Computing Architectures

An organization s computer network is a major asset and needs extensive planning for proper function. The network design process is a long and arduous task that requires knowledge of the business need of the organization and the technical skills to achieve those needs. The network designer must first address the major problem of what architecture should be employed in a particular network. The distributed approach and central approach are the two possible choices a network designer has to choose from. Background of Central & Distributed ArchitecturesThere are two mainframe architectures for a network Central and Distributed. Both architectures employ mainframe computers that hold massive amounts of data, which are accessed by terminals, and whose location is not important to an end-user. An example would be an airline reservation system. Reservation data can be read and changed by an airline clerk, which is then sent to the mainframe to be updated. The system is updated in microseconds so another user does not see old information. The central architecture consists of one storage computer that holds data, whereas the distributed architecture consists of two or more, smaller mainframes physically separated to serve the same purpose. Advantages and Disadvantages of Central vs. Distributed Data StorageAdvantages of Central Architecture: less maintenance and changes must only be reflected at one site. Less maintenance is required on the overall network because there is only one mainframe, whereas in the distributed approach there are more mainframes to maintain. Secondly, changes that are entered into the system by a user need to be updated only at one mainframe instead of being changed at more than one. For example, John has made a reservation at 8:00 AM for Monday to mainframe A and currently it is updating itself. At the same time Linda is accessing mainframe B, which is not updated yet. She sees the 8:00 AM slot for Monday as open and reserves it for her customer. The data is now corrupt. This is a very simple example of what can happen with the distributed architecture. With the central architecture the data is updated in one place, leaving no room for error. Disadvantages of the Central Architecture: A higher load on the network is incurred due to having only one central data access point. Second, there is no data redundancy, which means, if the one mainframe goes down the network goes down. Third, unauthorized access would yield more data to a hacker compared to the distributed approach. Advantages of Distributed Architecture: more redundancy since there are more mainframes with same data, more secure because a hacker doesn t have access to all the data, and less susceptible for entire network to go down since all data is not stored in one place. Disadvantages of Distributed Architecture: More maintenance is required because there are more mainframes and data updates must be updated on more than one mainframe as stated earlier. Value of ProjectThe value of the project is enormous due to the information technology being a major asset for a company. Data retrieval and transportation is a vital part of most organizations and a must for a company to do business on any scale. That is why a network architecture decision must be made for the best data transfer method. The wrong choice will be a tremendous liability to an organization for two reasons: an undertaking of this kind is expensive and a network must grow as it gets older-meaning it must be planned out from the start correctly or else it will be of no worth later on. Methodology in Evaluation of Client Sever vs. Mainframe ArchitectureThe network designer has a set of predefined characteristics in order to choose the correct architecture for a particular network including: the physical size of the network, cost, efficiency, and performance. These are general determinants that must be taken into consideration before an architecture is chosen. SizeGenerally, a network that would reach globally, carry variable sized data, and have many users in different locations would be better suited for a distributed approach. The central approach would be ideal for a small branch office to a statewide network, with a maximum number of users at 1000, and carry continuous or steady traffic. CostA larger global network would be less concerned with cost, whereas a smaller network would be more concerned with it. Cost depends on the scale, amount of data that will be transmitted, complexity of work, etc. An installation of a network usually involves outside contractors with the aid of in-house network operators. The least cost will be determined by adding up work done by the outside vendors, equipment, software, consulting time, and proposals from different bidders. EfficiencyA standard measure in telecommunications is the 99% quality measure. A network should be totally operable, even if it is down 99% of a year. This can be tested before the installation takes place by running tests and simulations by vendors who are attempting to gain your business. PerformancePerformance will be reflected by the throughput of the network. How fast can data be delivered across the line to from the sender to the destination This will vary from the type of protocol used in both architectures depending on the type of data to be transported. This can also be tested with simulations.

James Bond

Hello Sandeep, sorry I couldn't make it there yesterday, but I was not feeling well. For Monday: read Act 2 of Othello answer the study questions for Act 1 (they start with # 11, I don't know why! ) We'll look at the Act 2 questions during class Art: draw 2 faces following the instructions on this webpage: http://www. wikihow. com/Draw-a-Face it's a lot like the other website, but also a little different, so you'll get some different ideas on how to do this. STUDY QUESTIONS FOR OTHELLO Act I, Scene1 11. In Act I, scene 1 why does Iago say he hates Othello?What are all the charges he makes against the general? 12. Why does Roderigo hate Othello? 13. Why is the speech by Iago, lines 38 – 62, important in explaining what happens later? 14. Why should Roderigo pay particular attention to Iago's speech? 15. In Act I, scene 1, what is Iago's master plot to annoy Othello and Desdamona? 16. Find all the examples in I, 1, of Iago referring to the sex in terms of animals. 17. Find all t he references in I, 1 of Othello as a devil. Find Iago's use of â€Å"taboo words. † 18. Explain the contrast in the way Iago speaks to Brabantio and the way Roderigo speaks to him. 19.How does Brabantio's attitude toward Roderigo change in the course of this scene? 20. What is Brabantio's explanation of why his daughter has run off with Othello? 21. Why does this scene begin in the middle of a conversation? Act I, Scene 2 22. Who does Iago tell Othello badmouthed him to Brabantio? 23. Everyone says Othello is lucky to wed the daughter of the rich Brabantio, except Othello. Why is he not impressed? 24. Explain what happens between Iago and Cassio in the short time Othello is off stage in the Sagittary (lines 47 – 52) 25. List all of the negative comments or words Brabantio uses to describe Othello. 6. How does Othello react to the provocation of Brabantio's attack? 27. Find five places in I, 2 where Othello exercises authority. Act I, Scene 3 28. At the beginning of I, 3 what do the duke and the council of Venice determine the Turks' military objective to be? How does this relate to what happens later? 29. What is effective in Othello's first speech of justification (lines 76 – 94)? 30. Explain how the relationship between Othello and Desdamona began. Who first initiated the idea of love? 31. How do we know Othello's second speech of justification (lines 127 – 169) was effective? 32.What makes the second speech of justification effective as a piece of language? 33. Why is Desdamona's response to her father's question at lines 176 – 178 especially effective? 34. In this scene what does Desdamona tell us attracted her to Othello? What attracted her to him? 35. How does Desdamona argue that she should be allowed to accompany her husband to Cyprus? 36. What assurances does Othello offer the Council that he will take care of business, even if his wife is with him? 37. Explain Iago's â€Å"parable of the garden† (lines 314 à ¢â‚¬â€œ 327). 38. Find all Iago's uses of the word â€Å"love† in this scene.What's unusual about them? 39. How does Iago manipulate Roderigo in the lines 329 – 370? 40. What is the â€Å"real reason† Iago hates Othello? 41. Why is Cassio a particularly handy scapegoat for Iago's plot? Act II, Scene 1 42. Describe how Cassio acts when he lands at Cyprus, especially when Desdemona comes ashore. (II, 1, lines 42 — 97) 43. Why does Iago verbally attack his wife at II, 1, lines 99 — 110? 44. According to Iago what is all the most accomplished woman in the world is good for? (II, 1, lines 146 — 158) 45. Explain what Iago is talking about at II, 1, lines 165 — 175. 6. How does Iago convince Roderigo that Cassio is in love with Desdemona? (II, 1, ines 215 — 245) 47. What is ironic about Roderigo's response to this news at II, 1, lines 248 –249? 48. In Act I, 3 we hear how Othello's life story helped win the love of Desdemona. I n Act II, 1, lines 220 — 225 we learn Iago's reaction to the same story. What? 49. What has changed since I, 3, in Iago's explanation on why he wants revenge on Othello and others? (II, 1, lines 285 — 311) Why has it changed? Act II, Scene 2 50. In II, 2, lines 12 — 29, what is Iago trying to get Cassio to do? Why? 51.How does Iago's personality change from the way he's behaved in the past? Why the change? 52. What is unattractive about Cassio's behavior as a drunk? 53. How does Iago manipulate the gentlemen of Cyprus to object to Cassio's behavior? 54. Look at II, 2, lines 177 — 182. Why did Iago use those particular words? 55. What new aspect of Othello's personality do we see in II, 2, lines 201 — 215? 56. Describe how Iago, while apparently defending his friend Cassio actually encourages Othello to take action against him? (II, 2, lines 218 — 244) 57. Explain why Cassio reacts as he does at II, 2, lines 260 — 263? 8. Explain why I ago's advice at II, 2, 264 — 325 is a perfectly natural response? 59. In Iago's explanation of his revenge plot at II, 2, lines 333– 359 are there any new motives for his behavior? Act III, Scene 3 60. Is Desdemona's statement at III, 3, lines 20 — 27 surprising? How will it affect the outcome of the play? 61. Why does Desdemona push so hard for Cassio to get his job back? 62. Explain the passage at III, 1, lines 75 — 85. In what way are Othello and his wife operating at crossed purposes? 63. How does Iago manipulate Othello in the passage from line 93 — 123? 64.How many times does Othello demand to know Iago's thoughts (or some variation on that theme) in the passage of III, 3, lines 93 — 164? Why doesn't Iago answer him? 65. How does Iago manipulate Othello in the passage from line 124 — 176? (Where is the first mention of â€Å"cuckoldry† in this scene? 66. How does Othello appear to escape Iago's trap in the passage lines 1 76 — 192? 67. How does Iago manipulate Othello in lines 193 — 213? Why does Othello fall for the manipulation? 68. How does Iago manipulate Othello in lines 214 — 241? 69. At what point in the play does Iago know for sure that he's hooked Othello? 0. What are the reasons Othello believes Desdemona may have betrayed him? What does he decide to do about the betrayal? 71. Why does Emilia take Desdemona's handkerchief? What does that tell us about the relationship between Iago and his wife? 72. Why is Iago upset at Othello's reaction at lines 335 — 370? 73. How does Iago manipulate Othello at lines 371 — 423? 74. How does Iago manipulate Othello at lines 424 — 476? 75. In the sequence at III, 3, lines 330 — 370 how has Othello's attitude changed since we saw him last? 76. Explain why Othello threatens Iago at III, 3, lines 355 –379.How do you think Iago feels when he is threatened with violence? 77. Where did Iago's â€Å"dreamâ⠂¬  (III, 3, lines 407 — 423) come from? Why did Iago select the particular details that he chose? 78. How does the relationship between Iago and Othello change in the last 30 lines of the scene? How does Shakespeare physically show the shift in power? 79. What do you think may have been going through Iago's mind when he says, at line 472, â€Å"But let her live†? Act III, Scene 4 80. In Act III, 4, line 34, what does Othello mean by, â€Å"O, hardness to dissemble! â€Å"? 81. How does Emilia explain Othello's anger over the missing handkerchief?How effective a liar is Desdemona? 82. Is Othello's handkerchief really magic? Argue both â€Å"yes† and â€Å"no. † 83. How does Iago control the communications between Othello and all the other characters? Why does Desdemona excuse her husband's anger? 84. Who is Bianca and what's her problem? What similarities does she have with Othello? Act IV, Scene 1 85. In the first 30 lines of IV, 1, how has the relati onship between Iago and Othello changed since III, 3? 86. Why does Othello lose consciousness at IV, 1, lines 35 — 44? How does Iago explain what happened? Why? 87.Explain how Iago stages the dual, simultaneous manipulation of Cassio and Othello at IV, 1, lines 95 — 144. 88. Do you think Iago anticipated Bianca's appearance at line 145? How is he able to use her arrival to further his deception? 89. What's different about Othello's attitude toward Desdemona lines 178 — 210? What causes this change? 90. Explain what is happening in the sequence at IV, 1, lines 218 — 261? Why â€Å"goats and monkeys! † 91. How does Iago manipulate Lodovico in the last 20 lines of IV, 1? Act IV, Scene 2 92. What does Othello mean when he addresses Emilia at IV, 2, lines 27 — 30? 93.According to Othello what's the worst part of being a cuckold? 94. Where in Act IV, 2, does Desdemona finally start to fight back? Explain her physical reaction right after Othello l eaves at line 92. 95. Where in this scene does Emilia almost figure out what happened? Explain her husband's reaction to her speculations. 96. Who is the first person in the play to figure out Iago's duplicity? How is Iago able to manipulate this person, even after the truth is known? Act IV, Scene 3 97. What is the point of Act IV, 3? 98. Explain the difference between Desdemona's and Emilia's attitudes toward adultery. 9. Explain exactly how Iago manipulates every single person who appears in this scene. 100. Explain the significance of Iago's lines at IV, 3, lines 18 –20. 101. Why does Iago accuse Bianca of complicity in the attack on Cassio? How is he able to make the case against her? Act V, Scenes 1 & 2 102. Contrast V, 1 and V, 2 in terms of characters' motivations, actions, pace of the events, moral significance of the actions, etc. 103. Based on your sense of Act V, scene 2 (what happens and why it happens) argue that Iago wins the battle for Othello's soul. Then arg ue that Othello wins the battle.

Public Health Issue Diabetes Mellitus Health And Social Care Essay

This assignment will turn to the public wellness issue of the increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus ( diabetes ) and explore links with wellness inequalities both nationally and locally. It will discourse the models available which give counsel for criterions of attention for diabetes patients and their influence on diabetes attention. It will so critically discourse the issue of diabetes direction in relation to patient instruction and the ability of patients to self-manage their chronic long-run status, measuring both the function of both healthcare professionals and persons in accomplishing the best possible healthy results. It will so discourse whether all people get the same degree of diabetes attention, in peculiar focussing on people who are non able to go to GP surgeries. Public wellness is defined as â€Å" The scientific discipline and art of promoting and protecting wellness and well-being, forestalling sick wellness and protracting life through the organized attempts of society † ( Faculty of Public Health 2008 ) . Health equality is a cardinal component of societal justness and as such justifies the authorities and other wellness bureaus to work in coaction to develop wellness policies which improve the populace ‘s wellness regardless of societal category, income, gender or ethnicity through advancing healthier life styles and protecting them from infective diseases and environmental jeopardies ( Griffiths & A ; Hunter 2007 ) . Yet many wellness inequalities still exist in the UK, some of which will be discussed in this paper. There are preponderantly two types of diabetes mellitus ( diabetes ) ; type 1 diabetes occurs when the organic structure does non bring forth any insulin and type 2 diabetes occurs when the organic structure does non bring forth adequate insulin to work decently or when the organic structure cells do non respond to insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the most common and histories for around 90 five per cent of people with diabetes. If left untreated both types of diabetes can take to farther complications which include bosom disease, shot, sightlessness, and kidney failure ( Who 2011 ) . Life anticipation is reduced by up to 10 old ages in those with this type of disease ( Whittaker, 2004 ) . In the bulk of instances, type 2 diabetes is treated with lifestyle alterations such as eating healthier, weight loss, and increasing physical exercising ( Diabetes UK, 2007b ) . There are presently 2.6 million people in theA UKA with diabetes, and it is thought up to a farther 1.1 million are undiagnosed. ( DiabetesA UK, 2010 ) .A Other grounds suggests that approx 50 % of people are non cognizant they have the status, populating a normal life with lone mild symptoms ( mention ) . Work force are twice more likely to hold undiagnosed diabetes, than adult females, possible because on norm they tend to see their GP lupus erythematosus ( Nursingtimes.net 2009 ) . Diabetes is one of the most widespread chronic diseases, which is potentially life endangering. It is presently thought to be the taking 4th disease doing decease in most developed states worldwide with estimated prevalence of 285 million people. Most experts agree that more than 4 million people in the UK will hold Type 2 diabetes by 2025 with potentially 5.5 million life with this chronic status by 2030 ( Diabetes UK 2010, and International Diabetes Federation ( IDF ) 2010 ) . These statistics are galvanizing ; type 2 diabetes is one of the biggest challenges confronting the UK today with people frequently treated wholly by the National Health Service ( NHS ) who provide attention for all degrees of diabetes. Diabetess control is considered hapless in Europe with the UK being identified as holding the worst control. The grounds for this are non clearly identified. However what is clear is the possible impact on people in footings of complications and shorter lives ( Liebl et al 2002 ) . Peoples with diabetes who have complications cost the NHS 3.5 times more than people who have no grounds of complications ( IDF 2006 ) . The NHS presently spends about 10 % of its entire resources on diabetes, which equates to ?286 per second. This places a important drain on resources which will potentially lift in line with the turning prevalence of diabetes and associated complications unless alternate ways to cut down the load of the disease can be found Diabetes.co.uk ) . There are many grounds for the turning prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the UK, two of the chief 1s being the modernization of industrialization and urbanization, which has changed people ‘s life styles and eating wonts and caused and escalation in fleshiness ( Helms et al 2003 ) . Diabetes and fleshiness are closely linked ; 80 per centum of patients diagnosed with diabetes are corpulent at the clip of diagnosing ( Diabetes UK, 2006 ) . Kazmi and Taylor ( 2009 ) agree and say type 2 diabetes can be linked to genetic sciences, although increased degrees are more likely to be attributable to obesity ensuing from a lessening in physical exercising and westernised diets. A 2008 study highlighted the UK as holding the highest fleshiness degrees in Europe, presently 24 % of grownups are considered corpulent which tends to increase with age. ( Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2010 ) . However this figure should be treated with cautiousness as England is one of t he few states who uses existent measurings of weight and tallness, other states preferring to utilize ego reported steps. The UK has an increasing aged population which combined with lifting degrees of fleshiness is likely to farther addition type 2 diabetes prevalence ( DH2010 ) . The links between socioeconomic want and sick wellness are good established ( Yamey 1999, Acheson 1998, Chaturvedi 2004 ) . This can be observed within the UK, as type 2 diabetes does non impact all societal groups every bit, it is more prevailing in people over 40, minority cultural groups, and hapless people ( The National Service Framework ( NSF ) for Diabetes ) . Several surveies have established people with type 2 diabetes populating in deprive countries suffer higher morbidity and mortality rates than those in more flush countries. ( Roper et al 2001, Wilde et al 2008, Bachhmann 2003 ) . However globally the links between want and type 2 diabetes are less clear as there is less information available on diabetes and want related results. In struggle with the UK, surveies in Finland, Italy and Ireland found no important fluctuations in different socioeconomic groups ( Gnavi et al 2004, O'Conner 2006 ) . Reasons which may hold negated the impact on socioeconomic want may hold been due to differences such in the population studied, wellness attention bringing or available interventions.Linkss between want and type 2 diabetes appear apparent in the vicinity of Derbyshire. All but three local countries in Derbyshire have a diabetes and fleshiness degrees which are significantly worse than the England norm ( Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust ( PCT ) 2008 ) . In Derbyshire there are clear important fluctuations in degrees of want, High Peak has really small want, and yet Bolsover is in the 20 per cent most disadvantaged countries in England, with 30 two per cent of people populating in poorness and mortality and morbidity degrees significantly worse than the England norm ( Bolsover District Financial Inclusion Strategy 2009 ) . These worrying degrees have triggered the Department of Health to declare Bolsover a Spearhead country for betterment ( DH 2009, Derbyshire PCT 2008 ) . Some stairss have been taken in Bolsover to cut down morbidity and mortality rates by presenting healthy enterprises aimed at bettering people ‘s life manners ( Bolsover 2010 ) . However, although morbidity and mortality rates have reduced over the last 10 old ages they remain significantly higher than the England norm ( Bolsover District Financial Inclusion Strategy 2009 ) . Derbyshire has a turning aged population ( Derbyshire PCT 2008 ) . This together with proved links of degrees of fleshiness lifting with age would propose a future addition in degrees of diabetes.Diabetess is a national precedence and Derbyshire has a higher than England mean prevalence, but the lo cal NHS scheme ( 2008 ) does non stipulate diabetes as a cardinal precedence. This may be a factor why Derbyshire is neglecting to run into its marks to cut downing morbidity and mortality by 10 per cent by 2010 in the poorest countries of Derbyshire ( DH 2009 ) .Models and policies exist to give counsel on criterions of attention, better the quality of life and life anticipation of people with diabetes and decrease the fiscal load on wellness services. ( Reference x2 ) . In response to European influence the NHS program ( 2000 ) set out counsel for modernizing services, raising criterions and traveling towards patient centred attention. Subsequently the NSF for Diabetes ( 2001 ) was published which lineations twelve criterions of attention aimed at presenting improved services and cut downing inequalities over a 10 twelvemonth period with the ultimate vision of people enduring with diabetes having a universe category service in the UK by 2013. This model was followed by the NSF for Diabetes: Delivery Strategy ( 2003 ) which gives counsel on how the NSF for diabetes could be achieved. Models are a utile lineation for action and set out clear ends and marks, but do non turn to the societal, economical and environmental causes of sick wellness or take history of available fiscal and staffing resources ( Reference from book ) . The NSF for Diabetes ( 2001 ) appears to back up this statement ; other than retinal showing, no support was ab initio made available to implement the 12 criterions ( Cavan 2005 ) . The handiness of this support will hold been important in the accomplishment of one hundred per cent of people with diabetes now being offered this service ( English National Screening Programme for Diabetic Retinopathy, 2009 ) . It was n't until 2004 the Quality Outcome Framework offered fiscal wagess to run into other marks within the NSF, for case maintaining practiced based registries of people with diabetes, to enable primary attention suppliers to supply proactive attention ( NHS 2004 ) . Ten old ages on this model is still believable and sets the ‘gold criterion ‘ of attention for patients with diabetes in the UK ( NICE 2000 ) which would look to be an outstanding accomplishment. There have been important betterments in caring for people with diabetes since it was published. However, it could be criticised that some criterions are non enforceable until 2013 ( NSF 2001 ) . Numerous publications have followed the NSF for Diabetes ( 2001 ) in an effort to give counsel for wellness professionals to follow ( Nice 2004, NICE 2008, NICE 2009, RCN, NMC ) . These models are non intended to work in isolation but collaborate with each other at different degrees, whilst trying to bring forth a quality wellness service ( Reference ) . . The chief grounds for the oncoming of diabetes and hazard of farther complications is due to suboptimal wellness relation behavior which include small physical activity, high Calorie consumption and insufficiency to keep good glucose control and it is said persons with diabetes play a cardinal function in finding their ain wellness position ( Clarke 2008 Reference 1 ) . Whittaker ( 2004 ) concurs and says that much of the load relating to care prevarications with persons themselves. Patient instruction is seen as cardinal in the intervention of diabetes to guarantee the best possible healthy results for persons ( Alexander et al, 2006, Brooker & A ; Nicol 2003, Walsh, 2002 ) . Standard 3 of the NSF for Diabetes ( 2001 ) clearly demonstrates a move off from medical attention to promote persons to take duty for their ain wellness but besides places the burden on wellness attention professionals to educate, support and empower people to enable them to efficaciously care for themselves. The recent Public Health Whitepaper ( 2010 ) endorses future health care services should concentrate on health instead than handling disease and supports authorising people to set some attempt into remaining good. It acknowledges health care services merely contribute to one tierce of betterment made to life anticipation saying that a alteration in life style and taking wellness inequalities contribute to the staying two tierces. Giving people the accomplishments, cognition and tools to take control of their ain wellness logical as people with diabetes spend an norm of 3 hours per twelvemonth with their healthcare professional and around 8700 hours pull offing themselves ( Ref N3. For illustration there is much grounds reasoning that keeping blood glucose degrees as near to normal as possible slows down the patterned advance of long term complications and if patients can be empowered to take control of their diabetes, non merely will it increase the persons quality of life but besid es cut down the fiscal load on the NHS. ( Whittaker, 2004 ) . ( Ref: 4.1, 4.2 ) . The Diabetes Year of Care programme ( 2008 ) has been developed to assist health care professionals move off from a paternal attack to care be aftering to a more individualized attack for people with chronic long term conditions. This attack involves both healthcare professionals and patients working together to prioritize single demands. Helmore ( 2009 ) agrees that a individualized attack to care be aftering which should be holistic and include the individual ‘s societal fortunes, will authorise patients to take a cardinal function in their ain health care and suggests that nurses and patients should work together to put ends the patient can work towards which would include self attention and the services they will utilize. For illustration a down patient will non desire to venture outside to exert and soothe feeding may do them to derive weight. The precedence in this instance would be to cover with the patient ‘s depression. The nurse could so intercede with other com munity services and societal attention to decide non medical issues which would enable the patient to pull off their weight and addition activities ( Helmore 2009 ) . Peals ( 2010 ) believes nurses should take a lead function on behalf of the GP pool as they are the 1s best placed to place the attention demands of patients with diabetes, they have experience in patient tracts and are able to organize local and professional services. The Department of Health ( 2010 ) has highlighted attention be aftering as an country for betterment to guarantee one hundred per cent of diabetic patients have single attention programs ( DH 2010 ) . Currently it is thought merely 60 per of people with long-run conditions in England have an single attention program ( www.gp-patient.co.uk ) . Diabetes self-management instruction programmes ( DSME ) have been developed to educate and authorise patients to take control of their ain conditions by bettering their cognition and accomplishments to enable them to do informed picks, self-manage and cut down any hazard of complications. DSME besides aims to assist people to get by with physical and mental of life with diabetes ( Ref 21 P 114. These programmes which should be age appropriate can be delivered to persons or groups. ( 6 and 40 P 119 and 120 ) . . ( mention 7 p119 ) . Programmes available include the Expert Patent Programme ( EPP ) , its derivative X-PERT and Diabetes Education and Self-Management for ongoing and freshly diagnosed ( DESMOND ) which are available in all PCT ‘s in the state. These programmes offer the necessary information and accomplishments to people to enable them to pull off their ain diabetes attention and they offer the chance for people with diabetes to portion jobs and solutions on concerns they may hold with on mundane life ( N9 ) . They encourage people to happen their ain solutions to issues such as diet, weight direction and blood glucose control, enlisting the aid of diabetes professionals if needed ( N9 ) . The literature suggests this will ensue in good educated, motivated and empowered patients and systematically supports patient instruction as important to effectual diabetes attention ( utilize many refs ) . Much research has taken topographic point on the effectivity of DSME. Some of which suggests that patients who have non participated in DSME are four times more likely to meet major diabetes complications compared to patients who have been involved in DSME ( Reference ) .Other grounds suggests that it is non possible to set up whether patient instruction is effectual at advancing self-management in the long term to cut down the effects of diabetes or the oncoming of complications and better the patient ‘s quality of life ( mention ) . From surveies that have taken topographic point, it is apparent that although cognition and accomplishments are necessary they are non sufficient on their ain to guarantee good diabetes control. Peoples require ongoing support to prolong the enable them to prolong self-management and therefore the longer period of clip the class run the more likelihood people will stay sceptered ( Ref ) The bulk of people in the UK are offered some signifier diabetes instruction, the majority of which is offered at the clip of diagnosing. Besides the manner, length, content and construction of DSME vary. Very few instruction programmes have been evaluated ; therefore it is non conclusive which intercession scheme is the most effectual for bettering the control of diabetes. The America Diabetes Association suggest that as people are persons and different methods of instruction suit different people, there is no 1 best programme, but by and large programmes which incorporate both psychosocial and behaviour schemes appear to hold the best results. However the Healthcare committee ( 2006 ) found people in England are non being offered equal information about their status to ease effectual self-management. They reported merely eleven per cent of respondents had attended an educational class on how to populate with diabetes and disturbingly 17 per cent of respondents did non even know whether they had type 1 or type 2 diabetes ( Reference 2 P 119 ) . The success of DSME is dependent many discrepancies which include the patient ‘s single features, the context of their societal environment, the extent of the disease, and the patient ‘s interface with the attention and instruction provided. Overall there is a great trade of grounds to propose DSME is the ‘cornerstone ‘ in effectual diabetes attention ( NSF 2001 ) . It is recommended that DSME is delivered by a multi-disciplinary squad together with a comprehensive attention program ( cite 1 ) . Experts agree that effectual direction of diabetes mellitus increases life anticipation and reduces the hazard of complications ( NICE Guidenance for the usage of patient instruction theoretical accounts of diabetes Referece 1 P 119 Changing the wellness related behavior of people with diabetes has been proved to be successful in cut downing or even eliminating the hazard of complications ( mention ) . Many different wellness publicity theoretical accounts of exist which can assist a patient to digest wellness publicity advise and want to alter their wellness related behaviors ( Kawachi 2002 ) . Health publicity theoretical accounts are utile tools to help with this procedure. The Stages of Change wellness publicity is a often used theoretical account for weight direction as it identifies 6 phases of preparedness to alter which helps wellness professionals identify the intercession actions to urge and back up. Standard 3 has besides ensured people with diabetes receive regular attention ( Hicks 2010 ) , although Hillson ( 2009 ) would reason the quality of which is still unfastened to debate. Every individual with diabetes should have the highest criterions of individualized attention, no affair who delivers it or where or when it is delivered. Access to specialist services should be available when required ( Hillson 2009 ) . Diabetes patients receive different criterions of attention depending on whether or non they can go to their physician ‘s surgery ( Knights and Platt 2005 ) . Diabetes patients who are unable to go to the surgery are being overlooked and missed out on testing and reappraisals of their diabetes, accordingly having a lower criterion of attention despite the NSF for Diabetes saying inequalities in proviso of services should be addressed to guarantee a high criterion of attention which meets single patient demands. ( Gadsky 1994, Hall 2005, Harris 2005, ) . Until late the territory nursing squad were some of the few professionals who provided attention in the place for diabetes patients and merely normally had input with diabetes patients when intervention was required for a complication ( Wrobel 2001 ) . District nurses have historically been seen as Renaissance mans and able to supply attention and intervention for patients with a broad scope of conditions and hence do non needfully have specialist disease cognition ( Hale 2004 ) . Sargant ( 2002 ) agree with this and suggests the quality and rede territory nurses give to diabetic patients is questionable as they do n't hold the in-depth degree of cognition in relation to diabetes. In acknowledgment of the incompatibility of attention being provided to patients with chronic unwellnesss in their ain places, the function of Community Matron was introduced in 2004 to guarantee patients with diabetes receive the first category service advocated by the Department of Health ( 1999 ) and the NHS PLAN ( 2000 ) by pull offing their all embracing attention demands and aid patients efficaciously manage their long term conditions which in theory should ensue in cut down hospital admittances. ( NHS Improvement Plan 2004 ) . However a survey conducted by Gravelle et Al ( 2006 ) would propose the Community Matron function has non been effectual in cut downing hospital admittances. Forbes et Al ( 2004 ) concurs that territory nurses, given the clip and with the right preparation could widen their functions and satisfactory undertake appropriate attention for housebound people with diabetes. However Brookes ( 2002 ) suggests preparation and resources are large issues and Harris ( 2005 ) says that territory nurses may non be carry throughing their Professional Code of Conduct by neglecting to care sufficiently for this group of patients ( Nursing and Midwifery Council 2008 ) . The turning prevalence of diabetes and the drain on NHS resources continues to be a concern for the UK, in footings of life quality and life anticipation of patients. Many wellness inequalities exist for people with diabetes ; there are proved links with fleshiness and want ; and diabetes attention provided is non equal for all patients. Patients who are able to go to their GP surgery receive better attention than those who are housebound, although this inequality is being addressed and attention is bettering. The NSF for Diabetes is a utile model for health care professionals to follow when supplying attention for people with diabetes. The quality of diabetes attention has improved since this model has been introduced. However, the execution of some recommendations has been slow and will non be complete until 2013. Patient instruction is paramount to successful diabetes control and there appears no uncertainty that the key to successfully decelerating the oncoming of diabetes and th e recognised associated complications is to prosecute patients in DSME.

In what ways have the gods, ancestors, buddhas & bodhisattvas, nature Essay - 1

In what ways have the gods, ancestors, buddhas & bodhisattvas, nature deities, and ghosts reappeared, and how have these reappearances affected local cultures since the 1980s - Essay Example Folk religions were among the religions that regained popularity and were revived in the post-Mao era. This resurgence was well experienced by 1982. At this time, peasants in Chuansha County in sub-urban Shanghai were flocking to visit fortune tellers. The fortune tellers however were charging a fee for their services but this still did not deter the locals from flocking at their premise. In addition, sorceresses at this particular period were being paid lump sum amounts for curing diseases. The locals had regained so much faith in their traditional religions that they were willing to spend any amount of money to get a hold of the benefits that could be reaped from them. A few years later after the folk religion had been re-introduced in to society, the effects begun to be seen. In 1986, a total of 393 ancestor halls were erected in the market town of Guangdong province. The locals gathered here to worship in masses in these worship halls (Wellens, 2010). These halls were one of the ways in which the ancestors of the Chinese people reappeared in the post-Mao era. The locals also gathered here for worship purposes. More to just being symbolic and worship centers, these halls helped in the popularization of the religions which had become indigenous as a result of the communist era. By the year 1988, the religious practices had been so much embraced that they were being practiced in funerals. This was the case in a village in Sichuan. The locals used to conduct ancestral worship during the holidays. They used to offer sacrifices to appeases and welcome their ancestral spirits. When it came to funerals, the

Electronica Music and Its Impact on the Music Industry Essay

Electronica Music and Its Impact on the Music Industry - Essay Example Electronica Music and Its Impact on the Music Industry The beginnings of electronica as a music genre started when technological advancements in music instruments such as the introduction of electronic-based instruments and sound synthesizers in the music scene (Collins, Schedel, & Wilson, 2013; Mickley, 2011). This went well in conjunction with the rise of the disco or dancing as recreational activities by the younger generations, making electronica and other music genre that descended from it as staples of the electronic dance music revolution (Keith, 2012). While during the late 1990’s the popularity of electronica waned due to various factors such as it being over-hyped by some in the music industry, it did not disappear entirely as it became a famous genre for other areas such as in the advertising industry (Dunn, 1992; Taylor, 2007). Ultimately, within a span of a decade the elements comprising the original electronica genre were reborn within the recent music scene itself, as it became infused with other popular genres such as hip-hop, rap, rock, and dance music (Bogdanov, 2001). This helped the next generation of audiences in appreciating electronica’s legacy as one of the earliest predecessors of contemporary music today. Outline: I. The historical background of electronica as a musical genre A. Its origin 1. Originally in Hollywood movies for background music (Collins, Schedel, & Wilson, 2013) 2. Frequent use outside movies was in late 1960’s Europe, most notably in Germany (Keith, 2012) 3. Avant-garde music scene, futuristic and space-themed music (Dunn, 1992; Reynolds, 2007) 4. Influenced by classical music, altered to imply detachment from reality (Collins, et al., 2013) 5. Cultural purpose is to widen and increase what is considered to be musical sounds (Dunn, 1992) B. Historical development 1. Composers of early electronica a. William S. Burroughs (Keith, 2012) b. Klaus Schulze (Reynolds, 2007) c. Walter Carlos (Reynolds, 2007) 2. Performers of early electronica a. Tangerine Drea m (Reynolds, 2007) b. Tomita (Reynolds, 2007) c. Can, Faust and Neu! (Keith, 2012) d. King Crimson (Keith, 2012) e. ELP (Keith, 2012) 3. Important changes in the electronica genre a. Trickling incorporation with traditional instruments (Collins, et al., 2013) b. Gradual acceptance of a wide variety of electronic instruments in commonly-heard music (Dunn, 1992) c. Increased use of electronic music instruments in the growing disco scene (Mickley, 2011) 4. Cultural-related development of electronica (Dunn, 1992) a. Evolution of technological advancement b. Availability of synthesizers, analogs and other electronic-based instruments c. Increased acceptability of electronica amongst listeners 5. Important genres that evolved out of electronica (Bogdanov, 2001) a. Electronic dance music (EDM) b. Funky Beats c. Dance-pop d. Techno e. Experimental Rock II. The cultural background of electronica A. Demographics 1. Listeners and audiences a. Late teens-early 30’s (Campbell, 2011) b. Ne ar-equal mix of genders (Campbell, 2011) c. US, Europe (UK, Germany, France, Spain), Asia (India, Japan) (Mickley, 2011) d. People from middle or working class (Campbell, 2011) 2. Changes in the demographic throughout the genre’s history a. Expansion of geographic locations to South America, Africa, Southeast Asia (Mickley, 2011) b. Expansion to lower-working class and elites (Campbell, 2011) B. Performance context 1. Places where electronica is most often heard a. Disco scenes (Keith, 2012) b. Dedicated music festivals (Keith, 2012) c. Movies (Collins, et al., 2013) 2. Additional venues where electronica is performed a. Radio (Taylor, 2007) b. Television (Taylor, 2007) c. Places with large spaces (Campbell, 2011) 3. Cultural â€Å"rules† in electronica performance and appreciation (Campbell, 2011) a. Expect loud and/or repetitive music b. Clapping, dancing to the music, singing, as long as no disturbances such as riots happen C. Clothing styles and

Fair Labor Standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fair Labor Standards - Essay Example This implies that the non-exempt personnel must work for over 40 hours a week to qualify for the overtime pay in which the employer is mandated to offer three quarters times their normal wage rate. It is also apparent that the exempt employees in the white-collar job category cannot benefit from the pay. The proposed changes to the FLSA since 1938 is that it allowed the employment of 16-year-old children in the agricultural sectors, but still prohibited those under that age. This is meant to defend the educational prospects of minors and rule out their employment in jobs deemed hazardous and injurious to their health. These laws differ from the 1938 regulations because it specifies the minimum amount that workers in the private sector, federal or local authorities should receive (Whittaker, 2002). I think these changes benefit both employers and employees because it prevents exploitation of workers by unscrupulous managers who underpay their workers. Similarly, it also benefits the managers since it reduces chances of industrial unrests from workers who feel mistreated or overworked. The controversy associated with these modifications is that the exempt workers feel discriminated against by the legislators and labor officials. For instance, the union’s objections are that the government should treat all workers equally regarding the overtime allowances and the proposed new rates for the working hours since this could deny the workers their established privileges (Whittaker,

My Journey to outer space Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

My Journey to outer space - Essay Example My presence on the spaceship put me in a state of shock but gradually I adapted to the situation. The spaceship was headed towards the planet Saturn where the team members of my crew were to witness certain changes in the outer shell of the planet. This change was considered to have happened because of a reported explosion. I wandered around the spaceship and was delighted by seeing objects and machines that I had never seen. Despite of being in a different place, I started to like my surroundings. My attention drifted to one of my crew members, Ronald, who was sitting around a table that had navigation and mapping devices. The charm of those devices attracted me towards Ronald and lured me to ask the meaning of the terminologies that he was mentioning to the pilot of the ship. Later, it was Ronald and the pilot who explained to me that the term light year and Parsec were both units of length and that the spaceship had to travel 4.28 light years to reach Saturn and to ascertain the distance, a method referred to as parallax was used. During our journey, I witnessed different stars, meteors and asteroids. Few of the celestial bodies that I witnessed glowed in such a way that it displayed a red shade; this was referred to as Red shift in the astronomical language. When I first heard about the distance I thought that it would take many years to reach the destination but within a few hours, I heard an announcement which stated that we were approaching our destination. I was really looking forward to step on Saturn but at that particular moment, I fell with a thud on the floor and my eyes opened. I realized that it was just a

Meat Industry in Kenya Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Meat Industry in Kenya - Research Paper Example The livestock marketing council found in Kenya is a private entity that plays the role of advocating for the rights of livestock traders and assists them in marketing of their products. The banks found in Kenya provide individuals and organizations with agricultural loans to boost their agricultural undertakings including livestock keeping and trading in livestock. The government of Kenya runs the management of the public body that has monopolized the meat processing sector in Kenya. This includes provision of financial support for this corporation. Most of the privately owned firms dealing with livestock and livestock products are privately run. The management of such firms supports them financially and ensure that they are run in the desired way (Ngugi 2001pp52-63). Social and cultural factors affecting the meat industry in Kenya Most of the societies living in Kenya place no restrictions to consumption of meat with the very insignificant exemption of the Indians living in this country. This therefore means that the meat industry sells most of its products to the Kenyan local community. Most of the Kenyan communities value red meat and incorporates its consumption in many of their cultural ceremonies including weddings, initiation and even burial ceremonies. This has a positive impact to the meat industry due to the large public meat consumption during the ceremonies. Kenyan communities are further divided into subcultures which hold a number of social gatherings to deliberate on issues affecting them. Most of these subcultures normally take the red meat as the main diet served during such gatherings. An infamous group that dotes on red meat when holding its social gatherings is the 'Mungiki'. Technological factors affecting meat... The paper describes the determinants of demand for meat in Kenya. The price at which meat is sold determines the demand for it. When the price of meat goes up, fewer individuals will be willing to buy it. They feel like buying the meat at a higher price takes most of the money at their disposal away. Locals prefer to buy foods that can be supplemented with meat like beans or lentils for the provision of proteins in the body. This idea is mostly influenced by an increase in the price of the meat, which makes them reluctant to buy the expensive meat and prefer cheap protein supplements. When meat substitutes cost less than the meat itself, the local demand for meat shifts to the ‘more affordable’ substitutes. The Kenyan locals for example prefer to take fish or animal organs like the intestines, kidney or liver which costs less than the meat itself. The income levels also determine meat consumption within the local Kenyan setting. With most of the households leading a poor life, meat is commonly viewed as a luxury for the rich. Hence, the humble households consume meat less while the rich ones consume meat very frequently. The above characterizes the consumption of meat within social, geographical or even cultural levels. Since meat costs much higher than most other sources of income, those people living in areas where income is high will buy more meat than those areas where income is low. Thus, the Kenyan suburbs records high meat intake, than the slums.

Intro and conclusion for TVR journal entries Essay

Intro and conclusion for TVR journal entries - Essay Example ed to be completely objective as the nature of the term â€Å"journal entries† implies that I am given license to explore avenues of a personal kind as well. My journal entries for the book Mass Media in a Changing World by George Rodman are a personal account of my feelings about the Mass Media and how I feel it has affected the world around me. It is not an objective analysis of the chapters, rather a personal viewpoint with regard being given to latest issues and research. I have not tried to merely pick out scenarios from personal life, but have illustrated examples that most of the people can identify and relate with. Anyone reading the journal entries will not necessary get to know what the book itself contains, but rather s/he will gain an insight into how I, personally, feel about the Mass Media. I have enjoyed writing these journal entries a lot; they have made me learn new things along with reinforcing my beliefs about the Mass Media. Before reading the book and writing these entries, I believed Mass Media to be a two edged sword; not completely good or bad, engaging in these activities has reinforced these beliefs of mine. It is evident to me that the effect the Media has on us depends on the way it is used; when used for the good, it gives positive results and when used badly, it gives negative results. However, I also learned that there is no fine line between wrong and right in the Media and sometimes it is hard to establish what â€Å"ethical† exactly is in a given situation, however, I do hope that with the development of the Media, these ethical dilemmas can be solved and the Media can develop into a strong, positive factor in our lives. I have gained quite a bit of insight through writing these journal entries. I have learned that though the Mass Media is a positive tool when it comes to knowledge and information, it can, and often is, used negatively and focuses on the unusual and sensational. Mostly when corporations are involved, economic

Workplace of tomorrow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Workplace of tomorrow - Essay Example Malone in his book, The Future Arrived Yesterday, has given a good introduction to the workplace of the future and has shown the way to build tomorrow’s workplace. He describes the changing paradigm and shows the way as to how companies can build the workplace of the future by innovation, nimbleness and an ability to adapt to rapidly changing trends. He has characterized the workplace of tomorrow as a nimble ever changing entity that adapts itself to new trends and provides challenges to the employees in terms of the work that they do as well as making them intellectually and emotionally fulfilling. The need of the hour is to provide employees with intellectual challenges and emotional fulfillment. To quote from the book about the workplace of tomorrow, â€Å"What I am talking about is the kind of tough-minded leadership that sees people-oriented management as a competitive advantage, one that increases productivity and innovation, reduces turnover, and makes the company less vulnerable to market shifts and to competitive shocks. This is management that fulfills the spiritual, emotional, and moral needs of subordinates not because it is inherently decent (though that is certainly the grounding for these actions), but because it makes the organization they inhabit more effective. This is the kind of pragmatic leadership that historically has been found in the best managed and most admired organizations, from Hewlett-Packard and IBM a half-century ago to Grameen Bank and Google today. These firms are inevitably admired for their innovation, their employee policies and work envir onments, and their contributions to society, but what they should be celebrated for most is their recognition that the secret to building an unbeatable, world-class enterprise lies in understanding not just the heads, but the hearts, of their employees and customers†. (Malone, 2009) As the above paragraph shows, the workplace of tomorrow would be characterized by flexibility

Perception Errors as Seen in “Twelve Angry Men” Essay Example for Free

Perception Errors as Seen in â€Å"Twelve Angry Men† Essay The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but Time† William Butler Yeats The movie â€Å"Twelve Angry Men† opens up with a sequence which justifies the above stated quote. The storyline follows the story of two random people chosen as jurors who have been asked to give a verdict on a murder case. The case involves the murder of a father by his teenage son. The verdict can be held legal and valid only if it is unanimous. At the start of the movie, everyone except a gentleman votes as ‘guilty’ for the boy. The gentleman expresses his desire to go over all the facts after which he would make his decision whether the teenager is guilty or not. After several deliberations, re-questioning of the stated facts and witness testimonials, slowly the jurors start changing their verdict from ‘guilty’ to ‘not-guilty’. The story ends with the unanimous verdict in the favor of the teenager. Common Perceptual Distortions: 1. Stereotype or Prototype: One of the jurors has the belief that teenagers growing up in slums tend to be criminals. A generalization on the behalf of the juror is incorrect. . Projection: One of the jurors shares a failing relationship with his own son. This creates an effect wherein he sees the image of his son in the teenager held in the trial. He tries to force his own conscious image onto the teenager and sees him as guilty. 3. Self Fulfilling Prophecy: One of the jurors is timid in nature and hence his opinions are not heard and ignored. 4. Mine is better thinking: One of the jurors thinks that since he is an influential person in his domain, he knows better because of his higher status in society. . Selective Perception: One of the jurors is only interested in finishing the verdict. He has no arguments in favour or against the teenager. 6. Pretending to Know: One of the jurors tries to justify everything by giving the statement ‘know what I mean’, inspite of having no concrete facts supporting his arguments. 7. Unwarranted Assumptions: One of the jurors holds onto the testimony that the murder weapon is unique. Also one more assumption is the thing that the sick man can cover a long distance to the stairs in a few seconds. 8. Attacking other people : One of the jurors starts fighting and shouting at everyone as if that would prove that others are wrong. 9. Halo Effect: The fact that the teenager stays in the slums creates a general impression in one of the jurors’ minds that the teenager is guaranteed a criminal. 10. False Consensus Effect: At the beginning of the session, all but one decide as ‘guilty’ on the verdict. Many of the jurors gave their vote just on the simple reason that others would give the same, and not on their own opinions.

Japanese Music Essay Example for Free

Japanese Music Essay The Japanese culture was widely affected and highly related to its nearby nations like China and Korea. As such, it is a logical for us to look at the Japanese music as a collaboration of the different music from the other Asian nations. The flourishing of the Japanese music can be seen as they have adapted their personal styles to the influences that surround them. Their music has its origin in poetry and songs, although there have been misleading artifacts about the distinction of the two. The confusion started with the acknowledgement that indeed, the Japanese word â€Å"uta† can both be understood as to mean poetry or songs. The evidence and remains of the ancients’ music of Japan can be reflected on the songs in Kojiki that was recorded as traditional songs in the imperial court. The ancient Japanese music was also preserve in legends, rituals and prose specifically in an ancient story of Genji Monogatari. This story was composed of poetic dialogues about a lover in the imperial court. The presentation of this in a play was interpreted through Gagaku dances, accompanied mostly by flutes and the famous string instrument, â€Å"koto†. The Gagaku dances and music have been very famous in courts. Its music is composed of wind and string instruments that go together with drums and gongs. It also go along with sho,(a harmonica like instrument) and â€Å"nasal hichiriki† which is the reason why it posses a different sound. The Gagaku is further divided in to two categories, the To-gaku and the Rimpa-gaku. These two differs from the culture in which it belongs. In such manner those that came mainly under the influence of China was called To-gaku while those that came from Vietnam were rendered as Rimpa-gaku. Due to the advent of imported music that was a by-product of the trade industry. It is but inevitable for the native people to become awe with the new kind of music that they have been listening and so, they tend to imitate their ways of thinking. Japanese Music in the Face of Modern Influences The reproduction of this music produces an inclination to the instrumental music. However even though there had been an emerging culture of Americanization, still there are many Japanese mode of music that remained the same. Kagura, for instance, or what was commonly known to be â€Å"Mi-Kagura† which was preserved by some of the people in the imperial court. Fuzoku in relation to the folk songs that was numerous in the provinces. Also with Azuma-Asobi, this is also a type of folk song that was predominant on the eastern part of the country. Saibara was also believed to be composed of traces of folk songs as well. Since all of these music where sung in courts, it is incorporated with Gagaku music. A Brief Introduction on Jo-Ha-Kyu tradition According to the Japanese culture, the â€Å"Jo-Ha-kyo† music can be traced to have influences of the Gagaku traditions. The term was generally referred to the way the music and the dances were done in the play, â€Å"Jo† was associated with being slow and more peaceful, it is the primary or the introductory part. â€Å"Ha† was the start of the conflict , it is not slow but more of a moderate version, it is associated with the journey. While lastly, â€Å"Kyu† was regarded as the final or the ultimate. Thus, the form â€Å"Jo-Ha-Kyu is actually a way of presenting ideas and capturing the minds of the readers. Buddhist Chants and Other Influences Another trend of music came to Japan on the time of Nara and Heian periods. This was comprised of Buddhist Chants, which is performed by narrating a certain sutra with the addition of rhythmical melodies. Accordingly, there are three known styles that were used in accordance to the language used by the countries who have participated or who are the founding authors of the Chants. The style which uses the â€Å"Sankrit† language was called â€Å"Bonsan†. Chinese speakers were called â€Å"Kansan† while plain Japanese were called â€Å"Wasan†. During the late Heian period, there had been another popular music trend which is now called as â€Å"Imayo† There is also the development of Heike Biwa or Heikyuko which is according to some, is the narrative music played by the blind priest-thus they were now called as Blind Prince. Another form of dance and music was the Noh, which is a classical Japanese drama that was either a Dengaku Noh or Sarugaku Noh. Dengaku Noh are those which portrays rituals and traditions that is done in the rice-fields. Sarugaku, on the other hand was more focus on acrobatic performances.

Algorithm For Segmentation Of Urdu Script English Language Essay

Algorithm For Segmentation Of Urdu Script English Language Essay Segmentation of script plays a vital role in script recognition. It is vital to understand the script that is used in writing a document before developing or using a model to recognize it. Chain codes etc. In ligature model, word model is used at document, page and word level for segmentation. Our algorithm for segmentation of Urdu script used character model and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to enhance work done previously. We have extracted features from images and calculated the maximum likelihood to match characters in inference algorithm with a feature extracted from a text sample. The main features used in the system will be pre-processing, connected component analysis, recognition and segmentation of text up to character level. The algorithm will provide a means to implement an Urdu OCR system on the basis of the character model. Keywords Preprocessing, Segmentation of characters, character model, Optical character recognition (OCR), max and argmax. Introduction We use an OCR system / scanner to get images of text [1]. Into preprocessing image will be converted to noiseless B/W image. 1.1 Segmentation Segmentation is dividing an image into smaller segments or pieces [2]. Segmentation occurs on two levels. At first level both text and graphics are separated for further processing. At second level, segmentation is performed on text to separate paragraphs, words, and characters etc. Segmentation of text can be performed on a document, page, paragraph and character levels [3]. They suggested various segmentation approaches namely [4]. Holistic Method Segmentation based approach Segmentation free approach In holistic method whole word is classified using a dictionary, the features of test input are matched against trained prototypes [5]. The limitation is that the method is not good for larger classes and it can only be used with the other two methods. Segmentation divides a word into smaller segments. The image of the word is broken up into several entities called graphemes [4]. Segmentation depends on human intuition. In segmentation free approach character model can be used to concatenate characters and form words. For instance segmentation free approach can be based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM) that is a stochastic model. 1.2. Urdu Language and Text Segmentation Urdu is a cursive (written with the characters joined) writing language. Urdu language characters are similar in shape and have curves that make it difficult to recognize by a machine. Moreover it has more than one symbol to represent a character. Due to its cursive nature characters / scripts in Urdu language are hard to recognize by a computer program. A very accurate technique is needed to recognize / understand Urdu characters. Urdu characters have four elementary shapes Basic Symbols (38 Symbols) Table 1 shows the basic symbols / shapes for Urdu Language. Beginning Symbols (26 Symbols) Table 2 shows the basic symbols / shapes for Urdu Language. Mid Symbols (40 Symbols) Table 3 shows the basic symbols / shapes for Urdu Language. Other Symbols This includes symbols for numbers, special symbols like zabar, zair, paish etc. The symbol tables, Table 1, Table 2, Table3 and Table 4, for Urdu language are given below as: Table1. Basic Symbols Table 2. Beginning Symbols Table 3. Mid Symbols Table 4. Other Symbols We used Urdu script Nastaliq for our work. We extracted images for Urdu character set like basic, beginning, mid and other symbols using available Nastaliq font. Literature Review In a structural approach to script identification, stroke geometry has been utilized for script characterization and identification [6]. Individual character images in a document are classified either by applying a prototype classification or by using support vector machine. Ligatures are used for segmentation / recognition of Urdu characters. The ligature is a sequence of characters in a word separated by non-joiner characters like space. Their approach in [1] used ligature model and it is divided into two stages: Line Segmentation Line segmentation deals with the detection of text lines in the image. The image is scanned horizontally from right to left direction, upwards to downwards, in search of a text pixel. Afterwards, it is determined whether this pixel belongs to a primary ligature or a secondary ligature as shown in Fig 1. The freeman chain codes (FCC) of the ligature are compared with already calculated FCC of the secondary ligatures. Character Segmentation The text is skeletonized and a label matrix is constructed which contains the identifiers of all ligatures in the image. The position of individual characters in a word is determined. Segmentation is done using primary ligatures only. Fig 1. (a) Urdu word (b) Seven ligatures (c) Three Primary ligatures (d) Four Secondary ligatures [7]. Limitations of the method are: firstly, they performed segmentation on the basis of primary ligatures only, therefore, it will not differentiate between seen and sheen because it will ignore secondary ligatures i.e. dots. Secondly, dictionary of images stored for training will be huge. Thirdly, there are problems of over segmentation and under segmentation. In [8], they have proposed a ligature and word model for Urdu word segmentation. It was done in three phases: In 1st phase, data is collected. They identified Ligatures and calculated word probabilities using probabilistic measure. From the input set of ligatures, all sequences of words are generated and ranked using the lexicon lookup. In the 2nd phase, top k sequences are selected using a selected beam value for further processing. It uses valid words heuristic for selection process. In the third phase, maximum probable sequence from these k word sequences is selected. Their method used dictionary of ligatures/words, chain codes, and to find best probable sequences they used HMM toolkit HTK to recognize a word / ligature. They have recommended that their work can be further improved by using the character model for Urdu text segmentation [9]. A poor segmentation will lead to poor recognition [10]. They divided image into smaller blocks, check for uniformity, group uniform block using color similarity and identify text in this block [11]. They used edge density based noise detection to segment out text areas in video/ images [12]. Segmentation of an image into text and non-text regions effect performance in OCR development [13]. They proposed line segmentation method using histogram equalization, indicated various problems and text line into ligature using chain codes [14]. They presented bounding box based approach for segmentation of table of contents in Urdu script [15]. They analyzed horizontal and vertical projection profiles for line and character segmentation. Misclassification occurs at character level [16]. They proposed text line extraction using vertical projection, marking all points where pixel values are not found and text line into ligatures using stroke geometry [17]. They proposed identification of partial words (i.e. connected components) in text line and using horizontal / vertical projections to identify words using relative distance matching [18]. They used dictionary for text line and ligature segmentation in online text [19]. Problem Statement Previous work has limitations that it cannot correctly perform segmentation in few cases and there will be misclassification problems. Moreover it can recognize a limited set of connected components or ligatures only. Proposed Segmentation Algorithm We will enhance previous work by proposing an improved algorithm for Urdu script segmentation that will use a character model. For this purpose we have created a set of characters. There are about 114 characters excluding some special characters like zabar, zair, paish etc. We have used characters of fixed size and style in this work. We are using all the variations of each character in a writing style e.g. bay has three shapes a basic, a beginning and mid shapes. Our algorithm uses a character model with Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) for segmentation of Urdu text. To the best of our knowledge, this work has not been done previously. We have offline text i.e., scanned pre-processed B/W Urdu characters and we are using Matlab ver. 7.12 as programming tool. 4.1 Our Method Our method is divided into three broad steps: Step#1 Data Acquisition / Feature Extraction: In the first step, algorithm transforms images of symbols into binary form as a matrix. Then extract features from the images using our feature extraction program and store it into a disk. These features are represented as hidden states: X(i) = { x(0), x(1), . . . , x (k)} where each X (i) represents a feature (in matrix form) for each shape in an Urdu character set; x (k) is a position vector in the matrix X (i). Step#2 Get Observed data: The observed data contain sequences of Urdu characters. In our study we have used a line of Urdu text. After acquiring this filtered image, we have transformed it into binary form. Then extracted features from an image using our feature extraction program. This feature contains several Urdu characters in it. The algorithm will scan it and perform segmentation by calculating maximum probabilities with hidden states and locating observations in feature using HMMs. These observations form observable states: O(i) = { o(0), o(1), . . . , o(k)} where each O(i) represents feature (in matrix form) for each shape in observed states; o(k) is a positional vector in matrix O(i). Step#3 Apply HMMs: We are given: Hidden states: X(i) = { x(1), x(2), . . . , x(k)} where i = 1,2, †¦ , m (for m characters). Observable states: O(i) = { o(1), o(2), . . . , o(k)} where i = 1,2, †¦ , n. Initial Distribution X(0). In a hidden Markov model the state variable x(i) is observable only through its measurements o(i). Now, suppose that a sequence O(i) of emission has been observed. Fig 2 shows transformation of a character and an observed sequence that are captured using MATLAB matrices. (a) (b) Fig 2: (a) A m x n matrix showing Urdu character Alif. (b) Sample observation showing a connected component of two characters bay and alif spelled out ba. Instead of using characters our algorithm extracted features from all the characters to reduce computation complexity. These features will be used as hidden states in HMM i.e. x(i) and are stored on disk for example, features showing character alif and bay, captured using MATLAB, are shown below in fig 3. (a) (b) (c) Fig 3. (a) Feature for character Alif, (b) Feature for character Bay and (c) Feature for sample S(i) taken from word ba i.e. bay-alif. The algorithm extracts feature from line of sample text S(i). In forward algorithm, the feature s(1), †¦ , s(k) is matched against each of the hidden states x(i) by matching rows of x(i) with rows of S(i). The process continues for all characters and stops after calculating probabilities for all the characters i.e. P(X(i)|Z(i)). Afterwards it finds the maximization of probability and in this way it finds observation O(1) from the S(1). The forward algorithm will continue from s(k+1), †¦, s(L) to find observations O(2), †¦ , O(n). If there is more than one probable character, then we can use a so called Viterbi algorithm that will find argmax and will give the optimal probable sequence if we are not near to actual results. The algorithm for the HMMs is as under: Algorithm Segsha (S, L) j=1 while ( j < L ) for i = 1 to n Sample s(j) ~ {w} wi = pr(s(j)|X(i)) end-for O(i) = O(i) U {max( wi )} s(j) = s(j) + 1 end-while Where S is a sample feature of vectors obtained from an observed sequence O(i) i.e., a line of Urdu text; L is the dimension of S (length of S); S(j) is a sample taken from S each time to match against character feature X(i) and probability of matching will give us weights, wi, for each character; max(wi) is maximization of probability that proceeds as follows: Here max(wi) can be calculated by comparing wi ~ w and calculated by using the eq.1 [20]. Result A total of 1200 words were used that include all the characters in our character set. Sample scanned text was taken from Nastaliq font with point size 36. We found that 1176 out of 1200 were completely recognized. Not the whole word but only one or two characters in a word were misclassified. The accuracy of 97% was very encouraging for us and we are looking forward to work further in this area. Conclusion We tested our approach on images of text taken from Nastaliq font scanned at 300 dpi and found that better results can be achieved by using HMM with the character model. These results were checked on a prototype using a set of characters. We have achieved 97% accuracy. Future Work and Enhancements In future we are planning on two things: 1. To eliminate restriction of fixed font size and style. 2. To work with handwritten Urdu text. We will use both of the options using the same method but that is another story.

An Analysis of Joseph Nye’s Use of “Soft Power” and its Relationship wi

An Analysis of Joseph Nye’s Use of â€Å"Soft Power† and its Relationship with Morality in International Relations Recently, the United States has lost a great deal of power in the international arena because of its invasion of Iraq and torture of prisoners of war. The United States holds an incredible edge in military capabilities over any other nation and the US benefits from the largest economy in the world. In a world where there is one single superpower, why is that superpower unable to force-feed policy through coercion or payoff? Theoretically, the US ought to be able to rule the world with a double-edged sword of military muscle and economic supremacy. These tangible aspects of power should be all that US needs to be the prevailing global power, yet it obviously lacks some x-factor if its military and economic preponderance has remained and the US has lost power. Traditionally, State power has been viewed without concern for morality. In most accounts, morality did not play a role in power, or reacted counterproductively towards power. The main school of thought in International Relations on the concept of State power, realism, is founded on self-interest and follows the mantra â€Å"might makes right.† The Realists believe that a nation should only act in a manner which enhances or advances its own national interest at all costs despite morality and the interests of other nations. A nation cannot successfully navigate the muddy waters of International Relations by waging war and imposing trade sanctions upon all of those who oppose that nation. The second viewpoint on State power is based purely in morality. Idealism requires self sacrifice for the overall good of the global community. Physical power should perform as ... ...attackindex.htm McKillen, Elizabeth. â€Å"The Unending Delete Over Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations.† Diplomatic History. Nov. (2003): 711-716. Nye, Joseph S. Jr. Bound to Lead. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1990. ---. â€Å"The Changing Nature of World Power.† Political Science Quarterly. 105(2) (1990): 177-192. ---. The Paradox of American Power. New York: Oxford UP, 2002. ---. â€Å"Power and Interdependence in the Information Age.† Foreign Affairs. Sept.-Oct. (1998): 81-95. ---. â€Å"Redefining the National Interest.† Foreign Affairs. July-Aug. (1999): 22-30. ---. Soft Power. New York: Public Affairs, 2004. ---. â€Å"The velvet hegemon: How soft power can help defeat terrorism.† Foreign Policy. May-June (2003): 74-75. Rothgeb, John M. Jr. Defining Power: Influence and Force in the Contemporary International System. New York: St. Martin Press, 1993.

Shakespeares Hamlet - Hamlet’s Villain, King Claudius Essay -- GCSE E

Hamlet’s Villain, King Claudius      Ã‚  Ã‚   In the drama Hamlet Shakespeare has concocted a multi-dimensional character in the person of King Claudius. It is the intent of this essay to analyze and probe all the various aspects of this curious personality.    Ward and Trent in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature consider Shakespeare’s options in designing the character of Claudius:    There were at least two ways in which an ordinary, or rather more than ordinary, dramatist might have dealt with this other â€Å"majesty of Denmark.† He could have been made a crude dramatic villain—a crowned â€Å"Shakebag† or â€Å"Black Will,† to use the phraseology of his creator’s own day. He could have been made pure straw—a mere common usurper. And it would appear that he has actually seemed to some to be one or other of these two. Neither of them is the Claudius which Shakespeare has presented; and those who take him as either seem to miss the note which, putting sheer poetic faculty once more aside, is the note of Shakespeare. It is not to be supposed that Shakespeare liked Claudius; if he did, and if he has produced on respectable readers the effect above hinted at, he certainly was as ineffectual a writer as the merest crà ©tin, or the merest crank, among his critics could imagine. But neither did he dislike Claudius; he knew tha t, in the great Greek phrase, it was the duty of creators to â€Å"see fair†Ã¢â‚¬â€[char]—in the handling of their creations. It would appear that the successor of Hamlet I might have been a very respectable person, if his brother had not possessed a kingdom and a queen that he wanted for himself. (vol.5, pt.1, ch.8, sec.16, no.53)    Literary criticism varies in its evaluation of Claudius. The â€Å"very... .... San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Rpt. from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html    Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html    West, Rebecca. â€Å"A Court and World Infected by the Disease of Corruption.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Court and the Castle. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1957.    Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.               

privatization :: essays research papers

The social impact of privatization has been an appendage rather than being built into the design of public sector reform programs and particular measures from start to finish. The objectives and the process of privatization has to be rethought because democracy requires the fullest participation of all people in American society, not just those deemed to live in the â€Å"public sector†. What is happening is not only increasing fear of the poor, but also the privatization of public space, which is given an added push by government cut-backs. Public streets are moved indoors into malls and become private preserves. Parks and streets in gated communities are barred to anyone who does not live there. User fees are charged for the use of other parks and public facilities so that, in practice, they become the property of those who can afford the fees. Privatization of the home sector begins with high fences, heavy gates and barred windows, then proceeds to the hiring of private police to patrol the neighborhood. When that still does not produce the attitude of security, the next step is gated communities: whole subdivisions, entire condominium developments, or apartment complexes protected from the outside world by armed guards or electronic security. Ironically, the gates only provide an illusion of security, as the authors of â€Å"Fortress America† demonstrate both through the testimony of interviewees and by demonstrating the penetrability of gates by sneaking through them. Moreover, while residents idealize the gates as a means of creating community, they find that gates can actually promote divisiveness, as residents argue about gate policy and homeowner's association policies. More ominously, Blakely and Snyder argue that gates lead to increasing polarization, us-vs-them attitude of citizens, leaving cities deprived. Among the deprived and polarized are children. They are usually denied a variety of culture as many gated communitites tend not to be richly diverse in class or ethnic standing. This deficiency of being raised surrounded by diversity can play a key role in the increase of feelings of apathy toward those of different ethnic or social background; and in extreme cases, can lead to school violence. Young people who grow up together in the streets and in the poorer neighborhoods are more likely than others to develop attitudes based on respect, and on the pleasure of being together. Gated communitites have a tendency to become inward-looking, withdrawing into itself, combined with a rude, exclusive and stigmatizing attitude with regard to particular groups or individuals who are perceived as threats; or increased social control by one population group over another.

Formulation & Evalution of Atenolol Hcl Microemulsion for Ocular Administration

1. INTRODUCTION Objectives of the project: (a) Develop a formulation of Atenolol HCL microemulsion for ocular application to decrease IOP in case of glaucoma. (b) Improve the quality of patient’s life suffering from glaucoma. (c) Reduce the number of dosing per day. 1. 1 Eye â€Å"If a physician performed a major operation on a seignior (a nobleman) with a bronze lancet and has saved the seignior's life, or he opened the eye socket of a seignior with a bronze lancet and has saved the seignior's eye, he shall receive ten shekels of silver.But, if the physician in so doing has caused the seignior's death or has he destroyed the seignior's eye, they shall cut off his hand† the forgoing excerpts are from 282 laws of King Hammurabi's Code. The eye is unique in its therapeutic challenges. An efficient system, that of tears and tear drainage, which quickly eliminates drug solutions which makes topical delivery to the eye somewhat different from most other areas of the body. Pr eparations for the eye comprise a variety of different types of products; they may be solutions (eye drops or eyewashes), suspensions, or ointments.Any modern text on drug product design and evaluation must place into perspective the unique nature of the ophthalmic dosage form in general more specifically. It must consider that the bodily organ which, probably better than any other, serves as a model structure for the evaluation of drug activity, the eye. In no other organ can the practitioner, without surgical or mechanical interaction, so well observe the activity of the drug being administered.Most ocular structures can be readily viewed from cornea to retina and in doing so; any signs of ocular or systemic disease can be detected long before sight-threatening or certain health threatening disease states become intractable. Behind the relative straightforward composition nature of ophthalmic solutions and ointments, however, like many physicochemical parameters which affect drug stability, safety and efficacy as they do most other products.Additionally, specialized dosage forms such as parenteral type ophthalmic solutions for intraocular, subtenons, and retrobulbar use; suspensions for insoluble substances such as hydrocortisone; and solids for reconstitution such as ecothiophate iodide and tetracycline, all present the drug product designer with composition and manufacturing procedure challenges in the development of pharmaceuticals. Opthalmic products, like most others in the medical armamentarium, are undergoing a process termed optimization.New modes of delivering a drug to the eye are being actively explored ranging from a solid hydrophobic device which is inserted into the ophthalmic cul-de-sac, to conventionally applied dosage forms which, due to their formulation characteristics markedly increase the drug residence time in the orbit of the eye, thus providing drug for absorption for prolonged period of time and reducing the frequency with which a gi ven drug product must be administered [1]. Ocular diseases are mainly treated topically by application of drug solutions administered as eye drops.These conventional dosage forms account for 90% of the available ophthalmic formulations. This can be due to the simplicity and convenience of such dosage forms [2]. It is often assumed that drugs administered topically to the eye are rapidly and totally absorbed and are available to the desirable site in the globe of the eye to exert their therapeutic effect. Indeed, this is generally not the case. When a quantity of topical ophthalmic dosage form is applied to the eye, generally to the lower cul-de-sac, several factors immediately begin to affect the availability of the drug contained in that quantity of the dosage form.Upon application of 1 to 2 drops of a sterile ophthalmic solution, there are many factors, which will participate in the removal of the applied drops from the lower cul-de-sac [5]. The first factor effecting drug availab ility is that the loss of the drug from the palpebral fissure. This takes place by spillage of the drug from the eye and its removal via nasolacrimal apparatus. The normal volume of tears in human eye is estimated to be approximately 7  µl, and if blinking does not occur the human eye can accommodate a volume of 30 III without spillage from palpebral fissure.With an estimated drop volume of  µl, 70% of the administered volume of 2 drops can be seen to expel from the eye by overflow. If blinking occurs, the residual volume of lO  µl indicates that 90% of the administer volume of two drops will be expelled. The second factor is the drainage of the administered drop via the nasolacrimal system into the gastrointestinal tract which begins immediately upon instillation. This takes place when reflex tearing causes the volume of the fluid in the palpebral fissure to exceed the normal lacrimal volume of 7 – 10  µl.Fig (l) indicates the pathways for this drainage. A third mech anism of drug loss from the lacrimal fluid is systemic absorption through the conjunctiva of the eye. The conjunctiva is a thin, vascularized membrane that lines the inner surface of the eyelids and covers the anterior part of the sclera. Due to the relative leakiness of the membrane, rich blood flow and large surface area, conjunctival uptake of a topically applied drug from the tear fluids is typically an order of magnitude greater than corneal uptake [3]. Figure (1): The pathways for drainage of drug from the eye [2]In competition with the three foregoing drug removal from the palpebral fissure is the transcorneal absorption of drug, the cornea is an avascular body and, with the percorneal tear film first refracting mechanism operant in the physiological process of sight. It is composed of lipophilic epithelium, Bowman's membrane, hydrophilic stroma, Descement's membrane and lipophilic endothelium. Drugs penetrate across the corneal epithelium via the transcellular or paracellula r pathway. Lipophilic drugs prefer the transcellular route.Hydrophilic drugs penetrate primarily through the paracellular pathway which involves passive or altered diffusion through intercellular spaces, for most topically applied drugs, passive diffusion along their concentration gradient, either transcellularly or paracellularly, is the main permeation mechanism across the cornea [6]. Physicochemical drug properties, such as lipophilicity, solubility, molecular size and shape and degree of ionization affect the route and rate of permeation in cornea [3]. 1. 2 Microemulsions Oil and water are immiscible. They separate into two phases when mixed, each saturated with traces of the other component [7].An attempt to combine the two phases requires energy input to establish water-oil contacts that would replace the water-water and oil-oil contacts. The interfacial tension between bulk oil and water can be as high as 30- dynes/cm [8]. To overcome this, surfactants can be used. Surfactant s are surface-active molecules. They contain water-loving (hydrophilic) and oil-loving (lipophilic) moieties [9]. Because of this characteristic, they tend to adsorb at the water-oil interface. If enough surfactant molecules are present, they align and create an interface between the water and the oil by decreasing the interfacial tension [8].An emulsion is formed, when a small amount of an appropriate surfactant is mechanically agitated with the oil and water. This results in a two-phase dispersion where one phase exists as droplets coated by surfactant that is dispersed throughout the continuous, other phase. These emulsions are milky or turbid in appearance due to the fact that the droplet sizes range from 0. 1 to 1 micron in diameter [9]. As a general rule, the type of surfactant used in the system determines which phase is continuous. If the surfactant is hydrophilic, thenoil will be emulsified in droplets throughout a continuous water phase.The opposite is true for more lipoph ilic surfactants. Water will be emulsified in droplets that are dispersed throughout a continuous oil phase in this case [10]. Emulsions are kinetically stable, but are ultimately thermodynamically unstable. Over time, they will begin to separate back into their two phases. The droplets will merge together, and the dispersed phase will sediment (cream) [9]. At this point, they degrade back into bulk phases of pure oil and pure water with some of the surfactant dissolved in preferentially in one of the two [8]. 1. 2. Characteristics of Microemulsions If a surfactant that possesses balanced hydrophilic and lipophilic properties is used in the right concentration, a different oil and water system will be produced. The system is still an emulsion, but exhibits some characteristics that are different from the milky emulsions discussed previously. These new systems are called â€Å"microemulsions†. The interfacial tension between phases, amount of energy required for formation, dro plet sizes and visual appearance are only a few of the differences seen when comparing emulsions to microemulsions.Microemulsions are in many respects small-scale emulsions. They are fragile systems in the sense that certain surfactants in specific concentrations are needed for microemulsion formation [11]. In simplest form, they are a mixture of oil, water and a surfactant. The surfactant, in this case, generates an ultra-low free energy per unit of interfacial area between the two phases (103mN/m) which results from a precise balance between thehydrophilic and lipophilic nature of the surfactant and large oil-to-water interfacial areas.These ultra-low free energies allow thermodynamically stable equilibrium phases to exist, which require only gentle mixing to form [12]. This increased surface area would ultimately influence the transport properties of a drug [14]. The free energy of the system is minimized by the compensation of surface energy by dispersion entropy. The flexible i nterfacial film results in droplet sizes that fall in a range of 10-100 nm in diameter for microemulsion systems. Although these systems are formed spontaneously, the driving forces are small and may possibly take time to reach equilibrium [14].This is a dynamic process. There is diffusion of molecules within the microstructures and there are fluctuations in the curvature of the surfactant film. These droplets diffuse through the continuous phase while kinetics of the collision, merging and separation of droplets occur [13, 10]. With droplet sizes in the nanometer range, microemulsions are optically transparent and are considered to be solutions. They are homogeneous on a macroscopic scale, but are heterogeneous on a molecular scale [7]. Microemulsions usually exhibit low viscosities and Newtonian flow characteristics.Their flow will remain constant when subjected to a variety of shear rates. Bicontinuous formulations may show some non-Newtonian flow and plasticity [16]. Microemulsi on viscosity is close to that of water, even at high droplet concentrations. The microstructure is constantly changing, making these very dynamic systems with reversible droplet coalescence [15]. To study the different properties of microemulsions, a variety of techniques are usually employed. Light scattering, x-ray diffraction, ultracentrifugation, electrical conductivity, and viscosity measurements have been widely used [20].These are only a few of themany techniques used to characterize microemulsions. Instrumentation and their application to microemulsions will be discussed in a later chapter. 1. 2. 2 Types of Microemulsions Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable, but are only found under carefully defined conditions [3]. One way to characterize these systems is by whether the domains are in droplets or continuous [22]. Characterizing the systems in this way results in three types of microemulsions: oil-in-water (o/w), water-in-oil (w/o), and bicontinuous.Generally, one wo uld assume that whichever phase was a larger volume would be the continuous phase, but this is not always the case. Figure (2): Possible nanostructures present within microemulsions: a) o/w; b) o/w, and c) Bicontinuous [22] Oil-in-water microemulsions are droplets of oil surrounded by a surfactant (and possibly co-surfactant) film that forms the internal phase distributed in water, which is the continuous phase. This type of microemulsion generally has a larger interaction volume than the w/o microemulsions [23].The monolayer of surfactant forms the interfacial film that is oriented in a â€Å"positive† curve, where the polar head-groups face the continuous water phase and the lipophilic tails face into the oil droplets [17]. The o/w systems are interesting because they enable a hydrophobic drug to be more soluble in an aqueous based system, by solubilizing it in the internal oil droplets. Most drugs tend to favor small/medium molecular volume oils as opposed to hydrocarbon o ils due to the polarity of the poorly water-soluble drugs. An o/w drug delivery tends to be straightforward when compared to w/o microemulsions.This is the result of the droplet structure of o/w microemulsions being retained on dilution with the biological aqueous phase [23]. Water-in-oil microemulsions are made up of droplets of water surrounded by an oil continuous phase. These are generally known as â€Å"reverse-micelles†, where the polar headgroups of the surfactant are facing into the droplets of water with the fatty acid tails facing into the oil phase. This type of droplet is usually seen when the volume fraction of water is low, although the type of surfactant impacts this as well.A w/o microemulsion used orally or parenterally may be destabilized by the aqueous biological system. The biological system increases the phase volume of the internal phase, eventually leading to a â€Å"percolation phenomenon† where phase separation or phase inversion occurs [23]. O ral peptide delivery in w/o microemulsions is still used, however, The hydrophilic peptides can be easily incorporated into the water internal phase and are more protected from enzymatic proteolysis by the continuous oil phase than other oral dosage forms [17, 18].A w/o microemulsion is best employed, though, in situations where dilution by the aqueous phase is unlikely, such as intramuscular injection or transdermal delivery [17, 19]. When the amount of water and oil present are similar, a bicontinuousmicroemulsion system may result. In this case, both water and oil exist as a continuous phase. Irregular channels of oil and water are intertwined, resulting in what looks like a â€Å"sponge-phase† [ 20, 21]. Transitions from o/w to w/o microemulsions may pass through this bicontinuous state.Bicontinuousmicroemulsions, as mentioned before, may show non-Newtonian flow and plasticity. These properties make them especially useful for topical delivery of drugs or for intravenous a dministration, where upon dilution with aqueous biological fluids form an o/w microemulsion [25]. 1. 2. 3 Preparation of Microemulsion The preparation of microemulsions requires the determination of the existence range of microemulsions, which can be determined by visual observation of various mixtures of surfactant, co-surfactant, oily phase, and aqueous phase reported in a phase diagram.Two techniques are presented in the literature, each of them resulting in microemulsions: (1)†Exact† process by autoemulsification; (2) process based on supply of energy. 1. 2. 3. 1 Autoemulsification: Due to the spontaneous formation of the microemulsions, they can be prepared in one step by mixing the constituents with magnetic stirrer. The order of the addition of the constituents is not considered a critical factor for the preparation of micro emulsions, but it can influence the time required to obtain equilibrium.This time will increase if the co-surfactant is added to the organic phase, because its greater solubility in this phase will prevent the diffusion in the aqueous phase. This method is easier and much simpler then â€Å"supply of energy† method [25]. 1. 2. 3. 2 Process based on supply of energy: In this case, microemulsions are not obtained spontaneously. A decrease of the quantity of surfactants results in the use of high-pressure homogenizers in order to obtain the desired size of droplets that constitute the internal phase as opposed to the former technique [23].Benita and Levy [18] have studied the efficacy of various equipment for obtaining particles of different sizes. Two steps are required: the first step produces a coarse emulsion (0. 65 mm) by using a high-speed mixer. The second step consists of using a high pressure homogenizer. The dispersion of the oily phase in the aqueous phase is also facilitated by heating the phases before mixing them, the choice of the temperature depending on the sensitivity of the drug to heat.Cooling the preparation is required before its introduction in the high-pressure homogenizer, which can raise the temperature. A blue opalescent micro emulsion is obtained. 1. 2. 4 Review of literature: The microemulsion dosage form provided a delayed pharmacological action compared to the pharmacological action of regular eye drops. This observation led to the conclusion that the micro emulsion eye drops have a real advantage compared to regular eye drops which must be administered four times a day due to the short duration of the pharmacological action.According to Naveh et al. , it appeared that the retention of pilocarpine content in the internal oil phase, and the oil-water interface of the emulsion are sufficient to concomitantly enhance the ocular absorption of the drug through the cornea, and also increasing the corneal concentration of pilocarpine. After comparing the diffusion profiles of two microemulsions preparations and an aqueous solution of pilocarpine, Hasse and Keipert [29] s tudied their pharmacological effect in vivo by using six rabbits for each group.The obtained results were different from those observed in vitro. The two microemulsions provided a delayed release compared to the release of the drug incorporated in the aqueous solution. No experimental study has been conducted with microemulsions prepared by autoemulsification. However, several trials were conducted with microemulsions prepared by supply of energy. Melamed et al. [27] prepared micro emulsions containing adaprolol maleate. According to these authors, no ocular irritation was noticed in the group of forty healthy volunteers as opposed to regular eye droplets.The depressor effect was delayed; the intra-ocular pressure was still high 6 and 12 h after the instillation of the micro emulsion. A single instillation of microemulsion or corresponding placebo, namely microemulsion without any drug, was administered to twenty healthy volunteers. The determined parameters were the pupillary diame ter and variation of intra-ocular pressure. The effect of the micro emulsion which contains pilocarpine is obvious as compared to the placebo and was noticed within 1 h from instillation. The return to the initial values was noticed within 12 h [28,29]. Lv et al. 32] investigated micro emulsion systems composed of Span20/80, Tween20/80, n-butanol, H20, isopropyl palmitate (IPP)/isopropy lmyristate (IPM) as model systems of drug carriers for eye drops. The results showed that the stability of the chloramphenicol in the micro emulsion formulations was increased remarkably. Study of the effect of a single dose of atenolol 4% eye drops on 21 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma during a double-blind clinical trial. Monitoring of intraocular pressure (IOP), blood pressure, and pulse rate. At three and six h after medication, the average reduction of IOP was 7. and 4. 1 mm Hg respectively compared to the baseline readings without medication. The reduction of IOP at four h after medic ation was 6. 3 mm Hg compared to the pretreatment value. This corresponds to an average change from the pretreatment value of 22 percent. Blood pressure and pulse rate did not change significantly. We observed no subjective or objective ocular side effects. The duration of the effect of a single dose of Atenolol 4% eye drops is approximately six h. Atenolol 4% eye drops may become a useful agent in the medical treatment of glaucoma if a long-term effect and no ocular side effects [30]. . 3 Atenolol Atenolol is a selective ? 1 receptorantagonist, a drug belonging to the group of beta blockers (sometimes written ? -blockers), a class of drugs used primarily in cardiovascular diseases. Introduced in 1976, atenolol was developed as a replacement for propranolol in the treatment of hypertension. The chemical works by slowing down the heart and reducing its workload. Unlike propranolol, atenolol does not pass through the blood-brain barrier thus avoiding various central nervous system sid e effects. 25] Atenolol is one of the most widely used ? -blockers in the United Kingdom and was once the first-line treatment for hypertension. The role for ? -blockers in hypertension was downgraded in June 2006 in the United Kingdom to fourth-line, as they perform less appropriately or effectively than newer drugs, particularly in the elderly. Some evidence suggests that even in normal doses the most frequently used ? -blockers carry an unacceptable risk of provoking type 2 diabetes. Figure (3): Chemical structure of Atenolol [26]