Graduation Speech: Its All About Us! :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Hi Class of 2012! I guarantee you that regardless of what your folks are thinkingâ€which is something along the lines of, I worked superbly with him or herâ€their prideful considerations are insignificant to this event. It's not about them; it's about us. Opposite additionally to what the load up individuals (who you'll see today for the first and last time) accept, that they've earned the option to give us our confirmations because of their ideal dynamic (comedic gaze and delay), this second is likewise not about them; however once more, about us. At that point, contrary to what each legal advisor and specialist, instructor, entrepreneur, and laborer by and large is thinkingâ€which is something along the lines of, yakkity yak, I recall my graduationâ€they're simply stares off into space. This isn't about them either; it's about us. Furthermore, when we leave this spot to seek after isolated aspirations, the consideration will never blur, the despise will never die down, the mountains will increment come what may. Regardless of what number of individuals have bursted a way, streams won't part, desires won't lessen and in this manner it will in any case be about us. Also, however we keep on becoming considerably in the wake of being given the confirmation, to get life, and decisions, the other gender, the weight of at this very moment, the strain set on us from some time in the past, and the requests that our future will fire upon us, there will be narrow escapes, fatalities, delight, burden, and bliss. Also, in this manner, it will stay about us. At the point when others see us they see half of us in prison, a few of us jobless, some pregnant as of now or in a month or two. They see an excessive number of blacks or such a large number of Latinos or an excessive number of whites or Asians or Native-Americans for us to make anything of ourselves. While these musings are censorious, the truth of the matter is they are still about us. At the point when we, be that as it may, see ourselves, we see specialists, attorneys, ministers, presidents, instructors, and exceptional individuals from their fields and society by and large, and what we think has been and will be the main thing that issues; since what we believe was made by us. Also, we break the measurements that state this many go to prison and this many become pregnant. Also, we accommodate generalizations that support various citizenry to shun associating with different citizenry, and we become the hotly anticipated for female or Black president, the proprietors of this and the CEO of that. Graduation Speech: It's All About Us! :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address Hi Class of 2012! I guarantee you that regardless of what your folks are thinkingâ€which is something along the lines of, I worked admirably with him or herâ€their prideful contemplations are immaterial to this event. It's not about them; it's about us. Opposite likewise to what the load up individuals (who you'll see today for the first and last time) accept, that they've earned the option to give us our certificates because of their ideal dynamic (comedic gaze and delay), this second is additionally not about them; however once more, about us. At that point, contrary to what each legal counselor and specialist, educator, entrepreneur, and laborer when all is said in done is thinkingâ€which is something along the lines of, yakkity yak, I recall my graduationâ€they're simply wanders off in fantasy land. This isn't about them either; it's about us. What's more, when we leave this spot to seek after independent desire, the consideration will never blur, the abhor will never die down, the mountains will increment as a matter of course. Regardless of what number of individuals have blasted a way, streams won't part, desires won't decrease and accordingly it will even now be about us. What's more, however we keep on becoming considerably in the wake of being given the confirmation, to get life, and decisions, the other gender, the weight of at this very moment, the strain put on us from some time in the past, and the requests that our future will fire upon us, there will be near fiascoes, fatalities, euphoria, burden, and bliss. Also, in this manner, it will stay about us. At the point when others see us they see half of us in prison, a few of us jobless, some pregnant as of now or in a month or two. They see such a large number of blacks or an excessive number of Latinos or an excessive number of whites or Asians or Native-Americans for us to make anything of ourselves. While these considerations are disparaging, the truth of the matter is they are still about us. At the point when we, in any case, see ourselves, we see specialists, legal counselors, evangelists, presidents, instructors, and extraordinary individuals from their fields and society by and large, and what we think has been and will be the main thing that issues; since what we believe was made by us. What's more, we break the measurements that state this many go to prison and this many become pregnant. What's more, we accommodate generalizations that energize various citizenry to cease from associating with different citizenry, and we become the hotly anticipated for female or Black president, the proprietors of this and the CEO of that.

Small Groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Little Groups - Essay Example The standards that encompass the gathering are extremely solid for the gathering just as for the association. Individuals who have recently entered the association have different imaginative thoughts, which help in taking a gander at an issue from alternate points of view and these viewpoints help in the phase of getting different arrangements of the dynamic procedure. Work never stops inside the gathering as gathering individuals are prepared to supplant and enable one another if a specific to bunch part needs to withdraw or doesn’t have enough information, aptitudes and capacities to play out a specific activity. My own job inside the gathering is that of a pioneer, my fundamental errand is to impact other gathering individuals to guarantee that they work for the prosperity of the organization and others working inside the gathering. My auxiliary assignment includes designation of assets and guaranteeing that the correct assets are accessible to the correct individuals at the opportune time so they can keep working and there isn't obstruction while they play out their undertaking. I even go about as a middle person between the gathering individuals and the individuals from the association that are arranged in the top generally level of the association. The gathering individuals have significant measure of impact on my conduct, their mindfulness and experience power have made me and the gathering dependant on them. Their comprehension and expertise is significant for the accomplishment of the errands and achievement of the undertakings is significant for my status inside the association. Because of this I carry on in an extremely kind way with the devotees, I permit them to be innovative and to think of various feelings which may help me in dynamic procedure. The pride and high conclusion they have for me and other gathering individuals assist me with following the moral set of accepted rules. I as a pioneer am genuinely wise; I ceaselessly search for intense subject matters looked by the individuals from the gatherings which help me in managing their issues. Due to

Meal Preparation Tips for Teachers

Meal Preparation Tips for Teachers Meghan, Teacher Vision's Marketing Associate, explains why meal preparation is crucial to success in the classroom by helping to promote a healthy lifestyle.   Have you ever gone to bed confident that you’ll pack a healthy lunch in the morning before you leave for the day, only to realize the next day that you’re running late? This forces you to rush out the door without packing anything substantial. We’ve all been there. When it’s finally time to eat lunch and you’re looking for a pick me up to get you through the rest of the day, all you have is a thrown together mixture of unfulfilling snacks. It’s no wonder you’re exhausted by the end of the school day- you didn’t fuel your body correctly. Certified wellness and emotional eating coach Debra Bennett says, “It is common for busy people to compensate by snacking vs. eating healthy, balanced meals - often snacking on high carbohydrate and sugary foods and caffeine.” These types of food give you a short burst of energy and lead to a crash. The Benefits of Meal Preparation People meal prep for different reasons, some of which include promoting clean eating, portion control, or simply saving money. We know that as a teacher your time, money, and health all matter. As caregivers, your work is both physical and emotional. This means That it requires a little extra energy, which makes your health that much more of a priority. Additionally, teacher salaries make budgeting all the more important.  When you spend a little bit of time planning ahead, you are more relaxed and focused on your role. For additional resources on how to get ready for the week, check out: What To Do Sunday To Feel Ready To Teach Monday It’s true, teachers do not have much time for themselves, so it is important to optimize your free time. Healthier eating starts with planning, and this planning prevents the urge for unhealthy temptations. You might only have limited time to yourself all day, and you don’t want to be spending that time stressing about what to eat. If you are unable to leave your classroom, or have other obligations during lunch (i.e., lunch duty or prepping for your next class), packing a healthy lunch you can eat quickly is important.  Don’t leave fueling your body last on your to-do list. We talked to nutritionists and teachers to learn quick tips and tricks so that you never have to stress about lunch again. Skipping Meals Leads To Over-Indulgence Between dealing with student’s lunch/recess issues, grading papers, and making copies for the rest of the day, you’re lucky to get any time to yourself during a lunch period. Eating bites of lunch amongst the craziness can be challenging, but it is actually more important than ever to make sure you aren’t skipping meals even if you don’t realize you’re hungry. Hailey Crean, MS, RD, CDE, CSOWM, explains, “The important thing to remember here is that not all meals have to be perfect and if you’re truly in a rush with few options, eating something is going to be better than skipping altogether. Taking the time to stop and eat can be hard when other things seem more pressing but it will almost always catch up to you in terms of productivity later. ” While it is true that eating something is more important than not eating at all, the quality of the food you’re eating also matters. This is why packing snacks ahead of time to avoid falling into pitfalls that present themselves throughout the day is vital. Not getting enough sleep leads to sugar cravings.  Tara  Dusko, a TeacherVision Advisory board member, and 3rd-grade teacher knows exactly how difficult that can be. She shares that, ”eating healthy is a challenge because even if I pack a healthy lunch, there are always unhealthy snacks in the teacher's lounge. It's hard to resist grabbing a doughnut, cupcake, or piece of chocolate to get you through the afternoon.” Although delicious, refined carbs and artificial sugar affect your energy and focus, so while they’re okay in moderation (it’s okay to indulge once and a while!) it is best to limit them when possible. In addition, sugar makes you crave more sugar, so the more you can limit it the lower the chances of future indulgence will be. Nutritionist tip: If you are looking for a way to fuel your body and don’t have time to sit down and eat, look to snacks like apple slices, pears, banana with peanut butter (if your school allows it), hummus with bell pepper, cottage cheese, a handful of almonds, Perfect Bars, herbal tea. How Important Is Lunch? While it still stands that breakfast is a very important meal, the thought of eating at 6 am could be enough to make you nauseous. If that’s the case, lunch becomes incredibly important. There are different theories, but some experts say that lunch is more important if your goal is to reduce body weight and increase overall health. If you’re eating small meals throughout the day and then a huge meal at dinner, you are lacking the energy you need while awake, and your body does not have time to metabolize and burn off those calories before going to sleep. Registered Dietician Diana Richards says, “Digestive fire is highest between 10 am to 2 pm, so you can more efficiently burn through that nutritional uptake. Have a larger protein source and more calories at lunch, then smaller afternoon snack and dinner. With the right combo of macronutrients, you'll restore your energy, even have more energy, for the afternoon.“ Nutritionist tip: Meal prep a healthy meal for dinner the night before and bring leftovers for lunch the next day. Portioning food out for the next day when cleaning dinner up makes it quick and easy to grab when you’re headed out the door in the morning. Set Yourself Up For Success Preparation is the name of the game. One tactic that many teachers rely on is getting all of their meal prepping done on the weekend. Sunday food prep is great because you likely have the extra time to go to the grocery store and cook. Additionally, buying in bulk saves you money in the long run. However, this is not always realistic. Being a mother of two, Tara encounters busy weekends with no time to meal prep on Saturday or Sunday. She says, ”During those weeks, I make a lot of slow cooker meals. I also make freezer meals over the summer and during school breaks. I pull those out when I don't have meals prepared, too. These posts have recipes for some of my favorite slow cooker meals and freezer meals.“ Weekend Meal Prep If you are able to meal prep on the weekend, you may think that you’ll be eating the same meal for days on end. However, just because you are buying and cooking in bulk doesn’t mean that you have to eat the same tired meal every day. Buying versatile ingredients and adding different spices can make all of the difference in the world. Don't Know Where To Start? A good place to start is by keeping a list in the notes section of your phone or in a google doc, where you keep track of meals that you’ve made and have enjoyed eating the next day as well as meals that you’d like to try. If you’re lacking inspiration or do not have a list of go-to meals already, check out websites and apps for ideas. Downloading the Tasty app was one of the best things I ever did when it comes to elevating my meal prep diversity. In addition to apps like Tasty, there are websites/apps like Mealz, Delish, and Pinterest that will make you feel like a professional chef. Pro tips: Use mason jars for salads so that the lettuce doesn’t get soggy. For protein-packed lunches that don’t need to be heated, make quinoa based summer salads. Or, if you want to feel fancy, throw together a mini cheese board for lunch. You can also make your own versions of Starbuck’s Protein Bistro Boxes. Don't Have Time to Prepare at All? If preparation is still an issue for you and you are able to leave during your lunch period, Debra Bennett made some suggestions for picking up food when you don’t have time: Starbucks has egg white bites, prepared salads, and oatmeal that are all nutritious choices. Additionally, they often carry Siggi’s yogurt in their beverage case, a lower sugar yogurt option. Dunkin’ Donuts has veggie and egg white wraps which are always good options. Picking up a fresh boxed soup at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s (like tomato roasted red bell pepper) and adding either fresh or frozen veggies like broccoli or zucchini makes for an easy lunch or dinner. If you have a pizza habit, incorporate more salads when possible by modifying pizza portions and limiting it to one slice. Make sure the rest of your meal is a salad or another vegetable. If you love sweets and are in a nut friendly classroom, glam up a PB J with fiber-rich bread like Ezekiel. You can also use any nut butter of your choice and a tasty specialty jam Teachers are constantly being looked up to by their students and therefore have the opportunity to set an example of healthy eating. Don’t let malnutrition stop you from being on your A game. How do you stay healthy during the week? Share with us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Meghan Killian is TeacherVision’s Marketing Associate. She graduated from Providence College with a BA in English Literature. Before joining our team, Meghan was a marketing and admissions coordinator at a K-12 all girls’ Catholic school. An avid reader, Meghan loves Shakespeare, and she is a passionate supporter of providing teachers with new and innovative content for their classrooms.

Imperial tobacco group plc - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2659 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? 1.0 Introduction Imperial Tobacco Group Plc is a leading international tobacco company. Since the time when Imperial Tobacco Group Plc produced the first cigarette in 1901 there has been dramatic changes to the technology, commerce and society. Over the last 100 years Imperial Tobacco has developed itself as one of the leaders in high quality tobacco products. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Imperial tobacco group plc" essay for you Create order Imperial Tobacco is operating in more than 160 countries around the world. Imperial Tobacco is the worlds fourth largest international tobacco company, which manufactures markets and sells a comprehensive range of cigarettes, tobaccos, rolling paper, filters tubes and cigars. The company geographic diversity and versatile multi-product portfolio provides business resilience and a strong platform for future growth. The key international brands of the company are Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, JPs, Fortuna, Gitanes, West, Drum, Golden Virginia and Rizla. The company operates with 58 factories and which are further divided as 33 factories of cigarettes, 22 for other tobacco products and processing factories and 3 factories for paper and tube. 2.0 Imperial Tobacco Cigarette Volume Tonnes The cigarette volume of the company for the year 2009 was 322.2 bn. As it is a 10% increase from the last year (2008) during which the total cigarette volume of the company was 294.1bn. The fine cut tobacco volume of the company for the year 2009 was 25,950 tonnes which was 850 tonnes more than last year 2008 production of 25,150 tonnes. Imperial tobacco is a diversified tobacco company with a strong presence in both mature and emerging markets. The company is growing their volumes in emerging markets including in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia which court for 51% for the company overall cigarette volume. 3.0 Imperial Tobacco markets The company divides the globe in six major markets. United Kingdom The first and most profitable market for imperial tobacco during the year 2008 was United Kingdom. The company reported a net revenue of 893m (2008:869m) and company adjusted profit from operations was 601m (2008: 584) which compared to the last few years increased pretty sensibly. The company overall cigarette market share was 45.3% and the company continued to increase their share of the economy segment up to 31%. As the company launched JPS silver in November 2008, JPS sliver has delivered the excellent results with the market share price. The UKs two best selling brands, Lambert and Butler and Richmond continue to hold their 30% of the overall cigarette market. As the UK is profitable market, the company remain focused on balancing their market shares with sustainable profit growth. Germany The second useful market for the Imperial Tobacco during the year 2009 was Germany. The net revenue for the company 2009 was 826m (2008:664m) and the adjusted profit from the operations was 403m (2008:309). As compared to the last year the company increased quite reasonably. The company share price was 27.3% and the JPS delivered a strong performance up to 8.5% (2008: 7.8%). As in the UK, our plan in Germany is to continue to balance market share and profit growth. Spain Spain is another effective market for the Imperial Tobacco during the last year 2009. The net revenue of the company came out as 610m (2008:411m) and the adjusted profit from operations was 275m (2008:150m). Imperial Tobacco got the most important position across all tobacco categories in Spain. The total market share price was 30.6%. In fine cut tobacco, the company consolidated their market leading position growing their volumes by 52%. The company overall market share was 42.6%. Rest of the Europe Imperial Tobacco remained quite effective in rest of Europe as well. In 2009, the net revenue of the rest of EU was 1,490m (2008:1,250m) and adjusted profit from operation was 566m (2008:494m). In France, the company domestic blonde cigarette market share was up to 23.9% as a good result of good performances from Gauloises, Blondes, Fortuna, JPS and News. Imperial Tobacco is the market leader in Netherlands, and the largest fine cut tobacco in the region. The company grew their share in a number of markets including Austria, Czech Republic, Greece and Portugal. JPS performed well in Ireland, Portugal and Austria. Additional Cigarette brand highlights include Davidoff in Greece and the Czech Republic. USA Another useful market for Imperial tobacco is US market. The company Americans net revenue was 861m (2008:542m) with adjusted profit from operations of 288m (2008:166m). The overall cigarette market share price stable at 4.2%, a pleasing performance given current market challenges. The key brands of Imperial Tobacco in USA are Gold and Sonoma continued to be well positioned in the discount sector with their market shares. Rest of the World The last market of the Imperial Tobacco is underlined as the Rest of the World. The net revenue of the company was reported as 2,138m (2008:1,502m) and adjusted profit from operation of 617m (2008:404m). The cigarette volume for Imperial Tobacco increased in many markets in this region. The company believes this region offers them substantial growth opportunities. During another successful year for Imperial Tobacco the company have grown profits in their mature markets and made great advances in emerging markets with volume, profit and market share gains. The company increased overall cigarette volumes by 10% to 322bn, including a full year contribution from Altadis and many other brands. The past year 2009 became the year of results and demonstrated the achievement of companys strategy with constructive progressed across the enlarged group. The company has delivered another strong operational and financial performance, further building on over excellent track record of creating sustainable shareholders value. Imperial Tobacco is sales led business and grows their tobacco net revenues by leveraging their total tobacco portfolio and their balanced geographic footprint. The total sales of imperial tobacco group in the year 2009 was 6.8bn which is 30% increase compared to 5.2bn in the year 2008. There is an excellent performance from the Imperial Tobacco group. 4.0 Imperial Tobacco Plc Profit and Finance Cost The company increased the gross profit in the year 2009 which was 3,863m as compared to 5,316m in the year of 2008. Similarly the profit from operations increased 59% from 1,471m in 2008 to 2,337m in 2009. The adjusted profit also increased 32% from 2,230m in 2008 to 2,933m in 2009. One of the important improvements in 2009 is the increase in investment income from 543m (2008) to 1,180m. The finance cost of the company in the year 2008 was 2,572m (2008:1,393m) and the net finance cost in 2009 was 1,392m (2008:850m). The profit for Imperial Tobacco plc before taxation was 945m in the year 2009 which was 52% an actual increase from the year 2008 when it was 621m. 5.0 Imperial Tobacco Plc Current non-Current Assets Imperial Tobacco contains a total of 24,662m (2008:24,660m) of non-current assets. The additional calculations of intangible assets came out to be 22,357 (2008:19,817m), property, plant and equipment as 2,010m (2008:1,820m) and the rest of the non-current assets added up to 295m. There is a huge increase in the non-current assets of the company as compared to the previous years. Property, plant and equipment are shown in the balance sheet at their sequential costs less accumulated reduction and mutilation. The current assets of the Imperial Tobacco came out to be 7,263m (2008:6,579m) and the total current assets was 31,925m in the year 2009 which is a massive increase from 29,239m in the year 2008. 6.0 Property, plant Equipment Property, Plant and Equipment are initially recognised at fair value. Land is not depreciated. Depreciation is provided on other property, plant and equipment so as to write off the initial cost of each asset to its residual value over its estimated useful life as follows: * Building up to 50 years * Plant and equipment 2 to 20 years * Fixtures and motor vehicles 2 to 14 years In 2009, the total cost of property, plant and equipment was 2,901m (2008:2,545m) and the depreciation and impairment cost of 2009 was 891m (2008:725m). 7.0 Imperial Tobacco Plc Current Non-Current Liabilities The current liabilities in 2009 of Imperial Tobacco Plc added up to a total of 11,420m (2008:9,658m) in which borrowings and trade and other payables played a major role with consuming 2,560m (2008:2,678m) and 7,451m (2008:6,183m) correspondingly. The other current liabilities obeyed of the imitative financial instruments, current tax liabilities and provisions spending 564m (2008:238m), 551m (2008:370m) and 292m (2008: 187m) respectively. The non-current liabilities of Imperial Tobacco Plc in the year 2009 were 13,910m (2008:13,225m). The big role in this category was played by the borrowings as they consumed a total of 25,330m (2008:22,883m). As it is a substantial increase from the last few years. 8.0 Imperial Tobacco Plc Current Borrowing and Non- Current Borrowing Current borrowing and non-current borrowing of the company in the year 2009 include interest payable of 3m (2008:27m) and 299m (2008:131m) respectively. In 2009, the total current borrowing of the company was 2,560m (2008:2,678) and the total non-current borrowing of the company was 12,067m (2008:12,236m). 9.0 Imperial Tobacco Plc Net Assets Current Strategy The net assets of the company were reported 6,595m in year 2009 which was a reasonable increase of 6,356m from the year 2008. This included share capital, share premium account, retained earnings, exchange translation reserve and finally minority interests. The current strategy of the company for the next five years is to create sustainable shareholder value by growing their operations both organically and through acquisitions. Imperial tobacco plc approaches their successful completion of their strategy by three core objectives which are: ÂÂ · Sales development ÂÂ · Cost optimization and efficiency improvements ÂÂ · Effective cash management These are the building blocks of the company business and they are committed to delivering a strong performance each of these areas. As a global tobacco company, the company recognise the importance of manufacturing, marketing and selling their products responsibility. Imperial Tobacco Group Plc has sales in over 160 countries in the globe. Company is growing the business globally through organic growth and acquisition. The company have strong positions in excellent markets like United Kingdom and Germany. The company have now also got a growing presence in the USA. Imperial Tobacco Group Plc is taking positive and prospective steps towards the other potential markets like USA and the rest of the World. The company have a versatile brand that has been improved significantly by the acquisition of Altadis. The companys strategy is to increase sales growth through investment and innovation, supported by the outstanding trade marketing skills. Cost optimisation is a hallmark of company business. The company look for maximum returns from their investments and seek efficiency improvements without compromising their focus on quality and innovation. This year the company have delivered integration synergy targets whilst driving business initiatives and improvements across the group. Imperial Tobacco Plc focuses on reducing cost and improves efficiency to support the sales development as it is a highly cash generated business. The company focus is on managing capital expenditure and working capital, tax and interest costs. Their strategy is to ensure that the cash generated to be used efficiently through acquisitions, organic investment and returning funds benefiting shareholders. 10.0 Imperial Tobaccos Shareholders Value Imperial Tobacco values the shareholders first among our stakeholders. The company business model provides a worthy circle of investment and sustainable growth and has consistently delivered strong returns to their shareholders. The company guarantees a substantial, profitable escalation takes priority over market share and volume growth. The company focus in sales and effective use of high levels of cash generation will ensure that, the company remain on track to create further sustainable shareholders value. After looking at the improvement made by the company we can easily conclude that the management is working really hard. The company operates a number of share-based employee benefit plans. The company is committed to ensuring their employees continue to accomplish their potential and share in the success of the group. The company also gives dividend to their share holders. The total dividend amount recognised as distribution to shareholders in the year 2009 was 640m (2008:487m) . 11.0 Risk and Risk Management There is also different kind of risks in every business. Imperial tobacco is also facing big challenges in their business. The Group faces a number of risks, similar to those faced by many multinational companies, which may impact on our financial position or prevent us from achieving our corporate strategy. A detailed assessment of risks within the company operating atmosphere is undertaken by management and is embedded across the group. Each area of the business is required to properly review its major areas of risk and uncertainty so that main risks reviewed at all levels across the group. The company ensures that there are obvious and reliable procedures for monitoring, updating and implementing suitable controls to handle the identified risks. This process is supplemented by the Risk Co-ordination Committee which assists the Chief Executives Committee and the Audit Committee in overseeing the management of material risks. The Board has responsibility for the Groups systems of in ternal control. The company identify that they operates in the controversial industry because of the health concerns related with the tobacco and smoking. There is strictly banned on smoking in public areas in most of the countries. As the tobacco industry would be facing new challenges in the future. Successful management of these risks is fundamental to their sustainable profitability and future growth. 12.0 Imperial Tobacco Share Prices The most recent share price of Imperial Tobacco Group plc on 20th February 2010 was 2,080.00p. In the previous year the highest share price of the Imperial Tobacco was 1,988.00p and the lowest share price for the company was 1,946.00p. The company is showing a continuous behaviours as you can observe from the values of last year share prices. The company prices stay stable during the worst financial crises. This market keeps the relative behaviour greater 9.1362 than FTSE 100 Index. Volatility has been increasing during last month. As a further step in ensuring that the company board structure is aligned with the ongoing international development of their enlarged business. The company made considerable progress with the integration of Altadis, including rolling out their international control and group policies and procedure. The company have successfully raised 3.9bn through the capital markets and have no refinancing requirements until July 2012. Imperial Tobacco ongoing management succession planning, their priorities for 2010 include further consolidation of the Altadis business and the continued embedding and improvement of the company processes and interior control in the wider group, including in relation to Occupational Health, Safety and Environmental Process. The company will also focus on further improvement of their risk management and anti-illicit trade processes. The company will also continue drive sales growth, cost optimisation and cash utilisation during the year of 2010. Imperial Tobacco wil l also support reasonable regulation of tobacco products but will challenge regulation that undermines the principles of adult choice and the freedom of competition. 13.0 Conclusion The company is working on a long term strategy which is very good for business. At this stage after looking at the historical data and upcoming strategy of the company of next terms I decided to hold my shares in the company and desire to buy some more shares as well. I came to the conclusion by taking into account all the analysis that has been done in the report. Considering the next five year strategy of the company shows the constructive approach to and an excellent speed of expanding as well which will benefit the organisation in the long term. As from investor point of view Imperial Tobacco is a very good company to invest in and the mainly benefit of the share holders with a sensible returns. 14.0 References www.bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=IMT:LN www.ft.com. https://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=IMT%3ALSE www.yahoofinance.com https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=IMT.L www.imperial-tobacco.com. Imperial Tobacco Group Plc Annual Report and Accounts 2008. Lecture Notes. 15.0 Appendix p=pence m=millions

Why Women Should Fight The Front Line - 1321 Words

Why I Believe Women Should Be On The Front Line I believe women should fight side by side with men. I believe women are equal to men, there s only a physical difference but we are all the same. Women can do everything a man can. If women fight in the front line i think there would be less casualties than there right now. Although women should be fighting in front line in the military many believe they should not. More than 200,000 position will still be remain exclusive to men. women won t be able to qualify for jobs. â€Å"They are not going to be able to meet those standards† (Women in the Military: Why Can t We Serve on the Front Lines). The weapon use in the front line are too dangerous. â€Å"women will not be able to handle the big†¦show more content†¦Womens are discriminated by being women. â€Å"If we could progress past the point where we are now in terms of sexual and gender discrimination† (Women in the Military: Why Can t We Serve on the Front Lines). Theres opinions from other women saying they should not go. â€Å"Female officer has said that women soldiers should not be able to be allow to fight on the front line because there not fit enough† (Women in the Military: Why Can t We Serve on the Front Lines). Many believe that women are only good at home. à ¢â‚¬Å" Actually been told she â€Å"shouldn t try to work outside of her administrative live duties†because thats what girls are good at† (Women in the Military: Why Can t We Serve on the Front Lines). women won t be able to handle the hard life in the front line. â€Å"Inserting women into small frontline units who spend weeks in enemy territory, sleeping and eating together in the field would not be a wise move† (Women Not Fit Enough to Fight on the Front Line , Says Former Female Army Major as US Announces Historic Change of Policy). By hearing a girls name the question began. â€Å"I wonder if shes hot, I wonder if she puts out, I wonder if shes fat† (Women Not Fit Enough to Fight on the Front Line , Says Former Female Army Major as US Announces Historic Change of Policy). The prospect of women

Benefits And Harms Of International Education For Both...

According to Ninnes and Hellsten, the international movement of student or academic staff between countries. It can be understood as the international link between nation states, governments or institutes to achieve better education program. (Ninnes P. Hellsten M. (eds.), Internationalizing Higher Education, 120-121). The International Education has grown strongly in Australia for the last few years. At the same time, it has a direct impact on Australia and home countries such as China. Based on the research, this essay argues that there are some benefits and also harms of international education for both home and host countries. This essay first shows what is the Internationalisation. Then, it gives information about the benefits and†¦show more content†¦A plan that involves the interests of Australia s â€Å"soft diplomacy† Colombo Plan. This plan has funded foreign students in Asia to study in Australia. Plans is to be created from 1951, and by 1985, this plan has trained about 40,000 students. Many of which have achieved significant accomplishments, achieved leadership positions in not only the industry but also the government, especially in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. After planning Colombo, Australia began providing international long-term education. Currently, Australia has a network of approximately 2.5 million international students from many diverse fields at the university (Byrne Hall, 2014). These students are the people that have contributed to long-term support and important for Australia as they have achieved a leadership position in the industry and the government. Found that Australian students should be encouraged to study to reinforce soft diplomatic interests, the Australian government has created a new plan to support Australians to study and long-term studies. 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Organizational Theory and Design Organizational Structure

Question: Describe about the Organizational Theory and Design for Organizational Structure. Answer: 1. CISCO implemented a collaborative method instead of the command and control approach to the organization structure, which facilitated greater coordination among the departments and divisions within the business organization. CISCO redesigned its organizational structure by considering the opinions and the managers of the lower- ranked employees in formulating the business strategies in the organization (Argyres Zenger, 2013). As such, these ideas were involved in the decision-making process of the management. The brand adopted a more organic approach to develop coordination among the different executives and personnels working in the organization leading to sharing of ideas and technology. This has bought in more flexibility and innovation at the workplace. To develop collaboration among the employees, the CEO of the organization John Chambers develop cross functional teams among the team members (Cisco", 2016). This has assisted the employees to be more responsible for the job roles in the organization. Argyres and Zenger (2013) mentioned that the cross functional teams have to be set up practical goals in the organization relating to product development as well as the time required for the production and the distribution process in the organization . Team based targets were developed rather than targets of individual targets. Thus, the new approach developed a spirit of team bonding and unity among the employees in the organization. 2. As per the Greiner growth model, the alterations in the Ciscos business operations can be evaluated as follows. Creativity - In the case of CISCO, the CEO of the company was inspired to bring in greater innovation in the workplace. As such, this has helped the business enterprise to overcome the existing threats that has affected the business enterprise. According to Lee et al. (2015), the structural innovations in the workplace have enhanced the productivity rate and ensured smoother business operations. Leadership - CISCO had a rigid hierarchical system, where the opinions of the lower ranked employees in the organization did not had much impact on the decision process. The newly adopted organization structure has enabled the lower employees to achieve more decision-making roles. This was necessary due to the ever-decreasing market share of the brand. Direction - The management at CISCO re-innovated the organizational structure of the company by engaging the lower level employees in the organization. Executives had to work together as a team and collaborate to achieve the collective targets that were pre-determined. Daft (2015) mentioned that the management at CISCO seeks to establish a sense of innovation and flexibility by encouraging different departments to attain the common goals and objectives of the business enterprise. The market value of the brand decreased by $ 400 after the dot.com crisis. There were substantial crisis of autonomy of the employees working in the organization. As such, employees were not encouraged to work beyond their designated roles, which restricted their professional growth. In order to rectify the situation, the brand introduced the organic structure in the organization that shall ensure faster productivity and distribution process in the organization. Delegation The mid-level managers in the organization are being offered greater responsibilities to adjust to the changing market conditions in the global market (Yoo, 2013). They were required to work in a collaborative manner to work towards attaining the common goals and the objectives of the business entity. The delegation of authority and responsibility ensured authenticity as well as transparency in the daily business functionalities of the organization. Coordination and Monitoring CISCO encouraged greater coordination and collaboration among the individual executives belonging to various divisions and departments in the organization. (Daft, 2015) As such, this has helped the business enterprise in creating a distinctive edge among its competitors in the market Collaboration Cisco has introduced a network of cross-functional councils, boards as well as that has enabled the business entity to develop greater collaboration among the employees working in the business organizations (Le et al., 2014). As such, this has assisted the business entity to place greater emphasis on product development and executing the business functionalities as per the short term as well as the long-term goals of the business entity. 3. The new approach has enabled CISCO to overcome its shortcomings, and be one of the leading manufacturers in the networking segment. The brands growth has stagnated in the recent times, which has affected the business sustainability of the brand. According to Daft (2015), the recent changes in the organization structure have assisted the business entity in reducing the operational expenses and exploring newer business segments in the global market. The new strategy of CISCO in facilitating newer teams and departments to work together to achieve common goals and objectives has been proved effective for CISCO in achieving the economies of scale (Yoo, 2013). The new organic approach has strengthened the inherent financial as well as the operational constituents, thereby, leading the growth to further growth and sustainability in the international market. References Argyres, N., Zenger, T. R. (2013). 12. Dynamics of organizational structure.Handbook of Economic Organization: Integrating Economic and Organization Theory, 210. Cisco. (2016). Cisco. Retrieved 4 August 2016, from https://www.cisco.com/ Daft, R. L. (2015). Organization theory and design. Cengage Learning. Lee, J. Y., Kozlenkova, I. V., Palmatier, R. W. (2015). Structural marketing: using organizational structure to achieve marketing objectives. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 73-99. Lee, J. Y., Sridhar, S., Henderson, C. M., Palmatier, R. W. (2014). Effect of customer-centric structure on long-term financial performance.Marketing Science,34(2), 250-268. Yoo, Y. (2013). The tables have turned: how can the information systems field contribute to technology and innovation management research?. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 14(5), 227.

Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is Essay Example For Students

Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is Essay Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story that is thick with allegory. Young Goodman Brown is a moral story which is told through the perversion of a religious leader. In Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride in himself interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil, and causes him to live the life of an exile in his own community. Young Goodman Brown begins when Faith, Browns wife, asks him not to go on an errand. Goodman Brown says to his love and (my) Faith that this one night I must tarry away from thee. When he says his love and his Faith, he is talking to his wife, but he is also talking to his faith to God. He is venturing into the woods to meet with the Devil, and by doing so, he leaves his unquestionable faith in God with his wife. He resolves that he will cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven. This is an example of the excessive pride because he feels that he can sin and meet with the Devil because of this promise that he made to himself. There is a tremendous irony to this promise because when Goodman Brown comes back at dawn; he can no longer look at his wife with the same faith he had before. When Goodman Brown finally meets with the Devil, he declares that the reason he was late was because Faith kept me back awhile.This statement has a double meaning because his wife physically prevented him from being on time for his meeting with the devil, but his faith to God psychologically delayed his meeting with the devil. The Devil had with him a staff that bore the likeness of a great black snake. The staff which looked like a snake is a reference to the snake in the story of Adam and Eve. The snake led Adam and Eve to their destruction by leading them to the Tree of Knowledge. The Adam and Eve story is similar to Goodman Brown in that they are both seeking unfathomable amounts of knowledge. Once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge they were expell ed from their paradise. The Devils staff eventually leads Goodman Brown to the Devils ceremony which destroys Goodman Browns faith in his fellow man, therefore expelling him from his utopia. Goodman Brown almost immediately declares that he kept his meeting with the Devil and no longer wishes to continue on his errand with the Devil. He says that he comes from a race of honest men and good Christians and that his father had never gone on this errand and nor will he. The Devil is quick to point out however that he was with his father and grandfather when they were flogging a woman or burning an Indian village, respectively. These acts are ironic in that they were bad deeds done in the name of good, and it shows that he does not come from good Christians.When Goodman Browns first excuse not to carry on with the errand proves to be unconvincing, he says he cant go because of his wife, Faith. And because of her, he can not carry out the errand any further. At this point the Devil agrees with him and tells him to turn back to prevent that Faith should come to any harm like the old woman in front of them on the path. Ironically, Goodman Browns faith is harmed because the woman on the path is the woman who taught him his catechism in youth, and was still his moral and spiritual adviser. The Devil and the woman talk and afterward, Brown continues to walk on with the Devil in the disbelief of what he had just witnessed. Ironically, he blames the woman for consorting with the Devil but his own pride stops him from realizing that his faults are the same as the womans. Brown again decides that he will no longer to continue on his errand and rationalizes that just because his teacher was not going to heaven, why should he quit my dear Faith, and go after her. At this, the Devil tosses Goodman Brown his staff (which will lead him out of his Eden) and leaves him.Goodman Brown begins to think to himself about his situation and his pride in himself begins to build. He applauds himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet his ministerAnd what calm sleep would be hisin the arms of Faith! This is ironic because at the end of the story, he can not even look Faith in the eye, let alone sleep in her arms. As Goodman Brown is feeling good about his strength in resisting the Devil, he hears the voices of the minister and Deacon Gookin. He overhears their conversation and hears them discuss a goodly young woman to be taken in to communion that evening at that nights meeting and fears that it may be his Faith. When Goodman Brown hears this he becomes weak and falls to the ground. He begins to doubt whether there really was a Heaven above him and this is a key point when Goodman Browns faith begins to wain. Goodman Brown in panic declares that With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil! Again, Brown makes a promise to keep his faith unto God. Then a black mass of cloud goes in between Brown and the sky as if to block his prayer from heaven. Brown then hears what he believed to be voices that he has before in the community. Once Goodman Brown begins to doubt whether this is really what he had heard or not, the sound comes to him again and this time it is followed by one voice, of a young woman. Goodman believes this is Faith and he yells out her name only to be mimicked by the echoes of the forest, as if his calls to Faith were falling on deaf ears. A pink ribbon flies through the air and Goodman grabs it. At this moment, he has lost all faith in the world and declares that there is no good on earth. Young Goodman Brown in this scene is easily manipulated simply by the power of suggestion. The suggestion that the woman in question is his Faith, and because of this, he easily loses his faith. Goodman Brown then loses all of his inhibitions and begins to laugh insanely. He takes hold of the staff which causes him to seem to fly along the forest-path. This image alludes to that of Adam and Eve being led out of the Garden of Eden as is Goodman Brown being led out of his utopia by the Devils snakelike staff. Hawthorne at this point remarks about the instinct that guides mortal man to evil. This is a direct statement from the author that he believes that mans natural inclination is to lean to evil than good. Goodman Brown had at this point lost his faith in God, therefore there was nothing restraining his instincts from moving towards evil because he had been lead out from his utopian image of society. At this point, Goodman Brown goes mad and challenges evil. He feels that he will be the downfall of evil and that he is strong enough to overcome it all. This is another demonstration of Browns excessive pride and arrogance. He believes that he is better than everyone else in that he alone can destroy evil. Brown then comes upon the ceremony which is setup like a perverted Puritan temple. The altar was a rock in the middle of the congregation and there were four trees surrounding the congregation with their tops ablaze, like candles. A red light rose and fell over the congregation which cast a veil of evil over the congregation over the devil worshippers.Brown starts to take notice of the faces that he sees in the service and he recognizes them all, but he then realizes that he does not see Faith and hope came into his heart. This is the first time that the word hope ever comes into the story and it is because this is the true turning point for Goodman Brown. If Faith was not there, as he had hoped, he would not have to live alone in his community of heathens, which he does not realize that he is already apart of. Another way that the hope could be looked at is that it is all one of the Christian triptych. (Capps 25) The third part of the triptych which is never mentioned throughout the story is charity. If Brown had had charity it would have been the antidote that would have allowed him to survive without despair the informed state in which he r eturned to Salem. (Camps 25) The ceremony then begins with a a cry to Bring forth the converts! Surprisingly Goodman Brown steps forward. He had no power to retreat one step, nor to resist, even in thought. Goodman Brown at this point seems to be in a trance and he loses control of his body as he is unconsciously entering this service of converts to the devil. The leader of the service than addresses the crowd of converts in a disturbing manner. He informs them that all the members of the congregation are the righteous, honest, and incorruptible of the community. The sermon leader then informs the crowd of their leaders evil deeds such as attempted murder of the spouse and wife, adultery, and obvious blasphemy. After his sermon, the leader informs them to look upon each other and Goodman Brown finds himself face to face with Faith. The leader begins up again declaring that Evil is the nature of mankind and he welcomes the converts to communion of your race. (The communion of your ra ce statement reflects to the irony of Browns earlier statement that he comes from a race of honest men and good Christians.) The leader than dips his hand in the rock to draw a liquid from it and to lay the mark of baptism upon their foreheads. Brown than snaps out from his trance and yells Faith! Faith! Look up to Heaven and resist the wicked one! At this, the ceremony ends and Brown finds himself alone. He does not know whether Faith, his wife, had kept her faith, but he finds himself alone which leads him to believe that he is also alone in his faith. Throughout the story, Brown lacks emotion as a normal person would have had. The closest Brown comes to showing an emotion is when a hanging twig, that had been all on fire, besprinkled his cheek with the coldest dew. The dew on his cheek represents a tear that Brown is unable to produce because of his lack of emotion. Hawthorne shows that Brown has no compassion for the weaknesses he sees in others, no remorse for his own sin, and no sorrow for his loss of faith. (Easterly 339) His lack of remorse and compassion condemns him to an anguished life that is spiritually and emotionally dissociated. (Easterly 341) This scene is an example of how Goodman Brown chose to follow his head rather than his heart. Had Brown followed his heart, he may have still lived a good life. If he followed with his heart, he would have been able to sympathize with the communitys weaknesses, but instead, he listened to his head and excommunicated himself from the community because he only thought of them as heathens. Young Goodman Brown ends with Brown returning to Salem at early dawn and looking around like a bewildered man. He cannot believe that he is in the same place that he just the night before; because to him, Salem was no longer home. He felt like an outsider in a world of Devil worshippers and because his basic means of order, his religious system, is absent, the society he was familiar with becomes nightmarish. (Shear 545) H e comes back to the town projecting his guilt onto those around him. (Tritt 114) Brown expresses his discomfort with his new surroundings and his excessive pride when he takes a child away from a blessing given by Goody Cloyse, his former Catechism teacher, as if he were taking the child from the grasp of the fiend himself. His anger towards the community is exemplified when he sees Faith who is overwhelmed with excitement to see him and he looks sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting. Brown cannot even stand to look at his wife with whom he was at the convert service with. He feels that even though he was at the Devils service, he is still better than everyone else because of his excessive pride. Brown feels he can push his own faults on to others and look down at them rather than look at himself and resolve his own faults with himself. Goodman Brown was devastated by the discovery that the potential for evil resides in everybody. The rest of his life is destroyed because of his inability to face this truth and live with it. The story, which may have been a dream, and not a real life event, planted the seed of doubt in Browns mind which consequently cut him off from his fellow man and leaves him alone and depressed. His life ends alone and miserable because he was never able to look at himself and realize that what he believed were everyone elses faults were his as well. His excessive pride in himself led to his isolation from the community. Brown was buried with no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom. Works Cited Capps, Jack L. Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown, Explicator, Washington D.C., 1982 Spring, 40:3, 25.Easterly, Joan Elizabeth. Lachrymal Imagery in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown, Studies in Short Fiction, Newberry, S.C., 1991 Summer, 28:3, 339-43. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodmam Brown, The Story and Its Writer, 4th ed. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martins Press, 1995, 595-604. Shear, Walter. Cultural Fate and Social Freedom in Three American Short Stories, Studies in Short Fiction, Newberry, S.C., 1992 Fall, 29:4, 543-549. Tritt, Michael. Young Goodman Brown and the Psychology of Projection, Studies in Short Fiction, Newberry, S.C., 1986 Winter, 23:1, 113-117. .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .postImageUrl , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:hover , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:visited , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:active { border:0!important; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:active , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Competitive Advantage Essay We will write a custom essay on Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now

Introduction to Renaissance Architecture essays

Introduction to Renaissance Architecture essays At the end of the fourteenth century, gothic architecture began to wear off and renaissance architecture moved in. Europe was evolving out of the middle ages and in the Renaissance period. The beliefs in humanity were growing in popularity. Along with the changes in ways of life, politics, families and etc. the architecture and architects were also changing. The architects of the time revived yet also changed the ideas from classical Greek and Roman architecture. They did however; begin using new materials such as brick, and in particular red brick. Architects and artists no longer worked independently of one another, which is why many renaissance buildings contain murals, and statues. One of the most common features throughout Renaissance architecture was the use of the dome. Many of these domes had paintings or other various works of art on them. Some good examples of this are the Duomo of Florence, and St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Renaissance architecture traces back to Florence, Italy around the early fifteenth century. A group of Italian scholars, some of whom were amateur architects influenced the birth of Renaissance Architecture. These scholars knew classical culture well and considered it far more superior than the culture of their present time. The key originator of the new Renaissance style was Filippo Brunelleschi of Florence, his first great project was the dome for the Cathedral of Florence. Italians eventually considered this dome to be their greatest engineering accomplishment. Their style then quickly spread outside of Florence to cities such as Rome and Milan, and eventually made it's way North to the Netherlands and then began to encompass the rest of Europe, however, France did not witness Renaissance architecture first hand until almost 125 years after it began in Florence. The finest French Renaissance buildings are their amazing castles or chateaus, such as those at Fontainebleau, and Ch ambord. ...

Vision Statement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vision Statement - Research Paper Example I have been reading Charles Bukowski’s book and found that he has a different way of expressing himself. I have decided to explore his unique character by ensuring that I read one of his books every year. I love engaging in activities that assist me in acquiring new skills and helping others. I love travelling to new places and meeting new people as this activity opens up my mind to new things. Every year I ensure that I visit three new towns. I have always thought about travelling to the famous cities located in the different continents. In the next five years I will ensure that I travel to two countries in Europe and experience the environment and their different cultures (Heathfield). I also love challenges because at the end, I learn something new. Since elementary school, the ever changing business environment and its challenges intrigued me and it became apparent that I was comfortable in this field. In the business world, an individual must keep on learning new things and developing concepts that will help him or her wade through the murky business waters. This field suits me because I love reading and I view challenges as stepping stones towards achieving my goals. However, many people who engage in businesses are motivated by self-interests. Since I have always wanted to help people out, I have decided to take up a course that will encompass the different things I love to do and the fact my main goal in this career will be to assist others. I have figured out that the ultimate challenge would be managing a hospital. In five years I will ensure that I get a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Healthcare Management and a Project Management Professional Certification. This will assist me in helping out people, expanding my knowledge in the healthcare system and since I have never ventured into the healthcare field, the challenges that come therein will provide me with learning experiences

Le Corbusier and Modern Architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Le Corbusier and Modern Architecture - Essay Example From the very beginning of his life, Le Corbusier was interested in art. He studied at the La-Chaux-de-Fonds Art School in Switzerland under Charles L'Eplattenier and architect Ren Chapallaz. The influence of both these people is visible in the earliest works of Le Corbusier. In 1907, after extensively touring Europe, he worked in the office of Augeste Perret, the pioneer of reinforced concrete. Having gained experience there for three years, he moved to the office of Peter Behrens in Germany. During this period, he met a lot of influential architects like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius, the effects of which can be seen in his works. In 1912, Le Corbusier returned to La Chaux-de-Fonds to teach along with his former teacher L'Eplattenier and to begin his own practice and continued doing this during the course of World War 1. The first works of Le Corbusier show that he was very close to nature. Before he set out on his travel in 1907, he completed his first project, Villa Pallet. During the World War when he was working in Switzerland, he formulated various theories on modern architecture, emphasizing on structural frame of reinforced concrete. This model proposed an open floor plan consisting of concrete slabs supported by a minimal number of thin, reinforced concrete columns around the edges, with a stairway providing access to each level on one side of the floor plan. This became the basic concept for most of his future projects. Le Corbusier envisaged it as an affordable, prefabricated system for the construction of new housing in the wake of World War I's destruction. Developed with the help of partners, Max Dubois and, Perret, the system differed from the then standard Hennibique frame in its idealization of floors as flat slabs without exposed beams. Its columns were perfectly straight posts without capitals, set in from the edge of the slab. This system freed both exterior and interior walls from all structural constraints. Le Corbusier moved to Paris after the war ended. Here he worked concrete structures under government contracts and ran a small brick manufacture, but he dedicated most of his time trying to perfect his skills in the discipline of painting. Purism: The Artistic Movement In 1918, Le Corbusier along with disillusioned Cubist painter, Amde Ozenfant was instrumental in terming the movement Cubism as "irrational and romantic". His book entitled "Apres le cubisme", advocates his stand. Le Corbusier orchestrated a movement called Purism, which called for the restoration of the integrity of the object in art. Ozenfant and Jeanneret established the Purist journal "L'Esprit Nouveau". Between 1918 and 1922, Le Corbusier built nothing, concentrating his efforts on Purist theory and painting. In 1922, Le Corbusier and Jeanneret opened a studio in Paris. "Anyone could reinvent oneself": Pseudonym Adopted In 1920, the name Le Corbusier appeared in his journal, an altered form of his maternal grandfather's name, "Lecorbsier". This change of name reflected his belief that "anyone could reinvent oneself". Initial Projects Maison "Citrohan" Le Corbusier tried to design single-family house models. Le

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