President Trump’S Foreign Policy Pursuit Unequivocally

President Trump’s foreign policy pursuit unequivocally falls under branch method. Branch method differs from the root method in that it does not begin its policy implementation from the fundamentals each time. Branch method builds policy modifications from current situations. Because its bases are ongoing situations, it can hold comparatively less comprehensive analysis of various policies – in other words, the limited analysis inhibits the government from important potential consequences/values, and possible alternatives. There are plenty of evidences that indicate President Trump’s failure to consider unintended consequences. President Trump criticized Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s refugee deal made with the United States. President†¦show more content†¦Yet, Mr. Pence has expressed that the United States is in full support of the United States’ alliances with European countries. The articles also mention the dispute between the prime minister of Australia and President Trump. Once again, President Trump’s hostility towards Australia did not accurately reflect the United States’ hope of maintaining the alliance between the two countries. This inconsistency does not add credence to the stability of the current United States government and its approach to foreign policy. In terms of pinpointing President Trump’s actions within the deterrence or spiral model theory Jervis suggests, it is rather impossible to categorize the administration to one or another. Neither one adequately explains the motivations behind President Trump’s actions and it is difficult to understand whether President Trump’s inconsistency with others in the White House results from his belief in the U.S.’ threatened security from these alliances or from innate aggressiveness inhabited by these countries. Based on what policies Trump executed so far, his pre-election campaigns, and the great turmoil in th e United States’ government, I would analyze that the true motives behind President Trump’s actions primarily focus on sending domestic messages rather than international messages. Yet, it is important to recognize that these domestic-directed actions are interpreted by other states as international messages.

The United Methodist Church Of Mishawaka, Indiana

Coalbush United Methodist Church is in Mishawaka, Indiana. The Indiana Conference church development team selected Coalbush as a strategic location for potential growth. The church is located right off of the US 20 bypass on the south side of Mishawaka. The city is slowly moving out toward the country, which is how this church views itself: a country church. Mishawaka is not predicted to experience great growth in the next ten years with the make up of a household having little change either. The majority of the people are Anglo-American with little diversity. This is a somewhat traditional community where the majority of people report a sense of well-being. The average household income is approximately $60,000. The largest age group is between 35-55 years old. I was appointed to Coalbush beginning July 1, 2016. I have been observing and serving as I attempt to discover the unique context and setting for this local church in this season of their very long history. The church mission and passion has been stalled for the last few years. The Coalbush United Methodist Church entered a program about five years ago to help them evaluate their fruitfulness and effectiveness of the church. It was determined that too much time was spent in meetings and not enough time actually doing ministry. The church went through a three-year process of attempting to restructure and lessen the many other committees of the church. Missions, Outreach, Assimilation,

Business and Corporations Law Modern and Contract

Question: Describe about the Business and Corporations Law for Modern and Contract. Answer: 1. The aim is to find the presence of considerations for given situations and conclude that whether Jack has an enforceable agreement which is legally binding on Jane. (a) In this scenario, Jane is the offeror and Jack is the offeree. Jane is going overseas, hence she has offered her car to Jack, and Jack has agreed to take the car from Jane. This scenario is having both the elements to enact an agreement i.e. valid offer and acceptance. However, the question arises in this situation is to verify the presence of the consideration (Gibson Fraser, 2014). Jane the offeror has not revealed any consideration amount for the exchange of the Lotus Super 7 Sports car from Jack. Thus, this case is having lack of consideration. According to the contract law, any agreement will be termed as void, if it does not have valid consideration. It can be the price made by the offeror to the offeree. This consideration value must be paid by the offeree in the exchange of the offer. Any valid consideration can have the tendency to bind both the parties into the enforceable agreement (Taylor Taylor, 2015). The court has provided the decision in Placer Development Ltd. Commonwealth [(1969) 121 CLR 353], that in any case, when there is any uncertainty to determine the consideration amount, then the case does not have valid consideration and results in void agreement (Davenport Parker, 2014). It is also a critical feature that the offeror must inform the offeree about the consideration amount with any mode of communication, it can be direct or indirect. Also, the offeree cannot adopt any consideration amount without the confirmation from offeror. It is the prerequisite for the valid consideration that the consideration amount must be valid and lawful as per the civil law, besides the fact that it is regulatory value or non-regulatory value (Paterson, Robertson, Duke, 2015). In this situation, Jane has not asked for any value for her Lotus Super 7 Sports to Jack, this indicates the invalid consideration value. However, it also cannot considered from the above situation that Jane was going foreign, hence she offered her car to Jack at the current market price, because she has not cited any value for car, then Jack cannot adopt this car for any assumed consideration amount. Since, consideration cannot be any assumed value from offeree, irrespective of the fact that the offeror did not mention any value. In the present case scenario, the offeror has not asked for any consideration price from offeree and thus no enforceable agreement for Jack. It would in fact be referred to as gratuitous promise since Jane has no consideration in the promise made and such promises are non-enforceable. (b) In this situation, Jane the offeror has communicated a consideration amount to sell her Lotus Super 7 Sports car to Jack. This amount of the car is same as the market rate of the car i.e. $25,000 and this value of the car is acceptable by Jack. Hence, all the elements of any enforceable agreement are specified between the offeror and offeree i.e. valid offer, acceptance and consideration. It is not imperative that consideration have a numeric value in return to the offer, it can include any benefit interest, or devolving of rights in exchange of the offer (Harvey, 2009). Consideration for the offeror is expressed in terms of the return favour from the offeree. It is the amount for the offer that the offeree needs to pay to satisfy the offer. The amount of consideration made by the offeror i.e. $25,000 is a valid consideration amount for the car, and easily distinguish in the view of law. Thus, this case satiated all the conditions needed for the contract. Hence, Jack has an enforceable agreement with Jane. (C) In this situation, Jane the offeror has clearly mentioned the consideration amount for the sale of her Lotus Super 7 Sports car to Jack. This amount is legally valid under common law and termed as regulatory value. In the enactment of enforceable agreement, the intent and capacity of the parties are the imperative factors.. The main impact of the enforceable agreement is that both the parties are legally bound with regards to the obligations and rights as per the contract. There is not such importance in the equality of the consideration amount with the market real rate of the offer. This is called the adequacy of consideration (Gibson Fraser, 2014). Hence, the consideration must have some value more or less, is not the question in case of enforceable agreement. This adequacy of the consideration becomes imperative, when any unsuspicious conduct has offered between the parties. It is not essential that the consideration value is same as the specific monetary value. In Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co case, it is necessary that the offeror should accept the consideration and same should be transferred from the offeree (Pendleton Vickery, 2005). The nature of the consideration can be explained with the example of the case Chappell v. Nestle, in which the offeror made the consideration of stipulated things. Even a mere peppercorn or an empty wrapper can also be treated as a valid consideration (Richard, 2003). Additionally, the consideration must be a real value or object and should be feasibly exchanged between the parties. In this case, offeror Jane has made a consideration amount of $2,500 beside the deed that the real rate of the car is $25,000. This stipulated amount has been accepted by Jack. Even though, this consideration amount is much lesser than the real amount of the car, but still a valid consideration is present. Therefore, all the essential conditions are satisfied in this case i.e. valid offer, consideration, and acceptance. Thus, Jack has an enforceable agreement with Jane. 2. Issue To comment on the possibility of success for North Ocean Tankers with regards to claim for $ 3 million recovery based on the applicable legal principles. Law One of the key requirements in the execution of a valid contract is that the parties should provide their free consent to assume the various contractual obligations. At times, when one of the parties do not find requisite consideration to be bound in a contractual relations, the offers by the other party may be turned down. In such cases, it is possible that the offeror may obtain a forced consent through the use of force, a situation which is termed as duress. The use of duress is quite common in bringing modifications to the contract clauses which essentially required consent from both parties and cannot be implemented unilaterally (Harvey, 2009), It is noteworthy that as per the common law, any contracts that are executed with the use of force (whether physical or economic) are voidable if the party subject to threat desires the same (Pathinayake, 2014). This view is derived from the verdict given by the honourable court in the Electrcity Generation Corporation t/as Verve Energy v. Woordside Energy Ltd. [2013] WA SCA 36 case. The court detected the presence of economic duress and thus concluded the voidable nature of the contract. The party subject to threat can claim duress as a valid defence and therefore demand losses from the other party due to the compliance with the unreasonable demands (Taylor Taylor, 2015). However, the scope of claim is limited to only that damage which is caused due to forced consent being given under the influence of threat (physical or economic) (Richard, 2003). Over the period of time, duress has emerged as a strong defence for parties who are forced into contractual relations. This has been especially enabled with the addition of economic threat to the purview of the already existing duress concept. This is significant since unlike the old days when threat were primarily physical and apparent, now the threats are implicit and through the usage of superior economic power so as to gain at the behalf of the interests of the other party. In order to conclusively establish the usage of economic duress, certain aspects need to be established in the court (Gibson Fraser, 2014). There needs to be evidence with regards to the economic power being used in bad faith with the intention of gaining agreement on an unfair term or promise. This threat leads plaintiff into a circumstance which demands that only possible option worth pursuing is acting in agreement with the demand. As the plaintiff provides consent to the term, condition or clause, there i s legal agreement between the parties which prevents the party from dishonouring the commitment given (Davenport Parker, 2014). If the presence of economic duress is established, the plaintiff gets the right to claim damages from the defendant citing duress (Harvey, 2009). However, a critical aspect in this regard is the time within which the plaintiff should file a claim with the court. Ideally, this needs to be carried out as soon as the delivery of the product or the service is done but in case of valid reasons, if it cannot be filed immediately, then the same should be done before the passage of reasonable time. The definitive authority with regards to define the reasonable time is the court which decides this timeframe based on the underlying case facts (Pendleton Vickery, 2005). A leading case in this regard is the North Ocean Shipping v Hyundai Construction (The Atlantic Baron)[1979] QB 705 case. The court agreed to the presence of economic duress based on the case facts and thereby applying the above theory, the claimant should have been successful. However, it was not so as the court indicated that the delay amounting to right months since the tanker delivery is clearly beyond reasonable time in the given case ((Pathinayake, 2014).. Owing to this huge delay, the claimant has indirectly indicated voluntary acceptance to the extra payment and hence cannot now claim it Application The given case facts indicate that a legal enforceable contract has been executed between North Ocean Tankers (Buyer) and a shipbuilder (Seller) with regards to tanker construction. During the building period, the buyer executes a charter for the tanker but there is request for payment of $ 3 million by the shipbuilder. The shipbuilder justified this on account of devaluation in USD but the contract did not had any provision for such a payment. The buyer denied making the payment even though subsequently it complied but only because the seller threatened to stop the work which the buyer could ill afford. The buyer got the tanker delivered on time but made a claim on the $ 3 million payment only after nine months. It is apparent from the case fact that the seller acted in bad faith and used economic power by threatening to not fulfil the contractual obligations. The buyer on account of the charter could not delay the delivery and hence agreed for the payment. It is clear that if it hadnt been for the threat from the seller, the payment of $ 3 million would not have been made by North Ocean Tankers. By agreeing to the demand, they had to make the payment which they did. Hence, economic duress is undoubtedly established but the long delay after delivery seemed unjustified and belong reasonable time. The same would also be indicated by the verdict in the North Ocean Shipping v Hyundai Construction (The Atlantic Baron)[1979] case. Thus, the buyer would not find any success in the recovery of the payment to the tune of $ 3 million as the long delay has made the modified contract legally valid. Conclusion North Ocean Tankers will not be able to recover the payment made to the buyer to the tune of $ 3 million on account of the delay beyond the reasonable time available to claim damages in cases involving duress. References Davenport, S Parker, D 2014, Business and Law in Australia, 2nd eds., LexisNexis Publications, Sydney Gibson, A Fraser, D 2014. Business Law, 8th eds., Pearson Publications, Sydney Harvey, C. 2009, Foundations of Australian law. 3rd eds., Tilde University Press, Prahran, Victoria Pendleton, W Vickery, N 2005. Australian business law: principles and applications, 5th eds., Pearson Publications, Sydney Paterson, J, Robertson, A Duke, A 2015, Principles of Contract Law, 5th eds., Thomson Reuters, Sydney Pathinayake, A 2014, Commercial and Corporations Law, 2nd eds., Thomson-Reuters, Sydney Richard S 2003, The Modern Law of Contract, 5th eds., Cavendish, London Taylor, R Taylor, D 2015, Contract Law, 5th eds., Oxford University Press, London

The Benefits of Being Bilingual in a Global Society

Thesis statement The realities of today’s living are being marked by an increasing role of information, as the foremost factor that defines the very essence of post-industrial social interactions. After all, due to exponential progress in the field of informational technologies, which had taken place during the course of latest decades, it now became a commonplace practice to transfer huge amounts of information from one corner of the globe to another, within a matter of an instant.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Benefits of Being Bilingual in a Global Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As it was pointed out by Clark (2010, p. 1): â€Å"We live in an ever-changing, evolving, constantly shifting world, where socially construed boundaries are becoming more obscured while simultaneously making visible the spaces, dimensions, and strategies of being and becoming multiple people in multiple placesâ € . In its turn, this results in producing the phenomenon of ‘overlapping identities’ – unlike what it used to be the case even as recent as fifty years ago; nowadays, more and more people begin to assess the subtleties of their individuality from essentially cosmopolitical perspective.[1] Therefore, it comes as not a particular surprise that, as time goes on, the issue of bilingualism continues to grow increasingly embedded into the very core of a number of today’s socio-political discourses. The reason for this is simple – in highly globalized world, one’s ability to speak more than one language automatically increases the extent of his or her existential competitiveness. What it means is that, there are many fully objective reasons to expect that, in very near future, the number of bilingual individuals will increase dramatically. And, it represents the matter of crucial importance for educators to be able to adopt a proper perspective onto the very essence of bilingualism/multilingualism, as it will increase their ability to design teaching strategies in a manner fully consistent with earlier mentioned process of Earth becoming ‘borderless’, in allegorical sense of this word.[2] In this paper, I will aim to discuss theoretical aspects of bilingualism and to show how the practical implementation of bilingualism-inducing strategies in academic environment may result in substantial enhancement of teaching process’s effectiveness. While elaborating on paper’s subject matter, I will also aim to promote an idea that the very tendency for more and more people to grow increasingly bilingual, which defines the social implications of Globalization, has been dialectically predetermined. What it means is that nowadays, becoming bilingual had effectively ceased to be an option for individuals who seek to attain social prominence.Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Rationale-driven considerations for second language acquisition Given the fact that the qualitative subtleties of just about any socio-historical phenomena are being defined by the dialectical essence of associated causes and effects, it will only be logical to suggest that there are fully objective motivations behind the process of people becoming increasingly bilingual/multilingual. In her book, Baker (2001) provides us with the insight on what accounts for these motivations. According to the author, the rationale for second language acquisition can be generalized as consisting of three mutually supplementing sub-elements: ideological, international and individual. Ideological rationale is being largely related to the fact that, ever since seventies, the policy of multiculturalism in Western countries had attained governmentally endorsed status. In its turn, this resulted in transforming the demographic pattern of Wes t-bound immigrants. Whereas; before the institutionalization of multiculturalism, it were predominantly White people immigrating to such English-speaking countries as U.S., Canada and Australia; nowadays, the bulk of newly arrived immigrants to these countries consist of those, commonly referred to as ‘representatives of racial minorities’.[3] And, due to characteristics of these people’s visual appearance, their assimilationist anxieties emerge being much stronger, as compared to what it used to be the case with assimilationist anxieties, on the part European immigrants, for example. This is the reason why an acquisition of host-country’s official language (e.g. English) represents the matter of crucial importance for these people – by becoming proficient in such a language, ethnic immigrants prove their ability to assimilate into host-society, and consequentially to become such society’s productive members. There is another aspect to this à ¢â‚¬â€œ even though that it now became a commonplace practice to associate the concept of European colonialism with the notion of ‘oppression’, the native people from former European colonies continue to subconsciously associate this concept with the notion of ‘progress’. According to De Mejia (2002, p. 4): â€Å"An interest in the use of international languages is often associated with positions of social prestige in societies which have a colonial history†¦Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Benefits of Being Bilingual in a Global Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In these countries the use of world languages (especially English) is considered by many of the governing elite as vital to the modernization of the economy and to the development of science and technology†. Apparently, as time goes on, more and more people consider one’s proficiency in a second la nguage being utterly prestigious – pure and simple. The international rationale behind acquisition of a second language is being concerned with the fact that, as compared to what it is usually the case with monolingual individuals; the bilingual ones are being put in advantageous position, especially when it comes to indulging in commercial activities. One does not have to be particularly smart, in order to be able to realize why – a particular individual’s proficiency in second language implies the increased extent of his or her exposure to information. And, as it was rightly noted by Baker (2001, p. 112): â€Å"Languages provide access to information and hence power†¦ For the business person and the bureaucrat, for the scholar and the sports person, access to multilingual international information opens doors to new knowledge, new skills and new understanding†. Given the fact that, as it was being mentioned earlier, the realities of today’s post-industrial living are closely associated with essentially instant transfers of information on world-wide scale, those who can understand and speak more than one language are being more likely to take advantage of a number of rapidly emerging professional and commercial opportunities. The individual motivation behind people’s decision to seek fluency in foreign languages has to do with the fact that such fluency results in increasing the extent of a concerned person’s cultural awareness. After all, it is only the people that have succeeded in familiarizing themselves with foreign cultures, which can be considered educated, in full sense of this word. And, within the context of such a familiarization, one’s proficiency in at least one foreign language will come as a great asset. Yet, what it is being even more important is that individual’s acquisition of a second language usually results in enhancing the workings of his or her intellect. According to Ramirez (1985, p. 195): â€Å"Bilingualism could be an advantage in abstract thinking (conceptualizing things and events in relation to their general properties rather than relying on their linguistic symbols) and in encouraging mental flexibility†. As compared to their monolingual counterparts, bilingual individuals appear being much more intellectually flexible, as the fact that they can express their thoughts in foreign language naturally predisposes them towards recognizing the validity of a number of moral, ethical and religious notions as being only relative to the affiliated circumstances.Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The context of an earlier provided conceptualization as to what accounts for rationale in acquisition of a second language, implies that it is very important for teachers to be able to choose in favor of a proper set of bilingualism-inducing incentives, meant to apply in every individual case. After all, without being sufficiently motivated to indulge in studying of a second language, it is very unlikely that students will be able to succeed in it. As it was rightly suggested by Dornyei (1998, p. 117): â€Å"Motivation provides the primary impetus to initiate learning in the L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process†¦ Without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals†. And, given the fact that bilingualism-inducing motivations can be generally categorized as ‘integrative’ (concerned with addressing learner’s assimilationist anxieties) and â⠂¬Ëœinstrumental’[4] (concerned with convincing learner that becoming bilingual will increase the extent of his or her existential competitiveness), teachers must be capable of properly identifying what will account for circumstantial appropriateness of exposing learners to either set of motivations. For example, it would prove very unlikely for practically minded students to think of attaining ‘cultural awareness’ as strong enough motivation to proceed with their studies. Alternatively, it will also be very unlikely for assimilation-seeking learners to be motivated to indulge in studying of a second language, because their eventual bilingualism would increase their efficiency as stock-traders, for example. Theories of bilingualism One of the foremost aspects of bilingualism-related discourses is the fact that there is still much uncertainty as to structuralist subtleties of how bilingual individuals perceive surrounding reality, in linguistic sense of this word, which stems out of conceptual incompatibility between the applied analytical methodologies. As it was pointed out by Hamers and Blanc (1991, p. 1): â€Å"One of the major problems of an interdisciplinary approach (to bilingualism) is the integration of the macro- and the micro-levels of analysis†. Nevertheless, as of today, bilingualism’s neurological mechanics are being usually assessed within the context of Balance, Iceberg and Threshold theories.[5] The proponents of Balance theory, such as Macnamara (1966), and Albert and Obler (1978), suggest that, due to the main principle of brain’s neurological functioning (people can only concentrate on doing one thing at the time), bilinguals’ increased proficiency in second language necessarily accounts for their reduced proficiency in native language. In their book, Appel and Muysken (2005, p. 104) have outlined the conceptual premise behind Balance theory with perfect clarity: â€Å"If an individual learns more than one language, knowing one language rest nets the possibilities for learning other languages. More proficiency in one language implies fewer skills in the other ones†. The empirical observations of immigrants’ linguistic behavior seems to support the validity of Balance theory’s provisions – after all, it does not represent much of a secret that, after having spent a considerable time living amidst foreign linguistic environment, people tend to ‘enrich’ their native languages with newly learned foreign words, as being the most semantically suitable. This particular theory’s drawback appears to be the fact that, up to date, no evidence has been found as to brain’s limited capacity to memorize linguistic idioms. The proponents of Iceberg theory (analogy), such as Cummins (1980), point out to the fact that the manner in how bilingual people go about expressing their thoughts in both languages reflects the inner working of t heir psyche. What it means is if, let’s say a particular person has been known to experience difficulties, while operating with highly abstract categories in his or her native language, this will also be the case with such individual trying to do the same, while utilizing second language. In other words, according to the proponents of this theory, the acquisition of second language cannot produce detrimental effects onto a particular individual, for as long as the rate of his or her IQ appears adequately high. The advocates of Threshold theory, such as Skutnabb-Kangas and Toukomaa (1976) and Clarkson (1992), are not sharing such point of view on the essence of bilingualism. According to them, the process of a particular person attaining proficiency in second language is being rather linearly defined. Whereas; it is very unlikely for children-bilingualists to be utterly comfortable with expressing intellectually refined thoughts in both languages (due to their age-related unde rdevelopment), as time goes on, these individuals will continue to grow ever-more proficient in one language, at first, and eventually – in both languages. This explains why, regardless of what was their age when they started to learn foreign language, most highly educated people have absolutely legitimate reasons to think of themselves as such that are being fully proficient in at least two languages. However, just as it is being the case with Balance theory, Threshold theory features a number of shortcomings. For example, its proponents do not specify as to what should be considered a criteria, when it comes to measuring individual’s bilinguistic proficiency. Also, this theory does not take into consideration the specifics of bilingual people’s ethno-cultural affiliation. And yet, as it will be shown in this paper’s following sub-chapter, the particulars of bilingualists’ physiological/genetic makeup directly affect the degree of their linguistic expressions’ comprehensiveness. Ability vs. aptitude As we are being well aware of, people’s ability to learn foreign languages differs rather dramatically. Whereas; some individuals do not seem to experience any problems whatsoever, while acquiring second language, for others, learning a few basic foreign phrases appears to be the limit. How can it be explained? As of today, there are two qualitatively different approaches to tackle the subject matter, concerned with the concept of ‘ability’, on one hand, and with the concept of ‘aptitude’, on another. For example, according to Oller and Perkins (1978, p. 417), students’ likelihood to succeed in acquiring second language is being correlative with the rate of their Intellectual Quotidian(IQ): â€Å"It appears that some of the variance in verbal intelligence is common to variance in first and second language proficiency, some of which in turn may be common to the kinds of non-random so urces of variance in self-reported data†. In its turn, this explains why individuals who score high, while IQ-tested, often exhibit a particular talent in becoming proficient foreign-language speakers. Nevertheless, given the fact that the very concept of IQ-testing is now being widely criticized, on the account of its ‘euro-centrism’,[6] it comes as not a particular surprise that recent decades saw the emergence of qualitatively new approach towards addressing the issue linguistic proficiency, commonly referred to as ‘aptitudal’ or ‘emotionally-intelligent’. The proponents of this approach, such as Skehan (1998), argue that it is namely the fact that bilingualism-enhancing tasks, to which students are being commonly subjected in Western academia, can be best referred to as ‘emotionally exhausting’, which in turn explains some students’ lack of progress in becoming proficient bilingualists. To put it plainly – m any ethnic students’ linguistic failure should not be thought of as ‘thing in itself’, but rather as the consequence of educators’ failure to adhere to the principles of multicultural tolerance, while dealing with ‘ethnically unique’ learners. The objective analysis, however, leaves few doubts as to the full appropriateness of a suggestion that the rate of one’s IQ does in fact reflect his or her capacity for learning foreign (particularly Western) languages. After all, individual’s ability to score high, while IQ-tested, extrapolates his or her ability to operate with utterly abstract mental categories. And, it does not represent much of a secret to linguists that English language alone features close to hundred thousand of highly abstract idioms. Therefore, in order for just about anyone to succeed in learning English, as a second language, he or she would need to have an understanding of how abstract terms relate to emanations of surrounding reality. Unfortunately, this does not always seem to be the case among people endowed with primitive/rural mentality, who immigrate to Western countries from the Third World. In his book, Bruhl (1928, p. 120) was able to define the qualitative essence of primitive perception of surrounding reality with utter precision: â€Å"Identity appears in their (natives’) collective representations†¦ as a moving assemblage or totality of mystic actions and reactions, within which individual does not subjectualize but objectualize itself†. Whereas, non-Westerners are being more capable of perceiving existential challenges through the lenses of utilitarian practicality, as compared what it is the case with native-born Westerners, their ability to define dialectical relationship between causes and effects appears significantly undermined – and yet, this is the foremost precondition that ensures success in learning Western languages. As it was shown in Bru hl’s book, after having been asked to exclude semantically unrelated word out of wordily sequence axe – hammer – saw – log, indigenous people in Brazil, South-East Asia, Africa and Australia were experiencing a particularly hard time – in their eyes, the earlier mentioned sequence made a perfectly good sense as it was (due to what they perceived as these notions’ ‘usefulness’). The fact that words axe, hammer and saw could be categorized as ‘instruments’, on one hand, and that the word log could be categorized as ‘material’, on another, never even occurred to these people. Therefore, the fact that the foremost psychological characteristic of non-Whites has traditionally been their strive to ‘blend’ with the environment, rather than opposing it, as it is being the case with most Whites, created objective prerequisites for them to experience particularly hard time, when it comes to gaining pr oficiency in Western languages that feature a fair amount of abstractizations. There is even more to the issue. As it was shown by Vanhanen and Lynn (2002, p. 194), the rate of one’s IQ is being predetermined by genetic rather than by environmental factors: â€Å"There is a positive correlation between brain size and intelligence so the race difference in brain size suggests a genetic basis for the difference in intelligence†¦Black infants reared by White middle class adoptive parents in the United States show no improvement in intelligence, contrary to the prediction of environmental theory†. In its turn, this explains the phenomenon of ‘ebonics’, commonly referred to as ‘Black-English language’, which features an acute absence of even slight traces of an abstract terminology. Therefore, it will only be logical to conclude that there exists a correlation between the particulars of one’s racial affiliation and his or her likelihood to succeed in becoming bilingual individual, in traditional context of this word. And, although the earlier articulated line of argumentation is being of rather theoretical essence, I believe that it does provide certain insights as to how proper and improper bilingualism-inducing academic techniques may be distinguished from each other. Learning strategies As it was suggested in paper’s earlier parts, there are good reasons to believe that the qualitative aspects of people’s physiological and consequentially psychological constitution, do affect their chances of becoming affiliated with bilingualism, as an integral element of their existential mode. Therefore, it will only be logical to hypothesize that, when it comes to designing educational strategies, meant to facilitate students’ proficiency in foreign languages, these aspects must be taken into consideration. The validity of this suggestion can be well illustrated in regards to the fact that it now became a legitimate practice among teachers, to classify students along the lines of what defines the inner characteristics of their cognitive apparatus, before subjecting them to a particular learning strategy. According to Carrell and Monroe (1994), the individuals that indulge in liberal studying (e.g. learners of foreign languages), can be categorized as extroverts (sensing, feeling, interacting), on one hand, and as introverts (judging, thinking, abstracting), on another. The insights, contained in their article, directly relate to the subject of this paper’s discussion, as the successful implementation of two qualitatively different linguistic input-related strategies, which are being commonly referred to as ‘structuralist’ and ‘meaningful’, cannot be ensured without teachers taking into account the specifics of learners’ psychological predisposition. According to the advocates of structuralist approach to language-teaching, such as Skinner (1 957), the process of students attaining proficiency in foreign language is being mainly concerned with memorization. This is the reason why the practitioners of this approach have traditionally been known for their tendency to place a particular emphasis onto drill and repetition, as success-ensuring keys to bilingualism. Ever since early seventies, however, an entirely new approach to teaching foreign languages was becoming increasingly popular – a so-called ‘meaningful’ one. According to one of the most prominent advocates of such an approach Dell Hymes (1996, p. 33), in order for students to be able to succeed in memorizing foreign words, they must be seeing them as such that convey an easy-to-recognize social meaning: â€Å"The linguistic features that enter into speech styles are not only the ‘referentially-based’ features usually dealt with in linguistics today, but also the ‘stylistic’ features that are complementary to them, and inseparable from them in social communication†. What it means is that the second language should not be taught to students outside of what they perceive as such language’s practicality. As it was noted by Baker in earlier quoted book: â€Å"We use a language for a specific purpose. Language is a means rather than a structural end. Effective language does not mean grammatical accuracy nor articulate fluency, but the competence lo communicate meaning effectively† (p. 119). Therefore, it comes as not a surprise that both approaches to teaching foreign languages differ rather dramatically in how their practitioners go about reaching their professional objectives. Whereas; ‘structuralist’ methodology places heavy emphasis onto utilization of audiolingual techniques, as the instrument of increasing the extent of students’ proficiency in second language, the ‘meaningful’ one relies mainly upon the contextual appropriateness of deployed teaching strategies – hence, its strong affiliation with the concept of interactive socialization. Given the fact that, as we have pointed out earlier, just about all the students can be categorized as introverts and extroverts, it will only be natural to expect the extrovertly-minded ones to be able to benefit from being exposed to specifically ‘meaningful’ method of acquiring linguistic skills in foreign language. The reason for this is simple – being naturally predisposed towards socialization with others, these students will be much more likely to become bilingual, once they are being provided with an opportunity to practice their newly acquired linguistic skills in the environment where the possession of these skills might prove crucial, in social sense of this word. Alternatively, students known for their tendency to indulge in social withdrawal, will be more likely to benefit from being provided with an opportunity to study second language in the ma nner that would allow them to introvertedly reflect upon what they are being taught. Nevertheless, this does not mean that they may be able to attain a full proficiency in second language, without being required to practice the acquired linguistic skills. This is the reason why, as of today, it is specifically ‘meaningful’ strategies for studying foreign languages that continue to grow increasingly popular with both: teachers and learners. Apparently, as time goes on, more and more educators become aware of a simple fact that the actual value of just about any language cannot be assessed outside of what represents its utilitarian significance. As Grosjean (1982, p. 8) had put it: â€Å"Language does not exist in itself but has a use for the overall behavior which is meaningful in a given culture. Functions of language are universal but the linguistic forms vary across languages and cultures†. Because, due to the process of Globalization the world becomes increasi ngly ‘flat’ and ‘borderless’, it does not represent much of a challenge to predict that, in very near future, the ‘meaningful’ language-teaching strategy will probably attain the only legitimate academic status – the dialectically predetermined laws of history created objective preconditions for this to happen. The role of parental involvement The discourse, regarding the role that parental involvement plays in the process of children becoming accustomed to the ways of bilingualism, initially revolved around the issue of what can be considered such involvement’s drawbacks. After all, as it appears from the number of studies, conducted prior to the time when Western societies became subjected to the ideological oppression of political correctness, it is quite inappropriate to think that, given their love towards their children, parents are being simply in no position to undermine the effectiveness of the process of children attaini ng proficiency in second language. For example, according to Brown and Hanlon (1970), most immigrant-parents in America tend to pay very little attention to whether their young ones utter English sentences in grammatically and stylistically proper way. Partially, this can be explained by the fact that these parents themselves possess rather inadequate skills in the language of a host-country. However, there is also another aspect to the problem – as both authors have shown, it represents a commonplace practice among immigrant-parents to be mainly concerned with what their children say, as opposed to being concerned with how they say it. The idea that parents (especially newly arrived immigrants) appear rather poor equipped, when it comes to providing their children with linguistic guidance, is also being explored by O’Grady (1997, p. 259): â€Å"A rarely noted point about parental feedback – direct or indirect, deliberate or incidental – is that it focus es on relatively peripheral, language-particular aspects of the child’s grammar†¦ It is hard to even imagine a situation in which a parent would have the opportunity to provide feedback that would help a child discover the existence of syntactic categories†. Apparently, the factor of parental love plays rather negative role within the context of children and adolescents growing bilingual, in academic rather than in street-spoken sense of this word. Nevertheless, as it was shown by Lanza (1997, p. 256) there is a certain beneficence to how even the most indulgent parents address their children’s emerging bilingualism, because by exchanging bilingual remarks with their young ones, parents simultaneously provide them with the insight on what accounts for contextual suitability of language-switching: â€Å"The parent who initiates a code-switch with his or her child signals the appropriateness of language mixing and hence socializes the child into code-switchin g†. After all, the process of children’s upbringing is not being concerned with parents exercising a strict control over how they react to life’s challenges, but with endowing children with a number of behavioral stereotypes. The memorized behavior-related information, received from parents, is not simply being stored in child’s brain, but continues to spawn ever-newer forms of tacit knowledge, reflected in child’s apparent ability to understand so much more then he or she could have possibly known from indulging in experiential interaction with surrounding realities. As the result, children’s ability to extrapolate earlier obtained knowledge onto an unfamiliar ‘strangeness’ allows them to choose in favor of a proper act, while being confronted by formally unknown, but subconsciously recognizable situations. Thus, parents’ involvement into their children’s bilingual upbringing is best conceptualized as ‘double -sided-medal’: on one hand, such involvement often results in slowing down the pace of children growing bilingually proficient, but on another, it simultaneously results in increasing the extent of children’s bilingual adaptability – whatever the ironically it might sound. Recommendations, based upon personal experiences The experiences of becoming bilingual, on the part of some of my immigrant-friends, can be compared to the experiences of an individual, who despite being utterly unaware of how to swim, has nevertheless been thrown into the river and told to whether swim or die. By the time they had found themselves in the midst of English speaking environment, they could barely speak the language at all. Nevertheless, it has only taken them as little as few months to become fully proficient in English. The reason for this is simple – after having arrived to U.K., they had made a conscious point in trying not to socialize with compatriots from the old co untry. Therefore, I consider myself being in position to come up with at least three advices as to what will facilitate the process of a particular individual attaining proficiency in second language: The prolonged social interaction with native-born language carriers – In order for just about anyone to be able to get a good grip of a foreign language, he or she must never cease being exposed to the contextual aspects of such language’s practical utilization. This suggestion is being fully consistent with the conceptual essence of a ‘meaningful’ approach to linguistic learning, which emphasizes the crucial importance of establishing provisions for the learners to perceive newly obtained linguistic information as such that interrelate with the very essence of their psychological anxieties. After all, as psychologists are being well aware of, it is only the emotionally charged experiences, which people tend to memorize the most. The continuous memorization o f words and semantic idioms – No matter how strongly may a particular person be willing to socialize with language’s native-born carriers, this person not be able to advance too far with becoming an efficient bilingualist, unless he or she is being disciplined enough to apply a continuous effort into expanding its linguistic vocabulary. By striving to memorize as many words as possible on daily basis, the learner will not only be able to expand its vocabulary, which in itself is the important prerequisite of bilingualism, but also to attune the workings of its cognitive apparatus. As it was noted by De Groot and Kroll (1997, p. 106): â€Å"L2 learning is demanding; individuals with low-working memory capacity may encounter processing failures more frequently than those with high capacity, with the effect that learning is diminished (and with it, perhaps, motivation and commitment)†. It is fully understandable, of course, that nowadays people are being encouraged to think of the very notion of discipline as necessarily euro-centric, and therefore ‘evil’. One’s endowment with the sense of discipline, however, does not make it less of an asset, especially when the studying of a second language is being concerned. The stimulation of learner’s sense of aesthetic finesse – As my personal experiences indicate, people’s endowment with artistic sensitivity (such as one’s love of music), often reflects upon their ability to succeed rather spectacularly in learning second language. And, there is an absolutely rational explanation to this phenomenon. The so-called Wernicke region in brain’s left hemisphere is responsible for both: decoding the semantic meaning of verbally articulated idioms and defining the subtleties of one’s artistic taste.[7] Therefore, just as it is being possible for musically gifted individuals to subconsciously spot inconsistency in melody’s timbre or pitch, i t is being possible for linguistically gifted individuals to subconsciously sense what will account for contextual, grammatical or stylistic appropriateness/inappropriateness of utilization of a particular word or phrase in representational matrix of a second language. What it means is there are objective reasons to expect that people’s commitment to indulging in artistic pursuits is going to positively affect their chances of attaining bilingual proficiency. Conclusion As it was being hypnotized in the Introduction, there are a number of reasons to think that in very near future, the bilingualism will become the norm of life for just about anyone on this planet. The validity of such an idea is being confirmed by the linear subtleties of historical progress. Apparently, the issue of bilingualism should not be discussed in terms of being simply a fashionable trend, but rather in terms of being an indication of the fact that, it is only the matter of time, before the conceptual matrix of Western educational practices will undergo a dramatic transformation. Therefore, there can be very little doubt as to the sheer beneficence of acquiring second language, regardless of who happened to be a concerned party. At the same time, as it appears from an earlier conducted research, the bulk of bilingualism-inducing strategies, currently deployed in Western academic curriculum, are best defined as unnecessarily overcomplicated. In part, this can be explained by the very essence of today’s socio-political and educational discourses, deeply embedded in dogmas of political correctness. This is exactly the reason why most educators and social scientists that participate in bilingualism-related discourse, deliberately try to avoid mentioning any links between the rate of people’s IQ and their ability to succeed in becoming bilingual. And yet, as it was pointed out earlier, such links do in fact exist. Denying their existence would be the same as denying the fact that Earth revolves around the Sun. Therefore, it will only be logical to conclude this paper by suggesting that the future research, regarding the same subject matter, should mainly focus on exploring the qualitative nature of people’s predisposition towards acquiring bilingual skills, which often appears being biologically motivated. I believe that the line of argumentation, utilized throughout the paper, and earlier articulated concluding remarks, are being fully consistent with paper’s initial thesis. References Albert, ML Obler, LK 1978, The bilingual brain: Neuropsychological and neurolinguistic aspects of bilingualism, Academic Press, New York. Appel, R Muysken, P 2005, Language contact and bilingualism, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam. Baker, C 2001, Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism, Multilingual Matters Limited, Clevedon. Battro A 2004, ‘Four digital skills, globalization, and education,’ in Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium, eds. Suà ¡rez-Orozco M Baolian Qin-Hilliard D. University of California Press, Berkeley. Bialystok, E 2001, Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Brown R Hanlon C 1970, ‘Derivational complexity and order of acquisition in child speech’, In JR Hayes, ed. Cognition and the Development of Language, Wiley, New York. Bruhl, L 1928, The soul of the primitive, George Allen Unwin Ltd, London. Carrell, P Monroe, L 1993, ‘Learning styles and composition’, The Modern Language Journal, vol. 77, no. 2, pp. 148-162. Clark, JB 2010, Multilingualism, citizenship and identity: Voices of youth and symbolic investments in an urban, globalized world, Continuum International Publishing, London. Clarkson, PC 1992, ‘Language and mathematics: A comparison of bilingual and monolingual students of mathematics’, Educational Studies in Mathematics, vol. 23, pp. 417â €”429. Cummins, J 1980, ‘The entry and exit fallacy in bilingual education’, NABE Journal, vol.4, no. 3, pp. 25-59. De Groot A Kroll JF 1997, Tutorials in bilingualism: Psycholinguistic perspectives, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah. De Mejia, AM 2002, Power, prestige, and bilingualism: International perspectives on elite bilingual education, Multilingual Matters Limited, Clevedon. Dà ¶rnyei, Z 1998, ‘Motivation in second and foreign language learning’, Language Teaching, vol. 31, pp. 117-135. Gardner, R 2002, ‘Social psychological perspective on second language acquisition,’ in The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics, ed. Kaplan, R. Oxford University Press, New York. Hamers, J Blanc, M 1991, Bilinguality and bilingualism, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Hymes, D 1996, Ethnography, linguistics, narrative inequality: Toward an understanding of voice,Taylor Francis, London. Isbister J 1996, The immigration debate: Remaking Am erica, Kumarian Press, West Hartford. Lanza, E 1997, Language mixing in infant bilingualism: A sociolinguistic perspective, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Loritz, D 2002, How the brain evolved language, Oxford University Press, New York. Lynn, R Vanhanen, T 2002, IQ and the wealth of nations, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport. MacNamara, J et al. 1968, ‘Language switching in bilinguals as a function of stimulus and response uncertainty’, Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 78, pp. 208-215. Mensh, H Mensh, E 1991, The IQ mythology: Class, race, gender, and inequality, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. O’Grady, W 1997, Syntactic development, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Ohmae, K 2005, Next global Stage: Challenges and opportunities in our borderless world, Wharton School Publishing, Upper Saddle River. Oller, JW Perkins, K 1978, ‘A further comment on language proficiency as a source of variance in certain affective measures’ , Language Learning, vol. 28, pp. 417- 423. Ramirez, AG 1985, Bilingualism through schooling: Cross-cultural education for minority and majority students, State University of New York Press, New York. Skinner, BF 1957, Verbal behavior, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York. Skutnabb-Kangas, T Toukomaa, P 1976, Teaching migrant children mother tongue and learning the language of the host country in the context of the socio-cultural situation of the migrant family, Tukiuksia Research Reports, Tampere. Footnotes Antonio Battro, ‘Four digital skills, globalization, and education,† in Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium, eds. Marcelo Suà ¡rez-Orozco and Desirà ©e Baolian Qin-Hilliard (Berkeley : University of California Press, 2004), 91 Ohmae Kenichi, Next global stage: Challenges and opportunities in our borderless world (Upper Saddle River: Wharton School Publishing, 2005), 5. John Isbister, The immigration debate: Remaking America (West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1996), 1. Robert Gardner, ‘Social psychological perspective on second language acquisition,’ in The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics, ed. Robert Kaplan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 164. Colin Baker, Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Limited, 2001), 163-169. Harry Mensh, and Elaine Mensh, The IQ mythology: Class, race, gender, and inequality (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991), 30. Donald Loritz, How the brain evolved language (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 7. This essay on The Benefits of Being Bilingual in a Global Society was written and submitted by user Rosemary Leach to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The eNotes Blog eNotes Visits UW, Brings Free Coffee and FreePasses

Visits UW, Brings Free Coffee and FreePasses This weekend, our  social media team here at helped sponsor TOSAs Taiwanese Carnival at the University of Washington. We stocked our booth  with five gallons of free coffee, 300+ donuts, boxes of super awesome pencils, fistfuls of   passes, and a  ton of Homework Help advice. We also  set up a drawing for a free Kindle Fire (hey, we love free stuff!). Although Seattles weather  competed against the carnivals promise of music, food, and multicultural fun, we did meet and hang out with some great UW students who braved the rain. Check out pics of the event below. If you would like to bring free stuff to your school or university, leave us a  comment. Well enter you into a contest for a year-long free pass to the site. Office and community manager Brandi Haker (left) and publicity/editorial intern Katie Rounds (right) rocking the booth. coffee cups. Yes, they do make coffee taste better. Who doesnt love neon pencils? Some of the amazing food available at the carnival from other vendors. How much rain does it take to clear a campus? This much. Two happy eNoters who hung out with us. Brandi and Katie doin work (i.e., being charming). End of the day and packing up. Want us to come to your school? Leave a comment!

Pantsers and Plotters Which Are You (And Why It Matters)

Pantsers and Plotters Which Are You (And Why It Matters) Two Types of Writers: Plotters and Pantsers Writing has always been a passion for the UK-based former journalist Amanda Wills, who now works part-time as a police press officer. Her latest book, Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game, was published in December last year, with a cover design courtesy of Reedsy artist Rachel Lawston. In this article, she talks about two types of writers, Plotters and Pantsers, and the pros and cons of both. Plotter or PantserDo you plan your novel to the nth degree before you type a single word, or do you sit at your computer, take a deep breath and fly by the seat of your pants? If the former, you’re a Plotter; if the latter, you’re a Pantser. Plotters plan novels to the nth degree. Pantsers fly by the seat of their pants and just write. We all know there are pros and cons to both. Knowing exactly what’s coming next means that Plotters are less likely to suffer from writer’s block. They also tend to write faster and more efficiently. Pantsers, on the other hand, have the freedom to let their characters take control, which can be both terrifying and exciting at the same time.I should say now that I am your typical Pantser. Don’t get me wrong, I am in awe of writers who spend months plotting scenes on timelines and building detailed biographies for their characters. When I start a book, I know how it begins, and I normally know how it’s going to end. It’s just the bit in the middle that’s, shall we say, fluid. I then spent about a week playing a kind of story jigsaw, rearranging the scenes until Kate’s disappearance became the main plot and the disappearing pets became the sub-plot.This kind of low-tech approach might not be for everyone, but it worked for me. It helped me spot continuity problems and holes in the story. It became blindingly obvious where I needed more action, and where I needed to slow the pace down.And once I had the scenes in the right order it was a pretty straightforward task to reassemble them on my Word document.Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game was released both as a paperback and ebook this past December, nearly three years after I had that first seed of an idea.Do I regret not plotting the book properly in the first place? Probably. I’m sure it would have saved a lot of time. I’ll definitely use the giant word jigsaw approach again. Being able to play with scenes in such a tangible way was immensely useful.Will I spend weeks planning every scene, every plot point, every nuance, every character arc, before I start writing my next book? Probably not. I’m a Pantser by nature. But one thing I have learned is that a little planning goes a long way.So that is exactly what I plan to do. As a writer, I'm a Pantser. But I've learned that a little planning takes  your book  a long way. Flick Henderson and the Deadly Game is available on Amazon in paperback and on Amazon Kindle!Are you a Plotter or a Pantser? Or, like Amanda, have you found a way to straddle both styles of writing? Let us know, and leave any thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Amanda in the comments below.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR (EXAM PREPARATION) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR (EXAM PREPARATION) - Essay Example It generates a complete consumption experience that makes customers engrossed in their shopping endeavor. There are various experiential retailing environments determining consumer behavior; however, in this paper, selected environment is a flagship brand store, specifically, Abercrombie & Fitch corporations. The paper illustrates how a flagship brand store like Abercrombie fit in an experiential environment. As economy and innovation increases, retailers are changing the flagship brand store into innovative criteria like the themed retail brand environments (Kozinets et al. 2002). The paper analyzes Abercrombie & Fitch Corporation as one of the experiential retailing environment. The analysis concerns the approaches the corporation uses to influence consumer behavior. Abercrombie & Fitch Corporation is a themed retail Brand Corporation that creates sexiness as the symbolic dress code for young adults. The young adult customers are lured into Abercrombie & Fitch stores because of the store’s sex attraction (Pahler 2009). It has created a body symbol that promotes and implies erotic and sexual lifestyles. The symbolic meaning of the store coincides with the targeted consumers, young adults’ population, who are attracted by sexy attires. It is a store competent of sustaining the highly challenging fashion customs. However, the store’s implied lifestyle has its ramifica tions. It is seen as too offensive and even unpleasant. However, the store-targeted consumers identify with store’s objective. The store’s culture is shown through the seductive and enticing exhibitions of models in their clothing (Pahler 2009). Because young adults are considerably more suggestible than the older population, the store targets this consumer group with their sexual promotions. The symbolic meaning of Abercrombie and Fitch clothing store is an attraction option for young adults with sex affiliations and great

Database Design & Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Database Design & Development - Essay Example The data which is found in the table columns cannot be repeated. RDBMS are considered to be simple and flexible systems because data in tables is easier to understand. It can be considered flexible because users are not required to use predefined keys to enter data in the system. Users can easily add, create and access data whenever needed (Chaterjee 2005). Enterprise system can be defined as application software package that integrates the data in the organization to support processes, information access and reporting etc. RDBMS can be considered as an enterprise system since they also integrate organization information at one base which is then used for later access or modification. Enterprise systems are usually based on relational database. Both of these packages provide the user with a medium to automate their organizational process and reduce man-hours. RDBMS enables multi-user access to the data just like it is enabled in enterprise system. Main features of RDBMS; It can be defined as a relational model database server, which organizes data at in one centralized point for multi-user access. It ensures consistency and integrity at every instance in its execution. It is equipped with reliable reporting and security mechanisms. SQL is inherently transactional; therefore a transaction will start by an automated mechanism when another transaction completes (Woody 2009). This feature promotes isolation among the execution of transactions so that the execution of each of them is independent of each other. Some of its main features are; The basic type of data storage in SQL Server is a database, which can be considered as a collection of tables. SQL Server provides support for many data types like Integer, Float, and Decimal etc. It also offers the feature of user-defined composite types. There are several other things that are supported in SQL server other than tables; they are views, stored procedures etc (Delaney 2005). The

Hawthornes Motives for Writing the Scarlett Letter Essay Example for Free

Hawthornes Motives for Writing the Scarlett Letter Essay Hawthorne’s motives for writing The Scarlet Letter were to expose corruption in Puritan society, religion, and politics. Hawthorne demonstrates both corruption and hypocrisy in Puritan society as the townspeople and even the Governor wear her embroidery, yet banish her and ostracize her as an outcast and a sinner. The town buys her clothes for an unknown reason; most likely their own curiosity, its beauty, or they just felt sorry for her. This shows the societys inability to follow through with their own punishments. They are willing to ostracize her and banish her, but still buy her embroidery. However much they chose to wear her embroidery on most articles of clothing, they refused to wear her embroidery on wedding veils as they were created by her sinful hands, showing the â€Å"relentless vigor with which society frowned upon her sin† (Hawthorne 76). Religion played a major role in Hawthornes writing, even though he was not a member of any religious organization. The religion mentioned in The Scarlet Letter was Puritanism and in his writing he intended to expose the power the Puritans used to control the church and state. For example, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Roger Williams differed with the colonys leaders on the relationship between church and state. The authorizes in the Bay feared that the foul error emanating from him could spread and corrupt the entire colony. In October 1635, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony banished him (smithsonianmag.com). Due to the fact that Hawthorne was not a part of any organized religion he was able to criticize religions without the fear of repercussion. Hawthorne also wanted to expose the corruption in religion when he wrote The Scarlet Letter. In the Custom House he mentioned that he was a Democrat while the Whigs were in power. Hawthorne also said I had spent three yearsin an unnatural state, doing what was really of no advantage nor delight to any human being (Hawthorne 40). Here he is saying that because he was a Democrat in a Whig society he felt he couldnt speak up and that it was unnatural.

Mans Struggle with His Identity in Steppenwolf :: Hesse Steppenwolf Essays

Man's Struggle with His Identity in Steppenwolf      Ã‚  Ã‚   "The Christian resolve to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and bad." These are the words of Friedrich Nietzsche, among the most influential philosophers of the modern era and one who has exerted an incontrovertible influence on many German authors, including Hermann Hesse. That Hesse should feel drawn to a figure so prominent in the German consciousness is not suprising, that he should do so in spite of the religious zeal of his family seems almost heretical.    No less an influence on Hesse, though, was the groundbreaking psychologist Sigmund Freud, himself also an admirer of Nietzsche, and who "several times said of Nietzsche that he had a more penetrating knowledge of himself than any other man who ever lived or was ever likely to live." This theme, the "knowledge of self," is a recurring one in Hesse's works, and is central to the personal crises he faced in the years after the outbreak of World War I.    Hesse's post-1914 novels reflect his progress through successive self-examinations. Demian, published in 1919, explored his break with conventional morality in a decaying world. Siddhartha, published in 1922, features Hesse's lifelong fascination with Eastern spirituality. It was his 1927 novel, Steppenwolf, which first attained a complete break with the past while retaining an overtly autobiographical flavor amidst otherwise total abstraction.    It is Steppenwolf's break from the past which distinguishes it from the styles of two of Hesse's most prominent contemporaries: Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka. While Mann and Kafka are themselves dissimilar, their novels are characteristic of the novel as a form: as totality. Mann's novels are intricately detailed and firmly situated within their historical contexts. Further, we are intimately familiar with the characters, with their backgrounds, their tastes, their values, and their fates. And while Kafka's novels are heavily symbolic, we are nevertheless presented with a total worldview, a worldview we can consider in all its irony and terror. Moreover, we can identify completely with the characters, who are really only reflections of ourselves, struggling for definition amidst ambiguity.    Hesse's Steppenwolf, conversely, is quintessentially fragmentary. We know little of Harry Haller beyond that which is immediately apparent from the text. We are as the nephew in whose aunt's boarding house Haller resides. We are also unable to identify the historical setting for the novel without referring to Hesse's own life.

Essay Writing for Ipad and Computer Contrast

The rivalry between Ipad and PC users is well-documented and increasingly complicated. Each time a new gadget enters the marketplace, consumers have more decisions to make about how they want to check email, watch movies, download music, and surf the web. But outside the typical debate, what should an end user consider when deciding between an iPad and a laptop PC? At one time, the laptop was the height of portability, offering a slim, lightweight device that could be slipped into a bag or carrying case. The iPad, however, is only a little more than one and a half pounds, and is easily transported regardless of what you decide to carry it in.Furthermore, the iPad is easier to operate in awkward positions, such as on the subway or in the car. The downside is the smaller screen size, which might be an issue when editing photos or playing games. It is important to realize that the iPad and the laptop PC were designed for separate functions. While some of the applications overlap, this i s usually the deciding point for consumers. If you are interested primarily in social media, ebooks, and other content consumption, an iPad is more than adequate. However, those who spend a lot of time typing or designing might prefer a laptop PC.The applications available for the laptop are far more comprehensive. You can buy a mouse and keyboard for use with the iPad, but that costs extra money and reduces the portability benefit. One of the biggest benefits of the iPad is the intuitive, user-friendly. The screen has more pixels and is generally more beautiful to look at than any of the laptop PCs on the market. This can be a huge benefit for consumers and professionals who want to enjoy working on their chosen device. Laptop PCs are notorious for battery life, requiring a charge every three to four hours.An iPad 3, on the other hand, can last up to 10 hours on a charge, which means you won't have to go looking for an outlet as quickly when you're on the go. Most serious gamers st ick with a desktop computer for graphics-intensive games. Lighter fare will operate on a laptop PC, which might be a selling point. Of course, there are thousands of games applications made specifically for the iPad, so it depends on your preferences. Check out the games that most interest you to determine how you might be able to play them on each device.

Juliets Reaction to Romeo Essay

Task: How does Shakespeare present Juliet’s reactions to Romeo in their first two scenes? (1: 5 and 2:2) Juliet falls in love with Romeo from the first meeting. In the first meeting Romeo doesn’t approach Juliet with words of love but words about religion and pilgrims. Romeo assures Juliet that he will love and respect her whatever happens. Although Juliet takes it slow and dominants the pace she still falls in love with him. Their first meeting is set up in a Sonnet form. This is a fourteen line poem. The sonnet is divided to equal parts. Shakespeare does that to show us that Romeo and Juliet communicate amazingly well for a first meeting. Shakespeare also uses the metaphor of a pilgrim to show Romeo’s love to Juliet. Romeo describes himself as a pilgrim going to a holy place, in this case Juliet. Once the pilgrim reaches the place he loves and respects the place just like Romeo intends to do with Juliet. Just after they fell in love they found out who each one is and understand the problem that this relationship is going to cause. The second meeting is a lot different then the first one. Romeo gets his way to the garden under Juliet’s balcony and hears her Soliloquy. Juliet is talking about the problem of Romeo being a Montague and asks herself: â€Å"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? After a while Romeo comes out his hide. Juliet is very surprised yet scared that Romeo is in the Capulet mansion. She asks him how did he get there and why did he get there. Romeos answers don’t make much sense. For example: â€Å"With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls† almost as If he is drunk. Juliet is much more practical and she tells him he is in a great danger if they find him and that he will be killed. Although Juliet is very down to earth she also expresses her love to him by saying: â€Å"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love is as deep; the more I give to thee the more I have†. She also assures for his love as she wants to see it’s not only one sided. After she points out the danger she says to him that tomorrow she is going to have someone sent to him and he has to decide if he wants to get married or not. This also shows practicality as she basically says I want to see that you Romeos is serious about this relationship.

olmstead essays

olmstead essays Every common working citizen in our nation has a set routine they go through every day, Monday through Friday. Usually in involves getting up around 5:00-8:00 a.m. every morning, fighting the same traffic every morning on the way to work, working for eight hours on basically the same job over and over again, gaingin more and more stress as the day goes on, inturn building our stress levels. Then we clock out, go home and try not to let the misurable day we had at work get us down. We need a balance, or harmony in our lives to keep us going back to work every day and putting up with the life of the city. I beleive we need a down time, or just a time to relax and think. We have places in our communities such as museums, cinemas, health clubs, libraries, etc. to help us achieve that balance. Unfortunately, these places are themselves in and amung the big buildings and busy city. We need a place for us to be able to just step out of character, so to speak, and look at where our l ife is going. I believe the places that provide us with the essential balance in our lives is city parks. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, our cities have become a huge collection of large buildings, even bigger factories, and of course the millions of people packed into these factories and buildings. Large American cities have just become an enormous disguisting ball of stress, metal and concrete. Our cities needed parks for, if nothing else, just simply scenery diversity and urban beauty. The parks break up the buildings and provide the city with a healthy, balanced, and cultivated look. Beyond the purpose of landscaping art, city parks controdict our hecktic work lives with a peaceful, beatutiful, and natural appeal. City parks are also an example of a compromising relationship between urbanism and nature. Since the beginning of European settlements here in America, its citizens have had an agrarian orientation. This agrarian mind set le...

Ways to Spend Your Summer Vacation Productively

Ways to Spend Your Summer Vacation Productively Ah, the summer. You seem to have waited for it forever, right? Finally, theres enough time to watch your favorite shows, go to the beaches, party basically, relax in all the possible ways. Surprisingly, even these activities can turn into routine and bore you to tears. Weve come up with a list of suggestions to add some work to your play. Not only will they help you achieve something during those dog days, but youll also preserve the charm of thoughtless laying on the beach or indulging yourself to another episode of that TV-series. Ready to have fun and challenge yourself a bit? Lets get started then! Learn to Cook or explore new exciting recipes. In case youre not a rookie in the cooking world, you have the whole lot of opportunities to explore. Surprise your family and friends with your masterpieces! If you dont know how to cook at all – go for it. Its an awesome way to get fitter, healthier and more creative at the same time. Get Musical Playing a musical instrument is a powerful tool of self-development. It engages your brain in a completely different way, makes you enhance motor skills, trains your ability to concentrate and does miracles to your creativity. Learn to Code HTML, Python or Java – learning at least basics of these is becoming a real necessity nowadays. If youre not particularly technically savvy – think of it as a challenge to your mind and at least give it a try. Teach Yourself a New Language †¦or get your environment do this. The times when mastering a language was possible only after hours of heavy staring into the textbooks are now far gone. Start small: switch the language settings on Facebook or watch your favorite TV-show with a foreign sound-track. Apply for an Internship Participating in an internship program has a number of positive sides to it: you get hands-on experience at a real workplace, build new connections and may even kick-start your soaring career. Theres plenty of ways to find a perfectly suitable internship: from talking to a career counsellor to consulting one of online resources. Start a Blog in case you havent got one yet. Its a great platform for self-expression and even for learning to make money online. If you do have one – update it regularly and document your summer. Do Volunteer Work Helping others makes you a better person. Whether you feel the need to improve your karma or simply want to learn more about life – volunteer work is a sure way to fulfill these purposes. Choose the one that matches your interests and go make your contribution. Get a Part-Time Job Job will surely take up lots of your time. Despite that, it is quite a rewarding experience. Meeting new people, trying yourself in a new role and getting paid, of course – thats just the top of an iceberg. Just do your best to pick something you really like. Enter Online Courses There are so many spheres of life were completely ignorant about! Luckily, theres a plenty of online courses to change the situation. Choose the subject youre particularly interested in and let the knowledge capture you. Do Couch Surfing Travel enriches you mind. Couch surfing lets you gain plenty of experience without wasting tons of money for it. In addition to saving yourself trouble of booking and pre-paying the hotels you get a chance to get to know local culture better via communication with the hosts. Find the Joy of Reading Instead of reading with purely educational purpose, in summer you can actually do it for fun. Choose the book youve chosen a while ago and read to your hearts content. In case you arent quite sure what to choose, check out the hottest reading list for summer or visit Goodreads and What Should I Read Next to make up your mind. Meditate Summer is a great opportunity to restore your energy supplies and refill the reservoir of your inner strength. Meditation will be of a great help here. With all the classes gone, youll definitely have more time for it. Dive Into Culture Being a student you get plenty of discounts to visit museums, galleries and other places, soaked in beauty and culture. Check out the opportunities in your area and start the quest for the art: the experience might be not just educating but also fun! Opt for Documentaries Think of the time youve spent binge-watching all the TV-shows. Imagine how much you could have learnt, if you watched documentaries instead? Why not try doing so? â€Å"No Fast Food† Weeks Thats a tough, though beneficial one. Set yourself a goal and stay out of the fast food restaurants. Youre sure to get healthier and more creative with your nutrition choices. Your body will be grateful for a change! Start a Fitness Challenge With the abundance of fitness channels on YouTube and inspiration accounts on Instagram, everyone will find something to their likings. Be persistent, dont give up and prepare to be proud: youll get fitter, slimmer and more disciplined. Whats not to like, right? Go On a Bicycle Tour Bicycle tours have plenty of advantages: thats the greenest way to travel, you get a chance to see more gorgeous places in addition to saving all the money for transport. If you dont have a bike – rent one and enjoy the journey. Start New, Good Habits We have all the powers to shape our personalities. Thats why forming new, useful habits is so exciting: with a bit of motivation and discipline you can carve out a better version of your current self. Clean the Clutter Feel the need to organize your mind? Clean you room then. The less cluttered the space you live in is, the less garbage there is in your head. Start now. The effect is really fascinating. Manage Your Money Do you always know where your money go? With a bit of free time and effort youll become a real personal finance guru. Subscribe to a couple of smart finance blogs or choose one of the digital tools to help you deal with your income and spendings in a more reasonable way. There you go. Feel free to invent your own ways of adding productivity to your summer. Youre the one setting the limits. Have an awesome one!

Diabetic Ketoacidosis v Hyperglycamic Hyperosmolar State Essay

Diabetic Ketoacidosis v Hyperglycamic Hyperosmolar State - Essay Example There are three main types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is formerly known as juvenile diabetes, simply because it is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. Type 2 diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes as it can develop at any age. The failure of the muscles and liver to use insulin properly forces the pancreas to produce more insulin until such time that it can no longer cope with the demand and lose its ability to secrete insulin. Gestational diabetes is the kind that is associated with a woman’s pregnancy (â€Å"Diagnosis of Diabetes†). Insulin deficiency may also cause the buildup of an acid known as ketone in the blood. Ketoacidosis, or having high levels of ketone in the blood, can poison the body as it disrupts the chemical balance in the blood and may lead to a diabetic coma or even death. It passes up in the urine and is the warning sign that insulin levels are very low and that ketone levels are high. It is most commonly found in people with type 1 diabetes. Some of the symptoms include: dry mouth, frequent urination, hyperglycemia, constant feeling of tiredness, dry/flushed skin, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, difficulty in breathing, fruity odor on breath and confusion. While the common cold or flu can bring about ketoacidosis, some other causes may be insufficient insulin in the body which would lead to the breaking down of fats for energy, insufficient food intake, and low blood glucose (â€Å"Ketoacidosis†). Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic nonketotic coma (HHNC) is a condition that is more commonly found in Type 2 diabetes patients. It is characterized by decreased consciousness, extreme dehydration, and extremely high blood glucose levels, which is not accompanied by ketoacidosis (â€Å"Diabetic Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar

Memo revision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Memo revision - Essay Example The parking here at DataTech is free unless you do not follow the parking guidelines. While we do not like resorting to these measures, when you do not follow the parking guidelines, we have to ticket you. However, since you are not following the policies, we have decided that it was time to send this reminder to make sure that you were aware of these policies in the future. Day-shift employees should park in Lots A and B in their assigned spaces. Employees that do not register their cars will be ticketed. Everyone must display the white parking stickers on the bumper of their cars. Also remember that it is a MAJOR violation if you park at the curb before 3:30 p.m. That area is reserved for visitors and swing-shift employees, who do not have assigned parking spaces. Please park in assigned spaces only. Swing-shift employees may park in any empty space after 3:30 p.m. They have the option to park at the curb before 3:30 p.m. if no spaces are available. However, please do not park in curb spaces marked for handicapped, van pool, or car pool vehicles. All employees must register their cars and display a parking sticker. These white registration stickers should be placed on your back bumper on the driver's side of the vehicle. You may pick them up in the Human Resources Division from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. To make it more convenient for you, they will be in the cafeteria on September 10th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3 to 5 p.m. We are trying our best not to issue tickets. You can help by following these suggestions, which can benefit everyone.

What caused Weimar German to suffer such extreme economic dislocations Essay

What caused Weimar German to suffer such extreme economic dislocations - Essay Example In an examination of the timeline and developments during the Weimar Republic, it is easy to understand how the failure of the democratic experiment in Germany at this time did not sum up the state’s capacity to govern itself under such a pluralist system. Much of it has to do with the economic collapse that has single-handedly torn down all the institutions and factors that have held the democratic system together. This paper will investigate what led to the Weimar Republic’s economic collapse. In the process, it is expected that such examination would help to better understand the regime and its significance in the development of the German state afterwards. The Weimar Republic certainly was doomed to ill-fate from the moment of its inception because it was associated with the country’s humiliating defeat during World War I. According to a scholar, the turbulence of the post-War situation and the fragility of the political climate contributed to the weak government: Stable democratic government was in jeopardy throughout the life of the Weimar Republic. The country was governed by unpopular minority cabinets, by internally weak Grand Coalitions, or finally, by extra-parliamentary authoritarian Presidential Cabinets.1 An interesting insight was offered by Van Mises (2008) in his analysis of the Weimar’s collapse, he posits that democracy was not attune to Germany’s needs and interests as a country, at least during the regime’s period. He argued that democracy is adequate to smaller countries, whose independence is safeguarded by the mutual rivalries of the great powers, or, to nations like England and the United States, which are sheltered by their geographical locations. Van Mises stressed that Germany do not enjoy these advantages: Germany is surrounded by hostile nations; it stands alone in the world; its borders are not protected by natural barriers; its security is founded on its army†¦ It would be

Carboxymethyl Cellulose On Blends Of Polyvinyl Alcohol Environmental Sciences Essay

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