It is important to preserve the rule of law in Hong Kong but somehow Essay

It is important to preserve the rule of law in Hong Kong but somehow its existence in Hong Kong is more of a myth than a real - Essay Example One can hence derive the idea that the legality and equality form the roots of Hong Kong’s legislature and every other principle revolves around it. To promote equality, the country’s legislature involves a ruling system specially designed to restrict the discretionary powers of the government. It provides the courts with a guideline for ensuring that constitutional powers are not exploited in any way by the government officials. So, any unreasonable decision or any attempt of exercising excessive power is always made invalid or futile by the court orders. The rule of law holds an important place in the Hong Kong system of legislature. It most certainly, is one of its greatest strengths. It is something that ensures the country’s status as a leading centre in the financial market in terms of finance and commerce and provides a secure environment for the businessmen to work in. Thus, it is the defining ideology upon which the people of the country put their trust and faith. They are proud of possessing an independent judiciary and are very concerned about upholding the integrity of their legal system. Any threats or criticism against the rule of law is severely dealt with. It is very important to realize the rule of law actually needs a very transparent legislation to work effectively. Without a clearly defined set of laws that are justified and comfortable for every citizen of the country and an independent and strong judicial and enforcement bodies, it is impossible to govern a country by the rule of law. Hence, the rule of law resembles the British legislation as it was proposed when Hong Kong was under the British colonial rule. Although, there was much concern that the rule of law would be compromised when Hong Kong was remerged with its motherland, it did not happen so and it still remains fair and just. For those who say that the rule of law is a myth are certainly very wrong in my personal opinion. Hong Kong has always preserved the core values of its legislature that involves freedom of speech and defending the human rights. The justice department works free from any outside interference or pressures and is responsible for maintaining law and order and defining the working principles for different matters in the society. Moreover, the responsibility of giving the government legal advices is handed over to the Secretary of Justice. Not to forget the fact that the country’s legal system consists of about 5000 lawyers and about 700 law firms. Through all such measures, the judiciary of the country has been improved to quite a great extent. The courts in Hong Kong are mainly operated by its judiciary which is independent of both the executive and the legislative councils as mentioned earlier as well. The word ‘independent’ is highly stressed upon because it holds the true essence of the rule of law. The legal body in Hong Kong enjoys a lot of protective measures and cannot be questioned by the government. This allows the system to be utterly transparent and just. The highest post in Hong Kong’s judicial council is that of Chief Justice, who is then assisted by other officials of different ranks and responsibilities. To ensure that the system remains profound, the rule of law r

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Timeline 1995 1996 Starbucks Coffee International is established. In August, Starbucks opens its first Starbucks store outside of North America in Tokyo, Japan through a jointventure agreement with Sazaby Inc. In December, Starbucks opens its first store in Singapore through a licensing agreement with Bonstar, Pte Ltd. 1997 In December, Starbucks opens its first store in Makati City, Philippines through a licensing agreement with Rustan Corporation. In July, Starbucks opens its first store in Bangkok, Thailand through a licensing agreement with Central Pattana, Plc. Coffee Partners (Thailand). In October, Starbucks opens its first store in Auckland, New Zealand through a licensing agreement with Restaurant Brands, Ltd. In December, Starbucks opens its first store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia through a licensing agreement with Berjaya Group Berhad. 1999 In July, Starbucks opens its first store in Seoul, South Korea through a licensing agreement with Shinsegae Department Stores Co. , Ltd. In June, Starbucks Coffee International acquires 100 percent equity of Coffee Partners (Thailand), forming Starbucks Coffee (Thailand) Ltd. In July, Starbucks opens its first store in Sydney, Australia through a joint-venture agreement with a local Australian entrepreneur. In December, Starbucks Coffee International acquires 50 percent equity of South Korean operations from Shinsegae Department Stores Co. , Ltd. , creating a joint-venture partnership in South Korea. Starbucks opens its 100th Japanese store, in Akasaka. Starbucks is named â€Å"Number One Restaurant Chain† by Japan’s Nikkei Restaurant Magazine and â€Å"Best Product of the Year† by South Korea’s Joongang Daily Newspaper. 2001 2002 Starbucks Coffee Japan, Ltd. begins offering stock options for part- and full-time partners. In February, Starbucks Coffee International acquires 100 percent equity of its operations in Australia, forming Starbucks Coffee Company (Australia) Pty. Ltd. In May, Starbucks opens its first store in Jakarta, Indonesia through a licensing agreement with PT Mitra Adiperkasa. The first Starbucks Coffee Ambassador Cup is held in the Philippines. Starbucks Coffee Company (Australia) Pty. Ltd. inaugurates the Bandaged Bear Day Appeal. Starbucks receives the â€Å"Nikkei Superior Products and Service Award† in Japan. 2003 Starbucks launches the first Asian Commitment to Originsâ„ ¢ coffee, Muan Jai Blendâ„ ¢, sourced from the hills of Northern Thailand.  ©2009 STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 1998 1998 2000 2004 In July, Starbucks Coffee International acquires 100 percent equity of its operations in Singapore from Bonstar, Pte Ltd. , announcing the formation of Starbucks Coffee Singapore Pte. Ltd. Also in July, Starbucks Coffee International acquires 49. 9 percent equity of its operations in Malaysia, forming Berjaya-Starbucks Coffee Company Sdn. Bhd. Starbucks celebrates the opening of its 100th store in South Korea. 2005 Starbucks helps fund a free pediatric clinic in Penang through collaboration with HOPE worldwide Malaysia. Starbucks introduces ready-to-drink Starbucks Discoveries ® chilled cup coffee, in Japan and Taiwan. The drinks mark the company’s first RTD coffee offerings outside of North America. Starbucks introduces Starbucks bottled Frappuccino ® coffee drinks in South Korea. 2006 In August, Starbucks celebrates its 10th anniversary in Japan. Starbucks celebrates the opening of its 100th store in the Philippines and its 600th store in Japan. Starbucks introduces Starbucks Doubleshot ® espresso drinks in South Korea. 2007 In December, Starbucks celebrates its 10th anniversary in the Philippines. Starbucks celebrates the opening of its 100th store in Thailand and its 200th store in South Korea. Starbucks introduces Starbucks Discoveries ® chilled cup coffee in South Korea. 2008 In February, Starbucks celebrates the opening of its 100th store in Malaysia. In July, Starbucks celebrates its 10th anniversary in Thailand. In September, Starbucks introduces Starbucks Doubleshot ® espresso drinks in Japan. In October, Starbucks celebrates its 10th anniversary in New Zealand In November, Starbucks and partner Dong Suh Foods donate more than 3,000 books to sponsor the Starbucks Discoveries ® Dream Library program in Jeju Island, South Korea. The Dream Library marks the first charitable outreach program sponsored by Starbucks Global Consumer Products. In December, Starbucks celebrates its 10th anniversary in Malaysia. 2009 In February, Starbucks appoints Arun Bhardwaj interim president, Starbucks Coffee Asia Pacific. ###  ©2009. STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The Silent Partner: A Canadianization Dilemma :: Film Movie Movies Canada Silent Partner Essays

The Silent Partner: A Canadianization Dilemma Works Cited Missing As a student of Canadian film, I find great appreciation in films that work to culturally enrich Canada's movie screens. I feel that an honest portrayal of Canadian values and culture is beneficial not only by enhancing the credibility of Canada's film industry, but also by maintaining a voice for the customs held by the Canadian people. For these reasons, among others, it had become very easy for me to dislike Daryl Duke's 1978 film The Silent Partner. Based on the knowledge I had before sitting through numerous screenings of the film, I found a challenge in making any concretely positive statements about it, or the state of Canada's film industry at the time. I asked myself about the effect this film had on Canada's film industry, wondering primarily if the film's success in Canada - it won a total of 6 Canadian Film Awards including best feature and best director - came not from a poignant portrayal of Canadian culture, but rather from a "Canadianization" of the typical American t hriller. I questioned the details of the film's formation, the choices made about talent, and the credibility of the script, and still I found myself forcing out any positive criticisms I might muster. As far as first impressions go, The Silent Partner's was not promising. Perhaps now I must consider an alternate approach to understanding this film. Maybe my difficulty in pinpointing The Silent Partner's positive attributes demonstrates to some extent my current narrow-mindedness on Hollywood-style pictures. I think it's only fair to treat this film as an article of film criticism in order to accurately look at it within the context of a national cinema. And so, let us begin by looking first at the particulars of the Canadian film industry around the time The Silent Partner was released. Maybe afterwards, we'll be able to understand the implications of what audiences saw on that illustrious Canadian screen I feel so emotionally bound to preserving. The code word for success in the late seventies was "international appeal." In a time referred to as "the tax-shelter boom," it was perceived by some that the Canadian film industry had given in. Demoralized by countless relatively unsuccessful attempts at profitability and independence, "Canada's feature film industry had finally succumbed to that old adage: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" (Magder 169). The Silent Partner: A Canadianization Dilemma :: Film Movie Movies Canada Silent Partner Essays The Silent Partner: A Canadianization Dilemma Works Cited Missing As a student of Canadian film, I find great appreciation in films that work to culturally enrich Canada's movie screens. I feel that an honest portrayal of Canadian values and culture is beneficial not only by enhancing the credibility of Canada's film industry, but also by maintaining a voice for the customs held by the Canadian people. For these reasons, among others, it had become very easy for me to dislike Daryl Duke's 1978 film The Silent Partner. Based on the knowledge I had before sitting through numerous screenings of the film, I found a challenge in making any concretely positive statements about it, or the state of Canada's film industry at the time. I asked myself about the effect this film had on Canada's film industry, wondering primarily if the film's success in Canada - it won a total of 6 Canadian Film Awards including best feature and best director - came not from a poignant portrayal of Canadian culture, but rather from a "Canadianization" of the typical American t hriller. I questioned the details of the film's formation, the choices made about talent, and the credibility of the script, and still I found myself forcing out any positive criticisms I might muster. As far as first impressions go, The Silent Partner's was not promising. Perhaps now I must consider an alternate approach to understanding this film. Maybe my difficulty in pinpointing The Silent Partner's positive attributes demonstrates to some extent my current narrow-mindedness on Hollywood-style pictures. I think it's only fair to treat this film as an article of film criticism in order to accurately look at it within the context of a national cinema. And so, let us begin by looking first at the particulars of the Canadian film industry around the time The Silent Partner was released. Maybe afterwards, we'll be able to understand the implications of what audiences saw on that illustrious Canadian screen I feel so emotionally bound to preserving. The code word for success in the late seventies was "international appeal." In a time referred to as "the tax-shelter boom," it was perceived by some that the Canadian film industry had given in. Demoralized by countless relatively unsuccessful attempts at profitability and independence, "Canada's feature film industry had finally succumbed to that old adage: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" (Magder 169).

Japanese Internment Camps Essays -- Japanese-Americans in WWII

World War II was a time of deliberate hate among groups of innocent people who were used as scapegoats. Japanese-Americans were persecuted due to the fact that they looked like citizens of Japan, who had attacked the United States on December 7th, 1941 at the naval base, Pearl Harbor. This hatred toward the group was due to newspapers creating a scare for the American people, as well as the government restricting the rights of Japanese-Americans. The Japanese-Americans were mistreated during World War II for no other reason than being different. These men, women, and children were loathed by the American public for looking like the people of the Japanese army that had attacked the United States. These people were only hated by association, even though many had come to the United States to create a better life for their family. The federal government ruled most of the reasons behind Japanese internment camps. Further than two-thirds of the Japanese who were sentenced to internment camps in the spring of 1942 were in fact United States citizens. The internment camps were the centerpiece for legal confines of minorities. Most camps were exceedingly overcrowded and with deprived living conditions. The conditions included â€Å"tarpaper-covered barracks of simple frame construction without plumbing or cooking facilities of any kind.† Unfortunately, coal was very hard to come by for the internees, so most would only have the blankets that were rationed out to sleep on. As for food, the allotment was about 48 cents per internee. This food was served in a mess hall of about 250 people and by other internees. Leadership positions within the camp were only given to the American-born Japanese, or Nisei. Eventually, the government decided that... ... group of citizens was treated during this time. Unfortunately, this is most likely due to the fact that it exposes the worst of the United States government. This treatment is treated as a blemish in the history of the United States to the United States citizens who learn about it. This is not the case at all for the Japanese-American people who experienced this, as well as the relatives of these people. The management of these people was a cruel and unjust act that was never shown for the harshness that it truly is. In Germany, it was called concentration camps, and it is known around the world as the worst time in history. In the United States, people brush the subject away, not showing any concern. In any other country, the United States would have been horrified, but it happened in our country. Thus, since the country is always right, this cruelty is ignored.

McCrae & Costa’s Five-Factor Model Essay

McCrae and Costa’s Five-Factor model of personality is said to be predictive in certain behaviours such as honesty, job performance and procrastination. This Five-Factor model applies to organisational testing because personality is a crucial part in understanding the interests and abilities of an applicant within a business. There have been several criticisms of the Big Five and how accurately it can describe a person’s future performance. These criticisms will be discussed in length in this essay. The essay will also consider the usefulness of the Big Five within psychological assessments. Personality can be defined as â€Å"the dynamic organisation of systems that determine the individual’s characteristic patterns of behaviour, thought, and feeling† (Sibaya & Nicholas, Personality, 2008). Simply put one can describe personality as the aspects of a person which make them unique (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). Personality attributes have successfully been studied over centauries and investigators have concluded that the personality domain can be best described by five â€Å"super ordinate constructs† (Digman, 1990). A personality trait is â€Å"a durable disposition to behave in a particular way† and the five-factor model has become the dominant idea of a personality structure (Weiten, 2007). The five-factor model of personality came about as a result of Hans Eysenck’s two dimensions of personality. Eysenck’s theory comprised of neuroticism-stability and extraversion-introversion and he later added the third dimension known as psychoticism (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). Eysenck’s theory also concluded that personality traits could largely be determined by genetics (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). Eysenck’s theory of personality dimensions was a â€Å"precursor of the five-factor model† developed by Costa and McCrae (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). The five-factor model can be seen as the most recent approach to personality and personality traits. Costa and McCrae argue that personality traits derive from five higher order traits. These traits are now known as the â€Å"Big-Five† (Weiten, 2007). Similar to Eysenck’s view on personality traits Costa and McCrae concluded that genetics play a substantial role in personality (Digman, 1990). An example of genetics playing a role in the development in personality traits can be seen in the study of twins. Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were identical twins separated at birth in 1940 (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). These twins were later reunited and research showed that they had similar personality traits. The twins both drove the same model car; they both smoked heavily and liked the same brand of cigarettes (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). A further impact of the five-factor model is that it has shown in studies that this personality study applies across cultures and is widely identifiable in different cultures around the world (Weiten, 2007). The five-factor model states that there are five core personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. These form a mnemonic, OCEAN, which is often used for remembering the personality traits (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). Openness applies to the openness one would have to an experience. Openness is often associated with traits such as curiosity, imagination and flexibility (Weiten, 2007). McCrae states that openness can determine one’s political attitudes or ideologies (Weiten, 2007). Conscientiousness relates to traits involving well disciplined and well organised people and is associated with people being diligent within the workplace (Weiten, 2007). Extraversion relates to people who can be categorised as outgoing or sociable people (Weiten, 2007). Agreeableness relates to one’s ability to be sympathetic, trusting and modest (Weiten, 2007). Agreeable personality traits have been known to be associated with a constructive approach to dealing with conflict but agreeable people have also been known to be aggressive (Weiten, 2007). Neuroticism relates to people who are anxious or hostile (Weiten, 2007). People who score high in this personality trait have been known to over re-act to stressful situations (Weiten, 2007). Organisational psychology â€Å"focuses on role related behaviour, group pressure, commitment to organisations and patterns of communication† (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). In order for an organisational psychologist to determine this behaviour certain organisational testing or psychological assessments need to take place. A psychological assessment is a â€Å"standardised measure of a sample of a erson’s behaviour† (Weiten, 2007). Psychological assessment is one of the oldest and most focussed areas of industrial-organisational psychology (Weiten, 2007). Psychological assessment focuses on an individual’s difference in behaviour and their individual job performance and then develops ways in which they can measure or predict such performances. Testing enables psychologists to select people for jobs, assess one’s potential and develop people. Testing can often lead to labelling of people and selection for jobs, promotions or training has often been made in accordance to these labels. The importance of psychological assessments within the workplace is that they enable the perspective employer to have predictions about the applicant’s future performance and how that applicant may behave in the future. An example of how psychological assessments are beneficial and important can be seen in the use of a personality test. A personality test â€Å"measure various aspects of personality, including motives, interests and attitudes† (Weiten, 2007). Personality tests can be helpful because they assist in personnel selection within business and industry (Weiten, 2007). A sub-division of personality tests is ‘interest inventories’ which determine the interest of an individual in relation to the interests needed to do the job. An example of ‘interest inventories’ can be seen in the need for a sales person to have a personality type that is an extrovert. The example of the sales person can also explain the importance of psychological assessments within the work environment because without this form of testing perspective employers would be unable to employ people that are specifically suited to the position on offer, e. . an extrovert. The use of psychological assessment in business begins when the candidate is still in the selection process. The applicant for a perspective job will first consider the job analysis. A job analysis is the process of obtaining information about a job by determining what duties, tasks or activities it entails in order to perform the job successfully (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). Following a job analy sis the applicant would then submit an application and begin the selection process. A selection process can be described as the process of identifying who will be hired from the pool of applicants (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). The applicant will then undergo psychological assessment which involves a prediction of the applicant’s knowledge, abilities, attitudes and personality traits. The way in which these tests help with the selection process are that they are the best predictors of performance and behaviour on the job (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). Now that the selection process has been explained one can similarly link the development and promotion process to psychological assessment. With development or promotion the worker will have to undergo psychological testing to ensure that their abilities and interests fit with the promotion available. The five-factor model applies within the workplace because it enables employers to evaluate employee’s personalities and make use their personality traits to the best of their abilities. Research has indicated that the Big Five traits are able to predict specific behaviour (Weiten, 2007). The Big Five’s ability to predict this behaviour can be seen as beneficial in the workplace. An example of how the Big Five can benefit an industry can be seen in the personality trait ‘conscientiousness’ because it has been said that conscientiousness correlates with honesty, higher job performance and a lower alcohol consumption (Weiten, 2007). This being said one can understand that the Big Five traits allow a perspective employer the ability to employ conscientious workers. Many of the Big Five traits are related to career success (Weiten, 2007). The five-factor model can be used in the selection, development and promotion of employees because it allows the employer to predict what qualities the applicant has. The example used previously about the sales rep needing to be an extrovert is a perfect example of how the Big Five apply to selection, development and promotion. The five-factor model would allow the employer of such sales rep to be able to select candidates that fit the personality type that is required for the job at hand. Similar to this the employer could use the five-factor traits to determine whether an existing employee fits the personality required in a job opening and therefore the five-factor model applies to promotions within business as well. A further benefit to the Big Five is that an employer can determine an employee’s weak traits and develop them further thus improving the workforce. The use of the Big Five within occupational testing has been criticised by many psychologists and researchers as they feel nit does not adequately determine one’s ability to perform a task. A common criticism is that there is a fundamental need for more than five traits (Weiten, 2007). An example of this can be seen in recent studies that state that honesty-humility should be a sixth trait. Another criticism is that studies have shown that the five-factor model can discriminate against people. In the case of South Africa this criticism of the five-factor model only improved the outcome of the test because the discrimination led to changes in legislation which protect the rights of people and state that only valid testing may be done (Sibaya & Malcolm, 2003). The legislation protecting people’s rights within organisational tests has encouraged the use of these tests in the selection of new employees. Studies have also shown that the Big Five are not necessarily a reflection of one’s personality but rather a reflection of their â€Å"test-taking skills† (Ones, Reiss, & Viswesvaran, 1996). This criticism states that the results of the five-factor traits test are a reflection of one’s â€Å"cognitive ability and years of education† (Ones, Reiss, & Viswesvaran, 1996). This criticism is not necessarily a negative aspect as it only ensures better use of the Big Five within organisational testing because education is an important aspect to one’s personality. There are two main criticisms of the five-factor model. These are the â€Å"frame of reference effect† and â€Å"socially desirable responding† (Hanges, Dickson, & Smith, 2001). Critics argue that the five-factor model is not useful because it is too broad to be applied to psychological assessment (Schmit & Ryan, 1993). The first criticism is the frame of reference effect which states that the image the average job applicant would like to convey will have an effect on the psychological assessment (Hanges, Dickson, & Smith, 2001). The frame of reference effect can be explained better if one considers that a job applicant will be guided by their self-presentation (Schmit & Ryan, 1993). An employee will stand to gain or lose from the results of the psychological assessment and will therefore may alter their response to be in line with what would be considered the correct response (Hanges, Dickson, & Smith, 2001). This ‘altered response’ by the job applicant can be seen as a â€Å"ideal-employee† frame of reference where as the response given by a volunteer would be seen as a â€Å"stranger-description† frame of mind (Schmit & Ryan, 1993). The second criticism of the five-factor model is the socially desirable response. The â€Å"socially desirable response† can be divided into two sub-groups. Firstly there is â€Å"self-deception† which is the â€Å"unconscious tendency to see oneself in a favourable light† (Schmit & Ryan, 1993). Secondly, there is the theory of â€Å"impression management† where a person is consciously aware that they are putting up a false front in order to create a better impression (Schmit & Ryan, 1993). The concept of socially desirable responses has undergone three studies which examined the effect of the socially desirable response. The result of these three studies found that in a test of â€Å"fake good vs. honest responses† the personality reliabilities were higher in the fake good (Hanges, Dickson, & Smith, 2001). A further study was done on socially desirability consisting of three sample groups. The sample groups were the job applicant, the job incumbent and the student (Hanges, Dickson, & Smith, 2001). The results of this study much like the results of other studies showed that the job applicant showed more socially desirable responses than the job incumbent (Hanges, Dickson, & Smith, 2001). When defining personality some may argue with Freud’s opinion that personality is largely hidden and unknown. This definition of personality would parallel the argument that the five-factor model is a poor predictor of job success as well as suggesting that it is unethical to use the five-factor model within employment procedures (Hogan, Hogan, & Roberts, 1996). This argument could stem from criticisms such as the effect of socially desirable responses, the frame of reference effect and the thought that the five-factor model is limited by only considering five traits. Although these criticisms all have a valid argument one cannot help but believe the evidence that a well-constructed personality assessment is a valid predictor of job performance and it enhances fairness in the employment process (Hogan, Hogan, & Roberts, 1996).

9 Steps for Displaying a Living Christmas Tree

9 Steps for Displaying a Living Christmas Tree Some people  really hate to buy a tree only to turn around and throw it away. You may be one of them.  Displaying a potted  living Christmas tree  can perk up the season and can provide a tree for your yard or landscape a few days after the holiday, to commemorate an extra-special season.  A containerized Colorado blue spruce  is especially good for preserving if you live in an area where it thrives. Your local nursery can advise you on the type to purchase for your landscape. It  is not hard to keep a potted tree alive long enough to  plant,  but you need to be careful in following these recommendations exactly to improve the  trees survival chances. For one, it can be inside  only  from four to  10  days. You also need to expect to give the tree several days of your attention before and after bringing  it  inside.   Advance Prep Local nurseries will have potential conifers that can be purchased several months in advance for delivery near Christmas.  If you live in a climate where the ground  freezes, you  need to dig  a planting hole during moderate temperatures because the tree needs to be planted shortly after Christmas. No matter the climate, youll want to know where the tree will go to  ensure that it will thrive  (with the proper soil, sun, etc.). Caring for a Living Christmas Tree Your tree will come in a container with soil or as a bare-root tree that is  balled in burlap (b-n-b). If its a b-n-b tree, youll need mulch and a bucket to bring it indoors.  But first, you start in the garage. Gradually  over time, introduce your living tree from outside to inside. Take three or four days using the garage or enclosed porch for acclimatization. A tree that is dormant and exposed to immediate warmth will start to grow. You want to avoid any quick resumption of growth.  Youll also need to reverse the acclimation process exactly to plant the tree after the holiday  celebration.While the tree is on your porch or garage, check for insects and insect egg masses.Visit your nearest lawn and garden supply store and purchase a spray with an anti-desiccant or anti-wilt chemical to minimize needle loss. Use it while the tree is in the garage. This particular product also prevents  the loss of valuable moisture  for the tree coming into a climate-controlled home.  When finally taking the tree inside, locate your tree in the coolest part of the room and away from heat ducts, to keep the tree moist.Place the tree in its container in a large galvanized tub or a comparable item, keeping the  root ball  intact. Stabilize the tree in the tub in a straight and vertical position using rocks or bricks.  This tub confines water and needles into a more manageable and cleanable space. It will also contain any mess you might have and limit problems associated with a live tree inside the home.   If it is a b-n-b tree, place it in a smaller container inside the tub, if it doesnt fit the tub snugly. Fill any empty space around and on top of the root ball with mulch to retain as much moisture as possible.  Water your tree in its container directly as often as necessary to moisten the roots, but do not get them soggy. Never overwater beyond moist.Leave your tree inside no longer than seven to 10 days (some experts suggest only four days). Never add nutrients or fertilizers, as they may initiate growth, which you dont want to occur in a dormant tree.Carefully introduce tree back outside using the reverse procedure of keeping it in your garage for a few days, and then plant it in the ground.

J B Priestleys use of language, character, and setting for dramatic effect in An Inspector Calls Essay Example

J B Priestleys use of language, character, and setting for dramatic effect in An Inspector Calls Essay Example J B Priestleys use of language, character, and setting for dramatic effect in An Inspector Calls Essay J B Priestleys use of language, character, and setting for dramatic effect in An Inspector Calls Essay Essay Topic: Literature This essay shall examine the way in which J. B. Priestley uses dramatic effect in his 1945 play An Inspector Calls. The play is centred on an Inspector who gatecrashes the Birlings engagement party to their daughter Sheila and her Fiance Gerald croft, by announcing that earlier in the day a girl called Eva Smith, also known as Daisy Renton, committed suicide by drinking a bottle of disinfectant. The Inspector slowly makes his way around each of the Birlings and Gerald and asks them each a series of questions which results in each of the characters being convinced that they are to blame for her death. In this essay I will delve into the period and context of when the play was written, analyse the language used as well as the use of characters, the setting and the genre of the play. An Inspector Calls was written in 1945, but set one week before the Titanic set sail in 1912 the late Edwardian Era. I feel that this was done deliberately because J. B. Priestley may have intended to convey his optimism about World war one and how he thought a World War wouldnt begin. After World war two, I feel it was appropriate to release An Inspector Calls just for a simple morality play of which the morals could be not everything is what it seems and you never know what is going to happen. I feel this is due to dramatic irony as from the curtain opening there are many references towards disasters throughout history like the Titanic sinking in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, after crashing into an Iceberg. Priestley conveys his optimism here as Mr. Birling says; the Titanic she sails next week. Another reason of which I feel that the playwright was a good release at the time was for the distinctions between the upper and lower classes within society. In 1912, there were strong divisions between the upper and lower classes, but after World War one, and World War two, the Holocaust, the Titanic sinking, and the Atom bomb, there was a great want for social change between the upper and lower classes for the country to stick together in the event of another disaster occurring. As this social reform had taken place, the effect on the audience was likely to be huge, and would make both the upper and the lower class audiences realise just how bad the upper class treated the lower class during the pre-war period. Throughout the play, the upper class audience should have perceived that they took great advantage of the lower class population. I therefore feel that one of J. B. Priestleys intentions for writing the play was to convey how the lower class were treated before the first World war, and he does this by portraying Eva Smith as vulnerable, weak and average. This is able to gain maximum impact on the audience as Evas character is built up slowly and emotionally throughout the play. This concept is shown as the Birlings and Gerald Croft take advantage of her and thus takes her own life. Throughout the playwright, J. B. Priestley uses many dramatic techniques and communicates these effects well. One way that the tension is sustained is by using dramatic irony. This is an occasion when a character makes predictions about the future now the past and the audience know that these predictions have been proven untrue, an example being when Mr. Birling says The Germans dont want war. Nobody wants war, except some half civilised folks in the Balkans, but the audience already know that the Germans did want a war and was dubbed World War one. Now the audience are likely to think that Mr. Birling is a completely over-opinionated plank. This allows the audience to engage and become involved in the play by answering back and saying oh, but yes that has happened you fool! I also feel the reason that Mr. Birling says these sentences is because J. B. Priestley is conveying his optimism through Mr. Birlings grand speeches to get his points over. Another technique used to keep tension throughout the performance is by the way that each member of the family seems to have had some involvement with Evas death. This tension leads to a pattern of new pieces of information being submitted, therefore developing the story and making the audience interested in how each character reacts to the revelations involved in the play. I feel that one of the most dramatic effects is created when the Inspector is introduced to the Birlings. Inspector Goole is very abrupt and gets straight to the point for example when hes describing Evas graphic death; Two hours ago a young woman died in the infirmary burnt her inside out of course. This quote is repeated about three times in the play, and is a good means of maintaining the tension within the play, by indicating that something substantial is going to happen rather soon whether this is something that someone is going to say or something that someone is going to do. The Inspector doesnt give any clues away about her death, but he makes sure that tension is kept by making a statement and making the Birlings finish off the story, telling him what has been going on. This makes the audience watch the play attentively to the end. I also feel that the Inspectors role is important as he keeps the pace of the plot running smoothly. This is done as he deals with one line of enquiry at a time, and Evas life is unravelled before the audiences eyes making sure that each of the characters of the play has an equal amount of blame placed upon each of them for her death. By the end of act one, the Inspector is in complete control of the family and the situation that theyre in. He does this gradually from his entrance. His entrance is effective, and he speaks very little at the beginning, and makes Mr. Birling feel anxious. As Mr. Birling asks the question; Some trouble about a warrant? the Inspector ominously replies No, Mr. Birling. The third line of this conversation is when Mr. Birling begins to get annoyed at the Inspectors small communication with him, and he asks Well, what is it then? ith a trace of impatience. This is just one of the many occurrences when the Inspector uses only a few words for a sentence, and makes the audience feel that the Inspector is going to rely on the Birlings and Gerald to do most of the talking unless he is asking a question. The Inspector controls the family by making out that he knows everything that has gone on. He seems to be an experienced Inspector as he knows how to get the information that he needs. The way that he seems to know everything that has gone on makes the other characters act irrationally and as a result the audience will enjoy the play even more than they would have if they didnt think he knew what he was talking about. I believe that the playwrights plot unravels extremely well. The tone of voice of the characters is crucial towards the play because it is one way that the audience gets to see the characters cracking and it shows us that theyre hiding things that the Inspector isnt meant to hear. This is quite important because unlike other plays this play doesnt contain soliloquys, which give an insight towards the thoughts and the feelings of the characters. The most important part of the play is when the phone rings and it echos that a girl has just died in the Infirmary, and that an Inspector will be calling in shortly to question them about her death. This is effective as the audience have already heard the sinister story and will then feel that the Birlings either got what they deserve, or will sympathise with them feeling that they shouldnt be put through all of the questioning again. Language in this specific play has a proficient impression on the audience. The sentence structure of the play is crucial. This includes the length of sentences within the play, the vocabulary, and the underlying meaning implied by the characters. The language in this play is vital towards the development of the story. Mr. Birling speaks in long, spaced out speechs and at the beginning, hes quite confident in his long speeches to the family, although Mr. Birlings confidence is soon enough replaced with apprehension and self justification though I feel that he is anxious for the wrong moral reasons, as he only seems to care about his knighthood and not the fact that a girl has died because of his family. I therefore feel that Mr. Birlings speeches depend on how much hes in control of a situation and how happy he is. This is indicated as he acts like a temperamental child if he gets wound up, hell storm out, which is visible on page twenty one of the play as the Inspector says Thats more or less what I was thinking earlier today asty mess somebodys made of it. Mr. Birling who is Provincial in his speech uses very gallant vocabulary on a day-to-day basis he doesnt use the simplest of terms for things. The vocabulary he uses wouldnt be used too freely in todays society, nor too frequently in the nineteen forties so insisting Mr. Birlings aim is to be on the upper part of the upper class, when all he is, is Middle Class (I will disc uss social class later in my essay). This vocabulary also speeds up the confrontations in the room throughout the play, because without realising, he is digging a larger and larger hole to get out of. The use of colloquial terms is effective nonetheless in the play, for example, squiffy could be perceived as meaning drunk, and by jingo could be perceived as meaning oh God when youre in a fluster, but these terms wouldnt be used nowadays. This is vital because it adds towards the character development in the play perhaps indicating that the Birlings feel the need to use these terms because they think that theyre better than others, and feel the need to speak in these colloquial terms. The language used is effective on the audience, in the way that theres virtually always an underlying meaning somewhere in each point brought up in the play in relation towards Evas death, and the Inspector nearly always brings about a confrontation somewhere along the line. The use of language during Mr. Birlings speeches are strong because he always seems to know what hes talking about, however the use of dramatic irony in the play is crucial to make the audience think Ha! What an idiot! Two examples of this dramatic irony are when Mr Birling makes the quotes about the war I say there isnt a chance of war and the Titanic; the Titanic she sails next week and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable. This quote leads me to believe that hes too pessimistic about the world around him, and leads the audience to think that his heads too far up in the clouds and he believes anything that hes told. This is adding towards character development, as it shows that Mr. Birling is quite naive. Its necessary to have this use of language to develop the characters social status within the play. Although Mr. Birling would disagree with me, I feel that he and his family are of Middle class status, as he has a business that has only been open for a minority of years, and at the beginning of the show, Mr. Birling is confident in himself, as he says sentences about himself and his business like the following; and I speak as a hard-headed business man, however in great comparison, the Crofts business has been open for centuries, and therefore this leads me to the conclusion that the Crofts are of a high social status. This leaves no question of why Mr. Birling is happy about tonight, as he assumes that the Crofts will work together with the Birlings as he feels that they will be family and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but working together I also feel that the use of language used is necessary by means of retaining authenticity. The language is therefore significant to both the effects on characters, and the audience. The effects on the characters will be varying from character to character, for example the use of language used by the Inspector may be harsh and impolite in Mr. Birlings eyes as hes very abrupt, but from Sheilas point of view, he could be speaking calmly and politely towards the family. This has an effect on the audience using drama, because it will be dramatic for them as the Birlings and Gerald may react in differing ways to the Inspectors language. Priestleys use of character and character development in the play is crucial towards the play just as it is within novels; however there are two main divisions between characters in the play both directly and non-directly. These divisions are between the adults in the play with the younger members of the theatrical production and there is also the division of different social classes within the play. The youngsters in the play are Gerald, Sheila, and Eric, each of whom in turn are helpful towards the Inspector by being truthful about what happened nearly all of the time. This makes me believe that they arent as scheming and are influenced more by the Inspector than Mr and Mrs Birling are. This connotation is based upon how Sheila realises that the Inspector only wants the Birlings to build a bigger wall between themselves therefore shed rather tell the truth. It is also apparent when the Inspector says We usually do on the younger ones, that the Inspector knows that hell have an affect on the younger members of the family. The division between the adults and the youngsters becomes apparent when Mr and Mrs Birling begin to cover up their tracks immensely, however the Inspector knows what hes doing he knows how to get down to the bottom of things, and by the end the audience are left in ore by the way that the whole truth has come out, without any ends being left untied. By the end of the play there have been visible divisions within each member of the family, for example, Sheila and Gerald wont be the same again by the way that Geralds little secret has come out in front of his fiance. From the entrance of the Inspector to the end of the play its visible hes there to forewarn the family of the real Inspectors trail of thinking and also to warn them not to lie to the Inspector as it will only work out to the Inspectors advantage, because he knows most of the facts anyway. Although An Inspector Calls is not the most ha-ha funny play that Ive read, it is fun to read in the way that the characters keep digging themselves into a larger more riveting hole, and by the end they become embarrassed by the lies that theyve told the Inspector, thus meaning more enjoyment for the audience. Most of the humour used in An Inspector Calls is conveyed through dramatic irony, and is a humour that makes the viewers think ah, I like what youve done there. This means that the plot line is mentally stimulating for the audience, and yet again the audience are able to become involved in the play. Having said that, there are some occurrences when there are some ha-ha funny sentences, one of which is when the Inspector says An hour ago, a girl was taken into the Infirmary after drinking a bottle of disinfectant, and Sheila replies Oh, was it an accident. My simple answer would be are you stupid girl? This would be perceived as funny as someone can hardly drink a bottle of disinfectant by accident misplacing it for a cup of Tea! When Sheila finds out what happened to Eva, it shows that she has a conscience, by sympathising with her. When she finds out who she was and she finds out her story, her empathy for Eva grows, and she solely feels to blame for her suicide even though I feel she had the smallest part to play in her suicide. The same goes for Eric and Gerald who feel great sympathy for her too, but they seem to have had much more to do with her suicide. Whilst watching the play, the audience notice that the oldest members of the family Mr. and Mrs. Birling give very little sympathy for Eva throughout the play. This brings me to the conclusion that the younger members of the family have much more sympathy for other people, and that they are influenced much more easily by the Inspector, unlike Mr. and Mrs Birling who show very few signs that the Inspector is influencing them with his questions unless you look at the way that they act, which changes dramatically within the play. This gives the impression that the youngsters are more in touch with their senses too. One of the main reasons that the characters have been developed in these ways is to get the audience involved, by making them feel annoyed at the characters who you are supposed to feel annoyed at, for example Mr. and Mrs. Birling are the characters in this play who are meant to make the audience feel annoyed at them because they take no responsibility for Evas death, which is rather cowardly of them. I feel that Eric has been placed in the play to be funny, however, he still has many sides to him which are like his parents like the way that he runs away from the truth. I feel that the audience are meant to feel inspired and sympathetic towards Gerald and Sheila because of their honesty towards the Inspector and the way that they stand up in front of each other and tell the brutal truth of the way that they see Evas death, and Sheila unlike the rest of her family doesnt run away once. The way that they are inspired by the couple is mainly because of their honesty in front of each other. Similar couples wouldnt have the guts to admit what theyd done to themselves, never mind their partner. This is therefore a good situation to place the sympathetic couple in. I feel this because itll be the best day of their lives so far together, so people will think awww, what a shame but in relation to what Eva must have been put through other people would think that they deserve it. The use of setting in the play is very necessary to this play and therefore this essay. When the Inspector is introduced to the play the lighting changes drastically, from an intimate pink colour to a much harsher, harder colour, thought to be red. This immediately affects the audience because it indicates that the inspector will have a huge impact on the play. From the beginning of the play, there are many references towards stage directions and setting which are vital, for example on page three of the play it quotes Half playful, half serious to Gerald. This builds up the atmosphere that Sheilas excited for her engagement party, but it also adds to the early character development within the play. The fact that the play is set in one room may be boring for some viewers, however I feel that it is rather effective towards the play in order for the tension to be kept within the playwright, and also so it doesnt turn into some sort of wild Goose chase for the Inspector. This is effective in the way that the Inspector can ask each of the characters, in turn, questions without having to ask where they are in the household and find them, which would get boring and expensive for theatre companies in a society still recovering from two World Wars. This therefore gives the effect of an interrogation room for the characters. There are many entrances and exits within the play, and this is extremely effective in the way that the audience get to find out that the characters are under pressure by the Inspectors questions. When characters leave the room, we find out even more about the characters involvement in her death, which leads up to tension, because the audience begin to get an adrenaline for the next entrance of that character. When the Inspector arrives its nothing short of fantastic. I feel this is because of the way that the happy atmosphere has been built up fantastically, and then an Inspector walks in with the news that a girl died earlier in the day after drinking a bottle of disinfectant, therefore when the Inspector arrives the atmosphere drastically changes. This therefore proposes the notion that the play is made successful by the use of entrances and exits of characters. I wouldnt particularly say that this play is typical of a morality play or of a detective play in terms of the setting however it does create the sense that it has been created as a morality play as it is quite emotional I feel its emotional in the way that it illustrates how badly the lower class were treated by the upper class before world war one. I therefore feel that this play is good in terms of the genre and the setting within the play. I feel that J. B. Priestley has used the correct media type in a play, as the audience build up an affinity with each of the characters (especially Eva though shes not directly involved in the play), as they are seeing it being made more dramatic by terms of acting which wouldnt be as effective if it were portrayed in a novel or poem. This is definitely meant to be performed for an audience.

A level biology essays

A level biology essays Research was carried out to investigate the effect of the direction of incident light on the behavioural response of Calliphora larvae. They were centrally placed onto a piece of white paper marked with positive, negative and neutral in a circular chart. White light was shone onto the maggot from one direction and the subsequent direction and speed of movement was measured. Results suggest that the directional movement of the Calliphora is influenced by the angle of light and that the maggots showed negative phototaxis behaviour. This supports work which was carried out by previous researchers. This response of moving away from the incident light may offer the Calliphora larvae increased chance of survival. Larvae of the Calliphora species demonstrated negative phototaxis when illuminated with incident light radiation. Taxis is an orientation movement towards or away from a light stimulus. Negative phototaxis is the movement away from a light stimulus. In this investigation the maggots were kept in the same conditions and were placed individually into the experimental area. The maggots were then illuminated in light from only one direction and there response was observed. The vast majority of the maggots (80%) moved away from the light, exhibiting negative phototaxis behaviour. Calliphora larvae have a limited protection from UV radiation, the negative phototaxis behaviour shown will take them away from the harmful radiation will improve their chance of survival. After my preliminary work I found a few problems which would cause my investigation to not be as accurate as possible. These problems are: The investigation in my plan was only measuring the rate of movement for the maggot. From my preliminary work I found that this wasnt enough to get the results as accurate as I wanted them, I would now like to introduce a new criteria then I will be measuring, this is the direction of the maggot moves in re...

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Euthanasia - Research Paper Example Religious adversaries of willful extermination accept that God gives life, and just God ought to choose when to end it. Different rivals expect that if euthanasia was made lawful, the laws managing it would be mishandled, and individuals would be slaughtered who would not by any means have liked to kick the bucket. Euthanasia is illicit in many nations, despite the fact that specialists do in some cases complete willful extermination even where it is unlawful. There is a continuous debate about whether the act of euthanasia ought to be made legitimate or not focused around its qualities, shortcomings, and moral issues surrounding it. Euthanasia is practice that lawmakers would not touch with a long post due to its complex nature. With a great reason: Any contention on the subject typically degenerates into an arrangement of unpredictable, unique inquiries regarding the ethical quality and flexibility of decision among others. On the other hand, while these thoughts do have their spot in the levelheaded discussion, they generally serve just to shroud the other, better reasons we have for considering authorization reasons that include proof, existed experience, and hard measurements. One of the huge contentions against willful extermination is that it is irreversible: Once the patient is gone, we will never know whether their sudden recuperation was practically around the bend, or in the event that they may have happened to lead full and content lives in spite of their disease. Nevertheless, this contention overlooks the information so hard it punches reason in the face (Flegel, & HÃ ©bert, 2010). The truth on th e ground is that, in all countries where euthanasia is lawful; it is the close selective protection of the patients’ agony at the death’s door. Moreover, regardless of what cheerful evangelicals would have us accept, terminal ailment is normally precisely the last stop before death. In 1991, a Dutch

Develop a partial risk and mitigation plan Assignment

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What's your point of view Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Compare and contrast between Polish and American Christmas Holiday Essay

Compare and contrast between Polish and American Christmas Holiday - Essay Example The date of Christmas may have been earlier chosen to match with either the day exactly nine months after it is believed that Jesus was conceived, the date of the Roman winter solstice, or any one of the ancient winter festivals. The Christmas holiday was especially a Christian holiday celebrated by most Christians but in recent times it has seen a shift such that many non-Christians also celebrate or engage in the Christmas festivities. This day is also celebrated in different ways by different people, cultures and may involve gift giving, church celebrations, special meals and tree decorations. In other areas it is taken as a time to meet with family and neighbors and forgive each other of the past. Christmas is celebrated differently in different countries with traditions and customs that follow it. Christmas in the in the United States is a huge phenomenon. It begins in November and ends in January. It is not a single day but a long period that culminates with the New Year celebr ations. The entire period is associated with huge spending and festivities that most Americans engage into before the day of Christmas. During this time Americans decorate both the interior and the exterior of their homes. As significant decoration that is popular with the Americans is the Christmas tree. These trees are cultivated before the Christmas holiday and families and businesses including the white house order these trees that are then placed centrally in the home. It is then decorated with ornaments, tinsel and light with a star placed at the very top of the tree. This star symbolizes the star of Bethlehem that is believed to have guided the wise men in locating Jesus (USIA). The Christmas Eve, which is the day before Christmas, experiences so many activities. The day is associated with Santa Claus or Father Christmas whom it is believed that he visits homes while children are sleeping. Father Christmas is believed to fill stockings that are hung on the mantelpiece with gi fts for the children. It is a tradition for children in the United States to leave a glass of milk and a plate of cookies for Father Christmas as they go to sleep. This day is also important as people buy gifts, wrap them and place them near the tree. These presents received from parents, friends and relatives are not opened until the Christmas morning. During this day too, there is a special church service called the midnight mass, that is held during the night and people spend in the church. For families with small children candle light services are held for them and these symbolize the nativity of Christ (USIA). During the Christmas day, families open their gifts in the morning before they head for the morning service that is held to bear witness to the birth of Jesus. The whole day is usually filled with celebrations with parents and relatives spending time together. The evening is marked by a special Christmas diner where lots of a food variety is served. For most American fami lies’ sweet pastry, eggnog that is sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg are served. Other popular dishes served include casseroles; the deserts are usually prepared with a family recipe that is usually kept a secret. Some of the snacks that are enjoyed during this time include nuts, cheeses and chocolates. Christmas holiday in polish resembles most of the aspects found in the American Christmas holiday; however there are few exceptions for as it will be seen in the discussion. The

Avon Products Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Avon Products - Research Paper Example In order to adapt to the fast changing world that will ensure that it will thrive in business, there are different issues that need to come into consideration so that the company does not struggle unnecessarily to survive (Scheiner, 2008). Changes in an organization depend on differ factors that regulate the different things that cause determine its performance and it may include the nature of business, the change itself and the people that are involved in the change. Various things prompt change and therefore, organizational change can be explained from different perspectives according to different models of change that could be relevant in the organization and its environment. In organization of a company, need for change can develop as a result of increased need change on the environment, increased in the number of workers in an organization or the change of the organization strategy that triggers a change in involvement of different people in the organization to the process of ex ploitation of the environment. On the other hand, a change in the organization may result from a change in the organizational management team, which may mean introduction of a new member or more than one in it. In Avon Inc, there were changes in the leadership of the company in which the chairman’s post came under another person who had different perspective of the business than the former CEO. This is one cause of the change that happened in the company in which different strategies of operation came up for the company to ensure that it regain its success in the business. This meant that the employees of Avon Company had to adjust to the new ways of organization of the company as could be directed by a new management leader, which would mean that all the systems would feel the effect. The new chairman in Avon Inc bore the responsibility to instill different modes of motivation and commitment to the organizational change in the company so that all of the employees could maxim ize on their participation and ensure productivity (Bosworth, 2005). Avon experienced stiff competition from other rival companies like the L’Oreal and Revlon who were being better placed in the market and were taking the advantage of the failure of the company. This triggered change in Avon Company because the rise of competitors in the threatened its profitability and created a need to develop a means to address the rising change in the organizational structure. To respond to this issue, people went into the different issues of implementing the changes in the organization so that it can improve the effectiveness and the efficiency of the company’s systems of productions (McCracken, 2006). Another thing that necessitated change in Avon Inc is the withdrawal of the partnering organization that led to reduction to the company’s potential to win its former customers and this made some customers to defect from the company. For example, the withdrawal of Coty from t he business with Avon Inc led to a reduction in the shares returns which reduced by more than a quarter. This meant that

Compare and contrast between Polish and American Christmas Holiday Essay

Compare and contrast between Polish and American Christmas Holiday - Essay Example The date of Christmas may have been earlier chosen to match with either the day exactly nine months after it is believed that Jesus was conceived, the date of the Roman winter solstice, or any one of the ancient winter festivals. The Christmas holiday was especially a Christian holiday celebrated by most Christians but in recent times it has seen a shift such that many non-Christians also celebrate or engage in the Christmas festivities. This day is also celebrated in different ways by different people, cultures and may involve gift giving, church celebrations, special meals and tree decorations. In other areas it is taken as a time to meet with family and neighbors and forgive each other of the past. Christmas is celebrated differently in different countries with traditions and customs that follow it. Christmas in the in the United States is a huge phenomenon. It begins in November and ends in January. It is not a single day but a long period that culminates with the New Year celebr ations. The entire period is associated with huge spending and festivities that most Americans engage into before the day of Christmas. During this time Americans decorate both the interior and the exterior of their homes. As significant decoration that is popular with the Americans is the Christmas tree. These trees are cultivated before the Christmas holiday and families and businesses including the white house order these trees that are then placed centrally in the home. It is then decorated with ornaments, tinsel and light with a star placed at the very top of the tree. This star symbolizes the star of Bethlehem that is believed to have guided the wise men in locating Jesus (USIA). The Christmas Eve, which is the day before Christmas, experiences so many activities. The day is associated with Santa Claus or Father Christmas whom it is believed that he visits homes while children are sleeping. Father Christmas is believed to fill stockings that are hung on the mantelpiece with gi fts for the children. It is a tradition for children in the United States to leave a glass of milk and a plate of cookies for Father Christmas as they go to sleep. This day is also important as people buy gifts, wrap them and place them near the tree. These presents received from parents, friends and relatives are not opened until the Christmas morning. During this day too, there is a special church service called the midnight mass, that is held during the night and people spend in the church. For families with small children candle light services are held for them and these symbolize the nativity of Christ (USIA). During the Christmas day, families open their gifts in the morning before they head for the morning service that is held to bear witness to the birth of Jesus. The whole day is usually filled with celebrations with parents and relatives spending time together. The evening is marked by a special Christmas diner where lots of a food variety is served. For most American fami lies’ sweet pastry, eggnog that is sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg are served. Other popular dishes served include casseroles; the deserts are usually prepared with a family recipe that is usually kept a secret. Some of the snacks that are enjoyed during this time include nuts, cheeses and chocolates. Christmas holiday in polish resembles most of the aspects found in the American Christmas holiday; however there are few exceptions for as it will be seen in the discussion. The

Corporate Social responsibility assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corporate Social responsibility - Assignment Example Nowadays unethical activities can no longer be hidden, as every activity against ethical CSR is investigated, communicated and broadcasted through internet by the media (Kakabadse, Rozuel, & Lee-Davies, 2005). However, if the other side of the coin is analyzed, it can be seen that that due to recent scandals, many reforms in business environment have been noticed. Firstly, the financial performance of the organization has improved (Galbreath, 2009). It has be analyzed by DePaul University that after the financial crisis and economic downturn, companies are engaging themselves into ethical business, which is revealing better financial performance as stated by S&P 500 Index (Silberhorn, & Warren, 2007). The operating cost has reduced due to CSR initiatives because companies are more concern about reducing their rate of emission, cutting down waste and by selling the recycled materials. To enforce ethical CSR activities and corporate governance in companies after the Enron scandal the A merican government also introduced Sarbanes-Oxley Legislation (Cromb, 2008). Answer 2 Stakeholders are the people or groups of people who have major interest in the growth and profitability of the organization. However, the interest of every stakeholder towards the organization is not the same. So based on the level of interest the stakeholders are segregated as primary and secondary stakeholder. The primary stakeholders are those who get the most affected by the positive or negative outcome or performance of the company. However, this differentiation is done for ethical decision-making. According to Figure 1, Freeman depicted a view of the primary and secondary stakeholders (Brockett, & Rezaee, 2012). Figure 1: Freeman's Structure for Primary and Secondary Stakeholders Source: (Colle, 2005) The segregation is done on the basis of fiduciary duties, legitimate interest towards the firm, invested capital and efforts. As can be seen in Figure 1, the primary stakeholders are shareholder s, suppliers, customers, employees and government. All these individuals and groups have financial and personal interest associated with the organization. They have direct contribution towards the positive or negative growth of the company, so they are the stakeholders who should be ethically receiving first priority in profits and decision-making. The secondary stakeholders are the competitors, society, local and global communities, etc (Colle, 2005). They are not indirectly related to the organization, but neither do they contribute towards the profitability of the organization nor they receive a share of the profit of the company (Ayuso, Rodriguez, Garcia, & Arino, 2007). Answer 3 The sets of rules, polices, principles and processes set by the company to monitor and control the company and its functions is known as corporate governance. The corporate governance also helps the company by providing guidelines for fulfilling the goals and objectives of the company. It is also respon sible for safeguarding the stakeholder's interest. Corporate governance assists the companies to lay down the foundation for planning our CSR activities for the company because unless and until the operational functions are ethically conducted, CSR will reap no result. However, stakeholders of the company have significant role to play in this case, as it has been discussed further in this section of the study. There are approaches around the world based on which the role of the shareholders in corporate

Staark Accessories Essay Example for Free

Staark Accessories Essay SALES DISTRIBUTION A fashion line is designed and created a year in advance according to season specific, so it will hit the shop floor at least 2 months before the next season comes around. When you’re still rocking denim shorts and having summer days at the park, the shop elves are busy implementing the new fall collection. It’s true that each Brand has its own style of working, different sales and distribution strategy; Staark Accessories Pvt ltd (Licensee of Spykar) follows certain strategies too. Before proceeding let us introduce you to Staark Accessories Pvt ltd. It is a Licensee of Spykar (a well known brand in India) for Personal care products and own innovative brands like Scoops (Pocket Perfumes) and are still in the process of launching comprehensive range of Personal Care products. The range will cover entire olfactory spectrum to suit all moods types of the individual through our multi brand strategy. Our endeavor is to become India’s pioneer to launch entire gamut at one go obviously become an indigenous leader in the field Present Scenario: The Staark accessories are currently present in 8 States – Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu Kashmir; Andhra Pradesh Karnataka (South India). Staark Accessories are in the market with the products like Scoops (Pocket Perfumes – 8 variants), Deodorants (Spykar Brand – 2 females, 2 Gas Free, 7 Male); 4 Perfumes. Working Style: In each state, a universal work flow is being maintained (as shown below): Super Stockiest (Advance Business 100%) Distributors Retailers (Staark Team) Retail network are built by the Staark team. The team builds the order and passes it on to the Distributors and then to the Super Stores. Road Map: * Number of Additional State openings in FY 13-14: 10 State openings * Number of Product Launching in FY 13-14: Face Wash; Soap; Mid-Price Perfume for Spykar Staark Accessories, Scoop- Travel Kit; Mid Size Perfume * PAN INDIA presence in FY 14-15 * New Products FY 14-15 : Mobile Cleaner; Deo Drops; Hair Gel; Shaving Cream; Shaving Gel / Foam; Wet Tissue Additional Revenue for Business (FY 14-15): Besides model of Staark Accessories would evolve through the planned verticals listed below: * Spykar License Spykar has given the license given to Staark Accessories Pvt Ltd to manufacture distribute Spykar personal care products- PAN India. Current Product Range Perfumeries Deodorants New Launches: Soap, Face Wash, Hair Gels, Shaving Cream, After Shave Lotion, Wet Wipes, Body Talc * Staark Branded products Innovation product – Scoops in FY 13-14 Current Product Range Perfumes (Scoops) New Launch: Hair Gels, Shaving Cream, After Shave Lotion, Soap, Face Wash, Mobile Cleaner, Deo Drops, Body Talc * Sales Network spanning the country Currently present in 8 states with robust and qualified sales personnel. In addition to this, procedures are in progress to cover Pan INDIA by FY 14-15. * Corporate Sales Today corporate selling has become a phenomenon practice in business where an organization gifts another organization to strengthen the relationship between the two entities. Corporate sales can be described as a large order or sale that occurs between two large companies. It involves sale of products and services to a large sector of entities. It is different from the normal sales which targets individuals. Corporate sales help to release the companies’ stocks. Staark accessories shall have a different team looking after selling the products to boost sales by performing bulk orders for following products under the Brand name SPYKAR. The products that can be sold as Combo gift sets / corporate gifting are Deodorants, Belts, Wallets, T shirts, Jackets, Perfumes, Socks, Eye-Wears, Foot-Wears and Jeans. * Licensing more brands After acquiring the licensee of Spykar and successful achieving the desired target, the credibility to license other brands shall enhance (for personal care products) * CSD Canteens The Canteen Stores Department (CSD) is owned by Government of India Enterprises under Indian Ministry of Defense. The department procures consumer goods and consumer-durable products in bulk directly from suppliers and positions them at 33 Area Depots (acting as whole sale depots), spread all over the country, for meeting the requirements of over 3500 URCs which function as retail outlets. Many of the URCs are located in remote/inaccessible parts of the country. Extending hands in this area would be an additional benefit for the brand. * E Sales Staark accessories can differentiate the business by creating a personalized shopping experience for each customer – delivering relevant content and offers and dynamically changing the experience to suit an individual customer’s context. Thus this will also increase sales opportunities and lifetime value of online customers through delivering a relevant online experience, turning browsers into buyers, delighting customers and building brand loyalty. * Modern Trade Modern trade as opposed to traditional retail shops refers to a full range of sale methods based on marketing techniques. For instance in self-service shops you have no more sales attendants behind a counter; now the customer can touch the articles. The more expensive goods will be ready at hand whereas youll have to bend to reach well with fewer added values for the store. A few articles will be offered at rock bottom prices with much publicity in order to attract as many customers as possible. The display of goods is very important and needs an elaborate know-how Here we are looking at big / Mega stores like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Big Bazaar, Hyper city, etc where we can perform in bulk Intra-Structure Media Planning In FY 13-14, Electronic media support, print media support Social network Once present in Pan India in FY 14-15, we plan to form Mother Deports (CNF) and divide our manufacturing units in 4 major states – Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka and Kolkata to cover the entire Pan India.

Formulation and Characterization of Microemulsion System

Formulation and Characterization of Microemulsion System Abstract Formulation of a new oil-in-water (o/w) microemulsion composed of Castor oil/Tween 80/Ethanol/Phosphate buffer for enhancing the loading capacity of an anti-inflammatory drug piroxicam has been accomplished. The pseudo-ternary phase diagram has been delineated at constant surfactant/cosurfactant ratio (1:2). The internal structure of so created four-component system was elucidated by means of an analysis of isotropic area magnitudes in the phase diagram. Conductivity (?), kinematic viscosity (kh) and surface tension (g) studies with the variation in ?w (weight fraction of aqueous phase) show the occurrence of structural changes from water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsion to oil-in-water (o/w). Along with the solubility and partition studies of piroxicam in microemulsion components, the changes in the microstructure of the microemulsion after incorporation of drug have been evaluated using pH, ?, g, kh and density studies. Piroxicam, a poorly water soluble drug, displayed high solubility (1 .0%) in an optimum microemulsion formulation using Ethanol (55.0%), Tween 80 (26.5%), Castor oil (7.5%), and Phosphate buffer (11.0%). The results have shown that the microemulsion remained stable after the incorporation of piroxicam. Fluorescence spectra analysis taking pyrene as fluorescent probe was performed and the results showed that pyrene was completely solubilized in the oil phases of the bicontinuous microemulsions. The fluorescence spectrum of model drug piroxicam was used to probe the intramicellar region of nonionic microemulsion. The results showed that the piroxicam was localized in the interfacial film of microemulsion systems more deeply in the palisade layer with ethanol as the co-surfactant. Keywords: Microemulsion; Piroxicam; Isotropic area; Spectroscopy; Structural changes Introduction Piroxicam is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory compound with analgesic and antipyretic effects, used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and traumatic contusions. However, it has been associated with gastrointestinal side effects. It is possible to minimize these problems by developing drug carriers to prevent the direct contact of drug with gastric mucosal or that allow the topical administration of drug (1, 2). Microemulsions are optically isotropic, transparent and thermodynamically stable homogeneous solutions of oil and water, stabilized by addition of a surfactant and usually a cosurfactant (3, 4). These structures have been considerably investigated as drug delivery and carrier system for a wide range of drugs including analgesics and anti-inflammatory and also used to dissolve lipophilic drugs in aqueous medium or hydrophilic drugs in lipophilic medium (4, 5). Oil in water microemulsions have been described as a reservoir system that can inhibit drug release, increasing the topical effect (6). Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the advantages of microemulsion or the transdermal delivery of drugs (7). First, a large amount of drug can be incorporated in the formulation due to the high solubilizing capacity, with increased thermodynamic activity towards the skin. Second, the permeation rate of a drug from microemulsion may be increased, since the affinity of the drug to th e internal phase in microemulsion can be easily modified, to favor partitioning, using different internal phases and changing the composition of the microemulsion. Third, the surfactant and cosurfactant used in the microemulsion may reduce the various diffusional barrier by acting as penetration enhancers (8, 9). For the selection of components of a biocompatible microemulsion system, the use of non-ionic surfactants has been widely accepted, since these are compatible and retain its utility over a broad range of pH values and may affect the skin barrier function (10-12). Microemulsion comprises different structures (water-in-oil (w/o), oil-in-water (o/w) and bicontinuous) and these help in releasing the drug (13, 14). It is necessary to characterize the microstructure of pure and drug-loaded microemulsion. The changes in the internal structure of a microemulsion can be monitored by analyzing conductivity, viscosity, density, surface tension and the fluorescence probe studies, etc. (15-17). The incorporated drug may or may not influence the microstructure. o/w and w/o microemulsions may show different behavior for the release of both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs. In the present work, an attempt has been made to construct a microemulsion system, for poorly water soluble non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug piroxicam, comprising castor oil, a non-ionic surfactant Tween 80, a short chain alkanol cosurfactant (ethanol) and phosphate buffer (PB) pH 7.4. The pseudo-ternary phase diagram has been constructed for the chosen system at a constant surfactant:cosurfactant ratio (1:2). The reason for the selection of the particular oil chosen was that the castor oil has a hydroxyl group in addition to unsaturation, making it more polar. Ricinoleic acid is the main component of castor oil and it exerts anti-inflammatory effects (18). Polyoxyethylene fatty acid, stearic acid, oleic acid are used in emulsifiers in oil/water type creams and lotions. Conductivity, viscosity, surface tension and the fluorescence behavior of the pyrene is employed to investigate the gradual changes occurring in the microstructure of microemulsion. Pyrene is popular fluorescent probe which is used to study the microheterogeneous media. The fluorescence spectrum of Pyrene was used to sense the micropolarity of the o/w microemulsion. In this study, it is analyzed that how stability, optical texture and microstructure of microemulsion formulation, is influenced by piroxicam. To improve the solubility of piroxicam, an effort has been made to develop an optimum o/w microemulsion. It is therefore expected that the use of microemulsion formulation may enhance the solubility of piroxicam and prevent its degradation. Materials and Methods Materials Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate), absolute ethanol (99.8 ? %) and castor oil were purchased from Fluka. Pyrene (98 %) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Piroxicam was generously provided by Amson Vaccines Pharma (PVT) Ltd and used without further purification. Phosphate buffer (0.01 M, pH 7.4) was used as the hydrophilic phase. Buffers were prepared using NaH2PO4/Na2HPO4. 0.1M NaOH and HCl were used to maintain the pH of the solution. Methods Microemulsion Preparation The pseudo-ternary phase diagram was mapped (as shown in Fig. 1) using oil (castor oil), surfactant (Tween 80; HLB = 15), cosurfactant (ethanol) and aqueous phase PB (pH 7.4) at 25 ±0.01 ?C with constant surfactant:cosurfactant mass ratio (1:2). The temperature was kept at 25 ±0.01 ?C and was maintained by a Lauda M-20 thermostat. Castor oil was first mixed with Tween 80/ethanol mixture; PB was then added to obtain the desired microemulsion compositions. Transparent, single-phase mixtures were designated as microemulsions. All the samples were stable for over 10 months, remaining clear and transparent. Drug incorporation in Microemulsion Eight microemulsions differing from each other by Fw, were selected from the single-phase region of phase diagram (Fig. 2) with compositions mentioned in table I, to study their potential as drug delivery system. All of them show stability over 10 months and remain clear and transparent. Piroxicam was dissolved into the pre-weight oil component of the system at a concentration of 1% (w/w) under stirring followed by addition of remaining components. Microemulsion Characterization Optical Transparency The homogeneity and optical isotropy of pure and drug loaded microemulsions were examined by a Polarimeter (ATAGO, AP-100 Automatic Polarimeter) and visual examination at room temperature. Centrifugation Thermodynamic stability of pure and drug-loaded microemulsions was tested by carrying out centrifugation at 5500 rpm for 20 min using (Hermle Z200) centrifuge. Surface Tension Surface Tension measurements were made at 25  ±0.010C under atmospheric pressure by Torsion Balance (White Elec. Inst. Co. Ltd.) equipped with a ring having circumference of 4.0 cm. The experimental error was about  ±0.05 mNm-1. Density and Specific Gravity Densities and Specific Gravity of pure and drug loaded microemulsions were measured by making use of an Anton Paar (Model DMA 5000) density meter at 25  ±0.01 ?C. The density meter was calibrated before and after each set of density measurement using the density of air and pure water. Refractive Index The refractive indices of the formulations were determined using a refractometer (ATAGO, RX-5000) by placing 1 drop of solution on the slide. pH The apparent pH of all the selected microemulsions and the drug loaded microemulsion was determined using a pH Meter (WTW 82362 Weilheim) fitted with a pH electrode (WTW A061414035). The temperature was maintained at 25 ±0.01 ?C by a Lauda M-20 thermostat. Conductivity Measurements The effect of the amount of water phase of microemulsion was monitored quantitatively by measuring the electrical conductivity. The electric conductivity (?) was measured by means of a Microprocessor Conductivity Meter (WTW 82362 Weilheim) fitted with an electrode (WTW 06140418) having a cell constant of 1.0 cm-1. The temperature was kept at 25 ±0.01 ?C and was maintained by a Lauda M-20 thermostat. Conductivity measurements were carried out by titration of oil and surfactant/cosurfactant mixture with buffer (along the dilution line AB in Fig. 1). Further the conductivity of selected and drug loaded microemulsions was also measured. The error limit of conductance measurements was  ±0.02 ?scm-1. Viscosity Measurements Viscosities were measured with calibrated Ubbelhode viscometer at 25 ±0.1 ?C. For each measurement, the viscometer was washed, rinsed and vacuum dried. To follow the viscous behavior of the microemulsions, flow time was measured for all the selected and drug-loaded microemulsions (1 wt% drug). The error limit of viscosities measurements was  ±3%. Absorption and Steady-State Emission Measurements The absorption and steady-state fluorescence spectra were recorded using a Perkin Elmer Lambda 20 spectrophotometer and a Perkin Elmer LS 55 luminescence spectrometer, respectively, both with an external temperature controlled cell holder at a temperature of 25.0 ±0.1 °C. The fluorescence emission spectrum of pyrene (excitation at 340 nm) was used to obtain the ratio of intensities of the first to the third vibronic peaks (I1/I3). Good resolution of the bands was obtained at the slit width (ex. 5.0nm, em. 5.0 nm). The scan range used was from 350-500 nm. The Photo Multiplier tube voltage was kept at 665V. The concentration of pyrene was 1.0 ?M. The intensities for I1 and I3 are taken at 373 and 384 nm, respectively. The fluorescence emission spectrum of piroxicam at ?exc 370 nm was obtained where the emission and excitation slits were fixed at. 7.0 nm. The scan range used was from 390-650 nm. The concentration of piroxicam was 10.0 ?M. To quantify the solubilization of piroxicam in micellar media of Tween 80-Ethanol system, differential absorbance measurements were made in such a way that drug (piroxicam) solution of a particular concentration (1.0-10-5M) was kept on reference side and the Tween 80-Ethanol-Piroxicam solution on the sample side in the spectrophotometer. Partition Coefficients Oil/buffer partition coefficient was determined by dissolving 20 mg piroxicam in 2ml Castor Oil. Buffer was added in 1:1 ratio (v/v). The mixture was shaken for 10 min and centrifuged for 2 hours. The two layers were separated and the content of piroxicam in aqueous layer (PB) was assayed by UV-Visible spectrophotometer at 371 nm. The final content of drug in the lipophilic phase was calculated by subtracting the content of piroxicam in aqueous phase from initial loaded content of drug in the lipophilic phase. Further, the effect of presence of Tween 80 and ethanol on the partition of piroxicam in oil/buffer was studied by adding 5% (w/v) of each Tween 80 and ethanol. Results and Discussion In the present system, microemulsion was prepared using Castor oil (fatty acid), which induces highly permeable pathways in the stratum corneum (18-20). Tween-80 is a widely accepted non-ionic surfactant, used in many pharmaceutical formulations (21-23). The cosurfactant (ethanol) is used to study the one phase microemulsion region. The presence of alcohol overcomes the need for any additional input of energy. These properties make the components useful as vehicles for drug delivery (24-26). In the absence of aqueous phase, a solution-like oily phase consisting only of surfactant, oil, and ethanol exists. Ethanol interacts with the ethoxylated head groups of the Tween 80 by hydrogen bonding and affects its critical packing parameter (CPP). When water is progressively added to the concentrate it facilitates the organization of the hydrated head groups of the surfactant into a polar core while the fatty acid tails are immersed in the oil continuous phase. The ethanol suppresses formation of lyotropic liquid crystals. Any free aqueous phase is entrapped in the microstructures. Thus, w/o microstructures are formed. Upon further dilution, the reversed nanostructures grow and convert into a bicontinuous phase and finally invert into o/w microstructures without phase separation. Phase Studies Fig. 1 shows the pseudo-ternary phase diagram and area of existence of microemulsion for Tween-80/ethanol/castor oil/phosphate buffer. Microemulsion in the present study formed spontaneously at ambient temperature when their components were brought in contact. Phase behavior investigations of this system demonstrated the suitable approach of determining the water phase, oil phase, surfactant concentration, and cosurfactant concentration with which the transparent, 1-phase low-viscous microemulsion system was formed. The phase behavior, as shown by figure 1, manifests a two-phase region, a three-phase region and a large single-phase region which gradually and continuously transformed from buffer rich side of binary solution (buffer/surfactant micellar phase) of pseudo-ternary phase diagram towards the oil rich region. This stresses a continuous transition from a water rich compositions to oil swollen micelles. The phase study revealed that the maximum proportion of oil was incorporated in microemulsion systems when the surfactant-to-cosurfactant ratio was 1:2. From a formulation viewpoint, the increased oil content in microemulsions may provide a greater opportunity for the solubilization of piroxicam. Eight microemulsions (1-8) were selected from the single-phase isotropic region (Fig. 2), with compositions mentioned in table I. Selected Microemulsion (ME) was further analyzed by conductivity, viscosity, density, surface tension, refractive index and pH. The values of measured parameters have been presented in table II. Conductivity Measurements Conductometry is a useful tool to assess microemulsion structure. Conductivity studies have explained the existence of a characteristic zone with an isotropic microemulsion domain in a continuum. Determination of electric conductivity (s) as a function of weight fraction of aqueous component Fw (% wt) for the oil, surfactant/cosurfactant mixture along the dilution line AB (shown in Fig. 2) has been carried out. The results of variation of s vs Fw (% wt) are shown in Fig. 3 (a). The behavior exhibits profile characteristic of percolative conductivity (27-29). The conductivity is initially low in an oil-surfactant mixture but increases with increase in aqueous phase. As the volume fraction of water increases, the electrical conductivity of the system slightly increases as well, until the critical Fw is reached. At this stage, a sudden increase in conductivity is observed. This phenomenon is known as percolation, and the critical Fw at which it occurs is known as percolation threshold Fp (27). The value of conductivity below Fp suggests that the reverse droplets are discrete (forming w/o microemulsion) and have little interaction. Above Fp the value of s increases linearly and steeply till it touches the value of Kb. The interaction between the aqueous domains becomes progressively more important and forms a network of conductive channel (bicontinuous microemulsion) (30). Rapid increase in conductivity beyond the percolation threshold (Fp ? 6%) up to approximate value of 20% of Fw indicates the existence of network of conductive channels, which corresponds to the formation of water cylinders or channels in an oil phase due to the attractive interactions between the spherical micro-droplets of water phase in the w/o microemulsion. Increasing water content above Fb (Fw > 20%), the s shows a dip in the measured values which may be due to strong attractive forces as system becomes more viscous (16, 30).Fig. 3 (b) depicts the variation of log s vs weight fraction of water (Fw). The change in the slope of log s can be attributed to the structural transition to bicontinuous from w/o (23), nearly at Fw = 6%. The transition takes place once the aqueous phase becomes continuous phase i.e. at Fb. This is in line with the observation made in phase study. Figure 3(a) illustrates occurrence of three different structures (namely w/o, bicontinuous, o/w). The conductivity of the microemulsions containing more than 20 wt% water decreased significantly, probably due to the higher viscosity. The percolation threshold can be determined from the plot (ds/dFw), as a function of the water weight fraction, Fw (% wt) (30). A maximum in the first derivative of conductance Fw at ~12wt % water is observed (Fig. 4) confirming the presence of percolation behavior (bicontinuous microstructure) in this region (31). The electric conductivity of pure selected and drug loaded microemulsion (1.0%) is given in table II. A comparison of two systems shows that drug incorporation does not affect the microstructure of the microemulsion. Viscosity Measurements To avoid the ambiguity of non-Newtonian flow behavior of microemulsion the flow time has been used as an index of viscosity (32). Flow time of oil, surfactant/cosurfactant mixture along the dilution line AB (shown in Fig. 2), was measured as a function of weight fraction of water Fw (wt %) and is shown in Fig. 5. Similar trend has been observed for the viscosity of oil, surfactant/cosurfactant mixture as a function of Fw (Fig. 6). The rapid change in the viscosity is probably due to the change in the microstructure of the microemulsion. The change in the internal structure could be due to either the change in the shape of droplets or may be due to the transition from w/o to bicontinuous microemulsion. It is well known that increase of volume fraction of dispersed phase in microemulsion increases viscosity of the system (33). For the system studied viscosity increases with increase in Fw (wt% of aqueous phase). Difference in the viscosities is more profound for lower water content values in comparison to the dilute system. The microemulsion system is turning to be more viscous with addition of water and thus may help in the slow diffusing of drug at infinite dilution. The microemulsion system thus, shows a structural change from oil continuous system to water continuous, which has higher viscosities than the former (34). The plots of hk (kinematic viscosity), d2?/d2Fw and 1/? d?/dFw versus Fw reflect that the transition occurs at ~11% weight fraction of aqueous phase (Fig. 6). The transition point of surface tension, conductivity and viscosity plots coincides well at ~11% weight fraction of aqueous phase and confirms the presence of percolative behavior. Surface Tension The surface tension increases linearly over the same range of water content (Fig. 7), but two breaks (at ~7.0 and ~20 wt% water) suggest that structure changes occur at these compositions. The surface tension measurements showed increment, when measured as a function of weight fraction of aqueous component, except for the ~12% weight fraction where the value suddenly decreased and thereafter a regular increase was observed. This low surface tension value showed the presence of bicontinuous microemulsion between oil and water rich system, which is because of presence of self-assembled organize microstructure in it (14, 35). The results coincide well with the electric conductivity and viscosity measurements. It can be assumed that the added alcohol (ethanol) is incorporated in the interfacial structure in such a way that more water is on the outside of the oil drops, causing the increase in surface tension. Incorporation of drug showed a negligible change in the surface tension measure ments, therefore indicting the possibility of piroxicam molecules into the palisade layer on the inner side of microemulsion. Fluorescence Measurements In the case of oil-in-water microemulsions, the steady-state fluorescence technique was successfully applied (36). Fluorescence measurements of the hydrophobic probe mainly depend on the polarity of the medium and hence in bicontinuous microemulsions it is a good indication of the polarity of the microenvironment in the microemulsion structure (37). The fluorescence spectra for pyrene molecule in water, individual oil phase, in alcohols, in ethanol/oil and in all the selected microemulsions are shown in Figure 8. There are four principal vibronic bands in the fluorescence spectrum (Fig. 8a), labeled I to IV. The peak intensity ratio I1/I3 in the steady-state fluorescence spectra is a measurement of the relative polarity of pyrenes environment (17). Since pyrene reactant is substantially more soluble in oil phases, I1/I3 is expected to be lower in these phases (38). In the present work, for oil phase, the I1/I3 value is 0.68. In relatively polar methanol and ethanol media, I1/I3 values were found to be 1.20 and 1.09 respectively. Water is a highly polar solvent; the solubility of pyrene in this solvent is less than 2 ?M. Hence the possibility of formation of excimer leading to I3 signal is extremely low in water. Experimentally I1/I3 value is 1.70 was obtained for this medium. Plot of I1/I3 versus weight fraction of aqueous component composition in microemulsion is shown in Figure 9. The value of I1/I3 varies between 0.85 and 0.91, which is comparable to a change from oil to water (0.68 and 1.70, respectively). The I1/I3 fluorescence ratios of pyrene strongly suggest that this probe resides in microenvironments of polarity much lower (oil phase) than that of water or alcohol (39). The polarities of these microphases are similar to those of cosurfactant/oil mixtures (0.94). The following generalizations may be made regarding the fluorescence probe behavior in bicontinuous microemulsions. The I1/I3 values obtained by fluorescence measurements for all the stable bicontinuous microemulsions are closer to 0.88. These results suggest that pyrene is efficiently segregated from the water phase (40). The I1/I3 values in bicontinuous microemulsions systems are closer to the respective pure oil phase. This is due to complete solubility of pyrene in oil phases of the bicontinuous microemulsions. We conclude that all the microemulsions have separate oil microphases, in which pyrene resides. Fluorescence Behavior of Piroxicam The fluorescence spectra for piroxicam molecule in water, individual oil phases, in surfactant/cosurfactant mixture (1:2) and in the optimum microemulsion system are shown in Figure 10. For oil phase the emission maxima (lem) is 465nm. In S/CoS (1:2) system lem is 451nm. Water is a highly polar solvent; the solubility of piroxicam in this solvent is low than 10 ?M. The lem of piroxicam in water is 442nm. The emission maximum in bicontinuous microemulsion system is (462nm) closer to the respective pure oil phase. The results showed that the piroxicam was localized in the interfacial film of microemulsion systems more deeply in the palisade layer. Partition Coefficient Partition coefficients influence drug transport characteristics which involve drug absorption, retention, distribution and elimination. Since drugs are distributed by the blood, they must penetrate and traverse many cells to reach the site of action. Hence, partition coefficients will determine what tissues a given compound can reach. Oil/buffer Partition Coefficients The partition coefficient (log p) of piroxicam in oil/buffer is 5.03 ±0.20. The presence of ethanol (5% in buffer) does not affect the partition coefficient (data shown in table III) whereas Tween 80 (5% in buffer) reduces the log p. The presence of surfactant reduces the concentration of drug in oil. Thus, solubility and partition studies indicate that piroxicam may be present at interface. The drug is entering into the palisade layer on the inner side of droplet which may help to increase the solubility of piroxicam. The partition coefficients were calculated using equation 1 (41); where A(org) is the absorbance of the organic layer, A(aq) is the absorbance of the aqueous layer, Vf(org) is the final volume of the sample from the organic layer, V(org) is the volume of the aliquot from the organic layer, Vf(aq) is the final volume of the sample from the aqueous layer, V(aq) is the volume of the aliquot of the aqueous layer. Micelle/buffer Partition Coefficient Figure 11 shows the differential absorption spectra of drug (piroxicam) in presence of various concentrations of Tween 80 having constant S/CoS ratio (1:2). The buffer-micelle partition coefficient Kc (dm3 mol-1), a useful parameter to quantify the solubilization of piroxicam in micellar media of Tween 80-Ethanol system, can be calculated by using equation 2 (42). Here Ca is the drug concentration (1.0-10-5M), Csmo represents Cs-CMC0 (CMC0 is the CMC of Tween 80 in water i.e. 11.0mM), ?A? is the differential absorbance at the infinity of Cs. Kc can be obtained through intercept and slope values of the straight line plot of 1/?A against 1/ (Ca+ Csmo), as shown in Figure 12. The value of Kc is given in table IV. The dimensionless partition coefficient p is related to Kc as p = Kc.nw, where nw is the number of moles of water per dm3 (55.5 mol dm-3), and is reported in table IV. The standard free energy change of the transfer of additive, from bulk water to micelle can be calculated using the following relation (equation 3): Here T is absolute temperature and R is the gas constant. The value of ?G °p for the piroxicam, using p is reported in table IV. High negative value of indicates the ease of penetration of drug inside the micelles. This is clearly exhibited by the higher values of p and more negative for piroxicam, as shown in table IV. Tween 80 is nonionic surfactant and there is no electrostatic interaction, the hydrogen bonding between the polyoxyethylene groups of Tween 80 and piroxicam makes the complex (Tween 80-piroxicam) more hydrophobic, which corresponds to high ?G °p value. Conclusion The pseudo-ternary phase diagram and area of existence of microemulsion for Tween 80/ethanol/castor oil/buffer was delineated. The conductivity and viscosity studies along the dilution line (in phase diagram) depict the structural transition from w/o to o/w via bicontinuous phase at ~11% ?w (wt% fraction of aqueous phase). Among the eight selected microemulsions, ME was found to be optimum for the incorporation of piroxicam. After the incorporation of the drug, microemulsion remained stable and optically clears with no phase separation. The surface tension and fluorescence studies indicated that the drug may reside at the interface of oil and aqueous phase. The drug is entering into the palisade layer on the inner side of the droplet, resulting in controlled release of drug. Thus, we can conclude that this microemulsion system helps in increasing the solubility of a highly hydrophobic drug, with the help of hydrophobic component of microemulsion and lipophilic part of surfactant. In addition, the formulation can be explored with high concentration of drug. Pharmaceutically usable microemulsion system was prepared from water and castor oil with a constant amount of Tween-80 and ethanol at a mass ratio of 1:2. Its type and structure was examined by measuring surface tension, viscosity, electric conductivity, and the fluorescence techniques were assessed. 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