. Collaborative: Works effectively and inclusively with a variety of employees, both within and outside of the organization. Driven to deliver: Establishes determination, creativity, and persistence to carry the finest outcome for the organization and its people.Third segment bands: The four bands of professional competencies define, the contribution that human resources professionals mark at every stage of their profession. It aids to give a clear path and em phasis to all human resource professionals progress planning and behaviors. At Band 1: the role would be a human resource consultant, whose role would be to focus on consumer support and direct and ongoing problems, spend time providing information, handling data and serve the consumer with facts and evidence and peace of mind. They must also be well-organized, flexible and give client satisfaction. Band 2: the role would a human resource advisor who counsels and manages human resource related matters and linking to the individual or a team. Human resource advisor has an understanding of the estimated process and solutions available. Assists the consumer with flexible selections and recommendations and allow frequent business. Band 3. Leads a professional range acting as an advisor or partner, reports the key human resource challenges at an organizational level for the average and long-term. Band 4. Leads and accomplishes professional areas in the organization. Responsible for devel oping and carrying organizational and human resource strategy.Activity 2 2.1 In order to priorities the conflicts within the company and to manage the customer’s priority, each matter needs to be adjusted to either imported or urgent. Upon this, a decision can be made whichever is important or urgent, and the matrix describes it into four categories, 1. Important and Urgent: There are two different types of urgent and important activities: ones that you could not have expected and others that you have left until the last minute. 2. Important but Not Urgent: These are the activities that support you to achieve your personal and professional goals for the long run and complete important work. 3. Not Important but Urgent: Urgent but not important tasks are things that prevent you from accomplishing your goals always try to reschedule or delegate them. 4. Not Important and Not Urgent: These activities are just a disruption, avoid them if possible. An external customer is someone who consumes your business’s products but is not part of your company. For example, an external customer is an individual who enters your store and buys merchandise or service. An internal customer is any member of your company who trusts on support from another to their job responsibilities, for example; sales representative who needs help from a customer service representative to complete an order. Another example for an internal customer; a customer calls on the call center to ask about his credit balance, the customer service agent calls the credit department to assist him to pass on the information to the end customer. And lastly, we have end users customer, business to business; which is a business that emphasis on marketing and selling products and services to other companies; for example in our direct English institution, we have other institutions that request to purchase our particular education course. Dealing with different customers the organization must priorities for each, which mainly depends on its importance and its urgency for each situation and condition. 2.2 Effective communication is important to the company and it can be improved in many ways. In truth, communication act as a role in product development and customer relations also employee management and almost every aspect of a business’ operations process. Employees are a key audience because they often serve as the conduit to other audiences. If employees are knowledgeable, communications with other communities are likely to be strong as well. Effective structural communication will create a strong communication and the teamwork for employees to achieve company goals. There are mainly three types of communication, Verbal Communication which can be through a telephone or internet Skype, which is only through a voice channel, and Nonverbal Communication like emails, fax, SMS, test and lastly we have, Visual Communication which is mainly faced to face or meetings. Each has its own advantages and disadvantage for example; Verbal Communication you can communicate with a large numb er of customers in short time, on the other hand, customer won’t be able to fully understand everything as the visual communication, and for Nonverbal Communication for example; customer has a reminder and a proof of the text which is reliable, on the other hand, some messages might be sent incorrectly and cause a large damage, Visual Communication is what customers prefer as so that they can express their emotions in better way, the disadvantage that this process takes lots of time to deal with each customer. 2.3 Effective service delivery, There are several overall points to think about when managing and planning the delivery of your services and products to be measured. There are also some particular aspects and methods that you may find helpful if you have limited time or resources. Within the framework of planning the business some aspects should be considered in order to improve the quality and the trust relationship with the community: Delivering service on time Time is limited. You cannot buy more time, but there are several things you can do to manage your time more efficiently. Plans rarely show up to be accomplished in the best way, and even the finest managers have to deal with unpredictable matters like suppliers not delivering on time, one of the employee members getting ill or trains are being delayed, equipment breaks, etc. Nevertheless, if you plan sufficiently you are more likely to deliver on time. When business starts deliver on time the business will start to be trusted and dependable, and this will attract lots of customers due to its timely delivery quality. Delivery service on a budget Planning a strategy based on a budget will enable you to identify the resources needed accurately before you start a project. Try to mark the things that may cost additional money. You should also make sure you are not forgetting anything that could end up costing you additional cost. Some practical preparation tools can be used to assist you to approximate how much resources will be needed at each stage of the process and how much will it cost and how long will it take. By then the business will start to reduce cost and be more efficient and effective in dealing the on a budget. Dealing with difficult customers First of all the one who deals with the customer needs to adjust his mindset once he/she is aware that the client is unhappy then the first priority is to have a customer service mindset. Secondly listen actively which is the most important phase of the whole dealing process is listening actively to what your client or customer is saying. Repeat the customer’s concerns to make sure that addressing the right issue, ask questions to make sure that you’ve identified the problem correctly. These matters should be considered when dealing with difficult customers, and it helps to solve future problems. Handling and resolving complaints Be Empathic and Apologize for example; â€Å"I understand why you’re upset. I would be too. I’m very sorry that we didn’t get the samples to you on time, especially since it’s caused these problems. And then to find or suggest the solution to his problem, if the suggested solution didn’t please the customer try to hear his perspective suggestion for the solution. Once you have both decided on a solution, you need to take action straight away. Explain every process to fix the problem to your customer Take Action and Follow-up to show your customer that you care. And lastly, use the Feedback from the complaints to decrease the risk of the condition happening again. References BIBLIOGRAPHY Eisenhower. (August 19, 1954). Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle. Address at the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Evanston, Illinois: The American Presidency Project. Steven Edwards, K. J. (n.d.). Turning a Challenge into an Opportunity. Retrieved from www.mindtools.com: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/unhappy-customers.htm

Defective Good in Law

INTRODUCTION WHAT ARE GOODS Goods have been defined in the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 as every kind of moveable property other than actionable claims and money; and include stock and shares, growing crops, grass, and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 lays down that defect means any fault, imperfection or shortcoming in the quality, quantity, potency, purity or standard which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force under any contract, express or implied or as is claimed by the trader in any manner whatsoever in relation to any goods. An average Indian consumer is noted for his patience and tolerance. Perhaps because of these two traditional traits and due to the influence of the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita, he considers the receipt of defective goods and services as an act of fate or unfavourable planetary position in his horoscope. When a new television or refrigerator purchased by him turns out to be defective from day one, he takes it reticently, blaming it on his fate or as the consequence of the wrongs committed by him in his previous birth. Very often he is exploited, put to avoidable inconveniences and suffers financial loss. It is rather paradoxical that the customer is advertised as the â€Å"king† by the seller and service provider, but in actual practice treated as a slave or servant. Goods are purchased by him along with the label â€Å"Items once sold by us will never be received back under any circumstances whatsoever. WHAT ARE DEFECTIVE GOODS A product is in a defective condition, unreasonably dangerous to the user, when it has a propensity or tendency for causing physical harm beyond that which would be contemplated by the ordinary user, having ordinary knowledge of the product's characteristics commonly known to the foreseeable class of persons who would normally use the product. With regard to the issue of ‘legal cause,' a defective condition is a legal cause of injury if it directly and in natural and continuous sequence produces or contributes substantially to producing such injury, so that it can reasonably be said hat, except for the defective condition, the injury complained of would not have occurred. A defective condition may be a legal cause of damage even though it operates in combination with the act of another, some natural cause, or some other cause if such other cause occurs at the same time as the defective condition and if the defective condition contributes substantially to producing such damage. Thus, in cases involving allegedly defective, unreasonably dangerous products, the manufacturer may be liable even though you may find that it exercised all reasonable care in the design, manufacture and sale of the product in question. On the other hand, any failure of a manufacturer of a product to adopt the most modern, or even a better safeguard, does not make the manufacturer legally liable to a person injured by that product. The manufacturer is not a guarantor that nobody will get hurt in using its product, and a product is not defective or unreasonably dangerous merely because it is possible to be injured while using it. There is no duty upon the manufacturer to produce a product that is ‘accident-proof. ‘ What the manufacturer is required to do is to make a product which is free from defective and unreasonably dangerous conditions. Any consumer who receives any defective goods can make a complaint. A consumer cannot make a complaint if the defective item. CASE STUDY: Mahender purchased one Britannia Good Day Biscuit packet and one Little Hearts biscuit packet at a ration shop. M/s Sri Raja Rajeshwari General & Stainless Steel Shop for Rs. 17/- and got the receipt for the same. He took the biscuit packet to his house and handed over the Little Hearts Biscuit packet to his younger son aged about seven years. After sometime his son started weeping. On questioning him he said that the biscuit packet had no biscuits in it. Then Mahender himself checked and found that the sealed packets did not contain any biscuit. He filed a complaint in the District Forum. The manufacturer did nothing and denied the supply of the biscuit packets without biscuits but filled with air. Mahindra claimed damages and compensation of Rs. 60,000/- on the ground that his son kept weeping for the whole night after seeing the empty biscuit packet. Further, the manufacturer, Britannia Company alleged that Mahindra colluded with the retail owner and filed the complaint to extract money. Instead of accepting that some random defective pack came into the market and solve a simple matter like this, the manufacturer Britannia Company made false allegations that it was a concocted story. The District Forum held that it is an unfair trade practice to supply empty packs without biscuits. It directed them to pay Rs. 2,000/- as compensation and Rs. 500/- as costs of complaint to be paid within one month. ? DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS Defective products may cause injuries even serious injuries to an individual. In fact, it is the cause of thousands of injuries every year. This may be due to the manufacturers or to the corporations who design and sell the products but do not consider the well-being of the consumers. These manufacturers are more of profit than safety of the products. Thus, it put buyers to risk and danger. When you are injured or harm in any way by a faulty product, you should seek a defective product injury lawyers who could help you to make the negligent party liable for producing unsafe products. These are the products that consumers buy which usually has defects: Brakes Tires Airbags Restraint system such as seat belts Firearms Farm equipment Helmet Prosthetics Pharmaceuticals Products and Strict Liability Product Liability law in India LIABILITY FOR MANUFACTURING OR DISTRIBUTING A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT IN INDIA In India, Product liability law, also called â€Å"products liability†, governs the liability of manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and vendors for injury to a person or property caused by dangerous or defective products. The goal of product liability laws is to help protect consumers from dangerous or defective products, while holding manufacturers, distributors, and retailers responsible for putting into the market place products that they knew or should have known were dangerous or defective. Under the law, a victim has three grounds on which a defective product claim may be based and liability of the manufacturer may be established in the case: 1. Marketing defects – it is very important that a product includes warnings. Warnings should tell consumers about the dangers of the product, including instructions on how to use it. Marketing defect are those products without warnings or with improper warnings about the products possible threats. 2. Manufacturing Defects- these include defects that occurred when manufacturing the product or during the process of making it. . Design defects- a flaw or defect to the product that were not detected during the design process. This defect is inherent and exists even before the product is made. Meanwhile, strict liability does not rely on the level of carefulness. It is not important whether the manufacturer exercise great care. As long as the product they produced or sold is defective and caused harm to a person, they will be h eld automatically liable. Also, strict liability allows a person who was injured by a defective product, to obtain compensation from the manufacturer or seller of the product. Even if the other party is negligent, you can still get remuneration for damages. This is because manufacturer, seller or retailer has a responsibility for any product they produce. Civil Product liability in India is, essentially, governed by: a) The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 b) The Sales of Goods Act, 1930 c) The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (hereinafter referred to as the â€Å"MRTP Act†) d) The law of Torts. e) special statues pertaining to specific goods. CASE STUDY: In a Pair, one Shoe is longer than the other Anand Raj had purchased a pair of shoes from M/s. Metro Shoes Ltd. for Rs. 2,190/-. After one day’s use he was shocked to find that the shoes were defective as one of them was longer than the other. He rushed to the shop for an exchange. That was denied to him, but they offered to rectify the defect. M/s Metro Shoes Ltd. tried to rectify the same but Anand Raj found it uncomfortable to wear even after repairs. Complaint was filed in the District Forum. Metro Shoes denied their liability and argued that the cash memo given to the purchaser reads as ‘Exchange within 15 days for unused pair with price tag intact’. It was not that the shoes were used extensively as they were brought to the shop immediately. During the proceedings in the District forum, Metro Shoes Limited agreed to replace the said pair of shoes but all the same Anand Raj was put to inconvenience and forced to take matter to a consumer forum. The District Forum held Metro Shoes Ltd. deficient in service for selling a defective product and directed them to pay Rs. 2,190/- after receiving the said pair of shoes from Anand Raj along with a compensation of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 as costs. Anand Raj. B. v. M/s Metro Shoes Ltd. , C. C. No. 261 of 2008, decided on 9-6-2008. What are the reliefs available to consumers? Consumer courts may grant one or more of the following reliefs:- A) Repair of defective goods. B) Replacement of defective goods. C) Refund of price paid for the defective goods or service. D) Removal of deficiency in service. E) Refund of extra money charge. F) Withdrawal of goods hazardous to life and safety. G) Compensation for the loss or injury suffered by the consumer due to negligence of the opposite party. H) Adequate cost of filing and pursuing the complaint. I) Grant of punitive damages. What Is The Legislation That Ensures All These Rights? It is the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The act seeks to promote and protects the interest of consumers against deficiencies and defects in goods or services. It also seeks to secure the rights of a consumer against unfair or restrictive trade practices, which may be practiced by manufacturers and traders. There are various levels of ad judicatory authorities that are set up under the Act, which provide a forum for consumers to seek redressal of their grievances in an effective and simple manner. When can I approach a consumer court? You can approach the consumer guidance society and consumer court if the goods you have purchased have any defect in quality quantity, purity or standard. You may also do so if the service you have paid for has any fault, shortcoming or inadequacy. In the quality, nature and manner of performance. The list of services is long, including the nature of transport, telephones, electricity construction, banking, insurance, medical treatment, etc. By and large, services of Professionals such as doctors, engineers, architects, lawyers, etc come under the purview of consumer courts. What happens if I have bought the goods on installments? Even if you have partly paid for an item or service or under any method of deferred payment you can file a complaint if it is defective or deficient. Can I file a complaint in case the good is purchased for a commercial purpose? No. If the purchase of goods (or service) is for commercial or resale purpose, you cannot file a complaint in the consumer courts. You have to approach the civil court. There is an exception though. If you are a self-employed person and the product (or service) is exclusively for the purpose of earning your livelihood, you may approach the consumer court. Is there a time limit to filing a complaint? Yes. The complaint is to be filed within two years from the date on which cause of action has arisen unless it can be proved that there was a good enough reason for filing a complaint after the lapse of two years. CASE STUDY Imported Magnetic Bed – Defective and Ineffective Lakshmana Reddy purchased a magnetic bed for Rs. 1,48,500/- from the Frontier Trading. This was an imported bed from Japan, which was called ‘Japan Life Total Sleeping System’. It was supposed to help in ailments including polio, paralysis etc. Literature regarding this magnetic bed and leaflets were shown to Lakshmana Reddy by their agents who pursued him continuously for purchasing it. Lakshmana Reddy was a polio-paralytic patient and after taking intensive medical treatment and physiotherapy exercises he completely recovered with regard to his right leg and to some extent with regard to his left leg within a period of two years and started walking by using caliper on his left leg and with the help of hand stick. In 2000, he purchased the Japan Life Sleeping System. He did not get any relief; in fact, he started having giddiness. It did not make any improvement in the left lower limb muscle and the experts informed him that it was unlikely to improve in future. He had no improvement in his health after purchasing and using the magnetic bed. Case was registered against the agent in the police station and the Commissioner of police also inquired about cheating by the agents. It was also published in the newspapers that this agent has been cheating not only Lakshmana Reddy but many others. The District Forum held that it was deficiency in service on the part of the agent and the rest and made them jointly and severally liable to pay a sum of Rs. ,48,500/- along with interest at 12% p. a. from 01. 04. 2000 till the date of payment with compensation of Rs. 10,000/- and Rs. 1,000/- as costs. WHO CAN FILE A COMPLAINT? †¢A consumer †¢Any voluntary consumer organization registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or under the Companies Act, 1956 or under any other law for the time being in force â € ¢The Central Government †¢The State Government or Union Territory Administrations †¢One or more consumers on behalf of numerous consumers, having the same interest (Class action complaints) WHERE TO FILE A COMPLAIN: If the cost of goods or services and compensation asked for is up to Rs five laky, then the complaint can be filed in the District Forum located at Pushpa Heights, Pune Satara Highway, Bhiwandi corner. †¢If the cost of goods or services and compensation asked for is more than Rs five lakh , but less than Rs 20 lakh then the complaint can be filed before the State Commission notified by the State Government or Union Territory concerned †¢If the cost of goods or services and compensation asked for exceeds Rs 20 lakh then the complaint can be filed before the National Commission at New Delhi. FILING PROCEDURE PROCEDURE FOR FILING COMPLAINT: A complaint can be filed by a complainant against the seller, manufacturer, or dealer of goods which are defective or against the provider of services, if they are deficient in any manner whatsoever. An unfair trade practice or restrictive trade practice can also invite complaint. A complaint can be a:- (a) Consumer to whom such goods are sold or delivered or agreed to be sold or delivered or such service provided or agreed to be provided; (b) A firm registered or unregistered (c) An individual (d) Hindu Undivided Family. e) A cooperative society or any other association of persons (f) The Central or the State Government; and (g) in case of death of a consumer his legal heirs of representatives Along with the complaint, the complainant is required to file copies of supporting documents, i. e. , cash memo, receipts, agreements, etc. The complainant is required to file 3 copies of the complaint, together with enclosures, for official pur pose plus copies for the number of Opposite Parties. The complaint should be filed along with fee in the form of Postal Order/ Demand Draft according to the amount of compensation claimed. JURISDICTION FOR FILING COMPLAINTS In terms of the provisions contained in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, complaints:- 1. Where the value of goods or services and compensation, if any, claimed below Rs. Twenty Lacs or upto Rs. Twenty Lacs, can be filed before State Commission. 1. Where the value of goods or services and compensation, if any, claimed exceeds Rs. Twenty Lacs but does not exceed Rs. One crore, can be filed before State Commission. The complaints can be filed at the Filing Counter of the State Commission on every working day from 10. 30 a. m. to 1. 30 p. m.

Indira Gandhi Negative Positive

negative Indira Gandhi  was the most corrupt politicians of all time . Her politics was so ugly that to remain in power and stay as uncrowned queen of India she imposed emergency in 1977 . She made extreme laws such as forcible vasectomy of men ( unmarried young men included ) to control  population of India  . She was an awful leader and one of the biggest criminal of all times . She ate away India financially and also caused a lot of mayhem . When Sikhs opposed her regime ( in worlds largest democracy ) , she turned against Sikhs .She attacked  Golden temple  on 6th june , 1984 , codenamed as â€Å"operation bluestar † , nonetheless to say that all so called sikh extremists were created due to effects of her evil regime . She was given her due punishment on 31st october , 1984 for attacking Golden temple . Because golden temple is just as important to Sikhs as Kabba , mecca is to muslims or vatican city is to christians positive The charismatic and epoch-making per sonality of  Indira  Gandhi  left her imprint not only in the affairs of her own country but also in international affairs.She belonged to that noble galaxy of great  leaders  who wielded extraordinary power. Indira  Gandhi  was  an Indian to the core but at the same time her vision went far beyond her own nation and embraced the entire human race. By virtue of being the Prime Minister of India, the largest democracy in the world, shewas  able to make a significant contribution to the practice of inter-national relations. She enjoyed well-deserved prestige and profound respect on the international scene. An attempt is being made here to highlight her role as an international  leader.Indira  Gandhi  was  introduced to international affairs at an early age. As the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru she  was  born and brought up in a family and environment where national and international politics were discussed all the time. Her illustrious father had taken car e to educate her daughter about all aspects national and international politics. This  was  amply demonstra-ted in Nehru’s letters to her daughter from prison which were later on published in a book form. In all these letters world history and politics have been discussed extensively.Besides, during the Prime Ministership of Nehru,  Indira  Gandhiserved as the official hostess to heads of states and governments at the Teen Murti House. She also accompanied her father in most of his foreign tours. As a result of all this she became quite familiar with international affairs. So after becoming the Prime Minister of India she hardly faced any problem in understanding foreign policy and  was  able to achieve success in this sphere within no time. Indira  Gandhi  inherited Nehru’s mantle and  was  credited with carrying out the Nehru legacy in foreign affairs.Following Nehru’s traditions, she championed the cause of international peace, disarmament , anti-colonialism and anti-racialism. She used the platforms of the Commonwealth, NAM and UN effectively. She not only preserved the rich heritage of Nehru but made her own contribution. She took certain decisions keeping in view the prevalent circumstances that resulted in raising the stature of India at the international level. Under her dynamic stewardship India’s voice  was  heard with respect in various international oranisations and forums.Indira  Gandhi  had no articulated world vision but had learned from her great father to identify India’s national interest with independent decision-making in international affairs, economic development at home and the exclusion of India and its neighbourhood in Southern Asia from either of superpower’s sphere of influence. Her policies were pragmatic, her dealings with foreign  leaders  unsentimental. Her pride, her sensitivity to equal treatment, her political skills in overcoming adversity—all hel ped to keep her government from succumbing to American or Soviet pressures on specific issues.She had a clear-cut perception of India’s strategic and national interests. She knew that in international relations power counted more than personal influence and that the strategic interests of a nation were far more important than moral principles. She followed pragmatic policies and her relations with the  leaders  of superpowers were based upon cold calculations. When  Indira  Gandhi  came to the helm of affairs, that  was  a bi-polar world. One bloc  was  led by the US and other headed by the Soviet Union. The Cold War  wasat its height.The nuclear race  was  on. Some relics of colonialism and imperialism were still there. Racialism  was  prevalent in some parts. World peacewas  under a grave threat. In the circumstances  Indira  Gandhi  followed the policy of non-alignment as laid down by Nehru. Very soon the international community recognis ed her as a  leader  who  was  committed to freedom and peace. Her role in the non-aligned moment  was  duly recognised at the Seventh Conference NAM when she  was  elected its chairperson in 1983 at New Delhi. This Conference  was  a historic one.The resolutions passed at the Conference reflected  Indira  Gandhi’s statesmanship and far-sightedness. Her most important contribution in the realm of world peace  was  the shaping of the NAM. Her able  leadership  provided a smooth sailing for the Conference. It also led to a better understanding of the common problems of freedom, peace and social justice for the people of the Third World. It  was  through this Conference that she made a major chunk of humanity feel important in the UN. Here she played a more dynamic role as a  leader  of mankind in the international arena.Her performance as the NAM Chairperson  was  superb and balanced, and it commanded respect not only of member-states but also of the superpowers. Her faith in the UN as the arbiter of inter-state conflicts and the most important centre for harmonising the actions of nations can’t be questioned. For, as she herself said, firm faith in the UN is central to the NAM. The aim is the same: to maintain peace by removing the sources of tension and to bring out the humanity in human beings. Indira  Gandhi  symbolised the Third World’s regeneration.Under her  leadership, Indian foreign policy matured from the conscious assertion of the rights and aspirations of newly free nations to a keen awareness on their part of their own responsibility in the global context. By refusing to sign the NPT she gained political credit for upholding India’s independence and for taking a principled stand against a discriminatory treaty. With  Indira  Gandhi  at the helm, India re-emerged in the South Asian strategic stage and her India recorded its ability and willingness to grasp the opportu nities of power politics in a regional context.She made a mark in the world as an unrivalled  leader  and a champion of the Third World. INDIRA  GANDHI  not only influenced history but also made history. With her extraordinary skills she balanced the superpowers against one another. 1971was  Indira  Gandhi’s finest hour in foreign and security affairs. Her skill lay in her intuitive grasp of the opportunity which the Pakistani rulers provided to change the geopolitics of East Pakistan. The Bangladesh situation gave her the opportunity to emerge as a military strategist and a diplomat par excellence on the regional and the world stage.With the clear and decisive victory India andIndira  were established as a major power and force in the world. Indira  Gandhibecame the international  leader. Her decisions and timings were applauded and hailed as perfect. As Henry Kissinger admits in his memoirs,  Indira  Gandhioutclassed and outmanoeuvred Nixon and Kissing er. It  was  a giant leap in international stature. The year 1971 represented the peak of her political career. She tackled Nixon on equal terms. Even her bitter critics were forced to admire her guts. For instance,  Leader  of the Opposition in Indian Parliament A. B. Vajpayee called her Durga.Another Opposition  leader  declared in Parliament: â€Å"Madam, you have created not only history but a new geography as well. † After the war  Indira  Gandhi  acted with great magnanimity at the Shimla Conference. She put India on the international scientific map by exploding the country’s first underground nuclear device at Pokhran in 1974. This signalled India’s nuclear potential and its unwillingness to abide by the nuclear rules of the superpowers. One of the important features of  Indira  Gandhi’s foreign policy  was  the close ties with the Arab world. It  was  during the Nehru period that the foundations of a sound and viable Arab policy were laid.The  Indira  Gandhi  era witnessed an allround development of Indo-Arab relations. Indira  Gandhi  always evinced keen interest in the affairs of the Arab world. Under her  leadership  India felt emotionally and morally committed to the national aspirations of the Arabs to gain a rightful place in the comity of nations. She always showed an abiding concern for Palestine which forms the crux of West Asian problem. Consequently, in the UN and in its various forums as well as in different Afro-Asian and Non-Aligned Conferences  Indira’s India supported the Arab stand on the Palestine issue.On her return to power in 1980  Indira  Gandhi  dumped the Janata Government’s pro-Israel policy into the dustbin and reverted back to the Nehruvian policy. She invited PLO  leader  Yasser Arafat to New Delhi and established formal diplomatic relations despite stiff opposition and strong pressures. She  was  called Gamal Nasser’ s niece, King Faisal’s daughter and Yasser Arafat’s sister in the Arab world. She  was  immensely popular among the Arab people who called her Alsayyida  Indira  Gandhi. Indira  Gandhi  reflected the restless spirit of mankind desiring to establish a world order free from human sufferings.She struggled for the creation of an essentially human order in place of one based on brute force. She  was  against all forms of domination and exploitation of one country by another. She opposed colonialism and racialism on the ground that these created tensions and hostility. She firmly believed that the adoption of non-alignment by a fairly large number of countries would automatically widen the area of peace and security. She advocated disarmament which alone could bring confidence and hope for survival among the peoples of the world.Indira  Gandhi  was  definitely successful in the international arena. She stood head and shoulders above the  leaders  of Third World countries in international forums and conferences. She  was  always in the limelight. Hers  was  the foremost voice for world peace in a tense and troubled world. She  wassuccessful in protecting India’s interests without succumbing to the pressure of superpowers. An increase in India’s economic and military strength during her regime made India an important regional power which none of the superpowers could afford to ignore.She made India strong and a leading country in the comity of nations, gave a clarion call to the world to save humanity from the nuclear holocaust, raised her voice against all kinds of exploitation. She displayed rare statesmanship in tackling international disputes. Indira  Gandhi’s role in guiding the developing nations of the world and her personal contribution towards disarmament and global peace were duly acknowledged by the international community. The image of India as a country which had to be taken seriousl y  was  definitely her biggest contribution.To sum up,  Indira  Gandhi  was  truly an international  leader. As the Prime Minister of India and Chairperson of the NAM she exercised a profound influence on international affairs and made tremendous efforts for world peace, justice and equity among nations Indira Gandhi was one of the most charismatic leaders of modern India whose ideas and activities touched different spheres of India's public life and politics and left an imprint on world affairs, especially, the Non-alignment Movement. She was the Prime Minister for over fifteen-and-half years.Born on 19 November 1917 at Allahabad to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamala Nehru Indira Priyadarshini was educated at Viswa Bharati University, and Oxford, and became involved in political life almost from childhood. In 1942 Indira married Feroze Gandhi. She became a member of the Congress Working Committee in 1955 and was elected President in 1959. She became a member of the Ca binet of Lal Bahadur Shastri as Minister for Information. In 1966 on the sudden demise of Shastriji, she was made the Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi strengthened the democratic structure and tradition of India.She had tremendous influence on the masses. Among the major achievements of Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister were India's role during the liberation war in Bangladesh including humane handling of refugees and winning of 1971 war against Pakistan. She gave direction to India's economy to reach the declared objectives of democratic socialism and greater social justice for weaker sections. It was under her leadership that the signing of Shimla Pact with Pakistani Premier Z. A. Bhutto and the signing of Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation took place.She nationalised banks, abolished privy purses of maharajas and conducted the first nuclear tests at Pokhran. The imposition of emergency rule in 1975 proved to be a major mistake that she realised later. Indira Gandh i was deeply interested in literature, music and fine arts. Various cultural institutions, performing artists, educationists, intellectuals received her patronage and encouragement. She was proud of India's cultural heritage and it was on her initiative that Asiatic Society, Calcutta received the status of an institution and national importance. She was conferred Bharat Ratna in 1971.Indira Gandhi passed into history when she fell to the assassin's bullets on 31 October 1984 at her residence. These assassins were none other than her own security men. As a mark of respect to the departed leader her birthday is observed as National Integration Day. what did Indira Gandhi do as prime minister? Answer:  ·Ã¢â‚¬ ¢.  · By virtue of being the Prime Minister of India, the largest democracy in the world, she was able to make a significant contribution to the practice of inter-national relations.  · Her most important contribution in the realm of world peace was the shaping of the NAM (n on-aligned moment).Her able leadership provided a smooth sailing for the Conference. It also led to a better understanding of the common problems of freedom, peace and social justice for the people of the Third World. It was through this Conference that she made a major chunk of humanity feel important in the UN. Here she played a more dynamic role as a leader of mankind in the international arena.  · Indira Gandhi symbolized the Third World's regeneration. Under her leadership, Indian foreign policy matured from the conscious assertion of the rights and aspirations of newly free nations to a een awareness on their part of their own responsibility in the global context. By refusing to sign the NPT she gained political credit for upholding India's independence and for taking a principled stand against a discriminatory treaty.  · She made a mark in the world as an unrivalled leader and a champion of the Third World.  · The Bangladesh situation gave her the opportunity to emerge as a military strategist and a diplomat par excellence on the regional and the world stage. With the clear and decisive victory India and Indira were established as a major power and force in the world.Indira Gandhi became the international leader.  · She put India on the international scientific map by exploding the country's first underground nuclear device at Pokhran in 1974. This signaled India's nuclear potential and its unwillingness to abide by the nuclear rules of the superpowers.  · She was successful in protecting India's interests without succumbing to the pressure of superpowers. An increase in India's economic and military strength during her regime made India an important regional power which none of the superpowers could afford to ignore.She made India strong and a leading country in the comity of nations, gave a clarion call to the world to save humanity from the nuclear holocaust, raised her voice against all kinds of exploitation.  · Indira Gandhi was truly a n international leader. As the Prime Minister of India and Chairperson of the NAM she exercised a profound influence on international affairs and made tremendous efforts for world peace, justice and equity among nations.  · As prime minister, Gandhi tried to improve the lives of Indians. With her neighbors, the Soviet Union and China, she improved relations.She also promoted science and technology. In 1971, India sent its first satellite into space. Economically, Indira Gandhi led India to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world toward the end of her time as prime minister.  · Being the first female prime minister of India and an influential leader; in a prevalently male- dominated society, Indira Gandhi was a symbol of feminism in India. As per economic surveys, when Indira became Prime minister, 65% of the population was over the poverty line, and when her regime ended in 1984, this figure was 45%. During her rule, food production increased by 250%.Literacy al so increased in India by 30 %  · Indira advocated and promoted equal right s for women and their social and economic emancipation. She instituted many programs for the benefit of the underprivileged and the handicapped. She laid great emphasis of the cultural revival of India, promoted crafts and encouraged schemes for the removal of poverty.  · The first woman ever elected to lead a democracy  · She firmly believed in the policy of â€Å"rapid introduction of socialism in the country. †  · Indira Gandhi strengthened the democratic structure and tradition of India. She had tremendous influence on the masses.

Auntie Mame Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Auntie Mame - Essay Example Auntie Mame does not hide her lifestyle from Patrick, and she takes care of him with as much honesty and assurance, as she possibly can. Mame is appointed to raise Patrick by her brother as the legal guardian, but when Patrick arrives at her house, she is hosting a party for other people. She feels sorry about that, and she asks Norah, Patrick’s nanny, â€Å"But why didn’t you tell me you were coming today? I’d never have been giving this party† (10). After Auntie Mame laments on her mistake, she happily embraces and kisses him, giving him the reassurance that he is safe. Auntie Mame is also very proud to have Patrick around, as she goes around and introduces him to her guests. Her pride is apparent from her statement that â€Å"This is my brother’s son and now he’s going to be my little boy† (13). After Mame welcomes Patrick into her home, she apologizes for her mistake and promises him that they will talk more the following day. This relationship is an exemplary example of the importance of honesty, acceptance and assurance to a child. Mame does not want to hide anything from Patrick, and she readily admits that she has made a mistake for forgetting about his arrival and hosting a party. Her behavior also provides him with comfort and makes him feel cared for and safe. Auntie Mame and Patrick not only share a child-parent relationship, but also a youngster-mentor bond. For instance, Patrick looks up to her aunt to learn the difficult words that she uses in her conversations with other people. When Mame finds out that Patrick does not comprehend her words most of the time, she is happy to have the chance to teach him or engage in â€Å"molding a little new life† (19). She instructs Patrick to write all the words that he does not understand for later explanation. Patrick seems very excited about this learning process because he â€Å"immediately wrote down six new words which Auntie Mame said to scratch o ut and forget† (19). Patrick’s father stated in his will that he would like him to be sent to â€Å"conservative schools†, but Mame thinks that the schools are â€Å"dull†, â€Å"tiresome† and â€Å"tedious†, and she wants him to go to her friend’s new school since it is â€Å" Coeducational and completely revolutionary and all classes are held in the nude under ultraviolet rays† (20). Many parents or adult guardians give their children a strict education and make it an obligatory and tiresome process, but Mame tries to make education a fun and engaging process. This not only promotes Patrick’s willingness to learn new information, but it also increases his curiosity in learning about life’s experiences. Even though Mame faces many difficulties especially in regard to her financial problems, she does not give up taking care of Patrick. For instance, during the Great Depression, Mame’s investments fail, and s he can only have â€Å"two hundred dollars a month†, so she has to go to work in order to â€Å"keep Patrick in that wretched St. Boniface school† (40). Mame finds and engages in many jobs during this period, but none of them lasts long. For example, Mame becomes a copywriter at Vanity Fair and is fired due to inaccurate writing; she also works as a reader, but she loses the manuscript and gets fired. Mame keeps working and finding jobs to sustain her family until she meets and falls in love with Beau Burnside, who is a

Semiotics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Semiotics - Essay Example It will lastly conclude on the ways in which the language of the advertisement serves to sell its product and whether or not this accomplishes its goal effectively. Keywords: semiological analysis; rhetoric of image; semiotics in advertising Semiological Analysis of an Advertisement The image under semiological analysis is an advertisement by DKNY for a perfume for women. This paper will analyse the way in which this advertisement uses symbols, visual cues and other coded ‘language’ to sell its product effectively. The theoretical basis for the analysis will be drawn largely from Roland Barthes’s essay ‘Rhetoric of the Image’, appearing in his 1977 book Image Music Text. Following a quick summary of the ideas from Barthes’s essay that are relevant to this paper, we will look closely at the advertisement itself for the different layers of meaning within it. The aim will be to try and identify elements and see whether they correlate to each other and ultimately join to promote the product as saleable or not. There will also be an attempt to locate this advertisement within the larger context of high-fashion advertising and the imagery deployed therein. In his foundational essay, ‘Rhetoric of the Image’ (1977) Barthes proposes that images have a language of their own that signify many layers of meaning to the viewer that may or may not be apparent right away. Barthes advances his idea of the three layers of meaning through which an advertising image, or any image, conveys its message. He calls the first layer of such meaning as the ‘linguistic’ part of the message (p. 33). By this, Barthes refers to the actual text or words present in the advertisement. In his example of the Panzani ad, this would be the French writing at the bottom of the advertisement. The second and third messages contained in an image, according to Barthes, are the ‘coded iconic message’ and a ‘non-coded iconi c message’ (p. 36). The distinction between these two is hard to make and does not happen at first glance. Basically, the first coded message is the ‘connoted’ message of the image while the non-coded message refers to the image as purely ‘denotative.’ The first meaning of the image is derived from the way in which it is presented, its context, the specific audience it targets and so on; while, the second kind of meaning derived from the image is only an act of identifying the object. Applying this style of analysis to the DKNY Advertisement, we find that this too yields itself to different layers of meaning. At the level of the linguistic message, the most prominent text in the ad says: ‘Be Delicious.’ These two words serve firstly, as an injunction, or almost as an order to be desirable that serves to subtly pressurize the audience into feeling inadequate and therefore desirous of buying the product that will make them attractive. They also promote a solution by saying essentially that this product is what one needs to be ‘delicious.’ The text therefore creates the need to be desirable in the audience and simultaneously provides the way in which to fulfil this need. This brings in the ideology and implied narrative of this ad which will be discussed in our conclusion. But the word ‘delicious’ itself also serves a two-fold purpose. On the one hand, it serves the purpose of ‘

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 12

Economics - Essay Example The second step entails getting training that may help an entrepreneur to identify the most suitable sources of business financing (U.S.Small Business Administration, 2013). Therefore, Sonny Erriccsson phone was identified as a product of study, whereby, its life cycle and future market scope has been discussed under the following subheadings. a). Specifically identify the product; its life cycle and the initial and future scope of the market intend to serve. The product in this case entails Sonny Erriccsson phone, this product falls under electronic and communication industry. Sonny Erriccsson phone entails five phases of product life cycle development namely; development phase, introduction phase, growth phase, maturity phase and finally, decline phase. The introduction phases focuses at creating awareness to both new and existing customers about the existence of Sonny Erriccsson phones. However, this stage tends to experience numerous challenges such as low sales volumes, low prof its, higher marketing and advertising expenses. On the contrary, is the growth phase, this phase involves creation of brand preference and market share. In addition, sales and profits tend to be higher in this phase as compared to the introduction stage (Grieves & Michael, 2006). In the fourth phase (maturity phase), marketers focuses at maintaining the already established market share through modification of Sonny Erriccsson phones to make its product more competitive. The final phase is declining phase whereby, the market has become saturated and the product start losing customer causing a decline in sales volume and profitability to decline significantly. Therefore, marketing managers may respond to this stage by either selling the business to a market niche or carryout phase withdraw before incurring losses (Grieves & Michael, 2006). b). Recognize and evaluate the market structure, degree of competition and the availability of substitutes initially and in the future, locally and globally for the proposed product. Sonny Erriccsson mobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of the parent company known as Sonny Corporation. Sonny mobile become part of Sonny Company through acquisition of Telefonaktiebolagate shares on 15th February 2012. The market structure for Sonny Erriccsson has been highly restructured with an aim of increasing future operational efficiency. For example, Sonny moved its operation structure from Sweden to Tokyo Japan. Additionally, the company CEO announced that sonny his company had integrated all its subsidiaries located in different regions to increase market share as well as to reduce operating cost. The CEO further issued a notification that to the Sony authorities in Sweden that the company was aiming to enhance efficiency by eliminating redundancy in the entire company (Sony Inc, 2012). The degree of competition in this market tend to be very stiff due to globalization and new scientific innovation hence, making different phone manufactur ers such Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola among other competitors who are continuously modify their products by adding more features to make their products more attractive before the eyes of the customers. In addition, there are numerous substitutes available in the market that can serve the same purpose as Sonny Erriccsson phones. For example; I pads, I phones and Samsung galaxy phones may act as a good substitute. The above substitute may not only serve the local meets but also

Article Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Article Review - Essay Example The aim of this research was laid out as to understand how the participants for the project triumph over the perceived obstacles to their progress and what methodologies do they adopt for learning in their schools. While this tries to identify the reason behind how a few of the boys perform well and why they do not move to a better school once their talent is identified. The paper takes a qualitative approach. Two schools are taken as samples, which are considered best among the academically unacceptable schools. Eleven students, two teachers and two principals participated in the survey. The survey consisted of a questionnaire with ten open ended questions that would bring about qualitative reasoning to the fore. In this case of data collection, quantitative is certainly the best option and the author has selected the same for the purpose. The inferences drawn by the author during the course of interviews both audio and a form filling one, has been directed more at the target of the research. The methodology adopted and the nature of the questionnaire is the best suited for this purpose. Though, a quantitative methodology analysing the status of the students and the relative observations would have helped in providing large database.

The birth & growth of anti-westernism sentiments in the Middle East Essay

The birth & growth of anti-westernism sentiments in the Middle East - Essay Example In terms of personal interaction at the university, both my supervisors have been outstanding in that they have reached out to help me in regards; by providing me bibliographical support as also their advice on the topic that I should take up as part of my research. I am indeed grateful to them for having stood by me after having understood the unexpected personal circumstances that I have had to go through. But as is well known; one needs to do a lot of groundwork in order to produce a clear road plan for taking up research activity, by attending seminars and conferences, and this is where I have been outraced. Due to my personal problems, I was unable to attend any of these that were held at the university, even though I very much wanted to go. Another major obstacle has been that I have not been able to move to Paris either, which was the prime reason to shift to a part-time status after having discussed the issue with my supervisors. This report aims to describe what I have been doing ever since then and also aims to outline my proposed plan for doing research. Due to the above-mentioned problems, I subsequently started to attend many seminars at the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS). The following list describes the various seminars that I have attended so far at SOAS: During this period, I did not attend any research training courses as I had prior experience of having attended them during my MA studies. However, I am planning to attend some after March. As the above-mentioned list suggests, all the seminars primarily focus on the growing anti-western sentiments in the middle-eastern region. These seminars along with the recent incidents revolving around the middle -east (the 9/11 terror attacks-Osama Bin Laden along with America's intervention in Iraq & Afghanistan to be specific), have driven me to think that i must indeed search for the consequences as also the reasons for the occurrence of these events. I am now more than ever interested in finding the reason for the anti-western sentiments that have been the root cause of all terror attacks in the western hemisphere. I therefore, decided that I would conduct a study on the birth & growth of anti-westernism sentiments in the Middle East.According to Shireen T. Hunter (1998), the anti-western feeling was born from the Zionist wars between Israel & Egypt and the subsequent overthrow of the shah of Iran, which led to the birth of bitter relations between Ayatollah Khomenei's Iran & America in particular. Clashes between the west and the lesser prominent countries Islamic countries of the west like Syria & Lebanon have just added more fuel to the already raging fire of anti-western feelings. More recently, I feel that the interference of the west (The

Necessary Leadership Alberto Fujimori Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Necessary Leadership Alberto Fujimori - Essay Example When Alberto Fujimori was elected President of Peru in 1990, the country was suffering from massive external debt which could not be paid, uncontrolled hyperinflation, non-existent international reserves, and food shortages (The World Bank, 1997). Basic government services like education, health, and basic infrastructure had been neglected and were eroding away. The government was perceived as weak, and two terrorists groups, Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) and the MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru), were competing for control of the country. Both of these groups had formed alliances with Peruvian drug dealers. Violence and intimidation were common, and law-biding Peruvians were very afraid of what the future might hold for their country and their lives. As one commentator noted, "The intense violence of the 1980s created a content in which many Peruvians were willing to cede citizenship and other rights to an extremely personalistic, authoritarian regime in exchange for or der and stability" (Jo-Marie, 2006 p32). Alberto Fujimori was the "extremely personalistic" and politically unknown candidate that was elected president in 1990. After his election, Fujimori vigorously attacked Peru's economic and crime problems. Even Fujimori's critics conceded that Fujimori's policies brought Peru's hyperinflation under control and got the nation's legal economy moving again (Jo-Marie, 2006).Critics also admit that it was under Fujimori that the leaders of Shining Path and MRTA were captured and the guerilla warfare that had characterized terrorist activity in Peru was virtually eliminated (Jo-Marie, 2006). At the same time, the Fujimori administration increased spending on social programs, built schools, repaired or created new infrastructure, and provided funds for community-based economic development (Jo-Marie, 2006). These were all necessary steps in correcting Peru's economic problems and making it safe from terrorists.Fujimori's actions, however, were severely criticized as an abuse of power by his political opponents and by those who saw his policies as violations of human rights. After being reelected to a third term in 2000 under questionable circumstances, Fujimori went into exile in Japan and eventually resigned as President (Peru's Fujimori Resigns, 2000). Since his resignation, additional charges of corruption, death squads, and other abuses of power have surfaced, leading the current Peruvian government to call for Fujimori's extradition from Japan so he may be tried on criminal charges in Peru (Judge Blocks Fujimori Extradition , 2007). AnalysisLeadership in Challenging Times Any reasonably competent elected official can lead during times of peace and economic prosperity, when the only real duty of government is simply not to do anything that would interfere with economic growth or destabilize the peace. Effective leaders can make the most of these opportunities; ineffective leaders allow circumstances to erode and lose the gains that were made during prosperous times. As noted above, Fujimori came into power at a time when Peru was enjoying neither peace nor economic success. Data from public opinion polls

Pharmacology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pharmacology - Essay Example To prevent exercise-induced angina and other precipitation-related conditions, at least one metered dose should be sprayed beneath the tongue shortly before the event. The highest number of Nitrolingual Pumpspray doses administered per day should be determined considering the full medical history of the patient, the angina severity, and any concurrent medication (Coyne 2008 p34). 2. The patient is complaining of discomfort and pain, which are angina’s main symptoms. It includes squeezing, pressure, tightness and burning in the chest, with the discomfort and pains starting from behind the breastbone. The patient is also complaining of nausea, shortness of breath, as well as a pale and cold skin, all which point to angina. The shortness of breath is common with elderly patients of angina, and the pain may make the patient feel as if he is suffering from indigestion or an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach. The blood pressure is also a factor to consider, as the patient was rec orded to have 148mmHg, which is way above the recommended 100mmHg for a normal person. Additionally, the patient’s last oral intake was tea and biscuits, which indicates that within the previous 24 hours he did not consume sildenafil (Neal 2012 p34). Question 2 1. The main glyceryl trinitrate’s pharmacological action is that it relaxes vascular smooth muscle, and then vasodilates peripheral arteries and veins, with veins vasodilating more than arteries. Post-capillary vessels’ dilation that also includes large veins promotes blood peripheral flooding and reduces preload. A relaxation in the arteries significantly decreases afterload (arterial pressure and systematic vascular resistance). The reduced systolic wall tension and less ventricular radius reduce the oxygen requirements and the myocardial energy. This decrease in the filling pressures of the heart enhances subendocardial wall layer perfusion that ischemia threatens. Glyceryl trinitrate’s therapeu tic doses may decrease diastolic, systolic and average blood pressure in the arteries. This helps in maintaining coronary perfusion pressure. However, should blood pressure reduce, or an increase in the heart rate lowers the diastolic filling time, it can be highly compromised (Coyne 2008 p34). 2. GNT is a prodrug that should be denitrated first so that it can produce NO (the metabolite nitric oxide that is active). Nitro vasodilators are nitrates that undergo denitration to produce NO in the body. NO being a potent activator of GC (Guannyl Cylase) with the help of mechanisms that are heme-dependent, its activation results in the formation of cGMP from cGTP (cyclic guanosine triphosphate) (Bersten 2009 p938). 3. When glyceryl trinitrate is administered sublingually, it is absorbed rapidly from the mouth’s mucosa and bypasses the liver to reach the vascular system. It is metabolized in the liver and other cells such as erythrocytes with cleavage of several nitrate groups. Nume rous inter-individual as well as intra-individual variations can be seen after the sublingual administration, for the plasma concentration. Glyceryl trinitrate, together with its metabolites, is eliminated principally, with less than 1% excreted with no change (Broyles, Reiss & Evans 2012 p.437). 4. The application of glyceryl trinitrate in any form during acute myocardial infarction’s early days requires attention to be particularly paid to clinical status and

Do Modern Forms of Administration and Discipline Undermine the Essay

Do Modern Forms of Administration and Discipline Undermine the Liberties and Rights Promised by the Modern State - Essay Example An initial discussion of what the modern state represents shall be presented, followed by an evaluation of the current forms of administration. A deeper analysis of how these modern forms of administration impact on the modern state shall then be presented. Body The modern state The Montevideo Convention explains that a state is one which possesses the following elements: a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter to government relations. This criterion for statehood was arrived at in 1935 and supported by the world in general. Max Weber presents another conceptualization of the state, one which is derived from the early beginnings of statehood. He defines the state to be â€Å"a human continuity that claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory† (Weber, 1958, p. 78). Weber’s definition also points out that the state must have the absolute control over the legitimate application of force ( New York University, 2002). The concept of legitimacy has not always been easy to define with various actions being carried out by the state in the name of such legitimate authority; however, these actions have not always been technically legitimate. Moreover, for purposes of securing state functions, the components of legitimacy have not been strictly met (New York University, 2002). The use of force which is attributed to the state is therefore not always based on a legitimate exercise of power. This also suggests that a state’s use of force may not always need to be legitimate, for as long as the perceptions of the people are assuaged in terms of the legitimacy of such force (New York University, 2002). Another element of Weber’s concept of the state is on the monopoly by the state on the legitimate exercise of force. This monopoly has always been a source of issue among theorists and scholars because there have been acknowledged instances where non-state actors hav e legitimately used force (Foucault, 1980). This was seen in instances when force was used by non-state actors like the Irish Republican Army, the Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Palestine areas, and the exercise of force by the Al-Qaeda in Iraq; these actions are considered by many experts as a legal application of force in response to foreign interference and oppression (New York University, 2002). However, in terms of other perspectives on the use of force, one’s side in the conflict can often make a difference on the judgment made on such force. The bottom line is that it is not clearly apparent that a state actually has a monopoly on the application of force (New York University, 2002). In effect, other scholars have not actively considered the use of the term monopoly in characterizing a state’s application of force. Modern administration Political analysts discuss that the modern state has now a significant control over the practice and use of violence in the cou ntry. They echo Max Weber as he expresses that the state’s exclusive right to use force is crucial to its ability to function. These idea for the modern state was not however true during the 16th and 17th century when the concept of the modern state was still being introduced (Hirst, 1997). At that time, small and contentious political entities did not have the right to claim these territories, and on the other hand, other leaders

Death Changes Essay Example for Free

Death Changes Essay Changes in Death Management Practices One of the first noted changes in the book regarding attitudes towards death can be seen with the advances in mass media. As Technology has advanced, so have the ways in which news is reported to the world. Radio, Television, and the Internet have given the public many ways of receiving information. When situations portray a perceived threat, people turn to mass media for information. The ability to access information regarding worldwide disasters, terrorism, and other acts of brutality make us feel like survivors of death. Because we are able to see and hear about things that we have no firsthand knowledge of, we feel like we are experiencing it to some degree. (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 6) During the Vietnam War, television gave people access to images of things that were happening half a world away. In no other time were daily doses of violence to this degree a part of everyday life. Media analyst George Gerbner observed that these depictions of death evoked a heightened sense of danger, insecurity, and mistrust which contributed to an â€Å"irrational dread of dying and thus to diminished vitality and self-direction in life† (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 8) Life expectancy and Mortality Rates have been affected by technology as well. In 1900, the average life expectancy was 47 years of age in the United States. As of 2005, the average life expectancy rose to 78 years of age. This rise can be attributed to epidemiologic transition which moves the largest number of deaths from the young to the old. In the early days people died from infection due to lack of medication and knowledge on how to treat and prevent. As this knowledge was gained, deaths tended to be from chronic disease processes that are common in the older population rather than young. In 1900, over half of deaths that occurred were to children under the age of 14. That number has decreased to less than 2% and this fact influences how we feel and think about death. (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 36) In the 1870’s, nine out of ten Americans over the age of 15 had lost a parent or a sibling. Because medicine and medical care was not advanced, mother’s died during child birth and/or babies were born still born due to lack of prenatal knowledge and care advancement. The family unit was very important and often people in this time period would display postmortem pictures of loved ones who had passed as a testament to this family unit and the common knowledge of their mortality. One other change that has taken place is death rituals. In the early 1900’s families were more likely to be multigenerational living in the same house. People tended to intermingle with other generations out of necessity. Families lived on large homesteads and it took everyone to make it work. Because of this, multiple generations were present at the death of older family members and rituals and traditions existed. In this day and age people are more mobile and on the move. It is harder to maintain close relationships with family when you don’t live in the same state, let alone city. People appear to be less affected by the death of an older relative when the closeness of the relationship has been lost due to sheer proximity. Several changes that can be discussed regarding children are their attitudes towards death, their functional ability to understand death, and their desensitization to violence regarding death. Children’s attitudes towards death are much different in this day and age from in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. In that time, families tended to live together in extended family situations possibly on homesteads. There was less access to medical care and things were taken care of at home. Death was something that was seen as a natural part of the living process and happened more regularly because of the generations that cohabitated. In this day and age as generations tend to live separately, children are more sheltered from this and therefore tend to look at death as something that doesn’t directly affect them. Jean Piaget, a theorist in human development, did extensive study of children and divided them into approximate age groups and developmental periods. He theorized that we develop our knowledge based on things we already know. These stages are sensorimotor from birth to 2 years when children learn based on their senses and motor abilities and begin to develop the idea of object permanence where they understand an object is still present even when it can’t be seen. Preoperational from 2-7 years where they progress from egocentric thought where they look at things as if they are the center of the world to prelogical where they learn trial and error and can begin to understand other points of view. Concrete operational from 7-12 years where they are able to logically understand and organize information and begin to think forward and backward about experiences. And finally, Formal operational from 12 years and up where they can think hypothetically and abstractly about situations and begin to have an interest in ethical situations. . (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 2-53) Before these types of theorists existed, death was considered a natural part of the living experience and children just dealt with it like the rest of the family. Also in early years when children talked about death, it tended to be in the context of disease processes and accidents. As the culture has, advanced children are routinely exposed to things they weren’t before. If you ask, a child now days what things are that can cause death you may hear things like gunshot wounds and other traumatic experiences that can be linked to crime, violence they see on TV or video games or inner city experiences. In a cultural or historical sense differences in how dying is perceived can be from a cultural standpoint. Different religious and ethnical cultures have different practices and beliefs regarding death but as we have become more culturally competent society, the varying beliefs have become better understood. The physical cause of dying has changed simply by historical differences in living conditions. For example, in the Stone Age people were more likely to have died from trauma and animal attacks, whereas today dying from frailty, organ failure and dementia are more common. One change in regards to mortality and society where death is concerned can be related to education and training. For example, an earthquake in Japan in 1923 caused the death of 100,000 people. Today, because of advances in technology and safety we have ways to warn people of dangerous weather situations and have developed better safety practices that if followed can save many lives. . (DeSpelder, Strickland pg. 135-136) Change has also been seen in the conventional signs of death. Most deaths are determined by the absence of heartbeat and breathing. With the advances in technology and medicine, though, it is possible for mechanical ventilation and medications to artificially maintain these functions while the brain is termed dead. For this reason, the concept of brain death was created. Another innovation that has changed death is organ transplantation. Before this was discovered and perfected people had no choice but to die if they fell victim to an irreversible organ failure. Now, through organ donation and transplantation people can live long and productive lives if they can receive these lifesaving procedures. The final three changes that will be discussed are in regards to patients, staff, and institutions in the field of Health care. In 1900, about 80% of deaths in the United States took place in the home. As the invention of hospitals and other institutions took place, this shifted to the institutional setting with more people dying in hospital or nursing home setting. There is beginning to be a shift again however as hospice care becomes an option available to more and more people that allow them to stay in their homes around familiar surroundings instead of the sterile, non-personal setting of a hospital or institution. Another change that has taken place with regards to dying could be the rationing of resources. This will undoubtedly be getting even worse under Obamacare. Physicians used to be considered the gate keepers of what services and treatments were reasonably appropriate to which patients. As managed care comes more and more into the picture, this will change. Physicians will be paid a certain amount of money per month by insurance companies to manage the patients’ health. The less procedures, tests, and resources that are used the more money the physician will get to keep. This leads to the fear that rationing of resources or withholding of resources is a real possibility in order to keep from bankrupting doctors and clinics. Finally, palliative care, and end of life decisions are changing as well. There have been many advances with the advent of hospice and what can be done to allow a natural and peaceful death for those that are not interested in prolonging it. Undoubtedly, we will all die one day. There has been a shift in recent years from death being an almost taboo topic to one where people are taking control of their decisions. This is an area I am passionate about. You can take control of your end of life decisions by an advanced directive and informing your family members of your wishes. There are people who know they want every intervention possible done to keep them alive and there are those that are accepting of their own mortality, comfortable with their idea of what happens after death, and know that they want nothing heroic done to try and keep them on this earth if they cannot be an active participant.

Carboxymethyl Cellulose On Blends Of Polyvinyl Alcohol Environmental Sciences Essay

Carboxymethyl Cellulose On Blends Of Polyvinyl Alcohol Environmental Sciences Essay ABSTRACT Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blends were prepared and found that Poly(vinyl alcohol) Poly(ethylene oxide) are inherently immiscible and therefore incompatible. So, a compatibilizer Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is added to PVA and PEO and the influence of CMC is studied on the compatibility of blends of PVA and PEO. It is found that on adding CMC, PVA and PEO become partially miscible. Here, we describe the preparation of PVA/PEO/CMC blends having weight percentage of CMC 5, 10, 20 wt% and the influence of concentration of CMC on the blends of PVA and PEO is studied and the miscibility of the blends was characterized by using wide-angle X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infra-red (ATR-FTIR) techniques. Also, swelling ratio of the different blends is studied. Keywords: Hydrogels; Polyvinyl alcohol; Polyethylene oxide; Carboxymethyl cellulose; Miscibility, Immiscible. *Correspondence to: Prof. Bhuvanesh Gupta, Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India. E-mail: [emailprotected] INTRODUCTION Designing new materials with improved properties is one of the main goals of the chemists. Two common ways are chemical synthesis and blending which mainly used to get a material with improved or new properties. Chemical synthesis is an unlimited method to get new substances with well-defined properties but it is often time consuming and not seldom costly. On the other side, blending is a well-known and simple method to combine the advantages of different materials [23,65], efficient way to prepare new materials with improved properties. [8] The blending of hydrophilic/hydrophobic polymers produce phase-separated composite hydrogels. Polymer blends exhibit superior and rare properties, unexpected from homopolymers. The physical, chemical and radiant methods can be applied to prepare polymer blends. [6] Polymer blends are physical mixtures of structurally different polymers or co-polymers, which interact through secondary forces such as hydrogen bonding, dipole-dipole forces and charg e transfer complexes for homopolymer mixtures with no covalent bonding [34,36-38] that are miscible at molecular level. Polymer blend hydrogels are composed of water-soluble or swellable polymers, such as poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) [25,26] poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) [24] and, other synthetic water-soluble polymers and degradable or nondegradable water-insoluble or swellable polymers, such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA) [25], poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PGLA). [24] The most common method used to blend polymers is through solvent-casting techniques. In this process, two or more polymers are dissolved in a mutual solvent and the blends are obtained by evaporating the solvent. The resulting materials have a microphase separated structure [25,26] and often improved miscibility via hydrogen bonding among polymers [24], resulting in transparent materials. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is a water-soluble polyhydroxy polymer, used in practical applications because of its easy preparation, excellent chemical resistance and physical properties, appropriate mechanical properties [68,71], and it is completely biodegradable and cheap and the -OH groups can be a source of hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) and hence of assistance in the formation of polymer blends. Polyvinyl alcohol has excellent film forming, emulsifying, and adhesive properties. It is also resistant to oil, grease and solvent. It is odorless, nontoxic and has high tensile strength, flexibility, as well as high oxygen and aroma barrier. The chemical structure of PVA favors the formation of intramolecular [1] hydrogen bonding because of favorable disposition of relatively small -OH groups attached to alternate carbon atoms of PVA [20], thus it is used in the preparation of various membranes and hydrogels. Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymers having three-dimensional networks [27], and ar e most often defined as two-component systems where one of the components is a hydrophilic polymer and the second one is water. These have the ability to swell in the presence of water without dissolution because of a three-dimensional network joining as chains. The interactions responsible for water absorption by hydrogels include the processes of hydration, which is connected to the presence of such chemical groups as -OH, -COOH, -CONH2, -CONH-, and -SO3H, and the existence of capillary areas and differences in osmotic pressure. [67] PVA blends can be cast as films and applied as functional materials including biomedical materials such as dialysis membranes, wound dressing, artificial skin, cardiovascular devices and as vehicles to release active substances in a controlled manner. [69-71] PVA hydrogels have been studied extensively but their properties need to be improved further for special applications. [2,6,7] In order to improve or modify the properties of PVA hydrogels, PEO is used to blend with PVA to form hydrogels which is hydrophilic semicrystalline polyether with a glass transition temperature below room temperature, biocompatible, non toxic, non polar, non antigenic and non immunogenic [45] and is highly desirable in most biomedical applications requiring contact with physiological fluids. For these reasons, PEO hydrogels are applied as wound coverings, drug delivery systems, hemodialysis membrane [1], as a component of a tissue sealant [15,16] and as a coating for medical devices [17], both poly(ethyl ene oxide) (PEO) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) are industrially important polymers [75] and their blends can be of significant practical utility, but it is found that PVA and PEO are immiscible and incompatible blends [1, 75] which do not possess a tendency for extensive mutual solubility. [1] Also it is found that hydroxyl-containing polymers are self-associated and hence the competition between self association and interpolymer interaction plays an important role in determining the miscibility behavior of their blends. For example, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is miscible with three tertiary amide polymers poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) [54-58], poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) [59] and poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) [60], but is immiscible with another tertiary amide polymer poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEOx). [61] PEO is etheric in nature. However formation of weak H-bonds between PEO and PVA cannot be ruled out. The C-O-C bond angle in PEO is normally 108Â ° and when a -OH group from a neighbouring PVA chain approaches the etheric oxygen atom in order to form a H-bond, the C-O-C bond angle deviates from 108Â ° so that the lone pair of the etheric oxygen is positioned nearer to the approaching OH from PVA. It would therefore be interesting to investigate the structure and thermal properties of the composites formed in the PEO-PVA system with different proportions of the components. We have found that mutual miscibility of PEO and PVA is likely to exist over only a small range of compositions. The mixtures otherwise seem to form only microscopically immiscible blends which do not possess a tendency for extensive mutual solubility. They are referred to as incompatible polymer blends or simply blends. [77] To make them compatible, a compatibilizer i.e. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is added. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) obtained from natural cellulose by chemical modification is a water soluble cellulose ether derivate [3] and is formed by its reaction with sodium hydroxide and chloroacetic acid. It has a number of sodium carboxymethyl groups (CH2COONa), introduced into the cellulose molecule, which promote water solubility. The various properties of CMC depend upon three factors: molecular weight of the polymer, average number of carboxyl content per anhydroglucose unit, and the distribution of carboxyl substituents along the polymer chains. The most important properties of CMC are viscosity building and flocculation. Among all the polysaccharides, CMC is easily available and it is also very cheap. It has high shear stability. The structure of CMC is shown in Figure 1. [78] Figure 1 Structure of (a) Poly(vinyl alcohol), (b) Poly(ethylene oxide) and (c) Carboxymethyl cellulose CMC has good water solubility, broadly used due to its low cost, biodegradability, biocompatibility [51] and lack of toxicity. [8,29-33] CMC is an ionic polyelectrolyte [30] that contains carboxyl groups and exhibits pH sensitivity as it has lot of carboxylic groups. [48-50] It has been used in several medical applications [10] and more recently as a component of an antiadhesion gel. [11,12] CMC and PVA in different ratios can be mixed homogeneously in an aqueous solution without evident phase separation, and this can be attributed to the interaction between the components. [49] The hydrogen bonds that form between the carboxylic groups of CMC and hydroxyl groups of PVA, and form semi-interpenetrating polymer networks [49] while with PEO, CMC undergoes micro phase separation to form a two-phase system. [9] Berg et. al. [9] found that the turbidity results of CMC/PEO gels are demonstrated by transparency data. It is found that gels prepared either from CMC alone or from PEO alone were transparent. However, for CMC/PEO composite gels, the transparency of gels changed as the ratio of the two components changed. The gel composed of equal amounts of CMC and PEO had the highest turbidity while the gel having 20% CMC has more than 90% transparency so 20% CMC concentration is taken as the optimized concentration for further studies. The polymer-polymer interaction for the miscibility is thought to be due mainly to hydrogen bonding between three hydroxyl groups in the anhydroglucose unit of CMC and the functional groups of the synthetic polymers PVA and PEO. However, since each of the three hydroxyl groups in the repeating unit of the cellulose is quite different in terms of regiochemistry and polarity, the hydrogen bond formation is not easily clarified. Kondo et.al. [47] proposed the mechanism for the development of interaction in the cellulose/PEO blend and showed that the hydrogen bonding between the C6 position hydroxyls and skeletal oxygen of PEO is more favourable, at first the two polymers are trapped to form a large adduct, which is a complex between cellulose and PEO, by the hydrogen bond, and the mobility of the molecules is restricted. Then another PEO molecule interacts with the adduct either by hydrogen bonding between the remaining free hydroxyls in cellulose and oxygen in PEO, or by Vander Waals b onding between PEO molecules. [79] The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the influence of concentration of CMC on the blends of PVA and PEO. In this article, we report the characterization of PVA/PEO/CMC blends by various techniques such as X-Ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, Differential scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermal gravimetric Analysis (TGA). EXPERIMENTAL Materials Poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA) of Loba Chemie Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India having degree of polymerization 1700-1800 and molecular weight 1,15,000, Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) of Sigma Aldrich of molecular weight 3,00,000 were used. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) sodium salt of high viscosity was received from Loba Chemie Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India. Distilled water was used for all experiments. Preparation of Blends of PVA and PEO Preparation of the pure film of PVA and blends of PVA and PEO were carried out in the following manner. PVA was dissolved in distilled water under constant mechanical stirring at temperature 60 -70 Â °C to get 5% PVA solution and then about 15 g. of PVA solution is poured to form layers 2 mm thick in a petridish at room temperature. The solution was first dried in air for 2 days and then in a vacuum oven at 100Â °C to remove solvent from it. Then, the blends of PVA/PEO/CMC were prepared by dissolving different concentrations of each polymer in distilled water, the total polymer concentration in the solvent remains 5% by weight. Water constitutes a suitable reaction medium, because PVA, PEO and CMC are soluble in water. Each polymer having concentration as shown in Table 1 were added in distilled water one by one and then dissolved under constant mechanical stirring at temperature 60 -70Â °C. As shown in Figure 2, it was found that blend solutions formed with CMC shows compatibility as compared to the solution having no CMC i.e. solution (a). It is clear from the Figure 2 that compatibility in the blend increases as the CMC concentration increases from 5% to 20%. These blend solutions were then poured in petridishes at room temperature. The solutions were first dried in air for 2 days and then in a vacuum oven at 100Â °C to remove solvent from it. The films so obtained are then characterized by XRD, TGA, DSC and ATR-FTIR techniques to determine miscibility. Table 1 Samples taken for characterization Figure 2 Solutions prepared from the polymer sample to test compatibility Swelling Ratio (%) All the samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) in film form were accurately weighed and placed in a beaker having fixed volume i.e. 50 ml PBS (pH 7.4) and then kept in a water bath undisturbed for a fixed interval i.e. 24 h. The samples were removed after 24 h., and the excess surface water is removed by pressing gently between filter paper and weighed. The Swelling ratio(%) i.e. SR (%), was calculated as indicated in Equation given below. SR (%) = (Ws Wd) / Wd x 100 where Wd is the weight of dry film, and Ws is the weight of swollen film. Density of blended films Density measurements of the samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) were carried out by taking into account the thickness of membranes of specific size by measuring thickness of the film by thickness tester and by measuring the weight of the sample. Weight in gram per cubic centimeter was represented as the density of the membranes. Wide angle X-Ray diffraction (XRD) X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the samples are recorded in the 2ÃŽ ¸ range of 5-40Â ° on a Phillips X-ray diffractometer equipped with a scintillation counter. CuKÃŽ ± radiation (wavelength, 1.54 ÇÂ º; filament current, 30 mA; voltage, 40 kV) is used for the generation of X-rays. A polymer can be considered partly crystalline and partly amorphous. The crystallinity parts give sharp narrow diffraction peaks and the amorphous component gives a very broad peak. The ratio between these intensities can be used to calculate the amount of crystallinity in the material. Crystallinity (%) = (AC/AT ) X 100 Where AC is the area of crystalline part of the samples and AT is the total area of crystalline and amorphous part of prepared samples. Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) The thermal stability of the prepared samples is evaluated by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) performed on a Perkin- Elmer TGA, using a nitrogen stream as purge gas, at a heating rate of 10Â °C/min within the range of 50- 600Â °C. For this, the prepared samples are firstly vaccum dried at 100Â ° C and then loaded in the crucible and the thermograms are run under nitrogen atmosphere from 50- 600Â °C. Attenuated Total Reflectance- Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy (ATR- FTIR) Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier-transform infra-red (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful techniques to investigate multicomponent systems because it provides information on the blend composition as well as on the polymer-polymer interaction. Infrared spectra of both the blends and the pure components were obtained using the films on an ATR-FTIR spectrometer. It is used to characterize the presence of specific chemical groups in the materials. IR spectroscopy of the thin films of samples are recorded on a Perkin-Elmer spectrophotometer in the wave number range of 650-4000 cm−1 using transmittance mode. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is done to study thermal properties such as melting temperature, glass transition temperature and melting enthalpies of dry samples. The DSC studies on the samples are carried out with a Perkin-Elmer DSC-7 system, in aluminium pans under nitrogen atmosphere. For this vacuum-dried samples were loaded, and the thermograms were run in the following temperature range under nitrogen atmosphere at a heating rate of 10Â °C/min. The weight of sample used in DSC was in the range of 5-10 mg. The melting temperature was obtained as the peak of the thermogram. The heat of fusion (ΔHf) is obtained from the area under melting thermograms. The heat of crystallization (ΔHf(crys)) of 100% crystalline pure PVA is obtained from the literature. The crystallinity of samples is obtained by the following expression: Crystallinity (%) =ΔHf/ΔHf(crys) X 100 where ΔHf is the heat of fusion of the sample obtained from the melting thermogram and ΔHf(crys) is the heat of fusion of 100% crystalline PVA and is taken as 150 J/g.[64] in high temperature DSC, all samples as shown in table 1 were heated from 50 to 150Â °C at a heating rate of 10Â °C/min, kept 5 min at 150Â °C, cooled to 50Â °C at the same rate, and kept 5 min at 50Â °C. Then, the samples were heated from 50 to 350Â °C at the same rate to record DSC curves. The thermal properties of the polymer blends were determined using two scans. The first heating scan, which was conducted to eliminate the residual water and solvent. The results reported in this work correspond to the second heating scan. In low temperature DSC, all samples as shown in table 1 were heated from 30 to 120Â °C at a heating rate of 10Â °C/min, kept 5 min at 150Â °C, cooled to -50Â °C at the same rate, and kept 5 min at -50Â °C. Then, the samples were heated from -50 to 230Â °C at the same rate to record DSC curves. The thermal properties of the polymer blends were determined using two scans. The first heating scan, which was conducted to eliminate the residual water and solvent. The results reported in this work correspond to the second heating scan. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Swelling Ratio (%) Figure 3 Effect of concentration of CMC on the Swelling Ratio (%) of the blends in PBS (pH 7.4) in 24 h. Figure 3 clearly shows that as the concentration of CMC increases from 0 to 20% in the blends of PVA/PEO/CMC, the Swelling Ratio of blends (%) increases. It is because as the concentration of CMC increases in the blends number of hydroxyl group increases thus increasing the interaction. Density Measurements Table 2 Comparison of influence of concentration of CMC on the density of air dried films Figure 4 Comparison of influence of concentration of CMC on the density of air dried films As shown in Table 2 and Figure 4, it can be clearly concluded that there is not appreciable difference in the density of air dried films with the increase of the concentration of CMC from 0 to 20%. But as the concentration of CMC increases in the blends the density of air dried films slightly increases as the hydrogen bonding between three hydroxyl groups in the anhydroglucose unit of CMC and the functional groups of the synthetic polymers PVA and PEO increases, thus making the blend more dense. Also it can be seen that the density of pure CMC is more as compared to pure PVA and PEO. X-ray diffraction Figure 5 X-Ray diffraction patterns of pure PVA, pure PEO and sample (a) Figure 6 X-Ray diffraction patterns of pure CMC, samples (b), (c) and (d) X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the blends and the pure components are shown in Figure 5 and 6. It may be seen that pure PVA exhibits only a broad and shallow diffraction feature around the 2ÃŽ ¸ value of 16.9Â °, indicating the presence of low-degree crystalline ordering. PEO has two well-defined reflections at 2ÃŽ ¸ values 18.9Â ° and 23.2Â °. These reflections are consistent with literature reports on crystalline PEO. The blend (a) having PVA/PEO 90/10 shows only one reflection at 2ÃŽ ¸ values 19.8Â °. XRD analysis showed that CMC exhibits a very small crystallinity which can be seen in the Table 3 given below. Table 3 Percentage crystallinity calculated by XRD of samples In samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) as the concentration of CMC increases, the % crystallinity shows not much difference as shown in Figure 7 given below. But as shown in Figure 6 the merging of all the peaks of pure PVA, PEO and CMC shows that on adding CMC to the blend of PVA and PEO, the compatibility increases. Figure 7 Graph of percentage crystallinity vs concentration of CMC by XRD Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) Figure 8 TGA of thin films of samples for studying the effect of concentration of CMC on the thermal stability of the samples The thermal stability of the dry superabsorbent hydrogels was determined from 50Â °C to 600Â °C. Figure 8 shows the thermograms for different hydrogel compositions at various temperatures. Generally, in the initial stage of the thermograms from 50Â °C to 200 Â ° C, the weight loss was due to the dehydration process of the water contained in the hydrophilic hydrogels. From the figure 8, three degradation steps can be observed in PVA sample. The first weight loss process, is associated with the loss of absorbed moisture and/or with the evaporation of trapped solvent, the second weight loss process correspond to the degradation of PVA by a dehydration reaction on the polymer chain and the third weight loss process is due to the degradation of the polyene residues to yield carbon and hydrocarbons while PEO undergoes one step degradation. In samples a, b, c, d two step degradation process takes place. The hydrogels having concentrations equal to 100% CMC showed a single-step thermogram, whereas the major weight loss of ~ 50% occurred from 250 to 350Â °C. This weight loss was attributed mainly to the thermal degradation of the two component polymers of the hydrogel, whereas the weight loss up to 600Â °C was ~ 70%. This means that hydrogels having 100% CMC showed high thermal stability. On the other hand, the thermogram of blends is two-step thermogram. The first step was from 200 to 300Â °C, which was also attributed to thermal degradation of the side chains. The second step took place from 350 to 450 Â ° C with a major weight loss equal to 80%. This weight loss was attributed to some thermal degradation of the main chain C-C- bond of the hydrogel components. TGA of CMC showed two distinct zones where the weight is being lost. The initial weight loss is due to the presence of small amount of moisture in the sample. The second loss is due to the loss of CO2 from the polysaccharide. As there are COO- groups in the case of CMC, it is decarboxylated. Attenuated Total Reflectance- Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy (ATR- FTIR) Figure 9 ATR-FTIR of thin films of samples pure PVA and PEO Figure 10 FTIR of pure CMC powder Figure 11 Comparison of ATR-FTIR of blend (d) with pure samples From Figures 9, 10 and 11, in the IR spectra of the CMC, we can notice the characteristic bands of COO- at 1610, 1419 cm-1, COOH groups at 1055.9 cm-1, -OH at 1419, 1319.54 cm-1 and the ether groups at 1055.9 cm-1. It is worth to remark that in the CMC a part of the carboxylic groups are in acid form and a part in ionic form. The spectrum of CMC shows the stretching vibrations of at -CH-O-CH2 1055.9 cm-1. The band at 1610 cm-1 and 2878.37 cm-1 are assigned to the stretching vibration of the carboxyl group (COO-) and the stretching vibration of methine (C-H), respectively. Pure CMC displays two characteristic absorption bands at 1610 cm-1 and 1419 cm-1, which represents symmetry stretching and asymmetry stretching of COO− group, respectively. It shows a broad band at 3433.59 cm-1, due to the stretching frequency of the -OH group. The band at 2878.37 cm-1 is due to C-H stretching vibration. The presence of a strong absorption band at 1610 cm-1 confirms the presence of COO- group. The bands around 1419 and 1319.54 cm-1 are assigned to -CH2 scissoring and -OH bending vibration, respectively. The FTIR spectrum of pure PVA reference sample is shown in figure 9 and 11. It clearly reveals the major peaks associated with poly(vinyl alcohol). For instance, it can be observed C-H broad alkyl stretching band 2933.33 cm-1 and typical strong hydroxyl bands for intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonded band at 3286.66 cm-1. This vibrational band at 1140 cm-1 is mostly attributed to the crystallinity of the PVA, related to carboxyl stretching band (C-O). The band at 1140 cm-1 has been used as an assessment tool of poly(vinyl alcohol) structure because it is a semicrystalline synthetic polymer able to form some domains depending on several process parameters. The band at 1420 cm-1 is due to -CH2 group and at 1087.11 cm-1 is due to C-O-C group. The IR peak of interest in the C-O-C asymmetric stretch is at 1095.88 cm-1. This peak in the spectrum of blends has been shown to shift due to hydrogen bonding to PVA and CMC. The spectra obtained for blends are shown in Figure 12. Figure 12 ATR-FTIR of thin films of samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) From Figure 12 it can be concluded that all the blends show characteristic peaks of all the polymers present. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) The melting temperatures were determined from maximum in the melting endotherm, the glass transition temperatures were taken as the mid point of the heat capacity change. One of the most commonly used methods to estimate polymer-polymer miscibility is the determination of the Tm of the blend compared with the Tms of the two components separately. In the case where one component is crystalline, observation of a melting point depression of this polymer may also be used as evidence to support the miscibility of the polymer pair. Figure 13 DSC curves showing the melting peaks of PVA, PEO and CMC Thermal properties and crystallinity of the prepared samples are examined by DSC method (Figure 13 and Table 4). PVA exhibited a relatively large and sharp endothermic peak at 222.2Â °C, PEO at 70.2Â °C and CMC at 265.9Â °C. It is observed from Figure 14 that the melting point and melting enthalpies of the samples a, b, c, d are somewhat decreased from the pure PVA sample. This decrease in melting temperature might be related to a decrease in the crystallinity of the sample and proper alignment of the chains due to the interference of other polymers present in the blend. Figure 15 shows the glass transition temperature i.e. Tg of the pure PVA sample. The melting points of the blends show that the interaction between CMC and PVA weakens the interaction between PVA chains and hinders the crystallization of PVA. Figure 14 DSC curves showing the melting peaks of PVA, samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) Figure 15 DSC curves showing the glass transition peak of PVA Figure 16 DSC curves showing the melting temperature peaks of PEO and samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) PEO exhibited a relatively large and sharp endothermic peak at 65.5Â °C. It is observed from Figure 16 that the melting point and melting enthalpies of the samples a, b, c, d are somewhat decreased from the pure PEO sample and the melting peaks are widened. This decrease in melting temperature is also related to a decrease in the crystallinity of the sample and proper alignment of the chains due to the interference of other polymers present in the blend as shown in Table 4. It was found that the melting temperature of PEO shifts towards a lower temperature when the PVA is added to the PEO, the change in Tm shows the change from semi crystalline to amorphous phase. Table 4 Percentage crystallinity calculated by DSC of samples Figure 17 Graph of Percentage Crystallinity vs Concentration of CMC In Figure 17, the percentage crystallinity data obtained by DSC for different polymer compositions (a), (b), (c) and (d) are plotted against compatibilizer CMC concentration, to clarify the effect of the CMC content on the crystallinity of the present system. This is also clear from the Table 4 given above that as the concentration of CMC increases in the blend the crystallinity % decreases this is due to the decrease in the proper alignment of the chains due to the interference of other polymers present in the blend. Figure 18 Graph of Melting Temperature (Tm) vs Concentration of CMC In Figure 18 and table 4, the Tm data obtained by DSC for different polymer compositions (a), (b), (c) and (d) are plotted against compatibilizer CMC concentration, to clarify the effect of the CMC content on the thermal property of the present system. It is clear from the figure that as the concentration of CMC increases in the blend the melting temperature firstly increases then decreases. CONCLUSIONS We have effectively produced PVA/PEO/CMC hydrogels via aqueous route. These hydrogel blends were properly characterized by using XRD, FTIR spectroscopy, TGA and DSC techniques. FIGURES CAPTIONS Figure 1 Structure of (a) Poly(vinyl alcohol), (b) Poly(ethylene oxide) and (c) Carboxymethyl cellulose Figure 2 Solutions prepared from the polymer sample to test compatibility Figure 3 Effect of concentration of CMC on the Swelling Ratio (%) of the blends in PBS (pH 7.4) in 24 h. Figure 4 Comparison of influence of concentration of CMC on the density of air dried films Figure 5 X-Ray diffraction patterns of pure PVA, pure PEO and sample (a) Figure 6 X-Ray diffraction patterns of pure CMC, samples (b), (c) and (d) Figure 7 Graph of percentage crystallinity vs concentration of CMC by XRD Figure 8 TGA of thin films of samples for studying the effect of concentration of CMC on the thermal stability of the samples Figure 9 ATR-FTIR of thin films of samples pure PVA, PEO and CMC Figure 10 FTIR of pure CMC powder Figure 11 Comparison of ATR-FTIR of blend (d) with pure samples Figure 12 ATR-FTIR of thin films of samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) Figure 13 DSC curves showing the melting peaks of PVA, PEO and CMC Figure 14 DSC curves showing the melting peaks of PVA, samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) Figure 15 DSC curves showing the glass transition peak of PVA Figure 16 DSC curves showing the melting temperature peaks of PEO and samples (a), (b), (c) and (d) Figure 17 Graph of Percentage Crystallinity vs Concentration of CMC Figure 18 Graph of Melting Temperature (Tm) vs Concentration of CMC TABLES CAPTIONS Table 1 Samples taken for characterization Table 2 Comparison of influence of concentration of CMC on the density of air dried films Table 3 Percentage crystallinity calculated by XRD of samples Table 4 Percentage crystallinity calculated by DSC of samples