Estimation of Tramadol Hydrochloride and Diclofenac Sodium

Estimation of Tramadol Hydrochloride and Diclofenac Sodium Derivative Spectrophotometric Method for Estimation of Tramadol Hydrochloride and Diclofenac Sodium in Pharmaceutical Dosage Form Pekamwar S. S., Kalyankar T. M, Lokhande M. V. ABSTRACT Purpose: Tramadol is opioid analgesic and diclofenac is NSAID and are used in severe to moderate pain management. Combination of Tramadol and Diclofenac drugs were approved by FDA to market in India with a dose of 50 mg for TRA and 75 mg DIC respectively. Method: The employed method is based on first order derivative spectrophotometry. Wavelengths 278.7 nm and 281.7 nm were selected for the estimation of the Tramadol and Diclofenac respectively by taking the first order derivative spectra. The concentrations of both drugs were determined by proposed method. The results of analysis have been validated statistically and by recovery studies as per ICH guidelines. Result: Both the drugs obey Beer’s law in the concentration range of 5-30 ÃŽ ¼g mL-1 and 5-45 ÃŽ ¼g mL-1 with regression 0.9997 and 0.9990, intercept- 0.0008 and 0.0062 and slope- 0.004 and 0.0316 for TRA and DIC respectively. The accuracy and reproducibility results are close to 100% with 2% RSD. Conclusion: A simple, a ccurate, precise, sensitive and economical procedures for simultaneous estimation of Tramadol and Diclofenac in tablet dosage form have been developed Key words: Tramadol, Diclofenac, First order derivative spectrophotometry, ICH guidelines, Validation, FDA Introduction Tramadol Hydrochloride (TRA) is a synthetic 4-phenylpiperidine analogue of codeine. Chemically it is cis -2-[(dimethylamino) methyl]-1-(3 methoxyphenyl) cyclohexanol hydrochloride (Figure-1), is a centrally acting opioid analgesic, indicated in the treatment of moderate to severe pain. TRA is used to treat postoperative (dental, cancer etc.) pain, treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, restless legs syndrome, motor neuron disease and fibromyalgia and as an adjuvant to NSAID therapy 1-8. Chemically Diclofenac Sodium (DIC) is 2-{2-[(2, 6- dichlorophenyl) amino] phenyl} acetic acid (Figure -2), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug. DIC gives anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and analgesic action thought the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis by inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX). DIC is used in acute to chronic treatment of signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis 9-19. Tramadol (50 mg) and Diclofenac (75 mg) combination, resulting central and peripheral analgesia a â€Å"balanced analgesia† used in wider spectrum of pain management. In the literature survey it was found that various analytical methods involving spectrophotometry 1-4, HPLC (High-performance liquid chromatography) 5-7, stability-indicating RP-HPLC (Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography) 8, and GC/MS (Gas chromatography- mass spectrophotometry) 7 have been reported for TRA in single form and in combination with other drugs. Several analytical methods have been reported for DIC in single form and in combination with other drugs including spectrophotometry 9-12, HPLC 13-16, RP-HPLC 17,18, and LC-MS (Liquid chromatography-mass spectrophotometry) 19. Extensive literature survey reveals that derivative spectrophotometric method is yet not reported for simultaneous determination of TRA and DIC in tablet dosage form. In the present work an attempt is being made to develop simple, precise, accurate and reproducible first-order derivative UV- spectrophotometric method for simultaneous estimation of TRA and DIC in combined dosage form. Materials and Methods Apparatus and Instruments The instrument used in the present study was UV- spectrophotometer UV-1800 (Shimadzu, Japan) with spectral bandwidth of 2 nm and 10 mm a matched quartz cell was used. All weighing was done on Digital balance (Anamed). Chemicals and Reagents Analytically pure drug sample of TRA and DIC was kindly provided by Supriya Lifescience Ltd. (Mumbai, India) and J.B. Chemicals Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Gujarat, India) respectively. The pharmaceutical dosage form used in this study was unavailable in market but has been approved by the FDA to market in India. So this bilayer (Core) tablets manufactured in School of Pharmacy, S.R.T.M. University, Nanded, labeled to contain 50 mg of TRA and 75 mg of DIC. All chemicals (AR grade) were purchased from RANKEM, Delhi, India. Preparation of standard stock solutions Accurately weighed 10 mg of TRA and DIC transferred to two separate 100 mL volumetric flasks. Added sufficient methanol and sonicated for 5 min. and volume was made upto 100 mL with methanol. 1 mL of the stock solution was further diluted to 10 mL with methanol to get a working standard solution of concentration 10 ÃŽ ¼g mL-1 of both TRA and DIC and scanned in the wavelength range of 200-400 nm. First-Order Derivative Spectroscopic Method 20, 21 Working standard solution of concentration 10 ÃŽ ¼g mL-1 of both TRA and DIC were scanned in spectrum mode between 400-200 nm using methanol as a blank. Then zero order spectrums of both the drugs were transformed mathematically into their individual first order derivative spectrum and first derivative overlain of both the drugs were obtained in 400-200 nm which is shown in figure 3, figure 4 and figure 5. It was observed that wavelengths selected for quantification of both the drugs were 281.7 nm for TRA and 271.7 nm for DIC in such a way that at zero crossing of one drug another drug shows substantial absorbance (Zero crossing method). Therefore these two wavelengths were employed for the estimation of TRA and DIC without any interference. The calibration curves were plotted at these two wavelengths. Preparation of Sample Stock Solution Contents of twenty tablets were weighed accurately and powdered. Powder equivalent to 50 mg of TRA and 75 mg of DIC was weighed and dissolved in 50 mL of methanol with the aid of ultrasonication for 5 min. The solution was filtered through Whatman filter paper no. 41 to a 100 mL volumetric flask. Filter paper was washed with methanol, adding washings to the volumetric flask and volume was made up to the mark with methanol to get sample stock solution which was further diluted with methanol to get final concentration of solution (TRA 10 ÃŽ ¼g mL-1 and DIC 15 ÃŽ ¼g mL-1 ) in the linearity range. Results and Discussions Linearity and range A standard stock solution was prepared for both TRA and DIC; they were serially diluted to yield six for TRA and nine for DIC standard solutions. For UV spectrophotometric method, linearity was obtained in concentration range of 5-30 ÃŽ ¼g mL-1 and 5-45 ÃŽ ¼g mL-1; with regression 0.9997 and 0.9990, intercept- 0.0008 and 0.0062 and slope 0.004 and 0.0316 for TRA and DIC respectively. The results are depicted in table1. Accuracy and precision To ascertain the accuracy of the proposed methods, recovery studies were carried out by standard addition method at three different levels (80%, 100% and 120%) as per ICH guidelines. Known amount of pure TRA and DIC were added in preanalyzed powder of tablet formulation and analysis was carried out by proposed method for recovery at each level and % recovery, SD, % RSD was calculated. Results of recovery studies are shown in Table 2. The accuracy and reproducibility is evident from the data as results are close to 100 % and the value of standard deviation and % R.S.D. were found to be Specificity The proposed method was found to be specific as there is no interference from other excipients. Results of analysis of tablet formulation Analysis of formulated tablet was carried out and the amounts recovered were expressed as percentage amount of tablet claim. The percentage recovery for TRA is 100.52 ±1.486 and DIC is 99.57 ±0.555 respectively. The proposed methods was evaluated by the assay (n = 6) of formulated tablets containing TRA and DIC. The results of assay are presented in Table 3. LOD and LOQ LOD was found to be 0.0686  µg mL-1and 0.155  µg mL-1 for TRA and DIC respectively. LOQ was found to be 0.2081  µg mL-1 and 0.4719  µg mL-1 for TRA and DIC respectively. The results of LOD and LOQ are shown in table 4. Conclusion The first-order derivative spectrophotometric method has been developed for simultaneous determination of TRA and DIC in combined dosage form. The developed and validated first order derivative spectrophotometric method is simple, economic, accurate and reproducible. The method was validated as per ICH guidelines in terms of linearity, specificity, accuracy, precision, limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ). The proposed validated method can be utilized for routine analysis and quality control assay of TRA and DIC in combined dosage form. Acknowledgments The authors are very thankful to Supriya Lifescience Ltd., Mumbai and J.B. Chemicals Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Gujarat, India for providing Tramadol Hydrochloride and Diclofenac sodium respectively as gift samples of pure drugs. Authors are also very thankful to School of Pharmacy, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, Maharashtra, India for providing all the necessary facilities to complete research work very successfully. Conflict of interest The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Chimpanzees Essay -- essays research papers

Chimpanzees are a genus of the great ape of Africa, with long black hair and log protruding ears. Humans know them for their intelligence and there very similarities. They have developed family ties similar to man. Over the generations they have even had developed tools out of natural materials. Food for chimpanzees is very important to them due to the excessive amount eating. Chimpanzees eat a variety of foods. They will get their food in many different ways. Bananas are one of the most favored foods of chimpanzees. They will eat it with the peal on or they will take the peal off. Researchers in Africa had video camera and had been taping the primates while eating. One day while video tapeing they caught a male chimpanzee stealing a bundle of bananas from the storage tent, and put the bundle of bananas over his shoulder and walked out. The researchers did not try to top the adult male, because they knew that the adult male are very strong and can get violent if they are bothered while eating. These primates also eat variety leaves, twigs and seeds that are found through out the jungle. Chimpanzees are nomadic they will travel up to six miles a day for food. Once food is found they will spend up to seven hours a day eating. Chimpanzee will also eat meat, but it has to be fresh meat. This means that the male’s hunt and kill there own meat in groups; some of the animals they look for are baby baboons, antelope and bush pigs. Chimpanzee’s intelligence is the one that is clos...

James Joyce Essay

In James Joyce’s Ulysses readers encounter Stephen Dedalus’s search for identity – a search which will be present through the entire narrative. At the heart of Ulysses is Stephen’s relationship with his mother. Stephen describes both the real mother who reared him and is now dead and an imagined mother serving as a symbol who is a product of Stephen’s consciousness having fear and anxiety (Hill 329). Mother love is idealized by Stephen in Ulysses: â€Å"Amor matris,† says Stephen, â€Å"subjective and objective genitive, may be the only true thing in life† (207). The concept of â€Å"amor matris,† or mother love, shows the magic power of the mother’s fertility. Motherhood is the only fact of life about which Stephen is confident. A mother’s love, the dyadic relationship in which the mother and child are inseparable, however, Stephen experiences only nostalgically. He attempts to articulate it, when it is over. Thus Stephen’s fantasy of a selfless love is marked by a sense of loss. Main Body Although Stephen has buried his mother, she subsequently appears as a ghost. With his own mother dead, it is normal for Stephen to direct his attention sooner or later to Molly Bloom, the Magna Mater presiding over Ulysses. But Molly is something more than a mere person which serves in place of real mother. She symbolizes the sinful flesh, the claims of nature, and human love. Stephen’s attraction toward her is symptomatic of his disillusionment with all forms of patriarchal pressure (political authority and the Old Testament). She is like a moral goal towards which he is drawn as a result of his opposition to the church. As Murray explains: â€Å"If a man, who believes somehow in the reality and ultimate worth of some religion of gentleness and unselfishness, looks through the waste of nature to find support for his faith, it is probably in the phenomena of motherhood that he will find it first and most strikingly†(Goldberg 36). For Stephen the pain is very strong by the fact that his mother is dead. She has left him alone. She has taken with her his assurance of being related to the world and to himself. She has left the terrible anxiety about his loss. Moreover, she became the â€Å"ghostwoman† who appears to Stephen in the dream of death that lives in his memory throughout the day, together with memories and reflections about the mother in life. Added to his uneasiness about the psychic separation that is necessary for his growth into manhood is the hopeless realization that there is no physical woman to take the mother’s place: â€Å"She, she, she,† he says repeatedly in â€Å"Proteus,† â€Å"What she? † (426). As Stephen comes intermittently into focus through the text, so does as much again in strength the problem of the loss of his mother and his necessity for a woman to take her place. The Stephen’s persistent idea with his dead mother is lightened at times by tenderness, but gradually is darkened by feeling of distress, anger, and offence over the relationship. Stephen’s memories of his mother start in â€Å"Telemachus† with the recall of his periodic dream of her in her â€Å"loose brown graveclothes† (103-4), which draws from him his initial plea for release – â€Å"let me live. † Stephen’s reflection to the memories of his mother in life and in death vibrates at the beginning between the desire for separation and the desire for continuous dependence, and his plea for release in â€Å"Telemachus† – â€Å"No, mother! Let me be and let me live† (279). In order to become capable of giving immortality to his life, in art, Stephen must first become a man. This requires a rebirth, not through the spirit, as it is in religion, but like the birth from the mother, occurring through the flesh of the loved woman: â€Å"in woman’s womb. † Stephen considers this rebirth seriously. At the end, Stephen is reborn in the text. This rebirth is textually completed at the middle of â€Å"Ithaca,† when Bloom opens the garden gate for Stephen, and a birth image includes meanings of the pun on â€Å"in woman’s womb. † Bloom inserts a â€Å"male key† into â€Å"an unstable female lock,† to reveal â€Å"an aperture for free egress and free ingress† (215-19). This is the â€Å"rebirth into a new dimension† and is also Stephen’s participation in the incarnation of the artist (Goldberg 96). Stephen’s image in â€Å"Telemachus† of his mother’s â€Å"glazing eyes, staring out of death, to shake and bend my soul. . . . to strike me down† (273-76), brings from him the most dramatic raising of the terrible mother. â€Å"Ghoul! Chewer of corpses! † (278) is a manifestation of rejection which is definitely confirmed in ‘Circe† at the appearance of The Mother. Stephen’s mother shelters and nurtures her son with her body, her blood, her â€Å"wheysour milk,† who saves him from â€Å"being trampled underfoot† by the outside world (141-47). This motif of interchange between the loving and horrible aspects of the mother, presented in the first two episodes of Ulysses, is repeated in moments of memory any time Stephen’s mother becomes present in the text, until in â€Å"Oxen of the Sun,† the birth chapter, Stephen describes his release from the mother’s threat through his proposed appropriation, as an artist, of her sophisticated power: â€Å"In woman’s womb word is made flesh, but in the spirit of the maker all flesh that passes becomes the word that shall not pass away. This is the postcreation† (292-94). Haunted through the whole of the day by the memories of his mother in death and in life, Stephen has moved from his loneliness in the morning, coupled with his inner plea to his mother to free him – â€Å"Let me be and let me live† – to this statement of purpose at the maternity hospital. And this statement leads to his claim to a creative power that is greater than that of the mother (Hill 329). In â€Å"Circe,† then, The Mother meets with Stephen directly as the terrible mother, in her â€Å"leper grey,† with her â€Å"bluecircled hollow eyesockets† in her â€Å"noseless† face, â€Å"green with gravemould† (156-60). And here in the brothel, Stephen releases from the mother. This release is necessary for Stephen to become the divine creator of his proclamation. The release is accomplished in the unconscious, which is the ruling principle of â€Å"Circe. † The conversation between mother and son in a fundamental manner repeats Stephen’s encounters with her memory in the daytime, more or less changed, but still with the same odd balance between the loving and the horrible that is associated with the conscious memories. For although The Mother brings with her a message of death – â€Å"All must go through it, Stephen†¦. You too† (182-83) – she contains powerful features of the loving mother. As Stephen frightfully denies responsibility for her death – â€Å"Cancer did it, not I† (U 15:4187) – The Mother claims, â€Å"You sang that song to me. Love’s bitter mystery† ( U 15:4189-90). This line from Yeats’s ‘Who Goes with Fergus? † can be found in â€Å"Telemachus,† as Mulligan leaves the parapet, humming: And no more turn aside and brood Upon love’s bitter mystery For Fergus rules the brazen cars. (239-41). The paradox found in â€Å"love’s bitter mystery† colours The Mother’s answer to Stephen’s plea, â€Å"Tell me the word, mother, if you know now. The word known to all men† (U 15:4192-93). Twice before Stephen has asked the same question in his thoughts about â€Å"the word known to all men†: in Proteus (435) and in â€Å"Scylla and Charybdis† (429-30). In all the episodes in which the question is asked, in only one is a clear answer given. The answer, actually, had never been in the published text of Ulysses until Hans Walter Gabler’s 1984 Critical and Synoptic Edition interpreted five lines in â€Å"Scylla and Charybdis† (U 9:427-31) – forty-three words, eleven of them in Latin (Deming 129). This text, restored to one of the most scrutinized carefully segments in Ulysses, the source of most liked quotations about art and life, about fathers and sons, about mothers and sons, described love as the â€Å"word known to all men† (Deming 129). Richard Ellmann, in his 1984 presentation address to the Ninth International James Joyce Symposium in Frankfurt, presented the audience with his own identification of the word known to all men as love, claiming that the word was â€Å"perhaps† death (Deming 129). Kenner’s position that it might be death is much more than clear in his 1956 Dublin’s Joyce, where he describes Dublin as ‘the Kingdom of the Dead† and characterizes Molly’s final â€Å"yes† as â€Å"the ‘Yes’ of authority: authority over this animal kingdom of the dead. † The mother thus becomes the image of the â€Å"bitter mystery. † The complete answer to the question Stephen asks about the â€Å"word known to all men† is not ‘love† or â€Å"death† but â€Å"love† and â€Å"death† – for whatever is born of the flesh through love will die at the end (Goldberg 156). In â€Å"Circe,† The Mother answers to Stephen’s plea with a conflicting blending of the loving and the terrible mother. The Mother in â€Å"Circe† is not gentle. True, she gives evidences of her love for her sun – amor matris – in terms that echo Stephen’s own thoughts that his mother â€Å"had saved him from being; trampled underfoot† (146): â€Å"Who saved you†¦? Who had pity for you? † (196). But when she asks for Stephen’s penitence, she becomes for him ‘The ghoul! Hyena! † (198-200). And as the Mother continues to present assurances of her love and concern – â€Å"I pray for you†¦ Get Dilly to make you that boiled rice†¦. Years and years I loved you† (202-3) – her simultaneous threat of â€Å"the fire of hell† brings from Stephen the words of appeal, â€Å"The corpsechewer! Raw head and bloody bones† (212-14), together with the echo in â€Å"Circe† of his rejection in ‘Telemachus†: â€Å"Ghoul! Chewer of corpses! (278). Up to this point in the meeting with The Mother, although mother and son communicate, they do not touch each other. But with Stephen’s frantic denial of The Mother’s final demand for remorse, a crab unexpectedly appears, and mother and son touch through the crab. This â€Å"green crab with malignant red eyes,† although evidently autonomous, is nevertheless mysteriously, ambiguously connected with The Mother, who â€Å"raises her blackened withered right arm slowly towards Stephen’s breast with outstretched finger,† uttering, â€Å"Beware God’s hand! † as the crab â€Å"sticks deep its grinning claws in Stephen’s heart† (217-21). This crab is real, and at the same time â€Å"Cancer did it, not I† (187) – has all features of a primary creature from the dark depths of Stephen’s unconscious. Stephen’s crab is not visible to others, and his inner creature is not certainly visible even to him. But the terrible ghost with whom both crab and dragon are connected remains – for the reader and for Stephen himself – Stephen’s mother (Hill 329). Even Stephen’s references to Mother Ireland, Cathleen ni Houlihan, are tinged with gender bias. Stephen betrayed his mother as well as Mother Ireland. In the early morning at the Martello tower, he connects the old milk woman with the Shan van Vocht, â€Å"silk of the kine and poor old woman† (403), but doubtfully recognizes that the â€Å"wandering crone’ serves the â€Å"conqueror and her gay betrayer [Mulligan]† (403-5). Unlike the patriots who glorify Mother Ireland, Stephen thinks of â€Å"Gaptoothed Kathleen, her four beautiful green fields, the stranger in her house† (184). Mulligan and Stephen at the Martello connect woman with nature: the â€Å"great sweet mother† (78) of the sea. â€Å"Our mighty mother† (85) is, as in case with the Romantic poets, nature (Rickard 215). Conclusion In Ulysses, there is Stephen’s misogyny. He realizes the significance of â€Å"woman’s place† in a man’s life and in his sense of himself. Ulysses is, without doubt, typically a man’s book. It begins and ends with the mother figures who complete the male artist’s self. The mother, who is the â€Å"first incarnation of the anima archetype† (330), enters Ulysses with young Stephen and stays with him throughout most of Bloomsday. Thus, in Ulysses, though there are not many women, Joyce has presented to readers in symbolic terms the important interdependence and complementarity of the man and the mother. Works Cited Deming, Robert H. James Joyce: The Critical Heritage. Vol. : 2. Routledge: London, 1997. Goldberg, S. L. The Classical Temper: A Study of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Chatto & Windus: London, 1961. Hill, Marylu. â€Å"Amor Matris: Mother and Self in the Telemachiad Episode of Ulysses†. Twentieth Century Literature. Vol. 39, no. 3, 1993. Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York: Vintage, 1986. Rickard, John S. Joyce’s Book of Memory: The Mnemotechnics of Ulysses. Duke University Press: Durham, NC, 1999.

How the Cold War Started Essay

The USA and the USSR were allies during World War Two, however they were not natural allies. The seeds of hostility between the USA and the USSR began after World War Two, the period that followed is known as the Cold War. The reason for it being called a ‘cold’ war is due to the fact that no physical war took place between the two countries. Many factors fuelled the tension between the USA and USSR, all of which can divide into three categories: the arms race, Eastern Europe and ideologies. An arms race is a competition between nations for superiority in the development and accumulation of weapons. Historians believe that the arms race was the most prominent factor causing tensions. The significant turning point of the USA and USSR’s relationship, and trigger event to the arms race, was the bombing of Japan. In August 1945, the USA dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed and thousands of people died. The bombs were the most powerful weapons invented. The fact that the USA had not informed their ally, the USSR, before dropping the bombs created suspicion from the USSR. Russia did not have any bombs and this meant that the USA could potentially attack the Soviet Union and they could not do a thing to prevent it. Adding to the tensions, both the USA and USSR have contradicting views on the reasons behind the bombs. In the USA’s perspective, â€Å"any weapon that would bring an end to war and save a million casualties among American boys was justified†¦ the A-bomb would be successful† says the US secretary of state James Byrne. However, the USSR thought that â€Å"the purpose of the bombings was to intimidate other countries†, in the view of Russian historian Vadim Nekrasov. This opposing view reflects their mutual feelings for each other. The USSR felt the need two surpass the USA on arms and so in August 1949, the USSR have their own A-bomb. The increase in weapons and competition over military might was initially begun by the USA to contain communism. The USSR saw the increase in weapons and competition as a threat and felt the need to match or even surpass it. One nation felt the need that if the other were to have nuclear weapons of mass destruction, they should be able to counteract any possible action with their own stockpiles of weapons. The two countries had contrasting viewpoints and could never see eye to eye. This lack of trust and continuous suspicion created unnecessary tension and further disabled any relationships to be fixed. In April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was created. It was a military alliance of the US, Canada and nations of Western Europe against the threat of communist expansion. The USSR saw this as a threat and so in response, six years later, the USSR created an ‘antidote’ to this, being the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact was a mutual defence treaty between eight communist states in Europe. The USSR saw NATO as a threat as Article 5 of the charter mentioned â€Å"The parties agree to an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all†. In response, the USSR’s Warsaw Pact stated â€Å"in the event of an armed attack in Europe, one or several states†¦ render the state(s) immediate assistance by all the means it may consider necessary including the use of armed forces†. Both the nations saw these as threats as they showed that each opposing nation was ready to attack when necessary. This heightened the climate of suspicion between them. Within the cold war, things almost turned hot. In 1950, the Korean War took place. The North Koreans (backed by the Soviets) invaded South Korea (backed by the USA). This event was a war between the Capitalists and Communists but took place between two –almost- puppet nations with the USA and USSR pulling the strings in order to avoid war with each other. The Korean War as a complete breakdown in communication between the two and led to even more tension. The fact that both nations felt the necessity to surpass the other was evident in the Space Race. In October 1957, the USSR launched the Sputnik satellite into orbit around the earth. The USA required reassurance of their power and threat level as they realised if the USSR could send technology into space, it would be easy for them to send technology (possibly nuclear weapons) around the globe. They matched the USSR by putting a satellite into orbit in January 1958. This desire to surpass one another and going to extreme lengths to prove their worth showed the other that they were not willing to give up and were highly persistent to be the best nuclear power in the world. The arms race was a seemingly never ending competition between the USA and the USSR as both nations needed to show off to the other and be the ‘last nation left standing’. As their persistence grew, so did their tensions. Others argue however, the Eastern European factors were the main cause of tension. Some could argue that initial tensions began at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences (1945) with the superpowers discussing and deciding the fates of the defeated nations of World War Two. The conferences themselves increased tensions as the powers disagreed over what should happen to Europe and Germany. The Soviets wanted to move Poland’s borders to the West so that the USSR’s borders could move into Poland. Stalin wanted to create a buffer zone so that Russia would be a satellite state and they could also react if ever attacked. Churchill expressed his views on Stalin’s motives to Roosevelt by saying â€Å"The Soviet Union has become a danger to the free world. A new front must be created†¦ as far east as possible†¦ before the armies of democracy melt.† There were a lot of disagreements at Potsdam over what to do about Germany. Stalin left his troops occupying Eastern European countries. The USA disliked this as they detested communism, but now that â€Å"the war had left them holding lots of land in Europe- much too much land† (Clement Atlee, Britain’s Prime Minister), it would make it difficult for the USA to contain communism with the potential of communist expansion through Europe. The conferences sparked the tensions between the two, however, in June 1948, tensions rapidly increased. The Soviets cut off road and rail routes to West Berlin in hope that the allies would be forced to leave Berlin and that the capitalist toxin in Eastern Europe would be removed. The US saw this as the USSR’s attempt to expand European communism and decrease European confidence in America. The USA counteracted this act by supplying necessities via airlift and moving their nuclear bomber force to England as a threat to Russia. Truman justified his actions in 1949 by saying â€Å"We would act when freedom was threatened†, and therefore undermined the USSR’s actions as picturing it as a form of entrapment. The USSR and the USA both claimed their parts of Germany through dividing it. The Western allies turned their occupied zones into the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviets set up the German Democratic Republic. Germany and Berlin were both divided between the nations. Both the countries wanted to claim their land and used it to show how they were better. The need to show off created tensions as now the two nations were using land and the people in it to prove their worth. In 1961, tensions escalated to a new height. The USSR took their might a step further and built the Berlin Wall to stop communists escaping to the west. The wall was the final straw of tension between the two nations. In an attempt to justify his decisions, Khrushchev stated â€Å"we had no choice to build the wall in order to maintain the freedom of East Berlin. There are more spies in West Berlin than anywhere else in the world†¦causing sabotage and riot.† However, from an outside and unbiased perspective into the Berlin wall, a modern world textbook states â€Å"the Wall was built to prevent the loss of many well educated East Germans. This was bad publicity for the East and Communism.† This shows how far the USSR would go to make sure Capitalism does not interfere with the Communist beliefs. He used his people and ‘entrapped’ them in order to make Communism look good. Kennedy however, did not counteract Khrushchev as much as Truman and Roosevelt as he said â€Å"It’s not a nice solution, but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war†. Kennedy did not like what happened, but appeased. Contrary to the popular belief, tensions initially ignited as far back as 1917 during the Russian Civil War. Russia’s ruler Tsar was overthrown and so a provisional government was set up, however the Bolshevik party overthrew the government. The Bolshevik party faced oppositions known as the whites and there was a civil war. Foreign states including the USA got involved in order to stamp out the communist Bolsheviks and Russia saw this as an invasion of private affairs. The USA was Capitalist and believed in private ownerships and social mobility. The USSR was Communist and believed in complete equality for everyone and no private ownership. The two nations had highly contrasting ideologies and the difference in beliefs is what started the tensions in the first place. Churchill flagged up the problems with communist Russia through his Iron Curtain Speech in 1946. He stated â€Å"an iron curtain has descended across the continent†¦ Cities and populations lie in†¦ The Soviet sphere and all are subject, not only to Soviet influence, but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow†. Stalin simply said he was â€Å"anxious for its (Soviet Union) future safety†. The Western allies had a fear for the Communist expansion throughout Europe and wanted to contain communism. Truman stated â€Å"it must be the policy of the United States to support free nations against direct and indirect communist aggression† in reference to the Containment Policy. The Truman Doctrine was the USA’s initial attempt of containing communism. Greece and Turkey were each going through a civil war; the policy provided military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey as they were threatened by communist governments. In reference to the Truman Doctrine, Truman says â€Å"Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting and self-sustaining democracy. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world.† The fact that the Truman Doctrine aided the two countries made it less likely the countries would have communist governments. Russia could not control Turkey and Greece, thus not allowing them to expand their communist empire throughout Europe. In 1948, the Marshall Plan was introduced The state of Europe post World War Two combined with the coldest winter on record reduced Europe to starvation. The USA became Europe’s hero as Marshall promised that Americans would do â€Å"whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world† Marshall Aid took the form of fuel, raw materials, goods, loans, food, machinery and advisors and was only available to those nations willing to cooperate. The Soviets feared that turning down Marshall Aid would cause unrest in their satellite countries and recognised that the USA were somewhat ‘selling’ their ideologies to the nations. The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 however was the most tension-dense event. Cuba was influenced by the USA and was a trading nation with them until Fidel Castro, a communist took over. He set up a communist government which scared the USA into stopping trade with them. Castro increasingly sought help through the Soviet Union. President Kennedy allowed supporters of Batista (Cuba’s previous leader) to attack Cuba but failed to gain support and were defeated by Castro’s men. Shipments of arms were sent to Cuba and the USA saw potential in attacks. Kennedy did not want to use weapons against Cuba, but did not want to appear weak and so he decided to place a naval blockade around Cuba. This significantly heated tensions as the possibility of nuclear attack was at a new level and the nations were close to a war. The Soviet Foreign Minister, Gromyko saw the USA’s attempts as â€Å"an unrestrained anti-Cuban propaganda campaign†. Once again, the two nations lacked the capability of seeing eye to eye and had miscommunication faults. It could be argued that the contrasting ideologies were the underlying cause of tension and kept tensions alive and healthy throughout the 17 year period. The change in presidents and leaders changed the level of tensions. As opposed to Stalin, Khrushchev wanted to improve relations and opposed to Truman and Roosevelt, Kennedy was fairly passive (e.g. Berlin Wall). Without the initial friction created from the differences in ideologies, there would not have been an arms race or competition for control over Eastern Europe. Both countries aimed for peace, but their methods for peace were constantly viewed as threats due to the hatred of the opposing ideologies. Khrushchev believed â€Å"the main thing is to argue without resort to arms† and Kennedy believed â€Å"a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war†, showing that neither wanted to end up going to war and so both nations were in an arms race solely to prove their ideologies’ worth. The knowledge that the opposing nation wanted to expand their ideologies blinded the other and created them ignorant, hiding their ignorance through control over Europe and accumulation of nuclear arms. Overall, the contrast in ideologies was the factor which, throughout the cold war, created the foundation of and was the heart of tensions between the USA and USSR.

Running From Beer Bottles and Rocks essays

Running From Beer Bottles and Rocks essays Americans have several different views on other countries. The people who seem to criticize these other cultures are mostly people who havent been to these countries and have the typical Im better than you attitude. Just because our country is one of the top military and political powers in the world, does not give us the clearance nor justify us thinking we should have special favors or unearned respect from the people in their own lands when we are the intruder. When those disrespectful Americans go to these societies they give our whole country a bad name. Just like Newtons 2nd law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, the product of our insolence is our rudeness thrown right back in our face. The only reason the locals in far off places that have been so unlucky to have encountered some of our nations immature residence continue to tolerate our presence is mostly due to our money and all the useless wooden bowls, chincy necklaces, and other over priced ethnic cra fts that we oddly enough find interesting and will pay top dollar for. This attitude can be extremely dangerous shown to the wrong people. It was Christmas day 1999 in Sigonella, Sicily, all the officers and members of the maintenance crew had the day off to celebrate and have a feeling of togetherness since we could not be with our families that year. We drank wine most of the day and told sea stories of places weve been and what weve done. Most of these stories would not be something you would tell to your grandchildren or in some cases even to other sailors. After the sun went down, the crowd started to slowly leave their chicken bones, empty beer cans and wine glasses, and full ashtrays for the comfort of their quarters. Some of us younger sailors who thought we were invincible; Jason, Casey, Cal, and I wanted to experience the nightlife of Sicily. So with the help of the intoxicants we dran...

6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know

6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know 6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know 6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know By Daniel Scocco Whether you like it or not, foreign expressions represent an integral part of the English language (and of many other languages, too). Knowing the meaning and usage of the most used ones is very important. First of all because it will enable you to understand pieces of text that include them. Secondly, because you might also need to use those expressions on particular situations (avoid using them just to sound smart though). Below you will find 6 foreign expressions commonly used in English, enjoy! 1. De Facto De facto is a Latin expression that means â€Å"actual† (if used as an adjective) or â€Å"in practice† (if used as an adverb). In legal terms, de facto is commonly used in contrast to de jure, which means â€Å"by law.† Something, therefore, can emerge either de facto (by practice) or de jure (by law). And what of the plastic red bench, which has served as his de facto home for the last 15 years and must by now be a collectors item? (NY Times) 2. VisVis The literal meaning of this French expression is â€Å"face to face† (used as an adverb). It is used more widely as a preposition though, meaning â€Å"compared with† or â€Å"in relation to.† Its going to be a huge catalyst in moving the whole process forward and it really strengthens the U.S. position vis-a-vis our trading partners (Yahoo! News) 3. Status quo This famous Latin expression means the current or existing state of affairs. If something changes the status quo, it is changing the way things presently are. Bush believes that the status quo the presence in a sovereign country of a militant group with missiles capable of hitting a U.S. ally is unacceptable. (Washington Post) 4. Cul-de-sac This expression was originated in England by French-speaking aristocrats. Literally it means â€Å"bottom of a sack,† but generally it refers to a dead-end street. Cul-de-sac can also be used metaphorically to express an action that leads to nowhere or an impasse. But the code of omerta was in effect for two carloads of fans circling the cul-de-sac to have a look at the house. (Reuters.com) A cul-de-sac of poverty (The Economist) 5. Per se Per se is a Latin expression that means â€Å"by itself† or â€Å"intrinsically.† The mistake it made with the Xbox is that there is no game console market per se; there are PlayStation, GameCube, and Xbox markets. (PCMag.com) 6. Ad hoc Ad hoc, borrowed from the Latin, can be used both as an adjective, where it means â€Å"formed or created with a specific purpose,† and as an adverb, where it means â€Å"for the specific purpose or situation.† The World Banks board on Friday ordered an ad hoc group to discuss the fate of President Paul Wolfowitz (CNN) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 10150 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix)How Many Sentences in a Paragraph?

The 7 Base Units of the Metric System

The 7 Base Units of the Metric System The metric system is a framework of units of measurement that has grown from its 1874 birth in a diplomatic treaty to the more modern General Conference on Weights and Measures, or CGPM (Conferà ©rence Gà ©nà ©rale des Poids et Measures). The modern system is properly called the International System of Units, or SI, an abbreviation from the French Le Systà ¨me International dUnità ©s. Today, most people use the names metric and SI interchangeably. The 7 Base Metric Units The metric system is the main system of measurement units used in science. Each unit is considered to be dimensionally independent of the others. These dimensions are measurements of length, mass, time, electric current, temperature, amount of a substance, and luminous intensity. Here are definitions of the seven base units: Length: Meter (m) The meter is the metric unit of length. Its defined as the length of the path light travels in a vacuum during 1/299,792,458 of a second.Mass: Kilogram (kg) The kilogram is the metric unit of mass. Its the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram: a standard platinum/iridium 1 kg mass housed near Paris at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM).Time: Second (s) The basic unit of time is the second. The second is defined as the duration of 9,192,631,770 oscillations of radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of cesium-133.Electric current: Ampere (A) The basic unit of electric current is the ampere. The ampere is defined as the constant current that, if maintained in two infinitely long straight parallel conductors with a negligible circular cross-section and placed 1 m apart in a vacuum, would produce a force between the conductors equal to 2 x 10-7 newtons per meter of length.Temperature: Kelvin (K) The Kelvin is the unit of thermodynamic temperature. It is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water. The Kelvin scale is an absolute scale, so there is no degree.​ Amount of a Substance: Mole (mol) The mole is defined as the amount of a substance that contains as many entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilograms of carbon-12. When the mole unit is used, the entities must be specified. For example, the entities may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, cows, houses, or anything else.Luminous Intensity: candela (cd) The unit of luminous intensity, or light, is the candela. The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source emitting monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 hertz with radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian. These definitions are actually methods to realize the unit. Each realization was created with a unique, sound theoretical base to generate reproducible and accurate results. Other Important Metric Units In addition to the seven base units, other metric units are commonly used: Liter (L) While the metric unit of volume is the cubic meter, m3, the most commonly used unit is the liter. A liter is equal in volume to one cubic decimeter, dm 3, which is a cube that is 0.1 m on each side.Angstrom (Ã…) One angstrom equals 10-8 cm or 10-10 m. Named for Anders Jonas Ã…ngstrom, the unit is used to measure the chemical bond length and electromagnetic radiation wavelength.Cubic centimeter (cm3) A cubic centimeter is a common unit  used to measure solid volume. The corresponding unit for liquid volume is the milliliter (mL), which is equal to one cubic centimeter.