Comparative Politics: Uk and Us

At base, a congress and a parliament seem to be very similar things the legislative branches of the majority of the world's democracies which are filled with popularly elected men and women who come together to decide the legislative issues of their home nation. However, despite the initial impression of sameness, the two are very different in two key areas: how one is elected to the body and what one does once elected. The difference can begin to be seen in the origins of the words. Congress is based on an ancient Latin word meaning â€Å"a coming together,† which is precisely what happens in a congress representatives from all the parts of a nation coming together to discuss matters of state. Parliament, however, has its roots in a French word meaning â€Å"To talk,† and there certainly is a great deal of talking going on in any parliament. In fact, this simple linguistic difference leads one to the chief difference in the election process. A congress is based upon primary elections in which the general populace selects their candidates more based upon their personalities and individual plans for office, while in a parliament, the delegates are chosen to run by their own political parties based almost entirely on their willingness to follow party standards. While party certainly comes into play in any congress, the individual really does mean more in elections to that body. And it is that sense of individuality that leads to the second main difference between the two. In a parliamentary government, the Prime Minister and his cabinet (The leaders of the nation) are chosen from the majority party in the country's parliament. Thus, if the members of that party begin voting against their party's ideals in the body, the entire government can come apart, forcing an election of a new Prime Minister. With this in place, many parties very carefully restrict the freedoms of their delegates to ensure the safety of their Prime Ministers. In a congress, however, the executive branch is entirely separate from the legislative, allowing the members to vote freely based on the wishes of their constituents and own consciences, with no fear of doing permanent harm to government itself. Their increased individual power leads to many interesting phenomena, not the least of which being that they receive a much larger salary than parliamentary delegates individual congressmen are simply more important. And thus do the two differ from one another in many ways, making each a great deal more than a simple collection of delegates arguing about issues of state.

To Study the Filterability and Quality of Raw Sugar for Refining

To Study the Filterability and Quality of Raw sugar for Refining ABSTRACT This study was particularly designed to evaluate the quality parameters of raw sugar which ultimately affect the filterability of raw sugar. It is a cane sugar which has been minimally processed and product of the first stage of cane sugar refining process which has some very distinctive characteristics. Filterability of raw sugars is one of the primary sugar quality parameters.To the refiner, the filterability of raw melt is important as it directly influences factory throughout. The physico-chemical characteristics of sugar including moisture, polarization, reducing sugar, ash contents, color constituents, microbial examination (Total colony count and yeast) and sensory evaluation such as appearance, odour and texture were determined. The results obtained from physico-chemical analysis showed that these parameters were affected significantly among the samples of raw sugars.The microbial analysis showed that t he total colony count and the yeast were also affected significantly among the samples while in sensory evaluation appearance was affected significantly whereas texture and odour were affected non-significantly among the samples of the raw sugars. It can be concluded from the results that sample four was observed to have a good quality while sample six had the opposite result to that of sample four and was considered to have a very low quality. Keywords: Raw Sugar Refinery, Operational Concept and Quality Perspectives Name: Zia-ud-Din Regd.No: 2006-ag-1861 National Institute of Food Science and Technology University of Agriculture Faisalabad SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE ChairmanDr. Ghulam Rasool MemberDr. M. Atif Randhawa MemberDr. Muhammad Sharif INTRODUCTION Raw sugar is an intermediate product of refining and affination process of sugar manufacturing that consists of pale yellow to brown sugar crystals covered with a film of syrup. This is infact, an intermediate stage in the production of sugar, having sucrose and water contents 95-97 and 0. 25-1. 1%, respectively. It is of yellowish brown colour due to the presence of molasses (3. %) and have burnt flavour with coarsely crystalline (Javaid et al. ,2011). The sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L. ) is a commonly distributed plant and is one of the most significant source of sugar in Pakistan. Current reports have shed light into numerous biological properties of sugarcane and its resulting products. Fresh sugarcane juice is widespread in Pakistan as an inexpensive and sweet beverage. It is becoming a fashion juice and thirst satisfying drink served at roadside stalls, canteens and cafeterias throughout the country during the harvest season (Ali et al. 2001). The sugarcane is a thick, tall perennial grass that is grown in tropical or subtropical region. In the leaves sugar is synthesized that is either used as a energy source for growth of plant or is sent to the stalks for storage. In the stalks the sweet sap is th e source of sugar. The reed accumulates sugar to about 15 percent of its weight. About 2600000 tons of sugar per year is yielded by the sugar cane. Other sugar crops for sugar production involve sweet sorghum, honey, sugar maple and corn sugar (Dalziel et al. ,1999).Sugarcane is grown in Kharif season and is one of the main cash crops of Pakistan. It delivers raw material to sugar industries and sugar associated products. For the rural community of the country, it produces income and services. Vital items for industries like sugar, chipboard and paper, sugarcane helps in their value addition. Its share is 3. 6 percent in agriculture and 0. 8 percent in GDP. For the year 2009-10, an area of 943 thousand hectares is under sugarcane cultivation which is 8. 4 percent less as compared to the previous year (1029 thousand hectares).Production of the sugarcane for the year 2009-10 is assessed to be 49. 4 million tons, in contrast to 50 million tons previous year ultimately the production is reduced to 1. 3 percent. Key factors involved for low productions are canal water scarcity, electricity shortage, area under wheat crop during 2008-09 is maximum ultimately confining the sugarcane acreage, lower prices for the sugarcane crop in the previous year and higher inputs rates also restrict the farming community from growing sugarcane crop (GOP, 2009-2010).The keeping quality of sugar was studied keeping in the view the process of drying played a pivotal role. By keeping the sugar under humid conditions, microbial decomposition along with loss of sugar occurred rendering the quality of sugar impure. After the process of drying, the process of polarization becomes augmented and the notorious effects of microorganisms become less. If the sugar is wet when fed into the dryer, large amount of heat is required for the process of drying the sugar. Sample purity plays a vital role in determination of overall moisture contents of the sugar sample.If the size of the crystals of sug ar becomes enlarge, ultimately increasing the moisture percentage of the sugar sample (Javaid et al. , 2011). An experiment was conducted which showed the presence of iron particle and bagacillo causes the physical hazards and biological contamination in the finished products respectively. Following essential steps should be taken in order to keep the juice clear and free from the particles of bagacillo i. e. pre- juice heating (106 oC or above), required chemical dozing at clarifier, pass the clarified juice from 0. 25 mm rotary screen. They both are ISO (i. . International Standardization Organization) 22000:2005, Critical Control Points (CCP’s) of Food Safety Management System, covers HACCP (i. e. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) (Javaid et al. , 2011). The parameters were studied and an experiment was conducted in which pre-treatments of sugarcane bagasse for the production of fermentable sugar was carried out. They studied the effects of particle size, NaOH conce ntration, temperature and liquid to solid ratio (LSR) on the production of reducing sugars and sonication time on delignification using Placket-Burman design.They concluded that sugarcane bagasse that was pre-treated with ultra-sound assisted alkaline pre-treatments showed superior yield and production of reducing sugars as compared to the commercial pre-treatments. They also concluded that the most striking feature of the ultra-sound assisted alkaline pre-treatments was the improved efficacy during the pre-treatment time and temperature that were kept reduced during the process. They also found that the feasibility and instalment of this process on a larger scale need energy optimization and appropriate reactors design (Velmurugan and Muthukumar 2012).Sugar beet pulp was utilized as a support for immobilization of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae L. ) cells to produce bioethanol. They found the method of immobilization of cells as simple, cheap and easy to carry out. They concluded that even without the supplementation of the nutrient, the production of bioethanol in an efficient manner from thick juice of sugar beet utilizing immobilized yeast cells on sugar beet pulp is possible in repeated batch mode. A maximum ethanol concentration of 52. 26 g/l, yield of 0. 446g/g was achieved in the thick juice substrate of seventh fermentation batch.However, the molasses was found to be less suitable medium for the production of the ethanol fermentation for more than three batches because of the accumulation of the coloured compounds that cause cell leakage from the support ultimately affected the metabolism of the immobilized yeast cells. They also determined that the dry sugar beet pulp plays a significant role during the support of immobilized yeast cell for the production of bioethanol and the dry sugar beet pulp can be used as a protein source in the animal feeds (Vucurovic and Razmovski 2012).MATERIALS AND METHODS Samples of raw sugar were procured from sugarcane industry/local market. The research was conducted at the National Institute of Food Science and Technology in university of agriculture Faisalabad. Ash contents Total ash contents were determined by taking 5 gram sample in the china dish and placed on low flame while the mass is thoroughly charred, then the sample was heated in muffle furnace at 500+500C until white ash was obtained. This ash was cooled in the desiccator and weighed in percentage using the following formula: Total ash = Weight of ash ? 100 Weight of sample Colour Colour value was determined with colour meter ( Nauhaus color test- II, Neotec). It was first calibrated with the standards having lower and upper limits (51-70 respectively). Then the sample were filled in the Petri plate and the surface was made smooth by removing the sample material from the petri plate, to get the optimum reflection of light, emerged by the photo cells of the colour meter, reading was noted from the display. Sample readings were compare d with the standards. Grain size of crystalsAccording to SI specifications, crystals were graded into five sizes. In the grain size analysis, 100 g of sugar was taken on sieves, placed on a nest of sieves with a lid on the top of sieve and received at the bottom and was shaken for five minutes on a mechanical sieve shaker. The weight of each sample in gram was taken in the percentage of the sugar retained in the particular sieve. From the values, the accumulative percentage is calculated and compared. Filterability of the samples Filterability was determined by following the standard method enlisted in AOAC (2000). 5 g raw sugar sample was taken and dissolved in 50 ml water until the brix of the solution was 300. The time was noted during the filtration of each sample. Then the percent filterability was determined using the following formula: % Filterability = amount of the filtered solution ? 100 Total volume of solution Moisture Moisture was determined by taking 10 g of sample and drying it in a hot air oven at 100+50C for about 3 hours as recommended by ICUMSA. The loss in weight was the moisture contents calculated by using the following formula: moisture = loss of weight during drying ? 100 Weight of sample The data thus collected were subjected to statistical analysis using completely randomized design (CRD) and ANOVA techniques as described by Steel et al. , (1997) to check the effect of different parameters on the quality of raw sugar RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Ash contents The results for statistical analysis regarding analysis of variance for the ash contents are presented in table 4. 3a. It is shown by the data that the values are affected highly significant for the ash contents in the samples of raw sugar.The mean values for the ash contents are shown in the table 4. 3b. It can be established from the data presented in the table 4. 3b that the highest value for the ash contents was found for sample six which was 0. 73 percent while the lowest value was recorded for the samples one, two and five. So the value for the ash contents were found to be decreasing for the samples in the order of T6>T1T2T5>T3T4. While it had been established by many sugar technologists that the contents of ash in the samples of sugar should not exceed 0. 5 percent.These results were reviewed by Chauhan et al. , (2011) and after doing further analysis he determined that the ash contents in some of the raw sugar is in high concentration because the raw sugar was affined for purification at different temperatures for the quality improvement. Colour Agudo et al. , (2002) determined that the crystals colour of the sugar is greatly affected by the colour and purity level of the pan feed liquor. Generally the process of crystallization removes 90-96 percent of colour. The feed liquor having low level of colour gave the sugar with better colour.The process of refining in the processing of sugar utilize the phosphatation, carbonation, bone char, affination (mechan ical separation of colour), granular carbon and ion exchange resin for the removal of colour before the process of sugar boiling (crystallization) for the production of sugar. According to ICUMSA (2007) standards, the maximum colour range of the raw sugar should be in the range of 400-600. The statistical analysis results regarding analysis of variance for colour contents in different samples of raw sugar is presented in the table 4. a. The results showed that the colour values were affected highly significant among the samples of raw sugar. The mean values for the colour contents in different raw sugar samples are shown in the table 4. 6b. The data showed that the maximum colour was observed for sample six and lowest was recorded for sample one. These results are in line with the above mentioned ICUMSA standards. Gyura et al. , (2007) proposed that some factors played an important role in the determination of colour and these factors affect the colour of the sugar.Some of these fac tors include sugar crystal size, colour types, ash constituents, boiling time, crystal distribution, polysaccharides and colour and purity of pan feed liquor. These factors determine the overall quality of sugar. So it was concluded that the increase value for the colour contents in the sample six was due to the occurrence of these impurities due to improper affination process or other refining process ultimately making it a low quality raw sugar. Size of crystals The results regarding analysis of variance for the size of crystals of different raw sugar samples have been shown in the table 4. a. The statistical analysis showed that the relationship between different raw sugar samples regarding the size of crystals were affected highly significant. The mean values for size of crystals among raw sugar samples had been presented in table 4. 5b. According to Jennings (1967), the size of crystals for the raw sugar should be between 0. 35-0. 60 mm. These research findings are in agreement with the research outcomes of the present study. The size of crystals for different raw sugar samples were in the range of 0. 39-0. 58 mm.The sample three and four had the maximum size of crystal of 0. 56 and 0. 58 mm respectively. While the minimum size of crystal was recorded for sample two which had a size of 0. 39 mm. As the standard size ranges from 0. 35-0. 60 mm, so all the samples fell in the range of standard values. It can be concluded from the review that during the sugar production optimal control is required for the growth of crystals in the crystallization stage is a vital factor for the production of sugar crystals that have the size according to specification. Argaw et al. (2006) stated that the process of growth and size of crystals can be observed by implementing varieties of different methods which involve visual inspections as well as indirect measurements. It was proposed by Beucher (1992) that the sieve method used for the assessment of the size of crystals of the raw sugar samples was well recognized for the quality determination on international scale. He stated that the sieve method is simple, easy to perform and a straight forward method which can be utilized in the production environment and this method require a modest technology.The demerits of this method that was established by the scientist were the large amount of samples and preparations required for the analysis and a more time consuming process making this a laborious method ultimately making this a difficult process to perform. It was also concluded that the size of crystals played a significant role in determining the quality of sugarcane and raw sugar produce. Filterability The results regarding the analysis of variance for the filterability of various raw sugar samples obtained from different sugar industries.The statistical analysis showed that the filterability was affected highly significant for different raw sugar samples. The mean values for the filterability of di fferent raw sugar samples are presented in table 4. 10b. Javaid et al. , (2011) stated that the impurity factor, starch and insoluble suspended matter in raw sugar have impact great influence on filtering quality of processed and unprocessed liquor. The starch has two main components i. e. traight chain amylase and branched chain amylopectin, the amylase: amylopectin ratio, the difference in charge characteristic with pH in solution, an important physico-chemical characteristic with reference to its role in filtration. High starch and low filterability process, therefore, have negative effects on clarification process that leads to the development of ash and colour in sugar. They also stated that the existence of starch in raw sugar influences and has effects on filtration, doubled the viscosity of low grade massecuite and impede the process of crystallization.The filterability of melted raw sugar has great effect on the refinery output however; when it does then it decrease the fil trate brix that leads to decrease the melting rate and viscosity as well. Consumption of excess steam in the evaporator or pan had an influence on the production during which the production suffered. Moisture The analysis for variance for the moisture contents of several raw sugar samples regarding the results have been presented in table 4. 1a. The statistical data narrated that the moisture contents of several raw sugar samples were affected highly significant.The values for the mean of the moisture contents for various raw sugar samples are shown in the table 4. 1b. It had been determined by Javaid et al. , (2011) that the moisture contents of the raw sugar were 40 percent during the examination. These findings of the research are parallel with the results of the present study. The moisture contents of the different raw sugar samples were in the range of 0. 20 to 0. 76 percent. The data also showed that the highest moisture contents were found in sample six followed by sample one while lowest values were recorded for sample four.Chen et al. , (1993) established that the moisture contents of the sugar is adaptable because of the non-reducing sugars during the process of manufacturing and also because of the contribution of the different types of agronomic factors such as storage, moisture, type of irrigation, soil conditions, season of harvesting and variety of cane crop. Such factors are involved during the analysis and study of present research. So the present difference can be attributed to these factors. Table 1: Mean values for Ash Contents, Colour, Size of Crystals, Filterability and Moisture Treatments |Ash Contents |Colour |Size of Crystals |Filterability |Moisture | |T1 |0. 5333ab |418. 33c |0. 4067c |58. 333b |0. 5333ab | |T2 |0. 3000ab |422. 33bc |0. 3933c |56. 133b |0. 4000bc | |T3 |0. 1667b |420. 00c |0. 600a |67. 000a |0. 2333c | |T4 |0. 1333b |447. 00abc |0. 5867a |70. 467a |0. 2000c | |T5 |0. 3000ab |490. 67ab |0. 4667b |38. 000c |0. 3000bc | |T6 |0. 7333a |503. 33a |0. 4733b |33. 000c |0. 7667a | CONCLUSIONThus it can be concluded from the present research that the sample four was the best regarding the sugar quality while sample from one to three were also of desire quality and quite near to the standards and were collected from the sugarcane industries. While sample six was collected from the cottage industry was proved to be of very poor quality. REFERENCES Agudo, J. A. G. , M. T. G. Cubero, G. G. Benito and M. P. Miranda. 2002. Removal of coloured compounds from sugar solution by adsorption on to anionic resins equilibrium and kinetic study. Sep. Purfi. Technol. , 29(3): 199-205.Ali. , F. G. , A. A. Chattha and M. A. Iqbal. 2001. Some fundamental causes of low sugar recovery and vital approach for its improvement. Pak Sugarcane J. 16(6):56-61. Argaw, G. A. , M. J. Alport and S. B. Malivga. 2006. Automatic measurement of crystal size distribution using image processing. Proc. South African Sug. Technol. Assoc. , 80: 399-411. Beucher, S. 1992. The watershed transformation applied to image segmentation. Scanning Microscopy Supplement, 6:229-314. Chauhan, M. K. , Varun, S. Chaudhary, S. Kumar and samar. 2011. Life cycle assessment of sugar industry review.Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. , 15 (7): 3445-3453. Chen, J. C. P. , Chou and C. Chi. 1993. Cane sugar handbook a manual for cane sugar manufacturer and chemists. John willey and Sons, Inc. New york, Chichester, Brisbane, torantto, Singapore, 401-403. Dalziel, S. M. , Tan S. Y. , white E. T. and F. T. Broad. 1999. An image analysis system for sugar crystal sizing. Proc. Aust. Sug. Technol. , 21: 366-372. GOP. 2009-2010. Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan. Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Govt. of Pakistan, Islamabad. Gyura, J. , Z. Sere, G. Vatai and E.B. Molnar. 2007. Separation of non-sucrose compounds from the syrup of sugar beet processing by ultra and nano-filtration using polymer membranes. Desalination, 148(1-3): 49-56. ICUMSA m ethods (2007). International commission for uniform methods of sugar analysis. 234-241. Javaid, G. S. , M. B. Bhatti, K. Rashid and M. Khalid. 2011. To introduce the Raw Sugar Refinery, its operational concept and quality prespective in Pakistan. Life Sci. Int. J. , 5(1): 2053-2062. Jennings, R. P. 1967. Further improvements in Raw Sugar Quality. Proc. Qld Soc. Sug. Cane Technol. 1: 62-64. Steel, R. , J. Torrie and D. Dickey. 1997. Principles and procedures of statistics. A biometrical approach. 3rd ed. McGraw Hill Book Co. New York, USA. Velmurugan, R. and K. Muthukumar. 2012. Ultrasonic assisted alakaline pretreatments of sugarcane bagasse for fermentable sugar production: optimization through response surface methodology. Bio-resource Technol. , 112(12): 293-299. Vucurovic, V. M. and R. N. Razmovski. 2012. Sugar beet pulp as a support for Saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilization in bioethanol production. Ind. Crops Prod. , 39(12): 128-134.

Atmosphere and Setting

The novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, follows the protagonist Changez’ journey through American business fundamentalism. Hamid utilises a plethora of surroundings that convey specific feelings, throughout the novel to heighten the emotions felt by Changez. This is first evident through New York City’s drastic change from optimistic to hostile, following the 9/11 attacks, which correlates with Changez understanding himself. Further as Changez is through his travels exposed to difference countries such as Greece and the Philippines, he becomes aware of the disparity between Americans and himself.This eventually leading him back to Lahore where he is disgusted to realise that he has become a â€Å"foreigner†. Shortly after . time in Valpariso ultimately leaves him disenchanted with American. Hamid creates such environments and atmospheres to amplify Changez conflicting beliefs about his place in America and Pakistan. The changes in atmosphere and s etting of New York City, mirror Changez changing attitude towards America and his identity in the milieu of New York City.Before the 9/11 attacks New York is depicted as a society that is diverse, modern and full of opportunity. The city itself exudes a feeling of encouragement and optimistic, welcoming individuals of all cultures. Hamid portrays, the city like this to consequently allow Changez, the protagonist to feel as though he belongs. Changez feel at home, in New York because of the taxi drivers speaking Urdu, the Punjab deli and his skin colour falling â€Å"in the middle of the colour spectrum†. He remarks that he â€Å"never [felt] like an American†, but â€Å"immediately [felt like] a New Yorker.To Changez, New York offers him an opportunity to achieve the â€Å"American dream†, it made â€Å"everything possible†. It is because of these specific feelings that Changez experiences towards New York City, that he is infatuated with America. Howeve r after 9/11 New York becomes of city of patriotism and paranoia, much more seclusive and guarded. At this point in the novel, Changez has begun to see the inhumanity of the pragmatic and materialistic America that he has accepted. Hamid, changes the atmosphere of New York, to further amplify Changez' dislike for America.Changez feels as through the city is saying â€Å"We are America-not New York†, making him uncertain of his place, as he never really felt like an â€Å"American†. In addition, New York's tense atmosphere provokes rumours of racism: Pakistani cab drivers being beaten†¦.. the FBI raiding mosques†¦ Muslim men.. disappearing. As a result this atmosphere makes Changez feel uncomfortable and unsure about where he stands in America. Changez time in Greece and the Manila provides the perfect enviorment for him to become increasingly aware of the disparity between Americans and himself.Hamid's use of Greece is significant, due to its laid back, relax ing atmosphere that juxtaposes against New York. This provides the ideal environment to stimulate Changez' American companions, to exhibit their preconceived American superiority. Changez becomes aware of the â€Å"ease at which they parted with money†, and their â€Å"self righteousness†, as though they were part of the â€Å"ruling class†. He becomes increasing attentive of this self satisfaction that American's carry with them. Further, Hamid uses Manila because of its similarity to Pakistan and its idolisation of Americans.Thus, Changez finds that, â€Å"it was one thing to accept that New York was more wealthy than Lahore, but quite another to swallow the fact that Manila was as well†. This setting evokes pride and jealousy in Changez. Hence, he attempts to â€Å"act and speak†¦. more like an American†¦ [he] wanted [his] share of that respect†. Despite his belief that his â€Å"Pakistaniness was invisible†, the glare that he r eceives from a driver of a jeppney, with its â€Å"undisguised hostility†, shakes Changez. He consequently realises, that this driver has seen through him and this once again makes him feel as though he is betraying Pakistan.The atmosphere in Lahore and Valparaiso plays an important role in concreting Changez disenchantment with America. When Changez first returns back to Lahore, he notices â€Å"how shabby [his] house appeared†, he was â€Å"saddened to find it in such a state† and ashamed that this was where he had come from. Hamid creates such an atmosphere to act as crucial for Changez’ realization of who he has become. Soon after Changez releases that his surroundings had not changed since his departure, he â€Å"had changed†. He realises that he, † was looking†¦ ith the eyes of a foreigner†¦. [of] that particular type of entitled and unsympathetic American†. This setting forces Changez to become aware of his new identity and question his loyalty to Pakistan. Changez feels as though he is â€Å"abandon[ing] his people†. Upon realising this, he begins to appreciate his home’s â€Å"enduring grandeur† and â€Å"rich†¦ history†. Furthermore, Hamid chooses Valparaiso as the next crucial setting because Changez associates the city with Pakistan, hence feeling more comfortable there.The city's decline as a great port reminds Changez of Lahore. Therefore he is able to trust the chief of the publishing company, Juan Bautisa. Thus, when Juan-Bautisa tells Changez of the janissaries', Changez is able to realise that he has become,† a servant of the American empire when it was invading a country of kinship to mine†. This setting and atmosphere provides the vital catalyst that convinces Changez that he no longer belongs in America. He now knows that his â€Å"days of focusing on the fundamentals were done†.Hamid uses particular settings and atmospheres in his novel, to provoke his protagonist Changez to feel certain emotions and act accordingly. The environments prove to be crucial in how the plot unfolds as they are all are essential in influencing Changez subsequent actions. The changes of New York City's welcomeness, his observations in Greece and his sense of comfort in Valparaiso all affect Changez emotionally. Overall, had the novel not used such specific surroundings, Changez feelings may have not been realised to their full intensity.

The Success Story of Dell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Success Story of Dell - Essay Example So, we had to prove that what we had was better. And that forced us to invent a lot of new ways of doing things that delivered a lot better value. And so we looked all across the supply chain and the demand chain for innovations that would drive success for our customers (Michael Dell quoted at Holzner, 2005, 29). Dell, the world’s premier, and most profitable computer hardware technology company is engaged in manufacture and sale of a vast variety of IT related products including personal computers, servers, data storage devices, computer peripherals, laptops, notebooks, netbooks, network switches, displays, projectors, monitors, and televisions. The consumer class notebooks and desktops are sold under the brand names of Dimension, Studio, Inspiron, and XPS, while the commercial class desktops The product portfolio of Dell also includes software, managed services, professional services, and training and certification services. Besides, Dell provides services such as systems integration and infrastructure consulting. Dell Financial Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell provides financial services to business and individual customers. The company was founded by Michael Dell, with a start-up capital of $1000, while he was a student at the University of Texas, at Austin, in 1984. Its original name was PC’s Limited. Four years after its inception, the company went public in 1989, raising $30 million in its IPO, thus increasing its market capitalization to $85 million. By 1989, the US sales of Dell had touched $257.8 million. By 1990, the company had set up subsidiaries in Italy and France to cater to the markets of Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Dell has successfully implemented Just-in-time manufacturing to effectively curtail inventory overheads. In 1997, the company was placed in the fourth position after IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Compaq, in the manufacture and sales of computers and related products.

Career Exploration Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Career Exploration Assignment - Essay Example Having been brought up in a business environment, my father played a gigantic role in helping me determine my career interest. I chose this career path because I believe that I have good communication and negotiation skills. I can also manage my personal records and supervise the work of others with much ease. Additionally, I am empathetic yet firm so I can handle business related challenges with ease. After I travelled to Riyadh, curiosity made me explore one of the colleges there. To my surprise, the courses offered there were in English which I was not familiar with. Upon asking for further guidance, I was advised to study the language because it is very instrumental in the world of business. Globalization has made the world a village and the majority of people communicate in English. Seeing that the language would boost y career, I decided to study it with much encouragement from friends and relatives. The desire to get the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission (SACM) scholarship also made me work harder because students who get the chance get to study in the United Kingdom where the primary language is English. In part, I still wanted to achieve my childhood dream because I have an uncle who studied Information Technology and his career life is impressive so far. I enquired about his educational background from which I discovered that he studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology under a scholarship as well. I decided to apply for the same without much thought. Luckily for me, things did not go as desired because I was not offered the scholarship. The rejection opened my eyes and made me become more open to other courses. After much soul searching and consultations with my parents who were very supportive, I chose to study Entrepreneurship. From the information I got from my father and his colleagues, it was apparent that the business sector is one that is very promising. In fact, most of them stated that the positions of business

Social Science Research Issue of Identity Essay

Social Science Research Issue of Identity - Essay Example The process of coming out with an apt definition of social identity is much tougher than the one involved in specifying the aforesaid identities, based on biology and physiology. The reason for this is, it is a highly intricate mental process of an individual that makes them develop a specific social identity – it is a process starting from as early as the childhood. Here, many external social factors and influences also do come into play. To elaborate more, the identity that a person develops as belonging to a particular culture or religion and gender is attributable to exposure to the concerned influences, almost right from the time of birth. On the other hand, identities like those that speak of political affiliations, feeling of being a part of some organization, etc, are developed in the later stages of life. Generally, the identity obtained during the younger days, primarily due to family influence, is retained by an individual throughout their lifetime. Here, it needs t o be added that, various experiences an individual faces in life, both pleasant and also otherwise, could make them adopt new identities.Now, the focus would shift to the vital aspect of the manner in which social science researchers are necessitated to design the questions pertaining to their study, based on the identity of the group or people to be interviewed. Though the topic of research could be the same, yet, it is of paramount relevance that the questions and also the pattern in which they are asked need to be modified.

Summarize the article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Summarize the article - Essay Example Other learners will fail to identify them at all. The varying grammatical sensitivity, especially on grammatical features results in different processing strategies such as rule formation and hypothesis testing. Understanding the differences in levels of awareness, provide important information especially for linguistic teachers in order to make grammatical features more salient in a given input. In this regard, learners who do not pay enough attention to the form as well as the meaning of a feature will understand them as in the case of communicative language teaching classroom (Philippa, 619). Additionally, understanding the difference in grammar features awareness among learners will assist in evaluating the significance of consciousness in understanding second languages. An aptitude test therefore assists in evaluating whether inputs provide incidental learning as well as the potential for learning other linguistic forms (Philippa, 619). Additionally, many educational institutions that adopt the communicative language teaching methodology must evaluate whether the language learning aptitude test enables learners to notice language features during incidental exposure in order to understand the significance of incidental exposure in learning as a pedagogical tool. The research indicated a high correlation between individual learning ability and the level of awareness. In this case, the level of awareness and maintenance of a given level of awareness is predicted by indicative language learning. The hypothesis was supported by 72 percent accuracy of the crossword puzzle exposure task. However, the research does not explain further the implication of this observation. In my view, the observation that language learning has no significant impact on determining the level of a learner’s awareness level in a meaning-based exposure to linguistic input is

The Farm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Farm - Essay Example Corn farming may seem to be an uncomplicated endeavor but this work entails a lot of hard work and sacrifices and it poses a variety of influences to the life of a society as a whole. This chapter gives a narrative account about a farm in Iowa specifically in a place named Greene County (Pollan, 2006). This farm is situated in a part described as having some of the richest soil in the world, a layer of cakey alluvial loam nearly two feet thick (Pollan, 2006, p. 33). The narrator in the story is driving the tractor of one of the farmers mentioned who is named George Naylor (Pollan, 2006). The principal crop that is being planted by Naylor is corn (Pollan, 2006). It is described how corn is planted by farmers throughout the years and the different government policies and innovations with regards to farming are also given consideration in this chapter. The chapter is worth reading for a variety of reasons. First, it is very informative for the reason that it tells the life of a farmer, which does not only focus on the typical life of a farmer wherein he plants and reaps his harvest. Conversely, the life of the farmer, Naylor is rooted with a variety of events that contributed to the manner how he manages his farm (Pollan, 2006). Second, it stirs up the interest of readers towards farming which for others may just be plain and simple but it portrays that there is more to farming than just planting and harvesting. Farming is highlighted to be in the bloodstream of Naylor because his father too was a farmer (Pollan, 2006). Corn farming is full of intricacies for the reason that a farmer must choose the right breed to plant in his soil and find means to increase his harvest such as choosing the right pesticide to drive pests away which could be detrimental to his crops, choose the right fertilizer that will make his crops stouter and the strategy to

Film Analysis - The Pianist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film Analysis - The Pianist - Essay Example However, just before he is about to board, one of the Jewish guards pulls him out of line and inadvertently saves Szpilman’s life. Over the next few years, Szpilman goes from place to place while trying to avoid the German troops. He manages this successfully, although there are a few close calls. In one apartment where he was staying, Szpilman tipped over some plates, creating a loud bang. Immediately a neighbor was banging on the door and asking who was there. Once Szpilman opened the door, the woman asked for identification. We he could produce none, the woman started shouting that he was a Jew and that he needed to be caught. Szpilman managed to run down the stairs and get away as fast as possible. A little while later, a key turning point in the film began. The Polish Uprising began in August of 1944 and resulted in the last remaining Jews being executed. Szpilman is almost killed throughout this battle, but manages to stay alive. Once the Germans are mostly forced to lea ve the city, Szpilman is one of the few to still be living in the war-ruined city of Warsaw. Barely managing to stay alive, Szpilman attempts to find whatever food he can. As he is trying to open a can of pickles, a German captain, Wilm Hosenfeld, discovers Szpilman all alone. After a few short questions, Captain Hosenfeld asks Szpilman if what he does for a living. Szpilman responds that he was a pianist. To this, Captain Hosenfeld simply said, â€Å"A pianist. Come. Play.† Szpilman decides to play â€Å"Ballade in G-Minor, Op. 23† by Chopin. At the sound of this, Captain Hosenfeld felt touched enough to spare Szpilman’s life. This scene is one of the most impacting in the movie because it shows that even though two people may be at war, they can still see the goodness in each other. The filmmaker, Roman Polanski, is trying to show the Holocaust through the eyes of one man’s true story. Quite often Holocaust movies focus on the Jewish race as a whole, wh ich is fine, but it maybe not always the best way to represent the Holocaust. In looking at it from one person’s point of view, the audience is able to feel the emotions of the character and how stressful that time would have been. In the piano scene with the German captain, Polanski is trying to show that not all Germans are as evil as many people think. The stereotypical German of that day, and to some extent of the modern day, is one who is always yelling and putting other people down because of their race. This German Captain Hosenfeld gives the audience a side of a German war character that is, for some, not normal. In many Hollywood movies, Germans are always portrayed to be the bad guys. This is because, generally, many Americans of Jewish descent wield great power in high places and can thus get their views across easily. When Captain Hosenfeld asks Szpilman to play something on the piano, he is giving the Jew a chance to display his talents. Many people would have ex pected Szpilman to be shot instantly simply for the fact that he was Jewish, yet Captain Hosenfeld saw something in Szpilman that perhaps many others could never see. Once he began listening to the piano, Captain Hosenfeld was so captured by what he was hearing that he felt mercy for Szpilman and his situation. It could be that hearing the piano triggered something in Captain Hosenfeld’s memory. Maybe he had a happy memory of the piano as a child. The point is that Polanski is showing how

Military Operations Based on Climate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Military Operations Based on Climate - Essay Example fferent climatic changes such as high and low temperatures, drought and floods, high and damaging winds, and heavy or blowing snow have significant impacts on military operations. These may lead to increased risk to life and safety, injury, and a degrading effect on mission performance. The effects of snow are felt across a range of tasks from intelligence gathering by sensors to mobility of vehicles and personnel. At the tactical level, the climate and its extremes affect soldier and unit issues such as doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leaders, personnel, and facilities. Proper training and doctrine have At the operational level, climate and extreme weather have an effect on the design and organization of successful campaigns, theater operations, and battles. When the campaigns are launched in the environments of tropical storms, monsoon season, or extreme desert heat these are clearly affected by the expected climate. Extreme weather events can cause delays and disruptions in plans for mobility, lines of communication, point of embarkation, logistics and support. At the strategic level, climate and extreme weather affect the national and international resources. The requirements for developing new aircraft, ground vehicles and ships are also affected by the range of extreme weather conditions. The operating and maintenance costs that are tied to both climate and the frequency of extreme weather, such as heating and cooling costs, damage by tropical storms and periodic floods. There have been many examples in the past when military attack has been affected by the extreme climatic conditions. During World War II the bad weather in Europe was the worst enemy of the air operation. Bad weather is the enemy of the side that seeks to launch projects requiring good weather, or of the side possessing great assets, such as strong air forces, which depend upon good weather for effective

Salling & Sales Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Salling & Sales Management - Essay Example Thus, having an iPad ensures more than just convenience of having both smartphone and laptop in a one-unit package. It also ensures convenient features that are combined together and are remarkably present in smartphone and laptop. This makes iPad as an amazing technology and a perfect work of technological innovation to meet the demand for comfort, flexibility and satisfaction in a world where business and communication are revolving around and connecting the lives of people. 2. What is the difference of iPad from smartphones and laptops? Features wise, there can be no difference when it comes to what iPad can do and smartphones and laptops individually. However, what is amazing about iPad is its ability to do all the things that smartphones and laptops can possibly do. Section 2. After sales and customer follow up After closing a sale, the relationship between the seller and customer does not end because the job of a salesperson does not end after money has been exchanged and contr acts have been signed. In fact, follow up with the customers is necessary after a sale so as to build the relationship. It is important to regard prospects that a seller has won over as new friends by keeping in touch with them on a regular basis. What is the good thing about in making this is that a sales person is making a wide network of contacts with people who can give their trust and confidence on him.

Revolution in France from 1789 to 1792 Essay Example for Free

Revolution in France from 1789 to 1792 Essay In 1789, France was under a revolution. It was ruled by absolute monarchy for centuries. Unfairness between Estates started to frustrate the people at the bottom of France. The French government was 4000 million livers in debt (Christopher Hibbert 1980 p.14). Besides the partial blames that Louis XVI deserved, the situation was quite out of his control. There were many other reasons that lead to this revolution and every single problem was connected with each other. The most important short term factors were the bankrupting of government and the Famine. As for the most important long term factors were the heavy taxes and the enlightenments. Though Louis XVI was partially responsible for the French Revolution, it wasnt his entire fault, he just happened to be the scapegoat of some wrong deeds done by others. Louis XVI was famous for being weak and indecisive (Peter Mantin 1992 p. 5) and that was the main problem of his running of the country. He was popular and beloved at first by all people of France because of his kind-hearted and compassionate personality, but hated later as his weakness and conservatism in politics and economics slowly appeared (Christopher Hibbert 1980 p. 3). He was too weak that even the 1st and 2nd Estates tried to control over him and he wasnt able to do strong decisive actions (Christopher Hibbert 1980 p. 3). He even preferred personal hobbies to politics interests (Peter Mantin 1992 p. 4). The Aristocrats and the Church refused to help him out with money respectively in 1787 and 1788 when the country was in a financial crisis (Mr A J Field 2007 Schoolhistory.co.uk). At last, Louis XVI lost all control over his troop and the people of France and was in a passive position afterwards. All these nonalignment between estates and failures were indeed because of him, however, it wasnt his entire fault. After all, the 1st and 2nd Estate was the people who refused to help and there were other more important issues that contributed to the French Revolution. Firstly, the reason why the government was bankrupt in 1788 that caused even heavier taxes on 3rd Estate was because of the humongous lavish expenditures of Marie Antoinette and the league war with the British of Louis XV (Tiffany 2007 Franceattraction.com). Marie Antoinette spent a fortune on her favourite residence, The Petit Trianon; on her stable of three hundred horses; on her sessions at the gaming tables; and also on her clothes, which  cost 100, 000 livers a year. Besides, she loved expensive jewelries; her earrings from Charles Boehmer, the crown jeweler, cost 400, 000 livres and her diamond braclets cost 100, 000 livres (Tiffany 2007 Franceattraction.com). How about those parties that she had all day? One would have cost 200, 000 livres, no wonder the government bankrupted and was 4000 millions livres in debt. At that time, 50, 000 livres per year was already a lavish income and great titled heads lived for a whole year off 50, 000 livres utmost (Tiffany 2007 Franceattrac tion.com). Moreover, his father and grandfather spend loads of money on participating in the wars of Americans and British (helping Americans) and lost the war against another country (Ross Steele 2002 p. 102). Secondly, every kind of heavy tax fell on the poor peasants while the aristocrats and the church got every kind of privileges that they didnt have (Waugh S. 2002 p. 84). It was this frustrating unfairness oppressing the people at the bottom of France for centuries that propelled them. The government didnt fix the economic issues by earning more external tariffs and being less lavish, instead, they oppressed the Third Estate to pay more taxes. There were all kinds of unnecessary and ridiculous taxes. Overall, the Third Estate was forced to pay tithe (a tenth of their income or produce to church), pay a taille (a tenth to state), pay a vingtieme (a fifth of property), pay a gabelle (tax on salt), pay a seigneurial tax (feudal dues), corvee (work tax), aide (tax on wine) and pay a capitation (tax on the number of family members)etc. (Greg Hetherton 1992 p. 18) Besides, the government even permitted the private tax collectors to raise tax whatever they wanted, thus, causing the poor peasants to afford those taxes that were even larger than their own wages and far more than the government requested (Peter Mantin 1992 p. 45). Thirdly, because of heavy rains and bad weathers, there were a series of poor harvest causing famine in France 1780s (Invicta M. 2001 Theotherside.co.uk). Many people lived off the bread line and when there were any matters concerning crops, harvest and food distribution, everything could be tipped into huge disastrous mess since people just wanted to survive. However, the poor harvest led to soaring of food prices (especially bread) and only a  workers daily bread would have taken about 97% of his income. The famine infuriated the hungry and desperate 3rd Estate and provoked food riots (Invicta M. 2001 Theotherside.co.uk). At this point, the place was in a total chaos. Last but not least, enlightenment played an important role in French Revolution. Without it, the French Revolution would be without a spirit to go on. This encouraged the people being oppressed by the 1st and the 2nd Estate to test the thing and to think themselves, instead of relying on false knowledge people gave. The five main ideas the philosophers came up with were religious freedom, freedom from absolute rulers, brotherhood of all people, welfare for everyone and personal happiness as far as possible. These long term and short term factors, flamed by enlightenment, started up the French Revolution. I concluded that the French Revolution wasnt Louis XVI entire fault. He was only being at the wrong time in the wrong place. He was of course being weak and indecisive; however, there were more important factors responsible to the revolution. The financial crisis of the government, heavy taxation on the 3rd Estate, poor harvest and enlightenment contributed to the French Revolution the most. Therefore, to a moderate extent is Louis XVI responsible for the French Revolution. Bibliography :-Greg Hetherton (1992). Revolutionary France: Liberty, tyranny and terror. Camridge: Cambridge University Press. -Peter Mantin (1992). The French Revolution. Heinemann: Oxford. -Christopher Hibbert (1980). The Days of the French Revolution. USA: Penguin Group. -Ross Steele (2002). When in France, do as the French do. Canada: McGraw-Hill Professional. -Waugh S. (2002). Heinemann History Scheme, The early modern work, Book 2. Heinemann: Oxford. -Mr A J Field (2007). French Revolution-Year 8-Schoolhistory.co.uk. Retrieved 3 Oct 2007 from http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year8links/frenchrevolution.shtml. -Tiffany (2007). Marie Antoinette Versailles. Retrieved 4 Oct 2007 from http://www.franceattraction.com/marie-antoinette.html. -Invicta M. (2001). French Revolution. Retrieved 4 Oct 2007 from http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/revolution.htm.

Artificial Bee Colony Algorithms And Software Testing Computer Science Essay

Artificial Bee Colony Algorithms And Software Testing Computer Science Essay The emerging area in the field of optimization is swarm intelligence. Various meta-heuristics algorithms based on swarm intelligence have been developed by many researchers. These algorithms have been developed by modeling the behaviors of swarm of animals and insects such as birds, bees, ants, fishes etc. The main focus of these algorithms is on the collective behavior which results from the local interactions between the individuals and with their environment. The Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm which has been recently introduced [1] is also a swarm based meta-heuristic algorithm. The algorithm models the intelligent foraging behavior of honey bees and has been introduced for optimizing various numerical problems. This paper gives a brief introduction about Artificial Bee Colony algorithm and also presents a review of applications of Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm in the field of software testing. Keywords Swarm Intelligence, Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm, Software Testing. 1. INTRODUCTION Swarm intelligence as a discipline deals with the artificial and natural systems which are composed of many individuals and they coordinate using the decentralized control and self organization [2]. The main focus of the discipline is on the collective behavior. Local interaction amongst the individuals and with their environment results into collective behavior. Some of the swarm based meta-heuristics algorithms are Particle Swarm Optimization, Ant Colony Optimization, and Artificial Bee Colony Optimization. Dervis Karaboga [1] in 2005 defined the artificial bee colony algorithm, which is the most recently introduced swarm based meta-heuristics algorithm. Since its inception, artificial bee colony algorithm has been applied in various fields. It also finds application in the field of software testing, which is one of the most indispensible phase of the software development lifecycle. This paper is divided into five sections. The next section gives a brief introduction about the nature of bees. Section 3 describes the artificial bee colony algorithm. Section 4 presents a review of application of artificial bee colony algorithm in the field of software testing and the last section give the comparative analysis of the applications on different parameters. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 Components of Bee Colony The bee (Apis Mellifera) native to Europe and Africa is a social and domestic animal. Bees feed on nectar and pollens, where nectar is the prime source of energy and pollens act as supplements of proteins and other nutrients. Pollen is mostly used as food for larvae [3]. Generally the bee colony consists of a single queen bee that is responsible for laying eggs, thousand of male bees called drones and thousands of worker bees, which are the sterile bees and the young bee larvae called broods. 2.2 Bees Dance Bees randomly searches for food source positions with good supply of nectar. Once a bee finds such a position, it goes back to the hive and communicates about the food source position by dancing in the comb. If the foraging bee finds the food source position close to hive, it performs a simple round dance and if the food source position is far from the hive, then it performs waggle dance. Waggle dance basically forms an eight like figure and the distance and the direction of the food source is indicated by this dance. The speed of the dance conveys the distance. The inclination of the dance (angle between the sun, relative to hive and the food source) indicates the direction of the food source [4]. 3. Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm The artificial bee colony algorithm consists of 3 types of bees- the employed bee, onlooker bee and the scout bee. Scout bee is responsible for carrying out random searches in the environment. A bee who visits the food source visited by it previously is called an employed bee and the bee that waits in the beehive for decision making is called the onlooker bee. Both exploration and exploitation processes are carried out by all the three bees. In the ABC algorithm it is assumed that the colony consists of equal number of employed bees and onlooker bees and for every food source there is an employed bee in the hive. The bee whose food source has been exhausted by other bees becomes a scout bee [5]. The bee has the capability of memorizing the location of the food source once it has been discovered and then immediately starts exploiting it. The foraging bee returns to the hive with load of nectar from the source and then unloads the nectar to a food store. The bee has the following three options after unloading the nectar [1]: It becomes an uncommitted follower once the food source has been abandoned. It dances and recruits other nest mates while returning to the same food source. Without recruiting other bees, it continues to forage at the food source. The search consist a cycle of three steps [1]. In the beginning, some food sources are randomly selected by the bees and the amount of nectar is also determined. Then these bees return to the hive and share this information by performing the waggle dance. In second stage, each employed bee goes to the food source visited by her in previous cycle and then by means of visual information, chooses a new food source in the neighborhood. In the third stage, an onlooker bee visits the food source position depending on the nectar information shared by the employed bees. The food source with maximum nectar quantity is selected by the onlooker bee. After arriving at the selected food source, the onlooker bee according to visual information chooses a new food source in the neighborhood of the selected food source. Once the food source is abandoned by the bee, a new food source is randomly selected by a scout and then the abandoned source is replaced by this new food source. Depending upon the probabilistic value onlooker bee selects a food source. This value pi is calculated as [5]: where SN is the number of food sources which is also equal to employed bees number (BN) and fiti is the fitness value of the solution i evaluated by its employed bee. The fitness value is proportional to the nectar amount of the food source. To produce a candidate food position from the old one, the algorithm uses the following expression [5]: Where the random chosen indexes are k â‚ ¬ {1, 2. . . BN} and j â‚ ¬ {1, 2. . . D} and k is different from i. φij is a random number between [−1, 1]. It controls the production of a neighbor food source position around xij and the modification represents the comparison of neighbor food positions visually by the bee [5]. 4. Application of Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm to Software Testing Software testing is a type of multi variable optimization problem where generation and selection of efficient test cases cannot be achieved within permissible time bounds. Hence for solving these types of problems, meta-heuristics search algorithms have been proposed [6]. These algorithms help in finding the near optimal solution in reasonable running time. The artificial bee colony algorithm, which is also a meta-heuristics search algorithm, is capable of locating efficient solutions. The algorithm models the food foraging behavior of honey bees. The main focus of software testing is on uncovering as many errors as possible in the given time, as this would help in conforming the product to the requirement specifications and also to validate the quality of the software produced [7]. The following paragraphs give the review of application of artificial bee colony algorithm in the field of software testing. Mala et al [6] applied artificial bee colony algorithm in the field of software test suite optimization. The approach is based on population based algorithm where every test case represents a possible solution for the optimization problem. A happiness value has been introduced for each test case corresponding to the fitness or quality of the associated solution. Here the three bees are replaced by search agent, selector agent and optimizer agent. Various properties of agents are autonomy, inter-operability and social ability [11]. These agents help in selecting efficient test cases from infinite number of test cases. The parallel behavior of the agents helps in generating the solution faster. Path coverage has been described as the test adequacy criteria. Initially random test cases are generated for all test paths or sequences. Along the path, as the search agent goes to an executable state, it monitors each test case and also determines a neighbor state. The happiness value is upda ted for every test case, along every test path. If a particular node is not covered by a particular test case, then that node gets eliminated. The selector agent starts a new search for locating the node with highest feasibility in that path. Only the test case with maximum happiness value is remembered and rests are removed from the memory. Based on the happiness value, the optimizer agent chooses one of the test cases and also selects a neighbor around that for evaluating its happiness value. Abandoned test cases are replaced with the new test cases as discovered by the selector agent and this is repeated until all the nodes have been visited once. This algorithm was implemented on few sample problems and the results were compared to the results of application of Ant colony Optimization for test suite optimization. It was observed that ABC algorithm provided consistent results and the problems faced in ACO such as pheromone updation, memory and time overheads were not faced by ABC algorithm. McCaffrey [8] applied simulated bee colony algorithm for generation of pair wise test sets. A pair wise test set is generally a collection of test vectors where all possible combination of pairs of values has been captured from different parameters. Here a bee has been modeled as a bee object with four types of data fields and the entire colony is represented as a hive object consisting of an array of bee objects [8]. An enumeration type which specifies the current role (active, scout and inactive) is the first field. The second field defines a 2-D array representing a bees memory, which in turn would represent a partial solution. An integer value representing the quality of food source associated with data in bees memory is the third field type and the fourth field is represented by the number of times a particular food source has been visited by the bee object without locating a neighbor source with higher quality value. The algorithm requires an initial seed value which can be any value equal or greater to number of test vectors which are representing a minimal solution. In the proposed algorithm, when the scout bee is in active role, then it leaves the hive and selects a random food location and compares the quality of food. If the quality of the food location is greater than the one in its memory, the memory gets updated with new food location. The simulated scout bee performs the waggle dance in hive and these dances are visible to all the inactive bees in the hive. In the algorithm, the number of times an active foraging bee visits a source has been fixed. Global counter variable helps in tracking the number of simulated bees in each role. Therefore when an active bee becomes inactive, then randomly an inactive bee is selected and gets transitioned to an active state. The algorithm was run against seven pairwise tests set generation benchmark problem. The approach yielded good result in terms of test set size but the performance of the algorithm was slower as compared to other deterministic algorithms. Mala et al [9] again proposed the use parallel behavior of the three bees for automated software test optimization. The main focus was to generate efficient test suite which can cover the software under test within time and less cost. The artificial bee colony algorithm system combines the local search conducted by the employed and onlooker bees with the global search carried out by scout bee. Hence it helps in attaining global or near-global optima. The test adequacy criteria applied here is ensuring the state coverage, path coverage and branch coverage. The cyclomatic complexity of the given program is known and it also indicates the number of independent paths. Three bees functionality gets extended to three agents- search agent, selector agent and replace agent. The algorithm in [6] was implemented on 10 benchmark problems and the results were compared to sequential ABC, random testing and Genetic Algorithm. It was found that the performance of parallel ABC algorithm is better th an the other approaches. In some cases random testing also produced better results as compared to genetics algorithm. For 100% coverage, the number of test cases needed was very less in parallel ABC as compared to other approaches. GA gave only 50% coverage due to strike up local optimal solution. Dahiya et al [10] presented an ABC algorithm based approach for automatic generation of structural software tests. The working of the honey bee is reported as robust and adaptive by [12].The paper applied artificial bee colony based search algorithm for generating test data using symbolic execution technique of static structural testing and therefore corresponding to every path a compound predicate was constructed by anding all the branch predicates of a path. The compound predicate should be evaluated to true by a candidate solution to become a valid test case. For test data generation, random population of candidate solution is generated. Solutions are represented by position of flower patches. The profitability related to each flower is also measured. This profitability is replaced by the fitness of the positions in computer modeling. It includes various parameters such as nectar content in the flower, distance of flower from the beehive and sugar content in nectar etc. In the first phase of the algorithm; the employed bees modify elite flower patches position w.r.t. neighborhood. In the second phase, the onlooker bees modify their patches position w.r.t. elite patches position. A greedy selection process is repeated after every phase where solution or flower patches compete among themselves for retention in the selected or elite flower patches, based on their fitness. Hence some solutions or flowers may migrate from one patch to another patch and some may get abandoned. These search phases of the bees are repeated until some termination criteria are met. The algorithm was implemented on ten real world problems. The output suggested that the proposed algorithm had performed satisfactorily for most of the programs except for the programs having large input domains and various equality based path constraints. 5. Analysis and Discussion Four different applications of Artificial Bee Colony algorithm in the field of software testing has been reviewed and based on the analysis a table has been formulated which compares all the applications on different parameters. Parameters Application by D Jeya Mala (2009)[6] Application by James D McCaffrey (2009)[8] Application by D Jeya Mala (2010)[9] Application by S S Dahiya (2010)[10] Main Objective Test suite optimization Generation of pairwise test sets Automated software test optimization Automatic generation of structural software tests. Output obtained Generated optimal results and it converges within less number of test runs. Good results in terms of test set size and suggests the use where test sets are intended to be reused. Generated global or near global optimal results and it converges within less number of test runs. Generated test cases for all paths. Tool used for implementation Java PICT in C++ QICT in C# Java MATLAB Output Comparison With Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm With published results of 7 benchmark problems. With Sequential ABC, Random Testing and Genetics Algorithm No Comparison made Behavior of Bees Parallel behavior of bees Sequential behavior Parallel behavior Sequential behavior Cyclomatic complexity YES NO YES YES Type of bees Search Agent, Selector Agent, Optimizer Agent Employed bee, Onlooker bee, Scout bee Search agent, Selector agent, Replace Agent Employed bee, Onlooker bee, Scout bee Test Adequacy Criteria Path Coverage Not Mentioned Path coverage, Branch Coverage, State coverage Path coverage Drawbacks Not Mentioned Longer generation time Not mentioned Did not perform well on programs having large input domain and many equality based path constraints. Benchmark problem used 6 problems 7 benchmark problems Many 10 real world problems Table1. Comparison of various applications of ABC algorithm Mala et al [6] applied artificial bee colony algorithm for test suite optimization and the results obtained were better than the use of Ant Colony Optimization. McCaffrey [8] applied ABC algorithm for generation of pairwise test sets and suggested the use where test sets are intended to be reused. Mala et al [9] again applied ABC algorithm for automated software test optimization and compared the output with that of sequential ABC algorithm, Random Testing and Genetics Algorithm. For 100% coverage the number of test cases needed was very less in parallel ABC algorithm. Dahiya et al [10] used ABC algorithm for automatic generation of structural software tests. The algorithm performed satisfactorily except for programs with large input domains. 6. Conclusion In this research the artificial bee colony algorithm has been studied and a review based on application of the artificial bee colony algorithm in the field of software testing has been performed. Based on review a table has been formulated which compares all the applications on different parameters. It was also observed that the current application of artificial bee colony algorithm is in the field of structural testing and for test suite optimization only.

Zebrafish in Toxicology Research: Advantages and Limitations

Zebrafish in Toxicology Research: Advantages and Limitations The abuse of psychoactive substances is a serious public health problem and understands the brain disorder induced by psychoactive substances is an important challenge in biomedical research that requires extensive clinical and preclinical investigation (Neelkantan et al. 2013; Stewart et al. 2011). Recreate the complex network of neurochemical interactions in organisms in vitro is not possible, especially for psychotropic drugs (Riehl et al. 2010). In this way, experimental animal models is a important tool for investigation of the toxicology and chemistry of the drugs of abuse. Animal models in toxicological and pharmacological research using mammals present high cost, consumes large amounts of chemical compounds and are laborious to perform the tests and maintenance of animals. In this context, animal models such as the zebrafish, which outweigh these disadvantages, are an interesting and promising alternative in research. Since the 1970s, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) is used in research in neuroscience and developmental biology (Serra et al. 1999). In the 1990’s, zebrafish were used for the first vertebrate large scale mutagenesis screen. In last few years, the use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in scientific research has increased rapidly in other science fields, including Pharmacology and Toxicology (Chakhaborty et al. 2009). The zebrafish represents an interasting model for integration of research of genetic, neural and behavioral aspects (Miklà ³si and Andrew, 2006). The coupling between behavioral assays and analytical and molecular techniques permits the elucidation of mechanisms of toxicity, the test of new drugs for therapeutic treatments and the study of new drugs (Tierney et al. 2011). The aim of this paper is to outline recent developments and futures perspectives in drugs of abuse research with zebrafish, in Experimental and Analytical Toxicology. Zebrafish as a new animal model in Toxicology: advantages and limitations The zebrafish is a small tropical fish native of northern India and adjacent countries. Many factors and animal characteristics make zebrafish an attractive and efficient model to analyze the mechanisms of action and effects of drugs in general (Chakhaborty et al. 2009). Zebrafish and humans share about 75% of their genome and have physiological similarity (Chakhaborty et al. 2009, Zhu et al. 2014). Genome, transcriptome and proteome of zebrafish have been widely studied and described (Maximino et al. 2010). The similarity level between zebrafish and humans is also observed in the nervous system (Mathur and Guo, 2010). Zebrafish are small (at adulthood, 2.5 – 4.0 cm) and maintenance costs of this fish in laboratory are considerably low, permitting logistical and economical advantages over rodent models (Key and Devine, 2003). The fertility rate and the number of embryos generated are higher those in mammalian models (Chakhaborty et al. 2009). In general, an adult female can produce 200-300 eggs and reproduce 2 or 3 times per week (Blaser and Gerlai, 2006; Gerlai 2003; Patton and Zon, 2001; Zon and Peterson, 2005). The zebrafish cycle of life and development period is well-characterized and short (3 to 4 months) (Cadet, 2009; Hill et al. 2005). The body is formed in the first 24 hours post fertilization (hpf) and the internal organs are fully developed at 96 hpf (Chakhaborty et al. 2009; De Esch et al. 2012b; Ninkovic and Bally-Cuif, 2006b; Parng et al. 2002; Patton and Zon, 2001). The development outside of the uterus and the optical transparency of eggs and tissues during embryogenesis allows the visualization of tissues and organs in vivo, making possible the visual analyses in real time of early developmental processes, organ morphology and dysfunctions caused by drugs of abuse and quantification of cell proliferation and cell death in specific tissues (Chakhaborty et al. 2009; Friedrich et al. 2010; Hill et al. 2002; Ingham 2009; Miklà ³si and Andrew, 2006;; Mathur and Guo, 2010; Ninkovic et al. 2006b; Parng et al. 2002; Patton and Zon, 2001; Peterson and MacRae, 2012; Xu et al. 2011). In addition, blastomeres of zebrafish are large and stable for biophysical and electrophysiological assays (Zhu et al. 2014). The zebrafish has become a widely utilized model organism in pharmacological and toxicological research, particularly due to evidence that they may share with humans and other mammals some key receptors targeted by drugs of abuse (Miller et al. 2014). In addition, zebrafish are highly social animals which enables them to display robust behavioral responses, such as shoaling, aggression and social preference, and emerge as a sensitive alternative model to investigation of drugs of abuse-evoked states (Cachat et al. 2013; Pham et al. 2012). Another advantage is that the size of zebrafish provides a rapid absorption of drugs via the gills and leads to bioaccumulation in Central Nervous System (CNS) and other tissues (Echevarria et al. 2008). Zebrafish is amenable to molecular and genetic analysis (Bailey et al. 2013; Chakhaborty et al. 2009; Miklà ³si and Andrew, 2006; Parng et al. 2002). Since genetic mutations can interfere in brain function, the use of molecular and biochemical techniques in zebrafish allows the identification of molecular substrates for drugs in brain and the analysis of function and regulation of the genes, the production of transgenic strains and the induction of specific mutations, inducing overexpressing of the genes or decreasing genes expression (Cadet 2009; Goldsmith 2004; Key and Devine, 2003). Use of zebrafish mutant strains has allowed the understanding of mechanisms and pathways and neural expression of specific genes. Due to the increasing progress in this area, studies of mutant zebrafish have investigated specific behaviors, diseases, deformities and functional processes (Spitsbergen and Kent, 2003). The performance of point mutations in zebrafish, generating mutant lines, enables the molecular investigation of the mechanism of action of drugs of abuse, determining specific receptors and target molecules. Although the model advantages are numerous, some limitations should be considered in the use of zebrafish in toxicological, pharmacological and neuroscience research. The normal or defective functioning of the human brain is complex to be fully modeled in zebrafish brain. Some areas do not have the same degree of development of the mammalian brain, making it difficult to map for mammalian counterparts (Kalueff et al. 2014; Rinkwitz et al. 2011; Stewart et al. 2014). Moreover, the social behavior is not clearly defined in fish larvae (Kalueff et al. 2014; Stewart et al. 2014). Zebrafish has a genome 30-40% tetraploid due to an genome duplication with some of their genes having two copies instead of one as in mammals – and one of these two genes are not represented in the human genome (Alestrà ¶m et al. 2006; Klee et al. 2011; Stewart et al. 2014). One disadvantage associated with the zebrafish model is the fact that some drugs are not soluble in water, making it difficult to administration by immersion. This potential problem can be solved by using organic solvents or other routes of administration (Stewart et al. 2014). In other hand, exposition to drug by immersion reduces the stress-induced by injection (Stewart et al. 2011b). Finally, although the barrier between brain and blood presents development similar to humans, the distribution of some drugs in organism may be different in different species (Stewart et al. 2014). Although the pattern has some limitations, the advantages over conventional models mammals make zebrafish a very interesting alternative in research. In this sense, the use of zebrafish in research involving drugs of abuse, in order to characterize drugs of abuse effects and to quantify these compounds in a biological fluid from the animal is increasing and represents a great target for research. Zebrafish research to study the drugs of abuse The conduct of toxicology research in laboratory animals has become a well-established and essential practice and chemical and toxicological information on chemical compounds and drugs are obtained from the results of these studies (Gad 2007; Olson et al. 2000). The use of animals in research has several advantages: low cost, easily use and functional homology with humans (Gerlai et al. 2010).The animal experiments to predict the action, metabolism and effects of drugs of abuse in humans are extremely important in Toxicology. Introduced as a model for neural development by George Streisinger in the 1960’s, zebrafish has become a promising aquatic model for study of drugs. The zebrafish is an efficient alternative model of drug delivery via the gills, by direct application of drugs in water and posterior submersion of the animal. Between 12 and 14 days after fertilization (dpf), molecular oxygen is mainly absorbed by the skin, suggesting that this is the main route of uptake for small molecules, and after 72 h the embryos begin to swallow indicating the availability of the oral route for absorption of chemical compounds (Goldsmith 2004). Exogenous compounds, such as ethanol, have been shown to rapidly enter in systemic circulation of the fish, demonstrating the high sensitivity of the zebrafish to various psychotropic agents (Dlugos and Rabin, 2003; Echevarria et al 2006; Kyzar et al. 2012). In the larval and embryonic stage, the performance of rapid and high-throughput analysis of multiple behavior s and screening of chemical compounds is possible and suitable (De Esch et al. 2012b; Guo 2009; Richendrfer et al. 2012). The first response to the action of a psychoactive substance is the behavior. In this sense, the zebrafish has been widely used in the development and validation of behavioral assays to different drugs of abuse, due to its sensitivity to drugs and their robust responses. Locomotor activity, learning, sleep, aggression, social and antipredator behavior are some of the observed and well-characterized behavioral parameters in zebrafish (Bailey et al. 2013;Cachat et al. 2013; Guo 2004; Pham et al. 2012; Spitsbergen and Kent, 2003). Endocrine responses to stress in zebrafish are also an important tool for toxicological effects induced by drugs of abuse. In zebrafish, the hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal axis (HPI) is homologous to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), found in mammals and humans, and cortisol is involved in physiological responses to stress situations (Stewart et al. 2010). Another interesting pattern of physiological change for toxicological investigation of drug in zebrafish is the color of the skin. As mammals, fish have cells containing pigments in the collagen layer of the dermis and these cells have hormonal and nervous regulation (Nguyen et al. 2013). In this sense, effects on skin color may contribute in part of the elucidation of the mechanism of action of many drugs of abuse. The toxicity induced by abuse of drugs in the digestive and cardiovascular systems of zebrafish can also be determined. These systems are developed and become fully functional in the first days after fertilization (Patton and Zon, 2001). The characterization and monitoring of blood vessels in embryos is easily achievable (Rubinstein 2003). The heart rate is an indicator of cardiac toxicity widely used. Morphological examination of the heart and digestive organs can be performed to identify organ-specific toxicity of drugs of abuse (Rubinstein 2006). For example, the effects of environmental toxin tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD) on heart rate (Henry et al. 1997), the functional lipid metabolism (Farber et al. 2001), the effects of fungicide riphenyltin acetate (APTT) in hepatocytes (Strmac and Braunbeck, 1999) were investigated using histological and immunochemical analysis. The development of analytical techniques to determine compounds of interest in biological fluids zebrafish also plays an important role in the elucidation of mechanisms of action and toxicity of drugs of abuse. Moreover, it is extremely important to develop methods of extraction and concentration of analytes and biomarkers that make possible dosages required to understanding toxicological aspects of these drugs of abuse. The main analytical methods developed to study the drugs of abuse in zebrafish are listed in Table 1. The new psychoactive substances (NPS) that have emerged in recent years have action and effect mechanisms partially or totally unknown. According to UNODC, the number of NPS significantly increased between 2009 and 2013 (UNODC 2014). In many poisoning deaths caused by these unknown substances, the lack of information makes it difficult to identify the cause of death. Therefore, the use of zebrafish in research represents an important tool to scan and evaluate the chemical and toxicological properties of both known and unknown drugs of abuse. Marketing Design and Innovation: Wrigley Marketing Design and Innovation: Wrigley Wrigley is a well-known global brand dealing in wide range of confectionery products such as chewing gums, chewy and hard candies, mints, and lollipops. It is operating in nearly 50 countries and distributing its products in more than 180 countries. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois and was founded in 1891. Some of its brands i.e. Juicy Fruit, Wrigleys Spearmint and Altoids have heritage of more than hundred years. Wrigley is famous for its innovative products that are introduced into its product line from time to time. Wrigley uses best ingredients and packaging materials for its products and the core principles on which it operates include quality, freedom, efficiency, responsibility and mutuality (Wrigley.com, 2017). Late in 2014, Wrigley merged its Orbit and Extra brand but it launched Extra with new improved taste in 2015. As per the new market trends for health and taste, Extra is a new sugar-free gum available in single packs, multipacks and bottles introduced in more than five different tastes. The product is launched for Australian and New Zealand market. One of the best attributes of Wrigleys product is innovation and the concern for consumers health. Wrigley continuously update the flavors of its Extra brand to please the palate of its valued customers. UK confectionery market have been observed to have a high volume consumption and it stands as the sixth largest in terms of confectionery consumption. The confectionery market is driven by pleasure, convenience, drug replacement, snacking and innovation in products (Globaldata, 2016). Consumers are becoming health conscious due to the increasing issues like diabetes and obesity. Dentists are also increasing the awareness among people about oral health and the tooth related diseases such as plaque and saliva generation etc. dentists are making the consumers aware of the benefits of chewing. Due to the increased health consciousness, people are likely to take more products for treatment and prevention of such issues. Wrigley has launched Extra and Extra Active in association with The Australian Dental Association (ADA), New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) and the FDI World Dental Federation. According to Country Report Wrigleys Extra marked the growth in 2016 because of its sugar-free and oral care features (Country Report, 2016). Now, Extra is involved in cause-related marketing and is making associations with the dental professional to educate the families about the significance of oral health. This brand contributed about one third of the percentage of total value shares of the Wrigley Company and is expected to continue to gain highest share because of its uncountable benefits (Country Report, 2016). Maslow Hierarchy of Needs theory   Ã‚   According to the Maslow hierarchy of needs theory, Wrigleys product Extra attempts to satiate the physiological needs of an individual. Although its not basic necessity for life but oral health and refreshment are necessary for an individual and Extra` is capable of meeting these needs. It also satisfies the social needs of an individual because it boosts the confidence and reduces pressure and anxiety according to the research conducted by psychologists (Smith, 2012). Refreshing breath and sweet smell is necessary if an individual is attending a social gathering or event which is satiated by Extra i.e. to meet the love and belonging needs. People with high level of income usually buy Wrigleys Extra which also satisfy esteem needs because it represents the status quo of the individuals consuming this brand. The self-actualization needs of an individual can be satiated by Extra because it gives a new touch to the lifestyle of an individual i.e. a refreshing breath and increased confid ence. Diffusion of Innovation Model Diffusion is defined as the process by which an innovation product is passed on to the members of a social system with the help of different channels over a specified time period. There are five types of people involved in the diffusion of innovation process i.e. innovators who are adventurous and are ready to the test the product as soon as possible; early adopters adopt the idea and are aware of the benefits associated with change; early majority adopts the idea before an average person does; late majority adopts the idea once a greater majority has tested it, and laggards are cynical to change and do not adopt the idea usually (Smith and Song, 2004). Due to increased awareness among consumers about oral health, the percentage of people using Extra brand is increasing. Wrigleys Extra has been rated 8.9 out of 10 by the consumers which means that they are early adopters who have adopted the product within a time span of two to three years (infoscout.co, 2017). The other reason for product adaptability is the range of tastes available i.e. the consumers consume different tastes of the products to please their palates. Consumers prefer products which are healthy and Extra is healthy in terms of oral care and its sugar-free as well. Extra is clinically proved by the professional dental associations and it also stimulates the saliva by 10 times. It is very important to identify the needs of consumers and become aware of the market trends before launching a new product. Because the consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious, Wrigley has identified recent trends in the market and launched Extra into the market. Kano model Customers needs change over the period of time due to the changing market trends and in the recent business environment, customer is considered as the king of a business. According to the Kano model, a product must be developed considering the basic needs of customers, performance needs and excitement needs i.e. basic needs are hygiene needs while excitement needs are delighting needs and these delight needs later one become basic needs and then customers need something new (Wang and Ji, 2010). Wrigleys Extra is a product that can satisfy the fun and pleasure needs along with the health needs of an individual. The hygiene needs of Wrigleys Extra are the promotion of oral health, prevention of teeth caries, and plaque reduction etc. while the fun and pleasure attributes of Extra satisfy the delight needs. With the innovation of brand these delight needs will become the basic needs of an individual. The bottom line is that the product should have the attractive and must-be attributes that can fulfill the needs of customers for which they are using the product. These attributes of Extra are health and bacteria prevention ingredients. Product anatomy During the product development, the anatomy of product is important to analyze in terms of the benefit it will offer (Blythe, 2017). The product anatomy is conducted to match the consumer trends with the product offered by a particular brand. The core product of Wrigleys Extra is the oral health and its sugar free i.e. cleans food debris, neutralizes plaque acids, strengthens teeth, reduces dental caries, prevents tooth decay, and stains. The generic product of Wrigleys Extra is that its available in wide range of flavors i.e. strawberry, peppermint, spearmint, white lemon lime, bubble mint, water melon, berry and orange cream etc. The expected product is that it stimulates saliva and refreshes individuals breath. And the augmented product of Wrigleys Extra is that it is available in different types of packaging i.e. 14 pieces and 10 pieces single pack, 28 and 42 pieces multipack, and 46 pieces bottle (Desfosse, 2017). This product has delighted the palate of numerous customers which is reflected in the increased sales figure of Wrigley. A report showed that one third of Wrigleys sales of 2016 were contributed by Extra (Country Report, 2016). It shows that people are continuously using the Wrigleys Extra for their oral health. The development of Wrigleys Extra has shaped the overall gum market and has proved to be a market leader in 2016 by increasing the overall sales of Wrigley. The prime cause for increased value of Extra is its association with the professional dental associations and being a sugar-free chewing gum. The brand awareness is created by educating the families and general public through the use of creative and educative advertisements (Schultz, 2015). According to statistics of 2015, the sugarless and breath fresheners has seen considerable increase in dollar and unit terms. The sales of Wrigleys Extra increased to 9.3% from 8.6% a year ago. This is because consumers are adopting the more socially acceptable mint and refreshment gums for refreshing themselves. The sales of Wrigley Extra are expected to grow in the near future because the dental care specialists are positioning the oral care and sugar free gums as more important for the consumers to chew after and between the meals (CSP Daily News, 2015). It will be easy for Wrigley to retain its customers for Extra because of the cause-related marketing and its association with the professional dental associations. Due to the increased consciousness and awareness among the people about obesity, they are reducing more and more on the snacks and this is the best alternative that can be replaced for snacks. This trend of marketing is likely to increase the sales figure for Extra chew ing gum. Another important marketing milestone of Extra is that its associated with the Action for Children charity donations from sales of Extra packs. Balanced scorecard Business scorecard is the metric used for the purpose of aligning different strategies with the vision and mission of an organization. It undertakes the newly formed strategy of a particular business and transforms it into marching order on daily basis. A newly developed product can be seen from four perspectives according to the balanced scorecard. These four perspectives are learning and growth perspective, business process perspective, customer perspective and financial perspective (Violet and Josiah, 2011). Learning and growth perspective: According to the recent statistics for Extra gum, it can be evaluated that the consumers percentage using this product is increased a certain extent during 2016 and is expected to grow further (Country Report, 2016). Although Extra gum was once merged with the Orbit brand of Wrigley but later on it was relaunched with improved taste and packaging that attracted a whole new lot of consumers and increased the market share by 71%. Customer are satisfied with Extra and Extra Active brand of Wrigley due to its string oral care positioning and sugar-free attribute. Business process perspective: Extra gum was launched with new taste and packaging and it was brought back to the market due to its increased demand from the customers. Management has launched the product after conducting complete market research and clinical importance of the product. It is made with best possible ingredients i.e. real sugar and no artificial colors are added into it. The unit sales of Extra gum are increased from 8.6% to 9.3% that shows the efficient procurement and distribution capabilities of Wrigleys Extra (CSP Daily News, 2015). Customer perspective: Extra is available in different tastes, different packets size and is suitable for customers of any age. The product is best for chewing before and after the meals and is mainly targeting the oral care of children and aged people. It is the best replacement for the customers who want to quit smoking and it can also be used after smoking. Customers are satisfied about this product which is evident from the increased sales figure and the reviews of customers for this product (Wrigley.com, 2017). Financial perspective: Extra gum has contributed one third of the total sales of Wrigleys overall sales figure. The Country Report (2016) quotes that The company is expected to edge up by around a third of a percentage point overall to reach close to 89% value share. The companys share gain in 2016 will be solely due to its Extra brand, which alone will gain over a percentage point in the year and dominate sales with over 71%. It means that the brand is also performing well in terms of finance. The overall position and performance of Extra gum suggest that due to the oral care positioning and cause related production and marketing of the product, Extra will be put as an important element for the oral care regimes. The competitive advantage of the product is that it is available in different sizes, flavors, packets, is nutritional and perfect for all age users and is available in more than 180 countries. Extra gum is one of the best products designed by Wrigley for oral care and is sugar-free which was once kicked out of the market due to the other brands offering same product. Based on the heritage of more than hundred years and the best quality, Extra reclaimed its leadership and innovative place in the market after its launch with new tastes and packaging. The innovation and leadership attributes of Wrigley are renowned in the market. The company should strive its best and keep an eye on the market to continuously upgrade the brand in terms of packaging and tastes so that it may not lose the market share. References Blythe, J. (2017). Product Anatomy. [Online] SAGE Books. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446221617.n17 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017]. CSP Daily News. (2017). Candy: Mints/Gum/Breath Fresheners 2016. [Online] Available at: http://www.cspdailynews.com/category-data/cmh/candy/candy-mintsgumbreath-fresheners-2016 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017]. Country Report, (2016). Confectionery in the United Kingdom. Country Report. Euromonitor international, p.57. Desfosse, R. (2017). Chewing Sugarless Gum Can Prevent Tooth Decay. [Online] Colgate. Available at: http://www.colgate.com/en/us/oc/oral-health/basics/nutrition-and-oral-health/article/chewing-sugarless-gum-can-prevent-tooth-decay-0213 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017]. Globaldata, (2016). Consumer and Market Insights: Confectionery in the UK. Market Research report. 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International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, 27(2), pp.173-184. Wrigley, (2016). Wrigley Highlights New Product Lines. [Online] Prepared Foods. Available at: http://www.preparedfoods.com/articles/119062-wrigley-highlights-new-product-lines [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017]. Wrigley.com. (2017). Wrigley.com: The Story of Wrigley. [Online] Available at: http://www.wrigley.com/global/about-us/the-story-of-wrigley.aspx [Accessed 18 Mar. 2017].