The Al Qaeda Manual Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Al Qaeda Manual - Essay Example The manual demonstrates that Al Qaeda is more than just a religious militant terrorist group set on destroying western interests and attacking western values, it also highlights the difficult task that law enforcement is faced with in the modern war on terror. There is little doubt that the Al Qaeda manual asks its followers to be specifically anti-Western and anti-US. The manual proclaims that "Colonialism and its followers, the apostate rulers, then started to openly erect crusader centers, societies, and organizations like Masonic Lodges, Lions and Rotary clubs, and foreign schools" (Al Qaeda Manual, n.d., p.8). These are the symbols that they perceive as American. The manual further radicalizes its readers by tying these activities to religion. "The bitter situation that the nation has reached is a result of its divergence from Allah's course and his righteous law for all places and times" (Al Qaeda Manual, n.d., p.9). By casting the Western symbols as anti-Islamic they are able to exploit the centuries old religious fears and furors that have historically pitted Islam against Christianity. 1 Along with being an extremist religious organization, the manual indoctrinates the reader to the military arm of Al Qaeda. The document professes its need for illegal documents and counterfeit currency. These resources are then to be used to commit violence against the US and their interests anywhere around the world. There is no doubt about their propensity for violence when the state that their goals are "Kidnaping enemy personnel, assassinating enemy personnel as well as foreign tourists, blasting and destroying the places of amusement, the embassies and attacking vital economic centers, [and] bridges leading into and out of the cities" (Al Qaeda Manual, n.d., p.13). The manual is also quite detailed in the requirements for forged documents. It explains what type of documents are needed, how many to possess, and requires that members' documents have a picture without a beard (Al Qaeda Manual, n.d., p.23). While this non-dated document may be more difficult to implement in today 's world of heightened security, it demonstrates their organizational commitment to doing anything necessary to subvert US interests around the world. 2 There is the question as to whether or not the possession of this document could identify someone as a terrorist and subject them to arrest under the current US Law. The professing of violence against specific targets, advocating illegal activity, and the ties to an organization labeled by the State Department as a terrorist group, would place the person who posses this document at some risk of being suspected of being a terrorist. This brings into question whether I will be at risk since I have downloaded a copy to my computer and I do not have the technology to eradicate it from the disc drive. While I would like to think that justice would win out and an explanation of "used for academic purposes" would be enough, the headlines are full of the innocent people who are still in obscure prisons for terrorist activities. This could be further complicated if I was an Islamic student that was studying in America. This manual not only illustrates the depth of commitment that Al Qaeda h as to its goals, it also shows the difficulty that law enforcement has in regards to its ability to evaluate motivation, intent, and

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

Marketing - Research Paper Example Global challenge 1 One of the challenges that an organization is most likely to face in developing and launching its products in the international market is its management efficiency with respect to the production process. This challenge was particularly identified in the development of Hexopater. Management of the production process of a product, whether a locally marketed product or one that targets the international market, has many impacts on the quality of the product to be produced as well as the reliability in the continuous flow of the product into its market. An effective management of a production process begins with development of aims of the production as well as the features of the product, a stage that is crucial and defines the destiny of the product. Inability to develop focused goals that can yield a successful production as well as failure to identify captivating features that will attract customers therefore forms a significant challenge to product launch in the gl obal market. This is because a challenged set of development goals, coupled with poor specification may lead to poor standards that may not be acceptable for clearance across borders (Kumar and Addie, 2006). ... This is because the human resource competence level is reflected in the production process, quality and the image that consumers and even regulatory bodies develop over a product. The overall plan of the production process as well as sales initiatives also determines the extent of challenges that a product can experience in penetrating an international market. Management of the production process is therefore a significant challenge in any product development as it applied to Hexopater (Kumar and Addie, 2006). Global challenge 2 Another challenge facing development of products in global markets is the level of regulations that are instituted by different territories. Though most regulatory measures are meant to check on safety of products to be allowed from other economies, some regulatory measures are done on economic grounds. The impact however remains the same, that regulations undermines the ability to develop and market a product in the international market. An example of such r egulation is the European union’s move to regulate â€Å"tissue related products† (Dodin, 2010, p. 1). This particular regulatory initiative was meant to harmonize laws in the region and to ensure that the developments in scientific processes are monitored and regulated effectively. While the regulations ensured common application of rules in the region, it influenced original regulations in each countries in either way. It either lowered standards for the countries that were highly regulated and raised standards for countries that were poorly regulated. The greatest challenge to new product development in the region would therefore be significant in the countries that were previously less strictly regulated. A firm

Formulation and Characterization of Microemulsion System

Formulation and Characterization of Microemulsion System Abstract Formulation of a new oil-in-water (o/w) microemulsion composed of Castor oil/Tween 80/Ethanol/Phosphate buffer for enhancing the loading capacity of an anti-inflammatory drug piroxicam has been accomplished. The pseudo-ternary phase diagram has been delineated at constant surfactant/cosurfactant ratio (1:2). The internal structure of so created four-component system was elucidated by means of an analysis of isotropic area magnitudes in the phase diagram. Conductivity (?), kinematic viscosity (kh) and surface tension (g) studies with the variation in ?w (weight fraction of aqueous phase) show the occurrence of structural changes from water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsion to oil-in-water (o/w). Along with the solubility and partition studies of piroxicam in microemulsion components, the changes in the microstructure of the microemulsion after incorporation of drug have been evaluated using pH, ?, g, kh and density studies. Piroxicam, a poorly water soluble drug, displayed high solubility (1 .0%) in an optimum microemulsion formulation using Ethanol (55.0%), Tween 80 (26.5%), Castor oil (7.5%), and Phosphate buffer (11.0%). The results have shown that the microemulsion remained stable after the incorporation of piroxicam. Fluorescence spectra analysis taking pyrene as fluorescent probe was performed and the results showed that pyrene was completely solubilized in the oil phases of the bicontinuous microemulsions. The fluorescence spectrum of model drug piroxicam was used to probe the intramicellar region of nonionic microemulsion. The results showed that the piroxicam was localized in the interfacial film of microemulsion systems more deeply in the palisade layer with ethanol as the co-surfactant. Keywords: Microemulsion; Piroxicam; Isotropic area; Spectroscopy; Structural changes Introduction Piroxicam is a non-steroid anti-inflammatory compound with analgesic and antipyretic effects, used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and traumatic contusions. However, it has been associated with gastrointestinal side effects. It is possible to minimize these problems by developing drug carriers to prevent the direct contact of drug with gastric mucosal or that allow the topical administration of drug (1, 2). Microemulsions are optically isotropic, transparent and thermodynamically stable homogeneous solutions of oil and water, stabilized by addition of a surfactant and usually a cosurfactant (3, 4). These structures have been considerably investigated as drug delivery and carrier system for a wide range of drugs including analgesics and anti-inflammatory and also used to dissolve lipophilic drugs in aqueous medium or hydrophilic drugs in lipophilic medium (4, 5). Oil in water microemulsions have been described as a reservoir system that can inhibit drug release, increasing the topical effect (6). Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the advantages of microemulsion or the transdermal delivery of drugs (7). First, a large amount of drug can be incorporated in the formulation due to the high solubilizing capacity, with increased thermodynamic activity towards the skin. Second, the permeation rate of a drug from microemulsion may be increased, since the affinity of the drug to th e internal phase in microemulsion can be easily modified, to favor partitioning, using different internal phases and changing the composition of the microemulsion. Third, the surfactant and cosurfactant used in the microemulsion may reduce the various diffusional barrier by acting as penetration enhancers (8, 9). For the selection of components of a biocompatible microemulsion system, the use of non-ionic surfactants has been widely accepted, since these are compatible and retain its utility over a broad range of pH values and may affect the skin barrier function (10-12). Microemulsion comprises different structures (water-in-oil (w/o), oil-in-water (o/w) and bicontinuous) and these help in releasing the drug (13, 14). It is necessary to characterize the microstructure of pure and drug-loaded microemulsion. The changes in the internal structure of a microemulsion can be monitored by analyzing conductivity, viscosity, density, surface tension and the fluorescence probe studies, etc. (15-17). The incorporated drug may or may not influence the microstructure. o/w and w/o microemulsions may show different behavior for the release of both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs. In the present work, an attempt has been made to construct a microemulsion system, for poorly water soluble non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug piroxicam, comprising castor oil, a non-ionic surfactant Tween 80, a short chain alkanol cosurfactant (ethanol) and phosphate buffer (PB) pH 7.4. The pseudo-ternary phase diagram has been constructed for the chosen system at a constant surfactant:cosurfactant ratio (1:2). The reason for the selection of the particular oil chosen was that the castor oil has a hydroxyl group in addition to unsaturation, making it more polar. Ricinoleic acid is the main component of castor oil and it exerts anti-inflammatory effects (18). Polyoxyethylene fatty acid, stearic acid, oleic acid are used in emulsifiers in oil/water type creams and lotions. Conductivity, viscosity, surface tension and the fluorescence behavior of the pyrene is employed to investigate the gradual changes occurring in the microstructure of microemulsion. Pyrene is popular fluorescent probe which is used to study the microheterogeneous media. The fluorescence spectrum of Pyrene was used to sense the micropolarity of the o/w microemulsion. In this study, it is analyzed that how stability, optical texture and microstructure of microemulsion formulation, is influenced by piroxicam. To improve the solubility of piroxicam, an effort has been made to develop an optimum o/w microemulsion. It is therefore expected that the use of microemulsion formulation may enhance the solubility of piroxicam and prevent its degradation. Materials and Methods Materials Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate), absolute ethanol (99.8 ? %) and castor oil were purchased from Fluka. Pyrene (98 %) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Piroxicam was generously provided by Amson Vaccines Pharma (PVT) Ltd and used without further purification. Phosphate buffer (0.01 M, pH 7.4) was used as the hydrophilic phase. Buffers were prepared using NaH2PO4/Na2HPO4. 0.1M NaOH and HCl were used to maintain the pH of the solution. Methods Microemulsion Preparation The pseudo-ternary phase diagram was mapped (as shown in Fig. 1) using oil (castor oil), surfactant (Tween 80; HLB = 15), cosurfactant (ethanol) and aqueous phase PB (pH 7.4) at 25 ±0.01 ?C with constant surfactant:cosurfactant mass ratio (1:2). The temperature was kept at 25 ±0.01 ?C and was maintained by a Lauda M-20 thermostat. Castor oil was first mixed with Tween 80/ethanol mixture; PB was then added to obtain the desired microemulsion compositions. Transparent, single-phase mixtures were designated as microemulsions. All the samples were stable for over 10 months, remaining clear and transparent. Drug incorporation in Microemulsion Eight microemulsions differing from each other by Fw, were selected from the single-phase region of phase diagram (Fig. 2) with compositions mentioned in table I, to study their potential as drug delivery system. All of them show stability over 10 months and remain clear and transparent. Piroxicam was dissolved into the pre-weight oil component of the system at a concentration of 1% (w/w) under stirring followed by addition of remaining components. Microemulsion Characterization Optical Transparency The homogeneity and optical isotropy of pure and drug loaded microemulsions were examined by a Polarimeter (ATAGO, AP-100 Automatic Polarimeter) and visual examination at room temperature. Centrifugation Thermodynamic stability of pure and drug-loaded microemulsions was tested by carrying out centrifugation at 5500 rpm for 20 min using (Hermle Z200) centrifuge. Surface Tension Surface Tension measurements were made at 25  ±0.010C under atmospheric pressure by Torsion Balance (White Elec. Inst. Co. Ltd.) equipped with a ring having circumference of 4.0 cm. The experimental error was about  ±0.05 mNm-1. Density and Specific Gravity Densities and Specific Gravity of pure and drug loaded microemulsions were measured by making use of an Anton Paar (Model DMA 5000) density meter at 25  ±0.01 ?C. The density meter was calibrated before and after each set of density measurement using the density of air and pure water. Refractive Index The refractive indices of the formulations were determined using a refractometer (ATAGO, RX-5000) by placing 1 drop of solution on the slide. pH The apparent pH of all the selected microemulsions and the drug loaded microemulsion was determined using a pH Meter (WTW 82362 Weilheim) fitted with a pH electrode (WTW A061414035). The temperature was maintained at 25 ±0.01 ?C by a Lauda M-20 thermostat. Conductivity Measurements The effect of the amount of water phase of microemulsion was monitored quantitatively by measuring the electrical conductivity. The electric conductivity (?) was measured by means of a Microprocessor Conductivity Meter (WTW 82362 Weilheim) fitted with an electrode (WTW 06140418) having a cell constant of 1.0 cm-1. The temperature was kept at 25 ±0.01 ?C and was maintained by a Lauda M-20 thermostat. Conductivity measurements were carried out by titration of oil and surfactant/cosurfactant mixture with buffer (along the dilution line AB in Fig. 1). Further the conductivity of selected and drug loaded microemulsions was also measured. The error limit of conductance measurements was  ±0.02 ?scm-1. Viscosity Measurements Viscosities were measured with calibrated Ubbelhode viscometer at 25 ±0.1 ?C. For each measurement, the viscometer was washed, rinsed and vacuum dried. To follow the viscous behavior of the microemulsions, flow time was measured for all the selected and drug-loaded microemulsions (1 wt% drug). The error limit of viscosities measurements was  ±3%. Absorption and Steady-State Emission Measurements The absorption and steady-state fluorescence spectra were recorded using a Perkin Elmer Lambda 20 spectrophotometer and a Perkin Elmer LS 55 luminescence spectrometer, respectively, both with an external temperature controlled cell holder at a temperature of 25.0 ±0.1 °C. The fluorescence emission spectrum of pyrene (excitation at 340 nm) was used to obtain the ratio of intensities of the first to the third vibronic peaks (I1/I3). Good resolution of the bands was obtained at the slit width (ex. 5.0nm, em. 5.0 nm). The scan range used was from 350-500 nm. The Photo Multiplier tube voltage was kept at 665V. The concentration of pyrene was 1.0 ?M. The intensities for I1 and I3 are taken at 373 and 384 nm, respectively. The fluorescence emission spectrum of piroxicam at ?exc 370 nm was obtained where the emission and excitation slits were fixed at. 7.0 nm. The scan range used was from 390-650 nm. The concentration of piroxicam was 10.0 ?M. To quantify the solubilization of piroxicam in micellar media of Tween 80-Ethanol system, differential absorbance measurements were made in such a way that drug (piroxicam) solution of a particular concentration (1.0-10-5M) was kept on reference side and the Tween 80-Ethanol-Piroxicam solution on the sample side in the spectrophotometer. Partition Coefficients Oil/buffer partition coefficient was determined by dissolving 20 mg piroxicam in 2ml Castor Oil. Buffer was added in 1:1 ratio (v/v). The mixture was shaken for 10 min and centrifuged for 2 hours. The two layers were separated and the content of piroxicam in aqueous layer (PB) was assayed by UV-Visible spectrophotometer at 371 nm. The final content of drug in the lipophilic phase was calculated by subtracting the content of piroxicam in aqueous phase from initial loaded content of drug in the lipophilic phase. Further, the effect of presence of Tween 80 and ethanol on the partition of piroxicam in oil/buffer was studied by adding 5% (w/v) of each Tween 80 and ethanol. Results and Discussion In the present system, microemulsion was prepared using Castor oil (fatty acid), which induces highly permeable pathways in the stratum corneum (18-20). Tween-80 is a widely accepted non-ionic surfactant, used in many pharmaceutical formulations (21-23). The cosurfactant (ethanol) is used to study the one phase microemulsion region. The presence of alcohol overcomes the need for any additional input of energy. These properties make the components useful as vehicles for drug delivery (24-26). In the absence of aqueous phase, a solution-like oily phase consisting only of surfactant, oil, and ethanol exists. Ethanol interacts with the ethoxylated head groups of the Tween 80 by hydrogen bonding and affects its critical packing parameter (CPP). When water is progressively added to the concentrate it facilitates the organization of the hydrated head groups of the surfactant into a polar core while the fatty acid tails are immersed in the oil continuous phase. The ethanol suppresses formation of lyotropic liquid crystals. Any free aqueous phase is entrapped in the microstructures. Thus, w/o microstructures are formed. Upon further dilution, the reversed nanostructures grow and convert into a bicontinuous phase and finally invert into o/w microstructures without phase separation. Phase Studies Fig. 1 shows the pseudo-ternary phase diagram and area of existence of microemulsion for Tween-80/ethanol/castor oil/phosphate buffer. Microemulsion in the present study formed spontaneously at ambient temperature when their components were brought in contact. Phase behavior investigations of this system demonstrated the suitable approach of determining the water phase, oil phase, surfactant concentration, and cosurfactant concentration with which the transparent, 1-phase low-viscous microemulsion system was formed. The phase behavior, as shown by figure 1, manifests a two-phase region, a three-phase region and a large single-phase region which gradually and continuously transformed from buffer rich side of binary solution (buffer/surfactant micellar phase) of pseudo-ternary phase diagram towards the oil rich region. This stresses a continuous transition from a water rich compositions to oil swollen micelles. The phase study revealed that the maximum proportion of oil was incorporated in microemulsion systems when the surfactant-to-cosurfactant ratio was 1:2. From a formulation viewpoint, the increased oil content in microemulsions may provide a greater opportunity for the solubilization of piroxicam. Eight microemulsions (1-8) were selected from the single-phase isotropic region (Fig. 2), with compositions mentioned in table I. Selected Microemulsion (ME) was further analyzed by conductivity, viscosity, density, surface tension, refractive index and pH. The values of measured parameters have been presented in table II. Conductivity Measurements Conductometry is a useful tool to assess microemulsion structure. Conductivity studies have explained the existence of a characteristic zone with an isotropic microemulsion domain in a continuum. Determination of electric conductivity (s) as a function of weight fraction of aqueous component Fw (% wt) for the oil, surfactant/cosurfactant mixture along the dilution line AB (shown in Fig. 2) has been carried out. The results of variation of s vs Fw (% wt) are shown in Fig. 3 (a). The behavior exhibits profile characteristic of percolative conductivity (27-29). The conductivity is initially low in an oil-surfactant mixture but increases with increase in aqueous phase. As the volume fraction of water increases, the electrical conductivity of the system slightly increases as well, until the critical Fw is reached. At this stage, a sudden increase in conductivity is observed. This phenomenon is known as percolation, and the critical Fw at which it occurs is known as percolation threshold Fp (27). The value of conductivity below Fp suggests that the reverse droplets are discrete (forming w/o microemulsion) and have little interaction. Above Fp the value of s increases linearly and steeply till it touches the value of Kb. The interaction between the aqueous domains becomes progressively more important and forms a network of conductive channel (bicontinuous microemulsion) (30). Rapid increase in conductivity beyond the percolation threshold (Fp ? 6%) up to approximate value of 20% of Fw indicates the existence of network of conductive channels, which corresponds to the formation of water cylinders or channels in an oil phase due to the attractive interactions between the spherical micro-droplets of water phase in the w/o microemulsion. Increasing water content above Fb (Fw > 20%), the s shows a dip in the measured values which may be due to strong attractive forces as system becomes more viscous (16, 30).Fig. 3 (b) depicts the variation of log s vs weight fraction of water (Fw). The change in the slope of log s can be attributed to the structural transition to bicontinuous from w/o (23), nearly at Fw = 6%. The transition takes place once the aqueous phase becomes continuous phase i.e. at Fb. This is in line with the observation made in phase study. Figure 3(a) illustrates occurrence of three different structures (namely w/o, bicontinuous, o/w). The conductivity of the microemulsions containing more than 20 wt% water decreased significantly, probably due to the higher viscosity. The percolation threshold can be determined from the plot (ds/dFw), as a function of the water weight fraction, Fw (% wt) (30). A maximum in the first derivative of conductance Fw at ~12wt % water is observed (Fig. 4) confirming the presence of percolation behavior (bicontinuous microstructure) in this region (31). The electric conductivity of pure selected and drug loaded microemulsion (1.0%) is given in table II. A comparison of two systems shows that drug incorporation does not affect the microstructure of the microemulsion. Viscosity Measurements To avoid the ambiguity of non-Newtonian flow behavior of microemulsion the flow time has been used as an index of viscosity (32). Flow time of oil, surfactant/cosurfactant mixture along the dilution line AB (shown in Fig. 2), was measured as a function of weight fraction of water Fw (wt %) and is shown in Fig. 5. Similar trend has been observed for the viscosity of oil, surfactant/cosurfactant mixture as a function of Fw (Fig. 6). The rapid change in the viscosity is probably due to the change in the microstructure of the microemulsion. The change in the internal structure could be due to either the change in the shape of droplets or may be due to the transition from w/o to bicontinuous microemulsion. It is well known that increase of volume fraction of dispersed phase in microemulsion increases viscosity of the system (33). For the system studied viscosity increases with increase in Fw (wt% of aqueous phase). Difference in the viscosities is more profound for lower water content values in comparison to the dilute system. The microemulsion system is turning to be more viscous with addition of water and thus may help in the slow diffusing of drug at infinite dilution. The microemulsion system thus, shows a structural change from oil continuous system to water continuous, which has higher viscosities than the former (34). The plots of hk (kinematic viscosity), d2?/d2Fw and 1/? d?/dFw versus Fw reflect that the transition occurs at ~11% weight fraction of aqueous phase (Fig. 6). The transition point of surface tension, conductivity and viscosity plots coincides well at ~11% weight fraction of aqueous phase and confirms the presence of percolative behavior. Surface Tension The surface tension increases linearly over the same range of water content (Fig. 7), but two breaks (at ~7.0 and ~20 wt% water) suggest that structure changes occur at these compositions. The surface tension measurements showed increment, when measured as a function of weight fraction of aqueous component, except for the ~12% weight fraction where the value suddenly decreased and thereafter a regular increase was observed. This low surface tension value showed the presence of bicontinuous microemulsion between oil and water rich system, which is because of presence of self-assembled organize microstructure in it (14, 35). The results coincide well with the electric conductivity and viscosity measurements. It can be assumed that the added alcohol (ethanol) is incorporated in the interfacial structure in such a way that more water is on the outside of the oil drops, causing the increase in surface tension. Incorporation of drug showed a negligible change in the surface tension measure ments, therefore indicting the possibility of piroxicam molecules into the palisade layer on the inner side of microemulsion. Fluorescence Measurements In the case of oil-in-water microemulsions, the steady-state fluorescence technique was successfully applied (36). Fluorescence measurements of the hydrophobic probe mainly depend on the polarity of the medium and hence in bicontinuous microemulsions it is a good indication of the polarity of the microenvironment in the microemulsion structure (37). The fluorescence spectra for pyrene molecule in water, individual oil phase, in alcohols, in ethanol/oil and in all the selected microemulsions are shown in Figure 8. There are four principal vibronic bands in the fluorescence spectrum (Fig. 8a), labeled I to IV. The peak intensity ratio I1/I3 in the steady-state fluorescence spectra is a measurement of the relative polarity of pyrenes environment (17). Since pyrene reactant is substantially more soluble in oil phases, I1/I3 is expected to be lower in these phases (38). In the present work, for oil phase, the I1/I3 value is 0.68. In relatively polar methanol and ethanol media, I1/I3 values were found to be 1.20 and 1.09 respectively. Water is a highly polar solvent; the solubility of pyrene in this solvent is less than 2 ?M. Hence the possibility of formation of excimer leading to I3 signal is extremely low in water. Experimentally I1/I3 value is 1.70 was obtained for this medium. Plot of I1/I3 versus weight fraction of aqueous component composition in microemulsion is shown in Figure 9. The value of I1/I3 varies between 0.85 and 0.91, which is comparable to a change from oil to water (0.68 and 1.70, respectively). The I1/I3 fluorescence ratios of pyrene strongly suggest that this probe resides in microenvironments of polarity much lower (oil phase) than that of water or alcohol (39). The polarities of these microphases are similar to those of cosurfactant/oil mixtures (0.94). The following generalizations may be made regarding the fluorescence probe behavior in bicontinuous microemulsions. The I1/I3 values obtained by fluorescence measurements for all the stable bicontinuous microemulsions are closer to 0.88. These results suggest that pyrene is efficiently segregated from the water phase (40). The I1/I3 values in bicontinuous microemulsions systems are closer to the respective pure oil phase. This is due to complete solubility of pyrene in oil phases of the bicontinuous microemulsions. We conclude that all the microemulsions have separate oil microphases, in which pyrene resides. Fluorescence Behavior of Piroxicam The fluorescence spectra for piroxicam molecule in water, individual oil phases, in surfactant/cosurfactant mixture (1:2) and in the optimum microemulsion system are shown in Figure 10. For oil phase the emission maxima (lem) is 465nm. In S/CoS (1:2) system lem is 451nm. Water is a highly polar solvent; the solubility of piroxicam in this solvent is low than 10 ?M. The lem of piroxicam in water is 442nm. The emission maximum in bicontinuous microemulsion system is (462nm) closer to the respective pure oil phase. The results showed that the piroxicam was localized in the interfacial film of microemulsion systems more deeply in the palisade layer. Partition Coefficient Partition coefficients influence drug transport characteristics which involve drug absorption, retention, distribution and elimination. Since drugs are distributed by the blood, they must penetrate and traverse many cells to reach the site of action. Hence, partition coefficients will determine what tissues a given compound can reach. Oil/buffer Partition Coefficients The partition coefficient (log p) of piroxicam in oil/buffer is 5.03 ±0.20. The presence of ethanol (5% in buffer) does not affect the partition coefficient (data shown in table III) whereas Tween 80 (5% in buffer) reduces the log p. The presence of surfactant reduces the concentration of drug in oil. Thus, solubility and partition studies indicate that piroxicam may be present at interface. The drug is entering into the palisade layer on the inner side of droplet which may help to increase the solubility of piroxicam. The partition coefficients were calculated using equation 1 (41); where A(org) is the absorbance of the organic layer, A(aq) is the absorbance of the aqueous layer, Vf(org) is the final volume of the sample from the organic layer, V(org) is the volume of the aliquot from the organic layer, Vf(aq) is the final volume of the sample from the aqueous layer, V(aq) is the volume of the aliquot of the aqueous layer. Micelle/buffer Partition Coefficient Figure 11 shows the differential absorption spectra of drug (piroxicam) in presence of various concentrations of Tween 80 having constant S/CoS ratio (1:2). The buffer-micelle partition coefficient Kc (dm3 mol-1), a useful parameter to quantify the solubilization of piroxicam in micellar media of Tween 80-Ethanol system, can be calculated by using equation 2 (42). Here Ca is the drug concentration (1.0-10-5M), Csmo represents Cs-CMC0 (CMC0 is the CMC of Tween 80 in water i.e. 11.0mM), ?A? is the differential absorbance at the infinity of Cs. Kc can be obtained through intercept and slope values of the straight line plot of 1/?A against 1/ (Ca+ Csmo), as shown in Figure 12. The value of Kc is given in table IV. The dimensionless partition coefficient p is related to Kc as p = Kc.nw, where nw is the number of moles of water per dm3 (55.5 mol dm-3), and is reported in table IV. The standard free energy change of the transfer of additive, from bulk water to micelle can be calculated using the following relation (equation 3): Here T is absolute temperature and R is the gas constant. The value of ?G °p for the piroxicam, using p is reported in table IV. High negative value of indicates the ease of penetration of drug inside the micelles. This is clearly exhibited by the higher values of p and more negative for piroxicam, as shown in table IV. Tween 80 is nonionic surfactant and there is no electrostatic interaction, the hydrogen bonding between the polyoxyethylene groups of Tween 80 and piroxicam makes the complex (Tween 80-piroxicam) more hydrophobic, which corresponds to high ?G °p value. Conclusion The pseudo-ternary phase diagram and area of existence of microemulsion for Tween 80/ethanol/castor oil/buffer was delineated. The conductivity and viscosity studies along the dilution line (in phase diagram) depict the structural transition from w/o to o/w via bicontinuous phase at ~11% ?w (wt% fraction of aqueous phase). Among the eight selected microemulsions, ME was found to be optimum for the incorporation of piroxicam. After the incorporation of the drug, microemulsion remained stable and optically clears with no phase separation. The surface tension and fluorescence studies indicated that the drug may reside at the interface of oil and aqueous phase. The drug is entering into the palisade layer on the inner side of the droplet, resulting in controlled release of drug. Thus, we can conclude that this microemulsion system helps in increasing the solubility of a highly hydrophobic drug, with the help of hydrophobic component of microemulsion and lipophilic part of surfactant. In addition, the formulation can be explored with high concentration of drug. Pharmaceutically usable microemulsion system was prepared from water and castor oil with a constant amount of Tween-80 and ethanol at a mass ratio of 1:2. Its type and structure was examined by measuring surface tension, viscosity, electric conductivity, and the fluorescence techniques were assessed. Results of conductivity, viscosity, density and surface tension measurements confirm the prediction of a percolation transition to a bicontinuous structure. In future, the ability to determine type and structure of such microemulsion system could enable partitioning and release rates of drugs from microemulsion to be predicted. Acknowledgement The financial support of Quaid-i-Azam University and Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is duly acknowledged. References Lopes LB, Scarpa MV, Pereira NL, De Oliveira LC, Oliveira AG. Interaction of sodium diclofenac with freeze-dried soya phosphatidylcholine and unilamellar liposomes. Revista Brasileira de Ciencias Farmaceuticas/Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2006;42(4):497-504. Park ES, Cui Y, Yun BJ, Ko IJ, Chi SC. Transdermal delivery of piroxicam using microemulsions. Arch Pharmacal Res. 2005;28(2):243-8. Yuan Y, Li Sm, Mo Fk, Zhong Df. Investigation of microemulsion system for transdermal delivery of meloxicam. Int J Pharm. 2006;321(1-2):117-23. Sarciaux JM, Acar L, Sado PA. Using microemulsion formulations for oral drug delivery of therapeutic peptides. Int J Pharm. 1995;120(2):127-36. Ristsehel WA. Experimental and Clinical Pharmacol. 1991. Mehta SK, Kaur G, Bhasin KK. Analysis of Tween based microemulsion in the presence of TB drug rifampicin. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces. 2007;60(1):95-104. Sebastien H, Devin VM, Mark GA, Mark RP. Microfabricated microneedles: A novel approach to transdermal drug delivery. J Pharm Sci. 1998;87(8):922-5. Sintov AC, Botner S. Transdermal drug delivery using microemulsion and aqueous systems: Influence of skin storage conditions on the in vitro permeability of diclofenac from aqueous vehicle systems. Int J Pharm. 2006;311(1-2):55-62. Spernath A, Aserin A. Microemulsions as carriers for drugs and nutraceuticals. Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2006;128-130:47-64. Lawrence MJ, Rees GD. Microemulsion-based media as novel drug delivery systems. Adv Drug Delivery Rev. 2000;45(1):89-121. Là ³pez A, Llinares F, Cortell C, Herrà ¡ez M. Comparative enhancer effects of Span ®20 with Tween ®20 and Azone ® on the in vitro percutaneous penetration of compounds with different lipophilicities. Int J Pharm. 2000;202(1-2):133-40. Fang JY, Yu SY, Wu PC, Huang YB, Tsai YH. In vitro skin permeation of estradiol from various proniosome formulations. Int J Pharm. 2001;215(1-2):91-9. Krauel K, Davies NM, Hook S, Rades T. Using different structure types of microemulsions for the preparation of poly(alkylcyanoacrylate) nanoparticles by interfacial polymerization. J Controlled Release. 2005;106(1-2):76-87. Mehta SK, Kaur G, Bhasin KK. Incorporation of antitubercular drug isoniazid in pharmaceutically accepted microemulsion: Effect on microstructure and physical parameters. Pharm Res. 2008;25(1):227-36. He D, Yang C, Ma M, Zhuang L, Chen X, Chen S. Studies of the chemical properties of tri-n-octylamine-secondary octanol-kerosene-HCl-H2O microemulsions and its extraction characteristics for cadmium(II). Colloids Surf A. 2004;232(1):39-47. Podlogar F, GasÃÅ'Å’perlin M, TomsÃÅ'Å’icÃÅ'Å’ M, Jamnik A, RogacÃÅ'Å’ MB. Structural characterisation of water-Tween 40 ®

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Class of 2012, tonight is the last time we will share together for many years. After tonight, we will begin a new chapter in our lives. This chapter will lead us away from each other, but the memories we've shared will continue to stay. The years behind us have been full of challenges and rewards; these experiences will be there to guide us as we branch out into the world. Let's take a moment to think back to the people and times that shaped us the last four years. Every teacher deserves a "thank you" for helping us to reach our goal of graduation. The love and support of our families has been greatly appreciated. But truly, the main ingredient of our high school experience has been our peers. We all faced hardships, but we were able to overcome them, together. And now, here we are once again, together. Homecoming, tolo, football games, pep assemblies and spirit weeks ignited us as young freshman. When we became sophomores, the blaring of the fire alarm became our wake-up call. Only after wiping the drool off our desks and hurrying out to the field did we realize that this wa...

Intercultural Communication and Conflicts Essay

The communication between different cultures is very difficult. Intercultural communication can lead to misunderstanding and confusion. You may offend someone without even knowing it. Nonverbal communication is challenge as well such as handshakes, eye contact, hug, and etc. These problems happened so many times from my fiancee who is from America and me who is from South Korea. One day, my father visited to our place for holiday. When my father walked into our place, my fiancee was lying on the sofa and then he said â€Å"Hi. In Korean culture, when adults come to you, you need to stand up and bow to them. That moment, my fiancee’s behavior was disrespectful to my father. This tells us that we grew up differently since we have different culture background. However, we both have the attitude where we like to learn about each other cultures. It gives us a better understanding and respect more. To me, language barrier is one of issue with communication. When I moved to America, I barely spoke English and I was really afraid of speaking with other people, especially in English; however, time went by, as went to high school, college and join in the Army in America, I became more interactive in communication with people. Also, my fiancee helps me to learn and correct my English skill. Interpersonal communication Thousands of people use more online email, texting, Facebook, twitter, and etc. to communicate now, because it’s easier and faster to communicate to others. On the other hand, online communications can be bad. More likely, face to face communication can be avoided. I realized that most people use smart phone anytime and anywhere now. Sadly, it happens during class, meeting, dating, waiting, and dining. In fact, one of my nieces who is 6 years old refused to talk and listen to me when I discipline her. Instead face to face communication, she wanted to text me to say â€Å"sorry. † I didn’t accept her apologize because I believe in true meaningful interpersonal communication should be face to face communication.

Cartoon Endorsement

Prepared by: Fariha Tazin, Lecturer, Faculty of Business Studies (Marketing) Proposed Title: CARTOON ENDORSEMENT: Efficacy on Kids Market Abstract: Kids are bombarded with various forms of promotional activities by marketers of food products. Today’s kids are very much aware of the fashion trend and who’s ever has taken them to market has been observed the marketing power of the popular cartoon characters. The purpose of this research study will be to find out whether cartoon strengthens children to buy more or not. Qualitative research approach will be used to carry out this research study.This study will set out to find the amount of influence that cartoon endorsers have on children. As there have been few academic literatures on the topic of the effectiveness and usefulness of cartoon endorsement in the field of advertising, It has been set as the main goal of this research studies to explore the weight of cartoon endorsement as a promotional technique in Bangladeshi markets. 1. Introduction: A child wakes up in his Disney character pajamas, rolls out of his Barney sheets, his toothbrush, toothpaste and perhaps even his soap covered in cute licensed characters.Gathering up his Pokemon cards and strapping on his Doraemon backpack, he heads off to school. But the Commercialism does not stop even in the schoolyard. Leveraging the endorsement of products by popular cartoons, as a marketing practice, is a common phenomenon. Cartoon endorsement concept has been derived from the idea of celebrity endorsement. The retailing segment is displaying immense business potential for these younger segments. Retailing for kids, be it branded or unbranded, has emerged as a tremendous market in Bangladesh.The kids retail market is immense, with a huge variety available in the clothing, accessories and footwear sections. Some of the products that are available in the kid’s accessories segment include fashion accessories, watches and even kids’ design er jewellery, not to mention toys, books, games, electronics, education aids. Dora the Explorer, Mickey Mouse and all the other staples of morning TV are part of the world’s greatest sales team — because when they’re on the package, kids start yelling for it. 2. Aim: to examine the effect of Cartoon endorsement on kids market. . Objective: a. To find out that whether there is a relationship between cartoon endorsement and the buying behavior of children. b. To analyze the benefits of having cartoon endorsement on products. 4. Research Questions: a. How retailers use cartoons on their variety of products? b. How kids respond to these endorsed products? c. How unbranded products are having benefited from this Cartoon endorsement of children market? d. Is there any negative outcome of this marketing that can badly affect children? 5. Literature Review:Advertisers often choose celebrities who are physically attractive allowing them to get benefit both from the statu s and physical appeal of different celebrities (Singer 1983). Most of the advertisements which get on air contain characters that are attractive. It has been observed that consumers often form positive opinions about such characters. Apart from this, it is seen that attractive communicators are doing well in changing the beliefs of the consumers (Baker and Churchill 1977; Chaiken 1979; Debevec and Kernan 1984) and increasing the purchase intents (Friedman et aI. 976; Petroshius and Crocker 1989; Petty and Cacioppo 1980) as compared to those characters that are unattractive. In one of the study by Story and French revealed that 75% of the purchase requests take place in a supermarket environment. 6. Methodology: The data will be collected using the questionnaires. For this purpose different school, neighborhoods and shopping malls will be visited to collect the data. This research will be conducted by taking the perspective of the parent’s that how they their children behaves when they encounter the cartoon endorsed product.The sample size for carrying out this research consisted of 50 respondents. 6. 1 Data Collection a) Primary Data Collection In this research study the primary data will be collected through survey questionnaires. For this purpose questionnaires will be distributed to those parents whose children lies between the ages of 3 to 8 years. So it is possible to define that age group of children who are dependent on their parents for buying decisions. b) Secondary Data Collection Secondary data will help us in determining the various dimensions of the variables under study.The secondary data for this research study will be collected from different journals, books, researches and websites. Mostly the data will be collected from previously published journals and researches. 7. Conclusion Young children, in particular, have difficulty in distinguishing between advertising and reality in ads, and ads can distort their view of the world. Additiona lly children are unable to evaluate advertising claims. Children represent an important demographic to marketers because they have their own purchasing power, they influence their parents' buying decisions and they're the adult consumers of the future.Marketer tries to draw children’s attention through various means like TV, Magazines, Stickers, etc. Obviously attracted children by the marketing practices; get adversely affected most of the time. I expect this research to contribute to debates of the idea will be to find out the relationship between the cartoon endorsement and children impulse buying behavior, more specifically that whether those products are bought more impulsively by the children which have their favorite cartoon characters on them.References: Edward Martin, â€Å"Cartoon characters influence kids† [online], Health Revelations, 2009-2010 [cited July. 16, 2010], available from World Wide Web: http://healthrevelations. com/2010/07/16/cartoons-endorse-f ood/ a. AsimTanvir, † IMPACT OF CARTOON ENDORSEMENT ON CHILDREN IMPULSE BUYING OF FOOD: A PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE† The Institute [online], VOL 4, [cited JUNE, 2012], available from World Wide Web: http://www. ijcrb. webs. com. html b. Bellenger, D. N. , Robertson, D. H. & Hirschman, E. C. 1978. Impulse buying varies by product. Journal of Advertising Research. Vol. 18. No. 6, 15-18 c. Gardner, M. P. & Rook, D. W. 1988. Effects of impulse purchases on consumers’ affective states. Advances in Consumer Research. Vol. 15, 127-130 d. Bardia Yousef hakimi & Abed Abedniya & Majid Nokhbeh Zaeim . , â€Å"Investigate the Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on Brand Image† European Journal of Scientific Research, ISSN 1450-216X Vol. 58 No. 1 (2011), pp. 116-132,  © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2011, available from the : http://www. eurojournals. com/ejsr. htm e. Aaker, D. A and Myers, J. G (1987), Advertising Management, 3rd edition, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc

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