Database systems analysis & design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Database systems analysis & design - Assignment Example It keeps a record of the students in the university. Each student record includes personal details, the departments that they are majoring in, any minors they might have chosen, the courses a department offers that they might be enrolled in, the particular section of a course they might be in and the instructor teaching them in that particular section. The system helps issues a grade report for a student indicating the marks obtained in a section and the grade awarded. The University System has two stakeholders; the Administrators and the Students. This section highlights the role of each stakeholder in the system. The proposed data model has to consider these roles in its design. The administrators are users who perform the managerial tasks of the system. They have the privilege of adding, reading, updating and deleting details and records of students, courses, sections, grades and departments. They can perform advanced level statistical queries on the data stored in the system. An administrator could even be the Dean of the university. The Students are the users that only have the privilege to reading their grade report for each course. Students do not have any privilege of adding, updating or deleting any type of information to the database. Top-down modelling approach was used in formulating the data model for the University System database. Therefore, a series of sub-diagrams were designed first to lay the ground for the final Entity Relationship Attribute (ERA) diagram. The entity relationship (ER) model was formulated first once the entities and their relationships were identified. The Entity Attribute (EA) Model was designed next once the attributes for each entity were identified. Thereafter, relationship sets and identifiers were selected from the ER Model forming the final ERA diagram. Robinson notation was used in designing the database model. The first phase was to

Dental Prosthetic for a 5 Year Old Child

Dental Prosthetic for a 5 Year Old Child

Video Game Violence Make Teens and Children More Aggressive Essay

The term violence is a broad word that has many different views depending on what it is associated with. When it comes to teens and children, violence can be anything from pushing, shoving, and fighting too. Violence has and always will be an ongoing problem around the world. Everything that can be done to prevent it will benefit our society. Today’s video games and featured television shows have become much more graphic than they have ever been, showing brutal images that can be accessed by all ages. Video games have become one of children’s favorite leisure activities, and they spend long amounts of time playing them. It has been shown that children with high exposure to such violent games have a much higher score of serious violence (Freedman 2002). After playing these games for long and countless hours, children begin to view these behaviors as acceptable while out with their friends or in public. Violence is any action that may cause harm to another such as pushing, fighting, language, wrestling, and killing. Violent video games have a strong positive correlation with aggressive behaviors because of intense graphics, lack of effective parental control, and the amount of time playing these games. Aggressive Minds. Video games that are made these days are completely different from how they were made a decade ago. The games are much more detailed and realistic, and they give you the feeling that you are actually in the game. Elizabeth Carll, PhD in Psychology says â€Å"A comprehensive analysis of violence in interactive video game research suggests exposure increases aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, angry feeling, and physiological arousal and decreases helpful behavior†. Children that have played thes... ...ngs, E., Karas, T., Winsler, A., Way, E., Madigan, A., & Tyler, S. (2009). Young children's video/computer game use: relations with school performance and behavior. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 30(10), 638-649. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. JAMA and Archives Journals (2007, July 4). Study Examines Video Game Play Among Adolescents. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 18, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070702161141.htm Straus, M. (1972). Measuring Intrafamily Conflict and Violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/pss/351733. Violent Video Game Campaign (1998-2011). Are you worried about the increasingly violent and graphic content in video games? Retrieved February 18, 2011. Van Horn, R. (1999). Violence and Video Games. Phi Delta Kappan, 81(2), 173. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Beliefs on Pregnancy Essay

This paper is about the effect of superstitious beliefs and practices in the Philippines on pregnancy. It explores the role of nurses in caring for culturally diverse Filipino patients and families in a safe and effective way. The paper provides a historical background, topic facts, impact of the superstitious beliefs on pregnancy, nursing responsibilities, interventions, teachings and cultural impact on pregnancy. The Philippines is a country of many superstitions and beliefs. These practices are handed down from their ancient forefathers. Filipino beliefs and practices have grown in number throughout the various regions and provinces in the country. Superstitious beliefs or practices are considered to be irrational beliefs about an object or action that can influence the consequences of an event (Francia, 2010). There is a great number of folk beliefs Filipinos carry starting from birth, childhood, adolescence, wedding and even death. These beliefs tend to talk about life, family, luck, wealth, and one of the most talked about is the reproductive health of a woman during and after pregnancy. Topic Facts Filipinos have been famous for their superstitious beliefs and practices. These practices may be based on religious beliefs, opinions and real life experiences. According to some Filipino beliefs, cravings for food during pregnancy should be satisfied. Some pregnant women may avoid eating black foods to avoid the birth of an infant with dark skin tone. Unpleasant emotions experienced by pregnant women may be blamed for causing birthmarks. Traditional customs in the Philippines dictate that women should not bathe for about ten days after giving birth (Franchino, 2011). Bathing during these times is seen as a cause of ill health and rheumatism in old age. Sponge baths and steam baths could be used as alternatives. Filipina women may object to having a shower immediately after birth. Some Filipinas bind their abdomen tightly believing that the practice helps to prevent bleeding and helps the uterus to retract. Postpartum women may be massaged with coconut oil with the aim of restoring their lost health. This practice is believed to help expel the blood clots from the uterus, restores the uterus into the prepregnant position and promotes lactation. Impact to Mother and Fetus Many of the customs surrounding the treatment of pregnant Filipina women come from hundreds of years ago when prenatal care was not available. It is the responsibility of the community and family to help the mother carry a child to term. The emotional state of the pregnant mother, surroundings and cultural influences have a profound effect on the health and development of the unborn child. In the Philippines, it is not permitted to argue with a pregnant woman. She always has the last word. The behavior of the pregnant woman is believed to affect the unborn baby. They are protected from any trauma or shock. The pregnant woman is forbidden to have any cruel or bad thoughts. One of the most awaited stages in the life of a Filipina is their reproduction (Hicks, 2011). It is also considered the most susceptible part with regards to health. Families, especially the husband and parents give their utmost care and support to the woman who is pregnant. Nursing Responsibilities It is the responsibility of a nurse to be a culturally competent provider. A nurse must value diversity and respect individual differences regardless of one’s age, race, religious beliefs, or ethnocultural background. A nurse must demonstrate knowledge and understanding of their client’s culture, health related needs and culturally specific meanings of health and illness. A nurse must resist judgmental attitudes. Being open and comfortable with cultural encounters is a major responsibility that nurses must face. Nurses should accept responsibility for one’s own education in cultural competence by attending conferences, reading professional literature, and observing cultural practices (Purnell, 2009). There are differences among cultures but one culture is not better than the other. Nursing Interventions Nursing interventions are designed to help the client meet the desired outcomes of pregnancy. Interventions include care to the Filipina client as well as the family. A nurse should assess family structure and availability of significant others and family. Filipino culture is very communal and interdependent. This collective culture has an impact in the care of the pregnant mother. Family members and neighbors work together to care for the pregnant mother. This atmosphere supports the well-being of both mother and fetus. Nursing Teaching Filipino culture greatly influences how a patient learns. Most Filipinos are observant. During a teaching session, a pregnant Filipina’s nod may have several meanings. It may indicate comprehension, agreement or some other message that may be difficult for the client to disclose. It is important to know who has the authority in the patient’s culture. In a contemporary Filipino family, decisions are largely influenced by the intimate circle of family. A nurse must consider that a pregnant Filipina respects the opinions of a network of family and community health advisers. They are important for building trust and rapport in the client-provider relationship. Cultural Impact This paper has looked at the beliefs and practices in pregnancy that impact Filipino culture. A culturally competent health care and community involvement are recommended strategies for improving health care (Lowdermilk, Perry, Cashion & Alden, 2012). It influences how the mother and fetus is cared for during pregnancy. These beliefs are practiced because Filipinos believe that that there is nothing to lose if they comply with these beliefs. A nurse should incorporate the cultural health practices of a client in the teaching plan for it to be effective. The Philippines has maintained and passed on a lot of customary beliefs. These beliefs are still practiced tod ay. References Franchino, V., (2011). Philippines (1st ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Cherry Lake Publishing. Francia, L., (2010). A history of the Philippines from Indio Bravos to Filipinos (1st ed.). New York: Overlook Press. Hicks, N., (2011). Enchanting Philippines (1st ed.). Oxford: John Beaufoy Publishing. Lowdermilk, D.L., Perry, S., Cashion, K., & Alden, K.R., (2012). Maternity and women’s health care (10th ed.). Missouri: Mosby. Purnell, L., (2009). Guide to culturally competent health care (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.

Decolonization and Revolution Essay

From 1945 and beyond, leaders have selected different paths to affect change. Some encouraged independence through violence, peaceful actions, diplomacy, and the commitment of their struggling nation. Others sparked revolutions by appealing to the peoples’ needs. Through policy, and sometimes uniting a people, trailblazers changed the face and structure of their nation. A column from a journalist during the time period would help to see a broader perspective during such varying and exciting time. Decolonization, revolution, and nation building are all goals of any effective leader willing to make a change. Spanning from 1945 to 1975, countless independence movements have changed societies across the globe, led by leaders and organizations who all yearned for better. The â€Å"Declaration Against Colonialism,† adopted by the United Nations, took a firm stand on the demise of colonialism. The document petitioned for a definite end to colonialism and encouraged self-determination, stating that all human beings have a right to their own societal and political choices. Such a statement coming from an organization comprised and backed by countless nations surely stands its ground. The United Nations, supporting the end of colonialism, inspired countries to strive for freedom through the organizations obvious power. It also displayed the end of a colonial era, seeing as though many colony-yielding nations were members of the UN. (Doc 1). Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese nationalist, too felt the need for freedom. Minch expressed the Vietnamese’s determination to end French colonization i n their country. Minch made it clear that violence would be condoned and encouraged to win this battle. Ho Chi Minch embodied Vietnams’ fighting will for a separation and willingness to shed blood in the process. (Doc 2). In a similar suit, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya shared his hate for colonialism and his approval of violence. He claims that Kenya belongs to its inhabitants, not colonizers who held his people back. Kenyatta believed that the only way to approach self-rule is through bloodshed. (Doc 6). Mohandas Gandhi of India had a quite parallel approach. From an excerpt written by him, it is seen that  Gandhi believed the path to independence was paved with nonviolence and self-sacrifice. Gandhi in many ways led Indians to Independence. Even after his death, he was a guiding light for those who coveted an India without the British. (Doc 3). Kwame Nkrumah, leader of Ghana’s independence, expressed his goal dismay for colonialism. He saw the system as contractual and exploitive to his country. He calls the independence movement â€Å"the greatest awakening ever seen on this earth†. By portraying colonialism as a heinous and abusive practice, Nkrumah led Ghana to independence. (Doc 5). A letter from the British monarchy as a response to colonial independence would give insight as to whether they see themselves as negatively as their colonies do. In South Africa, China, and Cuba, social and political revolutions pioneered by inspiring people occured. Nelson Mandela, speaking on his fight against apartheid, conveyed his commitment to the cause. Mandela dreamed of a South Africa where equality and democracy was not a scarcity. Unfortunately, his reality at the time was far different. Nelson Mandela was willing to die for the cause. His dedication inspired others to continue to fight for justice in South Africa. This infectious determination is was enabled Mandela to lead the campaign for termination of this policy. (Doc. 4). In China, Mao Zedong led his country to the communist revolution. In a speech he delivered, he vocalized a goal to build faith in the party. The method applied by Zedong focused on uniting China under one belief in order to implement communist ideas in the country, widely changing the country’s structure. (Doc 7). At his defense trial, Cuban revolution leader Fidel Castro appealed to those struggling in his country. He spoke to those who hoped for a brighter future and who have been betrayed by their country. By addressing their battle, Castro urged them to fight for a better Cuba. His relentless and undying commitment ultimately granted Castro his wish for a revolution. (Doc 8). An additional document consisting of a diary entry from a Chinese citizen during the communist revolution would create a clearer vision as to how convincing Mao Zedong truly was. Some modern leaders look more inward as to their nations’ policies and people to affect change. Hosni Mubarak, former President of Egypt, aimed to unite his country and better certain systems to strengthen the nation. When in a hard and confusing time, Mubarak provided Egypt with a steady guiding hand. In the midst of this chaos, instead of addressing the questions and wants of the people, Hosni Mubarak demanded they offer themselves to supply the needs of their country and support their leader. This mindset calmed Egyptians as Mubarak reopened Egypt to the Arab world, tried to reaffirm the constitution and judicial system, and tackled social issues. (New Leaders of Nations #1). Former prime minister of India Narasimha Rao was first questioned by the Indian people as to his ability to lead. This was turned around as he implemented many policy changes in India. India, fairly unfamiliar with outside involvement, now encouraged foreign investment. Rao’s programs for economic growth and investment, both foreign and Indian, faced opposition from possible disorder. However, Rao’s use of intellectual thinking and a new, open India, aided his decisions. A documentary depicting evolving countries as they face modern challenges would be helpful in grasping what qualities leaders who create change possess. Those who create ripples of change in their societies all have varying methods and roles. Some strive for revolution, others independance or policy reboots. It is important to keep in mind that each situation creates unique circumstances; some changes require new methods. To further understand which methods are suitable for particular situations, letters from different leaders who have created change would be helpful.

Evidence Based Healthcare Research Social Work Essays

Evidence Based Healthcare Research Social Work Essays Evidence Based Healthcare Research Social Work Essay Evidence Based Healthcare Research Social Work Essay Evidenced Based Healthcare and Research: Appraisal. In the United Kingdom the construct of Independent Living and Self-directed Support has become an constituted attack for the bringing of wellness and societal attention services, that it is presently the preferable residential option for people with larning disablements ( Binnie A ; Titchen 1999 ) . Independent life can be defined as enabling independency by having the right support how and when it is required ( Morris 2004 ) . It has now become a cardinal rule in assorted authorities policy paperss such as the Valuing Peoples Now Strategy ( UK Department of Health, 2009 ) and the Personalisation through Person-Centred Planning enterprise ( UK Department of Health, 2010 ) . This assignment aims to show a elaborate review of a qualitative survey entitled How grownups with larning disablements view independent life ( Bond A ; Hurst 2010 ) . A review can specify as a balanced rating of the strengths and restrictions of a research article, in order to find its credibleness and/or pertinence to pattern ( Gamgee 2006 ) . This survey is a welcome part to the current wellness and societal attention research sphere because whilst independent life is the preferable residential option, it is non at all clear whether it is suited for all people with larning disablements, furthermore if there is in fact sufficient empirical grounds to back up this impression. It is hence imperative to set up a sound grounds base that draws upon the lived personal experiences of those with learning disablements. Using an acknowledged model A Measure by Step guide to reviewing a quantitative survey ( Coughan et al. , 2007 ) the comparative worth of the grounds in support of indepen dent life will be judged consistently. Equally good as researching the significance of independent life as an indispensable nursing intercession and its application to modern clinical pattern. Ryan-Wenger ( 2003 ) suggests that in analyzing published articles it is of import to determine two cardinal facets of a review which can be subdivided into elements that influence the hardiness of the research methodological analysis besides known as integrity variables and elements which influence the credibility of the research such as composing manner, writer ( s ) , study rubric and abstract otherwise known as credibility variables . The latter seems to be the most logical topographic point to commence. Evaluation of the Journal Article Polit and Beck ( 2006 ) province that composing manner should be such that it attracts the reader to read on ; this paper is good written, comprehensive and concise. The construction and layout of the paper is good organised with a logical consistence and free from slang in comparing to some documents where the writer ( s ) can be opaque in their attack. However little reserve is reserved refering the degree of cogent evidence reading as at that place seems to be some grammatical and typographical mistakes which can be found on pages 288 and 289. Both writers appear to hold a sound background in larning disablement from both a societal context and educational scenes. As indicated in the acknowledgements the writers makings indicate that they have a grade of cognition in this field and this piece of research seems to be a portion of a taught constituent of their Masterss programme. The study tile seems to be descriptive and compendious, although it lacks specificity of the research methodological analysis used in the survey. This can be really utile for others who are seeking for this type of paper. Although the term qualitative research is mentioned under keywords the rubric itself could be more specific. As a consequence the study rubric is equivocal and simply eight words in length. Meehan ( 1999 ) states that a rubric should be between ten to fifteen words long in order to clearly place the intent of the survey for the reader. This paper presents both an accessible and elaborate version of the abstract, but are both helpful? The accessible signifier includes information on the topic and the figure of participants, whereas the elaborate signifier provides an lineation of the methodological analysis used, ethical model, findings and recommendations. On balance the sum-ups present a clear overview of the survey, nevertheless it does implore the inquiry in what sense is the accessible signifier accessible? and to whom? It seems that the writers are seeking to be politically right instead than logical because how many service users really read the British Journal of Learning Disabilities? . It seems that this is a knee dork reaction which has been applied falsely ; it would be more suited if the papers was aimed at informing an audience with larning disablements such as Valuing People ( UK Department of Health, 2001 ) which caters to a broad scope of readers. The easy -read version is aimed at service users w hilst the denser version is aimed at professionals and service suppliers. Having identified and analysed variables that affect the credibleness of the research presented, how credible the work appears, the writers makings and their ability to set about and accurately show the survey. The hardiness of the research methodological analysis and the unity of the findings will be appraised in order to find the trustiness of the survey and its pertinence to nursing pattern. The writers province the purpose of the survey is to research the positions of nine people with larning disablements who have already achieved independency and wish to lend to the argument of independent life. The writers suggest that this manner of life is now viewed as desirable, but what is the world for people who live with larning disablements? This construct of desirableness is held as debatable by the writers who choose to analyze and show the world of populating independently as opposed to the impression of general and conventional wisdom. A survey conducted by Barlow A ; Kirby ( 1991 ) concluded that people in reception of autonomous support had more life satisfaction than those in residential attention . This determination is farther supported by the publication of Independent Living ( HM Office for Disability Issues, 2007 ) . The determination to suspend opinion about independent life is justifiable and is supported by other research workers in the field of larning disab lements ; as there are several deductions for service users, professionals and service suppliers. This is for a figure of grounds for case promoting pick and control ( OBrien, 2002 ) , wellness issues ( Priest A ; Gibbs, 2004 ) , exposure ( Cooper, 2002 ) and the ability for those with larning disablements to entree services ( Jansen et al. , 2006 ) . The literature reappraisal conducted by the writers demonstrates an appropriate deepness and comprehensiveness of reading around independent life. The bulk of surveies included are of recent beginning being less than five old ages old ; the few historical surveies included put the construct of populating independently into context. The writers successfully identified struggles between the literature by comparing and contrasting findings ( Burns and Grove. , 1997 ) , because although grounds exists to demo people who have moved from larger establishments prefer smaller group places ( Forrester-Jones et al. , 2002 ) there is still no accurate informations detailing the figure of people with larning disablements populating independently ( Beadle Brown et al. , 2004 ) . However the writers failed to advert how they conducted their hunt and information on the databases used to garner documents in their reappraisal. The writers did nevertheless, use primary beginnings of information as o pposed to secondary beginnings and anecdotal information, which attests to the unity and value of the survey presented. Bond A ; Hurst ( 2010 ) ascertained the narrations of nine people with larning disablements via the usage of semi-constructed interviews within their methodological analysis. The writers are to be commended for their attending to detail in footings of their ability to plan and construction interviews so as to suit the demands of the participants. Equally good as carry oning interviews at times and locales convenient to them. The interview construction included open-ended inquiries to help understanding as communicating emerged to be a cardinal barrier for some people with learning disablements. The writers report on a figure of theoretical issues that have been adapted for the participants in order that they might to the full take part in the research procedure. The construction of the interviews was devised utilizing the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance ( Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, 1997 ) , but is this theoretical account applicable to the United Kin gdom population and to which care puting? Bond A ; Hurst ( 2010 ) adopted thematic analysis within their methodological analysis in measuring the narrations. The information collected was audio taped and subsequently transcribed into coded subjects, which is acknowledged in general research literature to be good pattern. On balance, the writers adhered to the stairss in the research procedure and it is conveyed between the fluidness of stages. The review later moves onto sing the ethical model. This research paper was supported by the local moralss commission and all participants in the survey gave informed consent. Although it is non clear whether or non it was an National Health Service ( NHS ) moralss commission. However, the writers sought to guarantee their working methods complied with the Data Protection Act ( 1998 ) but non with all authorities statute law applicable to the survey such as the Mental Health Act ( 1983 ) . Although there is reference about handiness, the writers failed to guarantee the participants had the capacity to do informed determinations as defined in the Mental Health Act ( 1983 ) . In relation to the figure of participants, the sample size is little and hence may non be brooding or entirely representative for all people with larning troubles. Small samples are more likely to be at hazard of being overly representative of little subgroups within a mark population ( Coughan et al. , 2007 ) . T herefore little reserve is held as the writers did non advert whether they sought to take overall prejudice by bring forthing a sample that is likely to be representative and generalisable to the mark population. Parahoo ( 2006 ) states that for a sample to truly reflect of the population it represents the writers must bring forth a chance sample. The participants in this survey were recruited via convenience trying utilizing a 3rd party ( Melton 1998 ) ; nevertheless several variables could hold an affect on the sample which can take to it being distorted such as the huge age scope. The writers are to be commended nevertheless, in their attempts to keep the confidentiality of their participants by offering them the pick to supply their ain anonym. In the treatment the writers identified seven subjects from their informations analysis which reflected the positions of all the participants and in bend addressed the purposes of the survey. Their findings supported the four key rules as stated in the Valuing People policy papers, and ways in which people can be supported to accomplish this includes increasing societal inclusion, increasing liberty and pick for people and raising consciousness of the exposure of those with learning disablements. However the survey besides highlighted that the bulk of participants struggled with the more complex facet of life independently, such as money direction and budgeting. The authorities has late introduced Direct Payments as portion of a countrywide transmutation in societal attention services, which involves paying money straight to an person in demand to take control of their ain support and attention services. This enterprise will help finance direction as it enables service users to hold control over the attention they receive and how they receive it. The bulk of participants maintained that when comparing their current life style of independent life to that of their old life style it was clear that they wanted to stay living independently. Application to Clinical Practice This subdivision will research the significance of independent life as an indispensable nursing intercession and its application to modern clinical pattern. Gates A ; Atherton ( 2001 ) province that there is a demand for grounds of effectiveness in wellness and societal attention . The most of import facet of being a practician regardless of 1s career, is that jointly we as professionals seek the best grounds available on which to establish our pattern ( Coughan et al. , 2007 ) . The grounds in support of independent life is limited and non wholly accurate, hence when grounds is presented it should non be taken on face value. As Cullum A ; Droogan ( 1999 ) put it not all research is of the same quality or high criterion therefore as a learning disablement nurse and societal worker it is of import being a attention supplier that although a paper has been published it can be critically appraised. This paper is of cardinal relevancy to our pattern in guaranting that the life styles of people with learning disablements are informed by valid and dependable grounds. This research paper adds value to the current literature available in support of independent life nevertheless cautiousness must be expressed as it is non entirely about populating independently. The construct of independently populating can non be advocated for everyone ; each individual is different and hence necessitate different degrees of support which will run into their demands. The publication of Valuing People ( UK Department of Health, 2001 ) the cardinal papers that prompted a alteration in the manner wellness and societal attention services operate. The paper made Person-Centred Planning a cardinal constituent of service reform, and outlined four key rules viz. : Human Rights, Independence, Choice and Social Inclusion ( Mansell and Beadle-Brown, 2004 ) . This means that people with larning disablements should be valued members of society, treated with self-respect and regard whilst holdin g the same rights and picks as everybody else ( OBrien, 2002 ) . Furthermore, people with larning disablements should experience empowered to take control over the attention that they receive in order to be after and populate their lives independently. Previously, people with larning disablements were shunned off from the community and susceptible to mistreat. The Community Care Act ( 1990 ) was introduced as a consequence of both political and societal alterations in attitudes towards the intervention of people with mental unwellnesss. In line with Mental Health Act ( 1983 ) the purpose was to take the stigma associated with mentally sick people off from isolation towards societal inclusion ( Social Role Valorisation, Wolfensberger, 1983 ) . But does independently populating mean that you get societal inclusion? Presently we are seeing a civilization of people who require support being efficaciously excluded from society, waiting for the following support worker to cook their repasts, aid with personal hygiene and general cleansing. This is a downward spiral in our society which is seting a demand on our system. As a attention supplier in line with the General Social Care Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Codes of Conduct ( 20 08 ) , it is our responsibility to recommend in the best involvement of the client at all times but who is really doing the determinations? Bond A ; Hurst ( 2010 ) highlighted how closely wellness was linked to independent life and that many of the participants suffered from chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and arthritis. Is it a instance of compromising support for services at the disbursal of overlooking wellness issues? It seems that the writers make a plausible instance that people with learning disablements are being seen as non a precedence as they carry a disproportional load of wellness inequalities among our population. The world for people with larning disablements is far from the projected life style of independency ( Emerson UK Literature ) . It is a challenge to back up people with larning disablements, several factors need to be considered to forestall possible neglect. Jansen et al. , ( 2006 ) points out the demand to follow integrated attention attacks in handling those with learning disablements. This will affect working with different bureaus ( interagency squad working ) and different types of professionals ( multidisciplinary squad working ) in order to supply an holistic service to run into their demands. Current research shows that a handicapped individual is likely to be in contact with at least 10 different attention professionals in their life-time ( UK Department of Education, 2003 ) . Issues can originate through out this clip which may take to miss of continuity and communicating. Therefore, a sufficient sum of preparation and consciousness is needed to guarantee that all staff are qualified and skilled to guarantee equity of service proviso. When caring for patients it is indispensable as a practician to follow the current best pattern. To find what this is one must be able to critically measure grounds that is presented to them ( Basset and Basset. , 2003 ) . This paper focused on the lived experiences of nine people with learning disablements about the world of life independently. In reviewing this paper, the writers successfully highlighted the importance of independent life as an indispensable nursing intercession nevertheless there were besides some restrictions, the most of import being limited confirmation of the information. Furthermore the narrations of the participants were extremely subjective and findings non-generalisable, therefore the impression of independent life is non to be applied to all that have a learning disablement, or vulnerable grownups with complex demands. As recommended by the writers, farther accurate, dependable and valid research is needed that will add value to the evidence-base sphere. Entire Word Count: 2,452 Excluding Headings and Mentions

Six Book Blogs You Need to Read

Six Book Blogs You Need to Read Apart from the book blogs role as a dynamic forum for discussion and the exchange of book titles and other reading material, book blogs have become the stage where you, the budding writer, can turn the spotlight on yourself and become a celebrity- not necessarily by winning the Nobel Prize for Literature like Bob Dylan, but by putting yourself, your views, and your literary skills out there to a potential audience of millions. In this post, I am presenting a list of my favorite book blogs. Whether youre a professor of literature, a bookworm, or an undiscovered writer yearning for recognition, you will find great books, open discussion forums, writers tips, and excellent reviews in these top book blogs.The Book Designer- This is my top choice of book blog because it offers excellent advice on how to establish yourself as a writer using a captivating, user-friendly design and great tips on how to crack the literary space. The author of this blog, Joel Friedlander, states: Writers chang e the world one reader at a time. But you cant change a book thats still on your hard drive or in a box under your bed. So, his message is this, Get your book out there! And he shows you how through a clearly enumerated list of suggestions that include Amazons Createspace, which shows how to get your book ready in print form for Amazons worldwide audience. If you want to produce your own e-Book, Amazon Kindle or Smashwords will lead the way.Alternatively, the blog shows you how to publicize your book through your own WordPress website. This blog also provides some excellent tips for monetizing your writing skills by using Google AdSense ads, private ads, and sponsorships. This is a go-to blog for writers and designers that covers just about anything you want to know about writing or designing a book. It shows you how to access self-training kits for writers, how to self-publish, how to market articles both on social media and in the real world, and how to use book design templates i n Microsoft Word. If you use the wealth of information this blog offers to put your lurking genius out there, you have every chance of becoming a cyber celebrity.The Millions- The New York Times has described The Millions as an indispensable literary site, and I include it as my number two choice. It serves not only as a blog on which people are free to comment and review books and articles, but also as an extraordinary and original source of contemporary books that will have you laughing or crying at the choice of titles, and there are thousands. Consider Jacob Lamberts Like a Fried Egg Sliding off a Fat Mans Naked Thigh: 18 Fair-use Similes, or the article, The Art of Compassion on Donald Trumps Hats. The interactive nature of this blog is implicit in a host of excellent articles relating to the arduous process of writing a book and articles that invite comments and suggestions. One article by Nick Ripatrazone deals with the quintessential nightmare all writers face at one time or another- immobility. The advice it offers to writers incapacitated by introversion and a lack of self-confidence is Dont Worry. Dont Wait. Write.There are thousands of interesting ideas, book titles, articles, and suggestions in The Millions as well as essays, columns, quizzes, poetry, and a section called Ask the Writing Teacher in which readers can ask virtually any writing-related question, from how to deal with Fifty Shades of Rejection to how to handle transitions. This is a wonderful site with a touch of individual genius that will bring you back for more.The Indie View- So, lets suppose youre into horror stories, and youre looking, for example, for Barbara Watkins book Six-Pack of Blood. You dont want only the Six-Pack; you want to find every e-book Watkins has written, and, for good measure, you also want to know which of her books has horrified the world the most. In other words, you want to read the detailed reviews. You wont find that information at your local bookstore, but you will find it at the Indie View, which offers authors of e-Books from around the world the opportunity to set up their own pages on the Indie View website. The only caveat is that the e-Book authors work must have been reviewed before submission.What I love about this site is the video trailers it offers as an incentive to read the authors works. The trailer to Watkins Six-Pack of Blood opens with an invitation to Turn on the Lights, Check the Locks, and Get Ready to Scream! Its not all horror, of course, and the list of authors from around the world covering a variety of genres is truly impressive. The great advantage of this site is that it offers to promote the works of its e-Book authors, giving them a free cyber shove into the real world where their names could eventually end up alongside the likes of Tolstoy, Irving Stone, James Joyce, and, who knows, even Alfred Hitchcock!Omnivoracious- I am including this Amazon blog in my list of top book blogs not only for its imag inative, user-friendly design and its very strong emphasis on interaction and open discussion, but also for its incomparable coverage of books and book-related topics. Clearly, Amazon is the worlds front-runner as a book provider: recently, Amazon accounted for 64% of the sales of printed books online. And the virtual bookstores blog, Omnivoracious (hungry for the next good book): The Amazon Book Review, does a great service to Amazons reputation. In fact, this blog has an outstanding ability to identify best-selling titles that are current and which will continue to sell. One look at Amazons Best Books of the Year will offer you an ample choice of reads throughout the next year, and if you prefer shorter reads, this blog offers some very informative book-related articles, such as The Best Childrens Books for 2016 or The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books for November.Omnivoracious, which was launched in 2007, has evolved into a dynamic forum on which Amazon editors can discuss their craft, the strategies they employ to bring their books to the public stage, and the passion they have for subjects ranging from nursery rhymes and nail polish to rocket science and sex. In fact, theres something for everything on Omnivoracious, and dynamic interaction on the content of fiction and non-fiction titles that include cookbooks and kids books, romance and science fiction. A special attraction on the Omnivoracious blog is its presentation of current celebrity picks. These include Ransom Riggs Favourite Reads of 2016, and Mara Wilsons Favorite Reads of 2016. Omnivoracious also has a superb eye for particular genres that will attract the public eye: Graphic Novel Friday: Best Comic and Graphic Novels for 2016 is one. As the biggest online bookstore in the world, Amazon has the resources and experience to make this one of the most-read literary blogs in the world.Critical Mass- If you want to feel the real pulse of the worlds literary heartbeat, this blog should be on y our bucket-list of places to go before you die. Established by the National Book Critics Circle in New York City in 1974, it serves an online membership of 600 critics, authors, and literary writers offering incisive commentary and reviews on books and other literary works from around the world. Another great attraction is its encyclopedic list of websites where authors, reviewers, and commentators can access almost any information in the literary world. Critical Mass features the latest works of current members, reports on literary events from around the country, and discusses the content of literary websites, blogs, individual articles, books, and essays.The categories and archives featured in Critical Mass are a veritable treasure-chest of literary information, featuring such subjects as Adventures in e-Reading, 30 Books in 30 Days, and Conversations With Literary Websites. Particularly attractive is the bullet-like presentation of current news and reviews featuring writers and r eviewers around the world. For example, Jim Ruland reviews The Haunted Looking Glass, an anthology of Ghost stories selected by Edward Gorey for his column, The Floating Library, in San Diego City Beat. The icing on the cake is the blogs video and podcast offerings, which cover such diverse subjects as The VIDA Count and Gender Bias in Book Reviewing and The NBCC on Unlikeable Characters in Contemporary Fiction. The National Book Critics Circle is the driving force behind this impressive blog, and establishes an important literary standard in its annual literary awards, which frame which authors are the ones who count in cyber space and the real world.Helping Writers Become Authors- Youre sitting at your desk about to write a book. Your head is crammed with ideas so diffuse that you wonder whether your heads going to explode. What am I going to write for the intro? Should I put the intro at the end of the book? What is the plot? Who are the characters? How do I define them? Theres n o symmetry to the ideas, no order, no outline. Youre stuck, and the page stays blank. If this sounds familiar to you, this blog is exactly what you need. The blog is written by K.M. Weiland, and when she delivers her strategies for writing amazing prose, she knows what shes talking about. She is the award-winning, best-selling author of Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel, and her blog is a compass that will steer you through the rough waters of creative writing until you reach your destination.Perhaps the outstanding feature of Weilands blog is its user-friendly format and the way in which she invites you in to formulate a plot, investigate ways in which to write about characters, identify the central theme of your story, and form an outline for your book that will make you a celebrity author. Having experienced the trauma aspirant authors endure in addressing these issues, I would highly recommend this blog as an indispensable guide to creative and structured writing. Besides the wealth of instructional writing information K.M Weiland offers in her blog, she has the writers gift of bringing a smile to your face or a twinkle to your eyes on your dullest days. She describes herself as a person who lives in make-believe worlds, talks to imaginary friends, and survives primarily on chocolate truffles and espresso. Perhaps theres a little bit of her in all of us.

Give a Speech People Remember

Give a Speech People Remember What makes a speech a great speech, one people remember, especially your teacher? The key is in your message, not your presentation. Use the six sticky principles taught by Chip Heath and Dan Heath in their book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, and give a speech youll get an A on. Unless you live in a cave, you know the story of Jared, the college student who lost hundreds of pounds eating Subway sandwiches. Its a story that almost wasnt told for the same reasons that many of our papers and speeches are boring. We get so filled up with statistics and abstractions and all the things we know, that we forget to share the simple message at the core of what were trying to communicate. Subway executives wanted to talk about fat grams and calories. Numbers. While right under their noses was a concrete example of what eating at Subway can do for you. The ideas the Heath brothers teach are ideas that will make your next paper or speech memorable, whether your audience is your teacher or the entire student body. Here are their six principles: Simplicity - find the essential core of your messageUnexpectedness - use surprise to grab people’s attentionConcreteness - use human actions, specific images to convey your ideaCredibility - put hard numbers aside and bring your case closer to home, ask a question that helps your reader decide for him- or herselfEmotions - make your reader feel something, for people, not for abstractionsStories - tell a story that illustrates your message Use the acronym SUCCESs to help you remember: SimpleUnexpectedConcreteCredibleEmotionalStories Lets take a brief look at each ingredient: Simple - Force yourself to prioritize. If you had only one sentence in which to tell your story, what would you say? What is the single most important aspect of your message? Thats your lead. Unexpected - Do you remember the TV commercial for the new Enclave minivan? A family piled into the van on their way to a football game. Everything seems normal. Bang! A speeding car slams into the side of the van. The message is about wearing seat belts. You are so shocked by the crash that the message sticks. Didn’t see that coming? the voiceover says. No one ever does. Include an element of shock in your message. Include the extraordinary. Concrete - Include what the Heath brothers call tangible actions by human beings. I have a friend who consults in the area of organizational development. I can still hear him asking me after I told him what I was hoping to achieve with my staff, What does that look like? Exactly what behaviors do you want to change? Tell your audience exactly what it looks like. If you can examine something with your senses, the Heath brothers say, it’s concrete. Credible - People believe things because their family and friends do, because of personal experience, or because of faith. People are naturally a tough audience. If you don’t have an authority, expert, or celebrity to endorse your idea, what’s the next best thing? An anti-authority. When an ordinary Joe, who looks like your next-door neighbor or your cousin, tells you something works, you believe it. Clara Peller is a good example. Remember the Wendy’s commercial, â€Å"Where’s the Beef?† Almost everyone does. Emotional - How do you make people care about your message? You make people care by appealing to the things that matter to them. Self-interest. This is the core of sales of any kind. It’s more important to emphasize benefits than features. What will the person gain from knowing what you have to say? Youve probably heard of WIIFY, or the Whiff-y, approach. What’s in it for you? The Heath brothers say this should be a central aspect of every speech. Its only part of it, of course, because people aren’t that shallow. People are also interested in the good of the whole. Include an element of self or group affiliation in your message. Stories - The stories that are told and retold usually contain wisdom. Think of Aesops Fables. They have taught generations of children lessons of morality. Why are stories such effective teaching tools? Partly because your brain can’t tell the difference between something you imagine to be happening and that thing actually happening. Close your eyes and imagine standing on the edge of a 50-story building. Feel butterflies? This is the power of story. Give your reader or audience an experience theyll remember. Chip Heath and Dan Heath also have a few words of caution. They advise that the three things that hang people up the most are these: Burying the lead - make sure your core message is in your first sentence.Decision paralysis - take care not to include too much information, too many choicesThe curse of knowledge -Presenting an answer requires expertiseTelling others about it requires you to forget what you know and think like a beginner Made to Stick is a book that will not only help you write more effective speeches and papers, it has the potential to make you a more memorable force wherever you walk through the world. Do you have a message to share? At work? In your club? In the political arena? Make it stick. About the Authors Chip Heath is a Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Dan is a columnist for Fast Company magazine. He has spoken and consulted on the topic of making ideas stick with organizations such as Microsoft, Nestle, the American Heart Association, Nissan, and Macys. You can find them at MadetoStick.com.

Military Leader Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Military Leader - Research Paper Example The military personnel learn many values while they train basic skills in combat. They learn to live and believe in the values. The values define what they become and what they accomplish. From the lowest ranks, these skills are learnt and internalized. Various soldiers have risen up the ranks from adhering to the values. Their hard work in their training and value system has yielded fruits in battle field, bringing victory to nation. This paper will talk about General Henry Harley Arnold who was a General of the Army, and was later made the general of the Air Force. Focus will be placed on attributes of leadership tactical decision in leadership and battle. 2. Military leader According to Davis (5), Henry Harley Arnold (1886-1950) was born of a doctor in Gladwyne. He was also known as Hap, a short form of the name happy since he was known to be jovial. He graduated from the Military Academy in 1907. In the year 1911, he pursued his desire to fly in the air force and completed exams to earn a license. He became an active pilot of the United States Army. He was involved in different training institutions which impacted the traits that caused him to eventually become a military leader. Arnold has been identified as a successful military leader. A successful military leader is one who is capable of showing attributes of a good leader. A military leader presents the motive and direction during operation so that the mission is accomplished. Their ideas are about improving the organization and causing positive change. The leader’s motivation and objectives gives the subordinates specific goals to attain so that the aspired results are attained. Military leaders have strong values and a reputable character. A military leader has technical skills and human resource skills. Moreover, the military leader should use knowledge and skills to attain effectiveness and efficiency. As a military leader, Henry Arnold was known to be tactical and technically proficient. Be sides having a sense of responsibility towards his subordinates, Arnold was known to look out for their welfare. Arnold was an example to the subordinates, kept good communication and ensured that good and timely decisions were made. One of the most outstanding traits is that Arnold was capable of taking responsibility for own action. During his missions Arnold was keen to ensure that military officers were informed on their mission, trained and understood their assigned tasks. Training done to the teams ensured that they acted as a team. The troops were motivated to follow and answer to Arnold. Arnold’s performance in the mission was in accordance to his capabilities. At an individual capacity, Arnold was aware of own strengths together with weaknesses, and sought to bring about self improvement. Arnold demonstrated the values of military personnel throughout the course of his work. Henry Arnold was loyal to the United States. He had strong belief and paid his allegiance to the Constitution of United States. He was commitment to the army, specific units assigned and other soldiers he was with in the battle fields. He was devoted to his work and believed in the mission. While working in different units, Arnold provided support to other soldiers and was present to assist in the case of difficulty. Arnold fulfilled his duties as a soldier. In his military service Arnold was able to guide and provide leadership as a general of the army and as a general of the air force. Besides he assigned tasks, an army leader goes beyond their duties to ensure that all the tasks are completed and the teams are maintained. Working in the United States Army can be tasking because a leader must combine all their efforts to actualize the mission. This means that they must be aware and capable of coordinating responsibilities with given tasks to meet the

What is Conflict Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What is Conflict - Research Paper Example Humans experience conflict everyday in their personal lives and in the organizational culture. Conflict can be interpreted in two dimensions: the theorist’s perspective of the conflict and the environment where the conflict takes place. The environment may include conflict between individuals or families or nations. The conflict can also be inter-psychic in which the conscious mind and the unconscious mind conflict with each other. Thus, conflict can occur in many contexts. How the mediators interpret conflict and its resolution paves the way to their selection of an appropriate approach towards reconciliation. Sarah Netter’s article, â€Å"Was Southwest passenger too fat to fly?† (2009) describes a conflict according to the above mentioned definitions of a conflict. The main character of the incident is an Illinois man, Emery Orto, who is 6-foot 350-pounds by size. He was returning to Midway to celebrate his wife’s birthday but the Southwest Airlines refu sed to let him fly from Las Vegas. He was not at all ready to purchase a second ticket despite his large size. Although Orto had been able to gain many people’s sympathies, the fact remains that he acted irrationally. Critical analysis of the incident tells that Orto was at mistake, not the Airlines. The personnel informed him that the customers unable to lower both armrests should book the additional seat at the booking time and that with only one seat, he was going to make himself uncomfortable as well as the co-passengers. The Southwest Airlines’ customer of size policy has it that the additional seat will be offered at a discounted rate and refunded afterwards if goes unoccupied, which is a very good offer which Orto should have availed. He had also been offered the opportunity to show to the Airlines that he could accommodate only one seat without upsetting his seatmates, but he refused. One cannot make out what was the reason he did not take the chance of boardin g the plane and letting the personnel see that he was right. According to the Southwest Airlines (2009), putting forward the rule of an additional seat for large passengers became vital when the customers who felt terribly uncomfortable sitting next to an obese seatmate started raising objections. Moreover, the over-weight passengers disturb the plane’s weight and balance which is very dangerous. Since it is the responsibility of the Airlines to assure safety to all passengers, Orto had to be enquired. Hence, this conflict goes very well with the textbook’s definition of a conflict. 2. I would approach this conflict according to the Human Needs Theory, according to which basic human needs of a human being must be satisfied in order to resolve the conflict. Orto needs to be satisfied; however, he must also understand the policy of the airlines. The question that what factor decides which passenger is stout and which is skinny has a straightforward reply. The Airlinesâ⠂¬â„¢ policy says that it is the size of the person that determines his obesity, not his weight nor the extension of the seat belt. If an obese person gets allowed to fly with only one seat, that would only happen if he is able to lower or extend the seatbelt. If he cannot lower it, this decides that he is obese. A good example can be of a pregnant woman. Despite her being over-weight, if she can lower the armrest, it is okay if she books one seat. Staff can be also instructed to use measuring tape to

Lousis Daguerre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lousis Daguerre - Essay Example Daguerre used immaculately polished and silver plated sheets of cooper, which were sensitized with iodine vapors to catch photographic images (Carlisle 255). These sheets were exposed in big box cameras and were later developed in mercury fumes (Carlisle 255). Later on they were fixed or stabilized in sodium thiosulphate or hypo (Carlisle 255). Daguerreotype photography required little exposure time and allowed for the capturing of photographic images that were impressively detailed and vivid (Carlisle 255). Daguerre promoted the daguerreotype photography invented by him both as a medium of artistic expression and as a potent scientific tool. Most of the earlier experimental works made by Daguerre were destroyed in fire that burned his laboratory. Yet, today still survive a few of his daguerreotype portraits, urban views and still lives, which speak much for the ingenuity and aesthetic appeal of Daguerre’s

Argument Assignment- why prostitution should be legal in the U.S Essay

Argument Assignment- why prostitution should be legal in the U.S - Essay Example The reasons due to which legalizing prostitution should take place are that legalizing will decrease government spending, will decrease incidences and spread of HIV virus and this will even help in keeping the society safe from severe criminal activities One of the reasons due to which prostitution should be legalized is that legalizing has several economic benefits associated with it for the prostitutes as well as the government of United States. Prostitution is an act in which the prostitute willingly sells themselves and they mostly do so because they are in dire need of financial assistance. Since the government is recognizing prostitution as an illegal act, several prostitutes are arrested day by day for an act that they indulge in out of freewill. The most important point to be noted is that prostitution does not harms the overall society, its benefits and costs are beard by those who are purchasing prostitutes and by those who are selling themselves. Since prostitution is recognized as an illegal act, police is running after the parties involved to imprison them. Several prostitutes are being arrested every day and this is increasing the population of the jail and is even resulting in an increase of the government’s fi nancial expenditure. During the period of 1987, Jacobsen reported that the total cost of putting prostitutes behind bars and brining them to justice experienced by the government is around $2000/arrest (Jacobsen 135). FBI pointed out that the total number of prostitutes booked into correctional centers totaled to 56,560 individuals (FBI 1). Calculating the total cost bared by the government to deal with 56,560 individuals involved in prostitution may end up amounting to $113,120,000. If prostitution is recognized as a legal act, this government spending can be saved and used for other purposes and countering criminal activity

Population Growth and Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Population Growth and Resources - Essay Example There, death rates fell so quickly that society had little time or reason to change its desire for larger families. (1). Population has mostly exploded in African and Asian countries; to which contribution of China and India is greatest. Today China is most populous country in the world followed by India with soon India expected to top the list. There had been a lot of cry in the 80s and 90s that population explosion is going to create a lots of troubles for mankind; the resources will be lost and so on. Definitely there have been these negative effects, but interestingly these days we are seeing some positive effects also of the population, especially in both most populous countries China and India. Impact on Earth's natural resources: The resources of the earth considered here are petroleum, gas, minerals etc. The effect of population can clearly be seen by the every day increasing oil prices. It is said that these resources are going to be cause of the future wars. With the increase in population there is obviously the increase in number of vehicles. This is not only depleting the earth's resources but by exhaust emissions also destroying the environment of the earth. The scientists have been aware of these facts and new vehicles are now coming up with alternative fuels like Natural gases, which are still abundantly available on earth and cause lesser pollution. In a way the crisis leads to solutions; that is the survival capacity of the human being. Similarly coal and oil are still most widely used for power generation; but recently due population growth and industrialization the power requirements have increased tremendously. Again coal and oil cause lot of air pollution. The scientists have come up with newer methods of power generation like nuclear power generation, wind power, tidal power etc. which cause much lesser pollution and are abundantly available in nature. To note the point is that these new methods are easily available in the developed countries, but in the developing countries where there is the maximum population growth and are problematic area, the latest methods are hardly available. Reason there is lack of education and lack of funds. Also in these countries the corruption is rampant. If there is democracy the ministers are involved filling their pockets and if there is Army rule then only God can save them. Impact on Education: Higher population put heavy demands on the education system of the country. Education is considered to be one of the methods to reduce the population growth but unfortunately many developing countries are failing to provide basic education for all (The Impact of Population, 1). In many developing countries either the number of schools are very less or the number of teachers is very less. In many African and Asian countries the poverty doesn't allows the children to go to school; they are compelled to go to work. Schools in even the developed countries are facing the problems of population growth. As per the Population Growth and Education in US, "About 14 percent of schools exceed their capacity by six to 25 percent, and

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Project management - Essay Example The network diagram below illustrates the sequence of the Foundry project that is due to be completed within 25 weeks. This shows the sequence of different activities that will be undertaken. This constitutes project management that is commonly known as careful management of all the activities involved in a particular project (Burke, 2010). Project planning is also required in order to carry out all the activities and tasks successfully. This helps the people involved in the project to achieve the desired goals in undertaking the work. 2. The critical path in the project shows the longest sequence of events that should be completed on time in order to meet the project schedule with regards to its completion (Business Dictionary, 2015). Accordingly, each sequence that constitutes a critical path should be commenced after the completion of the predecessor. In some cases, these critical paths can be carried out simultaneously after the completion of the predecessor. In the diagram shown above, there are mainly three critical paths. The first one being pouring concrete and installing frame which ought to be carried out after implementing the first two components in the project. This path should take four weeks and effort should be made to ensure that it goes according to schedule in order to avoid delaying the project. The other important critical paths include building high temperature burner and installing air pollution device which take four and five weeks respectively. These activities should be completed within t he set time frame in order to ensure that the project is not delayed. Since these activities are long, they should be carried in such a way that everything goes according to schedule in order to avoid wasting resources. 3. The activity schedule of the project can be illustrated in the form of a table and it shows the different activities that would be performed in undertaking the project. This schedule shows the exact

Population Growth and Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Population Growth and Resources - Essay Example There, death rates fell so quickly that society had little time or reason to change its desire for larger families. (1). Population has mostly exploded in African and Asian countries; to which contribution of China and India is greatest. Today China is most populous country in the world followed by India with soon India expected to top the list. There had been a lot of cry in the 80s and 90s that population explosion is going to create a lots of troubles for mankind; the resources will be lost and so on. Definitely there have been these negative effects, but interestingly these days we are seeing some positive effects also of the population, especially in both most populous countries China and India. Impact on Earth's natural resources: The resources of the earth considered here are petroleum, gas, minerals etc. The effect of population can clearly be seen by the every day increasing oil prices. It is said that these resources are going to be cause of the future wars. With the increase in population there is obviously the increase in number of vehicles. This is not only depleting the earth's resources but by exhaust emissions also destroying the environment of the earth. The scientists have been aware of these facts and new vehicles are now coming up with alternative fuels like Natural gases, which are still abundantly available on earth and cause lesser pollution. In a way the crisis leads to solutions; that is the survival capacity of the human being. Similarly coal and oil are still most widely used for power generation; but recently due population growth and industrialization the power requirements have increased tremendously. Again coal and oil cause lot of air pollution. The scientists have come up with newer methods of power generation like nuclear power generation, wind power, tidal power etc. which cause much lesser pollution and are abundantly available in nature. To note the point is that these new methods are easily available in the developed countries, but in the developing countries where there is the maximum population growth and are problematic area, the latest methods are hardly available. Reason there is lack of education and lack of funds. Also in these countries the corruption is rampant. If there is democracy the ministers are involved filling their pockets and if there is Army rule then only God can save them. Impact on Education: Higher population put heavy demands on the education system of the country. Education is considered to be one of the methods to reduce the population growth but unfortunately many developing countries are failing to provide basic education for all (The Impact of Population, 1). In many developing countries either the number of schools are very less or the number of teachers is very less. In many African and Asian countries the poverty doesn't allows the children to go to school; they are compelled to go to work. Schools in even the developed countries are facing the problems of population growth. As per the Population Growth and Education in US, "About 14 percent of schools exceed their capacity by six to 25 percent, and

Profit Pathology and Disposable Planet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Profit Pathology and Disposable Planet - Essay Example Both â€Å"Flow† and â€Å"Pathology† address crucial problems that endanger people’s lives. â€Å"Flow† is a documentary directed by Irene Salina in 2008 and introduces the difficulty many people around the world have in finding clean water and how chemicals have contaminated drinkable water around the world. It is common knowledge that water is indispensable for survival; however, the reality is that water is becoming scare throughout the world. As stated in â€Å"Flow†: â€Å"The world is running out of fresh water.† This dramatic observation represents a real threat to millions of people around the world compelled to drink dirty water. This scarcity of fresh water is related to the pollution caused by companies whose chemical products contaminate the water. â€Å"Flow† presents examples from Mexico, Bolivia, India and South Africa where people die after drinking contaminated water. This pollution is a point Michael Parenti denounce s in his article. He indeed presents pollution as s threat to people’s health and survival. Indicating the companies’ involvement in the pollution, he states: â€Å"This corporate system of capital accumulation treats the Earth's life-sustaining resources (arable land, groundwater, wetlands, foliage, forests, fisheries, ocean beds, bays, rivers, air quality) as disposable ingredients presumed to be of limitless supply, to be consumed or toxified at will†. ... He indeed presents pollution as s threat to people’s health and survival. Indicating the companies’ involvement in the pollution, he states: â€Å"This corporate system of capital accumulation treats the Earth's life-sustaining resources (arable land, groundwater, wetlands, foliage, forests, fisheries, ocean beds, bays, rivers, air quality) as disposable ingredients presumed to be of limitless supply, to be consumed or toxified at will† (Parenti). He clearly denounces the destruction of the world’s resources and the toxic chemicals companies discharge in them therefore threatening people’s health and lives. Similarly â€Å"Monsanto† and Parenti’s article also share the same concern about the deadly effects of chemicals and the invincibility of the multinationals that have total control over the organizations supposed to regulate the fields. This documentary directed by Marie-Monique Robin in 2008 presents Monsanto, a multinational agri cultural biotechnology corporation, involved in the production of herbicide and genetically engineered seeds. Even though Monsanto claims â€Å"to help farmers produce better crops† (Monsanto) there is a growing controversy concerning the health risks that the products constitute. In fact, some studies find that the herbicide, Round up, and other chemicals â€Å"Provoke the first stages that lead to cancer† (Monsanto). Because of these health risks, workers and researchers raise the question of safety; however, their concerns did not find easy answers since they soon found out that the company was very powerful and well-grounded. Their priority was not the safety of their workers or the environment but to make profit. One of the company’s reports indicates: â€Å"We cannot afford to lose

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