Teenage Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Teenage Smoking - Essay Example As per the findings of Holm et al, 80% of all smokers in the United States begin smoking even before the age of 18 (27). Because of the increased threat it raises to health and personal integrity, the prohibition of teenage smoking has become the most essential legal concern. In the United States, the issue has been a topic for debate for several decades between tobacco selling tycoons and social activists. Evidently, as an amicable solution to the controversial issue, the legal age of smoking should be raised, when at the same time, teenage smokers are perceived as vulnerable group that requires comprehensive care. The minimum legal age either for using or purchasing/selling tobacco products varies from country to country with an average range of 18-24. In most of the European countries including Poland, Serbia, Portugal, France, and UK the minimum legal age for smoking cigarettes is now 18. In contrast in the United States, there is no unified regulation on this issue and the minim um age restriction varies from state to state. Although 18 has been generally accepted as the minimum age, the decision is left to the discretion of states. For instance, many states including Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey, and some other counties of New York have recently reset the minimum age for smoking from 18 to 19. As per the Revised Washington Code, a person under the age of 18 who purchases or attempts to purchase, possesses, or attempts to possesses, obtain, or attempts to obtain cigarettes or tobacco products commits a class 3 civil infraction under chapter 7.8. (RCW 2002). Obviously, teenage smoking has to be approached with a socio-psychological perspective other than merely considering it as a health issue. Arguments favoring the rise of legal age to 19 or 21 strongly opine that teenage smoking indicates the behavioral inconsistency among adolescents which can be resolved only through comprehensive programs with the collective involvement of various governmental and non-g overnmental organizations. In order to define the behavioral changes of teenagers with regard to smoking as a symptom, we need to analyze some other aspects of this controversy. Researchers are deeply at odds regarding the factors that determine one’s behavior. Despite the actual trait, behavior of an individual is primarily determined by situational variables and environment. Hence, a person’s behavior is ever changing depending on the situation, place, and the surroundings. If an individual demonstrates exceeding emotional attachment or detachment to anything that comes within his personal environment it presumably point to a behavioral problem. This can be true with the adolescent smokers no matter how they got into this risk group. Several attempts have been made to reduce the use of tobacco products among the youth in the United States notably since 1996 as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised its previous policy. As Jacobson notes, the initial step the Stat es took was to introduce provisions ‘to suit tobacco industry to recover healthcare costs associated with smoking among medical recipients’ (1). One of the notable actions implemented with intent to reduce teenage smoking is the hike in cigarette price which according to some researchers has brought about significant decline in smoking habits. As Jacobson states, â€Å"the cost of cigarettes faced by teenagers can be raised through both price and non-price measures. Policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels can increase the price of cigarettes by raising cigarettes excise taxes-perhaps the most direct route of action† (Jacobson, 178). Admittedly, till date, the smoking

The Role Of Technology In Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Role Of Technology In Education - Essay Example Nagel said, â€Å"Technology is woefully inadequate in most classrooms despite the progress schools have made in bringing computers and the Internet to students and staff, and these groups need still greater access if technology is to become a reliable tool for teaching and learning.† A lack of technology use by teachers to communicate instructional activities in the classroom is evident. Teachers fail to use technology due to inadequate training or staff development activities provided to teachers. Educators reported inadequate resources in the area of education technology support, including inadequate professional development or training. Education administrators reported that after teachers attended professional development activities and training for technology support or integration, only 61percent felt prepared to make effective use of educational technology for instruction.Despite the disparities in schools that use technology and those that do not, teachers remain chal lenged with the efforts of using various technologies in instruction, and using various assessment strategies using technology in the classroom. For whatever reasons, teachers use far less technology than is expected to result in minimal technology exposure for students in public schools, which causes a halt and a fall in students’ academic success. For the high percentage of minority students without access to the Internet or a computer except at school, this is a serious concern that requires immediate investigation. Teachers are doing a grave disservice to these students. The relations among and between students and teachers is devalued without the use of technology intertwined with the curriculum. School communities are suffocating in our society due to the lack of technological support required to assist with students’ academic success. Recommendations As the world continues to embrace the ever-changing technological aspects of society, the methods used to teach students must also change.

Describe with NAMED examples, the potential risks and benefits Essay

Describe with NAMED examples, the potential risks and benefits involved in the use of genetic manipulation of plants to improve yields of species of agronomic - Essay Example e this problem by modifying plants altering its genetic make up through genetic engineering producing a desired trait they wanted to resolve world economic problem. They are now producing variety that are high yielding , resistant to drought, insect pest and disease resistant, saline and water logged resistant, weed and pesticide tolerant and even improve the its nutritional value. Coupled with these discoveries, there are some potential risks in genetic modification (GM) in plants that are harmful both human and mother earth. In Human, some GM products would cause allergies as a result of new unidentified proteins gene transferred into unrelated organisms (Campaign Web site) that may create new allergen that causes an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals (GMO Web site). Bernstein, et. al. (cited GMO Website) reported that allergic reactions in human occur when a normally harmless protein enters the body and stimulates an immune response to proteins. There are reports that any allergic reaction to food can be serious, even life-threatening, and leads to anaphylactic shock (Campaign Website). The consumption of GMO product will increased cancer rates from Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). This hormone was injected into cows in order to increase milk production and also human insulin- Like Growth Factor (IGF-1). This IGF-1 was observed to trigger breast, prostate and colon cancer based on reported studies (Environment website). Examples: 3. Bacillus thuringiences (Bt) can be found in corn, potatoes and cotton caused allergic reaction to some people. It will provoke some kind of immunological allergic changes like asthma and other allergic reaction to human based on the study of Ohio crop pickers and handlers as reported in Science News, 1999 (cited Campaign Web site). Second, through genetic modification plants were able to develop Antibiotic Resistance. Plants become resistant to antibiotics when genes that confer antibiotic resistance are inserted

The Role Of Technology In Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Role Of Technology In Education - Essay Example Nagel said, â€Å"Technology is woefully inadequate in most classrooms despite the progress schools have made in bringing computers and the Internet to students and staff, and these groups need still greater access if technology is to become a reliable tool for teaching and learning.† A lack of technology use by teachers to communicate instructional activities in the classroom is evident. Teachers fail to use technology due to inadequate training or staff development activities provided to teachers. Educators reported inadequate resources in the area of education technology support, including inadequate professional development or training. Education administrators reported that after teachers attended professional development activities and training for technology support or integration, only 61percent felt prepared to make effective use of educational technology for instruction.Despite the disparities in schools that use technology and those that do not, teachers remain chal lenged with the efforts of using various technologies in instruction, and using various assessment strategies using technology in the classroom. For whatever reasons, teachers use far less technology than is expected to result in minimal technology exposure for students in public schools, which causes a halt and a fall in students’ academic success. For the high percentage of minority students without access to the Internet or a computer except at school, this is a serious concern that requires immediate investigation. Teachers are doing a grave disservice to these students. The relations among and between students and teachers is devalued without the use of technology intertwined with the curriculum. School communities are suffocating in our society due to the lack of technological support required to assist with students’ academic success. Recommendations As the world continues to embrace the ever-changing technological aspects of society, the methods used to teach students must also change.

Importance Of The Internet Essay Example for Free

Importance Of The Internet Essay The Internet is very helpful for businesses all over the world. It helps speed up many processes in a cost-effective way. Yet the usefulness of the Internet depends on what types of services and products each business. And how they take advantage of what is available. Many businesses may benefit a great deal more than others may. And there are many different benefits depending upon the types of the business, whether it is a supplier, a distributor, or a retailer. Some of the benefits could be; creating a new client base, product analysis, market analysis, expert advice and help, recruiting new employees, fast information access, wide scale information dissemination, fast communications, cost-effective document transfer, peer communications, and new business opportunities. Finding new clients is not as easy as most may think. This process involves an in depth market analysis, product marketing and consumer base testing. Where if a business where to use the Internet it would be much easier because the Internet has several million people from all over the world looking for businesses to invest or subscribe to. It is very easily recruit new clients or customers if your presence on the Internet is known. If your business was on the Internet you will be able to do product analyses and comparisons and report your findings on the net. You may also be able to find at least one other person who will be familiar with a product that you Thompson, 2 are testing or about to purchase or invest in. You can get first hand reports on each product before you purchase it. The Internet has many surveys for an analysis of the market for a new product or idea. These surveys are easy to reach many people so you are able to determine the satisfaction of the users of each product. This will enable you to be able to satisfy your customers easily because most of these are anonymous you will be able to get accurate information to help you understand what is preferred by your customers. The Internet has many experts on it who make it very easy for you to find them. You may even be able to get free advice and help with problems you might have come across from the same people who are paid very highly for  their consulting services to large organizations. There are many web sites that have job listings online for employers. Qualified employees always post new resumes to the site. This may inform the employers of the skills hopeful employees will have to offer. So the employee will not have much trouble looking for prospective employers. Getting information over the Internet is much faster on most occasions than doing it via fax or postal courier services. Countries around the world are available to interact with. You can lessen the possibility of the receiver not getting the information needed. You can place documents on the Internet and make them instantly accessible to millions of users. This provides an effective method to present information to the public. This also will improve the availability Thompson, 3 of the documents to a client base larger than the circulation of many major newspapers. Electronic mail, also known as email has provided to be an effective solution to the problem of telephone tag. This still has the speed of telephone conversations and still provides the semi-permanence of postal mail. This can be sent from just about anywhere where there is an Internet service. This takes a very short period of time and saves a lot of money over postal or courier services, which can also suffer late deliveries, loss or damage. So as you can see the Internet is very valuable to many businesses all around the world. It allows things to be processed faster and for the most part much safer. I think that it would be in the best interest of most businesses to participate actively in the Internet.

Experiment for Cancer Risk Factors

Experiment for Cancer Risk Factors Curiouser and Curiouser The case-control method used to identify risk factors for cancers relies on prior knowledge about the possible link between the cancer and the risk factors. It is a powerful method as the following two cases show. Asbestos In the 1970s, a series of studies identified the risk factor for a rare form of lung cancer called mesothelioma. Case-control studies pinpointed the risk to certain professions: insulation installers, shipyard workers, etc. The statistical analysis pinpointed the risk factor to be exposure to asbestos. Subsequent tort litigation and government oversight precipitated a reduction in occupational exposures to asbestos, reducing the risk of mesothelioma. Diethylstilbestrol (DES) Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic hormone prescribed to pregnant women in the 1950s to prevent premature deliveries. In 1971, case-control studies found that women with vaginal and uterine cancer had not been exposed to estrogen directly, but their mothers had been. DES, the carcinogen, did not cause cancers to women treated with the drug, but it caused cancers to their daughter who were exposed to the drug in the womb. *** But what if the exposure responsible for the disease is unknown? A Test for Chemical Carcinogens Normally, a strain of Salmonella, a bacterial genus, cannot grow on galactose. But when exposed to certain chemicals, it could acquire a gene mutation that enables it to grow on galactose. By counting the number of growth-enabled colonies form, one can quantify the mutation rate in any experiment. In the late 1960s, Bruce Ames, a bacteriologist at Berkeley, used this technique to test thousands of chemicals on their capacity to create mutations in Salmonella, and created a catalog of mutagens chemicals that increased the mutation rate. He observed that chemicals that scored as mutagens tended to be carcinogens. Ames didnt know why mutagens could induce cancer. But he had demonstrated a practical way to find carcinogens. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) In the early 1970s, Baruch Blumberg, a biologist in Philadelphia, discovered that a human hepatitis virus can cause chronic inflammation that leads to cancer. In 1966, Blumberg discovered that individuals carrying the Au antigen (a blood antigen present in several Australian aboriginals) often suffered from chronic hepatitis. Upon further analysis, he found out that au was not a blood antigen but a viral protein floating in the blood. Blumbergs lab isolated the virus in the early 1970s, and called the virus hepatitis B virus (HBV). HBV infection caused a broad spectrum of diseases, ranging from acute hepatitis, to chronic cirrhosis in the liver, and to hepatocellular cancer. HBV is a live carcinogen capable of being transmitted from one host to another. By 1979, Blumberg and his team had found a vaccine for HBV. The vaccine cannot cure the cancer, but it can reduce the incidence of HBV infection. Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori) In 1979, at the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren wanted to investigate the cause of gastritis. Patients with gastritis are   predispose to peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. Warren believed that gastritis was caused by a yet unknown species of bacteria. But he was ridiculed by mainstream doctors who did not believe any bacteria could live in the stomach. To prove his point, Marshall and Warren set out to culture the bacteria using brushings from patients with ulcers. But no bacteria grew out. Over a busy Easter weekend in 1982, Marshall had forgotten to examine the culture dish for bacteria for a few days. When he remembered and went to examine them, he found bacteria colonies growing out in the dish. Warren and Marshall called it Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). To prove H. Pylori caused gastritis, they inoculated pigs with the bacteria. But the pigs did not get ulcers. In 1984, after failed attempts to infect piglets, Marshall fasted until 10 am and then drank a Petri dish containing cultured H. Pylori, expecting to develop an ulcer. Within a few days, Marshall was violently ill, and diagnosed with gastritis. H. pylori was indisputably the cause of gastritis. By the late 1980s, several epidemiological studies had linked H. pylori-induced gastritis with stomach cancer. Randomized trials run on the western coast of Japan showed that antibiotic treatment reduced gastritis and gastric ulcers, and reduced the incidence of gastric cancer. But the it would not cure the cancer once manifested. A Spiders Web If cancer truly transitioned from a precursor lesion precancer to its full-blown form slowly, and methodically, then perhaps one could intervene by attacking its precancer, thwarting the progression of the cancer at its earlier stages. There are two forms of prevention. In primary prevention, you prevent a disease by attacking its cause. For example, stop smoking for lung cancer, or a vaccine against HBV for liver cancer. In secondary prevention, you prevent a disease by screening for its early presymptomatic stage. Pap smear and mammography (discussed below) are examples of secondary preventions. The Pap Smear Secondary Prevention for Cervical Cancer George Papanicolaou, a Greek physician, arrived in New York in 1913. After a few months selling carpets, he found a research position at Cornell University studying the menstrual cycle of guinea pigs. He found that cells shed by the guinea pig cervix could foretell the stages of the menstrual cycle. By the late 1920s, Papanicolaou had extended his technique to human patients.   In 1928, he reported that uterine cancer could be diagnosed by means of a vaginal smear. But the importance of his work was not recognized. Between 1928 and 1950, Papanicolaou delved into his smears ferociously. He became known for his invention of the Papanicolaou test, commonly known as the Pap smear or Pap test. He knew normal cervix cells change in step-wise fashion in time. Might cancer cells also change in a slow stepwise way from normal to malignant? Could he identify intermediate stages of cancer? A thought occurred to him at a Christmas party in 1950. The real use of the vaginal smear was not to find cancer, but to detect its precursor. In 1952, Papanicolaou convinced the NCI to launch a clinical trial of secondary prevention using his smearing technique. In the cohort of about 150,000, 555 women had invasive cervical cancer, while 557 had preinvasive lesions. Early stage preinvasive lesions were curable by a simple surgery. The women with preinvasive lesions had no symptoms. Had they not been tested, they would never have suspected they would develop cervical cancer. The average age of diagnosis of women with preinvasive lesions was about 20 years younger than women with invasive lesions. The Pap smear would detect cervical cancers at an early stage while it is still curable 20 years before they become invasive, giving women a chance to treat it before it evolves into cancer. Mammograms Secondary Prevention for Breast Cancer In 1913, Albert Salomon, a German surgeon, performed a study on 3,000 mastectomies. He studied the X-rays of the amputated breasts after mastectomies to detect the shadowy outline of cancer. Salomon called his technique mammography. He was able to establish the difference as seen on an X-ray image between cancerous and non-cancerous tumors in the breast. But his studies were interrupted by the Nazis in the mid-1930s. He lived in a concentration camp until 1939 when escaped the camps to Amsterdam and vanished underground. Mammography, as he called his technique, languished in neglect. By mid-1960s, with radical surgery being challenged, mammography re-enter X-ray clinics, championed by radiographers such as Robert Egan. Egans mammograms could now detect tumors as small as a grain of barley. But would screening women to detect such early tumors save lives? HIP Trial In 1963, three men set out to investigate whether screening asymptomatic women using mammography would improve mortality from breast cancer. The three men were Louis Venet, a surgeon; Sam Shapiro, a statistician; and Philip Strax, an internist. They wanted a randomized, prospective trial using mortality as an end point to test mammography. The trial, launched in December 1963, was kept simple. Women enrollees in the New York Health Insurance Plan (HIP) between 40 and 64 years old were divided into two groups. One group was screened with mammography, and the other not. If a tumor was detected by mammography, the women would be treated according to the conventional treatment available at that time. In 1971, the initial findings of the trial were remarkable. 62,000 women participated; about half had been screened by mammography. There had been 31 deaths in the mammography group and 52 deaths in the control group. The percentage reduction in mortality from screening was about 40 percent. Breast Cancer Detection and Demonstration Project The positive results of the HIP trial prompted the American Cancer Society to launch a called the Breast Cancer Detection and Demonstration Project (BCDDP). The project, backed by Mary Lasker and virtually every cancer organization in America, intended to screen 250,000 women in a single year. Problems with the HIP study As the BCDDP forged ahead, people were casting doubts over the HIP study. The study had a potential flaw. They had decided to exclude women with prior breast cancer. So they dropped women who had had cancer from each group. But they may have over-corrected: more patients with prior cancer were dropped from the screened group. Critics now charged that the excess mortality in the control group was due to the fact that it was mistakenly overloaded with patients with prior breast cancer. The Canadian Trial In Canada, researchers launched their own mammography trial in 1980. But there was a flaw with the study: a woman was randomized after her medical history and examination. The allocations that emerged after the nurse interviews were no longer random. Women with abnormal breast were disproportionately assigned to the screened group. That explains why the results of the CNBSS were markedly negative: The breast cancer mortality of women in the screened group was higher than the unscreened group. Malmà ¶ Mammographic Study In 1976, 42,000 women enrolled in the Malmà ¶ Mammographic Study. Half of the cohort was screened yearly, and the two groups have been followed closely ever since. In 1988, the study reported its results. Women older than 55 had benefited from screening, with a reduction in breast cancer mortality by 20 percent. Younger women had no benefit from screening. In 2002, an analysis combining the experience over fifteen years was published in the Lancet. In aggregate, for women aged 55 to 70, mammography screening had resulted in 20 to 30 percent reductions in breast cancer mortality. But for women under 55, the benefit was negligible.

Point of view Tell-Tale Heart Essay -- essays research papers

Essay #1: â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†. Poe writes â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† from the perspective of the murderer of the old man. When an author creates a situation where the central character tells his own account, the overall impact of the story is heightened. The narrator, in this story, adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad, and tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. The point of view helps communicate that the theme is madness to the audience because from the beginning the narrator uses repetition, onomatopoeias, similes, hyperboles, metaphors and irony. "True!--nervous--very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?" "...Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.† As you can see this man is clearly mad, because this story is told in the first person it helps you understand the character even better, because we are seeing what exactly is happening to him moment by moment. It helps us understand what is going on in his head because we are getting to know him through out the story. The repetition in this story is phenomenal. He uses is constantly adding to the... Point of view "Tell-Tale Heart" Essay -- essays research papers Essay #1: â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†. Poe writes â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† from the perspective of the murderer of the old man. When an author creates a situation where the central character tells his own account, the overall impact of the story is heightened. The narrator, in this story, adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad, and tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. The point of view helps communicate that the theme is madness to the audience because from the beginning the narrator uses repetition, onomatopoeias, similes, hyperboles, metaphors and irony. "True!--nervous--very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?" "...Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.† As you can see this man is clearly mad, because this story is told in the first person it helps you understand the character even better, because we are seeing what exactly is happening to him moment by moment. It helps us understand what is going on in his head because we are getting to know him through out the story. The repetition in this story is phenomenal. He uses is constantly adding to the...