Molecular Aspects of Biofilm Essay -- Aquatic Engineering Systems

Biofilms occur extensively in aquatic engineering systems, where they are implicated mainly in biofouling and corrosion. Biofilm cause nosocomial infections by forming persistent growth in catheters and other body implants and medical devices; they also increase drug resistance and dental caries (Donlan, 2001). On the other hand, biofilm development followed by biofouling in cooling water system causes serious blocking of the coolant pipelines in power plants thereby increased load on pumps, microbial induced corrosion and substantial economic loss (Boffardi, 2005; Flemming, 2002; Oliveira, et al, 1993 and Rao et al. 1993). In waste treatment systems such as trickling filters, wet biofilms are used for catalyzing pollutant transformations (Wyndham, 1995). Microbial world is extremely diverse and so is their life style and adaptation to survive in any environment (Staley et al, 1997). Different bacteria acquire different mechanism to adhere and initiate the biofilm development depending upon their environment. Some bacteria use their pili or flagella to establish primary attachment (Virji et al. 1993). In the present work we investigated the role of a surface protein (Bap) in S. aureus in establishing biofilm on glass surface and the topological changes in response to Ca2+ concentration from 1 mM to 20 mM on the biofilm morphology. Earlier work by Arrizubieta et al. (2004) showed that expression of Bap is not affected in presence of Ca2+. We provide information on changes in surface protein mediated growth in the presence of various concentrations of Ca2+. Calcium is an environmental variable which influence the biofilm formation of certain bacteria (Geesey et al. 2000; Patruchan et al. 2005). In a previous report Arrizu... ...erent environment containing varying calcium concentrations. Conclusions: From the present investigation we established the following salient points; (1) Bap mediated biofilm development in S. aureus V329 is inhibited ï‚ ³ 5 mM Calcium (2) Other bap negative strains of S. aureus, SA7 and SA33 do not show any inhibition due to the presence of calcium even up to 50 mM. (3) Structurally similar BapA harbouring A. baumannii did not show any inhibition in biofilm formation in response to calcium. (4) CSLM study showed that varying Ca2+ concentrations significantly influenced the architecture and topology of the biofilm. CSLM study also shows that chelating of calcium by EDTA can inverse the effect calcium on biofilm development. (5) This study also specifies that the presence EF hand motif in Bap makes V329 strain responsive to Ca2+ presence in the milieu.

Photos and Images are More Powerful than Words Essay -- Argumentative

Images are More Powerful than Words The American Heritage College Dictionary defines the term image as â€Å"An optically or electronically formed representative reproduction of an object, esp. an optical reproduction formed by a lens or a mirror.† This is what is more commonly referred to as a picture. The definition of a word is â€Å"a sound or combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or a combination of morphemes.† In fact, there is a constant debate about the importance and significance of both forms of communication. Because either one can be interpreted and considered differently, depending on who the viewer or reader is, this debate has been ongoing for quite some time now. The power that images have over words is stated simply by Neil Postman’s â€Å"The Great Symbol Drain† as â€Å"one picture, we are told, is worth a thousand words† (515). So, one can take a stand in saying that images are more powerful than words, because they can be understood and interpreted differently by different people. One of the benefits of EOP Cultural Trip was the visit to the United Nations Building (UN), where there was a Mural that depicted the past, present and future achievements of the UN as an organization. The images contained in this Mural evoked so many different emotions at one time that they forced one to become completely overwhelmed and in total awe. The pictures of the Holocaust were more vivid than any that could have ever been imagined while reading any book or article on the same topic. The images depicted struggle, despair, hope, strength and determination of those who were involved in that tragedy. Everyone,... ...s, Madge Sinclair. Paramount Pictures Video, 1988. Class Film. Eng 1201-EB. Summer Session, 2002. â€Å"Image.† American Heritage College 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Image of Kofi A. Annan With Young Girl. EOP Cultural Trip to New York: United Nations Building, July 19, 2004. Mural of Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations. EOP Cultural Trip to New York: United Nations Building, July 19, 2004. Postman, Neil. â€Å"The Great Symbol Drain† The Presence of Others 3rd ed. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. Stephens, Mitchell. â€Å"By Means of the Visible; A Picture’s Worth† The Presence of Others 3rd ed. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. â€Å"Word.† American Heritage College 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

A Comparative Analysis

The field of psychotherapy provides a therapist 11 diverse therapeutic systems, all of which are designed to achieve the same goal – to address the problems, whether emotional or mental, of the client. Some of these systems call for an active and directive participation from the therapist while some requires him to â€Å"hold back† and let the client heal himself. This paper aims to tackle the differences as well as discuss similarities between two of the eleven available counseling approaches – the Psychoanalytic Therapy and Person-Centered Therapy.Comparative Analysis 3 A Comparative Analysis of Two Counseling Approaches Two of the most-utilized counseling approaches are Psychoanalytic Therapy and Person-Centered Therapy. Perhaps due to its very opposite characteristics, these approaches embrace the two types of clients – one who wishes to sit down, talk, remain distant and maintain no personal relationship with the therapist and one who prefers to spill his thoughts while creating an intimate relationship with the therapist. DefinitionAccording to Psychology Today, Psychoanalytic therapy is a general name for therapeutic approaches which try to get the patient to bring to the surface their true feelings, so that they can experience them and understand them. In this kind of therapy, the unconscious is studied with a focus on dreams, behavior, slips of tongue, post-hypnotic suggestion, and the use of techniques that provide the client an opportunity to search their thoughts for links to various issues and problems. Unconscious thoughts and processes are the basis for all forms of problem symptoms and behaviors.On the other hand, a Person-Centered Therapy, sometimes called Rogerian Therapy, focuses on immediate conscious experience. Rogers (1977) describes this form of therapy as a process of freeing a person and removing obstacles so that normal growth and development can proceed and the client can become independent and self-direct ed. Unconscious vs. Conscious Psychoanalytic therapy holds that bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness promotes insight and resolves conflict. (Psychology Today) According to Freud, human beings are basically determined by psychic energy and by early experiences.Unconscious motives and Comparative Analysis 4 conflicts are central in present behavior. Making the client aware of his unconscious motives by interpreting his dreams and thoughts will lead him to freedom of mind and body. Person-Centered therapy, on one hand, deals with immediate conscious experience. Its primary purpose is to provide a deep understanding and acceptance of the attitudes consciously held at this moment by the client as he explores step by step into the dangerous areas which he has been denying to consciousness.(Personality & Consciousness) This form of humanistic therapy deals with the ways in which people perceive themselves consciously rather than having a therapist try to interpret unconscious thoughts or ideas. (Depression-Guide, 2005) Directive vs. Non-directive Psychoanalytic therapy is directive in nature such that the therapist allows the client to talk freely but in the process asks a number of questions, dictates length and frequency of sessions, and advises client on how to deal with things and how to view certain issues.Person-centered therapy is non-directive. It is an approach to counseling and psychotherapy that places much of the responsibility for the treatment process on the client, with the therapist taking a non-directive role. (Mind Disorders, 2007) The therapist's role is mainly to act as a facilitator and to provide a comfortable environment, rather than to drive and direct therapy outcomes. (Lots of Essays, 2009) The client is seen as the core therapist, with the actual therapist serving as consultant, advisor, witness, and support system.Then vs. Now Psychoanalysis places significant importance on early development. (Psychology Today) It believes th at such is of critical importance because later personality problems have their roots in repressed childhood conflicts. Comparative Analysis 5 In Rogerian therapy, attention is given to the present moment and on experiencing and expressing these feelings in order to move towards a more beneficial direction. TechniquesThe therapist employing Psychoanalytic Therapy uses techniques such as free association (the client reports anything that comes to mind), dream analysis, interpretation, analysis of resistance and transference, and understanding of counter-transference, to find commonalities in the client’s thoughts and behaviors and to interpret them in terms of the client’s problems. (4therapy Network, 1998) In a Person-Centered therapy, few techniques are utilized.Research has shown that the most significant variables in the effectiveness of this therapy are aspects of the relationship and the therapist's personal development – not the particular discipline they practice or techniques they employ. The therapist is expected to create an atmosphere that is both suitable and comfortable for the client in order for him to freely express his feelings and direct himself towards healing. In fact, in order for this type of therapy to be effective, it requires three things – unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness or congruence.(Rogers, 1961) Unconditional Positive Regard. This unconditional positive regard, or something like love, can allow the client to expose his vulnerabilities, fears, flaws, secrets, and dysfunctions within the therapeutic setting without fear of being rejected. This allows the therapist to gain the necessary insights on the client's worldview and overall situation that enables the therapist to devise interventions, or make suggestions, that can help the client shift that worldview in a beneficial direction. (Lots of Essays, 2009) Comparative Analysis 6Empathy. Empathy refers to understanding the client's feelings and personal meanings as they are experienced. The therapist encourages the patient to express their feelings and does not suggest how the person might wish to change, but by listening and then mirroring back what the patient reveals to them, helps them to explore and understand their feelings for themselves Congruence. Congruence on the part of the therapist refers to his ability to be completely genuine and transparent. He does not present an aloof professional facade.(Mulhauser, 2002) There is no air of authority or hidden knowledge, and the client does not have to speculate about what he is really like. This is very far from what is being done during psychoanalytic therapy sessions wherein the client lies on a couch facing away from the therapist, minimizing opportunity for client-therapist relationship. Length of Session Two or more years with multiple sessions each week is required to fully apply and utilize Psychoanalytic Therapy. (Psychology Today) In contrast, the re are no strict guidelines regarding the length or frequency of sessions in a Person-Centered Therapy.Generally, therapists adhere to a one-hour session once per week. However, true to its spirit, scheduling may be adjusted according to the client's expressed needs. The client also decides when to terminate therapy. Termination usually occurs when he or she feels able to better cope with life's difficulties. (Mind Disorders, 2007) Applications Analytic therapy is not recommended for self-centered and impulsive individuals or for people with psychotic disorders, in the same way that person-centered therapy is not intended for a specific age group or subpopulation.While psychoanalysis essentially wrote off some groups, Comparative Analysis 7 like schizophrenics or borderline personality disorder types, person-centered psychotherapies assume that all people could be worked with and that the answer to their dysfunction lay within them. (Mind Disorders, 2007) Person-Centered Therapy has been used to treat a broad range of people and has also been applied to persons suffering from depression, anxiety, alcohol disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and personality disorders.Some therapists argue that person-centered therapy is not effective with non-verbal or poorly educated individuals; others maintain that it can be successfully adapted to any type of person. The person-centered approach can be used in individual, group, or family therapy. With young children, it is frequently employed as play therapy. Criticisms of the Two Approaches One major criticism of Psychoanalytic Therapy is its inability to cure one of the most common and major emotional disorder – depression.People, it is believed, need ‘insight', before they can change. This means that you have to understand why they are depressed before you can get better. On the face of it, this seems perfectly reasonable, particularly as it seems to match the natural human response to a problem – to fi nd out why. However, in depression, this style of thinking will tend to make the depression worse. The problems with this type of counseling for depression are many. First, the focus is predominantly on the past. Depressed people do this plenty already.One main idea is to discover ‘the reason why'. There is rarely any single ‘reason why' with depression, and even if there was, discovering it does not make the depression go away. Take this for example, if you know why you blush, does the blushing stop? Comparative Analysis 8 Some therapists have been sued for using this approach in the US when treating depression. Approaches which mainly focus on the past are not recommended in the treatment of depression and anxiety conditions. (Depression Guide, 2005)As for Person-Centered Therapy, there is no other aspect which comes under such vigorous attack aside from the implications of the therapist acting as a facilitator rather than as a counselor. It seems to be genuinely distu rbing to many professional people to entertain the thought that this client upon whom they have been exercising their professional skill actually knows more about his inner psychological self than they can possibly know, and that he possesses constructive strengths which make the constructive push by the therapist seem puny indeed by comparison.The willingness fully to accept this strength of the client, with all the re-orientation of therapeutic procedure which it implies, is one of the ways in which client-centered therapy differs most sharply from other therapeutic approaches. (Rogers, 1946) Personal Viewpoint I strongly believe that a Person-centered therapy works best for me, not because I have once seeked the help of a professional therapist, but because I feel that my father had served as my own therapist – employing the Person-centered therapy on me.There was one time when I felt so down about not being able to make it to the top of the class for a certain school year . You see, I’m an A-grade student – the cream of the crop. I even graduated with First Honors in grade school. Come high school, though, I belonged to a class where everyone is â€Å"the best† in their own schools. Competition was tough. Anyone who doesn’t live up to the expectation is transferred to another section to mingle with the average students. The â€Å"Number One’ student in me struggled to keep up. I did for the first three years. However,Comparative Analysis 9 come the last year in high school, I was suddenly faced with the fact that I didn’t make it. I no longer belong to the prime class. It was painful. It was unacceptable. The reason for not making it was simply because of a Technology Project – an amplifier that’s supposed to make a bulb light up. Unfortunately, mine didn’t when the professor inspected it. That was it – no considerations, no second chances, I got a low mark. I was informed a month before the next school year starts. That month was indeed a difficult time for me.I remember crying several nights talking to myself and still, I wasn’t feeling any better. I felt that my parents were disappointed of me; my friends were not sad enough that I’m leaving the class. What helped me to move on and accept the turn-out of events was my father – he sat down with me, just listening and helping me spill my guts. I talked non-stop, crying and just telling him that I hate myself for what has happened, that I cannot yet accept that I failed, that he has to do something about it. My father just sat there, letting me talk.He listened – making no negative comments, not judging me or blaming me or telling me that I’m wrong. He would always repeat the things I said in the form of questions. He was literally mirroring me. I guess that was his way of letting me know that he is really there, he is listening intently and not just pretending to. He did n ot even use the usual â€Å"parent line† â€Å"I’ve been there, Child. What you need to do is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And thinking about it now, I am thankful that he didn’t. Had he said those words, I would have reacted negatively by saying â€Å"No, you don’t know how I’m feeling.You never had to go through something like this! † I would have regarded him as one of my peers who I felt that time didn’t care much as they are still part of the class. I would have stopped opening up to him. Comparative Analysis 10 My father’s technique, as I study the different approaches of therapy, is very much the same as that of the Person-centered Therapy. And luckily, it worked for me. I ended up hearing myself over and over again – talking about the same things, angry over the same stuff. Eventually, reason, understanding and acceptance came.My father must have known I wasn’t the type to take orders from people. He trusted that I am c apable of solving my own problems and facing my own dilemmas. The Challenge The key challenge in the field of psychotherapy is to find ways to integrate and combine certain features of various approaches in order to work with the needs of different clients. What is crucial is a strong knowledge of what a certain approach is – its advantages, strengths and weaknesses, applications and even recent studies/cases that may prove to be helpful in solving a client’s case.Comparative Analysis 11 References Cain, David J. (2002). Humanistic Psychotherapies: Handbook of Research and Practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Counselling Directory. Psychoanalytical and Psychodynamic Therapies. Retrieved May 24, 2009, from http://www. counselling-directory. org. uk/psychoanalytical. html Depression-Guide. (2005). Person-Centered Therapy. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www. depression-guide. com/person-centered-therapy. htm Lots of Essays. (2009). Person-Cen tered Psychotherapies. Retrieved May 24, 2009, from http://www.lotsofessays. com/viewpaper/1691857. html Mind Disorders. (2007). Person-centered therapy. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www. minddisorders. com/Ob-Ps/Person-centered-therapy. html Modern Psychoanalysis. The Talking Cure. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://modernpsychoanalysis. org/default. aspx Mulhauser, G. Counselling Resource. (2002). An Introduction to Person-Centered Counselling. Retrieved May 24, 2009, from http://counsellingresource. com/types/person-centred/ Personality & Consciousness. Rogerian Therapy. Retrieved May 23, 2009, from http://pandc. ca/?cat=carl_rogers&page=rogerian_therapy Psychology Today. What’s Your Orientation? Retrieved May 24, 2009, from http://www. psychologytoday. com/pto/methods. html Comparative Analysis 12 Rogers, C. R. (1946). Significant Aspects of Client-Centered. American Psychologist, 1, 415-422. Retrieved May 24, 2009 from PsychClassics database. Rogers, Carl. (1951) . Client-Centered Therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 4therapy Network. (1998). Psychoanalytic Therapy. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www. 4therapy. com/consumer/about_therapy/item. php? uniqueid=4933&categoryid=401&

National academy of sciences Essay

I HAVE spared you, even as I spared myself, an arithmetical consummation of my inquiry, but the data here cited instruct us that the cost of the drug war is many times more painful, in all its manifestations, than would be the licensing of drugs combined with intensive education of non-users and intensive education designed to warn those who experiment with drugs. We have seen a substantial reduction in the use of tobacco over the last thirty years, and this is not because tobacco became illegal but because a sentient community began, in substantial numbers, to apprehend the high cost of tobacco to human health, even as, we can assume, a growing number of Americans desist from practicing unsafe sex and using polluted needles in this age of AIDS. If 80 million Americans can experiment with drugs and resist addiction using information publicly available, we can reasonably hope that approximately the same number would resist the temptation to purchase such drugs even if they were available at a federal drugstore at the mere cost of production. And added to the above is the point of civil justice. Those who suffer from the abuse of drugs have themselves to blame for it. This does not mean that society is absolved from active concern for their plight. It does mean that their plight is subordinate to the plight of those citizens who do not experiment with drugs but whose life, liberty, and property are substantially affected by the illegalization of the drugs sought after by the minority. I have not spoken of the cost to our society of the astonishing legal weapons available now to policemen and prosecutors; of the penalty of forfeiture of one’s home and property for violation of laws which, though designed to advance the war against drugs, could legally be used — I am told by learned counsel — as penalties for the neglect of one’s pets. I leave it at this, that it is outrageous to live in a society whose laws tolerate sending young people to life in prison because they grew, or distributed, a dozen ounces of marijuana. I would hope that the good offices of your vital profession would mobilize at least to protest such excesses of wartime zeal, the legal equivalent of a My Lai massacre. And perhaps proceed to recommend the legalization of the sale of most drugs, except to minors. 2. Ethan A. Nadelmann We turned to Mr.Nadelmann to pursue the inquiry. Formerly in the Political Science Department at Princeton, he is now the director of the Lindesmith Center, a drug-policy research institute in New York City. He is the author of Cops across Borders: The Internationalization of U. S. Criminal Law Enforcement. THE essayists assembled here do not agree exactly on which aspect of the war on drugs is most disgraceful, or on which alternative to our current policies is most desirable, but we do agree, as Mr.Buckley expected, on the following. The â€Å"war on drugs† has failed to accomplish its stated objectives, and it cannot succeed so long as we remain a free society, bound by our Constitution. Our prohibitionist approach to drug control is responsible for most of the ills commonly associated with America’s â€Å"drug problem. † And some measure of legal availability and regulation is essential if we are to reduce significantly the negative consequences of both drug use and our drug-control policies. Proponents of the war on drugs focus on one apparent success: The substantial decline during the 1980s in the number of Americans who consumed marijuana and cocaine. Yet that decline began well before the Federal Government intensified its â€Å"war on drugs† in 1986, and it succeeded principally in reducing illicit drug use among middle-class Americans, who were least likely to develop drug-related problems. Far more significant were the dramatic increases in drug- and prohibition-related disease, death, and crime. Crack cocaine — as much a creature of prohibition as 180-proof moonshine during alcohol prohibition — became the drug of choice in most inner cities. AIDS spread rapidly among injecting drug addicts, their lovers, and their children, while government policies restricted the availability of clean syringes that might have stemmed the epidemic. And prohibition-related violence reached unprecedented levels as a new generation of Al Capones competed for turf, killing not just one another but innocent bystanders, witnesses, and law-enforcement officials. There are several basic truths about drugs and drug policy which a growing number of Americans have come to acknowledge. 1. Most people can use most drugs without doing much harm to themselves or anyone else, as Mr. Buckley reminds us, citing Professor Duke. Only a tiny percentage of the 70 million Americans who have tried marijuana have gone on to have problems with that or any other drug. The same is true of the tens of millions of Americans who have used cocaine or hallucinogens. Most of those who did have a problem at one time or another don’t any more. That a few million Americans have serious problems with illicit drugs today is an issue meriting responsible national attention, but it is no reason to demonize those drugs and the people who use them. We’re unlikely to evolve toward a more effective and humane drug policy unless we begin to change the ways we think about drugs and drug control. Perspective can be had from what is truly the most pervasive drug scandal in the United States: the epidemic of undertreatment of pain. â€Å"Addiction† to (i. e. , dependence on) opiates among the terminally ill is the appropriate course of medical treatment. The only reason for the failure to prescribe adequate doses of pain-relieving opiates is the â€Å"opiaphobia† that causes doctors to ignore the medical evidence, nurses to turn away from their patients’ cries of pain, and some patients themselves to elect to suffer debilitating and demoralizing pain rather than submit to a proper dose of drugs. The tendency to put anti-drug ideology ahead of compassionate treatment of pain is apparent in another area. Thousands of Americans now smoke marijuana for purely medical reasons: among others, to ease the nausea of chemotherapy; to reduce the pain of multiple sclerosis; to alleviate the symptoms of glaucoma; to improve appetite dangerously reduced from AIDS. They use it as an effective medicine, yet they are technically regarded as criminals, and every year many are jailed. Although more than 75 per cent of Americans believe that marijuana should be available legally for medical purposes, the Federal Government refuses to legalize access or even to sponsor research. 2. Drugs are here to stay. The time has come to abandon the concept of a â€Å"drug-free society. † We need to focus on learning to live with drugs in such a way that they do the least possible harm. So far as I can ascertain, the societies that have proved most successful in minimizing drug-related harm aren’t those that have sought to banish drugs, but those that have figured out how to control and manage drug use through community discipline, including the establishment of powerful social norms. That is precisely the challenge now confronting American society regarding alcohol: How do we live with a very powerful and dangerous drug — more powerful and dangerous than many illicit drugs — that, we have learned, cannot be effectively prohibited? Virtually all Americans have used some psychoactive substance, whether caffeine or nicotine or marijuana. In many cases, the use of cocaine and heroin represents a form of self-medication against physical and emotional pain among people who do not have access to psychotherapy or Prozac. The market in illicit drugs is as great as it is in the inner cities because palliatives for pain and depression are harder to come by and because there are fewer economic opportunities that can compete with the profits of violating prohibition. 3. Prohibition is no way to run a drug policy. We learned that with alcohol during the first third of this century and we’re probably wise enough as a society not to try to repeat the mistake with nicotine. Prohibitions for kids make sense. It’s reasonable to prohibit drug-related misbehavior that endangers others, such as driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, or smoking in enclosed spaces. But whatever its benefits in deterring some Americans from becoming drug abusers, America’s indiscriminate drug prohibition is responsible for too much crime, disease, and death to qualify as sensible policy. 4. There is a wide range of choice in drug-policy options between the free-market approach favored by Milton Friedman and Thomas Szasz, and the zero-tolerance approach of William Bennett. These options fall under the concept of harm reduction. That concept holds that drug policies need to focus on reducing crime, whether engendered by drugs or by the prohibition of drugs. And it holds that disease and death can be diminished even among people who can’t, or won’t, stop taking drugs. This pragmatic approach is followed in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, and parts of Germany, Austria, Britain, and a growing number of other countries. American drug warriors like to denigrate the Dutch, but the fact remains that Dutch drug policy has been dramatically more successful than U.S. drug policy. The average age of heroin addicts in the Netherlands has been increasing for almost a decade; HIV rates among addicts are dramatically lower than in the United States; police don’t waste resources on non-disruptive drug users but, rather, focus on major dealers or petty dealers who create public nuisances. The decriminalized cannabis markets are regulated in a quasi-legal fashion far more effective and inexpensive than the U. S. equivalent. The Swiss have embarked on a national experiment of prescribing heroin to addicts. The two-year-old plan, begun in Zurich, is designed to determine whether they can reduce drug- and prohibition-related crime, disease, and death by making pharmaceutical heroin legally available to addicts at regulated clinics. The results of the experiment have been sufficiently encouraging that it is being extended to over a dozen Swiss cities. Similar experiments are being initiated by the Dutch and Australians. There are no good scientific or ethical reasons not to try a heroin-prescription experiment in the United States. Our Federal Government puts politics over science by ignoring extensive scientific evidence that sterile syringes can reduce the spread of AIDS. Connecticut permitted needle sales in drugstores in 1992, and the policy resulted in a 40 per cent decrease in needle sharing among injecting drug users, at no cost to taxpayers. We see similar foolishness when it comes to methadone. Methadone is to street heroin more or less what nicotine chewing-gum and skin patches are to cigarettes. Hundreds of studies, as well as a National Academy of Sciences report last year, have concluded that methadone is more effective than any other treatment in reducing heroin-related crime, disease, and death. In Australia and much of Europe, addicts who want to reduce or quit their heroin use can obtain a prescription for methadone from a GP and fill the prescription at a local pharmacy. In the United States, by contrast, methadone is available only at highly regulated and expensive clinics.

Benefits Provided By Digital Marketing For Entrepreneurs

Benefits Provided By Digital Marketing For Entrepreneurs There are way many conspicuous benefits being provided by digital marketing for both entrepreneurs and barons from any type of company all over Australia. According to statistics, almost 30% of the marketing budget is channeled to digital marketing and 50% of the data we receive as targeted audiences are from the internet. This leads to a profit of about 35% from digital marketing. These statistics show that digital marketing is so much cost effective and budget friendly in return. Away from these, there are the key contributing aspects that have aided the rise of digital marketing in Australia. Redesigning and refurbishment of the Mobile advertising This sounds odd at first since many people dislike mobile advertising from the first mention. This is because it is disruptive when browsing on the internet and something irrelevant for your preferences pops up on the screen. Marketers have found a new way of approaching this. They do this by embedding adds in a more reasonable, tidy, enticing but friendly way. This has geared the rise of digital marketing in Australia by a tonne. The Content Marketing Idea This is based on the long-term relationship with the customers who at first are randomly selected regardless of whether they are targeted or not. After some time, the unwanted customers will be sieved off due to their lack of interest. Since it is done online, the marketers will follow up their clients closely with more adds. The output for this kind of marketing has really proved to be immense. The Gigantic Facebook Platform Of all the social media platforms, Facebook has really taken a wave. The incorporation of video clips on this site has given a boost to the rise of digital marketing in Australia. Marketers have really given this opportunity to mega investments. It is through this that many Facebook users are able to access marketed products by only logging into their accounts. This is attributed to the fact that the human mind is easily swayed away by videos rather than static pictures. Online Shopping We all live in an era where we opt not to spend the time to go out shopping. Instead, we do this online. Many trading companies have collaborated mutually with online shopping sites to serve their customers with products and advertisements. The rise of digital marketing in Australia has not yet been experienced since every day, we wait for yet another revolution that will drive it further ahead.

Argumentative paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Argumentative paper - Assignment Example However, an objective observation of this issue and ready commonsense do indicate that Etzioni is highly misplaced in his beliefs. McDonald’s and other fast food outlets are actually safe and viable platforms for encouraging values like hard work and discipline amongst youngsters, while allowing them to earn money for investing in education and other value addition activities. One single belief that rings throughout the article written by Etzioni is his disbelief in the capabilities, decision making capacities and commitment of the contemporary teenagers. Perhaps, Etzioni is totally oblivious of the fact that these so called â€Å"young, yet uninformed individuals (2)† he is so doubtful of could be much more informed and ambition driven than he expects them to be. Yes, it is true that some teenagers earning money from fast food chains may spend it in an irresponsible way. However, this fact could not be transposed on all the teenagers working with fast food chains in a much generalized context. Fast food chains only provide an avenue for earning money and acquiring skills to the teenagers. They simply cannot have such a pervasive impact on the academic and career choices of the teenagers, if they are well placed in the basic values, which are mostly imparted at school and at home. So, fast food chains are in a sense neutral. If the parents and the schools do take pains to impart the right values to the kids and have confidence in them, there is nothing much to fear. The second peculiarity of Etzioni’s approach towards the issue is that the vantage point from which he tends to observe it is utterly distant from an understanding of the contemporary realities in which the teenagers live and grow. Etzioni is still hovering in the era of â€Å"newspaper route and sidewalk lemonade stand (1)†, while the world has moved on into the realm of the internet and satellite TV. The teenagers today are much more informed and are introduced to the r ealities of life at quiet an early age as compared to what it was a few decades ago. The careers they aspire to pursue in the future mostly require an insight into and grounding in the way organized corporations work and operate. Besides, considering the rising cost of education, good earning opportunities during school days could somewhat cushion their college expenses at a later stage. Fast food chains like McDonald’s facilitate the teenagers with both these requisites, and that too in a safe and regulated environment. Some critics of the teenage employment opportunities provided by fast food chains may seem right in suggesting that engaging in relatively high paid and comfortable jobs, with no opportunities for skill enhancement, at such a tender age may dilute the sense of ambition and aspiration in the teenagers. One thing that such individuals and groups need to realize is that fast food outlets are never supposed to inculcate ambition and drive in school going kids. Th ey are simply running a business, which extends an opportunity to the teenagers to work and earn. The work ethics and aspirations of the teenagers are influenced by a much larger environment, which includes the guidance, support and expectations extended by the family, the education and skills imparted by the schools, the extracurricular activities accessible to the teenagers,

Problem solving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Problem solving - Essay Example erience and judgement bias, facilitates easy assessment of situations, and allows the management to remain on the right track of organisational goals (Wilson 2000). There is a need to solve problems so that decisions can be made effectively. Young individuals between the age group of 16 and 24 years are valuable resources for a nations future. They are often overlooked instead of offered community support system to foster creativity, productivity and development. There is a misconception that youths are essentially bad whereas research indicates that (Godwin 1998) adolescents and youths of today come under much pressure from society such as stress, fast-paced lifestyles, responsibilities at home, emotional upheaval, victimisation, and peer pressures. This is why young people today more than before tend to engage in drinking alcohol, violent crimes, promiscuity, and offences against the law. The widespread risk behaviours have developed a generation of young delinquents who require extensive help from the community. Some of the risk factors include lack of education, poor parenting and drugs problems according to Adamsons report on youth crime (2003). The problem of youth risk behaviours can be analysed by using the Fishbone diagram (Wealleans 2001). In the following diagram one can observe that youth risk behaviours are caused by individual attitudes (man), poverty (material), lack of education (machine), poor parenting (management), and peer pressure and lifestyles (environment). These causes also have sub-causes such as the need to be recognised or to find excitement; lack of education may be due to dropping out of schools; poor parenting may be due to absent working parents or belonging to single parents; and peer pressure may include victimisation or gang bullying. As a result of these causes and sub-causes, youths engage in the above risk behaviours (effect). The Fishbone technique, a part of the cause-and-effect group, involves the identification of