Monday, September 30, 2019

Distributive vs Integrative Bargaining

Distributive and integrative bargaining requires different strategies, tactics and skill sets in a negotiator to be successfully implemented. Distributive bargaining is know as a win-lose situation based on a fixed amount that has to be divided, whereas integrative bargaining is a win-win situation based on a mutually satisfactory solution. Distributive bargaining is most often referred to as a fixed pix negotiation. There is only so much to go around and it creates a competitive or sometimes argumentative negotiation with both sides vying to get the bigger share.This style negotiation is typically used between parties that have no prior history, and little likelihood of future negotiations. There are many different strategies used in a distributive negotiation, one of which is assessing the other party’s target and resistance points. This can be very hard for a negotiator to accomplish, as there is very little sharing of information in this style of negotiation. Both parties keep information to themselves, as they do not want the opposing side to be able to determine their room to maneuver in, as they want to get the best deal or bigger part of the pie for themselves.Along with this is a negotiating strategy is to manage the other party’s impressions; this can be done by passing along false information or incomplete information to keep another negotiator in the dark. There are many different tactics used in distributive bargaining. One seen in different forms is the use of delaying tactics. This can be done two ways, first by having a negotiator that lacks the power to make a final decision. This adds more time to a negotiation while the agreement is presented to the person who has the authority to approve or reject the agreement.The second delay tactic is by delaying the negotiation past a deadline and thereby incurring a cost or penalty to the other negotiator. However, the most known type of distributive bargaining tactics is the use of hardba ll tactics. Hardball tactics take different forms, but consist for a negotiator taking a firm stand or position and intimidate, push or bully their position onto the other negotiator. Some of these methods include good cop bad cop, lowball and highball, nibble and snow jobs. Integrative bargaining is referred to as increasing the pie in negotiation.This style encourages cooperation to join forces together to create something that works best for both parties. This approach focuses on commonalities rather than differences and working towards a common goal or objective. One of the strategies here is to share information and ideas to create understanding of what is being negotiated to better develop alternate solutions. This is very different from the distributive style as there is no collaboration or information sharing in that approach.Integrative strategies focus on thinking outside the box to create new and unusual solutions whereas distributive is very focused on their positions an d do not look to the parties needs. Integrative tactics includes compromise, unlike distributive bargaining. Compromise actually has many different forms and does not mean that both sides give up something. Variations of compromise include logrolling, creating bridge solutions, cutting the cost for compliance and nonspecific compensation.Both strategies require skill sets that will take time and experience to develop, however integrative strategy is the more difficult one to develop and implement. Integrative bargaining is a mind-set that a negotiator must live and cannot just give lip service to. Without committing to an integrative style from the very beginning a negotiator can send mixed signals and cause confusion in a negotiation. A negotiator must also be able to â€Å"sell† the integrative approach to everyone at the negotiation and be able to move the negotiation towards a collaborative effort.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Francis Bacon and Brett Whiteley

Brett Whiteley and Francis Bacon Essay Question: Discuss the way Whiteley’s work; ‘Self Portrait in the Studio’ 1976, and Bacon’s ‘Figure in Movement, 1976’ show two very different approaches to practice. How have these artists used gesture, colour, and form differently in these works to explore totally different emotional and psychological territory? Francis Bacon and Brett Whiteley show two very different approaches to their practice. They use gesture, colour and form differently in these works to explore different emotional and psychological territory.The making of an artistic practice is based on the artist’s view of the things affecting and contributing to his society and perspective on the world. Differing styles in this depend on the artist and their intent in making their artwork which is evident in the two contrasting works of Whiteley’s ‘Self portrait in the studio’ 1976 and Bacon’s ‘Figure in m ovement, 1976’. They portray their views through a range of techniques. Artistic practice is the way in which an artist goes about their work. It refers to the conceptual and making processes of an artwork.An artist will find a suitable subject matter, develop skills and use visual codes and symbols to portray their ideas and concepts to hopefully trigger a certain audience response. An artist would want to be reflective of the society and world of that time to have the audience be able to connect with ideas and concepts they want to convey. How they make it and why they make it is a testimony to their different media, styles and techniques and also their use of the visual qualities and relationships as well as the influence of their global and personal world and other artists and their movements.Francis Bacon says that he is ‘deforming and reforming reality in his paintings’ this is evident in his work ‘Figure in movement, 1976’. Distorted features of the human form are typical with Bacons figurative style. Bacon stated that his aim was to ‘not make illustration of reality but to create images which are concentration of reality’. Subject matter is not something that Francis Bacon said he traditionally looks for but he was inspired by people like Muybridge and his photography of deformities and animal locomotion.In his studio he has collection of his works spread out on a table, ‘these things spread around the table are perhaps what more conventional artists would call subject matter’. He is also inspired by medical books of x-rays and diseases of the mouth which he interprets as beautiful and interesting. He finds dead carcasses of cattle in the butcher as one of the most vibrant colour palettes and interesting forms. In the background of the work there is a pig carcass which is evidence of his interpretation of beauty .He uses a mash of dark grey colours for the forms and a bright orange base with a black background ambiguously. In the work ‘Figure in movement, 1976’ Bacon based the conceptual idea from a book which had a line ‘The reek of human blood smiles out at me. ’ This provoked a strong sense of imagery which transformed in to his art and in particular this work of two distorted forms wrestling. He successfully depicts violence in to the work which has been fuelled from that line and the audience successfully receives it.Francis Bacon is seen as an artist who creates his work very unconventionally. He uses the unprimed side of a canvas as he became accustomed to it after losing all his money and using the other side of old paintings because he couldn’t afford new canvases. He does not do sketches before taking on a painting and feels whichever way his brush takes him is the way that he wants to go. He says that ‘I have an overall image that I want to do but it’s in the working that it develops’, and ‘I believe in a deeply ordered chaos of work. Bacon never attended an art school because he thinks ‘I would have been taught all those old techniques that I just don’t want to know, I wanted to find my own techniques. You can’t any longer make illustration because it’s done so much better by the camera and the cinema. ’ He has a habit of manically working paint into a canvas not only with a paint brush but with cloths and dishwashing instruments which adds to the frenzy of his work.Francis Bacon doesn’t put much emphasis on the meaning of his work but on the mood and feeling it creates, ’I do believe that today modern man wants a sensation really without the boredom of its conveyance, a cut down of conveyance as far as possible so you just give over to sensation’, though interestingly he says ‘I never feel anything when I do paintings there’s nothing to feel. ’ Many come away with the feeling of horror from a Bacon work b ut that’s not the intention ‘what horror could I make that could compete with what goes on every single day. Brett Whiteley’s painting ‘Self portrait in the studio’ won the Archibald prize in 1976. It was one of several Archibald prizes that he one in the ‘70’s. Whiteley was known for the topics of nudes, portraits, landscapes, still lifes of the female form, birds, and abstracts which all feature heavily in his self portrait of not only him but things that are dear to him and reflect his life and work as represented in the form of his studio. In this work Whiteley is trying to express that ‘yes, this is a mirror image of myself but I am not just Brett Whiteley, I am also Brett Whiteley who is part of this environment at this time. This painting is a testimony to what he loves and his working space in which he has created his career from and his artistic practice. He expresses this by including important elements of his life. Brett Whiteley strongly uses emotive qualities of colour. The whole painting is held together by the unifying prevailing quality of blue which is his signature colour. He is recognised for this colour because he is always referencing the water especially in this painting of his studio overlooking the harbour in Lavender Bay.This colour is also spread on to the walls and acts as a calming effect on the receiving audience. The colour is rich and bright to contrast with other points of focus in the room. The way he has developed the forms and shapes in the room are meant to convey the idea of man only being as big as any other point of reference. Whiteley reinforces this idea by making all focal points distorted and exaggerated. This is a celebration of his interest in female form and his figurative sculpture works.It is evident in ‘Self Portrait in the Studio’ that Whiteley has worked with slow, spontaneous gestures and worked back in to the canvas with scratches. The drawings of surroundings are minimal and simplistic and have been drawn with free loose lines to convey emotion. Whiteley says that ‘the best times when paintings are done when I’m not in charge of it all, if I keep my ego out of it there is kind of a pure flow of that recommendation and that solution of a kind of neat rightness that goes in as best and as accurately as one can.This approach contributes to the mood, feeling and meaning of the work and the sense of the way being an artist has impacted on his life. The small self portrait in comparison to his big studio also reflects how it dominates his life but is reflected as his most enjoyable escape. The painting also has a dream like feel showing his relationship with his art. Both of these two artists have very differently developed their practices.I think an interesting comparison between them is that Francis Bacon was always referencing death and in his documentary ‘The Art of Francis Bacon’ when talking abo ut how Egyptian art inspired him said ‘I guess they were always trying to defeat death by leaving images but it won’t really make a difference. We will all be dead. ’ And that one of Brett Whiteley’s famous quote is ‘Art is the thrilling spark that beats death, that’s all. ’ I think these two conflicting statements perfectly sum up the contrast they have in ideas and show how they explore emotional and psychological territory differently.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Future Issues in Operations Management (Continued) Essay

Future Issues in Operations Management (Continued) - Essay Example Chambers recalled that Cisco has used these evolving technologies to its advantage to gain a larger share of the market and prepare a series of products that captures a greater market share. This type of advancement can be seen in another key industry that is seldom considered for RFID Technological advancements: warehousing. La Scalia et al. (2010) present research that suggests a complex issue with warehousing application that reduces efficiency lies in the Stock Keeping Units. These SKUs have a quantity that is often assumed as opposed to actually quantified which is where RFID Technology can be utilized to advance the information systems and present a more accurate stock keeping database and process for greater warehousing production. Furthermore, RFID technologies are a cornerstone to advancement in operational and supply chain management whereby information accuracy, storage and evaluation is essential to improved efficiency (Ngai, 2009). Without these technologies, Chambers mentions that companies risk falling behind the competition and losing a large share of the market profits. Through RFID Technologies simple processes by these various industries can be greatl y improved and companies will show very large financial and efficiency benefits as long as they are implemented correctly. La Scalia, G., Aiello, G., Enea, M., & Micale, R. (2010). Preliminary analysis of warehouse localization systems based on rfid technology. International Journal of RF Technologies: Research and Applications, 2(1),

Friday, September 27, 2019

Canadian National Bank Current Problems Case Study

Canadian National Bank Current Problems - Case Study Example To cope with the pressure of this kind of environment the bank has implemented a system by the name of Customer Service Capacity Management (CSCM). This system has proposed certain parameters for each branch of the bank. The branch managers of each of these branches are expected to implement these recommendations without any exceptions. In such a situation a branch manager expects full support from each and every employee working in his or her branch. But unfortunately the branch manager of Chatham Branch has been unable to get support of one of her senior customer service representative, who is holding her own grudges against the branch manager. This has resulted in a series of ongoing tension situation existing between the manager and the customer service representative. All efforts of the manager to reconcile the prevailing differences have resulted in a failure, and thus a point has been reached where the fate of both these ladies is in the hands of a disciplinary committee. Prob lem Statement: The main problem which is being talked about in this case is one of interpersonal conflict. This form of conflict is arising between a young, inspirational, cooperative customer service manager and an experienced, mid aged, frustrated customer service representative. ... When this lady saw a young woman with just a degree to back her in the shoes of a manager, she decided to make her life difficult. Sub problems in the Bank: Since the bank is currently operating in an environment which is characterized by deregulation, therefore the entire banking paradigm has changed. In this paradigm banks need to be very responsive to customers’ needs with regards to their financial products and services. Banks also need to utilize their resources very efficiently and undertake strategies which help them to reduce their operating costs. In this regards Canadian National bank has implemented a new system by the name of Customer Service Capacity Management (CSCM). The basic aim of this system is to match customer traffic with the number of customer service representatives. In this way the system enables a reduction in cost. Recently, Lesley has been asked by this system to cut the job of a clerk and have the responsibility of this job fulfilled by two custome r service representatives. These representatives will share the work hours and work responsibilities of this job post. The responsibility to carry the task out fell on Pam Stewart and Sarah Wright, both these ladies had vast experience to back them but both these ladies were poles apart when it came to their personalities. Sarah was friendly and cooperative whereas as Pam was stubborn and uncooperative. Sarah had not problems when it came to performing these additional responsibilities, whereas Pam made a fuss about things and requested that she be relieved of these additional duties. She communicated to Lesley by means of a formal letter with a doctor’s certificate, asking her to relieve her of this additional role. Lesley rightfully took up this issue with Sarah asking

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Food & Beverage Operations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Food & Beverage Operations - Case Study Example Organising helps to keep things running smoothly and saves time and unnecessary work. There should be a system in performing the tasks and responsibilities. "Food Expo 2006" was the event that the Food and Beverage course students participated in. The expo fell under the category of Function and Event Catering. This category consists of weddings, dinner dances, social functions, business functions, working lunches, meetings, and conferences. Function catering is found in the commercial and non-commercial sectors of the catering industry. One month of planning involved working with the budget, marketing, labour utilization, etc. As the planning was being done, it was also important that there was flexibility in the planning as changes usually occur in catering events. Posters were created and displayed on the notice board as part of the marketing plan. A small contribution was collected in order to estimate the number of people who would attend and to insure that the message of the event was being circulated. A total of eighteen students met three times during that month. The students were divided into four groups with different tasks. The planning involved one of the key factors and that was to plan the menu. The most important part of the event is the meal and the meal experience is an event that starts the moment guests arrive. The menu consisted of Devilled Lamb Curry with Chopped Strawberries, Chicken Chablis, Mix Steamed Vegetables with Gravy, Thai Green Fish Curry, Boiled Rice, and Side Salad. In order to make the meal experience and the event go smoothly, much had to be done behind the scene. Since the food would be prepared in one area and the dining would take place in another area, it was important that students learned that the flow of materials (food, chairs, equipment, etc.) should be as direct as possible. If there are too many cross flows of traffic and back-tracking, then the risk of hazards increases and time is also wasted. This also affects the cost of labour (in the real business world). Carts, trolleys, and other mechanical aids that are available and/or can be accessed should be used in alleviating the human handling of materials. This should be concerned in the planning process. What is needed is determined by the types of events and the budget. The traditional method of food production was how the meal was prepared as the food was purchased raw and little dependency was placed on convenience foods. Fresh fish, lamb, and other ingredients were purchased at a nearby shop. At ten o' clock on the day of the event, everyone met at the basketball ground on the top floor. The food would be prepared in a nearby classroom and it had been cleared for that specific reason. Two gas burners, aprons, and caps were provided. Students were given instructions on how to proceed with the food preparation and cooking. Various instructions were given to each group. I.e., one group's instructions included setting the table as the food would be served at one o' clock that afternoon. Another group would prepare the Chicken Chablis. The lecturer started the camcorder in order to record the day's events and all that was taking place. The lecturer interviewed the groups

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Zoot Suit Riots Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Zoot Suit Riots - Essay Example The Zoot Suit Riots In a sense, the Sleepy Lagoon Murders were part of what contributed to the zoot suit riots although they happened a year before the riots started. Sleepy Lagoon was a hangout place for Mexican youth. By day it was a place to swim and by night it was a lovers lane. It was one of the few places that Mexican American youth could go without having a hassle from prejudice. On August 1, 1942 two Mexican youth were sitting in the car talking and they were viciously attacked by what appeared to be a rival gang. The male, Hank Leyvas and his girlfriend were badly beaten. Hank went back to find the youth with reinforcements and attached other youths that were attending a birthday party nearby; Josà © Dà ­az was one of those attending. Dà ­az was killed in the "rumble" and a call to action went out from the Los Angeles Police Department. In the process Leyvas and 21 other Mexican youth were convicted of the murder through the Los Angeles tabloid journals and Leyvas was sentenced to life in S an Quentin. A few months later the zoot suit riots broke out and this would be one of the worse problems in Los Angeles history. In order to understand the zoot suit riots, it is important to understand a little about the zoot suit culture. Zoot suits were a popular dress that African Americans wore during the jazz era. It was a flashy outfit and it was a bit outrageous. It had broad shoulders, a narrow waist and balloon pants. It was a way of expression that let people of color be seen in places that society said they were supposed to be invisible. The Mexican American youth picked up the culture and ran with it.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Sacrificing Gaddafi Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sacrificing Gaddafi - Speech or Presentation Example One would require a strong motive to do sacrifice. Sacrifice can be positive too if it brings positive benefits as a result. Gaddafi had been oppressing and subjugating the Libyan people, We can no longer live under this evil subjugation, sacrificing Gaddafi would bring positive results. Libya is not like Tunisia or the Egypt it is place which is completely different. In case of distraction it would just split in to several other states. These were the words of son of Gaddafi on the Libya TV on Sunday. Of course he is very right as Libya is neither Egypt nor it is Tunisia. It is a country that is over 600,000 sq. miles and is populated by less than even 7 million. Since, the 1969, it has been the victim of single leadership, a man who has treated it mercilessly by showing cruelty to anyone who speaks against him or the revolution or the regime he was governing. It is a country that is built over the importance of tribal unity though despite the largest oil reserves in Africa, it cont inues to permit two third of the citizens living under poverty lines. It is a unique country that cannot boast much of its positive bilateral relations with the west or the Europe, as it has only recently made amendments in its relations with the neighbors across the Mediterranean after many years of US and UN imposed sanctions. (Gaddafi: Africa's king of kings) After the cold in 2004, the Europe ties then developed for better. As could be seen Libya became the third biggest oil supplier to European countries, having in the recent years surpassing Saudi Arabia even. The proximity to Europe, relative lack of foreign investment, unexplored terrain gave Libya a deep value a worth of gem equivalence especially for the oil dependent economies of west. (Gaddafi's personal website) The fact that the leader may publicly hang the dissident students was of no greater concern as long as the philosophy of intolerance had extended to, adequately suppressed, the supposed "threat" of Islamism. Sti ll the recent events have just forced world leaders to just re- examine the relationship with the distorted regime. Accounts of the unprovoked sniper attacks on the peaceful demonstrators, use of the violent foreign mercenaries as means of the crowd control, live ammunition being shot in to crowds of protesters, along with the media black-out that tried (un-successfully) to prevent world from finding out the truth This has brought about fresh focus and attention to plight of the Libyan people along with the reaction of their in-humane leader.(Freedom 2011) As he had addressed the nation, Gaddafi’s feebly masked threats were then received angrily by the protesters in the streets. His claims in regard to the celebrations of people of Darnah, Benghazi and al-Bayda were brought about by drunk and drugged youngster led to the furious chanting plus jeering against the Gaddafi and his son. Gaddafi’s warnings of possibility of civil war and separatism evoked slogans emphasizin g the unity of Libyan people and their intention to support one another till they achieved victory.( A new flag flies in the east) The strengthened protest is one of the case in point. Having been silent for a specific period or the beginning periods the Libyan people then made it to the streets in much of the increasing numbers their final destination became the presidential house. However, the difficulties have gone beyond this. Reports of helicopters bombing protestors as well as forcing them out of city centre apartment blocks in order to make room for snipers are also confirmed by those very people who were on the ground. If one watches from their house they could find Saif’

Monday, September 23, 2019

Causes and effects of obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Causes and effects of obesity - Essay Example The modern life has become so mechanical that people find it hard to find time for cooking at home. Although the standard of living has improved in general, yet many people have to spend most of their day at the workplace in order to make both ends meet. In such a hectic routine, purchasing ingredients from the market and cooking food at home is not only a time consuming activity, but also proves far more expensive than a burger with coke and French fries at a nearby restaurant. Therefore, most of the working people opt for fast food. Fast food owners sell their business on the theme of upsizing. People do not realize but the fast food adds kilos of fat under their skin in no time. In addition to consuming junk food, people’s lack of tendency to exercise and work out regularly also makes them gain weight. Most people do not have a habit of going on a walk or doing exercise because it feels just too boring and tiresome to adopt as a habit. Whenever people find some time in the busy routine, an obvious choice is to watch a new movie or enjoy ice-cream at the nearest parlor. People eat not because they are feeling hungry. Instead, they eat because they want to kill the time in an enjoyable manner. Also, in the contemporary age, eating junk food has become more of a fashion than a hobby.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Prison Break Essay Example for Free

Prison Break Essay Prison break is an American television series just entering the second season. It is a drama series set around a prison. This five star thriller is based in a prison named Fox River. The masterminded character, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) is the main actor in this series. He plays as a structural engineer, this comes in handy when he plans to break out his step brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), also acted as Drake in Blade Trinity out of prison. Lincoln Burrows (Purcell) is the only family he has, and is on death row, convicted of the murder of the vice presidents brother. In actual fact, the vice presidents brother is hiding. This scheme was set up by the vice president herself and her right hand man, working with the secret service agent Paul Kellerman. (Paul Adelstein) Lawyer Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) investigates a conspiracy that takes place indicating that Lincoln Burrows was framed for the murder. The evidence was destroyed and Veronica could not get Lincoln exonerated. When a date was set for the execution of Lincoln, Michael has to think fast about how he is going to execute this plan. He has plans of the prison tattooed all over his body. These blueprints are camouflaged by artwork of devils and angels and so not anyone can see it and understand it apart from him. Any phrases or important words would be tattooed backwards or inverted and only could be recognized seeing it through a mirror. He deliberately robs a bank firing a gunshot on the ceiling to acquire maximum security and gets caught intentionally and gets sent to the same prison as his brother. The action inside the prison is full of suspense as the series continues. Michael has to persuade several other prisoners who are important for this escape to happen. Predictably other prisoners acknowledge that there is a scheme going on and they have to be part of the escape for obvious reasons. Psychopath Theodore Bagwell (Robert Knepper) known as T-Bag as his nickname, is a perfect example of why this show is so great. His character is a murder and rapist. His emetic performance is what gets the viewers gripped. Throughout the series there is another plot of whats happening outside the walls. Veronica is working hard to end this conspiracy or to delay the execution. This is not an easy task as she is fighting against the government. The second season is when the cons are on the run. Fernando Sucre, Benjamin Franklin, John Abruzzi, Theodore T-bag Bagwell, Charles Patoshik, David Apolskis, Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows are the Fox River 8 MOST WANTED MEN IN AMERICA. The phrase MOST WANTED sums up the feelings of how the cops would really like to catch them. After the breakout the cons make their way to the airstrip to board a plane that should wait there to pick them up. The plane was unknown and identified by an inspector. The pilot had to leave the cons behind after being suspicious. This is a difficult situation for Scofield and the viewers are worried that the fugitives will be apprehended. He proves his intelligence by having a plan B if they never made it to the airstrip. They all go their different ways to uncover five millions dollars buried in Utah by an inmate that was killed in Fox River. The break out becomes a Federal matter and FBIs have to get involved. Special conniving agent FBI Alexander Mahone (William Fitchtner) is at almost the same intelligence as Scofield and is a real obstacle for him. This undeniable amazing series caught over ten million viewers. Brett Ratner, the director of Prison Break has turned famous after directing the best series with the highest ratings. On www. reviewit. com, 10,000 blogs show the people love the excitement and the suspense they get watching this series. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

SIA Airlines Essay Example for Free

SIA Airlines Essay QUESTION:The industry analysis is necessary in the strategic marketing planning in order to identify the opportunities and threats in the competitive environment. Choose the airlines as an industry to apply the Michael Porters five forces model and discuss how one established airline like SIA should respond to the competitive environment, after analyzing the industry. SIA is internationally recognised as one of the worlds leading carriers. The company had recognised that in this highly competitive market, any advantage gained by one airline over others will be short-lived, and ideas that are new will become commonplace in a matter of months. As such, SIA noted the importance of having to always stay at the forefront both in service and technology. This strategy of SIA focuses primarily not on reducing costs, but on enhancing quality or service and preventing any customer problem from arising. SIA has succeeded most uniquely with this type of strategy in the airline industry, a strategy commonly employed in service businesses that command premium prices with high margins, businesses in which there are a high degree of repeat business, with word-of-mouth praise by customers as one of the most important marketing channel. Internally, three cost items account for half of SIAs operating cost: fuel, aircraft depreciation and wages. There is little that can be done with respect to fuel cost except for judicious hedging. As for aircraft cost, SIA is universally acknowledged as being second to none in securing the best prices and purchase terms from aircraft and engine manufacturers. That leaves wages. The airlines fixed wages amount to less than $800 million a year, roughly one tenth of total operating expenditure, a modest proportion indeed. Variable wages comprise the rest, consisting mainly of profit-based bonuses and crew allowances based on actual hours of flying by pilots and cabin attendants. The recent wage cuts were a result not of lavish recruitment or over-indulgent pay rises in the past, but of the cumulative damage wrought by terrorism, war and SARS, and the need to stay competitive as other carriers undergo major restructuring of their cost structures. Externally, the industry analysis has a direct effect on a companys strategic competitiveness and above-average returns. While companies, in this case, our very own SIA, cannot directly control the elements of the general environment, it can influence and will be influenced by factors in the airline industry and competitor environments. The intensity of competition in the airline industry and its profit potential are a function of Michael Porters five forces model of competition: the treats posed by new entrants, the power of suppliers, the power of buyers, product substitutes, and the intensity of rivalry among competitors. Studying these forces allows SIA to find a position in the airline industry where it can buffer itself from the power of the forces in order to increase its ability to earn above-average returns. Threats posed by new entrantsNew entrants to an industry typically bring to it new capacity, a desire to gain market share, and substantial resources (Wheelen and Hunger, 7th Ed, pg 61). New entrants to an industry can raise the level of intensity of the competitiveness among companies, thereby reducing its attractiveness. The threat of new entrants largely depends on the barriers to entry obstructions that make it difficult for a company to enter an industry (Wheelen and Hunger, 7th Ed, pg 62). High entry barriers exist in some industries (e.g. shipbuilding) whereas other industries are very easy to enter (e.g. estate agency, restaurants). Key barriers to entry include the need to gain economies of scale quickly, the need to gain technology, large capital and investment requirements, high customer switching costs, lack of access to industry distribution channels, the likelihood of retaliation from existing industry players, and potential saturation of the market. Despite all the numerous barriers to entry, new companies sometimes enter industries with higher quality products, lower prices and substantial marketing resources. It is the management strategists job to identify such threats from potential new competitors and to monitor the new rivals strategies, so as to counterattack as needed, and to capitalise on existing strengths and opportunities. Budget airlines such as Air Asia have been emerging in recent times which represent the emerging point-to-point budget model symbolized by Southwest, JetBlue, EasyGroup and RyanAir. With the economy still on its way to recovery, travellers are still reluctant to spend. The low carrier model works best in short-haul point-to-point market where price is extremely important and the deciding factor is price. The advantage of the low-cost model is that it fits well with current consumer demand as budget flights are cheap and offer more attractive deals to such travellers. One important factor for the emerging budget airline is that travellers main concern is to reach a destination. There is always a group of travellers with just this simple need to be satisfied. Those travellers have no need for in-flight or ground-level services. In face of growing competition, SIA would be launching their very own budget carrier called Tiger Airways. I believe that this is a good strategic move by SIA to tackle the threat from the new budget airlines that are entering the industry currently. Power of suppliersSuppliers are the businesses that supply materials other products into the industry (Wheelen and Hunger, 7th Ed, pg 64). Suppliers can affect an industry through their ability to raise prices or reduce quantity of supply. The cost of items bought from suppliers (e.g. raw materials, components) can have a significant impact on a companys profitability. The bargaining power of suppliers affects the intensity of competition in an industry especially when there are a large numbers of suppliers, when there are only a few good substitute raw materials, or when the cost of switching raw materials is costly. If suppliers have high bargaining power over a company, then in theory the companys industry is less attractive. Companies should pursue backward vertical integration to gain control or ownership of suppliers. This strategy is effective when suppliers are unreliable, too costly, or not capable of meeting a companys needs on  consistent basis. Companies can negotiate more favourably with suppliers when backward vertical integration is a commonly used strategy among rival companies in an industry. Boeing and Airbus dominate the whole airline industry because they are the two major suppliers of aircrafts. There are no satisfactory substitute products available to airline companies as aircrafts are the only form of commercial air transport. Airlines are not a significant customer group for the two suppliers because they can supply aircrafts to governments/military as well. Boeings and Airbuss aircrafts are critical to the airline companys marketplace success because aircrafts are the most important resource in the airline industry. This in turn leads to high bargaining power of Boeing and Airbus they can increase prices and reduce the quality of their aircrafts, without any retaliation by any airlines including SIA. However, another major supplier of SIA is Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), which provides ground-handling and in-flight catering services at Changi Airport. It is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA) and now has about 80 per cent market share. It is a fine example of vertical integration undertaken by SIA to gain ownership of supplies. SIA was also very successful with other airline-related companies such as SIA Engineering Company which are now large groups of companies based all over Asia, with profits around the $200 million level, a significant proportion contributed by associate companies. Power of buyersBuyers are the people or organisations that create demand in an industry (Wheelen and Hunger, 7th Ed, pg 64). When the buyers are concentrated or large, or buy in big volume, their bargaining power represents a force affecting the intensity of competition in an industry. Buyers affect an industry through their ability to force down prices, bargain for higher quality or more services, and play competitors against each other. The bargaining power of buyers is higher when the products being purchased are standard or undifferentiated. Whenever the bargaining power of buyer is substantial, rival companies may offer extended warranties or special services to gain customers loyalty. Air travellers and transportation companies purchase a large portion of the airline industrys total service. The sale of tickets to air travellers and cargo space to transportation companies account for a significant portion of the airline companys annual revenues. Buyer groups experience low switching costs as they can choose one airline company over another, depending on which offers better deals. When there are low switching costs, competitors can attract travellers through pricing and service offerings. As such, buyer groups have high buying bargaining power companies in the airline industry have to be more focused on the needs and desires of their customers in order to better serve and satisfy them. SIAs KrisFlyer gives its members more rewards and privilege that come with travelling so as to gain customer loyalty and to entice repeated sales. This is just one, but excellent, way of better serving and satisfying travellers who have considerable power. Product substitutesSubstitutes are products that appear to be different but can satisfy the same need as another product (Wheelen and Hunger, 7th Ed, pg 63). In many industries, companies are in close competition with producers of substitute products in other industries. For example, tea can be considered as a substitute for coffee. According to Porter, substitutes limit the potential returns of an industry by placing a ceiling on the prices companies in the industry can profitably charge (Wheelen and Hunger, 7th Ed, pg 64). In other words, it means that the presence of substitutes put a ceiling on the price to be charged before the consumers will switch to the substitute product. The presence of substitute products lowers the industry attractiveness and profitability because of the limited price levels. The competitive strength of substitutes is best measured by the market share those products obtain and those companies plans for increased capacity and market penetrationSubstitutes to aircrafts include sea and land transports which are much cheaper alternatives. However, they pose no serious threats to the airline company because air transport is still considered as the faster and most effective way to reach a destination. Nevertheless, with rapid advancements in technology, new and better modes of  transport may gradually emerge as better alternatives to aircrafts. In view of this, airlines such as SIA should keep developing strategies to differentiate itself along dimensions that travellers and transportation companies value, so as to reduce any substitutes attractiveness. The intensity of rivalry among competitorsThere are many airline companies in the industry. As a result, intense rivalries are common. The companies are generally aware of competitors actions, often choosing to respond to them. Due to the 911 incident and SARS, the airline industry has been experiencing slow growth which makes rivalry even more intense as companies battle to increase their market shares by attracting competitors customersSome airline companies are viewed as having few differentiated features or capabilities. Rivalry intensifies when a number of airline companies offer the same level of service. In view of this, travellers will then make the decision based on price. What SIA can do to counter the intense rivalry is to take competitive actions and competitive responses in efforts to be successful. The most important thing is of course to differentiate itself from competitors offerings in ways that travellers and transportation companies value and in which SIA has a competitive advantage. ConclusionAs can be seen from the above industry analysis, with threats posed by budget airlines; high bargaining power of Boeing and Airbus; high bargaining power of air travellers and transportation companies; and lastly, intense rivalry among competitors in the airline industry; SIA has to continuously improve itself in order to stay competitive in the airline industry. In fact, the company is doing that very well. It has been fast in reacting to the changes in the industry environment, as evident from their current strategies of introducing a budget airline, cutting costs, focusing attention on business class travellers and implementing long haul flights. Following such moves, will SIA then be able to continue staying ahead of competitors and be ensured of its position as one of the worlds leading carriers for many years to come? The answer remains to be seen. References Thomas L. Wheelen and J David Hunger (2000) Strategic Management And Business Policy 7th Edition Prentice Hall InternationalFred R. David (2001), Strategic Management Concepts And Cases 8th Edition. Prentice Hall InternationalMary Coulter and Stephens P. Robbins (1999) Management 6thEdition, Prentice Hall InternationalJ. David Hunger and Thomas L. Wheelen (2003) Essentials of strategic management, Prentice Hall InternationalCharles W.L. Hill and Gareth R. Jones (2002) Strategic management : an integrated approach 2nd Edition, Houghton MifflinPhilip Kotler (2003) Marketing Management 11th Edition, Prentice Hall International

Friday, September 20, 2019

Molecular Weight Effect of Different Grades of HPC Polymer

Molecular Weight Effect of Different Grades of HPC Polymer Introduction Bioavailability enhancement Wet media milling + spray drying Issues have impact on dissolution performance Novelty of the work Objective Material and methods wet stirred media milling Spray dryer Characterization techniques Results and discussion Physical stability of the milled precursor suspensions Drug breakage kinetics Formation of the NCMPs via spray drying of the precursor drug suspensions Impact of different polymers on the drug dissolution from NCMPs PVP-K30 HPMC-E3 HPC-SSL, HPC-SL, HPC-L Molecular weight effect of different grades of HPC polymer on drug dissolution performance and stability It is estimated that a large percentage of newly developed drug compounds have limited bioavailibity due to their poor water solubility and very slow dissolution rate [1]. According to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS), class II drugs are categorized as poorly water soluble and highly permeable in human body [2]. To achieve the therapeutic efficacy of these drugs it is very essential to enhance the bioavailability by increasing the solubility or dissolution rate. A number of approaches have been developed over the time to resolve this issue. The reduction of drug particles size to sub-micron or nanometer has been one of the most popular and effective approaches of all [3-6]. By reducing the particles size order of magnitude, specific surface area of the particles increased radically and enhances the rate of absorption and dissolution [7, 8], according to the Noyes-Whitney equation [9]. Drug nanoparticles production technologies are classified into Bottom-up or Top-down or combination of both. The bottom up techniques include precipitation using supercritical fluid, liquid anti-solvent precipitation, and evaporative precipitation, where small drug particles are produced from drug molecules dissolved in organic solvent [10, 11]. In case of top-down approaches, the particles are reduced to the nanometer range [11]. High pressure homogenization [5] and wet media milling [3] are included in top-down approaches. To prepare drug nanosuspension, wet stirred media milling (WSMM) has achieved the most popularity because of its effectiveness, robustness, scalability, high drug loading, and low polymer side effects [5, 12, 13]. Due to many advantages of drug solid dosage form, it is the most popular dosage form to the patients/clinicians. To encounter this high demand, drug nanosuspensions are usually converted into nanocomposite microparticles (NCMPs) using different drying techniques and incorporated into standard solid dosage forms such as tablets and capsules [13, 14]. Vacuum dryer [15, 16], spray-freeze dryer [17, 18], spray dryer [19, 20], and fluidized bed [17] are very prevalent and widely used drying tools in the pharmaceutical industries. Among all the drying techniques, spray drying has already got attention due to its energy intensive, continuous and scalable drying process characteristics and ability to produce micro to nano-sized particles with a very narrow distribution within a very short time frame [21]. Albeit particle size reduction is an effective technique for bioavailability enhancement, stability issue has always been critical for the efficacy of the drug products. In the nanosuspension, drug particles start losing their specific surface area by aggregation due to relatively high surface energy and specific surface area and also for enhanced Brownian motion [22]. For the prevention of aggregation in the wet media and having better stability, polymers and/or surfactants are added to the suspension as stabilizers. These stabilizers provide stability by electrostatic or electrosteric mechanisms [22]. Steric stability provided by the polymer is drug specific. Only few polymers can help to reduce the particle size of a specific drug down to nanometers. Therefore, selecting a proper stabilizer for a specific drug is a very complex process and cannot be generalized easily [23]. Thus, having a better insight about the polymer properties is very crucial to figure out the right stabilize r for a particular drug. Molecular weight of the polymer is a very significant property of polymers, which determines the capability for steric stabilization along with solution properties [24, 25], regulates mechanical property of the films [26], and controls the drug release during oral administration [27]. Consequently, optimum MW and polymer concentration may help to get the best stabilization performance during and after milling, and faster drug release from the composites.   Choi et al. [16] investigated the impact of lower range MW (11,200-49,000 g/mol) of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HW) on itraconazole suspension production and their recovery from the drug composites. In that work, HPC was used solely with the same concentration, and dissolution performance study was absent.   Sepassi et al. [28] studied MW effect of two different polymers hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on the particle size reduction of milled nabumetone and ha lofantrine suspensions; however, drying and dissolution rate were not studied. Li et al. [29] studied the MW and concentration effect of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) on the dissolution performance of poorly soluble drug griseofulvin (GF) in presence/absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as surfactant. In that investigation, drug nanosuspension was coated and dried on to the surface of pharmatose using fluidized bed technique and also determined the optimum concentration and MW effect of HPC for complete release of the drug particles during dissolution. To authors best knowledge, no comprehensive and systematic study has been performed so far to get the insight about the head to head comparison of different polymers performance and MW effect of the same polymer on the suspension stability after milling and during dissolution of NCMPs produced via spray drying. It is known from prior study that the combined use of polymers and surfactants provide a synergistic effect leading to better stability in the nanosuspension than individual stabilizers [30, 31]. Due to the side effects of surfactant, it is always expected to use minimal amount in the formulation. If only the use of polymer can provide substantial stability in the nanosuspension and immediate release of the drugs in the dissolution from NCMPs, then it is more viable than using surfactant.   Therefore, this study aims to develop an understanding of the polymer MW and different polymer effect on the physical stability of Itraconazole nanosuspension and drug dissolution fr om the composites. Itraconazole (ITZ) suspensions were milled in a WSMM and the nanocomposite particles were produced using a co-current spray dryer. Three different polymers HPC, PVP, and HPMC were used at 4.5% (w/w) concentration to see the polymer effect and for MW effect, three grades (SSL, SL, and L) of HPC having different MW were used. Laser diffraction, SEM, UV- spectroscopy, XRPD, and DSC were used to analyze the drug suspension and composite particles. Dissolution test of the NCMPs were performed by a USP II paddle apparatus. Materials Itraconazole (ITZ), is an antifungal drug with a water solubility 0.13 mg/L (at pH-7 and 25  °C), is a sparingly water soluble drug belong to the BCS Class II was purchased from Jai Radhe Sales (Ahmedabad, India) and was used as-received condition. Three different polymers, hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were used as polymers. Three grades (SSL, SL, and L) of HPC with ~40, ~100, and ~140 kDa molecular weight, respectively, were donated by Nisso America Inc. (New York, NY, USA) and used for steric stabilization. Polymeric stabilizers Methocel E3 grade HPMC and PVP Kollidon 30 were donated by Dow Chemical (Midland, MI, USA) and BASF Corporation (Florham Park, NJ, USA) respectively. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is an anionic surfactant used as a wetting agent during dissolution and provide electrostatic stabilization in the suspension, was purchased from Sigma Aldrich (Milwaukee, WI, USA). Zirmil Y grade wear-re sistant yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) with a median size of 430  µm (400  µm nominal size) was used as the milling media and purchased from Saint Gobain ZirPro (Mountainside, NJ, USA). Methods Wet Stirred Media Milling (WSMM) The presuspension (before milling) was prepared following the same procedure used in Afolabi et al. [32]. All the suspension formulations are tabulated below in Table 1. API (Itraconazole) concentration was kept constant at 10% (w/w) and polymer concentration was 4.5% (w/w) for all the formulation. All the concentrations are reported with respect to deionized water (200g). The formulation with 2.5% (w/w) HPC-SL and 0.2% (w/w) SDS was used as a baseline formulation, because from earlier study it was found to be the optimum for fastest and complete drug release from the composite powders. Prepared drug suspension was milled in a Netzsch wet media mill (Micorcer, Fine Particle Technology LLC, Exton, PA, USA) with 80 ml chamber; 50 ml of the chamber was filled with 400  µm (nominal size) Zirconia beads, which is the milling media and a screen with 200  µm opening was used to hold the beads into the chamber and allowing only the passage of the suspension. A shear mixer (Fisher Scientific Laboratory Stirrer, Catalog No. 14-503, Pittsburgh, PA) was used to prepare the suspension prior to transfer into the holding tank of the miller. The suspension was pumped through a peristaltic pump and was milled under the following conditions: suspension flow rate 126 ml/min, rotor speed 4000 rpm corresponding to a tip speed of 11.7 m/s. To keep the suspension temperature below 35  °C, milling chamber and holding tank both were equipped with a chiller (Advantage Engineering Greenwood, IN, USA).   All the parameters were selected from the earlier work done by Afolabi et al. [31]. To determine the breakage kinetics, particle sizes were measured at different time intervals up to 65 minutes and the suspension were refrigerated at 8  °C for one day before spray drying. Preparation of NCMPs via Spray Drying The prepared nanosuspesions were dried within a day of milling using a spray dryer (4M8-Trix, Procept, Zelzate, Belgium) running in a co-current flow set up. All the operating conditions were taken from Azad et al. [19].The suspensions were atomized at 2 bar atomizing pressure using a bi-fluid nozzle having 0.6 mm tip diameter. In each run, ~120 gm nanosuspensions were sprayed at 1.3-1.6 g/min spray rate using a peristaltic pump (Makeit-EZ, Creates, Zelzate, Belgium). Drying air was fed co-currently from the top of the column at 120  °C temperature and 0.37-0.40 m3/min volumetric flow rate. To avoid sedimentation of the drug particles during spraying, the suspension was stirred using a magnetic stirrer throughout the run. A Cyclone separator was used at 54-70 mbar differential pressure to separate the NCMPs from the outlet air stream and collecting them in a glass jar. The dried powders later on were used for powder sample characterization e.g., XRD, DSC, Rodos, and dissolutio n testing. Particle Size Analysis Particle size distributions of the suspensions were measured at different time interval during milling and after 7-day storage in the refrigerator by laser diffraction (LD) technique using Coulter LS 13 320 (Beckman Coulter, Miami, FL). All the steps involved for measuring PSDs of the suspensions were followed from Li et al. [29]. During sample addition, intensity was maintained between 40-45% while obscuration was below 8%. Mie scattering theory was used to compute the volume-based PSDs in the software. Refractive index value is 1.68 for ITZ and 1.33 for deionized water (medium). Before measuring the PSDs, 2 ml suspension sample was collected from the outlet of the mill chamber and diluted with 5 ml of the respective stabilizer solution using a vortex mixer (Fisher Scientific Digital Vortex Mixer, Catalog no: 0215370, Model No: 945415, Pittsburgh, PA) at 1500 rpm for 1 min. The Particle size distributions (PSDs) of produced NCMPs via spray drying were measured by Rodos/Helos laser diffraction (LD) system (Sympatec, NJ, USA) based on Furnhofer theory with dry powder dispersion module. On the sample chute of the Rodos dispersing system, just about 1 g of the sample was placed. To feed the samples, the sample chute was vibrated at 50% settings and 0.1 bar dispersion pressure was imposed to suck in the falling powder through the sample cell of the laser diffraction system. Determination of Drug Content in the Composite Powders Drug content of the composite powders were measured by assay testing. ITZ solubility is - in dichloromethane (DCM). 100 mg of the NCMPs was dissolved in 20 ml DCM, sonicated for 30 mins to ensure all the ITZ is dissolved in the solvent and then they were allowed to sediment overnight. An aliquot of 100  µl is taken from the supernatant and diluted to 10 ml with DCM. The absorbance of all the samples was measured at 260 nm wavelength via Ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometer (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Six replicates were prepared from each NCMP formulation to calculate mean drug content and percent relative standard deviation (RSD). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) SEM imaging was performed to understand the morphology and particle size of the ITZ particles before and after milling. SEM images of as-received ITZ and baseline formulation was taken using a LEO 1530 SVMP (Carl Zeiss, Inc., Peabody, MA, USA) SEM machine. Approximately, 0.1 ml milled suspension sample was placed on top of a silicon chip (Ted Pella Inc., Redding, CA, USA), and then on top of a carbon specimen holder. The sample was placed into a desiccator for overnight drying. The samples were then sputter coated with carbon before analyzing [33]. X-ray Powder Diffraction (PXRD) The crystallinity of the as-received ITZ, physical mixture of ITZ-excipinets, and spray dried powders were analyzed using PXRD (PANalytical, Westborough, MA, USA), provided with Cu KÃŽÂ ± radiation (ÃŽÂ »= 1.5406 Ã…). The samples were scanned at a rate 0.165 S-1 for 2ÃŽÂ ¸ ranging from 5 to 40 °. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) DSC of the as-received ITZ, Physical mixture of ITZ-excipients, and spray dried powders was performed using a Mettler-Toledo polymer analyzer (PolyDSC, Columbus, OH, USA). The samples were heated at a rate of 10  °C/min within a range of 25-220  °C under nitrogen gas flow. With the help of the integrated software of the machine, melting temperature Tm and fusion enthalpy ΆHm were determined. Dissolution Testing Dissolution of ITZ from the as-received drug, and spray dried composite powders were determined via a Distek 2100C dissolution tester (North Brunswick, NJ, USA) according to the USP II paddle method.   The dissolution medium was 1000 ml SDS buffer with 3.0 gm/ml concentration at non-sink condition.   The medium was maintained at 37  °C temperature and 50 rpm paddle speed.   The composites were weighed equivalent to a dose of 20 mg of ITZ. Composites were poured into the dissolution medium and manually 4 ml of samples were taken out at 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min. Aliquots of the samples were filtered using a 0.1  µm PVDF membrane type syringe filter to avoid any effect of undissolved drug during UV spectroscopy measurement. The absorbance of ITZ dissolved was measured via UV spectroscopy (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA, USA) at 260 nm wavelength. The blank was measured using SDS buffer at the beginning. The amount of drug dissolved was measured using a calibration curve generated from drug concentration vs. absorbance (R2=0.9995 with p Apparent Shear Viscosity of Milled ITZ Suspensions The apparent shear viscosity of the nanosuspension was measured by following the procedure from Afolabi et al. [32], using R/S plus rheometer (Brookfield Engineering, Middleboro, MS, USA). To impart controlled shear rate on the samples from 0 to 1000 1/s in 60 s, a coxial cylinder (CC40) was used. To control the temperature the jacket temperature was kept constant at 25 ±0.5  °C. Drug nanoparticles formation and physical stability of the milled suspensions The formulation of the milled drug (ITZ) suspensions are presented in Table 1. Drug (ITZ) nano suspension was first produced in presence of both steric and an anionic surfactant, SDS (Run 1). Due to the synergistic effect of HPC and SDS [31], Run 1 was used as a baseline to assess the impact of various stabilizers (HPC, HPMC E3, PVP k30, and SDS) in their breakage kinetics and physical stability of the resulting suspensions. This baseline formulation was found to be the optimum formulation from a previous work performed by Meng et al [29]. The molecular weight effect of HPC was then studied in absence of SDS surfactant (Run 2-4) using three different grades of HPC; SSL, SL, and L grades having molecular weight ~40, ~100, and ~140 kDa, respectively. The apparent shear viscosity of all the formulations (Run 1-7) are represented in Figure 1. Formulations with 2.5% (w/w) HPC-SL/SDS, 4.5% (w/w) HPC-SL, and 4.5% (w/w) HPC-L (Run 1, 3, and 4) are showing near Newtonian behavior, indicating the extent of aggregation is very low. Milled drug suspensions stabilized by SDS or polymer alone (except HPC-SL and HPC-L) are showing significant shear-thinning behavior, indicating significant amount of aggregates. References 1.Kesisoglou, F., S. Panmai, and Y. Wu, Nanosizing-oral formulation development and biopharmaceutical evaluation. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2007. 59(7): p. 631-644. 2.Amidon, G.L., et al., A theoretical basis for a biopharmaceutic drug classification: the correlation of in vitro drug product dissolution and in vivo bioavailability. Pharmaceutical research, 1995. 12(3): p. 413-420. 3.Merisko-Liversidge, E. and G.G. Liversidge, Nanosizing for oral and parenteral drug delivery: a perspective on formulating poorly-water soluble compounds using wet media milling technology. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2011. 63(6): p. 427-440. 4.Panagiotou, T. and R.J. Fisher, Form nanoparticles via controlled crystallization. Chemical Engineering Progress, 2008. 104(10): p. 33-39. 5.Keck, C.M. and R.H. Mà ¼ller, Drug nanocrystals of poorly soluble drugs produced by high pressure homogenisation. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2006. 62(1): p. 3-16. 6.Mà ¼ller, R., C. Jacobs, and O. Kayser, Nanosuspensions as particulate drug formulations in therapy: rationale for development and what we can expect for the future. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2001. 47(1): p. 3-19. 7.Singh, S.K., et al., Investigation of preparation parameters of nanosuspension by top-down media milling to improve the dissolution of poorly water-soluble glyburide. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2011. 78(3): p. 441-446. 8.Tanaka, Y., et al., Nanoparticulation of probucol, a poorly water-soluble drug, using a novel wet-milling process to improve in vitro dissolution and in vivo oral absorption. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 2012. 38(8): p. 1015-1023. 9.Noyes, A.A. and W.R. Whitney, The rate of solution of solid substances in their own solutions. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1897. 19(12): p. 930-934. 10.Sun, B. and Y. Yeo, Nanocrystals for the parenteral delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs. Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science, 2012. 16(6): p. 295-301. 11.Chan, H.-K. and P.C.L. Kwok, Production methods for nanodrug particles using the bottom-up approach. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 2011. 63(6): p. 406-416. 12.Bhakay, A., et al., Novel aspects of wet milling for the production of microsuspensions and nanosuspensions of poorly water-soluble drugs. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 2011. 37(8): p. 963-976. 13.Van Eerdenbrugh, B., G. Van den Mooter, and P. Augustijns, Top-down production of drug nanocrystals: nanosuspension stabilization, miniaturization and transformation into solid products. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2008. 364(1): p. 64-75. 14.Basa, S., et al., Production and in vitro characterization of solid dosage form incorporating drug nanoparticles. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 2008. 34(11): p. 1209-1218. 15.Kim, S. and J. Lee, Effective polymeric dispersants for vacuum, convection and freeze drying of drug nanosuspensions. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2010. 397(1): p. 218-224. 16.Choi, J.-Y., C.H. Park, and J. Lee, Effect of polymer molecular weight on nanocomminution of poorly soluble drug. Drug delivery, 2008. 15(5): p. 347-353. 17.Wang, Y., et al., A comparison between spray drying and spray freeze drying for dry powder inhaler formulation of drug-loaded lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2012. 424(1): p. 98-106. 18.Cheow, W.S., et al., Spray-freeze-drying production of thermally sensitive polymeric nanoparticle aggregates for inhaled drug delivery: effect of freeze-drying adjuvants. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2011. 404(1): p. 289-300. 19.Azad, M., et al., Spray drying of drug-swellable dispersant suspensions for preparation of fast-dissolving, high drug-loaded, surfactant-free nanocomposites. Drug development and industrial pharmacy, 2015. 41(10): p. 1617-1631. 20.Lee, J., Drug nanoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ and microparticles processed into solid dosage forms: physical properties. Journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 2003. 92(10): p. 2057-2068. 21.Kemp, I.C., Fundamentals of energy analysis of dryers. Modern Drying Technology, 2011. 4: p. 1-46. 22.Kim, C.-j., Advanced pharmaceutics: Physicochemical principles. 2004: CRC Press. 23.Lee, J., et al., Amphiphilic amino acid copolymers as stabilizers for the preparation of nanocrystal dispersion. European journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 2005. 24(5): p. 441-449. 24.Adamson, A. and A. Gast, Physical chemical of surfaces. 1997, New York: Wiley. 25.Ploehn, H.J. and W.B. Russel, Interactions between colloidal particles and soluble polymers. Advances in Chemical Engineering, 1990. 15: p. 137-228. 26.Rowe, R., The effect of the molecular weight of ethyl cellulose on the drug release properties of mixed films of ethyl cellulose and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. International journal of pharmaceutics, 1986. 29(1): p. 37-41. 27.Mittal, G., et al., Estradiol loaded PLGA nanoparticles for oral administration: effect of polymer molecular weight and copolymer composition on release behavior in vitro and in vivo. Journal of Controlled Release, 2007. 119(1): p. 77-85. 28.Sepassi, S., et al., Effect of polymer molecular weight on the production of drug nanoparticles. Journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 2007. 96(10): p. 2655-2666. 29.Li, M., N. Lopez, and E. Bilgili, A study of the impact of polymer-surfactant in drug nanoparticle coated pharmatose composites on dissolution performance. Advanced Powder Technology, 2016. 30.Ryde, N.P. and S.B. Ruddy, Solid dose nanoparticulate compositions comprising a synergistic combination of a polymeric surface stabilizer and dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate. 2002, Google Patents. 31.Bilgili, E. and A. Afolabi, A combined microhydrodynamics-polymer adsorption analysis for elucidation of the roles of stabilizers in wet stirred media milling. International journal of pharmaceutics, 2012. 439(1): p. 193-206. 32.Afolabi, A., O. Akinlabi, and E. Bilgili, Impact of process parameters on the breakage kinetics of poorly water-soluble drugs during wet stirred media milling: a microhydrodynamic view. European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2014. 51: p. 75-86. 33.Li, M., et al., An intensified vibratory milling process for enhancing the breakage kinetics during the preparation of drug nanosuspensions. AAPS PharmSciTech, 2016. 17(2): p. 389-399.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Ancient Surgery :: World History

Ancient Surgery The most important and influential discovery was the practice of surgery. With this invention, human life became more sophisticated, humans lived longer, and we obtained a knowledge of ourselves sufficient enough to break the boundaries built by ignorance. Lacking prescription drugs, accurate tools, computer technology, and any background experience to build from, our ancestors struggled to learn how to repair the human body. They did an suprisingly competent job of treating the sick and injured. Some of the medical technology developed in ancient times surpassed anything available in the modern world until the 18th century or 19th century. In eras wherein religious views took precedence over medicine and logic, surgical advancement was difficult. The knowledge we have now was obtained from these people's exploits. The first known medical procedure is called trephination. Trephination is the cutting of a hole through one's skull to relive excess pressure. This dates back to as early as the Stone Age, around 3,000 BC. Unearthed remains of successful brain operations, as well as surgical instruments, were found in France at one of Europe's noted archeological digs. The success rate was remarkable, even around 7,000 BC. Skulls have been found from about 8,000 BC with these telltale holes, most of which are exact and show growth, meaning that patients often lived for weeks, even months, afterwards . Pre-historic evidence of brain surgery was not limited to Europe. Early Incan civilization used brain surgery as an extensive practice as early as 2,000 BC. In Paracas, Peru, archeological evidence indicates that brain surgery was used frequently. Here, too, an inordinate success rate was noted as patients were restored to health. The treatment was used to treat mental illnesses they blamed on evil spir its, epilepsy, headaches, and osteomylitis, as well as head injuries. Brain surgery was also used for both spiritual and magical reasons; often, the practice was limited to kings, priests and the nobility. Surgical tools in South America were made of both bronze and carved obsidian. The Akkadians used trephination thousands of years later for the same purposes, and the practice was improved until it reached the state of today. The Akkadians learned from experience with surgery. There were no books or documentations of previous procedures, so the trade was passed down through hands on, personal training. The Code of Hamurabi states that surgeons of the Akkadian era were well paid, but a failure was expensive.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Abortion :: essays research papers

Abortion No one has the right to choose what is wrong–Abraham Lincoln. Abortion is one of the most highly debated issues of our time. Several questions arise from the midst of this multi-faceted jumble of opinions, morals, and strongly held values. When does the fetus become a person, as opposed to a mass of tissue? Is abortion acceptable in some circumstances while not in others? These are points I will strive to clarify, and share my thoughts and beliefs on. My beliefs, briefly outlined, are as follows: a baby is a baby at the time of conception. It has all the rights of a child outside of the womb-including the right to live. Why do I believe that an unborn baby is a person? In the split second that sperm and egg unite to create a zygote, genetic codes are formed. These codes dictate a person’s height, hair colour, eye colour, and even many personality traits. The blueprint for a human that will eventually be made up of over 64 trillion cells, all contained in a package no bigger than the point of a pin. Unborn babies are de-humanized by pro-choice activists. They use euphemisms to make the brutal dismemberment and killing of a human baby into â€Å"termination of fetus.† Try to find a pro-choice pamphlet that uses the word baby or person to describe what is being â€Å"removed.† The baby is often described as being merely tissue. Let’s examine the reality of saying that a fetus is not alive. Sex can be determined in a preborn 3-7 days after fertilization. (Dr Jerome Lejeune M.D.) The human heart beats at 21 days. (Dr. William Liley, Foetologist) At 8 weeks a preborn is sensitive to touch and pain. (Human Development Resource Council Inc., 1996) Brain waves have been recorded in as early as 37 days. (Dr. William Liley, Foetologist) Fingerprints are detectable in preborns at 10 weeks. (Human Development Resource Council Inc., 1996) It has been found that fetal heart rate slows when the mother is speaking, suggesting that the fetus not only hears and recognizes the sound, but is calmed by it. (Psychology Today, Sept- Oct.,1998) Now, I’m not sure what your definition of life is. But to me, something with a beating heart, that can think, feel pain, and hear sounds like a living creature to me. A common issue brought up by the pro-choice movement is that abortion is a â€Å"safe alternative† solution to pregnancies that are a product of rape, incest, or those that may threated a mother’s life.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Wolves Should Be Hunted

Wolves Should be Hunted The Grey Wolf was reintroduced in the United States in the mid 1990’s after years of extinction. In 1973 Northern Rocky Mountain wolf subspecies were listed on the endangered species list. In 1980 congress started talking about reintroducing the wolf back into the U. S. Since then this has been a heated debate. Animal rights activists were all for bringing the wolves back while many other opposed it. (Wolf Reintroduction: How the Wolves Came Back) The thing that the government forgot to think about was that they were reintroducing a wolf that was not native to the U.S. and that this wolf was much bigger, aggressive, and used to much harsher weather conditions than the Timberwolves native to the U. S. , when they decided to introduce Canadian Wolves. Canadian wolves weigh from 160 to 180 pounds, they are huge killing machines. Upon reintroducing gray wolves they also promised that once the wolves reached a certain population, they would be hunted to keep the wolf population to a sustainable number. The government first reintroduced the Canadian Gray Wolves into the Yellowstone National Park and Idaho. They started with 35 Canadian Gray Wolves.They said their plan was to increase the wolf population to 300 and to at least 30 breeding pairs across Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. The government then promised that states that were forced to accept wolves would be able to manage them once they reached a healthy breeding stock and were settled. The Government said that the reason for the reintroduction was to control the Elk population that had grown out of control in the Yellowstone National park. (Harkings, 2009) They argued by bringing a natural predator back into the ecosystem that this would take care of the over population of elk naturally.They said that the wolves would come in and take out the elk that were sick and failing. In the beginning this worked, however when the elk number were back to where they should be and the wolf numb er and packs grew, the government failed to let the state start managing them as they had promised before. This has brought much turmoil with the ranchers and sportsmen. The Governments plan worked so well that when the Canadian Wolves who are very territorial, spread into the small population of Timberwolves, they took over pushing the few native wolves out of the area killing them.The Federal Government’s Biologists failed to mention that this could happen. The wolves very quickly began to form packs and multiply. A typical breeding pair of wolves will have two litters of pups a year and with each litter they have up to twelve pups. This is the reason the wolf population has grown out of control. According to Idaho Fish and Game Idaho currently has 846 wolves in 88 pack’s and 39 of them are â€Å"breeding packs†The Canadian Wolves are now threatening healthy elk and deer. (Harkings, 2009) The elk and deer populations are now dwindling due to more harsh winters and wolves.They are also killing rancher’s livestock and putting rancher’s well-being at stake. Wolves have been proved to kill not only for food but for sport. For every one animal they kill to eat they kill three more just for the fun of it. Biologists call this â€Å"sport-reflex killing† or â€Å"lustful killing† the Canadian Gray wolves are killing machines (Harkings, 2009). They have also been proven to kill people’s dogs just for the fun of it. A wolf typically consume 16-24 hooved animals a year for consumption but that number must be doubled for all the animals that the wolf kills for sport and leaves left to die or rot. Harkings, 2009) The forests are being littered by carcasses left by the wolf. Wolves will wait until an elk, deer, or moose cow are giving birth and kill both the cow and the calf. Either eating them or leaving them and moving on to the next kill. They will dig up hibernating bears and kill them for both food and sport. W hen wolves are hunting in packs they are afraid of nothing. They will attack adult male grizzly bears and adult male moose. They are fearless and the only predators wolves have are humans. (Wood, 2005) That is why we need to start controlling their population before we have no hooved animals left.Wolves are such big killing animals that when they have taken out a species they will turn on their own and kill them for food. Wolves will stop at nothing they are killing machines that have to be stopped and their populations must be maintained before they become more out of control. Wolves have become so bold they have now been videoed stalking hunters in Northern Idaho. They also tried to attack a woman who was walking up her driveway. I would hate to think what would have happened if she didn’t have her cell phone and help hadn’t arrived soon enough.They are becoming more and more fearless every day and are coming closer and closer to humans. We not only have to put the f ear back into wolves for our own safety but for theirs. If we do not do something now wolves are going to diminish all of our wild hooved animals and start moving closer and closer to captivity. They are fearless and will stop at nothing. That is why we need to start taking control of the wolf before the wolf takes control of us. We have to start hunting wolves and maintaining their populations before these murderous creatures takes over.So go out get a tag and today and kill a wolf. Works Cited Harkings, D. (2009, June). Idaho Home to over 4,000 of the Biggest Baddest Wolves in America. Retrieved November 15, 2011, from http://proliberty. com/observer/20090623. htm Wolf Reintroduction: How the Wolves Came Back. (n. d. ). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www. class. uidaho. edu/kpgeorge/issues/wolves_reintroduction/reintroduction_question. htm Wood, K. (2005, January 29). The Truth About Those Canadian Wolf â€Å"Re†introductions. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from htt p://rliv. com/wolf/DailyChronicalTruth. pdf

Monday, September 16, 2019

Don’t get me started on fast food restaurants

How could I start? Fast Food restaurants: Your one way train to all the marvellous maladies such as cancer, obesity and diabetes. Upon entering the restaurant, you are greeted by a so-called â€Å"happy, kind, caring† waiter who afterwards, decides to escape before you have a chance to place your order. After spending what seems like an eternity waiting for him, you are now free to await your meal for an equally lengthy and agitating period of time. Don't like the useless waiters- well the only other alternative is the exhausting queue. Enjoy! So, perhaps I should start with the staff: the group of people who make it all happen. Is it in the job description to be temperamental and uncooperative? I often suspect this to be the case. Moreover, that you must answer a phone call when the queue is at its longest during the rush hour when everyone is already late. Recently, I was made late for school due to the fact that the sloth â€Å"working†-behind the counter- decided to answer a phone call which lasted only fifteen minutes before attending to any of us : I left without my donuts and late. I was infuriated! It is fine for them-they are already at work; on the other hand the rest of us are late and annoyed. Due to this, I get extremely frustrated when the item you decide to buy shows up with a different value at the cashier than at the menu so they haggle to get you to pay the higher value which wastes even more time : All that for an extra 60p or so. How pathetic! Having battled your way through the queue, or waited ages for the waiter to take your order and get your food: You are now expected to sit down and enjoy your meal. I don't think. The next challenge you have to face is with everyone else in the restaurant: the â€Å"General public†. Why people choose restaurants to play loud, exasperating, annoying music to infuriate the dead and pop their own ear drums is beyond me. More than that, I wonder why people view restaurants as an ideal location to make the most pointless phone calls I have ever heard in my life. I will never know. However the â€Å"general public†, never seem to reach the high standards of infuriation that the young people aim to set. They are the members of this generation who seem to set it a target to annoy others! They're the ones who scare the elderly and think that an ASBO (Anti social behaviour order) is a good thing to go down your CV. The â€Å"Chavs†. Restaurants seem to be infested with them, which is partially the staff's fault for not taking strict action against them. It is becoming an increasingly hard task to find a restaurant without â€Å"chavs†; it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack-pretty much impossible. They are rude, imperious, riotous hooligans who freely leave behind their exotic, wide collection of litter which includes: Sticky chewing gum, Soft drink cans, cigarette butts and other delightful gifts for the next lucky customer to find. How thoughtful. Even more thoughtful of the staff to leave it festering there for weeks so other customers can experience the delight of sitting on littered seats- Lovely! Away from the annoying people and service, is the preposterous advertising that restaurants air. I challenge you to find a restaurant that doesn't air ads about how healthy its food is and that it makes up a good diet when in a matter of fact it isn't. Of course it is a good diet if you wish to live a life crippled with diseases! The food-high in sugar and fat- they sell is highly associated with the condition we all aim to reach: Obesity. Their ads exploit children through the promise of pathetic gimmicks and toys: They manipulate children and harness the power they possess; their â€Å"pestering power†! It seems that they brainwash children to become missionaries from Satan and give their parents horrible headaches until they finally give in and eat at the cursed restaurants. Despite all these reasons I mentioned, some still fail to see just how bad they are thus the restaurants still exist which proves how much of a nuisance they can be. They claim to provide outstanding service which I find unsatisfactory. They air lies, provide the worse service ever, allow complete hooligans to eat in their restaurants and recruit the worse staff possible. I believe that I represent the views of many people when I say that they are over-rated, over-priced and are a rip-off. If they expect us to eat at their restaurants then they must address these pressing issues! Until that happens I'm afraid that more and more people will revert to eating at home instead of at fast food restaurants. As someone who has to have food on the go, I must say I do not blame them- these restaurants need to clean up their act.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Airport Security, Past and Post 9/11 Essay

Only from incidences of air piracy, terrorism, and changes in the social and political climate worldwide has airport security slowly morphed through the rulings of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). However the attacks of September 11th 2001 had changed airport security vastly in the matter of days. Michael Chertoff, the assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division at the Justice Department during the attack of 9/11 stated, â€Å"Like many people at the time, I thought it was a pilot error. † Chertoff was the head of Homeland Security in 2005 to 2009. To his thinking, since the end of the Cold War, three developments have profoundly changed the world and therefore the world of security threats. One was that globalization radically changed the potential impact of a network or even an individual, offering the ability to travel, communicate, and exchange money. Two, the technology revolution has allowed people to cause massive destruction with just the push of a button. The third was the increase of â€Å"ungoverned space† where there is no true rule of law, has enabled terrorists to recruit, plan, and train undetected. During a discussion, Chertoff outlined the shift in the nation’s approach to security, one he argued happened before the attacks of 9/11. The actions of that day only served to highlight â€Å"something we hadn’t recognized and which the law had not adequately accounted for,† and underscored the need for a new framework aimed at combatting terrorism. What are the events that had shaped airport security before the attacks of September 11th 2001? Airline hijackings were very frequent in the mid to late 1960s. They most commonly were committed by individuals seeking transport into Cuba. This caused airlines to apply policies of screening all passengers and bags before they are to board the aircraft. The FAA applied this new policy in an effort to avert the carrying of weapons used to compel hijackings. During the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, multiple high-profile terrorist hijackings and attacks were carried out overseas and shocked the traveling public and the airlines, arising potential problems of acts of terrorism toward the airline industry within the U. S. However incidents in example of those were still perceived as an event that would never happen to or in the United States. This perfectionistic thinking was shattered in 1987 when a Pacific Southwest Airlines’ ex-employee made use of an expired identification badge to pass through security, board a company jet liner with a weapon and shoot his supervisor, the pilot and co-pilot leaving the aircraft to go down with 38 people aboard. Not only was this not a terrorist event, but it came from within the ranks of the airline industry itself. This event, attached with the 1988 bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, demanded attention to the need for additional airport security measures. This stimulated the President’s Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism (1989) and the following passage of the Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990. Since these incidences, the FAA has applied numerous measures to protect against this and other types of acts of air piracy and terrorism in the U. S. Some of the measurements were practical while others included physical and electronic security measures. The Abundance of the focus had been on regulating the access of persons into the operations areas at airports, therefore limiting access to aircrafts. In 1989, the Federal Aviation Regulation was written into law. It mandated that an airport must be able to implement control over an employee’s right to gain access to the airport’s operations area using an access control system. In detail, this regulation states that any airport with a regular passenger aircraft service (one flight per day) that consumes 60 seats or more must be able to; (1. Ensure that only the persons authorized to have access to the secured areas by the airport operator’s security program are able to acquire that access. (2. ) To ensure that such access is denied immediately at the access points to the individuals who do not obtain the authority of access. (3. ) Set apart persons who are authorized to have access to only particular portions of the secured areas and persons who are authorized to have access only to other portions of the secured area. (4. ) Have the capability to limit an individual’s access by time and date. This then new regulation produced an outbreak of airport access control systems. Systems in which were designed to incorporate unified access control and photo ID systems that operated as a single common database to accomplish the requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulation. Regrettably, the requirements had pushed the envelope of the technology available at the time, and many of the systems that were installed had provided less than satisfactory results. ? The FAA also is in the process of formulating a rewrite of FAR 107. A Notice of Proposed Rule Making has been issued that includes language that could significantly impact access control at airside. If passed as now proposed, the rule would require airports to be able to immediately assess alarms from monitored doors at airside and to create a log of the alarm, alarm verification and the response to each alarm. Short of placing law enforcement officers on each concourse, the solution is the installation of large numbers of CCTV cameras that are integrated with the access control system to provide automatic call-up at the monitoring location. Other future security issues being addressed with regard to airside operations security center around handling and screening of passenger baggage and air cargo. One area of major concern and concentration is on addressing the threat of unscreened/unaccompanied baggage. President Clinton created the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. In the wake of the crash of TWA Flight 800 he asked the commission to focus its attention first on the issue of security, including an action plan to deploy new high-technology baggage screening and explosives detection systems. One system that will be implemented to protect aircraft against bombings is the electronic passenger/bag reconciliation system. Such systems have been in use in Europe for several years, but probably are several years from being implemented throughout the aviation system in the U. S. They utilize an electronically encoded tag or barcode that is attached to the luggage, and a magnetic strip, barcode or other scanable medium on the back of the boarding pass, to match the luggage with passengers boarding the airplane. As a passenger boards the aircraft, the boarding pass is swiped through a card reader, which supplies passenger information to the system database. If a passenger checks a bag and does not board the aircraft, a computer resolves this mismatch in the tracking database and issues an alarm indicating this disparity. The bag then is retrieved from the aircraft and scanned for content. This system prevents anyone from checking a bag with an explosive device onto a flight they do not board. The new Terminal One international facility at JFK Airport in New York will be one of the first U. S. acilities to be equipped with this type of electronic passenger/bag match system. Another area of baggage security that is changing is the screening of bags and parcels that are loaded onto aircraft. In the past, general screening of baggage for domestic flights has not been performed. Until the last several years, advanced electronic screening of international outbound baggage was limited. But an increase in terrorist acts, including the bombings of the World Trade Center and the federal building in Oklahoma City, has convinced government and industry that additional bag screening is necessary. As technology improves, this screening someday could include not only explosives, but also devices that present other types of threats. Since the machines are too expensive and large for airports/airlines to provide enough equipment to scan all bags with high-tech screening, a three-stage screening process has been established. Stage one utilizes more conventional high-speed x-ray scanners to look inside luggage and parcels. In stage two, suspect bags are routed to conveyor queues while x-ray images are re-evaluated. They then are routed either to a bypass conveyor or to third stage screening, which consists primarily of one of two types of advanced technology screening equipment. One type uses computed tomography, a scanning technology similar to a medical CAT scan. Another type uses dual-energy x-ray scanning to produce a three-dimensional image of the contents. As machines become faster and less expensive, airports will have enough machines to scan all luggage. New airport terminals under design are providing space for multiple machines and will be the first facilities to provide 100 percent screening of all bags. Since space requirements for these machines are so significant, the security consultant should be involved in new building design early on to ensure that adequate space is provided for the machines and baggage staging. One method or system being considered as a means to streamline the need for extensive bag screening is passenger profiling. This methodology utilizes a passenger profiling database containing certain passenger criteria to classify luggage for screening, thereby eliminating the need to scan all bags with high-tech screening equipment. Use of this database information could classify a passenger as low risk and may eliminate the need for advance bag screening of bags checked by that person. One major airline has developed software for this purpose which has been tested at a major hub airport location, but the system is very controversial and may or may not be implemented for general use. If and when the system is implemented, it will have extensive systems integration impacts that will require integration of airline common use erminal equipment host computers, bag handling equipment, airport security systems and explosives detection systems. This will require the security consultant to interface security systems with airline operations systems that in the past have been a non-issue when designing airport security systems. Since most of the systems mentioned above are information technology based, it will require the consultant to become increasingly knowledgeable about local area networks, wide area networks and the world wide web. Changes also are taking place with technological advances in systems utilized at the security screening checkpoint where passengers and their carry-on baggage are screened prior to boarding the aircraft. One such advance is in the method used to watch the exit lane. New systems are being developed which will assist with the arduous task of watching the exit lane in order to improve security at this portal and to decrease operating costs. Presently, this task is done manually with a posted security guard, but a person in this position is subject to distractions, can daydream or at slower nighttime periods may fall asleep for short durations. New systems use electronic detection to supervise the direction of traffic through the lane and produce alarms when a person enters the lane from the wrong direction. These systems may be used to supplement the existing guard post or may replace the guard position, thereby decreasing the operations cost. What are the major focuses of landside/non-regulated security issues at airports now and through the year 2000? A primary area of concern is parking facilities. Security concerns and public safety awareness has increased with the rise in crime over the past several years. Crime in parking facilities has risen proportional to crime rates in most cities. Parking facilities present opportunities for crime since vehicles are left for extended periods of time, and people traversing to and from their vehicles are subject to isolation and are more vulnerable. Crime concerns at parking garages include vehicle theft, vandalism, vehicle break-in and crimes against persons. Security directors at colleges, hospitals, shopping malls, manufacturing plants, sports facilities and other places with large parking facilities have been focusing on security in this area for the last few years. In order to provide increased public safety, airport operations and police departments are beginning to take a more serious look at the need for implementing additional security methods and systems in their public and employee parking facilities. What types of systems will be installed to reduce crime in airport parking facilities? Systems similar to those that have been installed at parking garages and lots associated with the other types of public and private sector facilities previously mentioned. There is and will continue to be a very heavy emphasis on CCTV systems because they act as a good deterrent to crime, as well as a tool to verify alarms. But with so many cameras required to watch large parking garages having multiple parking levels and many aisles, integration of other systems will be required to automate and simplify the process of trying to watch and utilize large numbers of cameras. Systems that already are widely used in other types of public parking are becoming more common at airport parking facilities, including emergency phones, ambient noise alarms and wireless personal assistance alarms. Additional systems including such items as intelligent video motion detection are in the process of being developed and will be used in the future to further assist with automated camera watching. Other areas of concern for improving landside security at airports include supervision of roadways, security at station platforms for automated train systems, security for vendors, protection of ATMs and guarding of toll plaza booths. In concert with both landside and airside security issues are the expansion and improvements to the communications and emergency operations centers that monitor and control most of the systems mentioned in this article. Upgrades to these facilities generally require relocation of or modifications to nearly all these systems.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Ethics Final Project

ETHICS FINAL PROJECT 1. Proposed Action Plan: Describe the action plan you proposed at the beginning of the semester. At the beginning of the semester we first had the idea of taking a computer to the asylum to help those people in there to have more technology; we also wanted to take brooms and mops to help them to have cleaned the house. The entire classroom talked about this and each team decided to do something for those needed people. 2. Done activities: Explain very carefully the different activities you did during this semester, including dates, names of the responsible people in the team, and results.We went to the computer department to see if they had a computer with no use and if they can give it to use, they decided to tell us when they got one with no use. That’s how they did it, after a time they told us, but it was a long time when they advised us so we had another project which was to make stairs for rehabilitation to the people in the asylum, so we united with other team and gave them money to make this project real. 3. Comparative of the results: Write down if the results of your project were the ones you expected.If not, how are they different? Why? We wanted to give them the computer so we didn’t expect that we would unite our team with another one to make the stairs project, so we think it is not what we expected to be our project but we think that the idea to unite teams was a good one because the stairs were really expensive. 4. Personal Learning: Explain if the members of the team had some learning experience with this project. Yes all of the team members had a great experience, because of helping people ho needed and that’s the main reason why because it feels great doing that, and knowing that other people can get better just for a little help of yours. 5. Team Work: Describe how your team work was, including positive and negative aspects. Our team work was good because we went to the asylum and check what they nee ded and because the team all united went to the computers department and all of the team members had a great experience with this project and not only because we did it well, it’s because we helped other people. 6.Conclusion: Finally write down a conclusion about the social work you had this semester. We think this semester help us a lot because of many things, we helped needed people and that’s feels great, we learned ethics about many things of the human life animal life and many things more. This was a great semester and all the team members are really happy to be here in this class, thanks Elideth for doing this to us. Team Members: Erick Villasenor Oscar Torres Paola Delgadillo Joel Azuara Victor Galvan Sofia Ascanio Daniela Diaz Juan Pablo Fernandez Vertiz